The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 113

Azadin moved away from the deceased were-rat. The terrifying cold that had frozen the were-rat’s blood continued to emanate even after his death, chilling Azadin to the bone.

“That’s some intense magic. Be careful. I think everyone should put on their winter gear,” Scott warned.

“W-winter gear? In this summer?” Brock asked, bewildered. They had all come prepared for battle, expecting to wear light armor.

“No choice. Wrap yourselves in blankets, at least,” Azadin’s group unpacked their blankets, tying them into makeshift cloaks and securing their winter gear.

“So, this whole mess was caused by your wife and your mistress fighting. What a disaster,” Azadin said.

“I-I’m sorry,” Brock said. Though he was of higher status than Brand, he couldn’t utter a word against his scolding.

Then, another eerie sound echoed from the fog.

*********

A young woman emerged from the mist. With reddish-brown hair, she pierced through the thick fog.

“Lord Brock.”

“…Fran!” Brock recognized her and was taken aback. The woman stared at Brock with a glazed look, as if she were drunk.

“You came looking for me. I knew you’d come to me, not that woman.”

Then Brand stepped forward and shouted, “Hey! You there, girl!”

“……”

“I know you’ve already become a follower of the Spider Queen Atra! [Atra is likely a deity or entity associated with spiders and manipulation.] So, stop trying to bewitch us and speak plainly!” Brand’s outburst made everyone watching chuckle.

“He’s got some fire,” Ismail said.

“Well, it’s good that we’re skipping the unnecessary formalities,” Ismail added, nocking an arrow to his bow.

“Did you come to get rid of me, Brock?!”

“Fran, I…”

“That woman is the one who made me like this! She’s the one who turned this High Nest Fortress into this. You said marriage was a constraint!”

“……”

“That’s just what men say to trick young girls. Girl, you’re not bound by marriage, so come to your senses. Whether it’s a man or a woman, the sweet talk they give to their lovers is mostly hot air,” Brand said, glaring at Brock.

“L-Lord Brand, aren’t you scared?” Guillaume Valt asked. Brand was a scribe, not a knight, but Guillaume Valt called him ‘Lord.’ The woman was radiating an ominous, eerie aura, yet Brand was treating her as casually as if she were a neighbor’s wife.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m acting with good intentions, so why should I be ashamed?”

“It’s not about being ashamed, it’s about being scared,” Guillaume Valt thought.

“Brock, choose me. Stop fighting with that woman and let’s just run away together. Let’s live somewhere new, where no one knows us.”

‘Impressive,’ Azadin thought. He ignored Brand, who was ruining the mood, and felt a sense of respect for the woman who was speaking to Brock. Her persistence was remarkable, a testament to her obsession.

“Fran, I…” Brock was in agony. As Brand had said, he had been spouting nonsense to a young girl in bed.

He had no intention of breaking his marriage, but he had told her that his wife was a villain who constrained and tormented him, and that she was his true love. If he weren’t a noble and a knight with responsibilities, he would have divorced his wife and been with her, his true love, but sadly, he had to fulfill his duties.

He had deceived the woman with such sweet talk, and she seemed to have believed it all. Brock himself had said so many things that he couldn’t even remember them, yet she was clinging to those lies even in this terrible situation.

“It seems I need to erase your nonsense. It’s always been like this. Lord Brock can’t hear the true voice of his heart because of his responsibilities and position.”

“Fran! No! I’m just a coward!” Brock said, but his lover disappeared into the fog. Then, spiderwebs shot out of the fog, aiming for Brand.

-Ping!

But Ismail, who was waiting behind, shot the spiderwebs out of the air with an arrow.

“I was originally going to shoot that woman’s head off… but the story was so interesting that I was just watching,” Ismail grumbled, taking out another arrow and nocking it to his bow.

“Right. You guys be careful too.”

“Of the spiderwebs?”

“No, you’re all Aragas [Aragas is likely a reference to a specific group or clan], you wouldn’t fall for that, would you? Don’t fall for the nonsense of a cheating man.”

Azadin said, gesturing to Brand.

“Understood!” Brand pushed his wheelchair forward.

“Let’s go!”

“H-hey!” Lord Brock was bewildered by Azadin’s group, who were so readily turning his lover into an enemy, but then the fog began to clear.

“Ah!?”

Inside the High Nest Fortress village, spiderwebs filled the 2nd and 3rd-story wooden buildings. The bodies of were-rats and Nagas were bound in the webs, their fluids sucked out, leaving them flattened and dead.

And between the bell tower and the fortress wall, a giant spider stood on a spiderweb barrier that had frozen into an ice waterfall. The upper half of a woman was attached to the spider’s body, the same woman named Fran who had spoken to them earlier. She cried out to Brock with madness in her eyes.

“Lord Brock! I will free you from the shackles of responsibility that bind you. By destroying them!”

“That’ll be tough,” Azadin scoffed and signaled to Zibeck. Zibeck took out his rusty iron mace and threw it.

-Mace of Judgment!

As powerful white magic was about to be unleashed through the mace, the spider woman quickly spread her webs to catch the mace itself.

But then, Azadin shot an arrow. The arrow struck the mace’s handle precisely, sending the mace flying high into the air, avoiding the spiderwebs.

“I-Impossible!”

“Such archery…”

Lord Brock had already seen Ismail’s skill in hitting spiderwebs with arrows, but he had thought it was a fluke. But after seeing this, he was certain.

“A Herald Clan!? No, but a paladin…”

It was clear that Zibeck was a paladin. No, a paladin who used such powerful white magic was a rare talent even among paladins. And yet, such a paladin and a Herald Clan member were working together?

“When the will is high, allies gather,” Azadin said, moving closer to Brock. Meanwhile, the Mace of Judgment that Zibeck had unleashed fell towards the spider woman. But the spider woman created a web in the air and hid under it to avoid the attack.

The Mace of Judgment exploded in the air, destroying the spiderwebs and causing the fortress’s roof tiles and the bell tower’s lightning rod to collapse.

“Aaaah!” The spider woman screamed. But she retreated behind the bell tower, avoiding further attacks.

“Useless!” Midiam shot an arrow. The arrow she shot cut through the air, curving and chasing after the spider woman who had hidden behind the bell tower.

“A-Amazing!” Brock was astonished. An arrow shot by a young girl was so powerful and moved so freely as if it were alive. He had only heard rumors of the Herald Clan’s greatness, but now he saw that they were truly capable of killing the King and his nobles.

The spider woman cried out from behind the bell tower, and the ground around them began to sink, with small spiders emerging from beneath the earth. Even though they were small, they were the size of hunting dogs. Even without spider venom, being bitten would cause fatal injuries.

“No, wait! Fran! Listen to me! It’s all my fault!” Lord Brock pleaded, but the spider woman seemed to have no intention of listening to him.

“You’re out of your mind because of your duty as a vassal! If you can’t fulfill your duty as a vassal, your duty as a knight, you’ll only think of love.”

Azadin clicked his tongue.

‘What kind of nonsense did he say to seduce a young girl? This guy?’

It seemed that he had been seeing his lover while making her believe that he couldn’t divorce his wife because his marriage was terrible, but he had to fulfill his duties as a knight and a vassal.

Then Scott muttered, “Hey. The Naga woman is escaping.”

While Azadin’s group was fighting the spiders, Shati was running away between the buildings.

“Shhh. Be quiet,” Azadin said. He had intended to track Shati, so he had deliberately let her escape.

Of course, if he had asked Lord Brock where the nearest guild or brothel was, he wouldn’t have needed to use this trick to find the Nagas’ lair. But wouldn’t it be better for Shati to lead the way herself?

“Then we should deal with that spider woman quickly? Should I step in?” Scott asked.

“No. Please refrain from using necromancy in front of people.”

“I can do more than just necromancy.”

“Use colorless magic instead of black magic. Leave the spider woman alone and just deal with the spiderlings.”

“What about the spider woman? Are you going to let her live?”

“No. She doesn’t seem to be in her right mind anymore. It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do.”

Azadin said, stepping forward with his bow and sword. The spiders rushed at Azadin, but…

-Thwack!

Azadin swung his sword, cutting off the legs of the charging spiders, and then flicked his bow hand. The bowstring wrapped around Azadin’s upper arm, securing the bow to his arm and freeing his hand. Azadin quickly emptied the hand that had been holding the bow and threw a punch.

Azadin’s fist pierced through a spider’s abdomen, and he picked up the dead spider. “Alright then!” Azadin used the spider as a shield, blocking the spiderwebs that were flying towards him.

-Swish!

The spider woman fired a web at Azadin and pulled it back, but only a spiderling was pulled away.

“Ah! Damn it!” The spider woman was disappointed that she had caught a spiderling instead of Azadin. But the moment a spiderling was caught in her front leg, the spider’s mouth, which corresponded to the human pelvis, opened and began to suck the spiderling dry.

The spiderling was flattened as its fluids were sucked out. The movements were so fast that it seemed like her instincts were telling her to bite anything she caught with her front legs.

“Too bad. She’s already become a beast,” Azadin said, grabbing his bow again and firing arrows at Fran, who had been turned into a spider.

He casually fired arrows in rapid succession, walking while drawing back the strong bow that required a lot of strength to pull. He also picked up the spider’s front legs that he had cut off, attached them to the bowstring, and shot them.

-Thud! Thud! Thud!

The spider woman screamed as arrows and spider legs pierced her body in rapid succession. Blood splattered, soaking her feet, and the giant spider woman slipped and fell off her spiderweb.

Moreover, the spiderwebs were frozen and shattered, collapsing like a melting ice waterfall.

-Boom!

The spider woman fell to the ground with a deafening roar.

“Ugh! Why are you doing this! I just wanted to save Lord Brock! Why are you interfering!” The spider woman, who was no longer capable of rational thought, cried like a child. Azadin sighed deeply at the sight.

“What a mess.”

For a foolish noble’s affair, things had escalated too far.