The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 426

The Season of War (1)

As summer approached, the temperature rose, becoming similar to a typical spring. Although the weather had become mild enough to avoid freezing to death, people were in despair.

It should have been the scorching heat of midsummer, but with temperatures barely reaching those of a normal spring, they couldn’t even plant seeds.

Even if they managed to plant and the crops sprouted, autumn would soon arrive, and the temperature would drop again, causing the plants to freeze to death before they could even mature.

Last winter had been harsh, but winter was a season when people lived off the harvest from autumn anyway.

Even though it was colder than usual, they could have managed through the winter as they always had….

But as spring turned to summer, the fear of starvation loomed even larger, threatening the people.

The ambiguously warm weather made people pick up weapons instead of farming tools.

If food was scarce, they would take it from those who had it.

The season was summer, and thanks to the somewhat milder weather, it became easier for people to kill each other with weapons.

Even in the end times, a season of murder and war had arrived.

*********

Azadin first sat on the throne of the Arangi Kingdom, manifested the light of kingship to restore the kingdom, and ordered the formation of a council. Then, he held a royal court meeting to decide his next steps.

Forming a council in the Arangi Kingdom alone was a mountain of problems, but they couldn’t just sit still until it was finished.

Since they had to solve several problems at once, the meeting to decide the direction was very important.

“Well, then, we have two tasks left. One is to go to Butuma, fight the Naga Empire that has seized Butuma, and recover Butuma and Korasar. The other is to head to the Relief Knight Order and punish the heretics of the Relief Knight Order and liberate the Relief Knight Order. I think we can broadly divide it into these two paths….”

When Azadin asked for the opinions of his generals, the Anshik Inducer, Heine, stepped forward.

“We must liberate the Relief Knight Order first. The heretics who have seized the Relief Knight Order are currently contaminating the food stored there. It is not just money or goods, but the lifeline of humanity.”

“Hmm. What do the others think?”

“We agree as well.”

Prince Sram and the officials of the Arangi Kingdom also agreed.

It was very good in terms of justification that the remaining forces of Butuma and Korasar had made Azadin the guardian of their kingdoms and asked him to save them.

Thanks to this, Azadin had spread the impression of being the guardian of the four southern kingdoms to the world. In reality, he had only taken over two, Banreung and the Arangi Kingdom, but he was recognized as a major figure on par with Cohen Lionheart of the Northern Empire.

However, compared to his status, his internal strength was not very solid.

It was true that the remaining forces of Butuma and Korasar had given him many political advantages by supporting Azadin, but there were no practical benefits.

“The Butuma expedition is not an easy task. The Naga Empire has a much more meticulous organizational power than the ogre armies of the King of Teeth, and their capabilities are not to be underestimated. The war with the Naga Empire is one thing, but there will also be problems when we actually take Butuma. The current security of the city is not good. There are many cultists in the city because we are accepting refugees indiscriminately. I wonder if we can handle it if we continue to expand in this situation.”

Jibek also spoke coldly.

Currently, Azadin’s forces were experiencing a rapid deterioration in the city’s security as they accepted refugees.

To prevent this situation, Azadin had given jobs to the refugees by bringing them into the military, which resulted in a larger standing army than any other kingdom to date.

They were giving the refugees what they would have had to provide for relief anyway, in the form of soldiers’ pay.

Even though they were doing this under that principle, to maintain such a large force, they had no resources to invest in equipment, and they had to give the lowest possible pay.

Those who had families who could join the army were in a better situation.

Those who did not had to somehow survive in the city, so naturally, crime increased, and the number of cultists also tended to increase.

“And the force that supports those cultists is the Wisdom Order of the Relief Knight Order.”

“Is that so? But if we go to war with the Wisdom Order, we have to be able to attack Saint Mallory Fortress, and you know that Saint Mallory Fortress is the strongest fortress in the world, right?”

When it came to impregnable lands on the Hybris continent, Saint Mallory Fortress, with its walls over 12 layers thick, and Asendar, with its treacherous path, were always mentioned.

“Even considering that, purifying the heretical forces of the Relief Knight Order will be a great asset. His Majesty currently needs many clerics to preach the New Testament, right?”

If they were to seize the Relief Knight Order, they could gain many people trained as clerics, and merging the Yagas faith and the angel faith was a great achievement that even Cohen Lionheart of the Northern Empire had sought to accomplish.

If Azadin were to achieve this in the name of the New Testament, it would be of great help in maintaining future combat power and morale.

“Okay. Then let’s leave Butuma and Korasar for a while and deal with the Relief Knight Order first.”

Azadin decided to drive out the Wisdom Order that had taken over the Relief Knight Order.

*********

To wage war, they had to reorganize their forces and prepare a supply base where they could store and transport supplies.

Azadin was directly involved in this and established a plan to complete the reorganization of forces and the stockpiling of supplies in four weeks.

Since it included the work of bringing the siege cannons that had been stored in the Banreung Kingdom, as they might have to attack Saint Mallory Fortress, completing the reorganization and supply in four weeks was almost a miracle.

However, Azadin exceeded his original goal in three weeks.

He could have completed the reorganization and supply in four weeks, and even brought it forward by about two days.

But on the third week….

The Wisdom Order attacked the Arangi Kingdom first.

*********

On the border between the Arangi Kingdom and the Relief Knight Order, old fortresses had been built facing the coast.

These fortresses had been built to prepare for when the Nether’s monsters would come up from the sea.

Since there would be no conflict between the Relief Knight Order, which claimed to be the guardian of humanity, and the secular power of the Arangi Kingdom, most of the fortresses were optimized to deal with monsters coming from the coast.

However, the Wisdom Order of the Relief Knight Order advanced by land, quickly capturing the fortresses and brutally massacring the soldiers stationed there.

The reconnaissance units were all killed without leaving a single survivor, so when the report reached Azadin, the enemy’s advance party had already penetrated deep into the southwest of the Arangi Kingdom.

*********

They had been ambushed by the enemy while preparing for war, so they had no excuses, but the opponent was the Relief Knight Order.

One of the two major sects of Hybris had suddenly attacked the secular Arangi Kingdom.

Azadin demanded an explanation from the Wisdom Order of the Relief Knight Order in the name of the Arangi Council.

The answer from the Wisdom Order of the Relief Knight Order was as follows:

‘We excommunicate Lord Azadin, who has seized the throne with evil ambition and is spreading a false cult faith. We have been forced to launch a surprise attack to drive out Lord Azadin, but this is only a sincere act to quell the flames of evil ambition. Our purpose is not to encroach on the Arangi Kingdom, but only to destroy the cult forces led by Azadin.’

In short, they meant that they could not tolerate Azadin’s New Testament.

Azadin was dumbfounded, but he formed a defense force with the reorganized units and supplies, and led the soldiers himself to the southwest of the Arangi Kingdom, near the Tire River basin, where the Wisdom Order of the Relief Knight Order had invaded.

*********

“This time, we’ve been completely outmaneuvered.”

Azadin came with the reconnaissance unit himself and investigated the area near the Tire River, which had become the front line.

The Wisdom Order’s army consisted of about 300 corrupted Celestial Knights, the same number of clerics, and 1,000 slave soldiers.

The Wisdom Order first used the Celestial Knights as an advance party to annihilate the Arangi Kingdom’s border guards and secure a bridgehead. While the follow-up units and supplies were coming, they were preparing for a full-scale invasion while holding the front line.

With the Tire River in between, they could only watch as the enemy reinforced their troops and supplies.

“Those slave soldiers seem to be slave soldiers from the Telbarin Guild.”

Azadin questioned the elf from the Telbarin Guild.

The Telbarin Guild had approached Azadin, but he was not surprised because he knew that they were closer to Cohen Lionheart of the Northern Empire.

However, he wanted to hear how they would explain themselves.

“As you know, our guild has branches in each region, and they are doing their best within them. It seems that the branch over there thought that was the best they could do. Or maybe they were deprived of their freedom and threatened.”

“Hmph.”

Azadin glared at the elf merchant who was making a ridiculous excuse and turned his head.

“The numbers are not that many, but the quality of the troops is amazing.”

The 300 corrupted Celestial Knights showed truly terrifying combat power.

The Arangi border guards were by no means a weak force, but they were all ambushed and died without even being able to report the news.

If each of them had combat abilities equal to the knights of the Celestial Fire, even the elite unit that Azadin had secured, the Arangian Guards, would be in danger if they crossed the river and fought them.

“Hey, what do you think of us? We are the invincible Arangian Guards!”

“If you entrust it to us, we will prove that we are stronger than those corrupted Celestials, that we are the strongest unit in Hybris.”

The Arangian Guards and Prince Sram, who had become their captain, thumped their chests and volunteered to be the vanguard.

“If we cross now, the side crossing will be under concentrated attack. It’s foolish to throw away elite units like you so easily. It’s good that your morale is high, but I can’t allow a solo crossing.”

“Then, how about a full crossing?”

“We don’t have the supplies to cross like that.”

The Tire River was swollen with melting snow, and the current was rough.

It was not a waterway that could be crossed with bare bodies.

To cross properly, they had to build a bridge, but they did not have many materials to build that bridge.

It would be possible to cut down nearby trees and dismantle houses to secure materials, but it would be foolish to secure materials by destroying the livelihoods of the people when the side crossing first would be at a disadvantage.

“But we can’t drag on indefinitely either. This has become difficult.”

Azadin calmly assessed the situation.

Currently, both sides were at a disadvantage if they crossed first.

From the perspective of the Arangi Kingdom’s army, even though the enemy had invaded, they just had to defend the river and wait for them to cross.

In other words, if the Wisdom Order did not cross, Azadin’s elite forces would continue to be tied down here.

“They’re stalling for time.”

Azadin immediately realized what the Wisdom Order was aiming for.