The Executed Sage Reincarnates as a Lich and Begins a War of Aggression Chapter 53: The Sage Bears the Burden of His Sins as Demon L

Gosh, I was about to die then and there! I even envisioned Hells gate before my eyes. If Demon Lord-sama didnt help, I wouldnt have managed to co back to life.

Groms praise echoed across the audience room.

The expression coming back to life seed out of place for soone like Grom, but I didnt point it out.

It was fine if he was satisfied with that.

Grom had been like this for two days now.

After he recovered from his near-death state, he had been talking about my achievent all the ti like a bard would do.

What ca out of his mouth was greatly exaggerated, to the extent that I could only think he was describing a totally different person.

I left it alone this whole ti since I thought he would eventually settle down, but it seed to have turned worse over ti instead.

During my absence, it seed he had spread news about my battle against Saint Makia all around the capital.

However, since Grom was transferred back to the capital during the early phase of battle, he shouldnt have been able to witness the battle.

While there were short reports from executives, there wasnt enough detail to make out for third parties.

It seed Grom supplented the missing parts with his own imagination.

I intended to warn him if it sounded too fictitious, yet sohow, the crux matched with what had actually happened.

Because of that I was unable to deny it, so it ended up becoming a silent acquiescence instead.

Well, it wasnt like there was any real harm involved.

If anything, it just added a bit to my embarrassnt.

If this could function as entertainnt for my subordinates, it was a cheap price to pay.

In addition, those stories also granted them a sense of security.

The tale of the Demon Lord who managed to overco the Saint was perfect to raise morale.

This kind of worry could only arise because Grom didnt perish to begin with.

I was really glad I managed to rescue him.

If things had played out a bit differently, he might not have survived.

Despite Groms excessive praise, I was happy to see him live.

It had already been five days since the battle against the Holy Scepter Army.

The Demon Lord's Army suffered considerable damage.

It was practically the first defeat we ever faced.

While I had managed to turn over the battle itself, the fact remained that the Demon Lord's Army had no choice but to retreat before the power of the Saint.

There were casualties not only amongst the undead, but also from my demon and elven subordinates.

The funerals had already taken place.

There were those who mourned for their close ones, those who prepared for the next battle, and those who decided to move frontline from backline support; there seed to be people who had changed their mind.

Of course, I wasnt an exception.

The mistake caused by my wrong judgnt had created a lot of damage.

Had I noticed sothing was wrong earlier, there might have been dead people whom I could have saved otherwise.

We planned to strengthen our channel of communication from now on.

If I could imdiately recognize the situation, I could reduce the damage on the Demon Lord's Army as much as possible.

What had already happened wouldnt change.

So I had no choice but to reflect on the mistakes that happened and utilize that knowledge to do better next ti.

However, it was not exactly true to say that the capital was filled only with sadness.

Everyone was trying to move forward.

Everyone knew this wasnt the place to stop.

The Demon Lords Army was looking towards the future.

I was relieved to know that.

Commander, Im entering.

The door was knocked and Henry entered.

The wound he suffered during the battle against the Holy Scepter Army had already healed.

Instead of recuperating, Henry had retrained himself because of the regret of having faced defeat.

Did sothing happen?

Theres sothing I want you to see. Hey, co in.

Henry beckoned outside the room.

The one who entered accordingly was Doldar in a vermillion full-body armor.

Neck My neck, return it

Hahaha, your neck is properly attached here.

Henry tapped on the head of the moaning Doldar.

The montum caused the neck to fall off and roll on the floor.

Henry let out a bitter smile, then picked up the dropped head and pushed it back to its original spot.

The joint is still fragile. As expected, we will have to ask the blacksmith to fix it.

Henry What does this an?

I held my head on the throne.

I felt a slight headache.

anwhile, Henry responded as usual.

Ah, you should know Doldar.

I didnt ask that. What I asked about is Doldar's head.

I pointed it with my finger.

Doldar's neck was no longer that of a human.

It beca that of an old wolf with silver fur.

His eyes shone blue.

The colour seed to match as if accepting it as Doldar's neck.

Henry put his hand on the old wolfs head.

You an this? Since it kept asking for a neck, I prepared a stuffed neck for it.

Did you make it yourself?

It shouldve taken so ti to make such a thing.

It was hard to think that it was made when Doldar joined the Demon Lords Army.

When I asked, Henry shook his head.

No, I borrowed it from a noble's mansion. There are variations of it, so you can change it according to your mood. Hey, dont you feel happy about that?

This, is not my, neck

Look, he seems happy.

Henry laughed proudly.

Far from being happy, he seed dissatisfied about it though. Did Henry just pretend to not notice that?

However, there was no sign that Doldar would rampage.

He quietly stood beside Henry.

Now that I think about it, they were also together during the banquet.

He seed attached to him despite what he said.

After a light chat, Henry left the audience room with Doldar.

He only wanted to show off Doldar's neck, it seed.

After seeing them off, Grom coughed for a bit.

Regarding them, err will they be alright?

Its fine since they didnt cause actual harm. Just leave them alone.

I, I understand.

It didnt look like they acted out of malice.

So it was best to just leave them alone.

It didnt matter unless they actually cut off the neck of a subordinate as a replacent.

Demon Lord-sama, you have a visitor~

Luciana entered with a cheerful voice.

The Elf chieftain Logan also ca along with her.

Logan approached the throne.

Its been a long ti. How are you doing? I heard you defeated the Saint.

Im fine. How about you?

No problems. Im living a life without any inconvenience, after all. This is also thanks to you. I appreciate it.

Logan bowed his head.

I quickly gestured with my hand.

Raise your head. Im not in a position to be grateful for.

I see. So you'd prefer if I kneeled on one knee before you? It is a proper stature as a slave.

Logan put a knee on the floor.

There was a faint smile on his lips.

It was a subtle change one wouldnt notice without a close relationship, but I could tell.

So I asked to confirm it.

Was that supposed to be a joke?

Obviously.

Logan stood up as he answered.

I was surprised since he wasnt soone who joked around.

In the first place, it was hard to judge whether he was joking or not.

Even if it was just a word for now, Logan might actually do it after all.

Eh what, did you just say?

Dont make say it twice. I told you Demon Lord-sama already promised to eat with tonight! Theres no chance for you to get involved!

Luciana and Grom were arguing.

Contrary to the content of what they were arguing about, the atmosphere felt tense between them.

Luciana, who was upset for so reason, tried to refute.

Bu, but, since Demon Lord-sama is kind, he might give priority to

Fool, are you not aware of the aning of the order of things! Obviously the one who was promised first would get the priority. Oh succubus, you lost to this ti!

NOOOOOOOOOooooo!!!

Luciana scread at Grom's triumphant declaration.

What the hell were they doing?

Even I wasnt sure about what they were doing.

By the way, the promise of the al was about verifying the sense of taste of an undead.

Neither I nor Grom were able to eat.

I couldn't feel the sense of taste.

Therefore, the purpose was to sohow enable the sense of taste.

For now, spicy food was the dominant choice.

It was about using spiciness not to stimulate taste, but to stimulate a sense of pain.

I had called Grom tonight to try that.

He supplented the explanation and proudly declared it to Luciana.

As usual, your subordinates sure are noisy. It feels lively.

My apologies.

I apologized to Logan for his dismay.

It made feel embarrassed once he pointed it out.

However, it wasnt like those two hated each other.

During the battle against the Holy Scepter Army, Luciana was in charge of treating the interception army who had transferred there.

Obviously Grom was also included amongst them.

She had devotedly saved those crumbling lives.

As a result, nobody who was transferred there lost their lives.

One could say that it was all her contribution.

Anyway, Im glad to see youre in good shape. Please tell if you need anything. Ill help you to the best of my abilities.

That would help a lot. Ill rely on you.

Logan tapped on my shoulder and left.

He must have had other things to do in the capital.

Considering his title as the chieftain, he sure was busy.

It beca more obvious as he beca involved with the Demon Lords Army.

Perhaps he used what little ti he could make off, to greet .

Perhaps he was concerned when he heard about the battle against the Holy Scepter Army.

He looked unfriendly at a glance, but he still thought of his friend deep down.

I was grateful for his kindness.

Then I shall propose a al with Demon Lord-sama! Ill have it together with him from early morning tomorrow until late at night!

Wha?! Taking consecutive tis is cheating! At least alternate it with .

Luciana and Grom were still quarreling.

I had a feeling that it would keep escalating.

It would stop if I interfered, but it felt too troubleso so I wouldnt.

Lets just say were lucky enough to have the leisure to quarrel.

After killing the hero, I destroyed the empire and led the Saint to her death.

The fight against the Holy Scepter Army would still continue.

The nation which lost its Saint and was shad upon because of it would surely think about retaliation.

I had no idea when this blood-thirsty war would co to an end.

It would take a long ti until stalemate could be reached.

For the ti being, the slaughtering of nations still needed to be continued.

I wanted to spread peace by reducing war amongst humans.

There was a contradiction since the thod I did so through was slaughter.

However, I would bear the burden and proceed.

The evil called by would continue to reign in this world.

If humanity rejected it, I would destroy all resistance.

That was my atonent for the most sinful mission that I carried.