Once Senani decided the destination he contacted Fred and requested he join the party. He then went to Cato to discuss the undead city. Once Senani had explained his destination. Cato told Senani, "My hive tells me that The Great Lich King is hosting a tournament to find a new general. It would seem he intends to go to war soon. Messengers have come here to deliver the demand that we send a member to compete and send an army of no more than 20 beings with the competitor. You may take the invitation."
Senani was ecstatic. Not only would he no longer have to find a way to enter the city, but he would be there at the behest of The Great Lich Kings. Furthermore, if this tournament had the goal of finding a new General for The Great Lich King then Senani would likely meet him in person. In person he could kill him and end this war before it truly began. Senani, Haren, Unagi, and Fred began the journey to the undead city. For the underworld, the city is a forbidden place. Only the denizens of The Great Lich King were usually allowed entrance. It was the only place that you could find undead of all species, as unlike Senani, The Great Lich King took his tribute in corpses. Even the groups that were not allied would occasionally send corpses to the undead city as a sign of their desire for continued peace. Most feared that if they did not, then the undead would eventually storm their cities and destroy them.
On the journey there were a great many beings heading toward the undead city. The Great Lich King had clearly sent the invitation to all the cities of the underworld. With that in mind, Senani spoke to the kingdoms under his command to see who they had sent. Flint had sent no one, ignoring the demands completely. Ilromy on the other hand had sent the ex-leader of the unicorn guild. These days, she called herself Unicorn. The midnight beast settlement was not yet recognized as a power worthy of notice and had thus not received an invitation. In response, Senani had requested that Flint send Grup with a token army of 10 grey dwarfs. Senani did not intend to meet up with his allies. He would see them in the undead city.
Once these discussions were made, Senani continued to travel. In a mere 10 days they arrived at the gates to the undead city. Slowly the line of beings was being admitted into the city after showing their invitations. Most of the cities had sent their strongest warriors with small token armies. It would take quite some time to get through the line. During this time, nothing interesting happened. Every being here was either excited or dreading the competition. Eventually it was Senani's turn. He presented the invitation that Cato had given him to the guard. The guard wrote down his name and into the city they went. There were no inns in the city, after all they rarely ever received guests. All the combats were instead placed in the barracks around a massive training ground. This would serve as the home of all the beings that came for the duration of their stay. No privacy existed. The barracks were completely open with a great many beds placed in rows. Fortunately, it would only be one more day before the tournament started.
The next morning, Senani was called to join the lists for the tournament and see who he would be fighting. To his surprise, there were no one on one battle slated. It would be a group free for all. The strange thing about this was that the token armies could be utilized in the fight. Winner takes all. Senani immediately notified Grup and Unicorn to join with his minions. They had Fred. Every being that died would serve Senani. By the end of the free for all he intended to have all the strongest members in his palace for a spirit covenant and all the beings that could not have a spirit covenant would be raised by Fred. As a Master Lich, Fred could now tell the difference in the ability of the body to manifest a spirit. The beings that could, would be sent to Senani. It did not take long for Grup and Unicorn to join them. Once they did, Senani began to look around and evaluate the competition. Some were clearly summoners, as they were growing their army as large as they could before the battle. Upon seeing this Senani chuckled. He could summon his entire army if he desired. Senani would not do that this time. He felt he had depended on his army to much in the past. In this battle, Senani would have the army defend Fred, Haren and Unagi included. Senani would be going into combat alone. His body had increased beyond that of a Tier 3. Senani was already max level Tier 1. In this battle he hoped to Evolve into a Tier 2. Such an evolution would not require a cocoon. It would be like a level up for this low of a tier increase. However, it would increase his strength and skills far more than a normal level up.
Seeing the thousands of beings preparing for battle excited Senani. He had been practicing his sword skills for a few hours per day every day that he was not in a cocoon. With his sword skill library and the access to learn every skill his people possessed, Senani had grown his sword skill significantly. At this point he was comparable to the skills of Maximus and yet he had not really had the opportunity to see what he was capable of. With that thought in mind, Senani began to meditate. He intended to completely clear his mind before the battle and become one with his sword. Each breath would be a sword strike, each move a death. Unless they took a knee and swore fealty to Senani, he intended to spare no one.
A gong sounded. The battle had begun. Senani stood up and drew his sword. He still possessed a mere Artifact grade Tier 1 sword. He intended to upgrade this at the next opportunity, however he felt this would suffice for his needs. The creatures here were only Tier 2. His natural strength and that of an Artifact weapon would make up for the difference in grade. He began to move toward the crowd. Senani had 3 times as many people following him as most, as such he was not immediately attacked. Suddenly he charged towards the closest group. He quickly swung his sword, projecting his will into the strike. The being he contacted was beheaded, as were the three behind it. Anything that contacted Senani's blade died. In a matter of minutes, with swing after swing striking down his opponents, he had cleared several combatants and their armies. Now there existed a space void of any combat around Senani. Fred and the army moved forward. The army kept Fred at the center and circled the bodies. Fred raised all but the bodies he could sense a spirt in. Senani teleported each of these to his dungeon at the palace. Now his army was over twice the size it had been. The new beings circled around Fred with the rest.
Senani continued to move forward. One of the combatant summoners happened to see what Fred had just done. As Senani approached they immediately took a knee. The army behind them did likewise. They asked Senani his name and proceeded to swear fealty to him. With the armor they wore, Senani could not even tell what species they belonged to. He would discuss further after the battle. In the meantime, he had them reinforce the army behind them, tasked with protecting Fred.
Seeing what was transpiring The Great Lich King began to be afraid. He knew of only one other army that contained the ability to summon the undead. That would be the army of House Sloth that he had been hearing so much about lately. It was House Sloth he intended to go to war with. Could the combatant below be the leader of House Sloth? The Great Lich King doubted he would be that lucky. Still, he decided to wait a few more moments before sending his massive army to attack. He needed to be sure that it was House Sloth. If it were not, this could be exactly the general he needed to defeat them.
Senani continued to battle, Fred continued to raise the dead. They now controlled half the beings that were involved in this battle. There was no chance of survival for the remaining combatants. Seeing this, the remaining army lowered their weapons and allowed Senani to speak. Senani said, "I am Overlord Senani, Emperor of House Sloth. Swear fealty to me, and you will live, do otherwise and you will die." Before he could finish his speech, The Great Lich King interrupted. "Senani, finally we meet. I am The Great Lich King Arkas. While I am sure you have heard of me, I doubt you have heard my name. Few dares to speak it. It will be the last thing you hear before you die. Combatants join with him and face my wrath. I will destroy all you hold dear." Arkas then gave the order for his massive undead army to attack.
Senani laughed hysterically. He now had every being in the undead army charging at him. In front of him stood an army of combatants the size of the one following behind him protecting Fred. Arkas knew Senani would die this day. When he did, he would raise him and claim his army for himself. How could Senani be laughing at this moment? This unhinged Arkas a bit. He was prepared for many reactions. Laughter was not one of them.
Senani then released his aura. Since his second evolution it was even stronger than it had been before. Every being in the city that was not in his army, including The Great Lich King Arkas fell to their knees. They could not lift their heads up to even look at Senani, much less fight him. Senani then spoke, "As I was saying. Swear fealty to me, join House Sloth, and you will live. Every being that chooses to do otherwise will die here today." Aside from Arkas, every being surrounding him spoke as one, "I swear fealty to Overlord Senani, Emperor of House Sloth." They were then able to stand. Senani had gained thousands more undead. These would of course be placed under Fred's command. This entire city would belong to Fred.
Senani approached Arkas. He then swung his sword and quickly decapitated him. Senani meant for this to be an end to the battle. However, when Arkas fell, his spirit left his body. Unlike others, it moved behind a closed door. It would seem, Arkas had a way to cheat death. Senani sent the body of Arkas to his palace dungeon. He intended to absorb it at a later point in time. He had an idea of what had happened. Unfortunately, he could not be sure. Senani believe that Arkas had used something like a soul stone. This would mean he was rebuilding his body behind that door. Senani tried to destroy the door. Nothing he did caused even a scratch. He then summoned Maximus. If anyone would know how to get in it would be him.
"Quest Received, Obtain the soul stone of Arkas. Quest Reward, common grade pirate ship and advancement to Tier 2."
Senani was excited when he saw the quest pop up. He was then confused by the reward. What would he do with a pirate ship? No water existed nearby. He supposed he would find out once he completed the quest. After all, advancing to Tier 2 was exactly what he desired and if this battle were any sign, combat was not enough to advance him between Tiers.
Upon seeing where he had been summoned to, Maximus was elated. It had been centuries since he had last been in the undead city. Yet it was just as he remembered. He could even see the spot he had ripped his Mausoleum out of. He spoke, "If you want to enter that door, you will need to restore the city. My mausoleum was removed from here to prevent access to that room. Once restored the door will be unlocked. Down there you will find Arkas greatest defenses, as well as his soul stone. Unless you destroy the soul stone, you will be unable to defeat Arkas. It has been centuries since I was last here, and even I was not allowed to enter there, I have no idea what you will face. I do know that only one creature may enter there at a time. If more than that enter, all but the first will cease to exist. A powerful curse has been placed upon this place. It was owned by Arkas master long ago."
Senani summoned the mausoleum and placed it where Arkas showed him to. As soon as it was restored, the door Arkas spirit had gone into opened. Senani entered.