The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 488

“Huh?!”

Azadin opened his eyes, startled by a chilling coldness.

Originally, his physical condition was so poor that he couldn’t even properly feel the cold.

But suddenly, his condition had improved enough for him to feel the cold.

‘Why is it so cold all of a sudden? But my body feels invigorated. What on earth is going on?’

Looking around, it was dark and quiet everywhere. Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he found himself sitting on the dark throne of the Middle Palace, which had its fire extinguished. Strangely, there was no one around him.

‘Why is no one here?’

Azadin touched the quartz throne, and it had turned into just an ordinary stone.

“What’s going on?”

When Azadin spoke, a hoarse sound came from his parched throat, which had been dried out from not drinking water and bleeding.

“Cough, cough.”

He had to struggle for a while to produce saliva to moisten his lips and throat.

The connection with the spirits of Yegas was severed. Was that why? The pain that had always tormented his body was disappearing.

The pain that had plagued him like fate was gone, and the fire that had raged within his body, the power of the Divine King’s Scripture, had also vanished.

The king’s power was gone.

But thanks to that, Azadin was in better condition than ever before.

Was it because his physical condition had improved? He was fiercely hungry.

“Hey. Is anyone there?”

Azadin got up from the throne and looked around.

There were no people.

Ever since he ascended as the king of Banreung, he had always been accompanied by guards and servants, but now, for some reason, the surroundings were desolate.

Looking at the dark and chilly royal palace of the Middle Palace, Azadin unconsciously reached into his pocket.

Azadin’s weapons had been handed over to Midiam as proof when she asked for military power.

Currently, all that remained for Azadin was a small dagger used for fletching arrows, iron arrowheads, a Moon Horn Bow, and a quiver.

“Is anyone there? Damn it… !”

Azadin called out for Arae’s voice.

But Arae’s voice was not heard.

“No, how long have I been out? Hmm. I’m hungry.”

As vitality returned to his body, which had always been like that of a sick person, a fierce hunger surged.

Driven by hunger, thirst, and curiosity about his surroundings, Azadin cautiously lowered his body and passed through the royal palace.

An unusual coldness was felt. His breath froze.

‘An ordinary person wouldn’t be able to withstand this cold.’

Azadin opened the paper door of the royal palace. It was a woman’s boudoir, with sachets hanging, tea sets, a tea table, and an elegant embroidery frame.

Azadin casually examined the leather clothes hanging on the coat rack.

It was an expensive item made of sable fur, and when Azadin touched it, the ice frozen on the surface began to vaporize and emit steam.

Sable fur was supposed to be the best cold-weather product, but its surface was frozen solid.

Azadin shook off the ice on the surface, put it on, and looked around.

There were snacks and food on the tea table, but these were also frozen solid.

Azadin broke them, held them between his hands, and focused his energy.

The frozen foods melted. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to be spoiled, probably because they were frozen.

Azadin ate some of it and took some with him as he looked around.

At that moment, the paper door beyond the boudoir burst open.

It was a paper door with paper pasted on it, but the paper was frozen, so it shattered like a cookie.

“Ah… Your Majesty!”

“You’re awake! Thank, thank, thank goodness.”

Azadin closed his mouth as he looked at the state of the soldiers who had come to greet him.

Their faces were clearly human, but their bodies had long necks like those of giraffes attached to them.

Others had several soldiers fused together, with human faces sprouting on their palms, walking with enlarged fingers, and multiple feet wriggling upwards.

Their feet had become hands, and their fingers had become toes.

“What happened?”

“After Your Majesty fell asleep, the Jupiter awoke.”

“The light of the King’s Flower faded… and the night continued.”

“We don’t even know the flow of time.”

Clearly, Azadin had subjugated the Northern Empire and was now on the verge of unifying the world.

But the light of the King’s Flower had disappeared, and they had become like this.

“Why did you abandon us?”

A soldier with inverted hands and feet raised a club.

Instead of answering, Azadin picked up a candlestick that was decorating the boudoir and held it in his hand.

“It’s not that I intended to abandon you, but I’m sorry.”

“Because of you, we had false hope! Even though evil is so great, we had hope that good, that justice, might prevail!”

“Hopeeeeeee!”

Choosing justice because you will win is not true justice.

He wanted to say that, but Azadin held back.

The reality was already too harsh.

It was too cruel to tell powerless commoners to uphold the cause and live, even if they were defeated, even if they died, even if they lived in eternal torment worse than death.

“Not only that, but there are those who shout that the light of the King’s Flower disappeared because of you! That the Herald Clan became the emperor!”

“Do you think so?”

“I don’t know! But!”

“Blood, blood smell. I’m hungryyyyy!”

The soldiers, who had lost their reason, rushed at Azadin.

At that moment, Azadin lightly kicked off the ground and disappeared, only to reappear behind the soldiers.

Surprisingly, in this situation, Azadin’s body was light, nimble, and even strong.

Azadin stabbed a huge soldier from behind with the bronze candlestick, and the spine shattered instantly, and the bronze candlestick pierced through the soldier’s torso.

Compared to steel weapons, bronze was soft, but it pierced through the soldier’s torso, which was like a huge log, and not even one of the candlestick’s decorations was bent.

“Your Majesty!”

“I’m sorry!”

Azadin pulled out an arming sword that was stuck in the waist of the soldier who had been incapacitated by the bronze candlestick. Then, he leaped and landed behind another soldier who was attacking him.

-Skaak!

As Azadin landed on the ground and flicked the blade with his finger, the soldier’s head was cut off as if in response to the sound.

The swordsmanship was so fast and precise that even after cutting off the soldier’s head, it remained attached to the body for a while.

“Re, re, re, returned…”

The soldier, who could not speak properly, said that to Azadin, opened his mouth, and spewed out green fluid.

‘Is it digestive fluid?’

Azadin avoided the liquid, but it froze in an instant, and the digestive fluid fell to the floor and rolled around without melting the surroundings.

‘How cold is it? The digestive fluid from my body freezes right away.’

Azadin chuckled and swung the arming sword, cutting off this soldier’s head as well.

Azadin knocked down the soldiers and took the necessary equipment from their belongings.

He was able to take a halberd, a longsword, an arming sword, additional arrows, and even an ashwood longbow in case the frozen Moon Horn Bow broke.

There were also emergency rations, but…

“It’s a human arm.”

Azadin threw away the salted, severed human arm and went outside the royal palace.

Outside the Middle Palace, there were barricades, countless corpses of monsters, and the bodies of Arangian guards who had died in front of those monsters.

It seemed that some of the Arangian guards who had been left here as the emperor’s guards had set up barricades and fought against the mutated soldiers, residents, and enemies until they ran out of strength and died.

“For some reason, a disaster occurred, and the loyal subjects remained and fought until they died. How unfortunate.”

Azadin prepared to perform a funeral rite as he looked at the Arangian guards who had held their positions until death and piled up countless corpses.

It was because of their valiant fight that Azadin himself was able to remain on the throne without any problems.

But…

[Your Majesty. Have you awakened?]

The corpses of the Arangian guards opened their eyes. Blue ghost fires burned within their eyes.

The spirits of the Arangian guards were pulled out of their corpses and walked out.

[We are relieved to see that you are safe. We were not strong enough to allow the invasion of the royal palace.]

“They say you are the strongest unit in Hybris, and indeed. Your reputation is not in vain. It was a great performance. I fear there is no way to repay your loyalty.”

Azadin, who had been counting the number of fallen Arangian guards and the mutated creatures they had defeated, realized how valiantly they had fought and praised their achievements.

[It’s nothing. Your praise is excessive.]

“So, what happened?”

[After Your Majesty lost consciousness, the Empress appointed refugees as knights and left for the south.]

[She was truly magnificent and splendid. The people rejoiced and were filled with high spirits at the miracle she showed. But after that, the Nagas and Elves persuaded Lord Ject to kill Lord Astadeer and performed a ritual to summon the Nether gods in Butuma.]

[When the light of the King’s Flower disappeared, Jupiter awoke, and the Nether forces swallowed humanity.]

The dead Arangian guards were even explaining things that they clearly would not have known while they were alive.

“Where is Midiam? Is the Empress safe?”

[We do not know that.]

“I see. I understand. Thank you. Your service was so great that I cannot possibly repay it with my incompetence. Now, rest peacefully in the afterlife.”

[Understood, Your Majesty.]

[You are going to continue fighting. Please be careful, Your Majesty.]

[May you have good fortune.]

[We have fulfilled our mission, so there is no need to hold a funeral for us. Please take care of yourself in this cold and do what you must.]

The ghosts of the Arangian guards wished Azadin good fortune and disappeared.

Azadin, who had been about to hold a funeral for the Arangian guards, smiled bitterly at their words, which even declined a funeral.

“To even consider this. I truly had subordinates who were too good for me. It was an honor to receive your loyalty.”

Azadin prayed for their souls in front of the corpses and stepped out into the blizzard-swept world.

*********

The sun did not rise, and the wind blew fiercely.

In the dark, Azadin took a deep breath and used his unique vision.

Azadin’s eyes, which could see through the darkness, looked around.

It was a desolate world.

Even if the Middle Palace had been swept away by the Nether forces, it should have been a usable port, so supplies and people should have been constant, but it was all covered in snow and ice, and all the nearby roads were deserted.

The only things wandering around were mutated creatures and zombies that had become Nether’s minions. There were no goblins or bris.

Azadin found a small sled nearby. It seemed to be a sled made for soldiers to use, and there were people dead around it.

Their corpses had frozen to death, and they had taken off their clothes in this cold and frozen to death.

If the sudden cold freezes the brain, people feel hot and take off their clothes and freeze to death.

Perhaps that was why they had taken off their clothes.

“……”

In this situation, would people still be alive? Was humanity finished?

Even Azadin felt despair.

But…

“I have to do what I have to do. Find Midiam… Ah, Arae. Arae, what should I do?”

Azadin called out Arae’s name. Arae’s voice had disappeared.

Of course, Azadin could easily use the magic of the Seer’s Eye, so the scouting function that Arae’s voice had performed could be replaced by the magic of the Seer’s Eye.

But the fact that Arae’s legacy had disappeared tormented Azadin.

His heart felt like it would break.

No, it would be strange if it didn’t break in this situation.

But Azadin got on the sled, removed the anchor, and unfurled the sail.

The sled began to run on the snow, propelled by the strong wind.