The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 438

The Manifestation of Darkness 3

Unlike other fallen Celestials who had lost their human forms and become grotesque monsters, Triodana still maintained his human appearance.

However, his wings were more ominous and terrifying than any other being’s.

The undead of the Pimbul Horde felt their consciousness being absorbed the moment they looked at them.

They were wings made of a void that sucked in everything that existed.

Darkness that felt like having one’s eyeballs gouged out just by looking at it.

Triodana, with such wings spread, led the other fallen Celestials and flew around Fireglyph.

The target was the reinforcements trying to join Fireglyph: the Pimbul Horde’s army and the Sisters of Mercy from the Chadra Monastery.

“Not so fast!”

Undead riders on skeletal wyverns flew towards the fallen Celestials.

However, as Triodana swung his sword, darkness devoured the space as if a large brush had been dipped in ink and used to paint a stroke on the air.

Those consumed by the darkness fell, even the undead screaming in despair.

The Sisters of Mercy used magic to target Triodana, but against the fallen Celestials, it was only enough to make them retreat for a moment.

Faced with the attack of the fallen Celestials led by Triodana, even the Pimbul Horde eventually had to retreat.

*********

“Defeated? The Pimbul Horde?”

Azadin was startled by the news.

“It wasn’t the entire Pimbul Horde that was defeated, but those who went to save Fireglyph.”

“Lord Sok wasn’t there, and it was only a part of our forces.”

The Wights corrected Azadin.

It seemed that the mention of the Pimbul Horde, Lord Sok’s army, being defeated had hurt their pride.

However, their resentment was soon replaced by hatred or fear of the enemy.

“Still, it was truly terrible.”

Azadin felt conflicted as he saw the fatigue and frustration on the pale faces of the Wights.

‘The Wights themselves are formidable, but if even these undead are saying it’s terrible….’

He suddenly wondered how terrible the fallen Celestials’ army must be for the Wights to react like this.

If even the Pimbul Horde was horrified, what about the Chadra Monastery?

“How much damage did the monastery suffer?”

“They managed to escape skillfully, but they also suffered quite a bit….”

“Is Prince Kalintz dead or alive?”

When Azadin asked about Prince Kalintz’s condition, Dahlia nodded.

“We secured him.”

“Secured?”

“We rescued him. Our mission from our master was to rescue him before Fireglyph was captured. And he showed enough leadership to earn our respect.”

Usually, Prince Kalintz had been running Fireglyph without much personality, like a drop of alcohol in water, or a drop of water in alcohol. [Meaning he was easily influenced and didn’t assert himself.]

He had stamped his seal on whatever Azadin presented without any criticism, so the world had called him Azadin’s pushover, a powerless and useless prince.

However, in the moment of crisis, Prince Kalintz had shown his capabilities.

It was a big deal that the Wights of the Pimbul Horde had even used the word respect, even if it was just in passing.

“Good. Then can you tell me what you know about the current deployment of the Wisdom Order’s forces?”

“Yes. The enemies are occupying Fireglyph, the Southern Road, and the Southeastern Rock Fortress, looting supplies and moving them to Saint Mallory.”

Dahlia scratched the ground with a twig, marking the current situation of the Wisdom Order, the Pimbul Horde opposing them, and other forces in the Chadra Highlands.

The Wisdom Order was looting supplies from the Chadra Highlands and raiding Azadin’s warehouses.

If this was left unchecked, Azadin’s forces would wither away.

However, they were powerful enemies who had even driven back the Pimbul Horde.

Moreover, Azadin was only with a part of the Herald Clan right now.

“So, King Azadin, what did you bring… the Herald Clan for?”

“To assassinate Lord Triodana and disrupt the enemy’s core.”

“Is that so? Haa.”

She pressed her head.

“I doubt if assassinating Triodana is even possible. He is not human. He has become a being of the Nether, no, a manifestation of a death god.”

Everyone was speechless at those words.

Even to the fearless Herald Clan, these Wights were unusual beings. They were tormented souls with their knees submerged in the river of death, beings that seemed to be made in the image of a human from the very mockery of humanity. [A reference to the River Styx in Greek mythology, a river of the underworld.]

A subtle fear and despair could be felt from these beings of curse and mockery.

The existence that frightened them, Triodana and the Wisdom Order, felt like the opening trumpet call of the end of the human world.

“That’s why we tried to gather the corpses of the already dead and create undead to fight them. But you interfered with that. Can you really handle this situation in your own way after interfering with us?”

The Wights openly showed hostility towards Azadin for interfering with their undead ritual.

Dahlia, who had been taking the form of a beautiful woman until just now, transformed her face into that of a demon as she became angry.

However, Azadin calmly looked at her and nodded.

“Assassinating Triodana is the priority. But before that, I want to meet Lord Sok?”

“Lord Sok is researching a spell to ward off the cold.”

“Then I want to see Prince Kalintz. You must be protecting him, right? Lead the way.”

“……….”

The Wights were dumbfounded at Azadin, who had brazenly interfered with their work and was now making various demands.

‘What are you going to do? Lord Sok, whom you are so devoted to, must have told you something, right?’

Azadin knew well that no matter what they said, they had no choice but to respect him.

“Alright. Sigh. Then we will let you see Prince Kalintz.”

The Wights led Azadin to their camp.

*********

A pale-faced young Elf Wight greeted Azadin at the entrance of the hut, frowning.

She was wearing a pure white field medical gown, which was covered in blood.

“Sister Dahlia? The patient still needs to rest?”

“He insists on seeing him. His Majesty Azadin, that is.”

“Is Prince Kalintz’s condition not good?”

“Well, of course, it’s not good. Isn’t it stranger if he was fine after losing his left arm?”

Just then, a coughing sound came from inside the hut.

“Prince Kalintz?”

“Ah, Your Majesty. You’ve arrived.”

Azadin opened the door and saw Prince Kalintz lying on the sickbed.

Not only was his left arm cut off, but there were also scars on his face from what looked like an animal’s claws, with pus still oozing from the scabs.

Azadin reached out and touched Prince Kalintz’s wound.

Instantly, the scabs fell off, and new flesh grew to fill the spot.

The newly grown flesh was particularly white and smooth, looking like a white spot.

Azadin had used the power of the Divine King’s Scripture to heal Prince Kalintz.

However, it also activated Prince Kalintz’s body and intensified the pain, causing Prince Kalintz to scream in agony.

“I’m sorry.”

“Ugh, no, it is I who should be sorry. I lost Fireglyph, which Your Majesty entrusted to me.”

“Well, it feels awkward when you use honorifics with me.”

Originally, Prince Kalintz was Azadin’s superior when Azadin was a knight of the Rescue Knights.

However, when Azadin declared himself the King of Banreung, his former superior became Azadin’s subordinate.

Because of this situation, it was awkward for Azadin to hear Prince Kalintz using honorifics.

“Zan died saving me. Not only Zan, but most of the Aragasa who came with me fought heroically and died.”

“……”

“They were too good for me.”

“No, that’s not true. Zan was a great warrior and had a great eye for people. He saved the person he was willing to risk his life for.”

“I wish I could believe that. Hmm. Then please forgive my rudeness. The healing spell is making me drowsy.”

Prince Kalintz said those words and fell back asleep.

*********

“It is amazing that you managed to evacuate the civilians and command the troops while the fortress was being captured. You even fought against enemies that even the Pimbul Horde feared.”

Ismail was honestly impressed by Prince Kalintz.

“…If they hear you say that, they’ll go crazy.”

Indim chuckled, gesturing with his chin towards the Wights outside the hut.

“So, what are we going to do, Captain?”

“The plan remains the same. We will strike Triodana.”

“But did you hear? They said the enemy flies. And they fly better than wyverns.”

Most wyverns, hippogriffs, and large winged creatures mainly glide. The fallen Celestials’ flight maneuverability was far superior to theirs, so even if Azadin brought a hippogriff, there would be no chance of winning.

Also, shooting them down with arrows from the ground was difficult because even the Herald Clan’s arrows were affected by gravity.

Shooting an enemy in the sky would reduce the power, and based on what they had heard, there was no guarantee that they could subdue Triodana, who had already completed his transformation, with weakened arrows.

“From what I saw, what the undead of the Pimbul Horde were trying to create by piling up corpses were wraiths. Wraiths that were in spirit form and could fly freely in the sky.”

Seraph cautiously spoke.

The undead of the Pimbul Horde had also experienced the free flight of the fallen Celestials and were trying to create wraiths to counter their flying ability.

The reason Seraph brought this up was clear.

To counter the powerful flying fallen Celestials, they also needed to create beings that could fly.

However, Azadin shook his head.

“Soulless wraiths fight quite well against normal humans, but they are no match for the demons of the Nether. It’s not worth creating them by violating human souls. And the flight of those fallen Celestials also uses up their stamina. They will eventually have to come down, and they will use less stamina walking on the ground.”

“Then….”

“We will lure them to terrain that is good for sniping.”

“Are you sure?”

Seraph immediately understood what Azadin was thinking when he heard his words.

To lure the enemies, they needed bait.

And the most tempting bait Azadin had was his own neck.

“I intended to do that from the beginning. Now, shall we make a plan?”

Azadin said that and brought his hand to his face.

Blood flowed along his hand.

Blood was pouring from Azadin’s nose.