The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 309

‘I didn’t know Zekt was that skilled. And that orc too. This is quite the trap I’ve fallen into.’

There was a story passed down among mercenaries and adventurers, from their guild, the Sellsword Association.

The legendary swordsman who killed the basilisk, Verdam, met his end when a wound from a stray stone thrown by a goblin festered and killed him.

No matter how strong or talented one may be, as long as they have a body made of flesh, they are bound to die from a trivial wound or injury. Carelessness and misfortune can lead even the strongest to ruin.

In that regard, Zekt was too careless. Zibeck and Scott were dangerous individuals who should never have been underestimated, but was he too complacent because Azadin wasn’t there?

-Whoosh!

The tentacles of the Nether creatures that Zekt had created were burning.

The Corrupted Angels were burning the Nether beings with their magic, gradually approaching Zekt.

But then, suddenly, a voice was heard from above Zekt’s head.

“Sir Zekt! Are you alright?!”

Surprisingly, Azadin was climbing down the ladder.

“…Sir Azadin. That orc warlock of yours really screwed me over. I can’t believe he broke the guardian runes here.”

“The Flames of the Deceased Guide, you mean?”

It seemed that Scott had deliberately summoned the Corrupted Angels to subdue Zekt and escaped with Zibeck.

“Yes. That orc is truly remarkable. It’s the first time I’ve seen someone more skilled in necromancy than me. And Zibeck has also improved since before. I don’t know if he met a good teacher or if his suppressed spirit was liberated, allowing him to finally unleash his true abilities.”

Zekt gave a bitter smile.

If Zibeck’s spirit was suppressed, it was because of the oppressive environment of Zekt and the King’s Church that had taught him. In other words, Zekt’s statement was like spitting in the air. Of course, most of them don’t feel ashamed of such oppression at all.

They lack the sensitivity to understand that their existence is an oppression to others.

On the other hand, Zekt has such sensitivity but lives by dirtying his hands with his own will. To satisfy his ambition and twisted sense of mission, he was willing to do anything, but when he came to his senses, he had fallen into a trap, or rather a flow, set by those he had looked down upon as being several levels below him, and was now facing a crisis.

“Well, Scott’s specialty is that, and you’ve learned many other magics. There’s no need to be disheartened just because you were outmatched in a specialized field by a specialist….”

“……”

Azadin wasn’t trying to comfort him, but in this situation, Azadin was defending Zekt’s necromantic skills.

“I watched the ritual of creating the angel eggs from above. Now that I know the inside story, there’s nothing more to see. Let’s get out of here.”

“Are you out of your mind? Can’t you see what’s in front of you?”

Zekt retorted to Azadin.

Even Zekt, who had been through thick and thin, found it difficult to handle three Corrupted Angels. Even if he needed to maintain his composure, Azadin’s composure was somehow strange.

Zekt also wanted to appear as relaxed as possible, but Azadin’s attitude was an abnormality different from Zekt’s.

How could he be so calm unless he was crazy?

Zekt was struggling with the Corrupted Angels, and there were not one but three of them, yet why was Azadin so calm?

Then, Azadin stepped forward in front of the Corrupted Angels.

The rotten corpses of the angels, wielding swords and chains made of bone, approached Azadin.

And the beings of death, the wraiths bound to the Corrupted Angels, were also launched towards Azadin.

-Swish!

The chain attached to the Corrupted Angel’s bone sword moved like a living creature’s tentacle, flying towards Azadin’s head.

When Azadin raised his ceramite longsword [a type of extremely durable and heat-resistant ceramic material] to block the chain, it wrapped around his sword.

And an intangible force exploded between Azadin and the Corrupted Angels.

-Boom!

A whirlwind arose in the underground waterway, and four tornadoes briefly formed around Azadin before disappearing.

The appearance and disappearance of tornadoes in an enclosed space was so powerful that the wraiths flying towards Azadin melted away like a layer of fog swept away by a strong wind, and even the Corrupted Angels were astonished and looked at Azadin.

“Ugh.”

“Huh.”

And an anomaly occurred.

‘What? What on earth is happening?’

Zekt was also shocked by what was happening before his eyes.

The Corrupted Angels were kneeling before Azadin.

And they were making sounds as if they were squeezing out their rotten bodies with difficulty.

“Ah… Guide!”

“Grant us rest!”

The Corrupted Angels were reaching out their hands to Azadin, yearning for rest.

“You who descended to this land in flesh to venerate virtue and protect humanity, your devotion deserves praise. Now, I shall release the bonds that bind you, end your fierce devotion, and let you rest in peace!”

Azadin approached the Corrupted Angels, raising his ceramite longsword. At that moment, a dazzling light burst forth from the ceramite longsword.

The ceramite longsword was originally a weapon that burned on its own, but this was not just a simple flame. It was a brilliant light like the sun, washing away the darkness of evil.

The Corrupted Angels did not resist Azadin.

It was as if they were waiting for Azadin’s blade, waiting for the rest that would end their long suffering and wandering.

“Guide.”

“May virtue light your path.”

“May virtue light your path!”

Azadin repeated the words of the Corrupted Angels and swung his sword.

With a dazzling light, the heads of the Corrupted Angels were severed, and the bonds of their bodies were broken.

These terrible monsters, who had even bothered Zekt, fell without any resistance, their heads and torsos separated by Azadin’s sword.

As undead, they wouldn’t stop just by separating their heads and torsos….

Surprisingly, the bodies of the Corrupted Angels burst into flames and disappeared into ashes.

*********

“Hehehehehe.”

Laughter began to erupt from inside the underground waterway.

The laughter, like that of a madman, was coming from Zekt’s mouth.

“Ahahahahahaha!”

Zekt couldn’t help but laugh and laugh again.

The meaning of what had happened before his eyes was clear.

Azadin had been chosen by the angels!

A chosen guide!

There was a legend passed down secretly in the Rescue Knights Order.

A prophecy that a great guide would one day appear among them, who would lead all three orders of the Knights of Virtue—the divided orders of Mercy, Courage, and Wisdom.

No one knew when or from whose mouth it had started, but such a prophecy was not exactly a heresy, and it merely stimulated people’s hopes, so everyone passed it on by word of mouth.

And the protagonist of that prophecy was here.

And it just had to be Aragas [Azadin’s original name].

A soulless blasphemer, considered untouchable, for the crime of murdering the Divine King!

‘The angels are capricious. To choose the lowest of the low among the Hybris people as their guide!’

Zekt couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the angels’ decision to choose Azadin.

“Don’t be so loud, Sir Zekt. I have put the Corrupted Angels to rest, but there may be other monsters.”

“Ah, I apologize. This is… I can’t help but laugh because it’s so absurd. Sir Azadin. You are the one chosen by the angels. Since when was it? Sir Azadin.”

“It’s not like I was grandly chosen… it’s been a while. Ah, keep this a secret. It’s not a good thing.”

Azadin shrugged his shoulders.

“Why is that?”

Zekt asked out of pure curiosity.

Azadin was a miracle worker.

A guide chosen by the angels.

The one chosen by the angels to lead the Rescue Knights Order on the right path.

If he revealed that fact, the established orders would of course resist, but if he showed such miraculous power, he could gather followers comparable to the Celestial Fire [a powerful religious movement].

That power, that authority, that worship.

Even if he could be detached from those benefits… he needed power to achieve his mission. But why wouldn’t Azadin reveal that he was a miracle worker?

“I can’t make the Rescue Knights Order like the King’s Church.”

“Pardon?”

“When the three archangels and angels descended, people listened to the teachings of virtue with their ears, but they followed the angels with their eyes. As they moved away from virtue, they only worshiped the angels. The souls of those who wish to become slaves of the gods and angels cannot reach virtue, so if I reveal here that I am the chosen one of the angels and perform miracles, people will only find another object of worship, and they will move even further away from virtue.”

“Ah. I see. Hmm. Then, Sir Azadin, you and I will never get along.”

Zekt was a member of the King’s Church, and the King’s Church demands that all humans and lower races dedicate themselves to the plan of the Yaegas gods for the great plan of the great gods.

“Humans need guidance. That is the reality. Just as the three archangels who brought the promise of virtue eventually became objects of worship, it is human nature to rely on a greater and more powerful being. To ignore their nature and force your ideals on humans, Azadin. You will be destroyed.”

“Doesn’t matter, does it? You don’t like me anyway. When I’m destroyed, you can clap and cheer. Oops. I have to run. The pursuers will be coming from behind. You should escape too if you have an escape route! See you at the Van Dyke Trading Company!”

“The Van Dyke Trading Company, you say?”

“We made a promise, didn’t we? That I would share the information I found out from above. I keep my promises.”

Azadin left those words behind and began to run.

Zekt smiled bitterly as he watched Azadin.

As an inquisitor of the King’s Church, Azadin was now someone he had to eliminate.

Officially, the King’s Church was cooperating with the Rescue Knights Order, but behind the scenes, they secretly wanted the Rescue Knights Order and the angel faith to collapse so that the King’s Church could monopolize all the spirituality of this Hybris continent.

From the beginning, the faiths of the King’s Church and the Rescue Knights Order could not tolerate each other. The alliance was maintained because most of the Rescue Knights Order worshiped the angels themselves rather than virtue, so they were no different from the believers of the King’s Church.

But now, a miracle worker, a guide chosen by the angels, had appeared.

“The angels are capricious to choose the Emperor’s messenger, and one who betrayed his own people. Ah, is that why? If they didn’t choose the lowest of the low, they would follow him rather than virtue?”

Azadin’s existence was something that even the current Rescue Knights Order would not tolerate. The Rescue Knights Order and Azadin would end up fighting each other, so there was no need for Zekt to attack Azadin now and resolve the situation.

“…Then!”

Zekt also ran out of the underground waterway.

Azadin had defeated the Corrupted Angels, but in this place, in addition to the Corrupted Angels and their wraiths, monsters were constantly swarming. If he didn’t get out quickly, Zekt, who had exhausted his magic power, was likely to make the same mistake as Verdam, who died from a goblin’s stone.

*********

“Good heavens.”

After Zekt left, another witness slumped down in that spot.

It was Heine, the assassin of the Mercy Order, the Guide of Rest.

She had come down the ladder first to pursue Azadin, avoiding the pursuers of the Wisdom Order, the Were Boars, and she had clearly seen what Azadin was doing.

The scene where the Corrupted Angels entrusted their bodies to Azadin, trusting him to give them rest!

And she had also heard Zekt and Azadin talking.