Lord of Rot

Leech controlled the dead mercenary’s corpse, dual-wielding its swords. His reaction speed was far superior to the mercenary’s, and the combat prowess displayed by the corpse now far exceeded what the man had shown in life.

Without the sensation of pain, its combat effectiveness was boosted even further. One by one, the small, blue-skinned monsters fell to its swords.

Some were decapitated, others had their arms lopped off, and some were run through the throat...

However, after realizing he was taking some of the pressure off the mercenaries, Leech deliberately moved closer to the others, shifting the burden onto them so he could slack off.

The mercenaries’ combat strength was not to be underestimated. Leech compared them to his own corpses and found that the mercenaries might be slightly stronger—but only on the premise that his corpses would die if gutted, instead of just shrugging it off and continuing to attack.

’If it’s a fight to the death, I’ll definitely win!’

The bodies of the small, blue-skinned monsters piled up, but due to limited visibility, the mercenaries couldn’t tell how many more enemies lurked in the dark. The tense atmosphere didn’t lessen as the monsters died; on the contrary, it grew heavier.

WHOOSH—!

An arrow flew out and struck a mercenary in leather armor. "It’s poisoned!" he yelled.

The poison wasn’t very potent; it only caused a slight numbness in the limbs.

But as the number of arrows increased, so did the intensity of the paralysis!

A strange "CAW CAW CAW" cackling echoed from the darkness. More and more people were getting injured, but so far, besides the corpse Leech was using, only one person had actually died. The rest still had the strength to fight; they hadn’t reached their breaking point yet.

"Fall back!" the female mercenary with the wooden staff shouted. "Let’s get out of here first!"

To his surprise, the others actually obeyed, fighting as they fell back.

But they would soon discover... that while they could retreat, the path they came from was gone.

The shameless Baron had already locked the uninvited guests inside. Even if they managed to fight their way through the entire crypt, they would still be trapped without food. The fate awaiting them was easy to imagine.

This had been Leech’s plan from the beginning—to win without lifting a finger.

He wanted the crypt’s treasures, and he had no intention of letting these uninvited hyenas leave alive.

"The path is gone!"

"We can’t get out!"

It dawned on them that they were somehow trapped. The cackling laughs and incessant arrows from the distance left them no time to think.

The girl took a deep breath. Leech noticed her reach into a pocket with her left hand, grab something, and stuff it into her wooden staff, which appeared to be hollow.

She gave it a gentle shake, her movements conspicuously careful.

"Protect me!" the female mercenary said.

The mercenary in iron armor immediately took on the duty of protecting her. He seemed to know what she was about to do, shielding her from the front as they slowly moved forward together.

Arrows flying from the darkness struck his iron armor, producing nothing more than a "CLANG CLANG CLANG" as they failed to penetrate his defense.

"Get down!"

the female mercenary shouted. She then raised her staff and slammed it violently onto the ground.

FZZT! Sparks flew.

She yelled, "Fla’mi&%bus’tion¥!"

To Leech, it sounded like a short, empty Spell.

BOOM!

A burst of light erupted from the point where the staff and the ground met. Immediately after, a heat wave rolled out like a bursting dam, and terrifying flames instantly engulfed a wide area in front of them! In that instant, the fire illuminated a space dozens of paces forward. The corpses of the blue-skinned monsters were set ablaze, and a few unlucky living ones who were too close were also ignited. In the darkness, little burning figures ran about in a panic.

Leech’s throat went dry.

’What kind of trick was that? Magic? And what was that handful of stuff she put inside the staff?’

’If I took a direct hit from that, would I even survive?’

’Of course, in a real fight, I’d still have a guaranteed win. Never mind her troublesome preparations and the attack’s limited range—the moment she entered my attack radius, I could finish her with a single dart.’

What shocked him was the method she used—something that might or might not be Magic. If it were used in warfare...

’Wait a second. That couldn’t have been Magic Gunpowder, could it?’

Compared to pure Magic, Leech felt the female mercenary’s preparations seemed to involve some kind of alchemical item used in conjunction with Magic. It wasn’t so simple.

’Could she be a scholar?’

He felt that his greatest prize on this venture wasn’t the crypt, but the mysterious girl.

The aftereffects of the flames still lingered in the crypt, granting the mercenary team a chance for a brief respite. However, the fact that they couldn’t retreat weighed heavily on their minds.

Moreover, the sudden burst of fire didn’t just rout the enemy; the instantaneous blast of heat made the armored mercenary protecting the girl grimace in pain. His armor seemed to have been superheated, roasting him until his face was beet-red and sweat poured down his brow.

Unfortunately, judging by the female mercenary’s current condition, it seemed unlikely she could use that attack a second time any time soon.

Leech, who had already returned to his castle, lay on his bed, concentrating on controlling the mercenary in battle.

The number of monsters in the crypt was beyond imagination. The small, blue-skinned creatures alone had developed a social structure; some wielded a shield in one hand and a weapon in the other, while others held bows. Their poison-tipped arrows were the primary means of weakening the mercenaries.

Still others threw spears or hurled rocks.

Their intelligence wasn’t low. Some reacted by snatching up dropped torches from the ground, and enemies armed with fire were clearly much trickier to deal with.

But the fiery explosion had still terrified them. They only tested the mercenaries with probing arrow shots, and not a single blue-skinned monster dared to charge forward, lest they be suddenly roasted until they were sizzling in their own fat.

The two sides were locked in a standoff. The enemy seemed to be running out of arrows, as their attacks dwindled to sporadic rock-throwing, which still managed to leave a few mercenaries bruised and bloody.

"This is some kind of underground structure," a mercenary said. "We can find a room that’s easy to defend, and then we can take turns resting. The monsters in this maze can’t be endless. If we kill them all, there has to be a way out."

With no path of retreat, their treasure hunt had turned into a war of extermination.

This was exactly what Leech wanted.

’What a group of free laborers,’ he thought. ’If they can’t handle it, maybe I should build a tavern and recruit adventurers from all over to come explore the crypt.’

’Yes, I could even give this activity a name—dungeon diving!’

Heaven never seals all paths. The mercenaries actually found a room with a narrow doorway, only wide enough for two people to enter side-by-side.

And inside the room was a group of even smaller blue-skinned creatures.

"It’s their young!"

These little monsters couldn’t even walk yet. They huddled together like a brood of quail, fearfully watching the uninvited guests.

They hadn’t even grown fangs and couldn’t crawl yet. The fear of an unfamiliar scent was all that made them tremble.

SPLAT! A boot came down, crushing one of the young, and blue blood burst out.

The mercenary thought nothing of it. "Hurry up and clear them all out. We need to rest well. There’s still a nasty fight ahead of us."

No one had a bleeding heart and suggested peaceful coexistence. With swift strokes of their blades, they quickly slaughtered the monster young.

"Hah—"

At last, they could collapse, take a drink of water, and eat something.

The tense atmosphere eased slightly.

Leech had his corpse hide in a corner, unsociable and silent. But it had fought ferociously just now and was covered head to toe in blue blood. The other mercenaries, whether out of disgust or fear, all kept their distance. A few had tried to joke with him, but when they got no response, they didn’t press the matter.

They could finally breathe a sigh of relief, but the great weight hanging over their heads hadn’t disappeared. No one noticed anything strange about the corpse Leech was controlling.

A mercenary holding a shield stood guard at the door, not forgetting to turn back and chat idly. "Hey, you guys think there are any females among these blue-skinned runts?"

"Hahaha, what, you want to try and breed with one?"

"Ptooey!" The mercenary spat. "I’m just curious. How can they get it on when they’re so damn ugly? The sight of them just disgusts me."

"We’ll catch one for you to try later!" a female mercenary joked.

WHOOSH WHOOSH—

A sudden gust of wind swept through.

The mercenary at the door didn’t notice a thing, but Leech, whose vision was clearer in the dark, saw a woman with the body of a bird appear overhead, flapping her wings.

She had a beautiful face and flowing hair. Her upper body was that of a voluptuous woman, but her arms were bird wings and her legs were talons.

As her wings beat, the flesh of her chest jiggled.

The voluptuous bird-demon’s eyes were bloodthirsty. She swooped down, seized the mercenary at the door with her talons, and shot off into the distance.

The mercenary was quite skilled himself. He struggled in the air, managed to draw his knife, and killed the harpy in a counter-attack. But he had been carried too high. After he fell, there was a sickening CRACK as he seemed to land on a rock.

"My leg’s broken!" the mercenary yelled. "Quick, come get me back!"

"CAW CAW CAW"

The strange cawing calls echoed all around once more, and the mercenary’s face went pale.