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

A half-destroyed cityscape was spread out beyond our sights at the destination we had transferred to.

It was a city located within the Empire's territory.

There were no living people around, just corpses peeking through the rubble.

As I confirmed the situation at the site, I detected a large amount of magic reaction ahead of us.

There were countless bits of grain flying through the sky.

What is that?

I observed the source of the magic power.

Falling from the sky were grains of ice imbued with magic power.

Those grains were approaching us with the force of a heavy rain.

It was definitely not a natural phenomenon.

Although I couldn’t see it yet, it must have been the work of the Great Spirit.

It also matched the direction it came from.

What a sudden welcome…

I deployed protection magic and put up a barrier to protect Logan and me.

The ice grains rained upon our surroundings immediately after.

A nearby building was obliterated and the land was flattened.

It was the destruction of any traces of civilization.

Cracks ran down the deployed protection magic.

Since it would break at this rate, I added additional protection magic.

I just needed to endure while I tried to grasp the situation.

There was no sign that the grains of ice would stop at all.

It poured down endlessly, causing instant destruction in its wake.

The cityscape that barely remained had already lost its original shape.

Meanwhile, Logan, who was next to me, clasped his hands and concentrated.

He told me with a sharp look.

“I've managed to connect with the Great Spirit. I will try to converse with it using spirit language. Can you buy me some time?”

“No problem.”

I answered him as I deployed more protection magic.

As terrifying as the blizzard was, it wasn’t something I couldn’t manage to endure.

I was supplied with an almost inexhaustible amount of magic power by the Valley of the Dead.

The amount of magic power I recovered exceeded the amount I used.

If I felt like it, I could practically keep defending forever.

Logan’s magic power grew, and he closed his eyes as he muttered something. 

It wasn’t a magic chant.

The accumulated magic power was projected towards the direction where the ice grains were flying from.

Logan repeated it several times.

“— It’s over.”

Eventually, Logan opened his eyes and released his stance.

At the same time, the ice grains stopped.

Seeing that there were no apparent changes in him, it seemed that the conversation went well.

As expected of the chief of elves.

If I had come by myself, there wouldn’t have been any opportunity to talk at all, and we would have gone into combat straight away.

As we were waiting there, I sensed the magic reaction from earlier approach.

The thing that came to us was a humanoid surrounded by bluish white light.

Its face looked ambiguous, with several irregularities which somehow made it look human.

Its long hair and its vague body shape gave the impression that the spirit was a woman.

This humanoid shape within the light should be the Great Spirit.

Since that I was meeting with it directly at this moment, I could clearly feel its overwhelming magic power.

It was clear that it possessed an entirely different dimension of strength.

However, I could sense that something wrong with its appearance.

While the quality and quantity of its magic power was first class, the flow of its magic power was unnatural.

I couldn’t detect anything like a soul or a core within it.

Unlike its enormous power, its presence kept fluctuating.

“…”

As I wondered about that, I focused my attention on analyzing it.

As a result, I could tell that this Great Spirit was formed by a constant supply of magic power.

Even so, it wasn’t a false existence.

The Great Spirit before me wasn’t the main body, just an offshoot made by it.

Even though I was curious about where its real body was, I didn’t manage to find it.

Regardless of the thoughts in my mind, the Great Spirit descended before us.

“An elf and an immortal one. It sure is a strange pairing.”

It was a clear female voice.

The voice had felt emotionless, as if it was merely observing something.

I asked without hesitation.

“Are you the Great Spirit?”

“Yes, indeed. And what about you people?”

“I am the Demon Lord.”

The atmosphere around the Great Spirit, who heard my answer, changed a little.

Somehow, it felt as if it grew interested.

Apparently, the title of the Demon Lord had that much worth.

“— Hou. I’ve met several people who called themselves the Demon Lord in the past, but your origin is exceptional. What about the other person?”

“Logan Lynn Freetylt. I am the chieftain of the World Tree forest.”

“So you are the guardian of the World Tree. I appreciate the duty of the guardians, regardless of the generation.”

The Great Spirit talked to Logan with a gentler tone compared to when they spoke to me.

As expected, elves and spirits had deep connections and good relationships between themselves.

I was glad I had brought Logan along.

After the greeting, the Great Spirit looked at us in turn.

“What are you two people doing here?”

“I wish for you to not ruin the human nation more than you already have.”

“Why? You’re supposed to be the Demon Lord. I see no reason for you to protect humans.”

The Great Spirit who heard my wish questioned it, as if it had heard something incomprehensible.

It was a natural reaction to have.

It was an unbelievable story for a Demon Lord to try to protect humanity.

That was why I answered her with the answer I had already prepared.

“I plan to take over this land. It would cause me some inconvenience if you destroy it too much.”

“I won’t accept such requests. This land is that of humans, and they took my mystical stone away from me. I won't stop ruining things until I get it back.”

The Great Spirit shook its head.

I asked about the thing that she just told me.

“You still haven't managed to get it back?

“As annoying as it is, I failed to find where it was because of their concealment technique. I destroyed the big city where the connection first disappeared from, but I failed to find it.”

The Great Spirit spoke in a cold tone.

I could feel irritation in every word of hers.

It made me lose my composure, albeit just a little.

The mystical stone must have been that important for the Great Spirit.

She was furious that it had been stolen.

However, to think the stone still hasn't been recovered…

I was surprised at this new information.

I thought that she had already recovered the mystical stone.

It shouldn’t have been that difficult, considering the power the Great Spirit possessed.

In fact, I did hear the imperial capital was obliterated.

In other words, the humans who stole the mystical stone were still alive and had managed to conceal themselves.

To think that they tried to outsmart the Great Spirit, they were both bold and looking for their death.

I didn’t know what they intended to do with it, but I was impressed by their ability to take action.

As I was listening to the story and observing the situation, I continued to question the Great Spirit.

“Will you stop the slaughter if the mystical stone is found?”

“I’ll never forgive the mastermind and the people involved in it, but I’ll try to reign my anger and spare the others.”

The Great Spirit declared so.

It couldn’t be helped for the mastermind and the people involved to get their retribution in the form of slaughter.

That was her legitimate right.

I, also, was not a good person who felt like helping the people who had caused all of this to begin with.

“Very well. Then I’ll retrieve the mystical stone.”

“Can you really do it?”

“I can.”

I immediately attested this to her.

On the other hand, the Great Spirit silently stared at me.

I also silently looked back at her.

We stared at each other within the suffocating silence.

The Great Spirit was the one who first turned her gaze away.

She relaxed her shoulders and spoke to us with a gentle tone.

“Very well. I’ll leave it to you. I’ll wait for you here. Get it done within three days.”

“I understand.”

I nodded deeply.

Before any other unnecessary things could happen, I quickly transferred back to the capital with Logan.

We returned to the audience room.

Logan looked around for a bit, then sat weakly on the carpet.

He exhaled heavily and glared at me.

“That was quite a negotiation. I feel petrified thanks to that.”

“I’m confident that I could somehow defeat her if we battle. That might not be the case if I fought its main body, but it was an offshoot so I could probably handle it.”

I would first confine it in miasma to forcefully cut off the magic supply coming from its main body.

Once the enemy lost their advantage, all I needed to do was to trust in my magic and swordsmanship to do the rest.

Even if other offshoots would come later, I could take care of them with the same method.

I wouldn’t win if I fought without a plan, but I could win once I understood how the enemy's power worked.

Analyzing that and preparing countermeasures were my specialties.

When I was alive, I made full use of such abilities during the time when I had fought against demons.

When fighting against a superior enemy, there was no choice but to make use of wisdom and tricks.

I couldn’t make use of overwhelming power to win if I fought now.

I had experienced this in the past, which made me feel a little nostalgic.

“… Did you lose your sense of fear when you became an immortal one?”

“Maybe it is so.”

I quietly responded with that, much to Logan’s dismay.