With Duke Morbath dead and his monopoly on filth-borne misery broken, chaos did not die—it reorganized.
From the rot of power, new leaders emerged.
Not just warlords, not just cultists—
But statesmen.
A New Alliance
They called themselves the Kingdoms of Grime.
A united front of decay-loving regimes, built on opportunism and rot. Each member brought their own flavor of filth:
Duke Slatherthorn, an oozing noble from the Mire Courts, speaks in slick riddles and wears a cloak made from used bandages.
The Black Alchemist Consortium, who see hygiene as the enemy of natural evolution.
Queen Viridra, a corrupted dryad once revered as the protector of spring—now turned into a vine-choked horror who spreads toxic pollen through her forests.
General Vexrot, a former paladin who lost faith after purification magic destroyed his hometown's "holy traditions" of ash-rub rituals and parasite baptism.
They met in the Ruined Cathedral of Gurn, seated on thrones of melted wax and compost, and signed the Rot Accord.
"Purification," their charter read,
"is cultural tyranny. And Kazuki Tanaka is its prophet of oppression."
Target #1: The Last Clean River
The alliance set their eyes on River Clarity, the last uncontaminated waterway on the continent.
Its waters fueled three free cities, countless farming zones, and Kazuki's main purification supply chain.
If it fell, hope would dry up.
The Political Offensive
But the Kingdoms of Grime didn't just move with armies. They moved with words.
They sent emissaries to neutral cities, spinning stories.
They accused Kazuki of:
Erasing ancient muddy rites.
Enforcing foreign standards of "cleanliness" onto sovereign lands.
Unbalancing ecosystems by killing "natural" bacteria spirits.
Duke Slatherthorn himself gave a speech before the United Circles of Neutrality:
"What is purity but tyranny in a bottle?
Let the mold grow where it pleases.
Let the stink rise.
We rot, therefore we are!"
Kazuki, watching the broadcast through his crystal tablet, simply sighed and said:
"Did… did he just quote Descartes backwards?"
The First Skirmish
While the debates raged, Grime saboteurs struck River Clarity.
Spore bombs, sludge familiars, and infected water sprites—all aimed at turning blue to brown.
Kazuki and the Knights of Hygiene arrived just in time. Roro Buckethelm dove into the river with ten bars of soap strapped to his chest, detonating them like purification charges.
Elrin summoned a barrier of sterilized light.
K'taal stood on the banks, arms raised, chanting:
"Ritual of the Rinse. Bind and Banish."
And from the air, Kazuki descended on a flying mop-ship—The Scrubhawk—raining enchanted disinfectant from above.
The river survived. Barely.
Battle Lines Are Drawn
Now, the world is truly divided.
On one side: An alliance of the filthy, desperate to preserve their right to decay.
On the other: Kazuki, Saint of Soap, and a growing global coalition who see cleanliness not as control—but as care.
The war is no longer about survival.
It's about ideology.
And somewhere in the shadows, the Dirty Dozen sharpen their grime again.