The Executed Sage Reincarnates as a Lich and Begins a War of Aggression

I walked down the highway and soon reached the capital.

The main gate was blockaded.

Soldiers lay in wait on top of the wall surrounding the city.

They must have sensed our approach and decided to sustain the siege.

They must plan to exterminate me using magic and bows.

It wasn't a bad plan.

I was an Undead.

It could be said that a one-sided attack from a distance was the ideal solution.

As I thought of such things, the soldiers began their offence.

It was a barrage of arrows.

A rain of arrows poured on me, taking a parabolic trajectory.

"……"

I remembered the scene when I was executed.

The people's sneers.

The arrows that ran through my heart and eye.

The overwhelming despair.

She, who fell to the bottom of the valley.

When I came back to my senses, the skeletons and ghouls following me were skewered.

Their hands and feet were nailed to the ground by arrows, restricting their movements.

At this moment, countless undead had received damage.

It seems like the other side has some capable archers.

If I left them alone, the second wave of arrows would fall.

But I was not in a hurry.

Their miscalculation was, assuming that this attack was simply a raid of the undead.

They didn't seem to have received a communication from the fort besides the Valley of the Dead.

Although they weren't negligent, the fact that they underestimated me was indisputable.

The fact that they were conserving magic was clear evidence.

Let me make them face the truth here.

"—Observe."

I held my hand to the front.

A small fireball grew in the palm of my hand.

As I poured in magic, it rapidly swelled, quickly growing large enough to engulf a house.

When willed to push it, the fireball vigorously shot out.

Flying in a straight line, the fireball smashed the main gate to smithereens.

Accompanying that was an explosion and a wave of hot air that trampled upon the soldiers atop the wall.

"Ugyaaaa!"

"Eeeeek!? "

"W-Water! Bring water! "

The ones near the gate bore severe burns.

There were also ones who screamed as they fell from the wall.

The soldiers with minor injuries ran about, hoping to receive treatment.

This one blow caused enormous damage.

"Hm…"

I looked hard at my bony hand.

It would have nice if it had burst open a hole through the gate. But the results were far better than my expectations.

The strength of this magic could not be compared to anything from when I was alive.

There was a wide difference in output.

It must be because I absorbed the magic in the Valley of the Dead.

While the soldiers were in disorder, I advanced, taking along the undead.

Passing through the remains of the main gate, I infiltrated the capital.

The residents of the town ran about trying to escape.

They seemed to have delayed taking shelter.

They didn't think that I would break through the main gate at such an early stage.

They used to gleefully show us contempt in the past, but they now showed a pitiful appearance.

They pushed each other, trying to get away from me just a little more.

Some fell and continue to be trampled by others.

The scene evoked pity.

For them, I was now nothing but a demon that threatened their everyday lives.

Amongst the abuses that accompanied the pelting of stones, there were a few voices that had called us such.

I had clearly become the very thing they wished for.

"Now! Attack with all you've got! "

"The Ghoul is a fire mage! Call in more mages! "

"Don't stop between incantations! It's fine even if you use up your magic here! "

I heard a shout from behind.

Along with the arrows, there were now sporadic bursts of spells.

The undead following me received the attacks.

They were the actions of the soldiers on top of the wall.

They tried to desperately hinder our invasion.

"It's useless…"

As I gloomily thought, I glanced at the top of the wall.

As I did that, hundreds of undead began climbing the wall.

Supporting each other's bodies, they reached the top at a surprising speed.

The undead on top of the wall slaughtered the soldiers by sheer number.

The skeletons snatched away the soldiers' weapons and brandished them.

The ghouls pushed down the soldiers and ate them.

Hands full dealing with them, the soldiers had no leeway to attack me.

They were annihilated in no time.

Glancing at the soldiers who rose up as ghouls from the side, I strode along the main street.

I ignored the townsfolk as I walked forth.

I had something much more important to aim for.

I'll leave the small fry for later.

After walking for a while, I saw a row of soldiers blocking my path in the front.

They had made a formation on top of the roofs.

Under the orders of their commander, they set up their bows.

They weren't ordinary arrows.

The arrowheads shone white.

They seemed to have been bestowed with Holy magic.

It was the easiest and best way to eliminate undead.

Were the soldiers at the main gate buying time for them…?

It was difficult to avoid arrows on the street, seeing it was sandwiched between buildings left and right.

Judging so, I stood upright, waiting for my chance.

I had thought of something I wanted to try.

I only protected the bundle of cloth that carried that person's bones, using magic.

I couldn't let her be hurt.

Immediately, a holy arrow was fired.

Dozens of white lights drew a splendid path as they approached.

I, who was the vanguard, was completely crushed.

I felt the pain of my bones being pulverised in rapid succession as I was purified.

The moment I realised I had lost my form, my vision turned black.

And then, it changed completely.

A myriad of collapsed skeletons were scattered in front of me.

The arrows pierced without a gap.

I looked behind me.

There, the skeletons and ghouls that were out of the range of the volley of arrows lay in wait.

Then, I looked down at my body.

The white bones became jet black in an instant.

The miasma permeated through my body and leapt out like a flame.

"…As expected, there's no problem."

I revived with a skeleton as a medium.

A part of me dwelled inside each undead I controlled.

Even if my body was destroyed, I could be revived from any individual.

This was one of the powers I gained in the Valley of the Dead.

As long as I have undead subordinates, I will not be destroyed.

In the first place, the holy arrows did not have much effect.

My soul wasn't one bit damaged.

I only had to endure the pain of purification.

Even if I received thousands of them, I'd revive just fine.

"He revived…!? "

"The undead are supposed to be weak to Holy magic! Why did this happen!? "

"Don't just stand there! Shoot the arrows! "

Uneasiness ran through the soldiers.

They seemed to have mistakenly thought they defeated me.

In a panic, they prepared for the second wave of arrows, launching it simultaneously.

I felt sorry for them, but I was already done inspecting my abilities.

I didn't have to receive them on purpose this time.

I obstructed them with a sudden gust of magic.

The rain of arrows veered from their trajectories, piercing through the building one after another.

Of course, my camp wasn't damaged one bit.

I held my hand over the wreckage of skeletons scattered in front.

The miasma that flowed out, polluted the wreckage.

The bone fragments squirmed and combined to form a shape.

The results were dozens of bone wolves.

As they were originally humanoid, their shape was distorted and of large build.

The soldiers made a stir.

While listening to them, I issued a command.

"—Devour them."

The bone wolves made a rickety sound as they dashed.

Their nimble movements made them seem unlike any undead.

The wolved jumped at the soldiers who were not yet ready to attack, quickly making them break formation.

They even attacked the soldiers on top of the roofs with astounding jump strength.

Catching the neck of all things living in their sturdy jaws, they chewed them off with rough movements.

The dead soldiers became ghouls and fell under my control.

They then began to move to increase their allies.

Gazing at the ghastly spectacle, I walked.

On the way, I picked up my precious bundle of cloth.

I patted off the dust with my hands.

It didn't seem to be damaged.

It seemed like my defence magic to was stronger than when I was alive.

I passed through the soldiers I had annihilated.

Merging the bone wolves and the ghouls, I once again began inching forward.

I took care not to step upon the blood-drenched stone pavement.

I continued to raid the capital.

The soldiers counterattacked countless times, but they were crushed just like their predecessors.

With each battle, my subordinates increased exponentially.

That was because I could turn the corpses into an undead.

Even those who were damaged to the point they were immobile, I could collect a mishmash of their remains and recompose them into a new undead.

The battles along the way, served as good practice to check my strength.

I'll be posting advance chapters for this on Patreon starting August. Posting schedule is tentatively around 1.5 characters a week (that should be 1/2 chapter for the first arc).

Still looking for editors tho.