Expect another chapter later today!

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So…Conquest. Such a tiny idea, but the consequences are huge. Why?

“Oh no! Everyone! There is an Undead Lich Lord that plans on making a Conquest of the nearby Regions! We must stand together! Do not falter! Do not break! We must prevail at all cost for our humanity!”

Stupid broadcast, inciting chaos. It was true, though. I had expanded our patrols to outside of our Domain so we quickly increased its size. What surprised me the most was Chance. Apparently, he had gotten into contact with the Level 5 person in Louisiana so he decided it would be best if he went.

I gave him a Squadron of Elite Level 3 forces to aid him. Some other guy…someone called Finch, or…Bob? I couldn’t remember his name. Maybe we’ll get some good stuff from their trip. But…how was he going to travel?

By boat.

No, no, no. That is too dangerous! We have no idea what’s in the waters! Besides, it was practically the same distance to get to the coast in the first place. So I had made a sort of wagon for him. I had some Undead Beasts pull it for him. We needed to conserve gas and fuel, after all. He left along with the 30 powerful Undead.

Chance’s team that was left behind was proactive in their scouting, providing us with good information on where to strike next. We decided to take out those that weren’t helping humanity. That meant people resorting to criminal behavior, or were doing some really insane shit. David helped out with these.

For example, there was the cliché farm trope with cannibals. Gross. Thankfully, we had the monitor and could see past broadcasts. Now no one’s secrets are secret. We could make good judgements of character from the videos. But this wasn’t towards the east, it was towards the west.

The Panhandle.

Well, not that far. But it was a considerable distance. We chose not to target the smaller Clans of people just trying to survive by normal methods. Of course, if they try to attack us, we’ll defend ourselves.

They weren’t as big as the Living Saints since they were only about 10 people. We sent Sammy who completely wiped the floor with them. No Ability Users, unfortunately. I let Sammy set up shop, so to speak, and then had a powerful Dungeon built. I planned on having a System Oriented Area for farming GP.

If I could get some people to come in and defeat some Level 0s, then they’ll get stronger. Then they will earn Skills and GP. Then, when they get killed by my Units, I will receive rewards! Well, they don’t have to go in. So what can I use as bait?

An incentive is usually given to those who do well to keep them doing whatever it was they got paid for. So if I want them to continue, they need to beat a Level 1 on the first floor. I could easily leave a Skeleton Weapon or Equipment for them upon completion. Then the next floor would have Level 1s with a Level 2 boss. Then so on and so forth.

The entire thing can be run by Sammy! Cool, this will work. And if people want to stop him, they just need to get strong enough to beat him. Of course, the Skeletons being used will be those of criminals and such. Now I won’t have to worry about my conscious…too much.

It still irks me even though I know I need to get stronger. The more powerful people I have under me, the faster we can take control. The faster we take control, the higher the Rank of Noble I will become. We still have another week before the Monthly broadcast.

I’m pretty sure I am number 1 in the State, but what would my Rank be in the Global? Hmm…

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A couple days have passed and we discovered more people lived in Dallas, so there were many small Clans that were warring with each other trying to do what I did. Well…I put a stop to it. Brandon did, anyway. He was more interested in fighting than sitting back and taking care of a city.

Kuvali and Chris worked well together while maintaining their Town. They also salvaged Shockreed while they were at it. Reese took over the Downtown Area by himself and dedicated his time to teach people magic. Hm, that will be good. Damian seems to be preoccupied with himself but he moves for Renzo. He kind of reminds me of a hit man. Renzo is actually doing quite well.

His place has those three sisters that spend their days learning from him. He also teaches the other Humans. Now they are highly militaristic and steeped in tradition. The tradition of What Renzo Says, We Do. And I thought I was oppressive.

I left Spot and Jane to watch over the Camp Drive Capital. I decided to travel around the Region, raising the dead that I found. Every time was a different feeling, however. Sometimes, I wouldn’t care, but then there were kids or pets littering the ground.

I had raised so much, I decided to switch over to my new Spell I had. Yep, it was pretty cool. That Bone Equipment stuff I was talking about earlier. I could reshape bones to be blades or armor. Pretty damn sweet.

I wasn’t any good at it, but I did try my best. I made basic Bone Gear that mimicked my current equipment but it was clearly less powerful. I didn’t mind, because I wasn’t going to wear it. I made a Greater Skeleton, with its red coloration and the new lights that appeared in their eye sockets. I enhanced its body, making the body denser and reshaping it to be similar to my size.

I gave it the gear and saw how close it looked like me. But made completely made of white with the red striking out of nowhere. It would have looked really awesome if there was some detail color. Maybe when I Level Up the Spell. He carried a Bone Pistol that shot Death Shots, since it was made using Necromancy, which is Death Magic. The cane sword was also pretty good, so I switched it with mine.

What? It was made using magic. That means it had to be better than a normal weapon. Right?

Well, the cloth was taken from clothes I found and sewed together. Of course I know how to sew! I lived by myself, after all! Anyway, I had laced it with bones, making it look like some sort of bone armor. But I tried making it mobile with the cloth by making it sort of layered like scales. The Skeleton stood proudly, waiting for a command.

“I’m going to call you…a Skeleton Mimic.”

Oh? An alert now?

“Do you want to make a new race of Skeletons?”

Uhh…yeah?

“Congratulations! The Lich Lord has created his first Custom Creation! For creating the first Customized Race in the Continent, the Unit in question will Level Up once! Since it was created to be in the likeness of the creator, it will have the same Job!”

“Beware! There are now a new race of Undead that can mimic others! It can take the appearance of fallen Heroes and Villains and use their powers! We now have TWO Liches! What do we do?! Argh! Beware the Skeleton Mimics!”

Oh shit.

What have I done? It has my power? Sure enough, it Summons 10 Level 0 Skeletons from nowhere. Isn’t that like Ribcage? How come they don’t need bodies? That’s not fair. Whatever, it looks freaking awesome.

Spooky scary skeletons! Hahaha! At least he still follows my orders! I mean, he is my first Level 4 that I raised myself. I don’t count the Ents. I send him to Sammy so he can make use of him. Hehehe, maybe I shouldn’t be left to myself.

So what now? Hmm…

I’m bored. I’m going back home.

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Well…it’s tonight. The broadcast, that is. Every week we saw me at the first place. After me came the Skeleton Mimic. Then all of Reese and his five friends. Sammy and Ribcage took the last two places.

No Humans, huh? Oh well.

“Welcome, all those who have survived the first month! This will be the start of the New Year! This way, everyone can see the strongest in the world!”

Uhh…What? Navi! Don’t give me that sheepish look! What the hell is this?!

“Now then, let’s begin with the people and things to look out for! Keep in mind, if they show up on the Top Ten, they won’t be on here.”

Oh. Hm. Let’s wait and see.

There was a couple of powerful aquatic monsters that already made it to Level 5. Oh?! Nemo and Buster are on there! Huh?! And all of my BOSS and Mid BOSS buddies! Isn’t this really weird? Why? Okay, here we go. There’s some Variants in Southern America but for the most part, I guess they get killed pretty quickly.

There were some really bad guys that also showed up in Australia, but they weren’t very strong. Is this okay? Wow…I don’t feel really good about this.

“Now it’s time for the Global Top Ten! Starting from the Tenth place! We have a special Skeleton that was created only a couple days ago! Here is the Skeleton Mimic made by the Lich Lord! Who is he? Just wait! This Skeleton has the ability to dress as other people and use their Jobs! Because of this, we have another Lich!”

Wait…if he is here…

“In Ninth Place, we have Arzo Lomac! A powerful Human that killed several BOSSes already! Imagine, because of him, the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea is perfectly safe! Of course, someone with the Hero Job would have many good qualities about them. Give them a round of applause!”

“In Eighth Place, we have Titzi Skulu! Riding a powerful lion across the savannah, he is a powerful warrior!”

“Brother!”

Kuvali? Really? That’s pretty cool.

“With his Tamer Job, he has several Pets at his disposal! Plus, he has a new target! To avenge his fallen brother!”

“Oh. Oops, that’s not good.”

“It’s okay, Boss. My brother was always easy to rile up. Hopefully, I can talk some sense into him.”

“Alright.”

“In Seventh Place, we have Clara Monti!”

Eh? Her?

“She is a powerful person who just got another just as powerful Unit! The Spider Queen on her way to join her Clan several hundreds of miles away! Get at it, girl! Of course, we hope she changes sides soon!”

Shit. That’s the lady from California! She showed up on the broadcast! Damn, this might spell trouble for her!

“In Sixth Place, we have the Dollhouse! We chose to remain quiet about their information since their Clan mates are traveling to find them! Just know that their power is just as powerful as the Spider Queen, if not more than!”

“Dammit!”

“What is it, Boss?”

“That’s our member as well! Shit! I hope nothing happens to them…”

No one says a word.

“In Fifth Place, we have Ronald Royce! The Gamer in his prime! However, better stay back unless you want to have your soul be destroyed! It is fitting for him to be on the Lich Lord’s Clan since he uses the living for his sick games! Better watch out, Massachusetts!”

Whoa. I think we need to kick him. If we had to deal with someone like that, we might have trouble. I talk around, and we all decide to kick him out. I received a nasty message from the adolescent 15 year old but I ignore it. If he has beef with me, then he can just come here in person.

But…this means I am in the Top Five!

“To the Top Four! In Fourth Place, we have Lao Zhen the Commander in Chief! Taking quick action, the military of China successfully dealt with the infection at an astounding pace! Taking the Status of Noble, he rules over quite a large Area!”

Only an Area?!

“In Third Place, we have Bridget Ophelia Johnson! Her Slaves are well trained and due to her great leadership abilities with the Heroine Job, she took over an entire Region! Her house in England is well defended against the infection and other possible enemies!”

Shit…I am second place. Even though I’m not first, I will be well known throughout the world. This sucks.

“In Second Place, we have…!”