The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 103

“Hey, you Naga woman! What’s your name?”

“And what’s your name, human?”

The Nagas also asked for Shatty and Azadin’s names.

“This woman’s name is Shatty…”

Azadin said, subtly putting pressure on Shatty. He tightened his arm around her torso, holding her close.

At that moment, Shatty realized how futile her fantasy of strangling Azadin with her snake tail and body had been. If anything, Azadin’s grip felt like it would crush her.

‘What kind of human strength is this! This warm-blooded creature is terrifying!’

Shatty had no choice but to give the name of a fellow mage who had died when Azadin attacked the Count’s castle.

“He’s Capella.”

“Capella and Shatty… then.”

“You’re the friends who went to Count Salasma?! I knew it!”

“What the heck is going on? Who were those guys shooting arrows from behind?”

“More importantly, this…”

Azadin placed his longsword on the ground. Of course, he didn’t put down the dagger hidden in the hand holding Shatty. Instead, he placed the longsword on the ground and took out a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture from his pocket with his free hand.

The Nagas gasped the moment they saw the white paper emitting its own light.

“The Divine King’s Scripture!”

“It’s a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture!”

“Yes. I was going to deliver this to you.”

While the Nagas’ attention was focused on the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture, Azadin slightly lowered his head.

“Everyone, get down!”

Shatty screamed a warning. But it was already too late.

-Thwack!

Azadin threw arrows at the Nagas.

The surprised Naga youths tried to defend themselves, but the one closest to Azadin was immediately pierced through the head by an arrow. Another, who belatedly raised his shield to block the arrow, couldn’t prevent it from piercing through the shield and embedding itself in his face.

“Kaaak!”

It was a blue arrow. Azadin used the Azure Steel Arrow, which he had obtained from Nephthys, the 75th Envoy of the Emperor, to pierce through the Nagas’ shields and wound them. [Azure Steel Arrow: A magical arrow known for its piercing power.]

Even though it had been used once and the arrowhead was probably a bit dull, the Azure Steel Arrow pierced through the shield like paper and deeply stabbed the Naga youths’ faces.

“Kyaak!”

Shatty bared her claws and teeth, but Azadin swung the dagger hidden in his hand and struck Shatty’s mouth.

-Crack!

Shatty’s fangs broke, and blood splattered. A Naga, larger than a human, couldn’t withstand Azadin’s attack and was knocked away.

“Ugh!”

The Orc necromancer, Scott McGreene, had already been suspicious of Azadin and quickly prepared.

“Ghouls!”

Corpses of humans, corrupted by evil spirits called ghouls, leaped at Azadin like four-legged beasts. But when Azadin grabbed the longsword he had placed on the ground and swung it, the ghouls were flung aside.

‘No way!’

Scott pushed his wheelchair backward. The wheelchair, controlled by necromantic magic, slid back wildly. He then raised the undead as a barrier to stop the enemy’s advance.

Or so he thought….

The longsword flew straight towards Scott. Azadin had thrown the sword at him. The sword, thrown by hand, flew like a ballista’s iron bolt, its momentum terrifying. If it hit, it would pierce right through him.

‘Ah! Damn it!’

The undead that Scott controlled tried to block it with their bodies, but the attack was too fast for their mobility.

Then, a shadow demon emerged from Scott’s shadow.

[Kaaak!]

It was a Night Crawler. This huge shadow spirit swung its claws and deflected Azadin’s thrown sword.

“Oh, dear.”

Azadin was astonished by the Night Crawler, which had once again blocked his perfect attack.

‘A normal necromancer would have already died from the first arrow attack, but he survived then and now. That shadow spirit is concerning. I felt it from the first time I saw it, but that’s a really powerful monster. What should I do?’

But then, the Orc’s face turned a deep shade of green. Suddenly, the shadow demon grabbed the Orc’s head and lifted him up.

[The debt is paid! Scott McGreene! Now it’s time to pay the price!]

“Ah, no!”

The Orc necromancer tried to cast a spell, but the shadow demon opened its mouth and swallowed him whole.

But….

“Huh?”

Azadin, who was watching, was taken aback by the sudden situation.

[Kyahahahaha!]

The shadow demon’s body was becoming denser.

‘Ah, I see. It’s absorbing the caster into its body to use as a source of magic power to manifest in this world.’

Azadin clicked his tongue, realizing that the Orc absorbed into the shadow demon’s body had become a source of magic power.

Summoning or trans-dimensional magic requires the sacrifice and dedication of someone who officially belongs to this world to maintain it for a long time. That shadow demon, being both an evil spirit and a demon-like entity, needed a living caster as a medium to stay in this world for long. It probably fulfills contracts and then devours the caster when the debt accumulates.

[Now! Despair! Human!]

Darkness poured out from the shadow demon, which had gained power by swallowing the caster, and engulfed the surrounding undead.

“Kyaaaaak!”

“Kuaaa!”

The shadows wrapped around the undead, becoming their armor and muscles.

Azadin, seeing the shadow demon’s massive form, quickly turned and began to flee. Such powerful evil spirits don’t last long anyway. It was better to escape than to waste his strength fighting it here.

‘It’s a shame I didn’t find out what the Nagas are doing here, but there’s no need to waste my strength. My injuries haven’t fully healed yet either.’

As Azadin fled, the Nagas also began to flee. The Nagas who had been shot in the face with arrows were not killed by that. Nagas don’t die easily unless their brains are destroyed.

Similarly, Shatty, whose tooth had been broken by the dagger, got up and ran hard.

“Huk! A, Azahdin!”

Shatty called Azadin’s name with an old Aragasa pronunciation. It was because the pronunciation was leaking through her broken teeth, but Azadin was shocked that his name had been called. [Aragasa: Likely a reference to a specific culture or language within the story.]

At that moment, the shadow demon, which was chasing behind, was slower than Azadin and was about to pounce on a lagging Naga.

“Tch!”

Azadin threw his dagger backward, aiming for the Night Crawler’s heart. The Orc necromancer who had been controlling the Night Crawler should be there. As expected, the Night Crawler overreacted and blocked the dagger.

“Everyone, split up and run!”

Azadin told the Nagas to run as well, and he ran off. Then, Shatty followed Azadin, and the other Nagas moved away from him. As the distance between them and the fast-moving Azadin grew, the Nagas began to cast spells.

“Ah!”

Sturdy vines grew in front of Azadin. The vines, though only calf-high, were thorny and would tear at clothing and skin, making them excellent obstacles.

‘Are these guys trying to mess with me? If we’re going to interfere with each other, I’ll do it better! You bastards!’

Azadin changed direction to avoid the thorny vines.

The Night Crawler was chasing Azadin, but the undead covered in shadows were chasing the Nagas.

“Kuk!”

“Oh no!”

The Nagas, who had been injured by Azadin, were surrounded by the undead. They thoughtlessly assumed they were normal undead and pulled out their large curved swords to strike them, but….

-Clang!

The zombie’s body made a metallic sound.

“Huh?!”

“Big trouble!”

The black shadow armor made a metallic sound and deflected the blades. The undead clad in black armor rushed at the Nagas, and a melee broke out.

‘Well, I can leave that to the undead. Then the problem is….’

Azadin looked at Shatty, who was chasing him, and the Night Crawler, who was rushing behind her.

“H-help me!”

Shatty asked Azadin for help.

“What? Are you out of your mind?”

She had just betrayed and attacked him, and now she was asking for help?

Azadin was taken aback by Shatty’s audacity, but for some reason, he changed his mind and unfastened the Crescent Moon Bow from his waist and strung it. [Crescent Moon Bow: Likely a reference to a specific type of bow within the story.]

“Hey, undead!”

Azadin took out the Black Steel Arrow he had shot at Zekt from his quiver and placed it on the bowstring. And surprisingly, he took out a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture and wrapped a page of it around the arrow.

“Now, undead! Despair!”

Azadin fired the Black Steel Arrow. The arrow fired from Azadin’s bow flew with terrifying force and aimed for the Night Crawler’s heart, the Orc necromancer.

-Thwack!

The Night Crawler raised its arm to block it, but the Black Steel Arrow he had fired this time instantly shattered the Night Crawler’s arm and pierced through it, hitting its torso.

[Kuhah!?]

The power was enough to startle the Night Crawler. Azadin’s arrow shattered the Night Crawler’s arm and pierced its heart.

-Thwack!

The Night Crawler staggered back and collapsed.

“Kuhak!?”

The Orc necromancer revealed himself from within its heart.

“Ugh….”

“Good. It works.”

Azadin took out another page from the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture, held it in his hand, and rushed at the Night Crawler.

[How foolish! You’re just going to hit me with the Divine King’s Scripture? A grimoire against me?]

The Night Crawler immediately absorbed the surrounding darkness to restore its lost arm and tried to bury the Orc necromancer, who was trying to emerge from its chest, again.

But Azadin swung his cloak, covering the area where the Orc necromancer was, and at the same time, he struck with his palm.

-Thunder of the Clear Sky! Kazas Hese!

Originally, it was a technique used to spread the impact widely to deal with swarms of insects or rats, but when he hit with the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture, the power of white magic was amplified and swept away the darkness. [Thunder of the Clear Sky! Kazas Hese!: Likely a specific magical technique within the story.]

[Kuhak?! Such recklessness!]

“Orc!”

Azadin reached out and grabbed the arm of the Orc necromancer buried in the Night Crawler’s chest and pulled him out.

“You use your strength too! What are your muscles for!”

“Kuk, my muscles are aching….”

The Orc necromancer said, but he grabbed Azadin’s hand and used his strength to escape from the Night Crawler’s body.

“Kuh!”

As the Orc left its body, the Night Crawler, having lost its source of magic power, began to weaken rapidly.

“Banish it now!”

Azadin ordered the Orc, and the Orc made hand seals and cast a spell.

“The price of the contract has been paid! Return! Night Crawler!”

Then, countless screams of evil spirits began to be heard from the Night Crawler.

[Kyaaaaa!]

[No!]

[T-this isn’t the end!]

The Night Crawler, enraged, swung its arms at Azadin and the Orc necromancer, but Azadin grabbed the Orc necromancer by the scruff of his neck and leaped away, avoiding the attack.

As the Night Crawler, having made its last struggle, faded and gradually disappeared, the undead also lost the black armor and muscles that had covered their bodies, as their magic power supply was cut off. Or rather, not only that, but the necromancy was completely undone, and they returned to being ordinary corpses.

The Nagas took the opportunity to quickly break through the undead’s encirclement and flee.

“We’ll see about this!”

“Traitor!”

They gnashed their teeth at Shatty and began to flee.

“Ugh, n-no, it’s not like that!”

Shatty was frustrated and felt wronged. To save them, she had done everything she could from her perspective, and she had even jumped at Azadin and broken her tooth. But to the Nagas, she just looked like a criminal who had betrayed her own kind.

‘Now that it’s come to this, it would be better if Azadin just shot them with his bow….’

Shatty thought, but Azadin seemed to be focused on keeping the Orc necromancer, regardless of whether the Nagas escaped or not.

“Oh dear, it just so happens that my quiver is empty now. If only I had some arrows.”

Azadin said, feigning ignorance, and helped the Orc to his feet.