The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 26

#27. Massacre of the Holy Knights 4

“Kuh?!”

As the trainee knight staggered, Azadin seized the spear shaft.

‘I’ve been had!’

The trainee knight, seeing Azadin grabbing his spear and closing in, panicked and drew the short sword at his waist.

Azadin and the trainee knight were about to clash when they were interrupted.

-Swish!

Another spear shot out from beside the trainee knight, attacking Azadin. Another trainee knight, noticing his comrade’s peril, rushed in at a terrifying speed, thrusting his spear.

‘Indeed, the Holy Knights are not to be trifled with.’

Azadin had no choice but to abandon his attack and retreat. However, it wasn’t without gain. He had struck the trainee knight with a stone and seized his weapon, the spear.

“Hey! Tasig! Fall back!”

“Be careful! This guy’s no joke!”

The trainee knight called Tasig retreated, catching his breath. Despite wearing a helmet, the stone Azadin had thrown had such terrifying force that his vision was still shaking.

“Are you alright? Why did you let him take your weapon?”

“You try it. That guy’s not normal.”

“What is he? An adventurer?”

The trainee knights, who had been massacring people across the farm, began to gather one by one.

The trainee knights of the King’s Church frowned. They hadn’t wanted to escalate things this far. They had tried to subdue them as quickly as possible, but suddenly this skilled individual had appeared and was interfering.

“Hey, do you know we are Holy Knights of the King’s Church, and yet you still dare to cause trouble?”

Sir Gazrek, a Holy Knight, addressed Azadin.

“Those who slaughter the people of Hybris like that are Holy Knights?”

“They are heretics!”

“Where’s the proof?”

Azadin’s question silenced the trainee knights. In truth, they hadn’t intended for the situation to escalate this far. It had started with a stray arrow killing a civilian, and in trying to cover it up, they had ended up killing more. Then, one of them had escaped, and in trying to silence him, they had ended up massacring the entire farm.

‘Thinking about it, it’s ridiculous.’

‘But now that we’ve started, there’s no turning back.’

‘Damn it, it wasn’t even my arrow. If we had just identified the one who shot the arrow, we could have just made a few of them penitent knights.’

As the trainee knights were panicking, Sir Gazrek stepped forward.

“We are Holy Knights. We are experts on heretics. Are you questioning our judgment? Or are you also a heretic, daring to object to the actions of the Holy Knights?”

“You’re being unreasonable. So, if you call someone a heretic without proof, they become a heretic? Is that what you call an excuse?”

“It seems you do not recognize the authority of the King’s Church.”

Sir Gazrek drew his sword.

“Are you also a heretic?”

Azadin raised the tip of the spear to eye level.

“No. I am just an ordinary pilgrim.”

The spear in Azadin’s hand swayed like a blade of grass in the wind. Its afterimage stretched out long.

“Hmm! You seem to have some skill!”

Sir Gazrek made a hand seal while holding his sword.

A dazzling light emanated from the sword, blinding the people. At the same time, Sir Gazrek turned to the side and charged at Azadin.

‘That technique again?’

Azadin had already experienced this technique once in his battle with Prince Kozel. A simple combination of magic and swordplay used by the Holy Knights to blind their opponents before attacking.

It was a simple but very effective technique. However, Azadin was not affected by the blinding light. Azadin’s vision was not through his physical eyes but a kind of extrasensory ability.

Therefore, he was not blinded at all, but Azadin deliberately pretended to be in pain, drawing Sir Gazrek in. It seemed this guy was the leader of the group, and he wanted to inflict a fatal wound on him to subdue the whole lot at once.

However, Sir Gazrek, who had been charging, retreated.

“Damn it.”

While the flash had blinded Azadin, two arrows had been fired.

Both were aimed at the vulnerable parts of Sir Gazrek’s armor. One aimed for the inner thigh, the other for the neck joint, attacks that would have been impossible without exceptional archery skills.

However, Sir Gazrek managed to deflect the arrows with the thick parts of his armor and retreated.

“Are you okay?”

“Are you alright?”

Ismail and Midiam, seeing Azadin surrounded by multiple enemies, had joined the fray, firing their bows.

‘Damn it. Just stay put.’

Azadin was disappointed that Sir Gazrek had escaped the trap he had set, but he couldn’t get angry at those who had come to help.

“Be careful! Those guys are from the Messenger Clan!”

Gazrek had recognized Azadin’s group.

“Why do you think so?”

“Why? Because only the Messenger Clan has kids who can shoot such powerful bows!”

Sir Gazrek shouted, seeing the unexpected power of Midiam and Ismail’s arrows. A sigh of relief escaped from the trainee knights who heard his words.

“T-The Messenger Clan?”

“Then we haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Right! If these villagers are harboring the Messenger Clan, they must be heretics!”

“Followers of the Emperor!”

Sir Gazrek ordered the trainee knights.

“You guys! Stop talking nonsense and surround them!”

“Yes, sir!”

The trainee knights, having shed the weight of their conscience, began to move quickly, unlike when they were burdened by guilt. They split in half, some helping Sir Gazrek to surround Azadin, and others rushing towards Midiam and Ismail.

“This is bad.”

As Azadin panicked, Sir Gazrek drew his sword and charged at Azadin.

“Now, let’s see the skills of the Emperor’s Messenger!”

Sir Gazrek’s sword thrust in like lightning. At the same time, the trainee knights who had half-surrounded Azadin also thrust their spears. Azadin tried to break away from their encirclement.

“Not so fast!”

“Grab him!”

Everyone began to chase Azadin. Then, Azadin approached the trainee knights who had half-surrounded him and engaged the knight at the very end of the formation. Azadin’s spear lightly touched the trainee knight’s spear as if mocking it.

“You bastard!”

The trainee knight tried to deflect Azadin’s spear. At that moment, Azadin’s spear wrapped around the trainee knight’s spear, slammed it into the ground, and then bounced up, changing into a thrust.

The trainee knight, surprised by the lightning-fast counterattack, tried to raise his spear to block it, but…

That was also part of Azadin’s plan. He had anticipated three moves ahead.

-Thud!

He knocked the trainee knight’s spear aside, completely entangling his opponent.

“Ugh!”

The trainee knight lost his balance and moved one step to the side, blocking his comrades’ path. The trainee knights who had surrounded Azadin were unable to launch an effective coordinated attack because of their comrade blocking their way.

Then, Azadin spun around and started running.

Was he trying to escape?

“Where do you think you’re going!”

The trainee knights tried to pursue him, but at that moment, Azadin threw his spear.

“Huh?”

Surprisingly, the spear Azadin threw was not aimed at those forming the encirclement. It was thrown at the back of a trainee knight who was approaching Midiam and Ismail, the two young members of the Messenger Clan.

-Thwack!

The spear Azadin threw cleanly pierced the thigh of one of the trainee knights.

The power of the spear, tearing through the hamstring and breaking the bone in the back of the thigh, was astonishing.

“Kkyaaaak!”

The trainee knight who was hit by the spear screamed and fell forward. When the spear that had pierced his leg hit the ground, widening the wound, he screamed in terror and fell to the side.

“You bastard!”

“What do you take us for!”

The trainee knights were enraged that Azadin had ignored them and thrown his spear, leaving himself unarmed. All their attacks were aimed at him at once. But Azadin started running again.

“Ugh?”

“He’s fast?”

Azadin quickly widened the distance between them. The knights in armor with spears tried to chase him, but they couldn’t catch up to Azadin, who was lightly armored and unarmed.

“Unbelievable!”

They couldn’t throw their spears like Azadin either. There was no guarantee they would hit, and they had never practiced throwing spears much, so they lacked confidence.

They couldn’t risk throwing and giving the unarmed guy a weapon.

“No! How is this possible?”

The trainee knight who was approaching Midiam and Ismail was flustered. They had clearly outnumbered them, but when he came to his senses, he realized that they were now outnumbered.

In front of them were clearly young boys and girls, but they were skilled archers of the Messenger Clan, and behind them was an adult member of the Messenger Clan who had just taken down a comrade with a spear throw. They were surrounded from both sides. The comrades who were supposed to help were struggling to catch up, moving at half the speed of the Messenger Clan member.

As he was panicking, Azadin rushed in. Surprisingly, Azadin’s target was not him but the trainee knight who had fallen beside him.

“Kkyaaaa!”

Azadin approached the trainee knight who was screaming from the spear wound in his leg and drew the sword at his waist. Azadin, who had drawn the knight’s short sword, which had no decorations but was by no means flimsy, charged at the still-standing trainee knight.

“D-Don’t come!”

The trainee knight thrust his spear at Azadin, but his attack, already shaken, was clumsy. It was a natural reaction, given the situation where an arrow could fly from behind at any moment.

Azadin held the short sword upside down, gripping the blade with both hands, and used it like a cross spear. He used the hilt of the upside-down short sword to block the trainee knight’s spear.

When the spear shaft got caught between the handle and the handguard, the spear was stuck and slid down, like a clothesline caught on a clothes rack.

Azadin lightly slid the spear down, moving the blade to the ground.

-Thud!

The trainee knight’s spear pierced the furrow of the field.

“Damn it.”

It was too late to pull it out again! The trainee knight made a quick decision and drew his short sword as well. But by then, Azadin was already right in front of him.

-Thwack!

Azadin held the short sword upside down and swung it like a mace, striking the trainee knight’s head with the handguard of the short sword.

The helmet crumpled, and the trainee knight collapsed to the ground. With a single blow, a Holy Knight of the King’s Church had been knocked unconscious.

Clearly, the Holy Knights had been the majority….

When they came to their senses, they were being defeated one by one.

“Damn it. He’s very skilled in combat. Well, he is the Emperor’s Messenger, so I guess it can’t be helped!”

Sir Gazrek realized he had made a mistake. The opponent was not heavily armed, but he knew his strengths well.

The tactics Azadin had shown also answered why knights in armor did not prefer spears.

The knights in armor with spears were too slow. They could easily be outmaneuvered by simply running, so Azadin used his mobility to defeat them one by one, despite being outnumbered.

‘The reputation of the Kingslayer is not for nothing. Still, we have more….’

Sir Gazrek thought that he might die here.