Chapter 489 - 431: I Will Write ’Zheng

"WOOOOOO—"

The sound of a horn echoed. The Half-Beastman legion that had been surrounding Leech and the others quickly retreated upon hearing it, leaving behind a pile of shattered corpses.

"Huff... huff..." Leech gasped for breath, raising a hand to touch his chest.

His armor had been battered out of shape in the continuous fighting. The pauldrons had fallen off, and his greatsword had completely shattered, leaving only a fragment half a man’s height.

’But I still won this battle.’

"Isis."

"I am here."

"Gather all the Half-Beastmen together. We’ll deal with them after Kaqi becomes a Corpse Ghost."

"Understood."

A strong wind gusted against his face. Leech looked up at the Horse-headed Eagle as it descended from the sky, its body also covered in numerous wounds.

It lowered its head, gently nuzzling Leech’s cheek.

Leech raised a hand and patted it with a smile. "Rocket, you did well. How about I find you a wife when we get back?"

"COO COO~"

The surviving Mercenaries gazed at the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, feeling as if they had just passed through to another world.

They gazed upon the figure in tattered armor, holding a broken sword in one hand and gently stroking the winged beast with unfurled wings with the other.

The Blood-Soaked Lord.

’The minstrels are sure to sing of his legend, and we... we were its witnesses!’

Leech turned to look at the Mercenaries. He had gained a favorable impression of these figures who, whether willingly or forced, had fought alongside him.

"We are victorious!" he shouted, raising his broken sword high.

"ROAR!!" "ROAR!"

"VICTORY!!"

A tide of cheers, powerful enough to blot out the sky, erupted from the crowd.

The brief yet grueling battle was finally over.

Leech vaulted onto his Horse-headed Eagle, Rocket, and rode into the crowd. The Soldiers parted for him automatically, cheering ceaselessly. Everyone needed to shout to vent the emotions suppressed within them.

Suddenly, a figure appeared ahead. Lisu Muma, mounted on her warhorse, slowly approached.

The warhorse beneath her let out an ingratiating whinny toward Rocket.

"Coo coo." Rocket held its head high, looking down on the warhorse.

No one paid any mind to the two mounts. Some people’s faces broke into smiles when they saw ’Princess Sophia’ Lisu Muma approach.

"Princess Sophia!"

"Princess Sophia!"

The crowd erupted once more. After this battle, everyone present knew that Lisu Muma was Princess Sophia.

One tall and one short, the two figures rode side-by-side toward Mama City. Only a few noticed that the warhorse Princess Sophia rode seemed to be acting particularly humble and fawning toward the Horse-headed Eagle.

After entering the city, Leech had his subordinates quickly begin a post-battle assessment.

On the surface, Leech’s losses in this battle were catastrophic. Nearly all the Transcendents under his command were either severely injured or dead.

The Corpse Ghosts, for their part, had been completely wiped out.

More than half of Mama City’s fine warhorses and Cavalry were also dead or wounded, and over two thousand of the external Mercenaries had been killed.

In contrast, the Half-Beastmen were so poor they didn’t even have underpants. Many of the shorter ones fought bare-assed, wielding nothing but rusty iron spears. The more he fought them, the greater his net loss.

But secretly... Leech had obtained a true Palace Level corpse. This one body alone was enough to compensate for all his losses, and then some. It was a massive profit!

He entered the lord’s great hall and sat down.

For a rare moment, Leech could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The battle hadn’t lasted long, but it had been incredibly mentally taxing. Right now, all he wanted was to go home and till the fields.

"M-My lord, I’ll help you change your clothes and, and wash your body," two male servants stammered as they entered, staring at Leech, who looked like a man made of blood.

Leech waved his hand, dismissing them. "Go prepare water. I want to take a bath."

"Yes, sir!"

The male servants didn’t leave, however. One held a wooden basin while the other dipped a cotton cloth in the water and began to gently wipe the blood from Leech’s face and hands.

The blood was all from his enemies; very little of it was Leech’s own.

He closed his eyes and chatted with his Corpse Ghosts, not bothering to force the two servants to leave.

After a while, footsteps approached.

"You two may leave for now."

"Yes, sir." "Yes, sir."

Leech opened his eyes to see Lisu Muma, still clad in her armor. She was in charge of dealing with the Mercenaries. After the battle, the surviving Mercenaries were still not permitted to enter the city to rest. Even if she had opened the gates, they wouldn’t have dared to come inside.

’What if we go in and more Half-Beastmen attack? Better to rest outside for a while, grab some supplies, and then get the hell out of here.’

Lisu Muma didn’t give them a warm welcome, either. They had stayed to fight back only because they had no other choice. Their original purpose for coming here was to conquer Mama City. If Leech hadn’t arrived, she would have certainly been captured, and might have even become their plaything.

The fact that she, a desert she-bandit, hadn’t taken the opportunity to kill this band of Mercenaries was already a sign of her benevolence.

She walked up to Leech and leaned down to plant a light kiss on his cheek. Feeling his gaze on her, her heart fluttered, but the blood of the Mama Clan gave her the courage to speak. "Conquered captives are always marked. This is the mark I leave on you, my Knight of the Blood Sands."

Lisu Muma knew very well that Leech could never be her man. But as his hand-picked "Princess Sophia," she couldn’t help but fall for him as he saved her time and time again, displaying his awesome might.

Men conquer women with glory.

But as a proud woman of the desert, she sought the glory of conquering this man.

Leech’s hand shot out, and with a cry of surprise from her, he pulled her into his embrace.

Lisu lost her balance and ended up sprawled on top of Leech.

The foul-smelling blood of Half-Beastmen still clung to his armor. She was used to the stench from the battlefield, but at this moment, it made her head feel dizzy.

Not until her lips were bitten did she open her wide eyes to stare at Leech.

"I am the one who conquers you, my princess!"

"And where’s your mark?"

"When I have time, I can mark a ’quinque’ on you."

Leech let go of Lisu Muma. It wasn’t that he had entered a state of post-coital clarity; as someone determined to live a life of freedom and greed, wanting it all, he wouldn’t suppress himself too much. But he was mentally exhausted after the battle and needed a good rest.

"’Quinque?’" Lisu Muma didn’t understand the meaning of what was clearly a foreign word, but that didn’t stop a blush from creeping across her cheeks.

"My lord, the bathwater is ready."

"I’m going to take a bath." Leech stood up and said to Lisu Muma, "Your Highness, we need to recruit loyal lords and chieftains as soon as possible."

Lisu nodded. "I’ll prepare a list."

Now that he had finished gnawing on the tough bone that was the Half-Beastmen, there were still many troublesome matters ahead. The next target to go under the knife was a certain "Water Buffalo Count." However, as one of the Desert Great Lords, he wouldn’t be so easy to deal with. Leech was willing to spend more time on him. If the Count didn’t make a move first, then the territory south of Mama City to the sea and east to Bonta Canyon would be enough to achieve Leech’s initial goals.

Back in his room, he stripped off his clothes and sank into the bathtub.

A male servant approached with a pig-bristle brush, rolled up his sleeves, and began to scrub Leech’s back.

Amidst the SPLASH SPLASH of water, Leech received Isis’s report.

The initial tally was complete.

In this battle, most of the Corpse Ghosts and corpses Leech had brought to the desert had been destroyed. Including the Demon Beastmen torn apart in the fighting, the total number of Extraordinary precipitates in his possession had reached 122.

The only surviving Corpse Ghosts were Jonney, who had his heart gouged out and had lost an arm; Isis, who had been hiding in the dungeon the whole time; as well as two Demon Beastman Corpse Ghosts, five Mad Beastman Corpse Ghosts, and the Ailamaela twin Corpse Ghosts.

’Add to that the dozens of remaining Mad Beastmen and the intact Extraordinary corpses...’

Once he was done recuperating and reorganizing, Leech would have four Palace Level beings and over a hundred Transcendents.

’Should I consider becoming a Duke?’