121 A costly error

"This ... what did I say? F*ck, did I talked about souls? Leilade is not going to be happy, not happy at all." Ymir only realized he had made a huge mistake after receiving the full blow of the attack of that human. The one he had firmly gripped in one of his hands and had taunted to the point where he was red of fury had managed to even push him back. Still a knee on the ground, the red giant was feeling his body but didn't sense any injuries.

"Couldn't even measure to one of my fists, HEHE. Fat luck for you, HERO!" He purposely accentuated the last word, while looking at the now shining general. His hand that should have been red of blood for punching the armor of Ymir was perfectly intact. Even now, the human was barely understanding what was happening and only came to his senses after the Akûl shouted at him. Realizing that he managed to push back the monster in front of him, and filled with hatred, he launched attacks after attacks.

But before he could do that, numerous skeletons got in his way, all expertly attacking in concert to bring the newly born Hero down. But even the expertly forged weapons of Agnil and the sturdy armors could not stand against such a vast influx of divine power. However, each time one undead was destroyed, the light surrounding the body of the human began to dim. Seeing this, Ymir could only smile while patiently waiting. Waiting for a moment of inattention, one moment where the exterior power will not protect the fortunate soul from his mighty axes.

Seeing this, and after nearly a minute of intense fighting, the Butcher of the North understood what was happening. It was no different from what he did when he exhausted the goblins before launching a full-scale assault. And if the first attempt was not enough, he organized a second one less than a day after. Still filled with an energy he never felt before, he escaped in the opposite direction of the giant demon. Taking by surprise Ymir, that was ready to pounce on him at any moment.

"RUN LITTLE PIGGY! RUN, AS FAR AS YOU CAN! ONE DAY, YOU WILL HAVE TO FIGHT US! AND DIE!" Taking out his disappointment at letting escape such a large piece of meat, especially one with such a high concentration of mana inside, the Akûl was not willing to pursue. After all, if he were to fight alone against the Hero, he would be injured, at best. Feeling hungry, he picked up the corpse of a soldier nearby and began to eat it. Now was not the time to waste his strength in a wasteful way. He still had something to do.

Turning his sight at the city that was barely visible in the horizon, he called Malakov. "Did she already know?" None of the nearby skeletons made any move, filling the demon with unease. It was impossible for someone like that Envoy to miss such a thing, even with the impressive amount of undead he had to manage. Therefore, he should have begun to torment him with sarcastic remarks and visions of a grim future. But only one being could prevent him from mocking the rest of them. Confirming his worries, not even a minute later, an extremely small human approached them.

"Know what Ymir?" Seeing the one he feared, Ymir bowed immediately and ushered quickly everything he knew. "Something unexpected happened, Empress of the Underworld. A Hero. I did manage to make him escape before he destroyed too many skeletons, but he was unharmed. I have failed you."

It was extremely rare someone ever called Leilade by her complete title, unless that someone screwed up royally, or was trying to bootlick her. Looking at the dozens of broken armors laying around, she could only sigh. Lifting her hand, she began to reshape them, extracting from the inferior equipment of the humans what she needed. Soon,the same bones that were finally resting began to move once more, like the entire ordeal never happened. As for everything that was not useful anymore, it still had a utility.

Darkness covered the now red plains, swallowing bodies, armors, swords, and shields. Even the green grass was not spared, leaving a lifeless ground behind it. The hole inside the red sea was like an eyesore for everyone else but them. After gaining more mana than she used, Leilade waved her hand at Ymir, letting him continue. The large demon was a bit disappointed to not even have another body to eat, but he would never complain when the reason was that small girl. To already have one human in his stomach was good, all things considered.

With that, the small army left behind nothing but the very corpses that were in front of the walls. Everything else that even had a drop of blood on it was completely gone. From what was seen for those on the ramparts of Archet, it was like a nightmare. They had seen the divine light landing on the ground, proving that after so many centuries, another Hero was finally alive. Only to be gone seconds later, and finally, the very soil was swallowed by a black liquid.

When it finally stopped, barely a few meters away from where they stood, they were practically holding their breaths. Knowing what will happen if they touched it, they were paralyzed by fear. Dazzled for several seconds, they only noticed that the group of black armors was standing nearby afterward. Making the previously ashamed guards near the gate now shuddering in panic. Swallowing the slim amount of saliva in her mouth in an attempt to reduce the dryness of her throat, Gwendoline made everyone jump in surprise.

"Open the gates." She, who had forced to shut down the only entrance for the fleeing soldiers was now opening the city to their enemy. But past the initial fear and misunderstanding, they could only wryly laughed at the only available option she had. None imagined that just a wall made of stone could stop those monsters, meaning that they could only try to act as obediently as they could. Vastly outnumbered and not even ready to fight, what would be the point?

"Open the gates." The officers that understood that truth ordered once more to let them in. But the guards were clearly unwilling to do that, making them personally move to do so. "I say, open the gates! That's an order! Let me do it!" By now, they were moving as fast as possible. If they lost any amount of goodwill from their new sovereign because they were too slow, they would never forgive themselves.

In the end, Ymir could finally put his own foot inside the wide street in front of him. A street that was entirely desert, with not a single soul visible. With the earlier departure of the elves and some guards, every citizen knew that an army was approaching. And that it was most likely not the human one. Coupled with the fact that almost every inhabitants of those houses were dead since it was the eastern part of Archet, there wouldn't have been a lot of humans in the first place. But the two or three families in the vicinity had locked their doors at least three times, just in case. And probably hide under their beds or furniture.

That worsened the mood of the demon even more than he previously was. But even then, he couldn't just rampage as he wanted. He had enough wisdom to know that what they were doing was the best way to survive more than just a few years. After all, as long as they could feed on something alive, they could live almost like immortals. The two rows of skeleton warriors on his sides walking uniformly, he advanced a bit more on the paved way until he met the welcoming group.

In fact, they were only 7 in the end, everyone else had left because of some urgent problems with their parents or children. Even most of the officers managed to create a very vast issue with their equipment, making it not efficient to be present. There was also the case that they forgot to eat their breakfast, being so early in the morning. Besides Gwendoline and Andre, there were three officers, with one being the muscular one that the Eltritch noble verbally assaulted. The later was also present, with another noble that visibly didn't want to be here. But, after all, no one truly wanted to be here in the first place.

Putting all of his axes in his back, Ymir tried to appear as friendly as possible. Extending his four imposing arms in the direction of the humans while looking at them with his kind red eyes, he began to speak what Meridiana created for him. The succubus was the most qualified for this job since they couldn't let him think for himself about what he should say or not. Otherwise, they would have ended up with him telling in great detail how he would kill all of them if they betrayed him. Literally tell them that, without any nuances. And with a very precise way of how their limbs would be torn apart and slowly digested. Not something really agreeable to the ears of humans.

"Humans! I ..."

"We surrender." The remaining words got stuck in his throat because Gwendoline cut his speech instantly. A bit irritated that all his efforts were rendered fruitless, it also spare him from saying this complete nonsense he had to learn. She should have said those words after he had finished, but that wasn't enough to make him baffled.

"Great! From now on, you are the very first city in my new Empire. I will bring peace, security, and freedom to all the races under my command." He paused, to see their reactions, but got nothing. Truth to be told, at that moment, the Akûl was appreciating, even more, the attitude of those trolls. They had immediately accepted him, and listened to him, while right now, those humans were like statues. He did not expect cheers and such, but at least a reaction, except seeing their faces getting whiter and whiter.

"My first order is to dismiss the garrison of Archet. Their services are no longer needed, the security will be handled by my legions of undead. Fear not, they will only act if something illegal is happening." Because the population of Archet was low after that assault of the liches, everyone will be assigned to manual labor. They could not afford idle guards when skeletons could do the job better. But that provoked immediately a wave of protests, especially from the three officers. Right after they put their hands of their swords, they saw the dangerous light of the red eyes of the demon looking at them. Shaking uncontrollably, they could only slowly remove their hands. Leaving only their Mayor to ask something that was bothering her.

"Excuse us, Emperor ... Demon Emperor. But what is illegal in your empire?"