Lord of Rot

Inside Porcupine Castle.

The expeditionary force was quickly assembled and prepared.

30 light cavalry.

150 fully armored infantry.

Additionally, there was a logistics team of 100, including supply wagons, military equipment, cooks, Alchemists, and so on.

Lacy Sith, clad in armor, stood emotionally at the front of the crowd, shoulder to shoulder with Quickblade, gazing ahead.

'I just joined Porcupine Territory, and I already have a chance to follow my lord onto the battlefield, a chance to pursue glory. This is what I've been searching for!'

Leech had also changed into his newly modified Dragonbone Plate Armor. With the Transcendent blacksmith Chuina's alterations, the dragon bones were now well-integrated with the plate mail. The armor was once again bright, clean, and magnificent, with an acid-etched draconic pattern on its surface that gave the entire set a wilder look.

"Some of you may already know, while others may not," Leech announced, standing on a high platform and looking down at his Soldiers. "An arrogant Black King has appeared in the Iron Valley of the East Gorge!"

The Soldiers stared at Leech with fervent eyes, listening to his pre-battle speech.

"Porcupine Territory recognizes only one King! Lu Leiyi has only one King!" Leech boomed. "All who start wars do so only to bring harm to peaceful people! We will bring them justice! We will bring true peace to the Iron Valley People! We will let the Iron Valley People live better lives, just like the Porcupine People!"

Finally, he paused and said, "March out! I will lead you to greater glory!"

Perhaps some Soldiers truly revered the King, while others admired Baron Porcupine, and still others might have respected no one at all. But when Leech said he would lead them to glory, not a single Soldier in the crowd remained unmoved.

Quickblade put a whistle to his lips and blew a sharp blast.

The entire force turned as one.

Lacy Sith, standing to the side, subconsciously let his jaw drop.

Aside from a small contingent left behind, Leech took the vast majority of his Soldiers to the battlefield.

He knew full well that even if he managed to swoop in and claim the prize, the mess in Iron Valley would not be easy to clean up. He had gleaned bits and pieces of information about Iron Valley from Guy, and the Black King of Iron Valley was a real, bona fide madman.

A madman was unlikely to leave behind a valuable inheritance.

Not to mention, the problem of the "risen dead" was still waiting for Leech to solve.

'The most important thing is to capture Iron Wall Castle first.' Leech held the map of Iron Valley that Sidor Sea Water had given him. Unfortunately, the map wasn't very well-drawn; it lacked a bird's-eye view.

Only by capturing Iron Wall Castle could he secure the coastal cliffs. Then, he could use ships to connect the two territories, breaking the limitations of distance.

Upon learning that Leech was going to war, all of Porcupine Territory was given a half-day off, just so everyone could come and see the Soldiers off.

A Soldier shouldered his musket and marched quietly with the column. The sound of scraping armor and boots stomping the ground was loud, yet perfectly synchronized.

As they left Porcupine Castle and stepped into the square of Maitian Village, all eyes turned toward them.

The people held their hands to their chests, as if murmuring something.

"May the Four Gods grant you a victorious return."

"May the Four Gods bless you with a safe journey."

It turned out they were praying for them.

The Soldier took a deep breath, straightened his back, clenched his jaw, and tightened his grip on his musket.

Just as the column was about to leave Porcupine Territory, a short young man suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs, "A triumphant return to you, My Lord!"

Leech saw the kid. He seemed to be a student from the night school, the one with yellow hair.

The crowd followed, shouting in unison, "With the Four Gods' favor, a triumphant return to you, My Lord!"

The shouts drowned out the heavy footsteps of the armored column.

The sound made the Soldiers' steps even more resolute.

'I guess I'm just a simple man at heart.'

A surge of hot blood rushed through Leech. He stopped dwelling on such things. Since he was in this era, he might as well enjoy it.

The column soon disappeared beyond the edge of Porcupine Territory.

They traveled day and night, leaving Porcupine Territory and heading toward Waterfall Land.

Guy had already arranged for boats, which made their journey much more convenient.

They then sailed south.

Traveling was naturally exhausting and tedious. Along the way, Lacy and Quickblade gathered on either side of Leech to discuss battle tactics.

The terrain in Iron Valley was not suitable for a Knight's charge.

It was mountainous and densely forested.

Thus, there were only two or three viable combat methods. For the Soldiers of Porcupine Territory, however, there was only one: open fire!

No matter what lay ahead, within the range of their muskets, there was only peace.

Due to the recent war in Iron Valley, overland caravans had become much scarcer, allowing Waterfall Land's shipping business to flourish even more.

Just as Leech stepped ashore, a SCREECH from overhead caught his attention.

"What a huge, bald chicken!" Leech exclaimed in surprise.

The "bald chicken" glided over the column, heading deep into Iron Valley. Leech's sharp eyes caught sight of a person riding on its back.

Lacy Sith, also looking up, said with some excitement, "It's the Ostrich Eagle Knight, Morton, from Monkey Island!"

'An Ostrich Eagle Knight?' Leech fought the urge to retort. 'They call a chicken that's bald everywhere except its wings an eagle? It's so bare it looks even more ridiculous than an ostrich.'

He thought he was pretty shameless, but he never expected shameless nobles to be a dime a dozen.

"Yes," Lacy nodded. "I heard he chanced upon a magical egg this year and hatched that Ostrich Eagle, which is capable of carrying a person in flight!"

An envious look appeared on Lacy's face. Then he looked back at his own lord.

After arriving in Porcupine Territory, he had of course seen the Horse-headed Eagle that circled the skies every day. Compared to that mystical creature, this "eagle" did look a bit shabby. Its flying speed was also far inferior to the Horse-headed Eagle's, more like it was gliding through the air. Still, it was flight, after all.

What Knight wouldn't want one?

"Let's go."

Leech led the column forward. Not long after they entered Iron Valley, they were met by a welcoming party, led by a somewhat familiar face.

"Good day, Lord Tyler!"

"Good day, Lord Leech!"

The man who had come to greet them was none other than Tyler Rose, the commander of the force attacking Iron Valley. He wore a magnificent suit of Secret Silver Armor that gleamed brightly, with sapphires embedded in key places.

In terms of sheer flashiness, only Philip with his high beams on full blast could compete.

Upon closer inspection, the Secret Silver Armor even had some sort of strange pattern etched into it, which seemed to flow with a peculiar light under the sun, as if imbued with some kind of power.

Leech asked, "What's the situation?"

"We've already reached the foot of Iron Wall Castle." Tyler Rose walked shoulder to shoulder with Leech toward the command tent. Although he knew exactly why Leech had come at this particular time, his attitude showed no sign of it.

Reaching the foot of Iron Wall Castle meant the Black King hadn't been dealt with yet.

Although Leech was here on orders to reap the rewards, he couldn't complain. He just suspected that now that he had arrived, the Ross Corps would probably start going through the motions.

Tyler Rose lifted the flap of the command tent. "Please, come in."

"Thank you," Leech nodded and entered the tent first.

Inside, seven or eight fully armed nobles were seated.

A few of them looked familiar, as if he'd met them at Roaring Castle, but he had no impression of the others. They were probably minor Knights.

Upon seeing Leech arrive, the expressions on the faces of this group were not particularly friendly.

As the lord of Steel Territory, Tyler Rose naturally looked down on a poor, remote place like Iron Valley. If the Duke of Shining Sun had forced Iron Valley upon him, he might have even been angry.

But it was different for the other minor nobles. No matter how poor, it was still a territory, and certainly better than guarding some impoverished little village.

Unfortunately, the Duke had already designated the new lord of Iron Valley. They could only obey their orders, but in their hearts, they couldn't help but curse Leech, thinking he had just licked the right boots.

Ross pointed at the map on the table and said to Leech, "This is Iron Valley. It's situated on the eastern cliffs, easy to defend and difficult to attack."

"We are located to the west of the castle." Ross's finger rested on the map as he pointed. "Roughly here. We have already secured the entire road to the castle. Now, all we have to do is conquer Iron Wall Castle and kill the Black King, and our mission will be complete."

Leech looked at the map. This one was far more accurate than the one he had. The geography of Iron Valley was indeed much worse than Porcupine Territory's; no wonder it was considered a hot potato.

From their current position, they could launch a direct assault on Iron Wall Castle.

Iron Valley's territory was much larger than Porcupine Territory's, but it was mostly mountainous and had no proper roads.

Besides Iron Wall Castle, the vast territory had only three villages.

They were named "Beechwood Village," "Lilac Village," and "Hazelnut Village." These villages were extremely far from each other, and on the map, only a single road connected them to Iron Wall Castle.

'No roads, no good land, no money.'

Developing Iron Valley would be even less worthwhile than developing Pig Spine Valley; at least Pig Spine Valley was closer to Porcupine Territory.

Because the distance was too great, and Baron Ross's mission was simply to conquer Iron Wall Castle and take the Black King's head, they had naturally chosen to ignore the three villages.

The trouble was left for Leech to solve on his own.

"By the way," Tyler Rose added, "our Soldiers have noticed some strange phenomena in the area recently. You'd best have your men be on alert."

Leech nodded. "I will."

Suddenly, a fluttering sound came from outside. Tyler Rose was overjoyed. "That must be Sir Morton returning!"

The others in the tent also rose to their feet.

Morton. That must be the Knight who was flying around on that featherless chicken.

Baron Ross explained to Leech, "I previously ordered Sir Morton to scout the area around Iron Wall Castle. He's back now and should have brought some useful information."

Leech nodded.

The group left the tent one after another. As soon as he stepped outside, Leech saw a big, bald chicken. This had to be the Ostrich Eagle he had seen gliding overhead earlier.

The Ostrich Eagle's appearance was somewhat similar to an ostrich's, but its wings were exceptionally wide, probably because all of its body's feathers had been used to grow on its wings.

Its legs were extremely long and looked incredibly powerful. An ordinary person kicked by it would surely be disemboweled. Leech even suspected that a Transcendent wouldn't dare take a kick without flinching.

Its body wasn't particularly large, a bit smaller than a warhorse.

Standing next to the Ostrich Eagle was a short man in leather armor. He was about the height of an underdeveloped young maid, reaching only to Leech's chest.

Presumably, only someone of his halfling-like height and weight could ride the Ostrich Eagle. If it were Leech, the creature definitely wouldn't be able to get off the ground.

"What's the situation?" Baron Ross asked.

Knight Morton glanced at Leech and nodded in acknowledgment, but he made no effort to hide his arrogance. It was a polite gesture, but an infuriating one to watch.

"Iron Wall Castle is guarded by 100 militiamen at most," said Knight Morton. "The Black King hasn't appeared, but he should still be inside the castle."

Baron Ross nodded. "In that case, we will take Iron Wall Castle today."

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