The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 319

Karna’s seramite longsword gleamed, and a tremendous blaze erupted like a volcano.

The heat, enough to melt even steel, radiated from Karna.

‘I thought Triodana was stronger than Karna, but Karna is quite formidable too. This won’t be easy.’

Azadin was astonished to see Karna’s true power firsthand.

For Azadin, who had overexerted himself using Garura [a magical artifact or technique] to protect the transport ship from the Herald Clan and the Nagas, this was going to be a tough fight.

“Azadin, it seems you are….”

“But, is it okay to start a fire here?”

“……”

Behind Azadin was the transport ship. If Karna’s attack missed, the fire would spread to the ship. Even now, smoke was rising from various parts of the transport ship due to the heat exploding from Karna.

“I don’t have the scroll of reincarnation. Even if you vent your anger on me here, it won’t exactly hide the Northern Empire’s actions. If you still want to capture me, I will resist. But if not, how about we each go our own way? Sir Karna.”

“Those are words I’d like to believe. But… unfortunately, Sir Azadin. I can’t. You know too much.”

“Hmm? Didn’t you say you were grateful for me rescuing the transport ship?”

“Yes. So, I will kill you and reincarnate you as a Celestial! It’ll be better than living as an Aragasa [a term for a corrupted or fallen being]!”

“Ah… hahaha. That’s a funny story?!”

At that moment, Karna’s sword shot out with flames.

Azadin parried Karna’s sword with the Azure Executioner, but surprisingly, Azadin was pushed back.

Having used too much magic to protect the transport ship, Azadin’s physical condition was far from good. Moreover, even though Azadin deflected Karna’s sword….

When Karna swung his wings once in the air, flames followed, engulfing Azadin.

Startled, Jibek spread his cloak and jumped in, deflecting the incoming flames, and cast a Heavenly Punishment spell to attack Karna.

“Are you planning to burn the entire transport ship!”

Jibek glared at Karna in anger. Karna had chosen to silence Azadin by killing him, even if it meant the transport ship would catch fire.

Of course, Karna couldn’t burn down the transport ship just by scattering flames and swinging his sword.

The Herald Clan’s fire arrows were meant to attack several transport ships simultaneously, preventing them from extinguishing the fires, but Karna was only fighting with one ship as a backdrop… The sailors had already sprayed water everywhere, so it didn’t catch fire immediately.

However, if Karna’s attack hit the transport ship directly? Then it would be a different story.

“If you had this kind of power, why didn’t you use it when fighting the Nagas earlier?”

“Azadin!”

As Karna charged at Azadin in fury… an arrow flew from the riverbank.

-Swish!

With a sound that tore through the wind, the arrow, trailing multiple afterimages, struck Karna.

Karna’s armor and wings deflected the arrows, but blood splattered.

“Kuh?! Are there more Heralds?”

Taking advantage of the gap, Azadin grabbed Scott and Jibek’s belts with both hands and flung himself backward.

It was unbelievable that Azadin could lift the huge, muscular orc Scott and the metal-armored Jibek, one in each hand, but Azadin not only lifted them effortlessly but also kicked off the water’s surface and landed on the ship.

There were three Heralds, two men and one woman, on this ship, and they were the ones who had shot the arrows at Karna.

“The timing was a bit off, but my offer still stands. Sir Karna. Instead of trying to silence me, why don’t you consult with the Order of Courage? From the start, letting me go was a trap set by the Order of Courage, so how can you, a member of the Order of Wisdom, fall for such a trap?”

A member of the Order of Wisdom being manipulated by the Order of Courage’s scheme.

In a way, it was a stark depiction of the current state of the Rescue Knights. They were showing behavior that was contrary to the virtues of their own order and the Knights.

“Azadin!”

As Karna raged, his wings spewed out pieces of fire like an erupting volcano, setting the transport ship ablaze.

“Sir Karna!”

Izmilla intervened and immediately gave orders to the other Celestials behind her.

“Sir Aramis! Quickly extinguish the fire!”

“Okay.”

“Alright, everyone, just focus on putting out the fire on the ship. Let’s go.”

“……”

The Herald Clan men and women who had come in the small boat silently followed Azadin’s words, using their poles to move the boat, and despite going against the current, they were incredibly fast. They passed by the grounded transport ships, quickly disappearing upriver.

“Kuh!”

“He’s right. Let’s put out the fire on the transport ship first.”

Izmilla stopped the furious Karna and, along with the other Celestials and members of the Celestial Fire Knights, extinguished the fire on the ship.

“Damn it. Azadin, that bastard. I was looking at him favorably, but he’s pulling this kind of stunt.”

The Celestial Fire Knights were battered from the fight with the Nagas and the Herald Clan. Although there were no casualties among the Celestials, there were casualties among the soldiers and attendants, and the horses were too exhausted to pursue Azadin.

Moreover, Azadin and his group had already escaped by boat, so it was more reasonable to focus on putting out the fire on the transport ship, as Izmilla had said.

“Izmilla. Keep what you heard today to yourself.”

“Yes.”

Izmilla replied, her eyes following Azadin’s trail.

*********

“Azadin. I’m glad you’re safe.”

The woman holding the pole turned to Azadin and sighed.

“You really are becoming more like Ara’el.”

“Yes, Dimia. I’m glad you’re safe too.”

The ones who had brought this small boat were the four members of the Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon, Ara’el’s former confidants: Dimia of the Flower, Seraph of the Bird, and Indim of the Moon.

Since Ara’el had given her life to Azadin and died, they had been secretly investigating the Aragasa while trying to carry on Ara’el’s will.

They had been following the Aragasa who were attacking the transport ships and had come to help when they saw Azadin protecting the transport ships and then fighting Karna for his life.

Azadin, aware of this, had nonchalantly provoked Karna, focusing his attention solely on himself, and then quickly escaped with Scott and Jibek.

“You’ve completely taken on Ara’el’s appearance now. Don’t tell me, you’re using that appearance to seduce women and live a debauched life?”

Indim suddenly asked a rude and absurd question while looking at Azadin.

“What nonsense are you spouting after all this time?”

“Then, maybe you’re seducing men? You! I won’t allow that. Azadin, that would be you disgracing Ara’el!”

“Women are okay, but men aren’t?”

“No, I can’t allow you to associate with anyone. You are the one who inherited Ara’el’s appearance and will. If you live a debauched life, wouldn’t you become even more of a laughingstock to those who oppose you? I can’t forgive you if you are mocked and despised in Ara’el’s form.”

“Haha. So, if I’m insulted, you, Indim, will be as angry as if it were your own problem. That’s what it sounds like to me.”

“Th, that’s nonsense! It’s because of Ara’el’s will!”

“I’m a vigorous man, so are you saying I should live a life of abstinence to carry on Ara’el’s will?”

“Yes. You understand well.”

“You know that’s unreasonable, right? Then how about you, whom I can trust, be my partner? If you keep your mouth shut, there won’t be any rumors outside.”

“Wh, what? Are you serious? In Ara’el’s form… Ah, no. That’s…”

Indim was flustered and didn’t know what to do.

“You’re such a fun guy to tease.”

Azadin chuckled, watching Indim’s flustered expression.

“So, what have you guys been up to?”

Azadin ignored Indim’s absurd remarks and asked Dimia and Seraph.

“We’ve been tracking the Elder Council’s actions.”

“That sounds interesting. What are they up to?”

“Currently, the clan has seized the thrones of Korasar and Butuma, but the thrones are rejecting the Elder Council and not recognizing them as kings. The Nagas tried to defile the thrones with Nether sorcery, but that seems to have failed as well.”

Thanks to Azadin and Ara’el having invested all the copies of the Divine King’s Scriptures they had collected, and having woven spells into the throne of Butuma, even if the light of the kingship couldn’t protect the kingdoms, it seemed to be preventing the thrones from being corrupted by sorcery.

“The clan members, who had expected to resolve all their past grievances and seize wealth and power once they obtained the thrones, are becoming increasingly dissatisfied. The Elder Council is blaming everything on the traitor Azadin, saying it’s because he interfered and killed Elder Kazas and Chieftain Hatir.”

“Is that so? But why did they attack the transport ships? What happened to the Aragasa?”

“A being called the Southern Heavenly King has appeared among the Nagas. He is said to be blessed by the Nether’s envoy, not the Naga Queen, and he is uniting the Naga forces and planning their overall strategy. Pimbulbert [a location or event] is coming, and their goal is to deplete the humans’ stockpiled food and find the divine object called the Sun of Seonwoo and make it their own.”

“The Sun of Seonwoo? What are you talking about?”

“We don’t know much either. We just heard that it would help them survive in Pimbulbert.”

“Is that so? Where is it?”

“The Nagas and Aragasa are currently searching for it.”

“How are they searching?”

When Azadin asked, Dimia smiled.

“Do you happen to know about Elemental Wailing?”

“Ah… that.”

“Recently, the number of Elemental Wailing patients has been increasing even more around the world. And the Elder Council, or rather, the traitors of the clan who have joined hands with the Nagas, have been mainly searching for them.”

“……”

“Those afflicted with Elemental Wailing are helpful in finding the Sun of Seonwoo. That’s what they think. But we have too few people, so we don’t know much more than that. I’m ashamed, Azadin. We haven’t been of much help.”

“No. No, you’ve been a great help.”

It wasn’t an empty compliment.

It was surprising that the Sun of Seonwoo, whatever it was, would be of great help in Pimbulbert, but that it was related to Elemental Wailing was even more surprising.

It was very valuable and precious information.

However, from what he heard, the Nagas were united and moving under the Southern Heavenly King, and the Aragasa seemed to have completely fallen into corruption by joining hands with them.

“The clan has completely fallen into corruption by joining hands with them. What about Midiam?”

He was worried about Midiam, who would be trapped within the corrupted clan.

“Midiam Etar, the girl who was your apprentice? There’s no information about her. Well, they probably didn’t kill her. She’s of the Etar bloodline, after all. But why do we have to know about her? We’re busy too. We’re investigating important matters concerning the future of humanity and the clan, so we don’t have the capacity to take care of a child you have a personal connection with.”

Indim grumbled as he answered.