Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 242: Unexpected visitors

At that moment, in another city, alarms blared throughout, and the dwarves on the walls were thrown into panic at the sight of the massive ghost dragons sweeping in like a dark tide.

"What are those things?!"

The city ruler's face was grim. Most of the city's troops had been sent to the front lines to fight the Ironfist royal family, leaving the city defenseless. Watching the sky fill with ghost dragons—at least a thousand of them—while the city had only three thousand defenders, he felt a deep sense of dread.

"Alert! Alert! We're under attack!"

They never expected their city, near the Desolate Mountains and on the kingdom's border, to be attacked by such creatures. Even the city ruler had never heard of these beings and had no idea what they were.

Boom!

At that moment, several blue beams struck the city, shattering the shield in an instant.

The city ruler was shocked but powerless to stop it.

Countless ghost dragons flew over the city like bombers, emitting eerie beams that obliterated everything.

In just a moment, the dwarves suffered heavy losses. They manned the giant cannons on the walls, aiming at the ghost dragons, but the shells passed right through the enemies' bodies without causing any harm. It was then that the dwarves realized these enemies had no physical form!

The city ruler was terrified. These creatures were too bizarre.

Ordinary dwarf warriors had few means to fight airborne enemies, relying mostly on the city's defenses. But against these intangible beings, how could they defend?

The experienced city ruler thought of using soul attacks, as physical strikes were ineffective.

But the attack was so sudden, they were unprepared.

At that moment, the city ruler noticed a black figure standing still in the city. Black mist drifted from the dwarf corpses, slowly converging on the black figure, whose surrounding black fog seemed to thicken.

The Death Spirit's level was rapidly increasing.

...

The battle was brief. Riven, leading the ghost dragons, swept through the city. Unlike the city Arthur had attacked, this one showed almost no signs of warfare.

Only the scattered dwarf corpses indicated that something eerie had happened here.

As the strongest member of the Hardbeard clan, the Hardbeard chieftain was not in his clan's territory. These city rulers were all below Lv 3 Monarch, no match for the undead.

[Blood Moon in the sky, darkness descends]

Night fell, and the undead army had captured all eight cities in the Hardbeard clan's territory. The Hardbeard clan was on the brink of annihilation.

Arthur, Riven, and all the undead were stationed in the Hardbeard main city, waiting for the Hardbeard chieftain to return with his people.

When the Hardbeard chieftain discovered his cities had been taken over by the undead, he would surely go mad.

....

[Night retreats, dawn arrives]

"It's already the sixth day."

Time: 7:30 AM

Alex was awake but hadn't gotten out of bed. She was checking the leaderboard. Raphaela's Alliance was now 6 points behind Alex's.

Alex had gained a small advantage. Unless Raphaela could kill a lv6 Soul Hunter, she wouldn't catch up.

But thinking about it, Alex shook her head and smiled.

A lv6 Monarch could probably wipe out the entire Justice Alliance at this stage.

It was almost impossible for the Justice Alliance to overtake them.

Alex went to the bathroom to wash up, then put on her shoes and tied her hair before leaving her bedroom.

After summoning her troops, Alex received a message from Drake.

Her first thought was: Drake finally got the Race's Tear.

It had been six days since the start, and the leaderboard would end the day after tomorrow. As a top Lord, failing to conquer a weak race would be disgraceful.

Drake: "I've done it. Can I earn your approval now?"

Alex: "Well done!"

Drake immediately sent the Race's Tear to Alex.

"Two of them?"

Alex was surprised. She had been about to criticize him for taking six days to conquer a small race, but two made sense.

Alex: "You managed to conquer both races?"

Drake: "Otherwise, wouldn't I look useless?"

Alex: "True."

Drake: "......"

Alex took out her Kingdom's Tear and touched it to the two Race's Tears.

[Kingdom's Tear Upgrade Progress: 4/100]

Meanwhile, in the Desolate Mountains, Drake looked at the chat log, feeling both speechless and proud. From Alex's words, it was clear she hadn't expected him to get two Race's Tears.

This wasn't just to prove himself to Alex but to show his determination.

There were only two races here. After conquering them, he gave both Race's Tears to Alex. He could have kept one for himself but chose not to.

Upon touching the Race's Tear, Drake guessed its use. But since his town hadn't upgraded to a city and he didn't have a Kingdom's Tear, the system gave him little information.

But it was clear this item was crucial for Lords.

Conquering a race to obtain a Race's Tear and upgrading a town to a higher level might signal the start of the All-Races Battle Royale.

Alex: "Keep the resources and equipment from these races for yourself."

???

Drake was stunned, almost unable to believe Alex's message. She didn't want the resources? She was giving them to him?

Drake: "Why leave these resources to me?"

Alex: "They're too poor, and so are you. Consider it charity."

Drake was stunned, feeling as if several daggers had pierced his heart. This was...

But he also felt a bit touched. Without comparison, there was no harm. Compared to the selfish Raphaela, Alex was like a benevolent goddess.

Though Alex didn't say it outright, this meant she had accepted Drake.

Drake immediately sent a Submission request to Alex.

[Your Submission request has been rejected!]

Alex: "What are you doing? I don't need your Submission. First, find a way to leave there. It's best if you can leave the Arsen continent altogether."

So she wanted him to move first.

Drake realized.

Drake: "Got it. You're thorough as always. I was too hasty."

Alex: "???"

Drake: "By the way, what's above a town?"

Alex: "A city."

Drake looked at the two words on the system screen, deep in thought, refining his theories.

In her palace, Alex was also a bit exasperated. She always felt like she and Drake were on different wavelengths.

...

At that moment, an alchemy warlock slowly approached the palace, coming before Alex.

"Esteemed Queen, the improved Return Stone has been completed. Please take a look."

The alchemy warlock bowed, holding the Return Stone with both hands.

Alex took it and examined it closely, finding it not much different from before.

The only difference was that it could now set coordinates, not just teleport back to the city but also to specific points.

"The feature is more refined. Well done, a definite improvement."

Alex was impressed by the hobgoblins and alchemy warlocks' research speed.

"Thank you, Esteemed Queen. It is our honor to serve you."

The alchemy warlock bowed and left the palace.

Alex studied the Return Stone in her hand. With current technology, it could only teleport one person at a time. Setting coordinates could save travel time, but it had no other special uses.

Alex then thought about the dwarf artisans in Sophie's town. Their role seemed less important now, as resource acquisition no longer relied on the trading post.

The Commanding level equipment they forged was almost useless. With the undead joining, Alex believed they could soon conquer the dwarf kingdom.

The dwarf artisans could be moved to Undead City to collaborate with the alchemy warlocks and hobgoblins on new inventions.

Sophie could oversee this, so she wouldn't have to stay alone in the White Rock Mountains.

After handling these matters, Alex went to the steam room for a bath. Meanwhile, in Whispering Meadows, the hobgoblin kingdom received unexpected visitors.

Outside the lake, a group of knights in silver armor gathered.

"This is the place, right?"

The blond knight in the lead asked the person beside him.

"Yes, there's an undead presence below. The hobgoblin kingdom has likely become slaves to the undead."

Another knight responded casually.

"Why not just integrate this undead force?"

One of the knights behind them voiced his confusion. Other forces were usually integrated, but the Holy Court had sent them to eliminate the undead.

Their attitude was firm, leaving no room for the undead.

"Watch your words. The leaders despise the undead. Even a weak skeleton must be destroyed."

The blond knight leader warned, telling them to follow orders and not seek to understand too much.

"Prepare to enter!"

At the leader's command, all the knights donned their helmets, drew their swords and shields, and readied for battle.

A golden slash cut through the barrier, creating an opening. They all leaped through.

Thud! Thud!

Their armored bodies landed heavily, making a dull sound, not far from the undead fortress.

"There really are undead here!"

The knights behind saw the massive fortress, half the size of a small city, and were astonished.

The fortress exuded a strong undead aura, making them highly alert. Only the blond leader frowned slightly.

Such a large undead fortress likely housed tens of thousands of undead. The undead had formed an army, with different undead units even coordinating. This was going to be tricky.