I became a legion lich

244 Beginning of war

There were no other people inside the fortress other than these three, but it was still one of the most well-defended fortresses on the continent. The order of magic also had barrier-generating magic items and left magic cannons that the undead could operate, so the order was also supporting Louis, not just sending him to his death.

“I’m amazed that this necromancer is able to maintain control of so many dead without fainting from the effort. Even though all undead are newborns, it’s a great achievement to be able to control so many.” Eishin sincerely praised, although he hated necromancy to the core.

“It’s thanks to the tombstones of the dead and that staff.” Canan began to explain the secret behind Louis’ army. “Tombstones are magical items that keep the undead in a state of hibernation, and he can take them out whenever he wants.”

Canan took some papers from his dimensional ring with Louis’ personal information and a list of his undead was included and passed to Eishin. The death knight, lich elf, Zombie Drake and even the zombie and skeleton army have been listed.

Eishin briefly flipped through the information before handing it back to Canan. “Is his research not here?”

“Obviously not.” Canan looked at Eishin as if he had lost his mind. “We are allies, but that’s not enough to share military secrets between us. Just as you have your secrets, I have mine.”

“Fair.” Eishin didn’t insist anymore and returned to the previous matter. “And that stick? Do you know what it is?”

“Believe it or not, this staff is made from the spine and skull of a death deer.” Canan spoke and sympathized with his surprise.

Death deer were extremely rare and equally dangerous creatures. They were natural necromancers, capable of turning corpses into the undead and controlling them, making them threats to all living things.

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They were also capable of transforming into a ghost-like spirit form. Louis got his hands on the staff by accident over two centuries ago, before he even became an elder, and it has become his best weapon ever since, despite the technology that created it being outdated.

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“Looks like it’s about to start.” Eishin muttered, seeing the ships of evolved demihumans getting closer and closer. He tried to distract himself by asking questions about the elder, but it was no longer possible.

Canan also stopped talking and concentrated on the hologram in front of him, swearing to himself that he would kill Louis with his own hands if he didn’t live up to expectations or prove himself to be replaceable.

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At the same time, in the fortress D.

“It will start soon, go to your positions.” Louis ordered, noticing that the evolved demihumans were getting closer. The skeletons were the first to move, reaching for the magic cannons and aiming for the ships, just waiting for the ships to come into range.

The zombies were next taking up a Phalanx formation in front of the fortress’ gates. The fortress itself was small, standing less than 50 meters tall and made entirely of earth magic.

Louis knew he couldn’t rely too much on these stone walls and that the true defense would be the barrier-generating magic items, so he ordered the zombie army to position itself in front of the gates, staying behind the walls along with the lichs and the zombie drake.

“Activate the barriers.” Louis ordered the masters of magic, as they would not allow him to get his hands on controlling the barrier devices. The masters of magic didn’t immediately respond, but looked at the approaching demihuman ships and nodded.

One of them walked away from the elder and took the magic item from his dimensional ring. The item looked like a floating mithril sphere, with circular mithril shields floating in the four directions. As soon as the mage activated the item, the sphere flew high and the circular shields spread out until it covered the fortress and the undead army, a membrane of mana connecting the shields.

The mana membrane was made of pure energy and ignored all buildings and undead, becoming a solid barrier only when the masters of magic wanted it to. The barriers would become membranes of mana and allow any attack from the inside out, but block attacks coming from the outside.

“They’re almost in range, so be prepared. And don’t even think about doing anything, because it won’t end well for you.” The master of magic left behind ordered Louis, who could only gnash his teeth and obey like a dog on a leash. The mage was holding a communication cube and probably recording since the battle was going to start soon, so he could only smile and wave.

Louis had been completely healed and even received potions that helped clear his mind so he wouldn’t act like a madman like he did on judgment day, but his pride remained wounded and Louis was unable to accept what happened to him.

‘These bastards dare to order me around like I’m a dog. I am an elder of the order, a mage much more powerful than those two pathetic mages, but through Thersec’s fault I have been reduced to this pathetic state.’Louis thought as he internally wished that the Zombie Drake would tear him to pieces, but he stopped himself.

He knew that even if he killed the master of magic here, it would do nothing to improve his situation and would just give his enemies the excuse they needed to get rid of him at once. Despite all the shame and humiliation he went through, Louis still considered his survival more important than revenge.

As long as he could live one more day, there would always be a chance to get revenge, while his life was but one.

‘For now, all I can do is fight with everything I’ve got so they can’t kill me, at least not while we’re at war. I need to think of a way to get rid of this tracking spell and regain my position as a dark elder.’ Louis used mana vision to look at the core itself, feeling disgusted at the sight of the tracking spell surrounding his core.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to affect the tracking spell. He had already tried all of his best spells and abilities only to find them useless, his mana passing through the layer with no effect.

The tracking spell didn’t offer any resistance to his mana, but it wasn’t affected by his magic either. It was a marvel of magic that could track him wherever he went, but it wouldn’t affect his fighting ability.

‘They’ve already invaded my lab and forced me to share all my knowledge, so the only way to recover everything I’ve lost is an achievement so great that it overshadows all my previous crimes and discoveries, but first I must focus on these bastards in front of me.’ Louis stopped thinking about his plan and focused on the battle ahead.

The ships of the evolved demihumans were rapidly approaching and in a few seconds they would come into range of the magic cannons.

“Prepare to fire on my signal. Lichs, start casting.” Louis ordered loudly so that the people watching the battle could hear and started to cast his own spells. He needed to put on a show for whoever was watching and mental orders were effective but not at all flashy.

“Fire!” He yelled as the ships came into range, firing all the dozen guns at once. The cannons’ ammunition was iron bullets enchanted to explode on contact and filled with alchemical powder, increasing the explosive power of each shot.

The cannons were also enchanted to speed up the explosions and increase the range of the projectiles, allowing the skeletons to hit ships while they were nearly 10 kilometers from shore.

Giant explosions hit the front lines of the demihuman ships, some hitting the ships and others missing the target by a large margin, the flames and smoke obscuring Louis’ vision and preventing him from confirming how much damage was done.

“Reload and fire as soon as you’re ready.” Louis wasted no time confirming the result and ordered the skeletons to prepare for the next barrage of fire.

Furious roars came from the direction of the explosions and the smoke was swept away by a gust of wind, allowing Louis to visualize the evolved demihumans. Many of the vanguard ships were burning and bodies could be seen floating in the water, but the dead were a minority.

Several demihumans were standing on the remains of the ship or on pieces of ice floating in the ocean and growing larger with each passing second. 20 meter giants made of rock-hard white ice around them rose amidst the explosions, their feet touching the sea floor and half their bodies above the water.

They were evolved ogres activating gigantification, its size after growing up being twice that of a normal ogre. Normal ogres also had the limitation that they could only absorb two abundant elements, while their evolved version could absorb three.

The evolved demihumans advanced even with the loss of ships, the larger ones swimming directly while the smaller ones climbed onto the shoulders of the 20 meter ogres.