Writer's Note: Hello readers. Double chapter release today as I had time.

Chapter 3: The Golden Army

No! This wasn't supposed to happen! Not this! Not this!

What is that thing? That's not the Immortal Emissary!

By the Immortal Realm, what have we done?

Run! Run!

It's hopeless. It's an Emissary. We're all doomed to die.

Father, what is that? What summoning ritual did you make?

I listened to the whisper. It always saved us. Brought our army victories. Why did it betray us?

What voice? Father, who did you listen to?

I'm sorry Cid. I wanted to protect my wife, my son, and my empire. I've brought it to ruin instead.

Oh gods, what is that white and blue fire? What is it doing?

I thank you, mortals, for you will be the first of the undead in this world and more will join the ranks in the Immortal Realm. May your soul fires be tainted and corrupted for eternity, further increasing your kind with every kill until your complete and utter annihilation. That is my blessing. That is the message of me, an Emissary of Undeath!

"Oh wake up!" a voice growled as it smashed the chest of a black armored knight, causing Timber to awaken.

"NOOOO!" he screamed as he jolted up, pausing as he noticed his surroundings and realized he was dreaming. No, reliving the past as a nightmare.

"Nasty first dream after rebirth? Won't be the last, newborn," Clay said. "How you feeling? Everything functioning?"

"I can move," Timber groaned as he sat up.

"Yeah, soul attacks are a nasty business. Our souls are already cursed. Your spirit mutated into a dragon. Congratulations. Your spirit just got upgraded from trash to almost decent," Clay laughed as Lyle came into the room. "Ah, the lich is here. How's our recruit doing?"

"His soul fire is stable and his spirit seems to be changing a little," Lyle answered as he looked through a spyglass. "He is a Blight Knight. He has that unique magic only true undead knights have: thrall magic."

"Thrall? Slaves?" Timber asked.

"Of course. You think undead knights fight alone? They always have three thralls fighting with them, owning their complete and utter loyalty. Not even magical beasts are like that as it is a contract between equals. Course, most humans use a master-servant contract as they distrust magical beasts but desire one," Clay shrugged.

"You should use thrall magic on this imp," Lyle said as it brought out a black cage out of its shadow. The creature in the cage was about two feet tall with tiny feet, no toes, and small hands. Its body was a mix of black and white with a stone mask on its face covering its left eye, forehead. it also extended to look like a crown but only the face was covered by the mask. It's hair glowed dark orange.

"That looks like a demon," Timber said.

"It's a lesser demon. No one cares, but the mask is new. Can it come off?" Clay asked as Lyle shook its head. "Well, use your thrall magic on it."

"Envision a glowing, crimson pentagram circle beneath it and the runes of the pentagram will do the rest. It should work as it is weaker than you," Lyle explained. "Just say submit to me."

"Submit to me," Timber said and imagined the pentagram circle. The imp whimpered and violently banged on its cage. The crimson runes spread up from the circle, like roots spreading underground. The imp howled and screeched as the runes branded themselves on it. Its pointy black ears, and all four limbs now had glowing crimson runes. They watched as it grew a demon's tail, crimson runes also on them to a tip that seemed like an arrow head as it was wider than the tail.

"Master," the imp said and bowed as it levitated off the ground, its pointy tail curled behind its back.

"Hmm. So that's it. I was expecting a bright light or something," Clay said. "That's a variant imp isn't it."

"Yes. It can turn invisible and undetectable, most imps only invisible. It also knows a bit of dark and has the innate ability to create illusions using dark elemental energy. Oh, and it can use fire magic as well. That mask was an unintended consequence. Never intended that. Still, the imp is plenty useful for a knight mage," Lyle explained.

"An undead knight and an imp thrall. It almost sounds poetic. Almost," Clay laughed and tossed Timber a sword.

"Huh? This is not my sword," Timber said as he stared at it.

"Yeah, it kind of changed form when your soul got damaged and after we tampered with your spirit to evolve it. It's actually an extremely good change. It has properties of the destruction element and actually has poison. It was probably made by the element and every scratch will poison your enemy," Clay said, pointing at the sword.

It was a long sword with a curved cross guard. The blade was narrow and had glowing, maze like runes from the guard to the tip of both sides of the blade. The blade had craggy edges a few inches near the guard and the blade looked like it was made of metal from another world. A misty, gold sun and black space aura permeated from the blade, the blade containing poison on its edges extremely potent to the living. The sword could poison if he wanted it to or not, but the misty aura would appear whenever he wielded the sword. With every swing, a faint trail of mist would follow before disappearing. The pommel still had no jewel but the sword seemed to harness the destruction element and seemed like it had power of a two-handed sword when struck.

"Well, I don't have any formal training with a sword so a sudden change isn't that dramatic. I can still stab with it too," Timber nodded.

"I'd call it Twilight. No other sword like it with that mist, blade composition, and poison. Might be a weapon from the Immortal Realm. You were reborn with a strange weapon. It actually evolved as you did. You also have affinity for the destruction element. Your value just shot up and less demons and undead will be able to complain about you being one of the young master's men," Clay laughed. "You're his third knight, but the only one with magic. As a Blight Knight, you'll be taught by three of the young master's men. A lich, Lyle here, will teach you how to use magic. Yiazig will teach you the art of assassination. To fight off the young master's assassins, it is best to train like an assassin to kill one. Finally, Gregor will teach you how to fight like a knight. All knights use a sword, considering it a noble weapon. He'll teach you one-handed and two-handed stances and techniques as you wield magic in your left hand instead of a shield."

"When your training is complete, you will lead some of Baron Caius's Golden Army to slay his enemies and win glory for both baron and our young master. He is the youngest of three siblings so expect to be targeted by them as well. Power is everything to demons and the less heirs, the less competition," Lyle continued.

"What's the Golden Army?" Timber asked.

"It's an army of golems made by death magic of the demons. They extract the soul of a human overcome by rage, anger, and despair. They place it inside gold metal armor or gold rock golems to animate them. The baron holds the master control rod and has given a weaker control rod to each of his sons to order a fifth of his Golden Army," Clay answered. "Me and you will fight alongside the Golden Army and each of us is given two to control and follow our orders. A very tiny number but enough to get the job done as we are given various objectives that will determine the outcome of the battle. Sometimes its to kill a powerful paladin. Sometimes its to destroy a gate. Stuff like that."

"These golden golems cannot be destroyed either. If the person controlling them, like you over your two golems; then they become as statues until the young master reactivates them again," Lyle said. "Your control rod will be given once you are ready for your first mission. Until then, training."

"Hehehe. We will be victorious, master. We will make pools of human blood in our midst," the imp giggled as Lyle let it out the cage and it flew around in the air in joy. Blades grew out of the back of its forearm and appeared as claws as they curved toward the front of the hands. Even though it looked kind of cute, it was a lethal killing machine. An undead skeleton came and Timber followed it out.

"Only newborns killed by the Emissary of Undeath have weapons like that," Clay said. "Might be one of the lost Jenos Imperials. The nobles of that empire take a long time to resurrect a body of their own."

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"So long as he is useful to the master's cause," Lyle said, withholding the truth it learned from Grim.

"The young master awaits inside," the skeleton said as it led him to a room at the heart of the castle before leaving. "He will knight you so kneel on one knee and await it."

"So you're awoken at last. Been four days, a little longer than some," Devin noted as Timber walked in. "I assume Clay told you the particulars of your situation?"

"Yes," Timber said as he knelt on one knee while Devin walked forward and tapped both shoulders with a scimitar that seemed to have a blade forged out of diamonds of blood.

"I dub you Sir Timber. Rise, my knight," Devin said and waited for Timber to stand. "Know that I am your liege lord and you will obey my orders and that of my father. Know that my two elder brothers have far more men and allies than I do. Expect them to try to kill us to take my father's place for I am named his heir and they are angered by the decision. The living say undead are not honorable. It is just easier for us not to be. Our enemies are that of my father and the living for they consider us evil just by existing."

"I....understand. I will try," Timber nodded.

"There can be no peace, only destruction. The light hurts us so we must shroud it in darkness. The living fear us, their religions twisting their views and making their beliefs unshakable. There can be no quarter for you can expect none from the living. This is the way of the world after you have come here. You are probably a citizen of the Jenos Empire, an empire from the ancient Era of Dragons. A new Demon King has risen, a demonized, undead dragon of immeasurable power. It is up to us to fight so that we may live as we are now. You will kill the innocent. You will kill the guilty. You will all that is good and all that is evil. If it is an enemy, you shall slay them with your sword and your magic. You are a knight of the realm now, the Twilight Lands. The existence of too many demons and undead twist the land, making the skies appear in perpetual twilight. It's also why Clay thought it funny to name your sword Twilight."

"Well, it does match the color," Timber said as he drew his sword from the handcrafted sheath he received with it.

"Your training will begin shortly. One of the neighboring human kingdoms is halting the conquest of my father's army. Our mission is to attack one of the cities. The city we are tasked with involves the main smithy used to make immortal ranked weapons. That particular city has martial arts sect in its midst with giant amounts of immortal metals from the previous wars. Our aim is to claim the city and make it ours," Devin said. "We attack in ten years. That gives you ten years to train under Lyle, Yiazig, and Gregor. It is ten years because we aim not just to attack the kingdom, but claim ownership of the lands without fear of another baron taking advantage of the chaos. Plans take time and this is a great campaign."

"Will I get new armor?" Timber asked.

"Get it from the demons and undead you kill. Until then, fix your armor using your mana from the four elements you cultivate. Also, replace your bones with a stronger bone, should you find one. Skeleton undead are unique in that they the begin as the weakest but have the most potential for growth. Just absorb a bone, shape does not matter, and your body will do the rest. Rich cities mean higher quality armors so there is no need to give you one. Just loot from those you kill," Devin said as a door of darkness opened and appeared out of thin air.

"What's happening?" Timber cried as an arm of darkness reached out and grabbed him, dragging him through the door and vanishing without a trace.

"Try not to damage him too much, Gregor," Devin said as a humanoid dragon undead and Lyle appeared out of nowhere. "Yiazig and Lyle, train him well. He is the last of my one hundred and eight. Soon, I will finally take action against with my father's army and my two brothers cannot stop me anymore.."

"This batch of one hundred and eight captains will not fail you. They will be trained to even kill your brothers' forces should they target you," Yiazig grinned, its dragon teeth giving a creepy smile.

"So long as I am the one to behead my brothers," Devin said as the two retainers bowed and left as Devin sat on his bone throne with wine cup of human blood in his hand. "We'll invade the human lands soon. My stock of human blood will be replenished at last."

"Where am I?" Timber cried as he drew his sword and looked around. He did not know where he was and the giant hand of darkness had vanished and left him somewhere with pitch black darkness. He was not trapped in natural darkness so he could not see.

"You have the elements of darkness, ice, earth, and destruction," a voice said as something smashed into Timber. "You were a mage in your past life. It would explain the numerous affinities."

"Who are you? What are you?" Timber cried as he was smashed into the ground.

"I am Gregor, a Demon Knight. Yiazig is here, hitting you as he wraps himself in shadow," a second voice said as a giant sword appeared out of nowhere and flung Timber into the air, a second force smashing him into the ground. Timber groaned as he got up, seeing a giant knight with a glowing, wisp like aura permeating from his crimson armor.

"You have much to learn, Timber," Lyle said from the shadows, a shard of earth shattering as it crashed on Timber's chest plate, sending him back to the ground as he got to his feet. "You depend too much with your eyes. You are an undead. You are soul fire! Use it to enhance your five senses and see what the living cannot! We will pound the basics of magic, swordplay, and assassination into you as we have done one hundred and seven others. They are here also, trained by other retainers of the young master. You want to be one of his captains? Survive these ten years, my hybrid lich warrior friend. It would be....tragic...to see another skeleton die after seeing so much potential."

"Knights are strong! We are the swords of our liege! We are his might in the realm. Your blade must be strong and unyielding," Gregor cried as he  threw a large kite shield at Timber, making him roll fifteen times on the ground as it crashed into him. "You want to wield magic instead of a shield or second sword? Then you must master your sword even more!"

"Undead magic abilities are determined by how you imagine them. You already know how to use the dark abilities: Shadow Ball, Nether Claw, and Shadow Travel. Other lich have created those spells. You must create your own and master the new skills beside them. You must bend the elemental essence in your body and give it form and shape! You are ice. You are earth. You are darkness. You are destruction! Magic is different than martial arts. Martial arts bends and manipulate elemental energy to augment their physical capabilities. Magic is a part of you. It shapes and binds you," Lyle cried as a giant Shadow Ball crashed into Timber, actually cracking his armor this time and increasing the amount of frost fire as they closed the gaps.

"Heart, lungs, kidney, spinal column, throat, jugular vein, knees, elbows, and eyes. So many choices for an assassin to target,"Yiazig said from the shadows, striking the the part of the armor that covered each place he mentioned. "Most undead and all demons have them. You must learn to target them. Yes, you are a knight, but a knight mage must also know finesse and must be quick and agile. You don't have the luxury of another sword or shield. Each strike of your sword or magic must kill. To protect the young master, you must know how assassins fight to protect him and your own life."

"These ten years will make you suffer, but they will also make you stronger!" Gregor cried as Timber held the side of his sword to support it as he blocked the giant sword slash, the ground beneath his feet cracking under Gregor's might.

"Your imp being trained elsewhere. Thrall magic is absolute and can never be destroyed. Only you can remove it by killing and devouring the imp's soul fire. There are all kinds of thralls. Giant and destructive, small and nimble, primal and deceptive, and much more. An undead knight must have thralls that make up for what he lacks. An undead knight must also be stronger to use the thrall magic," Lyle said three spears of darkness impaled Timber from the cracks of frost fire in his armor. "You are a newborn, a freshly resurrected undead. The life of an undead dictates that the strong devour the soul fire of the weak and the weak cower and submit to them. You are weak, but you must be strong! You are a novice, so you must train to take from others and protect what's yours."

"I was like you and developed a fleshy body of my own image. You must devour soul fire. The living scorn you now so you must fight to survive them," Yiazig said. "This is your life now. Accept it! Embrace it or die from the training. The Golden Army must conquer and we do not suffer the weak within our ranks. Ten years you have before you are sent to war. One hundred and eight newborns must become one hundred and eight captains. Struggle and survive, Timber. Struggle and survive."