The first warning came as a tremor.
Stone cracked beneath heavy footsteps, reverberating through the streets of the reclaimed town. Aldwin stood atop the inner wall when he saw them. Figures emerged from the treeline, towering and broad shouldered, their skin grey and rough like carved granite. Each step they took left shallow craters in the earth.
Goliaths.
They moved with deliberate force, wielding oversized weapons forged from slabs of metal and stone. Their eyes were dull but focused, their movements disciplined rather than feral. These were not wandering brutes. They were an invading force.
Aldwin did not move.
He turned his head slightly.
"Gozu."
The Oni was already grinning.
"Yes, my king."
The gate burst open.
Gozu strode forward, mace resting casually across his shoulder. Behind him followed his kin, a dozen blue skinned Oni, each massive and scarred, their presence radiating violence barely restrained.
The goliaths roared as they charged.
Gozu laughed.
The first collision was catastrophic.
Gozu swung his mace in a wide arc, the impact pulverizing the lead goliath's torso into fragments. Stone skin shattered like brittle rock, the body collapsing before it could even finish its charge.
The Onis followed suit.
Fists collided with stone. Maces cracked skulls. Limbs were torn free and used as weapons. The goliaths fought back with raw strength, but they lacked adaptability. They relied on mass and momentum.
The Onis thrived in chaos.
Within minutes the street became a battlefield of broken bodies and shattered stone. Gozu waded through it effortlessly, every strike decisive, every movement efficient. He caught a goliath's hammer mid swing, crushed the weapon in his grip, then drove his horn through the creature's chest.
When the last goliath fell, silence returned.
The humans stared from behind barricades, fear and awe mixing in equal measure. Tobias could only exhale shakily.
"They never stood a chance," he murmured.
Gozu planted his mace into the ground and rolled his shoulders.
"A warm up," he said.
That night, Aldwin summoned Gozu and Corvus to the war chamber.
The map spread across the table was old, marked with scorch lines and corrupted zones. At its center was Aldwin's former city, circled in red.
"The Lich," Aldwin said calmly. "I want it assessed."
Gozu crossed his arms. "You want it dead?"
"Eventually," Aldwin replied. "First I want information."
Corvus's eyes gleamed faintly beneath his hood.
"I will gather intel," he said. "Movements. Servants. Defensive measures. Whether the Lich serves something greater."
Gozu nodded slowly.
"I will be the vanguard," he said. "Undead break easily. High tier ones are nothing new to me."
Aldwin's gaze sharpened.
"A Lich is different."
Gozu's grin faded slightly.
"Yes," he admitted. "Their bodies are replaceable. Their souls are not."
"Exactly," Aldwin said. "If you encounter it directly, do not engage unless victory is certain."
Corvus tapped the map.
"The ruined city is crawling with undead," he said. "We will need time. Three to four days at least."
"That long," Gozu muttered.
Corvus nodded. "A Lich hides its phylactery well. Sometimes not even in the same city."
Gozu clenched his fist.
"I can kill its creations," he said. "But killing it permanently without knowing the phylactery's location is inefficient."
"Which is why this is reconnaissance," Aldwin said. "Not a purge."
The Oni bowed his head.
"As you command."
They departed before dawn.
Gozu led the way, Oni warriors spreading out behind him in loose formation. Corvus vanished into shadow almost immediately, his presence reduced to nothing more than faint disturbances in the air.
As they traveled, the land grew colder.
The sky dimmed unnaturally, clouds hanging low and heavy. The smell of rot replaced that of forest and earth.
By the time they reached the outskirts of the ruined city, night had fallen.
Broken buildings loomed like skeletal remains. Streets were choked with debris and corpses that twitched faintly, animated by necromantic energy. The air was thick with death mana, oppressive and corrosive.
Gozu stepped forward without hesitation.
The first undead noticed him instantly.
They rushed.
Gozu crushed them.
Skeletons shattered under his mace. Ghouls were torn apart by his bare hands. Even armored revenants crumpled when struck, their necrotic energy dispersing uselessly.
High tier undead soon emerged.
Death knights. Wraithbound constructs. Abominations stitched together from dozens of corpses.
Gozu fought methodically.
He did not rush.
He destroyed.
From the rooftops, Corvus watched silently.
He noted the patrol routes. The density of undead. The presence of necromantic pylons embedded into the city's foundations.
More importantly, he felt it.
A consciousness.
Watching.
"The Lich is aware," Corvus whispered through the mental link. "It knows we are here."
"Good," Gozu replied. "Let it watch."
For three days, they advanced cautiously.
Gozu acted as a beacon of destruction, drawing attention. Corvus slipped through shadows, infiltrating towers, listening to the whispers of bound souls.
On the fourth day, Corvus returned with grim news.
"This Lich is not independent," he said. "It serves something."
Gozu's grip tightened on his mace.
"A master."
"Yes," Corvus confirmed. "I could not identify it, but the bindings are clear. Orders are given. Power is shared."
"And the phylactery," Gozu asked.
Corvus shook his head.
"Not here."
Gozu growled.
"Then this city is a nest," he said. "Not the head."
Corvus nodded.
"We return," he said. "And report."
Gozu turned, casting one last look at the ruined city.
"I will kill it one day," he said quietly.
Then he marched back into the darkness, carrying knowledge that would shape the war to come.