Lord of Rot

Inside the Earthling cavern.

Before a T-junction.

It was pitch-black, devoid of any light.

After Leech entered, a hair-raising CREAK echoed from within as the lid of a coffin was pushed aside.

”Did you sleep well, Aina?” Leech smiled, looking at the Extraordinary Corpse Ghost wrapped in a black robe.

”Yes,” Aina nodded obediently. ”And you, Leech?”

”I’m also doing well.”

Right now, he only had five undead corpses and Corpse Ghosts in total.

The undead corpses included the Ironhoof Knight, the black-haired slave ”Dog” who possessed master-level throwing skills, and the brewer Bommer.

Although they were just undead corpses, they had possessed extraordinary skills in life. Under Leech’s control, they could even display combat abilities far exceeding what they had when they were alive.

Bommer, on the other hand, had simply not yet decomposed due to the cold, damp environment of the cavern.

The Corpse Ghosts were Aina and the Red-haired Earthling.

Aina, in particular, retained her combat skills and Extraordinary powers from life, and also possessed high intelligence. In Leech’s eyes, she was his greatest asset at present.

’Looks like I’ll have to go all out tonight,’ Leech sighed. With a thought, he expended three units of Spiritual Power, and his energy-storing staff immediately infused his mind with its stored Spiritual Power.

The lids of two coffins slid open.

The gaunt slave ”Dog” and the strong, giant-like Ironhoof Knight sat up.

”Help? Needed?” Aina asked.

”Not for now,” Leech shook his head.

He couldn’t guarantee that three undead corpses on a suicide mission could take down the long-haired monster inside the cape’s cavern castle.

If they failed, he would probably have the Red-haired Earthling take action.

An Extraordinary Corpse Ghost might have decent combat strength, but in Leech’s opinion, there was still a huge gap compared to the frenzied long-haired monster. More importantly, he’d be heartbroken if she got damaged. ’She’s my first Extraordinary Corpse Ghost; I should keep her by my side as an ace in the hole to protect me, not send her on a suicide mission with explosives strapped to her back.’

Aina said no more, sitting obediently by his side and watching him quietly.

The three undead corpses left the garden and quickly headed for the cape’s cavern.

「Inside the cavern.」

Betty’s mental state was very stable.

”Hee hee hee!”

Alright, perhaps not very stable, especially with that manic laugh of hers.

”Wow,” she said, looking at the three silent corpses standing before her.

Her nose twitched as she took a light sniff.

”It’s that smell!”

”Preservatives,” Betty said. ”I’ve read about them in a scholar’s records. They can keep a corpse from rotting. Usually, they’re used in a lord’s coffin to ensure the body doesn’t decay even after countless years.”

Leech had never heard of such records and figured it was probably from some rumored, evil text.

But then it suddenly struck him. ’Aren’t I, the one who plays with corpses, on the side of ”evil”?’

”You have a lot of these corpses,” Betty grinned.

She had a vague idea of who was controlling the corpse to speak with her—someone who could bring her all sorts of magical materials, fulfill any request she had, and even collect corpses for their own use.

’Baron Porcupine!’

”How are the preparations?” Leech asked by writing.

”These are it,” Betty said, pointing to a stack of iron cans behind her. ”The grenades you wanted.”

”Grenades” wasn’t a very fitting term. Due to the blacksmith’s technical limitations, and of course, Leech’s demand for power, the iron cans were more like buckets that could hold 2.5 liters of water. Someone without significant arm strength couldn’t possibly throw one when it was packed with gunpowder.

Therefore, the strenuous task of throwing them could only be left to the Ironhoof Knight.

The general plan was for the brewer Bommer to act as bait, carrying one can on his back for a suicide attack. Once he drew the long-haired monster’s attention, the Ironhoof Knight would follow up with a long-range throw.

Betty would chant the Spell to detonate the can.

The black-haired slave was responsible for preventing accidents and providing reconnaissance. If anything unexpected happened, he was to sacrifice himself to save Betty.

”What did you put in these?”

Leech had Bommer the brewer try to pick up an iron can, but unexpectedly, the corpse couldn’t even lift it.

The corpse’s flabby physique was one reason, but Leech felt as if he were trying to lift a solid block of rammed iron, not a grenade.

Watching the brewer fail to lift it even while sticking his butt out, Betty laughed and said, ”I added a lot of interesting things in there.”

”Interesting?”

’The fact that he can’t lift it is already pretty interesting,’ Leech thought.

The Ironhoof Knight came forward, lifted an iron can with one hand, and placed it on Bommer’s shoulder for him to carry.

Leech couldn’t feel fatigue or pain anyway. The weight would crush the inanimate muscles. As he controlled the corpse to walk out, the flesh on its shoulder was mashed away, exposing the bone beneath.

The can knocked against the bone, making a CLANG CLANG sound.

The Ironhoof Knight grabbed the remaining iron cans and followed close behind. There were four cans in total, but they had used up all the magical Alchemy Materials Leech had purchased.

In front of the underground castle, the black-haired slave corpse stood guard by Betty’s side, while the Ironhoof Knight was positioned further ahead.

Bommer the brewer forged ahead, shouldering the iron can.

”ROAR!”

A roar echoed out.

The long-haired monster looked absolutely wretched. The burns on its body had healed, but its fur hadn’t grown back, leaving it bare like a mangy dog.

Its intelligence was not low; upon seeing the brewer approach, it actually turned and leaped backward.

The previous suicide attacks had left a deep impression on it.

Betty chanted the Spell.

She detonated it when they were still more than ten paces apart.

”Too early,” Leech frowned. He knew Betty had been forced to detonate it out of fear the creature would escape, but the distance was too great for the explosion to cause any harm.

And indeed, the flames didn’t harm the long-haired monster.

”AWOOOO!”

The long-haired monster’s body convulsed as blossoms of blood erupted from its skin.

Leech suddenly remembered what Betty had said about adding ”interesting things.”

”I put a lot of sword fragments inside,” Betty clarified for Leech.

Well, what do you know. An Otherworld version of a fragmentation grenade!

The Ironhoof Knight charged forward with a can. Seeing this, the long-haired monster, freshly wounded by the fragmentation grenade, scrambled to its feet. It was annoyed and frightened by these suicidal bastards, even though it desperately wanted to pound every last one of them into a meat paste.

But the Ironhoof Knight stopped thirty paces away.

’This should be safe,’ the monster thought, eyeing the Ironhoof Knight like a lone wolf stalking its prey. It slowly moved its body, circling from the front of the Knight to his left side.

”Grrrrr,” it growled, lowering its body.

The Ironhoof Knight suddenly made his move.

With a powerful throw, the iron can traced a parabola through the air, hurtling toward the long-haired monster.

BOOM!

This time, the explosion went off right next to the long-haired monster. Flames several times more ferocious than the previous satchel charge engulfed it, and the shrapnel blades whipped up a storm.

The stone floor tiles were shattered by the flying fragments, and the walls crumbled.

”AWOOOO—!”

A bare, bloody claw tore through the flames.

It had lost an arm, and the side of its body closest to the blast was a mangled mess of flesh and blood.

Rage had burned away the last of its sanity.

’Charge! Tear the enemy to shreds!’

The Ironhoof Knight calmly threw the remaining iron cans.

BOOM! BOOM!

The successive explosions, one to the left and one to the right, created waves of fire that slammed into the long-haired monster from both sides like two giant hammers. The ground was blasted open into a large crater, and parts of the walls, unable to hold, began to collapse.

A good portion of the castle’s perimeter wall was destroyed.

Under Leech’s control, the nearby Ironhoof Knight quickly tried to pull back, but he was a step too slow, and half of his body was engulfed in flames.

He staggered out and collapsed on the ground.

His left side, from shoulder to waist, had been shredded by the fire and shrapnel.

The fire died down.

The mangled remains of the long-haired monster lay on the ground, motionless.