The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 494

“But you speak with the appearance you had in life, and you move with the will you had in life. Isn’t that right?”

Azadin approached the undead soldier who had spoken those words.

Even if others criticized him or mocked him, Azadin was no longer allowed to despair.

He stood tall, chest out, and walked towards the undead soldiers.

“Your family, your siblings, your friends, anyone is fine! There must be some who are still human, right? Do you want to inflict this world of despair upon them? Because you have become undead, do you want them to become undead as well and wander the cold night with you forever?!”

“No, we don’t!”

“Who would want such a thing?!”

The undead soldiers protested.

It wasn’t like they had become undead willingly. They were caught in the crossfire while Lord Sok was fending off attacks from the Messenger Clan, Sedrin, and other commanders. They were injured or killed and then became undead.

They didn’t want to pass on this pain to others.

They didn’t want their homeland to be buried in ice and darkness forever.

Who would want such a thing?

“That is your will, your desire! You still have a will and a desire within you that even death cannot erase! If that is the case, then you are not yet dead!”

The undead soldiers were shocked by Azadin’s words.

Azadin was telling them to fight even if they had become undead, as long as they still had hope.

Unlike those who considered necromancy itself a terrible blasphemy, Azadin viewed the undead who remained due to necromancy as human.

Azadin was someone who would use necromancy if necessary. However, those who didn’t know about Azadin’s detailed actions were bound to be surprised to hear the Emperor, Azadin, speaking positively about the undead.

“Are you telling us to fight for our surviving families?”

“What should be respected is the will and soul of a human. You have will and desire, so you should be respected as humans. And this is also for your families.”

“……”

The undead soldiers were speechless. Suddenly, one undead soldier muttered.

“Anyway, it was Sok who made us like this. Although he didn’t make us his puppets…”

“Then, are we allowed to live by our own will?”

The soldiers who had become undead realized that they possessed free will, and therefore, they could do anything.

But then, a sharp mockery was hurled at them.

“Ha, what a magnificent con man you are.”

The mockery came from among the living soldiers.

It wasn’t just the undead soldiers who were in despair.

The living were also in despair.

To them, Azadin was saying something absurd, telling them to have hope.

In this terrible hell, was there really hope?

Was it because they were annoyed?

A rash remark, one they would never have made under normal circumstances, came out.

Azadin, without even looking, knew who had spoken.

“You are a Hospitaller.”

The soldier who had mocked Azadin had a brooch of the Relief Knights on his cloak.

A brooch in the shape of a wheel made of the wings of three angels. It was a brooch symbolizing the three archangels of the Relief Knights. [The Relief Knights are a religious order focused on healing and aid, and their symbol represents their devotion to these archangels.]

Judging by its luxurious craftsmanship, this person was not just a soldier of the Knights, but a paladin, a paladin of the Hospitaller rank. [Paladins are holy warriors, and the Hospitaller rank indicates a focus on healing and care.]

Anyone who possessed this would not be someone that Midiam had hastily appointed as a knight, but someone who had been a member of the Relief Knights from the beginning.

However, when Azadin recognized the brooch, he tried to hide himself in shame.

But Azadin didn’t let him go.

Azadin grabbed the Relief Knight who was trying to hide and asked.

“Can you use divine magic?”

“I could.”

He averted his gaze from Azadin.

Most of the Hospitallers of the Relief Knights were unable to use divine magic, despite the name of paladin.

It was only those of noble lineage who used divine magic with the power of the King’s Church. Most of them lived lives far from virtue.

However, when Empress Midiam granted the status of Relief Knight to all other people, when she appointed everyone as knights.

That was when the Relief Knights were able to use divine magic for the first time.

They were happy.

Because they had been keenly aware that they were inferior, fake paladins compared to the paladins of the King’s Church.

They were also happy.

The teachings they had not believed in, those obvious teachings, were true and possessed great power, even though no one believed them and they were mocked.

But when the night of despair came, everyone let go of the miracle.

This miracle was too small.

Compared to the vastness of that night of despair, the miracle was too small to hold onto.

He tried to avert his gaze because he didn’t want Azadin to find out that he had betrayed the miracle, the faith that had come after so long.

“Even if a miracle has come upon us, this darkness is too strong. We are not great people like you.”

“What am I?”

“You are the Emperor and of the lineage of the Divine King…”

“Does that even matter now that the light of the King’s Hwa [Hwa is a term for the divine power or essence of the King] is gone? And do you know how many Yaehagas [Yaehagas are a race of divine beings] Divine Kings have mingled with human men and women and created descendants over the past eight hundred years? The blood of Yaehagas flows in all of your veins!”

“But… it was useless! I! I couldn’t stop the attacks of the Nether’s messengers, nor Lord Sok and the undead! Not only that, the moment Lord Sok swung his sword, ice pillars that could destroy the entire city were created, and when my comrades were swept away, I was over there, trembling like a child! What meaning does this weak divine magic have in the face of such power?”

The Hospitaller threw off his helmet.

“Don’t fill people’s hearts with expectations with miracles and the words of heroes! You’ll find out in the end! That we’ll betray you at the most crucial moment! We are not heroes or anything!”

“The reason you are angry is because you betrayed your own expectations. Isn’t that so?”

“……”

“But you are mistaken about one thing. Do you think that I, or the three archangels, are looking down on you from above?”

“Then aren’t you?”

“No. I am asking for help. The three archangels are the same.”

“……”

“The three archangels are not gods looking down from heaven. They are those who came down to earth because of their hope for humanity, even with inferior power compared to the messengers of the Nether, and eventually became stone after their power was exhausted. They are not saviors.”

“What does that…”

Those who had faith in the Relief Knights were shocked by Azadin’s statement that the three archangels were not saviors.

It was a blasphemous statement that directly challenged the Relief Knights’ faith.

Was Azadin truly a soulless blasphemer?

“The angels said from the beginning. Help us with the power of virtue. This is the same for the spirits of Yaehagas! It is the wish of gods and angels that justice be done on this earth, and only humans can achieve it. It is meaningless if humans do not achieve justice on this earth! Therefore, humans are the saviors of God.”

“………”

“Pray. You can use sacred white magic.”

“…Ha, but.”

“You can use it.”

Such lip service!

The Relief Knight, who had lost faith, was about to say that.

But the moment he saw Azadin’s purple eyes, he was speechless.

It was because he could feel through Azadin’s eyes that he truly believed it.

And suddenly, divine protection was activated within his body.

A sacred aura of light enveloped his body.

“Ah…”

It was definitely the power of the miracle he had used once before.

Sacred white magic.

Compared to the messengers of the Nether, compared to the despair that covered this world, it was an infinitely weak light, but still, the light had not abandoned him.

“Am I… can even a powerless person like me be of help?”

“Of course. Have we forgotten that we are the hope of the angels?”

“But the enemy is strong. What should we do?”

“The angels faced enemies stronger than themselves and believed in humans until the day they eventually became stone.”

“……”

That’s right. There was always something that those who mocked the faith of the Relief Knights would say.

Didn’t the angels eventually lose and become stone?

But that, in other words, meant that the angels sacrificed themselves for the greater good, knowing that they were facing powerful enemies who would defeat them.

Not backing down from an enemy stronger than oneself and upholding the greater good. What else could be a noble sacrifice?

But was Azadin demanding that of humans?

That wasn’t it.

“Of course, rest assured. It’s different from that time. With all the wisdom and courage I have, I will win! So, help me and let’s save the angels and gods together. If you help me, we can break this despair and save the three archangels.”

“…I see. That is the New Testament.”

It was already in Azadin’s New Testament, and this Hospitaller had already memorized it by heart.

But until now, that content was nothing more than useless ink on paper.

Lip service circled the ear, and empty sermons passed over the paper.

Only when a burning soul beats the chest does the word become truth.

A soulless person…

That was absurd nonsense.

Wasn’t the Emperor’s soul burning the hottest right now?

“Oh…”

“This can’t be, healing…”

The paladins who had lost faith were able to use healing spells.

In various places among the groups of defeated soldiers, sacred light returned and healed their wounds and frostbite.

“Even though we betrayed it, has faith not abandoned us?”

The Relief Knights were moved by the miracle they could use.

Even to those who had despaired, been terrified, and run away, faith still bestowed miracles.

“Hahahaha!”

Azadin burst into laughter as he watched them.

“Your Majesty?”

“Admit it. You love life too much to despair. I am truly envious of that.”

The paladins were ashamed at Azadin’s words.

Because they loved life so much, when Emperor Azadin returned and Aurelia Dunn emitted an unbelievable sacred fire, they couldn’t help but have hope again, even if they didn’t want to.

They were afraid of being betrayed again after believing, but still, because they wanted to live, they were already placing their hopes on Azadin the moment he returned.

“Everyone, kneel!”

Azadin commanded the defeated soldiers and the undead.

Everyone obeyed Azadin’s command at once.

“Sit as boys and rise as knights! I reappoint you, so rise as Hospitallers!”

The defeated soldiers sat and rose as Hospitallers.

All the people were paladins. Even the beings of death, defiled by necromancy, became paladins.

It was a miracle that had already been broken once.

A miracle that Midiam had once performed in Azadin’s name.

However, by rising again even after being broken, the Relief Knights were reborn anew.