And acted, the Sages at the Sage Tower did, as a powerful barrier emanated from the top of the tower, spreading outwards and then enveloping the tower itself and the immediate vicinity completely.
Thus, instead of coming out and face Michael and his ever-growing Undead Legion, those Sages at the Sage Tower had decided to take a defensive position with the magical barrier.
That was quite puzzling to Michael, as they could not possibly believe such an attempt would halt the advances of his Legion onto the tower. While Michael liked to accomplish the task given to him by the Spellcaster Source as soon as possible, he could maintain a siege forever if he must.
As that was the case, Michael assumed that the people at the Sage Tower were planning something – something very big. His first Death Sage, Gerald confirmed his suspicion, but whatever it was, the dead man didn't know due to his low rank within the tower.
There were ranks within the Sage Tower, and the highest being the Tower Master, who might or might not be Dalton the Wise at the moment. When Eric was still alive, the Tower Master was someone else, and the only way for the position to change hand was through death or shameful incarceration.
In any case, Michael would have his revenge no matter what. It was simply the matter of time.
And as an immortal undead, Michael did have plenty of time, especially now when he no longer cared about rights and wrongs of his actions. Morality of humanity no longer stopped his hands from doing whatever must be done.
To that end, Michael ordered his growing Undead Legion to continue to sack the city and wipe out all the defenders to the last person. As for the civilians themselves, they would be brought to him if and only if they casted down their faith and worshipped him as their Unholy God.
And from the number of Worshippers that Michael now had, it was working. While they were paying lip services to him out of fear for their lives and their family, the System still considered them all to be his worshippers.
Worshippers were better than believers, and the rate of mana recovery demonstrated this. For every worshipper he had, he would gain 1MP per fortnight. He had about a dozen or so worshippers at the moment, and the number was increasing slowly.
Some of his Death Knights actually brought his worshippers to Michael, and Michael decided to humor them since he was waiting for his Undead Legion to grow in number.
"Are you afraid?" Michael asked a family of five. A father, a mother, two sons and daughter. Strangely, only two of them were considered to be his worshippers by the System. He could see whether which of them were his worshippers. That was helpful.
"N-no, Great Unholy One. We. We are not afraid," the father uttered in fear. "We are just so overjoyed to be in your presence. Isn't that right, honey? Children?"
"Y-yes…" the wife responded and prostrated before Michael. She also forced her three children to do the same. "We are so overjoyed."
Michael chuckled, and his amusement terrified them. "Not all of you think so, but you will. You will."
With that, Michael touched each of them, starting with the children, turning them into countless pixels before absorbing them into his being.
It was so fast that the parents had no time to scream out in terror after witnessing their three children being disassembled into colorful dots before apparently being consumed by Michael.
The other witnesses had time, however, and the screams continued as Michael systematically turned one by one and assimilated them into his being. He actually lost worshippers when doing so, but that was likely because they no longer existed physically anywhere.
"Go. Bring me more worshippers," Michael ordered his Death Knights in front of him as well as all the Death Knights out of view. Quite a few of them were fighting against defenders. At least a couple were being beaten back, and that was quite interesting to Michael.
It was not every day to see someone having the physical prowess to match a Death Knight, and Michael teleported straight there.
Sonia Drake, the first Death Knight, had lost both of her hands to her opponent. But even so, she was happy, nonetheless. "As expected, dear sister. I cannot beat you in single combat."
"You… how could you allow yourself to become one of them. Where is your honor?" Lydia Drake, the first daughter of the Drake Household question as she raised her sword to end her beloved sister once and for all.
But before she could, a dreadful coldness washed over her, as her eyes come face to face with Michael.
"Ah. My Ruler has arrived, and all shall fall before him," Sonia called out as she felt a surge of power, and with that power, her arms regenerate and covers themselves in armor again.
"R-release my sister at once," Lydia demands as she pointed her weapon at Michael, but it was difficult to steady her hand. His aura was so suffocating, and the only reason that she managed to stand upright was due to her willpower.
"No," Michael simply said and approached Lydia until he was right in front of her face. Even so, Lydia could not strike him down. Her instinct was screaming at her, telling her to run away as far as possible, as Michael was not someone she could hope to defeat.
"I am always in need of a Death Knights," Michael whispered into her ears. "Come. Join me, and you'll know powers you have never known before. And you will be with your sister. Both of them. You father and mother too. One big happy family under my rule."
"I… I…" Lydia uttered as she felt her mind was being assaulted. Everything that she had sworn to serve and protect was so clear before. Now it was all cloudy. "I… I must… I must… ugh!"
Lydia collapsed onto her knees as her aura was overwhelmed. She lowered her broadsword along with her head in submission. She could not challenge Michael nor refuse him.
"Good," Michael said and placed a hand upon her shoulder to complete her transformation.