Supreme Magus novel Chapter 1777

Chapter 1777 - The War Begins (Part 1)

When the chaos from Manohar's death and the Dead King's threats reached its apex, the members of the Undead Courts attacked every city where one of their branches was located.

The Dusk, Dawn, and Night Court had collaborated to turn as many Thralls as possible into undead and to raise armies of lesser undead exactly for that moment.

Every city had cemeteries and slaughterhouses, providing them with everything they needed. The attack was swift, brutal, and bloody. To the citizens of the Kingdom, it looked like another attempt of conquest but the undead's only aim was to brew fear.

They didn't attack strategic objectives or places that would give them the upper hand in the long term. They focused on the most populous areas, killing in the most cruel and terrifying ways possible.

Fear grew into terror that soon became utter despair when the citizens received no help as their friends and neighbors kept being slaughtered in front of their eyes. The attack lasted barely over one hour yet it felt like years.

The main forces of the soldiers of the army and the mages of the Association was busy defending the local strategic assets and could only dispatch so many units to protect the residential areas without compromising the safety of the whole city.

They held their position, waiting for an attack that never came.

After a while, the generals in charge of the cities grew restless and sent their men to stop the onslaught in the streets, playing straight into Thrud's hands. The moment the security was minimal, her shapeshifters conquered the City Halls, gaining control of the arrays, while her army "saved" the citizens.

The undead and the Awakened beasts played their role to perfection, making each other bleed in a fight apparently to the death while they actually avoided hitting vital spots.

The army, the Association, but most importantly the Royals looked like incompetent fools, taking so long to mobilize their forces whereas it took minutes to Thrud's army to save countless lives and restore order.

Everything had been an act, but the people had no way to know it and acclaimed their saviors as heroes instead of an invading army, even helping them to deal with the Kingdom's forces when they tried to kill them for no apparent reason.

The Mad Queen had been meticulous, focusing her efforts to capture areas that would be vital after a famine and before the next harvest. The undead had attacked everywhere, but she had claimed solely the cities with strategic value and plenty of her shapeshifters.

The rest had just been a ruse, to keep the Kingdom from focusing their forces as well and hide her real objectives. The people of the captured cities acclaimed her marching parade without putting up a fight.

Not only was their new Queen the leader of the heroes that had saved them, she also had the support of the most trustworthy nobles and officials that had gained their reputation through decades of selfless service to the community.

Little did the citizens know that the former had just followed a script and that the latter were just Skinwalkers that had replaced their precious heroes.

Before sunrise, the Nestrar region was mostly in her hands and so were other major cities throughout the country, giving Thrud control over one-third of the Kingdom.

"Good gods, you really did it." Jormun couldn't believe his eyes as he followed Thrud from one city to another through the Kingdom's Gate system and witnessed her flag replacing that of the Royals.

It depicted a prancing Griffon like that of the Royal family, but Thrud's was golden, with two sets of feathered wings and one of the scepters replaced by Arthan's Sword.

It depicted Thud's form as a Golden Griffon that she had gained after becoming a white core.

"I would have never made it without you, my love." She gave the Emerald Dragon a dazzling smile and took the little Valeron from his arms. "Soon everything will belong to mommy and daddy and one day it will be yours."