The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 414

“This is insane!”

Following Azadin’s orders, the heavy infantry, led by Selim, advanced to the front, their wooden shields raised. However, they were clearly intimidated by the enemy’s strong defensive position.

The Visen musketeers and pikemen held the high ground, having dug trenches into the winding, steep terrain to strategically position their gunners. They blocked the paths with pikemen and musketeers where the road widened.

It was a classic trap: any charge against the visible pikemen would be met with a barrage of gunfire from the trenches on either side.

The reason the Visen forces had chosen this location to confront Azadin’s army was obvious. It was a natural fortress, and even the greenest soldier could see how much blood would be spilled to break through it. Their defense was formidable.

“Alright, alright! Stop the chatter and move forward! Or I’ll feed you to the hippogriffs!?”

Despite Azadin’s attempts to stop him, Selim threatened the soldiers with the hippogriffs [mythical creatures with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a horse], driving them forward.

From the soldiers’ perspective, whether they died to a minotaur [a creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man] or a gun, the outcome was the same. They had no choice but to move towards the enemy, where there was at least a slim chance of survival.

But then…

-Swish!

The first attack came from the Herald Clan.

Impatient Indim had released an arrow.

‘No way.’

‘Earlier, the former Crown Princess’s arrow flew incredibly far, but…’

‘They’re just dots in the distance. How are they going to hit anything with arrows? Even a catapult wouldn’t reach that far.’

Everyone thought it was impossible to hit anything with a bow from 500 paces away.

But… a blue streak cut through the distant enemy lines…

Soldiers fell, spraying blood.

“Huh?”

Four musketeers in the left trench had fallen from a single arrow.

-Swish!

Next, Seraph’s arrow flew.

-Thud! Thud! Thud!

The gunners in the right trench fell, spewing blood.

“Advance 10 paces!”

At Seraph’s request, Selim shouted,

“Did you all hear that! Advance 10 paces!”

“…Wow.”

The soldiers followed orders. The Visen forces began firing their guns in a hurry, but the distance was too great, and the bullets missed their mark.

The occasional bullets that did fly were already weakened and were easily blocked by the wooden shields.

In other words, the Herald Clan could hit enemies with arrows from a distance that even gunpowder weapons couldn’t reach.

‘Well, it seems like it’s just these two.’

‘They’re mages, these guys.’

The soldiers were amazed as they watched Indim and Seraph fire arrows without hesitation.

“Advance again!”

Ten paces at a time, they continued to close the distance.

The closer they got, the more often they were hit by enemy fire, but the heavy infantry in the lead could block most of the bullets simply by walking forward with their wooden shields.

Even from afar, the enemy’s agitation was visible.

As the soldiers wavered, the officers were seen encouraging them to maintain control.

“Hmph. Since I’m the commander, it’s like they’re begging me to get shot.”

Indim scoffed and fired an arrow, and an officer fell.

Cheers erupted from the allied forces.

“Alright, advance 20 paces!”

A clear voice of a young girl in her late teens echoed.

Everyone’s gaze naturally turned to Midiam. Midiam, with a Herald Clan bow tucked under her arm, encouraged the soldiers.

“Everyone, rest assured! This battle is already won!”

Midiam said this as she rose, drawing the attention of the soldiers.

“My presence here is proof of that! The King intends to spill only the enemy’s blood in this battle!”

As Midiam stood up, gunshots rang out from the outpost aimed at her.

It seemed the enemy wasn’t going to just sit back and take it. A sharpshooter, specially selected from the musketeers, had been waiting and fired when the commander moved.

However, Midiam drew a dagger and deflected the incoming bullet.

The bullet, having lost its power beyond its effective range, hit the hilt of her blade, deformed, and fell to the ground.

Midiam kicked the deformed bullet up, picked it up, and showed it to the soldiers, shouting,

“Look! At this distance, even their muskets are just toys that fling lead. A slingshot would hurt more, so don’t worry! On the other hand…”

At Midiam’s signal, Ismail stepped forward, nocking an arrow.

“Volley fire!”

The Etar Clan’s servants, who had been walking silently until now, raised their bows in unison.

The arrows flew across the sky.

Like fish wagging their tails and swimming through the water, the arrows flew an unbelievable distance, raining down on the enemy and causing significant damage.

Cheers erupted from Azadin’s army.

“Waaaah!”

As Midiam said, it seemed they could win the battle just by shooting arrows from this distance.

Unable to watch any longer, the Visen forces belatedly brought out cannons. The Etar Clan’s servants were startled when the cannons pulled by carts appeared, but…

“We can’t let the Herald Clan have all the glory.”

Two knights appeared at the rear of the Visen forces.

One was the Penitent Knight, Sir Zekt, wearing a hemp shroud, and the other was an older man with a pipe in his mouth, dragging several iron stakes, each as thick as a man’s thigh, attached to a leather strap.

Former Inquisitor Zekt and Astadeer had bypassed the rough terrain and appeared at the rear of the Visen forces.

One might think that two knights wouldn’t change the front lines much, but…

-Thwack!

Zekt’s hands were invisible. Only a blurry flash of light extended from Zekt’s hands, slaughtering the artillerymen.

-Boom!

The iron stakes that Sir Astadeer threw pierced through the pikemen. With four or five soldiers pierced by a single stake, the formation collapsed and turned into a shambles in an instant.

Zekt and Astadeer were wreaking havoc on the enemy’s rear, becoming a storm of death that killed everyone within range.

These two knights, the embodiment of death, who were slaughtering every enemy within reach of their swords and leather straps, proved why so many in Hybris feared the King’s Church and why the Inquisitors were so renowned.

“Advance! Intimidate the enemy! Bang your shields and shout!”

As Selim ordered the heavy infantry, they all approached the enemy lines, shouting as if they had been waiting for the order.

The Visen forces, already in chaos due to Zekt and Astadeer’s appearance in the rear, were mentally pressured and floundering just by the approach of the allied forces.

“Kuh! Don’t think you can have your way!”

From among the collapsing Visen forces, crimson wings appeared. Celestials with blood-stained wings had appeared.

But…

“Sir Zekt. Did you struggle against these guys?”

“No, Sir Astadeer. I was alone back then.”

Astadeer and Zekt each took on an enemy. They quickly cut off the Celestials’ wings with their swords and drove iron stakes into their thighs.

The Herald Clan’s long-range attacks, the pressure from Selim’s heavy infantry, and the combined efforts of Zekt and Astadeer made the appearance of the Visen Celestials nothing more than a last-ditch effort.

*********

The soldiers of Azadin’s army didn’t actually do much fighting.

However, they now had the task of clearing the battlefield, repairing the roads, cleaning up the corpses, and organizing the supplies.

The Visen forces hadn’t even managed to destroy their supplies, which were seized intact. As expected of Visen, famous for its high-quality iron ore, they obtained good weapons and gunpowder.

“I’m ashamed. I wasn’t of much help.”

Sir Karna, who had led the light cavalry, blushed.

The musketeers’ fire was a threat to the light cavalry, and since there was no way to bypass the straight path, Azadin didn’t deploy the light cavalry in this battle.

However, Karna seemed uneasy, feeling like he was just eating up supplies.

“No, the light cavalry is helping with transporting supplies, right?”

“Y-yes, that’s true, but…”

Azadin was using the light cavalry’s horses to transport a significant portion of the army’s supplies.

The light cavalry’s warhorses had less endurance than ordinary packhorses, but they were still horses and could carry more supplies than people.

At that moment, Zekt called out to Azadin.

“…Hmm. Your Majesty. You should see this.”

“Ah.”

Azadin clicked his tongue as he looked at the corpse of the enemy commander killed by Zekt and Astadeer.

This commander, who had died with crimson wings spread out, had pointed ears and was at least an arm’s length taller than an average person. He also had blue tattoos along his neck and chest.

“An elf… or a half-elf.”

The Kingdom of Asander, ruled by the Northern Empire, was a confederated kingdom with the elves.

The elves who had been loyal to the Naga during the Naga Empire betrayed the Naga Empire and sided with the Yagas gods, in exchange for their autonomy.

The Yagas gods, who had already implemented the Quartz Throne [a powerful artifact or system], had to rule the Asander region by forming a confederated kingdom. Therefore, even though the elves were collaborators of the Naga Empire, their original status was recognized.

It was not unusual to find elves or half-elves among the Northern Empire’s army and agents.

However…

“This is…”

Azadin frowned as he saw a vial in the half-elf’s possession.

It was a vial containing angel’s blood.

They had it at the Banreung Academy, but he never expected to see it here as well.

“The Northern Empire and the Wisdom Cult were leaking angel’s blood to the outside. They’re probably using some kind of magic on this blood to create those horrible Celestials.”

Sir Heine had testified as such, but it was only speculation.

“It’s a shame we killed him. There were many things we needed to interrogate him about.”

“Shall we ask the soul of the deceased through necromancy?”

Zekt asked.

“No, I don’t like that kind of necromancy… From now on, I forbid any magic that touches the soul. Manipulating the body is only allowed when absolutely necessary. Even if they are enemies, let’s not touch their souls after they die.”

Azadin also used necromancy, but he forbade touching souls.

“Understood. Then, let’s hear the testimonies of the survivors.”

The surviving officers and non-commissioned officers of the Visen forces were brought out. They were furious when they saw Azadin.

“You filthy Herald Clan! You’ve brought your forces and taken over the kingdom! Are you planning to fill the Hybris continent with your clan after all?!”

Azadin’s declaration of being the King of Banreung seemed to have touched a nerve with the people of Hybris who disliked Aragas.

The people of Hybris both hated and feared the Herald Clan, so Azadin’s taking the throne and bringing in the Herald Clan as soldiers seemed like an invasion by the Herald Clan to them.

Azadin chuckled.

‘You’re not even great nobles like kings, dukes, or counts, so why are you worried about the conflict between the Herald Clan and the people of Hybris? And you’re saying that now after killing your own people?’