The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 377

“Are you a prince?”

Azadin realized that Sram was a prince when he called the King of Arangi his father.

“I am Sram, the prince of Arangi. Count, I have heard of your reputation and admired you, but I cannot tolerate your current outrageous behavior. You are too young to be senile.”

“I apologize. However, my apology is for the hasty actions of my subordinates, not for retracting my claim to the throne.”

“That is the very sin you should apologize for. How dare you utter such madness in front of the Arangian Guards…”

Sram placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to strike Azadin. But then,

A soft yet powerful aura of light appeared around Azadin.

The expressions of the Arangian Guards, who had been sneering just moments ago, turned rigid.

“Uh…”

“Th-that is…”

“The Light of Kingship?”

The Holy Knights of the King’s Church use power based on the Divine Scripture of Kings. However, the King’s Church provides only degraded copies, not the original, to those who have not become king.

The power that Azadin is emitting now resembles the power used by the Holy Knights of the King’s Church, but anyone can see that this is the real thing.

The true Light of Kingship. The Arangian Guards were bewildered by the powerful white magic aura, but they remembered that he was a member of the Heraldic Clan, a soulless blasphemer.

“Wait a minute. The Heraldic Clan leaked the Divine Scripture of Kings!”

“Yes. A copy of the Divine Scripture of Kings! Leaked by the Heraldic Clan…”

“They are trying to deceive us with that…”

“Do you truly think so?”

Azadin looked at the Arangian Guards and Prince Sram.

Prince Sram was sweating profusely.

As a prince, he had received the Divine Scripture of Kings passed down to the Arangi royal family and had trained with it. He could use various magics and powers because of it… no, precisely because of that, he could tell for sure.

‘His power is on a different level than mine? No, it’s even clearer than my father’s Light of Kingship. How can this be?’

However, upon calm reflection, it was understandable.

Azadin did not come here with his troops for no reason. He must have come to occupy Coxhall. If so, his claim to the throne of Banlung…

He must have a good reason to come here.

‘Huh? The prince’s mouth is shut?’

‘Is it real? Could it be?’

‘A soulless blasphemer wielding the Light of Kingship?’

The Arangian Guards were all frozen, watching Sram’s reaction.

But then, only one person, oblivious to the situation, stirred things up.

*********

“Ugh! Shut up! You madman! How dare you!”

Iteba drew his sword and charged at Azadin. Having been secularized by the King of Arangi to become the lord of Coxhall, he would be useless if he could not get his hands on Coxhall.

He might look good as a clergyman of the King’s Church, but without backing or wealth, he would be miserable. He could not go back to being a miserable clergyman now.

Even if that were not the case, as someone who had been taught and raised in the King’s Church, he could not tolerate a blasphemer like Azadin claiming to be king.

“…….”

Sram and the Arangian Guards pretended to stop Iteba’s reckless act and subtly let him go.

“How dare you!”

Then, the black nun beside Azadin moved like a gale and instantly grabbed Iteba by the neck.

A frail woman lifted Iteba with one hand; her strength and speed were extraordinary.

‘A vampire? No, a half-breed? Then that must be Niselda of Chadra. How did he tame that monster like that?’

Sram recognized Niselda and clicked his tongue. Both the minotaur and the half-vampire in front of him were figures known as the Chadra Outlaws, whom the Arangi Kingdom had been watching.

The Naisandokar region had been virtually abandoned because of the dwarf mafia, a part of the Chadra Outlaws.

The Arangi Kingdom appointed Azadin as a count not only because Naisandokar was a difficult border region to control, but also because they highly valued Azadin’s achievement in eradicating the dwarf mafia.

“Enough, Niselda.”

“Yes.”

Niselda withdrew her anger and turned her head towards Sram.

Although her eyes were covered with an eyepatch, her sharp gaze was palpable.

‘She noticed.’

She knew that they had deliberately let Iteba go and was silently protesting.

‘Amazing. He really tamed the Chadra Outlaws? It seems like they are truly loyal to him?’

Sram was inwardly amazed at Niselda’s reverent attitude towards Azadin.

“Prince, you will need time to think, won’t you? I will give you this book as a gift.”

Azadin handed over a small book from his pocket. It was so small that it was more like a single sheet of paper folded and covered to be preserved for a long time.

“…This book is?”

When Sram opened the book, it turned into a large sheet of paper, which at first glance seemed to be a kind of declaration of precepts and will.

“The New Testament Declaration.”

“The New Testament Declaration?”

“It is the revelation I received from the spirits of Yaeghas.”

“Ughhhhh!”

The moment he heard those words, Iteba writhed.

“You madman! Heretic! Heretic! A soulless blasphemer has gone too far!”

Prince Sram also burst into laughter upon hearing those words.

“Haha. Do you really think I, a descendant of the god Yaeghas, would believe that?”

“A wise person would have no reason to refuse this book, would they? Whether you believe it or not, you can see what I am thinking by reading it. If I were you, I would read it first and send it to the King of Arangi to prepare a response. Refusing to accept it means you are afraid, doesn’t it?”

“Afraid?”

“Yes. Afraid that your heart might waver. If the words I wrote are not the ravings of a madman, but contain a truly righteous and certain meaning, then your faith in the King’s Church, which is already faltering and losing its Light of Kingship, might be shaken.”

“……….”

Azadin’s words were cold and logical. He did not show the intoxication of being the protagonist of a miracle, but rather a calm and composed attitude.

‘His words certainly make me want to believe him.’

However, Sram shook his head to clear his mind of the delusion.

“That would be the case if we were not the Arangian Guards!”

Prince Sram drew his sword.

Now that Azadin had dismounted from his hippogriff and was right in front of them, there was no reason to accept such a heretical book. They could subdue him by force and excommunicate him for his outrageous remarks and the heretical book he had presented.

With a clear justification, there was no reason to hesitate.

“Yes. A prince and an Arangian Guard. Excellent. Oh, by the way, do you know what they call us, the Aragas?”

“I know it well. A soulless blasphemer.”

“No, not that.”

“…The King Slayer?”

“Yes. I have a knack for killing princes.”

At that moment, Azadin rushed towards Prince Sram.

*********

“……….”

Prince Sram was staring blankly at the sky.

The clouds were flowing. Dark clouds. They have been particularly frequent lately. Right. The prophecy of Fimbulvert has arrived, hasn’t it? I have never seen snow in this southern region.

But why am I looking at the sky?

Sram then became aware of his body.

An excruciating pain, as if his whole body was being torn apart, spread from his temples to his entire body.

It hurt. His whole body was screaming.

“Oh.”

Only then did Sram realize that he had momentarily lost his memory and consciousness.

Sram had clearly attacked Azadin, but Azadin had lightly jumped in and grabbed his hand.

To block the Arangian Guard’s weapon? Sram snorted and prepared to unleash his lightning breath.

Now only appearing in legends, the ancient beings, berserkers with the traits of dragons, that was the true nature of the Arangian Guards.

They wielded a halberd in one hand and a great sword in the other, charging lightly like feathers, and blasting enemies with dragon’s breath from their mouths. The Arangian Guards boasted the power to throw even the proud dwarves into the Kerim Mountains.

They were invincible on the field, that was the pride of the Arangian Guards. But….

Azadin used Prince Sram’s strength to lightly throw him away.

Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon, Clear Pine. This magic originally reversed gravity, causing heavy objects to float and then fall, but it did not guarantee the death of the opponent and consumed a lot of magic power.

However, in Kazas’s interpretation, he directly throws the opponent.

It was a primal force that lacked any magical mystery, but its speed and power were magical.

Even Prince Sram, an Arangian Guard, had never experienced such a thing before and was helpless.

He was slammed into the ground so smoothly that it was as if a stone launched by a catapult had crashed into a castle wall.

With a loud crash, Prince Sram collapsed on the ground, and the other Arangian Guards were blocked by Niselda and Selim.

“Ouch, it’s hot. The Arangian Guards are indeed formidable.”

The minotaur, Selim, whose skin was scorched by the Arangian Guard’s breath attack, grumbled and grabbed the Arangian Guard’s neck with his monstrous strength.

The Arangian Guards also possessed tremendous strength, but they were not able to overcome the difference in size, and Selim easily dragged the Arangian Guard and slammed him into the ground.

Niselda evaded the Arangian Guard’s attacks and breath with her swift movements and stabbed a knife into his mouth. She also subdued him instantly without killing him.

‘As expected of the Chadra Outlaws.’

‘Oh dear, even the prince has been captured….’

The remaining Arangian Guards were flustered.

If they dragged on, Azadin’s subordinates would come. They had to subdue them before that, but the skills of the Chadra Outlaws, Selim and Niselda, and Azadin were not ordinary.

Two Arangian Guards and Prince Sram had been subdued.

Should they ignore their sacrifices and push forward to subdue them?

Prince Sram, who had to make that decision, was lying at Azadin’s feet.

Moreover….

“Ah! Count Azadin! What’s going on?”

As the hippogriff flew in, Izmilla and his subordinates arrived to check the situation.

They had approached from the east of the Arangian Guards, so although they were few in number, it meant that an enemy had appeared from behind.

“Could it be that the Arangians attacked us?”

Izmilla, with his firm belief in Azadin, immediately suspected the Arangians upon seeing the situation.

‘Damn it. I thought that even within the Rescue Knights, they were wary of Count Azadin, but they are on good terms. The idea that giving him the title of Margrave of Naisandokar would create discord between him and the Rescue Knights was just nonsense!’

Sram, seeing Izmilla’s favor towards Azadin, mistakenly thought that all the other Rescue Knights liked Azadin to that extent.

Azadin smiled and handed the New Testament Declaration to Prince Sram.

“Well, Prince Sram. Are you now willing to accept the New Testament Declaration?”

Sram was dumbfounded as he looked at Azadin’s face, which was smiling brightly at him.

Was he forcing a sword or a scripture?