The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 188

“Haha. You messed up, Messenger Clan. Your infamy was quite something, but it looks like you’ll be disgraced here.”

The adventurers who had approached the clubhouse were convinced they had cornered Azadin and gloated.

However, it was also true that their employers were next to Azadin. If he decided to harm them, casualties were inevitable. So, they cautiously tried to reason with Azadin.

“How about it? If you let our employers go, we’ll just let you live.”

“Hmm. It’s too obvious what you’re after, isn’t it?”

Azadin smiled at the adventurers’ words.

“Do I look like a fool?”

“……”

“Of course, I’ll let them go.”

“Huh?”

The employers, the plantation owners, were startled by Azadin’s sudden change in attitude. In this situation, he was going to release them, who could be taken hostage?

As everyone was surprised, a plantation owner named Salco boasted.

“Haha. This is the skill of a blood mage among the adventurers I hired. They say he manipulates something in the blood to control people’s emotions.”

“Ah….”

“Is it the effect of magic that manipulates the mind?”

“No, it’s not?”

Azadin shook his head, but the plantation owners and adventurers laughed it off, assuming Azadin was under the influence of magic.

Azadin said he would release the plantation owners, but they didn’t know when he might turn aggressive. The plantation owners escaped through the windows.

“Now, please get away, it’s dangerous.”

“We will now capture that Messenger Clan member.”

The adventurers said that, but the plantation owners, who had only moved their bodies away, shook their heads, peeking out of the windows.

“If we’re this far away, aren’t we safe now?”

“It’s a fun sight to see for a change, I want to watch.”

“Watching people fight is more fun than dog fights or cockfights. Hehe.”

The plantation owners were delighted at the thought of watching the adventurers fight for a change.

The adventurers were disgusted by the plantation owners’ attitude of treating their life-or-death battle as mere entertainment, but the large sum of money they were paying easily suppressed their displeasure with greed.

“Then, please be careful.”

“Even though the opponent is just one person, he’s dangerous if even half of the rumors are true.”

It was then that they spoke.

“Oh, over there.”

The blood mage, a man with hollow eyes, whom Salco had hired, clicked his tongue and said.

“That guy isn’t affected by the magic.”

“What?”

“If he were affected by my magic, I should be able to see his heartbeat and blood flow, but I can’t.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ha, he has incredible magic resistance.”

“?”

Everyone felt puzzled by the blood mage’s words. Then, that Messenger Clan member released the plantation owners while completely sober? Does it make sense to release hostages?

At that moment, the voice of the Messenger Clan man, Azadin, was heard.

“Well then, shall we start?”

And Azadin’s figure disappeared from their sight.

-Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon, Kazas, Twilight!

Azadin’s body seemed to blur, and then he instantly approached the dwarf holding a blunderbuss [an early type of firearm].

The surprised dwarf pulled the trigger, but Azadin’s extended dagger surprisingly blocked the blunderbuss’s ignition device, the matchlock. The wendigo’s dagger emitted cold air, instantly extinguishing the fire of the matchlock.

“What?!”

However, this dwarf was also an A-class mercenary from the Cell Sword Guild. He immediately pulled out the hand axe he had tucked into his belt and swung it.

But….

-Clang!

His hand axe struck the powder pan of the blunderbuss. Azadin had used his dagger to flip the blunderbuss, guiding the dwarf’s axe to the powder pan.

This dwarf’s hand axe was a flint axe, so when it hit the powder pan, sparks flew, and the blunderbuss fired.

-Boom!

With a loud roar, bullets poured into the wall.

And….

“Agh!”

The plantation owners, who had barely escaped the clubhouse, screamed.

The bullets that pierced the wall made of palm tree planks directly hit the plantation owners, causing them serious injuries.

“Ugh!?”

The dwarf mercenary was enraged that his blunderbuss had injured his employers and tried to attack Azadin, but Azadin’s fist lightly grazed the dwarf’s chin.

“Uh….”

The dwarf, who loved drinking and fighting more than three meals a day, slumped down, his legs giving way from a single, seemingly light punch. It didn’t seem like a hard hit, but he fainted.

“You bastard!”

A mercenary with a shield and sword rushed in, but Azadin lightly turned his body and struck the center of the shield with his fist.

-Thud!

The mercenary with the shield was thrown backward, knocking over other mercenaries.

Everyone couldn’t believe what had just happened before their eyes.

“Agh!”

“You bastard! Why are you attacking us?!”

“Ah. No… it’s not my will. Ack! My, my arm!”

By now, the shield mercenary’s arm was broken.

“What?”

“Damn it! This bastard!”

A mercenary threw a capture net.

No matter how skilled an individual is, this human-catching net is a different matter from martial arts skills.

Even a bear, once caught in this net, would suffer and gasp until it died. In the arena, those who use nets have the highest win rate. In a one-on-one fight, the anti-personnel net is truly the ultimate weapon.

However….

“Are you an idiot?”

Azadin was genuinely amazed. They were the majority, yet they threw a net.

Using the Messenger Clan’s footwork, Earth Spider, Azadin easily escaped the net’s range. The wrong mercenaries were caught in the net, screaming.

“You crazy bastard!”

“Kyaa! What are you doing!”

“Damn it! Surround him! There are more of us, what are you doing?!”

The mercenaries with spears, halberds, and long staves joined forces and rushed at Azadin. However, Azadin slipped under the billiard table and….

“Agh!”

Another mercenary near the billiard table disappeared under the table, like an ant being dragged into an antlion’s pit.

“Kkyaak!”

And the one who had just been sucked in was thrown at the mercenaries armed with long weapons. While the long-weapon mercenaries were surprised and withdrew their weapons, the net was thrown at their weapons this time.

“Huh?”

“Damn it!”

The net was pulled tight, and their weapons were seized. And… Azadin, who had already taken the net and thrown it, climbed onto the billiard table and threw a club, didn’t he?

“Go!”

A short but heavy club flew, scattering red light, and struck the mercenaries’ faces, then spun around and was sucked back into Azadin’s hand.

“You bastard!”

The one who had torn the roof and was watching from above shot an arrow, but with so many people, would an arrow even hit properly?

Moreover, Azadin lightly dodged the arrow and instead reached out his hand.

‘No way?! Is that even possible?’

The archer was horrified. The opponent had slightly pushed the arrow he shot, causing it to hit the person next to him.

“What are you doing to our team!”

“No, that guy bent the arrow!”

“Make a reasonable excuse!”

“It’s the truth.”

“Why are you shooting arrows in this narrow place?”

“I have the skill to shoot!”

“You missed, didn’t you?! You hit the wrong person, didn’t you? You don’t have the skill to shoot, then!”

“That guy… ugh, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Watching the Cell Sword Guild adventurers bickering with each other, Azadin stepped on the billiard table and jumped up.

-Boom!

When Azadin kicked the rafters and roof, disaster struck those on the roof. With a single kick, the roof was shattered and blown away like it was being stripped by a storm, and those on the roof all tumbled inside.

“Ugh!”

The inside of the clubhouse instantly became a chaotic mess.

“Damn it! We can’t win fighting here!”

“Escape!”

“Let’s go outside and surround him!”

The adventurers were terrified and rushed out of the clubhouse.

“Good! Damn it! It was foolish to fight in a narrow place!”

“Let’s surround him in a wide area!”

“But where is that guy?”

The adventurers realized that the inside of the clubhouse was empty.

“Right?”

Azadin said nonchalantly, looking around the clubhouse among them.

His posture was so natural that the adventurers assumed he was one of them and stood still, but he was acting so nonchalantly right next to them?!

“Kuh. You bastard!”

“How far will you make a fool of us….”

The enraged adventurers swung their weapons, but….

-Swoosh!

A blue sword light swept past their weapons. Azadin had drawn the azure steel longsword he had been carrying on his back and swung it.

The ordinary weapons that collided with this blue sword light were cleanly cut off. It was so clean that even the ones who swung the weapons were bewildered by the light feel.

“Huh?”

“N-no way!”

“Azure steel?!”

Everyone was startled and backed away.

“It seems like you’re unhappy that I’m making a fool of you, so shall I get serious now?”

As Azadin pointed the blue longsword at them, everyone swallowed hard. Their mouths were burning up. Only after seeing Azadin draw his sword and swing it did they realize.

‘This guy, until now, he was only taking our weapons and using them.’

‘And… everyone was just hitting, not stabbing to kill!’

‘Could it be that he was holding back until now? No way!’

‘But… it’s an azure steel longsword! If he starts swinging that around….’

It was already monstrous that he hadn’t used any special weapons, but what if such a monster started wildly swinging an azure steel sword that cuts through steel weapons like grass?

This place would instantly become a bloodbath.

“Well, you guys are Cell Swords who live by the sword, so it wouldn’t be polite to look down on you too much, right? Shall I face you seriously?”

“N-no. I’m sorry to ask, but please continue to look down on us.”

The elf woman, swallowing her shame, asked Azadin that.

“Okay.”

Surprisingly, Azadin actually put the azure steel longsword back into its scabbard. Seeing that, the adventurers finally realized.

‘Was he really just playing with us?’

The color drained from the adventurers’ faces all at once.

The anger they had felt a moment ago had cooled down, and instead, fear began to rise like a morning mist, soaking their bodies. Even though the opponent had sheathed his azure steel longsword, no one dared to attack.

“What are you doing! You morons!”

From the plantation owners’ perspective, it was maddening. The adventurers they had hired at great expense were being completely overwhelmed by just one guy.

And now, they were clearly demoralized and were just looking for a chance to escape. These guys had been so arrogant about their swordsmanship in Bell Hoda!

Those who had been making a mess of the security of the plantation and village while boasting were now hiding under the eaves like chicks startled by a hawk, not even thinking about going out when they met a worthy opponent.

“It’s a wide space, so surround him! No matter how great he is, he can’t do anything alone!”

The adventurers snapped back to their senses at the plantation owner’s shout.

However….

“We’re sorry for being late!”

Suddenly, a loud voice was heard from behind the adventurers.

The startled adventurers turned around and saw… people wearing masks had appeared behind them.

They were the same bird-shaped masks as the Messenger Clan member in front of them. There were about six of them, not a large number.

But they had struggled so much against just one Azadin, and now there were six more wearing Messenger Clan masks.

‘Not all Messenger Clan members can be this strong. This guy said he was the Second Spirit, right? He must be one of the particularly strong ones among the Messenger Clan.’

‘But so what? Do you want to test their strength? I’ll pass.’

‘Me too….’

The adventurers, who had already been severely beaten by Azadin, did not dare to challenge the six new Messenger Clan members to test their skills.

Moreover, the reinforcements were not just them.