Volume 2, Chapter 82 – The War Ignites Once More

“Grand Duke, for a million years, we’ve always respected you. In truth, without you, we would not even exist.”

The Lich King Kersu slowly opened his mouth, the freezing mist wrapping around his tattered robes.

“But Grand Duke, over this million years, your battle spirit, your hatred toward the living, has been forgotten by you.”

“Even though you are still our Grand Duke, and we are willing to keep serving you and obeying your commands, it cannot change the fact that you have grown old…”

Sargus said nothing. The eyes hidden beneath his helmet were closed, his thoughts unreadable.

Seeing the Undead Grand Duke Sargus remain silent, Kersu continued.

“Grand Duke, this time, we legendaries will disobey your order. Though it may seem disrespectful, we have no intention of seizing power. You are still our Grand Duke, our supreme leader. But this war… will be led by us.”

“And you do this… for what reason?”

Sargus’s hoarse voice resounded, faintly carrying the weariness buried within it.

“Grand Duke, revenge is indeed our first purpose. But the second reason… is that we wish to repay you.”

“Repay me? Then obey my command if you wish to repay me! This is the repayment I desire. Do you understand?”

“Grand Duke, you have lost the sharp edge that the undead of the Graveyard should have.”

Kersu shook his head, looking disappointed.

Yet for a mere Legendary to express disappointment toward a Throne-class being, toward their very leader, was something unheard of. At least, in a million years, not a single Legendary had ever dared to stand before a Throne and speak in such a tone.

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“Our wish, aside from revenge, is to build for you, Grand Duke, an Undead Empire that belongs to you alone. You want to establish a Graveyard Empire in the Main World, and we intend to seize the entire Main Plane as an offering, to give the whole world to you.”

“As for territory itself, we care nothing for it, Grand Duke.”

“…”

Sargus fell silent.

Was it anger? Or powerlessness?

As a Throne, he had indeed sat in that position for far too long. And as the ruler of the Graveyard, he had never once punished the legendaries under him. Never. At most, he would scold them.

Perhaps it was precisely because he had been too lenient that things had come to this point, beyond repair.

“I hope you do not regret this.”

After a long silence, Sargus finally spoke these words.

The immense pressure surrounding him slowly faded away. Though he said no more, the legendaries knew at once what his response meant.

Permission.

“Time will prove everything, Grand Duke. We are the ones who are right. This time, it’s you who are wrong.”

After saying this, Kersu bent low in a deep bow to Sargus, then straightened and left without another word.

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One after another, the Graveyard legendaries took their leave as well. In the blink of an eye, the hall stood empty.

No, not entirely.

The newly joined Death Knight Karl remained, as did the Frost Dragon Ysera, who had always regarded the Undead Grand Duke Sargus as her father, and the True Ancestor of Vampires Lilith, who had long stayed by his side.

“Why have you not gone?”

Sargus’s weary voice echoed, the exhaustion in it unmistakable.

“Father, no matter what you think, I will stand by your side.”

“Ysera, tell me honestly, who do you think is right and who is wrong in this matter?”

“I…”

In her loli form, Ysera’s expression stiffened slightly.

“Father, if I speak objectively… I think this time, you are the one who’s wrong…”

“Even you… think I’m wrong, Ysera…?”

“Even if Father is wrong, I will still stand by Father’s side!”

Ysera looked at Sargus earnestly.

“Then, Lilith, what about you? What do you think?”

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“Me?”

The girl’s blood-red eyes narrowed slightly as she covered her mouth and let out a soft laugh.

“I’m just a girl. I don’t really understand these kinds of things… But well, Sargus, you’re the Grand Duke. You mustn’t doubt your own judgment in this matter. The legendaries, though, have their own views too.”

“Then why are you laughing?”

Sargus asked why she was covering her mouth and smiling.

“Pfft… I was just thinking that the whole scene felt like a bunch of children throwing a tantrum at their father. Both sides are too stubborn, so all the father, the Grand Duke, can do is watch helplessly as they walk away.”

“I see… It really does feel a bit like that…”

Sargus let out a faint sigh.

Then his gaze turned toward the Death Knight Karl, who had stood silently the whole time not far away.

“And you? Why have you chosen to stay, Death Knight Karl?”

“Grand Duke.”

Hearing Sargus’s question, Karl immediately knelt on one knee, lowering his pale head.

“I believe what you have done is completely right. Those legendaries are blinded by hatred, that is why they are wrong.”

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“Oh?”

Sargus’s eyes, hidden beneath his helmet, narrowed slightly.

“Can you tell me why you think so?”

……

Hours later, when the two great factions saw that the Graveyard truly seemed to have ceased its attacks, they began cautiously reclaiming lost territory.

After two consecutive waves of recovery with minimal losses, the two factions finally relaxed. They then began dispatching large-scale armies, split into more than a dozen divisions, to take back all that the Graveyard had seized.

The results were exhilarating. The undead left behind by the Graveyard were only weak fodder, so the recovery went almost effortlessly.

Seeing the ease of their victories, the two factions increased their pace, sending out more and more troops.

But just then, the Graveyard, which had been silent and withdrawn like a turtle in its shell, suddenly struck back.

This time, their assault was fiercer than ever. Bone Dragons, rarely seen on the battlefield before, now appeared in swarms.

The Graveyard’s sudden offensive shattered the two great factions, whose main forces had been sent out to recapture land, crippling them entirely.

The territories they had reclaimed were seized once again by the Graveyard. And worse, of all the armies they had dispatched, not a single soul returned alive.