Lord of Rot

SCREECH, SCREECH.

Fingernails scraped against an iron plate, producing a sound so grating it set one’s teeth on edge.

Leech followed Hawke Wood to the residence of the Three-fork River Castle’s scholar. He hadn’t expected the scholar’s door to be made of iron, with nothing but a small, palm-sized square opening.

He bent down to look inside.

BAM!

A face suddenly slammed against the opening, a pair of wide eyes staring out at Leech.

Caught unprepared, Leech was genuinely startled.

’He’s gone mad?’

The man’s mental state was clearly abnormal. His eyes were vacant and lifeless, and his behavior was bizarre. It would be impossible to get any useful information out of him.

”My master became like this after he came out of the mine,” the young man beside them said.

Leech turned to the young man. ”Master? And you are...?”

The young man replied, ”I’m Vic. I’m an apprentice.”

”Tell me what happened to your master.”

”Yes.”

The apprentice, Vic, nodded. ”After he came out of the mine, my master seemed to turn into a different person. He started muttering to himself and carving strange patterns onto his body.”

’Could they be Magic patterns?’

”I wouldn’t know,” Vic answered honestly. ”My master and I focus on researching herbs. We haven’t delved deeply into things like the arcane or curses.”

Scholars have different specializations. This one delved into herbology, so encountering a ghost meant running into a blind spot in his knowledge.

Leech looked at the iron door. The scholar had started scratching it again with his fingernails. SCREECH, SCREECH. The sound was incredibly irritating.

”Open the door,” he said.

The Soldier guarding the door looked to Hawke Wood and only took out the key after his Lord gave a nod.

The moment the door opened, the scholar let out a bizarre shriek and lunged at them.

Leech placed a single hand on the scholar’s forehead. Without giving the man a chance to resist, he easily pressed him to the ground.

It was a good thing he was holding back, or the scholar’s head would have likely exploded.

”Come hold him down,” Leech said, turning his head.

The Soldiers at the door were startled by Leech’s technique. They had never seen someone pin a person down so slowly. Fights were all about speed and power, yet this crazed scholar was being slowly but surely pushed to the ground by Leech. It was as if he was simply being ”held,” and no matter how fiercely he struggled, he couldn’t stop the inexorable advance of Leech’s hand.

Hearing the command, two Soldiers from the doorway ran over to hold down the crazed scholar.

Clad in heavy armor, they barely had to exert themselves; their weight alone was enough to pin the scholar’s scrawny frame.

Leech unceremoniously undid the scholar’s ragged clothes.

The man’s skin was covered in scabs. The dense network of scars had no discernible pattern, looking like some bizarre script or perhaps just random, chaotic scratches.

”Can you make anything out of this?” Leech connected to the Water Nymph with his Spiritual Power.

’Maybe the Water Nymph has some memory of something like this.’

’It was a shame he hadn’t brought the Brass Dragon along. That guy might be full of hot air, but he was knowledgeable. It would be better than being completely in the dark myself.’

The Water Nymph replied, ”Leech, I can’t make it out, but he’s about to die.”

’He’s about to die?’

Leech couldn’t see any signs that the herbology scholar was about to die.

’His mind might be gone, but he’s as strong as an ox. How could he be dying?’

As Leech communicated with the Water Nymph via their spiritual connection, the two Soldiers pinning the scholar saw he had no new orders. They obediently kept the man held down, quietly awaiting Leech’s command.

But then, the scholar’s struggles slowly ceased.

His body suddenly began to curl up uncontrollably.

His mouth gaped open, his eyes bulged, and his pupils shrank to pinpricks until it seemed only the whites were showing.

His face turned ashen.

”M-My Lord,” the Soldier on the left was forced to speak up. ”He’s dead.”

’He’s really dead?’

Leech looked at the scholar. Something about his state was wrong; he looked as if he had witnessed something terrifying in his final moments.

’This Otherworld shouldn’t be pulling Chinese or Japanese-style horror on me, right?’

He felt his skin crawl.

In his past life, he hadn’t been afraid of much, but he was terrified of figures like Aunt Mei and Ah Zhen.

”He was scared to death!” Hawke Wood said from behind them. ”The slaves who died of fright before had the exact same look.”

’I’m standing right here. Even if there was something with Spiritual Power greater than my own, there’s no way the Water Nymph wouldn’t have noticed it.’

’And if something truly was more powerful than both me and the Water Nymph, why would it kill people this way? It could just use a Magic EMP or something, kill as many as it wanted, and not just limit itself to people who had been in the mine.’

”I have an idea,” Leech proposed to the Water Nymph. ”You can control Ah Yamei, and I’ll control Aina. Let’s send them into the mine to have a look.”

The thought of refusing didn’t even cross the Water Nymph’s mind. She thought it was an excellent idea, and she was quite curious herself. ”Alright, Leech.”

’People who enter the mine are probably being marked somehow,’ Leech mused. ’If I send the dead in to take a look, even if they get marked, my own body will be unaffected.’

He stood up and said to Hawke Wood, ”Take me to the mine. I’m going to take a look.”

”Good!”

After leaving Three-fork River Castle, the group rode for some time into the mountains until they reached a small mine entrance shored up with wooden beams.

Leech stood motionless, but his Spiritual Power was already directing the Corpse Ghosts into the mine.

The two Corpse Ghosts entered the mine.

They carried no torches.

The darkness was no obstacle to Leech’s sight.

They hadn’t been inside for long when he suddenly saw an illusory figure squatting in a corner, hugging itself.

A dozen or so arms were wrapped around it like a cocoon. Yes, it was definitely hugging itself.

’It seems the slave who escaped the mine wasn’t lying.’

Hearing footsteps, the ghost slowly turned.

”Shock!”

”Shock!”

”Shock!”

The triple ”Shock!” blast caused the ghost’s form to dissipate, and it turned to flee.

The Water Nymph, controlling the Necromancer Ah Yamei, raised a hand. The fleeing ghost instantly exploded.

”How did you do that?” Leech asked.

The Water Nymph replied, ”It’s simple. I only have to think it, and it’s done.”

’Simple? Just by thinking?’

Leech would need to use Magic to achieve such an effect, but the Water Nymph had just annihilated it directly. Her method was simple, but the result was anything but.

’Forget it. I’m not yet beyond the Extraordinary realm myself. What’s the point in dwelling on it? Our Life Levels are completely different. I couldn’t learn her methods even if I tried.’

Continuing deeper into the mine, they encountered another ghost, this one covered entirely in eyes.

”Your turn,” Leech said.

The Water Nymph made a gesture, and the ghost was crushed into nothingness.

After that, their path was clear. They encountered some of the ghosts the slaves had mentioned, and some they hadn’t.

But none of them could withstand a single gesture from the Water Nymph.

’Haven’t seen a single normal-looking one this whole time. None of them are even humanoid.’

Suddenly, he saw the back of a little girl’s ghostly figure up ahead.

’This one looks the most human.’

The little girl’s ghost slowly turned around. Her entire face was just a single, enormous eye.

The Water Nymph said, ”I can feel her fear.”

Leech replied, ”I’m afraid of her, too.”

”Should I kill it?”

’How can she say something so cruel in such a calm tone?!’

’The Water Nymph had been swift and ruthless this entire time. When she suddenly mentioned the ghost’s fear, I actually thought she was starting to feel sorry for it.’

Leech nodded. ”Kill it.”

The little girl ghost exploded, completely unaware that for a fleeting moment, it had been the subject of pity from two butchers.

’Don’t tell me we’ve stumbled into some kind of ancient human experimentation lab.’

’The world is never short of extremists. All it takes is overcoming a tiny shred of morality, and you can conduct any experiment imaginable.’

’That’s true whether it’s a world of science or a Magic World.’

Sweeping through the mine, they eliminated all the ghosts with great speed.

The deeper they went, the more numerous the ghosts became.

Finally, they reached the excavated end of the mine. A ghostly figure phased through the wall, only to be instantly obliterated by the Water Nymph.

’So the source is behind this wall?’

’If it’s behind the wall, we’ll just have to dig through.’

He had the Undead pick up nearby pickaxes and shovels and immediately start digging.

Outside the mine, Hawke Wood asked worriedly, ”Lord Leech, those two have been inside for so long. Is it possible they’re in danger?”

”Rest assured, Lord Hawke Wood,” said Leech, shaking his head as he continued to remotely direct the digging. ”They are very powerful. Besides, they are only performing a simple reconnaissance. Once they’ve investigated thoroughly, I will go in myself to resolve the situation.”

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Suddenly, the sound of striking echoed from within the mine.

Hawke Wood was perplexed. ’Weren’t they just going in to investigate? Why have they suddenly started mining?’