Chapter 123: Why were all these forces converging on the snowy mountain?

The tiger being guard spoke gravely, deciding to lead the tribe to hide deep within the bunker of the snowy mountain cave, waiting for their queen to complete her bloodline inheritance.Once the queen completed the inheritance, her strength would reach Monarch level, giving them the ability to protect themselves in Frostwind snowy mountain. When the queen grew stronger, they would have the power to return and confront the traitors of their tribe.

Unfortunately, there were very few tribe members loyal to the queen. Most did not recognize her because she was not a purebred Arctic Tigerfolk but a human-beast hybrid.

In reality, the Arctic Tigerfolk in the far north were the true traitors. Only this small group still supported the queen, fleeing from persecution to this place.

Not only did the Arctic Tigerfolk see them as traitors, but almost all beast races viewed the queen as an outcast. The Beast Empire wanted to claim the queen for themselves, and humans hated them deeply, likely due to some significant entanglement between the queen's father and the human race.

At the root of it all was the queen's extraordinary talent, surpassing even the previous queen. No faction wanted to see the rise of another powerful figure, so they fabricated charges to justify their pursuit.

If not for the queen's treasures, relics left by the previous queen, they would have died countless times.

If it had been a normal beast and human falling in love and having children, there would have been no issue. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many half-beasts in the world.

"Have you covered the entrance well? For the next few days, only go out to search for food. Do not venture out unnecessarily," the tiger being guard instructed the others.

"Understood."

...

Alex returned to her castle and deposited the resources into the Warehouse.

The appearance of new forces in the snowy mountain was not a good sign. Werewolves and tiger beings were not native to Frostwind snowy mountain.

There was also the Hobgoblin that appeared when Alex met Chi-Chi. The Hobgoblin kingdom was very powerful, and they would surely seek revenge for their fallen kin.

This raised a question for Alex.

Why were all these forces converging on the snowy mountain? What was there in the snowy mountain?

"I should remind Chi-Chi to be cautious of the Hobgoblins."

Chi-Chi's castle had already been discovered by the Hobgoblins, making it very dangerous.

The recent series of events gave Alex a sense that something big was about to happen.

"By the way, those people 'sponsored' ten thousand iron ingots. I can upgrade the town again."

The next level was town level 3. Based on past patterns, this upgrade should reward a special structure blueprint.

Alex found that the blueprints from rewards were usually valuable, unlike many she obtained through other means, which were often useless.

With a flash of light, the town upgrade was complete. Fortunately, Sophie produced iron ingots daily. With two furnaces, production was faster. Otherwise, the ten thousand iron ingots wouldn't have been enough.

As for wood, stone, and food, Alex had no shortage of these basic resources. The Dark Forest had plenty of trees, and the White Rock Mountains had abundant stone. Nearly a thousand dwarves and skeletons were mining, providing an endless supply.

[Congratulations, Lord, for upgrading the town to level 3. You have received a special structure blueprint. Would you like to claim it now?]

"Claim!"

[special structure blueprint: Crystal Shield]

[Defense Level: Commanding level (upgrades with town level)]

[Feature 1: Connects to the castle crystal to generate a shield covering the entire town.]

[Feature 2: The shield does not block the Lord or their troops.]

[Construction Materials: 10k magic crystals, 100 Essence Shards.]

"Such straightforward materials..."

Alex needed a defensive special structure, and this came at the perfect time.

"Build!"

Alex saw the resources disappear from her Warehouse, but nothing seemed to change.

The Warehouse now had fewer than fifty Essence Shards, but that wasn't important. Disassembling the seven thousand corpses would yield a large amount of resources. The priority was to upgrade the town quickly.

Both Alex's shield and defense tower were connected to the town crystal. As the town level increased, the castle's defense and attack power would also rise.

She went to the top floor where the castle crystal was located and found it now encased in a spherical transparent shield.

This must be the Crystal Shield.

Alex approached and found a control panel. She activated it.

Instantly, a transparent shield expanded from the crystal, passing through Alex and the castle, eventually covering the entire town.

Alex noticed the shield's size could be adjusted.

She experimented with the size, finding that a smaller shield increased its thickness, enhancing its defense.

Alex set the shield to cover only her castle, Sophie's subsidiary castle, and the Portal of Transit, slightly increasing the defense.

Returning to the ground floor, Alex instructed all airborne troops in the snowy mountain to focus on the Dark Forest's perimeter, reducing the attention on the undead from the snowy mountain's creatures.

She also increased the number of specters sent to the snowy mountain to observe the races and gather intelligence.

Two new races appearing in one day was highly unusual. Being so close to the snowy mountain, Alex needed to be cautious.

As night fell, Alex decided not to visit Sophie and planned to take a relaxing bath.

...

In the depths of the snowy mountain, Alex had disassembled the werewolf corpses, only bloodstains remained on the ground.

A burly werewolf clawed a snow fox licking the blood to death.

Twenty more werewolves followed, including the one driven away by the Arctic Tigerfolk queen.

"There's a magical scent on the ground. It must be those Arctic Tigerfolk," one werewolf sniffed the ground and rasped to the leader.

"These nobodies dare to ignore Skyreach Mountains. Find them. I want her captured alive!"

...

The next morning, Alex woke up early and checked the system dashboard, a habit she had developed. ϺƲԼΞМƤႸƦ.ƇОϺ

?!

[Your lv5 Standard Phantom was killed by an enemy creature!]

Alex sat up abruptly, her breasts bouncing with the motion.

The last time her troops were killed was by James in the Dark Forest, who had holy magic.

This time, the notification didn't indicate an enemy Lord, and most specters were in the snowy mountain or White Rock Mountains. It was clear the enemy was in the snowy mountain.

"Something is definitely happening in the snowy mountain!"

Alex quickly got dressed and went outside to investigate.

In a blue and white sailor dress, Alex arrived in the courtyard. The specter had been killed at 3 AM, along with about ten others. She couldn't believe they hadn't reported anything.

The specter guarding the courtyard gate immediately reported to Alex.

"Killed by werewolves?!"

Alex was silent. It must be the same group of werewolves from yesterday, seeking revenge for their fallen kin.

It was normal for specters to be discovered, but Alex hadn't expected the werewolves to have the ability to kill them.

"Continue observing, but be careful."

If the enemy could kill undead, Alex had to be cautious. Most specters were Standard level, but she needed to understand the werewolves' purpose in the snowy mountain.

"I heard wolves have a keen sense of smell. I brought their kin's corpses back. Will they track me here?"

Alex was worried and turned to Ice Cream.

"Ice Cream, how strong is Skyreach Mountains compared to the dwarf kingdom, Hobgoblin kingdom, and human empire?"

Ice Cream: ?

Why ask such a question? To dragons, these forces are all the same...

Wait, Skyreach Mountains is different. Searᴄh the nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Skyreach Mountains is decent. Their leader is said to be Sovereign level, with potential to become a god. My mother said their leader is slightly stronger than her. The dwarves and Hobgoblins are weak, without even an Sovereign level. The human empire is slightly stronger."

Both humans and dragons had produced Divine level beings or currently had them. The wolves were close but not quite there. The dwarves and Hobgoblins were strong to lower-tier forces but weak to upper-tier ones.

"So strong?!"

Alex had thought Skyreach Mountains was at most King level, but they had an Sovereign level!

Wait, so the frost dragon and six-winged angel were Sovereign level. Alex, then a Standard level, had witnessed an Sovereign level battle?

Sovereign level was the upper limit for most strong beings. Ascending to Divine level was extremely difficult, requiring talent, opportunity, and luck.

"Would an Sovereign level willingly die for this?"

Alex held the Frost Heart, puzzled.

Maybe different species had different beliefs.

Never mind, better be cautious. She was too weak now; encountering a Monarch level would be fatal.

Alex suspected there was a Monarch level werewolf in the snowy mountain. She decided to recall all ground troops from the Dark Forest perimeter, concentrating them in her territory to reduce the chance of being discovered.

Fortunately, the Specter Chandelier was a Monarch level structure, making it invisible to anyone below Monarch level, giving Alex some peace of mind.

"I need to increase my strength quickly. I'm only lv6 Commanding, far from Monarch level."

Alex sighed, wondering where to find more experience.

Meanwhile, in Lucian's castle on the Barren Plains.

Lucian faced a dire situation, discovered by three factions, each of which he couldn't defeat.

With werewolves in the snowy mountain, Alex wouldn't go there for now, but Lucian didn't know that.

The Elemental Alliance, having suffered heavy losses, wouldn't target Lucian for now.

Both the Elemental Alliance and Lucian faced the same threat: the Starfallen Empire. The Alliance was better off, as their location was still hidden. Lucian was unlucky; if the Empire attacked, he was doomed.

Lucian hadn't slept, desperately seeking allies to relocate.

Despite many Lords seeking allies, most were third-tier or lower. Second-tier and above had either found allies or decided to go solo, with few seeking alliances.

Lucian couldn't be picky. He needed to move, regardless of the ally's strength.

He even offered resources, but instead of attracting allies, it made the Lords think he was a scammer.

One Lord, who had noted all first-tier Lords' names, exposed Lucian on World Chat.

[Peppa]: "Don't trust him. I noted all first-tier Lords' names. He's definitely one of them, trying to scam an Alliance, move in, and kill everyone!"

[White Tiger]: "My silence is deafening."

[Banana Lover]: "Bro, now that you mention it, it makes sense. Why would a first-tier Lord seek us weaklings as allies and offer resources? He must be trying to scam us!"

...

Lucian's forehead veins bulged as he read World Chat. He wanted to kill these foolish Lords.

Despite the insults, Lucian didn't give up. He didn't want to die.

Finally, he found an ally. Amidst the scorn, someone chose Lucian. He almost thought he had found true love.

But he was soon disappointed. The ally's castle was in an even more dangerous location, and they wanted to move to Lucian's place.

Lucian sighed, realizing they were both in the same boat.

He agreed, hoping the ally wasn't too weak.

[Dracula]: "I've invited you. Move over."