Things were dire. Almost all of the warriors that came in Rhenius' expedition were dead. There were only a few dozen out of five hundred still in fighting condition. Lady Bitch-Mode.... I mean, Callisto. Though she was quite sheepish after her resurrection.

"I died," Callisto was still conciliating her worldview with reality. "Everyone died. Is this heaven?"

She stared at her hand and ran a finger over the gash in her dress, feeling the scar beneath. Given time, I could remove the scar but there it was nonetheless. She looked around the table she was sitting on and stopped at the silk dolls before finally finding the dagger.

Big mistake, leaving the murder weapon next to the victim. She screamed and slapped the dagger away. In her desperate move, she even nicked the hand on the blade. Sumsar healed it.

I doubted there's a heaven. Those miserable Gods wouldn't waste resources with a "heaven" for dead souls. My bet for this world's afterlife was a "Soul Soylent" factory. This whole world was a sentient worship farm. The Gods were extremely frugal with their gifts for the people. Case in point, the oceans. They were dying because it wasn't profitable to keep it alive. Too few sentients underwater.

The scream drew the attention of the kingdom soldiers and a few went for her. Marlowe raised his tiny golem hands. Three magic circles appeared over him. As he chanted, the three merged into a more complex magic circle, locking into the complete spell seconds later. The drain on my Energy pool was too small for the effect that came.

Maybe I should curb my bias against [Wizards].

"Blood of the fallen, I command thee. Rise and avenge thy grief and feast on the flesh of our enemies."

Blood magic. Astonished, I felt the magic circle resonate with the entire barge and the waters around us. It flowed out of the water and up the hull in the span of a few heartbeats, thickening the gruesome cover of the barge's deck. Dozens of lumps formed and rose. The lumps quickly revealed themselves to be heads as the neck, shoulders, torso, arms, and finally, legs emerged.

Some soldiers screamed and panicked at the sight. Marlowe had risen an army of blood warriors. In some of them, body parts and gore swirled around. Their aura pulsated with a heartbeat.

"STRIKE!" The [Archmage] commanded his creations.

The blood warriors dashed on the now clean deck. Several enemies gave up, their morale was broken. They ran heedlessly of any thought away from the abominations. Several just fell overboard as they toppled the railings and became shark food.

Callisto was clutching Sumsar in her hand and whimpering.

"True warriors of Virturia, to me! {Lion's Heart}, {Owls' Wisdom}," Rhenius shouted as he activated some command Perks and rallied his combatants into a fighting retreat.

The blood warriors gave the former prisoners - emphasis on former, they were on their own - some well-deserved respite. They fought several times their numbers in low-leveled pirates and were on their last legs.

Two ships started firing their ballista at us. The bolts hit the field of Force bubbles protecting the ship, poping a few bubbles each before they veered and crashed sideways against the barge's hull. Two others started docking and boarding maneuvers.

The few soldiers that didn't panic attempted to hit the blood warriors. Swinging the swords only caused the blood to splash a little. The blood warriors had no weapons, they needed none. They slammed and smeared their blood on the soldiers. This blood crawled over the soldier's body, seeking any opening like the mouth, nose, or open wounds.

That's when the true terror of this blood army became known. As the enchanted blood found these openings, it forced itself inside the hapless soldier, contaminating his own lifeblood and drawing it out with a slurping sound. A cacophony of such sounds drowned the screams of the dying men.

In fact, shouting only hastened their demise, as the cursed blood practically jumped into the gaping opening. Hindsight being 20/20, the ones that panicked and ran were the smart ones.

The blood extracted from the now-dead soldiers coalesced into more blood warriors. Entirely for free. In fact, I didn't feel any maintenance cost for the ongoing spell. At the sight of their incoming predicament, the ones that didn't panic or engage the blood army fled.

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Desiccated and yellowed bodies clattered on the deck. Without the blood to give it color, the skin became the color of the fat underneath.

"Burn the blood abominations!" Some officer on the now docking ship shouted using a voice amplification Perk. Archers with flaming arrows fired straight at the blood soldiers, striking them and causing some of the blood to erupt in flames.

The flaming arrows used some chemical that burned even while wet. Or the blood magic was particularly flammable. This required further investigation.

The chemical on one arrowhead might be enough to ignite flammables or cause a nasty burn on living flesh. The blood warriors, however, were mostly water. Some blood boiled, spreading a nasty scent over the already gagging smell of guts and shit that covered the entire battlefield. Nonetheless, the blood warriors pressed on.

I stopped watching the carnage to look at my former prisoners. They were leaning on each other, tending their wounds, or just lying down on the deck recovering their stamina. With a sigh, I sang about rain and used a spell, "{Healing Rain}."

Cartoonish clouds gathered a few meters over them and rained down. This spell was a weak area heal over time but it was quite efficient in its MP to healing ratios.

"Who are you," Callisto asked me between sobs. She now had a doll in each hand. If the [Archmages] took grief about being lady-handled like that, they didn't tell.

I approached. "Do you know me? Do you know my face?" I was still using Apricot's visage.

"No. It somehow looks familiar, but no."

I think my portrait was one of Virturia's secrets. Only the ruling family saw it. One more thing...

"Marlowe, can you control those blood warriors?" I asked the contracted soul.

The tiny golem glared at me. It was adorable. "Of course, Your Highness. Do you take me for a fool that would raise an army of abominations and cheap out on the control? They are yours to command."

Callisto screeched and tossed the doll away. "Mar- Mar- Mar-"

Sumsar did a slow shake of his head. That's why he was so silent, he understood Callisto would freak out if he acted lifelike.

"Clear the ships around us and recall them. How long will they last?" I asked as I caught the golem before it fell on the deck.

"They are sustained by stolen vitality rather than magical power. If they stop attacking, the blood will soon lose cohesion."

"Then keep them on the offensive. There's no love lost for invaders," I grimly commanded. It wasn't the time to be queasy. Stopping this invasion outside our territory was paramount. I wouldn't have pregnant mermaids fighting.

"As you command, my Liege."

I returned to the table. "Callisto, calm down." I put my social perks to use. It worked like a charm. Like a charm spell, that is. "You are weakened. You must rest."

"Is that Marlowe? I thought he was dead," She whispered.

I placed the doll on the table out of her reach and patted her head. "He is dead. I have the power to enter an agreement with the souls of the dead. I can put them in golem bodies if they agree to serve me.

She looked at the doll in her hand. "Is this..."

I gently placed my hand over hers, "Don't toss him. Sumsar can get very grumpy. Yes, this is another [Archmage] that agreed to serve me as part of his punishment."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Milady," Sumsar bowed. Callisto let go of him and the doll walked to stay next to Marlowe. She wiped her hand on her dress.

"There's something I must do now, else I'll run out of time. Please stay here. These two will guarantee your safety."

She nodded, watery eyes focused on mine. "I understand. Did I die?"

"I can only bring you back to life again in another twelve years. Try not to die, Lady Callisto," I half-joked to her.

"If I must," she grimaced and chuckled.

{Last Chance} window for resurrection was only one hour.

I focused my sight on the throng of ghosts hovering above me. "Warriors of Virturia, you died for your country. Your oaths are fulfilled. I offer you now a bargain. I can either purify you and send you to meet the gods and whichever fate they have for you. Or you can pledge your undying fealty to me. Some of you I might bring back to life in your own bodies, some of you might serve me in another capacity. Make your choice."

I ignored the puzzled looks of Rhenius and his retinue. They were still being rained on.

A dead person's priorities are their own and most often have nothing to do with the motivations of the flesh. Emotion is as spiritual as it is a bodily reaction. Without the latter, the former rules unbidden.

The ghosts feared oblivion more than nothing. That's one of the reasons grudges and psychic torment create undead. The vast majority decided to stay. I spent a minute picking some nobles and other skilled help and brought their bodies from storage.

"{Last Chance}!"

The expenditure of Energy was enormous. But that's why I stored more than sixty million in the tank. In batches of ten, several of them came back to life.

"Necromancy!" One of the knights standing by Rhenius shouted.

"Fool. They aren't undead," another said. "My {Detection} tells me so."

A completely astonished Rhenius uttered a wry chuckle. "Absurd. She can raise the dead."

I spent thirty-five million Energy bringing more than a hundred people back to life. Including the [Rogue] aide and most of the [Wizards].

I raised my voice and addressed my new subjects. "I have been known by many names and titles throughout Yznarian history. You've seen how many of your dead brethren await their chance hovering above us. I can give life back, but I can also do terrible things. Do not test my patience. This is a {Royal Geas}. You shall remain here and rest under the protection of my [Archmages]. Defend Lady Callisto with your lives."

I loved the girl like the long-lost niece she resembled. That couldn't be helped. I turned to the [Prince].

"Rhenius, you come with me. It is time for you to face your brother and put an end to this invasion."

He raised his hand to the sky. "Queltphion bless me. For today I walk alongside Death incarnate. Lead the way, [Death Princess]."