The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 432

“Fire!”

The Sandokar army unleashed a volley of arrows at the charging Bri.

These northern Bri, despite their thick fur and leather armor, along with shields, were able to withstand the arrows and crossbow fire, steadily closing the distance.

The musketeers fired their muskets, disrupting the Bri’s formation, but Sandokar didn’t have many musketeers.

Azadin had seized Banreung, securing a large number of muskets and blunderbusses. It was clear that muskets and blunderbusses were much easier to learn than bows.

However, in an era of scarce resources, training with gunpowder was not easy.

Therefore, Azadin prioritized supplying gunpowder to the elite dwarf marksmen who were already trained in muskets and blunderbusses, allowing the already skilled veterans to use more resources, which had been very effective so far.

However, this resulted in a shortage of gunpowder and ammunition in places like Sandokar, which were treated as the rear.

The Bri, enduring the musketry fire, approached and began throwing spears at the northern gate of Sandokar.

“Are they crazy? What’s with the spears at the walls?”

Spears were much heavier projectiles than arrows, making it difficult to throw them over the walls by hand.

And the Bri’s shoulders were not suitable for throwing projectiles like humans, so despite their large, muscular bodies, their spear range was similar to that of humans.

However, the moment the spears hit the stone walls, something amazing happened.

“On!”

As Camilla chanted, the spears embedded in the walls began to sprout, their wooden shafts coming to life and taking root.

In an instant, the spears grew into trees, their roots gripping the stone walls.

The stone walls, unable to bear the weight of the trees, crumbled outward. It was as if the trees’ claws were tearing chunks out of the walls.

Even a cannon shot wouldn’t have broken the walls so easily.

“Good heavens!”

“Agh! It’s, it’s collapsing!”

As the walls were torn outward, the earth and stones beneath them collapsed, causing the galleries where the soldiers moved for defense to crumble as well.

“This, this can’t be!”

“Is this the Shade Hag’s witch?!”

The knights of Count Ibichek’s army were horrified.

This was a different level from the Bri armies they had faced before.

Camilla’s wild magic was breaking down the walls so easily, with a single spear causing damage like a siege cannon.

Moreover….

“Aaaaargh!”

Kuntach threw a spear.

Kuntach didn’t particularly stand at the front lines, but threw spears from beside Camilla. Perhaps due to the half-orc’s immense strength, the spear flew an unbelievable distance and struck the parapet of the watchtower where Azadin was standing.

In an instant, the northern walls of Sandokar were in tatters.

“It’s better than wasting expensive gunpowder on cannons.”

Azadin was also surprised by the Bri army’s siege led by Camilla.

The Bri were generally considered weak due to their lack of proper metal weapons, but he never imagined they could demolish walls much more easily than artillery.

With the walls broken, the soldiers of Sandokar could no longer easily move through the galleries above the walls.

The disconnection of the galleries made it impossible to carry out a unified defense.

This would allow the Bri to approach the walls even more easily, and the number of spears hitting the walls would increase.

“Agh! It’s collapsing!”

“Damn it! We’re out of arrows!”

“The quiver is over there!”

The soldiers, isolated and unable to receive supplies of arrows or ammunition, were terrified.

Supply soldiers were placing ladders in the courtyard and lifting arrows and ammunition up, but it was a small amount, like a drop in the bucket.

Moreover, everyone was exhausted. Although they had managed to get a good night’s sleep thanks to Azadin, it was not enough to alleviate their long-term fatigue.

They had thought that they could win as long as the walls stood, no matter how many Bri attacked, but the wild magic was far more powerful than they had anticipated.

Fatigue, fear, and shock seeped into them, slowly sinking them into a swamp.

“This won’t do.”

Azadin signaled to Indim and Seraph.

“Your Majesty?!”

As Ismail also grabbed his weapon, Azadin pointed to Midiam.

“Ismail, protect the Queen.”

“…Yes.”

“Shall we go then?”

“Are you going to do it yourself, being a king?”

Indim asked Azadin, standing beside him.

At that moment, Azadin, Indim, and Seraph vanished from the walls.

They had moved along the shadows in an instant, appearing in front of the Bri, who were so focused on the walls that they didn’t recognize Azadin, Indim, and Seraph.

It wasn’t strange for them to see human-shaped allies, as there were already werewolves in their army.

Azadin, Indim, and Seraph avoided the Bri and used the magic of Hwajopungwol [a powerful assassination magic] again to move from shadow to shadow, approaching Camilla and Kuntach.

“You bastards! Are you trying to assassinate the witch?!”

The werewolves charged, but Indim held out his hand.

“Who told you to glare like that?”

At that moment, the upper part of the werewolf’s head was cleanly severed at the jawline.

Seraph also pierced the werewolf’s heart with a single strike.

Camilla was startled by the sight.

Seeing the werewolves, who overwhelmed even elite knights, being cut down in a single blow, she realized the true strength of Indim and Seraph.

“So, these are the heralds who were called the King Slayers. Amazing.”

“Of course, you should be amazed. We are the best among the heralds.”

Indim said, but Azadin stopped him and stepped in front of Camilla.

“Camilla. I can understand your grievances. But you also know that what you’re saying is just an excuse, right?”

“No. I’m serious, King Azadin. It’s better to have a clean surgery than a half-hearted patch-up. If you accept the Hybrids who have been tormenting the common people, they will forever live as slaves. They will just be slaves with a different name, and the color of their chains will change.”

Kuntach gestured to his subordinates.

“Everyone! The king is here!”

Some of the Bri and werewolves turned away from attacking the walls and headed towards Azadin.

Thanks to this, the enemy’s offensive against Sandokar slowed down, and the spears thrown by the Bri were no longer trees tearing at the walls, but just spears that weakly hit the stones and shattered.

“Now, King Azadin. I won’t run away. So, you won’t run away either and will fight me, right? Even if all the Bri here are ground to dust, if I capture you, I will have achieved my goal!”

As Camilla said this, Azadin looked at her with a pitiful expression.

“Huh?”

“You still don’t get it even after I showed you once? You’re an idiot. You’re already within the King’s range.”

Indim warned.

Indeed, as Azadin reached out, a terrifying flash of sword light appeared, cutting about a third of Camilla’s neck.

“Hwajopungwol, Dark Moon. My skill… seems better than yours?”

Indim commented, watching Azadin’s technique.

“Ha.”

Camilla tried to heal her wound with wild magic while staunching the blood, but Hwajopungwol’s magic pushed back her own, preventing the wound from healing.

The magic tome created by the Emperor for the heralds, Hwajopungwol, was the ultimate assassination magic that had even killed divine kings.

Its power was something that even Camilla, the witch of wild magic, could not withstand.

In an instant, the pressure on the blood vessels leading to her brain decreased, her vision darkened, and her right eye went completely dark like a snuffed candle.

“I’m sorry.”

Azadin looked at Camilla with pity.

Most of those who became witches had a wish they wanted to fulfill, even if it meant throwing away their souls.

They were soulless blasphemers who had lost their souls through contracts.

But the reason they had no souls was because they had suffered too much. In other words, they were actually the ones with the most sensitive souls.

That was why Azadin sympathized with Camilla’s situation and pitied her.

It was also the arrogance of the strong. Even if Camilla had some tricks up her sleeve, Azadin could take her head so easily that he didn’t feel threatened by her actions and tried to persuade her as much as possible.

“With such skills, don’t waste your life trying to save someone like me, you fool. Break everything that stands in your way and turn this world upside down as you wish. Just like I risked everything for what I believed in, you should also trample on anything for what you believe in….”

Camilla said this and released the hand that was staunching her neck.

Blood spurted out again with each heartbeat, and her life was cut short in an instant.

“Sister!”

Kuntach was horrified and rushed out, but Seraph punched Kuntach in the torso. Seraph was not short, but he was small compared to Kuntach. However, a blue bird-shaped light pierced through Kuntach’s back, and blood spurted from Kuntach’s mouth and eyes, and his eyeballs popped out of their sockets.

“Seraph.”

“I eliminated him first, fearing that Your Majesty might forgive him.”

“Did I look so lenient?”

“You are lenient, that’s a fact.”

Indim quipped. Seraph was dumbfounded by that.

If it weren’t for the leniency that Indim was talking about, Azadin might not have tolerated Indim’s rudeness and would have purged him.

He was alive thanks to Azadin’s generosity, yet he spoke like that.

“That’s enough. Let’s go back.”

The Bri and werewolf forces, having lost Camilla, rapidly lost their center of gravity.

The Sandokar side quickly reinforced the collapsed wall galleries with planks, and from above, they rained down arrows and stones, causing the Bri army to retreat without daring to approach.

“Capture the enemy king!”

The remaining werewolves shouted to the Bri.

The enemies swarmed towards Azadin, Seraph, and Indim.

But….

“Seriously, with these deer heads!”

Indim grabbed daggers in both hands and slaughtered the approaching Bri. Even with daggers, the force was so great that their skulls were severed, and their heads were opened.

Seraph and Azadin also drew their swords and swung them, cutting down the approaching enemies like falling leaves. They used the heads of the bewildered Bri as stepping stones to jump back onto the walls, returning safely.

The soldiers of Sandokar, witnessing their feats, could only stare blankly, forgetting to cheer.

‘Good heavens… they went into the enemy lines in the middle of a siege, killed the enemy commander, and came back?’

‘Is this what the heralds are like!?’

‘Is this the basic level for all heralds?’

Of course, one should not forget that Seraph and Indim were geniuses among the heralds, among the most outstanding talents of their generation. But to those who did not know the details, it was as if they had seen a mythical demon come to life and move before their eyes, filling them with a strange awe.

*********

After the deaths of Camilla and Kuntach, the Bri army, having lost control, scattered in all directions.

Before the follow-up forces could arrive, Azadin and his close aides alone had repelled the enemies threatening Sandokar.

However, Azadin was still busy, without a moment to catch his breath.

The Chitae army had begun a full-scale offensive on Naisandokar.

Moreover, Fireglyph was also in a precarious situation due to the attacks of the Wisdom Order.

However, Azadin could not move to save Naisandokar because….

The day after defeating Camilla, he fell ill with a severe fever and was bedridden.