Upon receiving the news, Alex didn''t panic. There were still several hours until noon, and with the undead fortress at Grimstone, there was plenty of time.
Alex entered the main fortress and teleported to the undead fortress on the outskirts of Grimstone.
"Esteemed Queen, your apostles greet you," the undead guards inside the fortress saluted Alex, who gave them a quick nce.
"Notify everyone to bring in two more Monarch-levels. We don''tck Monarch-levels anymore."
With that, Alex left the undead fortress and flew towards Grimstone.
Grimstone was on high alert, with dwarf troops patrolling everywhere. The other ns had learned that the Silverbeard n''s rear border city had been taken by rebels, orchestrated by extraterrestrial visitors, which they couldn''t ept.
When the two major ns discovered Rockhammer City had be a ghost town, they would realize the supplies had been moved to Grimstone and would likely attack in unison. This was why the city had been so tense recently. Durin alone couldn''t fend off two major ns; he needed the undead''s help.
"Move the body to the undead fortress!" Durinmanded the surrounding dwarves. The Silverbeard n chieftain''s body was wrapped inyers of animal skins to avoid detection by the civilians.
"No need, I''m here," Alex''s voice came from behind Durin, who immediately knelt on one knee.
"Esteemed leader."
"Rise."
Alex waved her hand and casually summoned the corpse the dwarves were carrying.
With this high-level undead, Alex could be much more at ease. Otherwise, attacking the dwarf ns would require her personal involvement.
"Tell me the situation," Alex asked Durin. Although she had learned some details from Sophie, it wasn''tprehensive.
Durin exined the current situation in detail. The Silverbeard n hadn''t beenpletely wiped out; only the chieftain and a few of his sons were killed. Most of the n members were still alive but had been absorbed by the other ns. Nori, leading most of the n members, chose to defect.
"Again, Nori?" Alex had previously noted his impure bloodline, resembling a hybrid. Now, at the critical moment of the n''s survival, he had chosen to betray.
"Which ns are left, and how strong are they?"
Durin''s intelligence was more detailed than Sophie''s.
"The remaining ns are Ironfist, Hardbeard, Broadbeam, and Darkale. The Ironfist n was once the royal family and is the strongest. They are currently resisting thebined forces of the other three ns."
"The Ironfist n is stronger than the Silverbeard n but not by much. However, as the former royal family, their strength is formidable. It''s said that the Ironfist chieftain reached lv8 Monarch level long ago, and he might be lv9 by now."
After hearing Durin''s exnation, Alex understood why the other three ns had united against the Ironfist royal family. Durin also exined why the six ns hadn''t initially united to eliminate the Ironfist royal family.
Initially, the Hardbeard n and another now-extinct n hadn''t rebelled, firmly supporting the Ironfist royal family. But the seven ns had their own agendas and weren''t united, leading to the current fragmented situation.
Soon, the Silverbeard n chieftain''s body was summoned as a lich, with lv6 Monarch level strength,parable to the hobgoblin king.
A lich could continue to level up, and might even reach lv7 or lv8 during this war.
"Esteemed Queen," the lich spoke, bowing respectfully to Alex.
"It will assist you, and I''ll send more help. My goal is simple: not just to overthrow the Silverbeard n, but to unify the dwarf kingdom."
Alex shared her n with Durin, who, despite having guessed it, still showed surprise.
"Yes, I will not fail you, leader!"
With the lv6 Monarch level lich, Durin''s confidence was greatly boosted.
With nothing more to do here, Alex gave Durin a few instructions and left the lich behind as she departed Grimstone.
If a lv6 lich couldn''t handle the trouble, her presence wouldn''t make a difference. Alex herself was only lv5. If the hobgoblin king and Thalor hadn''t weakened each other, she wouldn''t have had such an easy victory.
Meanwhile, at Sophie''s castle.
"What? Chi-Chi is dead?!" Sophie was shocked, looking incredulously at the siblings.
Xiao Mu nodded and exined the situation.
"Her subsidiary castle has been destroyed."
"Wasn''t her ce very safe? How did this happen?"
Xiao Mu shook his head, indicating he didn''t know.
"How did Big Shot return?"
Sophie asked Xiao Mu again.
"We don''t know. The leader didn''t say, and we didn''t ask."
Sophie fell silent. Chi-Chi had chosen to leave despite the safety of staying with Alex. If it were her, she might have made the same choice, resolutely seeking her family.
"Sigh."
Sophie sighed.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hui was on her third drink,pletely uninterested in the conversation.
"By the way, not to discourage you, but you''re too weak. If you don''t get stronger soon, you''ll be left behind. And then, well..."
Xiao Hui wanted to say that if Sophie didn''t improve, she might be the next to die, but Xiao Mu''s re made her stop.
"Are you both Monarch level now?" Sophie asked uncertainly.
"Correction, lv2 Monarch level," Xiao Hui said, holding up two fingers seriously.
Sophie was taken aback. When she first met them a few days ago, Xiao Hui had just reached lv8 Commanding level, only two levels higher than her. Now they were lv2 Monarch level, while she remained stagnant.
Sophie nced at Alex''s information: lv5 Monarch level!
She had thought Alex had just reached Monarch level recently, but now she was already lv5.
Damn, they''re all freaks, leveling up so fast. Even the demon Lord is only lv2!
"My brother''s point is simple: if you don''t work harder, you''ll be useless."
Xiao Hui took the opportunity to remind (warn) Sophie.
At that moment, Alex notified them that the summoning wasplete.
"Let''s go to Grimstone. The leader entrusted us with this task. If we fail and she has to step in, it would be embarrassing."
After the siblings left, Alex was alone in the vast Undead City.
Alex took out the map of the Starfallen Empire, which marked the distribution of nearby powerful forces.
She drew an X over the Frostwind snowy mountain in the north. With the frost dragon dead, the Empire''s eastern side, south of Undead City, had no strong races, only an autonomous human city, home to a Temple branch. Though nominally under the Empire''s jurisdiction, the Empire had no real control over the Temple.
As minions of the angels, Alex despised the Temple, but their branch was beyond her current capabilities, even at King level.
Take the mage association branch in Nytheria, for example. Eldrin, the Vice President, was a nine-star Archmage, a lv9 Emperor level powerhouse!
Not to mention the President and possibly higher-ranking members. The Temple branch, being on par with the mage association, was undoubtedly formidable.
Thus, Alex marked it as a no-go zone. She couldn''t go further south or west, as crossing the Frostwind snowy mountain led to the Starfallen Empire.
With the mage association backing the human Empire, its strength was immense. Alex couldn''t afford conflict with them, especially with her Honorary mage title.
East was the Dark Forest, and north was unknown. To develop in Eldoria, she could only choose these two directions.
There was also the Arsen continent, with no powerful races, only mid-to-low-tier races, making it ideal for development. This was why many top Lords gathered there.
But in Nytheria, Lords had no room to survive. Even the luckiest Lords born there couldn''t thrive.
"Tough situation. Let''s check out the Dark Forest first."
Alex didn''t dare venture deep, fearing getting lost. She nned to scout the outskirts for any clues.
Logically, her city''s area already upied the forest''s edge, with many trees cleared by the system. Yet, no races hade to cause trouble.
Were the real secrets hidden deeper?
Alex didn''t act overly cautious. With many undead and the siblings'' troops present, any issues would have triggered rms long ago.