The ash blizzard finally cleared. Kael and his army stood at the edge of a massive, terrifying crater.
At the bottom of the crater sat the Necropolis—a sprawling city made entirely of jagged black bones and obsidian. In the center of the Necropolis was a towering spire.
And standing at the entrance to the city was an army.
Not a vanguard. Not a patrol. It was the full might of the Lich King. Over ten thousand Skeleton Warriors, hundreds of Bone Archers, and dozens of Death Knights mounted on skeletal horses. The sheer scale of the undead legion was breathtaking.
Elara gasped, taking a step back. Even with Kael's stolen army of two hundred shadows and his Elite Commanders, the numbers were fifty-to-one.
"Kael," Elara whispered, her voice shaking. "We can't fight an army that size. We have to go back. We need to unite the whole city for this."
"Unite the city?" Kael scoffed, stepping to the very edge of the crater. "And share the experience points? Not a chance."
From the top of the bone spire, a voice echoed across the crater. It was the same ancient, freezing voice that had spoken in Kael's mind when he hijacked the skeletons.
"You who steal from the dead... You dare approach my throne with such a pathetic force?" The Lich King floated down from the spire. He was a terrifying sight—a skeletal figure wearing a crown of frozen souls, floating above the ground in a robe of pure darkness.
[Floor 1 Boss: The Lich King of the Ash Wastes (Level 40)]
"Bow before your King," the Lich boomed, raising his skeletal staff. "And I shall grant you the mercy of serving in my vanguard!"
The ten thousand skeletons raised their weapons and let out a deafening, rattling battle cry.
Kael didn't flinch. He slowly raised his left hand, resting it on the hilt of the Monarch's Dagger. He looked at the massive army, then at the Lich King, and finally let out a low, dark chuckle.
"A King?" Kael yelled back, his voice amplified by his mana to echo across the entire crater. "You sit on a pile of brittle bones in a dead wasteland, hiding behind mindless puppets."
Kael's eyes ignited with blinding gold light. He unleashed his Omniscient Shadow aura to its absolute limit. The grey sky above the crater seemed to darken, overwhelmed by his sheer presence.
He unsummoned his wings and drew the Monarch's Dagger, pointing the black blade directly at the Lich King.
"I am the Sovereign of Glitches," Kael declared, the air vibrating with his power. "And I don't bow to dead men. I devour them."
Kael looked at Shadow Arthur and the massive Shadow Knight at his side.
"Slaughter them all. Leave only the King for me."