Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch - Chapter 142

Chapter 142: Dwarf city
Lucian turned to ash and dissipated. With his death, his castle began to shake violently, eventually collapsing into ruins.

The resources didn’t need to be collected by the undead, as the Lord’s Warehouse contents were automatically transferred to Alex’s Warehouse upon his death.

With Lucian’s demise, the vampire corpses created from his blood also vanished, leaving no trace. Only a few scattered vampire corpses summoned from the Barracks remained.

Now, the primary use of corpses for Alex was summoning undead. The materials obtained from disassembling corpses were negligible unless they were Commanding level or higher.

The lich and two necromancers, along with over two thousand undead, left the area, taking the Commanding level vampire corpses with them.

Alex received a system notification while in the air, confirming that the three undead had completed their mission and were returning to the castle.

“This time, I even gained an extra two thousand undead. Summoning necromancers was the right choice.”

A Monarch level necromancer could summon undead just by releasing their domain, meaning Alex no longer needed to personally handle summoning tasks.

Alex instructed Sophie to have one of the Monarch level necromancers take charge of defending White Rock Mountains, ensuring the castle’s safety in her absence.

The other necromancer and the lich would guard Alex’s own castle, as the main base’s security was paramount.

Flying on her griffin, Alex checked the loot from killing Lucian: a special structure blueprint for a blood pool and a blood clan core, along with some ordinary loot.

The special structure was useless for her, meant for summoning vampires. The blood clan core, however, was intriguing, as it could transform humans into vampires, though not with Lucian’s high-level bloodline.

“Is this a vampire starter pack?”

Alex decided to store it in the Warehouse for now and deal with it later.

She couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to become a vampire. While it might tempt weaker Lords, Alex wouldn’t let Chi-Chi or Sophie become vampires.

Flying away from White Rock Mountains, Alex headed deeper into the plains.

From high above, she surveyed the vast grasslands, spotting several dwarf fortresses. She wondered what they were guarding.

These fortresses seemed like small dwarf settlements. As Alex flew further north, their numbers increased.

After flying north for over two hours, the outline of a city appeared on the horizon.

The Traitor was northwest of the dwarf city. Alex descended from the sky, choosing to approach on foot to avoid detection by the city’s dwarf sentries.

Dressed in a black robe, Alex descended like a ghost, using dark elements to slow her fall and land smoothly.

The griffin flew away, circling around to the back of the Traitor’s castle to await Alex’s signal.

Alex looked towards the distant dwarf city, curious about this world’s urban centers.

From afar, she could see the city was built on a raised hill, surrounded by tall white stone walls and covered by a transparent protective shield.

A moat encircled the city, with a drawbridge over it. The area outside the city was empty, with only a few dwarf guards patrolling the walls.

The defenses seemed lax, likely due to the city’s remote location.

“This city looks like something from the classical era, just with a different style.”

Alex noted that the closer she got to the city, the more dwarf fortresses she saw. It seemed to be a defensive strategy, with the city at the center and fortresses spread out around it.

She admired the specters’ efficiency in finding this place, thanks to their unlimited stamina, allowing them to execute orders tirelessly.

Pulling her hood lower to conceal her face, Alex vanished from sight.

Northwest of the dwarf city stood a modest castle on the plains, some distance from the city.

The area was mostly empty grassland, but the castle was surrounded by many dwarves, as if waiting for something.

Approaching from the back, Alex used the castle walls for cover, observing the dwarves.

The castle was clearly low-level, disappointing Alex. It was likely a fifth-tier Lord’s castle.

“No matter, a point is still a point.”

Peeking around the corner, Alex saw about thirty dwarves gathered at the castle gate, with several beasts or ponies tied to posts.

Most bizarrely, a dwarf in armor stood at the gate, collecting money.

???

Alex was baffled by the scene.

A satisfied dwarf emerged from the castle, greeting the others and preparing to leave.

The dwarves chatted, but Alex couldn’t hear them clearly. She had checked earlier and knew no more dwarves were approaching, so she acted swiftly, releasing her Frost Domain.

The dwarves at the gate saw the black-robed Alex appear and were instantly frozen.

“A human mage!”

The armored dwarf exclaimed in disbelief, unable to comprehend how a human mage could be here.

Mistaking Alex’s attire and Frost Magic for a human mage was understandable.

After his exclamation, the armored dwarf was frozen solid by Alex.

The thirty dwarves, including their mounts, were turned into ice sculptures.

Retracting her domain, Alex walked towards the castle, the ice sculptures shattering behind her.

Entering the empty courtyard, she pushed open the door and stepped inside.

A dwarf descending the stairs was immediately frozen by Alex as she passed his corpse and continued upstairs.

The second floor had rooms lined up on both sides. A woman with golden hair, blue eyes, and pointed ears, wearing dirty, ill-fitting clothes, emerged from one of the rooms.

Not human, Alex realized instantly. An elf.

The elf’s eyes were red and swollen, and she limped as she walked past Alex, expressionless, like a dead person.

Alex felt a surge of unease and continued forward.

The hallway was filled with lewd sounds, making it clear what the dwarves were doing.

“oh yes, oh yes…”

The sounds from a nearby room caught Alex’s attention. She knew the Lord of this castle must be inside.

Kicking the door open, Alex saw a naked dwarf.

With a flick of her wrist, she sent an ice spike through the dwarf, freezing him solid.

The dwarf’s body fell to the floor, revealing a human woman, about thirty years old, chained to the bed by a collar around her neck.

This was no different from livestock. These damned dwarves!

Seeing the dwarf killed, the woman turned and vomited over the side of the bed, then reflexively covered herself with a nearby cloth upon seeing Alex.

“Th-thank you.”

The terrified woman had white, unknown fluids on her face. Realizing the black-robed figure had killed the dwarf, she remained desperate, unable to see an end to her suffering. She had tried to kill herself many times but couldn’t.

“What’s your name?”

A melodious female voice came from the black robe, slightly easing the woman’s fear. Tears welled up in her red eyes.

“I’m Elizabeth. Please, kill me!”

Elizabeth’s emotions surged, rattling her chains as she struggled.

Alex felt a mix of emotions. The castle crystal was the Lord’s life. Elizabeth’s castle was here, and she had been forced to become a Traitor. She was a pitiful Lord.

All the Traitors Alex had encountered were forced into it, none willingly submitting to local forces. The system seemed to be helping them find release rather than targeting them.

Seeing Elizabeth’s suffering, Alex knew death would be a mercy.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll help you find peace.”

Alex removed her hood and approached.

Elizabeth smiled, showing no fear.

Alex ended her life swiftly and walked out of the room.

Elizabeth’s troops were likely elves. Once the newbie protection period ended, the dwarves from the city must have taken control, turning her castle into a place for their depravity.

They even turned it into a business. Disgusting.

Standing in the hallway, Alex felt the castle shake as Elizabeth died. Dwarves ran out of their rooms in panic, seeing Alex at the end of the hall.

Alex’s eyes glowed blue, and the dwarves burst into flames, screaming in agony as they fell.

The collapsing castle buried them.

Alex grabbed a dwarf and dragged him outside, throwing him to the ground. The pain from the black flames burning his soul was unbearable.

“Tell me about the city to the southeast.”