The Shadowed Legacy Of The Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 201

Emerging from the audience chamber, his companions were waiting.

Jisu, the Taoist of the Azure Banner, was moved to tears.

‘Glory, more glory, Azadin. The Heavenly Lord is also pleased.’

Perhaps it was because he felt the extreme favor of the Golden King Manza-Zadek? Jisu praised Azadin endlessly, extolling how outstanding a hero he was and the glorious position he had been promised.

‘The Golden King Manza-Zadek is such a pig,’

Midiam was shocked by Manza-Zadek’s unconventional appearance. Scott, on the other hand, was deeply moved.

‘So sensual!’

‘…What?’

Sensual? A term that shouldn’t have suddenly popped out.

‘Did you see that dense layer of fat where his abs should be? It’s ideal.’

For the orcs, who gain muscle just by breathing, Manza-Zadek’s body, full of fat, was the ideal body they dreamed of.

Scott stroked his own firm abs with regret.

‘Haa. I wish I could be even half as good as the Golden King. Look at this ugly body. In contrast, Manza-Zadek is indeed the Golden King. I’m going to fall in love.’

‘…….’

The aesthetics of orcs are very different from humans. He realized that anew.

‘Anyway, what he’s offering is truly extraordinary. With that kind of reward, you could indeed preserve the clan. To start a fight with the pardon of King Butuma, from the clan’s perspective, it’s a win-win situation… they won’t be annihilated, right? And all the subsequent power will be in your hands.’

Ismail said this to tease Azadin, knowing he didn’t seem pleased with the reward, but even he realized it was quite a good deal.

‘That’s only after we win. From now on, they won’t be careless either. And if Master is leading the command, he’ll know me better than anyone else.’

It was then that Azadin said that. The cinder raven began to cry again. It was the voice of the blood mage Joan.

‘It’s a disaster, Golden Decree Messenger. A formidable figure has attacked the prison!’

‘A formidable figure?’

‘It’s Kazas! It’s Kazas!’

‘…….’

Azadin’s master, Elder Kazas, had directly attacked the prison.

Clearly, Kazas was supposed to be the one leading the offensive, but for him to personally join the attack meant…

‘He’s calling for me.’

*********

On a moonless night, the rain and wind had subsided for a moment, but the air was still heavy and humid, like water itself.

Despite that, it was filled with heat, so even if you sweat, it wouldn’t evaporate, and the unpleasant night air was mixed with the smell of blood.

When Azadin’s group arrived at the prison, a festival of blood was already underway. Haldun’s gang, who had been released from prison, Elder Kazas, and Sion Etar were piling up corpses.

Many mages and Butuma soldiers were already lying dead, and even the war elephants, with blood-red patterns etched on their heads, were moving under Kazas’s control.

Kazas had created this situation and yet hadn’t left, waiting for someone.

‘Golden Decree Messenger.’

The soldiers were struggling, having cornered Kazas and the messenger clan in front of the prison building.

Approaching any further meant certain death.

No matter how many troops they deployed, they couldn’t subdue the messenger clan.

‘I will handle this.’

Azadin dismissed the soldiers and stepped forward to face Kazas.

‘You’ve finally come, Azadin.’

‘Master.’

Azadin looked at his master.

-Kuurururung.

The sky, which had been calm for a moment, began to churn, and a storm with thunder from the sea began to rage.

*********

When Azadin was a powerless child, he was scorned and despised by everyone in the clan.

Even his own blood sister hurt him, and when Aldis, the only one who cared for him, was too busy with her duties, it was Kazas who willingly took care of Azadin.

‘You help with my research, and I’ll give you the power to become a messenger. We’re just giving and taking, so don’t make it too difficult.’

Kazas would draw a line with Azadin and say that.

But the society of the messenger clan Aragasas was one where you couldn’t survive without power. In that environment, Kazas had given Azadin the power to live.

That favor was so great that it couldn’t be compared to anything.

‘So, Azadin. You were the betrayer.’

Kazas greeted Azadin with the messenger clan he had brought. The humid air made it hard to breathe.

‘Master.’

‘Didn’t I tell you? You and I are just giving and taking. So, if that’s your intention, I won’t ask anything of you. I haven’t done you any favors, nor have I received any from you.’

‘…….’

In the past, when Kazas taught Azadin the Kazas Code, Azadin was actually pleased by those words.

Anyone can say not to worry about repaying a favor. But when the one who has actually done the favor says it, the weight of those words is like a thousand pieces of gold.

Now, meeting again like this, Kazas was still drawing a line with Azadin. But it no longer had the same meaning as before.

‘Now, I’ve come to deal with the betrayer of the clan. Azadin. Not as master and disciple, but as yourself, answer me. Why did you betray the clan?’

‘Wasn’t it the council of elders who betrayed the clan in the first place? It wasn’t the Emperor who placed the curse of service on us, but the council of elders…’

‘Isn’t the entire clan standing here now? You’re the only one opposing the clan, so the council of elders is the betrayer? Ah, or are you not alone?’

Kazas looked at Midiam and Ismail, who were beside Azadin.

‘Isn’t the reason the clan is standing there because of profit? Teaming up with the Nagas, using the sorcery of the Nether to kill the people of Hybris. To take what they have.’

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘I cannot tolerate that.’

‘Are you saying you’ll punish the entire clan? Who gave you that right?’

‘Then who gave the clan the right to harm the people of Hybris? At least I am acting based on my duty as the Emperor’s messenger, my conscience, and my aesthetics.’

‘Ha.’

Kazas smiled wryly, seeing Azadin stand his ground without giving an inch.

‘Aldis did something foolish.’

Was he referring to the fact that he had appointed Azadin as the Second Messenger?

Or was he referring to raising Azadin and passing on his aesthetics and dreams to him?

‘Does Aldis know about this?’

‘That we’re siding with the Nagas and sacrificing the people of Hybris? Of course, she knows. Aldis isn’t a fool. It would be a lie if she didn’t know what consequences her choices would bring.’

‘Why? The Aldis I knew wouldn’t make such a choice.’

‘Azadin, you only know one thing about Aldis and not the other. Aldis is the daughter of Hatir.’

‘I knew that much.’

Although no one had said it, everyone in the clan knew that Aldis was the chieftain’s daughter.

‘She has a very compassionate nature. That’s why she has no choice but to prioritize her blood relatives and the clan. The clan has been persecuted by the people of Hybris for a long time, so how could she refuse a request from her beloved father?’

Aldis doesn’t outright oppose the clan’s decisions. She just tries to reduce unnecessary bloodshed within them, conforming to the general trend.

‘Then why do you listen to Hatir’s words?’

‘Because I promised.’

‘A promise?’

‘Yes. I promised Harkonia that I would protect your son. A long time ago…’

The longing in Kazas’s voice when he spoke Harkonia’s name was momentarily undeniable, and Azadin immediately understood the situation.

What was keeping Kazas, who wasn’t even an Aragasas, bound to the messenger clan was an old promise.

For the sake of a promise with a woman he loved, but who was not his, but the Emperor’s, this man had been fulfilling a mission that no one had forced upon him for hundreds of years.

‘Aldis is the same, Azadin. I want you to be happy, but if that goes against Hatir’s will, I have no choice but to exclude you. Is that what you want? Do you really have to go that far?’

‘…….’

Elder Kazas pitied Azadin.

He said it wasn’t so, that he wasn’t doing it out of favor but for mutual benefit, but he was clearly pitying Azadin.

But he couldn’t compare to Hatir.

The same went for Aldis.

They pitied and felt sorry for Azadin, but if he opposed their most precious existence, Chieftain Hatir, they would cut him off.

‘I see. I’m… a fool. It was cheap pity to them.’

The existence of Kazas and Aldis was a sanctuary for Azadin’s soul.

But what they gave Azadin was cheap pity, something light that they could give to anyone, like a morning greeting.

If they had seen anyone else in that situation, they would have shown the same kindness.

And yet, Azadin had taken that light kindness as a sanctuary for his soul and lived with it.

Because he had never been loved.

So, he cherished even the smallest pity, believing it to be love within himself.

And now, if he betrayed the clan, he would lose even that sanctuary.

Did he really have to go that far?

Was he prepared for that?

That was what Kazas was asking.

*********

‘Ha…hahaha.’

Suddenly, laughter burst out.

‘It’s a good thing I don’t have eyes. It would have been pathetic if I had cried. Ah, damn it. I’m losing my strength. Should I just give up?’

The thought suddenly crossed his mind.

If he gave up here, if Azadin, with the position of Golden Decree Messenger, returned to the clan’s side, Butuma would be conquered in an instant.

Those who resisted would be massacred, and the royal guards would be purged, but if the throne was easily taken, perhaps that would be a way to resolve this situation with less bloodshed.

But.

He loved the stars.

And he also loved the story of the three archangels who descended from the world of stars to protect people, and the story of the rescue knights who fought alongside those archangels.

He may not have been loved…

But the things he loved were all genuine.

So, even if it meant being abandoned by the clan and left alone, he couldn’t deny his sincerity.

Azadin drew his azure steel longsword.

‘So, that’s your answer.’

Seeing Azadin’s answer, Kazas also placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

He didn’t ask for Azadin’s answer. If he opened his mouth now, a trembling voice would surely come out, making him look pathetic.

Azadin silently raised his sword.

But right then.

Lightning struck the Butuma Palace.

‘?!’

And the air began to change. Storm clouds rolled in from the sea, and above those storm clouds, a giant shadow was looking down upon the world.