The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 487

“So, what are we supposed to do with this? It looks like an unusual object, but what exactly is its effect?” Ject asked, sensing an extraordinary aura from the sword the elves and Nagas had brought.

“If this sword destroys the Quartz Throne, the connection between the Yaegas spirits and the Hybris continent will be severed. At least until the spirits restore that connection, the King’s Church will lose all its spirituality. Then, a true era of Jupiter, different from anything before, will dawn. Of course, the Nagas will also have sacrificed ten thousand lives, which will instantly melt away as offerings.”

The elves said this and proudly presented the sword. Ject was dumbfounded by their actions.

“Then you shouldn’t have shown me this sword. What if I just take it?”

Ject picked up the sword and glared at the elves.

The elves’ eyes showed no sign of wavering.

“I see. Well then. Since the General has taken the sword, the fate of the Nagas, as well as the course of this war and the future of the Hybris continent, are now in your hands.”

‘End the tiresome war and establish Azadin as a great divine emperor who will be remembered in history.’

‘Or, sever the Quartz Throne with this sword, harm the divine king’s protection, tarnish Azadin’s great work, and bring him down.’

‘Will he become the King of Korasar and take a part, or will he make sure no one gets anything?’

This cursed Nether sword in Ject’s hand was the key to deciding all of that.

“Ha… hahahaha.”

Ject burst into laughter.

It was clear that the elves had deliberately shown and handed this to him.

‘What do these guys think of me!’

The thought that they were looking down on him crossed his mind, but the idea of holding all fate in his hands was too tempting.

“You underestimate me too much. Do you really think that if I had a tool to decide the fate of this world, I would willingly use it for destruction? What good would it do to reject the throne of Korasar, which is already within my grasp, and commit such a destructive act?”

“Ascend the throne of Butuma and stab the sword into it. Then the King’s protection will disappear, and you will become blessed by the Nether.”

“……”

Listening to the elves’ nonsense, Ject was lost in thought.

‘No sane person would do that. These elves are looking down on him.’

‘Isn’t this an obvious choice?’

‘Who would kick away the wealth and fame that is already in their hands and become a Nether vassal whose very existence is threatened?’

‘Unless one has a strong self-destructive desire, there is no way they would do such a thing.’

“If you sacrifice ten thousand Naga lives, you’ll become a pretty decent vassal.”

Ject’s true feelings slipped out of his mouth unintentionally.

“But you will have to die for mocking me.”

Ject drew his sword and swung it.

The heads of the elf merchants who had brought him the sword were cleanly severed.

The Nagas, disguised as elves, were shocked by the near-divine swordsmanship that beheaded four people in one strike.

“You’re not elves, so it’s okay. It would be a problem if I killed the Nagas carelessly and there weren’t enough sacrifices.”

Ject killed the elves and sheathed the black sword.

“Follow me. Let’s go to the throne of Butuma.”

*********

In front of the gates of Caspa, Sir Sok was waiting for Empress Midiam.

Looking at the dead around him, it seemed that Sir Sok’s army had killed them.

‘Did Sir Sok and the Pimbul Horde kill the soldiers and residents of Caspa?’

Empress Midiam herself stepped forward and approached Sir Sok.

“Sir Sok, what is the meaning of this?”

“You sold miracles, Empress. Thanks to you, true cultivation has disappeared.”

Sok’s voice echoed quietly throughout the heavens and earth.

It wasn’t loud, but it was a strange voice that could be heard clearly even by the people at the end of the long line.

Sir Sok was speaking not with words, but with a kind of telepathic wave.

“Those who crave salvation move away from it. The cultivation to obtain white magic is not true cultivation. You have killed the ideals of the Rescue Knights.”

“That’s quite a statement, Sir Sok. Indeed, a true Rescue Knight, the only true holy knight. But the knighthood has been a mess for a while now, what have you been doing all this time? Is it your chivalry to strike down the hands of those who crave salvation to live, rather than those who sucked the blood of angels for their own selfish desires?”

Midiam’s mockery was quite sharp.

“Just because you didn’t see it doesn’t mean I didn’t do anything, Empress.”

“Likewise, what we did was not as simple as just selling miracles. You wouldn’t say it’s easy to subdue countless enemies, gather, feed, clothe, and train the people in this harsh cold, would you?”

“……”

“Why? Say more?”

Sok was losing in the argument.

Sok seemed flustered by how well Midiam spoke.

“I have been trying my best to restore the discipline of the knighthood. It’s just that I didn’t have enough power to do it.”

“You use your own shortcomings as a shield while demanding perfection from others. You must know that the path we have taken has not been easy. Did you kill the people of Caspa here just to make such accusations now?”

“…Hmm.”

Sok was silent for a moment, as if he had nothing to say to Midiam’s words.

It seemed like he was out of his mind from being beaten too much with words.

Sok knew very well that he was being unreasonable.

As Midiam said, he had been quiet when the knighthood was a mess, and now he was picking a fight with Azadin. He knew that it was wrong to demand perfection from Azadin while claiming he was powerless.

However, after seeing the war situation in the south, he thought that Azadin’s army would soon unify the entire continent and seize power.

When the Nagas lost Butuma and were driven back to their cities, Sok chose to raise an army.

If he didn’t hold the Emperor accountable now for selling miracles and defiling the ideals of the Rescue Knights, he would never be able to do so in the future.

So he raised an army… but it seemed that he wasn’t the only one who had such thoughts.

“There’s been a misunderstanding. The dead here are not people we killed, but bodies we collected.”

“You collected bodies?”

“Yes. The bodies of nomads and those dragged along by nomadic tribes. We just organized them. We only subdued those who were already dead and a few who resisted, not innocent people.”

‘So he did kill them. The people and soldiers of Caspa wouldn’t have stood still when Sir Sok appeared. And these guys must have initially tried to rebel against the Emperor and Empress. What happened that made them withdraw their rebellion? Is that what he’s saying?’

Ismail could tell from Sok’s reaction that he had suddenly changed his mind.

“So why are you here, Sir Sok?”

“If the Emperor wins and the world becomes peaceful, who will question the Emperor’s sins? I came because I thought that now was the only time to hold him accountable for damaging the ideals of the Rescue Knights. But the situation has changed.”

Sok pointed to the sky.

“The light of the King’s Grace has disappeared. It seems I wasn’t the only one who was aiming for this time.”

“What?”

“The protection of Yaegas has disappeared. Scott!”

“Yes!”

One of the orc necromancers behind Sir Sok took out a staff and began to cast a spell.

The magic was activated towards the people who were skewered on the cartwheels along the road.

“What are you doing!”

The archers of the Etar bloodline, the Empress’s guards, simultaneously fired arrows at the mage and Sok.

However, undead wyverns and wraiths appeared and knocked the arrows out of the air.

“Tsk tsk. They’re doing this even though I said I wasn’t going to harm them.”

At the same time, a cold air fell from the sky.

However, the dark energy of necromancy emanated from the corpses lined up along the road and began to resist the falling cold.

The energy of necromancy itself was dark and cold, but this level of cold was rather warm in the current situation.

Surprisingly, this orc mage was using magic to protect humans from the cold, replacing the light of the King’s Grace.

“Haa. I knew I was a genius. Sigh. What great sin did I commit that I couldn’t pass on the genes of such a genius to future generations because I became a lich?”

The orc mage, having succeeded in his spell, looked back regretfully. His eyes were burning with blue ghost fire.

“…Scott McGreene.”

“Yes. It’s been a while. Wow. You’ve been through a lot. Thinking about how much you guys suffered while enduring the absence of a genius mage like me, it makes my dry eyes want to shed a tear.”

“What is going on here…”

“General Ject has rebelled in the south. The Nagas were pushed back, and it seemed like it was almost over, but it seems that Sir Sok wasn’t the only one who thought about snatching the meal that was prepared at the last moment.”

“……”

Sir Sok was dumbfounded as he looked at Scott, who was openly criticizing him.

He was the one who made Scott a lich and taught him various magics, but Scott was acting like a reckless fool, saying whatever he wanted without any regard for rank.

Sok himself had rebelled because of the ideals of the knighthood, but it was too unfair to be treated the same as someone like Ject, who was trying to usurp the task of unifying the world.

But that was from his point of view, and from Midiam’s point of view, they were both the same in that they had rebelled when the unification of the world was imminent.

“General Ject has rebelled?”

“Yes. I don’t know what he did, but he got rid of the light of the King’s Grace. It’s certain because the light of the King’s Grace is disappearing from the south.”

“……”

“So, I will let the act of selling miracles go unpunished. Those who have not properly cultivated themselves and have been swayed by miracles will face trials again.”

Sir Sok thought that if the light of the King’s Grace disappeared, the faith of the Rescue Knights, which had been hastily formed by being drawn to miracles, would waver again.

It was something that Midiam also agreed with to some extent, but…

“So you’re saying we should pretend that the rebellion didn’t happen? Since it hasn’t even started yet.”

It was truly absurd.

He was a traitor, yet he was saying he would let it go unpunished. It was already annoying enough to be offered a deal, but what kind of benevolent attitude was this?

Of course, Sok was not in a position to pledge allegiance to Azadin.

Outwardly, Sok was Azadin’s subordinate, but Azadin and Sok were not in a lord-vassal relationship, but an alliance.

However, it was extremely annoying that he was trying to rebel, but then changed his attitude like flipping his hand because he was preempted, and was acting like he was the spirit of the knighthood.

As expected of an orc, he was arrogant and presumptuous.

Scott was at least a bit funny and cheerful, but if you took away the composure and jokes from Scott, it would be just like Sir Sok.

‘It’s annoying, but I can’t help it. I have to accept it.’

Midiam was furious at Sok’s arrogant and presumptuous attitude, but she couldn’t afford to be hostile to Sok right now.

But…

“That’s a wise choice. Then, Empress, would you like to set an example by becoming an undead first?”