Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 233: Silverscale Leviathan

Xiao Mu decisively ordered a nearby lich to pursue the retreating enemy. The lich leaped off the wall and flew towards the dwarf army.

The lv6 Monarch level lich's flying speed far surpassed the dwarves' movement speed. In no time, the lich descended before the army.

The dwarf leader raised his hand, his face grim as he stared at the lich. The army halted, frozen in place.

"You dare to chase us alone?" the dwarf leader shouted, charging at the lich with his weapon. He had never seen such an arrogant enemy.

The lich hovered silently, making no move. The dwarf leader leaped high, his warhammer growing massive as he swung it with all his might at the lich.

Bang!

The dwarf leader's full-force strike was effortlessly blocked. The lich grabbed the dwarf leader by the throat, lifting him into the air.

The dwarf leader's legs kicked frantically. He tried to resist, but the lich's grip tightened, and he heard the sound of his bones about to break.

He stopped struggling.

The Bones Domain spread out, and the surrounding dwarves fell, writhing in agony. Their bodies shriveled and turned to bones.

The dwarves were terrified. They had never seen such a bizarre creature or attack. It was beyond their comprehension.

Thud—

Desperate dwarves dropped their weapons and knelt, not wanting to die so inexplicably.

The lich, though silent, spared those who submitted.

Seeing this, more dwarves knelt, expressing their submission.

The lich, holding the dwarf leader, returned to Grimstone. The kneeling dwarves followed, having no desire to escape.

Meanwhile, skeletons rose from the dwarf corpses, heading south to the undead fortress.

"The lich is back, and it has the enemy leader. How pathetic," Xiao Hui remarked, seeing the lich return.

Xiao Mu and Sophie looked over.

Seeing the lich return with over a thousand captured dwarves, Durin was astonished. He knew the lich was strong but hadn't expected such overwhelming power.

...

Emerald Hills, Alex returned to Undead City after recovering her Mana Points. Confirming there was no danger, she finally relaxed.

She kept her mage robe on, trusting Eldrin's assurance that it could conceal her undead aura and her extraterrestrial visitor aura.

Surely, an Emperor level mage wouldn't overlook such a detail. His magic should surpass a King level Soul Hunter's detection. She just hoped the Soul Hunter had moved on.

Alex checked the leaderboard. They had surpassed the Justice Alliance.

Currently, Light Alliance had 7 points, and Justice Alliance had 6 points. The gap was narrow, indicating Satan and Lilith had encountered Soul Hunters while she was fleeing.

"We need to keep hunting Soul Hunters," Alex thought. With only five days left, the Justice Alliance could easily overtake them due to their numbers.

The Soul Hunter's interference had delayed their progress in the dwarf kingdom, hindering their development. Alex hoped the system's final rewards would compensate for the lost time.

Arthur and Riven returned from the main fortress, having cleared the remaining hobgoblin cities. They brought back many resources and some submissive hobgoblins.

With the hobgoblins' cooperation, consolidating the hobgoblin kingdom and integrating resources was easy.

"Good job," Alex praised. Arthur and Riven had completed their task well and were now free to support other areas.

Alex considered sending them to Grimstone. Their large size prevented them from using the Portal of Transit, making Emerald Hills inaccessible without a long detour.

Unless the siblings' castle was upgraded to a city, there was no way to fully connect the two locations. Large undead couldn't cross over.

The Orc Empire's foothold was uncertain. If necessary, they could abandon it. Upgrading to a city and then losing it would be a significant loss.

"Arthur, Riven, go support Grimstone," Alex ordered.

"Yes, Your Majesty," they replied.

Alex also sent a lv4 Monarch level undead and instructed the siblings to begin their assault on the dwarf kingdom.

She decided not to waste any more time.

With Arthur, Riven, the lv6 Monarch level lich, and the dwarf army, they could launch a counterattack. The lv4 Monarch level undead would protect the siblings, who would stay in Grimstone to avoid encountering a powerful Soul Hunter.

If they couldn't defeat a Soul Hunter in Grimstone, they could escape to the undead fortress. But encountering a Soul Hunter stronger than the lv6 Monarch level in the field would be fatal.

...

[Blood Moon in the sky, darkness descends]

Night fell over Undead City, eerie yet peaceful. Only the palace in the center emitted a faint light, indicating someone lived there.

Alex worked late into the night, sorting the resources from the hobgoblin kingdom. She kept useful items and distributed the rest.

Since the last Lord attack, Alex rarely listed items on the trading post.

With the warehouse full of resources, she could upgrade the city again. Though it would deplete her resources, she didn't need to build another undead fortress yet. Two fully charged fortress Essence Shards were enough.

Alex upgraded Undead City, causing the entire city to tremble as the territory expanded in the night.

Current city level: lv3

"One step closer to max level," Alex noted with satisfaction. Upgrading required vast resources, and even conquering the hobgoblin kingdom only raised her city by two levels.

This was partly because Alex hadn't traded for the necessary materials. No one stockpiled building materials in their warehouse.

"Next, the Barracks."

Alex's warehouse held over a thousand Essence Shards and more than 100,000 magic crystals. Upgrading the Barracks twice was feasible.

[Upgrade Barracks: 55k magic crystals, 550 Essence Shards.]

Alex focused on the Barracks information and initiated the upgrade.

The troops interface didn't change, indicating either an increase in summoning level cap or quantity. The latter was less useful to Alex, so she hoped for the former.

"Initial level raised to Commanding level!"

Alex was delighted. The previous cap was lv9 Standard. Now, it was Commanding level.

This upgrade had little impact on low-level undead, but it greatly benefited high-level and specialized troops.

Future Race Kings wouldn't start from Standard, and troops like Acolytes and alchemy warlocks would see significant improvements.

"Sweet!"

The next Barracks upgrade required more resources but was still within Alex's expectations. The remaining resources were enough for another upgrade.

Alex upgraded the Barracks again, depleting her resources.

She eagerly checked the Barracks information, hoping for new troops.

"There is!"

[Unlocked special fixed unit: Silverscale Leviathan]

[Note: Each day, one Silverscale Leviathan will be summoned with other troops, not occupying other summoning slots. It cannot be summoned by other means.]

"A special fixed unit? What's that?"

Alex was curious. The Barracks would automatically summon the unit today, so she would soon see it.

She closed the system interface and looked towards the Barracks. In the red moonlight, she saw a massive creature appear.

To get a better view, Alex used her left eye, revealing the creature's true form.

It was a long, rectangular creature covered in alternating silver and black scales. The scales weren't tightly packed, revealing the writhing black flesh beneath.

It floated in the air, and Alex couldn't understand how it flew or where its head was.

From her vantage point, she could only see its underside. She had no idea what the top looked like.

The creature gave her a strange feeling, a sense of dissonance.

It didn't look like an undead. It resembled... a zeppelin?