Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 179: Elemental beings of light and dark

[Night retreats, dawn arrives]

In the White Rock Mountains, Sophie's dwarves had captured a herd of beasts near the mountain's edge, allowing Sophie to finally reach Commanding level.

The White Rock Mountains were slightly smaller in area compared to the Frostwind snowy mountain. Heading north from the White Rock Mountains led to the Silverbeard Clan's stronghold, Grimstone.

To the south, beyond the White Rock Mountains, lay numerous smaller hills. Unlike the barren peaks of the White Rock Mountains, these hills were lower and covered in vegetation.

The area featured sparse forests, uneven hills, and several rivers running through it.

If Alex were here, she would notice that, unlike the plains north of the White Rock Mountains, there were no signs of intelligent life in this region.

At this moment, a specter was flying southward, having traveled far from the White Rock Mountains.

They were ordered to scout the surroundings and would continue flying in the same direction unless they encountered something unusual.

The White Rock Mountains had long been scouted by the undead. Including Sophie, there were only three Lords, but Alex had already eliminated the other two.

The specter flew for an unknown duration, and the forest below began to thicken.

In the forest below, trees swayed, and countless birds and beasts scattered in all directions. Shouts and cries echoed as a group charged in one direction.

The specter's eyes glowed, and it immediately changed direction to follow.

In the forest was a group of orcs. They had wide mouths, fur-covered bodies, tails, and intelligence comparable to humans.

Overall, they looked like large, muscular beings with few remaining animal traits, appearing more humanoid but taller and stronger than humans.

They wore rough, beast-skin clothing, with teeth decorations on their chests and noses, wielding large bones as weapons.

The orcs were excited, charging in one direction.

Dozens of miles ahead, by a wide lake, stood two castles.

The orcs were attacking these two Lords.

Inside one of the castles, a man and a woman sat together, the man looking irritated.

"These orcs are relentless!"

Reports from their troops informed him that the orcs were attacking again. Since discovering them, the orcs had frequently harassed them.

The orc camp wasn't close, and their attacks weren't particularly threatening. What worried and annoyed the man was the orcs' persistence, attacking almost daily.

As the attacks increased, so did the orcs' strength. The man feared that one day they wouldn't be able to fend off the orcs.

"This time, let's deal with them and find a way to leave. We can't develop like this," the girl said, her face troubled.

"They're almost here. Let's prepare for battle," the man said resolutely, pulling the girl up to go outside.

Both were first-tier Lords, not the top but among the upper ranks.

They were both lv7 Commanding level, with special troops and great potential. While not as powerful as Alex, they could at least protect themselves.

Unfortunately, they had encountered an orc camp. The orcs were stubborn, never giving up despite repeated failures.

On average, they attacked every two days, starting with a few Standard-level orcs and now numbering in the thousands, with countless Commanding levels.

The specter followed the orcs' charge and saw the lake and castles in the distance. If it had only seen other races, it might not have reported, but discovering other Lords required a report.

The specter turned back, and on its way, it spotted another orc unit. This unit was different in decoration and slower, clearly from a different camp.

The specter, with its basic judgment and intelligence, was Alex's preferred scout.

The specter returned to the castle as quickly as possible and reported to Sophie.

"Two Lords discovered?"

Sophie listened to the specter's report. According to its description, the Lords' castles were far away, even farther than Grimstone.

"Orcs, huh? I've never seen them and know nothing about them. I'll go personally to gather information on the orcs and those two Lords," Sophie decided.

Sophie had a plan. It was just two Lords, not worth bothering Alex with. She would report back after gathering information.

To get information from the orcs and Lords, strength was needed. The specter couldn't handle this task.

Sophie couldn't either, but the necromancer in the castle was formidable.

As a Lord, Sophie could gather more details. Sending the necromancer alone might only result in bringing back a horde of undead.

Soon, Sophie mounted a griffin and, with the necromancer, flew south of the White Rock Mountains.

Without Monarch levels, Sophie had no worries. If there were Monarch levels, the specter would have been detected.

Few Lords had Monarch-level strength, and Sophie doubted she would randomly encounter two such Lords.

Without Monarch levels, the necromancer was invincible.

Meanwhile, by the lake south of the White Rock Mountains.

The man, named Xiao Mu, had extremely rare elemental troops.

This was why he was in the first tier and had some confidence.

His troops were called Light Phoenix, elemental beings formed from light, resembling large golden birds.

Each Light Phoenix had long golden feathers formed from light elements. Their attacks were like lasers, causing explosions on the ground and killing orcs.

The orcs were prepared, with orc shamans spreading green mist that polluted the Light Phoenix, allowing the orcs to kill them.

Xiao Mu wielded a light sword formed from light elements, becoming a light shadow and charging into the orc army.

This attack was fiercer than usual, worrying both of them. They had to fight personally.

Their troops were being depleted, while the orc attacks never ceased.

The girl's troops were the opposite of Xiao Mu's, dark elemental beings called Dark Jiao.

Dark Jiao flew like dark loongs (Eastern dragons), breathing black flames of pure dark elements, burning souls and impossible to extinguish by conventional means.

Similar to Alex's dark magic, dark magic manipulated dark elements, while Dark Jiao were formed from them.

Normally, dark and light elemental beings would be mortal enemies, never allying.

But the girl, named Xiao Hui, was Xiao Mu's sister.

Both had top-tier elemental troops and, by chance, had come together.

They had been developing here, seeking a place to survive on this continent.

But since being discovered by the orcs, trouble had been constant. Initially, they thought it was a good thing, as the weak orcs provided experience. But they soon realized their mistake.

The orc camp was like a persistent fly, never giving up until it was finally defeated.

This time, the orc attack numbered in the thousands, with over a hundred Commanding levels, pushing the siblings to their limits.

Dark Jiao and Light Phoenix flew in the sky, gold and black figures attacking the orcs below.

The orcs had countermeasures for Dark Jiao, each warrior equipped with containers to store light elements, using Light Phoenix's light elements to counterattack Dark Jiao.

These containers couldn't absorb dark elements and would be damaged, so the orc shamans polluted the Light Phoenix to kill them.

Xiao Mu and Xiao Hui fought silently, killing orcs with their elemental powers.

Elemental beings didn't tire, but Xiao Mu and Xiao Hui did. The orcs were large and tough, hard to kill even with their powers.

After a long battle, most orcs were dead or injured, and the Light Phoenix and Dark Jiao had suffered significant losses.

The siblings were exhausted, their elemental powers draining their stamina and soul energy.

Sophie, riding her griffin, arrived and circled high above.

As the specter reported, the orcs were fighting the two Lords.

Sophie arrived as the battle was nearing its end.

Another orc unit was stealthily following the first, but the first unit was dead. The second unit would likely track them to the Lords' castles.

The second unit was stronger than the first. In their current state, the Lords would be doomed if they encountered it.

"What are those troops?" Sophie wondered, seeing the Light Phoenix and Dark Jiao.

"Elemental beings of light and dark."

The necromancer, a Monarch-level mage, sensed the elemental fluctuations.

"Elemental beings of light and dark?!"

Sophie was surprised. If so, their strength was top-tier, even if not the strongest Lords.

Sophie worried if a Monarch-level necromancer could handle them but quickly realized her foolishness.

The ground was littered with thousands of orc corpses. How could the necromancer lose?

Initially, Sophie planned to capture them for information. But seeing their troops, she changed her mind. Dark elemental beings would be useful to Alex, and she wanted to try recruiting them.

If recruitment failed, she would kill them.

As for the light elements, they were enemies. Sophie felt they should be killed but decided Alex should make the final decision.

Sophie was glad she came personally but puzzled.

"Strange, why would light and dark elemental beings ally?"