The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 120

As Azadin began the consecration, a terrifying chill suddenly emanated from the corpse.

“Ugh!”

Antler-like horns sprouted from the corpse’s head. The corpse, instantly transformed into a Wendigo, opened its mouth, and a sharp, cold air blasted towards Azadin.

Startled, Azadin used his cloak to block the cold air, while the human sacrifice, now a Wendigo, charged at him, trying to pierce him with its horns.

But…

-Thwack!

Azadin lightly kicked upwards, sending the Wendigo soaring into the air.

“I underestimated it.”

To perform a funeral rite and release a man already offered as a sacrifice to a Wendigo was like trying to snatch meat from a wild beast’s mouth.

Even with a pet dog, you’d expect to be bitten if you tried to take meat from its mouth. The opponent here was a being that even the Kurt gods [referring to a pantheon of gods in this world] could not destroy, only seal away.

The sacrificed man, now a Wendigo, was sent flying by Azadin’s kick and became entangled in the icicles on the ceiling.

In that moment, other Wendigos swarmed towards Azadin. The were-rats, apostles of Mezeri, and the spider-men, apostles of Atra, also transformed into Wendigos, blocking Azadin’s path. The sacrifice used the opening created by the other Wendigos to escape.

“Trying to run?”

Azadin drew his bow and nocked an arrow. A spider-shaped Wendigo tried to capture him with its spider legs right in front of him, but Azadin dodged the attack while holding his bow and shot an arrow through the gap.

With a sharp sound cutting through the air, the arrow struck the fleeing sacrifice.

But Wendigos were undead. Unlike being cut by a sword or hit by a hammer, being pierced by an arrow wouldn’t cause much damage.

And that was something Azadin was well aware of.

-Wham!

Suddenly, a blinding flash erupted from the arrow, followed by an explosion. Azadin had wrapped a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture [a sacred text in this world] around the arrow before firing it.

“What kind of reckless…”

Jibek groaned at the sight.

Azadin had previously shot an arrow wrapped with a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture at Judge Zekt, but this was the first time Jibek had witnessed it firsthand.

As a paladin, he was aghast to see the Divine King’s Scripture, a treasure of the King’s Church and a sacred covenant of the Divine Kings, being used so recklessly.

“Kieeeek!”

“Kuaaaa!”

The arrow wrapped with the Divine King’s Scripture seemed to have an effect, as the Wendigos began to scream in unison.

“Scott! Clear a path!”

“Got it, boss!”

The Orc necromancer, Scott, made a hand seal, spread his legs, and took a stance.

Shadows extended from beneath his feet, striking the Wendigos. Those who had fallen to swords rose again, controlled by him, and attacked the other Wendigos.

“This is a complete mess!”

Jibek, feeling his path as a paladin becoming increasingly twisted, lamented as he swung his sword, cutting down the Wendigos not controlled by Scott.

“If you have no shame in your conscience, you are a great knight even if you are stained with disgrace!”

Sir Brand, the Brass Knight, enthusiastically smashed Wendigos with his axe-spear, joining Jibek in the offensive.

“I wish I had no shame, but my conscience is pricked.”

Next to Jibek, who was lamenting, Ismail was inwardly bewildered.

‘A paladin, a necromancer, a senile old man, and a herald. How can such a bizarre team work so well?’

Ismail shot arrows into the knees of the Wendigos, slowing their movements, while Jibek and Sir Brand cleared a path with melee attacks.

Azadin slid through the path they created and grabbed the sacrifice again. The Wendigo pierced by the arrow wrapped with a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture was struggling to pull it out, but each time, a pure white light pulsed from the arrow, purifying the Wendigo.

Azadin kicked the Wendigo’s leg, forcing it to kneel, and took out another copy of the Divine King’s Scripture from his pocket, placing it on the Wendigo’s forehead.

As the pages of the Divine King’s Scripture shone, the Wendigo’s horns were severed.

“Nice!”

“Try the consecration again!”

At Ismail’s urging, Azadin began the consecration again. But then, a deafening roar that seemed to shake the heavens and earth echoed.

“Oooooooo!”

It was the roar of the Wendigo’s main body, not the small Wendigos here, but the one that roamed between the fog and the unreal. At that moment, deer antlers grew again from the sacrifice. The light from the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture flashed brightly, trying to shake off the Wendigo’s evil power, but an endless stream of evil power and immense cold poured out from the sacrifice.

“Ugh! What is this!”

Despite wearing heavy cold-weather gear, frost clung to Azadin’s body. Azadin took out all the copies of the Divine King’s Scripture he had and attached them to the sacrifice, consecrating it. But he could feel it too.

‘The power of the Archangels of the Trinity and the light of the Rescue Knights are weakening.’

Just as the King’s Church and the Yaegas gods [a pantheon of gods in this world] were falling into corruption and losing their power… the Rescue Knights, who had turned into merchants, were also losing their divine power. As the Age of Jupiter approached, the source of all white magic was weakening, and the Rescue Knights were no exception.

Azadin, who had read the books of the Rescue Knights and had faith in angels since childhood, had a good view of them, but he wasn’t blind.

‘There’s no way to be blind in the first place.’

Azadin was keenly aware that the Rescue Knights were also falling into corruption, their reputation was plummeting, and that true devotion, virtue, and passion were becoming a laughingstock… that the power of angel faith was weakening.

*********

The Archangels of the Trinity, whom the Rescue Knights served, were originally infinite beings of the heavens.

But seeing humans suffering from the Nether’s messengers and being treated like livestock by the followers of the Kurt gods, they took on material bodies and descended to this land as incarnations. They temporarily allied with the Kurt gods and cooperated in driving out the Nether’s messengers.

However, the Kurt gods conserved their strength, waiting for the Archangels of the Trinity to exhaust their power.

The Archangels of the Trinity knew this, but they fought without sparing their bodies until their power was depleted. They declared as they sublimated themselves again in a fortress on the Hybris Peninsula.

The power of white magic would be given to anyone who upheld the virtues of wisdom, courage, and mercy. They would always reward those who truly sought good.

The Archangels of the Trinity sublimated after leaving that promise, and their bodies turned to stone and sank beneath the old city of the Hybris Peninsula.

The Rescue Knights were a group that gathered to protect that old city and fortress, and to uphold the teachings and virtues of the Archangels of the Trinity.

But now, among the Rescue Knights, those who use white magic are only those somehow related to the Yaegas gods… and no one is wielding power by upholding virtue.

Just as the descendants of the Yaegas gods, the kings and nobles, betrayed and corrupted the light of the King’s Authority, the Rescue Knights also betrayed and corrupted virtue.

As a result, the Archangels of the Trinity lost their power, and their prayers and petitions were no longer answered.

But what did it matter? How could one blame the angels who had exhausted their power and could no longer help?

The Archangels of the Trinity had already fought for humanity to the end, so it was not right to despair that they did not answer their voices while seeking salvation from them.

The true attitude of angel faith was…

“Archangels of the Trinity. Hear my resolve.”

Azadin grabbed the corpse of the sacrifice, which was once again seething with the power of darkness, and called out to the angels.

“I was saved by your stories when I was most troubled and in pain. I have already been saved, so faith cannot betray me. I only fear that I might betray faith!”

Azadin looked up at the sky.

“Therefore, I resolve! I will surely…”

At that moment, the light that had been flickering from the Divine King’s Scripture suddenly shone brightly…

White wings of light enveloped Azadin.

The roaring of the Wendigo suddenly turned into a scream, and the surrounding Wendigos began to fall one by one, returning to ordinary corpses.

The deer antlers that had grown on the body of the sacrifice Azadin was holding, and the thick, wire-like hairs that had sprouted through its skin, disappeared, and it was just the body of a pitiful victim.

“W-Wendigos are gone?”

Jibek was bewildered by what had happened before his eyes.

“It’s a miracle!”

Brand spoke for Jibek’s feelings.

None of the Rescue Knights had received an answer from the angels recently. But here, Azadin of the Herald clan, called a soulless blasphemer, had surprisingly gained the favor of the angels.

“A m-miracle…?”

Jibek couldn’t believe what he had seen, even though it had happened right before his eyes.

No matter what, this didn’t make sense. Could it be that the Divine King’s Scripture had caused some kind of synergy? Azadin had already used a considerable number of Divine King’s Scriptures to draw out white magic.

But…

‘No, that’s not it. Even though I said I acknowledged him, I was secretly looking down on him. I was belittling his faith and belief, thinking it was inferior to mine just because he was from the Herald clan. But to think that I would be a living witness to a soulless blasphemer becoming a saint of miracles?!’

Anyone I told this to would think I was crazy.

“Good heavens. Boss, what did you do?”

Scott felt bewildered as his necromancy was completely undone the moment the angel’s wings appeared before Azadin.

Such a sacred and powerful high-dimensional force. It was clearly something worthy of being called a miracle.

Perhaps people would be moved. He had directly proven the existence of a great being who looked upon them favorably.

But Scott was cold.

“Promising something to angels is more dangerous than making a deal with a demon. Well, foolish humans don’t know the danger and believe that angels are good, so they’ll be lenient with the terms, but magic is always cruel. Magic and miracles are more ruthless collectors than any loan shark.”

He realized that the miracle Azadin had caused was the result of a huge covenant.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m just glad we stopped the Wendigos for now.”

“Boss. What did you offer? What promise did you make?”

“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you. More importantly… um.”

Azadin, shivering from the cold, took off his cloak and wrapped it around the body of the victim.

“Let’s go back to the surface.”

Azadin, the very person who had performed the miracle, nonchalantly collected the copies of the Divine King’s Scripture and hoisted the Wendigo’s sacrifice onto his back.

“A miracle. Amazing. So angel faith is actually something real. And that it was…”

Ismail was experiencing an indescribable sensation. He didn’t know if what had happened before his eyes was just an illusion brought about by the white magic of the Divine King’s Scripture or a miracle of angel faith.

If it was the latter, Azadin deserved to be recognized as a saint of the Rescue Knights.

But for Azadin of the Herald clan, called a soulless blasphemer, and even cursed among the Aragasa, to be a living witness and the very person of a miracle?