The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 231

“Enough, stop there. Isn’t this distance enough to have a conversation?”

Azadin halted their approach.

“Is that so? Then I’ll go in alone.”

The Aragasas squad leader signaled his subordinates to stop and walked forward by himself.

The distance where Aragasas start a duel, a hundred paces. The squad leader strode into that space and stopped.

“You said you were Azadin, the 108th envoy of the Emperor, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“……”

The group listening was puzzled.

They were sure Azadin had said he was the 1st envoy, but these people were calling him the 108th?

In fact, Azadin was both the 1st and the 108th envoy. Since there were no other envoys of the Emperor left besides Azadin, what did the ranking matter?

Of course, the reason Azadin introduced himself as the 108th envoy to them was because of a subtle pride between the two.

No matter what, Azadin was also an envoy, and he couldn’t stand the Northern Aragasas looking down on the envoy clan.

‘I never thought I’d be so caught up in this.’

Azadin gave a wry smile and looked at the Northern Aragasas squad leader who had come to recruit him. A person who looked to be about Azadin’s age asked.

“First of all, I heard that all the Emperor’s envoys were destroyed in Butuma. That they perished together with the traitor Arael. Yet, are you really the Emperor’s envoy, Azadin?”

“I am definitely the Emperor’s envoy. Now it’s my turn to ask. Why are you targeting these people?”

“We were ordered to.”

“By whom?”

“We usually don’t reveal our clients. Now it’s my turn to ask, right? Emperor’s envoy Azadin. I know you made a contract with them for the Emperor’s gold, but how long will you protect them with just one gold coin? You can’t protect them forever, can you?”

“Until I evacuate them to a safe place.”

“There is no safe place. Emperor’s envoy. You seem to be alone, and you and those pathetic Rescue Knights won’t be able to defeat us in the end. But I don’t want to harm a fellow clansman. How about surrendering? If you come to our side, we’ll treat you well. You don’t have to serve the voice of a dead Emperor while suffering the humiliation of being called a soulless blasphemer.”

The squad leader had already recognized Azadin’s great talent when Azadin shot back his arrow, and he regretted it. Such a talented person was on their enemy’s side because of the curse of service [a magical binding that forces one to serve].

“I appreciate the offer, but those who kill helpless civilians and join hands with cultists are obviously no good.”

“I heard your clan also joined hands with cultists?”

“Ah.”

Azadin was speechless at the squad leader’s retort.

Azadin himself was righteous, but both the Hatir faction and the Arael branch had joined hands with cultists.

“What? Why are you suddenly silent? Do you have nothing to say?”

“Haa. Never mind.”

Azadin shook his head.

“I’ve roughly figured out what I wanted to know. I’ll let you live, so just go. We’re from different branches, but I don’t want to harm a fellow Aragasas.”

“What? I was about to say….”

But then, something unexpected happened.

-Crack!

The bowstring of the Wolgak Bow that Azadin was holding snapped, and fragments flew out.

The fragments hit his mask, and Azadin was startled and covered his face, but it was in a position that precisely covered his eyes.

‘A trick? No, he can’t see like that. Even if it’s a trick, this is the chance.’

The squad leader took the opportunity and immediately charged at Azadin.

Then, arrows flew from all directions. The squad leader’s subordinates, who had been watching, all shot arrows at Azadin at once.

‘I could die like this, or if I die from this, I’m not worth saving?’

Thinking that, the squad leader charged straight at Azadin, but just before entering his range, he changed direction and entered a blind spot. However.

-Whoosh!

A wheel of fire appeared around Azadin.

Celestial Flare, the angel’s flame, followed the seramite longsword that Azadin swung, burning the air and deflecting the flying arrows.

And.

-Hwajopungwol, Hoepung! [Hwajopungwol is a martial art technique, Hoepung is a specific move]

A whirlwind that followed the flames burst out from Azadin, twisting the arrows that the sword had not deflected.

*********

Azadin, with the help of Planck, had removed the old grimoires [magical texts] that were boiling inside his body.

It was an act of reducing his own power, but there was also something to be gained after removing those rampaging powers.

After emptying all the grimoires, the power that was faintly returning. The Hwajopungwol grimoire, which originally should have been shared equally by Azadin and Arael, had returned to Azadin.

And more powerfully than anyone else.

The fate of the twins, which had been divided while merging with Arael, was now one.

Since Azadin’s grimoire, which Arael had taken, had returned in its complete form, both of their powers were given to Azadin.

If he were to refine this grimoire again and reach the level that Arael had achieved, its power would be limitless, but Azadin’s magic power was so low that he had not yet reached that level.

However, even in this weak state of magic power, its efficiency was extraordinary. Even with a slight use, the results were comparable to the magic of the top envoys.

Also, Azadin, who had already learned Hwajopungwol through Kazas Heseo [a training method], did not need to learn its usage now.

He had already learned with his body what techniques to use in what situations, so the original Hwajopungwol, which used magic power, was rather comfortable.

Moreover.

-Hwajopungwol Hoepung, Kazas Heseo!

Usually, when using magic power, magic exhaustion occurs, and one cannot cast spells in succession. However, Azadin was able to activate Kazas Heseo immediately after using magic power.

A second wind rises around Azadin.

Azadin, who had deflected all the flying arrows with two Hoepungs, gave a wry smile.

He was not in his prime. His muscle strength had weakened, and his agility had also decreased.

However, the legacy that Arael had left him remained so clear and intense.

*********

‘Ugh! Magic as if he was waiting for it?! This guy, he was watching me. It’s a trap!’

The squad leader realized that he had fallen into a trap, but it was already too late. Azadin’s sword deflected the squad leader’s sword and pierced his throat.

However, the position of squad leader is not just given.

He grabbed the center of the sword and switched the grip with half-swording [a technique of gripping the sword closer to the blade], turning the sword to deflect Azadin’s attack and aiming for Azadin with the hilt.

‘Hmm. I could kill him if I used Hwajopungwol? But now that I think about it, this Hwajopungwol is really a technique specialized for one-on-one combat. It was made to kill people. The envoy clan are the king slayers, the techniques made to kill the kings.’

Azadin calmly received the squad leader’s attack.

After facing him, he understood. This guy was also quite skilled, but he was no match for him.

Azadin did not use magic to kill him, but only used his sword to engage in combat in order to subdue him.

Both Azadin and the squad leader held their swords with half-swording and engaged in a relentless close-quarters battle as if fighting with spears or staffs.

However, Azadin was the one attacking, and the squad leader was only being pushed back.

“Ugh.”

The squad leader was only focused on blocking. As soon as they clashed, he could tell that Azadin’s swordsmanship surpassed his own.

‘I’m done for. He’s supposed to be the lowest envoy, but he’s this strong… It’s unbelievable!’

He realized that he had been completely deceived by Azadin, but since he had engaged in close combat with a superior enemy, there was no way to escape.

The squad leader was disappointed and despaired that his skills were only this much.

In the end, Azadin’s hilt struck the squad leader’s jaw.

“Kuh-ack!”

The squad leader tumbled to the ground.

Normally, if hit by the pommel at the end of the hilt, the jawbone should be broken, but Azadin’s attack was buried in the flesh of the jaw and neck? He had hit him while being careful not to break the jawbone.

An attack that didn’t damage the jawbone but only shook the brain! How big was the gap?

“Your skills are decent.”

Azadin took the sword from the fallen squad leader, held it to his neck, and sheathed his seramite longsword.

Seeing that this action was done in one go, Azadin must have been quite relaxed even in the chaotic battle just now.

‘Is this the 108th envoy? The lowest-ranking envoy at the very end? Surely the envoy clan wouldn’t play around with their ranks. This is a big problem?’

In fact, Azadin was now the only envoy of the Emperor, but the squad leader, who did not know that fact, was bewildered by the huge gap between Azadin and himself.

He was confident in his skills. He was second to none in his skills and talent, but to be defeated so futilely?

Then, Azadin, who had subdued the Northern Aragasas squad leader, suddenly asked a strange question.

“If I take you hostage here, will your family be killed or suffer disadvantages?”

“……”

The squad leader did not understand the meaning of Azadin’s question for a moment.

“Wh, what do you mean?”

“I asked if you or your family would suffer great disadvantages if I took you hostage.”

“If so?”

“Then just go back.”

Azadin sighed and sheathed his sword.

“It seems like you came here without much thought to recruit me, so I just played a little trick on the negotiator. But I can’t harm a negotiator because of a prank. However, now that the negotiation is over, I will kill you next time.”

As Azadin said that, Camilla, who had been watching, jumped up.

“What are you talking about? Why are you letting him go?”

“Taking a negotiator is a violation of the gentleman’s agreement.”

“What negotiator! That guy tried to kill you as soon as you showed a weakness! You have every right to kill him, but you’re letting him go!?”

“The reason these guys attacked was because they had to reveal their employer in order to recruit me.”

“What?”

This time, the squad leader was surprised.

Azadin was speaking as if he had figured out who their employer was?

‘Did I say that?’

Then Azadin began to explain.

“If the Northern Aragasas were to recruit me, the Emperor’s envoy, as an ally, there is one problem they would have to solve. The curse of service. If there was no way to resolve it, they wouldn’t have tried to recruit me in the first place. But the fact that they asked me to join their side means that someone within them, or someone behind them, has the ability to resolve the curse of service. Probably at least a user of the Divine King’s Scripture.”

Azadin snapped his fingers.

“In this case, it would be the Northern Emperor, Cohen Lionheart. Am I right?”

“Y, you.”

The squad leader was shocked.

He had only come to recruit him, but based on that, this guy had figured out that the Northern Emperor Cohen Lionheart was behind them?

‘Well, I’ve heard so much about Cohen Lionheart’s ambition from Planck that it’s practically drilled into my ears.’

Azadin watched the squad leader’s reaction and realized that his guess was correct.