I became a legion lich

203 Treevor’s Loyalty

“They would become a shield of bone, flesh, or whatever they’re made of in a future war against Evergreen and the yggdrasil sprout.”

“And how are you so confident that you can defeat the enemy undead if they decide to fight us?” Treevor crossed his arms and asked. Athos’ plan was really good, but only if they were able to defeat the enemies. Otherwise, they would be devoured by the enemy.

“We don’t know the strength of the undead or the level of enemy technology, but we have no other choice at the moment if we want to gain a proper foothold in this world.” Athos was honest about their chances, holding nothing back from Treevor.

“But that’s a matter for a few years or maybe even decades to come. My initial plan is to trade with the undead and go to war as a second option.” Athos spoke honestly about the negotiations, as he did not see much point in fighting the undead.

“The priority for now is hunting monsters and demihumans to increase our power, as well as mapping everything we can and gathering information about the region to find a good place to settle down permanently.” Athos finished speaking the outline of his plan and waited for Treevor to speak.

“So you really do have a plan, even if it’s just an outline, and you also intend to face Kastil, even though you know how powerful he is.” Treevor muttered to himself before making a decision.

He knelt on the ground under his right knee and said. “In that case, there’s no point in continuing to resist. I agree to serve you, as long as you remain true to your word and face Kastil in the future.”

Athos was taken aback by the sudden act of loyalty, but more taken aback was Treevor. When he stopped resisting and accepted to serve Athos, his avatar stopped resisting as well and the black chains corrupted his soul completely.

“Does this mean you are now loyal to me?” Athos asked still confused by the sudden turn in events. He didn’t notice any difference in Treevor, but from the shock Treevor was showing, it looked like something had changed internally.

.....

“Yes, that’s right boss- I mean master.” Treevor quickly corrected himself and got to his feet.

“I don’t know what caused this sudden change in you, but I won’t complain. Welcome to the world of the crazy. How about a hunt to celebrate?” Athos patted Treevor on the shoulder and asked.

“I thought you’d never ask.” Treevor also seemed strangely excited for battle and his avatar quickly left his body, returning in less than a minute with the corrupted willow tree.

“Let’s leave before Emilia realizes what happened and starts complaining.” Athos jumped on Treevor’s shoulder and they ran towards the nearest monster nest.

************

A few days later.

The dwarf skeletons finally finished runesmithing all the shared curses and melting down all the debris, greatly lightening the load on the carriages. The undead prepared everything necessary to resume their match in less than a day, using information gleaned from the kobolds they managed to hunt.

None of the kobolds were able to speak human language, but Vanilla and Treevor were able to speak demi-human language and translated the words of the kobold leader.

They discovered that the reason there were so few demihumans was that they were close to the territory of a couple of wyverns, a lesser dragon species, so no demihuman tribes dared approach.

The ability to fly was an absurd advantage in the desert, where there were no mages and technology was poorly developed, so lesser dragons would reign supreme here. Their power wasn’t as great as a real dragon, but they were still much more powerful and intelligent than normal monsters.

A few demihuman tribes lived under wyvern rule, but most shunned and shunned the territory, as these kobolds were wont to do.

Many of the desert regions were dominated by powerful monsters, some intelligent that dominated other creatures, others violent and less intelligent that just killed anything that entered their territory.

There were few regions dominated by Demihuman clans, showing how strong the monsters in that region were.

After learning this, the high ranking undead gathered to decide what to do, but their opinions were strongly divided.

Most generals were against the idea of fighting the wyverns and the tribes that served them, but Athos and Treevor were in favor. Treevor and Athos began to understand each other after Treevor became loyal and went out hunting several times, much to Emilia’s stress.

Treevor had become more violent and reckless, forming a good team with Athos. The skeletons had resigned themselves to fighting the unknown enemies since both the commander and Athos himself wanted the fight, but Athos still listened to their opinions, much to everyone’s surprise.

Athos was crazy, not stupid, and he knew that his life experience was limited and his leadership ability was almost nil, so he still listened to the advice of those more experienced. Whether he actually followed the advice he received was another story.

In the end, Athos and Treevor managed to convince them that fighting was the only option, explaining Athos’ plan for the unknown undead and the need to gather power quickly.

They sent out skeleton birds to confirm the enemy’s position, discovering that they were a few tens of kilometers away, at the top of a ravine. The ravine was nearly 50 meters high and nearly 500 meters long, and the demihuman tribes had set up camp at the top, while the wyverns were nowhere in sight.

The high-ranking skeletons made assumptions that the wyverns lived within the ravine or if they were just outside at the time, but it was certain that they would appear once the attack began.

They organized a plan of attack with the information obtained, aiming to fight both an air battle and a ground battle and left as soon as night fell and their preparations were ready.

The undead army marched in formation, skeleton soldiers carrying shared curse shields mounted on monster skeletons surrounded the entire army, while the rest of the skeletons stayed inside.

They would only implement the barrier once the battle started, relying on the monsters they were riding to defend against any attacks.

In the center of the formation, skeletons of mages and priests sat atop chariots, ready to cast spells at any moment and transmit to the hive hawks that were circling the army, along with the flying monsters.

Half of them were responsible for casting large-scale spells, while the other half would cast quick spells to bombard enemies and buy time. They had just under 700 mage skeletons, more than enough to cast a second barrier that would cover the entire army or a powerful offensive spell, depending on the circumstances.

Treevor was leading the army this time along with Emília, Ruy and Vanilla, while Astrus and Malti were accompanying Athos on Simogo’s back. They were flying high in the sky, using cloud cover and the darkness of the night to hide their massive body.

Athos couldn’t pass up the opportunity to experience an aerial battle on Simogo’s back, while Astrus could fight in the air thanks to his boots conjuring corrupted mana platforms and Malti’s bow skill.

The army marched for hours, the flying monsters spotting all the monsters in front of the army and quickly eliminating them, before the army caught up with them and turned them into new skeletons.

‘Looks like they were already waiting for us.’ Treevor thought as the army approached the enemy camp, looking through the eyes of a hive hawk that a crowd of demihumans was hastily gathering at the front of the camp.

A demihuman hunting party had spotted the skeletons and hurriedly returned to the camp to warn of the attack and prepare a defense.

‘Although we were discovered earlier than expected, the attack continues. Wizards, start casting.’ Treevor thought and ordered the mages to start casting a large-scale spell.

The demihumans gathered at the front of the camp numbered approximately 15,000 and were composed of different species such as orcs, goblins, and trolls. They were poorly equipped, most using crude, unenchanted weapons, none of them having armor.

There were some mounted on monsters as a kind of cavalry, but they were few in number and numbered less than 500.

More demihumans were gathering as they spoke, but the defensive team’s number was no more than 17,000. The hawks also noticed a few thousand demihumans descending the ravine for shelter, likely children or those unable to fight.

‘Start the first part of the plan.’ Treevor ordered and the march stopped, confusing the demihumans. The skeletons of birds or flying monsters quickly descended under, where skeletons carrying bags of alchemical items were waiting.

The flying monsters grabbed all the items before flying back into the ravine, but unlike what the demihumans thought, they weren’t aiming at the fleeing army, but at the ravine behind them.

The demihumans belatedly realized that the target was their families who descended the ravine and tried to take down the skeletons with arrows and spears, but the flying monster skeletons flew high to avoid being hit.

Once they reached the area above the ravine, the flying skeletons dropped the alchemical items at once, generating an incredibly powerful earthquake.

The alchemical items numbered more than two hundred and the earthquake generated was enough to destabilize the ravine.