"Heh… I wonder if this place is just very big or if some of that realm's way of power is just making it seem bigger on the inside… No way they bothered to build something so large instead of just placing a few guards with advantageous positions to slaughter any invader" one of the fanatics said, biting into a piece of juicy meat.
"Who knows, all that I know is that this sort of garbage only works on the likes of us who are still impure, the undead soldiers would have ploughed through it all in less than a day, I am sure"
"Not that it is very efficient against us anyways… Unless this place can rearrange its structure at will, once the way is discovered it will have be just a slightly annoying trek to get to them"
The pessimistic soldier was sitting against a wall a distance away, although those guys were certainly insane, they weren't illogical in their reasonings, everyone present had endured vigorous training at the hands of the undead instructors, those who were obedient and accepted death as their ruler and saviour would have it slightly easier, but mostly only because they would be getting pauses during which they would be instructed in the worship of death by priests and monks.
He himself had managed to fall in the second category somehow, he may be unwilling to die, but let it be known that he was easy to bend under pressure, having immediately surrendered his will to the invading empire.
Often had he been told that his fear would eventually be erased, that sounded like nothing but lies to him, lies that the others ate up with enthusiasm, utterly and completely brainwashed by brutal training and indoctrination.
The people gathered into the living army were from various places, most appeared humans, but that was mostly due to the fact that humans were the most adaptable, so they were sent first and rapidly converted into good soldiers.
Some said that they had been forced into submission when ships of the empire arrived upon their islands, some claimed to have come from other realms even, clearly, the undead could reach far and wide to accomplish their goals.
And this mindset had seeped into the living soldiers as well.
After the few who knew some magic got enough of a hang on this realm's energy behaviour, fire was brought into the picture, and so was light, they still required light to see, the first few days had been spent slowly moving in pitch blackness, hugging the walls, or rather, hugging the wall to their right as there was a consensus that this was one would be certain to eventually find the exit to any labyrinth.
With fire, came the ability to cook meat, however, there was nothing to hunt down.
As it turns out, without him realising, each of the groups of twenty had a leader of sorts, this seemed obvious but he had always thought that it was just a simple title given to one without much meaning behind it.
However, the leaders actually had some preferential treatment, they were granted extra tools, a bit more knowledge even, and to all fanatics, it was a sign that they were deserving of endless respect and admiration for somehow managing to rise above the rest and receive recognition from the undead.
'These guys… Do they even realise that the undeads they worship aren't even high-ranking within the empire?' even if they knew, it was dubious whether that would change their opinion, or somehow reinforce it as they truly viewed those undeads as superior beings.
In any case, when the leaders of the groups agreed that they would be conducting cannibalism to keep on with their missions for as long as possible, no one batted an eye, not even the ones who were picked to be taken apart and harvested for their meat, organs and blood.
One of the leader had received a little class in feasting, allowing him to grant greater nourishment to the meat and allow the blood to truly hydrate them, this all meant that that a few sacrifices were enough to feed the rest for a while, keeping the mission going whilst maintaining acceptable numbers in case a fight broke out.
Thankfully for the sole soldier without a yearning for death, he wasn't considered to be butchered as despite his words before entering the realm, he was viewed as rather knowledgeable when it came to the worship of death.
A gaunt zombie called Grilt had decided to instruct him in each of the 'ways', or each of the main aspects of death that certain branches of the church specifically worshipped.
With a mention that death would evolve further and that more aspects would certainly be added to the list with time, the worship of death was simultaneously ancient and nascent from the looks of it, established yet constantly changing as more faiths were absorbed into its mass.
For all the gods and all concepts were subordinate to their supreme death.
"The aspects of death are as follows…" it was often that they would ask for him to talk about it, as not all had received much guidance into it, or also because they were genuinely elated to hear of it, no matter how many times it had been.
"There is Oblivion, sharing its name with the one realm where the greatest of death resides… One that is taken into Oblivion forgets all the pain, all the suffering brought about by life and embraces death, Oblivion is forgetfulness of what is unjust, but it can be wielded to erase anything- It's usage by death is proof of the endless affection it holds for those caught in its hold" he recited as had been learned.
"Then, there is Silence, death, once its in final form, produces no more sound, once all life will be eradicated, it is said that the entire world will fall into complete silence unto eternity"
"There is Compassion, representing that whilst enemies, death itself does not hold a grudge against life, it is ready to embrace it whole no matter what"
"There is Eternity, endlessness and infinity are cores of death, what is dead simply is, time is but a tool, not an obstacle"
"There is Dark, for life held light first, it was only natural for death's progeny to be naturally acclimated to the lack of it, although light and shadows are welcome, the pure darkness shall remains a deep facet of death forever"
"There is Destruction, for all that life is and builds shall one day crumble"
"There is Decay, for rot and putrescence are gifts bestowed long ago"
"There is Fear, for despite it all, life refuses to accept death's affection, all that lives, all that is not dead, hold an incomprehensible, unnatural fear for the perfection beyond the end"
"There is Agony, for even when being pulled into a cold hold, life refuses to accept, lengthening its own suffering"
"There is Love, for even when having Compassion denied, death does not give up"
"There is Peace, for once life is gone, all is forgotten, all is forgiven"
"There is Truth, for that is death's essence"
"There is The Unknown, for that is what death offers, a step beyond what you knew"
All of it was a reminder of why they were fighting, of why they were willingly relinquishing themselves.
They had to pay back death somehow, after escaping it for so long…