The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 430

The Season of War (5)

The Rescue Knights’ Wisdom Order began their assault on Fireglyph Fortress.

Minotaurs hauled siege cannons into position and commenced firing.

The initial volley struck the thickest, most fortified section of the wall.

However, the Minotaurs, leveraging their immense strength, repositioned the siege cannons, targeting the fortress’s weaker points.

“If we allow them to continue unchecked, this will become a catastrophe,” Prince Kalintz observed, recognizing the Minotaur gunners’ potential. He turned to Zan and the Northern Aragasa archers he had brought.

“Please disrupt those gunners.”

“Our prince is truly a kind soul,” one of the archers murmured.

Following Prince Kalintz’s command, the Northern Aragasa archers drew their bows and released a volley of arrows.

The Minotaurs in the enemy camp appeared surprised by the sudden arrow storm. They had positioned the siege cannons at a distance they believed was beyond the range of arrows, yet the projectiles were reaching them.

However, the corrupted Celestial Knights raised their swords and shields, intercepting the arrows. The Celestial Knights, positioned among the Minotaurs, inadvertently hindered the siege cannon fire with their wings and shields, slowing down the bombardment.

“Alright, hold the line! We need to buy time! Until reinforcements arrive!” Prince Kalintz declared, implementing basic siege defense tactics, using the walls to delay the enemy.

*********

The nomadic light cavalry of the Chitae Kingdom infiltrated the Naisandokar region to conduct reconnaissance.

Naisandokar was Azadin’s territory, which he had transformed into a rear training base for refugee soldiers, connecting it to the Chadra Plateau trade route. The refugee families—children, women, and the elderly—assisted with logging operations while developing Naisandokar. The new refugee soldiers trained in combat by subduing local beasts like Bree [a type of wild creature] and goblins.

However, the Chitae nomadic light cavalry had now infiltrated Naisandokar, clashing with the new recruits in training, mercilessly killing them before retreating.

The enraged local forces, believing the cavalry would struggle in Naisandokar’s rugged terrain, decided to confront them directly. However, the Chitae cavalry were experienced. They lured the refugee soldiers into the open areas of Naisandokar, where mounted combat was advantageous, and then crushed them.

This occurred before the expedition’s supply base was fully established.

The soldiers of Naisandokar were deeply shaken. Azadin’s army had been victorious in every battle thus far because he effectively integrated elite soldiers with non-elite ones. Without the elite, the refugee soldiers, lacking combat experience, were no match for the seasoned nomadic cavalry of Chitae.

The commanders of Naisandokar could only watch as the Chitae army plundered their supply base and the nomads gathered into a large force. They had no choice but to strengthen their defenses until reinforcements arrived.

But simultaneously, a large force of Bree rose up in the Sandokar region and launched an attack.

Leading the Bree were the Wild Magic witches, and Camilla, the former female bandit who had once joined Azadin’s army, was leading the assault on Sandokar with her younger brother, Kuntachi.

From three directions, different forces were attacking Azadin, as if they had formed a pact.

*********

Azadin divided his forces, leaving a portion of the Arangian Guard, the Arangian Kingdom army, and Lord Zekt near the Rescue Knights’ Wisdom Order and the border of the Arangi Kingdom.

“Even if the enemy provokes you, do not pursue them deeply. Defend only the Tire River area. I will head to Sandokar for now.”

“Isn’t Fireglyph in danger? It seems we should break through here and strike the enemy from behind,” Lord Zekt argued, wanting Azadin to concentrate his forces and attack the Wisdom Order rather than diverting resources to other areas.

However, Azadin shook his head.

“That would be falling into the enemy’s trap. No matter how excellent the artillery is, we cannot conquer Saint Mallory Fortress in one go. Even if we win here on the plains, we will be stalled when we face Saint Mallory Fortress, and then it will be too late to send reinforcements elsewhere.”

“But Prince Kalintz is defending Fireglyph. Can he really…?” Lord Karna of the Celestial Fire questioned, one of the sons of the Northern Emperor, expressing doubt about Prince Kalintz’s capabilities.

“Prince Kalintz will demonstrate exceptional siege defense skills. And I have decided to send Lord Sok as reinforcements.”

“Lord Sok, you say?”

“Yes.”

Lord Sok, the undead orc.

Azadin was wary of this man who was striving to overcome the limits of orcs with death magic. Lord Sok showed goodwill towards Azadin, but he was the kind of being who could kill humans with goodwill, as he did not take death seriously.

That Lord Sok had requested the Wendigo dagger from Azadin.

Azadin had obtained the Wendigo dagger long ago but had ignored Lord Sok’s request, citing his busy schedule. But now, he could no longer ignore it.

Moreover….

“Chief, I will be Lord Sok’s envoy. I will deliver the Wendigo dagger,” Scott McGreene, the necromancer of Azadin’s army, volunteered.

“What? You can’t go alone, Scott.”

“I will become a lich.”

“……”

“It’s also not good to consume food in times like these.” Scott was concerned about the unique constitution of the orc race. Orcs, who gained muscle simply by breathing, were constantly hungry and needed to consume large amounts of food to maintain their bodies. He had been riding in a palanquin pulled by the undead to satisfy his hunger, even lying down in front of the king, but he had finally reached his limit.

“The country will fall apart without you,” Azadin said, half-jokingly, half-seriously. Azadin had gained many talented individuals by absorbing the Arangi and Banreung Kingdoms, but while everyone else was struggling to manage their own countries, Scott McGreene was a true genius. Because of Scott McGreene, Azadin’s kingdom could quickly deploy troops to various parts of the world, rotate soldiers between the front and rear lines, and manage the country without wasting resources or causing starvation.

There were those who looked down on Scott and even hated him because he worked behind the scenes, managing paperwork, and because he was an orc necromancer. But Azadin knew very well how crucial Scott’s work was.

“It’s okay, Chief. I’ve streamlined the work processes significantly, so it will run even without me. I can’t expect there to be many like me, but how can I call myself a genius if the system only works with a genius? I’ve created a system where even ordinary people can run the country, so even those who aren’t naturally gifted can manage things effectively. And you’re worried about Lord Sok, right? I’ll go into the Pimbul Horde and send you information.”

“It seems you’ve made a serious decision.”

“Then would I decide to become a lich as a joke? Actually, I’ve been preparing for two months, so I’ll be becoming a lich soon. Then I can travel through the night without getting tired and reach the Chadra Plateau in an instant.”

“I understand. I’m counting on you, Scott.”

“Haha. Then I hope you achieve your great work, Chief.”

Scott left those words, and that night, he faced the death of his flesh and became a lich. He combined the bones of dead horses to create a tireless death steed and rode through the night sky towards the Pimbul Horde.

*********

After leaving a defense force in the Arangi direction and sending Scott to the Pimbul Horde to aid Fireglyph, Azadin himself headed to Sandokar, accompanied by his most trusted confidants: Seraph, Indim, and Midiam from the Messenger Clan, and Ismael.

Azadin’s group, alternating between Kerim mountain goats, express horses, and hippogriffs, made a forced march and entered Sandokar with a small number of people. Azadin appointed Lord Zibek as the commander of the follow-up unit, urging him not to rush, and entered Sandokar first with those who were swift.

The state of Sandokar was chaotic. Soldiers were lying on the streets, asleep, so limp that they couldn’t wake up even when King Azadin arrived. It seemed they had been under constant attack, as the corpses of Bree were piled up outside the city gates. The soldiers were unable to clear them away, so the moat was filled with corpses, and the stench was terrible.

Surprisingly, only women were repairing the ruined walls, while the men were all limp and unable to work properly.

“What is this?” Azadin announced his arrival.

The count rushed out of the city gate.

“Oh, Your Majesty! You’ve arrived! It’s a disaster. Every night, we have nightmares!”

“What are you talking about? Is that why the city is in this state?”

“Not just me, but all the men of Sandokar have nightmares. That wicked witch Camilla first attacked with Bree, but when we defended using the walls, she didn’t get much satisfaction and only piled up corpses. So, we were even preparing to form our own forces to support Naisandokar. But after a few days, suddenly all the men started having nightmares.”

“What kind of nightmares?”

“It’s… a dream of being dragged to the hags’ festival.”

“The hags’ festival?”

“Yes. Horrible hags drag humans out and dance around a fire, and while dancing, the hags transform into beauties of unparalleled beauty, wouldn’t you know?”

“……….”

“Well, it’s embarrassing, but after enjoying it, this beauty turns back into a horrible hag. When I try to run away in a panic, the hags chase me and tear me apart alive. When I wake up from the dream, I feel disgusted… scared… terrified.”

So, this dream was both a lustful dream and a nightmare. The men, tormented by the terrible dream of being swept up in the hags’ festival and experiencing both the pleasure of the flesh and the horror of the mind, became sleep-deprived.

“And because we’re sleep-deprived, werewolves infiltrate the city every night. So, we’ve temporarily created IDs to monitor and prevent werewolves from entering the city in human form….”

If werewolves infiltrate in human form, the soldiers’ workload increases. It was already hard work just to fend off the incoming enemies, but they also had to control the humans inside.

Since werewolves could easily tear apart ordinary soldiers, the group controlling the humans inside had to consist of four pikemen and one elite soldier. Usually, a night watchman would move alone or in pairs, but to deal with werewolves, the night watchmen had to form groups of at least five, so the night watchmen’s workload also increased tremendously.

Heavy work and lack of sleep created the perfect environment to wear people down.

“Your Majesty. Please….”

“I understand. With the power of the king, I will save you from your nightmares.”

“Th-thank you!”

As Azadin had declared, when he blocked the evil Wild Magic with the power of the king, everyone was able to sleep peacefully that night without having nightmares.