Lord of Rot

Chapter 474: Chapter 419: Your Most Loyal Knight Buerwell Has Arrived

Viscount Matthew wasn’t foolish enough to ask Leech for evidence, because he could see right through Leech’s intentions.

Leech was playing the same game as him: find the moral high ground, regardless of the truth, claim it, and then use it as a justification to make a move.

History is written by the victors. Whoever won this final battle would get to finish writing the story.

The one thing Viscount Matthew couldn’t understand was how Leech could be so bold as to claim Lisu Muma was Princess Sophia. Wasn’t he afraid of infuriating the Water Buffalo Count?

If a true heir to Princess Sophia were to appear, the Water Buffalo Count would surely fly into a rage, perhaps even dispatching an army to kill them. He would never allow anyone to carve away a piece of his power.

Fabricating a Princess Sophia was one thing, but facing the wrath of the Water Buffalo Count was another entirely.

‘Or could it be,’ Viscount Matthew wondered, ‘that Leech simply doesn’t see the Water Buffalo Count as a threat?’

The sound of horse hooves suddenly thundered from the distance, interrupting Viscount Matthew’s thoughts.

A group of Knights appeared on the horizon, cresting the sand dunes where they met the sky.

A group of foot soldiers followed close behind, with more trailing even further back, their slower pace leaving them far in the dust.

The lead Knight bellowed, “Protect Princess Sophia! Slay the traitors! Charge with me!!”

Watching from the rear, Viscount Matthew’s eyelid twitched.

He didn’t quite understand why the Knights were shouting “Charge!” without moving an inch. But then he saw a group of Transcendents overtake the Knights and rush toward him. The Transcendents were incredibly fast, especially the one at the very front, whose speed was hard to fathom. An utterly suffocating aura erupted from his body.

A sandstorm swirled around the man as he ran. Viscount Matthew had never witnessed such a terrifying sight.

In an instant, the group of Transcendents had reached the mercenary lines.

The Soldiers blocking their path were like paper, knocked aside with ease.

Hundreds of Mercenaries charged forward, and hundreds of Mercenaries fell, even more than the number Leech had taken down earlier on his Horse-headed Eagle.

In the short time since their appearance, the number of fallen Mercenaries had already surpassed seven hundred.

The ground was covered with groaning and screaming men.

The few remaining Transcendents beside Viscount Matthew came to their senses and charged forward to intercept.

But the man at the front simply raised his fist, and with one punch each, their heads exploded with shocking ease.

‘Even killing chickens isn’t this easy, is it?’ Viscount Matthew’s heart pounded uncontrollably, and his knees felt weak. He tried to imagine himself in their place and realized he wouldn’t have been able to withstand a single punch.

As Jonney seized Viscount Matthew’s neck with one hand and lifted him off the ground, the Viscount finally understood how Jones and his fifteen allied Transcendents had still managed to lose.

Their power wasn’t even in the same league. Even with another fifty Transcendents, they probably wouldn’t be a match for this hulking monster.

With such overwhelming power as a backer, no wonder Baron Porcupine didn’t pay any mind to the Water Buffalo Count. How many people on the entire continent could he possibly take seriously?

He now understood why Leech dared to be so aggressive.

So, did it still matter who Princess Sophia was? No, it didn’t.

What mattered was the person standing *behind* Princess Sophia.

With Leech’s support, whoever he said was Princess Sophia, was Princess Sophia.

Jonney dragged Viscount Matthew back before Buerwell and the other Wandering Knights, moving so fast that even a Transcendent wouldn’t have been able to react.

Buerwell dismounted and raised his Longsword.

THWACK. A head hit the ground, and hot blood soaked into the sand.

It happened so fast that Viscount Matthew was given no chance for pointless blustering or last words.

The rebellious bandit, Viscount Matthew, who attempted to attack Princess Sophia, was slain by the loyal Knight Buerwell. That was how the story would be told to the outside world.

The headless corpse fell to the ground, and with it, the hearts of the Mercenaries sank into a chilling despair.

The Wandering Knight Buerwell, leading his company of over a hundred men, faced the more than three thousand before him without an ounce of fear. He looked up at Lisu Muma on the city wall, dropped to one knee, and cried out with emotion, “Princess Sophia, your most loyal Knight, Buerwell, has arrived! The rebel leader is slain!”

The twenty-odd Wandering Knights had never felt so exhilarated. It was as if all the glory they had lost over the past decade and more had returned in that one moment!

They all dropped to one knee together.

Finally, they had their own Princess Sophia.

The Mercenary side, in contrast, fell into utter chaos.

They thought back on everything that had happened.

First, the Mercenaries had gotten wind of an opportunity, hoping to cash in by following the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps. When the battle began, it was supposed to be a steamroll, an easy victory.

At first, it really was easy. Victory was in sight.

But then, Baron Porcupine arrived on a winged Flying Horse and single-handedly wiped out their every advantage.

Then a squad of powerhouses smashed through their lines on foot, snatched the leader of the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps, and effortlessly lopped off his head with a single sword strike.

Their leader was dead. What were they supposed to do now?

Fight? That was probably out of the question.

Just look at the few remaining Transcendent Mercenaries—they were already kneeling on the ground, hands on their heads in surrender. With the mid-level and high-level command gone, what were the grunts supposed to fight desperately for? Who were they fighting for?

“Buerwell? Isn’t he a Wandering Knight?” someone whispered among the Mercenaries.

“Do you know why he’s a Wandering Knight? I heard it’s because they were die-hard loyalists of Princess Sophia. After the Water Buffalo Count usurped her power, he had them all marginalized and driven out.”

“I think I’ve heard a similar story.”

Three thousand men could spawn thirty thousand different versions of the story.

Once the tale left the first man’s lips, its subsequent evolution had nothing to do with him.

Buerwell gazed at the beautiful figure on the distant city wall, his mind replaying a question that Ao Kai and the other Wandering Knights had raised during their journey.

“Lisu Muma isn’t Princess Sophia. She’s certainly beautiful, but beyond her looks, she has nothing in common with the princess. Even if we force the issue, will anyone believe it?”

“They will believe. Because they have us, and they have the Baron.”

“Why?”

Buerwell’s memory faded.

Seeing the more than three thousand Mercenaries before him dropping their weapons one by one to surrender, Buerwell let out a long breath.

‘Why?’

‘It’s because Baron Porcupine possesses the kind of hard power that forces everyone to accept this “fact.” Of course, people are rebellious by nature, and you can’t rule out the ones who would stubbornly choose to defend their homes.’

‘That’s where the acknowledgment of the Wandering Knights comes in. It serves as the proof.’

‘As the most loyal knights to Princess Sophia in the desert—so loyal they were reduced to wandering in misery—they might be more infamous than desert bandits, but no one would doubt their loyalty to the princess.’

In truth, it wasn’t that Buerwell and his men were loyal to Princess Sophia, but that they had no other choice. They had backed the wrong side years ago, failing to pledge allegiance to the Water Buffalo Count early on like Baron Jin Fu did, and this was the result.

They could either be reviled Wandering Knights, or “loyal” but still reviled Wandering Knights. A man had to have some dignity, after all. It was precisely this decade-plus of unwavering “loyalty” that had given them the opportunity to choose a “Princess Sophia” of their own.

Behind this Princess Sophia, the person they were truly loyal to was Leech.

Leech gazed down from above. ‘Now I have Soldiers and a city wall,’ he thought. ‘This Lucky Potion really lives up to its name.’

He strongly suspected the Lucky Potion had given the leader of the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps a push, making him choose a direct assault, which in turn helped Leech make up his own mind.

Otherwise, if his opponent had delayed just a little longer, Leech, facing such a massive numerical disadvantage, really wouldn’t have dared to clash with the Half-Beastman legion.

Next, he needed to start mass-producing Transcendents. Their importance in this battle had been immense.

‘Then I’ll use that flower to cultivate a Palace Level powerhouse. Three against one, the advantage is all mine!’

Lisu Muma stared down at the kneeling Wandering Knights.

She saw the three thousand-plus Mercenaries disarming and surrendering, and the row of Transcendents radiating light, and her mind went blank.

Leech turned to her. “You are Princess Sophia!”

He said it as if he had come specifically to remind her of her identity.

“I…”

Lisu Muma wanted to say, ‘I don’t even believe it myself, so how could those three thousand men down there believe it? Just a moment ago, they were trying to kill me and sack the city for three days.’

“Princess Sophia!”

“Princess Sophia!”

The rising and falling shouts from below astonished Lisu Muma. ‘These Mercenaries sure can change their tune quickly.’

“Go tell them they are now prisoners,” Leech said.

Lisu Muma nodded. She understood the fate of Mama City. The man standing before her was the city’s true master, and that included her, the hastily appointed princess.

“The rebel leader is slain! The rest of you will turn over your weapons, and I will dispatch Knights to judge your guilt!” she announced in a loud voice.

But she was no Transcendent, so her voice didn’t carry very far.

Below, a clamor arose: “We are your loyal subjects, Princess Sophia!”

“I was tricked, Princess!”

Regardless of what they truly thought, their shouts at least sounded earnest and sincere.