"Thank you, my lord," the guard said, his voice still laced with fear.
Phield reached out and pulled him to his feet, then thumped his shoulder with a fist in encouragement. "Training a proper soldier isn't easy. I'm counting on you all to shed your slave status and become true warriors—even knights!"
The guard's blood surged with fervor. He'd always taken Phield's promises as the usual noble jests. But now, he truly felt that Phield was different from other nobles.
"For Lord Phield—charge!"
Those around him were infected by the heat of the moment, swinging their halberds wildly to reap the corrupted corpses.
Soon, the corpses drawn by the noise were cleared out entirely. Phield roughly counted them—over seventy in total.
The foul, bloody stench immediately flooded his airways, forcing him to clamp his mouth shut. He muttered inwardly, "Did the winery really need this many workers? When the empire decided to unleash the Mist of Death, why didn't they warn the people of the North to evacuate?"
"Forget it. None of my damn business."
Dismissing useless questions, Phield pressed deeper into the winery.
After a while, he found the large brewing room. He fantasized about discovering sugar, wheat, or other raw materials.
But what greeted his unrealistic hopes was a gruesome bat-woman corpse, eyes wide open in death. From neck to groin, it had been violently torn open, its internals vanished without a trace.
"This barley's wasted. It was meant for brewing ale."
Phield noticed what could still be called "barley" scattered on the floor nearby. Ten years of time, plus corruption, had turned the grains into something that slowly writhed. He marveled at the wonder of corruption.
"Perhaps corruption isn't a demonic curse, but something like a special kind of radiation."
"Radiation?"
Ashina's brain froze, her expression turning blankly adorable as she pondered the new word Phield had uttered. Suddenly, her face changed. "Watch out—something's approaching fast!"
It was so quick that even Phield didn't notice it until a skull icon flashed on his minimap.
"Clang!"
The guard in front froze in shock, instinctively looking up at the ceiling. In that instant, the shield he held shattered into pieces. He flailed wildly as he was hurled backward. In his place appeared a monster resembling a Licker from Resident Evil—its elongated tail and snout the only clues that it had mutated from a rat.
The rat monster let out a shrill screech and swiped its razor claws toward Phield.
Phield only felt a gust of wind as the massive claws loomed larger in his vision.
"No you don't!"
At the critical moment, Ashina directed Drakewolf to flash in front of Phield, curling its body to shield him completely.
A explosive burst rang out, accompanied by a shower of sparks. Drakewolf tanked the claw strike with its scales alone, not even grunting. Staring at the massive wolf before it, the monster seemed stunned. It glanced at its claws—usually unstoppable—yet today they had only pried off two bloodied scales.
Drakewolf raised a paw and slapped the rat monster sprawling.
Ben and the others seized the opening, hacking wildly with shortswords and halberds. But the rat monster, thick with health, only suffered superficial wounds despite the barrage. It whipped its elongated limbs, sweeping away seven or eight men like dust. Keep in mind, the guards were in full plate armor—yet it flung them aside with ease.
"Fall back! This thing's beyond normal creatures." Phield raised his shield and quickly ducked into a corner, cursing under his breath.
"Forgot to bring the crossbow. Against a meat-tank like this, regular folks can only breach its defense with bolts. Better leave it to Ashina."
The rat monster rose, intent on snatching a guard for a snack.
"I won't let you!" Ashina channeled power into her spear, her aura erupting fiercely.
The tremendous force drove the spear through the rat monster's hide like paper, embedding it in the bone seams. If not for the confined terrain preventing her from charging atop the giant wolf, that strike alone would have punched a hole clean through its body.
The rat monster howled in pain, its claws slashing rapidly.
"Boom!"
The giant wolf charged forward, slamming hard into the monster's chest. It interrupted the attack, sent the creature flying, and exposed its vulnerabilities.
This was a Tier-3 corrupted creature. In narrow terrain, it would take a Tier-3 human with magic or mana to kill it—or siege crossbows or armor-piercing bolts.
Fortunately, Divine Chosen were far stronger than ordinary humans. With her Tier-1 Divine Chosen prowess, Ashina was more than enough to crush it.
"Spear of Frostpierce!"
Ashina unleashed her divine skill for the first time.
Starlight rapidly converged in her palm, forming a long spear. An icy blue radiance surged and roiled, like a celestial azure beast breaking free from its chains. Ashina poured a massive amount of divine power into it and hurled it with all her might. The divine technique slammed into the rat monster, instantly spraying blood as bones shattered and tendons tore! Chunks of flesh were pulverized and smeared across the wall.
"Whew~ It's finally over." Ashina's face paled slightly as she panted, looking somewhat drained.
The battle ended in an instant, but the danger had been suffocating.
Phield let out a long breath of relief. "Thank goodness you're here. That last portion of venison steak is yours."
"Long live Lord Phield!" At the mention of venison steak, Ashina's tail wagged furiously, and drool uncontrollably trickled from her mouth. The cool demeanor she'd shown in battle vanished completely. Still, she patted her chest generously and added, "I'll only take half. Lord Phield has worked hard too."
Phield felt deeply comforted.
The minimap showed that only a handful of monsters remained in the grand winery—mostly small skull icons.
To be safe, Phield first carried the wounded outside, tended to their injuries with medicine, then led the rested team back in to meticulously clear the entire building.
It wasn't until nine o'clock that night that the cleanup reached its final stage.
The whole winery was in ruins—collapses everywhere, gray dust kicked up by winds threading through cracks in the stone. The only thing to be grateful for was that the overall structure had held. The first and second floors had been thoroughly scavenged by everyone, yielding nothing of value—just some blackened, broken wood that could be used to build shelters or fuel fires.
"The cellar is next, my lord," a guard said as he stepped forward. Ignoring the thick layer of dust on the hatch, he gripped it with both hands and heaved. The heavy cellar door creaked open, revealing a dark staircase leading downward.
Phield swallowed hard, rubbing his hands together nervously as he prayed silently: "God bless me—please let me find something useful."
The dim cellar was packed with oak sherry barrels. Several had been crushed by fallen debris, their surfaces mottled and dried, stained with spilled liquid and marked by gnawing rat teeth.
…
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