Lord of Rot

”It itches!”

Leech was watching Kuer Oasis when another voice sounded in his ear.

His consciousness snapped back to the Corpse Ghost.

The wound on the cheek of the man holding the Golden Holy Grail was wriggling rapidly, healing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

”It itches!” He raised his hand and scratched his cheek, revealing that his left hand was a monstrous claw covered in what looked like iron saw blades.

The knife-like claws raked across his cheek, instantly mangling the face that was just about to heal.

The flesh and blood, however, became even more active and began to grow frantically.

An entire face grew out of the wound!

It grew larger and larger, finally becoming a brand new head!

”It itches!” the man said. ”Quick, help me chop off this tumor!”

”I’ll do it!”

A hatchet swept out fiercely, severing the man’s neck.

The one who had acted was the female Barbarian from the Northern Territory.

The two strange heads growing cheek-to-cheek were severed by the axe, flying high into the air. Immediately, tree roots shot out, pierced the heads, and dragged them back.

But the headless corpse was still standing.

Blood fountained from the neck stump as another new head grew out.

’Is this his own ability to regenerate from decapitation, or was it granted by the Golden Holy Grail?’

A similar thought arose in the minds of everyone present.

How bizarre.

”It itches, it itches!”

The voice suddenly came from overhead. Leech immediately had the Corpse Ghost look up, only to see that the two connected heads had each grown their own bodies, like conjoined twins attached at the head.

’This is the power of the Golden Holy Grail!’

’It heals all injuries and illnesses.’

’But the Holy Grail doesn’t seem to understand which part is the original body. It just keeps growing outward from any severed point.’

’The severed heads and the original body were each treated as a new host, growing entirely new bodies of their own.’

A feeling Leech hadn’t experienced in a long time crept over him—a chill that went straight to his heart.

’The level of this wondrous object definitely surpasses the ordinary Extraordinary rank. It’s reached a level *above* Extraordinary!’

”Let’s go.”

The man with the newly grown head said to the crowd, ”Don’t worry, I’m completely fine now.”

That’s what he said, but no one dared to believe him.

’A guy just had his head lopped off, grows a new one, and says he’s fine? *We’re* not fine.’

A blood whip lashed out, leaving a gash on the man’s cheek. It was the Corpse Ghost, acting on Leech’s command. He was curious to see just how similar this ability was to Fu Jiang’s.

The man clutched his cheek in terror. ”It itches, it itches! AHH!!”

Another head grew out again.

Even for those who had witnessed many bizarre sights, the scene of a head growing from another head instilled an indescribable fear in their hearts.

A Fireball rapidly condensed. The others reacted and quickly dodged away.

BOOM!

The searingly hot Fireball shot out like a cannonball. Flames erupted, instantly setting the man ablaze. He exploded, and the smell of roasting meat filled the air, quickly turning to the stench of burnt flesh. In the end, he was blasted to smithereens, with no chance of regenerating again.

A powerful heatwave rolled out, stinging their skin. The group of Transcendents found it almost unbearable. Picturing themselves in the man’s place, they realized that if they had been hit by that massive Fireball, they would have undoubtedly died.

This was a Fireball from a four-headed snake of a rank Above Extraordinary. Although three of its heads were still at the Extraordinary stage, the power of its blast was already beyond what an ordinary Transcendent could withstand. One shot, one kill—it was as simple as that.

At that moment, Leech was again reminded of Prince Hoffman. The scene of the thunderous hand shattering a skull was still fresh in his memory.

Unfortunately, the Corpse Ghost’s power was insufficient. After two Fireballs, its Extraordinary power began to run dry.

The tree roots that had been forced back by the wave of fire began to snake forward again.

’Good, we’re almost out.’

...

Vendra had been following cautiously at the very back of the group, wrapped in a black robe, minimizing his presence as much as possible.

He was the one who feared danger the least, because his Extraordinary power was different from the others. It could generate a warning just before danger struck, and a premonition of the future would flash through his mind.

Among this group, his strength was the lowest, but his ability to stay alive was the strongest.

Seeing the Golden Holy Grail fall to the ground, Vendra quickly reached out and picked it up. He had noticed earlier that the man hadn’t turned into a monster just by touching the Holy Grail, but by secretly pouring its contents into his mouth.

’That man knew the cup’s function better than anyone else here, but it seems he didn’t fully understand it either. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have grown two extra heads in a row.’

They finally fought their way out!

Chilly moonlight spilled down ahead. Baron Leech stood off to the side, with Kuer Oasis beside him, clutching his shoulder and standing obediently.

’The master-servant dynamic is obvious. It looks like a lot happened out here, too.’

Suddenly, a sense of crisis washed over him.

A scene flashed through Vendra’s mind—his ability to foresee future danger.

’Leech is looking at me quietly. So he knew all along that I took the Golden Holy Grail! But... wasn’t he standing outside the cavern this whole time?’

Vendra’s first instinct in the vision was to run, but he didn’t get far before being engulfed by a Fireball, his body instantly exploding.

The premonition in his mind ended after just a few breaths, but Vendra was drenched in a cold sweat.

’If I run, I’ll definitely be hit by that Fireball, and I’ll definitely die. The power of that Fireball is beyond what a Transcendent should possess. I even suspect that if a whole group of Transcendents stood together to face it, the end result would just be all of them getting blasted to smithereens.’

’So, I won’t run.’ But the sense of crisis didn’t disappear. Instead, it crashed over him in waves, threatening to overwhelm him, his body paralyzed with uncertainty.

Another scene appeared in his mind. This time, Vendra didn’t choose to run but followed behind the group.

But Baron Leech’s men suddenly surrounded him, then attacked together and hacked him to death.

No one spoke or exchanged a word. They simply attacked.

Vendra died an inexplicable death.

”Could it be because I took this?” he muttered, looking down at the Golden Holy Grail in his hands.

’What if I hand over the Golden Holy Grail proactively?’

’Still death.’

’Why?’

’Right! It’s because he thinks anyone who takes the Golden Holy Grail will turn into that monster!’

Vendra ran through the scenarios one after another.

The sense of crisis attacked him relentlessly, and he could never break free from the death loop.

In the past, Vendra had always found it difficult to activate this ability at will, but at this moment, it showed no signs of stopping. Death after death, whenever Vendra thought of a new approach, the ability would activate and show him its failure.

To the others, only a few breaths had passed, but Vendra had no idea how many times he had already died.

This was the first time he had ever encountered such a situation. His fear of Baron Leech grew even deeper. The young-looking Baron was incredibly cautious. Even in a scenario where Vendra discarded the Golden Holy Grail and fled back into the cavern, the Baron would send men after him, even at the cost of several of his subordinates’ lives.

Not to mention the scenario where Vendra risked playing dead—Baron Leech still came over to deliver the finishing blow.

’Death, death, death... every path leads to death.’

For the first time, Vendra felt how truly malicious the world was. He had already become a Transcendent, yet in the face of a powerful nobleman, he was still just an ant.

”My Lord!” The voice of ’Four-Hands’ Trevor snapped Vendra back to reality.

Seeing Trevor about to speak, Vendra suddenly froze. A scenario he had just imagined hadn’t triggered a premonition. In other words, this method would let him live!

He snapped out of it, took the initiative, and walked up to Leech with the Golden Holy Grail. He first reached up and slashed his own cheek. Ignoring the way air whistled through the fresh wound as he spoke, he said immediately, ”My Lord, this is your Golden Holy Grail.”