It was still the same familiar building, and it was still the same uninvited guest. However, this guest made me want to scream for help.
On the other side of the tea table was a sleepy old man. His snow-white beard reached the soles of his feet, and his slovenly appearance was somewhat similar to that of a tramp. However, the magic power under that old and decrepit body was as deep as the sea.
I could feel the endless magic power as I sat across from him. However, not a single ripple could be seen outside the room.
"… Yongye? What a perfect life form. "
The old man put down his teacup and slowly looked at the tea in his hand. It seemed that he was quite satisfied with the tea. However, I knew that countless pairs of eyes were staring right at me.
"Lord of Withering" Sandro was the ruler of the Corpse Plane. He was an Undead Emperor who was even more experienced than Aso. He had previously been the Chief Senator of the Tark Republic, and this time, he was the most prestigious Undead Emperor among all the Undead Emperors who had come to this plane.
Not long ago, Sandro had shown off his inconceivable ability to instantly cast a forbidden spell in front of the Mage Country's archmages. However, only those who understood Sandro's field of research would know that it wasn't a forbidden spell at all. It was just a regular spell with the power of a forbidden spell.
Right now, Sandro should be fighting against the archmages and dragons at the frontlines of Bardi. Yet, he had silently appeared in front of me. I had just received combat reports two days ago that he was currently patrolling the frontlines. It would seem that either he had the ability to teleport over a large area, or he had fooled everyone.
Sandro had never opened his eyes before, but his soul eyes were able to see through everything. The "perfect life form" he mentioned probably referred not only to his physical body, but also to his soul.
While Sandro was sizing me up, I was also doing my best to analyze his existence.
"Withered One", "Waterless Dust", "Corpse Spider Emperor". Every Undead Emperor had reached maturity by stepping over countless corpses. I didn't dare to be careless in the slightest when facing such an opponent.
"… Senior, why have you come here? To revive? "
Sandro was also a natural undead. It would make perfect sense if he had come here for this.
However, Sandro shook his head and didn't say anything. His smile seemed to be mocking me, as if I had underestimated him.
"The living belong to the sunlight, while the dead return to the dust. I'm not one of those juniors who yearn for the past, so why would I be obsessed with life and death? I've come to find you for the promise you mentioned before."
Promise? I paused in surprise. It wasn't that I didn't promise anything, it was that I had promised far too many random promises. On the battlefield, most of my promises to my enemies were just nonsense meant to sway them. When I had expressed my goodwill to the Tark Republic, I had also promised many IOUs. I didn't even know which one I had promised.
But very soon, he thought about it. For Sandro to put down his important matters and come over, the person must be of a higher level. Then, there was only one possibility …
"Land?"
Sandro nodded slowly, which doubtlessly confirmed my guess. I was actually rather astonished.
I had only suggested a dimension outside of the mortal plane. No matter how I looked at it, the Undead Emperors who had sworn to conquer the mortal plane would only be a backup plan. I expected that they would come looking for me after they suffered a setback. Now that the undead army was at its peak, they were already looking for a way out?
I didn't hide my astonishment, because I also needed an explanation from Sandro.
"… You've done an excellent job, really. You've done so well that we've even begun to disagree."
I felt like I needed a translator. Sandro loved to say things that didn't make sense, and then have people guess. If he guessed correctly, it would be natural. If he guessed incorrectly, it would make me seem foolish.
"Oh …"
Alright, old geezer, I'll play along with you. Let's all guess together. I had a calm expression as I said this, and then I shut my mouth. The room fell into an abnormal silence.
"Cough, cough, Phil, help me out."
It seemed that Sandro couldn't stand this situation any longer. His subordinate walked out from his shadow. He was a middle-aged gentleman dressed like … a mummy?
"Your Majesty Yongye, greetings. My lord hasn't spoken for far too many years. Please allow me to express his words."
Far too many years of silence? That was understandable. After all, undead of a lower power level would only need to use their thoughts to give orders. As for undead of a higher power level? Even if Sandro wanted to communicate with other Undead Emperors, it was likely that he could directly send his subordinates.
It seemed that he didn't like to speak in riddles. Rather, it was simply that he had too few opportunities to speak, which caused his ability to speak to deteriorate? This was truly a problem of extravagance. I nodded, indicating that Sandro could do as he pleased.
"My Lord, what you mean is that you've done far too well. We can't believe that the undead are actually able to live together so harmoniously with the living. This reminds us of the Tark Republic's golden age. That's why the Undead Emperors had different opinions about how to treat the living …"
The mummy named Phil didn't seem like his kin at all. He was quite eloquent, and I gradually understood Sandro's situation as I listened to his description.
It was far different from my previous guesses. The Senators of the Tark Republic had different opinions about how to return to the mortal plane. Some Undead Emperors desired to rebuild the Tark Republic, some only wanted to come to the mortal plane to harvest souls and flesh, and some didn't even intend to return to the mortal plane.
Even the Senators of the Tark Republic had a completely different attitude towards the living. In that case, their way of doing things would be completely different as well …
Let's use an individual as an example. Aso was one of the core members of the Tark Republic faction. However, his attitude towards the living was much gentler. He hoped that he could establish a new Tark Republic where the living and the undead could live together and return to civilization. As for Undead Emperor Sandro, he was also a veteran Senator who had lived together with the living and the undead. His political views were similar, and he was basically a staunch supporter of the Tark Republic.
However, even Conservation, who was quite close to Aso, was also a staunch supporter of the Tark Republic faction. However, she was filled with hostility towards the living. Originally, she didn't have a strong desire to return to the mortal plane, but recently, she had been completely focused on taking revenge. She had even intended to establish a country for the undead in the mortal plane. Thanks to her greatly improved personal power level, she faintly became the leader of the Tark Republic faction.
However, after entering the mortal plane, whether or not to use Undead Calamity to slaughter and transform all the living into the undead directly caused the Undead Calamity to clash.
"There's only so many people, yet there are so many factions and disagreements. You've all worked hard …"
I couldn't see Phil's expression due to his bandages. However, old Sandro had a fatigued expression, as if he also had a headache.
"It can't be helped. Those Undead Emperors are all one of a kind …"
I nodded. Of course I could understand. Those Undead Emperors who were able to surpass the theoretical limits to become Undead Emperors were all extremely paranoid. And, paranoid Undead Emperors were extremely self-centered and difficult to compromise with.
Not only that, these Undead Emperors were all supreme existences who ruled over entire planes or continents by themselves. Not to mention, they were all mages who looked down on the Gods. It would be strange if they were easy to get along with after so many years.
I had previously speculated that since they were all mages, the Undead Emperors would probably have a method similar to the Truth Symposium's alliance system. Every Undead Emperor was an authority in their own domain. Naturally, they would all be paranoid Undead Emperors who wouldn't listen to others. Only mutual benefits would make them work together. There was no such thing as superiors or subordinates. It would be impossible to convince anyone else.
As for other powerful existences, they could use their power level to distinguish who was superior and who was inferior. However, mages of the same power level had very little to do with power level. After all, who would have the greatest strength to be the boss? That would be just like the barbarians that the Undead Emperors looked down on the most!
Not only that, many times, the outcome of a magic battle wasn't just a battle of power, but also a battle of wits. Luck would also play an important role. If the order in which they attacked changed, the result would be completely different. It was quite possible that two Undead Emperors with similar power levels would have a completely different result if they fought again at a different time.
Even if the Undead Emperors used power level to compare, it was possible for anyone to break through a bottleneck in their own domain. Then, their power level would explosively increase, and then the result would change. Constantly changing rankings would be nothing more than a joke.
"The most difficult people to deal with in the world are probably dictators and crazy and paranoid scientists. The Undead Emperors are both. It's already a miracle that they're able to get along with each other peacefully. Perhaps it's because they used to be friends with each other … but there seems to be a gap between them."
All in all, I deduced that the Undead Emperors' alliance would definitely be an extremely loose alliance. All the Undead Emperors would have nearly equal statuses … which was why I was in disbelief when I heard that they were actually working together to defeat the Bardi Empire.
"Five Undead Emperors like me and Harloys working together to play mahjong? It's possible for us to get along? Dream on. "
My prediction of the Undead Emperors was that each of them would lead an army, open up a Dimensional Door, and attack an entire country. Anything they defeated would belong to them. This was the most suitable battle strategy for them.
"His Majesty Aso and Her Majesty Conservation are both gone. It's already impossible for the Undead Emperors to come to an agreement on who should be the main attackers. So, under His Majesty Shupnus' suggestion, the five Undead Emperors decided to work together … This is the first time they've worked together, but judging from the results, it's likely that this will be the last."
It turned out that the Tark Republic's spies had been roaming the Northlands for the past few years. The veteran Undead Emperors were quite tempted by how the Mist Alliance's undead and living interacted with each other. The veteran Undead Emperors suggested that the Mist Alliance's undead shouldn't have any blood feuds with the living, leaving room for reconciliation.
However, the irascible Shupnus tossed out an Undead Calamity right from the start, which then snowballed.
Shupnus was quite accurate in his judgement. He knew that there were some things that would be impossible to turn back from once you crossed the line. The Undead Emperors who were on the side of harmony saw that there was nothing they could do about the situation. They weren't exactly kind-hearted people, so they wouldn't show any mercy to their enemies. And so, everyone worked together to defeat the Undead Calamity.
It was quite fun to just defeat the Undead Emperors. But halfway through, the Undead Emperors began to split up.
Undead Emperor Anne, who felt that it was enough to just obtain a large amount of souls from the Undead Emperors, requested to go harvest souls from weaker countries instead of the Bardi Empire. She was only average among the Undead Emperors, and she needed a tremendous amount of souls to strengthen herself. From a certain standpoint, she was the only Undead Emperor who truly desired war.
The Undead Emperor who heard that the Great Demon Empire had actually returned from the dead was furious and wanted to go all-out against the Great Demon Empire. He had also experienced the Great Demon Empire's era.
Just like Aso, he came from the Desecration Plane. From a certain standpoint, he was both Aso's brother and Aso's subordinate … It should be mentioned that Sandro also really wanted to go make trouble for the Great Demon Empire. Of all the veteran Senators of the Tark Republic, which one of them hadn't crawled out from a bloody battle between humans and the Great Demon Empire? The blood feud between the Great Demon Empire and the Great Demon Empire had long since become irreconcilable. In fact, the Great Demon Undead Emperor's current goal was to fight his way to the Bardi capital.
The Great Demon Undead Emperor Shupnus from the Death Fog Plane was the youngest Undead Emperor of the Tark Republic in terms of both physical appearance and personality. He was unable to understand why the other Undead Emperors were so obsessed with the Great Demon Empire. He had a good relationship with Conservation, and both of them wanted to establish a country of the undead. Shupnus' current goal was to fight his way to the Bardi capital.
Undead Emperor Sonoma from the Blood Curtain Plane was probably the strangest of the Undead Emperors. Nobody knew what he was thinking. He had left without saying goodbye on the way to the Bardi capital, leaving only an incarnation behind. It was precisely because he had left by himself that the Undead Emperors were at a disadvantage in the magical battle.
And the last Undead Emperor was Grandpa Sandro. His choice … he had already arrived in front of me. Plus, he was a member of the Undead Emperor's faction who was in the Peace Faction.
"The Undead Emperors are all so unique …"
Although Phil still had no expression on his face, I could hear that he was about to cry.
Indeed, the Undead Emperors were divided into five factions. They didn't even care about their allies and did as they pleased. Their personalities were indescribably unique.
Actually, I could already sense that the Undead Emperors would probably split into several factions with the same number of Undead Emperors. The final result would be the same.
"You've all worked so hard …"
It was truly pitiful to be the subordinate of such an incredibly egotistical group of bastards. My words were quite sincere. They were filled with sympathy and understanding.
"It's — it's good that you understand. As expected of the only new Undead Emperor in recent times. "
The mummy Phil had an expression of gratitude as if he could see the light of the future.
"… You finally understand how hard we've worked? Do you still remember Sulfur Mountain from back in the day? "
Harloys sent me a message through our soul connection. Would you really give up if you didn't comment on me? At the very least, I'm better than these bastards …
I recalled the Sulfur Mountain City of the past, and all sorts of scams and explosions flashed through my mind. Causing trouble for my subordinates? I recalled the scene of Diana vomiting blood in anger over and over again. The more I spoke, the quieter my voice became, and the less confident I sounded.
"Cough, if only Heng and Aso were still here … as long as Aso was still here, we could probably still sit down and talk."
Sandro's tone was filled with helplessness, as if he himself felt rather embarrassed. From a certain standpoint, this couldn't be blamed entirely on the Undead Emperors' poor coordination. Aso was the one who had organized the Undead Emperors' alliance. Now that the organizer was no longer here, there was nothing that could be done about this.
I finally understood. It turned out that the Undead Emperors attacking with their full strength wasn't because they were decisive. It was because they knew that the longer this battle dragged on, the more the Undead Emperors' alliance would collapse. While they could still fight, the Undead Emperors would win in a single wave. If the Undead Emperors couldn't stop the Undead Emperors, the Undead Emperors would win in a blink of an eye. If the Undead Emperors managed to stop the Undead Emperors, it would be game over.
Now that Bardi had just stopped the Undead Emperors, the five Undead Emperors had five different ideas and five different actions. Not even the God of Fate would know what would happen next.
I felt that the silent Sandro before me was becoming friendlier. It was obvious that he wasn't representing the Undead Emperors' alliance, but rather himself.
He said that the living and the undead in the Mist Alliance had a good relationship with each other. This doubtlessly indicated his attitude.
Perhaps this was a once-in-a-lifetime breakthrough …
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