Lord of Rot

He casually found something to cover the tombstone.

No matter who came looking, they could search high and low and never find the entrance.

Without Leech’s permission, no one on the outside could get in, and no one on the inside could get out.

When Leech came out, he was met with the sight of bodies strewn everywhere.

The red-haired young lady, now wrapped in clothes, stood beside Philip. She looked worried when she saw Leech, but he gave her a reassuring glance.

’I won’t make things difficult for a victimized girl, much less spread the word that she was violated by some scumbag.’

Seeing this, Agnes breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately began to tremble pitifully.

"Please, don’t worry," Philip said comfortingly. "We’ll be able to fight our way out of here soon!"

With the Transcendents attacking from the inside, their combat power was completely overwhelming. In just a short while, not a single living enemy remained in the entire castle.

’They didn’t leave anyone alive. It seems Philip knows something, probably related to that Red-haired Grand Sorcerer I trapped in the crypt.’

"Just destroying the entrance won’t be enough to trap him," Philip said to Leech. "Sir Leech, we need to leave quickly."

"Right!"

Leech, carrying the [Invisible Pot], opened the main gate of Pebble Castle with the others. The seven of them made a swift departure.

They hurried back to their encampment.

The sentry Soldiers spotted them from afar, and the nobles at the camp rushed out to greet them.

The mood in the camp instantly soared when they saw the group return.

"Steven!" Agnes threw herself at her fiancé. Although they had only met once, the two of them acted like star-crossed lovers who had overcome countless hardships to be reunited.

She wept in Steven’s arms. A beauty in tears was more than Steven could handle; he could only hold her tight and comfort her endlessly.

Anyone who wasn’t a fool could guess what Agnes had gone through in Pebble Castle. So, it all came down to whether Agnes could win over the naive Steven.

Leech had no doubt she would succeed.

Steven took Agnes back to his tent to console her, while Leech returned to the main camp with Philip and the others.

They had successfully rescued their target and annihilated the Black Cavalry. It could be called a great victory.

The only problem was that the mastermind was not dead.

But they didn’t have the courage to go back into Pebble Castle to find him. Five Transcendents had been no match for him; it was better to just consider the mission complete and retreat with their honors.

Leech also questioned Philip in detail and learned what they had experienced that night.

It turned out the five of them were discovered the moment they got on the castle walls. The crossbowmen on the walls fired at them, but as Transcendents, they had no fear of ordinary arrows and could dodge almost all of them.

The infiltration was forced to become an assault. The five had no choice but to force their way in, hoping to find Agnes and leave immediately.

But they hadn’t expected to run into the Grand Sorcerer as soon as they came down from the walls. He was not only proficient in Magic but also possessed powerful close-combat skills, capable of fighting all five of them at once. In the end, the five were no match for him and were captured.

’He really is a beast,’ Leech thought, recalling the moment he’d thrown a punch only to have his own fist ache from the impact.

"Why did they capture Miss Agnes?" Leech asked.

Philip glanced at the other nobles. It seemed it wasn’t a convenient topic to discuss.

’A red-haired Leopold, capturing a junior member of his own family and letting others defile her as they pleased... just how much hatred must he feel?’

"They want to start a war," Philip said after a long moment of consideration. "From what we overheard tonight, he needs to obtain a certain number of souls to sacrifice to an Evil God. When he does, the Evil God will project itself onto him and grant him power."

Leech nodded. "Good thing we destroyed the Magic Array."

"That Magic Array was for turning people into puppets," Philip said. "He was planning to turn the five of us into his puppets."

"So, the sacrifice to the Evil God..." Leech had a very bad feeling.

Philip nodded grimly. "Doesn’t require a Magic Array."

"So you’re saying the people we killed when we left the castle were enough souls for the Evil God’s projection?"

"When we came out, those people were already killing each other. They had gathered enough souls long before that," Philip nodded, but then added, "Sir Leech, you don’t have to worry too much. Many people have tried to make sacrifices to false gods and Evil Gods, but no one has ever succeeded. Besides, it’s been a while with no activity. He has probably failed already."

’That’s because no Transcendent has ever tried it before. One look at the Red-haired Grand Sorcerer and you could tell he was serious.’

’And did he fail? No, I trapped him in the crypt to die!’

Leech hadn’t expected his first encounter with a "god" would be to trap it.

’Gods shouldn’t have a limited lifespan, right?’

’So, that crypt at Pebble Castle... do I want it or not?’

Leech really wanted to get his hands on the Red-haired Grand Sorcerer’s corpse. The man could take on five opponents and was skilled in both close and long-range combat.

Considering the high probability that the Evil God had projected itself onto him, his power was likely beyond the Extraordinary.

’Better to be cautious. I’ll pass.’

’It’s just a crypt, after all.’

’I’ll come back for him later, when I’m strong enough!’

Philip and the others also learned that Leech had led his team to victory in a head-on battle.

Storming the castle, rescuing the hostage... Leech Clarence’s name was destined to be the most dazzling one in the battle for Pebble Castle.

The noble Knights who died in battle would be forgotten, while the surviving noble Knights had earned the honor they desired.

That night, Leech had the Necromancer Ah Yamei assemble 45 Undead Knights. Some of the corpses were too badly damaged, so after piecing them together, they only managed 45. There were 47 Undead Warhorses, as the horses were in better shape than the men.

These Undead Knights would go into hiding. After Ah Yamei set up a spatial anchor for each one, they could be easily teleported in the future.

However, to summon such a terrifying number of them via teleportation would probably require the slaughter of several pig farms.

But Leech wasn’t in a hurry. He could have the Undead Skeletons travel slowly, moving by night and hiding by day.

Once they neared Pig Spine Valley, they could just find an uninhabited ravine to hide in.

The advantage of skeletons over corpses was that they didn’t rot easily.

The disadvantage was that they couldn’t be exposed to daylight and would be swarmed by people if discovered.

After only a short rest, dawn broke. Although their casualties had been heavy, they had ultimately won a victory. They planned to take a detour to Three-fork River Castle.

From his horse, Leech watched Steven ride alongside Agnes’s carriage. The two were smiling and whispering to each other, looking deeply in love. He couldn’t help but marvel at Agnes’s skill; she had won Steven over with ease.

Agnes suddenly noticed Leech’s gaze and gave him a sweet smile. Leech smiled and nodded back in acknowledgment.

Steven noticed their exchange and rode over.

"Sir Leech! You are a powerful and heroic Knight!" Steven said, looking at Leech with reverence. "Agnes told me how you saved her. Thank you so much. You will forever be a friend of Three-fork River Castle."

’Help? I did help, sure, but it wasn’t as heroic as Agnes made it sound.’

"Of course," Leech nodded. "And Porcupine Castle will forever be your friend as well."

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