I became a legion lich

142 The arrival of the army

“Like this?” Caio asked, not understanding Emilia’s concern.

“Do you remember that earth mage Sevenus? He was one of the master’s first skeletons, but look at him now. The master barely remembers his existence, considering him just another of the skeleton mages. He doesn’t know how to runesmithing, so it was left in Astrus’ hands to build traps along with the low-ranking skeletons.” Emilia spoke of her concerns.

Athos didn’t really care for any of his skeletons, he just used them as tools. The only one who had a guaranteed place in his mind was Treevor, but that was because of his numerous exceptional abilities, not himself.

In fact, Treevor had been given command of the entire army as his second-in-command, while Astrus and Emilia became his generals. After them were squad leaders like Caio and Vanilla, but Athos paid no attention to them, remembering their existence only when it suited him.

“I understand now where your concern comes from. But what’s your plan? Want to lure the master into a honey trap? I must say, you need to gain a few pounds for that. You’re just the bone at the moment.” Caio spoke and Emília slapped her forehead with her horrible joke.

“I’m just securing ground. The master will probably figure out a way to give us our bodies back and I want to have an advantage over anyone who might join us in the future.” Emilia spoke determinedly.

Caio nodded in agreement with her idea. Using a honey trap was very common in high society. Even Emilia was almost used in a political wedding before running away from home. Emilia herself was not against marriage per se, just the idea of being stuck in a noble family with no freedom at all seemed irritating to her.

“I really support you trying to move things forward and gain a foothold for yourself, but try to focus on the upcoming battle. Have you got the new gear from Treevor yet?” Caio warned her as he did when she was a child and was very engrossed in her games.

“It’s truly amazing that he took the time to make our equipment with the amount of work our master gave him.” Emilia spoke with a mixture of pity and admiration to Treevor.

.....

Blacksmiths had forged custom armor for Emilia, Caio, and Athos. It was the only dark iron armor made in the keep and Treevor personally charmed them despite their short time. The dark iron was no better than regular iron and didn’t have much energy, but Treevor managed to runesmith two enchantments throughout the set.

He spread the runes across the armor set to get enchantments he thought were decent. The first enchantment was magic dispersion that mage slayers were used to and the second enchantment was impact dispersion, which he learned from Astrus’ equipment.

Both incantations were self-explanatory, reducing damage taken both physical and magical.

The two started walking around the fortress while watching the storm clouds. They usually walked together when they weren’t busy, as there wasn’t much to do in the keep.

“I know I said it’s okay and I’ll support you, but do you happen to have a plan? Because the master never mentioned women and any kind of desire other than violence and power. Even when he regained his manhood, he never expressed any desire for women. You’ll go a long way if you want to take a chance, if you get a proper body, of course.” Caio spoke a little discouraged.

“That’s not a problem. I’ve already done some research on the master’s past with Sevenus, and he said the master has a fetish in milfs. When I get my body back, I’ll be right in his attack zone.” Emilia spoke confidently.

That reminded Caio. Despite his human appearance being in his mid-20s, his actual age was already past his mid-30s. It was definitely in its master’s attack zone.

“Besides, you also saw when the master walked around the fortress naked yesterday didn’t you? That size is definitely something worth sitting on. I can’t wait to get my body back so I can debut it.” Emília continued talking and Caio realized one more thing.

Emilia was also incredibly frustrated sexually and very assertive about what she wanted. She’s never had a problem or shame in going after someone she cares about.

“Just be careful not to be too invasive and the master finds you annoying. Despite appearances, our master is still very young and inexperienced.” Caio started giving relationship advice and Emilia undid the darkness in his ears, silencing him.

She even took care to nod her head every now and then and give generic answers so he wouldn’t suspect anything.

**********

Two days passed in the blink of an eye and soon the skeleton birds reported that humans were close to the fortress.

All the skeletons rushed to their positions the moment the first human was spotted on the horizon. Athos ran to the walls and took a spyglass to watch the enemies.

The vanguard of thousands of crusaders looked impressive, but Athos was sure their faces were shocked at the sight of the fortress. Or has the sight of an evil stronghold only made them more determined? The kingdom army soldiers on the left and right sure looked terrified.

‘Emilia and Astrus come here. I want to know if any of you recognize any important figures in the army.’ The human army slowly approached until it stopped a few kilometers away and Athos searched for any important figures among their ranks. There were a few soldiers with slightly superior armor than the others that Athos assumed were captains, but he found no major commanders.

‘My king, take a look behind the crusaders, where the enemy’s command center is.’ Astrus spoke. Athos followed his advice and focused on the center of the enemy army. The soldiers in the center of the formation wore much better equipment than the rest of the army and the vast majority were on horseback, but they all wore armor or in the case of mages, hoods that covered their faces.

A group of paladins protecting a man in clerical robes made their way toward them, the horse soldiers respectfully clearing a path for them. A group that Athos assumed to be adventurers due to the difference in their equipment also approached them, but these came from behind the army.

‘Master, take a look at the flags the soldiers are flying. You can find out what noble family they belong to, or if they are part of the kingdom’s army.’ Emilia explained to Athos, who was ignorant when it came to army practices.

The kingdom’s army had the custom of flying the kingdom’s flag and a flag of the noble house to which they belonged. The noble could never place his flag above the kingdom’s flag, or that would be considered an affront to the royal family.

‘I don’t know any noble house, least of all their pennants. Does anyone recognize any?’ Athos asked, before a slight regret crept into his mind. ‘Should we have created a flag of our own? Do you think there’s still time to create one?’

‘I recognize that flag. It’s my family’s flag, so my brother must be the commander of this mission. He must have been chosen for this mission to make up for my mistake.’ Astrus spoke in a voice more bitter than usual, ignoring Athos’ idiotic concern.

His loyalty was entirely to Athos, but it’s not like Astrus has completely forgotten about his family. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill his own family when the fight started, but that doesn’t mean it would be easy.

‘Church forces will act as the vanguard, just as expected. The priests are being protected by adventurers and paladins, so it is likely that they will try to conjure a holy field to weaken us.’ Emilia spoke as if she had already expected this. It was a standard tactic when facing undead.

She noticed that the court mages were scattered throughout the army in groups of five, so it would be difficult to target them. Priests were a much more obvious target and danger.

‘They know this tactic wouldn’t work and Treevor can teleport, so why insist on casting a large-scale spell?’ Athos asked confused. Repeating the same strategy seemed stupid to him.

‘It is likely to be a trap. I don’t think it’s a good idea to teleport to ambush them like we did the first time.’ Treevor joined the conversation. He was already inside the willow at his human size, but he didn’t climb the walls, preferring to watch the army through the eyes of the few hive hawks that weren’t busy with the storm cloud.

‘No, if they took the trouble to create a trap like that, I would feel bad for not completely spoiling their plans. Remember what I said about hive hawks and releasing large-scale spells in the midst of enemy formation?’ Athos said amusedly.

‘This might work, but the moment the spell wears off, I’ll be alone in the midst of enemy forces. If the thousands of crusaders turn around and attack me along with the forces of the realm, I will die.’ Treevor spoke worriedly.

‘Don’t worry, you’re our ace and I won’t use you right from the start. I want you to make your move when the troops are so entangled with each other that they won’t be able to react to you until it’s too late. We have other cards we can use in the meantime.’ Athos replied confidently.

Athos was incredibly excited for the battle to come and to see how many surprises the human army had prepared for him and how he could crush them one by one.

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