Chapter 100: Lynn Won, Yet Also Lost…

Night.

Lemon Port.

The cheers of the day had long faded into silence.

In their place lingered an oppression the sea breeze could not disperse…

The fleet had already sailed into the vast ocean, seeking refuge in the southern Pearl Harbor.

Even though the hidden sentries left by Erica had used the sound-transmission crystal to report the outcome of the war—

Erica still did not dare rashly return to Lemon Port to rebuild her home.

Because the Lord of Rot was not dead!

And their hero—the Watcher of Dawn—

Had vanished completely after summoning the Archangel Michael alone.

Such an ending could hardly be called a happy one…

Now—

Of the tens of thousands left in the city, most were old, weak, sick, or disabled.

Or stubborn souls who had chosen to live and die with their homeland.

They were clearing the battlefield amid the shattered ruins.

Some corpses of their fellow townsfolk could not yet be handled,

And were temporarily piled up in the squares or street corners, covered with canvas, waiting for daylight.

However—

In this deathly still night—

From the corpse of a city guard, whose chest had already been gnawed clean by swarms of insects—

Suddenly—

The edges of his flesh began to twitch with a nauseating wriggle.

Several sticky, blood-red eyeballs forced their way out.

They rolled around, spinning and surveying this land of death.

Then—

From the severed neck of another woman’s corpse beside it—

The same kind of blood eyes sprouted.

A third… a fourth…

Like the spread of a plague—

The bodies that had not yet been buried—

One after another, opened those evil eyes!

Hundreds and thousands of blood-red pupils flickered with venomous hatred in the dark,

Silently watching this pitiful city.

Finally—

From the torn throat of one corpse came a faint movement.

It uttered a hoarse, twisted voice:

“Completely… disappeared.”

Another merchant’s corpse soon spoke as well, equally strained:

“Indeed… can’t sense… any trace of ‘Him’…”

There was no doubt—

This synchronized whisper that crossed through the corpses—

Was none other than the returned Lord of Rot — Melunus!

The battle earlier that day had been too grand.

A sixth-tier lord’s full might, coupled with that world-shaking holy presence—

How could it not alarm the surrounding regions?

Adjacent to Earl Ladd’s Territory were Earl Reis’s Territory and Viscount Belia’s Territory.

On those lands, the undead lords—

The Skeletal Tyrant and the Frost Devourer—

Had almost immediately sensed something,

The very moment Melunus had gone forth in a fury with all his forces.

“What’s gotten into that old bastard Melunus?”

The Skeletal Tyrant, seated upon his bone throne,

Spoke in a tone filled with confusion—and envy.

“Must be the humans who broke the truce first—someone above fifth-tier must’ve appeared!”

The Frost Devourer, who had ascended to undead lord only recently,

Spoke with a voice like howling ice winds, carrying a hint of schadenfreude.

“But that’s good news!”

“At least now he gets a legitimate excuse to go on a massacre, to feast as he pleases!”

“Unlike us—forced to watch those low-tier underlings have all the fun, while we sit here and hold back.”

They were jealous, indeed.

After all, with The Violet Armistice in effect—

Beings of their level couldn’t act rashly; their aura would give them away instantly.

And within the human empire’s capital still remained many high-tier powerhouses—

The captains of the Twelve Knight Orders, the mentors of the Imperial Royal Magic Academy—

All were forces not to be trifled with.

If truly provoked, they would come for blood—and none would profit from the chaos.

So for Melunus to find such an opportunity for a “lawful” slaughter—

It was pure damn luck!

But as they continued to observe—

The two fellow lords began to sense that something was wrong.

Why were Melunus’s fifth-tier commanders’ presences vanishing one after another?

The speed of death was far too fast!

This was nothing like the crushing victory they had imagined!

“There’s something wrong!”

The Skeletal Tyrant was the first to lose his composure.

He cast a secret art, projecting a strand of consciousness to spy upon the battle.

The Frost Devourer, seeing this, immediately followed suit.

Both thought: even if that petty Melunus found out afterward and demanded some “viewing fee,” it would be worth it.

They had to see this spectacle!

But once they looked—

Their very souls were nearly scared out of their bodies!

They saw Melunus unleashing the Law of Rot—

Thick, dark-green poisonous mists billowed to the sky.

And above the city walls, what answered him—

Was a magnificent being who had unfurled sixteen radiant wings!

“What—what is that?!”

The Frost Devourer, having ascended not long ago, lacked experience.

It only felt its very soul trembling beneath that divine pressure, yet could not recognize what it was.

The Skeletal Tyrant, however, was an old lord with broad knowledge.

His skeletal frame nearly fell apart in terror: “S–Sixteen wings?!”

“That’s the legendary Supreme Archangel who governs judgment and flame—Michael!”

“How could He possibly appear here?!”

Hadn’t the Divine Realm been severed from contact for over a thousand years?!

If the Divine Realm had truly reconnected with this world—

How could those lofty demon gods still be idling in the Abyss, playing chess as if nothing happened?!

Just as the Skeletal Tyrant was paralyzed with fear—

An even more horrifying sight occurred!

The Gate of Heaven opened.

Its vast suction directly swept away Melunus’s million-strong army, along with all his fifth-tier commanders—

Purifying them as effortlessly as dust!

“Damn it! It is Michael!”

“Only He could wield such power!”

The Skeletal Tyrant was terrified out of his wits.

He immediately severed his projection, wishing he could bury himself deep beneath his mountain of bones.

“A being like that must’ve noticed me already!”

“The only reason He didn’t strike is because He couldn’t be bothered—but if I keep watching, I might be next to be judged!”

The Frost Devourer wasn’t foolish either.

Seeing the Skeletal Tyrant flee faster than a rabbit, and even Melunus escaping in panic,

How could it dare linger?

It too severed its connection at once.

Neither of them saw the final scene—

When Michael’s incarnation, its power exhausted and its form corroded, slowly dissipated…

But both, without discussing, designated Earl Ladd’s Territory,

Especially the area surrounding Lemon Port, as an absolute forbidden zone!

And they prepared to report the monumental news—

That “Michael may have reappeared”—to their respective demon lords.

……

Now, back in Lemon Port—

Among the sea of corpses, Melunus’s whisper continued,

Dripping with gnashing hatred!

“Michael… a projection of such a being,”

“Could never possibly remain long in a small human port!”

“His appearance must have been a mere coincidence… an accident.”

Melunus’s vast true body still hid deep within the distant Pool of Rot,

Daring only to observe through this most secret of means.

But his loss was devastating!

A million-strong legion—years of painstaking cultivation—all gone in a single day!

If his territory were seized by the Skeletal Tyrant and the Frost Devourer, those two bastards,

He would be cast out of the ranks of the lords!

How could Melunus possibly swallow such humiliation?

After repeatedly confirming that the supreme, soul-trembling divine aura had truly vanished,

And that Lemon Port’s defensive magic array was completely shattered—

A venomous plan took shape in his mind.

“Since Michael is gone,”

“Then these remaining morsels of blood—and this entire city—shall serve as my compensation!”

He thought of those Heart-Eroding Leeches hidden deep within the sewers,

Creatures that had escaped complete purification.

They were, at the moment, his best weapon!

“Go, my children~!”

“Feast to your hearts’ content upon this final banquet!”

At Melunus’s command—

Within the labyrinthine sewers beneath Lemon Port—

A skin-crawling rustling began to echo!

Countless black beetles, each the size of a human head,

Poured out madly from every manhole and drain!

Their tiny eyes gleamed with an insatiable red hunger,

Their mandibles clicked open and shut, lunging toward the unprepared survivors!

“Ah——!”

“Bugs! The bugs are back!!”

“Run!”

“Help us! Angel Lord, save us——!”

The shrill screams once again tore through the night sky above Lemon Port—

Even more desperate than before!

Because this time—

No one would come to save them…

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