The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 324

The Dwarven blunderbuss troops were not afraid of hippogriffs.

However, their current location was the Chadra-Banreung Ridge, a place with many forests, mountains, and hills, making visibility poor.

Since the flying creatures could attack at any time, the blunderbuss troops’ confidence was somewhat excessive.

Chashan’s brothers reminded him of this.

“First, we need to gather our forces. If Azadin’s group starts moving, scattering our troops would be foolish.”

To capture the merchant group run by Azadin, the Dwarven Arrows had dispersed their forces, placing them in nearby villages and along roads.

However, now that Azadin was moving directly for revenge, they needed to gather their forces. Chashan, consumed by his desire for revenge and focused on torturing the merchants, had neglected to gather their troops.

It was clearly Chashan’s fault, and he knew it.

“Ah.”

At that moment, the Earth Keeper flinched.

“I hear sounds.”

“Sounds? Where?”

“…They’re engaged in battle.”

“Engaged in battle?”

“Yes. They’re fighting to the north.”

“……”

The Earth Keeper’s words were clear.

Azadin was picking them off one by one.

“Too fast, isn’t he? And moving without any ground tremors means they’re riding hippogriffs. But how?”

“It seems someone among them knows us well. They’re using flying beasts to avoid ground tremors and dismounting to fight.”

Someone in Azadin’s group was well-versed in the Dwarven magic system. Their prediction was accurate. Bernard, the blood mage who had studied at the Banreung Academy, was Azadin’s advisor, so Azadin was already well aware of the dwarves’ abilities and fighting methods.

Chashan knew this too, but he hadn’t considered it at all.

He could be a successful gang leader, but he had too many disqualifications to be a soldier on the battlefield.

“Kuh…”

The gazes around him were sharp. Having been humiliated by Azadin several times already, Chashan felt his prestige plummeting and trembled with rage.

“This is no time for this. Gather all troops at the Sandokar Corridor gate!”

The Sandokar Corridor gate was the main gateway of the Banreung Kingdom, blocking all roads leading from the Arangi Kingdom and the Knights of Salvation territory. It was also the starting point of the Banreung Kingdom’s fortress defense line during the ‘Plum Blossom War’ between the Banreung and Arangi Kingdoms.

“We have more numbers, can’t we just rush them and overwhelm them?”

It might sound foolish, but these Dwarven mafia, with their abundant Dwarven sorcerer resources, could make a large army move organically.

The plan to avoid being picked off one by one and instead surround those who were trying to do so might sound like the impractical theory of a desk-bound scholar, but the dwarves of Banreung could actually carry it out.

“No. Not against Azadin.”

Chashan shook his head. He hated Azadin enough to chew every piece of his flesh, but he never underestimated his abilities.

“Gather everyone at the Sandokar Corridor gate!”

*********

-Thwack!

“Fwoooar!”

The hippogriff roared and swung its forelegs, sending dwarves flying.

The blunderbuss troops, the dwarves’ pride and joy, who had boasted that they could easily take down hippogriffs, were now tumbling without putting up much of a fight.

“N-no way! Why is this happening?”

A bewildered blunderbuss soldier raised his gun and aimed it at the hippogriff.

-Click!

The flintlock wheel turned but slipped, failing to spark.

Something reddish was stuck to the flintlock wheel, preventing the flint from igniting.

“W-what is this!?”

“Mercurial Blood. It’s cinnabar blood magic!”

Mercurial Blood was a blood magic developed at the Banreung Academy, which used cinnabar as a catalyst to emit mercury vapor that prevented ignition.

The mercury vapor would stick to metal firearms, causing deformation of the parts, and was particularly fatal to flintlock equipment.

The blood mage of Azadin’s group had cast Mercurial Blood, disabling the blunderbuss soldiers’ firearms and launching an attack.

The dwarves tried to fight back with the bayonets attached to their blunderbusses, but…

-Swoosh!

Niselda’s swung blade decapitated the dwarves.

She, a half-vampire unaffected by Mercurial Blood, and the undead were slaughtering the dwarves.

As the dwarves had predicted, Bernard, who had studied at the Banreung Academy, was well aware of the dwarves’ specialties, tactics, and weaknesses.

The dwarves tried to fight her with their bayonets, but Niselda, Scott’s undead, and the blood magic spiders used by Bernard were simply massacring them.

Azadin also stayed out of the Mercurial Blood and attacked the dwarves with arrows, ending their lives.

The dwarves were easily annihilated without putting up much resistance.

“Hmm. Mercurial Blood, huh? It’s too useful. Isn’t the damage spreading too much?”

Azadin frowned, looking at the mercury-poisoned fog.

“It’s fine. Not much cinnabar was used. It’s usually a magic that can’t be used because it costs too much. Fortunately, we have cinnabar as a specialty product.”

Bernard, who had cast the magic, said it as if it were nothing.

Azadin pondered at Bernard’s words.

“Cough, cough. Should we not use it next time? If we use Mercurial Blood, we have to kill all the enemy soldiers…”

“No, there’s no need to hold back.”

Azadin gestured to Scott. Scott used necromancy to move the dead dwarves, checking if they had any letters or orders, or any other valuables. Then, he gathered the corpses and moved them to rock crevices where wild animals couldn’t easily reach, and then blocked the entrance with stones to prevent the corpses from decaying.

They were just leaving them behind now, but it was to ensure that the bodies could be recovered and given a proper burial later.

Even if they killed them while they were alive, they would give the dead a proper burial.

It was ridiculous to think about the dignity of the corpses while using necromancy… but necromancy was the only way to clean up the corpses without being poisoned by the mercury vapor of Mercurial Blood.

“Let’s move on.”

Azadin sent Arae’s voice into the sky, surveyed the surroundings, and approached after confirming the dwarves’ locations.

Knowing that the dwarves obtained information through ground tremors, they flew the hippogriffs at low altitude, sprayed Mercurial Blood around the dwarves, and then charged in, annihilating them.

According to reports from surviving dwarves and soldiers, Chashan’s group had brought about 100 Dwarven blunderbuss troops to this area.

Gathering this many blunderbuss troops in one place was enough to sway the fate of a nation.

However, Azadin was effectively picking them off one by one.

The only damage so far was Niselda being briefly hit by a blunderbuss shot, but that wound was easily healed by Niselda drinking blood.

Considering the reputation of the Dwarven sorcerers, it was unbelievable.

“Hmm.”

Jibek, who had joined Azadin’s army and was now experiencing his first real battle, was amazed by the extraordinary combat abilities of Azadin’s subordinates, especially Niselda, who belonged to the Chadra Ogre.

The Banreung Kingdom became a united kingdom of the Dwarven dynasty and the Yaehgas Eight Divine Clans because the dwarves’ abilities were so exceptional.

In the past, when the Nagas ruled this land, and when the Yaehgas gods ruled, the dwarves always got their share from everyone.

For such dwarves to be so easily defeated by the elite troops was unbelievable. The Chadra-Vermilion forces that Azadin had built were highly motivated and skilled.

Could Azadin overcome any disaster that might come?

It was at that moment that he thought this.

“Come to think of it, it’s about time the villagers started their fires.”

Azadin had ordered the conquered villagers to light bonfires and make smoke to prevent them from doing anything else.

The time to light those bonfires and raise smoke was approaching. No, it had actually passed a little while ago.

Of course, since no one had a proper clock, there had to be some leeway before and after… but the deadline was fast approaching.

“Huh?”

But then, smoke rose from the village.

A large amount of red smoke was rising into the sky.

“…Hey, Captain. Weren’t you a bit too harsh? What are the people burning to make smoke like that?”

Usually, it was white or black smoke, but the smoke rising now was a mix of red, black, and even green flames.

And. The smoke took the shape of a demon, writhing in the sky before exploding.

“……”

It wasn’t just this village.

Smoke was rising from other villages to the north.

The same dark red and green mixed smoke was rising continuously on this Chadra-Banreung Ridge.

“Lord Azadin.”

“…Change of plans.”

Azadin had been trying to capture Chashan as quickly as possible, but with this happening, he had no choice but to change his objective.

“We need to go to the nearest village and find out what’s going on.”

Azadin said this and turned his mount around.

*********

By the time they reached the nearest village, the sun was setting.

Azadin dismounted from his hippogriff and surveyed the surroundings.

There were survivors scattered throughout the village, desperately trying to put out the fires that had spread to their homes.

“W-who are you?”

“…We did nothing wrong.”

They knew that Azadin was a warlord from the Chadra Highlands who had come to fight Chashan, and they surrendered immediately.

Seeing the people, their eyebrows burned from putting out the fires, bowing to survive, Azadin stopped them.

“Stop. Rest for now. I didn’t come here to oppress you.”

“……”

Of course, that’s what they would say. The Dwarven Arrows had also called themselves liberators who would free them from poverty, but then forced the villagers to cultivate narcotic crops.

Azadin smiled bitterly at the villagers who distrusted him.

“What happened?”

“People suddenly burst into flames.”

“Burst into flames?”

“Over there…”

Azadin looked where they were pointing.

Inside a building, there were human remains, the entire body petrified.

“……”

Elemental Wailing [a magical disease].

A powerful storm of magic had erupted around the person who had suddenly manifested Elemental Wailing, burning everything it touched.

But until now, Elemental Wailing had been a disease where parts of the body turned into magic stones and caused suffering. Why were these people suddenly turning into magic stones all over their bodies in an instant?

-Crack.

“Huh?”

Azadin heard the sound of a petrified corpse moving in the flames.

Stones were sprouting from the body of the Elemental Wailing victim.

And those stones were breaking.

The victim was moving.