Lord of Rot

A flutter of wings.

In the woods, a dead bird with faint signs of rot on its body flapped its wings, rapidly gaining altitude.

Below, human-like figures wrapped in vines swayed as they emerged from the woods, numbering at least three to five thousand.

The bizarre, guttural roars of ”URGHHH...” blended into a single, continuous sound.

BANG!

A loud crack suddenly echoed from the distance.

The head of the corpse at the very front instantly exploded.

Gore splattered, drenching the companion shoulder-to-shoulder with it.

The headless corpse fell to the ground and was promptly stomped on by the figures pushing from behind. One after another, the following figures stepped on it, none paying any mind to the corpse underfoot as they trampled over it.

BANG!

Another explosive crack rang out.

Another head burst, and another headless corpse fell.

’Picking them off with a sniper rifle isn’t very effective, and such a perfect opportunity to charge is fleeting. I can’t wait any longer!’

After receiving news that the corpse army from Maoshan Beech Village was marching toward his position, Leech had made preparations immediately. The distance between them had now closed, and those two shots had been his test fires to gauge the range, while also helping Betty test her weapon’s power.

’The effect isn’t bad. It’s definitely long-range enough.’

His consciousness entered the body of the Necromancer, Ah Yamei.

Holding an energy-storing staff, he gently raised his hand and waved.

There was no whinnying of warhorses, only the sound of bone grinding against bone as the Bone Horses shook their heads.

Nor was there the roar of shouting cavalrymen, only the crisp, unified sound of wind whistling past as the Undead Cavalry raised their lances.

The thought was issued.

’Charge!’

The warhorses adjusted their stance. On their backs, the black-armored Undead Cavalry adjusted the angle of their lances, pointing them diagonally upward.

Hoofbeats rang out as the force, with great discipline, automatically split into two horizontal ranks.

One rank charged forward at high speed, while the other pulled back slightly, increasing the distance between them.

The flat, open, and unobstructed plain was the perfect battlefield for a cavalry charge!

It’s common knowledge that horses have less stamina than humans.

In the detailed cavalry training memories Leech had acquired, a cavalry charge was divided into four steps:

First is the walk, at the speed of a person’s slow walk, where all four hooves might touch the ground at the same time.

Second is the trot, where the speed increases. Not all four hooves land at once; instead, two diagonal pairs of hooves land alternately, producing only two hoofbeats.

Third is the canter, where the horse truly begins to run, sometimes even achieving a moment where all four hooves are off the ground. The sound becomes irregular.

Fourth is the gallop, the charge itself, where speed is pushed to its maximum to crush everything in its path.

There’s an art to charging. Because of a horse’s poor stamina, if it’s carrying a fully armored cavalryman—weighing at least 200 pounds in total—it would tire itself out before even reaching the enemy if it ran at full speed the whole way.

Therefore, a true cavalry charge only covers the last few dozen paces.

But the situation was completely different for the Undead Cavalry.

The Bone Horses felt no fatigue and had no stamina issues. They could maintain a full-speed run indefinitely. The only thing to worry about was the wear and tear on their bones.

After trotting for a certain distance, the Undead Cavalry accelerated to their maximum speed. The RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE of their hooves was a chaotic din without any rhythm. One by one, the Bone Horses galloped so fast that all four hooves left the ground, flying like launched arrows as they rapidly closed in on the enemy corpses.

This was a battle of the dead against the dead!

The Undead Cavalry, lances at the ready, smashed into the horde of vine-wrapped corpses like a hot knife through snow.

The corpses struck by the lances couldn’t withstand the impact and were sent flying!

Watching from the sky through the dead bird’s eyes, Leech felt the sight was even more stunning. A swift charge from such a small force could make all those it impacted collapse like melting snow.

Twenty-some cavalrymen charging a force of several thousand had actually managed to easily punch a hole through them!

Both men and horses were all controlled by Leech alone. Although he couldn’t micromanage the movements of each Corpse Ghost, he could issue relatively specific commands.

’Fan out to the flanks!’

Leech gave the command to the Cavalry while the momentum of the charge had yet to fade.

The Cavalry, having just pierced the dense corpse horde, used the last dregs of their charging momentum to change direction, turning their deep penetration into a lateral attack.

’The force of a charge eventually runs out. I have to conserve enough energy for a retreat. Plunging straight in would only lead to annihilation.’

Many corpses had fallen, but compared to the entire horde of vine-wrapped corpses, it was a mere drop in the bucket.

Countless corpses reached out, trying to grab the slowing Undead Cavalry.

But the thunderous hoofbeats did not fade. Instead, they grew closer.

The second rank of Cavalry had arrived!

They too crashed headfirst into the corpse horde.

A second blade plunged in, widening the gap.

The two consecutive charges didn’t kill many corpses, but they knocked over a great number. Their clumsy attempts to crawl back to their feet obstructed the corpses behind them, allowing the Cavalry to retreat quickly.

’I lost one cavalryman.’

Leech observed from the sky through the dead bird that the lost Undead Cavalryman was due to a corpse firmly grabbing its horse’s leg. This gave a group of corpses the opportunity to drag the Undead Cavalryman down and tear it apart into shattered bones.

Then came the trampling, which ground the shattered bones into splinters.

The Cavalry returned.

’The one in the red dress might be able to issue general commands like advance or retreat to the corpse horde, but it can’t control each unit precisely... It’s also possible that it’s just the ’mother’ and can’t control the horde at all.’

’Regardless, killing the one in the red dress is the most important thing.’

But since the enemy was hidden within its horde, moving in his direction but still far out of range, Leech could only eliminate as many other corpses as possible and wait for it to enter his attack range.

After that cavalry charge, he had basically confirmed that the enemy was just a disorderly mob that wouldn’t die unless their heads were destroyed. Their reactions were sluggish, and they didn’t have a strong desire to attack non-living things, only counterattacking fiercely when attacked themselves or when something blocked their path.

The mobility of the Undead Cavalry had just been proven.

The Cavalry quickly divided into five ranks. The first four ranks had ten men each, and the last rank had eight.

The first rank would gallop in a charge, the second would be slightly slower, and so on, creating distance between them.

They would get close, turn their horses, land a blow with their lances, and then retreat.

This was the ”potato peeling” tactic Leech had learned from the black-armored cavalry, a maneuver designed to maximize the cavalry’s mobility advantage.

It was also a move born of desperation due to the huge disparity in numbers. It was 48 against several thousand, and both sides were fearless. Unless his troops were Extraordinary Cavalry, there was no chance of annihilating the enemy with charges alone.

After skewering a row of enemies, the first rank would immediately turn and retreat. The second rank would follow close behind, then the third.

By the time the fifth rank finished its ”peeling” and turned around, the first rank had already regrouped and was charging in again.

But a problem quickly arose.

The numerical disparity between the two forces was too great. The Cavalry’s ”potato peeling” tactic couldn’t suppress the massive advance. Killing a few corpses at a time did nothing to halt the forward march of the horde as a whole.