Chapter 3: Arrival at Shadowcliff Keep.
The undead convoy pressed on, unhindered by obstacles along their path. They did not pause to rest or eat, due to the fact that as undead, they are blessed with unlimited stamina.
After two hours of relentless marching, they finnaly left the forest. Before them stretched a vast green plain, dominated by a fortress which immediately stood out. It was Shadowcliff Keep.
Shadowcliff Keep was the pride of the Duskmere kingdom, the strongest human kingdom in this nameless rank 3 world. This impregnable stronghold has withstood numerous invasions, enduring sieges spanning years, and even decades in some instances. Yet, there is one key thing about this fortress that makes it stand out from all the other fortresses on the border of the Kingdom of Duskmere, it's that in its 200 years, it's never once been conquered.
The fortress boasted an outer wall at a height of 20 meters, encircled by a moat full to the brim with ice cold water. Within the stronghold, which accommodates over 50,000 soldiers, was another smaller fortress, it was nestled at the core of the fortress. It's highest tower overlooked the entire fortress along the vaste plain and the forest.
Right now the undead convoy slowly approached Shadowcliff keep without any resistance, none of the ballistas that were facing the undead convoy attacked them, furthermore, the guards on the wall who looked completely relaxed, motioned to open the gate.
So what is the cause of this strange behaviour? It's simple really, as you might have guessed, Shadowcliff keep has fallen to the hands of the dark faction.
The worst thing about this change in power is that there was no spectacular siege, no final battle where the defenders stood their last ground. The fortress fell because one man betrayed everything, he betrayed his entire lineage, he betrayed his kingdom, and he betrayed his race.
The man responsible for this betrayal was Lord Thaddeus. For over 40 years, he held the position as the head of the Thaddeus family, the very lineage that not only established Shadowcliff Keep but also defended it across generations. Thaddeus, without a hint of remorse, betrayed everything his ancestors stood for, a grave taboo within human culture.
The same Lord Thaddeus stood at the entrance of the gate overlooking the forest where the undead convoy came out. He wore an all-black suit, he had short black hair and a black beard, an imposing physique, which was strange since he was a wizard. His red eyes narrowed at the approaching sight of the undead convoy, exuding a profound and calculating gaze.
Once the undead convoy reached the gate, Necrothos, mounted on Tristan's now-skeletal war horse, approached Lord Thaddeus, who remained motionless throughout.
"This convoy appears much smaller compared to the usual ones," Thaddeus remarked after a brief inspection.
Necrothos responded without hesitation, "You're right, Thaddeus. It's good to see you can still use your eyes." Thaddeus growled at Necrothos, finally lifting his gaze, revealing two sharp fangs protruding from his snarling mouth. "As you mentioned, the size of the military convoys has significantly diminished compared to what the capital usually sends. Clearly, they are beginning to catch on." Necrothos continued, unperturbed by Thaddeus's animalistic reactions to his sarcastic comments.
After calming down, Thaddeus absorbed the rest of Necrothos's information. "We have a couple more weeks," he mused, resting his head on his hand as he assumed a pensive pose. Closing his eyes, he entered a semi-meditative state, a practice he often employed when strategizing for important plans. Unfortunately, he found himself in less than ideal surroundings for deep concentration, and Necrothos's voice pierced through his mental barrier interrupting Thaddeu's calculations.
"Yes, a couple more weeks, just as I said, you're quite slow today, not enough blood in your system?" Necrothos remarked, his tone held a trace of mockery. "I hope you aren't as sluggish as the rest of your kingdom, Thaddeus." Without affording Thaddeus any time to react, Necrothos signaled for the convoy to proceed inside the fortress.
Thaddeus's facial muscles twitched, yet he refrained from responding to Necrothos's provocations. Necrothos was hired by his master, he has no choice but to grit his teeth and tolerate Necrothos's arrogant behaviour.
'Soon I will deal with this bastard, who does he think he is mocking me right at the gates of my fortress.' Plotting his vengeance and without sparing anyone else a glance Thaddeus made his way to the citadel ( the smaller fortress in the centre of the fortress ).
In a blur of motion, his form fragmented into multiple grey bats, swiftly soaring towards the tallest tower nestled at the core of the fortress, where he could strategize undisturbed.
Observing Thaddeus's departure for his tower, Necrothos's think skin contorted into a smile. He derived satisfaction from unsettling Thaddeus on occasion, despite their alignment within the dark faction and their shared undead status. His motivation for provoking Thaddeus stemmed from his origins as a lich.
First Necrothos hated anything that was alive, whether or not they were on the light faction or dark faction, this wasn't the issue with Thaddeus because Thaddeus was an undead, a vampire to be more specific, Necrotho's issue with Thaddeus was due to the fact that he wasn't in control of the vampire, the vampire served another lord who was stronger than Necrothos, as a lich not being in total control of another being irritated him. So in an attempt to calm his irritation he tries to piss off the vampire from time to time.
He didn't encounter this issue with the goblins, given his considerable strength surpassing theirs. As a peak rank 3 entity, he was easily one of the strongest person in this world, for comparison, the goblin who participated in the assault were predominantly rank 1, with a few on rank 2, the same can be said for the human side, only the two knights were rank 2 the rest were rank 1.
Here, the highest power in this world was a rank 3 being, hence why this world was referred to as a "nameless rank 3 world", it's so weak it doesn't even deserved to be named.
All being start at rank 1, some creatures is beings from higher races or the children of extremely powerful beings start at a higher rank from birth, but most start at rank 1. In order to achieve a breakthrough, it's quite simple, you need to harness the omnipresent mana of the world. The more you utilize mana, the more your body adapts and evolves to contain greater quantities of it. Additionally, your comprehension of mana and the laws of the world deepens, which is crucial for enlightenment.
Naturally, one of the swiftest paths to enhancing your mana is through combat. Lord Thaddeus, having served as the Lord of Shadowcliff Keep for over 40 years, participated in numerous battles, elevating him to a middle rank 3 being.
However, his status changed when he was approached by a rank 4 vampire lord from a foreign world, the vampire lord offered a deal to Thaddeus who accepted, in return he turned Thaddeus into a vampire, enhancing his strength and facilitating a semi-breakthrough to the peak of the 3rd realm—the same realm Necrothos was.
Right now the objective of Thaddeus and Necrothos ( along with the few peak rank 3 being of this world ) is to rank up to rank 4, this realm is where you truly become a powerhouse because it gives you the ability to travel into space giving you access to the numerous asteroids and uninhabited planets full off resources. The natives of this rank 3 world don't know this, only Necrothos does because he isn't from this world but from the undead realm, one of the strongest realms in the galaxy.
The vampire lord who turned Thaddeus hired Necrothos to help guide Thaddeus, as the end goal is the total conquest of this world and Thaddeus who has a lot of experience in this was the perfect the man…or undead ? for this job.
Passing through the streets of the fortress, a strong sense of blood could be smelled, red eyes learned out the windows of the houses, which was were the fifty thousand strong force of the now fallen Shadowcliff keep worked and resided, they were all loyalist to lord Thaddeus, most were the children of prostitutes from the older generation of the soldier, they were born in Shadowcliff, they were loyal to Shadowcliff and its master, not the kingdom.
the vampire lord who turned Thaddeus into a vampire, also turned the 50 thousand soldiers of Shadowcliff keep into ghouls, ghouls are a servant race of the vampires, ones they were turned they feasted on the civilian population of Shadowcliff as a celebration.
Necrothos POV:
Ignoring all the ghouls starting at me like I was some kind of prositute , I simply pondered on how long finishing my mission will take.
A month ago I arrived here through a portal, I've fully digested all the crucial information of this backwater world, the military convoys that Thaddeus requested from the capital under the guise of backups were a good addition to my army, they will be the first wave to send out to take out the Kingdom of Duskmere.
Ones we take out Duskmere the rest should be easy, this place is so backwater no other foreign forces have expanded apart from some irrelevant god called Aurelius, meaning I don't have to worry about Nexumi ( term used to describe people on the light faction ) reinforcements to help the humans here, this place truly is a all to eat buffet.
However this isn't what I want,participating in the subjugations of smaller worlds is something I've been doing for a long time, I want to go higher,but I won't make the same mistake as last time, I first need to rank up let's hope the seer was correct, maybe this is the world she told me about.
End of POV
What Necrothos was referring to was an event that happen more than a 16 years ago, back then he took part of an invasion of a rank 5 world that was in a power struggle between dark elves and light elves.
The invasion was a total disaster, when the undead reinforcement came to help the dark elves they were shocked to find themselves in a massive ambush, the dark elves were wiped out just before they arrived.
Before the undead reinforcements could retreat they were hit with a barrage of projectials and arrows, the elves were smart to not engage the undeads knowing they can rise the dead, it was a total massacre and Necrothos was right in the midst of it, thankfully he managed to espace but he had to abandon his army that took him centuries to make.
16 year ago rank 5 world Eldarion Vale.
In a burned forest a tall skeleton was limping to a abandoned cootage, he had only one leg and one arm, his skull was half caved in and half his rib cage was missing, it was Necrothos and he was in mess.
"Fuck not even a day in this world and I'm nearly dead, my army is gone, wiped out, what took me centuries to amass was gone in a few hours, I need to get the fuck out of here it's clear our side lost, the dark elves have lost this world."
Kicking the door opened he wasn't able to sit down and relax before a older woman with a robe covering her charged straight at Necrothos who was taken by surprise.
"Haaaaaa I won't let your harm the prince!" She tackled Necrothos, which turned out to be a complete failure as he didn't even move an inch.
A awkward silence engulfed the two, Necrothos was looking down on the older woman who had her short arms wrapped around his torso she was looking up at him in shock.
Breaking the silence Necrothos pulled his remaining skeleton arm back and his bony hand formed a fist.
"Perfect just the punching back I need to vent out."
"Wha-?" And before she could finish her sentence Necrothos started to beat her with his remaining arm while screaming something about avenging his army.
Fix any spelling mistakes.