Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 26: Arthas

"Enemy attack!" The Goblins spotted Arthur and John long before they reached the valley. The Goblin Chief, a Level 18 Elite, emerged from his hut.

"Holy moly! Skeleton Dragons!" Gold coins danced in his eyes. "Humans love these things! We'll be rich!"

"My children! To battle! We're going to be swimming in gold!"

Naked green bodies, clad only in loincloths, popped out of every nook and cranny.

"Chief, is it them?"

"Whoa, they're huge!"

The Chief, his gaze fixed on Arthur, drooled, "Skeleton Dragons! Humans collect them like trophies! We can sell them to Rondo City for a million gold coins!"

"A million?!"

The Goblins swarmed out, their eyes gleaming with avarice.

"Who said 'enemy attack'? This is a gold delivery service!"

"A million gold coins! We're gonna be rich!"

Greed was the defining characteristic of Goblins. And they were incredibly arrogant. Before a fight, they believed they could take on gods. They weren't afraid of Arthur. They saw him as a walking, breathing million-gold-coin payout.

"Grab your weapons, boys! It's payday!"

"Rich! Rich!"

"For a million gold coins! Charge!"

"For riches!"

So, when Alex, riding Arthur, with John and her skeletal entourage in tow, arrived at the Goblin village, they were met with... a mosh pit. 500+ Goblins, the entire village's fighting force, chanting "Rich!" and swarming them. It was... a sight to behold.

Arthur, having learned his lesson, said, "Don't worry, Master. They're all bark and no bite."

Alex nodded. "Arthur, John, Mike, take them down!"

"Yes, Master!"

Two Skeleton Dragons and sixty Elite Skeletal Warriors versus a horde of avaricious Goblins.

"Dragon Flame!" Arthur opened with his signature move, incinerating dozens of Goblins.

John, not to be outdone, whipped his tail, sending Goblins flying.

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"The Harbingers of Death are here! Tremble, Goblin scum!" Mike declared, though he and the Elite squad hadn't even engaged yet. Arthur and John had already wiped out a fifth of the Goblin force in a single pass. Skeleton Dragons were truly terrifying.

The Goblin Chief, seeing this, realized his dreams of riches were... premature. *Time for a strategic retreat!* He turned and ran. No hesitation. This was the Goblin way. Supreme arrogance before the fight, lightning-fast retreat at the first sign of trouble. This was why no one in Eldoria hired Goblin mercenaries. Their morale was... unreliable.

Alex, witnessing this abrupt change of pace, yelled, "Arthur, don't let them escape!"

"Got it, Master!"

Arthur took to the sky, intercepting the fleeing Goblins.

"Dragon Flame!"

*Whoosh! Boom!* The forest ahead of the Goblins ignited, blocking their path.

"Scatter!" the Chief yelled, leading the charge... to the left. The Level 18 Elite Goblin, the strongest in the tribe, didn't even try to fight.

"Note to self: Goblins are only good for winning battles," Alex muttered, jotting it down in her notebook. She'd considered enslaving the Chief, but... what was the point? She didn't need more laborers. She could summon as many skeletons as she needed.

Then, something caught her eye. Her own skill list.

[Skills: Necromantic Summoning, Parasitism, Contamination, Enslavement]

Contamination. *Targets killed by the dark water become Skeletal Warriors.*

"This is... amazing!" she thought. "If I use Contamination on all these Goblins, I'll have hundreds of new skeletons!" Her workforce would double! More barbeque chefs, more miners...

She cast Contamination, firing a blob of black goo that spread into a puddle the size of a small apartment.

[Contamination]: Deals 30 damage per second to enemies within the dark water. Consumes 5 mana per second.

Alex checked her mana.

[Mana: 27/120 (Regenerates 1 point per minute)]

Summoning Mike had drained her reserves. 27 mana. 5 seconds of dark water. She quickly retracted the spell, but it still cost her 5 mana, leaving her with 22. 4 seconds. 120 damage. Should be enough... right?

"Arthur, don't kill them outright. Just... leave them barely alive."

"On it, Master!" John chirped.

The dragons controlled the air, while Mike and the Elites rounded up the Goblins on the ground. An hour later, all 520 Goblins, battered and bruised, were dragged back to Alex. Even the Chief, a Level 18 Elite, was no match for Arthur, or even John.

Arthur tossed the Chief onto the pile of groaning Goblins. He and John circled overhead, watching for other threats from the Sunset Mountains and preventing any escape attempts. Not that the Goblins could escape. Mike and the Elites had them surrounded.

The Chief, lying on the ground, started to cry. No million gold coins for him.

"Please, spare me! I'll give you anything! I'll buy my life! My eldest son has 3 gold coins under his bed! My daughter has 2 in the sugar jar! My youngest has 1 in his loincloth! I know where everyone in the tribe hides their gold! I'll get it all for you!"

Alex was speechless. He was offering other people's gold to save his own skin! Talk about greedy! But Alex wasn't interested in gold. She wanted iron.

"Where do you get the rocks?"

"Rocks?" the Chief thought, bewildered. *She nearly wiped out my entire tribe for rocks? Not gold?* *Humans are so weird!* "From the mountains behind our village, your Excellency! Take all you want!"

"Can you smelt iron?" If they could, Alex might spare them.

"Smelt iron? No, your Excellency."

"Then what do you do with the rocks?"

"The Dwarves buy them. We trade them for gold."

"Oh." No smelting skills. Useless.

"Where's this Dwarf tribe?"

"Far, your Excellency. Fifty kilometers south."

Fifty kilometers... too far.

"How do you trade with them?"

The Chief, desperate to live, spilled everything. "They come here once a month. Last time was half a month ago."

So no Dwarves for a while. Alex's plan to acquire Refined Iron directly from the source was... on hold.

"Fine." She cast Contamination. A puddle of black water appeared beneath the Goblins.

"Arthur, kick those stragglers into the puddle!" A few Goblins were outside the area of effect. Alex only had 4 seconds.

Arthur and John quickly nudged the remaining Goblins into the dark water.

The black water hissed and bubbled. The Goblins' flesh began to dissolve. It was a gruesome sight. Alex turned away. "This skill is... disturbing."

[Killed a Level 18 Elite Goblin. Gained +36 EXP, 5 Magic Crystals, 1 Red Crystal.]

[Killed a Level 9 Goblin. Gained +9 EXP, 1 Magic Crystal.]

[Killed a Level 4 Goblin. Gained +2 EXP.]

[Killed...]

...

*Well, that was efficient.* It didn't even take the full four seconds. All 520 Goblins were dead. The black water vanished. The Goblins vanished. In their place were 520 Skeletal Warriors.

These skeletons were different. They were small, barely reaching Alex's waist. No more than four feet tall. Her summoned skeletons were all six feet.

"I see," Alex realized. "Contamination uses the existing bodies, so it inherits their size. If I threw a dying dragon into the dark water, would I get a Skeleton Dragon? Would it be as strong as Arthur and John?" So many questions! She added them to her notebook.

She stepped forward. The 520 new skeletons prostrated themselves.

"Greetings, Master!"

"Since you were once Goblins, I shall call you... the Skeleton Second Squad, aka... the Goblin Skeletons!"

"Roar! Goblin Skeletons!"

"We are the Goblin Skeletons!"

"Thank you, Master!"

Alex pointed to the skeleton that had been the Goblin Chief. A Level 18 Elite.

"You. You're in charge now. Your name is... Arthas."

Arthas knelt, kissing the ground. "Arthas greets Master! May your name be praised in the heavens and feared in hell! You are supreme!"

Alex chuckled. "A bit of a flatterer, aren't we?"

"Only speaking the truth, Master," Arthas replied smoothly.

"Alright, take me to where you dig those rocks." Time was running short. Less than two hours till nightfall.

"Yes, Master!"

The Contamination skeletons retained their memories. Arthas knew the area well. He led Alex and her army to a crude quarry behind the village.

Iron ore.

"Iron ore... Refined Iron, here I come!" Alex thought excitedly.

"Arthas!"

"Master?"

"You and the Goblin Skeletons will stay here and mine this ore. Deliver it to my castle every morning."

"As you command, Master."

A steady supply of iron ore! Now she just needed a way to process it. Find the Dwarves, partner with a lord who could smelt, or... build her own smelting facility. Any of those would give her a steady stream of Refined Iron. And then... equipment! A long-term, high-profit business. Even more valuable than cooked meat right now.

"Do you have any Refined Iron in the village?" Alex asked casually.

"Yes, Master."

Alex's heart skipped a beat. "How much?"

"About a thousand pieces. The Dwarves sometimes pay us with it when they're short on gold."

"A thousand?!" That was a nice bonus!

"Bring it all to the castle!"

"Yes, Master!"