The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 433

Azadin was already at his limit.

Until now, Azadin’s military faction had occupied the Banreung Kingdom and rapidly expanded, establishing itself as the ruler of the south. However, behind this, there was a massive workload concentrated on Azadin.

Creating a council, drafting laws, reforming the tax system, establishing trade routes, distributing supplies, providing relief to refugees, and fighting against enemies.

Azadin had decided and executed all of this, so the burden placed on him was immense.

Of course, he had selected talented individuals and delegated tasks to them, but even so, there were too many things that only Azadin himself could decide.

What would normally be a great achievement for a monarch to accomplish over a lifetime, Azadin had achieved all of this in less than two years. It was inevitable that he would collapse, given his already weakened state and the immense workload.

*********

While Azadin was incapacitated and his progress in Sandokar had halted, the Chitae army began a full-scale assault on Naisandokar. [Naisandokar was a newly established settlement intended to reclaim land for humans.]

Over 50,000 men and their families were stationed in Naisandokar. This was a measure taken to reclaim the land for humans, a place where there were few people and where the night had a tangible presence, threatening humans.

Azadin hired refugees from various places and sent them to Naisandokar as lumberjacks and new recruits, where they received the necessary training.

The over 50,000 men gathered there were a massive force that no king on the Hybris continent would dare to face. However, their combat capabilities were actually quite poor.

The Chitae were well aware of this and launched a brutal offensive.

First, they split their light cavalry and infiltrated various parts of Naisandokar.

They brutally killed civilians, especially the families of the refugee soldiers, women, children, and the elderly working at lumber camps and sawmills, enraging the people.

Enraged that the enemy, who were only a handful compared to their 50,000, were inflicting increasing damage with hit-and-run tactics, the people urged Kalan and Legion to retaliate.

Pushed by the angry public sentiment, Kalan and Legion began a reckless advance, penetrating deep into Chitae territory, only to be surrounded and suffer heavy losses.

The soldiers, belatedly alarmed, retreated under the orders of Legion and Kalan, trying to stop the Chitae light cavalry by using fortresses and defenses as their base.

However, this time, the elven mages of Asendar appeared. [Asendar is a kingdom known for its powerful mages.]

It was an act that did not even try to hide that the Northern Empire Cohen Lionheart was behind the Chitae Kingdom.

Faced with the combined attack of the Chitae Kingdom, the Asander Kingdom, and the Asendar elves, Naisandokar was quickly destroyed, and the majority of the 50,000 men were annihilated in a major defeat.

Legion and Kalan barely managed to escape back to Sandokar, but the only ones who successfully escaped with them were about 40 soldiers from the Vermilion Fortress.

This severed the trade route with the Chadra Plateau, which was Azadin’s base. [The Chadra Plateau is a vital region for Azadin’s resources.]

*********

Cohen Lionheart was meditating with his eyes closed.

But after a while, he opened his eyes, sweating profusely.

“I can’t use the power of the Divine King’s Scripture.”

Then, a young woman’s hand touched his shoulder.

Beautiful women with faintly glowing amber hair gathered around him, caressing his body.

“Of course. You betrayed the spirits of Yaegas.”

“They won’t lend you their power anymore. But don’t worry. The power of green magic will take the place of the white magic of the Divine King’s Scripture.”

“Huhu. It would be troublesome for us if you lost your dignity and ability as a king and fell into ruin.”

They said, giving him seductive smiles.

Just as one of them was sliding her hand from Cohen’s shoulder to his chest and below, Cohen reached out and grabbed her neck.

His steel-like arms and iron-rod-like fingers, capable of twisting a bear’s neck, twisted her neck in an instant.

“Don’t touch my body carelessly! Hag!”

However, what remained in his hand was not a woman’s body but a writhing, gruesome cluster of insects and venomous snakes.

The women, who had already slipped away from his side, rubbed against each other, letting out eerie laughter.

“Huhu…”

“I know there are people who enjoy that kind of thing, but this old woman can’t indulge in such intense games.”

“Kikik…”

They, who had transformed from young women into hags, giggled and disappeared into the darkness.

“……”

Cohen clenched his fist, crushing the insects and snakes he had been holding, and threw the mass into the darkness where the women had disappeared.

“Haa.”

Cohen Lionheart looked around his bedroom. Insects and snakes were writhing on every bed.

Clear signs of corruption, something that should not be present for a descendant of the Yaegas gods, were scattered throughout the bedroom.

“Damn it!”

Cohen hadn’t wanted this either.

In the past, he had wanted to achieve a great unification by combining all the faiths of the King’s Church and the Relief Knights. [The King’s Church and Relief Knights are religious organizations within the setting.]

To save humanity and leave his name in history, he had built warehouses, stockpiled food, and sent agents and capable children to various parts of the world to establish his influence.

But a suddenly appearing existence named Azadin had stolen his dream.

And at that moment, he knew, whether he liked it or not.

‘As long as this guy exists, I cannot achieve my dream.’

No, not only that. This guy will achieve his dream.

Of course, if he truly wanted his dream to come true, he should be happy even if it was achieved by someone else’s hand, not his own.

But Cohen could not accept it if it was not achieved by his own hand.

In the end, the dream he spoke of was nothing more than a pastime for someone born into royalty.

It was not a dream he truly wanted to achieve, but rather a dream he had decided on because achieving it would leave his name in history.

‘But then, what do I really want? What have I been moving for during a time that would take an ordinary human’s entire life?’

Cohen Lionheart writhed in self-loathing.

At the same time, he felt an unbearable hatred fueled by jealousy towards Azadin.

Even though it was a facade, he knew, as someone who had held this dream.

Unlike Cohen, who had deceived himself for the sake of his bloated self-love and desire for fame… the one who could truly understand and embrace this dream was an infinitely strong and beautiful being.

Unlike himself, Azadin was an existence who was trying to change this world for the better with pure goodwill and conviction, and Cohen believed that more than anyone else.

That’s why he was jealous.

“The spirits of Yaegas were wrong. They should have chosen me!”

He rationalized, taking a breath. Black, ominous power and green magic began to emanate from his body.

Wild magic and the power of the Kurt Pantheon gods replaced the place that the white magic of the Divine King’s Scripture and the Relief Knights should have occupied. [The Kurt Pantheon is another set of deities in the setting.]

At that moment, he heard the sound of a small bell ringing outside his room.

A servant spoke from outside the door.

“Your Majesty. Chitae has succeeded in capturing Naisandokar. They say they have achieved a great victory.”

“Is that so? I understand. I will prepare and go out soon. Send in a maid to clean this place.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“……”

Cohen Lionheart picked up his clothes scattered here and there, shook off the still writhing insects and snakes, and put them on.

*********

Azadin had started to fall ill three days after the night he had recovered Sandokar, suffering from fever and chills.

Even now, three days later, his condition was not good.

However, he could not just lie in bed.

“I didn’t want to show you my ailing appearance.”

Azadin knew that if he did not show that he was healthy, the very foundation of his power would be shaken.

However, now that Naisandokar had fallen and Kalan and Legion of Naisandokar had come to Azadin, he could not possibly stay in bed.

So, Azadin, using his sword as a cane, greeted Legion and Kalan, who had escaped alive, and held a meeting.

Midiam assisted Azadin, helping with writing and paperwork.

“I would like you to rest more.”

“No, Midiam. I made this decision after careful consideration. No, there is no time.”

“……..”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say you’re sorry. It’s my choice.”

Midiam wanted to stop Azadin from attending the meeting in his condition, but she also knew that the current situation was not easy, so she could not stop him.

“So, Legion, Kalan, what was the situation?”

“Please, kill me, Your Majesty.”

Kalan bowed before Azadin and explained the situation.

The Chitae army attacked various parts of Naisandokar with skillful light cavalry operations, and there was evidence that the Asendar elves, under the influence of the Northern Empire’s Cohen Lionheart, had appeared and cooperated with the Chitae Kingdom army.

Also, the Chitae light cavalry had an unusually large number of weapons. The classic light cavalry would charge with cold weapons.

However, this Chitae light cavalry operated ‘dragoons’ who moved with muskets. [Dragoons are mounted infantry who use firearms.]

There were even units that lured enemies with mounted marksmanship, firing muskets from horseback and then creating distance to fire again.

It was an unusual composition for the Chitae cavalry, which was usually formed by the gathering of nomadic tribes. Considering the massive amount of ammunition and various equipment provided to them, it did not seem like a battle that the Chitae Kingdom was waging with its own resources.

The Chitae Kingdom was reluctant to supply firearms to the nomadic tribes, fearing that they would fall into their hands, and they also lacked the funds.

The Northern Empire, the King’s Church, and others must be supporting the Chitae army in alliance.

“We were completely outmaneuvered by the Chitae army.”

“We knew they were using lures, but the resentment of the refugee soldiers was so deep that we could not control them.”

Kalan and Legion could not control a large army of 50,000 in detail.

In a situation where there was a shortage of trained officers and non-commissioned officers, they had recklessly turned refugees into soldiers, resulting in a lack of mid-level officers but an abundance of ordinary soldiers.

The defeat at the hands of the Chitae was due to that.

“Woah, this wouldn’t have happened normally. Commander Legion was originally…”

“Stop it.”

Legion’s adjutant stepped forward to defend Legion, but Legion flared up.

Originally, Legion was a mercenary captain who had firmly established his position even among fierce mercenary groups.

The means to maintain that position was to brutally kill those who dared to challenge him as an example.

In fact, until then, Legion had always ensured that subordinates who dared to challenge him met a gruesome death.

But this time, he didn’t.

He knew well how precious those refugee soldiers were to Azadin, so he was restraining himself, thinking of the king’s dignity.