"Haha, after many days of sailing across the rough seas, we finally get to see the forbidden continent!" An elder lich raised his magic staff high in joy as he stared at the land covered in a mysterious, eerie aura.
"Roars!" The skeletons and undead zombies exclaimed as if they could sense their leader's enthusiasm.
"Tch, don't roar loudly. We'll be doomed if the sea monsters get attracted here. Speed up! We need to get to that land as soon as possible." The elder lich spread his arms to give his orders. As the ship's speed increased, he went to sit on his throne.
"You seem to have come from the eastern region of the Human Continent. You don't mind if we pay a visit to your ship, right?" A girl's voice greeted from the side.
"!?" The elder lich gasped in surprise because he didn't feel anyone nearby. He turned his head to the side and found several human beings. "How did you get on my ship? State your name and I will be kind enough to leave your corpses intact."
"Hm, can we talk like civilized beings? Why do you immediately want to kill us when you don't know anything yet?" Elysia put her hand to her cheek, feeling a bit troubled.
"My minions probably missed you during the cleanup. But, it wasn't very smart for you to appear before me. Keke... your nice bodies will be a nice addition to my undead harem collection." The elder lich looked up and down at the human girl's body, especially those exquisite assets. He then clapped his hands, and two dozen female undead came out of the cabin.
"Just you and those weak undead? You're just a skeleton, but you're a lecherous demon, huh? You're just bones with no meat to beat. Why are you gathering the undead harem, then?" Ai smirked in contempt.
"I can't tolerate humiliation. You are courting death, human girl! Kill them, but don't damage their bodies!" The elder lich ordered his minions to attack.
*Bam* *Bam* *Bang* *Thud* *Crack* *Crush*
A brief battle ensued, but it wasn't too fierce since Elysia's group was too OP and their opponents were only weak undead who weren't much more potent than a rank six fighter.
The strongest was the rank eight elder lich, the Spirit-level skeleton undead. Yet, the so-called leader ended up battered with multiple cracks and broken bones just from taking a few hits from the seemingly weak human girl.
"Ahaha, you are invisble, o mighty queens. Please have a little mercy and this humble servant will do all your orders. If you ask me to fly, then I will not swim. Even if you ask me to pick up an herb in the stars, I will will become a ghost and go pick it up for you." The elder lich rubbed his hands together as he knelt before his former throne. He begged for forgiveness.
He misunderstood it. The queens before him were no humans but the rulers of the forbidden land! He could die at any second if he failed to receive mercy from these queens.
Ai was currently sitting on that throne with Elysia on her lap. Elena, Rhea, and Fortuna stood on either side. It was as if Ai was the real boss there.
"Hehee, this is so nice~" Ai rubbed her face against Elysia's back and inhaled Elysia's natural body fragrance. Still, she cleared her throat before Elysia ran away from her arms. "Ahem, you finally realized your place. We didn't ask you to pluck the moon or stars. You need to do a few things for us. The first thing you need to answer is what are you going to do on the forbidden continent?"
"My queens, we are lowly demons from the underworld struggling to survive. No matter how great our fortune, prestige, and power... It will only be helpful if we can stay. The ones who agreed with the Mysterious God's emissaries were the Demon Kings. Still, the disposable pawns and minions like us received the most damage.
We'll only be waiting to die if we stay hidden in that land, and returning to the underworld is a suicidal option. Not to mention that the Gods and Goddesses joined forces with the united world to exterminate us. So, we can only escape to the forbidden continent that is unreachable by other races." The elder lich acknowledged his intention with a pitiful attitude, hoping for mercy.
He had no idea about the real identities of these mysterious queens. Still, he thought they lacked great enmity and grievance. So, he should be able to get forgiveness for his audacity in failing to see the high peak of the mountain.
"I see, but the said Demon Kings are already dead. Your're free to do wahtaver you want withour fear about your former king's wrath. Just be sure not to involve yourself with the mentioned emissaries or their Gods. Anyway, how many souls have you taken from that land?" Elysia looked left and right. She didn't know whether those undead were natural demons or previously living creatures.
"O benovalent queen, they are my minions from the underworld. Let alone taking anyone's life and convert them to undead, we can't even get close to any city or graveyard. Those shiny knights are so aggressive and their light is so suffocating. Our troops lost before the clash and we chose to flee by seizing the merchant's ships. This fleet is now my pirate ship fleet. I have answered your question, so can I get my robe and belongings back?" The elder lich rubbed his hand again.
He felt embarrassed and uncomfortable because all his belongings had been stripped away, with nothing left. His minions have also been lying unconscious on the floor, battered with various physical injuries. However, he knew these mysterious queens were not unreasonable and could provide a way out if he was on their good side.
"No, you are only bones. You shouldn't feel ashamed of being a skeleton." Fortuna smiled in amusement.
"Alright, this is your robe. You can have your belingings back when we're done with our business with you. We didn't even eliminate any of your minions. So, you know what we want from you, right?" Elena threw the undead's robe and emphasized the end of her sentence.
"Yes, yes, we will carry out all your orders. Whether it's cultivate your land or build palaces in your territory. We only ask for a place to live." The elder lich kowtowed three times.
'This stupid skeleton thinks we are the queens of the forbidden continent.' Elena felt like she was about to laugh.
'Leave with this misunderstanding. He didn't recognize us, and we weren't unreasonable. Since he didn't lie and his undead didn't make a big mistake, they can still atone for their mistakes.' Elysia had a bright idea, then conveyed it to the others.
'Yeah, let them work on fixing that forbidden continent. The land is vast, but there are a lot of scary corrupted flora and fauna. I don't know if they can live there for long or not, hehe.' Ai chuckled like a villain.
'Anyway, we came here to look for some vitality herbs, right? Let's not bother with them. They are so weak and can't help us with anything.' Fortuna rolled her eyes.
'Well, let's leave them then.' Elysia heaved a subtle sigh. She thought this undead could be used, but everyone seemed to have a different opinion.
'It's okay, Ely. They can be useful for us. Look at me.' Elena puffed out her chest like a proud phoenix.
"Little skeleton, you will get a territory on the southwest coast for you to manage. It was a bit destroyed by the previous battle, but it wasn't too bad. You are free to expand your territory if you have the strength to challenge the other creatures and overlords. We only have one condition for you." Elena raised her finger.
"Please enlighten this humble servant." The elder lich saw a golden opportunity to crawl to the top.
"You must cultivate the land well and plant plenty of high-grade herbs that can attract our attention. What remains is your freedom since it is a forbidden continent without rules. I shall give you this. Don't disappoint us." Elena threw a pouch filled with various seeds.
"Yes, yes, this humble servant shall obey." The elder lich nodded repeatedly.
"Good, tell us your name." Elena nodded slightly.
"This humble servant is the Spirit-level lich, Lululouch." Lululouch introduced himself politely.
"Lulu-louch? Alright, we will remember you." Elena then took everyone flying away to the forbidden continent.
Lululouch immediately took back his belongings. As he expected, his things didn't attract the attention of those powerful queens. They came here only to check the immigrants' identities.
He looked into the pouch in his hand and found that it contained many high-quality seeds and a strange talisman. Since that opportunity was laid before him, he had to seize it properly.
"Go, go, our territory is in the southwest. Don't play dead anymore and immediately move our fleet there. The mysterious queens have already given their orders!" Lululouch kicked one of his 'dead' minions and shouted like a charismatic captain.
The ships then went to the southwest area and anchored. They set foot in forbidden territory for the first time with a new purpose and reason for living. That was the story's beginning of an undead kingdom that served the Goddess of Light without them knowing it.
While the enlightened undead started their new journey, Elysia and her group of adventurers had just begun their exploration of picking some vitality herbs in the forbidden land.