60 Chapter 60

As the Earl stared at Pontus before him, Aerwyn turned his attention to the empty patch of forest that the humans had fled towards.

"Come out and apprehend them."

"Yes lord!" The undead humans spoke in unison as the walked out of the darkness leaving the Earl with a stunned expression. Once the remaining humans were apprehended Aerwyn jumped off the zin beetle with Rin and Ren before walking over to the Earl.

"Pontus here told me a great deal about you along the way..." Aerwyn paused and turned to Pontus.

"Which one is the Marshal?"

"That one, my lord." Pontus spoke as he pointed to a man in his late thirties with short blonde hair.

"Bring him." Aerwyn ordered his undead humans.

"What are you..." Earl Abery muttered as he witnessed his once loyal men now calling the young man before him 'lord'. They didn't contain the aura of undeath like the beasts from the battle and he couldn't understand what sort of magic the young man was using.

"I am something that even the gods fear. Now prepare yourself Earl Abery, this may sting a bit." The Earl wore an expression of unbound confusion as Aerwyn shot his staff's blades into the man's unprotected neck.

The Earl struggled as he grasped at his throat in an instinctual attempt to close the wound that would be his end. His body fell backwards and slumped to the ground as Marshal Dolan began to struggle in an attempt to break free from the hold of the undead human behind him, all the while spewing obscenities and curses at Aerwyn.

"You demon!" He called out in a fit of rage as he found himself tired and unable to break free from the undead's grasp.

"Watch your words human! You're speaking to your new god yet you dare compare him to a mere demon!" Erit called out as she walked to Aerwyn's side. Her words made him cringe but since he was playing the part he decided to play it to the fullest. The Marshal stared daggers at him as Aerwyn pointed to the Earl's body on the ground.

"Look." Aerwyn said as the man reluctantly turned his hatred filled gaze to the Earl's body.

It was incredibly dark tonight so Aerwyn could forgive the Marshal for not being able to witness the full process of resurrection but Aerwyn watched on as the body began to convulse. Tenebrous smoke poured out from the Earl's throat before encapsulating the rest of his body. Once it dissipated the Earl opened his new violet colored eyes. He stared directly into the sky for a moment as if frozen, before bringing his hand to his throat and checking for a wound that no longer existed.

Marshal Dolan stared at Earl Abery with a look of sheer disbelief.

"...How? ..There was no mana..." Marshal Dolan mumbled.

"I already told you... I am something that even the gods fear." Aerwyn didn't give the man time enough to ask any more questions, instead he sent the blades of his staff into the Marshal's throat just like he had done the Earl.

Once the Marshal soul had entered his chest, Aerwyn moved onto the thirty two men behind them. Some struggled, others cried, in the end they all were brought back. It didn't feel good watching a helpless person struggle as they came to terms with their demise or to be forced to watch as the life left their eyes in that final unforgiving moment. He'd never get used to killing things in this way but that wouldn't stop him from doing what had to be done.

A living person could betray him and while his undead humans appeared to have more free will then he would've liked, they still appeared to follow his orders for now. Leaving them alive meant his life was in danger, thus there was no quarrel in his mind about killing them. Besides, it's not like their death was a true one. They would continue to live but it would just be a different type of living. In total Aerwyn now had a hundred and forty five undead humans if he included the thirty nine he had resurrected whilst chasing the Earl down throughout the day.

Aerwyn had the new undead collect the mana cores like he had been doing since he began chasing the fleeing troops, leaving the armor behind for now and only taking enough swords and shields to arm the few goblins who didn't have steel spears. The human's swords and shields were a bit too large for the goblins but being undead they wouldn't feel fatigued, only clumsy as they swung the swords so it was better than the sharp wooden sticks they were using previously.

Aerwyn gave a zin beetle to Earl Abery so that they could talk as they headed to the ships. Pontus had told him about the slaves and the loot from Lyr that they had loaded up onto the ships but he was unsure about how many men were left behind to guard them.

"How many soldiers are still with the ships?" Aerwyn asked as he carefully analyzed Earl Abery's face.

"..There's... There's a bare bones crew on the Abery ships, no more than twenty per ship. The Durani brought fifty sailors per ship and a hundred guard to keep the slaves in check but they're no soldiers." Earl Abery appeared to still be struggling with something in his mind. When he spoke he looked disoriented, as if unsure as to why he answered the question.

"I want to make sure i resurrect useful people. Can you point out the captains of each ship?" Aerwyn asked as he continued to analyze the man's face.

"..Yes, my... Yes, my lord."

"Good. When we get to the camp you will be in charge of your men. I want you to pretend you came back for more supplies. You can say the elves are giving you trouble or something convincing enough to sound reasonable. Once the rest are in position i will give you the order to kill everyone except the captains of each ship... Ah, and the merchants, i want them too."

"...Is there no other way to resurrect more, my lord?" Earl Abery asked with a voice of concern.

"...Why?" His question surprised Aerwyn. Of course he actually planned on resurrecting more humans than just the captains but he was curious to see what the Earl's reasoning was.

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"I... I believe they will be of more use serving you as opposed to dying a meaningless death. They're good men, my lord."

Aerwyn was conflicted by the reply, it was clear the Earl still held some reservations about killing his men which was unlike what he had experienced with the others. Sure they fought control at first but ultimately fell in line and killed their old countrymen without so much as a peep of discontent. It was possible that he simply needed more time for his power to take effect but everything was an unknown with his power so he couldn't be sure.

Aerwyn planned to use the Earl as a spy in the human kingdoms but if his loyalty wasn't absolute it was more trouble than it was worth. Thinking it over he decided to try the carrot instead of the stick.

"I won't risk my forces in an attempt to capture them alive. However... If you have an idea on how to get it done without me losing a portion of my army i'm open to the suggestion."

"If the Durani are dealt with first i can convince my men to surrender without a fight, my lord."

"...What about your eyes. I can't imagine the men at the camp not questioning why all your eyes have changed to the same color."

"A dark elf poison, my lord. I can tell them that it afflicts the eyes and makes seeing during the night difficult. They spread it through smoke and fires during our march east and ambushed us during the night when we were blinded. We managed to come out victorious due to Pontus's magics protecting us from the majority of the poison, however we were all afflicted to varying degrees."

Aerwyn was surprised by the response. He had been struggling with the question himself since he had to come up with an excuse for their eyes if he planned on using Earl Abery as a spy.

"They'd believe that?"

"There is very little contact between the three races of Alduun and the forsaken races. It wouldn't be unbelievable to think that the dark elves had their own means of surviving amidst the invaders for all these years."

Aerwyn wished Tylin was behind him right about now so that he could get his opinion on the matter. He was severely lacking when it came to common knowledge of the world and there was a fair bit of risk if he agreed with this plan. It was possible he'd end up in the same position as he did with Frakki which would be worse now since the enemy had ships that they could flee in.

He didn't have any undead outside of the humans who would know anymore than him so he decided to call over Pontus and explain the plan to him. He was one of the more talkative undead and seemed to be fairly trustworthy from his past conversation with him. Pontus agreed that it was believable so Aerwyn made his decision. He would attempt Earl Abery's plan but he would take a few precautions just in case.