Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 116: Imperial cavalry

[Blood Moon in the sky, darkness descends!]

After a busy day, Sophie left the continent of Arsen and returned to her subsidiary castle.

Alex sent another batch of gargoyles to Arsen, recalling the previously summoned miscellaneous troops to enjoy the enhancements of the Blackwater Altar.

Sophie's castle now housed two thousand death conquerors, one thousand gargoyles, nine hundred specters, and one hundred necromancers.

With a total of four thousand undead, the leader of the Silverbeard Clan would be wise not to launch an attack.

In addition, Alex had twenty thousand undead on the continent of Eldoria. She felt her forces were now incredibly strong. As long as no enemies above Monarch level appeared, her advantage was overwhelming.

Even if lv7 and lv8 Commanding creatures showed up, she could grind them down with sheer numbers.

Alex glanced out the window at Sophie, who looked exhausted and had returned to her subsidiary castle.

Bored, Alex scrolled through World Chat and noticed something odd.

[Flame Spirit] was buying up Essence Shards at the trading post, offering iron ingots in exchange.

Most Lords hadn't upgraded their castles to towns yet, so iron ingots were still scarce. Alex was surprised to see someone selling them.

But she didn't dwell on it. Having passed the novice period, there was no need to stay up late summoning troops from the Barracks. She went to bed early.

Meanwhile, in the Barren Plains, the Elemental Alliance gathered.

A cracked castle appeared, belonging to the last member of the Elemental Alliance, [Wind Fury] Lord Boreas.

Boreas, aware of the Alliance's situation and the looming threat from the Starfallen Empire, decided to help his allies.

The Elemental Alliance members welcomed Boreas. Samson had always thought Boreas would be an older man, but he turned out to be the youngest of the five, an eighteen-year-old boy.

Boreas had a unique item that absorbed wind element strength to summon wind spirits. He hadn't come earlier because the Wild Wolf Valley, where he was based, frequently experienced hurricanes, aiding his troop summoning.

But now his troop numbers were nearly saturated, and he realized he had focused too much on quantity over quality, keeping him in the second tier.

Wind spirits were the strongest troops among the five. Though elemental beings, they had physical forms and could take different shapes.

Currently, Boreas's wind spirits could transform into a ten feet long bird or a tiger-like beast. Being wind elementals, they could fly even in land beast form.

"Now that we're all here, and my injuries are healed thanks to Ivy, I propose we attack the vampire Lord tomorrow," Samson said, still shaken from nearly being killed by Lucian and eager to eliminate him with the Alliance's help.

Boreas, wanting to prove himself, quickly agreed to Samson's proposal.

Earl and Ivy were indifferent, leaving the decision to Cain.

Seeing everyone eager to take down the vampire Lord, Cain agreed. As the first battle of the Elemental Alliance, targeting a top-tier Lord was a good choice.

"Alright, we'll set out tomorrow morning," Cain said.

With Cain's agreement, Samson and Boreas smiled. The vampire Lord was doomed.

Time: 06:00 AM

[Night retreats, dawn arrives!]

In the depths of the Barren Plains, a massive city stirred. A general in armor led fifty thousand troops out of the city.

The emperor of the Starfallen Empire was furious upon learning that his elite squad had been wiped out.

He had received crucial information from the empire's mage association: a six-winged angel had slain the frost dragon.

The intelligent beings of Frostwind snowy mountain wouldn't provoke the mage-backed Starfallen Empire, and the mindless creatures lacked the strength to annihilate his elite squad.

The ministers quickly deduced that extraterrestrial visitors were causing trouble. The newly crowned emperor, realizing the situation, dispatched his general to eliminate the extraterrestrial visitors.

Meanwhile, Cain and the other four Lords left three Commanding level troops each to guard their castles, taking the rest to march on Lucian's castle.

Boreas's wind spirits carried the four Lords, moving much faster than Samson's snow maidens.

Below, their diverse troops followed: flame spirits, earth monsters, wind spirits, tree spirits, and snow maidens, totaling over six thousand, with Boreas and Cain having the most troops.

Lucian, aware of the Alliance's threat, had been desperately seeking allies.

But having always been a lone wolf, suddenly asking to join another Lord's Alliance or inviting them to his castle was impractical.

Other Lords weren't fools. Such a request would be seen as suspicious, and even if an Alliance was formed, no one would relocate their castle.

Desperate, Lucian saw a glimmer of hope. He guessed the Alliance would soon attack, and with his castle's location exposed, he couldn't run.

If anyone could save him, it was the undead Lord Alex.

Knowing her strength, Lucian believed that with Alex's help, the four Lords would be no match.

He was about to message Alex but realized he didn't know her castle's name.

Lucian looked towards the snowy mountain, needing to find an intelligent undead to relay a message to Alex.

Gargoyles lacked intelligence. He needed a higher-level undead and didn't trust his vampires with such an important task.

Promising Alex enough benefits, he believed she would be tempted.

Lucian transformed into a shadow and disappeared from his castle, heading towards the snowy mountain.

Lucian searched the snowy mountain for over an hour before encountering a bone dragon, though not the one he had met before. He wasn't sure if it was intelligent.

"Hey!" Lucian shouted. The bone dragon turned and unleashed a breath of dragon at him, forcing Lucian to dodge.

"I'm not here to fight. I need you to deliver a message to your Lord," Lucian said, waiting for the bone dragon's reaction.

"What do you want to tell our Queen?" The bone dragon's ethereal voice reached Lucian's ears, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Lucian relayed all the information to the bone dragon, emphasizing that if the Elemental Alliance attacked, he hoped Alex would intervene. To show his sincerity, he even revealed his castle's name, [Dracula].

The bone dragon seemed to understand, or at least Lucian hoped it did. As long as it conveyed the message accurately to Alex, that was enough.

"I will relay the message," the bone dragon said before flying off.

Lucian could only wait for Alex's response. Suddenly, a system notification startled him.

[Your lv8 Standard vampire has been killed by an enemy Lord!]

Apart from the Elemental Alliance, the only other nearby force was the undead Lord. Based on his observations, Alex's castle was likely on the other side of Frostwind snowy mountain. The only ones who could have killed his troops now were the Elemental Alliance.

With a heavy heart, Lucian rushed back to his castle.

An hour later, Lucian's castle came into view.

The enemy had indeed arrived!

Lucian saw five Lords leading numerous troops, attacking his vampires. His vampires, numbering just over a thousand, were outmatched in both quantity and quality.

There was an additional Lord this time; the Elemental Alliance had fully mobilized.

Lucian hadn't done much to provoke them, yet they were determined to destroy his castle. He had been attacked multiple times, and if not for his vampire traits, he would have died. Now they were attacking his castle.

It seemed they intended to kill all his troops. They didn't realize Lucian wasn't in the castle.

Wait, what's that?!

Lucian's eyes widened as he saw a cavalry force approaching from the horizon.

Starfallen Empire!

Lucian quickly realized that the village massacre had drawn the empire's attention, and they had sent troops to kill him.

But instead of panicking, Lucian smiled. The Starfallen Empire's arrival was timely; he might not need to call for help after all.

He could use the Starfallen Empire to fight the Elemental Alliance. The human cavalry, numbering in the tens of thousands, were potential reinforcements for Lucian.

These imperial cavalry were practically delivering themselves to him. Lucian hurried back to his castle.

As the Starfallen Empire cavalry approached, Samson and the others noticed the enemy force.

"What's going on? There must be tens of thousands of them!" Ivy exclaimed, covering her mouth in shock.

"Damn it, just our luck. This guy has incredible luck," Samson muttered, begrudgingly admiring Lucian's fortune.

"Let's deal with the human cavalry first. They're not that strong, just numerous. Don't be afraid," Boreas said, his blood boiling with excitement at the prospect of a large-scale battle. He didn't take the Starfallen Empire cavalry seriously.

The five Lords didn't abandon their attack on Lucian's castle. Their troops prepared to face the Starfallen Empire cavalry, while the vampires returned to defend the castle.

"There are six extraterrestrial visitor Lords. The emperor was right; they are heretics and must be exterminated!" General Baldwin, clad in silver armor, drew his silver sword, ready for battle.

"Kill! Exterminate the extraterrestrial visitors for the glory of the empire!" Baldwin and his fifty thousand cavalry charged at the six Lords.

Baldwin didn't care about the conflicts between the extraterrestrial visitors. To him, they were all the same.

Lucian planned to watch them fight each other, focusing on protecting his castle. The Elemental Alliance, with their larger numbers, were the primary target for the cavalry.

The Lords underestimated the imperial cavalry, thinking their advanced troops could easily handle them. They didn't have specialized countermeasures, believing their elemental beings and vampires were nearly invincible.

Baldwin led the charge, disappearing from his horse's back and heading straight for the Elemental Alliance's Commanding level troops.

Ignoring the troops, Baldwin swiftly bypassed them, targeting the five Lords.

"Watch out, he's coming!"

"He's so fast!"

The five Lords felt immense pressure, immobilizing them.

Baldwin slashed with his sword, sending a silver blade of light that knocked all five Lords back.

Lucian, watching from his castle, was stunned. What was happening?!

The five Lords, injured, had used their defensive measures. Ivy and Earl's bodies turned to wood and stone, healing. Samson, Cain, and Boreas transformed into their elemental forms, avoiding the attack.

Despite their efforts, they couldn't fully negate Baldwin's damage, and blood trickled from their mouths.

As they tried to get up, the oppressive force returned, pinning them down.

"A domain?!"

"He's Monarch level!!"