The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 242

The dwarf warrior, Kalan, known as the berserker who tears even bears, had indeed once torn a bear to death with his bare hands.

Berserker sickness. It was a disease that afflicted humans and dwarves, turning them into terrifying fighting machines. Once it took hold, they would fight relentlessly until they died or lost consciousness, heedless of severed limbs.

Dwarves were already naturally stronger than humans.

Kalan, in the throes of berserker sickness, was a monster who had once clung to the back of a red bear the size of a bull. He’d ripped the bear’s skin with his bare hands, then reached inside to tear at the flesh again and again, exposing the bear’s skull while it was still alive.

Such incredible feats had made Kalan an object of fear in Vermilion Fortress.

No matter how strong an opponent was, even if they were from the Envoy Clan, they were never safe once Kalan caught them.

Even when sober, not in a berserk state, he possessed the strength to tear off a person’s pinky finger with his bare hands.

But…

Soon, everyone was shocked.

Azadin, moving with lightning speed, was choking Kalan from behind.

Even in that position, Kalan tried to gouge Azadin’s eyes, raising his hand and reaching for Azadin’s face. But as Kalan’s arm came up, Azadin simply released his chokehold for a moment, grabbed the arm, and wrapped it with his leg.

Kalan, who possessed the tremendous grip to tear human flesh, was suddenly limp, like a child.

“N, no way.”

“…Kalan, so easily?!”

“As expected of the Envoy Clan, no, even for the Envoy Clan, that’s too much, isn’t it?”

Azadin, having already subdued Kalan, put him down and stood up. Then, he beckoned to Legion with his finger.

“Okay, next. You, come out, Legion.”

“Haha. Are you talking about me?”

“If you don’t want to fight, either beg me, crying and promising your loyalty. Then I might consider letting you off.”

Azadin said this after subduing the berserker Kalan with such ease.

He certainly had reason to be confident. But Legion scoffed at Azadin.

“Heh. Hehehe. It’s impressive that you easily subdued Kalan, but I’m a bit different from Kalan.”

Even though the berserker had fallen so easily, Legion was not shaken at all. It was an attitude that would be difficult to show unless he had a firm belief that he was superior to Kalan.

“So, could you take off that mask for a moment?”

“What?”

“Maybe I’ll kill the squad leader this time, so I’d like to see your face before it’s ruined.”

“Hahaha.”

Azadin burst into laughter at Legion’s words. Even though he had demonstrated how easily he could subdue the berserker Kalan, Legion seemed confident of his victory.

‘W, will it be okay? That squad leader, he really has the skills to be so confident?’

‘But Squad Leader Legion is that, you know, that.’

‘And Kalan is a dwarf, so his limbs are short. That was probably a special magic. He was just at a disadvantage.’

The soldiers watched the war of nerves between Azadin and Legion with great interest.

“Alright. Well, we’ll be seeing each other a lot anyway.”

Azadin took off his mask.

-Rumble!

Lightning tore through the sky behind Azadin, casting a long shadow. In the darkness, purple eyes glowed.

“…Huh?”

Legion was surprised to see Azadin’s face revealed.

“Squad leader. Are you perhaps a woman?”

“Are you blind?”

“Ah, no. You’re not a woman, but…”

Legion was disappointed.

“It’s heartbreaking that I might kill someone so pretty. On the other hand… I’m happy at the thought of devouring you, Captain.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Come at me.”

“Ah, this is just for fairness. Squad leader, you should take up a weapon.”

“A weapon?”

“Yes. For fairness.”

“I don’t think I need a weapon against you? Getting hit by a ceramite longsword [a sword made of a ceramic-metal composite] won’t just end with pain.”

“Haa. I clearly warned you.”

Legion said that and suddenly fell to the ground.

At that moment, his body swelled to about twice its size, and thick, sharp hairs like wires grew from his body. In addition, his mouth lengthened, and sharp teeth began to appear.

“Eek?!”

The soldiers quickly brought over a fence made of wooden bars, set it up, and trembled behind it.

The half-elf Legion was a werewolf.

“You! I’ll kill you and eat you!”

The werewolf Legion drooled from his mouth, licking his lips as he looked at Azadin. It seemed that his appetite, violent urges, and lust were all mixed together, exciting him.

“Eek!”

The soldiers were horrified by the sight of Legion, who was on their side.

“Oh, really? Is that all you’ve got?”

Azadin jumped in front of Legion. Legion carelessly swung his forepaw at Azadin, who was jumping straight at him, but his forepaw only passed through Azadin’s illusion.

“Huh?”

A very convincing illusion had rushed towards Legion.

And following that illusion, Azadin, who had leaped up, planted his heel on the top of Legion’s head.

-Crack!

With a terrifying sound of bones breaking, Legion’s body shrank. It was a powerful blow that would have broken the head and twisted the neck of an ordinary person, killing them.

‘Ugh! This bastard! That weird kick.’

Legion was surprised by the trajectory and power of Azadin’s kick, which had come from an unexpected direction.

But werewolves don’t die that easily. Legion immediately recovered from the shock and tried to grab Azadin.

‘Even so, he’s human! If I just grab him, I can tear him to pieces and kill him… wait? What is this guy doing?’

Legion, who was reaching out his hand, was flustered by the unexpected reaction. Azadin was also reaching out his hand towards him.

Until now, when he transformed into a werewolf and extended his claws, most people would be terrified and run away, or they would fight back with torches or toothpick-like swords and be sacrificed.

But who would have thought that there would be someone who would come to grab his hand?

‘Is he crazy?’

But Azadin’s reaction exceeded his imagination.

Azadin grabbed the werewolf’s fingers, which had grown sharp claws like hooks, and then threw his body over Legion.

“Huh?”

-Snap!

Legion’s arm and fingers were bent.

But Azadin didn’t let go of his fingers and dragged Legion around.

Legion’s feet dragged on the ground. Even if he tried to exert force, his whole body was lifted up, and he only kicked uselessly in the air.

“When raising a dog, walks are very important!”

“No way!”

Those who were watching were shocked.

A werewolf who could even bite a bull was being dragged around by a human like a dog.

The soldiers, who knew very well how vicious Legion was, couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw Legion being dragged around like a dog in front of them.

“I hope your skull can withstand this much!”

Azadin broke Legion’s arm and threw him into the well.

The moment Legion, who had been thrown into the well made of stone walls, raised his head, Azadin rushed in and kicked Legion’s chin like a ball.

Legion’s head bounced off the stone wall of the well.

“Cough?!”

Legion’s vision was filled with flashes from the tremendous impact.

Azadin slammed Legion’s head against the well’s stone wall and kicked him again.

-Thud! Thwack! Crunch!

‘I said I wouldn’t kill him…’

‘He’s going crazy trying to kill him, isn’t he?’

Watching Azadin beat Legion into the well, the soldiers felt their legs go numb.

Seeing the new squad leader, whom they had looked down on, beating Legion with his bare hands, they felt chills down their spines.

An ordinary person would have died just from hitting their head on the edge of the well, but he was kicking him on top of that. He was unusually vicious.

It was clear that he had built up some emotions. If a person could beat another human like this without any emotion, it would mean that their personality was that vicious.

-Rumble!

After a while, the well collapsed, and Azadin stopped the assault.

“Ah. It collapsed. Well, werewolves are tough, so he’ll probably survive this much?”

Azadin shrugged and turned around.

“B, be careful! Azadin!”

At that moment, Camilla, who was watching the scene, was horrified. The werewolf Legion was rising again from the ruins of the collapsed well.

But….

“Kuh… Ugh…”

Legion was panting. But his expression was clearly strange.

What should I say?

Ecstasy?

Was he out of his mind from being beaten too much?

-Rumble!

With a thunderous sound, Legion trembled.

“Y, you’re the best.”

“Uh, um. I don’t usually get scared by anything, but you’re a bit scary.”

Even Azadin, who had been playing with the werewolf with his bare hands until just now, confessed his fear after seeing that.

“Squad leader. I lost. I swear my loyalty to you. Ugh…”

Legion fell forward, either bowing or fainting, or perhaps both, and began to snore.

If it were a human, falling and snoring after being hit would be a sign of brain damage. Most would die soon.

But Legion, being a werewolf, would recover.

“No, he’s really scary. This guy?”

Azadin, the one who had beaten Legion down, was chilled by Legion’s bizarreness.

*********

When the rain stopped, the soldiers began to work on restoring the collapsed well.

Kalan and Legion, who had challenged Azadin and been cleanly defeated, and Kormek, who had just been dragged along, were all kneeling in front of Azadin.

“Get up. Why are you kneeling?”

“We apologize for our past rudeness, Captain.”

Kalan bowed his head.

“Don’t call me Captain, call me Squad Leader?”

“Originally, I should call you Squad Leader, but I realized that Captain is not someone who should stay in such a small fortress. I will serve you for the rest of my life, Captain. Please allow me to serve you for the rest of my life.”

The half-elf squad leader Legion also said that, bowing his head to Azadin, but his face was completely blank.

His eyes were still fixed on Azadin, but he had a blissful expression on his face….

It was creepy.

“…Ah, um. I don’t think a lifetime is a good idea.”

“No. I will definitely serve you for the rest of my life. I realized that the reason I was born into this world was to meet you today, Captain.”

“……”

Azadin felt fear for the first time as he looked at Legion, who seemed like he would rush at him at any moment. He wasn’t scared at all when he transformed into a werewolf and jumped at him, but now he was a hundred million times more scared than then.

“No, never mind. So, let’s hear about that curse?”

“Well, that is…”

The squad leaders, as if they had never been cocky, eagerly explained the situation to Azadin.