The Shadowed Legacy Of The Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 501

Night of the Soulless Blasphemer 14

“Your Majesty. It’s a relief to see you looking healthy.”

Midiam, still in shackles, approached Azadin and held out her hands.

“Midiam. It’s a relief that you’re safe.”

Azadin took Sork’s rod and touched her shackles with it.

The moment Sork’s rod touched them, the black ice shackles instantly disintegrated and were absorbed into the rod, freeing Midiam.

“But to talk about your old flame with such affection in front of your wife. Aren’t you being a bit much?”

“…Aldis is like a mother to me. Calling her an old flame is quite a misrepresentation.”

“Still, it makes me uncomfortable. I can’t help but be jealous when Your Majesty shows such admiration. You can blame my narrow-mindedness if you wish.”

“Of course not. No, Midiam. How could I ever blame you?”

“No, Your Majesty is a monarch, so you are entitled to have as many concubines as you wish, but I am just a narrow-minded girl who is jealous that there is someone else in Your Majesty’s heart, so you should scold me. Hmph!”

Midiam seemed quite sulky.

Jibek looked at Midiam and recalled what Sork had said.

The reason why Emperor Yaeslat, despite unifying the world, did not last long, and why he disappeared without properly establishing a successor, leading to the re-division of the Eight Kingdoms, was because Yaeslat’s immense power rapidly destroyed his body. Sork had clearly said that.

And that was probably the truth without a single lie.

Even if Sork hadn’t said it, everyone knew that Azadin had come this far at a great sacrifice.

He barely survived by receiving his sister’s blood and flesh at the brink of death, and he suffered on the throne to protect the world with the light of the King’s Transformation [a powerful ability that enhances the user’s strength and abilities].

How many days does Azadin have left? At least, it wouldn’t be longer than Yaeslat’s reign.

Midiam couldn’t possibly be unaware of this fact. That’s why Midiam was deliberately teasing Azadin, overcoming her sadness and anxiety with laughter.

“Hmm….”

She’s doing that to shake off her sadness and anxiety, right?

At that moment, someone muttered beside Jibek.

“I wonder if that position could be mine…”

Ismail silently repeated Midiam’s words.

“Ismail. Is your wound okay?”

When Jibek asked, Ismail showed his wound.

The spot where he had been struck by the rapier had already completely healed and formed a scab.

“I really can’t compete with him. His Majesty….”

Jibek also knew that Ismail had been in love with Midiam for a long time.

So, even if he suddenly heard such an unexpected remark, he could quickly understand the context.

“I want to be like His Majesty.”

‘Anyone who hears that would think you’re plotting treason….’

However, Jibek could understand what Ismail meant.

Both Azadin and Ismail were heralds, a race despised by the people of Hybris, and of lowly status.

But unlike Ismail, who was content with being with Midiam despite his low status, Azadin had even bigger dreams.

And what supported him was just a few memories with one person.

Yet, he lives with such joy.

I want to be happy like that person. I want to share even a little of his happiness. That’s the kind of thought he inspires.

“I wish I could hate him, but I have no choice but to acknowledge him.”

Ismail, who had always grumbled at Azadin, had no choice but to acknowledge him.

He liked Azadin.

He hopes that one day he can look back on this unrequited love with joy, just like Azadin does.

He also wants to become a human filled with joy, like Azadin.

“Hmm.”

Jibek could see in Ismail the appearance of someone who had laid down his burden.

Jibek, being of a gloomy nature, sympathized with Ismail’s words.

Come to think of it, Zekt, who also had a gloomy personality, suddenly came to mind.

What is he feeling right now?

*********

Inquisitor Zekt was a man who did not know happiness.

Ever since he was unwillingly ordained and became a Holy Knight, he had always been gloomy and angry.

Perhaps that’s why? Just before Azadin became the Emperor who unified the world and was about to achieve a great feat that would go down in human history, the elves brought him the Nether Sword [a powerful, dark magical sword].

Would he become the king of Corasar and live in wealth and glory?

Or would he betray humanity and bring a terrible hell to this land where humans could not live?

The elves had come with such a proposal.

Any sane person would naturally choose the former.

No matter how much envy and jealousy for the Emperor burned within him, choosing the latter would be too disadvantageous, wouldn’t it?

But Zekt was a man who did not know happiness, so he had little interest in the wealth and fame that would come after becoming king.

His desire for the throne was merely a kind of self-discovery.

Why am I so unhappy?

Is it because I was abandoned as a royal? If I find the throne, can I be compensated for this unhappiness?

That was the reason he aimed for the throne, but now that it was about to fall into his hands, he found it bothersome to manage.

In the end, life is absurd and painful.

That’s why he decided to betray Azadin and headed to the Butuma Royal Castle where Astadear was staying, accompanied by the elves.

*********

Astadear had recently been cutting down on his drinking.

The process of an alcoholic like him cutting down on alcohol was like scraping away his flesh and bones.

Terrible physical pain, and even greater mental pain, weighed him down.

A foolish king who fell for a honey trap and leaked the Divine King’s Scripture [a sacred text containing powerful magic]. A traitor who leaked the Divine King’s Scripture to the Herald race.

That terrible mistake assailed him every moment. To escape this mental pain, he had been drinking and destroying his own body.

But now he is quitting drinking.

To fulfill the mission Azadin had given him, to confront the Naga and Fishmen who threatened humanity, he needed to maintain a clear mind.

“Lord Astadear. Are you there?”

At Zekt’s voice calling him, Astadear opened his eyes.

Zekt, who had come with the elves, was looking at him in a strange way.

“Lord Zekt? What brings you here?”

“You were practicing the Divine King’s Scripture. I heard you haven’t been drinking lately.”

“I have to do something.”

Astadear said that and raised his hand. The iron nails, large and small, that were bound to his body began to vibrate.

It was a clear battle stance.

But he wasn’t doing this for no reason.

From the moment he entered, Zekt had been emitting a terrifying killing intent.

“Are you really going to do it?”

Astadear didn’t ask why he was betraying him.

He thought that Zekt might betray him at this point.

Now, with the unification of the world at hand, if he wanted to stop Azadin, now was the only time.

“You don’t ask why I’m betraying you.”

“Lord Zekt. I thought you might do this.”

“Why did you think so?”

Zekt asked that question.

It was something he had decided, but he couldn’t describe his decision.

It was as if he was floating in a dream, without any sense of reality.

It wasn’t that he hated Azadin and was betraying him, nor was it a desire for power.

As he walked towards destruction, he sought answers for his actions from others.

“Because putting it into words would make it endlessly trivial. You know it in your head too. I don’t want to make my words trivial, so I won’t say any more.”

Zekt also had something in mind.

He gave a bitter smile.

“Why do you have such a desire for the Emperor, Lord Astadear? You must know by now that he is not your son.”

“He is the son of the man who loved the woman I loved. The man who loved the woman I loved betrayed his race for her, who sacrificed herself for the future of the race. As a result, he was cursed and died, and Azadin was born.”

After Astadear became the Southern Commander of Azadin’s army, he obtained information about the Herald race and learned about Azadin’s birth.

Akre the traitor.

Why did he steal the Divine King’s Scripture copy, and how was he cursed, leading to Azadin’s birth?

“I have lived a shameful life. A fool who fell for the Herald race’s honey trap and leaked the Divine King’s Scripture. My name was disgraced all over the continent, and I had nowhere to run, so I escaped with alcohol. Every moment, I relied on alcohol to escape reality, but what I desired was just for her to return.”

Astadear revealed his most shameful secret.

Even after such an event, he did not hate the Herald race, but rather waited for the moment she would return, and survived until now.

“So, when I heard that a man named Akre had risen up for her, I felt even more ashamed. I said I loved her, but I only loved her body, her beauty, and her talent. I completely forgot that she was also a victim. No, I didn’t even try to find out from the beginning. In the end, I was only thinking about my own safety from the start.”

Astadear rose from his seat.

“As a man who loved the same woman, I respect Akre. For the woman who was sacrificed for the future of the race, he willingly became angry. If Azadin is his child, I will gladly burn my body and soul for his will. Besides, isn’t it an honorable thing? To revive the old laws of the forgotten Knights and protect this world with wisdom, courage, and mercy. It’s such an honorable and noble thing that I doubt if it’s something a degenerate like me should be given.”

“So, if you’ve even quit drinking, then persuasion is impossible.”

Zekt drew his sword.

Astadear was once the king of Tarasar and a great mage who could write down a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture.

His abilities in his prime were clearly superior to Zekt’s, but Astadear had been indulging in alcohol, abusing his body and soul.

There was no way he could be a match for Zekt just by recovering his body for a short time. There was no way a body ruined by decades of drinking could recover so quickly.

However, the determination felt from Astadear now was not something that could be ignored.

“Then I’ll make the first move! You have the numbers!”

Astadear grabbed the leather strap that held the iron nails with his left hand, and with his right hand holding his sword, he swung the leather strap widely.

The iron nails that were attached to the leather strap flew out and began to move in their respective directions.

Zekt ignored all the iron nails and charged straight in, launching a thrust at the shortest distance.

-Wrath of Yaegas! [a powerful magical attack]

Zekt’s sword glowed white-hot and shot out a beam of light.

But Astadear’s iron nails spread out in the air and, with their sharp ends gathered, rotated, forming a circular shield.

A rainbow-colored glow was drawn along the trajectory of the rotating iron nails, forming a shield of light.

-Wrath of Yaegas!

Astadear also cast the Wrath of Yaegas.

Zekt and Astadear’s attacks collided simultaneously, causing an explosion.

“Kuh!”

“Ugh?!”

The Telbarin elves couldn’t even dare to approach.