Flanking their leader, the two knights walked in front of their forces alongside him, before the many soldiers of the rank and file, arranged neatly according to their choice of weapons, the sheer amount of them compared to the first punitive expedition was astounding, under the watchful eyes and with the blessing of Loimos, most regular undeads managed to attain the strength necessary to qualify in little time, bearing the symbol of the Lithitree upon their chest, most of them were skeletons and zombies, although one could hardly tell the difference when in full gear.
Although technically the weakest members of the entire force, the regular soldiers were the pillars, the foundation of the whole thing, most of the living that would be taken in the tide of the vanguard army of eternity would only ever meet them.
Trained in their weaponry, in team work, a few battle arts made specifically for them, hurling Loimosfire bombs and such, this caste also englobed archers and crossbowmen.
But of course, there were many other castes in the champion's army, he sought an elite that could face the living on their own and secure territory, make locals submit and even, perhaps, come to think that their invaders were not so bad, this mindset from livings in possible occupied lands was to be chased, it was then that their wills would not only be crushed, but that they could be used for other purposes.
Next, were the machinery operators, such as the undeads that steered the ships, this castes went from such undeads who would hardly be faced with fighting, to those in charge of controlling heavy weaponry such as ballistas and trebuchets, their equipment similar to the rank and file, only that they wore a thick gambeson and a kettle helm put over the veil of chainmail, the range of weaponry they had available was smaller, equipped with a bow or crossbow in case the machine they operated went out of service, and a dagger, or simple sword.
There was only one of them during the last operation, but as could be inferred by the amount of boats now circling the mainland, this had changed rapidly, and of course, the sort of things they would soon be in charge as well would not simply be limited to weaponry and ships, they had a continent that floated and one underwater to conquer also.
Next came of course the central command of the army, the Loimoisian knights, the bread and butter of Loimos's ranks, simple knights that could be trained in bulks, whenever rank and file would go, those knights would always be around as well, serving as commanders.
They too were proficient in all sorts of weaponry, also, each and every one of them was required to know how to properly wield and shoot a greatbow, so that they couldn't just be caught with their pants down by simple ranged attacks.
Those three castes served as the core of Loimos's army, theoretically, groups composed of only them could fulfil most demands, that was how most armies tended to operate since competent mages did not grow on trees.
In the undead empire they didn't either, they first grew out of the ground and then were made into mages, Loimos had a great deal of mages too now, they too with many variations, the basic mages being those that partook in sorcery and made their mana into dead mana, obviously, there were those with actual elemental affinities too, and those that chose other types of sorceries devised by Loimos.
Amongst other things, there were many beasts that had appeared as well, alongside undead forms of much different species with characteristics that could qualify them for other castes, but for now, many of those other castes were still very small.
The two knights still did not hesitate to talk in length about each, and also going over undeads they believed had great potential, and when they were done, without waiting, they marched toward their next expedition, the second one since the last.
The first venture upon the islands had been rather simple, Loimos had clearly chosen those islands ahead of time and decided for their last evaluation to take place on the jungle island inhabited by goblins for a reason, because they could show what they had learned on easy targets, it would be foolish to think that all of their missions would be as simple as tricking some warmonger goblins with short tempers and not much intelligence.
But the islands they were going to subjugate were unlikely to house full-blown societies, and indeed, climbing upon an egregiously large ship, which was closely followed by an absurdly long sea serpent upon which Poitirus was riding, the efforts of the champion and the mistborn were clearly visible, the ocean and its surface were overflowing with the special miasma of Poitirus, intertwined with the royal miasma.
The advances of the raving builders was also clearly visible, those madmen had erected fortresses, towers and the likes in the middle of the ocean, their constructs either mysteriously floating upon the water, or taking root straight at the bottom, it seemed like Yuolrt and followers had also went by, islands bustling with undead nature had also appeared, their efforts further filling the sea with undeads, introducing great creatures that had emerged either from the soil of the empire or been brought back from oblivion by The Graveyard.
It was hard to imagine any living forces even thinking of attempting such a travel, there was literally not a single direction that was safe, especially considering that the architects had made their floating islands a reality, some of them simply places for flora and fauna to thrive, some with cascades that were sources from no one knows where, and other simple flying castles.
Some were anchored in place by chains, others simply staying in place, and a few circling the mainland or making predetermined, repeated movements, certain islands were made into place for Dracula's dragons to perch upon and look over the horizon.
It would not be a stretch to say that Viridis was simply impossible to assault for the living, the other continents would be forced to endure their assault without any occasion to snuff the problem at its source.
"Land!" the ship's conductor spoke, shifting her direction, stopping the vessel in a proper manner.
"Disembark!" shouted the right-handed knight, a flood of undead soldiers descending upon the shores of blue sand.
The left-handed knight noticed that Loimos was still standing on the deck without saying anything or giving any signs, meaning that they had to figure things themselves.
"Scouts gather! Mages gather!" both of the foremost knights called, the scouts needed for obvious reasons, the mages because those that had made their mana in dead mana had been taught spells to hide one's presence, after already being designated as the two main commanders, it was best for them to not leave any details up to chance the very moment they were back on the field.
Neither had any idea what it was like to get reprimanded by Loimos, and they would rather go on for eternity without finding out.
And so, the second expedition officially began.