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

“Does Demon Lord-sama intend to go alone to where the Great Spirit is?”

“Fumu. Well, I didn’t really intend to involve the army in this, but…”

When Grom questioned me on my intent, I folded my arms and pondered on the situation.

The Great Spirit possessed tremendous power.

It was to the point where it could never be compared to that of human heroes.

They were an existence known only through myths, and they could be considered as a calamity which transcended human intelligence.

If I allowed my allies to come along with me, it would only unnecessarily increase the number of casualties.

At the very least, it wasn’t an opponent that could be defeated by the army.

Even if I prepared millions of undead, I doubt they could even land a scratch on it.

In that case, the number of subordinates I could allow to accompany me would be limited.

Grom would be the first on the list.

He was the second most powerful person within the Demon Lord’s Army, and the power he possessed currently exceeded that of the previous Demon Lord.

Unless he was facing a fatally incompatible enemy, like that of the Saint, then he boasted an unrivaled strength that could match practically anyone in a head-on battle.

Considering he was also an immortal one, he wouldn’t die that easily. Not even from the Great Spirit's attack.

It was easy to forget that Grom actually possessed tremendous power considering how he usually acted and spoke.

Luciana mustn't be overlooked as well.

She was formerly one of four heavenly kings of the previous Demon Lord.

She had mainly been in charge of information and sabotage, but in terms of pure combat ability, she was also very powerful.

She was so capable that she had been able to last for a short time in combat against the former hero. 1

Since she was able to use a wide variety of magic, she could adapt to various situations.

Henry, who was also an executive, was also strong within his own right.

This man, who had been nominated for the subjugation of the previous Demon Lord, was a genius in both archery and close range combat.

When it came to those two factors he was unparallelled, especially when compared to the other executives.

Perhaps is favorite dragon bow could be effective, even if it was against the Great Spirit.

He was the perfect candidate for pure combat.

If there would be any other subordinates I could take along, perhaps Doldar the dullahan would be a valid choice?

He was once the great pirate who had devastated the world, although most of his reasoning was lost at this time.

Even so, he still has his outstanding strength.

Just like Grom, the fact he was undead made him harder to kill, which was just the icing on the cake.

The only possible drawback was just that he didn’t possess any long range attacks, unlike the other candidates.

Dodar excelled in using his axe for close combat, but he couldn’t use any magic.

Since we were against a Great Spirit this time, I couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.

Regarding any subordinates besides these four, I couldn’t help but dismiss them as options due to their lack of power.

While there were also talented people amongst them, the enemy we were against this time was too ill-suited for them.

However, should I really bring only the executives and Doldar along?

Not only were they busy with their respective duties, but there was also the fact that combat against the Great Spirit was dangerous.

It might be better for me to handle it alone and not bother anyone else with such a thing.

As I was worrying about who I should bring to accompany me, the door of the audience room opened.

The person who appeared there was the chief of elves, Logan.

“I heard the story just now. I will accompany you as well.”

“Logan.”

I had called him in for another matter entirely, but it seemed he’d been listening to the conversation just then.

Logan proudly entered the room.

“You intend to meet the Great Spirit, right? Then an Elf is the right person for the job. We have a deep connection with spirits. I’ll be useful in this matter.”

“It’s dangerous. We’ll likely end up in combat. Are you aware of that?”

“Of course I know. I might be a weak man myself, but I promise I won’t end up being a hindrance.”

Logan nodded without hesitation to my question.

His will was firm.

It wasn’t something I could overturn with any kind of persuasion.

He intended to come along, regardless of what I said.

“I’m sorry about that. I appreciate it.”

That was all I could say to him.

Strictly speaking, the elves were slaves, not subordinates.

he didn’t feel like a direct subordinate.

For that reason, Logan had been omitted from the list of candidates, despite possessing a rare talent.

He was an excellent user of spirit magic.

In exchange for not having affinity with offensive magic, nobody could compare against him in terms of support magic.

I was helped by that ability of his several times during my journey to subjugate the Demon Lord a decade ago.

In this battle against the Great Spirit, I could expect his own opinions and insights about it.

He possessed the courage to be unabashed when facing any opponent.

Overall, he was an extremely reliable man.

“Demon Lord-sama, what about me?”

“You are to be on standby at the capital. Keep track of the movements of the other nations. I want you to act as though something were to happen.”

“Hah! Roger that!”

If Logan came along, I could let the executives do their respective duties.

Their main duty would be to gather information and defend the Demon Lord’s Territory.

These were also important duties.

It would be troublesome if we were struck by another nation while we were distracted by the Great Spirit.

I asked Logan after summarizing my thoughts.

“Do you need to prepare anything?”

“There’s nothing in particular. I’m okay as I am.”

Logan replied plainly.

He was always calm.

Even though we were about to confront the Great Spirit, he didn’t show any trace of nervousness or fear.

I used transfer magic to move Logan and me to the destination.

Our destination was outdoors.

A stone fortress had been built just ahead.

We could see the demons working from a distance.

On the other side of the fortress, there were countless undead lined up.

It was mostly the horde of undead that I’d ordered to be on standby at the capital.

I’d transferred about a hundred thousand of them to the location at the same time we transferred here.

The undead filled the land, which created a peculiar sight.

And in front of us, there was a big valley.

It continued endlessly beyond the horizon, as if it was cutting through the ground.

Its bottom was covered with miasma so it wasn’t visible.

Logan's eyebrows twitched as he looked down at the valley.

“This place is…”

“It’s the Valley of the Dead.”

It was the place where I had resurrected and, at the same time, the source of the Demon Lord’s power.

Everything had started from here.

I didn’t visit this place much, but the connection was always present.

I had been cursed by the Valley of the Dead.

It was too terrifying and sinful to call the authority and power that dwelt in this body a blessing.

Logan, who stood away from the cliff, pointed to the undead, which were lined up to the other side.

“Are you intending to fight against the Great Spirit with quantity? I doubt it will be effective, though…”

“It’s slightly different from what you're thinking.”

I activated my authority as I said that.

The undead, which had been silently standing all this time, suddenly started running.

They moved toward the Valley of the Dead.

All those undead raced and threw themselves to the bottom of the valley, which was filled with miasma.

The sounds of bone and meat being crushed echoed immediately after.

All those fallen undead were colliding at the bottom of the valley.

The unbearable sounds constantly repeated.

As the undead around the area disappeared, the silence finally came.

“Fumu.”

I turned my attention to my own physical condition.

My power had been greatly amplified with the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of corpses.

I could feel the difference.

I had done it to strengthen myself enough to match the Great Spirit and the plan seemed to have succeeded.

The price was the loss of an army of a hundred thousand strong, but it was not as bad as it sounded.

It was but a small part of the forces left in the capital.

If you added the amount of the undead placed in a respective territory, the total number of them would be enormous.

Therefore, it wouldn’t affect us at all as a whole.

After witnessing the series of events, Logan sighed.

“…What a terrible sight to see.”

“I think so as well. It isn’t something people would like to watch.”

As I responded to him, I used perception magic.

I explored the distant territory of the Empire and immediately captured a powerful magical reaction.

This was definitely the reaction of the Great Spirit.

The quantity and the quality of this magic power exceeded the limit of living creatures.

It was just so completely far out of the norm.

As I extrapolated its exact location, I called out to Logan.

“We’re going.”

“Ah.”

He replied with a short response.

As I heard his reply, I used transfer magic.