"I am sorry, My General… The negator resists us still, our caste is deeply ashamed of this continued failure" Citil, the mind splitter lowered her abominably inflated head, the eyes swimming within it looking all sad and disappointed, as though she was going to cry.
"His will is strong, I was already aware that breaking him would take much time, so do not take it as a failure, spend as much time as is necessary and use this opportunity to instruct members of your caste" what Loimos was stating was just facts, but to the undead before him, it was like he was shining down on her with his magnanimity and unending kindness.
Quite a lot of undeads had a rather skewed vision of him and his actions, imprinting intentions that while charitable to them, were absolutely and utterly wrong, right then, it was just him delegating work and demonstrating that a difficult situation could be used to progress, he did not try to be nice to Citil, Loimos had been well aware that Griar would resist for a long time, this sort of resistance was new to the mind peelers in fact, and was the reason their leader had managed to push herself to the next level.
Even if he very well could just walk up to Griar and do what was intended in an instant, this job was meant for a particular caste to undergo, if he solved every problem himself, they wouldn't progress and would be incapable of fending for themselves if he wasn't around, the undead empire could not rely on specific individuals to function as a whole.
Nonetheless, Citil was touched by the perceived leniency on what she deemed as a failure on her part and madly thanked her general before rushing away to go and prove that the mind peelers weren't incompetent, which was probably for the best, as long as they thought that Loimos could actually feel disappointed in them, they would be working hard to avoid that impossibility.
Next, it was the two putrescent zombies who called themselves his right and left hand who arrived, showing up so as to make a proper report of their progress on making Belliste a land of complete and utter loyalty, Loimos already knew how this was going, but this would allow for him to see what difficulties they had encountered.
Ourlst and Horhir worked well together, the left hand behind the more tactical and thoughtful one, whilst the right hand was the stronger and more combat-oriented one, both complemented the other nicely, and this was particularly useful when treading through an unfamiliar situation such as overwatching conquered land, having a second opinion and view was always a good idea.
They also happily reported on the progress made toward upgrading and integrating the new way of powers into the empire, specifically orderly ranks as it was definitely the most important, if it could be fitted in to suit the whole of the undead empire the surge in military power would simply be enormous, especially if they could modify and customise it as they saw fit.
In fact, Loimos was planning on not forwarding any further conquest until that was done, amongst other projects of importance as well.
There was nothing that the two knights encountered that they had not managed to find solutions to or reached out to more knowledgeable undeads to solve already, so this little meeting was quickly done with.
Next was a more important encounter, as Loimos had just come back from finding suitable battlegrounds, it was time to give the remaining minor lords their own missions, which would test their leadership, strength and adaptability to only name a few things, it would also serve as a test to their personal troops, being that these missions were of importance and would occur with minimal to no assistance outside of what they themselves could bring to the table.
Ourlon, Yuolrt and Herlbe had already received their own missions and been granted gifts to aid in these future endeavours, the first of the remaining four that was called up at the top of the tall tower of black iron was Ridfoirn.
A skilled mage that although lacking any proper affinities, had the advantage of possessing an energy trait that made his natural mana corruptive, allowing for great offensive power despite it all.
Having even achieved a proper zone first out of all the minor lords, his talent was not to be proven anymore, and he had spent much time further honing himself.
He still reassembled an androgynous upper half sitting upon a worm or slug of dark putrescence adorned with protruding bones, although, his tall staff had been changed, the garbs he wore surprisingly white, making for quite the difference between the upper and lower half.
Also, a black mask representing the sun of darkness now covered the entirety of his face was also added, clearly enchanted and such by Ridfoirn himself.
"General Loimos" he greeted with a slight bow, the filthy sound of bones swimming in rot following the sound of the minor lord's voice.
"Ridfoirn, has progress been good?" asked the skeleton.
"Yes, my disciples are working hard, many have decided to specialise in sorceries relating to my own magic, I couldn't be prouder- I must thank you for making me seek out my own soldiers, I had never imagined teaching and training to be so fulfilling…" with his slightly warped voice, he lowered his head again.
"...As for me, I have managed to refine my zone and sharpen my overall capabilities, may I demonstrate?" eager to show improvement to his general, Ridfoirn straightened, which brought him rather high up.
The minor lord did not hesitate and immediately manifested his zone covered the top of the toward with a perfect half sphere, showing first and foremost that he had full control over the size and shape.
Before, his zone was only lethal because of his mana trait as he couldn't really imbue his zone with a specific spell, although he had always been meticulous enough to be capable of overlapping his with that of an ally, it clearly wasn't the case here, as not only could he definitely put in a specific spell of his choosing, he could also control whether or not the natural corruption his mana brought about actually affected the surroundings.
"Do not be afraid, try focusing like you were trying to destroy me" noticing that Ridfoirn was hesitant to actually attack him, Loimos spoke up, which was all that was required for the mage.
As expected, the champion was totally unaffected, but not dealing damage to Loimos was not a proof of weakness.
"You have indeed accomplished much progress" handing out a bit of praise, Loimos followed by explaining exactly what his mission would entail.
Not only was he to set out and conquer this realm, he would also have to investigate and uncover the specific way of power used within it, as well as establish a friendly relationship with the livings surrounding the realm's entrance, the latter challenge having already been facilitated by Loimos implanting the idea of an undead saviour in the minds of those fishermen.
But still, Ridfoirn had little to no experience in such a domain, not slaughtering livings was sort of a foreign concept to him.
The minor lord's hand was pale and delicate, a slight jolt shaking him as Loimos passed the present.
"Thank you, My General, I won't disappoint you"