Nobody expected that so many things would happen in the spring of the new year right after the end of the war against the beastmen in the Northlands. The consecutive events that followed were destined to effectively change the world's situation for a long time to come.
When did these changes begin? Was it when Undead Emperor Aso suddenly descended and sacrificed everything so that the undead could invade without obstruction?
Was it when Amelia accidentally arrived at Port Victoria and accidentally created the wood spirits?
Or was it when Roland and Aillé arrived and joined forces with the various Gods to make a shocking declaration?
Right now, it was impossible for anyone to predict such a distant future. The most important thing right now was that the six black pillars of light in the distance were giving off a soul-attracting light. When Aso used his life to open up a Dimensional Door to the other planes, countless undead silently walked out. The scariest Undead Calamity had arrived.
Outside the Dimensional Door of Light, pitch-black battle flags fluttered in the wind. Black-robed Knights rode on skeleton warhorses, undead witches with bone staffs in their hands, skeleton mages in groups, and hundreds of liches floated into the Dimensional Door. The scale and ratio of these mages far surpassed that of an ordinary undead army.
They weren't impatient at all. They simply focused on reorganizing the troops that had already arrived.
I couldn't even see the borders of the undead. The elites of the six planes that had been accumulating for thousands of years were constantly arriving. New reinforcements were also arriving. Countless high-level undead that I recognized and didn't recognize entered. Many gigantic beasts were astonishingly powerful. Just their movements were enough to cause earthquakes.
"I don't think we can win …"
Although we were definitely quite powerful — two airships, wood spirits, and several dozen dragons — which was more than enough to conquer a small country, it was still impossible for us to win against such an endless stream of high-level undead.
"If only my Red Hunting Hounds were here, if only I could use 'Infallible Diffindor,' the result would definitely be …"
"We still can't win. Look at how many liches there are! That's a fully organized army! No matter how powerful your Red Hunting Hounds are, you're only a single army. You're facing an undead empire, not to mention the Six Kingdoms. Unless you bring out the Yongye Army at its peak, you might have a chance. No, because there are too many factions within the Evernight Army, the other party's degree of integration is much higher. Liches are as common as dogs and epics are everywhere. We probably won't be able to win in the end. "
Alright then, as expected, the silly cat's retort had become an ingrained instinct. However, everyone present knew that she was right. Their opponent was far more powerful than they had expected.
When the ancient Undead Country reawakened and chose to return to the mortal plane, such an opponent was no longer something that a single person or army could deal with. Their opponent would definitely be the entire world.
But … I'm staring!
"Why are you all looking at me? Don't you know that a True God's incarnation can only reach the SemiGod level in the mortal plane? What can a demigod do here? "
Although he did not know why Aillé would send his avatar here, the scroll at his waist was obviously not an ordinary item. Perhaps it could change the outcome of the battle. Furthermore …
"Demigod? A demigod could defeat the great Divine Power Lady Storm in one blow? Who are you trying to fool?! "
Well, although no one dared to say this out loud, the expressions of the people who came with him were clearly expressing their suspicions on their faces, and it was obvious that they were expressing it.
"Cough, this is a basic rule of the mortal plane. I have to obey it as well. Rather than saying that little Angel was defeated by me, it's more accurate to say that I scared her away. "
It was already quite nice of him to be willing to explain himself. What else could I say?
However, in my eyes, Aillé's expression seemed rather off the moment he arrived here.
He looked at the place where Aso had disappeared, where the Undead Emperor's skull was still lying. Aillé had a complex expression. He seemed to be reminiscing about something, but he also seemed to be hesitating about something. In the end, he sighed helplessly and didn't do anything.
If it was anyone else, they would probably think that he was worried about the Undead Calamity. However, since I had just obtained Aso's memories, I knew that the Black Will's first knowledge of undead magic came in a mysterious manner. According to the legends, it was either a demon or a certain True God. If it was the latter, then only Aillé would be able to do such a thing.
I still wanted to say something, but Aillé seemed to have seen through everything. He only shook his head slightly and then lightly clapped his hands.
And then …
We were now in a familiar forest, surrounded by towering trees. In just an instant, Aillé teleported us back to the Forest of Dreams.
There was only the sound of the wind rustling the leaves and the sound of a small stream flowing nearby. However, the undead outside the forest and the noise in the distance seemed to be in a completely different world.
"Take this."
I took what Aillé tossed to me. It was half a skull. This was the only thing that Aso had left behind.
"Since he gave his inheritance to you, you should deal with this as well. You should take care of this as well. It should be at least a SemiGod Equipment. Based on that brat's personality, he doesn't like to be left alone. He's most afraid of being forgotten by others. Let's have him leave his reputation behind in another way. "
At this point, it was likely that everyone knew that the Death God before us was somehow related to the undead. Aillé didn't intend to hide anything as he spoke slowly.
"Actually, Roland, I knew that he would definitely choose you. After all, your personality is far too similar to his. Don't be in a hurry to refute me. My words are based on evidence. Both of you are normally quite casual. Whenever something important is touched on, or if you're forced to your limits, you'll instantly go insane. Both of you are exactly the same. Let me ask you something. If you were in his situation, would you choose to be as crazy as him and make the same choice? "
"Of course I wouldn't … right?"
Alright then, I had to admit that if I was in his situation, I would probably go even crazier.
"… More importantly, the two of you seem quite realistic, but you're actually both idealists who believe in your dreams. You even have the power to turn dreams that others don't dare to believe into reality. Do you really think that he doesn't know about everything you've done in the Northlands? He's already acknowledged you. Since he chose you in the end, properly accept his present. "
I silently nodded as I put away the half of Roland's skull that had already transformed into a mercury-like substance. As for the even more precious inheritance, it was now stored in my mind. Nobody would be able to steal it away from me.
Now that I thought about it, I felt a lingering fear.
After all, from a certain standpoint, if I hadn't actively provoked Aillé, hadn't stepped on the brakes, and truly succeeded in creating an undead country, perhaps I would have ended up just like Aso.
"But what about the undead outside?"
Although I didn't know who this seemingly powerful young man before me was, nor did I understand why the atmosphere had suddenly become so heavy, while everyone else was abnormally silent, Little Rosa only cared about whether or not her home would still be threatened.
"Undead? Does that have anything to do with you? Do you have any way of stopping them? Could it be that you intend to have a final battle against the undead? "
Aillé was quite interested as he looked at Little Rosa. After all, it had been so many years, and it was rare for Aichy to have a new species. The world had become even livelier than before.
"Of course it's related. If they use forbidden spells to attack the forest again …"
Alright then, Little Rosa immediately blushed. Since she had received Amelia's knowledge and inheritance, she only needed to think about it to realize that there was no need to ask such a question.
Due to the lack of Elemental Tide, the Undead Emperors wouldn't be able to descend for quite some time if they didn't want to repeat Aso's mistake.
And in the current undead army, even if there were top-level mages capable of casting forbidden spells, they wouldn't be able to threaten the Forest of Dreams as long as they weren't at Aso's level. And the most important thing was …
"The undead no longer have any need to attack the Forest of Dreams …"
That's right, there was no longer any need for the undead to continue fighting. Previously, the undead army had wanted to conquer the Forest of Dreams no matter what in order to get rid of this stone that was blocking the connection to the mortal plane. This would open up the connection to the Desecration Plane and allow the undead army to successfully descend.
But now, not only the Desecration Plane, even the six other Undead Planes had been connected to each other. The undead would still be able to invade the Forest of Dreams without any obstructions. Why did the undead still insist on conquering the Forest of Dreams? This would result in huge losses and no benefits at all. Obviously, it wasn't a wise decision.
If I was the undead commander, for example, I would simply ignore this metal turtle that was covered in thorns and focus on my next strategic goal.
Wasn't this just a port that had become a dead port? The Bardi Empire had such a vast territory, and there were so many regions for the undead to choose from. They could completely ignore this port.
At this point, I could more or less understand the undead's strategic goal now that I had obtained some of Aso's memories.
They simply wanted to regain their glory and rebuild the Tark Republic. However, a country with only the dead wouldn't be enough. A country without new blood would rapidly decay even if it didn't have any external enemies.
"Kasolan's Tears? Could it be that the technology for transforming living humans into intelligent undead is still around? Then the accumulated poison is the catalyst for the medicine? Damn it, whenever Aso's memories were related to the undead's plans, they would become incomplete or even blank. Senior, you've truly considered everything! "
But since there was no ready answer, it wasn't difficult to guess the undead's next goal.
It was likely that the Undead Emperors had already viewed the Bardi Empire's citizens as their future citizens. They only had one goal: to create a new system that would allow the ancient Tark Republic to return to the stage of history. This would allow their citizens to enjoy the same rights as other species.
And once this was achieved, it would be possible for them to take revenge on the elves and dragons, or even directly attack the Gods. Unlike Xiluo, which was relatively loose and didn't have any internal conflicts, the Tark Republic was much more united and strict. The undead's chances of victory wouldn't be low.
In that case, since the Bardi Empire would be fighting over living space and resources, it would be necessary for them to have conflicts with the neighboring countries. This would be a fundamental conflict of interests, so it would be impossible to avoid it.
But right now, I still couldn't figure out how to make the Bardi Empire's major nobles and feudal nobles give up resisting and obediently transform into the undead. In the end, war and internal conflicts would be inevitable. Suddenly, I understood why my "Two Dragons Fight" Quest had become "Three Snakes Slaughter" Quest.
When only the Bardi Empire and the Mage Country were fighting against each other, it would naturally be "Two Dragons" Quest. But now that the Undead Republic was added into the mix, it would naturally become "Three Snakes" Quest. We would also need to make our own choices and work hard.
After thinking about it for a while, my final conclusion was the same as before. Although I sympathized with the Undead Republic, they had now become invaders of the mortal plane. It would be impossible to help them, and the ultimate goal they were working hard for would definitely cause the Gods to feel anxious and afraid. This was a path that had already been proven by history to be doomed to failure. How could I possibly walk down that path again?
But it was also quite unsettling to passively wait for the undead to make a decision.
"Roland, do you still remember the report you gave me? I discussed it with everyone and felt that it was feasible. Don't you think that this is a perfect opportunity to experiment? As long as the plan goes smoothly, the wood spirits will at least be safe for a while. Just because of their current location, it seems that they're destined to face a long period of war. You shouldn't interfere too much and affect the wood spirits' future potential. "
Even I was astonished when I mentioned my plan. That plan had far too many implications. It would affect the benefits of countless people and even the True Gods. At the time, I had only mentioned it as a joke. I never expected that Aillé and the others would actually be so courageous.
"Then, what should we do?"
Aillé's incarnation smiled and didn't reply. Instead, he lightly tore open the first scroll in his hand. The signature on the back belonged to the God of Fate.
"Sign here, and then read after me. We declare …"
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