The Shadowed Legacy Of The Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 203

At that moment, another herald standing beside Hatir leaped forward, intercepting the arrow with his own body.

He didn’t just block it; he used his own black steel arrow, a traditional weapon, to deflect the incoming projectile, successfully thwarting the surprise attack aimed at Hatir.

He suffered a severe injury, his fingers torn and severed, but it was a small price to pay for preventing such a well-executed ambush.

“Ugh!”

“Chief!”

“Tsk.”

Hatir looked towards the second-floor window of the royal audience chamber, where Azadin had appeared.

“A-Azadin!”

“You! How dare you attack the Chief!”

The herald clan members were enraged that Azadin, one of their own, had fired a black steel arrow at their leader. However, Azadin was equally shocked to see the heralds throwing themselves in front of Hatir to protect him.

“Are you all insane? Throwing yourselves for the one who bound us with the curse of servitude!?”

“How dare you!”

“It’s not for a traitor like you to question us.”

The Aragasas [the herald clan] were on the verge of what they believed to be salvation. They had endured so much persecution, even if it was through unrighteous means, that they were blinded by rage.

The entire clan aimed their bows at Azadin. No matter how skilled Azadin was, he couldn’t possibly dodge or block all of those attacks, especially since many of them were black steel arrows.

‘How long have they been preparing? So many black steel arrows. Damn it.’

Azadin braced himself for death.

-Swish!

All the arrows flew towards Azadin almost simultaneously.

Just as Azadin was prepared to die, an unexpected event occurred.

Manza-Zadek, who was now more like a monstrous ogre than a human, used his own body to shield Azadin from the arrows.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

Azadin, who had been wary of Manza-Zadek’s deteriorated state, was deeply moved.

The entire clan was trying to kill him, yet the king, who was not even part of their clan, but rather their enemy, had thrown himself in harm’s way to save him.

“Don’t worry about it. Isn’t it the duty of an elder to protect a promising young man? It’s good to have bulked up. I can take a few arrows….”

It was far from okay.

The arrows embedded in his body were black steel arrows. Arrows that could blow off an ogre’s head wouldn’t fail to penetrate just because he had gained some weight.

Nevertheless, the black steel arrows didn’t pierce Manza-Zadek’s body because he was gathering his spiritual power to cast a defensive spell and using forbidden sorcery, blood magic, which was not allowed by the King’s Church.

He had already suffered a fatal wound, but he was using blood magic to move his body and stop the bleeding.

However….

“I was going to let you spend your remaining time in peace, but you’re being too much of a nuisance.”

Hatir grumbled and twisted his hand in the air.

The arrows embedded in Manza-Zadek’s body began to spin violently. Like a school of carnivorous fish tearing at their prey, the arrows thrashed and ripped at Manza-Zadek’s wounds.

“Kkyaaaak!”

Manza-Zadek screamed. The blood magic that had been holding his body together shattered, and blood poured out like a waterfall.

The sudden shock of the bleeding caused Manza-Zadek’s eyes to roll back and convulse. He would not survive if he went into shock.

Thus, the Golden King of Butuma, who had fallen, willingly sacrificed his life to protect a young man from a soulless, unholy clan.

“Ugh!”

Azadin picked up the black steel arrows that had fallen nearby and shot them at the chief in rapid succession.

Even if he was the chief, even if he was a being of absolute power, weapons like black steel arrows were still dangerous.

However… the clan members blocked the black steel arrows that Azadin fired in rapid succession. They didn’t hesitate to throw themselves in front of Hatir to protect him.

‘Damn it!’

Azadin didn’t want to kill his clan members. Could he stop this terrible desecration if he could just take down Hatir?

But that was impossible. They were all throwing themselves in front of Hatir to protect him.

Even if it meant staining the world with the evil of the Nether [a dark, chaotic realm], they would all gladly follow Hatir’s will if it meant they could vent their resentment. Even if he was the one who had deceived and controlled them with a curse, they would all protect Hatir with their bodies if it meant they could destroy other races, people, and nations.

What was even more infuriating was that Hatir wasn’t even trying to dodge.

‘Please! Everyone, move! Why are you going so far!?’

Azadin shot black steel arrows in rapid succession, with tears of blood in his heart. He was trying to take down Hatir by avoiding the clan members’ defenses.

However, because of the clan members blocking Hatir, he couldn’t even inflict a scratch on him.

And….

-Thwack!

A black steel arrow pierced through Azadin’s bow and his left arm, which was holding the bow. The bones in his wrist were broken, and the front of his forearm was completely blown away.

“Ugh!”

A tremendous amount of blood poured out in a very short time.

Azadin had experienced many minor injuries, but this was the first time he had experienced such a horrific injury, with his arm being blown off.

For a moment, he didn’t feel any pain. Even though his arm had been blown off right in front of his eyes, it felt like it was happening to someone else.

However, to stop the massive bleeding, he had to immediately clamp his armpit and press down on the severed wound with his right hand.

The wound was so large that if he left it as it was, he would surely die from blood loss in less than 10 seconds. However, while staunching the bleeding, Azadin couldn’t make any movements.

At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to protect himself.

-Swish!

A clan member’s blade flew towards Azadin.

Azadin couldn’t bring himself to draw his sword and swing it; he could only try to dodge. However, his wound was too deep, and he had lost too much blood, so his body wouldn’t move as he wanted it to.

The blade struck Azadin’s body. He was wearing armor, so the blade didn’t cut his flesh, but the strong impact knocked Azadin down.

Normally, he wouldn’t have fallen from that blow, but Azadin was in terrible condition due to the great shock he had received.

“Die, traitor!”

The clan members raised their swords to kill Azadin.

But then, with a loud explosion, the body of the one who was approaching Azadin was suddenly thrown back.

With a deafening roar, stone fragments poured into the royal palace.

It was a stone cannon firing stones carved into projectiles. They had surprisingly turned a siege cannon towards the royal palace and fired it.

“Your Majesty!”

Soldiers and knights rushed into the audience chamber.

The Blue Banner soldiers were also entering in front of them, all with yellow lights in their eyes and in an excited state.

The herald clan members showered them with arrows, but surprisingly, they kept coming even after being hit in the head with arrows.

Those who had become the servants of Grimslaw [a dark entity] were gaining strength as the throne of Yaegas was being defiled with the language of the Nether.

“Kuh!”

“What should we do?”

“The objective has been achieved. Let’s retreat.”

Hatir, having already finished defiling the throne, had no intention of staying here any longer.

Someone might sit on the throne in place of the Golden King and re-inject the Divine King’s Scripture to restore the throne of Yaegas, but the abilities of the Golden King’s children, the princes, were not up to par with the Golden King.

With the light of the King’s Aura gone, Butuma was in a precarious situation.

“What about the traitor….”

The heralds looked at the fallen Azadin and asked Hatir for his instructions.

Hatir coldly glanced at Azadin, who had lost his left hand and was lying unconscious.

“With that wound, he’ll die anyway. Even if he doesn’t, what use is a herald who has lost an arm? Rather, hurry up. We’ll be surrounded in an instant.”

The herald clan members jumped out of the window to escape the approaching Butuma soldiers.

The soldiers tried to chase after them, but they were unable to catch them as they moved quickly across the height of more than twice a person’s height as if it were flat ground.

“Damn it.”

Karchen, who was commanding the returning soldiers, clicked his tongue as he watched the herald clan members escape.

The king had been assassinated, and the perpetrators had escaped.

Some remained, either dead or injured by Azadin’s arrows, but the death of the Golden King Manza-Zadek in Butuma would cause a great catastrophe.

Moreover….

With the light of the King’s Aura gone, the power of the ominous shadow cast in the sky was growing stronger.

*********

When Azadin opened his eyes, he was lying on a damp dirt floor. Looking around, he saw bars surrounding him, and Azadin was left with only his empty body.

“My arm….”

His left hand and about an inch above his wrist were severed.

Amber-colored fluid was clinging to the severed area, stopping the bleeding. It was the sap of Grimslaw. This had stopped Azadin’s wound and staunched the bleeding. Otherwise, he would have died.

“Am I a prisoner?”

Azadin muttered unconsciously.

[Yes.]

The Emperor’s voice answered instead.

“What happened? Where am I?”

[This is Amun-Zadek’s prison.]

“Amun-Zadek?”

[The son of the Golden King Manza-Zadek and currently the most likely successor to the throne.]

“Hmm.”

Azadin got up and turned his head. His physical condition was better than expected.

“What’s the situation?”

[The light of the King’s Aura has disappeared, and the attacks of the Nagas [serpentine creatures], who are leading the Nether’s monsters, have intensified, causing the Butuma army to lose its center. Fortunately, thanks to the struggles of the Blue Banner, which is made up of the Nether’s servants, they were able to retreat from Butuma in an orderly manner, but the Butuma army has lost the royal capital and has taken refuge in nearby farms and fortresses.]

“Then, what’s the atmosphere like?”

[People are furious with the herald clan. They are the ones who killed the king they respected and loved and ushered in the era of the Nether. Of course, you fought against such a clan, but they wouldn’t be able to distinguish between individuals.]

“I guess not, since the Golden King is dead.”

Azadin recalled the Golden King’s last moments.

He, who was not even part of the clan, but rather the Yaegas Divine King, had thrown himself for Azadin, who had been abandoned by his clan.

Even though he was driven mad by despair, he was truly a great king.

Since the clan had killed such a person, it was inevitable that people’s hatred for the clan would grow.

Kingslayer, soulless blasphemer.

The meaning of the label attached to the clan felt heavy.

“What about the Emperor’s voice? Is the contract with the clan still valid?”

Does the Emperor’s voice still recognize the Aragasas, who have abandoned the Emperor’s mission and are relying on the Nether’s sorcery, as heralds?

When Azadin asked, the Emperor’s voice replied.

[The contract with the Aragasas has been terminated.]

“…….”

He knew that was the natural course of things, but hearing that the contract had really been terminated made his mind go blank. Was the curse of servitude not placed by the Emperor, but by the elders, by Chief Hatir?

Was it a contract that could be terminated so easily?

“Then, what about me?”

[You are the only herald left.]

“Is that so?”

Azadin looked at his severed hand.

With this wound, he wouldn’t be able to draw a bow properly. And yet, Azadin was the only remaining herald of the Emperor.

A bitter smile appeared on his face.

Was it thanks to Grimslaw? He had lost so much blood, but his condition was quite good.

“Ugh….”

Was it because he had seen the wound with his own eyes?

Suddenly, his lost left hand hurt. Ironically, his hand no longer existed, but it felt itchy and throbbing.

There was pain from the severed area, but more than that, the itchiness, throbbing, and indescribable pain in the lost area were unbearable.