Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Ivy and Cain released the snow maidens' feet and jumped down from the air. Samson stepped forward to support Earl, and the four of them faced off against Lucian and Arthur in the sky.

Lucian was deep in thought. Earl was out of commission, and he wasn't sure if he and his vampires, along with the undead, could handle these two new Lords. As for Samson, Lucian dismissed him outright; someone of his caliber wasn't worth considering as an opponent.

"Are you the one who injured Earl?" Ivy spoke first, taunting Lucian. With four of them here, there was no way they could lose to him alone.

"Don't waste time talking to this guy. Cain, take him down!" Samson was furious and didn't care about anything else. He wanted to kill this vampire first and then pin everything on Lucian to avoid a direct conflict with the Starfallen Empire.

Despite his bravado, Samson didn't dare to step forward himself. Fortunately, Cain was here, the strongest among them, and Samson was counting on him to beat Lucian to a pulp.

Arthur had no interest in listening to these human Lords bicker. He immediately activated two of his skills: Dragon Breath and Withering Space.

The Ethereal Wraith also launched its soul curse attack.

"Watch out, that undead uses soul attacks!" Earl warned from the side.

Cain's arms erupted with massive flames, colliding with Arthur's Nether Dragon Breath. Ivy cast a green magical shield around them.

Arthur's Dragon Breath was dispersed by Cain's flames, and Withering Space and the soul curse were blocked by Ivy's life magic, rendering them ineffective.

Seeing the enemy launch an attack, they didn't hold back either. It was a fight to the death.

"Ivy, you handle the undead. Samson, protect Earl. I'll take on the vampire Lord," Cain ordered.

With that, Cain transformed into a blazing inferno, his eyes glowing red, and his body seemed to flow with molten lava.

Whoosh!

Cain's figure vanished from in front of the three, leaving behind a wave of intense heat.

Lucian was ready. A blood sword formed in his hand, and he turned into a shadow, charging at Cain.

They clashed instantly. Cain's magma-like hand grasped Lucian's blood sword, the sound of corrosion filling the air, but it didn't affect Cain's hand at all.

Cain's other hand pierced through Lucian's chest, spewing intense flames and magma, sending Lucian flying with a single blow.

"Cain, he can self-heal!" Samson reminded from a distance.

"Pathetic. I seriously doubt he's in the top tier just because he's hard to kill," Samson spat, conveniently forgetting how close he had come to being one-shotted by Lucian.

Hearing Samson's reminder, Cain immediately went after the airborne Lucian again.

Lucian realized this flame Lord was even stronger than the rock Lord. Now wasn't the time to conserve his blood.

Lucian clenched his left fist, piercing his palm with his nails, letting the blood flow. The blood sword in his right hand disappeared, and blood began to surge, covering his arms.

Lucian met Cain's fists head-on. This time, he only took a few steps back, successfully blocking Cain's attack.

Magma burned Lucian's hands, while Lucian's blood corroded Cain's arms.

Blood flew from Lucian's arms, attacking Cain. Cain turned into flames, disappearing from the spot, and reappeared at Lucian's side.

Cain's flaming foot aimed for Lucian's head. Lucian crossed his arms to block, but the force sent him flying back.

Lucian felt the difference in their attributes. This flame Lord's level was much higher than his.

Cain's arm turned into a mass of magma, shooting towards Lucian.

Lucian used his black cloak to block, trying to confuse Cain while he circled to attack from the side.

But as the magma was about to hit the cloak, it suddenly changed direction, flying upwards. Before Lucian could understand what was happening, Cain's figure emerged from the magma above.

Cain leaped down, grabbing Lucian's neck. The scorching hand burned Lucian's skin, filling the air with the smell of cooked flesh.

Cain's other hand pierced Lucian's chest again, and the hand gripping Lucian's neck gathered flames, trying to incinerate Lucian's head.

At the last moment, Lucian's blood surged out, enveloping him and turning him into a puddle of black water that fell to the ground. The blood quickly reformed into Lucian's figure a short distance away, and he flew into the sky.

Blood dripped from his chest, and the burned skin slowed his self-healing. Lucian finally realized he wasn't a match for this flame Lord. But killing him wouldn't be easy either.

Lucian turned into a shadow and fled. The surrounding vampires, seeing their leader leave, also scattered.

Cain could only watch Lucian escape, as he couldn't fly.

Arthur, meanwhile, burned away the vines entangling him and flew high into the sky, out of their attack range.

Arthur couldn't handle a two-on-one fight. Seeing Lucian flee, he chose to leave as well. He didn't have enough allies at the moment.

These Lords were all higher level than Arthur. It would be hard to kill them alone.

Seeing the bone dragon leave, Ivy sighed in relief. These undead were too troublesome. Ivy suspected that if they hadn't had the numbers, the undead would have kept harassing them.

Luckily, Samson and Earl's magic bindings were strong. Even if they couldn't kill it, they could restrain it, which might be why it chose to leave.

"Cain, you were amazing. That vampire was no match for you," Samson praised, running over to flatter Cain. Cain returned to his normal state and, seeing Samson's injured shoulder, remained silent.

Samson fell quiet.

"Cain, should we go destroy that vampire's castle?" Ivy suggested. They knew its location, and the enemy wasn't their match.

Cain looked at the injured Samson and the weakened Earl and shook his head.

They hadn't brought troops for this support mission, and the other two were barely combat-capable. Charging in with just the two of them was too risky. Who knew how many vampires Lucian had under his command?

A village could have at least a thousand people. If Lucian had slaughtered the villagers, his castle could house over a thousand vampires.

That many could wear them down to death. Once their mana was depleted, they'd be done for.

Cain didn't want to take that risk.

Ivy clearly hadn't thought of this, but Samson had.

"Next time. Once we're healed, we'll gather all our troops and come back. That way, we can't fail."

"By the way, how strong is that undead Lord?" Cain asked Samson, recalling the undead he had seen today.