Chapter 28
Bonnie came hurrying over the moment Lilith set foot back in the Territory, ready to report everything that had happened at Frostbound Bastion. Lilith waved her down before she could start.
"It's fine, I already know. Simon won't be back anytime soon."
Bonnie blinked. "Simon? Wasn't it Giles?"
Right — Bonnie was still missing half the story. Lilith gave her the short version.
"Then why'd you come back, Lili?"
"To prepare for the war. The Territory and the Barracks both need upgrading." A pause. "And since I'm here anyway, I might as well deal with Giles."
Auriel had already agreed to help, and Lilith put some real stock in Angelkin abilities.
Even short of a full cure, Auriel might manage to stabilize him, or at least suppress Simon's consciousness — werewolves were dark creatures at the root, and holy power countered them by nature.
The only worry ran the other way: that it would work too well and scour away Giles along with Simon.
Would any of it succeed? No idea. But trying cost nothing.
Since she had the time, she messaged him.
[God of Light: Where are you now? Can you still move? Come to Frostbound Bastion. I'll try to remove Simon permanently.]
The reply took a while.
[Runeforge: I don't think I can right now. The undead wounded me badly, and it takes everything I have to keep Simon down. If I lose focus, he could take control again at any moment.]
[Runeforge: I think I should wait until my injuries heal before coming to you. Would that be all right?]
Lilith rested her chin on one hand. The explanation held together.
Body and soul were tightly linked; the wounds Simon had taken weakened Giles as well, which made resisting another possession attempt that much harder.
Asking for a few days to recover was perfectly reasonable — and Giles had always been the cautious type.
Of course he'd want the risk minimized before meeting her.
Fine. Orc war preparations first, Giles after.
Bonnie, meanwhile, had been quietly digesting the whole two-minds-one-body situation. She glanced at the messages and spoke up, hesitant.
"Lili... is it possible that Simon's the one messaging you right now?"
Lilith turned. "Hm?"
"I'm just guessing! But it could happen, right?"
She thought it over. Then nodded. "You're right."
Viewed from Simon's side, the exact same messages made perfect sense. "He tried to kill me by force and failed. So now he plays Giles and asks for help, hoping I'll walk in to meet him personally."
Bonnie's face drained of color. "Then, Lili—"
"I'll still go." She sounded entirely unbothered. "Giles or Simon, either way I'm spared the trouble of hunting him down."
"But if he's asking for a few days, he could be using them to recover — so he can assassinate you!"
Lilith understood that perfectly well. But an ambush she walked into with her eyes open was barely an ambush at all. And once the Orc war added to her strength, Simon would be even less of a threat than he was now; schemes counted for little across an overwhelming gap in power.
What actually concerned her was whether Auriel could save Giles. He was a decent person. Killing him would be a waste.
"Still — Simon probably won't hit Frostbound Bastion again before he recovers. Probably. I can't bet on it." She frowned. "The three Hero Units stay there."
Which meant facing the Orc war without a single one of them.
She sighed. "Whatever. Ordinary undead I can still summon. Nothing to worry about." And if Elowen's forces managed to kill even one high-ranking Orc commander, that corpse alone might be enough to turn the entire battle.
"Shouldn't you at least bring some troops?" Bonnie asked. "You did agree to help. Showing up alone would look a little strange."
That sparked something. The battlefield sat at the edge of the Verdant Forest, and according to the Seer, a high cliff ran along the border — perfect terrain for aerial Units.
She could direct the undead from above and swing fliers around the enemy's rear.
Her strongest available fliers were the Gargoyles.
The frustrating part: she didn't have enough Mana Crystals to charge the Throne of the Undead Empress and produce a Gargoyle Overlord before the battle.
"Leave the Mana Crystals to me, Lili!"
With Bonnie set in charge of the Territory, Lilith drew an Essence Core from her Spatial Storage Accessory and opened the Barracks upgrade panel.
Then she smacked her forehead. "Damn it. I forgot to ask the Seer where Essence Cores even come from." She'd have to ask Rowan tonight.
She still couldn't work out why the System barred Lords from adding friends across channels. Before they'd parted, Blaise had tried to add Rowan — and the search function flatly insisted no such Lord existed.
The Barracks upgrade finished almost instantly. Lilith opened the panel at once: the next upgrade still asked for only one Essence Core. She spent her second without hesitating. So far she'd found no other practical use for the things.
"Don't tell me every upgrade in this stage costs just one."
She reopened the panel.
[Barracks Crystal: Undead Faction]
[Rank: Lv.3]
[Unlocked Units: Skeletal Undead, Spectral Undead, Corporeal Undead, Vampiric Undead, Stonebound Undead] (Skeleton, Specter, Zombie, Vampire, Ghoul, Crypt Spider, Gargoyle)
[Description: Summons 30 unlocked Undead Faction creatures daily.
Grants a 1% chance to summon a locked advanced Unit from the broader faction pool, including but not limited to Bone Dragons, Liches, Spectral Dragons, Frost Dragons, and Zombie Titans.
Initial rank of standard Units: Tier 4 Recruit. ]
[Advanced Unit Description: Summons 10 advanced Units daily. Cannot be summoned concurrently with standard Units. Initial rank: Tier 6 Recruit.]
[Upgrade Requirement: 1 Essence Core]
"So it really is just one."
That took some weight off. Future Barracks upgrades would come far easier.
Though unlike the first advancement cycle, these no longer seemed to hand out new races at a steady clip — and every remaining locked Unit in the description belonged to an advanced category.
Perhaps none of them would open up permanently until the Barracks hit its next cap.
What she was really waiting on was the second Auxiliary Barracks.
Whatever. The races I have already give me plenty to work with tactically.
She closed the panel and turned to the Territory upgrade.