082 Third Tier Excellence

The Bloodclaw Eagle circled above Karen’s territory.

One had to admit, though this undead was only of the second tier, its effect on the battlefield was more terrifying than even third-tier undead. With its aid, Karen was able to discern the exact moments when the goblin horde assembled and set out. He had expected goblins might get involved, but he hadn’t foreseen that they would mobilize such a great force.

Still, Karen didn’t mind much. As the goblin army set out, he was already making his own move. Don’t misunderstand—Karen was not riding forth to meet the goblins in battle. He had gone to great lengths to draw the fight into his own lands; why would he venture beyond his borders to start the conflict elsewhere?

Instead, Karen’s eyes were set on the squad left by Specter to keep watch. Since the goblins had made their move, Karen saw no reason to let the sentries remain.

...

“I have a bad feeling about this. There’s nothing unusual on that necromancer’s side, is there?” The third-tier commander lurking at the edge of Karen’s lands under Specter’s orders frowned in concern.

He hadn’t waited for an answer when his vision suddenly went black. Clearly, he’d been struck by Kira’s Blinding Hex. However, as a third-tier combatant himself, Blinding Hex of the same tier couldn’t keep him blind for long—after about three seconds, his sight began to return.

But as his vision cleared, he saw a skeletal figure, about a meter and forty tall, whose right hand glowed with bloody runes, standing right before him.

“Damn!” He was startled, and instinctively swung his sword at the little green skeleton. But he was already too late—in that brief moment, his heart had been gouged out by the little green undead.

Because the Sacrificial Power was still on cooldown, the little green couldn’t carry out a sacrifice, which irked it. It let out a rattling sound, then led a dozen freshly raised third-tier undead into Specter’s squad.

Karen had determined to end the fight swiftly. He deployed eighteen third-tier undead—his original seven, and eleven more transformed from the corpses Specter had delivered.

With eighteen third-tier undead attacking at once, annihilating a squad of just over a hundred, most of whom were only first-tier, was a walk in the park.

In less than three minutes, the battle was over. The entire Specter squad was wiped out, and not a single one of Karen’s undead was harmed.

From this, Karen gained one third-tier corpse, fifteen second-tier corpses, eighty-eight first-tier corpses, and 4,500 territory energy.

Karen didn’t bother moving the corpses; he simply left them where they lay, as the area had already been annexed into his territory. With a thought, he could convert them into undead whenever he wished.

Now, Karen turned his attention to his own domain, preparing for the coming war.

Thanks to the tributes from Specter and the City of Moon Worship, his territory energy had surged to 299,220—just 780 shy of three hundred thousand. Karen spent 22,000 of this sum to convert eleven third-tier undead, then added what he gained from wiping out Specter’s squad, bringing his current total to 281,720.

With such a vast reserve of territory energy, Karen spent freely, feeling not the least bit of pain.

He first used 23,000 energy to convert all 122 second-tier corpses from Specter and the City of Moon Worship into undead. Then he spent 30,100 to purchase 122 Bone Spears and 179 Skeletal Bows.

A touch of his compulsive nature compelled him to spend another 340 energy to bring the number of his first-tier undead up to a neat 500.

Now, Karen commanded an army of 500 undead archers, a ranged squad of seventy second-tier Goblin Skeleton Mages, and a melee squad of 226 second-tier undead. After this wave of expenditure, he still had 228,280 energy left.

But he wasn’t done strengthening his forces. At last, he turned his eyes to the six third-tier prisoner corpses brought over from the City of Moon Worship.

By now, his undead army was fully formed. Within his territory, Karen feared no challenger. Yet, the recent assassination attempt by Specter’s assassin still haunted him, leaving him feeling insecure. Thus, he intended to use the six high-quality third-tier prisoner corpses to fuse two undead bodyguards for himself.

These six third-tier undead included three of ordinary quality and three of elite quality—conveniently matched for Karen’s purposes.

[Ding. You have successfully spent 6,000 territory energy to fuse three ordinary third-tier corpses into one elite third-tier corpse!]

[Ding. You have successfully spent 15,000 territory energy to fuse three elite third-tier corpses into one exceptional third-tier corpse!]

[Ding. You have spent 15,000 territory energy to convert one premium and one exceptional third-tier undead!]

With 36,000 energy spent, two undead materialized at Karen’s side.

...

Skeletal Greatsword Warrior

Type: Bone

Power: Tier 3 (Elite) (0/50,000)

Intelligence: Above average

Skills:

Greatsword Mastery Lv.5 (Passive: Automatically masters two-handed swords, increasing attack power by 35% and two-handed sword skill potency by 15%.)

Earth-Cleaving Slash Lv.3 (Active: Two-handed sword technique, gathers immense strength to smash the ground, dealing damage in a 180-degree arc.)

Whirlwind Slash Lv.3 (Active: Two-handed sword technique, rapidly spins to attack all surrounding enemies.)

Charging Slash Lv.3 (Active: Two-handed sword technique, bursts forth to attack a single enemy within thirty meters.)

Description: An undead fused from three third-tier corpses, especially adept at battlefield offense.

Accompanying Weapon:

Greatsword of the Dead

Quality: Elite

Skill: Wail of the Dead (Passive: Attacks have a chance to inflict spiritual damage on the target.)

...

Skeletal Shadow Assassin

Type: Bone

Power: Tier 3 (Exceptional) (0/100,000)

Intelligence: Above average

Skills:

Dagger Mastery Lv.7 (Passive: Automatically masters daggers, increasing attack power by 45% and dagger skill potency by 25%.)

Shadow Veil Lv.4 (Active: Disappears into the shadows, rendering the user undetectable for thirty minutes.)

Shadow Assassination Lv.4 (Active: Executes a silent kill on the enemy; if unguarded, even a fourth-tier foe might fall.)

Paralyzing Poison Lv.4 (Passive: Can coat weapons with poison; even a scratch will paralyze the enemy. Duration varies depending on their strength.)

Talent:

Dark Affinity Lv.1

Effect 1: Increases power by 20% in darkness.

Effect 2: Detects hidden units within ten meters.

Accompanying Weapon:

Shadow Dagger

Quality: Elite

Skill: Shadow Kill (Active: For three seconds after activation, attacks against an enemy’s shadow inflict fatal damage. Cooldown: six months.)

...