Chapter 485 429: Isis

Corpse Vultures soared high in the sky.

An unseen force relentlessly destroyed them.

Leech tilted his head back, watching his vultures go POP! POP! as they exploded into mists of blood and vanished without a trace.

He knew exactly what kind of war this was. The desperate struggles of ordinary people had long lost their meaning; only high-end power could decide the final victory.

The enemy still had over one hundred and seventy Extraordinary Level combatants. They didn't even need a strategy; if they simply steamrolled over him, Leech's only option would be to flee.

Fortunately, in the eyes of the Half-Beastmen, the shorter ones were mere cannon fodder. The noble Demon Beastmen would never risk their lives on the front lines.

In the previous battle, for example, Leech had only managed to kill two Demon Beastmen: one who tried to block his path with an axe but was sent flying, and another who nearly shot down his Horse-headed Eagle Rocket with a Nine-foot Longbow.

Although the Mad Beastmen were powerful on the battlefield, they were at least easier to deal with than the Demon Beastmen.

Thankfully, the unseen force couldn't destroy all the Corpse Vultures at once. This gave Leech an opportunity, and he continuously sent out more vultures to scout.

Through the constant cycle of vultures being destroyed and new ones being dispatched, Leech finally determined the composition of the approaching army.

There were no Warg Riders, but they had a large number of infantry, archers, and at least forty to fifty Mad Beastmen!

Over four thousand Mercenaries stood ready, their breathing heavy and rapid.

The Cavalry's warhorses pawed restlessly at the ground.

The Transcendents and Corpse Ghouls stood on the front line, tasked with being the spearhead that would tear through the enemy's formation.

Leech watched the Half-Beastman army descend the sand dunes, then turned to look at the walls of Mama City.

On the walls, Tangkx Scholar was also waiting.

Once the enemy troops were in range...

"Fire!"

A deep, muffled explosion suddenly echoed from the sky.

The Mercenaries, who had been nervously watching the Half-Beastman legion pour down the dunes like a black waterfall, were startled to see a massive ball of fire streak across the sky and plunge into the enemy ranks.

Because the Half-Beastman troops were marching so closely together, the Magic Cannon inflicted horrific casualties right from the start.

Dozens of Half-Beastmen were sent flying.

Even a physically powerful Mad Beastman, if unlucky enough to take a direct hit, would be left drenched in blood, severely wounded, and knocked to the ground with no ability to fight. Those unfortunate enough to be hit in the head were guaranteed to die.

Just being caught in the blast radius had a significant impact, despite their thick hides.

Every cannonball fired cost piles and piles of Jinri.

But more than lamenting the cost, Leech was satisfied with the cannons' effect... No, he was extremely satisfied!

This money was well spent. Looking at the massive explosions and the Half-Beastmen and Wargs thrown into chaos by the bombardment, Leech felt that using his own fortune to research Magic Cannons had been an absolutely brilliant decision.

'I may not have that many Transcendents, but the equipment I paid a fortune for isn't just for show!'

The baptism by cannon fire officially began.

Tangkx Scholar truly lived up to her reputation as a scholar specializing in Magic. Positioned at a high vantage point, she wasn't close to any of the Magic Cannons, yet with every wave of her finger, a shell would fly out and land precisely in the most densely packed area of Half-Beastmen.

The team Leech had specifically left behind would quickly clean the barrels, reload the gunpowder and shells after each shot, and then give Tangkx Scholar a signal to fire again.

The explosions in the sky rang out one after another, seemingly endless.

The blasts bloomed one after another, like magnificent flowers.

Watching the terrifying Half-Beastmen get blasted into disarray, some of the Mercenaries couldn't help but glance back.

"If I'm not mistaken, there are only a few people on that wall," he said, swallowing hard. He could see clearly that only one woman was operating those terrifying weapons!

A single woman, whose destructive power was likely greater than all four thousand of them combined.

"You don't know who he is?" another Mercenary asked, looking at the figure flying in the sky on a Horse-headed Eagle.

"Baron Porcupine, of course I know him."

"He's also the Conqueror of Flames. I heard that during the siege of Longship Castle, he used this very weapon to wipe out over two thousand people with just a few hundred of his own!"

A sharp intake of breath followed.

Under the continuous bombardment of the cannons, the flanking Half-Beastman legion finally made it down the sand dunes.

However, it was different from the relentless, high-pressure assault they had expected. The shorter Half-Beastmen had suffered heavy casualties, with less than five hundred remaining from their original thousand, and every one of them was dazed and disoriented from the explosions.

Half of the Mad Beastmen were also severely wounded.

In contrast, the morale of Leech's Mercenaries was soaring.

The cannons ceased firing; continuing the bombardment would risk friendly fire.

"Charge!" Leech yelled.

The charge was on.

Over four thousand men rushed toward the Half-Beastmen. This was a war between races; no one could retreat, nor was retreat an option.

Whatever complaints the Mercenaries might have had about Leech, seeing him charge at the very front and carve a bloody path through the enemy, every single one of them had to admit they admired him in that moment.

'Our lord is brave, risking his life without a second thought for his own safety. Why should I be a coward!'

Blood and roars were the best kind of wine, capable of giving courage to the timid.

After charging into the Half-Beastman ranks, the first thing Leech did was search for the Demon Beastmen. A Demon Beastman was surely leading this force, and killing them would leave the army leaderless.

The black Dragon-Slaying Greatsword was dyed red with blood.

The massive, door-sized blade had not been finely sharpened, but after countless swings, a few small nicks had appeared on its edge. Overall, it was still in good shape.

He shattered the polearm of an attacking Demon Beastman with a single slash. The Horse-headed Eagle Rocket beneath him spun nimbly and swiped down with a claw, its sharp talons piercing the creature's chest.

This was a battle of morale.

But setting morale aside, among the surviving Half-Beastman legion, the Mad Beastmen were the most numerous. It was wishful thinking for ordinary Mercenaries to try and overcome their superior strength to kill a Mad Beastman.

Bodies fell continuously, on both sides.

Spears were snapped, shields were shattered, and blood stained the yellow sand as the red sun sank in the west.

The battle raged on until nightfall.

Another victory!

Compared to the last one, this victory was much more decisive. Aside from a few Demon Beastmen, the enemy force had been almost completely annihilated!

Next was cleaning up the battlefield. The corpses of the Mad Beastmen and Demon Beastmen would be dragged back to the dungeons of Mama City.

A rare moment of quiet descended.

The two armies were not far apart, but neither launched another attack.

Leech guessed that the Half-Beastman noble, Kaqi, must be full of questions right now. A battle that should have been a guaranteed victory had instead resulted in devastating losses.

However, he wasn't celebrating either. The majority of the dead were the shorter Half-Beastmen, followed by the mindless Mad Beastmen. Casualties among the Demon Beastmen had been kept to a minimum. The truly difficult part was yet to come.

He guessed that Kaqi was probably trying to figure out how to deal with their cannons, intending to first stabilize morale before resuming the war.

Coincidentally, Leech was thinking the same thing. With a large batch of Extraordinary corpses to work with, by dawn tomorrow, his side would have dozens of new Corpse Ghouls!

For Leech, this was a war that only made him richer the more he fought.

He spoke of it lightly, but when night came, he ignored the advice of Hahn, Lin Nuo, and the others to go rest. Instead, he stayed on the city wall with the night owl, Tangkx Scholar.

After a simple meal, Leech didn't even remove his armor. He had to remain constantly vigilant against a Half-Beastman attack, waiting only for the new Undead to be successfully refined to hammer home the final victory.

Post-battle recreation was essential for relaxing frayed nerves.

Like what Leech and Tangkx Scholar were playing now: fighting wooden puppets.

They used their Spiritual Power to control the little wooden puppets in a battle of micromanagement.

Leech was very experienced in controlling the Undead, so he thought controlling the puppets would be simple. He hadn't expected them to be so rigid. Only their shoulders and hips could move, making them wobble when they walked, let alone fight.

Tangkx Scholar seized an opportunity and gave his puppet a gentle poke, causing it to topple over and fall to pieces.

After a few more rounds, Leech lost interest.

He asked, "Tangkx, have you ever thought about using this kind of Magic to play chess?"

"Chess?"

The chess games of Lu Leiyi were far from interesting, but it would be much more fun if every piece were animated.

Seeing Tangkx's application of Magic had awakened the "gaming addiction" that Leech had long suppressed.

"Or card games, but we make the images on each card come to life."

"Making the images move is simple," said Tangkx. "But they wouldn't have any attack power."

"They don't need any."

Leech was a little excited. He never thought that the "Yu-Gi-Oh! duels" he had never gotten to experience in his past life, even up until he transmigrated, could actually be realized in a world of Magic.

His future life was looking to be a lot more interesting.

He stretched, and suddenly, his mind stirred.

The third Palace Level Corpse Ghost was fresh out of its coffin, but something seemed a little off.

It didn't go berserk, nor did it emit any kind of aura. It was perfectly calm.

When Leech's Spiritual Power merged with it, he suddenly felt the world before his eyes expand dramatically. It was as if he'd been walking through the night with a torch, but now, all the lights in an entire city ahead had been turned on.

At the very center of this world was a flower.

'This must be another one of the unique traits that only Palace Level Corpse Ghouls possess.'

Normally, Jonney was at the bottom of the ladder, while the Water Nymph was considered a proper Palace Level.

The flower's petals danced gently as a spiritual consciousness communicated with Leech.

This flower was named Isis. It could control corpses for its own use and excelled in matters of Spiritual Power, though it was not skilled in physical combat.

Just now, upon making contact with Leech, it had clearly sensed that his control techniques were superior. It sincerely requested permission to connect to the spiritual network of the Corpse Ghouls and other Undead.

Leech, of course, had no objection. In fact, managing the information from all the Corpse Ghouls in his various territories was already a major headache.

Besides, a Corpse Ghost created with a Necromancer's method had never betrayed its master.

After gaining 'permission,' all the Corpse Ghouls, Undead, and others spiritually linked to Leech appeared one by one in this expansive mental world. Leech could now see at a glance what all of them were doing, much more intuitively than before.

"Isis?"

"I am here."

"..." Leech suddenly realized that finding a role for Isis in the team might not be so difficult after all.

He said, "Help me organize all the Undead and Corpse Ghouls. Have the newly created ones put on the armor and weapons I brought. There's another big battle waiting for us."

"Understood. It has been arranged."

"..."

Setting that aside for a moment, he now had two Palace Level subordinates, and the Water Nymph could also project her Spiritual Power from a distance. Leech felt it was time to put an end to this battle.

He opened his eyes.

Tangkx Scholar looked at him in confusion. "What is it?"

Leech gazed into the distance. "After this war is over, I'm going home to get married. Haha, just planting a flag."

Tangkx Scholar: "???"

She didn't understand, but she said anyway, "Congratulations."