After Saraya left everyone to rest in the enclosed barrier by the waterfall she headed back into the town to speak to the elder. The elder allowed her to enter his house. 

“Even though I've been alive for 83 years I don't know how the foe that conquered Ithilin came to be. After conquering the capital region, he made himself known to Ithilin as Nazgur. He is always shrouded in darkness and we haven't seen him fight. There has only been one instance where he showcased his abilities” said the elder. 

“I'm guessing he showcased the ability of domination that he used on the others. He can bend the will of others to force them to serve him” said Saraya.

“Correct. He dominated the former high king and made him murder his family with his own hands. Thereafter he turned him into a slave to ruin the morale of everyone. People tried to resist but they all fell. I don't know much else about Nazgur other than he has five captains. With Ashgarn out, there should be four remaining. I expect some forces to come here within a week to reclaim this town” said the elder. 

Saraya thanked the elder and left. She needed to gain more information about Nazgur so she decided that she would wait for his captain to arrive to get answers. She also asked Ashgarn to train Raylon, Taya and Avawrath while she investigated the other towns with Delena.

Meanwhile, Nyx had taken Jin to an orc stronghold so that he could continue to build his undead army with stronger warriors. Jin kicked an orc and flew into the stronghold wall. Another one began swinging its axes savagely at him. He used his shadow tendrils to grab its hands to allow him to hit it with a double palm strike to send it flying across the area.

The leader of the orcs remained in his house with his wives. His peaceful mood was interrupted by Jin sending an orc through his house using a blood blast. The leader's bodyguards were both females. They swung their warhammers at Jin but he smashed their heads together using his shadow tendrils and then he dropkicked them away.

He thought that they were dealt with but they got up and one cracked his head with her warhammer. The other one hit his shoulder with her warhammer and then pulled him into a headbutt. Jin staggered back and this allowed another orc to stab him with a sword. Multiple orcs swarmed him and piled on top of him while striking wildly.

Thanks to Jin's vampiric regeneration he was able to heal his wounds and sent out a blood blast to escape. He then began whacking them away with shadow tendrils. The leader's bodyguards were about to attack Jin but they stopped when they saw him resurrect the dead orcs. A look of terror fell upon their faces. 

“Have fun dealing with your own kind. It's not fun when you're outnumbered is it!” yelled Jin. 

The bodyguards swung their warhammers wildly to knock the undead orcs back but they had trouble dealing with the amount of orcs present. That's when Jin slammed their heads into the ground. One of the bodyguards tried to hit him with her warhammer but he kicked her hand to disarm her. He then picked up her warhammer and smashed her head repeatedly with it to kill her. 

The other bodyguard fell to her knees in terror as Jin resurrected the bodyguard and ordered it to kill her. As the other bodyguard closed her eyes as she believed that she would die, the orc leader saved her.

“No! You should have escaped Prak. This vampire is a monster” said the bodyguard.

“You made me proud. Take my wives and flee. I'll hold this monster off. There's no other way. The strong live and the weak die. That's the way of orcs, however I have to admit that I started to feel infatuation for you and the rest” said Prak.

“I didn't know that this was a harem novel. Tell her to get lost before I add your entire harem to my entire” said Jin. He then summoned the Goblin Overlord that he had previously raised from the dead to aid him in this battle.

While their battle continued Raylon, Taya and Avawrath were training with Ashgarn who was recently free from Nazgur’s mind control. He made them do various exercises and even included meditation to help them channel their energy better. It was now time for them to spar. Ashgarn held his strength and speed back as the main focus was their martial arts technique.

Raylon was up first and he started by trying to punch Ashgarn. Ashgarn caught his punch and twisted his arm to bring his body off balance. He then kicked Raylon's legs to take him off balance. As Raylon fell to the ground Ashgarn sent out a punch but he rolled out of the way and almost kicked him. Ashgarn smiled from their exchange and their training continued.

Next it was Avawrath's turn. He tried to tackle Ashgarn to the ground but he swivelled out of the way and kicked his chest. As Avawrath went flying into the air from the impact he caught him and powerbombed him into the ground. Avawrath writhed in pain but he didn't want to stop. He began striking wildly. This allowed Ashgarn to trap his hands by pushing them down with his palms. He then punched his face and the impact sent him flying across the area.

“Avawrath, you need to control your anger. Your emotions cloud your judgement. Too much ego won't get you anywhere. Taya, it's your turn next” said Ashgarn. Avawrath snarled and walked away as Taya began to spar with him.

Taya tried to kick his face but Ashgarn ducked underneath the attack. He then grabbed her neck as was about to slam her into the ground but she brought her elbow down on his hand to break free. Ashgarn sent out a kick that rattled Taya but she held on and spun into the air to flip Ashgarn over. She then punched the back of his head.

“Impressive Taya. I'd say you are the best martial artist here. Let's continue to spar a little while longer. Don't worry, I'll just use martial arts and I'll keep my speed and power in check” said Ashgarn. Taya nodded in response.

While their training continued, Jin's battle with Prak continued. He sent his undead army of goblins and orcs towards Prak. Prak dual wielded his axes. He struck all those that came close to him. The goblins tried to slash at him but he sent out a roar that sent them back. That's when an undead orc stabbed his back with a sword.

He noticed that no matter how many he killed, they would just keep on coming back to life. The goblin warchief slammed Prak into the ground. The goblins and orcs began overwhelming Prak. He sent out a burst of energy to escape but he had slashes everywhere. He was bleeding profusely but his pride as an orc would not allow him to give up.

He became enraged and began striking furiously. For every strike he received, he struck back twice as hard. That's when the undead orc bodyguard smashed his head with a Warhammer. He was going to strike her back but upon seeing her face he hesitated momentarily. This allowed her to hit the side of his face with her warhammer. This sent him flying into the Goblin Overlord.

The Goblin Overlord then hit him with a headbutt. Thereafter it picked him up and slammed him into the ground. Prak tried to get up but he was overwhelmed by the army of goblins and orcs. As he fell to his knees, the Goblin Overlord impaled him with his massive spear and kicked him away.

“Having an undead army has its perks. Now that he's dead I'll resurrect him” said Jin. As he moved towards his body, he saw that he was still alive!

“My orc pride will not allow me to be killed by anyone other than a leader. You must be the one to end me. Please, don't go after my wives, they're pregnant with my children” said Prak.

Upon hearing that Jin had realised how what he was doing was incorrect morally, however he didn't want to stop. As a show of respect he promised not to hunt the orcs further so his wives could live. He then hit Prak with a blood blast at point blank range to kill him. Thereafter he resurrected him to add him to his army.

“We're another step closer. You need to continue building your army. I'll see you tomorrow. Don't lose focus of the bigger picture” said Nyx as she opened the portal back to Veridonia. 

Jin looked up at the sky as it began to rain. He could feel the blood being washed off him. Even though he had won, it didn't feel like a victory.