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

It had been 20 days since the Golem trial, but there was still no big movements from the Magic Kingdom.

Its relationship with the Holy Scepter Kingdom worsened, and they had occasional skirmishes.

Not all of their battles were on a small scale.

The relationships of both nations weren’t that good originally, and this only just surfaced.

It was just a trivial matter I didn’t need to care about.

As a side note, all those battles were won by the Magic Kingdom.

As the Holy Scepter Kingdom only unnecessarily increased their losses, the trust from their people was declining.

At this rate, that nation would perish without the Demon Lord Army intervention.

According to the spies, there were signs of a rebellion within the nation.

The Holy Scepter Kingdom was forced to make a big choice.

I could say that was a turning point of sorts for them.

I needed to pay attention to the changes this would make.

But for now, there didn’t seem to be any need to intervene.

I didn’t intend to change my stance as an observer just yet.

On the other hand, the Magic Kingdom's side was eerily silent.

I had sent spies there, but there was too much secrecy regarding their information.

I could tell they were conducting various research and developments.

However, it was hard to tell whether the research was related to weapons or not without taking any risks.

Therefore, the order to personnel was to keep giving priority to their safety and to not overdo it.

I hadn’t heard any rumors of the Magic Kingdom planning to invade the Demon Lord territory.

Apparently, they were strengthening their cities’ defenses for now.

Perhaps they were preparing themselves for an invasion from the Demon Lord Army.

I had discussed this with the executives and they had all come to the same conclusion.

In other words, it was unlikely that they would invade the demon lord's territory.

They maintained their national safety first and foremost and tried to suppress any unnecessary damage.

It wasn’t a bad decision.

I wouldn’t think of them as cowards.

It was known by this point that carelessness resulted in failure.

However, it wasn’t like the Magic Kingdom's focus was entirely on defense.

Since they had had previously helped the empire develop the magic cannon, it was highly possible that they were currently developing weapons as a countermeasure against me.

They also seemed to be considering the subjugation of the Demon Lord.

They didn’t just focus on their defenses for nothing.

Rather, their methods were rather cunning.

They were trying to measure our capabilities by making others do the dirty work for them.

They might seem to focus only on defense, but they were very likely to invade as soon as they were convinced of a guaranteed victory.

I needed to be more cautious against them rather than against the Holy Scepter Kingdom.

Depending on how far they’ve developed, I might need to take initiative and attack them.

Even if it didn’t destroy the Magic Kingdom, it would wreck havoc.

It would also lower their manufacturing ability and prevent them from making a breakthrough, which was a source of concern.

I didn’t feel like doing it, but I needed to prepare for such a possibility.

I wanted to avoid weakening the Demon Lord Army due to my negligence.

I learned that in my battle against Saint.

Since I was entrusted with the lives of my subordinates, I needed to make decisions worthy of them.

As I was thinking about the two nations, I heard hectic footsteps outside the room.

I had already experienced it several times, to the point that I could tell who it was.

A moment later, the door of the audience room was vigorously pushed open.

The person who rolled in was, as expected, Grom.

“Demon Lord-sama, there’s serious trouble! It’s an emergency!”

“What happened?”

“The, the imperial capital has been obliterated!”

Grom reported the situation out loud.

As I heard that, I inadvertently raised a finger to my forehead.

I felt something similar to a headache.

The imperial capital … obliterated, he said…?

It was more serious than I had expected.

What the hell happened?

The imperial capital was supposedly under reconstruction and not under any situation wherein they could be attacked by other nations.

On top of that, the imperial capital was within the center of that nation's territory.

Since it was necessary to do a large scale invasion all the way to reach the capital, it was impossible for it to suddenly be destroyed.

On top of that, Grom said it was obliterated.

Even with an invasion led by another nation, they wouldn't be able to produce such a level of destruction.

As various questions popped up in my mind, I urged Grom to keep talking.

“…Tell me in detail.”

“Hah! Roger that!”

Grom opened the report and explained in chronological order.

The imperial capital was obliterated this morning.

According to the spies, it was reduced to rubble.

It wasn’t caused by the invasion of another nation.

But it also didn’t mean that a failed magic experiment caused this.

The obliteration of imperial capital seemed to have been caused by a Great Spirit.

Great Spirit was a term used to refer to the spirits of origin which have watched over the world since ancient times.

It was considered a top class existence by this world’s standard.

Depending on one's interpretations, they might even be considered Divine Spirits.

There were only a few Great Spirits known to exist, each having a respective phenomenon they had authority of.

Apparently, one of them went berserk this time.

However, the Great Spirits were mostly in a deep state of dormancy.

They wouldn’t wake unless something forced them to; they were mostly indifferent to other creatures and didn’t want to get involved.

Over the course of history, the Great Spirits have rarely appeared at all.

It was so rare that their appearance was considered a myth.

While they might give their blessings to a hero who managed to pass a trial, that was just the one exception.

In fact, there was no record of the Great Spirit manifesting in the last two centuries.

Nevertheless, they obliterated the imperial capital this time.

There must have been something that caused them to do so.

“Did you find the cause of this?”

As he heard my question, he looked down to read the report on his hand.

“It seems that the Imperial army had taken out a mystical stone from the ruins that enshrined the Great Spirit. That must be the reason for its anger. Really, they are a helpless group of people.”

Grom sounded half-astonished as he lamented.

I agreed with that.

Apparently, the empire took the act of taboo too lightly.

That mystical stone referred to a crystal that contained the power of the Great Spirit.

It had enormous magic power and was cherished by the Great Spirit as if it was their own child.

Of all things the empire could have done, they chose to steal it.

It was an act that greatly exceeded the Great Spirit’s tolerance.

The mystical stone of a Great Spirit could be considered as the greatest catalyst of magic that could possibly exist.

Perhaps the Empire stole it intending to activate some kind of magic.

Regardless of their intention, without a doubt, it was a foolish act.

The empire had a vast territory.

The ruins that enshrined a Great Spirit should be within those areas.

However, there were things that should never be intruded on.

They might have done it to rebuild a declining nation, but they were way too impatient about it.

There should be a limit to how reckless you could be.

The Great Spirit was currently wandering around the vicinity of the imperial capital.

It occasionally threw tantrums and destroyed various areas; there was a risk it would eventually go to another nation.

“The Empire’s Army tried to subjugate it, but they couldn’t do anything against it at all.” 

“Of course. The rank of their existence is too far apart after all.”

There was no way for a human army to fight against a Great Spirit.

We could even say its existence surpassed that of a natural disaster.

The idea of fighting against it was wrong to begin with.

“Then, what should we do?”

“Of course I will go to stop it. It’s not like I can just leave it be.”

I immediately answered him.

At this rate, the Empire would be obliterated as a whole.

The damage caused by the Great Spirit was enormous, and it would continue its slaughter until its anger subsided.

Even though the immediate cause was the Empire's stupidity, it couldn’t be overlooked since it would very well affect other nations as well.

The power of a Great Spirit would cause considerable destruction to each nation.

Perhaps there might be a nation that would end up destroyed by it.

That would hinder the ideal I was aiming for.

It would shake the foundation of world peace that was steadily being built.

I couldn’t let it collapse here.

It was enough for the Demon Lord alone to be the enemy of the world.

I needed to immediately eliminate all threats that were not under my control.