Ophelia raised an eyebrow. "You’re giving me freedom this quickly. Aren’t you afraid I’ll command the corpse horde to drown you?"

"What do I have to be afraid of?" Phield shrugged indifferently.

With so many Divine Chosen present, they could tear you apart in an instant.

"Hmph. Ignorance breeds fearlessness. Fine. But I need some time to recover my divine power."

Instinctively unwilling to resist, Ophelia hesitated briefly before agreeing. Her fleshy tail swayed restlessly. After a short rest, she raised her hand, and a magnificent orb appeared, radiating a strange gray-white glow. Several unique mental links slowly extended outward.

The wandering corrupted corpses suddenly froze in unison. A divine mark belonging to Ophelia appeared on their foreheads before sinking into their flesh. The corpses seemed to gain a semblance of awareness, glancing around as if they had been given souls.

At the same time, a faint red aura surrounded them. Under the influence of the Halo of the Mad Dead, they emitted low, beast-like growls, fierce and menacing.

Roars echoed everywhere.

The unaffected wild corpses looked at their companions in confusion and surprise, as if thinking that they suddenly seemed... appealing.

As the growls filled the air, the wild corpses lunged forward, clashing with the ones under Ophelia’s control. They tore into each other in a frenzy.

Flesh and blood flew everywhere. Filthy gore and chunks of meat splattered across the ground.

"Just as I thought. After contracting with me, something about Ophelia’s pheromones must have changed." Watching the chaotic battle, Phield struck his palm with his fist.

"You worthless idiots. How dare you defy me."

Ophelia was equally surprised. Anger surged through her as she commanded her controlled corpses to counterattack without mercy. At the same time, she continuously extended new mental links, bringing more corpses under her control.

With the enhancement of the Halo of the Mad Dead, the Nightfall Domain corpses easily wiped out the wild ones.

"Corpses, assemble."

From every corner, countless corpses emerged and quickly gathered in the square outside the lord’s palace, forming several disorganized formations.

After about an hour, when the number reached a thousand, Ophelia shook her head. "This is my limit. There are a thousand corpses here, but they’re all the lowest tier."

"Control isn’t instantaneous. Makes sense. If it were, it would be equivalent to infinite numbers."

"Organized corpses can fight ten times as effectively. The previous corrupted lord had no real control at all."

Looking at the crude formations, Phield could already see the outline of an army.

A sharp glint flickered in his eyes as thoughts raced through his mind. One hundred human soldiers could easily kill one hundred uncontrolled corpses because the corpses lacked intelligence and discipline. But what if it were an organized army of corpses clad in heavy armor and wielding battle axes?

"By the way, to what extent can you control them? Can you make them work for me?"

"It’s difficult. With ten corpses, I can make them perform tasks like living people. With a hundred, they can handle simple support work. With a thousand, I can only issue broad commands like movement and attack, at most basic carrying tasks, and even then they make mistakes."

"That’s already impressive."

Phield was satisfied.

Out of nowhere, he had gained a thousand-strong corpse army. His sense of security increased significantly.

"Clawing and biting may look terrifying, but they’re far less efficient than spears. I’ll produce a batch of wooden spears as soon as possible and equip them."

Phield had already formed a plan.

From now on, his lack of expendable forces was no longer an issue.

No matter the enemy, he could send the corpses in first.

"My lord, where should we station these corpses?" Ashina asked bluntly after riding her giant wolf around. "If we keep them in the territory, the civilians will be frightened. And they smell terrible."

"Right. Now that we’ve taken Starnight City, it’s time to reclaim the outposts, facilities, and resource points across Nightfall Domain."

Leaving those resources untouched was like throwing money away.

Phield felt a pang of frustration. He needed to secure everything in his own bowl before thinking about taking from others.

He pulled out a simple paper map, made some quick plans, and handed it to Ophelia. "For the next few days, have your corpse army help clear the debris in Starnight City. Bury all the bodies as soon as possible."

After this battle, the city was filled with collapsed buildings and piles of rotting corpses like small hills.

If not dealt with quickly, it could easily lead to a widespread outbreak.

"I previously gathered some refugees from Turnip Village. The environment there is relatively intact."

"When you have no tasks, station your corpse army in those villages. I’ll also restrain my troops to avoid any conflicts."

"A remote Turnip Village." Ophelia glanced at the map and let out a small sound of interest. "Interesting. You have your eyes on Bull Territory, don’t you? Or you’re wary of it."

"You can tell that too?"

Phield was impressed. As expected of a commander-type Divine Chosen.

"That’s right. Turnip Village’s position allows observation of routes to and from Bull Territory. It also serves as a logistics point for warfare. But I have no intention of expanding right now. I’m just worried there might be people from the Shadow Sect in Bull Territory."

If those lunatics discovered his land, it would be trouble.

"Defense alone won’t work. How about taking Bull Territory? If you do, I might upgrade how I address you from maggot to rat." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Neither sounded flattering. Phield wiped a bit of cold sweat.

This little dragon had a sharp tongue. Easily the fiercest woman among all the Divine Chosen he had met. Thankfully, she wasn’t the one in charge. Being scolded daily by a beautiful superior wouldn’t be pleasant.

Still, as long as she followed orders, she could call him whatever she liked.

"So? Or do you plan to just guard your little piece of land?"

Ophelia licked her nail with a sly smile, still driven by the corrupted instinct for slaughter and aggression.

"I won’t stay on the defensive forever. But I need time to fully digest Nightfall Domain." Phield’s tone carried deeper meaning. "Biting off more than you can chew leads to ruin. You’ll get your chance."

He made no effort to hide his ambition or resentment.

Simon was already pushing his limits, and Bull Territory had begun to isolate him.

He had no intention of being trapped in Nightfall Domain.

With a soft snort, Ophelia raised an eyebrow, then lifted the hem of her thin white dress slightly as she smiled with a hint of allure. "You’re more interesting than I thought. So after arranging my corpse army, what do you want me to do? Stand guard, assist with tasks, or something else?"

"???"

Did I just switch channels?

Phield was momentarily stunned and instinctively glanced at Rosalia.

"This is just how corrupted ones are." Rosalia placed her hands on her hips proudly. "Not exactly the most rational thinkers."

"You seem quite proud of that."

Phield chuckled. "Then help out where needed."

"In your dreams, maggot with a twisted mind." Ophelia immediately dropped the smile and rolled her eyes.

"Still asking for trouble."