"Huh? Wasn't I already dead?"
"I remember my chest being crushed. What happened?"
"Have I been resurrected? Where's the enemy?"
Confused cries rose from every direction. Soldiers ran their hands over their bodies and the rents in their battered armor, staring around in bewilderment.
One soldier caught sight of the docked skyship, the Apocalyptic Mourning Bell.
"That's one of our skyships!"
He sprinted toward it, but Barrett cut him off. Drawing the sword at his waist, Barrett held it across the soldier's path.
"Stop right there!"
With a scrape and clatter of armor, the other soldiers surged toward them. They had the advantage in numbers; the only four dressed as outsiders were EeDechi, Barrett, Franco, and Kilua.
The soldiers fixed wary eyes on the adventurers until an aged voice rang above the commotion.
"Stand down! You will show them proper respect!"
The soldiers parted to let an old man in ornate robes pass. With his left hand resting on a staff crowned with a crystal orb, he bowed deeply to EeDechi.
"You have our gratitude for restoring us to life. May I ask whether you are descended from one of the God-Emperors?"
"I..." EeDechi began, leaning on her giant sword.
Before she could finish, Barrett cut in.
"That's right! She is a descendant of one of the God-Emperors!"
Armor rasped against armor as the soldiers turned toward EeDechi, dropped to their knees, and bowed their heads.
"Wait, what—"
Before EeDechi could make sense of what was happening, Barrett pulled her into the skyship and shut the hatch.
"Captain, what do you intend to do with these people?" Barrett asked.
EeDechi fell silent, her gaze lowered. There was no easy answer.
These soldiers had served in the Eight Greed Kings' army and fallen in battle five centuries ago. Now, entirely by accident, she had brought them back to life.
If she abandoned them, they would starve to death in this place. She could never allow that.
Killing them was even more unthinkable.
She had already examined their karma values. Most fell somewhere near neutral. They were not exceptionally virtuous, but neither were they utterly evil. EeDechi's instinct was always to guide such people toward good.
Yet if she took them back to the surface, where could soldiers displaced by five centuries possibly belong? Left to their own devices, they would undoubtedly cause serious trouble.
"I brought them back," EeDechi said firmly. "That makes them my responsibility."
"Captain, I believe they could become a valuable force," Barrett said. "They fought World's Will to the death five hundred years ago. We may be able to learn its whereabouts from them. They would surely be willing to fight it at your side as well. Every additional sword strengthens our cause."
Only then did EeDechi understand where Barrett's thoughts had led him. He had considered possibilities that had never occurred to her.
Barrett did not yet know that EeDechi had already made contact with World's Will and freed herself from the restraints the world had placed upon her.
"I've already encountered World's Will. Just now, I entered a mental realm, and it lifted the limit that had kept me from advancing beyond level one hundred." EeDechi rested a hand gently on Barrett's shoulder and gave him a radiant smile. "You needn't worry about me anymore."
"Really?" Barrett's brow furrowed. "When?"
"It happened when I lifted Kilua's severed hand from the ground and took Kilua into my arms. I spent a long time inside that mental realm, but in reality, no more than an instant passed."
"Kilua..." Barrett's brow furrowed more deeply before gradually easing again. "Whatever happened in there, the important thing is that you can now advance beyond level one hundred. We've achieved what we came here to do."
He regarded her curiously. "What does it feel like? Has your power grown? Are you level 101 now?"
"No." EeDechi slowly shook her head, turning her awareness inward to the power coursing through her. "The world's restraints no longer bind me. But if I am to become stronger in truth, I think I still have to cross some sort of barrier."
"What kind of barrier?"
"I don't know." EeDechi clenched her fist. "I can sense a threshold somewhere ahead. At times, it seems almost within reach, but when I try to grasp it, it disappears into the mist. It is still distant—very distant."
"There's no need to hurry. We have time," Barrett said gently.
"But what are we to do with all these resurrected soldiers?" EeDechi asked.
Barrett cupped his chin in thought. "Sooner or later, we must go to war with Ainz Ooal Gown. He commands vast armies. It is time we began gathering forces of our own."
"Cheeko already has an undead legion borrowed from the Eight Greed Kings."
"It isn't enough." Barrett shook his head.
"In a war between gods, ordinary soldiers would serve no purpose. They would only die in vain." EeDechi sighed.
"Soldiers must face soldiers, and commanders must face commanders. Someone has to stand against Ainz Ooal Gown's forces, as well as the vassal armies sent by Re-Estize and Baharuth. Do you intend to kill every last one of them yourself?"
EeDechi's heart tightened. She had never considered that question before.
"Perhaps..." she said, torn. "Once I defeat Ainz Ooal Gown, they will disband of their own accord."
"Perhaps. But the Slane Theocracy cannot bear the Sorcerer Kingdom's pressure alone. Even its soldiers are already hard-pressed by the Sorcerer Kingdom's armies. And these soldiers of the Eight Greed Kings—their former masters have already..."
"World's Will told me that the Eight Greed Kings have left this world," EeDechi finished for him.
"Exactly. They have no one to lead them. They died once, only to awaken again in a world five hundred years removed from the one they knew. Without direction, they are certain to throw this age into turmoil. They may even join the Sorcerer Kingdom."
EeDechi weighed his words before giving a grave nod. "You're right. I must rally every force we can and form a united front against the Sorcerer Kingdom!"
Now that the path beyond level one hundred lay open to her, preparations for the final battle could no longer be postponed. That day might remain distant, but they had to be ready when it came.
During their time in the Desert of the Eight Greed Kings, Barrett had unearthed numerous relics from the imperial era. Through them, he had learned a great deal about the empire's government and military. He now explained what he knew to EeDechi.
The Eight Greed Kings' legions had been fanatically loyal. They considered death in battle their highest honor and were willing to sacrifice everything for the eight emperors, also known as the God-Emperors. They followed the strong and revered power above all else. To command their allegiance, EeDechi would have to display strength worthy of their respect.
Outside the skyship, a man who appeared to be a general questioned the old man.
"Mage Bernard, what makes you believe these people carry the blood of the God-Emperors?"
"Only the God-Emperors and their retainers could wield resurrection magic of such power!" the old man declared with fervent conviction. "The God-Emperors have departed. We were too weak and useless to follow them when they left.
"If these people do not carry their blood, why would they have come all this way to restore us? Do not forget—we died at the very edge of the world. No one but the eight wise and mighty God-Emperors could ever reach this place!"
The general studied the newcomers for a moment, his skepticism lingering. "Your reasoning has merit, but we still need firmer proof."
The old man pointed toward the weathered skyship. "They came aboard one of our own warships. What firmer proof could we ask for?"
EeDechi and Barrett emerged from the skyship and stood on the boarding ramp. Every soldier below turned toward them, reverence and expectation plain upon their faces.
Franco hurried to their side with Cheeko cradled in his arms.
Barrett looked down upon the assembled soldiers and spoke in a steady, resonant voice that carried across the ranks.
"More than five hundred years have passed since you fell in battle on this ground."
None of the soldiers questioned his words. They had long known that time did not pass in this place—or, more precisely, that everything here would remain forever unchanged.
"Much has happened during those centuries. Time has worn away all things. The empire..." Barrett released a soft sigh. "The empire is no more."
A murmur rippled through the ranks, and many of the soldiers began to weep quietly. Yet none of them seemed surprised. The Great Expedition five hundred years earlier had drawn upon the full strength of the entire nation. The Eight Greed Kings had staked everything on that campaign.
With all eight emperors gone, the empire could hardly have endured.
At length, the murmurs died away.
Barrett pointed toward EeDechi and proclaimed, "Before you stands a descendant of one of the God-Emperors! She is the empire's last heir, the light that shall guide us onward, a sovereign of wisdom and greatness! She shall bear the exalted title of the Virtuous King!"
EeDechi's face grew hot beneath the barrage of praise, and color spread across her cheeks.
With a thunderous scrape of armor, the soldiers dropped to their knees and pressed their foreheads to the ground. Their acclaim rose in a roar that shook the air.
"Long live the Virtuous King!"
To make the spectacle more convincing, Barrett drew a dazzling crown from his storage ring. It was the same crown once worn by the leader of the imperial remnant in the Desert of the Eight Greed Kings.
He lifted the crown reverently in both hands and placed it upon EeDechi's head.
EeDechi immediately pulled it off, her reluctance unmistakable.
Unperturbed, Barrett placed it back on her head.
"Cheeko." Barrett prodded the fat blue cat's belly and murmured, "Release the undead legion."
"Meeoow!"
Cheeko loosed a long yowl. In an instant, countless figures whirled upward from the ground. They carried all manner of weapons—longswords, greatspears, bows, crossbows, and more—while every blade and piece of armor gleamed as though brand-new.
War horns blared through the ranks of the undead legion. Warriors raised their banners and unleashed a deafening battle cry.
"Meow! Meow! Meow!"
"That's Lord Warblade's undead legion! The invincible legion!" the resurrected soldiers cried.
A flicker of bewilderment passed through the ranks at the sound of such a grim and imposing army meowing. Nevertheless, not one of them questioned the legion's authenticity.
Now they were utterly convinced that EeDechi was the heir to the empire of the Eight Greed Kings.