CHAPTER 32

A short time had passed—about two hours—when he regained consciousness near the altar and realized that two champions were around him, transferring a large amount of their mana to him while waiting for him to wake up.

After that, he glanced at both of them and stood up, and at the same time, the two, who stood three meters tall, knelt before him.

At that moment, he knew they had accepted him as their master, which meant he had achieved his goal. He struggled to process the vast amount of information stored in his memory that he had obtained through the Eye of the God of Death.

The amount of information was overwhelming, and he lacked the ability to process it all at once, so he decided to ignore it for the time being and focus on his champions instead.

"Since you have accepted me, I want you to search the surrounding areas along with the elite knights and archers for dungeons, lairs, and mines. If you encounter any danger that poses a serious threat to you, retreat immediately and return."

The two champions nodded in acknowledgment and, with a gesture from Hazard, left the hall, while Hazard prepared for a grand summoning.

In just one hour, he managed his army, which he felt urgently needed proper alignment, and sacrificed his coins for it.

[Army Composition]

700,000 ordinary demonic undead units100,000 demonic undead archers100,000 demonic undead swordsmen10,000 elite swordsmen10,000 elite archers1,000 demonic undead mages100 demonic undead giants1,000 demonic undead knights100 demonic liches1 demonic undead dragon100 demonic undead generals1 demonic arch-lich1 grand undead knight2 demonic undead champions400 undead giants9,000 undead hellhounds50 greater undead hellhounds1 colossal undead hellhound accompanied by a greater hellhound30 mares6 death cyclops3 baby thunder dragons of death1,000 death eyes

After rounding off the number of his units, Hazard checked his remaining resources and saw that he still had 24,200,000 coins left. He realized he could summon even more, and since he needed more workers for the obsidian mines, he summoned 1,300,000 additional ordinary demonic undead to work in the mines and cover construction in his expanding territory.

After that deduction, he had 17,700,000 gold coins left and was unsure what to summon or purchase next.

From his perspective, ordinary undead were ideal for mining and construction because they were connected to his mind, and with his A-rank master builder skill, he could instruct them to build houses, walls, towers, and fortify the mines. Their greatest advantage was that they required no rest or food, saving him from purchasing a construction-based creature camp.

After some thought, he decided to buy suitable clothing for himself, as he felt that wearing a demonic lich's robe was not appropriate. However, after searching for an hour, he found nothing better than his lich robe.

Instead, he upgraded all the Vengeful Spirit Towers and strengthened their materials. He also upgraded the Tier-2 Flaming Eye Tower to Tier-3, allowing it to detect up to 100 kilometers away. Meanwhile, the Spirit Towers grew to 100 meters tall, their spirit capacity increased tenfold, and their coverage extended up to 10 kilometers.

Satisfied, he looked at his now-empty treasury. A feeling of lightness washed over him, as if a weight of nearly twenty million gold coins had been lifted off his shoulders.

But then, his eyes fell on a message—something he never expected to see.

"Terror has warned him that his territory is under attack and might need his help."

Hazard's mind went on high alert when he saw that his Death Jewel producer was in danger. Among all the Demon Kings in the trade, none had been as honest in business as Terror.

Terror had even once suggested sharing their locations and providing military assistance to each other, but Hazard had declined because Terror had reached Level 6, and he had seen him active in more than ten channels, proving his growth.

Seeing the message, Hazard quickly replied:"I'll help if necessary."

Terror responded:"Thanks. Actually, four Level-5 Demon Kings are coming to help me, but having a Level-6 like you as backup would be reassuring."

Hazard relaxed a little.

"So, you figured it out?"

"Obviously. We both trade in over ten channels. You're selling skill stones like grains of sand, so I assume you're exploiting the wars of Lancelot and plundering imperial cities on the border of the Winterlands and the Empire, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Of course, Hazard was lying. He had already learned from Hezhna about the Empire's strained relations with Grand Duke Lancelot, who was sent to fight the frozen northern lands.

Terror continued:"So, you must be on the western shores or another continent. Whatever, I'll let you know in an hour if I need you. If I do, I'll pay you 10,000 Death Jewels for your help."

"Not enough."

"You greedy bastard. The attackers themselves are walking banks of gold."

Hazard found this reasonable but added another condition:

"I also want ten Level-5 Souls."

He felt nervous—would Terror accept? Level-5 Souls were rare even in the Demon Market, and he needed them to summon high-level forces.

After a brief pause, Terror replied:"Fine. Ten Level-5 Souls, but no Death Jewels."

Hazard figured he could still get Death Jewels later and that Terror was just trying to lighten the deal.

"No, I still want the Death Jewels."

"Damn you. Fine!"

The flames in Hazard's eye sockets flared with black mana. He rushed out of the castle and activated Abyssal Summoning, knowing he had little time and needed a powerful creature as backup.

From the corner of his vision, he saw his two champions and shouted as he amplified his mana for a massive single-unit summon:

"Hold on, you two! We're going somewhere else!"

But as he waited, nothing emerged.

The summoned being, which should have been at least 100 meters—possibly 200 meters tall, did not appear.

Cursing, Hazard jumped into the portal.

As he emerged on the other side, where lightning raged across the Abyss, he activated various elemental shields and took minor damage before arriving in a wasteland of fire and blood.

There, he saw a massive Behemoth, a ram-like creature standing 100 meters tall and 400 meters long—and it was being brutally beaten.

Hazard turned to see its attacker—an entity he had encountered before.

A colossal 300-meter giant, its body made of enormous skulls, wielding eight massive black hammers, pounded the Behemoth into the ground, shattering its bones completely.

The behemoth died instantly.

The giant then turned to Hazard, its mana thread connecting to him.

Angered by the disappearance of its prey, it pounded its chest and roared at Hazard.

Then, in an instant, eight massive hammers came crashing toward him.

Hazard, realizing the creature was stronger than him, fled back through the portal.

On the other side, Hythar and Pharaos were waiting.

Hythar asked, "That must have been a portal to the Abyss. What did you summon?"

Hazard sighed, "The summon led me to a being stronger than myself. It refused to obey, but I managed to recover some loot."

He tossed the Behemoth's corpse aside.

Hythar examined the tough purple skin."You didn't kill it. Your summon did, right?"

Hazard nodded, then activated a massive portal.

"You two can evolve and grow stronger. Follow me. This war might be profitable."

Hythar hesitated, but Pharaos, silent as ever, followed without question.

Meanwhile, Hezhna, watching from a large tent, saw Hazard activate a massive gate and step through with two Warlord-class beings.

Her entire body trembled.

Curiosity faded.

She retreated into the tent.

At that moment, Hazard received a message from Terror.

And as he stepped through the mana barrier, he and his two undead champions vanished.