Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 127: Go to the Dark Forest

Sophie sighed in relief. The dwarf leader's speed had scared her, but Alex was unharmed.

Alex had been careless. If not for her strong dark magic, she would have died.

Facing Baldwin had made Alex overconfident. She thought Monarch level beings weren't that formidable and felt no fear against lower levels.

Clearly, she was wrong.

He was surprised that Alex seemed unscathed after taking his full-force hit.

Alex flexed her wrists, trying to regain some feeling.

Her scythe ignited with black flames, and she charged at the dwarf leader.

Through their previous exchanges, Alex realized that the dwarf leader's equipment was quite formidable, with the entire set working in unison to greatly enhance his combat abilities.

The dwarf leader, standing at about 5 feet tall, was considered tall for a dwarf. To gain an advantage, Alex targeted his chest armor with Frost Magic in every attack, always hitting the same spot. Despite his rich combat experience, the dwarf leader had no idea that Alex could use other types of magic, as she had never shown it until now.

After several attacks, when Alex's scythe clashed with his spiked mace again, she unleashed a pillar of fire at the same spot on his chest armor.

The clash of extreme cold and intense heat.

Crack—

A small crack appeared in the dwarf leader's chest armor. Even a tiny crack significantly weakened the synergy of his armor set.

The dwarf leader looked at his chest in surprise, then at Alex's flaming left hand, his eyes widening in shock.

With his chest armor cracked, the dwarf leader's defense was greatly compromised.

Suddenly, flames erupted around them, creating a sea of fire. Alex raised her left hand, gathering countless flames above her palm, forming a massive fireball.

Alex hurled the fireball at the dwarf leader. He tried to dodge, but it was futile. The fireball hit the ground beside him, causing a massive explosion that engulfed the entire mountaintop like a volcanic eruption.

Alex stood amidst the flames, surrounded by a sea of orange and red, obscuring everything from view.

She conjured a spear burning with black flames. With a swift motion, she hurled the spear through the fire towards the dwarf leader.

This was Alex's last bit of Mana Points. If this didn't kill him, she knew she wouldn't have another chance.

The dark spear pierced the dwarf leader's chest armor, impaling him and allowing the black flames to corrode his life force.

The dwarf leader, already exhausted and out of Mana Points after his strongest attack, found his defense severely weakened with his armor broken. His body grew weaker.

His vision blurred, blood pouring from his mouth as he collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

[Congratulations, Lord, for successfully killing a lv9 Commanding enemy. You have gained 200 experience points.]

So, he was lv9 Commanding level!

Alex closed the system interface. As the flames died down, the mountaintop came into view.

The surrounding dwarves' bodies were completely incinerated, and the dwarf leader's armor was destroyed by the black flames, leaving only the spiked mace intact.

Alex collected the remaining equipment. With the bodies gone, there was nothing left to Disassemble. The fire had erased all traces of the battle.

"Big Shot, are you okay?" Sophie landed her griffin and rushed to Alex, concerned.

Alex shook her head weakly, indicating she was fine.

Suddenly, she felt a surge in her stomach.

"Ugh—"

Alex vomited a mouthful of clotted blood, a result of the dwarf leader's impact.

Sophie quickly placed her hand on Alex's back, a soft green glow enveloping her as healing magic flowed through her body.

Alex felt her condition gradually improve, her complexion becoming rosier.

Healing magic was a slow process, not instantly curing injuries but providing significant relief.

After about ten minutes, Alex's injuries were mostly healed, and she felt much better.

"This spiked mace is pretty good. It could be useful for Balin Forgeheart," Alex said, examining the spiked mace's attributes. It was indeed powerful.

The mace enhanced the wearer's abilities and sensitivity to electric elements, boosting various attributes by nearly fifteen points.

It was likely the armor set that had allowed the dwarf leader to develop a pseudo-domain.

"Let's head back. Keep an eye on things here with the Phantoms. I need to focus on leveling up," Alex said.

Fortunately, the dwarves were in the midst of internal strife, their forces scattered. Otherwise, a Monarch level enemy would have come.

Alex had barely managed to defeat a lv9 Commanding level; a Monarch level would have been impossible.

"Got it!"

Alex and Sophie mounted their griffins and flew back to the castle.

Upon returning, Alex distributed the dwarves' equipment to the castle's dwarves.

Dwarves using dwarven equipment—no problem, right?

The Commanding level equipment wasn't worth much, but it allowed the dwarves to study the forging methods. Alex handed the spiked mace to Balin Forgeheart, whose bearded face lit up with joy.

Though it was just one piece, it was a top-tier Commanding level item, far superior to ordinary Commanding level gear.

Balin Forgeheart wanted to express his gratitude, but Sophie intercepted him at Alex's signal.

Alex finally had time to check her personal dashboard. She was now lv7, with attributes significantly higher than when she leveled from lv5 to lv6. Her health and mana had also increased.

Through numerous battles and level-ups, Alex noticed a pattern: levels one to nine could be divided into three stages. Within the same stage, there wasn't much difference in strength.

Every three levels, the attribute boost was more substantial.

"So, it's early, mid, and late stages?" Alex muttered as she walked towards the Portal of Transit.

Before entering, she waved to Sophie.

"I'm leaving this to you. See you!"

With a flash of the portal, Alex returned to her castle.

She needed to level up quickly. Her encounters with the dwarf leader and Baldwin had shown her the strength of the local forces.

Maybe it wasn't that they were too strong, but that the extraterrestrial visitors from Earth were too weak.

Even common beast tribes often had Monarch level members, while the highest among the Lords was Commanding level.

With many foreign forces arriving at the snowy mountain, it had become a highly sensitive area.

Alex didn't dare send out her undead, only dispatching specters for reconnaissance. Smaller units like Ethereal Wraiths, Shadowghast Knights, and John were sent to the Dark Forest to develop.

Their small size and agility made them hard to detect, unlike a zombie titan, which would be spotted immediately.

Alex planned to have these undead secretly gain experience in the Dark Forest. She couldn't remain idle either. Killing a few enemies of the same level would quickly level her up.

But before grinding levels, Alex needed to disguise herself to blend in with the locals. Otherwise, she'd be recognized as an extraterrestrial visitor and attacked on sight.

"Ice Cream, do you know what the mages from the mage association look like?"

Alex asked, hoping for some insight.

"Human mages? They probably wear black robes and carry magic staffs, maybe like necromancers," Ice Cream said, trying to recall.

"Probably? Maybe?"

Alex felt Ice Cream's description wasn't very reliable, but she figured the general image was close enough.

She found a black robe in her wardrobe, similar to a raincoat, with a loose hood. The robe was large and comfortable.

There were also some strange clothes, likely from the local human culture, but Alex found their fashion sense questionable.

She kept her sailor dress on and donned the black robe, tying her hair into a bun. The hood covered her eyes, hiding the upper part of her face. To see the road ahead, she had to walk with her head slightly lowered.

No wonder mages always looked like that; they couldn't see the road otherwise.

The pointed tip of the hood was crooked. Alex checked herself in the mirror, thinking she looked more like a witch than a mage.

"Ice Cream, how do I look? Like a mage?"

Ice Cream examined her and, after a moment of silence, replied, "Like."

Satisfied, Alex dragged her robe and headed outside.

At the castle gate, she tripped on the robe and nearly fell, but teleported to avoid the embarrassment.

Alex called John and the Ethereal Wraiths, Shadowghast Knights, and set off stealthily to the Dark Forest.

Today's mission was simple: grind and level up!

...

In the southern part of Frostwind snowy mountain, a group of werewolves had carved out a cave to temporarily settle.

Without enough manpower to build a castle, they had to make do with the cave.

"Have you found those tigers yet?" the werewolf leader asked impatiently.

"Sir, their scent has been masked. We've searched most of the snowy mountain but haven't found them," a giant wolf explained respectfully.

The werewolf leader was annoyed. "No results mean no results. What's the point of all this talk? You lot are just picking up useless human habits."

"And the undead?"

"None."

The werewolf leader's face twisted in anger. "Useless!"

"Leader, we did find something. A group of Hobgoblins has also entered the snowy mountain," the giant wolf quickly added, wagging its tail.

"Hobgoblins?"

The werewolf leader's mood improved as he stepped outside.

"These lowly creatures, what makes them think they can meddle here?"

Since the frost dragon's death, all sorts of riffraff dared to venture into Frostwind snowy mountain.

The werewolf leader decided to lead his pack to kill the Hobgoblins and feast on their meat.

Meanwhile, in a hidden bunker on the other side of the snowy mountain, the Arctic Tigerfolk hadn't ventured out for two days. They had sent a tiger being to forage, but after discovering the werewolves, they stayed inside.

They survived on stored food, but supplies were running low, forcing them to ration.

To conserve energy, the tiger being guard instructed everyone to sleep as much as possible, though they weren't bears and couldn't hibernate. This reduced food consumption but wasn't sustainable long-term.

The tiger being guard glanced at the queen's chamber. If food ran out, they would have to risk foraging, but the harsh environment and scarcity of prey made it dangerous and likely to attract other forces.

Sighing, the guard looked at the sleeping tribe members. He couldn't let them starve.

...

The perpetual blizzards and cold winds of Frostwind snowy mountain, with no clear skies.

Werewolves and tiger beings, with their thick fur, were naturally resistant to the cold. But the Hobgoblins struggled.

Their small bodies sank into the snow, sometimes burying them completely.

Wrapped in thick animal pelts, the Hobgoblins trudged through the snow, cursing their fate.

Why did they have to come to this godforsaken place?

They glanced at the flying Hobgoblin Shaman, too afraid to complain.

Suddenly, a group of giant wolves appeared ahead, led by the werewolf leader.

The werewolf leader was surprised to see the Hobgoblin Shaman, recognizing him.

"Snazzle, it seems your Hobgoblin kingdom is serious about coming to the snowy mountain," the werewolf leader mocked, implying that the Hobgoblins were too weak for this place.

A Monarch level was high-end combat power in the Hobgoblin kingdom, but in Skyreach Mountains, a Monarch level was nothing.

The werewolf leader wasn't afraid, but he found shamans and similar opponents annoying and didn't want to waste time.