Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 250: The powerful Reaper Guard

Alex stood still, watching as the forty Monarch level undead charged forward. Various domains unfolded, crushing the invisible enemies despite their stealth.

Seeing this, Xiao Mu and Xiao Hui also joined the fray. These ants were precious experience points, and if the undead killed them all, how would they level up?

Countless man-eating ants died instantly, their shattered bodies becoming visible before being summoned as undead by the necromancers.

In less than a minute, the original forty undead had multiplied into thousands, charging at the remaining man-eating ants.

Even though the undead couldn't see their targets, it only affected those with single-target attacks. For undead like Ethereal Wraiths, which dealt area-of-effect soul and curse damage, invisibility was meaningless.

On the battlefield, a Skeleton Warrior, unable to see its enemy, still charged forward, heading straight for the king and queen ants.

The ant guards defending them crushed the Skeleton Warrior with their powerful mandibles, but their acid couldn't corrode the bones.

The bones slowly reassembled, and the Skeleton Warrior stood up again, charging forward.

This was the nature of the undead: even the weakest Skeleton Warrior would charge fearlessly, never retreating.

The powerful liches cast Bone Magic, summoning skeletal archers from the man-eating ants killed within their domains. Arrows imbued with blue light shot out, creating a rain of arrows that streaked through the dark cave like blue meteors.

The man-eating ants were densely packed, and many invisible ants were hit by the soul arrows. A single arrow was enough to annihilate the souls of lower-level man-eating ants.

More and more undead emerged from the corpses of the fallen ants. The number of undead now matched that of the man-eating ants!

Inside the cave, the king and queen ants finally stopped their spawning. They had assumed their army had defeated the enemy. But when the king ant emerged to check its spoils, it found the undead army nearly at its tunnel entrance.

Instinct told it that the enemy was very powerful. Its black compound eyes immediately spotted the human girl leisurely combing her hair at the back of the undead army.

It knew she was the leader of these enemies, just like Donghae—a human!

It must have been Donghae who led her here. Traitors!

The king ant, enraged, turned to confront Donghae.

Donghae was terrified. He had never seen such a horrifying scene. Living underground, he had no idea of the outside world's situation. Had the Lords outside all developed to this level?

Seeing the king ant approach, Donghae clung to a desperate hope. If he could convince the king ant to flee, they might have a chance to escape with so many man-eating ants holding off the enemy!

But Donghae, being human, couldn't understand the thoughts of a man-eating ant. He didn't sense the king ant's murderous intent, thinking it was seeking his advice.

Donghae saw the giant mandibles rapidly enlarge in his vision, and then he lost consciousness.

Crunch—

The sound of bones breaking echoed as the king ant devoured him whole.

A green light enveloped the king ant, and its body began to undergo a strange transformation after consuming Donghae.

The middle legs of the six-legged king ant started to atrophy, the hind legs grew larger and stronger, and the front legs became slender and articulated. Its massive abdomen shrank, and its body became more balanced and coordinated.

Finally, the king ant stood upright on its hind legs, with its front limbs transforming into human-like arms.

It had evolved into a humanoid form!

The king ant looked at its new body in confusion, its face showing a human-like expression for the first time.

"Kill the intruders!" the king ant roared, speaking human words.

The man-eating ants around the king and queen, all with wings, took flight and turned invisible, attacking the undead army.

Alex was momentarily stunned by the king ant's roar. Though she understood its meaning, she knew it wasn't a human voice.

She flew into the air, her gaze fixed on the king ant. She saw the humanoid figure clearly.

"A humanoid creature?"

Alex couldn't tell if it was the king ant or a guard, but its ability to command the man-eating ants indicated it was no ordinary ant.

Suddenly, Alex sensed something. She unleashed an icy wave, instantly freezing the airborne man-eating ants, which fell to the ground.

"Kill that standing man-eating ant!" Alex ordered.

A black shadow flew into the air, heading straight for the king ant.

Countless man-eating ants swarmed to protect their king, but a scythe wreathed in black flames swung out, forming a black arc that instantly killed them.

Among the man-eating ants was a lv1 Monarch ant, which was easily slain by the undead.

Monarch level man-eating ants lacked domains, making them weaker than typical Monarchs. Facing a lv8 Monarch Reaper Guard, they stood no chance.

The king ant felt fear but also excitement. If it could devour this enemy, its body might undergo another transformation.

In an instant, most of the Monarch level man-eating ants fighting the undead army turned to attack the Reaper Guard, hoping to eliminate it.

But these low-intelligence ants underestimated the Reaper Guard's power. Sometimes, sheer numbers couldn't defeat a stronger enemy.

Invisible chains shot out, piercing the man-eating ants and revealing their souls as ghostly images.

Unaware of the danger, the ants continued to charge at the Reaper Guard.

As they reached the Reaper Guard, it turned into a black mist and vanished. The mist swirled and reformed into a massive scythe.

The scythe swung, severing the chains and destroying the souls. In an instant, the Reaper Guard reappeared, and the man-eating ants fell dead, their souls extinguished.

The scythe shot out, the chains clinking ominously. The king ant leaped back, narrowly avoiding the Reaper Guard's attack.

Even the king ant was unsettled. So many Monarch level man-eating ants had been killed by a single skill. It was terrifying. It sensed the enemy's immense power.

Looking at the distant white-haired girl, still calmly combing her hair, the king ant knew she was an even more formidable foe.

The king ant made a swift decision, releasing a cloud of acidic poison mist that spread around, blocking the Reaper Guard's advance.

Unlike the other man-eating ants' acid attacks, the king ant's attack carried soul damage.

The Reaper Guard watched as the king ant retreated into the cave, not rushing to pursue. In its domain perception, it knew the cave was a dead end, so it wasn't worried about the king ant escaping.

Even the king ant itself didn't fully understand its actions. Upon realizing it could evolve, instead of fleeing from such a formidable enemy, it felt an urge to devour the opponent.

But the enemy was too strong. To devour it, the king ant needed to increase its strength. With the Reaper Guard having cleared the area, there were no targets left to consume.

So, the king ant turned its sights on the queen ant!

The queen ant was merely a tool for laying eggs, with a massive body that was almost entirely non-combative, possessing only Commanding level strength. However, as a queen, it had its own special abilities.

Soon, a scream echoed from the tunnel, causing chaos among the man-eating ants. They wanted to rush back to help, but to their shock, it was the king ant that emerged from the tunnel.

The king ant had killed the queen ant!

This threw the man-eating ants into disarray, unsure of what to do. The king ant, however, paid no mind to the chaos. It was focused on the newfound power it felt, its confidence soaring as it faced the Reaper Guard again.

The poison mist dissipated, and the king ant's powerful hind legs shattered the ground as it leaped forward. It conjured a green energy ball in its right hand and hurled it at the Reaper Guard in the sky.

Boom!

The green, corrosive energy exploded, but the Reaper Guard easily blocked it with a black barrier.

The king ant's face showed terror—this wasn't how it had imagined it!

A black, sharp blade of energy flashed, slicing off the king ant's shoulder. Green fluid gushed out. A black wave of energy followed, knocking the king ant to the ground, creating a deep crater and shaking the entire underground cave.

The king ant, thinking its increased power would allow it to fight back, was nearly killed in the first exchange, unable to even touch the Reaper Guard.

As it lay on the ground, its wound began to heal, but its green face looked noticeably paler.

Before the king ant could stand again, countless chains wrapped around it. It struggled fiercely but to no avail, as the Reaper Guard slowly lifted it into the air with the chains.

The king ant opened its massive mandibles, roaring defiantly at the Reaper Guard, spraying green, foul-smelling saliva in a final, futile struggle.

The blue flames flickering in the Reaper Guard's black hood seemed to be watching the king ant's last moments.

Whoosh—

A wind rose from nowhere, black energy swirling around the Reaper Guard and the king ant, enveloping them both.

The king ant's body began to glow with a ghostly blue light, its soul being absorbed by the Reaper Guard.

The chains vanished, and the king ant's lifeless body fell to the ground.