Chapter 43

Elizabeth groaned as she lifted herself up. Her body ached, and she was covered head to toe in cuts and bruises. She rubbed her head and coughed up dust. She could hear Isaac and Vera calling up from above her, asking if she was okay. Elizabeth gave them a halfhearted response, distracted by the scene before her. Grimwald's body laying upon a piece of rubble, unmoving, unresponsive. She slowly stood up, rummaging around in her bag.

"What happened?" He grumbled. "Right, the church." He glared to his side. "I see you're still kicking. Want me to finish the job?" He weakly laughed. But that laugh faded. "What is this? Why can't I move?" Elizabeth looked Grimwald up and down has he tried desperately to get up.

"You landed on your spine." She whispered.

"My spine? That means... curse this mortal vessel! You paralyzed me!" Elizabeth cautiously approached Grimwald.

"I'm sorry Grimwald, but this is it. It's over."

"Don't apologize to me like you care! You're reveling in this!" Elizabeth slowly pulled out her vaccine. "No. No! No, I'm not done! This isn't over! This isn't how this ends! I am Pestilence! I am an angel! I am the bringer of the apocalypse, and you shall bow before me!" Grimwald's body exploded with the plague. It pushed Elizabeth back and enveloped his body. Webs of tendrils stuck to the walls and broken ceiling, lifting Grimwald's body to the heavens. "This human body might be useless, but my plague still holds strong!" He roared. The black sludge formed a tight seal across his corpse, puppeting him like a twisted marionette. "Let's see you defy nature now, Lady Elizabeth." He grinned. His body rocketed forward. Pestilence reeled back his fist and struck Elizabeth in the stomach. The force launched her back. She slammed against the brittle wall. The church shook. Elizabeth could barely open her eyes before Pestilence was back on the attack. He grabbed her and began dragging her against the walls. Stone broke open her back. Dust filled her lungs. Round and round the church basement they went. Pestilence kept a tight hold onto her, not releasing until he decided her torment was over. He flung Elizabeth off the wall and back down to the ground. He moved to the center of the room and raised his arms. The plague shot up to the sky and dug into the ceiling of the church. "Here's your requiem bell!" He shouted in distortion, throwing his hands down. The tentacles pulled. The roof gave way. The belltower once atop the church came crashing down. Elizabeth jumped out of the way as the fallen tower nearly missed Pestilence and drilled into the ground where she once stood. "A walking corpse needs its knell!"

"Don't call me that!" Elizabeth threw one of scalpels. It sliced past one of Pestilence's eyes and severed one of the tentacles holding him up.

"Damn cheater!" He yelled. "How about I skip the funeral and go straight to your burial?!" Thousands of tendrils sprouted from his body. The network of black webs stuck to every square inch of the basement. "Welcome to your tomb!" He pulled the plague in. Stone and soil ripped out from the walls. Elizabeth ducked and covered her head and neck. The foundation of the church collapsed. A landslide came in to bury everyone. The church was reduced to a pile of rubble. The citizens crept out from their homes to investigate. As the dust cloud started to settle, the debris started to rumble. Pestilence broke free from the holy prison. He suspended his body high upon plagued stilts. He grinned the fakest of smiles as he brushed over the surface layer of rubble, revealing Elizabeth curled up and tucked in a ball. "Still alive?!?" He twitched. Elizabeth scrambled over the broken church. Pestilence moved to snag her leg. He lifted her up, dangling her like caught prey. "I can still fix that." He swung her round and round before flinging her towards the kingdom she loves so dearly. Elizabeth crashed through several houses before coming to a stop. Pestilence leaned backwards. His body began to morph, contort, mangle. The plague became untamed and unruly. False bodies sprouted from his chest. Giant arms and legs erupted from rotted flesh. Pestilence metamorphized into the stuff of nightmares. A bug-like creature trying its best to imitate humanity, but still ultimately failing. Multiple copies of limbs, missing digits and appendages, and a twisted, uncanny body. The amalgamation stomped on the ground. It's many pairs of eyes burst open with a spray of plague and pus. Pestilence homed in on Elizabeth who stumbled her way out of the house. "T̷͕̿h̶̗͕̽̈́è̶͇͍͛r̵̟̊ę̶̹͊ ̵̧͚̒ŷ̵̳̬̄o̵̼̖̅̍u̷̺̇̀ ̸̛͙͝a̶̼͝r̶̬͆͐e̷̦͛͝.̶̼̍̎" Pestilence lunged forward. He stampeded through Ethros to reach Elizabeth. He grabbed her and began dragging her through the city streets, slamming her against the dirt, and overall tossing her around like a ragdoll. He finished his onslaught by tossing Elizabeth into the city square. "Ḧ̷̤â̶̻d̸̛̤͇́ ̷̠̖͊e̴̡͙̔n̵̥̂o̸̪̾ŭ̴̟͖g̶̼̓h̵̲̪̐?̷̙̂ ̴͖̞̐̐R̷̻̻͂e̶̲̱̍ā̴̯͖́d̸̟͎̽̄y̶̖̮͑̈ ̵̝̹́̒t̵͇̦͠ò̸͚ ̵̻͎̂̓c̷͙̅o̴̭͕̽́n̸͎̹̕c̴̯͈̉̉e̶̢͑̀d̸̫̳͐ȇ̶̫̼?̷̠̜͐ ̶̛̲̺͠R̸̰͒ë̴͍̜̕à̴̠d̴̫́y̵͔͗̐ ̶̣͊t̴̬͝o̸̖͖̍̚ ̷̠̪͐s̶͙̃u̴̥̽b̸̻̘̓m̴̘͆̌î̴̜̜ẗ̴̟́ ̶̦̄̇t̷̛̖͛ò̶̬ ̸̛̹͕̈́ř̴̺͙o̴̮͍̽̃t̴͕̐?̵̤̹̽ ̵̅͜͝" Elizabeth struggled to get up. She wiped blood from her mouth.

"I am Lady Elizabeth of Ethros." She began, standing tall and proud. "Royal doctor, avenger of Strathum, protector of life, and savior of science! If you want me to submit, you'll have to force me and pry this kingdom from my cold undead hands!" She screamed at the angel. Pestilence stood there and stared at her for a moment. Everything fell silent, all that was heard was Pestilence's raspy breaths and Elizabeth's heartbeat.

"W̸̺͘h̴̦͠ä̵̲́t̸̗́ ̴̩̚d̵͔̿i̷̭̔d̶̞̍ ̶̰̽I̵͉̓ ̸̞̽t̷̥̒ė̵̺ḽ̶̕l̵͈̔ ̴̭̂y̶̤̓o̷͉͊ȗ̶͍ ̶̰̀ḁ̴̽b̸̤̚o̵̯̊ú̸̟t̵̟̊ ̸̭̆h̵̼̔e̵͚̾r̴̯̚o̶̪̔i̸̺̋c̵̳͗s̸͙̽!̴̹̓?̵̳̒" He roared, firing off spear like plague tendrils. Elizabeth stood her ground. She was ready to die for her kingdom. But the attack never came. He stopped mere inches from her face. Pestilence glared behind him. Holding onto his corrupt body, tugging with all their might, was Isaac and Vera.

"We've got your back!"

"Yeah! You don't need to do this alone!" Pestilence contorted and mangled his body to face the two warriors.

"F̸̗̍ó̴̞ȏ̴̳l̶̰͂s̷̟͑.̸̰͑ ̸̗̌H̵̭͋â̵̢v̷̙̚ē̴̞ ̷̧͛y̵̮̒ọ̷͊u̶̜͑ ̵̤͠n̸͓̈õ̷̖ṯ̷͗ ̵̺͑g̵͍̈́r̶̩̚a̴̤͐s̶̯̕p̸̡̐e̸̼̅ḓ̸͐ ̸̩́w̵̝͌h̴͎̉ȁ̵̲t̵̨͘ ̶̲͝ÿ̶͈o̸̧̓u̶̢̓'̴̯̉r̴̛͇e̶̛̩ ̷̝̈́d̵̬̋e̵̢̓a̴͈̐l̷͕͂í̷̧ṇ̴̕g̴̤̚ ̶̟̅w̸̻̓ĭ̸̘t̷̺̆ḩ̵̕?̶̧͌" Elizabeth noticed something in front of her. A black, beating heart. The core of Pestilence. She stared at it with such wonder. Then, in that moment, Death's words came to her. Take my instructions to heart, you'll know what to do when the time is right. ̵͚̒"Î̴͜ ̷̹̿ạ̴̃m̶̟͒ ̴̡͂t̵͉͗h̵̜̆è̷͈ ̴̯̓A̶̞͒n̶̲͠g̶͚̽ẻ̸̩l̵̬͝ ̷͇̋o̶͖͐f̶̟͐ ̷͚́S̵̗͗ȉ̴̫c̷̬͝k̵͕̈n̴͚̉e̷̟̍ş̸͗s̸͎̀ ̶̝̌á̶͖n̶̡̅d̸̤̈́ ̷̺͂t̵̲͐h̴̹̒e̸̹̕ ̶̮̀h̵͕͛a̶̲͌r̵̞̓b̶̢̒ị̶̄n̵̤͗g̸̹̀e̷̤͂r̷͓͒ ̶̥̓o̴̲͐f̸̓͜ ̴͎̑t̶̖̃ḧ̶̤e̶̘̎ ̷̫̑a̷͔̓p̶̡̒o̵͕͝ċ̶̻a̴͍͋l̵͇̐y̶̦͝p̴͔͗ś̸̬e̴̩̅!̵̫̎ ̵̥͠I̸̯͋ ̷̣̅a̸̘̋m̸͉̽ ̶̯̋y̴̺͋ȯ̶͍u̶̅ͅr̵̜̎ ̷̼͠ḏ̸͊e̴̩̔m̷̯̉i̸̊͜s̷̱͌e̸̼̒!̶̡͛ ̸̿͜Y̶̜̓ŏ̴̫u̴̘̓ ̸̮͒s̸̠̉h̶̹͒a̶̞̕l̴̯͐l̶͉̄ ̶͙͐b̸̥͋ǫ̷̀ẇ̷̲ ̵̭̿b̵̝̽e̵͍͂f̵͖͂o̴͉̿r̷̺͝e̸̥͊ ̶̪̊m̷̱̋è̵̢-̸̥́" Pestilence was cut off. He felt a sharp stab. A small prick. He turned back to Elizabeth and saw her inject the last of the vaccine into his heart. His decaying eyes widened, trembled.

"Oh it was nothing but a mosquito, there's nothing to worry about. Right, Grimwald?" The plague started to break down. The black sludge melted away into the same color of the cure. Grimwald's mouths started to fill with fluid. He reared his heads back. Foam emerged from his body. His bones disintegrated. His flesh crumbled. Bodies upon bodies sprouted from the vile beast, trying to get away, but they all melted the same. All of this while Grimwald let out the most painful, gut wrenching, soul shattering screech history has ever known.

"I'll be back! We'll meet again! You... can't... defy... nature..." His final words as his body was reduced to a pulsating pile of pus.