The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 35

The power is extraordinary, even from this distance.

‘He’s not really trying to hide that he’s a Messenger Clan member, is he?’

‘But it seems like Azadin is using a stronger Moon-Crescent Bow than other Messengers?’

Midiam and Ismael clicked their tongues, watching Azadin’s performance.

‘Messengers definitely… learn about tactics, strategies, and various legal matters. But most of it is just a superficial overview, and they say that without practical experience, it’s not enough.’

That’s why, after completing basic training, they gain practical experience by carrying out missions with Messengers as aides.

‘But Azadin became a Messenger directly without any aide experience, and it’s only been three months. Yet, what is this proficiency? He was even a dropout in basic training, so how did Elder Kazas train him?’

Midiam became curious about what kind of training Azadin had undergone.

*********

“Huh?”

Meya was shocked by the immense power of Azadin’s arrow. Azadin reloaded and fired another arrow.

-Thud!

This time, too, an undead fell with a resounding sound. The undead, struck by the arrow, rolled across the ground, like a pile of trash swept away by a strong wind.

[Damn it. What is this?]

The caster, who was watching the situation, was in shock.

“You said the strong take everything? I’ll show you who’s strong.”

[Don’t be ridiculous, archer! Showing off after shooting just a few arrows! How about this?]

Then the undead began to go berserk.

“Grrr!”

“Kaaa!”

The undead charged with terrifying speed. It was a sight that anyone would fear. But Azadin was not afraid.

“That’s all you’ve got!”

Azadin used Aragas Law [a technique to enhance arrow power] to maximize the power of his arrows, firing them in rapid succession.

-Ping!

With the sound of tearing through the wind, the arrows flew, and each time, the charging undead tumbled to the ground. Moreover, the fallen undead became obstacles for those coming from behind, lengthening the enemy’s formation.

As a result, only a few undead reached the front line where Meya and Tarki stood. Even if the fallen undead got back up, the number of troops deployed at once was reduced, so the people on the front line could handle them sufficiently.

“Ugh, they’re really ugly.”

Tarki, wielding a longsword, stood at the forefront, while Kaka and Chico, with their spears, stood slightly diagonally to support his rear.

Tarki would swing his longsword widely, and Kaka and Chico, positioned behind, would use their spears to cover the gaps created by his swings.

And the undead that broke through the barrier were blocked and dealt with by the paladin Meya, who was armed with a short sword and shield that Azadin had taken out of the luggage.

Fighting while maintaining such a systematic formation, they were able to subdue the undead quite easily. Moreover…

-Swish!

-Thwack!

In addition to Azadin’s arrows, arrows of considerable power were attacking the undead. Midiam, who had been using a hunting bow, couldn’t resist and pulled out her Moon-Crescent Bow to shoot.

“Hey.”

“As long as the paladin doesn’t catch us, it’s fine, right?”

It seemed that the paladin Meya was too busy engaging in close combat to notice. Well, she wouldn’t have time to look back.

Taking advantage of that, not only Midiam but even Ismael was subtly switching to the Moon-Crescent Bow and firing arrows.

“Alright. If I say so, quickly switch to your bows.”

Azadin allowed Midiam and Ismael to use the Moon-Crescent Bow and fired his own arrows as well.

*********

As Azadin, Midiam, and Ismael began to shoot arrows, the undead started to lose their momentum.

The undead that barely reached Tarki’s group, dodging the arrow rain, were already battered and collapsed easily with a light touch from melee weapons. However, as the corpses of the undead piled up, Tarki’s group had no choice but to keep retreating.

[These, these bastards…]

The caster was flustered.

They had thought it was a group with a child, so they didn’t think much of them, but they were defending much better than the merchants and mercenaries.

And this defensive formation was tricky.

Even though the obstacles were just light wooden benches, the zombies had poor mobility and would stumble trying to get over the knee-high benches.

In the end, the infantry was bound to be exposed to the arrow rain. And if they deployed wyverns, the flying wyverns were easy to possess, so losing them here would be a shame. In chess terms, it would be like losing the queen early on.

‘I’m going to waste them by holding back. I should have deployed all the wyverns from the start.’

In the end, the caster decided to deploy all their cards without holding back.

*********

-Grrr.

A bear appeared.

It wasn’t a zombie, just a bear with black spores attached to its body. It moved much more vividly and quickly than a zombie.

Its mobility was no different from when it was alive, no, it was a living being.

And…

-Whoosh?!

The wyverns also began to move. They began a three-dimensional attack, using bears on the ground and wyverns in the air.

“Whoa!”

As the bear charged, the front line was instantly devastated. Tarki, who had been holding up well against the human-type zombies, had no choice but to falter when the bear charged.

Moreover, Azadin’s arrows, which had been so effective against other zombies, were not very effective against the bear.

-Thud!

The arrow was almost completely embedded, with only the fletching slightly visible, like a javelin. If this were a normal, living bear, it would have gone into shock from the pain.

However, the bear didn’t care at all and charged with the arrow almost completely embedded in its body. Even if its muscles were torn and wounds opened due to the arrow, it didn’t flinch.

“Hiiik!”

Tarki tried to dodge the bear’s charge by jumping to the side with his shield and sword, but the bear swung its front paw. When the shield got caught in its paw, Tarki was sent flying like a toy.

Like a shepherd riding a raging bull, Tarki was thrown and crashed to the ground.

“Kyaaak!”

“Ugh!”

The Kaka and Chico siblings followed up with their spears, but they met the same fate as Tarki. Their spears were caught in the bear’s charge, broke, and they tumbled to the ground.

“Huh!?”

Paladin Meya was flustered and began to cast a spell.

-Heavenly Strike!

A hammer of light appeared in front of her, struck the bear, and exploded. With a roar, the bear’s front paw finally broke. The shoulder and torso where Azadin’s arrow was embedded tore open, and the bear tumbled forward.

It was a power worthy of a paladin of the Royal Church, one who could become a chief officer of the bishopric, but… the problem was that she was too close to the epicenter of the explosion.

“Kyaaak!”

Meya was caught in the explosion of the divine spell she had cast.

‘Is she an idiot!?’

When she was trapped in the warehouse, she said that if she used her magic, she could break the door but would also get caught in it. Now I think I know why. That paladin probably only knows how to use that one spell.

Thanks to her, though, the bear was defeated.

[Damn it. They’re quite something! But…]

Behind the bear’s charge, undead made from the corpses of other forest animals were swarming in.

[My undead are still plentiful! And!]

Taking advantage of the distraction caused by the bear’s charge, the wyverns flew into the sky and landed on the warehouse roof.

[Ahahaha. How is it! You Hybrist people! This is the power of the Messenger Clan that you hate! How does it feel to be retaliated against by someone you mocked and despised?]

She was gloating. But then.

“I’m sorry, but you don’t know the power of the clan at all.”

[What?]

“The power of the clan is… like this.”

At that moment, the wyverns screamed and fell all at once.

*********

The wyverns raised their tails with sharp poisonous stingers high into the sky and then plunged them down, piercing holes in the warehouse roof and stabbing the stingers inside.

Azadin, Midiam, and Ismael were shooting arrows from the eaves of the warehouse or from inside, aiming outwards, and the wyverns had started to swing their poisonous stingers inside, aiming at them.

But Azadin pierced through the warehouse roof and shot arrows straight into the wyverns’ bellies.

His bow was so powerful that even when he shot the bear, the arrow had almost completely embedded itself. Firing it at such close range, it was natural that it would pierce through the wyverns’ bodies and tear their insides apart.

[What is this…]

The power and accuracy of the arrows that were tearing apart the wyverns beyond the roof without even looking.

Azadin, who had instantly killed the wyverns, jumped out of the warehouse.

“Watch closely.”

Azadin drew his bow and shot at a wyvern flying in.

“Our arrows can even bring down the stars in the sky…”

The arrow that hit the wyvern’s wing broke through the bone and continued on.

The wyvern sub-adult, the size of a large calf, screamed and tumbled down.

“I’ll hit the first arrow with the second arrow!”

Azadin used the Twin-Arrow Technique [a technique to fire two arrows at once].

Two arrows simultaneously hit one wyvern, cutting off both of its wings.

“By the Emperor’s command, we even subjugate the gods. This is who we, the Aragas people, are. The Messenger Clan is just what others call us. If you are of our clan, it is right to call yourself Aragas.”

Azadin said that and shrugged his shoulders.

[Then you are…]

“My name is Azadin. I am the 108th Messenger of the Emperor.”

[You, a Messenger? The Emperor’s Messenger?]

“That’s right.”

[Ha… hahahaha.]

The dying wyvern, the caster possessed by it, burst into a hollow laugh.

*********

Midiam had said to Azadin that if he could persuade this caster, who was suffering as a slave because they were a member of the Messenger Clan, she would respect him.

But the reason she set that condition was because she thought persuasion was virtually impossible. Once someone has dabbled in dark magic, they can never return to their original state.

Those who have come into contact with the black magic that wields the power of death always smell death and are always conscious of death, whether they like it or not.

Unlike most living beings who only think of life when they are alive, the power of black magic makes humans gloomy and makes them always see and be aware of the boundary between life and death.

Apart from that, how can one suppress and persuade the resentment and hatred of someone who has been abused as a slave?

However, Azadin felt a slight glimmer of hope.

It was pride.

A person who had been abused for being a member of the Messenger Clan was taking revenge on the Hybrist people and mentioning the power of the Messenger Clan. If someone is distinguished by others, that identity will inevitably become stronger, whether they like it or not.

Because they are discriminated against for being a member of the Messenger Clan, they have no choice but to focus on the strengths of the Messenger Clan. It is how they protect themselves.

If that is the case… in order for Azadin to persuade that caster, he had to show the proud image of the Messenger Clan.

But is that possible?

The Messenger Clan has long since lost its pride. Azadin is someone who is despised even among those Messengers. He is nothing more than a despised person who cannot have pride.

Above all, the problem is the caster’s heart.

How can one persuade a soul that has been so tormented and twisted?