Chapter 10

**The Grand Duke of Eternal Night? It actually originated from a joke-like vow.**

"In the holy light, which shines like the sun and never fades, the pure light forever illuminates all things. Since we have been abandoned by the holy light, let us plunge the world into eternal night."

Betrayed by the Holy Church, which I once served, and having lost my family and kingdom, I cursed the holy light I once believed in and decided to bring a new order to the continent, sweeping the corrupt kings into the dustbin of history.

"Since you could betray your alliance and my kingdom and people for your own kingdom, I will destroy your kingdom."

Alright, I know it sounds very middle-school, but doesn't everyone have a middle-school black history they want to erase?

A middle-schooler is scary, but a middle-schooler with a system cheat is even scarier.

The Evil Lich System calculates the points I earn based on the cause and effect of my actions. Pranks and the like have little impact and offer few rewards, but bringing death and destruction will earn me infinite points, and those points will make me stronger and bring more suffering.

And what brings more death and destruction than a world war?

Alright, a war, a war that destroys everything.

As recorded in the epics on the surface, the unnamed Lord of the Dead summoned an army of the undying, the black wings of the vampires blocked the sunlight, and eternal night descended.

In the endless night, the dead danced on the battlefield, and the mad black knights began a competition to hunt for human heads. When the horizon was lit by a thread of white, the sea of skeletons had already reached the shore, and the long blood night had arrived.

In that war, as death spread, my strength and army grew exponentially, and eventually, I became the only half-god-level undead lord in modern times.

The Undead Emperor, the Grand Duke of Eternal Night, became a nightmare for the living.

Under the undead plague, four empires that had lasted for over a thousand years came to an end, along with three duchies and six kingdoms, all swept into the dustbin of history.

No one knew why the Grand Duke of Eternal Night grew stronger in the war, where he got the magic to control the vast army, or where he got the power to command dozens of undead lords.

In the end, the endless sea of the dead overwhelmed everything. When the Grand Duke of Eternal Night's Eternal Night Legion defeated the allied forces organized by the Holy Church, everyone thought the age of the living was about to end and the age of the dead was about to begin.

But suddenly, a message spread throughout the world, and everyone was elated and mad with joy.

The Grand Duke of Eternal Night was assassinated, and the undead army disintegrated!

"Red Lotus Hero" Adam Han became famous overnight.

The entire continent of Elysia sang his name, the elders raised their cups to bless his eternal fame, the middle-aged loudly recited his heroic epic, and the young and children saw him as their future goal and idol.

According to statistics, if it weren't for the hero Adam Han, who emerged from a fairy tale and led his adventure party to slay the Grand Duke of Eternal Night, the continent would have lost more than 70% of its population.

And at that moment, the legendary hero looked like a child who had been fooled, his face full of dissatisfaction.

"Hey, I'm almost dead, you should tell the truth now. Were you holding back back then? Why was the guard so empty? Why were the Crimson Hounds, who were supposed to be the royal guards, a thousand miles away? Why did you have no lord-level undead around you? Why did you, at the peak of a demigod, lose to a group of legendary peak beings?"

I hesitated for a moment and ultimately did not tell the truth.

"Well, don't you know that when you die and come back, you lose part of your memory? I've long forgotten what happened back then."

In fact, that year, after destroying the kingdoms that had turned on me and assassinating the Holy Light Bishop who had betrayed my homeland, the Duchy of Xilam, I had cooled down a lot, at least, I had become more rational.

A quick deduction would show what would happen next. If the Eternal Night Legion continued to advance, there would be nothing but endless death and destruction.

And at that time, I was already in a bind...

When my subordinates, the undead lords, were enthusiastically discussing the establishment of a new nation and how to turn the entire Elysia continent into a paradise for the dead, the Eternal Night Legion, composed of hundreds of undead lords and grand dukes, was no longer something I could stop.

So... as the leader, I died naturally, but left a will stating that only the one who obtained the Eternal Night Scepter, the symbol of undead kingship, could become the next Undead Emperor.

"The artifact, the Eternal Night Scepter, a symbol of undying kingship, is said to be the Grand Duke of Eternal Night's personal item, containing the grand duke's powerful secrets, but it has never appeared on the historical stage." This is how the Tower of All Laws describes the Eternal Night Scepter in its artifact catalog.

Of course, since I died too hastily, I didn't specify what the Eternal Night Scepter was, so the grand dukes all suspected each other of hiding it... and who says the undead have no desires? Power and authority are the favorites of all intelligent beings.

Alright, the subsequent development doesn't need to be said. A civil war broke out, and the undead plague ended. The current nation of the dead, the Empire of Syro, has more than half of its highest twelve undead lords who were old acquaintances from the allied forces.

"Hehe, there's even a legend that the one who obtains the Eternal Night Scepter will become the next Undead Emperor. Unfortunately, this legend will ultimately be false, because... there is no such thing as the Eternal Night Scepter in this world!"

Yes, even the name Grand Duke of Eternal Night originated from a joke. How could there be such a strange artifact in the world? Everyone was fooled by me.

And with my successful revenge, I had no more goals. Dying once and changing my identity, I was still a good man.

I originally planned to resurrect, start over, accumulate strength, and wait for the so-called "game plot" to unfold, while also waiting for my foolish brother to return.

Perhaps the only thing not in the plan was being seen through by the sage Margaret, who knew that liches are hard to kill completely, and thus bound me by sealing my phylactery.

And here, Sulfur Mountain City, which was originally just a desolate land they chose to live in, became the initial Sulfur Mountain City due to the arrival of some refugees.

In the perilous underground world, the protection of a strong being is more important than anything else, at least, it prevents one from becoming a slave trader's prey or a beast's meal.

And indeed, Adam was quite helpful. Margaret would do anything Adam said, and Little Red was happy to meet new toys. I, to earn points, was also happy to lend a hand.

Thus, more and more refugees came seeking protection, and gradually, Sulfur Mountain Town took shape. After a hundred years, the former small village had become a well-known paradise city.

Thus, the three bored individuals became the so-called three giants of the city. Adam became the mascot mayor, Margaret was forced to manage the administration, and Little Red continued to sleep, occasionally waking up to cause trouble.

And when they were busy and flustered, I, who had seen enough of the commotion and was equally bored, created this administrative and legal system based on my two lifetimes of experience, which has been in effect to this day.

Looking at the lich who was playing with his finger bones, Adam also sighed deeply.

According to the mainstream view on the continent of Elysia, the holy light and law, which represent order, and death and destruction, which represent chaos, are two opposing camps. When a being is born as a certain race, their alignment is already determined.

"Back then, when you said you wanted to be a grand judge and manage the law, we all thought you were joking. I never thought you would actually do it. Our Sulfur City's famous judicial system, hailed as the highest achievement of the order faction, was actually created by a lich who embodies chaos and death. If you said that, no one would believe it."

And the lich in front of him was even more incomprehensible.

If you say he's a good person, he has caused countless tragedies and is an evil, chaotic undead lich. If you say he's a bad person, after a hundred years of interaction, not only have I not seen any shocking evil deeds, but I have seen him enforce the law fairly and promote good.

Long-lived races like vampires and elves often live at an extremely slow pace. Dragons and the undead are famous for their lack of time sense. Normal short-lived beings cherish life and are busy, but after living for fifty years, the mental fatigue and pain make them slow and inactive.

Humans are social animals, and being away from people only makes them eccentric and strange.

Someone did a study. No matter how kind and upright a mage was before becoming a lich, after hundreds of years of isolation, the gaze of outsiders, and the corruption of black magic, they would become eccentric and evil.

Even an immortal warrior like Adam had a day when he felt he had lived enough, but the lich in front of him not only did not become silent and cautious like his kind, but was abnormally active, causing new trouble every day.

"Freak... to be honest, I sometimes really envy you."

"Hmm?"

"... Your spell law and spell law enforcer, your original law code, can provide advanced classes like Just Knight, Spell Law Enforcer, and Judge to strong beings. This undoubtedly shows that the source of order has recognized the power of your law code. As the creator of an order force on par with holy light, you must have touched that boundary, right?"

Hearing this, I paused. I seemed to have underestimated the man in front of me again. He is indeed a half-god-level warrior who has taken every step to get to today, and he seems to have also touched that boundary, the realm of the divine.

My eyes flicked, and a lie was on the tip of my tongue, but seeing Adam's near-end-of-life appearance, I hesitated for a moment and, out of years of friendship, decided to tell the truth for once.

"Hehe, death has given me infinite power, but the undead are inherently deficient. The dead can never reach that realm. Resurrecting once more, I might be able to touch that boundary."

"Is it worth it? Death has taken your body, strength... and probably your memory. How much of the past do you remember? Do you remember the days we adventured together?"

"Evelyn, Caven, Father..." Several faces flashed through my mind, but these deeply etched faces were mostly incomplete...

But I do not regret it. At least, I have avenged them. As for memory, living in the present is enough. Always reminiscing about the past only makes one weak and boring.

"Of course it's worth it. My ambition is the stars and the sea. My law code of justice will one day surpass the boring holy light."

"Ha. I really envy you for always being so energetic. Then I have more confidence in entrusting Sulfur Mountain City to you."

The shock was so great that it took me several minutes to put my dislocated jaw back in place.

"What a joke!! How can a prisoner be their own jailer! If you want to shirk responsibility, forget it!"

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