Chapter 80: Cassius, Who Had Been Feeling Extremely Stifled Lately

As an ambitious and driven warlord—

Cassius Morgan had been feeling extremely stifled lately.

Even though he had gone all in, dragging the entire Williams family estate—built up through generations—down with him, he still failed to break through the peak of the Fourth-tier and ascend to become a Fifth-tier Undead Noble.

Because—that bloody feast had only half succeeded!

And the remaining half—that damned Oak Town!

It could only be described as—a complete defeat!

A disastrous loss!

Not a single undead managed to return and report!

All of them were damned dead!

Can you believe it?!

They had triple the forces, along with the massive advantage of inside cooperation in a surprise attack—and yet, they still lost!

And lost so utterly!

…That night, when the news of the defeat came,

Cassius’s first reaction was sheer disdain.

“Hahahahaha~ What a load of crap!”

He crushed a skull in his hand, laughing so hard his entire frame shook.

“Old John, that fat dead pig, plus that mangy dog Gregor, and a bunch of mud-legged mercenaries—how could they possibly annihilate an Undead Legion three times their size?!”

“Keep making things up! You think I’m some three-year-old kid?!”

Cassius didn’t believe it at all.

Until Melunus’s massive body stirred up monstrous waves in the rot pool—the tremors shaking the entire land beneath their feet.

Only then did Cassius begin to sense that something was wrong…

A deafening roar of fury followed:

“Cassius——!!!”

In the next instant, a terrifying pressure nearly crushed Cassius’s frail skeletal frame into pieces!

“What the hell are you doing!!?”

Melunus’s pus-filled eyeball glared fixedly at Cassius, burning with rage at having been deceived.

“My legion! The Abominations! The Mushroom King—all gone!”

“All perished in that so-called ‘soft target,’ Oak Town!!”

Under that crushing pressure that nearly tore him apart, Cassius rasped hoarsely in defense, “Lord Melunus, th-this is impossible!”

“There must be some mistake—I couldn’t possibly…”

“Mistake?!”

Melunus let out a wet, mocking hiss.

“Every kin personally spawned by me bears my mark!”

“And their terror and despair before death—I can taste it no matter how far away they are!”

“There’s something terrifying in that Oak Town! It wiped their very existence out completely!”

At that point—even Melunus himself was full of doubt and unease.

What kind of power could instantly kill two Undead beings at the peak of the Fourth-tier?!

Could it be that a powerful human had violated the ceasefire treaty?

But that was impossible!

Those cowardly humans—how could they have the guts to break the pact first?!

They knew how terrible the consequences would be!

Moreover, Melunus hadn’t sensed the aura of any Fifth-tier powerhouse.

After all, the leap from Fourth to Fifth-tier was a massive transformation—

such a being’s battle aura could be sensed from afar.

There was no reason not to know.

All these strange factors left Melunus deeply irritable.

He stepped closer and closer, the stench of rot from his decaying body corroding half of Cassius’s bones instantly.

“Speak!”

“Was it you, you piece of trash?! Trying to steal my blood energy for yourself?!”

Cassius’s scalp went numb.

He felt so wronged his very bones seemed to freeze.

He hurriedly pleaded, “My Lord! Lord Melunus!”

“I swear! I, Cassius Morgan, am absolutely loyal to you!”

“I even offered you the entire Williams territory! How could I ever betray you…”

Before he could finish—

Melunus interrupted him harshly again.

“Hmph~ If not for the fact that the Williams and Maple Leaf Town territories really did land in my mouth as promised—”

“Do you think you’d still have the right to stand here and speak to me?~”

Aside from the Undead Legion that vanished at Oak Town, the other two towns’ Undead Legions had been sending back report after report of their harvests.

Melunus’s massive eyeball flashed with endless greed—

but even more so, with dissatisfaction.

“Now that juicy piece of meat, Oak Town, is gone.”

“And along with it, my most elite subordinates!”

“Cassius.”

“I’ve lost in this deal with you, understand?”

Cassius’s heart sank.

A sense of impending doom welled up inside him. “My lord, you mean to say…”

“Mean to say?”

Melunus’s tone carried undeniable cruelty.

“I mean, the thirty percent reward I promised you—gone!”

“Not only that—you caused me heavy losses, so this debt will also be counted against you!!”

Cassius instantly flinched. “!!!”

“Lord Melunus! But we have a trade contract!”

“Hahahaha, a trade contract?”

Melunus suddenly opened his enormous maw.

Several tentacles made of rotting flesh and slime shot out like lightning—

snatching up the few remaining Morgan family members Cassius had deliberately brought with him.

Only the half-undead Carlisle, who had wet his pants, was left alive.

“Melunus! Wh-what are you doing?!”

Cassius’s eyes bulged in rage.

Squelch!

The only reply—was the sickening sound of chewing.

The last dozen bloodline descendants of the Morgan family didn’t even have time to struggle—before they were swallowed whole by that gaping mouth, becoming mere nourishment for the boiling rot pool.

Melunus then burped in satisfaction,

spewing a foul stench mixed with the scent of blood and fragments of entrails.

It lowered its head, those cold, merciless eyes gazing down upon the trembling Cassius.

“Cassius, listen carefully.”

“To put it nicely, you’re my trading partner.”

“To put it bluntly…”

It paused, its tone dripping with utter contempt.

“You’re just a dog I keep—a guard dog that’s somewhat useful.”

“And when a dog fails to guard the gate and makes its master lose profit, it must pay the price! Understand?!”

Viscous rot fluid dripped down onto Cassius’s bare skull, bringing a burning sting.

Cassius lowered his head, his shriveled fists clenched tightly.

Boundless rage and humiliation nearly consumed the last of his humanity.

But he didn’t dare move.

Not even an inch.

Before the absolute might of the Lord of Decay, his own strength was no different from that of an ant.

To resist was to die.

Cassius could only squeeze out a few words between his teeth: “I understand… Lord Melunus.”

“Hmph, at least you know your place.”

Melunus slowly sank back into the rot pool, leaving only one command behind.

“Go to Lemon Port and assist Glock.”

“Clean things up there for me—if there’s even the slightest mistake again…”

It didn’t finish the sentence, but that chilling killing intent made the temperature around them drop a few degrees colder.

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