The Lich of Glory Knight Spirit: Moving towards Krimasha!

To liches, Gray was the protagonist of the story, the saint whose faith had been tested and who was held in high esteem among the lich population. His decisions, though not always agreed upon by other liches, were begrudgingly accepted. His verdicts carried out across the lich community, sometimes even chiding them for their mistakes—in fact, he might have been the only one who could do so.

As for Richie, that was a different story.

Undoubtedly, liches adored this young one immensely. However, this might have been the worst thing of all.

Leaving Dragon Valley, Richie did not return to Salted Fish Port as initially planned; instead, he headed to Manggis City on the front lines.

This was a small city-state on the plains where Benedict had assembled the Southern Alliance's army to support Gray's northern expedition. Over six months, they had stockpiled massive resources. It was essentially the northern expedition's bridgehead.

The choice to be here stemmed from Richie's impatience to avenge his father.

"If I need to tell my mother this news, I hope I can bring back the Black Dragon Elder's head along with it."

This was Richie's thought. However, he soon realized he was gravely mistaken.

The Undead Army arrived at Manggis. Out of caution, Richie continued to fly his father's Silver Moon Flag, keeping the news under wraps and temporarily refusing to meet any human lords.

Then, something happened.

"We should launch the war immediately. Since they ambushed us, why don't we ambush them? Ambush Dragon's Peak! We have enough power! Let our fury burn them to ashes!"

"But we're not fully prepared yet. Whether it's taking over the Gustav Empire or understanding Dragon's Peak, we're not ready. Rashly starting a war would be detrimental to us."

"Is it detrimental to us or humanity? We never prepared for any wars with the Dragon Clan before! Those humans, I think we can totally disregard them, as they can't sway the outcome of the war anyway!"

"What else do we need to prepare for? We've been preparing for a full year! If we had started the war a year ago, none of this would be happening now!"

"This goes against the Lich King's initial intentions."

"Sorry, what I am about to say may be out of line, but I must say it. The Lich King imposed too many restrictions on himself, and those limitations led to the current outcome. We have already relinquished the power to crusade against the Golden Dragon to maintain his final wishes. Now, do we have to give up the power to crusade against the Black Dragon too?"

"Are you saying the Lich King was wrong then?"

"The Lich King has admitted mistakes more than once; he never claimed to be infallible. Are you saying his admissions of mistakes are themselves wrong?"

"Uncles, aunts, I think..."

Richie tried to interject, but the liches quickly doused him with a bucket of cold water.

"Little Richie, let us handle this. Your decision in Dragon Valley was spot on. Leave what's next to us! We have more experience with war!"

"I think your arguing is meaningless. Now we just need to decide whether to launch the war immediately and how to do it."

"I think we should launch the war immediately, ambush Dragon's Peak, kill the Black Dragon Elder, and end this."

"I also think we should launch the war immediately, but I don't think ambushing Dragon's Peak is worthwhile. We don't know it well enough to talk about an ambush. We should advance step by step from the Gustav Empire."

"I think we shouldn't launch the war immediately. We still have many things to deal with; launching the war immediately would make everything more chaotic. I can even foresee what kind of situation will arise."

"I think we can ambush Dragon's Peak. Although we don't understand it well, the Black Dragon wouldn't expect us to act so quickly. We have the advantage."

"Why do you think what you foresee is something they wouldn't think of?"

"Are you calling me dumb?"

"No, that's not what I meant. Or maybe it is. Hah hah."

"Let's duel like knights!"

Sitting in the commander's seat, Richie felt his scalp tingling.

Indeed, they argued, and Richie was sidelined from the discussion. Regardless of the direction, their discussions could escalate into physical fights at any moment.

If Bruto hadn't intervened timely to stop them, Richie's first military meeting could very likely have resulted in the fragmentation of the White Bone Holy Light Court.

In the end, no resolution was made, and the meeting ended in bitterness.

...

After the meeting, Richie, who now resembled a zombie, sat alone in the empty hall, staring at the moonlight slanting through the door.

Delia and Sarina quietly appeared beside him.

"Every one of them is my uncle, aunt, and they all adore me. Every piece of advice they give is for my good, for better avenging my father. But..." Richie said blankly, "I can only make one decision. I can only choose one opinion and try to persuade the others. The fact is, I couldn't persuade anyone. In their eyes, I have no prestige, no achievements, I'm still a child. Launching a crusade against the Black Dragon immediately is simply an impossible task... This is just too bad, extremely bad. As far as I know, the predecessor of the White Bone Holy Light Court was the Lich Council. That organization has existed for tens of thousands of years, and never has any lich been able to unify the opinions of all liches. They have always been fragmented. My father barely managed to unify them with his prestige. And now, I feel they're fragmented again. Humans are the same. If I announce my father's accident, what would happen? Would humans also disperse?"

*Richie felt unprecedented pressure during his first military meeting, entirely devoid of any blood-boiling passion for avenging his father.*

*This was likely the true reason the Black Dragon chose to assassinate Gray. The alliance was far more fragile than anyone imagined. Its birth was a miracle, and its continuation required even more miracles.*

"They're liches, completely different from humans, or the thinking patterns of any other race. I understand my father was like this when he first arrived on the surface. Later, he changed. But my uncles and aunts remained unchanged, even less willing to change because of their strength. If my father were here, he might persuade them. I..."

*An organization born from a novel, much like Gray's initial understanding of knightly spirit was unreliable.*

"What should I do?" Bowing his head, Richie softly asked, "Everything is far more complicated than I imagined. If I can't unify their opinions, how will I continue my father's path?"

"Maybe you need some time to learn how to handle these matters?"

"But what I lack most now is time."

Undoubtedly, neither Sarina nor Delia could answer his question.

The entire hall was quiet.

After a long silence, Richie released his hands and softly said, "Prepare a sharp knife, a sufficiently large bucket, and some metal for me."

"A knife and a bucket, and… metal?"

"Yes."

Delia and Sarina hesitated but ultimately nodded.

...

The night breeze blew gently, tree shadows swayed lightly under the silver moonlight.

The first night in Manggis, Richie used the knife to slice off his flesh bit by bit until only his skeleton remained. Then, like Gray when he first appeared in the surface world, he used magic to mend and patch his skeleton with a pile of metal.

Simultaneously, he attached a pull ring identical to Gray's on top of his head.