"Sir Loimos, The Soror greets you!"
"Aww, aren't they adorable in their little uniforms? It looks like they are playing a game… Can I…?"
"You can not have any of them, Maliah"
"I swear, after all we went through together? I just want to hear them squeal a little, I won't kill any… Am I that untrustworthy- I guess I am actually, I would totally disembowel any of them"
"But anyways, how long have you been training these girls for, Loimos? I sort of blank out on the daily, so I have no idea how long it's been since we conquered this realm—I think I remember the oldest one being smaller than this? How old is she now? I can hardly tell the difference between toddlers and teenagers nowadays"
"The passage of time fluctuates greatly in between realms and the main world, we are both unaffected by time, so it is not necessary to pay attention, all that matters is that not even a year worth of time as passed in the main world, which is why I am taking care of their training here" explained Loimos, after the conquest of the soul realm, the way had been opened and one could now travel back and forth without any problem.
Although he had remained in the living flesh suit for a long while, Loimos was now back to his normal self, unfortunately, the living suit could not be brought out of the realm, or rather, it did not remain for long, the strength of Loimos had eventually returned to normal, and the trick was no longer effective as the possessed body was decayed away by his mere presence, the trick should be capable of working, but the strength of the suit needed to be high.
Otherwise, closeness with Loimos would cause the life force to be extinguished.
It was a shame as this might have allowed him to set foot inside the Emerald Realm ahead of time, but in the end, it hardly mattered as this had not been part of the calculations to begin with, merely an option that came and went without any impact on the already established plans.
"Well, I was just wondering if they were adults now, they would be more efficient and capable once fully grown, right?"
"That is correct, and they are indeed as grown as they can get, they appear small and young due to malnutrition from birth, they won't get any taller than this for the most part, except for those whose soul depth manifestation affect their physical form, they will not change" he responded, both Loimos and Maliah looking over a silent group of living girls dressed in white attires, each of them had been part of the group he had originally found in the underground area, they had changed a fair bit after being trained under the champion's supervision, but their faces were full of brightness and hope.
The way he had gone about training them as living soldiers was much different from how the instructors did, but it was only natural, he was building an elite group of living soldiers, unlike the masses that were standards soldiers overall, the Soror was made up of members who all shared a strong bond with one another, a bond that had nothing to do with Loimos, it had been there long before he even set foot inside of the realm.
And moreover, as soul depth manifestators, they possessed wondrous abilities that similarly to the one he had himself awakened, possessed a rather special edge to them, none were as incredible as that of Loimos, but that would be too much to ask, all that mattered was that they possessed great abilities that were attuned to the soul, and few things could defend well against attacks that harmed the soul.
With him training them relentlessly, there was no doubt that each of them was a powerhouse in their own rights, and that was without mentioning the implements he had given to each of them on top of it all.
He had deemed them ready to be deployed into the Emerald Realm, which was a nice timing that Loimos had not foreseen for once, as the minor lords were also sending in living soldiers sourced from their respective realms, Herlbe had been the first to furnish such troops thanks to the fact that he had rushed in with brute force and also because the livings he had to deal with were rather easy to convince, but the rest had not lingered behind for too long.
It was uncertain how time flowed exactly in the Emerald Realm as it didn't seem to be a constant, so to them, perhaps the large living soldiers had been present for years alongside the rest, or perhaps it had only been a few months.
In any case, the influx of new soldiers, each with their specificities and different combat capabilities should come as a surprise nonetheless.
And since Loimos already knew how strong the livings in each of their realms were, he knew that unless they had done something incredible, the Soror should be the strongest individuals around, as the most powerful livings in the realms would have to be slain instead and thus, would not be appearing as living soldiers.
"Are you ready to fight?" he asked, even if his tone was as flat as was possible, the Soror did not need any time to wonder whether or not this was a question and gave a salute.
"Then prepare to leave"
He approached the one that had been chosen as the leader, Bellah had had a pretty good growth spurt compared to the majority of her sisters, the top of her head nearly reaching to his chin.
"You will be responsible of them, and of the rest of the living soldiers, as you will be the higher ranking soldier around"
"Of course, Sir, I won't disappoint you! Even if I know that it might not be in our capacities, I shall do my best to bring down the Emerald Realm!" she stated with a firm expression that looked somewhat out of place on her youthful face.
Bellah, as the leader, was the only one that was very distinctive from the rest, although this visual difference was mostly due to her soul depth manifestation, as it would be helpful in making it work better.
Unlike the rest who were dressed nearly completely in white, she had a black cloak wrapped around her body, which completely concealed everything beneath when both arms were by her sides.
In truth, there wasn't really a real uniform for the Soror, more-so a colour code more than anything, not two of them were garbed in the same fashion, Loimos had allowed for some freedom of expression through their attire, the manner in which he had decided to forge them into loyal soldiers was rather special, at least when compared to the standards of the undead in general.
"S-Sir, may I do and say something out of line before we are deployed?" spoke Bellah.
She instantly spread her arms and hugged the being of rot and death.
"You have my eternal love, Father! I'll kill and murder as much as you want!"
To make her feel validated, he put his hand atop her head for a few moments, making Maliah visibly cringe in the distance at the display she could only see as most fake and performative.
Soon after this exchange, the Emerald Realm was besieged by new threats.