I, Necromancer Chapter 21

Changli was always humble.

She had seen the effects of pride turning into arrogance, and getting to one's head. She had seen how fast they crashed down afterward. How fast they lost everything.

She could never understand arrogance. She was thankful for everything she had, and for everything she was given, for every opportunity she earned.

Even when she was crowned as the best Alchemist in the Alchemy Sect young generation, she didn't let it get to her head. She only looked forward, to her next stop, to her next achievement.

Changli was born in the Branch Family of the Phenex House, likely the richest House among all the other Devil Houses due to what they can offer, which saw a massive spike in sales once Gates started making themselves known.

Usually, being born in a Branch Family meant the Devil had to put any ambition to the side, for they likely would remain dreams unless they were born with monstrous talent.

She had heard it happen to a Devil from her same generation. Zani Agares, from the Branch House. Born with immense power, a mutated Clan Trait that made her a monster in battle… And yet her family was executed for treason, and Zani was exiled from the Agares House.

Many of the other Houses were the same. The Main Family ruled, the Branch Family was just fodder to fill the ranks… Or wombs to bear more children that would go unloved.

Unlike all the others, though, Changli wasn't treated as fodder. None of the Phenex Branch House were, in fact.

She knew very well why. The current Lord Phenex, during the Civil War, had slaughtered his own family. He had purged all those that stood on the side of the Old Satan Faction out of the House, and married Lady Phenex, who was a member of the Branch Family.

Their relationship was quite known, and the attempted assassination on the now Lady Phenex was likely what had pushed Lord Phenex towards slaughtering his own family instead of trying to convince them to unite the two families once and for all, like he had been for decades.

Once he became Lord Phenex, and once having married Lady Phenex, they had started making the Branch Family feel welcome. They were allowed to live within the main Phenex House mansion, their dreams were supported in full, and the eldest child at the time had even been crowned as the Phenex Heir, before willingly and happily giving the title up when, decades later, Lady Phenex bore her first child.

It was the same for Changli. Everything she wanted, she was given, even if it was an incredibly difficult opportunity the Phenex House had to pay a lot for to obtain.

They sent her to try her hand at the Alchemy Sect, within the Chinese Territory. An opportunity night-impossible to obtain, knowing how hated Devilkind is.

Yet, Lord Phenex got it, gave it to her with a grin, then told her to do her best.

Changli did way more than her best, for she couldn't let them down. She learned how to Cultivate, she worked hard for months, forgoing sleep for many days and weeks at a time, all so to go from a simple Worker to an Outer Sect Disciple.

And then she refined her first batch of Pills. Then another. She had to avoid and hide from lustful Cultivators only seeing a trophy and womb to claim, while mastering the art of Alchemy, which required a calm heart and empty mind.

She theorized. She refined. She theorized. She failed. So on and so forth, until she became an Inner Sect Disciple at fifteen.

And became a Core Disciple months later, when the Sect Leader had just… Snuck into her room, stole all of her food, and read her notebook.

And the spicy novels she should have really burned.

After that came fame. A lot of it. It did help her with going through her theorized Pills, as she could just bat her eyelashes at someone and they'd do everything to impress her.

And then she was approached by Scaith and Fleurdelys. Her first opinion of them was… Overly ambitious, then she got to know them more and more.

Fleurdelys wasn't ambitious. She just wanted to make sure everything wouldn't go to hell and be set on fire, so she could sit back on a nice vacation house near the Ocean, and live the rest of her long life there.

She liked fighting, but not a fight with stakes in it. Even more so if such stakes were the lives of her people. Changli was quite good at reading people, so she could see the sheer rage and sorrow swimming within her King's eyes whenever she looked at Devilkind as a whole.

It was a noble goal, born out of a sense of duty due to who her mother is, and due to the scars the last years of the Great War had swiftly left on her before she fell asleep.

And then Scaith… Gods, what an unfairly handsome, beautiful and cute man. He looked at Changli like she was the greatest wonder in existence, always listening so intently whenever she went off on a tangent about Cultivation and Alchemical matters.

And he'd remember everything. He wasn't offering an ear just to be polite; He was doing it because he was actually interested, and he loved listening to her.

Necromancy had his full focus, but he was a passionate man that adored all, and was curious about everything in turn. He saw Cultivation, and mixed it with his Necromancy.

He saw Cultivation, and found a way to grant it to their army through Inner Strength.

He wasn't one to hoard everything for himself, despite clearly being very, very ambitious. Nor was he an overly arrogant man, who lusted after every beautiful woman he'd lay his eyes on.

Hell, he was surrounded by beautiful women in the Peerage! And those very women are the ones pursuing him, while he just keeps getting distracted and being so stupidly charming!

Changli lets out a soft huff, cheeks cutely puffing up as she glares to the side, her eyes falling on one of his many gifts, and the one she cherishes the most.

The multi-headed Flood Dragon capable of Cultivating, which had been one of his powerful Undead before he brought it back to life through the Sephiroth Graal and gifted it to her.

She had cherished the beast a great deal since then, using a lot of her funds and resources to refine the best Pills possible to enormously strengthen it.

To say that it had grown leaps and bounds would be an understatement. Changli doubted she could win in a fight against it now, though she wasn't much of a fighter herself.

Though, Tio did spar against the Flood Dragon in her own Dragon form at least once a day, to the point where they would both be left severely bloodied and wounded.

Not that it was hard for her to fix them up with her Pills.

Still, the Flood Dragon ended up being a blessing in disguise for Changli. Not only because now it was a powerful Maou Class beast she could control and command as she pleases, but also because of its Cultivation Path.

It took a while for her to get down each of the Realms the Flood Dragon went through, but once she was able to discover them, break them down, and found ways to replicate them, she wasted no time in making sure all of the Dragons and Phoenixes under her and Tio's rule underwent such a process.

Scaith had modified them again, making them reproduce incredibly quickly, and grow just as fast. Any egg they lay would hatch within a day, and any child would become an adult within.

Together with Tio, Changli made sure she had fifty Dragons and fifty Phoenixes, half male and half female. They'll be the first batch of beasts that would undergo Cultivation, and pass it onto their children, who will have greater talent.

So on and so forth, until a massive army of Cultivation Beast was grown.

The cost to raise them was going to be massive, but once she approached Fleurdelys for permission to undergo such a process, she also received the answer to her dilemma.

"We'll just sell some as battle pets to the Chinese Faction, and maybe to others, but at a far greater price." That was the solution her King had come up with, and Changli instantly saw herself swimming within money.

Alas, money was still an issue. And making the Dragons and Phoenixes grow properly was another one.

Luckily, Changli had always practiced with a less known aspect of Alchemy called 'Giant Pills', which could not be ingested by Humans or Races that weren't beasts.

Giant Pills were born as a mistake. Each bath of Pills refined would create a total of nine pills, but sometimes all nine pills fuse into a single, giant one with the medicinal properties of all nine, but enhanced even further.

Thus, they were usually sold to Beast Tamers, which were a rare sort, as they required a great deal of funds to care for their battle pets.

Having used most of her resourced, Changli already had the Giant Pills required to kick-start the Cultivation journey of all one-hundred beasts… What she needed was something that helped speed their growth along.

The time issue could easily be solved, as she'd have the beasts go and Cultivate within her personal Alchemical garden, the one under the time bubble created by the Agares Devils.

They'd work as guard for it too, basking in the medicinal properties of the herbs to improve and purify their bloodline, while also removing the time issue from their training, which was the major problem for all Cultivation.

The second was the energy upkeep. They required Qi, and a lot of it.

Which now led her back to the Chinese Faction… To meet up with yet another enemy. A very, very dangerous enemy.

"My, and here I thought I was forgotten." Yi Xuan's alluring voice sent shudders down Changli's spine, her cheeks coloring despite her composure. The silver haired beauty smiles, gaze flicking towards the enormous three-headed Flood Dragon behind the Phenex Devil, "Hmm, no handsome Necromancer with you?"

A light, playful pout crossed those wonderfully plump lips, "How sad. Makes a woman doubt her charm." Yes, yet another dangerous enemy that would steal Scaith's time and attention.

Changli couldn't even be angry with him, for he clearly wasn't doing it on purpose! And that made it so much sexier for some reason!

"Now, what may I assist you with?"

Gulping, Changli turns and waves to the back of the mighty beast beside her, "Might you offer me your ear for a few moments?"

Yi Xuan blinks, then her gaze turns sultry and playful, "Oh, I can offer you more than just an ear, dear." Right, she swung both ways.

Changli had heard about how many 'Junior Sisters' Yi Xuan tends to surround herself with.

Leaping onto the back of the Flood Dragon, Changli made sure no one would eavesdrop, knowing that the information she was about to share could cause a great deal of upheaval among the many Sects.

Yi Xuan hums softly, taking note of her actions, "Being quite secretive. Now you've piqued my curiosity."

The pink-haired Phenex beauty wets her lips, before turning to fully face the Formation Master, "I've discovered a new Cultivation Path." She reveals directly, going straight for the main issue.

Yi Xuan stills, eyes blowing wide open in pure, utter shock. Then her gaze flicks down do the Flood Dragon, before back up at Changli, who just silently nods.

There had been many Cultivation Beasts that came out from beyond the Gates through the decades since they appeared in the Underworld. Since then, the Chinese Faction tried to study them, and replicate or figure out their Cultivation Realms.

The problem was that they could not be contained. If captured alive, they'd self-detonate. If dead, they could only be studied for a day before any Qi within them would fully dissipate.

But Scaith had waved those problems away. He had given the Flood Dragon a new Soul, which learned everything that had been carved within the Beast Core. It learned how the Cultivation of the previous Flood Dragon worked, the previous Realms, and the future ones.

Scaith likely was not aware of such a thing, or perhaps he was and simply had faith in Changli that she'd discover everything the Flood Dragon had to offer.

Either way, Changli was now the only owner of a Cultivation Path from another Universe.

While their world had many, ranging from Body Cultivation, Soul Cultivation, Sword Cultivation, Inner Strength, Daoist- Or even God Cultivation, those were all Paths created by the Heavens, and passed down to the Humans.

No one could create a new one, hence why the greed to reverse-engineer one from beyond their world.

"You are putting a lot of trust in me, young lady." Yi Xuan stresses out softly, schooling her expression to give nothing away, but Changli could still see that desire and yearning deep within her eyes.

That desire for more.

"It does not work on Humans." Changli reveals right after, before chewing on her lower lip, "But it might work on a Devil, with some tweaking." It was crazy to think about, but the Phenex Devil couldn't get this out of her head.

This Cultivation Path relied on a powerful Bloodline, and focused on elevating it and the body, similar to Body Cultivation, just far greater.

Yi Xuan rose an amused brow and crossed her arms below her large bust, "This a recruitment pitch?" The woman teases, lips curled playfully, "Should have sent the Necromancer. I'm sure a lovely long night with him might have… convinced me."

Changli did her best not to pout. Too much. Enemies, they truly were everywhere…

"I-I'd just like to have your assistance on this matter." Changli pushes through her embarrassment and the sheer allure Yi Xuan exuded with each of her movements, "Pills can help, but the beasts require a lot of energy, a need your master over Formations and Arrays can easily satisfy."

Formations that gathered Qi in one specific area, to the point where it can even become a liquid, were the backbone of each Sect. The grander, more powerful the Formation was, the greater the gains for the Cultivators of said Sect.

It was why Yi Xuan held such a high position. She was the best at her job, but getting her to personally do something or construct a personal Formation for a Sect may as well leave it bankrupt.

The alluring Formation Master hums softly, foot tapping on the scaled back of the Flood Dragon they were standing on. "Very well, I find no reason to turn down such a request." Changli perks up at that, her smile growing downright radiant, "Though, I'll need your help to cover the costs of the Formation materials. I can put some of my resources in it, but…"

Changli just smiles brightly at that, "We have a little too many resources ourselves due to Scaith, and are struggling to sell them, so feel free to use as much as you want to make the best Formation possible."

Yi Xuan blinks at that, "What exactly is the Necromancer doing, if I may ask?"

The Phenex Devil giggles nervously.

"He and the two Heavenly Dragons have been tearing through the Inner area of No Man's Land for the past month…"

….

"We have a surplus of monster materials. Too much to sell, or put to proper use."

Fleurdelys hums, cheek on her palm as she listened to Cantarella's report. Her new lovely Sitri Bishop had swiftly taken up the role of her secretary, freeing up more of Zani's time and covering for things Scaith tended to do, but is unable to now that he is away.

The amount of materials he kept sending back each end of the week was stacking up, and by the third week they had too much. They struggled to sell it to the Chinese Faction, and to the New Satans in turn, who were in need of materials due to their own big project.

"How is the artillery project going along?" Fleurdelys asks, and she watches as Cantarella dutifully flipped through the pages of her journal to check on the progress.

"The walls are fully equipped. Anti-Air and explosives weaponry are fully stocked and ready in case for another Beast Tide." The Sitri Devil informs, before turning another page, "And the army is spreading those poisoned spikes across the walls and the land ahead of it."

Fleurdelys nods in approval at that, always liking the ideas her army come up with. The spikes she received last week were a gift from Albion, and came from a Heavenly Dragon Class monster.

Albion laced them with his terrifying poison, and the army had swiftly thought about hiding them in the ground in the land between New Haven and No Man's Land, just leaving the tips out of the earth so to graze or puncture any beast that charges forward.

Just that alone was more than enough to kill Maou Class beasts, but the fields were also filled with additional traps, to not count the army of Jiangshi below the city that had reached the half-million just this week.

"We'll have to see about approaching the Greek Faction. I'm sure Hephaestus and his Demigod children will gladly welcome such an income of materials." Fleurdelys offers, enjoying the sight of her succubus-like Bishop writing her words down.

"May I suggest approaching the Youkai Faction for such a deal too? The Oni are good smiths too, I believe."

The Leviathan Heiress hums softly, "Inform Tio about it. I believe she and Yasaka have grown quite close since the Beast Tide?"

"Oh, yes. I believe it was something about clothes."

What a way to gain connections to another Faction. Fleurdelys was quite proud of her Peerage, and couldn't have asked for lovelier ladies to be surrounded with.

New Haven was fully built, but expanding even more just in case. Bunkers for the people living in the city were built for them to hide in and teleport away in case the defense do not hold.

The whole army of ten-thousand was fully equipped with the best gear possible, and the soldiers had also used some of their skills to create large magical bombs with some of the materials they had available, intending to use them through the remaining Undead Dragon and drop them on monsters.

The constant Gates appearing along the Outer Edges worked well to test such strategies, and give the army something to focus on. Sometimes, her army would be gone for entire days, led by Tio and Zani, to tear through as many Gates as possible, and they'd only retire when absolutely tired and spent.

It did wonders to their training, which kept going even back home, due to Lu Bu taking them all on at the same time. It was quite the chaos, but alas, it was needed.

The Beast Tide had lit a fire beneath all of them, making them yearn to be even stronger, so to better protect their family and comrades and not feel useless.

"News from Michael's side?" Fleur questions her Bishop, who only shakes her head in the negative.

She knew she wasn't being ignored, and that the rebirth of God had likely left the Angels very, very busy. Their numbers had likely long since surpassed the Devils and were still growing, especially after seeing the army God had led to the Underworld to fight against the Beast Tide.

Whatever was going down on their side, Fleurdelys knew that it was important and she couldn't rush them. She just felt stifled, running out of things to do.

New Haven was safe. The land was filled with traps. The city was beyond rich, the people beyond happy and satisfied, and no pressing threat or problem was pushing against her borders.

She only missed Scaith. Deeply. A month without him was torture for her, but she knew that it was needed, and that he needed to complete that gear he wanted to gift them with.

It helped that Rias came over to visit often. Her relation with her family were still shaky, even though the issues Fleurdelys had with the New Satans were… Put aside due to a much bigger threat that required their full attention, and them not bickering over each other.

Exiting her office, a smile spreads across her face as soft violin music fills her ears. Phrolova's powers were such a beautiful addition to her home, with her being able to play music out of 'Strings' related to certain concepts and emotions.

A String of Destruction would release devastating shock-waves, a String of Happiness would make anyone listening to its sound happy, so on and so forth.

Such connection to concepts had Fleurdelys theorize that perhaps Phrolova was also created through parts of the Dragon of Dreams. If the Khaos Brigade had the blood of Ophis, they also likely had remnants of the Dragon of Dreams too in other bases.

Her army had swept through a great deal of No Man's Land outer area, but had found little traces of the Khaos Brigade. A few bases, but they had all been destroyed and vacated long before their arrival, leaving nothing behind.

It was likely a way for the remnants to cover their tracks, now that they were left without a competent leader. Or maybe, in case Euclid wasn't the only one pulling the strings of those animals, they had all been ordered back by the other higher ups.

Rizevim wasn't a leader. He might be able to control others by flaunting his might around like a child, but he was not a strategist or a smart individual. Without Euclid, the highest damage he could hope to achieve was throwing a stone through the window of her home and then run away.

Fleurdelys did not fear her older foolish brother. She feared any of the more ancient, evil minds that had joined his side just for the sake of evil.

Shaking away those depressing thoughts, Fleurdelys descends down to the living room. There, she finds Zani and Tio relaxing, enjoying Phrolova's soothing music.

Cantarella hums softly at the sight, "Perhaps we should have her perform in a theater?" She offers, soft smile on her lilac colored lips.

Fleur tilts her head in consideration at that, "Perhaps." Phrolova still couldn't handle large crowds well. Perhaps she'll have Scaith raise such an offer to the Artificial Super Devil when he comes back.

Seeing and having nothing else to do, Fleurdelys stretches her tall, curvaceous form with a soft sight, "Would you like to join me for a bath?" She offers to the alluring Sitri Devil beside her.

Cantarella titters softly behind her palm, "I see no reason to refuse such an offer."

Oh, she was going to drain her beautiful Queen into a husk once he comes back.

Well, her, and his other lovers too.

~XXX~

"You know…" I perk up as Vali speaks up from the make-shift bed he was laying on, cool towel over his face, "I was always curious about the power of Nuclear Bombs…"

"But getting hit with the energy equivalent of it straight in the face is not a pleasant experience."

My lips twitch, "I mean…" I start, fighting to contain my laughter and snorts, "Who told you to be so close to Ddraig when he used Boost?"

"He was the one that told me to get on his shoulder!"

"He is a little shit. He punched Albion through a mountain last week just because he got the last hit on the Heavenly Dragon Class porcupine monster."

"Still…" Vali slumps, "I went flying, man…"

This time I do snort, "I know. I saw you punch through a cloud and disappear from view."

I turn back to my work, but Vali wasn't done yet.

"Did you know that the Underworld had a sky limit…?"

I blink, and turn back towards him, "It does?" I mean, it is a separate Dimension, so one clearly can't go into space from here. I guess I just didn't guess if there was a barrier limit after a certain point in the sky, or just nothing.

"Yeah…" Vali sighs out, beyond tired and defeated. "I hit it."

I snort, then burst out into laughter, much to his weak indignation, "Hey, that shit hurt, man!" He whines childishly, too tired and weak to do more than that.

Albion's training is tearing him apart, but his growth this past month is making it all worth it.

This goes to show just how the two Heavenly Dragons became so powerful when they were alive. They'd go off, train as hard as they could, then meet up for yet another clash.

And this watered down training Albion was putting Vali through was making the guy question his decisions in life. Then I'd have Rhapthorne heal him, and he'd go right back for another round.

"I still cannot wrap mine head around the fact that failure was able to procreate. And so was his progeny." A haughty, powerful voice sniffed, pulling my attention back to the glorious greatsword on the flat table of stone before me.

A long blade made out of bleached, sharpened bone, with jagged blue spikes spreading out in a fish fin pattern from the guard. The broad side of the blade was covered in small dark blue scales that shimmered faintly under the light, and attached at the bottom of the flat side of the blade was a bright blue gemstone, which flashed each time a certain Leviathan spoke.

"You forget, Lady Leviathan…" I start, moving the glowing Sephiroth Graal to the side, "That rape is, unfortunately, a thing."

The gemstone flashes with a soft hum, "You speak true, Necromancer." The ancient dead Devil sniffs, "I simply refused to believe a child of my lover and my best friend could fall to such levels. But then again, it is Rizevim we are talking about…"

Ouch, not an ounce of mercy. Vali sure as hell loves it, though. He and Lady Leviathan get along splendidly, in fact.

"Either way…" I shake my head with an amused smile, before gently tapping the blade, "How's the flow of Devil Energy now, Lady Leviathan?"

A flash of deep, dense blue energy coats the blade at my question, "Immaculate." The woman praises, her deep voice pleased. From the blue aura appear small specters of aquatic beasts of all kinds, each formed out of water. Though at full power they are far, far bigger. "It feels even better than my body. My daughter will be pleased with this."

I did use her analyzed info from the Sephiroth Graal to make the basis of this sword, before I started Fleshcrafting and Grafting Souls and corpses into it.

A total of a thousand corpses and Souls of the powerful aquatic beasts we've encountered and killed so far, with the best of them having been a gigantic crab-like beast that took Ddraig and Albion working together to bring it down.

"And none of the Souls are acting up?" I know I basically crippled and bleached them, but I'd rather not risk the Soul of my lover's mother.

"None so far, though my control over them is a bit… Lacking, at the moment."

I scratch my chin in thought, "We'll see if it improves once Fleurdelys wields it." With that, I lean back and tilt my head as I inspect my new masterwork. Not a Soul-bound weapon yet, but it will be once I link it with its future owner. "All it needs now is a proper name."

All the others also have a proper name, after all.

Tempus Furem, a pair of gauntlets that can become a suit of armor, meant for Zani. Made from her copied Clan Trait, which will massively speed its time stealing capabilities, the scope of it, and will allow Zani to store any overflowing stolen time within them.

Ignea Pluma, a small flaming feather for Changli, made with her Clan Trait, and the one that took the longest to perfect. She can use the flames of her Clan Trait to heal others through it, giving them the nigh-immortality the Phenex Clan boasts.

Pulchra Venena, styled after the gigantic jellyfish monster that had appeared during the Beast Tide, and paired with Albion's poison. It was jellyfish-like umbrella, for Cantarella, which would enormous empower the poison of her mutated Sitri Clan Trait.

And finally, Tribunalis Magni. A white and red scale attached to a necklace, meant for Tio. It holds the power of Ddraig and Albion both, allowing her to Boost and Divide once, which will empower her a great deal in her Dragon Form.

I'd have to make something for Phrolova too, but for now I am not willing to make her fight. It has to be her choice, and seeing how attached she is to me, she'd willingly do anything I tell her to, which I'd rather not.

"Atlantis." The Original Leviathan whispers out, bringing me out of my thoughts, "In my daughter's hands, this will grow into a mighty weapon."

I smile and let the Sephiroth Graal, "And you'll be there to watch it happen, ma'am."

The woman in the sword scoffs, "I would prefer seeing some grand-kids, Necromancer. Lots of adorable girls, preferably."

I burst out laughing at that, "I'll try and get started on that sometime in the future, mother in law." Another scoff is my answer, though I can tell that the woman had taken a liking to me.

I perk up when two familiar powerful presences ping to my senses, and I turn around to exit the make-shift tent I was using as my workshop.

I barely glance at the devastated land overflowing with Necrotic Miasma around me and instead watch as the two colossal Heavenly Dragons descend, "I'm surprised to see you two back so soon. Ran into trouble?"

The amount of Gates we've gone through this past month is uncountable. Both because of them, and because of my forces that have been spread wide, like a growing disease that keeps growing the more corpses it leaves behind.

As for how many Heavenly Dragon Class beasts Ddraig and Albion battled and killed, it is likely close to the hundreds right now. Beasts a class higher than that, which required the two of them to go all out in defeating them? Around a dozen.

If the Outer Edges were dangerous, then the Inner Area makes one truly understand why the rest of the Underworld was called 'No Man's Land'. It truly fit that name.

Without Ddraig and Albion, I wouldn't be able to walk so leisurely around here. Hell, even with them it is still dangerous. It is Rhapthorne's busted healing spells that are carrying us all.

Ddraig gives a wide, toothy grin as he lands, shaking the surrounding land without care, "We found something you might be interested in." I raise a brow at that, my Devil wings spreading soon after, taking me up to his head.

His giant wings flap soon after, and with a single leap we are high above the clouds with Albion. "This Gate might be the strongest we've discovered so far." The White Dragon offers, his long form unfurling as he leads the way, the air whipping past us after a swift sonic-boom.

It takes us but a minute to reach our destination, and for me to understand that Albion wasn't kidding one bit.

A pressure that made my skin crawl came from beyond the horizon, a sickly deep green glow covering the skies and land. A dense dark green fog that could put my Necrotic Miasma to shame covered the land, and I could see Undead of all kinds walking within it, spreading further and further, devouring Gates whole like and expanding tide.

Vampire Lords, Undead Colossus, Undead Titans… My gaze flicks to a rolling, mountain-sized ball, the source of the vile miasma covering the land and empowering the Undead.

A Necromass. A conglomeration of millions of Undead of all sorts… And it isn't the only one. I could see dozens of them.

They aren't powerful, but they are moving calamities that contaminate entire continents, and are insanely hard to kill. Damaging them makes them release the millions of Undead that make up its body, so they are armies just waiting to be deployed.

Skeleton Mages, Undead Dragons, Dragon Skeletons, Skeleton Knights… This was an army in the high tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions.

"There's a powerful Necromancer at the very end of this horde…" Ddraig states, voice full of assurance and battle lust, "You said you needed stuff for your gear, right? Well… Think we found it?"

I couldn't stop the grin that spread across my face at his words. Even after a whole month of expanding it, my army is nothing in comparison to this one… Is what I would say.

But these Undead are mindless. Mine aren't. They are warriors trained by ancient Mages and Lu Bu, and is now numbering in the millions.

"Let's go back and prepare, shall we?" I tell the two Heavenly Dragons, who turn around and start flying away from the expanding army of death.

I'll have to prepare even more Holy Undead if I want to go against this, but I am confident that my army already holds the advantage. And once I get to study one of the Necromasses, I'll be able to improve my Necrotic Miasma too.

I guess I can graft the Angel Titan and its army back into existence. That'll be a nice work-out.

Still… I palm my face and sigh deeply.

"I feel like you two idiots are corrupting me into a battle-hungry maniac…"

"Who? Us? Nooo… Never…" Ddraig drawls out in his 'little shit' tone of voice, while looking towards Albion, clearly winking at his rival, who could barely hide the grin on his own jaws.

I hate the fact that it's working, but that might also be my desire to see my new creations at work. I've been relying less on the Sephiroth Graal, and mostly use it for mass-production once I've done the Fleshcrafting and Grafting by hand, which I enjoy.

I've made a great deal of monsters, and I am trying to copy and improve the Dragon Quest monsters I had. Like the Gigantes and Archdemons, physical and magical powerhouses.

I've had quite a bit of success, so now I have walking Undead Titans that are both physically powerful, but also capable of launching a Kaboom Spell of immense scale.

I am still unable to get Tension down, as that is something I want to gift my Mages, but I guess one thing at a time.

But, thinking about it… I still need numbers to contend against that army, so…

I guess I can use the Sephiroth Graal to create some very, very Democratic bugs that can mass-produce and multiply very, very quickly.

"Hey, Ddraig… You hate bugs, right?"

The Red Dragon Emperor of Domination locks up in the air. "Please don't…?"

My only answer for Ddraig is a loud, and very evil cackle.

Oh, I am going to enjoy this.

A.N. Yoinked some strong-ass Necromancer from 5E DnD called Nihilator, Lord of The Undead for this Gate.

Dude has like… 2k Hitpoints, so you know he means business. Let's not talk about his busted ass skills.

Hence why I wanna turn him into a piece of gear!

Also, apologies for the wait. Been having issues with life. Hopefully things get better and I can entertain y'all more often.

Hope y'all enjoyed this chappy either way!

Lotsa love!

Toodles!