All hell broke loose as the might of the plague Ullashtt was shown.

  A sickly green light lit up the pitch-black night making the giant blob a clear beacon. Seconds later the party members and any of the Slate citizens still in the walls got the same notification.

  You have entered a Plague Aura. Every 42 seconds you remain in the plague; you will contract a plague at random. See a healer to be cured or slay the aura summoner.

  Vorin read the notification and then immediately took in the effect as all his friends started to dry heave. This fight went from a battle of attrition against a superior foe to an all-out sprint against death. One silver lining remained. Vorin was still immune to all plague.

  Plague wasn’t done. More swarms of leeches started to shed from the massive body and fall to the ground surrounding the Ullashtt as if he was a general standing in the center of an army.

  The nearly invisible flagella lining the king of sick started to whip out from the body at lightning speeds. Through Vorin’s plague vision he could see the tips were potent with many different kinds of plagues waiting to spear someone. Some poor farm animals and birds flying over already fell to their fate. Now they were dust floating around in the slime like body standing before them.

  “Vorin! I need to touch him!” Synexus yelled from across the battlefield.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’ll be instantly infected!”

  “I know! Can you cure me faster than he infects me?”

  Vorin nodded. He could theoretically keep his friend alive by curing the plagues instantly the only problem was getting past the swarm of leeches…or not.

  As Vorin had the thought, Synexus summoned forth his Razor Hydra Plants, and they got to work clearing a path. When they would slice one of the leeches with their razor-sharp teeth, the small portions would reconstitute into a less potent leech. Fortunately, it wasn’t instantaneous which gave the two class chosen their window.

  Both warriors ran forward, dodging any stray leeches, and whip-like appendages. Anything that did get through would bounce off Synexus’ armor or would be a superficial wound for Vorin.

  A blinding flash drew their attention upwards as they reached the base of the beast. It was Yu’s flame vortex taking hold. She must have cast it to form at the top of the massive beast so it would burn through its body until there wasn’t any more to burn. Either way it had clearly distracted Plague enough to not notice them touching its barely opaque body.

  “How long will this take?” Vorin screamed over the sounds of battle at Synexus who was standing right next to him.

  “Maybe a minute or so!”

  Plague: 34%

  Plague Plasmids: 100%

  Polyphosphate:100%

  Glycogen: 100%

  Plague Ribosomes: 100%

  Plague Nucleoid: 100%

  Cytosol: 100%

  Polypeptides: 100%

  Polysaccharides: 100%

  Peptidoglycan: 100%

  Influenza: 100%

  Human Immunodeficiency Virus: 100%

  Rubeola: 100%

  Variola: 100%

  Rabies: 100%

  Varicella Zoster: 100%

  Salmonella typhi: 100%

  Staphylococcus aureus: 100%

  Escherichia coli: 100%

  Mycobacterium tuberculosis: 100%

  Vibrio cholerae: 100%

  Streptococcus pneumoniae: 100%

  Clostridium botulinum: 100%

  Helicobacter pylori: 100%

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Treponema pallidum: 100%

  Yersinia pestis: 100%

  Synexus recoiled and doubled over.

  “Synexus, what’s wrong? You’re not infected.”

  “No, no, it’s not that. My head feels like it’s splitting in two. His body is made up of every bacterium, every virus, every parasite, and I’m getting the genetic makeup from all of them. I need more time!”

  Vorin nodded and watched his friend wince as he put his hand back onto the body of the Ullashtt. His hand would turn black before returning to normal. A constant battle of health and disease.

  Up above the flame vortex continued to eat away at Plague. The monster began to hiss and yell in pain as the slime sizzled away. Flames started to rise higher in the night sky as more mass was burned to feed it. Leeches were being sucked into the ever-hungry fire further pushing it to greater heights. Burnt slime and ash started to fall around the town.

  An acidic smell overpowered the smell of disease and started to burn at the nostrils of anyone still in the area. Vorin watched Synexus cover his nose and was thankful for the incredible mask he had gotten. It kept him safe and provided him with clean air.

  Synexus finally let go and stumbled back taking heaving breaths of the acidic air. His nose was bleeding silver blood, and his eyes had an exhausted look to them.

  “I’m done.” He finally managed to say.

  Vorin didn’t even nod back in confirmation before driving both scythes into the beast and blasting his skill to remove plagues. It was funny because the description had said he could use them to deliver plagues, but through some testing they simply worked as an extension of his hands.

  Green gelatinous ooze turned brittle as Vorin “cured” plague after plague from the Ullashtt. Hundreds of the flagella lashed out as the beast felt the pain. He was now fighting off the cleansing flames of Yu and the wrath of the plague doctor.

  Synexus had absorbed the entire makeup of Plague which to his surprise meant he was able to get the genetic makeup from nearly anything that could cause disease as well. Now Progress could help him slice through the monster his friends were fighting, and he had a better idea how to counteract the less solid nature of their foe with Enemy Transmutation. With Yu and Vorin both deep into their assaults, he knew that it was time for him to jump in as well. With the plague aura up, they didn’t have time to waste.

  His mind jumped into the Progress Garden and planted the seeds needed in the ground under the beast and inside the membrane holding the gelatinous monster together. He poured mana freely out of himself and into the seeds. Instant Growth activated and thousands of blades of razor grass pierced cleanly through their adversary. Binding vines grew from within the blades and constricted the Ullashtt to the best of their ability. Finally, in any empty space left, Leech Moss grew.

  Those preparations would help to pin Plague down while the other three did real damage. Synexus unsheathed Progress and focused on the genetic code. Then he jumped back to fend off every stray flagellum that went to pierce Vorin that way the plague doctor could focus solely on killing the living disease.

  Vorin sank both scythes back into plague and began curing him once again once Synexus jumped in to watch his back. Between himself, Yu, and the outrageous number of plants that Synexus summoned, they were doing a considerable amount of damage. Each fire lash was sizzling deep grooves into the blob-like body. The flame vortex was charring the entire top half of the beast. His healing was turning big portions brittle and reducing the potency of the Ullashtt’s abilities ever so slightly. Every flagellum was blindly whipping through the air to strike any target they could. Synexus’ sword was cutting through them like they were made of air. It was clear their enemy was in pain.

  At the west gate of the town, there was a palpable panic as the citizens attempted to flee to safety. Behind them the massive monster stood looming over them. Most had injuries or clearly showing symptoms of one plague or another. Some of the more combat oriented class chosen started to gather off to the side to help in the defense of their town, but they had no way to counter the plague aura.

  Vorin blasted his healing onto Synexus and Yu to ensure they could continue to fight before he struck the blob with his scythes once more. Slowly the whole beast was turning a multitude of colors from charred black to petrified white as the various attacks did their damage. Every time he started his healing up once more, he was aiming for the next section at the base of the beast. Slowly, but surely, he was making a line across the beast brittle. It would start to flake away before the whole section would start to fall apart. He’d smile as their monstrous foe started to blow away in the wind like his victims did.

  Synexus had worked out Vorin’s plan and did his best to protect Vorin from any stray attacks. His razor hydra plants had finished off the leeches and were now working on the main body themselves. Each time they were slashed in half or ran through by a flagellum, a new plant would grow. There had to be about 40 on the battlefield now, each one a different size based on how much they were feeding.

  With all the attacks constantly doing damage and the constant rumble of a titan in pain, Synexus was impressed that it still had the presence of mind to send out such powerful attacks. That was when he decided to end it quicker.

  He jumped towards the other end of Vorin’s line of desecration while yelling out a warning to his leader. When he landed, his arm instantly morphed into anti-bacterial sterile silver that made up the hospital walls of his home world using Body Transmutation. Pressing his new hand against the Ullashtt made steam rise. He ignored the reaction and activated Enemy Transmutation to turn a big portion of the gelatin into sand.

  Plague was so big that the sand portion didn’t quite reach the damage that Vorin had done, but it was enough.

  Only a tiny bit in the center of Plague was there to try and support the outrageous weight of the towering creature. Like an old, tall tree in the forest, the monster slowly started to fall over. The last little bit of his body bent trying to hold the form but was unable to and eventually tore. A giant crash followed with a dust cloud shooting straight to the night sky.

  No kill notifications came.

  Vorin took the time to heal Synexus and Yu once more. He was about to say something when the tremors started again. This time they were even more fierce.

  “NO! NO! NO NO NO NO NO!” A new plague aura shot out at the exclamation by an unseen voice.

  Violent quakes followed, making even more of the town fall to dust.

  Before anyone could react, dozens of flagella shot from right beneath Vorin piercing him many times over. Blood shot from every wound and his gaze fell to ground.

  For Yu and Synexus it happened in an instant and neither of them wanted to process what had taken place. Horror. Shock. Disbelief.

  Anger.

  Synexus cut at the base of the flagella, and they all fell to the ground squirming and then sizzling away. He caught the lifeless body of their captain and held him.

  Yu shrieked and unbelievably hot flames shot into the hole the monster had originally emerged from.

  “I SAID NO!”

  Plague bellowed before the fissure down the center of town heading towards the south ruptured open once more. Thousands of the clear flagella emerged and started to pull the full body of Plague from the ground like an undead rising from a tomb.

  All the citizens along with Yu, and Synexus watched in utter disbelief as the nearly two-mile-long gelatinous blob rose and then reconfigured into a plague fit for war.

  Thick, gelatinous arms formed along the base of the beast for better mobility and to fend off more attacks. Flagellum grew in length to be absolutely devastating whips. The membrane hardened to look like armor. Sickly green darkened into the colors of a bog. Browns, blacks, and greens mixing to a vomit inducing sight.

  Seconds after the blob reformed, an ominous laugh reverberated through its body and thousands of infected spikes shot out in every direction.

  “PLAGUE STORM!” he bellowed into the cold winter night.