A Lich is a higher form of undead. A lower-ranking undead acts only on instinct, while Liches, who evolve from these undead, develop a degree of intelligence.

  It might seem like a small advancement, considering you are born with intelligence, but for a being that originated as a mere concept without awareness, believe me, it is not.

  A sign of intelligence means you are able to observe, understand your surroundings, and reflect on them.

  And now, this undead has it, which makes this hurdle ten times harder than it already is.

  The entire undead army stopped in its tracks the moment the death energy cloud was cleared. The Lich, who was floating in the air, flew toward our direction, its ragged robe swaying, before stopping just in front of the undead army.

  “Greetings, dear elves.” The Lich bowed lightly. A rough and distorted voice came from its mouth—the kind of voice that felt itchy to the ear when listening to it. I could hear the Lich even though I was at the far rear of the formation. It must be using a skill or something.

  Its gestures were also very gentlemanly, as if it had retained its human characteristics.

  I immediately dismissed the idea.

  When an individual turns into an undead, all their memories from when they were alive are erased. You could say that the two were now entirely different beings. Yet the way the Lich acted made me doubt that fact.

  The three commanders at the front stepped forward to discuss with the undead.

  I didn't because I was wary of that Lich.

  The higher the advancement of an undead, the denser the death energy it releases. In my current state, I cannot even generate a small protective layer. If I get too close to that Lich, I will instantly die.

  I could see the four of them discussing, but I couldn’t hear anything. This is kind of frustrating. I guess I’ll just wait until it’s over.

  I was considering getting closer when suddenly, a small wooden branch sprouted in front of me. It grew larger until it reached my height. At its tip, a little green light was glowing.

  When I looked closer, the green ball of light was actually a person—or was it?

  The person had the same long ear features as an elf. The only difference was that he had shining wings sprouting from his back, and... he was tiny. I wondered if he belonged to another race?

  Hmm... a tiny-winged race? Doesn’t ring a bell.

  The tiny-winged person was sitting at the edge of a leaf, looking at me with curious eyes, likely the same look I had for him.

  “Hey...” The tiny-winged person opened his mouth. “Were you the one who summoned me?” he asked while tilting his head.

  A summon? Doesn’t that require a ritual or a catalyst to activate? I don’t remember setting up anything like that. This tiny-winged person just appeared on his own.

  “No... I didn’t summon you. Who are you anyway?”

  The tiny-winged person blinked, then abruptly stood up. “Ah, right! I haven’t introduced myself yet! How could I forget? This is the most important part.”

  “Ahem. My name is Serliphim, born from countless storms—a wind spirit. As the one who summoned me, do you want to form a contract?”

  So, he’s from the spirit race. I don’t have any idea about their characteristics, so I can’t say if he’s really telling the truth. Until I can confirm it, I’ll take his word for now.

  I raised an eyebrow. “What contract? Like an agreement?”

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  The tiny-winged nodded. “Exactly! I bet you must really want to form a contract with me!” He exuded a prideful expression. “It can’t be helped. Since you are the one who summoned me, I’ll let you form a contract between us.”

  What is this little guy saying? He’s the one who came here all by himself. This guy looks like a pushover—I wonder if he has any use?

  “Well, before we proceed with that, can you first tell me your abilities?”

  The little boy laughed haughtily. “You’re that eager to worship me, I see? Don’t be afraid, for I shall not stand in the way of my followers!” He crossed his arms and nodded enthusiastically as if what he said was simply a matter of fact.

  “As I said, I am born from countless storms. I am a wind spirit. The wind follows my command.”

  That’s a little vague... Does he mean he can manipulate the wind as he wishes? If that’s true, then I should make use of him, right?

  “To be honest, I don’t know much about spirits, so I don’t have a definite measure of your strength. That’s why, before we form a contract, can you show me your abilities first?”

  The little spirit blinked, then nodded in understanding. “I see, that makes sense. Then what do you need me to do?”

  I smirked. He took the bait.

  “Can you let me hear what those guys are talking about?” I pointed at the three commanders and the Lich who were in discussion with each other.

  He took a glance at where I pointed, then nodded. “That’s easy enough.”

  With a flick, a burst of wind came forth. I began to hear voices out of nowhere. At first, they were blurry, but with each passing second, the voices became clearer and more understandable.

  “Do you think you can just get in and out of our territory as you please? Who do you think you are?” Commander Lorien spoke coldly.

  The current situation was... strange.

  The Lich actually offered a truce. They were saying that they wanted to let bygones be bygones and for both sides to pull back their armies.

  Which was odd, considering they had the biggest advantage here.

  “Hey, Serliphim, can you use the wind to deliver a message to just one specific person? I’d appreciate it if you did.”

  The little spirit’s eyes shone at my request. “Of course, I can do it! It is me, after all.”

  And with another flick, a small sphere of wind formed in front of me.

  “You can just speak into this ball, and the wind will handle the rest,” Serliphim said with pride.

  How convenient. I guess I should really think about forming a contract with him seriously.

  “Commander Lorien, can you hear me?”

  Commander Lorien, who was at a distance, had a stunned expression upon hearing my voice beside his ears, but it immediately disappeared in a split second.

  Seeing his reaction, he can surely hear my voice.

  “Be calm and don’t give away any obvious response. Just listen to what I am about to say.”

  He acted as if he wasn’t hearing any voice, I’ll take that as a yes.

  “I’ve heard everything you discussed so I know what is currently going on. Commander Lorien, accept the lich’s proposal of having a truce.”

  “…”

  He was silent, yet I can already hear all his complaints about what I said.

  “I know you don’t agree to having a truce, but we are in a disadvantage right now, if we proceed to battle, casualties can’t be avoided. We only have a few trained knights. If they further decrease, the other countries won’t surely be blind to ignore this, don’t you think so?”

  “…”

  He contemplated for a short time. In the end, he seems to understand where I’m getting at and accepted the proposal.

  “I take it that you’ve made a decision commander?” The Lich said, noticing the change from Commander Lorien’s troubled expression.

  “Yes, we will accept the truce.”

  ““Commander Lorien!””

  The other two commanders voiced out, clearly dissatisfied of the current arrangement.

  But just a glance from him made the two back off.

  “Don’t question anything. This is an order.”

  Clap! Clap! Clap!

  The Lich clapped enthusiastically. “That is a great decision, Commander! In this way you won’t have any casualties to handle of!”

  “Well then, I believe we don’t have any further business from each other, so I’ll take my leave first. Have a good day and farewell.” He bowed and turned around, returning back from the path where they came from.

  They watched as the whole army of undead retreat. Just as they were nowhere in sight, the two commanders confronted Commander Lorien.

  “Commander Lorien! Why would you let them leave? They damaged the whole forest, which acts as our strongest barrier against other countries! You can’t let them off that easily.” The leader of the Rangers who was usually apathetic spoked.

  “Didn’t I say so? It was an order. Who else would I take orders from?”

  It was just now that she realized what he meant, “You mean His Highness has… No! That’s not… His Highness made a promise! He didn’t possibly make that order!”

  “He’s right, I was the one who made that order.”

  I said as I slowly approached to them.

  The leader of the Rangers was devastated, “How could you… You promised us, to my daughter, Your Highness!”

  “The promised that I remember was to stop the advance of the undead army. And you know it yourself as a Ranger, we can’t beat them with our military strength. Do you wish to let them trample the city and murder all of our people?”

  “That’s…”

  I sighed looking at this dejected Ranger, “Besides, it’s not like they will be completely safe crossing the borders…”

  “What do you mean, Your Highness?” All of them were confused at what I said.

  They didn’t know that ‘someone’ living at the top of the Tree of Life huh?

  “I meant that someone would eventually take care of them.”