Chapter 46
If the Goblin homeland stood undefended, why not gather the undead army and raze it while their warriors were away?
The idea arrived almost the instant the question did — and it wasn't reckless.
It was entirely practical. The Goblin army was already deep inside the Frostlands, and they'd likely taken the longer route precisely so Lilith wouldn't notice them moving.
Unfortunately for them, she'd found them anyway, and she had no intention of letting the opportunity slip.
Destroying the Goblin faction wouldn't just lock in her leaderboard position; it would erase one of the greatest threats sitting next to her Territory.
And judging by the scraps she'd overheard, the Goblins were gearing up to contest the unknown treasure — they wouldn't be heading home anytime soon. They had all but invited the attack.
Lilith opened the System interface and sent Bonnie the order to mobilize the undead army. Once she was done with Giles's former Territory, she'd head home and launch the assault.
A perfect opportunity. Her hand curled into a fist, the excitement building on its own.
The coming struggle in the Frostlands looked even bloodier than she'd guessed — which suited her fine.
She had no interest in the treasure itself.
What she wanted was for the native factions to butcher one another as thoroughly as possible.
The Wood Elf–Orc war had ended without a single Elite dying; surely the chaos gathering here would produce at least one casualty at that Rank.
With this many factions primed to fight, Lilith needed exactly one Elite-ranked corpse.
One would transform the strength of her entire Territory.
The treasure battle had nothing to do with her — but she fully intended to watch it from the sidelines.
Decision made, she withdrew from the Goblins and returned to the neighboring mountain where Giles waited.
"Let's go. We'll collect the resources from your Territory first."
They departed without alerting a single Goblin.
Giles's Territory sat beside the settlement Simon had once ruled, tucked into a mountain basin that was easy to defend. Only his castle remained now — the moment he'd become a Vassal, every Unit in the Territory had vanished, and even the castle had entered its destruction countdown.
Lilith had little interest in his ordinary stockpiles. What she wanted to see were the unique Structures, and whatever rare items the place still held. Giles understood, and led her through the grounds, explaining as they went.
"This is the Spatial Workbench. I can infuse materials with spatial power to create specialized tools." He pointed to another Structure. "That's the Barrier Core — it uses spatial distortion to redirect or reflect physical attacks."
Farther ahead stood a large defensive weapon.
"That one's a Sky-Piercer Ballista. Its bolts are enhanced with spatial power.
" He gestured toward a final building. "And that is the Spatial Research Station.
It's different from the others — by studying the knowledge stored inside, I can improve my control over spatial power. Almost like learning magic."
Then he hesitated. "My Lord, these Structures were designed specifically for my Talent. They may not be of any use to you."
Lilith waved that away. "They don't need to be useful to me. If they're useful to you, we're taking them."
Because Giles had become a Vassal, the unique Structures in his former Territory could be recovered — a one-time chance, and Lilith wasn't wasting it.
"The Spatial Research Station comes first," she said, weighing the lot. "Then the Spatial Workbench and Spatial Smelter." A glance at the Barrier Core. "We can leave the barrier behind. The Sky-Piercer Ballista may be worth taking. And take every Mana Crystal in storage."
Recovered Structures reverted to Blueprint form — easy to carry, though rebuilding them would mean paying their full construction costs over again. Giles was already collecting them as she spoke.
He'd recovered only a few when a System warning flashed up.
[Maximum Resource Recovery Limit Reached: 30%.]
[Former Territory collapse commencing.]
The warning beat the collapse by a fraction of a second. No countdown, no delay — the castle and every surrounding Structure came down all at once, and the Bone Dragon reacted instantly, spreading its wings over Lilith and Giles to shield them from falling stone and dust.
Lilith frowned. "That's it? Those few things counted as thirty percent?"
Nothing to be done about it; the limit was the System's to enforce. And as the last of the Territory vanished into rubble, Giles's life as an independent Lord ended for good. He belonged to Lilith's Territory now, in every sense.
She handed him the recovered Blueprints. "Keep these. You can rebuild them in the yard beside your villa."
Giles nodded and tucked them into his spatial ring.
With the transfer complete, there was no reason left to linger in the Frostlands. Lilith's thoughts had already moved on to marching the undead army against the Goblin homeland; the treasure wouldn't appear right away, and she could come back through Frostbound Bastion when it did.
"Let's go." She brushed snow off her shoulders and out of her hair. "Is it just me, or is this storm getting worse?"
The two of them climbed onto the Bone Dragon's broad spine.
By then the snowfall had thickened enough to erase the landscape entirely — visibility down to less than three feet, everything beyond it a solid wall of white.
Lilith had been to the Frostlands several times, and she had never seen weather this savage.
"Does it get like this often?" she asked. Small talk, nothing more.
Giles answered it seriously anyway. "No. I've been here for days, and this is the first storm like this."
"Huh." She shrugged. "Whatever. Let's move."
She ordered the Bone Dragon to take off — and before it could spread its wings, the ground began to convulse. Lilith lost her footing and grabbed one of the dragon's exposed ribs; Giles nearly pitched off its back entirely. The whole mountain was shuddering beneath them.
"What the hell is happening?"