Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 224: A strange human-like figure

Alex scrolled through, seeing that the top 1000 were all Alliances, with no individual Lords ranked.

The lack of points indicated the rankings were purely based on strength. Alex's three-member Alliance was unsurprisingly in first place.

It seemed she had indeed pulled ahead of other Lords.

...

On the continent of Valoria, within a castle nestled in the abyss, Satan burst into laughter.

"See? You arrived just in time. This reward is only for the first place."

Cain and Earl looked at the leaderboard in astonishment.

[Your current rank: First place]

It seemed that following Satan was far more advantageous than struggling to develop on their own.

This time, the first-place reward on the leaderboard granted each member of the alliance a substantial amount of resources and experience, significantly enhancing their overall strength. Especially the resources, which were essential materials for city construction or rare blueprints.

Satan didn't let the joy cloud his judgment. He pondered the strength of the Soul Hunters, ranging from Monarch level to King level. Such power meant not every Lord would encounter them; otherwise, except for a few, 99.99% of Lords would be doomed.

If they were unfortunate enough to meet a high-level Monarch or King level Soul Hunter, even the Light Alliance would struggle to cope.

Satan sent a message in the Light Alliance group.

Satan: "If you encounter difficulties, notify each other for support. I have a bad feeling about this."

Alex: "You're worried about encountering a King level Soul Hunter, right?"

Satan was speechless at Alex's message. Wasn't that obvious? Was she not afraid? Had her strength reached such a level?

Lilith: "No problem. Let's all pause our activities this week to ensure we can provide timely support. Encountering a high-level Soul Hunter could be troublesome."

To be honest, Alex wasn't too worried about the Soul Hunters. As long as they weren't Emperor level, she was confident.

This confidence stemmed from her mastery of the Life Link skill, making her virtually unkillable. What was there to fear?

Besides, if things went south, she could always flee to the mage association, which housed at least one Emperor level mage.

Meanwhile, World Chat was buzzing. For most Lords still at Commanding level, the Soul Hunter pursuit was a nightmare. They could only pray not to encounter these creatures.

[Phantom Werewolf]: "Fuck, this damn system, always finding ways to kill us!"

[Daniel]: "Maybe you're just too weak?"

[Redcowl]: "Haven't you noticed? The names of undead, demon, and fallen angel Lords haven't appeared. This means they're still maintaining their Alliance. Does anyone know what their Alliance is called?"

[Sherlock Holmes]: "First, rule out Justice Alliance. That leaves Light Alliance and Mythril Alliance. I think the former is more likely."

[I_like_pizza]: "Light Alliance currently has only three members. If only I could join them."

[Tyrannosaurus Warrior]: "Are you an idiot? Have you even checked your own strength?"

[Source of Life]: "At least you could try to get some rewards. Hurry up and submit. Becoming their ally seems unlikely."

Alex was puzzled by what she saw. Suddenly, she received hundreds of friend requests, all with notes about submission and Alliance.

Holy fuck, these people were crazy!

Of course, it wasn't just Alex's Alliance. The top Alliances were all receiving similar requests. However, most of these Alliances were already full, leaving many Lords with no choice but to submit.

This event targeted not only Lords but also Freelancers and Traitors.

Soul Hunters weren't creatures created by the system out of thin air. They were a native race of this world. The system merely utilized this fact to establish the leaderboard and distribute rewards, something no one could interfere with.

Freelancer status wasn't a guaranteed safety net. Soul Hunters had a way to identify souls, making it impossible to hide. Though hiding in human cities was safer, it wasn't foolproof.

"Yawn~"

Alex closed World Chat, went to the Barrack to summon troops, and then went to sleep.

...

[Night retreats, dawn arrives]

A new day began. Alex, as usual, checked the system for the time and glanced at World Chat. They were discussing the creature, indicating some unlucky Lords had been attacked last night.

Opening the leaderboard, she saw that all scores were still zero, meaning someone had already been killed by the Soul Hunter.

"A strange human-like figure?"

Soul Hunters were human? Or some humanoid creature? The Lords' descriptions were unclear, but the common trait was that Soul Hunters had human-like features.

This meant hiding wouldn't work, and even hiding in human cities wasn't safe. If Soul Hunters were human, they could chase their targets into cities.

It wasn't that simple, after all.

Alex chose a combat-ready outfit. Battles could happen anytime in the coming week, and she needed to be prepared.

She also notified the siblings and Sophie to slow their assault on the dwarf kingdom and stay within a manageable range. Alex feared she might not be able to provide timely support otherwise.

The main task now was to find Soul Hunters. The first-place reward was too tempting to ignore.

"Maybe there are no such creatures in Eldoria." Alex didn't know why this thought crossed her mind.

Ding-dong, a message arrived in the Alliance group.

Satan: "Hahaha, the demons score first!"

Alex: "?"

Lilith: "You killed a Soul Hunter?"

Alex checked the leaderboard and saw Light Alliance's score had changed from 0 to 1. Satan had indeed killed one.

Satan: "Yes, it was a piece of cake. How about we compete to see who gets the most points?"

Alex: "Boring."

Lilith: "Haha, is this a man's strange sense of competition?"

Satan: "Stop talking nonsense. Don't let your combined scores be less than mine."

Lilith: "Well, reasonable competition can promote progress. I'm in."

Alex: "Fine, I agree. So, can you share some intel on the Soul Hunters?"

Satan: "Not telling."

Alex/Lilith: "?"

Of course, as allies, Satan wouldn't withhold information. He was just joking.

However, his intel was limited. The Soul Hunter he killed was only lv1 Monarch level, easily crushed by Satan. It had no special abilities and matched World Chat's description: a strange human-like figure with a peculiar crow.

Additionally, Soul Hunters seemed to have a way to track Lords, making hiding futile.

...

Meanwhile, in Grimstone, the trio received Alex's instructions.

"Durin, plans have changed. This week's task is to defend the city," Sophie instructed. Durin, though puzzled by the sudden change, chose to obey.

"If we're defending, there's nothing for us to do. With a lv6 lich, we should be fine. Shouldn't we spread out to find Soul Hunters?" Xiao Hui pointed out the key. To secure first place, they needed to be proactive. Waiting for points to come to them wasn't an option.

"Someone has already killed a Soul Hunter. Our score is now 1," Xiao Mu said, just as Alex sent him information about the Soul Hunters.

"So, how do we find Soul Hunters?" Sophie asked, feeling it was like finding a needle in a haystack.

"No need to search. We'll stay in Grimstone. If they can track us, our combined presence will be a bigger target, making it easier to lure them in."

This was the safest approach, avoiding dispersing their strength while ensuring timely support. With Grimstone as their base and a lv6 Monarch level lich, they were well-prepared.