Lord of Rot

The Red-haired Earthling raised another, took a running start, and hurled it.

The Alchemy Bomb arced through the air.

The red-skirted creature’s reaction, however, was unexpected. A vine shot out from its body, wrapped around a corpse’s ankle, and hurled it toward the bomb.

The corpse and the bomb collided.

Because Leech hadn’t recited the ignition Spell, the Alchemy Bomb didn’t explode. It merely deformed slightly.

The corpse that collided with the Alchemy Bomb, on the other hand, was blasted into a bloody pulp.

’Its intelligence is definitely on par with a human’s! It actually knew to intercept the Alchemy Bomb!’

After that first explosion, the red-skirted creature now knew to prevent the bombs from getting near it. This was definitely not good news for Leech.

Moreover, the red-skirted creature was accelerating its charge toward Leech. It must have realized that once it closed the distance, Leech wouldn’t dare detonate any Alchemy Bombs.

As for escaping, not only was Leech far slower than the red-skirted creature, but the dense horde of corpses surrounding him, layer upon layer, had already cut off his path of retreat.

Therefore, the only option left was a desperate, all-or-nothing fight.

The Corpse Ghosts who had been guarding Leech’s side sprang into action.

Each Corpse Ghost, carrying one or two massive Alchemy Bombs, charged outward. Only they stood a chance of breaking through on their own power.

They could break through the encirclement of the vine-corpse horde and use their own methods to get close to the red-skirted creature.

Sensing Leech’s plan, the red-skirted creature stopped and commanded its vines to obstruct the approaching Corpse Ghosts on their suicide mission.

The Red-haired Earthling couldn’t dodge in time and was snared by the calf.

Then, the vine burrowed into its body.

’It’s stealing my Corpse Ghost right in front of my eyes!’

’The connection isn’t broken.’

Leech could clearly sense a force inside the Red-haired Earthling’s body trying to forcibly control her actions. Fortunately, the refinement process Leech used to create his Corpse Ghosts granted him a superior degree of control, allowing him to contend with it.

Entangled in vines, the Red-haired Earthling stood on the ground, motionless, caught in the struggle for control over its body.

The Corpse Ghosts’ suicide mission to deliver the Alchemy Bombs continued.

Aina enveloped her body with her giant poison claws, looking like she was piloting a black shuttle as she streaked above the corpse horde, heading straight for the red-skirted creature.

Guy’s body suddenly split into several copies, charging the red-skirted creature from multiple directions. The vines lashed out, only to discover their targets were just Phantoms.

But the most effective of them all was undoubtedly the Corpse Ghost Rabbit.

It was a speed-type Corpse Ghost to begin with, and with the properties of its [Wind-borne Sickness Helm], the lashing vines were all deflected by the wall of wind enveloping its body. Relying on its extreme speed, it successfully charged right up to the red-skirted creature!

The vines on the red-skirted creature’s body rapidly wove into a shield wall, attempting to block the rabbit from getting any closer.

WHIRRR.

The undead bird that had been circling overhead suddenly dove straight down. It nimbly wove through fifty or sixty grasping vines before landing on the red-skirted creature’s forehead.

The undead bird cocked its head, looking at the two red flowers in the red-skirted creature’s eye sockets.

The vines weaving the shield wall stopped instantly!

Whether it was the hundreds of corpses held high in the sky by vines like kites, or the vines attempting to obstruct the advancing Corpse Ghosts, all of them froze solid, completely motionless.

The one controlling the undead bird at this moment was none other than the Water Nymph!

The Red-haired Earthling, who had been struggling with the vine, immediately regained control of its body, then charged toward the red-skirted creature while clutching an Alchemy Bomb.

The other Corpse Ghosts also arrived one after another.

They dropped their Alchemy Bombs and fled outward at top speed.

”SCHLICK!” A vine shot out from the red-skirted creature’s mouth, piercing the undead bird perched on its forehead.

The standoff had only lasted a second or two at most.

After all, one was a mere spiritual projection while the other was physically present. There was no comparison.

The frozen vines stirred to life once more.

’It’s too late!’

Seeing the red-skirted creature so close, Leech gritted his teeth and dropped to the ground. He wanted to save his Corpse Ghosts, but he knew that to hesitate now would be to lose the war for the sake of a single battle.

Leech commanded his elite undead, who were holding back the horde, to abandon their attacks. One by one, they leaped toward Leech, piling on top of him to form a solid shield with their bodies.

The other Corpse Ghosts also received the command to preserve their own lives as best they could.

”Ignite!”

Nine Alchemy Bombs. The smallest one was the size of a human head.

A fiery light erupted. In an instant, a terrifying heatwave engulfed the red-skirted creature, sending a visible shockwave sweeping across the battlefield.

The corpses closest to the red-skirted creature were blown away, sent flying into the sky.

The vine-animated corpses still surrounding Leech passively became a wall of flesh, helping to block the impact.

Compared to the heatwave, the close-range blast and extreme heat were the true killers.

A mushroom cloud of thick, roiling smoke rose into the air.

In the surrounding area, there was not a single moving thing to be seen.

After waiting for a long time, once he was certain the chaos outside had subsided and it was safe, Leech pushed away the corpse covering him.

As he stood up, he felt his head ringing.

There was a constant ringing in his ears.

He raised a hand to his ear and felt blood; the blast had ruptured something.

’Even at this distance, with the undead to shield me, I was almost severely injured by the shockwave. What would it have been like at the epicenter?’

He turned his head toward the center of the explosion. The corpses along the path had been cleared away; it was rare to see even a few scraps of remains left behind.

The ground was scorched black and the terrain was completely altered, forming a massive crater. Only in the very center of the blast could he vaguely make out half a corpse.

Leech staggered a few steps toward the center of the crater, then suddenly stopped.

He looked down. It was half of the stone man’s corpse.

Nils’s head was gone; only half of his body remained.

And this remaining half of his body had already been pierced through by vines, becoming soil for their growth.

Leech lifted his foot and stomped on the stone corpse. That length of vine twisted twice, then withered and died.

After a few more steps, Leech sensed responses from his other Corpse Ghosts and broke into a smile. ”You have stronger Life Force than me... ah, that’s not right. You’re all dead.”

Aina, Guy, Ah Yamei, and the rabbit were all still functional. Aina looked to be in the worst state—a section of her leg had been blown off. However, she had already retrieved the severed limb, and with her self-healing ability, it would only be a matter of time before she healed.

Guy had lost a hand. Ah Yamei and the rabbit had escaped farther, but were merely pierced through the body and head by blades sent flying by the explosion. A little gold would be enough to fix them.

Leech also saw the Corpse Demon Giant Lizard. Only a head remained; it was beyond saving.

The Red-haired Earthling, on the other hand, had vanished entirely. He couldn’t connect to its consciousness; it had likely been turned to cinders.

The Necromancer, Ah Yamei, quickly gathered the Undead. Unexpectedly, because the Undead Cavalry had taken cover far away, 43 of them were still left!

At the very center of the explosion, all that was left of the red-skirted creature was half a charred husk. The flower that grew in its left eye socket had vanished, revealing a sinister, bloody hole.

The corpse’s chest suddenly split open, revealing a flower within.

”Isn’t that the Black King’s flower?” Leech said in astonishment.

That flower, capable of bringing the dead back to life, had actually managed to create a being beyond the Extraordinary level.

The Water Nymph said, ”It craves life. It has always been alive.”

”It craves life, so it tried to kill me?”

”It wants to fuse with you. I can sense that it likes you.”

”No, thanks. I don’t plan on merging with it anytime soon,” Leech said, shaking his head vigorously. He had trypophobia and had no desire to become a human-shaped honeycomb.

’That was probably why the vine-corpses attacked Transcendents.’

Leech reached out and cupped the flower from the corpse’s chest cavity. ”This couldn’t be what the Duke wants, could it?”

If it were an ordinary life-extending Magic Potion, Leech might have actually given it to the Duke in exchange for certain benefits.

But this thing was too dangerous. If the Duke also ended up ”wearing a red dress,” the consequences would be unimaginable.

After stowing the flower, Leech got to his feet.

The losses from this battle were not small.

The damage to the regular undead was secondary; the main thing was that he had lost three of his Corpse Ghosts.

But it was not without its rewards. As long as he could find a way to absorb this strange Magic Potion without becoming a man full of holes, he could obtain power beyond the Extraordinary level.

All in all, it was a definite net gain.