Chapter 163: Building an Army [4]

Edgar moved through the forest on the shoulder of the Soul Guardian, his body swaying slightly with every heavy step the enormous creature took.

The trees passed around them in silence, while the grey fog still lingered between the branches and made it difficult to see very far ahead.

Edgar remained quiet for several minutes before another thought entered his mind.

’I need more soldiers.’

It didn’t matter whether they were alive or dead.

He needed more people capable of fighting, and he needed them as soon as possible.

The previous battle had made that painfully clear.

Even with the Watch Towers, Ballista, Soul Guardians, and various defensive structures, the Fortress had nearly been overwhelmed by a single army.

And Edgar still didn’t know when the King’s forces would attack again.

’They could come tonight, tomorrow, or whenever there is a moon on the sky’

That uncertainty was what bothered him the most.

He couldn’t prepare for an exact date because he didn’t know one.

All he could do was keep strengthening his forces until the attack came.

Edgar suddenly looked toward the Soul Guardian beneath him.

"Change direction." The enormous creature continued walking. "Take me to the old ore mine."

The Guardian immediately changed direction, moving deeper into the forest.

Edgar remembered the place well.

It was where he had discovered the strange runes and several other materials that had been useful in his experiments.

Perhaps there was something else hidden there.

---

It didn’t take long for the Soul Guardian to reach the mining area.

Edgar jumped down from its shoulder and landed on the damp ground.

The area looked almost exactly as he remembered.

Several large rocks surrounded the entrance, while the remains of old mining equipment were scattered across the ground.

The forest had slowly begun reclaiming the place, with vines covering some of the wooden structures and small plants growing through cracks in the stone.

Edgar walked around while examining everything carefully. ’There has to be something useful here.’

He didn’t know exactly what he was searching for.

Maybe another magical material or more Nightmare Stones, perhaps something completely different.

His eyes eventually landed on a familiar section of rock. ’That’s it.’

He recognized the location immediately.

The cave where he had previously found the runes was hidden behind a narrow opening between two enormous rocks.

Edgar walked toward it.

The Soul Guardian followed behind him, but Edgar stopped after entering the opening.

"Wait here."

The Guardian lowered its head slightly as the entrance was far too narrow for its enormous body.

Edgar turned sideways and squeezed through the opening.

The moment he entered, the outside world became almost completely silent.

Only the faint sound of dripping water echoed through the darkness.

Edgar continued forward and the walls were incredibly close together, forcing him to walk carefully.

Sharp pieces of stone protruded from the ceiling, and several small rocks occasionally fell beneath his feet.

The deeper he went, the colder the cave became.

Edgar rubbed his arms. ’It wasn’t this cold before.’

He continued walking and the passage eventually became even narrower.

Edgar had to place one hand against the wall while moving sideways through the darkness.

The faint sound of his footsteps echoed through the tunnel.

After several minutes, the passage suddenly opened.

Edgar stepped into a much larger chamber.

The chamber was enormous compared to the narrow passage behind him.

Strange mineral formations covered the walls, reflecting faint traces of light from somewhere deeper inside.

Edgar walked around the chamber while examining the ground.

There were no obvious treasures, nothing that immediately caught his attention.

He continued deeper into the cave.

After walking for several more minutes, Edgar suddenly stopped. There was a large trench in front of him.

It was so deep that he couldn’t see the bottom.

Edgar stepped closer to the edge and looked down.

The darkness below swallowed even the faint light coming from the upper chamber.

He frowned. ’How deep is this?’

He considered turning around but then another thought entered his mind.

’If they built this place, there must have been a reason for it.’

Edgar looked down again and he couldn’t see anything.

After a brief hesitation, he stepped over the edge. "Let’s find out."

His body immediately dropped.

WHOOSH!

The darkness swallowed him and the air rushed past his ears as Edgar fell rapidly.

He immediately activated his Heavenly Spirit Body.

A thin layer of golden energy covered his body.

BOOM!

Edgar slammed against the wall.

His fingers immediately dug into a crack in the stone.

He gritted his teeth as the impact nearly sent him spinning into the darkness.

"That hurt."

Edgar adjusted his position before slowly lowering himself.

He used his hands to grip the uneven wall, moving down little by little.

The descent took several minutes.

His arms began aching, but he continued until his feet finally touched solid ground.

Edgar released the wall and took a deep breath.

Edgar raised one hand. A small amount of Solar Energy gathered above his palm.

WHOOM.

A tiny sphere of golden light appeared.

It wasn’t bright enough to illuminate the entire area, but it was enough for Edgar to see several metres ahead.

He began walking and the ground was surprisingly flat.

The deeper he went, the colder the air became.

Soon, Edgar noticed something strange.

There was frost on the walls and the ice was incredibly cold. ’This shouldn’t be possible.’

Edgar continued forward when he saw something lying beneath the ice.

At first, he thought it was a rock but after moving closer, he realized what it was.

A hand.

He raised his sphere of light higher and more shapes appeared.

Multiple bodies came to his view that were of different sizes.

They were everywhere.

Edgar walked forward slowly as the light illuminated the chamber.

His expression gradually changed as the entire cavern was filled with frozen corpses.

There were hundreds of them.

Edgar saw elves with long ears and delicate facial features.

There were dwarves with broad bodies and thick beards.

Several enormous figures were unmistakably Giants.

Their massive bodies had been frozen in strange positions, some still holding weapons in their hands.

There were also creatures Edgar couldn’t identify.

Some possessed horns and others had tails.

One appeared to have four arms and nother had a body covered in scales.

All of them were completely frozen.

Edgar slowly walked between the corpses.

The temperature was so low that even his breath became visible. ’What is this place?’

He stopped beside one of the Giants.

The creature was enormous even while lying on the ground.

Its body was covered in ancient armor that had been partially buried beneath layers of ice.

Edgar carefully touched the armor.

It was still intact. ’These bodies haven’t decayed.’

That was strange.

If they had been here for years, perhaps even decades, their bodies should have deteriorated but they hadn’t.

Edgar continued examining the frozen corpses. The deeper he went, the more races he found.

Edgar’s expression became complicated.

He had come here looking for resources but he had found an underground graveyard.

He remained silent for a long time and a strange thought slowly formed in his mind.

Edgar looked toward the countless frozen bodies.

’What if...’

His eyes slowly narrowed.

The Tower of Souls could refine corpses.

It could turn them into Soul Guardians and these bodies were far more unusual than the ordinary Nightmares he had been using.

Some of them had clearly possessed tremendous physical strength.

Others belonged to races known for their magical abilities.

The possibility made Edgar’s heart beat slightly faster. ’What if I turn all of them into Soul Guardians?’

The idea was almost absurd but the more he considered it, the more practical it became.

If their bodies had been preserved this perfectly, perhaps their original abilities could be inherited by the Soul Guardians created from them.

Edgar slowly looked toward the deepest part of the cavern.

There were even more bodies hidden beyond the range of his light.

His expression became serious. ’How many are there?’

He raised his hand higher and the golden sphere became brighter.

The cavern wasn’t simply filled with corpses.

It was enormous.

It extended far beyond what he had initially imagined.

The frozen bodies continued into the darkness like an endless army waiting beneath the earth.

Edgar stared at them for several seconds.

A faint smile slowly appeared on his face.

"If this works..." He looked toward the distant frozen figures. "...then I’ve just found the army I was looking for."

But before Edgar could move toward the nearest corpse, something suddenly caught his attention.

At the very end of the cavern, behind countless frozen bodies, there was a massive stone door.

Unlike everything else in the cave, it wasn’t covered in ice. Ancient runes were carved across its surface.

And one of them was glowing faintly.

Edgar’s smile disappeared.

He slowly approached the door.

The moment he stepped within several metres of it, the rune became brighter.