Lord of Rot

A foul stench assaulted him.

Though he had smelled plenty of blood along the way, this was the first time he'd encountered such a rotten odor.

Holding his breath, he pushed the door open. The first thing he saw was a woman's corpse, hanging from the ceiling.

Leech noticed a worn-out piece of paper on the floor. He bent down and picked it up. It was covered in a scrawling, tadpole-like script.

It was clear the letter's author had little education. Leech had to rely on his own interpretation to make sense of it.

"My dearest sister Alice, I hope you are well. We were so in love after we married. Oh, the terrible witch hunts are finally over. Just as the Minstrels sing, the darkness always passes. We can hold each other and heal together. It will take a long time, I know... but as long as we have each other, we at least still have each other."

Leech drew his Longsword and, with a casual slash, severed the rope. The body thudded to the floor.

The body was light, nearly mummified.

He continued reading: "I never expected that was just the beginning of the nightmare. Rumors of the dead rising began to spread through the village. Dead men climbing from their graves to eat the living."

The writing broke off here. It seemed the author didn't know how to write a few words, leaving a sentence Leech couldn't decipher at all. He could only guess it was meant to describe the terror of the catastrophe.

"It's been so long. He and I were forced apart. I have no food left, not an ounce of strength. Oh, Alice, my sister, we may never see each other again... I can't hold on any longer. As I write this letter, he is right outside the door, wandering. He's watching me."

After leaving the room, Leech did another sweep of Lilac Village and found another letter, this one from a Mercenary.

Unlike the last letter, this one had been intentionally left in a conspicuous place.

"Left Iron Stone City, made it to Iron Valley. I'm looking out at this territory on Chaotic Stone Mountain. The land is so damn dark, with an evil shadow trying to swallow the horizon. If it weren't for the bounty on 'Charming', I wouldn't have come to this shithole even if she offered me her ass on a platter! I saw something... blurry. The others didn't. It reminds me of the horror stories about this place."

'The author of this letter must have been sent by "Charming," Becky Simon.'

He read on.

"I took a big swig of wine for courage. Heh! What's there to be scared of? There's a whole lot of us! I gripped my sword with both hands... dammit, what is that thing? The dead are rising! That bullshit Magic Potion... why the hell am I risking my life for some slut who'll sleep with anyone! Dammit, more and more of our guys are dying. When they get killed, they just get back up and fight us! We're fighting a hopeless war against the Undead!"

The letter ended there. The Mercenary's fate was easy to guess.

'She wants the Magic Potion, too? Is she also planning to give it to the Duke?'

Leech tossed the letter aside. "He was right about one thing," he said. "This is a war against the Undead. But it isn't hopeless. As long as you have a more powerful army of Undead, you can achieve final victory."

A great fire was set to cremate the bodies of the dead.

The blaze lit up the sky all night long.

...

「Beech Mountain Village.」

Perched on a branch, its wings folded, a corpse bird staring at the horde of corpses suddenly flapped its wings and took flight.

The swaying horde of corpses suddenly began to move as one. They seemed to have a single, unified destination: Lilac Village!

The female corpse in the long, red-flowered dress also advanced slowly with the horde.

Leech, who had been about to go to sleep, was instantly wide awake. He immediately directed the corpse bird into the sky to keep track of the female corpse's position.

At the same time, he rapidly formulated his battle plan using his Spiritual Power.

In front of Lilac Village was a relatively open area with few trees—the perfect place for a cavalry charge.

He pulled out the [Pot of Invisibility] and slapped it on his head. "Don't think I'm afraid of you just because you're beyond the Extraordinary!"

The horde from the direction of Beech Mountain Village moved with incredible speed. If Leech hadn't been tracking it with his corpse bird from the sky, he would have sworn he was hallucinating.

"Good, they're coming!" He had just received a message from the Water Nymph—the final gap in his power had been filled!

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