The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 117

“Okay, it’s a crisis, so let’s deal with those things first!”

Azadin patted Zibeck to calm him down and shot an arrow.

Thanks to Scott’s magic, which had scattered the Wendigos, it was easier to shoot arrows. The Wendigos looked like beasts, but their true nature was that of the undead, so shooting arrows wouldn’t kill them. Therefore, Azadin, Midiam, and Ishmael decided to aim for the Wendigos’ knee joints to hinder their movements.

As the Wendigos approached, Sir Zibeck, Sir Brock, Guillaume Valt, and Brand stood at the front line. Sir Zibeck swung the steel sword he received from Azadin, cutting down the approaching Wendigos.

It wasn’t too difficult to deal with the Wendigos whose leg muscles and joints were torn by Azadin’s arrows, making it hard for them to move properly. Even Guillaume Valt managed to take one down.

The Wendigos they took down were then controlled by Scott’s necromancy and became a meat wall to fight against the approaching Wendigos.

“That orc! Just because I’m staying still doesn’t mean you can cross the line!”

Zibeck was furious at Scott for openly using necromancy.

“But Wendigos are already undead!”

Scott said, continuing to cast necromancy.

‘Well, there are some minor discords, but it’s working well?’

That was how Azadin assessed the current situation. The Wendigos in front of them were definitely monsters that could crush armor and kill people with a swing of their forelimbs.

However, with a systematic ranged attack to slow their movements, and Zibeck, skilled in swordsmanship, and Brand, with his strength, leading the charge, and Scott supporting them with necromancy in dangerous situations, they had formed a pretty good fighting team.

On the other hand, Guillaume Valt and Sir Brock were useless. Azadin had advised Guillaume Valt to use a spear instead of a sword, but Guillaume Valt couldn’t even use the spear a few times before he broke it by directly blocking a Wendigo’s forelimb with it, leaving him empty-handed.

Sir Brock was a little better than Guillaume Valt. He tried to help Guillaume Valt with his shield, but he was hit by a Wendigo’s forelimb and sent flying, rolling on the ice.

Despite these minor problems, the Wendigos were steadily falling in front of the group.

But…

“Hey, isn’t it too cold? How about you warm-blooded creatures?”

Naga Sharti asked.

“Hmm?”

Azadin also felt the chill seeping into his body. Even though they were engaged in vigorous activity, their body temperature should have been rising, but the drop in the surrounding temperature was more severe than the rise in their body temperature.

Soon, they found out the reason. The Wendigos that hadn’t entered the confluence were emitting cold breaths from afar, lowering the temperature of the entire area.

“This is…”

“Amazing.”

They were undead, but their attack method was quite cunning. Even if they weren’t directly hit by the cold breath, lowering the overall temperature like this would be dangerous.

“Oh, what should we do? Warm-blooded animals?! I can’t stand it!”

Naga Sharti, who was weak to the cold, was holding her head.

“What do you mean, what should we do! We do this!”

Azadin stepped forward and lured the Wendigo’s attack. He lightly jumped over the Wendigo that was charging with cold breath and kicked it back, driving it towards the area where the powers of the orc and Lady Liz were clashing.

-Bzzzt!

As the Wendigo’s body reached the point where the two mages’ powers were colliding, sparks flew from its body, and its fur began to burn. Along with the foul smell of burning fur, the Wendigo’s body caught fire.

“One more!”

Azadin ran towards a Wendigo that was limping from an arrow to its knee, kicked its leg, breaking it completely, and then picked up the fallen creature, spun it around like a windmill, and threw it. This time, the Wendigo fell into the battlefield of the two mages and burst into flames.

“Ugh! The smell!”

“Wait a minute! What are you doing!”

Walter was horrified.

“Y-yeah! Burning them won’t get rid of the cold! If you kill that orc, I’ll take care of the Wendigos!”

Lady Liz was also flustered.

‘Hmm. What should I do?’

If the Wendigos continued to emit cold air, Azadin’s group would be in danger. But then, which of the two should he choose?

Should he choose the orc mage, Walter, who was employed by the Naga Empire? Or Lady Liz, a witch from Btooma who used Nether magic?

Both had problems.

‘If I had to choose alone, I’d save the orc mage.’

He could get information about the Naga Empire, and he had a sense of antipathy towards Lady Liz, who intentionally harmed others. But wouldn’t that be killing his wife in front of her husband, Sir Brock?

Besides, the solution the orc was proposing was to destroy the Divine King’s Scripture.

‘Do I have to kill one of them? There must be another solution, but there’s no time.’

At that moment, Sir Brock approached the orc mage with his sword.

“I will kill this orc! No matter what, I can’t let him harm my wife!”

“Oh? Good! For the first time, I think marrying you was a good idea! I’ll open the way, so strike him!”

Lady Liz was pleased that Sir Brock was taking her side.

“How foolish! I knew you were a stupid race, but to make such a foolish choice!”

The orc mage, Walter, grabbed his axe-spear.

‘That’s a magic staff.’

Azadin realized that the axe-spear Walter was holding was a magic staff with an axe head attached to it. So, its essence was still a staff, with just a large, heavy, and sharp steel decoration (?) attached to it.

“It’s not the time to fear muscle gain!”

Walter grabbed his staff (?) and swung it.

-Clang!

Sir Brock was sent tumbling on the ice again. Walter, who had knocked Sir Brock away in one blow, took out a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture from his chest and clutched it.

“No! It’s a magic release!”

Scott screamed.

Indeed, as the light charged in the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture was released, the balance of power between the two mages, which had been tightly maintained, instantly shifted to one side.

“Kyaaak!”

Lady Liz was thrown back.

“Now that things have come to this! Followers of Yae-gas, deal with the Wendigos yourselves!”

The orc mage, Walter, shouted and rushed towards Lady Liz.

“This is bad!”

Zibeck stepped forward to protect Lady Liz, but Walter swung his staff, which was like an axe-spear, with terrifying force.

Zibeck was careful not to let his sword touch Walter’s weapon, deflecting the attacks. It was clear that if their weapons clashed against the monstrously strong orc, whose muscles were so big that it was a problem, he would be swept away by his raw power.

But that meant he had to avoid the opponent’s weapon while holding his ground. It was a difficult task even for a master swordsman to face a novice who had just started learning swordsmanship. Moreover, the opponent was using a polearm, wasn’t he?

But…

-Thwack!

At the moment Walter swung down, Zibeck pressed down on the back of the axe-spear, causing it to hit the frozen sewer floor. Then, he stepped forward and aimed for Walter’s neck with a swift strike.

“Hmph! Vajra Body Technique!” [A technique to harden the body using magic]

Walter used magic to make his body as hard as steel, deflecting Zibeck’s blade that was aimed at his neck.

“Die, paladin!”

Then, with one hand, he released a colorless magic bullet towards Zibeck’s torso. But Zibeck also blocked the magic bullet with a white magic shield.

It was amazing. Usually, when you cut someone’s neck, you tend to let your guard down. The moment you inflict a fatal wound on your opponent, you release the tension. The orc mage, Walter, had intentionally used magic to absorb the attack the moment the blade came at his neck, trying to create an opening to attack Zibeck. But Zibeck didn’t let his guard down even at that moment and responded.

Walter changed the hand seal he used to release the magic bullet into a fist and punched Zibeck, but Zibeck received Walter’s fist with his palm, flew backward, absorbed Walter’s monstrous power, and landed safely.

‘Amazing?’

Azadin was surprised to see that Zibeck was quite skilled. He knew that Zibeck was somewhat talented among the paladins, but he didn’t know why such a person was unknown.

‘Come to think of it, he was a disciple of Zekt.’

Azadin recalled the Judge Zekt who had given him a hard time.

“Hmm.”

But in any case, the result was Walter’s victory. He had managed to push Sir Zibeck aside and open a path to Lady Liz.

“You’ve done well. I’ll take it from here.”

This time, Azadin stood in front of Walter.

“A member of the Herald Clan.”

Walter tensed his body. With a cracking sound, his clothes tore, and huge muscles with bulging veins appeared.

“You guys have shortened my lifespan! I’ll kill you!”

“It was an accident, do you really have to do this? I don’t want to kill you.”

“Nonsense! Do you think you inferior beings can be the enemy of us, who have received the blessing of Kanak, the orc god!? You’re ignoring my determination to fight without fearing muscle gain!”

It seemed that orcs, when engaging in hand-to-hand combat, feared gaining muscle more than losing the fight. Azadin smiled wryly.

“You really have no intention of compromising?”

“No! I’ve always been a devout follower of the Kurt Pantheon. Now that it’s come to this, I’ll kill you all!”

“Saying that makes me feel less guilty about killing you.”

“You!”

Walter rushed at Azadin and swung his staff. He lightly swung the huge axe-spear with one hand while forming a hand seal with the other, releasing colorless magic bullets.

Azadin easily dodged the attack and took out a traditional arrow to intercept the incoming magic bullets.

“?!”

How could he intercept magic bullets that could cause injury with a thin arrow?

It was because Azadin was rotating the arrow in his hand. He was deflecting the magic bullets while managing the arrow so that it wouldn’t break from the impact. It was an unusual sense and control.

Walter was inwardly taken aback by the sight.

‘The paladin from before was also amazing, but this guy is different.’

At that moment, Azadin kicked something up with his foot. It was a chunk of ice.

“You still don’t want to talk it out?”

“You!”

“Too bad.”

Azadin threw the chunk of ice. But he didn’t throw it at Walter. He threw it at the ground.

-Crack!

As the chunk of ice hit the ground, ice shards flew towards Walter.

“Ugh!?”

Azadin swung his sword and carved ice from the ice again, sending ice shards towards Walter.

“You bastard! What are you doing? Cough!”

Walter rushed at Azadin, but Azadin didn’t directly engage him, continuing to dodge and carve the ice, sending ice shards towards Walter.

“…Cough?! Cough!?”

It was already a place filled with cold air. Walter, who was active in that place, felt his airways freezing, causing him to cough. Above all, if he wasn’t careful with his breathing, ice particles would seep into his breath, making it impossible to stop coughing.

“Cough, cough… Th-this!?”

As his breathing was obstructed and his oxygen supply decreased, his motor skills rapidly deteriorated. His massive muscles became a heavy burden, binding Walter’s feet.

“Ugh!”

-Thud!

Azadin lightly tapped Walter’s thigh with the tip of his sword. It didn’t pierce the thick muscle, but it was a short and concise stab that was enough to cause bleeding, and he aimed for his wrist and forearm, quickly turning Walter into a bloody mess.

“Aaaah!”

The orc Walter collapsed to the ground. He was already feeling a lack of oxygen similar to breathing difficulties, and the bleeding caused his heart to pound, making it hard to bear.

‘This is bad!’

Bleeding increases the heart rate and makes breathing rapid. Walter, whose breathing was already restricted, felt like he was drowning.

“Cough?! Hah, you bastard. You’re cunning!”

The orc Walter was shocked when he realized what Azadin was aiming for by throwing the ice shards.

“Not bad for a human, right? So, is the only way to get rid of the Wendigos really by using up the Divine King’s Scripture?”

A fierce killing intent emanated from within Azadin’s mask.

But the orc mage, Walter, smiled, revealing his crooked fangs.