(xxiv)

The frozen patrons of the bakery didn’t remain so for long. Lazarus watched as, surprisingly, most of the staff hefted various tools such as cleavers, rolling pins, and heavy cast iron bakers’ trays. One enterprising employee, displaying a feat of strength you didn’t think would be found in a bakery, ripped a small sink out of the wall to use as a melee weapon.

The zombies didn’t fare long in the kitchen, however, the ones that had sprung into being in the front portion of the bakery had slaughtered all the customers. The abilities of the staff did not, apparently, extend to those they served.

“Marvelous. I wonder how the response to this event will look like? This will be an excellent way to probe the way emergencies are handled, particularly those involving creatures or the undead,” mused Lazarus, watching the scene unfold.

As strong as the bakery team was, the secondary core apparently saw them as a threat and turned a good portion of the kitchen into a brutal gauntlet of spike traps. The only three to escape were the head butcher and what seemed to be two bakers, and they certainly hadn’t made it out unscathed. The three laid into the zombies in the front of the building, working their way to the exit. In the process another baker went down, leaving only the boss and his single employee to escape the slaughter.

As the head baker and his sole employee emerged from the bloodbath that the bakery had become, they met a trio of guards just outside. The lich was amused to see the man who had wielded the kitchen sink had made it, however that just drew more eyes to the situation. Along with dozens of on-lookers who were wondering just what the hell was going on, the man began to yell and gesture towards the inside.

Lazarus focused in on the guards. They were within his territory, and thus he could get as close to them as he wanted to. In fact, he concentrated even harder, and the noise of the surroundings began to pour in. As he narrowed his senses down to one particular area, he picked up what the immensely fat baker was saying.

“-appeared out of nowhere! They are all dead, dead I tell you!” screamed the portly man, launching spittle into the significantly smaller guard's face.

The disdain the guard had for him was plain to see on his face. “I highly doubt someone released zombies into your bakery to steal your recipe. In fact, I doubt there are zombies at all,” responded the guard, dismissing the man’s claims entirely.

Fortunately, the secondary core had been spawning zombies as fast as its mana generation would allow it to. These zombies took the guard's dismissal of their existence as the perfect time to prove the annoying man just how wrong he was. Dozens of undead creatures burst out of the bakery, clawing their way to the guards and the populace. Among their number included the newly risen staff and patrons of the bakery itself. Apparently zombies were contagious.

The baker shrieked and bolted off the down the road wanting nothing to do with the newly created undead menace. His remaining baker employee was not far behind him.

The three guards surged forward, no hesitation in their actions as they attempted to stem the tide of undead from the bakery.

“Where in the divine did this many undead come from?” yelled the guard who had been speaking with the baker. No one had an answer for him as the fighting grew more and more intense.

The guards would have been quickly overwhelmed if it were not for several within the crowd who jumped in to help. Lazarus was annoyed to see public officials within Delton. He was hoping for some kind of dissention in the ranks between officials and the public. But apparently this Grand Archon fomed positive public relations. A rather advanced concept for such a backwards culture.

The adventurers sprung into action, the dozen or so men and women unsheathing a variety of weapons from scythes and axes to one man who wielded a flaming great sword. Between the guards and adventurer team up, the zombies were quickly forced back inside the bakery. Slamming the door shut, one of the guards placed his sword in the security handles where a wooden bar would have gone, securing the building for now.

“That… was most unusual,” he grunted, taking a step back as the pounding on the doors and walls of the bakery continued. The undead did not appreciate being taken from their lunch.

Lazarus watched in annoyance. The guards had been far too quick to deal with this, and in far fewer number than he had thought they would need. This led him to believe they faced these things regularly within the city. Both concerning and annoying.

Turning his attention away from the bakery, Lazarus examined his stats to learn more about these new Phage Points:

Magic Aptitude: Metal, Death, Phage

Major Stats:

Level: 1 Unique

Heath: 100 / 100 Mana: 21,500 / 26,500

Phage: 37

Minor Stats:

Strength: 1 Dexterity: 1 Intelligence: 37

Wisdom: 41 Charisma: 1 Luck: 0

“Yes, I know I have you, but what do you do, blast it?” the Lich said, annoyed. The text, never one to disappoint, responded to his inquiry as he focused on the Phage within his stats screen:

Phage – Phage is a resource that is gained through the consumption and elimination of living biologicals within the Dungeon’s territory. Phage can be used to upgrade any Dungeon related ability, item, or creature.

Lazarus mentally grinned, sending shivers down Ces's spine. The Spirit sat nearby, observing her Father with rapt attention.

“Oh yes. This is good. An excellent addition to my skills and abilities. Now. To experiment. Let’s see about making a truly dangerous undead,” the Lich cackled wildly. He targeted one of the zombies that was shambling around aimlessly within the bakery.

“You. You are now Maw – The Unceasing Hunger,” the Lich said, watching in amusement as the name popped up over the still mundane zombie. “And now you are improved!” he said, dropping thirty of his Phage points into the undead creature. It immediately grew massive in size, sprouting extra arms and legs and it grotesquely absorbed the undead around it. Lazarus was mildly worried that he had made a mistake, as the bakery struggled to contain the creature’s size. It hunched down… the stretched out in all directions.

With little warning, the building gave out and the bakery exploded.