Deus Necros

Kaiser tapped the bottom of his staff against the ground. "One gate here." He struck the earth a second time. "One gate at the heart of your marsh." Kaiser spread both hands. "The Dark Continent becomes a short walk away."

Ludwig rubbed his chin because that possibility was significantly more useful. A hidden stronghold beyond Solania with direct access to Bastos would give them a route that required no mountains, hostile territory, or Imperial roads.

If disaster struck inside the Empire, they would possess somewhere safe to retreat. If the danger originated within the Dark Continent, Kaiser could withdraw directly to Bastos.

"Can you actually do it?"

Kaiser looked offended. "I was a high-ranking mage before I was a lich."

"That doesn’t answer the question."

"I constructed dimensional gateways before your ancestors discovered indoor plumbing."

"So yes?"

"Yes."

Ludwig nodded. "Fine."

Kaiser paused. "Fine?"

"Why not?"

"That was easier than expected. I thought you’d have more to say..."

"I’m on vacation. And I’m not the one doing most of the work." Ludwig shrugged. "Apparently I’m learning to delegate."

"A historic day. We should commemorate it."

"Don’t ruin it."

They continued toward the center of the citadel. That was when they began seeing people scattered throughout the streets.

At first, Ludwig mistook several figures near one of the gardens for statues. One of them blinked, and another slowly turned his head.

Ludwig’s expression changed when he realized that the people who had lived beneath Sloth’s Authority remained inside the city. Hundreds could be seen across the streets, with some sitting outside homes while others stood in gardens or stared into the distance as though they had awakened from a dream and could not understand what came next.

One man attempted to walk. His first step looked normal, but the second nearly sent him to the ground. He caught himself against a white column and stared down at his legs as though they belonged to someone else.

Ludwig frowned. "Yeah. That’s going to be a problem."

Celine moved past him and approached a woman sitting beside a fountain. She crouched in front of her before speaking.

"Can you understand me?"

The woman slowly looked toward her. "Yes."

Her voice was quiet and uncertain. Celine studied her face before asking another question.

"When did you last eat?"

The woman looked confused. "Food comes."

Celine’s expression tightened. "It doesn’t anymore."

The woman looked toward a nearby table and waited, but nothing appeared. For the first time, something resembling concern entered her expression.

Ludwig watched as the truth became clear. Sloth’s Authority had removed the need for nearly every basic skill involved in survival.

The inhabitants had forgotten how to provide for themselves after spending so long without needing to work. Some of the oldest people inside the citadel might have forgotten what hunger felt like, and that ignorance could kill them faster than any monster.

Ludwig looked toward Kaiser. "You’re going to need to keep them alive."

Kaiser glanced across the scattered population. "I had gathered that." Kaiser nodded. "I will establish defenses for the monsters. And figure out a way so these old toddlers don’t die from starvation."

Ludwig looked toward the unused white cubes scattered around the outskirts. "What about walls?"

Kaiser followed his gaze, as if a lightbulb lit above his head, he smiled. Ludwig immediately regretted giving him the idea.

"Excellent. There are enough unused cubes around the city to close most of the open approaches."

"Fine then, use them to fortify this place. With Sloth gone, some of the monsters might start getting greedy for human flesh again."

Kaiser began studying the surrounding structures more carefully. "A proper wall would simplify matters considerably. Towers at intervals. Controlled entrances. Defensive platforms." He turned toward the center of the citadel. "And a Necropolis."

Ludwig stared at him. "Of course a Necropolis... why not."

"You say that as though it is unreasonable."

"You’ve been here ten minutes and already want to turn Sloth’s paradise into an undead fortress."

"A fortified undead paradise. Far removed from human interference."

Ludwig could not argue with that, and Kaiser continued before he could find another objection. "This region is beyond the Empire’s jurisdiction."

"Technically."

"The restrictions upon necromancy do not apply."

"Also, technically."

"A permanent Necropolis here gives us a military stronghold independent of Imperial law." Kaiser pointed south. "If we ever require withdrawal from the Empire, we come here."

"Or if the Empire decides they don’t like me anymore." Ludwig said as he remembered Tull’s words about him being a potential danger.

"Precisely."

Tull looked between them. "I’m standing right here."

Ludwig glanced at him. "What?"

"You’re discussing building a secret undead fortress in case the Empire turns against you."

"And?"

"I work for the Empire."

"Oh." Ludwig considered the problem before arriving at a simple solution. "Don’t tell them."

Tull stared at him. "That’s your solution?"

"Yes."

Kaiser nodded. "A sound strategy."

"You’re both fucking insane."

Ludwig smiled. "That should have been obvious."

Tull muttered something and walked away, leaving Ludwig and Kaiser to continue planning. Ludwig looked across the enormous city.

"Building two territories at once is going to become annoying."

"You will not be building this one." Kaiser said

"Excuse me?" Ludwig frowned.

"I will." Kaiser planted his staff against the ground. "You return to Bastos. Rest. Handle whatever affairs you already created for yourself there." His gaze swept across the White Citadel. "I will handle this."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"I once ruled a kingdom of the dead."

"And how did that work out?"

Kaiser went silent, causing Ludwig to smile. "Sorry."

"Then it’s yours."

Kaiser looked toward him. "Mine?"

"To manage." Made sure to emphasize on that part.

Ludwig pointed at him. "Don’t get ideas."

"I would never."

"That sentence has never been less convincing."

Voices began rising farther down the street as the tribesmen who had traveled with Ludwig moved among the inhabitants of the White Citadel. Recognition spread slowly, followed by people calling names and staring at one another in disbelief.

One of the older tribesmen suddenly stopped. The man had to be in his seventies, with gray hair, deep wrinkles, and a body hardened by decades of surviving the Dark Continent.

A woman who looked no older than thirty stood several paces away from him. Neither moved until the old man’s face collapsed beneath the weight of recognition.

"Mother?"

The woman stared at him, her confusion slowly becoming disbelief. She took one uncertain step and nearly stumbled, but the tribesman immediately caught her.

She touched his face and moved her fingers across the wrinkles, gray beard, and scars. Her expression twisted as she tried to reconcile the old man before her with the person she remembered.

"No."

Her voice shook while the old man laughed and cried at the same time. "It’s me."

She shook her head. "My son is..."

Her hand returned to his cheek. "You were so littel."

The man closed his eyes. "I know."

The woman stared at him while the reality of what had happened slowly settled across her face. Time had barely touched her inside Sloth’s Authority, while her child had grown old beyond recognition.

"You got old."

The tribesman laughed harder. "So did everyone else."

She looked around as though only now beginning to understand the years she had lost. The old man took both her hands and held them tightly.

"Can you walk?"

"I..."

She looked down at her legs. "I think so."

"Slowly."

He helped her take one step and then another. Similar reunions began unfolding throughout the citadel as more names and faces were recognized.

Many of those reunions ended in grief. Entire families had disappeared, some inhabitants had no one left to recognize them, and others discovered that several generations had passed while they remained untouched within the White Kingdom.

Ludwig watched in silence and understood the part Sloth had never accepted. The return of desire brought pain, grief, responsibility, and fear, but it also returned reunion, choice, and hope.

The tribesmen eventually approached Kaiser, and one of the elders bowed slightly. "May we remain?"

Kaiser looked toward Ludwig, who responded with a shrug. "Why are you asking me?"

"You killed the ruler."

"That doesn’t make me the new Ruler."

Kaiser’s skull tilted. "It very much does."

Ludwig sighed. "Fine. They can stay." Kaiser turned toward the tribesmen. "You heard the boss, you can stay."

The elder looked surprised. "That is all?"

"That is all."

Kaiser gestured around them. "Choose houses."

Several people looked toward the enormous white buildings while Kaiser continued. "The forest may be hunted where necessary. The rivers are open. Cultivate whatever land you require."

One tribesman looked toward the distant wilderness. "And the creatures?"

Kaiser tapped his staff against the ground, releasing dark mana through the earth.

The ground around the citadel shifted as one skeletal hand broke through the soil. Another followed, then dozens and eventually hundreds.

Skeletons climbed from beneath the ground in a mixture of human, beast, and unfamiliar forms. Bones assembled themselves as Kaiser’s magic drew the old dead from buried graves, forgotten battlefields, and whatever remains Sloth’s influence had failed to erase.

Panic spread through the crowd. Several tribesmen drew weapons while others pulled their newly reunited relatives behind them.

Kaiser raised one hand. "Calm yourselves. These will be your allies."

The command proved surprisingly ineffective when delivered by a lich surrounded by hundreds of rising dead. The skeletons offered no attack, however, and began turning away from the inhabitants one by one.

They marched outward in separate groups. Some entered the forest, others spread along the roads, and several climbed the nearby towers.

Kaiser pointed toward them. "They will patrol."

The elder stared. "They are dead."

"Yes. Which makes them need little when it comes to rest or disobedience. Unlike humans, these guys make for excellent watch guards."

"They will not harm us?"

"Not unless I instruct them to."

The answer failed to reassure most of the crowd, but Kaiser continued anyway. "They require no sleep. No food. No warmth. They will establish a perimeter around the citadel and watch for approaching creatures."

He tapped his staff again, causing a faint red glow to appear inside every skeletal skull. "If anything crosses the perimeter, I will know."

Ludwig nodded. "That works out fine."

The lich turned toward the people. "These undead are not your enemy."

One of the tribesmen stared at a skeleton walking past him. "What if something destroys them?"

"Then I know something destroyed them." Kaiser spread his hands. "That is the whole point."

The elder slowly nodded as understanding replaced some of his fear. "Watchers."

"Precisely."

"And if a monster comes?"

"Then you will have warning." Kaiser looked toward the unused cubes. "And walls. And enough time to fight and defend your homes. New homes that is."

He sounded increasingly pleased with himself, and Ludwig decided that leaving him here was probably the correct decision. That conclusion lasted until Kaiser suddenly crouched beside a pile of white sand.

Several similar piles were scattered throughout the city. Ludwig had noticed them earlier and assumed they were debris from damaged structures, but Kaiser touched one and rubbed the grains between two fingers.

Then he brought them toward his mouth. Ludwig stared at him in disbelief. The lich tasted the sand. Ludwig’s stare hardened.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Kaiser turned toward him. "Tasting it."

"I can see that. But why?"

Ludwig looked toward Celine, but she only shrugged. Cain turned away, apparently unwilling to become involved.

Kaiser examined another pinch of sand. "The giants are gone."

Ludwig looked toward the empty roads and realized he had failed to notice their absence. The immense white servants that had moved the cubes, carried Sloth’s throne, and maintained the city had disappeared.

Kaiser gestured toward the sand. "This is them."

Ludwig frowned. "They crumbled?"

"Apparently."

"Why didn’t the city? Isn’t it also supported by Sloth?"

"Different construction. Unlike the cubes that need to remain stationary, these things... are different."

Kaiser tasted another pinch, making Ludwig grimace. "Please stop doing that." Kaiser rubbed the material between his fingers. "The residual magical pattern remains."

Ludwig stopped walking away and turned back. "What?"

"The process Sloth used to create those giants."

Kaiser’s eyes brightened. "It may be reproducible."

Ludwig stared at him. "You want to make white giants."

"I want to understand how Sloth made white giants."

"That is the same thing with extra steps."

"Understanding precedes replication."

Kaiser began gathering more sand while Ludwig watched him for several seconds. Eventually, Ludwig decided he did not care enough to interfere.

Ludwig began walking away. "If tasting dead Sloth monsters keeps you occupied, have fun."

"They are not dead."

Ludwig stopped and slowly turned around. Kaiser continued examining the sand between his fingers.

"Not in the conventional sense."

Ludwig stared at Kaiser, and the lich stared back. Whatever explanation might have followed was something Ludwig had no desire to hear.

"Nope." Ludwig turned away. "Vacation."

Kaiser chuckled behind him while Ludwig continued walking. By the time the situation settled, the White Citadel had already begun changing.

Families claimed homes while the tribesmen organized groups to help those who struggled to walk. People were shown how to gather food instead of waiting for it to appear, and the first skeletal patrols disappeared into the surrounding forests.

Kaiser had already begun marking positions for walls and defensive towers. Ludwig suspected that if he remained another hour, the lich would somehow produce complete architectural plans for an entire Necropolis.

That possibility convinced him to leave before Kaiser found another reason to involve him. Ludwig looked west, toward the Empire lying far beyond the forests and mountains, and toward Bastos beyond it.

Apparently, Bastos was home now. Celine stepped beside him while the others prepared to leave.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

Cain stood nearby with Redd and Thomas, while Tull looked more eager to return than anyone else. Ludwig glanced back toward the center of the citadel one last time.

Kaiser stood surrounded by skeletons, piles of white sand, confused former subjects of Sloth, and enough magical material to keep him entertained for years. He appeared completely at home amid the chaos.

Ludwig smiled and turned west again. For once, the road ahead led toward Bastos instead of another Usurper, an approaching apocalypse, or a god demanding that he immediately kill something.

Whatever disaster his people had created while he was gone could wait until he arrived. According to Necros, this journey was supposed to be a vacation.

Ludwig started walking. "Alright."

Celine fell into step beside him. "Home?"

Ludwig looked toward the distant horizon. "Home."

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