The Sword and The Shadow

Necromantic Army

The reason Jilroan was dressed so gaudily wasn't because of his respect for Logg. Instead, he wanted to use this method to remind him that it wasn't a big deal that he was the world's only myth-realm magus. Jilroan was still the owner of the world.

Logg, however, didn't mind in the slightest, and today was no different. He put down what he was working on, turned to see Jilroan, and bowed. "Good evening, Your Imperial Majesty."

"How's progress?" he repeated with a nod.

"As you can see…" Logg moved to the side to make sure the emperor could see clearly what he was working on. It was an ink-colored stone slab that let off a purplish magic glow. It seemed rather dark and terrifying in the candlelight.

If anyone could inspect it clearly, they would find that it wasn't the surface of the slab that was giving off all that light. Instead, it was the many magic circuits on it. They were far too intricate and detailed that they looked like they filled the whole surface of the slab, hence the impression that the whole slab itself was glowing.

"Which number is this?" Jilroan asked. He knew how difficult it was to make engravings like that. Yet, Logg had managed that alone along with the enchantment processes as well.

"It's the 643rd," he said with a smile.

"So, only 23 left, huh…" There was a glow of cruel excitement in his eyes.

"That's right. When all of this is complete, the formation can be successfully activated. By then…"

"By then… It would be the end of Hocke! Larwin, Alissanda, Alfreid, and all the citizens and ministers of the empire… I want them all dead! I want the northerners to vanish from the surface of the continent!"

"I, Logg, shall be of service. Your wishes are mine as well." The magus bowed as he thought, well, only part of them, anyway.

"The new stock should've arrived. Let's go check it out together!" Jilroan suddenly said. Since he chose to come over that late in the night, he wanted to see Logg's handiwork with his own eyes. The plan had too many risks and even he wasn't sure whether Logg was lying to him.

He was a myth-realm magus, after all, and he was making the formation for a spell of epic proportions. Myth-realm magi would usually create their own magnum opus of a spell.

As the strongest magus who understood the base nature of magic, the spell he created was structured and worked differently from normal ones. Magnum opus spells like that were usually beyond the understanding of other magi and took the form of new and unexplored methods of manipulating magic. It wasn't something other magi could easily decipher.

That was why even though Jilroan was considered a quasi myth, he was still only a high-order magus. Given his forays into magic, there was no way he would be able to understand the intricacies of Logg's formation.

He also didn't have full trust in Logg, the myth-realm magus who appeared out of nowhere suddenly. He was simply far too suspicious. Had his empire not been pushed to the edge, he wouldn't have bet all he had on him in the first place.

It was due to that reason he had to be wary of that fellow while relying on him at the same time. Tonight, he wanted to make sure whether Logg was going to try something funny.

"Of course. Come with me," Logg carefreely agreed. He put down the stone tablet and opened the door to his alchemy lab.

His lab was located underground. The two got upstairs to the wooden house in the wood and saw that the two carriages were parked outside. The quiet coachmen stood there waiting, knowing that Logg would come receive them soon. They were surprised to see their emperor there too.

"Your Imperial Majesty," they hurriedly greeted.

"No need for pleasantries," he said, before he turned to Logg. "How long will these last you?"

"Well… it depends… on their condition."

"Let's take a look then."

"Your Imp--"

"Don't mind me. I'm a high-order magus myself. There are some things I'm used to seeing already."

Logg stopped trying to convince him and nodded. His irises then glowed red.

Countless crackling sounds rang out in the wood. While the illumination in the wood didn't really change, the agents and the emperor himself felt the heavy sense of dread that came with Logg's power.

Jilroan silently used a calming spell on himself. He turned to look at Logg and noticed that the elegant and quiet middle-aged man seemed much more savage with his eyes turned red, very much creeping him out.

Soon, the sounds in the wood grew louder. Jilroan looked around and saw countless red glows appear out of nowhere.

Countless figures came out from the trees with the sound of dragging. Any Stokian Magic Academy student would surely be shocked by the sight. The wood was so quiet, so there shouldn't have been so many people there! Even if they didn't make a sound, there wouldn't be enough food to sustain them there!

But if they looked closely enough, their surprise would wane and turn into terror. Those things that moved and had red, glowing eyes were no humans… They were undead!

Around fifty undead creatures emerged from the depths of the trees and under the ground. They slowly made their way forwards towards the only four living people there. They didn't move according to any rule or rhythm, merely slobbering along without making the slightest sound. Yet, it was all too terrifying despite there being only sounds of their draggy footsteps.

The two agents that went through all sorts of ordeals began to shudder. It was an instinctive fear at the most primal level which all the training in the world couldn't remove. Even though they'd seen this multiple times, their reaction never changed.

The horses began to neigh unnervedly, but Logg was prepared. He raised his hand to dictate a spell and the horses calmed down.

Jilroan gulped audibly. As a high-order magus, he had his fair share of interaction with necromancy. However, most normal people would still feel fear towards the undead covered in their deathly auras. Only the darkest of folk could tolerate them.

Logg, however, still maintained his noble and elegant poise, save for his red eyes. He even seemed to glow in admiration at the sight of those undead.

The creatures finally made it into the yard of the house. Suppressing their innate rage and hurt for living things, they sorted themselves out into two teams and began their work.

One creature with a rotting hand stretched out the arm with a sharpened bone to cut open the oiled cloth on the carriages. A distinct smell of rot wafted throughout the wood the moment the smallest hole was made.

Jilroan furrowed his brows without saying a thing. The creature continued the cutting. When they unraveled the cloth, the stench was almost bad enough to kill.

The undead opened the carriage sides and let the corpses roll and fall to the ground. One human head seemed to have been dismembered from the bumpy carriage ride. It rolled to Jilroan's foot.

"These are all warriors of the empire," Logg said plainly.

"Then, let them continue fighting for our empire even in death!" Jilroan said, before kicking the head away.

The corpses carried other corpses down into the basement. There was another door to a smaller compartment in his large lab.

When it was opened, strong purplish light leaked out from within. Jilroan peeked inside and saw a room as large as his royal court in the palace.

The room was covered with stone slabs everywhere just like the one Jilroan saw Logg working on. They were embedded in the walls and connected the complex magic formation together.

Logg walked into the room with the slab he had just completed. The undead began arranging the corpses behind him. "Unlike normal two-dimensional formations, I require this a three-dimensional one to complete this complex spell. When it all comes into place…"

Logg paused, before he smiled. "Then we can create an army of loyal undead numbering in the tens of thousands."