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

“I thought you ran away since you suddenly vanished. I guess you’re not that much of a coward. You must have let your minions escape, right?”

Makia, who recognized me, put her hand on her waist and sighed.

I could see she was looking down on me from a distance.

It seemed that she just loved to keep humiliating me.

It seemed that she had no interest in the fact I let my subordinate escape.

She placed the Demon Lord Subjugation as her highest priority within her.

She thought it was okay to think about others for later.

“…”

I silently wielded the keepsake sword.

There was still some distance from Makia.

It was far enough to fire arrows.

However, that meant nothing to me.

It was something that could easily be managed depending on how it was done.

“Heeh, so you’re ignoring me. You sure are cheeky despite being an undead.”

Makia unleashed her bloodlust.

Judging from her annoyed tone, it seemed she was quite short-tempered.

She pointed her staff toward me.

It was preliminary action to activate divine magic.

I couldn’t let my guard down.

“Let’s end this Old-fashioned Demon Lord already. I’ll destroy and take away things you have built. Do prepare for it, okay~?”

“If you people come to hinder me, then there won’t be any mercy for you.”

I declared so with an emotionless voice.

It was a declaration toward the whole Holy Scepter Army.

I couldn’t overlook the outrage they caused.

At this rate, the Holy Scepter Army would commit massacre within Demon Lord Territory.

A great amount of sacrifice would occur.

I had chosen the path to become an enemy of the world.

I was already prepared for casualties to occur within my army.

However, I couldn’t overlook those who would massacre powerless people without meaning.

Since they had chosen to surrender, it was my duty as Demon Lord to grant them protection.

I would destroy the Holy Scepter Army here.

“Haaah, just die.”

Makia snorted and raised her cane.

Her magical power increased, and a large number of chains of light appeared in the air.

It was about hundreds of them.

I observed the series of operations and magic movement.

I roughly understood how it worked.

“—I see.”

Right after, the chain of lights we launched.

As it formed an orbit that destroyed buildings it touched, it rushed towards me.

I sprinted toward a nearby building.

At the same time, I used concealment magic to invalidate perception through magic power and miasma.

I destroyed the door and jumped in.

There were several corpses left within the room.

Perhaps they were the people who had lived here?

This must be done by the Holy Scepter Army.

As I observed the corpse, the wall exploded with a roaring sound.

The chain of light fell into the room.

It possessed quite a power. If it hits the target, it would easily crush them.

I moved while sweeping my Keepsake sword.

Then I moved to an adjacent building.

Then, the chain bent its orbit toward me.

So it can track its target.

Makia shouldn’t be aware of my location since it was a blind spot for her inside the building.

She shouldn’t be able to detect me since I used concealment magic.

Yet the chain of light accurately moved toward me.

In other words, it was capable of autonomously tracking its target.

It truly was high performance magic.

Normal attack magic would aim for its target visually.

There were also those which could track its target, but it often required the target to be marked beforehand.

Yet this chain of light did so without needing to mark me.

As expected of sacred magic, it possessed a different nature from common magic.

Anyway, it’s better to keep moving.

I leaped toward the second floor of another building.

As the approaching chain kept destroying its obstacle, I moved to yet another building.

The reason I didn’t use transfer magic, was because I was concerned about its magic consumption.

This place was harsh towards the undead.

The consumption was kept forced upon it.

I was also using magic power to boost my physical ability.

Normally, that would be good enough, but as expected within this city influence, I wasn’t in good condition.

I was significantly weakened.

It seemed my connection to the Valley of the Dead was temporarily cut off.

There are so many disadvantages to me to the point that it feels like a joke.

I couldn’t even feel angry at so many conditions beautifully coinciding together.

It made me feel as if the world hated me.

Saint Makia was truly an existence born for the sole purpose of destroying the Demon Lord of the current generation.

Even so, it didn’t mean I would just give up.

It was my duty to overturn this fate.

If I were to be defeated by Makia, the world would turn back to how it was.

Until the birth of the next Demon Lord, humanity would keep fighting each other.

Above all, it would mean all the sacrifice until this point would be in vain.

The significance of all the evil deeds I’ve committed would be lost.

That alone should be prevented at all cost.

As I overcame numerous chains of lights, I moved toward the next building.

I cut the wall using my sword, and intrude upon the room by rolling into it.

Within the room, there were soldiers of the Holy Scepter Army.

There were four people, and all of them sat with their legs crossed.

They were concentrating and using their magic.

“Wha…?!”

“Uh, Wah?”

The soldiers panicked as they noticed my invasion.

They immediately tried to pick up their staves.

I swung my sword before they could do that.

The heads of four soldiers rolled on the floor, and the room was painted in blood.

It also fell upon me.

The soldiers who lost their head collapsed at the same time.

It seemed they died without time to feel the pain.

Just a little compassion I could give to them.

I wouldn’t turn them into undead.

The city was currently filled with a holy aura.

It would be just a waste of magic since the newly created subordinate wouldn’t even function as a shield.

I shook the fresh blood off my blade and observed the situation of my surroundings.

It was wrapped in an eerie silence.

The chain didn’t come. Did I manage to escape outside its range?

Or maybe they noticed that it would be intercepted easily if used indiscriminately?

Whichever the case, I’m grateful I could stop for a bit.

It was nerve-wracking to constantly concentrate and destroy those chains.

I crouched and touched the soldiers who fell before me.

Their bodies were engraved with magic markings.

Four of them had the same marking on them.

“…As expected, that was the case.”

I managed to grasp how Makia’s power worked through this series of events.

First of all, her holy magic was real.

Its effect itself was what was granted by the saint.

It was a pure power without any falsehood on it.

However, the magic power was different.

Makia collected the magic power from Holy Scepter Army’s soldiers within the city.

Then she used those magic powers to be unleashed as chains of light.

It was extremely difficult for a single person to use such magic repeatedly.

It wouldn’t be possible except if they had a blessed constitution or source of power that could be used instead.

In Makia’s case, it seems that the Holy Scepter Army itself was her source of power.

With enough of them, the problem regarding magic power consumption would be easily solved.

In that case, the countermeasure was easy.

The first step to reducing her power was to reduce the number of soldiers.

I could just use large scale magic like I usually did to do that, but in the off chance it was blocked somehow, there was no more chance for me.

Currently, I was put at disadvantage in many ways.

I wouldn’t be overconfident in my ability and chose an easy way out.

I need to prepare all possibilities and reliably hunt them down.

“…There’s a practical but miserable method.”

I mocked myself as I looked at corpses scattered in the room.

It was the first time that I fought so petty and cruel since I first became a Demon Lord.

But perhaps, this was the very evil that I seek.

Anyway, I have no choice but to do it.

I reduce my magic power consumption to prepare for my battle against Makia.

It was to limit myself on using magic power for self-protection, body reinforcement, concealment, and perception without using any attack magic.

It was expected for other parties to resist to some extent, but all I needed to do was to trample them despite that.

I have that person's sword skill with me.

There was nobody out there who could match me in that aspect.

–I moved quietly to kill tens of thousands of soldiers led by the Saint.