[Shining Silver Treasure Chest][200,000 Gold Coins, Level 2 Hellhound Camp Blueprint, Level 2 Flaming Eye Tower Blueprint, 200 Fire Gems]
The number of coins was high, along with several interesting items whose functions Hazard had roughly seen in previous chats.
Hazard glanced around the altar's surroundings. It was small and encircled by steep mountains. He then decided to build the Flaming Eye Tower near the fortress and place the camp in front of the mine. The cost of both was extremely high, but he could afford it.
Behind the fortress, in the safe zone, a black tower with a height of fifty meters emerged, with a single flaming eye at its center.
The construction cost was 80,000 gold coins, 1,000 stones (which had already been gathered by skeletons based on information from other Demon Kings), and 120 fire gems. Its functionality was as follows:
[Flaming Eye Tower: Ability to detect living and moving beings within a 10-kilometer radius. Can instill fear in targets below the Lord's level.]
The Hellhound Camp could wait for later. The more pressing matter was the extraction of fire gems.
Within a day, 300 ordinary undead were summoned, costing 1,500 gold. Two hundred of them were assigned to mining, while the rest, along with previously summoned undead, worked on construction around the fortress and altar.
The number of combat forces also increased, adding 3,000 archers and 700 swordsmen, bringing the total forces to:
315 Ordinary Demon Undead1,171 Demon Undead Swordsmen3,569 Demon Undead Archers
After deducting 9,000 gold coins for tools required for mining red fire gems (each worth between 1,000 to 2,000 gold in the market), 30,000 gold remained.
Hazard wasn't idle either. He increased his patrol squads, each consisting of ten archers and five swordsmen, with at least fifty squads spread across the surrounding areas. Additionally, he began constructing stone walls atop the cliffs around the altar to secure high ground for defensive purposes.
Despite these favorable conditions, something still troubled him—many other Demon Kings had already upgraded themselves, with some even reaching the third level. Meanwhile, he remained stuck at the first level due to not encountering any heroes. Even those Demon Kings on the verge of death were unwilling to sell the hero souls they had acquired.
While sorting through the carcasses of hellhounds, system messages appeared, reporting the death of a patrol unit. The fact that the entire patrol had been wiped out so quickly alarmed Hazard, prompting him to issue a mental command for all undead to retreat.
His undead forces had several advantages over other races:
Endless staminaLow costNo need for sleep or foodAbsolute obedience
This saved him a fortune, as food expenses had bankrupted half of the Demon Kings—especially those belonging to gluttonous races without hunting grounds nearby.
After issuing the retreat command, there were no further casualties, but the Flaming Eye Tower reacted toward the north, signaling the presence of hostile entities.
Realizing their location, Hazard rose from his bone throne and gathered his forces to investigate these enemies. Of course, if he mobilized thousands, no one would believe it was merely an investigation.
To the north of the altar, 10 kilometers away, a group of ten young individuals—eight boys and two girls—dressed in simple peasant clothing, marched forward. Some carried swords, others bows. Their leader, a 17-year-old boy named Alfred, wielded a staff adorned with several leaves at its tip as he led them up the mountain.
"Alfred, this is the Forbidden Mountain! If a Demon King has survived here, he must be strong!"
The small-framed archer girl, standing close to Alfred, grabbed his arm and spoke with concern.
"I know, but we need to defeat them to grow stronger. Besides, they were reincarnated into this world just like us—but unlike us, they had to start from scratch, while we already have trained bodies."
"But you're only a Level 2 Druid, and Kashan is just a Level 2 Swordsman. The rest of us are still Level 1. If that Demon King has reached Level 2, there's no way we can defeat him—especially if he has a strong race. Not every Demon King reincarnates as a slime or a goblin. Those two we killed before were weak. This one feels different. That fear I felt earlier worries me."
Alfred listened to her concerns, then glanced at the others. They were all heroes reincarnated into the bodies of villagers from the southern border of the empire. Together, they had already defeated two Demon Kings and were now hunting their third target. However, his team's morale was no longer as high as before. They feared this particular Demon King.
Before reincarnation, Alfred had been the leader of a delinquent gang in his school district. Now, he faced three choices:
Retreat to the village.Boost team morale.Eliminate Suya, the dissenting girl, to instill fear and ensure obedience.
"The undead patrol we fought earlier was weak. Their king must be weak too—just like the last two. I'll immobilize him with Vine Magic, and Kashan will strike him down. This time, since Kashan and I are Level 2, someone else should land the final blow to level up. Whoever contributes the most will get that chance!"
Alfred smirked, manipulating his team's morale by dangling the promise of a level-up while ensuring disobedience would be punished.
Suya could only clench her bow in frustration. She joined Tessa, the other girl in the group, since they both had to play the role of archers according to Alfred's plan.
"Everything is going fine, Suya. No need to worry. Alfred is strong and makes good decisions. Besides, thanks to his father, he's the future village chief."
Suya bit her lip but remained silent. However, at that moment, a large number of undead soldiers emerged—horned, wielding wooden shields and swords. Hundreds of archers followed, quickly forming a surrounding circle.
Suya was in complete shock, as were Alfred and the rest of the team. A force of 100 swordsmen and 300 archers had them completely surrounded. Unlike the previous undead patrol they encountered, these undead had approached in complete silence.
"Archers in the center! Swordsmen, raise your shields!"
Alfred quickly gathered in the middle with the two girls, while the others assumed a defensive turtle formation.
"Suya, Tessa—keep your eyes open! Look for an undead that stands out! Once we find it, we'll attack! Boys, don't let us get hit before that! Kashan, same plan as before—I hold it, you cut its head off!"
Kashan, a boy with curly hair and brown eyes, tightly gripped his massive two-handed sword and nodded. However, after five minutes, no arrows were fired, and no unique undead appeared.
"Why aren't they attacking? Are they scared?"
Alfred was confused. The archers were only 100 meters away, perfectly surrounding them.
"We'll slowly back away and escape the encircle—"
Before he could finish, a loud noise erupted—a synchronized march of countless skeletal joints scraping against each other, the impact of a thousand hard objects hitting the ground, the sound of countless arrows being drawn.
"They're coming?"
Alfred shut his eyes and focused, using a skill he had acquired from defeating the Slime Demon King—Magic Sensitivity. He detected a dark, magical presence nearby and turned toward it.
Atop a mountain peak stood an undead figure, taller than the rest, with massive horns and draped in a thick, black beast-hide cloak that radiated intense magical energy.
"That's him?"
Alfred felt uneasy, realizing this one was different. Before he could react, the undead tightened their formation, and hundreds more emerged, completely sealing their escape.
Their fate was sealed.