Lord of Rot

That same day, the two men Leech had chosen for the task set off with Mr. Qiao, heading to Pig Head Mountain to slay the monster.

Accompanying them were 10 fully armed Porcupine Soldiers and several wagons.

Before they set out, Leech had already given them their mission: bring back the monster’s corpse.

The group force-marched, planning to return within a few days. They traveled in silence, the atmosphere heavy.

Perhaps the only ones who were relaxed were the two white-haired Hunters.

”CAW!”

A bird flew overhead.

Wind Falcon Ma Wei looked up and said, ”That’s the castle’s Caster.”

”Should we shoot it down?” Elo asked, pulling aside his black robe. At his waist were several small bottles and jars, as well as a steel hand-crossbow.

”Just pretend it doesn’t exist.”

Ma Wei shook his head gently. ”The young lord probably had him watch over us. It seems there’s a lack of trust between us. Or perhaps the Caster is acting on his own accord.”

”We always do the job we’re paid for.” Elo let his black robe fall back into place, abandoning the thought of shooting down the bird.

”Let him watch,” Ma Wei said. ”I’m guessing Baron Porcupine and the Caster don’t have a good relationship. This might even lead to more work for us in the future.”

They had already concocted a scenario in their heads: a young, ambitious lord in conflict with a powerful Caster who held the real authority.

Such situations were not uncommon.

If Leech were to ask them to help kill the castle’s Caster, they would be more than happy to oblige. It would be a huge payday.

”As long as we’re getting paid,” Elo said, flashing a grin.

Who cared if this place was a backwater? He had expensive tastes, and you couldn’t indulge those without money.

Although Baron Porcupine had a rather harsh style, and his Soldiers all looked ready to draw their swords and cut them down at a moment’s notice, he was quite generous with his pay.

A deposit of two Jinri, just to take out a single monster. In the past, when they’d helped people kill monsters, some clients only paid in copper stars.

They passed through Pig Spine Valley and reached Pig Head Mountain.

With Mr. Qiao leading the way, the group snaked forward. At one point, the path vanished, and they had to draw their swords to hack through the undergrowth, clearing a trail for themselves.

”That’s the place!”

They stood on a small hill as Mr. Qiao pointed to a mud pit in the distance. ”There used to be a road there. Last year, my family’s caravan was resting near that spot when they were attacked by an unseen monster. Everyone—men and horses—was killed.”

For countless nights, hatred had forced Mr. Qiao to relive the massacre in his dreams. He would never forget it, not even in death.

”Alright, Mr. Qiao,” Ma Wei said. ”Could you and the Soldiers fall back a ways? It’s about to get dangerous.”

Mr. Qiao wanted to say that Porcupine Territory’s elite Soldiers could be of great help, but he recalled the lord’s specific instructions and suppressed the thought. ”Understood. If you two need help, just call for us.”

Leech’s orders had been to let the two white-haired Hunters take the lead.

The woods were overgrown with weeds in the late summer.

No one had traveled this way in a long time, and the path was completely swallowed by wild grass.

The white-haired Hunters drew their swords, hacking through the grass to clear a path as they ventured deeper.

A short distance from the mud pit, Ma Wei stopped. He closed his eyes, his fingers tracing patterns in the air as if touching invisible Magic Runes. ”The wind will tell me everything.”

Seeing this, Elo drew the Silver Steel Sword from his waist and plopped onto the ground. He took a piece of deerskin from his pack, unhooked a glass bottle from his belt, uncorked it, and poured some strange, greenish potion onto the cloth.

He used the deerskin, now soaked with the bizarre green liquid, to gently wipe down the blade of his sword.

After being wiped down, the blade began to emit an eerie green light, clearly visible even under the bright sun.

”It’s a big one,” Ma Wei said, opening his eyes and turning his head. ”It’s likely not a magical beast, just a massive wild animal.”

”A wild animal?”

Holding his sword, Elo walked confidently forward. ”Well, that makes things much simpler.”

BOOM!

The ground trembled.

Elo, who had just stepped forward, scrambled back. ”Damn it, Ma Wei! This is your ’wild animal’?”

As he spoke, he instinctively rolled to the side.

A streak of red light flashed by, striking the spot where Elo had just been standing and blasting a huge crater in the ground.

”It doesn’t have a trace of Magic on it, nor any special abilities. It’s just a little on the large side.” As he spoke, Ma Wei chanted a Spell. A gust of wind enveloped him, and he vanished from Elo’s sight.

BOOM!

The ground shook, and a massive figure fully revealed itself.

It was a Giant Lizard! Its shoulders stood as high as a grown man, and its body was as long as three carriages.

It had spent years rolling around in the mud pit, and its body was covered in scales of dried earth.

For a wild Giant Lizard to have grown to such a size, it must have long surpassed the lifespan of a normal lizard. Its body was ancient, and its cumbersome frame, caked in stinking mud, slowed its crawling speed.

But anyone who underestimated it because of its slow movements would surely pay a heavy price.

In contrast to its clumsy body, the Giant Lizard’s tongue was incredibly swift.

Its mouth opened, a red light flashed, and its tongue shot out at a speed an ordinary person’s eyes couldn’t possibly follow!

”HYAH!” Gripping his sword with both hands, Elo’s muscles bulged with power as he narrowly dodged the Giant Lizard’s tongue.

Stomping his right foot and digging a crater in the ground, Elo used the explosive force to launch himself in front of the Giant Lizard. He brought his sword down with both hands, hacking at its neck.

KRAK!

The blade bit deep, with surprising ease.

But Elo’s expression was odd. He didn’t feel the sensation of his sword slicing through scales or piercing muscle.

The caked mud on the Giant Lizard’s hide was too thick. Half the length of his blade sank in, yet it still hadn’t touched the creature’s actual body!

’Not good!’

Elo’s strike against the mud armor hadn’t inflicted any damage, but the Giant Lizard had slowly begun to react. With a thrust of its head, it sent the nearby Elo flying.

With its terrifying size, every one of its movements carried immense force. Elo was flung into the air, snapping an old tree in two before he slammed into the ground.

If he hadn’t been a Transcendent, that single headbutt would have cost Elo his life.

The Giant Lizard slowly turned its head toward Elo and opened its mouth.

A red light gleamed.

Then, the ground erupted.

The tongue wrapped around Elo’s body, gouging a large chunk of earth from the ground as it did.

The tongue’s muscles contracted. Elo’s bones creaked under the pressure as he was dragged toward the Giant Lizard’s gaping mouth.

Suddenly, an invisible force sliced in from the side, severing the Giant Lizard’s tongue. The severed appendage fell to the ground, still twitching.

Elo was freed, but the fall left him completely disoriented.

Its tongue severed, the Giant Lizard was driven into a complete rage by the pain. Its murky eyes couldn’t make out who had attacked it, but Elo was the only one in sight, so it decided it would eat him for revenge.

THUD, THUD, THUD!

It crawled slowly toward Elo.

Enduring the pain, Elo scrambled to his feet and began to jog in the direction of Mr. Qiao and the others.

The man and the Giant Lizard were both surprisingly slow, and they managed to maintain a constant distance from each other.