Lord of Rot

”Argh!”

The javelin’s heart-stopping precision was inevitably followed by a scream.

”AHHHH!” Fear gripped the Captain’s heart. He couldn’t understand why this man wasn’t running, why he was being ignored. ’Isn’t he afraid to die?!’

He lunged, certain his next slash would take the man’s head!

A small, thin figure suddenly shot out, wreathed in a ball of fire—no, not fire! It was a head of fiery red hair.

The figure had been hiding behind the reef all along, secretly protecting him.

It only struck when the Captain drew near.

The descending blade met sharp, charging claws, striking sparks.

The blade was knocked aside. The small body had erupted with a terrifying power the Captain couldn’t have imagined, as if he were facing a savage bear!

The Captain, who had always been blessed by ”miracles,” now witnessed a true one.

SQUELCH!

It was too fast. The Captain’s eyes widened, a gurgling sound escaping his throat as blood sprayed everywhere.

THUD. The Captain’s body toppled over, falling heavily onto the reef.

The sailors from the second ship finally crossed the deadly stretch of sea and landed on the coast.

They didn’t cheer as they might have imagined. The price for this landing had been too high, and their Captain was dead.

The good news was that the figure on the reef had no more javelins!

”Kill those two!” Someone shouted, and the cry was quickly echoed by the others.

They needed to kill their enemies to vent their anger and fear. Then they would plunder, seize the castle, and carry off the women, just as they had always done. The only difference was that they used to do it at sea; now they would do it on land.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!

The ground trembled.

”What is that?”

They looked toward the source of the vibrations.

A tall, powerful figure appeared, like a small giant.

He held a greatsword—one that would require two hands for an ordinary man—in just one hand, as if it were a common longsword!

Worse still, the two figures from the reef were also charging toward them.

”There’s something behind us, too!”

Figures that had been lurking in the water slowly revealed themselves. Two withered, terrifying forms swayed under the moonlight.

”It’s the Undead!”

”The Undead!!”

They were surrounded!

The Iron Hoof corpse charged into the crowd, its greatsword swinging like a giant meat grinder.

The pirates were skilled at fighting on deck, or swinging on ropes between the gunwales like monkeys. The ground was not their battlefield.

But this battlefield belonged to the Iron Hoof Knight!

It was a slaughter. One man massacring more than a dozen!

The greatsword, dripping with blood and flesh, was planted in the ground. Before it, there was not a single living person left breathing.

The undead entered the sea to wash away the blood, then departed in silence.

Soon, the light of torches appeared in the distance.

It was the Porcupine Territory’s patrol. They followed their longsword-wielding lord, their hearts pounding at the sight of the bodies covering the ground.

Gelan, ’the Widow’, also followed on horseback. During his time in Porcupine Territory, he thought he had figured out the Baron’s true strength. Despite a major deal with Iron Stone City, the barren territory had no soldiers.

However, if the Baron needed soldiers, he could quickly raise a decent force.

But upon seeing the pirates’ corpses, Gelan knew he had been wrong. The Baron possessed a powerful, secret force, one hidden in the shadows. If anyone dared to have any funny ideas, their fate would be the same as the bodies on the beach.

’It makes sense, now that I think about it,’ Gelan mused. ’Why would the former Baron Porcupine, Lieder, disregard his own castle and send all his forces to Leopold? Porcupine Territory must have had a powerful force hidden away!’

If Leech knew what Gelan was thinking, he would have roared with laughter.

His so-called father was just that kind of loyal and sentimental person. He really had given everything he had to Leopold. But perhaps it was precisely this absolute loyalty that allowed the son of a blacksmith to become Baron Porcupine.

”Go check the ship,” Leech ordered.

He had already determined that there were few pirates left on board. Without food or fresh water, their only option was to surrender.

Few of the Porcupine Territory’s men knew how to row, but by putting all their strength into it together, they managed to pull themselves near the ship. Torches soon lit up the entire vessel.

After receiving the signal, Leech took the remaining small boat over to the pirate ship.

The waves rocked the boat like a cradle. Leech was once again certain that he was not cut out for sea travel. The land was where he belonged.

He grabbed the rope ladder and climbed aboard. Luckily, his good physical condition allowed him to haul himself up with brute force.

On the deck were the trussed-up sailors.

”Take them back,” Leech ordered.

’Maybe we can interrogate them and get some information.’

He walked toward the Captain’s cabin. Inside were a few books and a ship’s log.

After flipping through them casually, he ordered his men to carry them back as well. This was the very reason Leech had made the trip to the ship himself. If he had let the peasants search, they might have focused on the wrong things.

’Information is invaluable.’

”My lord, we found some people in the ship’s hold. They claim to be captives. One of them said he’s... what was it... he said he’s a nobleman.”

”Bring them to me.”

Soon, six people appeared before Leech.

Three were fair-skinned women. They had multiple injuries and their clothes were torn. It was easy to guess why they had been kept on the ship.

The women had vacant expressions, having suffered extreme psychological trauma.

The other three were a handsome, wavy-haired blond man, a short Big Beard, and a young boy.

The wavy-haired blond man was clearly treated better than the others. He was ecstatic to see Leech. ”Respected Sir, I am the heir of the Bill family! I met the Porcupine Soldiers on the southern roads. Quickblade is my friend!”

Quickblade. A soldier of Leech’s family, loyal but with a fiery temper. Lieder had once said that if his temper were better and he didn’t let his drinking interfere with his duties, he could have certainly become a Knight.

As for the Bills, Leech currently had a suit of their family’s knight armor in his family’s crypt.

Known as the Monkey Clan, a bunch of cunning cowards.

”You saw them? When?”

”A little over three months ago. They had just disengaged from a small battle and were exhausted. We talked for a long time, and... we really hit it off.” He paused abruptly, as if remembering something, then quickly changed the subject. ”Could I ask you to send a message for me by raven? I’m willing to pay a reward for your assistance.”

Leech knew why he had paused. ’How did these pirates know Porcupine Territory had no soldiers?’

’This wavy-haired monkey before me probably knows best.’

Leech could only pretend not to understand and nodded. ”I will arrange for someone to escort you to Iron Stone City.”

He couldn’t afford to provoke the Bills at the moment. ’Might as well get some money out of him.’

”Hahaha, thank you so much,” he said with a dry laugh. Seeing that Leech was about to question the others, he wisely shut his mouth.