Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 272: Arthas's Tactic

On the battlefield, the massive axe light tore through the ranks, with each swing from the Orc King causing the deaths of hundreds of undead.

Whether it was the towering zombie titans or the ordinary Skeleton Soldiers, none could escape the Orc King's wrath.

Despite his overwhelming power, the Orc King didn't charge into Gemini City to destroy it. Instead, he roamed the battlefield, slaughtering the Monarch level undead.

He knew he could easily kill these undead, and destroying Gemini City held no real significance. He wanted to make the undead pay a heavy price. Additionally, he could gain a lot of experience in the process, potentially leveling up.

The Monarch level undead, following Arthas's plan, spread out as soon as they entered the battlefield. Their targets were the weaker orcs, avoiding the Monarch level orcs and staying on the battlefield's periphery.

However, the Monarch level orcs wouldn't allow the undead to massacre their orc warriors.

To them, the Monarch level undead avoiding direct confrontation and targeting Standard level orcs was a sign of cowardice and weakness.

The number of Monarch level orcs was no less than that of the Monarch level undead. They spread out and quickly moved to intercept the undead.

This played right into Arthas's plan. Killing these Monarch level orcs would bolster their forces and give them a better chance against the Orc King.

From the start, the orc corpses on the battlefield hadn't been summoned into undead. The orcs were unaware that the undead could transform their fallen comrades into allies on the spot.

This was part of Arthas's second plan: to scatter the Monarch level orcs, kill them, and then have Death Spirit summon them all at once to surround the Orc King.

But plans often change.

The Orc King's nearly invincible strength wreaked havoc on the battlefield, easily killing low-level Monarch undead. His keen senses allowed him to pinpoint the Monarch level undead on the battlefield.

Under the Orc King's targeted attacks, the plan to kill the Monarch level orcs hadn't even begun, and the undead had already lost several Monarchs.

Only some high-level Monarch undead, using their aerial advantage, could barely evade the Orc King's attacks. The other Monarch level undead had to use various means to dodge his strikes.

At the battlefield's edge, Crane was engaged in combat with a Monarch level orc. Using a black blade, he blocked all of the orc's escape routes, easily breaking the orc's weapon.

Without a weapon, the orc was as good as dead. Just as Crane was about to deliver the killing blow, a massive axe light suddenly struck from the side. Crane, with incredible reflexes, dodged, but not completely.

Thud! Crane fell heavily to the ground, his legs completely severed. If not for his quick reaction, he would have been killed instantly.

Even so, he was severely injured.

Crane looked back to see the Orc King, momentarily stunned, seemingly wondering why his attack hadn't killed the undead.

The Orc King then charged at Crane with incredible speed.

Boom!

A Monarch level bone dragon crashed to the ground, attempting to block the Orc King. But it was no match.

The Orc King halted his charge, an upward axe light shattering the bone dragon's domain and breath of dragon, splitting it in two.

As the Orc King scattered the bone dragon's massive corpse and prepared to kill Crane, he found that Crane had already disappeared.

Meanwhile, the severely injured Crane had been taken to the sky by Arthur, with Riven using her healing skills to treat him.

Crane's legs quickly regrew, but the soul damage inflicted by the Orc King was something Riven couldn't heal quickly.

"Don't waste your Mana Points on me. Go kill the enemy."

Crane rasped.

Seeing the limited effectiveness of her healing, Riven had no choice but to stop. The weakened Crane, to avoid being targeted by the Orc King again, mounted a bone dragon to recover in the air.

The Orc King spotted Crane and glared at the sky. He wanted to use his realm to lock onto Crane, but Crane immediately had the bone dragon ascend, out of the Orc King's attack range.

The Orc King considered flying up to kill him, but flight wasn't his strong suit, and his speed wasn't particularly fast.

More importantly, he worried that focusing on killing one undead would cause greater losses elsewhere.

The Orc King looked around and saw that in the brief moment he had stopped attacking, the orcs had fallen back into a disadvantage.

Reluctantly, the Orc King resumed his assault on the Monarch level undead.

Crane's escape was a stroke of luck. Other Monarch level undead weren't so fortunate.

Once targeted by the Orc King, escape was nearly impossible.

Arthas, having just killed a Monarch level orc, noticed Crane's situation.

Arthas quickly deduced that the Orc King was exceptionally sensitive to dark magic and death energy, prioritizing the elimination of undead with these abilities.

Arthas swung his weapon, freezing the surrounding orcs with a blast of frost before cutting them down with a sword light. He then turned to a nearby Death Spirit Clone.

"Death Spirit, use your Clones to possess other undead and create a diversion. Draw the Orc King away and have the other race kings converge here. We have only one chance to kill as many Monarch level orcs as possible."

Arthas quickly relayed the plan to Death Spirit, whose Clone turned into black mist and vanished.

This tactic could only be used once. The Orc King wasn't foolish and wouldn't fall for it a second time.

Across the battlefield, a small group of Monarch level undead began converging on the western side, while the Monarch level orcs naturally pursued them.

On the eastern side, the six race kings and all high-level undead were subtly gathering together.

The Monarch level orcs, thinking the undead were retreating, didn't give it much thought and continued their pursuit.

The battlefield, with nearly 400,000 undead and orc troops, was vast. Even the Orc King couldn't notice every detail.

The undead's coordinated movements were largely thanks to Death Spirit, who could quickly relay plans to all undead.

Suddenly, on the western side, several black mists shot into the sky. The Monarch level undead fused with Death Spirit's Clones, their combat power surging as they attacked the pursuing Monarch level orcs.

The Orc King's attention was immediately drawn. A massive axe light split the sky as he charged towards the western side.

The gathering of Monarch level undead was exactly what he wanted!

...

On the western side of the battlefield, over thirty Monarch level undead had gathered, merging with Death Spirit's Clones.

These Monarch level undead were being used as bait. Though the losses would be significant, it was necessary when facing the King level Orc King.

Arthas knew that these low-level Monarch undead had little chance of survival if the Orc King got close.

On the eastern side of the battlefield, nearly fifty Monarch level undead, led by the six race kings, had quietly gathered. Even ghost dragons and bone dragons circled above them.

As the battle raged on, the number of Monarch level orcs outnumbered the Monarch level undead. The Orc King's rate of slaughtering undead was astonishing.

Soon, nearly seventy Monarch level orcs noticed the six race kings. Seeing the undead gathering together boosted their confidence, making them believe the opportunity to eliminate the enemy's main force was at hand.

"Take down the enemy now!"

Seeing the timing was right, Arthas immediately gave the order. At the same time, Death Spirit beside him split into nearly fifty Clones, each possessing a Monarch level undead to enhance them.

In an instant, the concentration of death energy on the eastern side far exceeded that on the western side. The Orc King glanced back but didn't pay much attention, deciding to kill the enemies in front of him first.

After all, the distance between the eastern and western battlefields was vast. Even if the Orc King wanted to rush over immediately, it would take nearly half a minute.

He couldn't just charge through in the most brutal manner, as that would risk injuring other orcs.

With Death Spirit's possession, all the undead's levels increased instantly. Some low-level Monarchs even jumped two levels, resulting in a significant boost in overall combat power.

Especially the highest-level Reaper Guard, which reached lv9 Monarch, becoming the strongest force on the battlefield aside from the Orc King.

At that moment, all the undead launched a counterattack against the surrounding Monarch level orcs. Frost, bone, fire, and soul attacks, all now accompanied by a black mist that corroded everything, absorbing the orcs' life force and damaging their souls.

This gave the previously less lethal undead terrifying destructive power.

Death Spirit's level: lv9 Monarch!

The six race kings realized that Death Spirit might ascend to King level even before their Queen.

Arthas wielded his sword, wreaking havoc on the battlefield. A casual strike could cause widespread damage, while his other hand cast spells to assist in combat.

Blocking an orc's attack with his sword, Arthas's left hand surged with icy power, transforming into a massive spike that impaled his opponent.

Another orc attacked from the side, but the ice spike quickly vanished, replaced by a large bone shield.

The orc saw a small gap in the shield, through which Arthas's weapon thrust. But this orc was a leader, clearly higher in rank than the previous one. It blocked Arthas's attack with the axe handle and retreated, raising its axe for a powerful strike aimed at splitting Arthas in two.

Crack!

The raised axe couldn't descend, no matter how hard the orc tried. Looking up, it saw a chain wrapped around it.

In the next instant, a black blade flashed, and the orc's pupils contracted. With a thud, its head fell to the ground.

The Reaper Guard retrieved its scythe and moved on to other orcs.

A rectangular barrier appeared on the battlefield, enveloping five Monarch level orcs. It was Arthur's skill from the sky.

Arthur, originally burning with blue flames, now emitted black flames after being possessed by Death Spirit, looking even more eerie and powerful.

Inside the barrier, the five Monarch level orcs' life force rapidly drained. They decided to attack a single point together to break the barrier, but were met with a blue Death Ray.

Riven's skill ignited ghostly flames within the barrier, flames that were cold rather than hot.

The five Monarch level orcs were quickly covered in frost, their souls and bodies weakened, leaving them unable to resist. Soon, their eyes went blank, and they died.

Azure moved through the battlefield like a ghost, using his curse skill to ambush any injured orc he encountered.

Soul damage was unavoidable and inescapable. No orc could evade Azure's ambush.

Soon, several Monarch level orcs had fallen to Azure.

Crane, still injured, didn't perform as well but managed to kill a few enemies.

John, the Skeleton King, was the most formidable after Arthas. Lacking magic for combat support, John relied entirely on his own abilities.

Orcs were known for their strength and bravery, but to John, this was no advantage.

John's broadsword clashed head-on with any orc weapon, relying on attribute boosts for power.

To the orcs, John was the true warrior.

Boom, boom!

The battlefield echoed with the sounds of John clashing with Monarch level orcs.

John's broadsword, glowing with red runes, struck at his opponent. The orc, not to be outdone, met the attack with a green-glowing giant axe.

Boom!

The impact sent shockwaves outward, kicking up dust and obscuring the view.

Red and green energies clashed within the dust, continuing their battle. A red slash, accompanied by a massive red skull, sent the orc flying out of the dust, crashing heavily to the ground.

The orc spat blood, its weapon shattered, unable to fight any longer.

Surrounding orcs rushed to aid their Chieftain, but in John's domain, they were quickly killed.

Other Monarch level orcs were too engaged in their own battles to help. The fallen orc Chieftain looked around in confusion. They should have had the numbers advantage, so why couldn't they spare anyone?

In an instant, the orc Chieftain's pupils contracted. They had lost their numerical advantage, and now the Monarch level undead outnumbered them!

But there was no time to ponder this, as a scythe rapidly filled his vision.