The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 245

“You can’t kill me. I am Azadin, the brother of Arael. Even if you are the nightmares from old tales, do you think you can even touch the tip of Arael’s power?” Azadin emphasized that he could not be defeated by such beings because he was Arael’s kin. Although he hadn’t been on good terms with Arael when she was alive, he knew how strong and beautiful she was, how she had rebelled against the Heraldic Clan [a powerful noble family] for her freedom and gathered many to her cause. Now, that was Azadin’s pride. There was no way that these whispering devils in the shadows could harm him, who had inherited Arael’s power. “It was a mistake to speak as if you know my future. At least you know you won’t kill me, right?” “You have great confidence, child. But you have sinned against the Hospitallers [a religious order of knights].” “You’re trying to mine the cinnabar [a red mineral used in alchemy] using necromancy. Don’t you know that the cinnabar was originally our gift?” “Those who serve us are scattered everywhere, and they can denounce you.” Surprisingly, the Shade Hags knew that Azadin was mining cinnabar using necromancy, and they used that to threaten him. Kalan and Legion were chilled to the bone listening to this. The act of using the undead was an unforgivable act for the Hospitallers. However, Azadin was not afraid. “The devils who pretended to be gods are now appealing to human means. Don’t you realize how ridiculous you’ve become?” “…….” “So? Is that all you have to oppose me?” Azadin was not fazed by the Hags’ threats and enticements. “It seems you doubt our abilities, child.” “We promised her that we would kill the knights who are assigned here.” “We thought your talent was a waste, and we might have forgiven you if you served us, but now you must die.” “We wanted to let you have a sweet dream before killing you, but the souls of the Heraldic Clan belong to the Emperor, so it’s a pity.” The Shade Hags’ voices disappeared, and instead, a loud roar echoed. An ogre with strange tumors on its face and a swamp crayfish with large pincers, about 3 meters long, appeared and rushed into the village. “Ha.” A scoff appeared on Azadin’s lips. “How crude. You resort to force when you can’t win with words. How are you going to make a living by scamming people like that?” Azadin mocked the Shade Hags, raising his fighting spirit. The soldiers were bound and restrained by illusions. Only a very few could fight. In that situation, these monsters suddenly appeared. Even if the soldiers were completely healthy, these were dangerous beasts. But unfortunately for them, their opponent was Azadin. “Is this really the best you can throw at me?” Azadin grabbed the Heraldic Clan’s bow, the Moon’s Edge Bow, and nocked an arrow. -Swish! The fired arrow flew in a straight line, then bent at an acute angle, piercing the ogre’s ear. The giant ogre collapsed sideways from a single small arrow. The ogre writhed in pain on the ground, unable to get up. The arrow had hit its semicircular canals, causing it to lose its sense of balance. It wasn’t dead yet and was still flailing, but having lost its sense of balance, it was now useless. After a very long time, it might be able to regain its balance and move, but at least for now, this ogre was just a lump of meat rolling around. -Crumble. The swamp crayfish, covered in keratin all over its body, ignored its fallen comrade and approached. But Azadin nonchalantly fired a second arrow. This arrow also changed its trajectory in mid-air and then bent in front of the crayfish. ‘Did it miss?’ Everyone thought so. The arrow that Azadin fired had flown towards the crayfish but then veered off to the side. But a moment later, they realized they had made a big mistake. The crayfish was disoriented and looked around. The arrow that Azadin fired had cut off the crayfish’s eyes and the two eye stalks protruding from its body. The blinded crayfish instinctively backed away and rolled down the slope of the fortress. Legion and Kalan couldn’t help but admire the sight of Azadin taking down the ogre and the giant swamp crayfish with two arrows. ‘Amazing.’ ‘The Heraldic Clan is called the Kingslayer, and it’s a grand name, but it’s living up to its reputation. No, the rumors are actually lacking.’ Azadin, who had shown such power, even yawned as if he was bored. “I wish you had more to show. Shade Hags? Is that really all you’ve got?” He even provoked them. “How dare you.” “To insult us!” The sound of the Shade Hags’ anger came from the darkness. It was a terrible and frightening sound that would make the hair of any living being stand on end, but Azadin only mocked the Shade Hags even more. “Is this all you can do? Is all you can do is tremble without being able to do anything?” “Captain, there’s no need to provoke them….” Legion and Kalan were flustered by Azadin’s remarks, which were unnecessarily provoking the Shade Hags. But Azadin’s demand was clear. “You can’t kill me. If you can’t fulfill the wish of the poor soul who cursed the Hospitallers and threw herself to you, then she is not yours.” Azadin demanded the female slave who had been turned into a witch, the cause of the Shade Hags cursing Vermilion Fortress. “You! That child is now part of us! You want us to give her up?!” “You don’t know your place!” The darkness began to stir. A black vortex rose from the center of Vermilion Fortress, and then a hag covered in pitch-black darkness appeared. A giant hag, the size of a large old tree, suddenly appeared in the middle of the plaza. Had the Shade Hag finally revealed itself? “Her condition is severe.” Azadin frowned. “Yes! This is me! You dirty, filthy hypocrites of the Hospitallers! You speak of virtue with your mouths, but behind your backs, you are shamelessly indulging in your desires! Just one more! If I had killed just one more knight and offered six sacrifices, the sacred number, I could have become a true Shade Hag! How dare you interfere with me!” The Shade Hag in front of him was the female slave herself who had been cursing the knights assigned to Vermilion Fortress. The Shade Hags had made a contract to receive her soul and body in exchange for fulfilling her wish. Her wish was to kill the knights assigned to Vermilion Fortress, complete the sacred number 6 of Wild Magic, and be reborn as a Shade Hag. But now that Azadin had been assigned as the squad leader of Vermilion, her wish could not be fulfilled if she could not kill him. So the Shade Hags had directly deployed the source of the curse. “I cannot allow you to become a Shade Hag.” “Don’t make me laugh! You’re going to save me? For me, salvation is revenge! Killing you hypocritical knights is my only salvation! The only way you can save me is to give up your pathetic knight’s life!” The female slave, who was already half a Shade Hag, cast a spell, and terrifying shadow monsters emerged from her shadow. Shadows of wild animals, such as giant wolves, bears, and moose the size of bulls, appeared in the deep darkness. In the already dark night, the monsters made of shadows were hard to see. “Now, kill them! All the cursed ones in this fortress! Especially if they are knights!” The witch, who was disgusted by Vermilion Fortress, ordered even the civilians to be killed. “Heeek?!” “U-Us too?! Why?” The surprised villagers tried to run away, but their bodies were currently tied to the pillars. They had tied themselves up to resist the illusions used by the Shade Hags, but now that was preventing them from escaping. Of course, the ropes that bound them were designed to be untied by themselves, but it was not easy to untie the knots with monsters running around in front of them. “Legion! Kalan! Release the soldiers! Camilla! Kuntachi! Bernard! Protect the people!” Azadin shouted and kicked off the ground. At the same time, Azadin’s ceramite longsword, Aurelia Dawn, began to burn gold. The beautiful golden sword light separated the shadow beasts from the darkness of the night. Golden rings danced along their clear outlines. The burning holy sword sliced through the wolf’s neck. “Amazing, you! Yes! Is that the sword of the Emperor’s Herald!” The woman who had become a witch due to the immoral acts of the Hospitallers cursed and attacked Azadin as if spitting blood. Azadin cut off the hag’s arm, which was trying to grab him, and began to cut her body into pieces. The ceramite longsword felt duller than well-forged steel, but the more it burned, the sharper and more acute it became. The dazzling sword light repeatedly sliced through the Shade Hag, carving away her body, which was the size of a giant old tree. “Kuh!” “Give up. You can’t kill me. Your contract will fail, and the power of the Shade Hag will disappear.” Azadin briefly withdrew his burning holy sword. If he cut her down too quickly, the witch inside the shadow would die as well. Even though Azadin had withdrawn his sword, the black shadow was disappearing as if the Shade Hag’s power was already leaving, and the witch’s bare body began to appear from within. She tried to gather the Shade Hag’s power that was scattering around her, like pieces of clothing, and forcibly attach it to her body. “No. I don’t want to lose this power now and become a powerless being! I don’t want to be a being that is violated as you please!” The witch writhed in hatred, but the Shade Hag’s power was leaving her body. “As long as my power reaches! At least in this place, I will not allow anyone to be unjustly violated! So give up!” Azadin reached out his hand instead of his sword. “How can I trust your words? All the men said that! They say they are different from others! But in the end, they were all the same!” “If you can’t trust my promise, then distrust the Shade Hags’ promise! You have already completed your revenge, so why are you trying to give up your soul?!” “What?! No. My revenge is not over yet! All of you hypocritical knights….” “Are you going to kill all the Hospitallers in the world? Did the Shade Hags promise you that?” “…….” “They wouldn’t. The Shade Hags will take your soul once they kill one more person! After that, why would they bother fighting the Hospitallers?!” “Ugh!” “I will avenge your enemies and create a world where the weak are not violated! At least where my power reaches! If you want to believe this promise, take my hand!” Azadin reached out his hand to her again and approached. She was hesitating. Her heart was wavering at the light of Aurelia Dawn emanating from Azadin and his purple eyes. But…. “Kwak!” Then suddenly, a scream was heard.