Lord of Rot

Burning City.

Within a private estate.

A shirtless man held a specific pose, his thick muscles writhing continuously like living pythons.

A young girl approached. Upon seeing the towering man’s movements, she slowed her steps, trying her best to quiet her footsteps.

”HUUU—!”

The man let out a long, heavy breath, and the muscles on his body slowly relaxed.

He turned, picked up a cloth, and wiped the sweat from his body.

”What is it?”

”The merchants from East Gorge have taken all the goods. Three thousand Jinri in total,” the girl said excitedly. ”Lord Vito, you’ve solved a problem for the Prince this time. You’ll surely be rewarded!”

”As long as it helps the Prince, I don’t need to ask for a reward.”

The man picked up a long robe from a chair and draped it over himself. The loose garment looked quite form-fitting on him.

”But...” The girl pouted. ”You’ve helped the Prince so much. You deserve a reward.”

”The Giant’s Foot has not yet been fully won over.” The man picked up a cup, poured himself a glass of a liquid that gave off a strong, bitter smell, and drank it in one gulp. ”We should do our utmost for the Prince.”

”Yes!”

”There’s one more thing,” the girl said. ”Guy Marvin spent a long time wandering around Burning City today. After buying a few small things, he left the city.”

”Don’t worry about him.” The man wasn’t concerned. ”My deal with him is over, and I’ve already warned him. Whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with us.”

”Yes!”

”Anything else?” he asked.

The girl nodded, her cheeks blushing. ”Lord Vito, there’s something I still don’t quite understand about the knowledge you taught me before. I was hoping to ask for your guidance.”

The man nodded in satisfaction. ”Very good. Learning is a process of seeking knowledge. The more you don’t understand, the more room you have to improve.”

”Lord Vito, are there many things you don’t understand as well?” the girl asked.

”Many,” the man nodded. ”As numerous as the stars. The more you understand, the more you realize your own insignificance.”

He said with great sincerity, ”All I can do is help the Prince create an era of peace, so that more people like you have the opportunity to learn. Learning is the most important thing.”

The girl nodded solemnly. ”I will study hard, Lord Vito!”

...

Outside Burning City, Guy walked alone into the woods.

A rat followed behind him, and a bird circled overhead.

Guy suddenly turned his head to look at the rat. The rat squeaked twice—SQUEAK SQUEAK—then turned and fled.

Passing through the weeds, the rat arrived deep in the woods outside Burning City.

The terrain here was rugged with jagged rocks, and the trees grew extremely dense.

After traversing a rough path that could hardly be called a trail, the rat stopped. ”SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK.”

Before the rat stood two people.

One of them looked down and squeaked twice at the rat, which then left.

”Guy Marvin has left Burning City,” he said to the person behind him. ”I’ve done what I promised you. We’re even.”

The other person laughed sinisterly. ”Of course. We’re even.”

The man who could control rats made no attempt to hide his disgust and quickly turned to leave.

’That madman is definitely going to cause a huge scene later. Better not get caught up in it.’ He stuck his fingers in his mouth and let out a shrill whistle.

”CHIRP—” It sounded like a bird’s call.

CLIP-CLOP CLIP-CLOP. The sound of hooves approached, and a bay horse galloped over.

He leaped onto the horse’s back, patted its neck, and said, ”Let’s go.”

”NEIGH!” The bay horse snorted and quickened its pace.

But after riding for a while, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. He looked up at the sky.

A bird was circling above his head.

”COO COO.” He tried to look up and communicate with the bird, but it didn’t react at all.

’Wait! That thing is dead!’

A dead bird was staring down at him from above. ’It’s that madman. Don’t tell me he’s not only after Guy, but he’s not going to let me go either? I’m not even good-looking.’

The man, now terrified, pursed his lips and let out a piercing hawk’s cry that seemed to startle the clouds. ”KREEE—!”

A bald eagle flew in from the distance, seized the dead bird circling overhead in its talons, and, flapping its wings in midair, pecked down and smashed the dead bird’s head.

The headless bird carcass plummeted to the ground.

The man leaned down and said to the bay horse beneath him, ”Run! Or we’re going to have some trouble!”

The bay horse panted heavily—HUFF PUFF—and sped up its escape.

...

’So, I was discovered.’ One of his ”eyes” had suddenly been taken out, immediately grabbing Leech’s attention. ’Now that I’ve lost sight of him, it’ll be hard to catch him again. But that’s fine. I’ve already memorized what you look like, you who speaks the Beast Language.’

’I wasn’t looking for trouble, but he brought it to me. I’m not that good-natured.’

’A porcupine is covered in quills. I’ll have to poke him full of holes.’

’But I’ll let him go for now. There’s more important work to be done!’

Leech divided his attention between Guy and the Corpse Demon Giant Lizard. The lizard, hidden by the [Unseen Urn], was slowly approaching their true target—the remaining man—for a pincer attack.

’The enemy’s strength is unknown. I have to go all out.’

”Oh, my darling Guy~” a grating laugh echoed.

A withered-looking old man stood in the woods, silently watching Guy approach. His clothes bulged in two lumps over his stomach.

Behind him were four or five dead cows, freshly killed. The pools of blood on the ground had not yet coagulated.

He shook his head, ”TSK TSK TSK.” ”Who turned you into this, oh, my darling?”

”But that person’s methods are truly brilliant, making you just as beautiful in death as you were in life.” He grinned and continued, ”Thanks to him for doing me such a big favor. I’ll be sure to pay him a visit and thank him personally.”

He could tell Guy was a corpse.

Guy watched him silently. A Corpse Ghost has no impulse to communicate with humans. If not for Leech’s prompting, Guy would have chosen to be a stunningly beautiful man who said nothing at all.

”Come now, darling, come to me.” The old man was still beckoning.

’Attack!’ Leech transmitted the thought directly.

’This is so fucking disgusting! I can’t take it anymore!’

”RAAAH!”

Guy opened his mouth and roared, his mouth a cannon firing a piercing shriek.

A sonic wave and gust of wind blasted out, instantly clearing a patch of weeds.

”THWACK THWACK THWACK!” Unseen, chaotic Wind Blades slashed into the tree trunks, leaving a mess of gashes in the bark.

The most terrifying part of the roar wasn’t the Wind Blades, but the impact of the sonic wave.

”So naughty.” The old man raised his hand, and an invisible barrier materialized.

But it only held for a moment before shattering.

The wind tore his clothes to rags, but unfortunately, it lacked the force to injure him.

Even more bizarre, the sonic wave didn’t hurt him either!

The disgusting old geezer raised his hand. The ground before him was torn open by a suddenly protruding skeletal arm. The bony hand planted itself on the ground, and a Skeleton Soldier in tattered armor, holding a shield in its left hand and a sword in its right, struggled to climb out.

The old man waved his hand again. The ground exploded—BOOM—and a zombie with an intact corpse but ashen, bloated skin crawled out.

Leech, controlling the battle remotely from a distance, was surprised. ’A Caster who can use Undead Magic.’

A Necromancer. The man was in the same line of work as Leech.

The difference was that the man tended to turn corpses into inhuman monsters, whereas Leech did his best to preserve the corpse’s living appearance.

”RAAAH!” Guy roared again.

The sonic wave blasted out.

It had little effect on the dead things; only the Wind Blades caused some damage.

Even the Necromancer himself was unaffected.

’He’s turned himself into an Undead creature, too.’ Leech felt he had guessed the reason.

Guy stopped roaring altogether.

Leech used Guy’s body to cast Stoneskin and engage in close combat with his Extraordinary physique.

On this continent, Leech’s fighting skills were already top-tier. After dodging the zombie’s slow attack, he lowered his body and slammed into its chest, completely unconcerned about whether the corpse toxin would affect him.

He used his Extraordinary strength to forcibly cave in the zombie’s chest.

BOOM!

The zombie was sent flying backward.

But the Skeleton Soldier came slashing with its sword.

There was no time to dodge. Leech had Guy roar directly at the ground.

The sonic wave’s backlash propelled him briefly into the air, allowing him to evade the Skeleton Soldier’s strike.

’Whether it’s the Skeleton Soldier or the zombie, their strength is about the same as the Red-haired Earthlings.’

’They’re also Undead and have considerable combat power.’

’The only question is how many more he can summon.’

Leech had Guy retreat.

”Don’t worry,” the Necromancer sneered sinisterly. ”Darling Guy, even if you’re chopped to pieces, I can put you back together.”

As his voice fell, two more skeletons and two more zombies clawed their way out of the earth.

It seemed he could summon many more.

’In that case, I don’t need to hold back either.’

Leech commanded the Corpse Demon Giant Lizard, which had now arrived on the battlefield, to charge at full speed!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Skeleton Soldiers that had just climbed out of the ground were rammed by the Giant Lizard and instantly fell apart. The zombies were no exception, sent flying on impact!