Lith paused, feeling the Living Armor's dark power coursing through him. He willed the armor's cape to transform, and it obeyed instantly. The cloak twisted, reshaping into three pairs of massive, shadowy wings that extended from his back. Each wing was lined with thin, blade-like edges, radiating an aura that seemed to absorb all light around them. With a single powerful flap, Lith ascended, his wings carrying him high above the scorched earth, surveying the desolate landscape below.
Contemplating his next move, Lith decided it was time to build an army—a force vast and relentless, capable of dominating the academy and any who dared to challenge him. Reaching to the Malediction Grimoire and the Book of Eternal Dread, he tore out the pages containing the demons and undead he had summoned. Each page, imbued with dark energy, drifted into the air. With a flick of his wrist, Lith sent them spiraling down, casting them like seeds of chaos onto the ground below.
The pages struck the earth and pulsed with a black light, growing and expanding as they took shape. In moments, 500 towering demons and undead soldiers stood before him. The demons were nightmarish behemoths, standing over 100 meters tall, their goat-like heads crowned with jagged horns. Their bodies, covered in thick, black armor that looked forged from shadows, radiated immense power. Each demon carried a massive cleaver that gleamed with dark energy, and their red eyes burned with an insatiable hunger.
The undead were equally fearsome. Skeletal titans clad in pale, enchanted bone armor, their empty eye sockets blazed with ghostly black soul fire. Bat-like wings, skeletal and tattered, extended from their backs, giving them an eerie, predatory appearance. Their bones were marked with runes of dread, granting them unnatural resilience and strength.
As one, the 500 creatures knelt before Lith, their eyes locked onto him in unwavering loyalty. Lith's voice echoed with authority as he addressed them. "Hunt. Eliminate every demon or creature in this land and bring back their corpses."
The horde rose in unison, and without a second's hesitation, they spread out, a dark tide sweeping across the land. The demons moved with terrifying speed, their cleavers slicing through any adversaries that dared cross their path. Meanwhile, the undead moved methodically, their skeletal forms gliding with deadly precision, their bony hands clawing through flesh with brutal efficiency. Every strike, every motion was precise and final, driven by their primordial rank power.
As Lith watched, the landscape was soon littered with corpses, stacked high before him. Pleased with the efficiency of his new army, he hovered in the air and extended his hand. With a wave, a throne of dark stone, adorned with jagged, crystalline spikes, materialized beneath him, reminiscent of his seat in the Citadel. Lith seated himself, floating above the battlefield, surveying the growing mountain of bodies below with satisfaction.
Once the hunting slowed, Lith gave a new command. "Books, devour."
At his words, the Malediction Grimoire and Book of Eternal Dread descended toward the pile of corpses. Each tome opened, their pages flicking wildly as they absorbed the remains. Dark energy pulsed outward, and the books began to consume the corpses en masse, drawing in the essence, power, and residual memories of every creature. As the books fed, new pages appeared within them, each capturing the form and strength of those consumed.
Minutes turned to hours as the books continued to gorge themselves, page upon page manifesting within their bindings. The new additions bolstered Lith's army, each page representing hundreds of demons and undead, now evolved and perfected through the tomes' dark magic. By the time the books hovered back to Lith's side, they were brimming with newfound power, each holding an army vast enough to conquer entire realms.
Lith smirked as he held the books, feeling the overwhelming potential they contained. Each page pulsed with restrained fury, depicting nightmarish creatures ready to be unleashed at his command. He knew that with a single page cast from either book, he could summon a thousand primordial demons or undead—a force of unstoppable devastation.
Then, Lith extended his hand again, summoning another ancient tome into his grasp. This was the Codex of Predestined Fates, also known as The Arbiter of Destiny. Its cover was adorned with shifting symbols that seemed to move in response to Lith's touch. He opened it, his eyes tracing the intricate language on the first page. Despite its cryptic script, the words were clear to him.
"After two hours, travel south. There, you will find the key to escape this land."
Lith's eyes gleamed with interest, impressed by the codex's insight. He closed the book and took a breath, allowing himself a moment of rest. With the throne hovering beneath him, his wings folded around him like a cloak, and he drifted into a meditative slumber, letting the energy around him renew his strength.
Two hours later, Lith opened his eyes, feeling more powerful than before. The Malediction Grimoire and Book of Eternal Dread hovered beside him, their bindings now thick with hundreds of new pages, each depicting hordes of grotesque demons and bone-chilling undead. Thousands of primordial rank creatures, etched into the tomes' pages, awaited his command, a legion that could reshape the fate of worlds.
Satisfied, Lith rose from the throne, his wings unfurling majestically. He turned to the south, as directed by the Codex, and without a moment's hesitation, he soared forward, leaving a land of ruin in his wake. His army within the tomes and his purpose clear, Lith was ready for whatever destiny awaited him. The path before him lay open, and he would carve his mark across realms, a force unparalleled, a shadow inescapable.