The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 493

Night of the Soulless Blasphemer 6

Having regained his strength, Azadin headed towards Kaspa.

Selim and his men offered to accompany Azadin, but he declined.

“You all should focus on persuading others and saving the people. Don’t worry about me.”

Azadin rode alone on the sled towards Kaspa, with a tailwind pushing him forward at a terrifying speed.

As he approached Kaspa, he saw mindless undead wandering across the snowfield.

Those who had been killed by Lord Sok had become undead and were now roaming around, and they discovered Azadin.

[A living human!]

[Flesh and blood!]

The undead swarmed towards him. However, Azadin steered the sled to avoid them.

The sled, already moving at a fierce speed, easily outpaced the undead.

“Lord Sok’s wraiths. Are they still in Kaspa? Or were they left behind?”

Azadin confirmed the wraiths and entered Kaspa.

Kaspa was also protected by the Grimslawn trees that had grown to surround the city.

[Emperor!]

However, the wraiths blocked Azadin’s path.

These wraiths were the residents of Kaspa.

“Hmm!”

Azadin turned the sled’s rudder, scraping the snowfield.

The sled slid sideways, reducing its speed. He quickly folded the sail and threw the anchor backward, slowing down even more.

Azadin’s sled stopped in front of the wraiths.

“Are you the residents of Kaspa?”

Azadin stood confidently before them.

[Emperor! We followed and believed in you!]

[To pay the price for killing your people!]

[Our children sacrificed themselves!]

[My husband!]

“Yes. Your light cavalry was truly magnificent.”

Azadin recalled the exploits of the Chitai nomadic light cavalry and acknowledged their hard work. [Chitai were known for their skilled horsemen and light cavalry tactics.]

Even if they had committed sins, if they held the right will at the right moment, even ordinary humans could be reborn as great heroes.

They were people who had committed sins worthy of serving as common soldiers, but their dedication could not be diminished.

[But why did this happen?!]

[Why did you abandon us!]

[You deceived us!]

The wraiths began to attack Azadin, blaming him.

However, Azadin used divine protection to block their approach.

The barrier of light that Azadin deployed blocked the wraiths, causing them to scream in pain.

“I, too, lacked strength.”

[Then die now and atone!]

[If you can’t overcome this calamity anyway, die now without suffering!]

The wraiths cried out, trying to break through Azadin’s divine protection.

However, they could not even approach the divine protection.

“No, I cannot die now. We can overcome this.”

[How! What makes you so sure?]

“Because everyone possesses a miracle, just like the courage shown by your children and husbands.”

Azadin persuaded the wraiths by citing the dedication and bravery shown by the Chitai light cavalry.

[Nonsense! What you’re saying is nonsense!]

The wraiths were furious, but some of them were bewildered.

[Wait! This is the one our children tried to save!]

[Yes! He is also the enemy of our children!]

[But he still believes he can save the world! That belief! If that conviction is what turns into this light, then he truly believes in hope!]

[We must help him, even to prevent our children’s sacrifices from being in vain!]

[Even in this situation!]

The wraiths were bewildered.

Just a short while ago, Azadin couldn’t persuade even one of the people gathered in the shelter.

This was because he himself was wavering with anxiety and confusion.

However, the current Azadin was displaying a firm belief and powerful divine magic as a result.

[If he wanted to destroy us, he could easily do so. Yet he doesn’t, so what does that mean?]

The wraiths began to waver.

[Do you really believe it? That we can overcome this? This calamity?]

One of the wraiths asked Azadin a question. It was the one who had been inciting the other wraiths to attack Azadin just moments ago.

“Yes. May I pass? I don’t expect you to forgive or bless me, but at least…”

[No, you can’t.]

The Chitai wraiths shook their heads.

[Emperor, receive our blessing.]

[May our children’s deaths…]

[May my husband’s death not be in vain.]

[It might not be appropriate for those who massacred and plundered your people to say this, but…]

“All the people of Hybris are of the same kin. I will gratefully accept your blessings.”

Azadin received the blessings of the wraiths and walked into the shelter of Kaspa.

*********

The Grimslawn trees grew along the outer walls of Kaspa.

Inside, there were about 100 houses made of earth and wood, and docks and berthing facilities for transporting cargo were installed.

Although it was small for a trading city of the populous Chitai, there was space for nomads to pitch their tents, so the city was much larger and could accommodate more people than one might think.

However, the docks and houses were now badly damaged, and several huge ice pillars were placed there, from which Lord Sok’s spiritual energy could be felt.

And beneath the ice of that spiritual energy, soldiers who had already died and become undead were gathered.

Living soldiers and dead undead soldiers were glaring at each other, facing off.

“What is this?”

Azadin walked between the two opposing forces.

“Huh?”

“Y-Your Majesty!”

The soldiers were startled to see Azadin walking towards their spears.

In the people’s eyes, there was a mixture of bewilderment, suspicion, and shock with complex emotions.

Some of them still had loyalty to Azadin, while others had lost that loyalty and were caught in doubt and confusion.

It was the same as everywhere else. When the Light of Royal Authority disappeared and the full-scale Fimbulwinter began, many people lost faith and fell into despair. [Fimbulwinter is a term from Norse mythology referring to a great winter preceding the end of the world.]

Nevertheless, they seemed to be refusing to become undead and were fighting against the undead soldiers.

“What’s going on? What is all this?”

The soldiers were bewildered by Azadin’s confident attitude.

Originally, they had resented him because of the despair that had come to them when Emperor Azadin was not present.

Those with strong loyalty defended Azadin, saying that he had done nothing wrong, but those who did not, argued that such a thing had happened because Azadin was not a proper royal, but a soulless blasphemer, and they even fought among themselves.

But now, the Emperor himself had come.

Of course, those present knew the Emperor’s power, so no one dared to attack him recklessly.

Wasn’t Azadin’s power akin to that of a living god?

‘But isn’t that the power of the Divine Royal Scripture? If the Light of Royal Authority has disappeared, then this guy now…’

‘Do you want to test him? Even without that, he’s the strongest of the Herald Clan, isn’t he?’

‘T-That can’t be.’

Even those with disloyal intentions had no choice but to bow their heads because they were afraid of Azadin’s power.

On the other hand, the undead soldiers had nothing to fear.

“What is it! Isn’t that a fake Emperor?!”

“Look at us! We’ve become like this because of your misrule!”

“Because a soulless blasphemer is pretending to be the Emperor, look what has become of us!”

They mocked and despised Azadin, openly expressing their anger.

Azadin closed his eyes at the gruesome sight.

“I tried my best to stop it, but my abilities were limited, so I couldn’t stop everything.”

“Ha! Then die!”

“Take responsibility and die!”

The undead soldiers hurled insults.

However, Azadin slammed the ground hard.

“Silence!”

A wave of sacred white magic spread out, causing the undead to kneel.

The undead soldiers who had been cursing Azadin all knelt down and sat down.

‘Kuh?! No…’

‘What kind of power is this!?’

‘Wasn’t the Light of Royal Authority gone?’

The undead soldiers saw the sacred power that Azadin was displaying, and his dignified appearance, and they knew.

Azadin’s heart was not broken at all.

Even this terrible calamity, he faced it as if he had expected it, without any hesitation, and that heart was by no means a facade.

“I have already promised the residents of Kaspa that I will restore this world! And will you run away by dying and disappearing?!”

“Crazy…”

Those who said that were all startled.

Come to think of it, outside this city, mindless wraiths were wandering.

Of course, it wouldn’t be impossible for the current Azadin to ignore those wraiths and come in, but what if what Azadin was saying was true?

‘More than anything. Why is this guy so confident?’

But then, suddenly, the ground began to shake as if there had been an earthquake.

And one of the ice pillars began to crack.

The ice made with Lord Sok’s magic shattered, and a sword that had been sealed inside the ice flew out and fell, piercing the ground in front of Azadin’s feet.

The golden ceramite longsword, Aurelia Dawn, had returned to Azadin. [Ceramite is a fictional material known for its strength and heat resistance.]

Azadin picked up the sword.

Aurelia Dawn shone like the sun itself, emitting intense heat in all directions.

It drove away the cold, and the snow and ice inside the shelter began to melt.

“What is that?!”

The soldiers, the humans who were watching, all trembled.

If it felt this warm even from this distance, then that sword must be as hot as the surface of the sun, yet Azadin was calmly holding the sword and spreading light in all directions.

“Y-Your Majesty. That is…”

“Look! Even I couldn’t make the ceramite burn this much before! But the miracle was already among us from the beginning! Even if we have abandoned our faith, faith does not abandon us! We have already been saved, so now all that remains is to act!”

The Emperor, wrapped in a sacred white magic and a holy sword burning like the sun.

At his sight, people felt their hearts grow hot.

But something bothered them.

It was the same when the Empress appointed them as knights.

Even if they were given any white magic or divine magic power, could they really overcome the darkness?

Could they endure the harshness of Fimbulwinter, the despair that was waiting outside?

And above all, weren’t many of the soldiers here already undead?

“We, we are already undead!”

An undead soldier shouted.

“What is left for us?! We have no life! No future! What hope are we supposed to have?!”