Goblin Skeleton Priest

Karen unleashed her power and slaughtered without restraint, her strength soaring to terrifying heights. Out of the two goblin tribes, nearly three thousand strong, Karen alone massacred close to two thousand three hundred. Including the gains from the “Whispers of the Dead” at the two goblin burial grounds, by the end of the night, Karen had amassed 31,100 territory energy.

In addition to that, she had collected sixty-seven Tier Two corpses, three Tier Three corpses, and eight hundred seventy-seven Tier One corpses. Upon returning to her territory, Karen immediately invested all her resources at hand.

Of course, after her reckless spending yesterday, she dared not be too extravagant today. She first spent 8,950 territory energy to construct 179 “Small Crypts,” bringing the total number of such crypts in her domain to two hundred, enough to house a thousand undead.

Now, her “Large Graveyard” could generate 300 territory energy per day, totaling 9,000 a month. If she set those “Small Crypts” to auto-recharge, this would just barely supply all 200 crypts.

With a sufficient number of small crypts, Karen began to spend more freely.

With 18,500 territory energy at her disposal, she immediately converted all sixty-seven Tier Two corpses and three Tier Three corpses. Among the Tier Three undead she transformed that day, one in particular took her by surprise—a magic-using undead.

...

Goblin Skeleton Priest

Type: Bone

Intelligence: Upper-Middle

Strength: Tier Three (Normal) (0/20,000)

Skills: Minor Wind Blade lv2; Bone Claw lv2; Bone Shield lv3 (Single-target spell, can cast a comprehensive protective bone shield on a designated target, capable of withstanding ten Tier Three-level attacks!); Blindness lv3 (Area spell, can cast on a ten-square-meter area, causing those affected to fall into a state of blindness. Note: the duration of blindness varies with the target’s strength.)

Talent:

Death Prayer lv1
Effect 1: When activated, can heal minor wounds of allied undead within a fifty-meter radius, and reduce enemy status within range by 10%.

...

Exceptionally powerful, its attributes were dazzling—far superior to those of the “Goblin Skeleton Leaders.” Though the “Goblin Skeleton Priest” leaned toward support rather than direct combat, its presence would boost Karen’s undead army’s strength by at least twenty to thirty percent.

With such a formidable subordinate, Karen was naturally delighted. She even named this undead herself: “Kira.”

With this unexpected addition, Karen’s power grew dramatically once more. Now, she commanded 483 Tier One undead, 187 Tier Two undead, and as many as seven Tier Three undead—a force to be reckoned with anywhere.

Of course, after this round of spending, Karen was left with just 5,880 territory energy—insufficient even to fully arm all her Tier One undead.

Furthermore, after her slaughter of the two goblin tribes, the nearest tribe to her domain was now twenty li away. Her two days of relentless action would surely provoke a response from the goblins. It was unlikely she would get such ample opportunities for mass harvesting of corpses and territory energy in the near future.

Thus, she decided to save the remaining 5,880 territory energy for emergencies. After all, to keep her undead at peak condition during daytime battles required extra territory energy.

“The Redwater Tribe and the two tribes from yesterday still have corpses and ‘Whispers of the Dead’ left. Even if I can’t keep raiding goblin tribes, my strength can still see another surge. But if Old Jack could provide me with some more help, that would be ideal.”

Having allocated her expenditures, Karen gazed at her territory stats with anticipation. Despite the assassination attempt yesterday, the batch of supplies they brought had fattened her up, leaving her even more eager for Old Jack’s next delivery.

However, such wishes were a bit naïve. Old Jack had already been imprisoned by Ryan, so relying on him for supplies was looking increasingly uncertain.

Karen would soon find this out.

Ryan, it seemed, was in a hurry to seize the Wraith, for after securing control over the Rangers, he acted swiftly, sending someone to contact Karen the very next day.

Karen had only just finished converting her undead and constructing 180 Small Crypts when the masked woman arrived at her territory, accompanied by Ogoron and a middle-aged man Karen didn’t recognize.

“And they are?” Karen ignored Ogoron, who was admiring the landscape, and the middle-aged man clad in leather armor with a greatsword on his back—clearly a soldier—fixing her gaze on the masked woman.

Before the masked woman could answer, the middle-aged man stepped forward, “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Cliff, Deputy Warden of Moonwatch City. From today onward, you will be under my command.”

At these words, Karen’s brow arched, but she still did not look at Cliff, instead questioning the masked woman, “What’s going on?”

“Your assassination yesterday gave the lord of Moonwatch City the excuse he needed. He has now taken control of the Rangers’ branch in the city. From now on, the campaign against the Wraith is entirely under the city’s command. Handle matters among yourselves.” The masked woman’s tone was icy as she turned and left, clearly in a foul mood—and Karen’s mood was no better.

Watching her go, Karen’s expression clouded as she fell into deep thought. She had known there was friction between the Rangers and Moonwatch City, but hadn’t expected things to escalate so far; that Moonwatch City would imprison Old Jack was a sign of something unusual.

As Karen brooded, Cliff, long ignored, stepped forward as soon as the masked woman left, eager to assert himself: “Boy, you understand the situation. From now on, you and all your filthy undead will be under my—”

He broke off mid-sentence. For at that moment, three Tier Three undead—Song One, Song Two, and Song Three—brandished their weapons behind Karen, radiating murderous intent.

As a Tier Three himself, Cliff immediately recognized their strength and realized the intelligence he’d received was sorely lacking. Instantly, he caved. “Honored Necromancer, please forgive my earlier rudeness and arrogance. I am here to discuss terms of cooperation!”