The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 338

Azadin charged forward with terrifying momentum, grabbed a female vampire who was floating in the air, and hurled her at Griselda. Simultaneously, he lunged towards Griselda.

His plan was to change his angle and attack her the moment she dodged her own daughter.

However, Griselda, looking at her daughter, nonchalantly shredded her with a flick of her fingernails.

Then, she snapped her claws at Azadin, who was rushing towards her.

Her sharp fingernails were as black as the night’s darkness, making them barely visible in the rain and wind.

They looked like the fingernails of a person or beast, but they could instantly extend dozens of times in length, and even in their thin state, they were strangely strong, tearing through opponents like well-honed swords.

Not knowing the extent of the power within them, Azadin avoided her fingernails and reached out his hand.

His target was the Eye of Ashajit, the large red gem embedded in Griselda’s forehead.

However, Griselda dodged Azadin’s attack and pierced his arm with her fingernails.

Azadin’s palm was pierced, and the fingernails protruded from the back of his hand.

“Ugh?!”

“Ahahaha. Such a sweet smell of blood. Little one. Let’s see?”

Griselda lightly knocked off Azadin’s mask and raised her hand. Despite Azadin’s considerable size, his feet lifted off the ground.

Surprisingly, Griselda had lifted Azadin using only one hand.

Azadin immediately grabbed his own hand to prevent the wound from tearing further, but as a result, he was pulled straight towards Griselda.

“Ugh!”

“Ho? Indeed?!”

Griselda was amazed as she looked at Azadin’s eyes, revealed by the mask that had been knocked off.

His features were so smooth and delicate that it was hard to tell if he was male or female, and his purple eyes, which had even captivated Emperor Yaeslat, the eyes of Harkonia, shone like stars in the darkness.

Azadin, who was born supernaturally with a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture and a twisted contract of service, had a handsome and elegant appearance, except for the fact that he was originally born without eyes, and the eyes of Harkonia were the crowning glory of his appearance.

“How charming. Hmm. Too precious to give to the Shade Hags….”

Griselda, with Azadin’s hand pierced, took steps as if dancing in a ballroom. Azadin had to follow her dance to prevent his hand from being torn.

“Ahahaha! Excellent, Azadin. To have the hero of the Herald Clan in my hands! What shall I do?! Will you become my blood kin?! Will you become the master of this night with me and enjoy the utmost pleasure? Of course, that’s if I don’t get tired of you….”

It was when Griselda was rejoicing, believing she had Azadin in her grasp.

Suddenly, golden flames erupted from Azadin’s hand.

“Ah!?”

A part of Aurelia Dawn had remained in Azadin’s hand. Azadin had anticipated that it would be difficult to approach Griselda completely unscathed, so he had held onto a piece of Aurelia Dawn, which had been shattered into dozens of fragments, and made contact with Griselda’s body.

“Kuaaaak!”

Horrified, Griselda cut off her own hand to prevent the flames of Aurelia Dawn from spreading throughout her body. She then swung the fingernails she had used to cut off her wrist to attack Azadin, but Azadin, as if he had predicted her attack, lightly placed his hand on the ground and evaded her attack.

“Sorry, but you’re not my type!”

Azadin did a handstand and kicked Griselda’s jaw with an upward kick.

Griselda’s jawbone was shattered, and the Eye of Ashajit flew into the air.

“Kaak!”

It was a terrifying attack that shattered her jaw with a single blow and even twisted her neck bones backward.

However, Griselda regenerated and healed her wounds incredibly quickly. Losing consciousness was only for a fleeting moment.

She lunged to grab the Eye of Ashajit, but a figure snatched it from the air.

It was Griselda’s daughter, a woman in black mourning clothes, who had recovered it.

“My daughter! Well done! Quickly, return it to your mother!”

Griselda, who had regenerated her jaw in an instant, ordered her daughter to hand over the Eye of Ashajit.

“………”

“Niselda?”

“…Yes. You really don’t recognize me.”

The woman who had recovered the Eye of Ashajit stood up. The veil covering her head fluttered in the cold night wind, revealing her face.

She had a beautiful face, as did all of Griselda’s daughters, but unlike the other daughters, this woman had the mark of the Rescue Knights on her eyes and forehead.

“I am Niselda of the Rescue Knights. You hideous monster! It’s time to pay for your sins!”

“Ah, no! How dare you! Give it to me now! I’ll kill you all!”

Enraged, Griselda began to cast a spell, and a dark red vortex began to swirl beneath her feet.

Terrible Nether magic [a type of dark magic] spread out from her, trying to devour everything alive.

But….

-Buzz! Crackle!

Barriers of power appeared with electrical sparks, blocking the dark red vortex.

A mage as powerful as she was interfering with her power, preventing the completion of her spell.

“It’s been a while, Griselda.”

Wyverns made of bone circled above Griselda.

Even in the biting cold and blizzard, the wyvern riders were flying calmly.

This was because they were the undead, immune to the cold.

It was the Death Knight Sork and his army, the Fimbul Horde, who had appeared.

“Sork?! The Fimbul Horde?!”

Griselda was shocked by what was happening before her eyes.

The Fimbul Horde began to attack the cultist mutants who were trying to swoop down and attack the refugees.

Cultist mutants and an undead army, either one of them was like a manifestation of a nightmare, and now they were fighting each other.

“You, you. Is it true that you have Sork as your subordinate?”

Griselda was horrified as she looked at Azadin.

Rumors had circulated that Azadin had taken in Sork, the leader of the Fimbul Horde, but she had naturally thought it was nonsense. No matter how much of a Herald Clan member or a Divine King Slayer he was, there was no way that Sork, who had mastered forbidden sorcery and led an undead army, would go under a mere young man.

But….

This man before her was clearly wielding the power of a paladin to the extreme, and yet he was at least allied with the necromancer Sir Sork?

“It’s embarrassing to call him a subordinate… let’s just say we’re allies.”

Azadin pulled out Griselda’s fingernail that was embedded in his hand and grabbed the hilt of his sword.

Golden flames raced along the ground towards the hilt of Aurelia Dawn and gathered.

The molten metal reassembled, resurrecting into a dazzling golden blade.

“My… goodness.”

“To melt and reconstruct a sword with the flames of ceramite [a heat-resistant material]….”

Even the Celestial Knights were amazed, so it seemed that Azadin was the only one capable of this. Azadin had thought that if he, who was only at the entry level, could do it, then others could too, but that was not the case.

It was because it was Aurelia Dawn that it burned the vampires to death, and it was because it was Azadin that such hot flames could melt a ceramite longsword.

All of this was a miracle possible because Azadin was chosen by the angels.

“So. Azadin. You are the one Sir Planck appointed at the end. Ha….”

Griselda recognized Azadin’s identity and groaned.

“Griselda!”

Griselda’s daughter, Niselda, drew her side sword and rushed to kill Griselda, but Griselda’s other daughters blocked her path.

“Don’t let her escape!”

Sork also ordered his subordinates. The elf wights [undead elves], Sork’s personal guard, cast spells and jumped into the fray, fighting Griselda’s daughters.

While the vampires and wights were engaged in a bloody battle, biting and clawing at each other, Griselda leaped through the cultist mutants and retreated.

“I will definitely retrieve the Eye of Ashajit! Fear the night!”

Griselda left those words and fled. As soon as she fled, the cultist mutants went berserk and became violent, so even Sork could not catch up to her.

*********

‘This, this can’t be. That man is a member of the Herald Clan. That man… is the most outstanding paladin?’

Trio Dana was horrified as he watched Azadin wield Aurelia Dawn, fight on equal terms with Griselda, and stand shoulder to shoulder with the terrifying Death Knight Sork.

He now realized that Azadin was no ordinary paladin.

‘The ceramite longsword he uses is Aurelia Dawn, Sir Planck’s sword. The one Sir Planck appointed at the end is the paladin of paladins… Until now, I thought my father was Sir Planck’s last appointee, but is it him? Is he the protagonist of the prophecy?’

Thanks to him, he had survived, but Trio Dana realized that Azadin was the most powerful enemy and rival of the Northern Empire.

*********

The night sky, where the blizzard had melted into rain, was shimmering with a strange light. The light from the torches and lanterns held by the people on the ground reflected in the sky, scattering white dots across the dark sky.

Azadin looked up at the sky and exhaled.

His breath froze.

His black hair shone with luster, and his purple eyes flashed with a unique brilliance even in the darkness, exuding the aura of a noble hero.

Delia, Jerod, and the others who had been rescued by Azadin’s appearance were captivated by his appearance. At first, they had cheered for the Celestials, but now they realized it.

Azadin was the paladin of paladins.

The power of the ceramite longsword he wielded, and the decisiveness to call even the Death Knight Sork as an ally if necessary, all of it was worthy of being called a hero.

But….

‘No, damn it. Why did Sork come?’

Azadin himself was actually flustered. Niselda and the others were the second group who were scheduled to arrive after Azadin, riding hippogriffs [a mythical creature, half-horse, half-eagle].

But he had not called for Sork.

He was not that close to Sork to call him, and Azadin had not yet reached an agreement with Sork.

What Sork was after was the treasure Griselda had, the Eye of Ashajit. Azadin had no intention of handing it over to Sork.

Blood was constantly flowing from this Eye of Ashajit, and they wanted to eat it and become undead to withstand the Fimbulwinter [a legendary, harsh winter], which was not something to accept happily.

Anyone in their right mind would refuse, but Sir Sork’s forces were formidable. Moreover, he had come as reinforcements and had done a great service, so there was no justification to refuse him.

‘Information is leaking. Is there a spy among my subordinates? Or from Fireglyph? There are so many places to suspect, I don’t know where it is.’

Azadin’s forces were a hastily formed group that had absorbed existing forces, so naturally, there would be many spies within them.

Azadin was also acting on the assumption that there were spies or informants within his forces.

However, he thought there were no spies who could contact Sork. The spies of the Van Dyke Company, the Rescue Knights Order, the King’s Church, or the thieves, etc., could somehow entice people with religion or profit, but Sork had little to offer humans.

Yet, the fact that Sork was here was a shock to Azadin.

Could there really be humans who want to become undead?