The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 170

-Thwack! Doner’s blade missed Azadin, and Azadin’s kick shattered Doner’s ribs, piercing his lungs and liver. The picturesque scene of evasion and simultaneous attack left the onlookers in awe. “Gasp!” And it also forced the remaining air out of Doner’s lungs. “Ugh… How can this be?” Just moments ago, Doner had been intoxicated by the superiority and omnipotence that violence brought. ‘I thought it would be different this time…’ In the past, Doner had been intimidated by Azadin’s power and the name of the Envoy Clan. So, he thought things would be different now that he had grown stronger, but for some reason, Azadin was overflowing with the power of the King’s Light, making him even more vulnerable than before. Each blow felt like a terrible pain that burned through Doner’s entire body. “That’s our leader for you.” Scott was just watching from behind, completely relaxed. “Damn it!” “Save the boss!” Doner’s subordinates rushed in to save him. The villains, transformed into a wriggling mass of countless insects, like maggots on a week-old corpse, charged at Azadin, but Azadin drew his Azure Steel longsword and swung it with one hand. The blue sword light cleanly bisected the monsters attacking Azadin. A normal steel sword wouldn’t have been able to withstand this immense power, but the Azure Steel longsword cleanly split the monster’s arm vertically and remained unscathed. “What?!” Then, Azadin flicked his cape over the severed insect sections and unleashed a palm strike. With a sound like a heavy leather drum being struck, the insects exploded simultaneously. “Kuh!” And that wasn’t the end of it. The bandit who was struck by Azadin’s long-range attack through the cape staggered, and suddenly, white flames began to erupt all over his body. “Aaaagh!” “Whoa, the King’s Light?!” The King’s Light that had been charged in Azadin’s body was burning them. “……!” Doner’s gang, who had been confident in their immortality, found the current attacks to be fatal. The omnipotence and superiority that had dominated them just moments ago vanished in an instant, replaced by fear and shock. ‘Hoo. I’m overflowing with power?’ Meanwhile, Azadin was also surprised. The Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon, Kazas Haze, was becoming too powerful. Thanks to the continuous supply of magic power through the Divine King’s Scripture copy, the Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon, Kazas Haze, which was already a raging fire, now possessed immense power and ferocity, like a torrent that devoured everything. ‘Honestly, the stronger it gets, the harder it is to control…’ So, it was better for Azadin to meet an enemy and use his power to his heart’s content. If he stayed still, the torrent raging inside him felt like it would tear him apart. Kazas Haze. This technique, which causes the power of multiple grimoires or incomplete grimoires like Azadin to go berserk, becomes harder to control the stronger it gets. But to those who didn’t know the circumstances, Azadin was nothing short of a grim reaper. “Aaaah!” Doner’s gang lost their will to fight and began to flee. However, Azadin wrapped a page of the Divine King’s Scripture copy around an arrow and shot it, hitting Doner’s fleeing gang. “Kuaaaah!” White flames erupted, burning Doner’s gang. These flames were like sticky tar firebombs, and Doner’s gang tried to pull out the arrows, only to be engulfed by the white flames that spread to their hands, suffering and dying. “It’s a relief. I was bothered by the fact that I had to let you guys go after killing Sir Brand’s family, but you guys came to me.” Azadin approached Doner, who couldn’t dare to fight back or run away. “And you even captured and tortured me!” Shati added a word. Doner was inwardly indignant at that remark. ‘That Naga! You didn’t even torture me properly! But why is this crazy guy carrying a Naga around? An Envoy of the Emperor?’ But at that moment, lightning flashed before his eyes. Azadin had slapped Doner’s face again. “Look at me with those innocent eyes. Why are you making that face? Considering your sins, I should torture you to death, but I’m too busy to put in that much effort…” “W-wait a minute. Let’s, let’s make a deal!” “Is there any reason I should let you live? You ate human flesh and humiliated people when you were human. Now that you’ve become a monster, there’s no way I can let you live?” “If I die, Sir Zekt will find out.” “Ah… Is that all? If you want to live, show me a little more sincerity.” Azadin was wearing a helmet to avoid people’s attention, so his expression was hidden, but his voice clearly showed disappointment. “W-we have money and supplies that we plundered and hid.” “…….” Doner had just blurted out the words without much thought, but Azadin paused at those words. ‘Huh? Look at this guy?’ Doner was flustered by the unexpected reaction. “So, you hid them, huh? But your crimes are too severe to let you live for such supplies.” “S-soon, the Butuma Kingdom will be attacked. How about that?” “Where did you get that information?” “It’s what the ogres we killed recently said. It seems that the followers of the Kurt God are planning to attack Butuma! Ah, yes. If you want, I can guide you to the place where we defeated that ogre army!” “Ogres?” Azadin’s heart sank at those words. He knew that the Naga Empire was attacking, but were ogres also attacking the Butuma Kingdom? ‘If he had said the Naga Empire was attacking, I would have killed him, but since the ogres said that, I need to investigate further. It would have been a big mistake if I had killed him.’ If that was true, the situation would become very serious. “Okay. Guide me.” Azadin ordered Doner and took out the Divine King’s Scripture copy, wrapping it around the hilt of his Azure Steel longsword, Parang. Then, he approached Doner’s remaining subordinates who were still alive. -Swish! The blue sword light cut through their torsos in a cross shape, and white flames erupted from their bodies. “!!” “Ugh?!” “Th-this….” White flames erupted, and they collapsed. “It’ll be easier to manage if I leave only one alive.” “…….” “These guys are vicious murderers who committed cannibalism in the Rantaric County. I was already ordered by the current Count of Rantaric, Guillaume Valt, to execute them, so this is a legitimate exercise of the law.” Azadin declared to the surprised onlookers and pointed his sword at Doner. “Guide me.” “…….” Doner clicked his tongue inwardly at Azadin’s attitude. With this, his justification was clear. Even if he handed over all the information and wealth, it wouldn’t be easy to survive. ‘But I can’t not do it. If I don’t, he’ll kill me painfully right here.’ Doner guided Azadin, clinging to a sliver of hope. ********* The bandits in the area who had come to target Doner’s gang now thought that their revenge was complete and were about to bid farewell to Azadin. “Thank you for killing that monster.” “Now that we’ve avenged our comrades, we’ll be on our way.” “There are also injured people.” Some of them were injured while fighting Doner’s gang. At that moment, Azadin gestured to Shati. “Shati. Heal them.” “Huh? Seriously?” Shati asked back. They were clearly a group of bandits. He could have used them to check Doner’s gang’s combat power or characteristics, but he hadn’t grown attached enough to heal them. The green magic that Shati used triggered a person’s regeneration without any special catalyst, quickly healing wounds, but it wasn’t free enough to just give it to anyone. “I’m thinking of hiring them.” “Huh?” The bandits looked at Azadin in confusion. “I’m late with the introduction. I am Adan, a Taoist of the Cheonggeon Clan.” “…….” Shati’s face, who was listening, rotted like a half-eaten mushroom stew left in the air for five days. ‘Cheonggeon Clan Taoist Adan, my foot…. He was suspicious when he took the Taoist position, but he shamelessly uses it when he needs it.’ “As you can see, there are many people seeking the teachings of the Cheonggeon Clan, so we need people to guard them. How about it?” “W-what is the pay?” “One silver coin a day, and healing magic.” “…….” The pay of one silver coin was the starting amount for a typical mercenary. They were wearing plate armor on their chests and had excellent combat abilities, so they could all be considered Doppelsöldner [elite mercenary soldiers], elite soldiers who received twice the pay of a regular soldier. “Can’t you raise the pay a little more?” “We have a lot of mouths to feed, so that’s a bit difficult. You guys might be okay right now, but if you don’t get proper treatment, those bugs will burrow into your wounds and you’ll end up like those guys? Think about the price of healing magic.” “…….” The bandits were startled as they looked at Doner’s gang, who were still burning and dying. Were they going to be infected by the wounds they received while fighting them and end up like them? If so, the value of healing magic would be immeasurable. ‘There’s no way. My green magic can’t counteract Nether magic.’ Shati didn’t know what kind of expression to make at Azadin’s bluff. “A-alright.” The bandits decided to accept Azadin’s offer of employment. ********* Shati healed the bandits’ wounds. As expected, there were no traces of Nether infection at all. But thanks to being with Azadin, she also pretended to worry about them with appropriate lies. “You were almost in big trouble.” “O-oh, is that so?” “Yes. If the treatment had been delayed even a little, you would have suffered the pain of your whole body rotting away and then….” Shati made a pitiful expression and carefully pointed to the corpses that were still burning and dying. The bandits were captivated by Shati’s beautiful appearance, and shuddered at the gruesome deaths of Doner’s gang, completely charmed by Shati. To them, who had almost experienced a terrible destruction, Shati was like a goddess who had saved their lives. ‘You’re doing well.’ Azadin, who was watching from afar, retrieved the Divine King’s Scripture copy he had used and led Doner forward. After walking for about two hours and crossing a hill, a huge number of corpses scattered on the hill came into view. Ogres with the banner of the King of Teeth were lying dead in a miserable state. “My god….” The mercenary bandits and the Cheonggeon Clan members were horrified by the number of corpses and the enormous size of the army. They all looked at Doner again.