As Li De issued his command, Witherbone steered the colossal dragon into the fray once more, reigniting the terrifying clash.
Li De had no intention of personally engaging the Beastman royal who was four levels above him.
The elite power he now held had grown too quickly. Since Emi's evolution to Level 15, in just half a year, Li De had assembled seven terrifyingly powerful combatants.
Each one of them was strong enough to serve as the pillar of any force.
Though Li De had risen from Level 10 to Level 14 in under a year, compared to his subordinates, who had lived for decades or even centuries, his combat prowess was still relatively weak.
Of course, this didn't discourage him. How long had he even been in Glory?
If he could easily surpass combatants who had spent decades or centuries accumulating their strength, then they wouldn't be worthy of their reputations.
Besides, competing in combat strength against his own followers was foolish, he was their king. His power lay in these formidable subordinates and the vast force he commanded.
If the time ever came when he had to personally charge the frontlines, there would be only one reason, Dawn City would be facing annihilation, and its lord would be forced to take the battlefield himself.
But as long as he had time to grow, these currently powerful subordinates might not be able to keep pace with him in the future.
He was the Vampire Progenitor, the Lord of Dawn City, the god of the Dawn Order, the master of the Crimson Mage Tower, and the big boss of the Dark Pact.
Even a single one of those exaggerated titles would be enough to turn heads, when it came to potential for growth, not even Isha with her Golden Bloodline might be able to surpass him.
Li De shook his head, pulling his somewhat scattered thoughts back, and smiled faintly. Dawn City had developed so rapidly, so fast that it no longer required him to personally step onto the battlefield.
And the enemies he had faced recently, weren't they all truly powerful giants?
The Dark Pact, the Lionmane Tribe, there were no weaklings among them. The fact that he could now stand firm against the beastman army numbering in the tens of thousands was something unimaginable just a year ago when he had first arrived in Glory.
But, I am the Vampire Progenitor. How could I possibly lose to any of you?
A glint flashed in Li De's eyes. He had been so occupied recently, dealing with endless tasks and emergencies, that he had nearly forgotten to study his most beloved subject: magic.
He made a firm decision in his heart, once this matter was resolved, he would work on improving his own combat strength.
He even had a faint sense that if he advanced to Level 15, something tremendous would happen.
Rumble~
The battle below interrupted Li De's daydreaming, a bold move, daydreaming on the battlefield. He quickly refocused.
This was Li De's first time witnessing an all-out clash of Level 18 combat strength at such close range. The power of someone at that level was now being displayed before him in the most direct and shocking way.
He had once personally seen Betty, at Level 16, slay a transformed Level 19 Magma Demon in just two strikes. While the transformed Magma Demon's strength was a pale imitation of a true one, it was still a Level 19 lifeform.
Being able to slay a Level 19 being spoke volumes.
And yet, this powerful Northern Valkyrie, possessing legendary-level combat skills and having activated her royal Northern bloodline, was still being overwhelmed in battle by Kap.
Immense strength, razor-sharp combat instincts, unimaginable battle techniques, and a fearless, unyielding fighting will.
Kap, this Level 18 Beastman royal, was absurdly powerful.
Even with the Level 18 Bone Dragon joining in, the battle was still extremely difficult.
The Bone Dragon was an experimental result Li De achieved before coming here, inspired by Nilo's use of faith energy infused into weapons. He had conducted a test on the undead mage Witherbone, who was imprisoned at Dawn Square.
The outcome was pleasing.
Although faith energy was naturally compatible with Vampires, it was a different story for the Undead. The faith energy condensed by the Dawn Order was holy and radiant, its damage to Undead was even more terrifying than sunlight was to Vampires.
More importantly, Li De discovered that faith energy had a terrifying assimilative effect on Witherbone's soul.
As long as he had enough faith energy, he could directly alter the nature of Witherbone's soul, making the undead mage fully submit to him.
Li De was extremely excited about this discovery. He had initially wanted to directly turn this powerful undead mage, who controlled a Bone Dragon, into his subordinate.
But he eventually found, helplessly, that it would take at least ten thousand points of faith energy to fully assimilate Witherbone's soul.
That was an astronomical figure for someone as broke as he was. Even with half a year of accumulation, Dawn City might not be able to gather that much.
In the end, he took a harder approach, using faith energy to threaten Witherbone. When the undead mage sensed that Li De genuinely had the power and will to obliterate him, and after experiencing the excruciating pain of his soul being burned by faith energy.
The shameless undead mage surrendered quite cheerfully.
He obediently transferred his consciousness into the Bone Dragon's body and allowed himself to be used in this war.
The only promise Li De made to the undead mage was that he would be allowed out for fresh air in Dawn City at regular intervals.
After leaving a spiritual imprint and a fixed amount of faith energy in Witherbone's soul, Li De agreed, though not without reluctance.
He had coveted this Witherbone for far too long. An 18th-level Bone Dragon, even though it was a dead dragon, it was still a dragon.
He had never been able to do anything about that cunning, devious, and extremely long-winded undead mage.
Now that he had found a way, of course he wouldn't hold back. In high spirits, he sent Witherbone to lie in ambush near the Vampire casters' formation, which was what led to the earlier dramatic scene.
This was also the reason Li De dared to launch a war directly against the Beastmen.
His high-end power was overwhelming.
Level 16 Northern Valkyrie Betty, Level 16 Son of the North Grote, Level 16 Bronze Cyclops Kosso, Level 15 Dawn Bat King Castro, and also the 15th-level Dark Priest Stanley and 15th-level Shadow High Priest Emi, who were organizing hundreds of Vampires in casting spells.
And added to all that, this 18th-level Bone Dragon Witherbone.
A total of seven top-tier combatants, enough to make any power take notice.