The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 150

Scott agreed with Azadin’s assessment.

“That’s right. They must be drawing the King’s Light from here using the Divine King’s Scripture. Wouldn’t it be better for the Captain to take it rather than let them have it?”

“That’s not the point. If the King’s Light weakens, it’ll be easier for them to summon a Nether being, right? This is like sawing at the pillars of a house that’s already on fire and about to collapse.”

As soon as Azadin said that, the ground suddenly began to shake.

-Kuurrrruuuumble!

Dust fell from the ceiling.

“Huh?!”

“What’s going on?!”

The water filling the underground passage surged, and pieces of stone fell into the water, splashing droplets everywhere. Water gushed from the walls.

“Did you jinx it by saying it was a collapsing house?!”

“That’s not it. Damn it. Let’s go!”

Azadin jumped into the underground passage. It was dangerous with the shaking and falling stones, but he decided it was better than staying put.

“Oh, Captain, wait a moment.”

Scott used necromancy on the crocodile corpse Azadin had killed, climbed onto its back, and lay down.

“Go.”

The crocodile corpse wriggled forward, with stones falling on it.

“Oh my. Hey, paladin, could you hold your shield over me?”

“Why don’t you just protect your head with your arms?”

Zibeck protected his own head with his shield while walking, and then also protected Shatty, who had transformed into a human.

“Oh, thank…”

“Let’s go.”

*********

The throne of Coral Sahar was a massive quartz pillar rooted in the earth, and near that quartz pillar, quartz crystals rose from the ground, forming the bedrock of the royal castle.

That bedrock was submerged in water, and a mausoleum was built beneath the throne. On top of the mausoleum and the coffins, an Aragasa woman stood.

Dimia of the Flower, one of the four heralds of the Emperor, was casting magic towards the base of the throne, the root of the quartz pillar.

Around her, countless sea serpent Naga sorcerers were chanting spells over Nether characters made of blood, participating in the ritual.

Around Dimia of the Flower were numerous copies of the Divine King’s Scripture, from which they were extracting white magic, drawing white magic, the King’s Light, from the throne.

“Excellent! The King of the Rough Waves has descended!”

“Well done! Heralds!”

The sea serpent Nagas rejoiced. Some of them were seized by religious fervor, weeping and trembling on the floor like lizards.

“Oh! The Great One is coming!”

“The Age of Jupiter begins! The old kings will once again take their rightful thrones! And we shall stand by their side!”

The sea serpent Nagas had spiky membranes on their necks, and when they spread them and trembled, they looked like frilled-neck lizards.

A scene of madness. There was no other way to describe it.

‘There are too many of them.’

Zibeck frowned.

There were about 30 Nagas and quite a few heralds. The Nagas were in a frenzy, but there were still a lot of them.

‘Fighting these evil beings who are summoning a Nether messenger is the essence of a paladin, so I should be glad to do it…’

There were too many of them, and Zibeck was not properly armored. He had taken off his full plate armor to enter the water and was only wearing simple clothes. Could he face so many enemies in this state?

Then, Azadin made a hand signal.

Surprisingly, Azadin was about to attack despite the large number of enemies.

“I’m attacking.”

“There are too many of them, are you sure…”

“No problem.”

Azadin loaded a black steel arrow, like an iron spear, into the iron bow he had brought through the water.

It was a Black Steel Arrow.

The magic inside weakened with each reuse, reducing the arrow’s power, but even after being used a few times, even if all the magic and curses were gone and it became a normal arrow, the arrow itself was still a powerful weapon.

Azadin asked Zibeck for the ‘Hammer of Judgment’ and quickly dashed out, firing the Black Steel Arrow.

The black arrow flew with terrifying force, aiming directly at Dimia of the Flower. A man jumped out from beside the startled Dimia.

“No!”

Instructor Krasley, a former herald and currently a training instructor for the Korasar Merchant Guild, threw himself forward, raising a thick metal shield to protect Dimia.

‘Even if it’s a Black Steel Arrow, I can block it! That Azadin is known for not using magic, so he wouldn’t have used the Yellow Crane or White Crane [techniques that enhance arrows]!’

Krasley judged so and angled his shield sideways, hitting the Black Steel Arrow at its entry angle, with the thickest part of the shield.

He was confident that he could deflect even the most powerful arrow!

But Azadin’s Black Steel Arrow penetrated much faster and deeper than expected.

Krasley’s shield was torn apart, and his arm was pierced.

“Gaaah!”

His elbow was severed. The severed forearm flew into the air, and the Black Steel Arrow, its power undiminished, rushed towards Dimia, who was behind Krasley.

Dimia tried to dodge, but she was exhausted from performing the ritual to extract white magic from the throne and knew she couldn’t avoid it.

“Tch!”

Dimia used the sword and hand axe she was carrying to intercept the Black Steel Arrow, but…

-Thwack!

Her arm was also pierced by the Black Steel Arrow, unable to completely block the attack. Her bone was broken, and her arm was only supported by a bit of skin and muscle. A huge amount of blood poured out.

An ordinary person would have lost consciousness and died from blood loss, but Dimia calmly began to compress her armpit to stop the bleeding.

“T-This!”

“Azadin! Do you intend to interfere with our clan’s wish?!”

Then, another Black Steel Arrow flew. This time, the Black Steel Arrow was aimed at the Naga Raja [Naga King] of the sea serpent tribe, who was in a panic.

“Human!”

Azadin’s Black Steel Arrow pierced the Naga Raja’s head in one shot, leaving only the lower jaw attached to the body, while the upper part was torn off and blown away.

Even a Naga, with their regenerative abilities, would not survive such a brutal attack.

“Y-You bastard! Heralds!”

“No, but the heralds attacked first!”

“Is it someone else?!”

The Nagas rushed at Azadin.

At that moment, Sir Zibeck threw his warhammer. As the magic of the Hammer of Judgment activated, a shockwave of light swept away the approaching Nagas.

“Kaaak?!”

“Augh!”

As the Nagas staggered from the blinding light and shock, Azadin loaded the last Black Steel Arrow from his quiver onto his bowstring. The Black Steel Arrows were so large and heavy that even three of them in a quiver that usually held about ten arrows would cause it to burst.

“Then, the most dangerous one now is…”

Azadin fired an arrow at Dimia, who was still breathing.

Although he had inflicted a severe injury, cutting through the flesh and bone of her arm, Azadin’s instincts told him that the most dangerous enemy in this place was Dimia.

One of the four heralds, the leader of the four herald groups, she had to be subdued now.

But surprisingly, the giant Nagas threw themselves in front of the Black Steel Arrow. Were they trying to protect Dimia, a herald, even at the cost of their own bodies? Even though they had summoned a Nether being, they still needed her.

-Thud!

The Black Steel Arrow pierced through three giant sea Nagas and, its power undiminished, exploded in mid-air.

“Gaaah!”

“Kyaa!”

The Nagas, as well as Dimia of the Flower, screamed.

“Ah. That Black Steel Arrow is out of juice. Damn it.”

Azadin grumbled and lunged forward.

A giant Naga blocked Azadin’s path, swinging a trident, but Azadin lightly flipped over him and then lowered himself to the ground.

-Hwajo Pungwol Earth Spider, Kazas Heseo! [A martial arts technique]

A chill rose behind Azadin as he approached, tearing through the air in an instant.

Azadin’s wendigo dagger, which he swung, emitted cold air and cleanly sliced through the Naga’s skull, as if cutting the corner of a watermelon. Blood and brain matter poured out of the severed head, and the giant Naga collapsed helplessly.

“Warm-blooded animal! How dare you! To Raja-nim?!”

Another Naga rushed at him, swinging a curved sword, but Azadin swung his iron bow at the Naga.

The elastic steel beam of the bow struck the Naga’s head, causing his eyeball to pop out.

Nagas from all directions cast spells and spat venom at Azadin, but Azadin used the body of the Naga whose eyeball had popped out from his bow strike as a shield to block the incoming magic and venom, and then threw him.

“What?!”

“This can’t be!”

The Nagas were bewildered.

Normally, male Nagas of the sea serpent tribe, even those who were not particularly large, weighed about 30 stone (about 190 kg). That was about three times the weight of an average Hybris human male.

Their strength and stamina were incomparable to humans. How could he handle the body of a Naga so lightly?

Moreover, he was holding a dagger and an iron bow, making it impossible to fully exert his grip, yet he was grabbing and manipulating his opponent. It was something that could not be done without immense strength.

“Scott!”

“Yes! I’m going, I’m going!”

The orc riding the undead crocodile made a hand seal and cast a spell, turning the Nagas Azadin had killed into undead, increasing their numbers.

In the meantime, Azadin moved freely, picking out and killing the seemingly dangerous sorcerers among the Nagas, while Zibeck blocked those who approached Scott and Shatty with his sword and shield.

‘I was worried because there were so many of them, but he was relying on those black arrows.’

Zibeck was impressed by Azadin’s courage, his ability to act, and his immense power. Perhaps it was because he had absorbed power from the Divine King’s Scripture, but Azadin was not tired and was slaughtering the Nagas at a terrifying speed.

*********

“This is absurd.”

Dimia of the Flower was one of the four heralds of Hwajo Pungwol. When all 108 heralds were gathered, the most skilled and respected leaders were chosen, and those selected were considered the most outstanding heralds of their generation.

Dimia had no doubt about her own abilities.

But that Azadin. Even though he was known as a dropout, he was neutralizing so many Nagas and heralds and rushing towards her, even though he was using the Black Steel Arrows.

‘It wasn’t a normal Black Steel Arrow. That bow… it’s stronger than the Moon Horn Bow.’

Looking at the iron bow that Azadin was wielding, it didn’t seem like something that could be drawn with human strength.

‘Now that I look at it, isn’t that the iron bow of a heavy crossbow made by dwarves, which is usually handled by two people? And he’s carrying that around?’

“Are you alright, Dimia?”

Instructor Krasley asked with concern.

Even though his arm was severed, Dimia felt a mixture of disgust and superiority at the subtle favor and passion he showed in his concern for her.

But now was not the time to enjoy such leisurely feelings. The tide of the battle was turning.

Azadin and his companions were completely dominating the situation, and it wouldn’t be long before they subdued her.

“Of course… I am. Heh heh. Shall we see where we can use more of the Hybris’ power here?”

Dimia took a deep breath and began to cast a spell.