Chapter 162: Bone dragon legion
The soft soil turned into hard rock. Just as Gareth thought this move would be enough to subdue Alex, the rock pillar trapping her exploded.
Alex had disappeared, merging with the flames and the fiery creature behind her.
The flames within her domain continued to pour into the creature, making it grow larger until it matched the rock giant in size.
Gareth was stunned. He had studied magic for decades and had never seen fire magic used this way. This was clearly an earth magic technique.
The flame giant punched the rock giant, melting the surrounding rocks into lava, resembling blood from a wound.
Gareth retaliated with a punch, but it went straight through the flame giant\'s body. The flame giant had no physical form.
Alex could hit him because she relied on the impact force of fire magic.
But Gareth wasn\'t worried. With his feet on the ground, he could continuously draw power from the earth. He was confident he could outlast Alex.
The two began a primitive brawl, exchanging punch after punch. Although Gareth couldn\'t hit Alex, each attack drained her mana. When Alex hit Gareth, he quickly repaired the giant\'s wounds with earth elements.
Baldwin watched the battle above, feeling bitter. The ten thousand troops they brought had no chance to intervene in a Monarch level fight. They were too weak, with some not even reaching Commanding level.
Even when surrounding Ruby, the troops gained no advantage. Ruby\'s spatial magic was too fast, even for Baldwin, let alone the troops.
Alex and Gareth continued their duel. The earth mage\'s defense and vitality were enhanced, and his ability to continuously recover by standing on the ground was annoying.
The flame giant and rock giant clashed, causing the ground to crack and tremble.
The rock giant punched again, and the flame giant instinctively blocked. But after being hit by the orb on the rock giant\'s forehead, its movements slowed.
The rock giant punched through the flame giant\'s chest. Flames surged from the giant\'s back, forming the shape of a beautiful girl. Alex wasn\'t forced out; she left the flame giant voluntarily.
In mid-air, Alex\'s left palm held a strange black energy. As she clenched her fist, the energy dissipated.
Instantly, the flame giant turned into a sea of flames and vanished.
The rock giant began to crumble. Gareth fell from it, blood at the corner of his mouth.
As he was about to hit the ground, Gareth regained consciousness and stabilized himself, avoiding a crash.
"This is a curse!"
Gareth examined his body, seeing black smoke, a sign of being cursed.
Curse magic was insidious and hard to detect. Once cursed, the consequences were severe.
It was that girl!
Gareth realized but had no anti-curse items, putting him at a significant disadvantage in the upcoming battle.
Before Gareth could react, Alex appeared before him. He reflexively used earth magic to defend, while the five orbs attacked Alex.
As the orbs reached Alex, their yellow glow dimmed, and they fell to the ground.
Alex\'s hands burned with black flames. She punched through Gareth\'s stone wall, shattering his earth shield.
Alex\'s punch sent Gareth crashing to the ground. Before he landed, Alex appeared at his landing spot, scythe in hand, and swung it down.
"I have seven types of magic and close combat skills you lack. Even if we are both at level 1 Monarch, how can you compete with me?"
Seeing Gareth slain by Alex, Baldwin was terrified and ordered his troops to retreat.
But it was too late.
Darkness spread from Alex, and countless troops fell, vomiting blood as their life force drained away.
Bone dragons emerged from the corpses, attacking the remaining human troops.
In Alex\'s domain, the troops couldn\'t move. Only a few Commanding levels could barely function, but they soon succumbed to plague magic and darkness, dying in agony.
"How do you have two domains?"
Baldwin was shocked, helplessly watching his troops die.
"You have much to learn."
Alex walked towards Baldwin, scythe in hand, like a grim reaper harvesting lives.
"Alex, he\'s really weak. He couldn\'t even touch me."
Seeing Baldwin slain, Ruby couldn\'t help but comment. This was her first opponent after reaching Monarch level, and she had hoped to test herself, but Baldwin was too weak.
"Yes, he\'s the weakest Monarch level I\'ve faced."
Alex retracted her domain and scythe.
Summoning Gareth and Baldwin\'s corpses would take time, so Alex and Ruby waited.
Though Ruby fought with magic, Alex knew she was a tigerfolk, a warrior, not a mage. Close combat was her strength.
Except for a few escapees, the Starfallen Empire\'s troops were nearly wiped out, leaving about 9,500 corpses. Alex summoned bone dragons, forming a bone dragon legion.
Bone dragons, as high-level undead, couldn\'t benefit from double summoning, but one bone dragon was far stronger than two skeletons or zombies.
If there had been more corpses, Alex would have wanted to additionally create a ghost dragon legion.
Fifteen minutes later, the two Monarch level corpses were ready. Alex summoned a Gargoyle and a Destroyer.
Both were resistant to magic attacks, though weaker in close combat, making them effective against mages.
Alex\'s troops gained two more Monarch levels, boosting her confidence for the upcoming battle with the Lords.
"Let\'s go. I\'ll take you to my castle."
With the summoning complete, Alex didn\'t waste time and prepared to return.
Alex communicated with Samson. If the Lords dared to come, she would know immediately and respond quickly.
"Alright!"
Ruby nodded, and they mounted Ice Cream, leading the bone dragon legion back towards the castle. The massive skeletal forms blotted out the sun, casting vast shadows of death across the ground as the undead army marched homeward.