The Magic Empire for 20,000 years

Chapter 18, Section 17: The Path of the Necromancer
Almost simultaneously, the priests of the Frost Dragon Clan and the Flame Axe Clan also received corresponding divine pronouncements during their prayers.

One of the orc pantheons took notice of this war between orc clans.

Generally speaking, the orc gods hardly care about the insignificant lives of their mortal subjects.

Unless the orc tribes in a certain area are completely wiped out, I can't be bothered to even look at them.

But war with foreign tribes is one thing, while infighting is another.

This is disrespectful to their shared beliefs!
At least one of the orc pantheons, during his infinitely long lifespan, happened to witness what was happening in the eastern corner of a continent on a mortal planet, and frowned slightly.

“The insignificant creatures of the mortal world praise our name, yet they kill each other to this extent for worldly reasons.”

Does this mean that our divine name is less important to earthly beings than worldly matters?

Thus, the priests of the three major clans received a divine decree to "stop the war" on the same day.

"All orc tribes, cease hostilities immediately and unite against the common enemy!"

When the priest rode his dire wolf between the tribe and the front lines, delivering the divine message, the bloodthirsty orcs had no choice but to stop.

God's command was relayed from the tribe's camp all the way to the battlefield where the fighting was taking place.

In the following two or three days, such scenes frequently appeared in the wilderness:

The two groups of orcs, who had been holding spears and preparing to charge, all sheathed their weapons, turned around, and returned to their respective tribes.

The war ended in such a farcical manner.

Because of a word from God.

Inside the spacious tent.

The Blood Wolf Clan's chieftain, whose left eye was now a hole, was contemplating the frenzied battles of the past two months.

The boiling blood was still churning in his veins.

"Unfortunately, this is the will of the gods. We can no longer punish those bastards of the Flame Axe Clan," the Blood Wolf Chieftain, covered in fresh wounds, said angrily.

"If we had fought for just another half month, we could have completely annexed the Flame Axe Clan and achieved final victory!"

The high priest turned to the still-angry chieftain and tried to appease him:

Looking back now, we may have been too impulsive.

"We should not go against the will of the gods and plunge the orc tribes into this terrible infighting."

"I even suspect that it is those humans who are stirring up trouble among us orcs, causing us to kill each other!"

"Hmph. You mean humans?" The Blood Wolf Chieftain scoffed dismissively.

"What can those cowardly, incompetent hairless monkeys do?"

"Priest, you're overestimating them!"

"Even if they did do something, the main cause of this war was those bastards from the Flame Axe Clan!"

The high priest lowered his head, not daring to refute the chieftain's words, not wanting to provoke this powerful orc hero.

The chieftain then let out another long sigh:

“However, you are right. Now that the oracle has been delivered, the orc tribes must unite; we need a common enemy.”

"Perfect, let's start with those human villages."

"The blood shed by the orc warriors over the past two months will be repaid with the blood of cowardly humans!"

Upon seeing this, the high priest's face immediately lit up with joy:

“Alright, I will immediately send someone to contact the other two major clans to re-establish an alliance.”

"We formed a coalition and together plundered hundreds of human villages."

"Let us celebrate the birth of the new orc alliance with human blood!"

"Then let's get on with it quickly." The chieftain waved his hand, approving of the priest's idea.

In the Great Chieftain's view, even though the orcs had been severely weakened in the war, once they united, those cowardly and pathetic humans were nothing to fear.

Those human mages who were so aggressive and threatened to annihilate them have all disappeared without a trace recently, haven't they?
……

In the floating city high in the sky.

"Chief of Energy Shaping, Lord Gutt, under His Majesty Elion's covert manipulation, those orcs are truly killing each other and suffering heavy losses."

"However, it seems they have just received a divine decree and have reunited."

As Gutt listened to his subordinates' report, he leaned against the fence of the floating city, his gaze seemingly piercing through the layers of clouds below, where the orcish alliance appeared to be vast and well-organized.

"It must be admitted that Elion is indeed skilled as a Supreme Mage."

Gutt chuckled softly.

Clearly, even for him, a rebel, seeing the orc clans suffer heavy losses was quite gratifying.

Back then, before the floating city was established, the noble mages of Eldoron had suffered many harassments from the orcs!
"However, the orc god has now issued a divine decree, and the three orc clans have reunited."

"Even if El-Erian is a highly skilled military leader, he can't possibly contend with such a terrifying coalition army."

"Once Elion's battle mages have suffered heavy casualties, I will immediately initiate an impeachment proceedings against him in the council!"

Guter felt a sense of satisfaction, but at the same time, he couldn't help but sigh softly:
“Elian, you could have won, but unfortunately. Other races have their own gods.”

At this point, the rebellious chief of the energy company drifted off into the distance, reminiscing about his childhood—

At that time, young Gut saw the true god descend to earth.

This laid the foundation for his lifelong beliefs...

……

Elion stood on the hillside, gazing at the densely packed orc army in the distance.

The orcs, some on foot and some riding dire wolves, wielding crude and simple weapons, converged from three directions.

These orcs, fresh from a great battle, were clearly incapable of immediately trusting each other; their relationship was fraught with estrangement and friction. Yet, they managed to piece themselves together, albeit with some difficulty.

They shouted, roared, and howled as they marched together toward human land.

This time, they intend to destroy a hundred villages and take the heads of tens of thousands of people as spoils of war!
"As expected, the three major orc clans have formed an alliance and are preparing to launch a major invasion of human lands."

"Because the Flame Axe Clan was on the verge of extinction and the Blood Wolf Clan had also suffered heavy losses, the main force of the allied forces was the orcs of the Frost Dragon Clan."

Elian watched this scene, which he had long anticipated, with a calm expression.

This time, when the orcs united, he did not send the mages to try to stop them.

Firstly, this alliance is based on the name of the gods, making it impossible to truly stop.

Secondly, the mages of Eldoron do indeed need the trial of a direct war!

"Let's begin, proceed according to plan." Elion turned his head and looked at the mage group behind him.

"Following His Majesty's will!" Thor and the other mages responded in unison. During this time, under Elian's command, everyone had already made all the necessary preparations.

Elian turned his gaze to the distance, behind the mages.

It was a dense mass of zombies and skeletons.

A powerful undead transformed from an orc corpse!
During the two months of war between the orc clans, they were not idle.

……

Two months ago.

The war between the orc clans had just begun.

On the battlefield after the great battle, the corpses of orcs lay scattered across the wilderness.

"Begin. Use the spells I have taught you to inject necromantic-simulated life force into the corpses until they are completely linked to the negative energy plane."

Elian patiently directed the mages.

The monks walking in front began chanting incantations.

Dark, foul energy flowed from their fingertips and poured into the orc corpses.

The corpses all stood up.

Some turned into zombies, and some turned into skeletons.

Compared to zombies and skeletons that turn into human corpses, undead that turn into orc corpses are stronger and taller!

"Successfully, this is what a ghost created by magic looks like?"

"They will obey our commands completely, right?"

"Come here, come here."

Seeing the mages' surprised expressions and their attempts to give commands to the undead, Elian found it somewhat amusing.

In the era of Eldoron, mages would fight enemies on their own, with only a few keeping a magical pet that had no combat ability.

He was completely ignorant of how to control the minions commonly used by powerful mages in later generations, such as undead, constructs, otherworldly creatures, elemental creatures, and alchemically modified creatures.

In the apocalyptic era from which Elian came, things were completely different.

Back then, the most powerful legendary mage was a veritable army on his own.

The "deployed units" that mages control with various spells may be ten or even a hundred times more troublesome than their own bodies.

However, in the era of Eldoron, the newly civilized humans had a very limited understanding of magic.

Especially the magic of the Necromancer school.

Humanity's earliest contact with magic occurred on a whim of a moon elf prince in the Elven court.

When the moon elf prince and his attendants taught magic to these "inferior races," they deliberately omitted what they considered the most evil, dangerous, depraved, and intolerable aspects—the very parts forbidden by the elven royal court.

Necromancy, the art of creating the dead!
When teaching magical knowledge, they also touched on necromancy magic, but only those spells that weaken or render enemies powerless, such as the "weakening ray".

However, this deliberately ignores the truly powerful and terrifying essence of necromancy magic—

[Creating the undead].

This is why the content on necromancy in the arcane magic school of Eldoron is completely incomplete.

There are very few powerful necromancers, such as the original Elian.

But now, El-Erian is making up for this weakness in Eldoron!

"Is this His Majesty's necromancy? It's amazing!"

Thor tried to command a group of zombies to wave their weapons in front of him, and was overjoyed by the undead's obedience:
"They can serve as soldiers, making up for our mages' weakness in melee combat."

"And unlike ordinary soldiers, they don't feel pain or fear."

"A perfect soldier who doesn't need to eat or drink, feels no fear, never gets tired, and is absolutely obedient to orders!"

Thor was overjoyed.

Melee classes and fragile mages can complement each other tactically, achieving a synergy greater than the sum of its parts.

Looking at the beaming General Saul, El-Erian's ambitions went far beyond that:

After the war to drive out the orc clans ended, he didn't intend to leave these undead idle. Instead, he wanted them to enter various villages on the surface to build roads, farm, and assist in social production.

The dead have entered the village!

Elian walked among the skeletons and zombies, patiently explaining like a kind teacher:
"Once an undead creature is successfully created, the magical aura originally used to create it dissipates, and it is regarded as a normal living being."

"Therefore, these combat units can still move and fight normally even within the [Anti-Magic Field] and [Dead Magic Zone]..."

"Yes. Now you mages can try to slaughter warriors in a magic-free environment, hehe..."

El-Erian continued his explanation:
"Currently, the zombies and skeletons you have created are just the most common and basic undead units."

"Zombies and skeletons can only retain the physical attributes of the dead, but cannot retain supernatural attributes such as spellcasting abilities."

"Of course, it's just right for orc corpses that are already known for their immense physical strength!"

Thor and the other mages nodded and listened attentively to Elian's explanation.

The magical knowledge from the future that this Supreme Mage was imparting was incredibly new to them at that moment.

Seeing the orc corpses on the battlefield transformed into zombies and skeletons, and witnessing the hideous faces of the undead, Elion felt a great sense of peace.

Facing the invasion of the abyss 30 years later, Eldoron has a new type of unit.

This is the third reason why Elion ordered the extermination of the orcs.

Although the orcs are poor, they provide one of the most valuable spoils of war—

Dead body.

Compared to animal corpses, which are difficult to manipulate and can be converted into zombies or skeletons, the corpses of humanoid creatures are exceptionally precious treasures!
After this massive extermination against the orcs is completely completed, Elion believes:

In the coming decades, the development of necromancy in Eldoron will likely not lack cheap corpses.

The control over undead to create zombie skeletons has slightly different limitations across different versions of D&D. That's my understanding.

Version 2: Limited to humanoid corpses; requires no materials and no mana to maintain. [Highest cap]

Version 3: Requires Black Agate as a precious material, with a controlled quantity limit.

Version 5: Limits humanoid corpses, requiring daily mana consumption to maintain (effectively a quantity cap).

…………

The manipulation of corpses in this book is slightly less complex than in the second edition...

[Limited humanoid corpses, do not require materials or mana to maintain, and have a controlled quantity limit]

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(End of this chapter)