Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 231: Do you think I'm an idiot?

John, wielding his broadsword, approached with heavy steps, while Azure silently descended from the sky. The four Race Kings surrounded the orc priest.

The priest stood still, contemplating whether he could defeat the four enemies before him.

Just as his bony fingers tightened slightly around his staff, even before he could lift it, the four Race Kings simultaneously launched their attacks.

The surrounding mist began to swirl around the priest, forming a venomous snake that lunged at Arthas. A second snake targeted John. As the priest was about to conjure a third, a sharp pain shot through his head, blood trickling from his mouth, and his staff fell to the ground.

Squelch—

A black long blade pierced through his back, effortlessly breaking the barrier and stabbing through his heart.

"No..."

Crane withdrew his weapon, and the priest collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

As for his attacks, Arthas and John easily shattered them. The priest's strength was inferior to the orc leader's.

"lv3."

Crane, usually silent, spoke up, indicating the priest's level. In reality, the orc leader was only lv4.

Crane had already advanced to lv2 during the earlier slaughter, and his long blade, enchanted with dark magic, had significantly increased its damage.

Without another word, Crane returned to the battlefield to continue the fight. The battle was nearly over, with only a few Monarch-level orcs offering futile resistance.

John's initial area-of-effect skill had earned him a lot of experience, promoting him to lv2 Monarch level.

Among the four Race Kings, only Azure remained at lv1, though he was close to leveling up.

"Send the Monarch-level corpses back to Undead City for the Queen," Arthas ordered the surrounding liches.

With the battle over, the undead began to clean up the battlefield and collect resources. Not a single orc survived, allowing them to keep the attack a secret for a while.

This small orc camp, with about 10,000 orcs, was completely annihilated. The undead, summoned by the four Race Kings (without double summoning), and the Monarch-level necromancers totaled 15,000 undead.

Among the Monarch levels, there were six in total: the lv4 orc leader, the lv3 orc priest, and the rest were lv1.

The orc camp was now in ruins, with flames burning everywhere.

The orc corpses were gathered and burned to ashes, erasing all evidence.

"Return to the castle!"

With Arthas's command, the undead began to retreat with the collected resources.

An orc camp on the border of the Orc Empire was silently wiped out.

In Undead City, Alex noticed the undead emerging from the Portal of Transit, carrying a pile of resources, which surprised her.

Soon, she saw the Monarch-level orc corpses and understood.

"Esteemed Queen, Leader Arthas led us to destroy an orc camp. These are the spoils," a lich reported respectfully to Alex.

"I see."

Alex casually summoned the six corpses and collected the resources.

"Well done. Keep up the good work. You may go."

Alex dismissed the undead and checked the levels of the Race Kings. Except for Azure, they had all leveled up, which was excellent.

Although Alex's current strength was still somewhat insufficient to confront the Orc Empire directly, careful planning could allow the undead to grow stronger quickly.

Arthas and the others could continue to target orc camps on the fringes. If they couldn't win, they could always retreat. The siblings' castles could be abandoned if necessary.

After organizing the resources, Alex set off for the Dark Forest. She wanted to see if she could skirt around the forest's edge to continue expanding eastward.

She had no intention of venturing into the depths of the Dark Forest until she reached King level.

Alex didn't know her city's exact position on the Dark Forest's edge, so she flew north along the perimeter.

"This Dark Forest is enormous."

Alex flew north for an hour without reaching the end.

Along the way, she saw some strange races, like a six-legged dog with wings. In the past, Alex might have taken a closer look, but now, as a Monarch level, such Commanding level creatures didn't interest her.

Alex also discovered that a Race's Tear only appeared if the race had at least one Monarch level member. Conquering ordinary creatures like boars or chickens, or races with a maximum level of Commanding, wouldn't yield a Race's Tear, which was why she ignored them.

Suddenly, Alex stopped in her tracks. A black figure had appeared before her without her noticing.

"Soul Hunter!"

Alex's face lit up with joy. She hadn't expected to find a Soul Hunter here, ready to give her points.

Alex touched her bracelet, drawing her scythe. Her attributes instantly boosted, and she charged at the Soul Hunter without hesitation.

The Soul Hunter also drew a scythe, though much smaller than Alex's.

Clang!

The blades clashed, sparks flying in the dim environment. The bell's soul attack had no effect on the Soul Hunter, but Alex's physical strength sent it flying.

The Soul Hunter looked at its hands and abdomen in confusion, seeing its weapon broken and a massive wound from its chest to its stomach.

But the Soul Hunter didn't bleed. Instead, its body began to slowly heal. Alex, however, didn't give it the chance, slashing it down with one strike.

[Congratulations, Lord, for successfully killing a lv1 Monarch level Soul Hunter, earning 1 point.]

The Soul Hunter's body turned to black dust and vanished. Killing a Soul Hunter didn't grant experience or leave a corpse, as Alex already knew. Only system points were awarded, making it a significant loss if she didn't secure first place.

A lv1 Monarch level Soul Hunter earned 1 point, while a lv3 Monarch level earned 3 points, indicating that their level determined the points awarded.

"Only a lv1 Monarch level? What a letdown."

From the ease of her victory, Alex had already guessed its strength.

Just as she was about to leave, a strong sense of danger washed over her.

Danger!!

Unable to dodge, Alex quickly summoned a Dark Barrier to cover herself.

Boom!

A massive explosion rocked the forest, sending birds and beasts fleeing.

Alex was thrown to the ground by the force, finding herself surrounded by molten lava, with trees burning around her.

The attack had consumed a third of her Mana Points. With her scythe's attribute boost, she had 1,000 Mana Points, but this single attack had drained 300.

Alex was shocked, as was the Soul Hunter behind her, who looked at its fire gun in confusion. This was the first time it had encountered a barrier it couldn't break.

"Another Soul Hunter!"

This time, Alex wasn't pleased but rather serious. The attack indicated this Soul Hunter was very strong!

Several harpoons fell from the Soul Hunter's robe, all seemingly alive, attacking Alex.

Alex swung her scythe, deflecting them, but the force pushed her back.

Unwilling to be outdone, Alex slashed a black arc of energy at the Soul Hunter, who easily blocked it.

Suddenly, a massive magic circle appeared above Alex, exuding a terrifying and violent aura.

"It can use magic?!"

Alex had thought Soul Hunters only used various weapons.

A terrifying flame creature emerged from the magic circle, burning with red and blue flames, surrounded by purple lightning.

The creature lunged at Alex, the air around it distorting from the heat.

Alex's eyes glowed with different colors, and a thick ice wall rose around her, forming an ice mountain.

Alex sealed herself inside.

Boom!

The magical collision created explosive elements, leveling the area. Trees turned to ash, the ground scorched, and rocks melted. Alex's surroundings resembled an apocalypse.

Far away in the Dark Forest, thousands of undead died, sharing Alex's damage.

The seal broke, and Alex, unable to use Dark Barrier in time, was hit. Facing such a powerful attack, she dared not use Dark Barrier recklessly.

The previous attack had already consumed a third of her Mana Points. Alex feared using Dark Barrier again would deplete her Mana Points, leaving her defenseless.

Fear gripped Alex, her hand trembling as she held her scythe. She tried to fly but couldn't.

Bang!

The Soul Hunter appeared before Alex, wielding a flaming short sword, sending her flying.

Her scythe fell to the ground, and Alex crashed heavily.

Why am I so afraid of it that I can't even hold my weapon?

Domain, it must be its domain!

Alex realized she was affected by the Soul Hunter's domain.

Her mind raced. The Soul Hunter didn't give her time to recover. Without her scythe, her combat power was greatly reduced. Lying on the ground, Alex teleported away from the Soul Hunter's attack.

Alex retrieved her scythe, eyeing the Soul Hunter.

Wait, the mage robe!

Eldrin had said he had specially treated her mage robe to conceal her unique soul, making her appear normal. Would this make her indistinguishable from the native humans to the Soul Hunter, stopping its pursuit?

Alex quickly donned the mage robe from her ring.

The Soul Hunter looked at Alex in confusion. Though it couldn't sense her unique aura, it wasn't blind. It understood what she was trying to do.

Soul Hunter: Do you think I'm an idiot?