The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 236

“Amazing,” Azadin murmured, surprised by Bishop Akenar’s unexpectedly high status. He had anticipated she would be someone of importance, given her youth and position as a bishop, but he never imagined she was a former queen who had joined the clergy.

“It’s a rather shameful story,” Bishop Akenar began, “but if I’m to hear your story, I must be completely transparent. So, first, could you tell me about what happened in Korasar and Butuma?”

“Of course. Oh, but before that, may I ask a favor?”

“What is it?” Bishop Akenar inquired, tilting her head slightly.

“I would like you to leave some reliable people in this village to prevent the lizardmen from attacking again. The cavalry can move with the wagons, so infantry would be better suited for this task,” Azadin explained, his concern for the villagers evident.

The lizardmen were known to take people as sacrifices, so there was a high probability they would return to raid the village again. He should have inflicted more damage on them earlier, but the Relief Knights had intervened, preventing him from doing so.

However, the coachman and escort were clearly annoyed by Azadin’s suggestion.

“Are you suggesting we split our forces?” one of them grumbled.

“No. He’s worried about the villagers. Yes, we will do that. I’ll leave the bishopric’s infantry behind to take care of the cleanup,” Bishop Akenar stated firmly, overriding the escort’s objections.

“Thank you,” Azadin said, his tone polite as he began his story for Bishop Akenar.

He recounted the tale of the curse of service placed on the Messenger Clan, the conflict between Chieftain Hatir, who sought to become emperor using the curse, and Ara’el, who rebelled against him. He spoke of the attacks on Korasar and Butuma, the death of Butuma’s Golden King Manza-Zadek, and the fall of the clan, all as briefly and quickly as possible.

“My goodness,” Bishop Akenar exclaimed. “So, you are the only imperial messenger now? Lord Izmilla is fortunate. Or perhaps this is the guidance of fate.”

“The guidance of fate, you say?” Azadin questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. Do you know the prophecy given to Lord Planck?” she asked.

“No, I don’t. What prophecy is it?”

“There is a prophecy that the last person he knighted will become the flower of chivalry,” Bishop Akenar explained.

“…What?” Azadin was taken aback.

“So far, the last knight Lord Planck knighted was Cohen Lionheart, the King of Asander. There are even frivolous rumors that King Cohen deliberately caused Lord Planck’s accident to make the prophecy his own.”

“……” Azadin was silent, his mind racing.

He knew from Lord Planck himself that Cohen was the one who had killed him. It wasn’t a frivolous rumor. Cohen truly believed in the prophecy and had taken matters into his own hands to fulfill his perceived destiny.

‘Damn it, you old geezer. You should have told me that. Cohen is going to try to kill me, isn’t he?’ Azadin thought, a knot forming in his stomach.

If the rumor that Azadin had been knighted by Lord Planck spread, Cohen Lionheart would not stand idly by.

“So, how about we make it look like I knighted you on paper?” Bishop Akenar suggested, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Many people here have heard and seen this. Would that be alright?” Azadin asked, skeptical.

“Well, it’s not like I’m a bishop for nothing. At least, such a story won’t come up in official settings. But, um…” Bishop Akenar stroked her chin, her expression thoughtful.

“It’s a bit strange for me to say this while wearing a mask, but I’d like to see what’s under your mask,” she admitted.

“Under my mask?” Azadin repeated, surprised.

“Yes. I don’t want to hear that I knighted a man whose face I don’t even know. Actually, it doesn’t matter if I don’t see it. Ah, it’s just pure curiosity. You don’t have to show me,” she added quickly.

“Yes?”

“But, I kind of want to see it,” Bishop Akenar said, twisting her body slightly. Despite her high rank, she seemed like a teenage girl in that moment.

“I’m just hiding a hideous face,” Azadin replied, his voice low.

“So, you’re not going to show me? That’s a shame,” she said, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

“Haa,” Azadin sighed, knowing he had no choice.

He slowly reached up and removed his mask.

“……” Bishop Akenar stared at him, her eyes wide.

“Did you see it? Then,” Azadin said, preparing to put his mask back on.

“Ah, just a little more…” Bishop Akenar reached out, as if to stop him.

Just as she was about to get up from her seat, a warning suddenly came. Ara’el’s voice, who had been scouting the surroundings, alerted Azadin. But even that warning was quite late. The enemy had used magic to conceal their tracks and approach.

“Oh no! Excuse me!” Azadin exclaimed, his senses on high alert.

He immediately braced himself, stepping on the backrest and ceiling of the carriage seat, and pulled Bishop Akenar into a protective embrace, preparing for the impact.

-KWAANG!

The carriage was thrown off the ground with a deafening explosion.

“Kyaaak!” Bishop Akenar cried out.

The carriage overturned, and the ceiling collapsed. The moment it gave way, unable to withstand the impact, Azadin jumped out of the carriage window with the bishop in his arms.

Outside, a group of were-rats and hobgoblin crossbowmen were attacking. But the hobgoblin crossbowmen’s weapons were incredibly dangerous. They were firing explosive barrels made by filling bamboo tubes with black powder, causing chaos among the knights.

“Ugh!” one of the knights groaned.

“It’s, it’s because of you! If only we had the infantry…” another complained.

“Even with the infantry, we would have been hit by this,” Azadin muttered, clicking his tongue at the enemy’s meticulous attack.

Black powder was an expensive item made and sold by dwarves, more expensive than silver of the same weight, and difficult to store and manage. Cohen Lionheart must be behind them to be able to use such weapons.

‘First, I need to deal with those crossbowmen,’ Azadin thought, his mind already formulating a plan.

He looked around while still holding the bishop and spotted Izmilla.

“Izmilla!” he called out.

“Yes!” Izmilla responded, ready for action.

“Take care of the bishop,” Azadin instructed, handing Bishop Akenar to Izmilla. He then quickly put his mask back on.

-Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon, Twilight!

Following the shadows, riding the darkness, Azadin’s body moved about five lengths in an instant, breaking through the enemy lines. It was a close-range teleportation technique specialized for assassination!

He had been foolishly imitating it with martial arts because he couldn’t use it until now. Azadin was once again amazed by the power of the Messenger Clan’s grimoire, Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon.

The disciples of Mezeri were wielding their arming swords with both hands, wildly preventing the knights from approaching and slaughtering them, but Azadin leaped over those disciples of Mezeri and reached the hobgoblin crossbowmen in one swift movement.

The surprised crossbowmen tried to resist, but Azadin threw the burning powder barrels they had fired back at the disciples of Mezeri.

-POW!

The disciples of Mezeri were shattered with a deafening roar.

While the were-rats screamed and fell, Azadin drew his ceramite longsword and swung it. A dazzling golden flame soared from the blade, and the hobgoblins fell.

‘Ah. So, this is how you use it. A sword with a holy flame. But I shouldn’t use it here,’ Azadin thought, startled and coming to his senses while swinging the burning sword.

If he hit the guys holding the powder barrels with a burning sword, even Azadin would be blown away with them.

But the moment he thought that, the flames disappeared from the blade.

‘It can be controlled? That’s a relief. The blade is dull, so it’s not as good as Aurea Steel, but this is how this sword is used,’ he realized.

Azadin cut down the hobgoblins with the ceramite longsword, the flames gone. Kajas Haze had weakened, but thanks to the complete acquisition of Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon, Azadin’s killing power became even more overwhelmingly strong.

Azadin’s figure moved from shadow to shadow, cutting down the hobgoblins, and then in the next moment, his body lowered and moved at high speed, cutting down all the other hobgoblins. Two earth spiders using Kajas Haze in conjunction with Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon, golden sword light danced and dealt with the hobgoblins in an instant.

Thanks to that, the dull ceramite blade was crushed and damaged. When Azadin raised his sword, flames rose from the sword, melting the blade and reforming it. A sleek, shiny blade, like new, reflected the moonlight.

‘I see. This is Aurelia Dawn. It’s a cool sword, isn’t it?’ Azadin also realized the charm of the ceramite longsword.

A sword that burns itself like a phoenix and restores itself. It was the perfect sword for Azadin, who had to change weapons frequently in the past due to the monstrous power of Kajas Haze. He didn’t have that monstrous power now, but he needed to revive the blade after beheading the hobgoblins.

But.

“No way…” The Relief Knights who were watching were dumbfounded.

‘Isn’t it only true paladins who can create fire from a ceramite longsword?’ one of them whispered in disbelief.

‘Why is that guy’s ceramite longsword burning?’ another asked, his eyes wide with shock.

‘Even the sword melted and reformed its blade by itself!’ a third exclaimed, his voice trembling.

Now that the Relief Knights’ holy power was weakening, it was only possible for a capable paladin among the Relief Knights to draw fire from a ceramite longsword. But Azadin was drawing fire from that ceramite longsword so easily that everyone was bewildered.

Moreover, that wasn’t the only surprising thing. The attack power resulting from the combination of Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon and Kajas Haze was enormous. He had wiped out all the hobgoblin archers by himself.

“Heeek,” one of the disciples of Mezeri gasped, his face pale.

“Unbelievable!” another cried out, his voice filled with terror.

“Re, retreat!” a third yelled, turning to flee.

The disciples of Mezeri tried to run away after seeing the hobgoblins annihilated. But Azadin picked up the powder barrels that had fallen on the ground and hit them with his ceramite longsword, sending them flying. The flames continued, and the powder barrels exploded among the disciples of Mezeri.

“Kyak!” The fleeing disciples of Mezeri were disoriented. Azadin was about to continue his pursuit, but.

-Thud.

A drop of blood fell from Azadin’s chin.

‘Huh?’ he thought, surprised.

When he wiped his chin, blood was on the back of his hand. Surprised, Azadin touched his face. Blood tears were flowing from his eyes.

‘Ah,’ he realized, his body not yet fully healed.

Now that he had inherited Ara’el’s magical talent, Azadin’s power was enormous, but his body could not handle that power.

‘That’s a shame,’ he thought, a wave of dizziness washing over him.

Azadin, feeling his head getting hot and dizzy, stopped his pursuit.

Then something flew from behind Azadin.

“Huh?” he muttered, turning around.

He quickly reached out and caught it, and it was surprisingly the Moon Horn Bow.

“Ha,” Azadin sighed, recognizing who had thrown it. He tucked the Moon Horn Bow into his waist.

*********

Zan, the squad leader of the Northern Aragas, escaped in the midst of the chaos. Although he had surrendered to Azadin, if he continued to stay by Azadin’s side, he would surely be interrogated by the Relief Knights. Once he was tortured, even if he was an Aragas, there was no way out. It was possible not to tell the truth, but after being tortured, he would become a wreck, so it was wiser to commit suicide before that.

“But I never thought you would come to save me,” Zan said, bowing his head to the person who had saved him.

“Of course, I would. My father considers himself an emperor, after all. He wants to buy the loyalty of the Aragas,” a silver-haired youth with the blood of the Yaegas gods replied, standing amidst countless monsters, disciples of Mezeri, and disciples of the spider queen Atra.

“Then let’s talk as we go, Zan. I’m curious to know what kind of great guy captured you.”