90 Cultist Lair on Sale, Big Discoun (2/2)
”You don't have to worry about anything related to materials or goods. We have our ways to gather what you will ask. And here we are, behold, your future mad lair.” Malakov extended his hands, and the light illuminated the immense room. It was the former goblin territory, and the traces of that race were still plenty. Because it was the only location they truly explored, it was chosen to be the start of their attack on Archet.
Seeing the totems and the mural paintings, as well as the numerous destroyed barricades and burned planks, the old man was a bit perplexed. Was this destroyed only for the convenience of having a room for him? It was not illogical for him to think that just because they wanted this very place, the lich or anything else hadn't just barge in and killed everyone. As he was raising his head to look at the ceiling, he found many dents on it, like someone tried to dig it. But to transform this in only four days, it will take an immense amount of people.
CLAP CLAP
Malakov clapped his hands, and an endless amount of skeletons began to enter from every tunnel. While he had waited for the scapegoat to arrive, he wasn't idling. Just that it was stupid to keep all those skeletons outside, so he had made them wait nearby. At the same time, seeing the shocked face of the human flattered his ego. In a few minutes, nearly all traces of the goblin presence had been erased completely.
”Now that the initial cleaning is over, we need to decorate everything properly. What is first, an altar made of stone and strange runes? Something menacing, like the head of a Ytura or a Koshur? Yes, you don't know those two, so what is it?”
The old man stood silent for a few seconds, pondering about it. ”An altar is definitely a good thing. It only depends on the size of the cult, if it has a low amount of members, it doesn't necessarily have everything. But I suppose you want to make me appears as evil as possible. For that, I would want a few instruments of tortures.”
For whatever reason, the moment he pronounced those few words, the emptiness of the eye sockets of the lich weren't as empty as before. Like, it was getting more and more happy at these recommendations. But it didn't stop with that.
”Now it depends on the mood you want to give to those that will arrive. Is it disgust, making the weakest souls throw up? Despair, seeing the madness lingering in the air? Wrath, what exactly do you want? Well, you say that it is my choice. A bit of all of them then.”
The energetic skeletons were already bringing some stones prepared in advance. Bookshelves were also brought, with blank pages that will be filled entirely by the old man. Tables, beds, dishes, everything that was necessary for a human to live in a location. At the same times, walls were being erected and rooms were being dug up to make it look like a lot of members should have been present.
”And about the corpses?” The absolutely not innocent question made by Malakov led the unfortunate human to keep answering without letting him ponder about his own actions. Only by keeping him busy and not allowing him to think about the morality of his actions will the magician help them at the best of his capabilities.
”Not necessarily about the corpses. In truth, some hideouts were extremely clean, without even a drop of blood seen anywhere. No, we need a prison and a room with the altar. Yes, a little further, not here where it will be the dining room and meeting hall. Commune prison or individual cells? Commune, but a little bit divided. 5 persons by cells, but only 1 bed. And by a bed, I mean, 1 pile of straw that could be used as a bed. That way, the five people will fight for it. Yes. As for the room with the altar, fill it with random magical things. Stuff that needs mana to be activated, but isn't necessarily useful in a battle.”
He stopped for a second, and Malakov thought that he was noticing the weird mental state he was in. But the next second, he looked at the lich like he was normal and kept talking about corpses and children like they were vegetables. Of course, no one perturbed him in his long list of improvements or additions, whether it was someone from having the iron bar of the cells tainted with blood to having better knives for the kitchen.
During all those days, he never took a moment to rest or even eat. Each time Malakov approached him and lightly tapped his shoulder, he only felt that he was getting more and more alive and energetic. Because his brain was too focused on his mission, and he was also in a cavern in the underground, he didn't even saw the days passed. Only after seeing the result of his work, a perfectly authentic and terrifying base of a dark and bloodthirsty cult, did he pondered about the times he spent there.
”You have done an extraordinary work here. I was glad to have work with you until the end.” The lich that followed him everywhere he had gone enigmatically left him with those words. But as he was thinking about their meaning, he suddenly felt extremely tired. Without the permanent influx of mana inside his body, he had a hard time even standing on its legs.Stumbling on his way toward a nearby bedroom, he fell on the warm and comfy bed, wanting to rest for a while. Not for long, just a few hours.