Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 335: Fuse the Angel Barracks

Time: 9:00 PM

About twenty minutes after Xiao Hui had disappeared into the bathroom, Ruby heard the door open.

"Hey, where'd she go?" Ruby asked, confused.

"Duh, she went to change," Sophie said, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Change? Why?" Ruby, bless her heart, was clueless.

"She's back," Alex announced, her gaze fixed on the entrance.

As if on cue, Xiao Hui entered the hall, her face still slightly flushed, now sporting a black hoodie and black pants.

"Miss Alex, I'm done!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with excitement.

The transformation was complete. She could feel the surge of power, the elevation of her Life Tier. It was truly an epic upgrade.

"How do you feel?" Alex asked, her voice laced with concern.

"Amazing! And I think I understand the difference between death angels and fallen angels now."

She spread her arms, and a pair of massive black wings, similar to Lilith's, sprouted from her back.

The dark energy swirling around her was identical to Alex's dark magic.

Alex smiled, pleased with the outcome.

The death angel bloodline, combined with Xiao Hui's dark affinity, had granted her complete mastery of dark magic.

Currently, only Crane, among the undead, could utilize a sliver of dark magic, enchanting his blade with it.

Xiao Hui then proceeded to explain the specific characteristics of death angels, comparing them to fallen angels and regular angels.

Fallen angels, despite their dark nature, were still classified as angels, or rather, half-angels.

Of course, the system considered fallen angels and angels to be distinct races.

But fallen angels originated from angels. It made sense to group them together.

Fallen angels possessed not only dark attributes but also lacked gender. They typically maintained their angelic appearance, but their forms shifted during combat.

This was similar to demons, who also possessed powerful transformation abilities. Death angels and regular angels, however, lacked this ability.

Alex suspected fallen angels were a hybrid of angels and demons.

Another key difference was that fallen angels didn't grow additional wings as their power increased. Their wing count was determined by their Life Tier. In other words, they were born with a fixed number of wings.

Alex could even gauge a fallen angel's Life Tier by counting its wings.

Below Monarch level, fallen angels had one pair of wings. King level fallen angels had two pairs, or four wings, Emperor level fallen angels would have six wings.

Death angels, on the other hand, shared the Angel race's wing growth pattern and lacked transformation abilities.

They also possessed certain undead traits, like immortality and the ability to summon troops.

Their primary combat style revolved around dark magic and soul magic, a stark contrast to angels' holy light.

All three types possessed angelic senses. But death angels, unlike the other two, lacked manipulation abilities. Instead, they could kill enemies and summon them as undead.

However, summoning death angels was costly, a consequence of their transformed nature.

Ordinary souls below Monarch level couldn't be summoned. And summoning a death angel using a Monarch level soul only resulted in a Standard unit.

Xiao Hui, as a race king, could only summon her own troops, not all types of undead.

Of course, she could summon both living and dead angels as death angels without any restrictions.

Alex even suspected she could summon fallen angel corpses.

In short, all three types had their strengths and weaknesses.

"That summoning method sounds like a pain," Sophie remarked, her brow furrowed.

It seemed unnecessarily complicated. Why not just summon a Monarch level undead directly? Summoning a Standard death angel using a Monarch level soul was a waste.

But death angels had a Sovereign level growth limit. That was their main advantage. Currently, only the race kings among the undead had surpassed the Sovereign level cap. The rest were limited to Emperor level.

It seemed only the most elite troops could reach Sovereign level.

"It has its merits. It's a bit roundabout, but with Xiao Hui, their level cap is unlocked. They can level up after being summoned," Alex thought.

Since the death angels have a high life limit, it is certain that these troops will not be easily summoned.

Drake's dragons, for example, required three days to summon a single unit.

"Oh, and I have one more goodie for you," Alex said, picking up the Sword of Judgment and handing it to Xiao Hui.

Xiao Hui, without hesitation, accepted it and opened her system interface.

Sophie and Ruby, their curiosity piqued, leaned closer.

Two gasps echoed through the hall. Ruby, however, remained silent, her face blank. She didn't understand what all the fuss was about.

"Holy cow, this weapon is insane!"

"A Companion Weapon? It levels up with the owner?"

They were stunned, speechless. This was too valuable. Alex should keep it for herself.

"I don't get it, but I'm impressed," Ruby said, her gaze fixed on Alex.

"Miss Alex, you should keep this awesome weapon. I don't want it," Xiao Hui said, quickly handing it back.

This was a future Divine Weapon!

"Did it ever occur to you that my scythe is also a Companion Weapon?"

Xiao Hui/Sophie: "Huh?!"

"Wouldn't two be better? One in each hand! Double the fun!" Xiao Hui exclaimed, her logic impeccable.

"You can only have one at a time. I can't use it. And its special structure might improve your summoning method. It could be really helpful," Alex explained, shaking her head.

In the end, Xiao Hui accepted the Sword of Judgment. Upon claiming the Sword of Judgment, the blade turned black, its surface now wreathed in black flames.

Afterwards, Alex explained the concept of weapon spirits to Xiao Hui, advising her to choose wisely in the future.

Alex had entrusted the weapon to Xiao Hui. Its final form, its evolution, was now in her hands.

"Now you're a true top-tier Lord," Alex said.

"Hee hee, I'm gonna leave Xiao Mu in the dust!" Xiao Hui declared, her competitive spirit ignited.

Alex then turned her attention to the Angel Barracks crystal on the table, gesturing for Xiao Hui to take it.

"Go ahead and fuse the Angel Barracks."

"Okay."

Xiao Hui nodded and approached the table, picking up the crystal.

But as she held it in her hand, she suddenly froze, turning towards Alex with a look of confusion on her face.

"Miss Alex, there's no system prompt."

"Huh?"

Alex, surprised by this unexpected development, approached Xiao Hui.

"What's the deal? Can't you fuse it?"

Xiao Hui shifted the crystal from hand to hand, but nothing happened. There was no system prompt, only a display interface showing basic information.

But the interface was unresponsive. She couldn't interact with it.

"It won't fuse?"

Alex was puzzled. If it couldn't be fused, she would have to build the Angel Barracks directly.

While it would only produce ordinary angels, she could always transform them into death angels later.

Or she could simply use the angels as they were, although their loyalty would be questionable.

"Miss Alex, what should we do?" Xiao Hui asked, her voice laced with disappointment, handing the crystal back to Alex.

As Alex's fingers brushed against the crystal, a series of system prompts popped up, startling them all.

[Death Angel bloodline detected in one of your subordinate Lords. New troop type unlocked: Death Angel.]

[You must fuse the Angel Barracks crystal to unlock death angel troops. Fusing the crystal is irreversible.]

[Option 1: Fuse with the Undead Barracks crystal.]

[Option 2: Fuse with the Dark Jiao Barracks crystal (The Undead Barracks crystal will be unable to summon death angels. The Dark Jiao Barracks crystal will be consumed. Only one Barracks can exist between the main city and a vassal city).]

[Note: If built separately, the Death Angel Barracks will be an auxiliary Barracks to the Undead Barracks, but it can still be upgraded. Destroying the main Barracks will also destroy the auxiliary Barracks.]

They stared at the options, their gazes shifting to Alex.

Essentially, it was about splitting off a portion of the Undead Barracks' functionality to create a separate Death Angel Barracks.

This was a unique situation, triggered by the death angel bloodline. Like the Lich Barracks and the Bone Dragon Barracks.

"So the trigger was with me all along," Alex murmured, realizing why Xiao Hui couldn't activate the crystal.

As for the options, she quickly dismissed Option 1.

Whether fused or not, the Barracks' level would likely be fixed. Her Undead Barracks was already maxed out. Fusing the Angel Barracks wouldn't allow for further upgrades. It was better to split off its functionality, creating a separate Barracks that could be upgraded independently.

Alex selected Option 2, and the Angel Barracks crystal vanished from her hand. A new system prompt appeared.

[Option 1: Build in the Undead Empire.]

[Option 2: Build in Gemini City.]

She selected Option 2, and the two Dark Jiao Barracks crystals, one in the Undead Imperial Capital and one in Gemini City, shattered simultaneously, turning to dust.

A new Barracks, radiating a dark, unsettling aura, materialized in the original Dark Jiao Barracks' location in Gemini City.

"Boom, done," Alex said, closing the system interface.

Xiao Hui beamed with delight.

Gemini City now possessed both light and dark top-tier troops. It was well on its way to becoming the second most powerful city in the Undead Empire.

"Hey, didn't the Angel Lord have two buddies? A Behemoth and a Troll? They seemed pretty tough. Weren't they unique troop Lords?" Xiao Hui asked, recalling Drake's description of the Justice Alliance.

"Nope. They bit the dust. Only the Angel, Titan, and Dragon Lords had unique troops," Alex explained.

"Oh, right. A whole horde of undead are heading back to the main fortress soon. About three hundred thousand. Make sure they're settled in. I'm gonna crash."

"You got it."

Alex headed upstairs, exhausted after a long day. She needed a good night's sleep to replenish her soul force.

Ruby, however, had already made her way to the kitchen, her priorities firmly focused on food.

Meanwhile, in Gemini City, Xiao Mu, returning late at night, was startled by the sight of several angels.

"Fallen angels?"

He assumed Lilith had arrived, but a quick system check revealed their true nature: undead.

He scrolled through the barrage of messages from Xiao Hui, finally understanding what had transpired.

Overall, it was a good thing. Xiao Hui's newfound power would allow her to keep up, preventing her from becoming dead weight.

Xiao Hui: "Xiao Mu, check out the leaderboard! I finally kicked that old bat down a notch!"

Xiao Mu chuckled. Only something like this could make his sister this happy. He opened the leaderboard.

| Rank | Name |

| 1 | [Hamburger] |

| 2 | [Sky Dominator] |

| 3 | [Phoenixcrest] |

| 4 | [Dragonridge] |

| 5 | [Inferno] |

| 6 | [QuartzStriker] |

| 7 | [Calamity Source] |

| 8 | [Flame Spirit] |

| 9 | [Earth Lord] |

| 10 | [Bumble] |