Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 114: Complete victory

The death conquerors and dwarf knights quickly clashed.

The immense force from the death conquerors' charge easily knocked the short-statured dwarf knights off their boars.

In contrast, the death conquerors were fused with their mounts, and their larger size gave them an advantage. Although the dwarves had protective gear to withstand physical damage, they couldn't defend against the death conquerors' curses and mind attacks.

The dwarf commander on the fortress wall noticed that the death conquerors shattered by the cannons were regenerating, with some already rejoining the battle.

This defied the commander's understanding. Those undead should have been completely destroyed. But why have they come back to life?

Not only the death conquerors but also the gargoyles exhibited the same resilience.

Since the dwarves lacked aerial forces and the dwarf knights were engaged with the death conquerors, the cannons were redirected to target the gargoyles.

Standard gargoyles, when hit by cannon fire, would also be shattered, but they too would regenerate.

This was beyond the dwarf's comprehension and seemed utterly illogical!

The dwarf knights outside were no match for the death conquerors, forcing the commander to send reinforcements from within the fortress.

These dwarf knights were elite troops crafted by the Silverbeard Clan. What was supposed to be their debut battle turned into a complete rout by the undead.

Alex launched several fireballs at the fortress's protective shield, causing only ripples.

The shield was technologically advanced, blocking external attacks while allowing internal attacks to pass through—a one-way barrier.

Alex continued her assault on the shield, noticing that it seemed powered by some internal energy source. With sustained attacks, the shield's glow weakened.

Sensing the time was right, Alex summoned a scythe and leaped off the griffin.

The dwarf commander, watching the shield's durability decrease and the dwarf knights' defeat outside, felt his heart ache.

He had no solution. Their only long-range weapon was the cannon, which was ineffective against the girl. He could only watch as she attacked the shield from the sky.

Seeing Alex leap down, the commander gripped his warhammer tightly, knowing the shield was about to break.

Alex descended, her fist engulfed in black flames. Using the momentum, she punched the shield.

The shield shattered instantly under her blow.

Alex teleported to the wall, landing gracefully.

The dwarf commander, gripping his warhammer, charged at Alex.

His warhammer crackled with lightning, fully enchanted. The commander leaped high, both hands gripping the hammer, and swung it at Alex with all his might.

Alex spun her scythe, meeting the airborne dwarf with a slash.

The scythe ignited with black flames, its bell ringing crisply.

The commander felt a sharp pain in his head as the lightning warhammer clashed with the black-flamed scythe.

Boom!

Shockingly, the commander's warhammer shattered upon impact with Alex's scythe. The scythe then easily sliced through his armor, sending him flying into the wall.

The commander lay on the ground, barely alive. The scythe's damage was corroding his body, tormenting his life, soul, and flesh. He clutched the broken hammer handle, coughing up blood.

The dark magic-imbued scythe was incredibly sharp, capable of destroying equipment of the same level, including dwarf gear.

Alex's hand tingled slightly, but it was manageable. She flicked the scythe, extinguishing the flames.

With the commander defeated, the other dwarves roared in anger, drawing their muskets and firing at Alex.

Bullets rained down, but Alex walked towards them, her magical barrier deflecting every shot.

Clang, clang—

With just two attacks, Alex eliminated them all.

Seeing Alex's prowess, Sophie, who had been watching from the sky, felt relieved and landed the griffin inside the fortress.

"Big Shot, you're amazing!" Sophie gave Alex a thumbs up.

Alex nodded at her and then returned to the battlefield.

With nothing else to do, Sophie began searching for loot but found only a few cannons and an ammunition depot.

As for the fortress's special buildings, she would wait for Alex to inspect them. She didn't dare overstep.

Outside, the death conquerors continued battling the dwarf knights. The knights' numbers dwindled, and with the gargoyles' aerial support, the fortress was no longer a safe haven.

The dwarf knights, trapped and surrounded by the undead, were gradually overwhelmed.

The battle was a resounding success, though Alex regretted not bringing necromancers.

Even if she had, it would have been time-consuming to summon all the corpses. Transporting the dwarf bodies back to the castle might also frighten the other dwarves.

Alex decided to summon them all here. While double summoning was useful, it was time-consuming and situational. She couldn't linger here long, as reinforcements could arrive at any moment.

As more dwarves fell, the undead's advantage became apparent.

The dwarves' armor could withstand some physical attacks but offered no protection against soul attacks.

Even if the specters couldn't kill the dwarves, their powerful soul attacks disrupted their actions, allowing the other undead to inflict significant damage.

Most of the dwarves' equipment was standard, with limited stamina, breaking after a few hits.

Dwarves could easily smash skeletons with their hammers, but they struggled against the agile zombies and death conquerors.

With the specters and gargoyles providing aerial support, the dwarves were doomed.

Sophie returned to the wall, observing the battle below.

The sounds of combat outside the fortress had diminished significantly.

The battle was nearing its end.

Under Alex's leadership, she and Sophie began searching the fortress for useful items. Alex used a fireball to destroy the door of a hidden room, revealing over ten thousand iron ingots and a massive furnace in the warehouse.

The dwarves of the Silverbeard Clan must have used this furnace to smelt the iron ore into ingots. This furnace was enormous, about twice the size of the one in Sophie's castle.

Alex was thrilled, feeling as if Lady Luck had smiled upon her. Without hesitation, she destroyed the furnace.

As expected, it dropped a special structure blueprint. Alex picked it up and examined it.

"Advanced Furnace?"

"Here, take it," Alex said, tossing the blueprint to Sophie. With this, they could significantly increase their smelting efficiency.

Alex and Sophie also discovered the structure that generated the protective shield. It was a spire-like building with a recessed area at the base.

Alex opened it to find twelve Essence Shards neatly embedded inside. She had thought it was some high-level item, but it turned out to be powered by Essence Shards.

She destroyed it, and another special structure blueprint dropped. Alex picked it up and read the information.

"Essence Shard Shield, Commanding level..."

Seeing that the building was only Commanding level, Alex dismissed it and handed it to Sophie. Although Alex didn't have any protective structures in her special buildings, a Commanding level defense was useless to her at this point.

She preferred the Specter Chandelier. Her standards had risen, and she no longer valued anything below Monarch level.

Aside from these, the fortress had little of value—some magic crystals, Essence Shards, food, and a few dwarf household items and equipment. Standard equipment was now of low value.

In a corner of the fortress, they found a small warehouse filled with black cannonballs. Alex decided to blow it up when they left.

After loading all usable materials into the Ring of Space, Alex and Sophie climbed onto the wall.

The battle outside was nearly over. Nearly three thousand dwarves, including a thousand boar-mounted knights, had been defeated.

Alex could summon at least four thousand undead from these corpses, so she got to work immediately, wasting no time.

The undead below were already moving the bodies to make summoning easier for Alex.

Her left eye glowed a ghostly blue as summoning circles appeared beneath about a thousand dwarf corpses.

From these thousand or so bodies, she summoned nearly a hundred necromancers, who then performed double summoning.

However, without the Blackwater Altar's enhancement, the lv1 necromancers could only summon Skeleton Soldiers, and their limited mana made them barely effective.

Despite their inefficiency, the lv1 necromancers were better than nothing.

Alex took a break to recover her mental energy.

An hour later, she had summoned all the corpses, disassembling the dwarf bodies. The ground was now filled with over four thousand undead of various types.

Sophie was stunned, finally understanding why Alex was so powerful. She was like a Zerg Queen!

They had arrived with just over two thousand undead and were leaving with over six thousand. It was terrifying.

However, Alex was now feeling a bit of a headache from the mental strain. She needed a good night's sleep.

"All specters stay behind to continue scouting the area. The rest of the undead, follow me back to the castle!" Alex commanded from the fortress wall.

At her command, the flying undead took to the skies, and the ground-bound ones began running.

Alex and Sophie mounted the griffin, ready to leave.

As the griffin took off, Alex turned and extended her hand, conjuring a Black Flame Blast aimed at the fortress's ammunition warehouse.

Boom!

Boom! Boom!

The first cannonball exploded, triggering a chain reaction that caused a series of explosions.

The entire fortress was destroyed, with Alex flying away on the griffin, the exploding fortress serving as her backdrop.

The summoning had drained her mental energy, and Alex just wanted to get back and sleep.

She flew the griffin to the hiding spot of the dwarf slaves, relieved to find they and the specters had already left. She then headed back to the castle.

She wasn't foolish enough to leave undead to guard the area. The Silverbeard Clan might not seem strong, but Alex didn't know their full capabilities. She couldn't take risks. A quick hit-and-run was the best strategy, a retaliation for their attack on her castle.

The lv1 specters she had summoned were weak and couldn't level up. Without physical bodies, they were perfect scouts, almost invisible at night.

An hour later, Alex and Sophie returned to the castle on the griffin, with the undead army still trudging along the mountain paths.

Alex saw the dwarf slaves in Sophie's castle, brought back by Balin Forgeheart, along with some new faces.

Dismounting the griffin, Alex was followed by Sophie. Balin Forgeheart and the dwarves came to greet them.

"Everyone, these are the two Masters I mentioned. Though they are human, they treat us like family," Balin Forgeheart said.

Hearing this, the dwarves stepped forward to greet Alex and Sophie. Alex pushed Sophie forward to handle the greetings.

The dwarf slaves from the mine believed Alex's words, as many of their kin praised the two girls. They chose to trust their kin and what they saw with their own eyes.

The first thing Balin Forgeheart did upon returning was to provide a hearty meal for the dwarves, who were now deeply grateful to Alex and Sophie.

Balin Forgeheart explained the rules: this was a sanctuary, not a retirement home. Every dwarf had to work for their food.

Though the dwarves' fate of mining hadn't changed, their work hours were shorter, the workload lighter, and their living conditions better.

Surrounded by enthusiastic dwarves, Sophie handled the greetings while Alex slipped away to the Portal of Transit. She needed a good night's sleep.

"Miss Alex, are you leaving?" Chi-Chi hurried to catch up with Alex. She didn't want to be left alone with that "old woman."