Supreme Monarch

[Master?...]

At Oval's unnaturally meek voice that had uttered such a shocking word, the High-tiered undead around him all simultaneously raised their heads to match his gaze. The undead do not know fear and were completely immune to negative status effects or mental influence.

Yet—

Every single one of them without exception had taken a step back in hesitation. Their aggressive pursuit from earlier had come to a complete halt as they marveled at the figure who was clearly the personification of death itself.

There was no need for any explanation as they had all sensed it the moment they laid eyes on the black skeleton. Their very existence was being suppressed by this being's gaze alone and they could even feel their mental state being affected.

Without the shadow of a doubt, this figure was a divine being of the undead race, an ArchLich.

Up until this point, there had only been one person they had considered to be the personification of death itself and that was their master and creator, the undead king. Yet this being of absolute blackness and despair had an aura of death around him that far surpasses that of their creator.

If their master is to be considered the undead king, then it stands to reason that this being was none other than the god of the undead. This was the level at which their master seeks to attain.

[No!]

For a brief moment, the abrupt battle in the outskirts of the darknar forest was paused but that was not to last as Oval finally snapped out of his daze. It didn't matter if this creature was an undead of a greater plane than his master.

He had simply been summoned to serve one master and that was the undead king, Zerahut. As the one who should rightfully be considered his master's number one General, he could not let himself bow to another.

•Reign of Doom•

In a spark of rage, an oppressive aura in the form of blood-red smog spewed out of him at a rapid rate that quickly encompassed a radius of more than a half-mile.

The red smog Increased all his combat-related stats in exchange for a faster life force depletion rate. However, he could now ignore any suppression that came from high-level existences of the same race.

This basically allowed him to fight stronger opponents without being suppressed by their divinity.

Moreover, any undead creatures within his smog would take less damage from light or holy elemental magic attacks.

While this was a great ability for a general of an undead army to have, it also meant if his enemy was an undead, they would also receive this buff.

However, that was irrelevant as he did not possess any such skills or spells.

With the sudden boost to their resistances, his entire unit instantly recovered from the effects of the ArchLich's aura of death and regained their vigor.

[ Attack!! Kill that imposter!]

Hearing the deafening roar of a Doom Lord, the undead forces quickly went into action as the mage Artillery Corp began casting spells upon spells in rapid suggestion. Using their large mana reserves to the fullest.

The rangers also fired countless arrows while the beast riders were to flank the enemy and the infantry units charged forward with the heavy infantry at the front.

They were mostly to serve as cannon fodders, creating a chance for Oval and the Assault Team to exploit.

However—

Everything had all been in vain.

One would expect their opponents to dodge or rather attempt to block such numerous attacks with all their spells and skills but neither of those had happened as the moment the cloud of dust produced by the spells faded away, it revealed the figure of the ArchLich still standing in the air without even moving back an inch.

Not even his clothing had been damaged by those barrage of attacks even though those arrows and spells had made constant.

An illusionary book that wasn't there before now floated beside him as its pages flipped from one after the other as though it was devoured fine something of its own accord.

[You wish to fight me, Maggots?]

It was a genuine and serious question given the tone at which it was delivered by the ArchLich's oppressive figure but none could tell if he was joking. Why would he even come here if not to fight?

[Is that a Joke. Ridiculous!]

Feed up with being looked down upon by this undead, Oval roared in anger as his aura exploded and he lunged into the sky at the floating ArchLich, his death scythe was engulfed in red flames as a second scythe appeared in his arm and he began to swirl rapidly in the air like a furious tornado.

•Death Vortex•

The raging whirlwind of death that seems to garrote the wind towards it, sucking everything around it into the magically sharp blades that shredded anything in an instant— shot towards the ArchLich.

However, a massive wall of seemingly dense flames as hot as the sun suddenly materialized in the air, stopping his death's vortex in its tracks as Oval's figure plummeted back down to the ground like a falling meteor.

[Hellfire Wall.]

The eerie wall of flames that had suddenly appeared in the sky slowly dissipates the moment Oval's body had slammed into the ground.

As the ArchLich was still in the air, none of the beast riders or infantry units could do anything against him. Effectively limiting the entire regiment's method of attacks.

Even as Oval picked himself up from the ground, the mage artillery corps and the rangers with assistance from the magic support units, continuously fired attacks at the ArchLich.

However, every single attack continued to bounce off his bones and clothing like they were nothing, his resistances must really be off the charts. Then again, as a Demigod of the undead race, his presence alone reduces the strength of weaker members of his race, thereby, increasing the vast distance between them.

Watching this tragic scene, Oval could not feel any strong emotions due to his state as undead which was why he was not currently angry at being plugged into the soil as though he were a nobody. However, he could not allow himself to lose here as that would surely bring shame to his master.

Bending his armored knees again, he lunged back up at the ArchLich with full force. This time, aiming to go head to head. He raised both scythes behind his head as the red flames intensified and the moment he got close enough, he swung his blade with everything he had.

•Twin Doom Slash•

Both blades swung down with devastating speed as the attack seems to be converging at the center of ArchLich's core. If both attacks could hit the same spot at exactly the same time, it could cause a catastrophic explosion that would take half the continent with it but as they were in the air, it should limit the damage to only the ArchLich.

However, his hopes were literally swatched away as his attack was halted mid-flight. Before he could even keep up with what was happening, the ArchLich had moved forward and caught his scythes by their blades with its bare hands.

[You seem to want to fight me by all means. However, my orders were simply to destroy and not toy around with Maggots but perhaps I shall give you a fighting chance.]

*Crack... *crack... *Crack!

*Shatter!

With only a light squeeze of his bony hands, Emrys shattered the blades of Oval's scythe and he promptly plummeted back to the ground given as he can't fly and the held weapons were the only things keeping him in the air.

Emrys's figure then slowly descended to the ground despite the persistent attacks of the undead mages and archers. As he watched Oval stand back up despite losing his weapons, the flames in his eyes flickered as he spoke again.

[You are called a Doom Lord correct?]

Naturally, there was no response from Oval but Emrys did not require one.

[Here's your chance. If you survive, I'll consider this your victory and withdraw to accept the punishment for my failure.]

[Summon Undead Legion.]

[Doom Lords]

As though heeding to his commands, countless magic circles appeared on the ground beneath him as over a hundred hulking red armored warrior wielding death scythes rose.

They were all Doom Lords almost as strong as Oval and the moment they appeared, they lunged forth at the army that still have over 2,000 undead left of their entire unit.

If this had been a battle between the living then one would be able to describe this as nothing short of a blood bath. Although Oval had reformed new weapons with his aura and was holding his own against three Doom Lords.

His assault team was also able to stall the hoed of Doom Lords a little in hopes that the mages and rangers would finish them off but that did not last quite long as the Doom Lords quickly gained the advantage. Still, there were a few notable individual undead that was able to take on a Doom Lord and win.

The same could not be said for the entire regiment. The beast riders who had tried to flank Emrys were met by the Doom Lords as they brutally ripped them apart with countless Death Vortex.

The ability to sacrifice their life force for strength gave them an absolute advantage over the Assault team and thus, their numbers were steadily being reduced.

This could no longer be called a battle as even the mages were unable to completely destroy a single Doom Lord with concentrated attacks. In less than five minutes, even Oval could no longer withstand the onslaught of so many Doom Lords as he was destroyed by the combined force of 4 Doom Lords.

Even as a few of his Doom Lords fell, they continued to run wild against the army as they shattered through the ranks of the heavy infantry while chanting ging at the mages and rangers in the far end.

[Seems even this much was more than enough. In the end, you were all Maggots till every end.]

Although his Doom Legion had decimated the entire army of 3,000 undead, the remnants of the army did not retreat as they continued to attack without fear. This was one of the strengths and weaknesses of an undead army without any leadership.

[As per my orders. There is still a lot I have left to do so I'll grant the rest of you the mercy of quick deaths.]

Judging that the battle is over with the fall of the enemy's commander, Emrys then called back his Legion as he cast a spell while augmenting its effects with his skill, Darkness manipulation.

[Dark Pillar.]

A massive pillar of absolute darkness suddenly came crashing down from the sky as it disintegrated the remnants of the undead army in mere seconds before it faded into the night.

In less than 20 minutes, an entire regiment of 3,000 undead of varying types had been completely wiped out by a single being as though he had simply been trampling on ants.

Emrys then studied the massive crater his spell had created in the former battleground and judged that he had accomplished his mission. Complete annihilation of the enemy's first unit in a dominating fashion.

This was a statement for all that was watching. A display of strength so grand, it would make one shiver at the mere thought of engaging such a force.

However, this was only the beginning for both sides. After all, both sides were yet to display their true strength.

With that done, Emrys then descended before his remaining Doom Lords that now number around 80, and a massive black tear opened up behind the legion. This was one of his transportation spells of the highest caliber.

[Gate]

His horde of Doom Lords then marched into the gate as it promptly closed behind them as Emrys's body disappeared from the snowfield in the next instance.

The first battle of the night had ended up in a complete victory for his master. He could only wait in anticipation at what happens next.