Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Their priority was to report back, not to engage in a suicidal battle. Just as the three angels were about to leave, two figures materialized behind them.

One was a human man wreathed in crackling purple lightning: Thunder, one of the Mage Guild's Seven Guardians.

The other, clad in heavy silver armor and radiating a holy aura, was the leader of the Holy Church, recently ascended to pseudo-godhood.

The three angels' expressions hardened as their auras clashed.

The golden barrier around the undead empire began to weaken. Thunder and the Holy Church leader attacked simultaneously.

A battle between pseudo-gods erupted.

Within the undead Imperial Capital, the lords watched the battle in awe.

"Is that... a god?"

They looked at Garethor on the plaza, his aura steadily intensifying, realizing that he, too, was about to become a pseudo-god. Alex's declaration had been more than just words.

A pseudo-god's power was directly linked to faith. The more followers they had, the greater their divine power.

The Angel race had many pseudo-gods, but their population was average, which explained their relatively unremarkable strength.

As the golden barrier dissipated, Garethor's ascension was complete. He looked towards Alex, standing on the steps of the palace, and reaffirmed his loyalty.

"My great Queen," Garethor boomed, "I shall repel the enemy!"

A black streak of light shot towards the battle raging outside the undead Imperial Capital.

...

Golden light and purple lightning clashed as an angel forced Thunder back with a sword strike. The angels sensed Thunder wasn't fighting at full strength.

"He's injured," they realized, identifying their target. They focused their attack on Thunder.

Suddenly, black chains materialized, swirling and writhing like living things, forming a cage of burning black fire that trapped the three angels.

They turned to see Garethor standing behind them.

His arrival had disrupted their attack. The three angels combined their holy light, attempting to purify Garethor's attack.

But Thunder and the Holy Church pseudo-god wouldn't miss this opportunity. The Holy Church pseudo-god's holy light merged with the attack, disrupting the angels' spellcasting. Simultaneously, a bolt of purple lightning struck the cage.

Garethor and Thunder's combined attack constricted, trapping the angels.

A strange stalemate ensued. The Holy Church pseudo-god focused on disrupting the angels' holy light, while Garethor and Thunder maintained the fiery cage.

The three angels needed to combine their power to break free, but they were constantly interrupted. The constricting cage, while unable to inflict significant damage, kept them trapped.

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The six pseudo-gods were locked in a delicate balance, a battle of attrition to see whose divine power would be exhausted first.

Garethor had the most power, but Thunder's injuries were a wildcard. The three angels had no idea how long they could hold out.

Even if they broke free, their situation wouldn't improve. They wouldn't have the strength to defeat the three pseudo-gods.

Watching the stalemate, Alex paused, realizing the situation wasn't going as planned. They needed an external intervention.

"I wonder if the Source of Fear will work," she mused, drawing her scythe.

She vanished into the soul realm, where everything was rendered in shades of gray, as if frozen in time.

Behind the six pseudo-gods, she could clearly see their souls, manifested as giant white shadows.

Alex's scythe turned into a black shadow, a stark contrast to the gray world.

Here, she wielded the power of the Source of Fear, devoid of the scythe's attribute bonus that severed anything. This wasn't a typical soul attack, designed to inflict pain or damage, but to sever the soul from the body.

The Source of Fear bypassed all soul defenses, unless the target's soul was exceptionally resilient.

The massive black shadow, like a ravenous beast, lunged towards the three angel pseudo-gods.

A blinding white light, tinged with gold, erupted from their soul shadows, attempting to purify the Source of Fear.

But this was Alex's domain. The black shadow transformed into an ancient beast, devouring the white light. Then, Alex saw the other two souls stir, joining forces to resist the Source of Fear. Her attack was momentarily suppressed.

"It won't be that easy," Alex frowned. Pseudo-gods were clearly beyond the scope of ordinary beings.

Just as she was considering summoning her pseudo-god level death angels or death dragons for assistance, the battle outside shifted.

Thunder's attack pierced through an angel pseudo-god's chest, spraying golden blood.

The three angels' resistance faltered. They were no longer a match for their opponents.

Infernal flames engulfed the chains, forming a massive fireball that incinerated everything around it.

The angels' once pristine white wings were scorched and charred, their feathers turning to ash.

Their divine power was rapidly depleting. They had to make a desperate gamble.

A golden cross materialized in the sky, followed by a massive holy sword that descended from the heavens.

Boom!

The earth buckled under the force of the impact, obliterating everything in the vicinity. The shockwave rippled outwards, reaching the undead Imperial Capital, shaking the city as if in a violent earthquake.

The lords within the city were thrown to the ground, their faces pale with fear as they looked towards the battlefield.

Three golden lights shot up from the dust cloud. They were retreating!

A black chain snaked out, ensnaring one of the weakened pseudo-gods. Infernal flames consumed it.

Another angel coughed up golden blood mid-flight, its soul injured, losing its chance to escape. Thunder and the Holy Church pseudo-god quickly surrounded and killed it.

Only one angel pseudo-god managed to escape. Alex withdrew from the soul realm, her soul power severely depleted from maintaining the Source of Fear.

...

"Thunder, your injuries have worsened," Alex said, her voice laced with concern as she approached the pale-faced Guardian.

"It's nothing," Thunder replied, waving off her concern. "It's just a shame we let one escape." He gazed towards the horizon, his brow furrowed with worry.

"How is the situation on the Arcadia continent?" Alex asked, her concern shifting to the larger war. The Angel race's deep reserves of power were a formidable threat, far beyond what the humans could handle alone.

"Not good," Thunder sighed. "They're pressing hard. Their target is the Divine Mage. They want to force him to ascend." Their current efforts were merely buying time for Alex.

"I've reached an agreement with the Sea Race," Alex revealed. "The undead race can join the war."

Even if the undead race lacked high-end combat power, they were still a force to be reckoned with, surpassing all other races except the major factions. She had destroyed a core of will, making her stance unequivocally clear.

Thunder shook his head. "No. The relationships between the races are too complex. For now, just know that the undead are the only ones you can truly trust. They are eternally loyal."

His words were a clear directive: focus on strengthening the undead race. The final outcome was uncertain, and Alex could only rely on her undead troops.

"I understand," Alex replied, nodding solemnly. She then turned to the Holy Church pseudo-god. Since he had come to her aid alongside Thunder, he was likely trustworthy.

He stood silently, like a statue. Alex decided to share a crucial piece of information. "I've received reliable intel. The Dragon God has ascended."

Thunder's face paled. The dragon race's allegiance was now practically confirmed!

"This is critical. I must return to headquarters and report to the president immediately."

Alex nodded, watching as the two pseudo-gods hurried away.

The Divine Mage couldn't ascend. If he did, everything would be lost.

A race could only have one true god at a time. If a race had two, the World's Heart's rejection would intensify, forcing both true gods to ascend.

But with only one true god, a race could maintain their divine protector as long as they didn't overuse their divine power. They became the ultimate safeguard for their race.

Therefore, all major races cultivated several powerful third-stage Sovereign level beings to serve as successors in case their true god ascended.

But becoming to true godhood was far more difficult than becoming a pseudo-god. It wasn't something that could be achieved overnight.

Therefore, during wartime, if a race's true god ascended, it created a dangerous gap in their high-end combat power.

...

Upon returning to the undead Imperial Capital, Alex found Death Spirit waiting for her in the main hall, clearly with a report to deliver.

"Queen, the undead have discovered the legendary island beyond the far northern coastline."

Alex paused, recalling the legend she had heard from the tiger guard during her expedition to the far north.

After subduing the Arctic Tigerfolk clan, she had sent undead scouts to search for the island, but they had found nothing.

She had dismissed it as a myth.

"How did you find it? Is there anything unusual about it?" Alex asked Death Spirit, sensing something amiss.

"My Queen, after you instructed us to abandon the search, the undead stopped looking. Today, by chance, the Arctic Tigerfolk clan, while patrolling the far north, noticed an anomaly and reported it.

I led the undead out to sea and discovered a massive, floating island. It's quite strange. The undead who went to investigate were all eliminated by an unknown force. We still don't know what secrets it holds."

"Indeed, strange," Alex murmured. What could be on this legendary island in the far north?

"Garethor, Death Spirit, come with me. We'll investigate."

Alex decided to investigate immediately.

This couldn't be a coincidence. Why hadn't it appeared before, only now?

What was the difference between the Eldoria continent then and now?

The island had appeared after Alex destroyed the core of will. She suspected a connection.

Arriving in the far north, Alex and her companions flew towards the coastline.

Standing on the vast, icy plains, they couldn't see the ocean, let alone an island.

"Queen, the island is very far away, and it seems to exert some kind of pull on the continent," Garethor said, his enhanced senses as a pseudo-god detecting something Alex and Death Spirit couldn't.

"It is indeed far away," Death Spirit added. "But when I first saw it, it was glowing, like a fallen star in the ocean. That's how the Arctic Tigerfolk clan noticed it."

"Let's go. We'll investigate," Alex said, taking to the skies. The island was within her territory. She had to know what it was.

Even with her current speed, it took Alex three hours to reach the island.

It was incredibly far away. During the flight, Alex noticed her energy draining faster than usual, likely due to the World's Heart's resistance to intercontinental travel.

A being below Sovereign level wouldn't have made it this far. Their energy would have been depleted, and they would have plummeted into the ocean.

The surrounding sea was a dark, endless expanse, its surface eerily calm and smooth, like a perfect mirror.

The island itself was even stranger than Alex had anticipated.

As Death Spirit had reported, it was floating, hovering several meters above the water.

Its edges were perfectly smooth, forming a complete circle.

Like Death Spirit, Alex sensed a strange energy emanating from the island, but it didn't feel dangerous.

"Queen," Garethor said suddenly, "I remember my previous master mentioning this island. He didn't tell us anything about it, though. Perhaps the Mage Guild president has more information."

The previous undead lord knew about this island?

"We're both undead lords, following the path of the God of Creation, both on the Eldoria continent," Alex mused. "Which of these is the key connection?" If she couldn't figure it out, she would have to ask the Mage Guild president.

"Garethor, fly past the island and see how much further it is to the next continent," Alex instructed, turning to Death Spirit. "We'll land on the island and investigate."