Lord of Rot

”Take me to him,” Leech said.

Beck Little Bill only knew where Wells stayed during the day. If it was truly as Annel had said, the old fellow might get restless when night fell.

No matter what Wells Bill had turned into, as long as he wasn’t beyond the Extraordinary realm, he wouldn’t be impossible to handle.

Annel was very cooperative, leading the way through the castle. To any onlookers, it would seem she was talking to herself, but in reality, Leech was following quietly behind her, hidden by the pot.

”When did this change start?” Leech asked.

”A few months ago.”

Annel recalled, ”La bought a miraculous statue from Oasis City. He said it had the power of resurrection, that it could bring the dying back to life.”

Oasis City, the city of merchants in the desert.

It was too far away, and its merchants disliked the nobility. As a result, Leech’s impression of Oasis City was very superficial. He only knew it was a place in the desert where the people were quite wealthy, and that was it.

”Before that, my father’s condition was very poor. He was awake for long periods each day, but he was dazed and confused most of the time.”

Annel’s mood turned sorrowful. ”But after we got that statue, he became very healthy.”

”He was no longer dazed and confused. Even the teeth he’d lost grew back, and his hair started growing in again, thick and black.” Annel spoke as if describing a stranger, her expression completely different from when she mentioned her dying father on his sickbed. ”He became short-tempered and irritable, and he reveres a new faith.”

”A new faith?”

Beck’s memories also contained this part, but they weren’t very clear.

After all, Beck Little Bill had been transferred here on the brink of death because of the war. He had lived and grown up in a more remote area south of the Monkey Territory.

”He says the Moon God granted him a new life.”

’The Moon God again.’ Leech had lost count of how many times he had heard of this deity.

He still remembered the Magic he had obtained in the dungeon tower within the Cape Grottoes.

”Prayer: Concealment. Pray to the Moon God to generate a mist around your body.”

After walking for a long time, Annel stopped.

She pushed open a door, revealing the figure inside.

With a full head of black hair, a man who looked no older than thirty—Wells Bill—was kneeling on the floor, his head bowed in prayer.

”Annel?” Wells Bill turned his head to look at the daughter who had pushed open the door. ”It’s so late. Is something wrong?”

He was in a foul mood from having his prayer ritual interrupted.

But facing his own daughter, he managed to control his anger.

”Please kill him, Lord Leech!” Annel shouted, then turned and ran.

Leech cursed under his breath.

Her shout had completely given him away, alerting Wells Bill and costing him the element of surprise.

”Who’s there!” Wells Bill stood up, carefully placed the object he was holding on a table, and looked warily toward the door.

Leech had no choice but to draw his sword.

The old monkey put considerable pressure on him, but it was nowhere near the level of someone beyond the Extraordinary realm.

’I can take him!’

Magic: Frost Enchantment.

The Dragon-Slaying Sword was instantly covered in frost.

Magic: Stone Skin.

Leech’s body was covered by a layer of Stone Skin.

He downed another bottle of Fleetfoot Magic Potion to increase his speed.

In his left hand, he held an energy-storing Magic Staff; in his right, the frost-enchanted Dragon-Slaying Sword.

With the Pot of Invisibility on his head, Leech charged forward.

This action successfully revealed his form to the old monkey.

”An Apostle of the Moon God...”

Wells Bill tilted his head back as his body slowly began to float. Streaks of wandering light, like wriggling loaches in the air, shot toward Leech.

Leech swung the Dragon-Slaying Sword with one hand.

When the frost touched the wriggling loaches of light, they instantly froze, shattered into fragments, and then dissipated.

Using the frosty Dragon-Slaying Sword as a shield with one hand, he slowly advanced on Wells Bill.

All the approaching worms of light were shattered.

Once he was close, Leech stuck his staff back into his belt, gripped the Dragon-Slaying Sword with both hands, and chopped at the figure floating in the air.

”Apostle of the Moon God, Apostle of the Moon God, Apostle of the Moon God, Apostle of the Moon God...”

Wells repeated the same phrase over and over like a madman.

Leech’s sword slammed down on his shoulder, severing Wells’s entire arm.

He was shocked. ’It’s not that my aim was off! Some force knocked my sword aside!’

He swung his sword again, but this time, it was caught by Wells’s suddenly raised hand.

The Frost Enchantment on the Dragon-Slaying Sword quickly took effect.

Wells’s entire arm froze solid!

Leech struggled with all his might, but the hand gripping his sword was abnormally strong.

No matter how hard he pulled, the sword only budged slightly. Leech had no choice but to draw on his stored power, endlessly channeling it throughout his body until he finally managed to wrench the Longsword free.

CRASH!

Because Leech used too much force, the sword he yanked back slammed into the ground, gouging out a large crater.

The momentum caused him to stagger, and he nearly fell.

The frozen arm was still attached to a section of the blade.

Now missing both arms, Wells Bill continued to mutter to himself.

His body began to change dramatically. A mass of flesh suddenly surged from the stumps of his shoulders, coalescing into two brand-new arms.

Aside from the skin appearing paler and more tender, with the blood vessels clearly visible, they were practically identical to the originals.

’What the hell is this thing!’

Leech’s skin crawled.

Corpse Ghost Aina possessed an incredible self-healing ability. She had retained this power after becoming a Corpse Ghost, and could even release poison on a massive scale by producing toxic blood and then regenerating.