The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 366

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the alley from which the arrow had flown.

Another golden arrow came flying.

“-Flame Tempest!”

Griselda, knowing she couldn’t block the arrow with her blood magic, cast a red magic spell she had learned from the dwarves. [Dwarven magic is often associated with fire and earth elements.]

Indeed, when the flame tempest hit the arrow, the magic contained within it was neutralized, and it fell to the ground.

‘Good. It’s embarrassing to use dwarven magic, but this isn’t the time to be picky. Considering the volume of the first arrow and the one just now, it’s not enough to make a single warsword. That means there’s still one more left.’

Griselda inwardly rejoiced at seeing that the red magic worked properly.

The shock and fear that Aurelia Dawn caused the vampires was so great that even she was momentarily disoriented, but she had more than just blood magic at her disposal.

Again, an arrow came flying.

Griselda immediately intercepted the arrow with dwarven magic.

This arrow was an ordinary steel arrow, and it shattered as soon as it was hit by the magic.

“…Don’t play games, Count Azadin! There should still be one more arrow made from Aurelia Dawn, shouldn’t there? Do you think I’d fall for such childish tricks?”

Griselda said this and cast a spell towards the corner where Azadin was likely to be.

Even though it wasn’t clearly visible from Griselda’s side, even a blind magic spell had tremendous power in a narrow corridor.

Moreover, there were magic stones scattered throughout the corridor, so if any of them were to explode, a massive explosion would occur.

And indeed…

A huge explosion occurred beyond the corridor.

“Hahaha. You relied too much on Aurelia Dawn. What a fool!”

Griselda, certain of her victory, burst into laughter. Even if he was a member of the Heraldic Clan, he couldn’t possibly be unscathed if he was caught in a magic stone explosion. [Heraldic Clan refers to a noble family with a long history and often associated with powerful magic.]

Finally, she had caught the arrogant Azadin by the tail. She was rejoicing when…

-Thud!

A wooden stake protruded from Griselda’s chest.

“…What?!”

One of Griselda’s daughters had stabbed her in the back with a wooden stake.

“Kuh?! You, you are?!”

“As expected, you can’t tell your daughters apart. Even if you’ve covered yourself in blood magic.”

Niselda, who had concealed her scent with Bernard’s black magic, had blended in among Griselda’s daughters and stealthily approached her.

Griselda, unaware of this, had only been focused on Azadin in front of her and was caught off guard.

“You, you dare?!”

Enraged, Griselda’s other daughters and vampires launched a fierce attack on Niselda.

Niselda fended off the attacks with two side swords and held her ground.

Even though she was only focused on defense, the attacking vampires were so numerous that she sustained injuries here and there. However, to protect her, a spell was cast from the rear, from the direction where the dwarven guard captain, Iak, had rushed in.

-Poison Blood Spider Blood Spear!

A spear of blood flew towards the vampires.

It wasn’t a fast spear, so everyone was able to dodge it, but the spear that fell to the ground exploded and transformed into small blood spiders.

Taking advantage of the gap, Niselda quickly escaped.

“Kuh! These things dare to set a trap for me?”

Griselda pulled out the stake from her chest and threw it away in anger.

“And dare to cast blood magic in front of me?!”

Griselda immediately intervened in the blood magic and seized control of the blood spiders. Although Bernard was using the power of Ashajit’s eyes to use blood magic, Griselda was several levels above him in terms of the precision of blood magic. [Ashajit’s eyes are a source of magical power, likely related to blood magic.]

No matter how powerful Ashajit’s eyes were, the skill of a seasoned mage could exert even greater power. Griselda quickly seized control of the blood spiders and ordered her subordinates.

“Catch that one!”

She didn’t call Niselda by her name. All of her daughters had the name Niselda.

But then, the third golden arrow came flying.

“I knew it!”

At the same time, Griselda cast a flame tempest spell.

She had prepared the flame tempest spell in advance, thinking that if she were Azadin, she would attack at this very moment.

“Did you think such petty tricks would continue to work?!”

“Yeah. And?”

“What?”

At that moment, Griselda realized that another arrow had fallen at her feet.

It was a worthless iron-tipped arrow that she hadn’t noticed because she was distracted by Aurelia Dawn’s golden arrow.

It wasn’t even a steel arrow, but an iron-tipped arrow, a pathetic arrow that could often be blocked even by wearing a slightly thick cotton coat.

However, this arrow contained powerful magic, and it hit one of the blood spiders at her feet.

Surprisingly, this blood spider was carrying a magic stone within its body.

“…Ah?!”

Even though Griselda had already taken control of the blood spider, the magic stone it carried was so heavy that the spider couldn’t move on its own.

In other words, it was a spider that had no choice but to remain in the same spot where it had initially flown in on the blood spear.

-Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon, White Crane! [This is likely a name of a powerful magic spell.]

Colorless magic exploded and engulfed Griselda.

Griselda’s body was flung into the air, collided with the ceiling, and then fell to the ground.

And only then did Azadin and Jibek reveal themselves.

Jibek shattered all the blood spiders that Griselda had taken control of with the magic of his holy mace.

Then, Azadin rushed in, cut off both of Griselda’s legs with the Azure Executioner, and drove another stake into her chest. [Azure Executioner is likely a name of a powerful weapon.]

“Kyaaak?!”

The other vampires, despite Griselda being in danger, turned and began to flee.

“The master of Aurelia Dawn! It’s Count Azadin!”

“We, we have to run!”

They were vampires who called Griselda their mother, but they weren’t so devoted as to endure being burned by Aurelia Dawn.

Bernard and Niselda were in their path, but they all gave up fighting and fled.

In the end, only Griselda remained.

“Isn’t taking the life and body of your enemy into your own hands the best revenge? Rather than simply killing them.”

“I agree, Count.”

Niselda nodded happily.

But then, from where the throne was, a pale power pulsed again.

The fallen vampire corpses twitched, and blood vessels burst through their skin.

The vampires, and the corpses, began to transform into Ashajit’s minions.

“…The master of the throne has completely fallen.”

Azadin created a stake from the sap he had collected from Grimslaw’s club and drove it into Griselda’s lower abdomen again. [Grimslaw’s club is likely a weapon or item with special properties.]

Griselda, with stakes piercing her heart, lower abdomen, and thighs, trembled with pain, anger, and shame.

“You bastards! Kill me!”

“What were you planning to do with the Banreung Kingdom? What is the ultimate nature of the wish magic the dwarves used?” [Banreung Kingdom is likely a kingdom or region in the story.]

Niselda pressed a blade against Griselda and questioned her. But Griselda only scoffed.

“Haha. You think I’m a fool. Do you think I’d tell you that now? Count Azadin, you may be able to defeat me, but you can’t make me submit!”

“Is that so? The dwarven king betrayed you, yet you remain loyal to him?”

“What?”

Griselda bristled at the mention of her loyalty to the dwarven king.

“I was able to subdue you because I had Bernard and Niselda as my subordinates, but honestly, I respect you as an enemy. Griselda, you are beautiful and ambitious. However, the only reason I was able to win was because I inherited Aurelia Dawn, and it’s too deadly for vampires, isn’t it? If we had met in a different relationship, in a different position, we might not have become enemies like this.”

“Ha. Don’t be ridiculous. You…”

“I’m serious. The reason I provoked you all this time was because you are a formidable enemy, and I wanted to disrupt your composure, not because it was my true intention. It was to repay Bernard and Niselda for their dedication. Even though we have become enemies, I want to respect you until the end as an enemy.”

“………”

“Tell me about the dwarven king’s ambition. You have nothing more to lose. To you, the dwarven king and I are both enemies. Then, wouldn’t it be beneficial to lend your strength to the enemy with fewer numbers and less power, and induce them to fight each other?”

“If the dwarven king and his subordinates capture and kill you, I might have a chance to escape, right?”

“Do you think Niselda and Bernard would allow that? And above all, I…”

Azadin drew Aurelia Dawn from its scabbard. Just that alone made the once-arrogant Griselda flinch.

“Because I acknowledge that you are a dangerous existence to have as an enemy, I will not let you live and send you away.”

“Ha. Is that what you call a persuasion?”

“Because I can’t hand over the life of a deadly night queen like you to those dwarves.”

“……”

“……”

Griselda, as well as Azadin’s group who were listening to the story, had their expressions harden.

‘Wow. How can he tell such a blatant lie?’

Edir was inwardly impressed.

‘He’s scary. The Heraldic Clan.’

‘Is it because he’s a member of the Heraldic Clan that he can say such things?’

‘It’s an act, right? It’s an act, isn’t it?’

Jibek, Niselda, and Bernard were also appalled as they watched Azadin speak with a sincere expression, devoid of any hint of laughter.

They even felt fear at Azadin’s remarks, which seemed to genuinely lament Griselda’s beauty and ambition.

“Well, you’re a bit cuter than Manawidan.”

Griselda was swayed by Azadin’s words. It wasn’t that she didn’t suspect Azadin, but when she thought about it calmly, there was no way for her to survive on her own here.

At least, as long as Azadin spoke of respect, he wouldn’t torture her while she talked about the dwarven king.

And there was some truth in Azadin’s words.

If they were both enemies anyway, it would be better to give information to the side with fewer numbers and induce them to destroy each other.

“What is the wish spell the dwarves used? What wish did they make?”

“To merge with the Yegas gods and become a superior race than them.”

“Superiority? How do they define superiority?”

The wish magic was an incredible high-level magic, the existence of which was not even known for sure.

But regardless of that, the wish magic that appeared in countless folk tales, fairy tales, and myths would return as a terrible destruction if the terms were defined incorrectly.

Wasn’t the term ‘to become a superior being’ a wish that had too much room for misinterpretation?

But Griselda’s answer was too concise.

“Tall height!”

“………”