Undead city-Altraud

Five days had passed since Arya's return from the dungeon.

The city bustled with activity as every undead worked tirelessly to prepare for the upcoming ceremony. Undead of all shapes and sizes dove into the dungeon repeatedly, fetching meat, crystals, and healing rose flowers to be used throughout the city.

Deer and rodent-like undead carried the meat towards the north of the dungeon, where a bunch of graves with roofs decorated with vegetable and meat symbols were present.

The rodents dropped the meat in front of the grave and ran back to fetch some more, while the undead deer entered the graves to help in the cooking process. Steam constantly flowed out from the chimneys attached to the graves, spreading the sweet smell of the food all around the city.

On the other hand, tiny undead birds and skeletons carried the crystals towards the south of the dungeon and deposited them in front of red-roofed graves decorated with symbols of scrolls and weapons.

A few other skeleton wolves and boars took the healing rose flowers towards the east of the dungeon and deposited them on graves with a plus symbol on them. The undead inside the graves collected the flowers and began concocting potions for the undead to use.

While all that was happening, Arya was busy sprinkling powdered crystals on the graves of the outer city. “Why are we doing this?” Arya asked Peter, who was directing her to sprinkle the powder on a few specific graves in the outer city. “Because it makes activating the magic circle in the grave a lot easier. Now, let's go to the next grave,” he hopped towards a nearby granite grave, and Arya followed diligently, doing the work to help the undead as much as she could. ‘Will doing this reduce Maya's anger towards me?’ she thought internally but shook her head. She wasn't doing this for her forgiveness. It was just her way of expressing gratitude to the undead for letting her live in the city.

They worked for the entire day, sprinkling the powder on almost a hundred graves by the time they were done. “Finally done,” Arya cheered, picked Peter up, and then moved towards a large grave made of marble near the inner city wall.

It was Arthur's grave. Taking a deep breath, she entered the grave and saw Arthur and Kyouka looking at a map and discussing possible locations where the new undead would spawn.

“What's that?” she asked while pointing at the map, startling Arthur in the process.

“Didn't anyone tell you to knock before you enter?”

“There wasn't a door.”

“You entered through a roof and so you need to knock the roof before you enter,” Arthur snarled while holding his forehead in frustration.

“Alright, calm down; we don't have time for this,” Kyouka interjected and explained the details of the map to Arya.

“This is the Altraud city map and its surroundings,” she informed while pointing at the map.

The map displayed a detailed layout of Altraud city, enclosed by a large wall called the Outer City Wall, with its sole entrance towards the east. Inside the city was another circular wall known as the Inner City Wall. It was constructed around the Western corner of the city and had the city's minor dungeon inside it. The inner city also had four major blocks:

-The food production block towards the North of the dungeon.

-The scroll and weapon production block towards the South of the dungeon.

-The medicine block towards the west of the dungeon.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

-Finally, the residential and guest area towards the east of the dungeon.

They were all connected by stone pavement and a well-designed transport network, which gave a beautiful aesthetic to the city.

On the other hand, the outer city had only a few important areas like the city chief's residence, the city library, and training grounds.

The surroundings of the city were also displayed on the map. The city was surrounded by the dark forest in the east, a large valley in the north, and the ocean on the other two sides. All those surrounding structures acted as a natural fortress for the city and made any enemy invasions almost idiotic.

Arthur pointed towards the valley in the north and said, “I think the most number of newborns are going to spawn here. You and Anne need to work together and catch as many undead as possible before they end up falling into the valley.”

“Alright,” she agreed and turned towards Arya, “So, why are you here? If it's about leaving the city with me then you don't need to worry, this thick-skulled idiot said that he won't allow you to follow me unless you are strong enough,” she huffed and stared accusingly towards Arthur.

Arya almost sighed in relief at that, but then she remembered that if she stayed in the city then it might lead to war.

“I… I am strong enough to take care of myself, so I will follow you” she mumbled while tightly holding the confused Peter in her hand.

“What's happening?” he asked her but Arthur was the one to reply. “She wants to leave the city because she thinks that something bad Would happen to us if she stays here”

“Wait, so Arya is leaving the city? Then I want to go too,” he proclaimed, but Arthur stopped him from saying anything more.

“No, you are not going anywhere. You are not strong enough to leave the city” he informed them, but Arya felt that she was strong enough.

“I defeated the dungeon boss. I…I can take care of myself” she announced, yet Arthur still shook his head.

“No, you didn't defeat him, the only reason you guys won against Blacky was because of the contract he signed with me,” he informed and then pointed towards a stone slab at a corner of the room. The slab contained the details of the contract between the city chief and the dungeon boss.

<-Dungeon Battle Contract->

-Undead can periodically enter the dungeon and challenge the boss for a duel.

-If the undead loses, then that undead cannot enter the dungeon for one year.

-If the undead wins, then the dungeon boss should accept defeat and direct the undead towards the mutation circle.

-Killing is prohibited during the entire procedure.

-In addition to the above rules, dungeon beasts cannot use any skills inside the dungeon. However, in exchange, they can exit the dungeon and roam outside the city once every month for 7 days.

“As you can see, that guy didn't use any skills against you, and that's the only reason you won” Arthur informed and then continued “Unless you become strong enough to beat him in an actual battle, I won't allow you to leave the city”

Arya didn't know how to feel, on the one hand, she was happy to stay with her friends a bit longer but on the other hand, she was frustrated to know that her previous victory was due to a contract and not because of her skills.

Walking out from the grave she dropped Peter in the inner city and returned to her residence.

The newborn ceremony was fast approaching and somehow she was feeling uneasy about it. Shaking her head to push out the negative thoughts she glanced at the cloudy sky and entered her grave.

********************************

North of Undead City

In the dead of the night.

Three groups of humans entered the valley towards the North of Altruad. Each group was led by a captain, and the entire human force was around 250 members.

Blaze and his 50-man group quickly separated from the others and climbed up the valley, lying in ambush just outside the outer wall of the undead city. They were the vanguard of the human force and their first line of attack.

Slightly behind them, Hendry Mammon and the royal guard, Liam, led their groups towards the large river flowing in the valley.

Liam directed his men to set up traps near the river bed, while on the other hand, Hendry's group used their wands to cast spells.

A thin mist covered the entire valley, and inside the mist, the humans waited for the night to pass and the newborn ceremony to begin.

********************************

Vampire territory

Imperial capital.

Veld sat at his desk, doing his kingly duties, when suddenly an imperial bat entered his chamber with an urgent message.

The bat snatched the pen he was holding and wrote the message on the desk.

Veld read the message, and immediately his face paled. He read it a few more times just to make sure he wasn't seeing any illusions, but it was the reality.

Selena was leading an attack. As far as he knew, she wasn't the type to use brute force, which meant that the attack was most probably a distraction or a way to stall for time.

He hurried out of the palace and assembled all his forces. It was a time for war.