《Being Undead》Chapter 6 - The War Effort

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With the city razed and its populace added to our host, our number swelled to over 4000 zombies, along with the ghoul hounds who've been reduced to 150, and the remaining five undead behemoths.

I can't say I'm not interested in what forces are work here, with the strength that these necromancers can exert I'm feeling like whatever is going on is big.

This is less of a upstart necromancer attack and more of a full on invasion, albeit still rather minor to the few million inhabitants of the Empire. A lot of conquering nets you a large populace.

Luckily that populace, and subsequently the military force, is spread out to cover ground, which works in our favor, as we don't need to fight the entirity of the Empire's war machine. Still though, just a fraction of it is a force to be reckoned with.

It's to our advantage that the terrifying soldiers of the Empire are all at the various front lines, adding yet more territory to the already mind boggling size.

In the grand scheme of things, we're still relatively low key, thankfully.

Yet I'm certain we will be meeting real resistance here in a few days, as the Empire has had plenty of time to prepare a subjugation force, which is bound to have a mage or two tagged with it. Rather than the soldiers, who will still be to their credit a threat, the mages will be what truly makes it a tough fight.

From what can be seen by what the necromancers have done here, you can see the might it can showcase. However the other schools of magic, the elemental and others, are no pushovers. If there's just one thing we have them beat in, however, is that due to Necromancy utilizing death energy instead of mana, it's the perfect magical source for war, where death is as common as fish in a lake.

Mana, unlike death energy, is all around us at all times. But unlike death energy, it is far more difficult to draw in and harness. This is due to the nature of death energy, having been a part of a living creature, it naturally and willingly enters a new vessel, in this case the necromancers. Imagine the necromancer using a straw while the other mages have to dip a sponge in and squeeze what they can out.

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On the flipside though, death energy isn't as abundant everywhere, said straw needing to be used on an oasis while the other mage uses his sponge on an ocean.

But in war these oases are created before the necromancer's eyes.

That isn't to say we'll come out unscathed, as the necromancer won't be able to raise up new bodies wily nily due to the pressure exerted by the opposing mages, having to divert his power to mitigating their attacks from crippling our number.

There's also whatever new addition his companions add to our force, considering that seems to be their theme. There's no telling what it'll be, since the type of undead is only limited by the level of power that raises it and the corpse it's raised from. And humans aren't the only race there is that can be called 'civilized'.

Actually speaking, the Empire has many races under its rule, from your elves to your demons. The former aren't actually that tree huggy, despite the stories, to call them longer lived humans with pointy ears and an affinity to Nature magic wouldn't be a stretch. As for the demons, they're about the same except more demonic looking though they usually stay looking human, and as for their affinities it depends on the type of demon. Some are good at Necromancy, Fire, and Water believe or not, amongst others. Personally they're my were my type. A downside to having a little of my emotions back is that I can feel depress I won't be able to enjoy such things anymore, but the fact my body doesn't even react to any thoughts helps to lighten the feeling.

They say your dick has a mind of its own and now that it's dead I'm inclined to believe that. Still, you will be missed old friend.

Anyway, point is that with the power these necromancers are showing off, I wouldn't be surprised if they had a demilich. Not a full lich, a demilich is an undead magic caster that is still ranked in the mid tiers, unlike a high tier lich. The difference between them is that a lich is like a power plant of death energy, while the demilich simply loses the problem of needing to find death energy and gathers it at a speed comparable to other mages.

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The reason why one would be used instead of just another necromancer, is because a demilich still retains a shred of intelligence and an affinity for whatever school they were in before they were raised. This adds unpredictability when fighting an organized undead force like this, as you can't just assume to only be facing Necromancy.

Moving on, to a more interesting topic, myself, I've acquired enough death energy to condense it a size of about the space between the joints on your finger, the middle one.

My goal is to acquire enough death energy to encase my soul in it, on a theory I came up with that it'll make me immortal. I mean, if my soul can't leave my body will that mean I would not be able to be killed? That would without a doubt bad ass, and that's what I'm all for.

Oh, and there's been a new development. When the soldiers had been effectively overran and routed, the necromancer released his order to not frenzy.

And I retained control over myself!

I believe it to do with my success in absorbing death energy, as though whatever it is about my undead self realizes it's idea wasn't working and has handed the reins to me.

That's not to say I don't have the urge to take a bite, and do give in when I'm particularly absorbed in killing, but it's more of a back seat kinda thing.

It's really good for my plans that it's done this, as the necromancer's order can't increase the hunger enough any more to where I lose myself.

I begin to tend to my axe, having grown a fondness for it through our traipsing into people's homes and letting it greet their faces.

There's nothing real fancy about it, it's decorations few and far between beyond the ornate piece at the end of the handle, that ends in a spike that just adds more utility to the weapon. It's size is just a bit longer than a longsword, not a large as your average battle axe but it's got enough reach to get the job done and give me the option to choose between one-handing and two-handing the weapon. Still have yet to acquire a shield, as it wouldn't be fitting to just pick up some wooden one, it wouldn't fit in with my axe. Bad asses don't have mismatched equipment to that degree. And also because the ones I do come across are always beaten to the point of useless by straight forward attacks from a mindless zombie.

Mentally sighing to myself, I noticed from my spot next to a house in which I can still hear screaming in, a pocket of survivors who will be surviving no longer, I observe the necromancer, once more meeting with the usual (in number at least) two companions.

I stare with expectant eyes for the new addition to our army, wondering what it'll be.

As I said, my money's on a demilich.

Ah, one of the other left, I guess it's either a necromancer or a demil-

"....."

It removes it's hood.

"....."

It's a fucking lich.

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