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

I was standing far above in the sky, creating a force field beneath me.

The wind was blowing through, making my robe flutter.

Perhaps it's because I'm only made of bones, but I don't feel cold.

Next to me was Luciana.

She was whistling cheerfully.

The melody sounded familiar.

I think it was the signature song of some musician.

Luciana seems to be well versed in human culture.

Below us, was a deserted town.

It was once the capital of the small country.

It was also the place where we made Henry one of our own.

The place was supposed to be uninhabited, but we could see soldiers.

They were the Imperial Army.

They have unjustly occupied this city and are treating it as a real imperial territory.

As expected, they haven't touched the area adjacent to the Demon Lord's territory, but it seems that they have finally taken over the capital city without any hesitation.

It was a surprisingly bold move.

I wonder if they really want to increase the profits of their own country to that extent.

This is beyond my understanding.

I don't even want to understand it.

Are they plotting the downfall of the small country for their own benefit and snatching the vacant land…?

I'm in no position to say this, but I don't think it's a humane approach.

That country was the opposite of ideal in every way.

Luciana circled around happily, looking out at the former capital.

When she stopped whistling, she hugged my arm.

“Looking down like this, humans seem like bugs. I feel like crushing them. Don't you think so, Demon Lord?”

“I kill humans, but I don't look down upon them. I'm eliminating them as a necessary measure.”

“Sigh…”

Luciana lets out a slightly frustrated sigh.

She looked at me with a clammy gaze.

“You're too serious…One of these days, you’re gonna give yourself a stomach ulcer.”

“If it’s an ulcer, it’s long eaten through my stomach.”

When I replied, Luciana laughed out loud.

I didn't mean to make a joke, but I wondered if it had struck a chord with her.

Regardless of whether it was true or not, it was an easier reaction than being awkwardly cared for.

“By the way, I've heard about what you are going to do, but is it really possible?”

“I've tried the same technique on a smaller scale. As long as I have enough magic, I won't fail.”

“That's usually where people fall short. The Demon Lord is really out of the ordinary…”

Luciana gives an exaggerated shrug.

What she was saying is the reason we are here.

I'm not surprised that she was sceptical, and I wouldn't have thought of this when I was alive.

It was absolutely impossible.

However, I can do it now.

You could call it a privilege given to the current Demon Lord.

“I'm going to level this area first. Be careful of the aftermath.”

“Yes, sir.”

Luciana quickly took distance from me, and solidified her defence.

It should be fine at that distance.

Having witnessed this, I began to formulate the spell.

A magic circle emerged in front of my hands.

The magic circle began to rotate slowly and gradually increased in speed.

When the rotation reached its peak, countless black fireballs shot out from the magic circle.

The fireballs were created at a tremendous speed and fell one after another onto the ruins of the capital.

It was like a meteor shower.

As soon as the fireballs hit the ground, they caused a huge explosion.

Hundreds – no, thousands – of fireballs ravaged the city without pause.

They shattered the city and indiscriminately plowed through the surrounding area.

A roar that sounded like the end of the world erased all sound.

“Hmm, I think that should be enough.”

I stopped my magic when the time was right.

My fingertips were melting and starting to fall apart.

It's the price of the spell.

I couldn’t control the recoil.

This was the result of my inadequacy.

I must be more diligent next time so that I can use it unharmed.

As I reflected on my actions, I looked down at the scene below me.

The place where the capital used to be had been turned into scorched earth.

It had been obliterated without a trace, and nothing remained of it.

It was indistinguishable from the surrounding wasteland.

The hollowed-out ground was emitting a thick cloud of white smoke.

Luciana, who had dispelled her defensive magic, was in high spirits.

“Ah-ha, and you say that you don’t hate humankind. I think you're being too merciless.”

“I won't take any half-baked actions. If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it thoroughly.”

“The Demon Lord is quite conscientious. I'd like to follow your footsteps.”

Luciana lied down resting her chin in her hands.

Even though she was in the air, she was very dexterous.

I spoke to her.

“I'm going to concentrate from here on. Don't talk at all until I’ve finished the spell.”

“Ye-s.”

What I'm going to use now is the art of space manipulation.

It was a modified version of a similar spell, and we could not let our guard down.

The destruction of the ruins of the capital was just a preliminary step for this.

I constructed the spell while using up an enormous amount of magic power.

I immediately felt a sense of fatigue.

It was an anomaly caused by the drastic decrease in my magic power.

I withstood it with my concentration and released the spell that he had finished constructing.

The next moment, the vast expanse of scorched earth disappeared.

In its place, a lush and cool forest appeared.

Towering in its centre was an interminably huge tree.

Glistening brightly, it was imbued with a holy light.

I knew of its existence, but this was the first time I had seen it in person.

It must have been exposed because the perception blocking spell was removed.

Although it was detrimental to the body of an undead, it was very beautiful.

In other words, it was the forest of Yggdrasil.

What I did with the spatial manipulation spell was to change the coordinates.

The scorched earth in this place was taken away, and the forest of the world tree in the far distance was brought in.

It was a variant of the transfer magic that I always used.

This time, however, it was on a different scale.

I drew a boundary line around the perimeter of the Forest of Yggdrasil in advance and executed the transfer in a precise and safe transfer.

I'm not sure what happened to the scorched earth I sent over there, but it doesn't matter if it's broken.

It was originally turned into a barren land by the black fireballs.

The problem with the Forest of Yggdrasil, which has become the territory of the Demon Lord, was that it was isolated from the royal capital.

As long as it existed in that place, it would always be targeted by the Imperial Army.

If that's the case, I thought it would be a good idea to put it adjacent to the Demon Lord's territory, and that's what led me to change the coordinates this time.

The distance between here and the Demon Lord's territory is about half a day.

If we put them too close together, there was a possibility of a dispute.

If you take into account the circumstances of both parties, this distance would be appropriate.

By developing the abandoned areas along the road, it would be easier to come and go.

It would also make it easier to defend against neighbouring countries.

I checked with my perception magic and found that there were elves in the village.

It seemed that they too had been able to make the transfer safely.

It seems that the magic worked without a hitch.

“Wow…I can't believe it. It was actually possible.”

Luciana raised her voice in admiration.

I felt a little self-conscious because of that.

It's because she is a mage that she can't believe what she is seeing.

I asked Luciana as we walked down the stairs of the force field, “I'm going to tell the Elf Chief what happened. Do you want to go with me?”

"Yes, of course. He’s a friend of Dwight's, right? I'd like to meet him.”

For some reason, Luciana was excited to follow me.

Logan was not an amiable man.

I don't think we'll get the kind of conversation she's hoping for, but it would be tactless to point that out.

I'm a little excited to see how the two of them will interact.

This is how I got the elven clan and the Forest of Yggdrasil.