CHAPTER 35

Algota charged at Hazard with his own sword for the final attack, but such a thing was far from reality, as two of Hazard's clones stood in his way. However, each could only hold him off for five minutes, merely tiring him out a little. The only damage Algota had sustained was from the negative energy bullets, which ignored all techniques except for those of the sacred and light elements. Algota had run out of patience. Hazard, who had grown weaker in the middle of the battle and retaliated in turn, was now brought to his knees before him. The battlefield was once again under the control of Algota's allies, but the casualties were immense, and the Bat King had been impaled on a spear. The dwarves had pushed the undead champions into a corner, and Thorin, along with the counts, was on the verge of slaying the Demon King.

Algota stood over Hazard with a bitter smile, looking down at him. The undead had no hand left, and his bones were filled with cracks."Tell me, why did you interfere in this war, huh? What could have possibly made you aid this demon?"

Algota was familiar with the undead, given that many tombs lay within his domain, and he knew of the high intelligence of powerful undead. However, he also knew that such beings had no desire to leave their tombs, which made him curious as to why this high-level undead had involved himself in a war outside his resting place.

Hazard did not look at him. Instead, he could only see the remnants of the battle. Only he and his two champions, along with Fear, remained. Though Fear had stationed a small force to protect his altar, even they were useless against the remaining 400,000-strong army of the ice elves and the 20,000 winter dwarves. Despite this, Hazard witnessed his champion, Pharaous, as his head was severed by Count Alexia and fell to his knees before collapsing onto the ground. Even in death, he spoke no words.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Hyther's spear was shattered as he resisted the hammer blows of Tryon with his shield. But that, too, broke, and he fell to the ground. As he tried to crawl away and escape, the massive hammer came down, completely crushing the lower half of his body, accompanied by his agonized scream. Hazard merely looked at Fear, then cursed him loudly.

"If you had this many enemies, you should have just given up on your damned altar or invited more people!!!"

Fear said nothing. Leaning against a mountain of corpses, he coughed up a mouthful of black blood. He instinctively reached for his broken horns, but one of his hands was shattered, and the other was severed. He lacked the strength to do so.

"Without the altar, I'm as good as dead… I invited Kaya, but…"

Algota could no longer stand the voices of these demons. Since he had not received an answer to his question, he raised his sword to behead Hazard. Meanwhile, Tryon, enjoying Hyther's cries of terror as he was about to join the Void River, picked up his hammer and made his way to claim Fear's rewards. Algota's sword swung, and Tryon's hammer came crashing down, but only one succeeded. A sword was stopped by another sword, while a massive skull was shattered by a hammer.

Hazard turned toward Algota, whose sword had been halted by Alexia.

"Markins, if you let me kill this creature, I'll be greatly indebted to you!"

Hazard let out a small chuckle. Alexia, with the soul of a champion, clearly did not want a sixth-tier Demon King—who carried thousands of points—to be slain by someone who would gain nothing from killing him.

Algota was slightly shocked and stepped aside. To him, it made no difference who killed Hazard at this point. Everyone had witnessed that he had defeated him, and Hazard no longer had the strength to defend himself. He allowed the blade to cut through his neck, sending his skull flying.

Alexia was overjoyed, just like Thorin, but her expression soon turned grim. She had gained no points. She was certain she had just beheaded a Demon King, yet she had not received a single reward. This confusion lingered in her mind for the next three hours as their army finished cleansing the battlefield, destroying the Demon King's altar, and returning to the city with mountains of loot.

Knowing the nature of the undead, Algota ordered the burning of all remaining corpses. Then, he gazed at the undead champion with a shattered waist, locked in a carriage under heavy guard, being transported to his castle. Taking a deep breath, he turned to Thorin, who had been arguing with Alexia but stopped once Algota approached.

"King Thorin, son of Laurin, I sincerely thank you for your aid!"

Thorin merely bowed his head, as hearing his traitorous father's name soured his mood.

"The northern tribes must unite against any threat. However, regarding the dwarven casualties, I demand blood compensation for their families. Additionally, I request permission for the dwarves to purchase land in your territories."

Algota sighed and agreed to Thorin's request. He knew that wherever dwarven blood was heavily spilled, that land became sacred to them and was considered blessed by the dwarven god of war.

As he gazed at the corpses of the high-level demons, the dwarves were loading them onto their carts along with the bodies of their fallen kin.

"Their bodies must be worth a lot to you," Algota remarked.

"Yeah, we can craft some good potions and magic staves from them. If you're interested, we'll set up a solid market in two months."

Seeing the Dwarven King leaving after that, Algota gave a respectful bow. Despite all the bloodshed and battles, at least the ice elves and dwarves would no longer treat each other as they had in the past. The past could finally be left behind.

Thorin, noticing there was nothing left to do, turned to the caged undead.

"Its master isn't dead. Extract information from it—find out where they live. If it's nearby, we must eliminate them before they can lick their wounds."

Algota was slightly surprised at that statement and glanced at the heavily pulverized corpse of the so-called master in the distance. Regardless, it did not change his plans, as he intended to interrogate the captive about the location of their tomb and its treasures.

"Alright, I'll do my best."

With that, the armies began to depart, and a group of engineers started examining the remaining underground structures. However, none of them had any idea that, three hours earlier, thousands of kilometers south, in a place where an ordinary demonic undead was unloading carts of fire gems into a warehouse, something had begun to burn black. The creature transformed into a five-meter-tall being with black bones, glowing golden veins, and two pairs of massive skeletal wings sprouting from its back.

"Resurrection of Immortality…."

Hazard stood in his new form, his fury unquenched even after his revival. Then, the system made things worse for him.

[Due to the use of the Resurrection of Immortality and the distance between the caster and the subject, all abilities are restricted by 90% for two days.]

Enraged, Hazard kicked the cart over and glared toward the castle. This disgrace was unacceptable. As he approached the castle gates, two demonic undead giants opened the massive doors for him. Thirty mares rushed to him in a frenzy, surprisingly weeping as they climbed onto him.

He was left stunned, but then a voice behind him caught his attention. Turning around, he saw Hegena standing there with a troubled expression.

"While you were gone, several giant dark bats flew over the territory, and we couldn't stop them…."

Hearing that, Hazard had no patience for more bad news. Ignoring Hegena, he strode toward his altar. He had gained 40 million gold coins from the battle, and the fire of vengeance burned in his eyes. He was simply waiting for the day he could exact his revenge. However, he had few souls at his disposal, and they were all low-level, merely absorbed by the altar.

He needed an army—an army that did not require souls yet possessed high ranks.

An idea suddenly struck him, and without hesitation, he rushed toward a building that he had long ignored.