"Work harder, we need to transport everything as soon as possible. Why do I only have those few skeletons, hey, you the lich, can't you just create more of these? .. Why are you only staring at me like that, your boss said that you had to execute everything I said, otherwise what is the point of keeping you here? .. Not talking eh, well call Malakov and transmit what I asked."

Even if they were very far and a faint rumble could be heard because of the sheer number of undead carrying numerous goods, the loud voice of Agnil was clearly audible. The dwarf was clearly abusing of his authority, but that was logical since he was the only skilled person in the entire base. Even if his expertise in plasma energy and his revolutionary theories on the mana reaction in the fusion of plasma were next to useless, he was still a true dwarf at the beginning of his life. Before his world was conquered by the Demonic Empire, he was already old and respected by many for his forging skills.

As he was bossing around, he finally saw the deplorable state of Kardel and was slightly shocked. He didn't expect the latter to even come back before a very long time, and especially not like that.Launching a final order at the intentions of the mindless skeletons, he approached the incoming group.

"What can I do for you, Empress?" Whatever happened to anyone besides her was not important for him, since they were incapable of saving Agnil. The only two beings that could allow the soul to not shatter because of time was Malakov and Leilade.If anyone else went missing or died, it would be regrettable, but that was it.

"What are you doing here, why all of your stuff is being moved?" She was currently where master Agnil was usually forging, from what the rest told her. But instead of doing anything, he was just managing large amounts of minerals to be transported somewhere else. The pile of rocks where strange veins were shining under the magical light was swarmed by the skeletons. The line of undead then descended deeper inside the mine.

"Well, we are quite lucky. This mountain had an ancient volcano that is now asleep, but a small river of magma was found. So, instead of relying on the liches to have a flame hot enough to melt whatever I am asked to melt, I prefer to have a more natural source at my disposal. I don't think it will be enough to turn a shard of Aether into something liquid, but for the iron found nearby, it will be good enough."

"Very well, Malakov, did you saw anything strange in that river of magma? Like a monster or something like that?" The moment she pronounced those words, a skeleton that was carrying something dropped it and approached the group.

"I personally scouted the area, and nothing in a kilometer around it was suspicious. It is only a natural formation, without anything proving that it was designed by the Ancients or even a monster. Coupled with the fact that it was not illogical to find something like that at this distance from the ground, I stopped wasting time searching for something that probably didn't exist."

Leilade nodded at those words. They could be prudent, but to be overly paranoiac would do more harm than good. Before leaving, she still checked one last thing.

"Considering that it will be quite far, does it already have a teleportation array linked to the command center?"

The white skeleton shook its head.

"It will be done as soon as I have recovered enough mana. Do you need anything else, Empress?"

"No, that's enough. You should just focus on that strange little monster that Kardel brought to us."

While saying this, the duvodiad shuddered a bit. What was his nightmare turned into a strange little monster. Feeling even more dejected, he mindlessly followed Leilade across the numerous tunnels, until they end up in a brighter room. Inside, an orodil and a succubus were currently conversing happily with a ratman. The latter was in a very submissive posture, and whatever Meridiana said was immediately followed.

Right now, he was standing on one leg while counting his entire life. Instead of having a hard time balancing his body, the ratman was as stable as a tree completely focused on serving the succubus. He didn't even blink when he saw Leilade and Kardel arriving, like the sad fate of his two companions never happened.

On the other hand, both the orodil and the succubus were puzzled by the sudden appearance of the tall thin man. It took them a few seconds to realize that it was the duvodiad, albeit gravely weakened. "Kardel, is that really you?" The succubus put a hand in front of her mouth like she was shocked by this discovery.

The small rictus that let his canines appeared proved his identity. At this point, the only two that were calm was Leilade and the ratman. The latter was still standing on only one leg, a dumb smile on his vicious face. That almost made her kill the creature because she found it unsightly.

It didn't take very long for Kardel to tell the entire story once again. This time, however, he added a little more details, but still firmly denied doing more than just killing a few humans. No one was foolish enough to trust his words fully. But the general description of the event was clear enough to forget about the small details like the number of casualties.

".. and I ended up here. And you two, you were supposed to pass a happy time in this Republic something something. Doing something called adventuring? That should have been easy for you when one of the most powerful succubi is nearby. Right?" As he said that, he saw the lowered head of Meridiana that was trying to escape the situation. Davion was no better but at least it wasn't as obvious.

When he turned his sight toward Leilade, he saw that it wasn't even necessary to ask about her. Everyone reached an understanding that they more or less all failed. "Where is Ymir?"

"He has returned to his room and is sleeping. Because of the lack of victims, he is trying to reduce the energy used by his body."

"Oh, I see."

At this point, a very awkward silence was present. Because they weren't really friends and didn't have a lot to talk about, no one knew what to say. Everyone was slightly ashamed by the result of their expeditions. If someone said that a group capable of capturing an entire planet by force was reduced to that state, none one present in this room would have believed it. But they were up against something that was strong enough to repel some weaker galactic nations by itself.

Thomp

The ratman finally fell on the ground, his leg betraying him. His body couldn't cope with the duration where he stood in that position. In the end, they still had to decide what to do next and hiding in their corner would solve nothing.

"So, we can forget the participation of Kardel for the next few months, since he is obviously in bad shape. As for how you will recover, do as you want. But no human lives will be taken, you can hunt inside those mountains or even under it.As for us, we need to begin our expansion. I already offended greatly the Massalia Kingdom, so it will be impossible for them to even remotely accept Ymir. Our only way is through the Republic of Avenio for the moment."

Leilade approached the rotating globe that was still in majority greyed. On it, she expanded the view on the city that was visited by the orodil and the succubus.

"As I said, we will need you two to do all the work. Even if you are hated by probably all the adventurers, from what I heard, the common peasant won't know about it. And what you want is just them and the nobles to hail you as true heroes or whatever stupid titles they have. Killing monsters are not enough for this, you need to singlehandedly defend the city against an even bigger threat."

Even if the principle was easy to understand and even easier to say, it still posed a big issue on one point. They needed a threat that was way beyond the abilities of normal adventurers and still something that they could deal with.

"But, Empress, what sort of threat are you talking about? That kind of stuff rarely happens how can be as lucky as have one hand to us on a silver plate? Because, from the looks of it, we shouldn't really rely on luck." Meridiana was visibly not convinced, but Davion slightly shook his head.

"We don't need to rely on external factors when we have Malakov and the Empress. They can easily create an army of undead strong and large enough to scare all the guards by its sheer presence. With that type of threat, we can manipulate the tide of battle as we wished, to create the illusion that as soon as we appear and battle, the undead begin to retreat. On the other hand, we can suppress the might of the adventurers. But it would still be strange for this to happen."

"That's why you two need to find some heretics, cultists or even madmen to be a scapegoat. They need to be known in the region, have done several bad deeds and have the ability to summon at least one lich. Using this as a smokescreen, it will not bear the mark of Ymir or us and will just be a random disaster that can happen. For this, I don't expect it to be done in a single day but in a week or so. With this rodent here, it will be easier."

Both the orodil and the succubus were pensive about that idea. It was doable, clearly, but it will be a little hard. As for the purpose of it, both could clearly understand the fact that a passive population will be easier to convert for them instead of having to deal with some rebels. In the end, they needed to control the surrounding nations and if they wanted to leave this planet, having a happy workforce under the orders of master Agnil was a priority. After a certain point, when technologies dealt with extremely precise measures, if one worker messed up even slightly, the entire thing will be a complete waste.

"As for me and Ymir, during your little trip, we will meet the trolls you encountered during your travel in the mountains. I want to know exactly if they can be used later and the reaction of those primitive creatures when they will saw Ymir. If you have anything else to say or add, now is the time."

Kardel was merely standing still since it didn't concern him for the moment. As for Meridiana, she wasn't really adept at planning anything at all. Only Davion was thinking deeply, pondering about everything that could go wrong. Even if it seemed to be a huge waste of time and resources, because the location of their base was still not known, it was fine. From the report of Malakov, in a month or so, he will have enough equipment to equip a large amount of high ranked undead.

"We will do as you ordered, Empress." The orodil finally accepted the plan as it was told. It was merely the general description since he had to personally find a bystander to shoulder of the blame for the future attack. The two others quickly nodded at his words and executed immediately the first part. Grabbing their helmets, Meridiana and Davion left the room, followed by the smiling ratman.

Leilade looked closer at the single white point representing the city on the virtual globe. Reading its name, she felt it was a strange one.

(So, Archet will be the first one to fall.)

"Indeed Viscount, indeed."