Lord of Rot

Outside Bonta Canyon.

The midday sun beat down upon a sea of golden sand.

It was nearly August, and the temperature had soared. In the distance, the air shimmered, distorted by the heat.

A lizard, running on its hind legs, scrambled quickly up a sand dune.

The scarcity of food had forced it to venture out and hunt under the blazing sun.

SWOOSH—!

A long arrow struck the lizard with precision, pinning it to the dune.

The sound of hooves approached from afar, and a group of cloaked cavalry drew near.

A few dozen men halted on the dune, their eyes fixed on the canyon exit.

”Buerwell, is Baron Porcupine really coming?”

”The raven message said he’d arrive within two days. I’m guessing it’s today.” Buerwell, leader of the Wandering Knights, tilted his head back to look at the towering, cloud-piercing mountains, his eyes narrowed in thought.

A Wandering Knight behind him said, ”Stop hesitating! Let’s just form up and charge!”

”Yeah! Let’s ambush Baron Porcupine before they even get out. The entire Bonta market will be ours!”

No matter how flowery their words were to outsiders, one unchangeable fact remained about the Wandering Knights: they were faithless men who had abandoned their beliefs and oaths.

Betrayal is a threshold you cross only once; after that, it’s countless times.

Buerwell retorted, ”And can we hold the Bonta market?”

”Of course not!”

”But we can loot the place first, then go back and enjoy the spoils.”

”Don’t forget Princess Sophia! Everything we do is to overthrow that detestable Count Buffalo and reclaim what belongs to us, and to the Princess!”

Buerwell glanced at his men and sighed helplessly.

A few of them might still possess some shred of a Knight’s honor, but the vast majority had degenerated into desert bandits clad in plate armor.

Kill Baron Porcupine, seize his wealth—they could only see the immediate profit.

The profit was too enticing. The Bonta market, once closed off to them, was now completely undefended.

The other desert bandits had also been cleared out.

The entire area around the Bonta market had become their personal garden, free for them to come and go. Gazing upon all that wealth, how could they not be tempted?

”If we kill Baron Porcupine, we’ll just end up shrinking back to our southern camp,” Buerwell said. ”We’ll go back to living like stray dogs.”

The man who had spoken earlier sneered, ”You’re not actually thinking of pledging allegiance to the Porcupine and becoming his hound, are you?”

Buerwell knew full well that if he truly chose to side with the Porcupine, the Wandering Knights behind him would rebel. ’Better to attack directly than to be dragged into a forced attack later!’

He shouted, ”To the mouth of the canyon! We wait!”

Time trickled by. Soon, the sounds of hooves and footsteps echoed from within Bonta Canyon. The Wandering Knights, led by Buerwell, held their breath, waiting for the command to charge.

”What are you all doing here?” Leech, the first one out and mounted on a Horse-headed Eagle, looked at the Wandering Knights in surprise.

Buerwell and his men froze when they saw the Horse-headed Eagle. They had never seen such a creature before and had dismissed the rumors from the eastern gorge as mere boasts.

Now, seeing the mythical creature in the flesh, a sense of foreboding crept into the hearts of these Wandering Knights, who were accustomed to lurking in the shadows.

Leech looked at the dozens of Wandering Knights arrayed for battle. He noticed a few with weaker nerves already had their hands gripping the longswords at their waists, and he instantly understood their intentions.

The people behind Leech were relaxed. They had over a dozen Transcendents with them; if they charged, the Wandering Knights wouldn’t stand a chance.

”My lord...”

Buerwell could feel his warhorse trembling uneasily beneath him, seized by fear.

”I see,” Leech said, as if in sudden realization. ”You’re here specifically to welcome me.”

He immediately frowned. ”If you’re welcoming me, why are you still on horseback? It seems being away from the knighthood for so long has made you forget a Knight’s etiquette.”

”SKREEE—!”

The Horse-headed Eagle threw its head back and shrieked.

The Wandering Knights’ warhorses all collapsed to their knees. A few of the riders reacted too slowly and tumbled from their saddles, landing in a disheveled heap.

Buerwell’s face drained of color.

’A single cry made war-hardened horses, which feared nothing, kneel in terror, too afraid to move!’

The Knight who had been most vocal in arguing with Buerwell before drew his sword.

”So you’re not here to welcome me?” Leech looked down from his high perch, surveying the disheveled and disordered Wandering Knights. ”Are you planning to betray me?”

As he spoke, he used ’Intimidation’. The Wandering Knights, already startled by the Horse-headed Eagle, were in a state of disarray. Struck by Leech’s Magic, their legs instantly went weak.

The Wandering Knight who had drawn his sword received special attention and collapsed directly to his knees.

In his dazed state, Buerwell saw not Baron Porcupine looking down on him, but a ferocious Giant Dragon.

He snapped back to his senses and dropped to one knee. ”We have cleared all the desert bandits from around the Bonta market! We came specifically to welcome you, my lord!”

”Well done. I’m counting on you to maintain the peace around here.” Leech smiled, and the scene from a moment ago seemed like nothing but an illusion.

The Horse-headed Eagle led the way, and the column of people followed.

The mercenaries, Trevor and Allen, shot them contemptuous looks, even though the two of them had been quicker to switch sides than anyone.

Buerwell and the other Wandering Knights remained half-kneeling on the sand, only rising to their feet after Leech and his party had moved far into the distance.

The Wandering Knight who had first questioned Buerwell got to his feet. Humiliated at having been frightened to his knees by Leech, he was furious. ”Buerwell, I knew you didn’t have the guts! Now we’ve lost the best chance to defeat Baron Porcupine! He’s riding a Flying Horse, which makes him unbeatable! Thanks to you, we’re all going to become his dogs!”

Buerwell’s face darkened as he walked toward the man. ”Then why didn’t you charge and kill him just now? No one was stopping you.”