The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 511

Erasmaya, while Azadin was negotiating with the Nagas, discussed matters with her subordinates and stood before Azadin with a solemn resolve.

Some of the women who appeared to be Erasmaya’s subordinates were sobbing, unable to contain their emotions, perhaps out of fear of the terrible punishment that awaited them.

“So. Telbarin Elves. What reason will you give me to spare you?”

Erasmaya answered Azadin’s question.

“To the most high Emperor, I offer this. The ringleaders who committed the crime of betraying humanity, including myself and 20 high-ranking members of the guild, will surrender ourselves. We will also offer 20,000 Mondus of silver and the sea routes to the outer continent that we have monopolized. As for those who were merely involved and not ringleaders, they were only following the orders of our leaders, so we beg you to forgive them.”

“……”

Azadin was inwardly surprised by her words.

The outer continent referred to the continent outside of Hybriss, where the Aragas originally lived. [Hybriss is the main continent where the story takes place, and Aragas are an ancient race.]

After the ancient Nether gods were sealed under the sea, powerful whirlpools, the Netherstrom, formed, making trade with the outer continent a miracle that only occasionally connected when luck was on one’s side.

Yet, they had grasped it to the point of calling it a sea route?

Azadin felt his heart pounding, but he did not show it. There was no point in revealing that he was drawn to the Elves’ proposal.

“Hmm. You are offering to surrender yourselves, including you?”

Azadin had felt disgusted by the Elves’ selfishness and racial discrimination, but he was slightly impressed by Erasmaya’s willingness to offer herself as a target for punishment.

It was certainly a noble gesture for a high-ranking person to volunteer as a scapegoat.

However, he could not simply accept their proposal.

“That’s ridiculous. You’ve harmed at least thousands, tens of thousands of people, and you think you can get away with just 20 lives? You overestimate yourselves. Do you think the people you killed would be satisfied with just 20 lives? Of course, if you were kings and counts, the people might accept it, but unfortunately, you are not kings or counts, are you?”

The Telbarin Elves’ expressions darkened.

What Azadin said was not wrong.

Among the Elves, a high-ranking person offering their life might have meaning, but it meant little to humans.

If a king or count had offered their life, it would have been acceptable. However, the Telbarin Elves were not kings or counts but merchants operating in the shadows, so even if their high-ranking members offered their lives, it would not be easy to satisfy the people.

But if that were the case, the only thing left would be the annihilation of all the Telbarin Elves.

Erasmaya stepped forward again.

“Then, we will offer all the guild executives.”

“Enough.”

Azadin stopped Erasmaya’s proposal.

“Erasmaya. I respect that you offered yourself to save your clan. I am honestly impressed by your willingness to sacrifice yourself. However, your dedication to sacrificing yourselves to protect your clan only makes you look like an even more terrifyingly self-centered race to others.”

“Self-centered race, you say?”

“Yes. You Elves seem like ants or bees, willing to sacrifice yourselves for the sake of your race… Don’t you realize how threatening that is to other races? Seeing individuals willingly sacrifice themselves for the group makes the excuse that they were just following orders from above seem even more deceitful.”

It might be considered praiseworthy altruism among the Elves, but to other races, it was an even more frightening and terrifying unity.

What is a virtue to one can be a greater threat to another.

Even if the Elves showed a noble side, Azadin could not fully trust them.

“If that is so….”

If they were going to be annihilated anyway, should they fight to the death? Erasmaya was about to steel herself.

“I will give you a solution. I will place the curse of servitude upon you.”

“Pardon?”

The Elves were startled by Azadin’s words.

“The curse of servitude, you mean, that one?”

“The one of the Herald Clan?”

“Yes. The curse that requires you to be loyal to me, the Emperor, for all generations. If you accept this, the Telbarin Elves will be under my control, and the people will be satisfied. What do you say? Will you accept it?”

Azadin glared at Erasmaya, the leader of the Telbarin Elves.

A curse that would last for generations and be passed down through bloodlines, the curse that bound the Herald Clan to the Emperor even after the Emperor disappeared… He was going to place that curse on the Elves?

The Elves looked at each other, bewildered.

Erasmaya nodded.

“Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty. We will gladly accept the restraints you impose upon us.”

“Do not misunderstand. This is not a position where you will represent my voice like the Emperor’s heralds. It will be a position with more duties than authority, more pain than joy.”

When Emperor Yaeslat was alive, the servitude contract of the Herald Clan was closer to a blessing than a curse.

The power to convey the Emperor’s voice. It was as good as having that guaranteed.

However, Azadin had no intention of offering such a position to the Elves.

Wouldn’t that be an act of deceiving the people who had been sacrificed by the Elves?

‘But if I don’t, I have no choice but to kill them all.’

The Elves were cornered, but Azadin was also cornered.

His physical condition was not good, and Nether’s minions were still wandering around the Butuma royal palace.

He had to deal with what Zekt had done by touching the throne of Butuma, and during that time, Azadin would be defenseless.

Even if he accepted the Elves’ proposal and punished some of them, he could not show a defenseless appearance in front of the remaining Elves, could he?

Then he would have to kill them all…

Of course, Azadin could kill them all.

‘I could say that I would forgive them if the responsible parties committed suicide, and then kill the rest of the Elves after the responsible parties and high-ranking members committed suicide.’

Even in his poor physical condition, Azadin could kill all the Elves here if he did that.

But such deception… Even if a monarch’s schemes are not considered a flaw, it was too vile and cruel.

In that moment, he thought that the Emperor had a method called the contract of servitude, didn’t he?

‘Now that I think about it, Yaeslat must have had a hard time controlling the Aragas. This contract of servitude, thinking about it from the perspective of the one who imposes it.’

Azadin, understanding Emperor Yaeslat’s position, offered the contract of servitude to the Telbarin Elves.

As the Telbarin Elves agreed, an indelible mark of the contract was left on their souls.

However, the Elves were rather pleased with this contract, as they were well aware of their own situation.

********

Having resolved the issue with the Elves by placing them under the contract of servitude, Azadin now sat on the throne of Butuma.

[Welcome, Emperor.]

The moment he sat on the throne, the voice of the throne welcomed Azadin.

“I see. So, you were the ones who summoned me here.”

Azadin realized why he had been teleported.

The throne itself had called Azadin.

To be precise, the spirits of Yaegas had summoned Azadin here through the throne. [Yaegas are the gods of this world.]

[That is correct. Now! It is time to restore the world!]

Azadin’s consciousness was drawn deep into the inner workings of the throne… to the depths connecting the quartz throne and the heart of the Hybriss continent.

********

This quartz throne, which rose from deep within the earth, was a passage connecting the Hybriss continent and the world of the Yaegas spirits.

However, that passage was now severed by the Nether’s dimensional rift, which was why the light of the King’s Authority had disappeared.

“So, this is what Zekt did.”

[That is correct. And it is also a trace of the Naga Emperor trying to interfere.]

[This throne is a passage connecting the spirits of Yaegas and the Hybriss continent, piercing the adjustment point of the world.]

[Using that, the Nagas tried to place the authority of their god, Debislin, at the center of the adjustment point. But we refused….]

[The Nether’s rift refused…]

[And when you arrived, the Nagas retreated in fear.]

The Yaegas spirits had summoned Azadin to drive back the Nagas.

Azadin listened to their words and carefully examined the dimensional rift.

It was similar to the dimensional rift that appeared above Zekt’s head, his halo, but it felt like a much more terrible power.

The Nether’s world was connected to the quartz roots, projecting the power and presence of the Nether throughout the Hybriss continent.

The power of the Nether was interfering with and corrupting the device that was originally created to spread the power of the Yaegas gods to this world and protect Hybriss.

If this rift was not eliminated, the beings of the Nether would continue to exert their influence on this land.

[Now, erase the Nether’s rift with your power.]

The Yaegas spirits guided him.

“I understand.”

Azadin focused his consciousness and touched the rift.

But at that moment, an enormous force suddenly sucked Azadin in.

Startled, Azadin pulled his hand away, but he could feel that a significant amount of his spiritual power had been lost. He had lost it in that brief moment.

His power would recover if he rested, but it was clear that if he made contact for longer, more seriously, he would suffer permanent, irreparable damage.

“What is this? I can’t handle it?”

A terrible curse created by offering 10,000 Naga eggs was condensed within it.

Azadin changed his approach and drew upon the sacred white magic he possessed, projecting it into the rift.

A dazzling halo appeared above Azadin’s head, and a beam of light that cut through even the night struck the Nether’s rift.

The rift absorbed the light and gradually shrank, but Azadin’s life force was also being sucked away.

The radiant heat wave that Azadin was unleashing was a powerful attack spell, and there should have been no damage to Azadin himself from it being absorbed, but seeing that Azadin’s life force was being drained along with it, it was clear that the rift was not just a simple dimensional rift but greed itself, craving sacrifices.

To eliminate this greedy rift, Azadin’s life was inevitably needed.

However, he could not just leave the rift alone.

This quartz throne was, so to speak, a device to fix the spiritual position of Hybriss, a device created to secure a connection with the Yaegas gods, and if the Nether rift was connected to it, the residents of the Nether would continue to be able to access Hybriss.

If this was not eliminated, the influence of the Nether’s messengers and ancient gods would continue to spread.

“Ugh. What is this? Even when I cast an attack spell, I’m affected… What should I do?”

Azadin asked the Yaegas spirits.

The Yaegas spirits answered him.

[You must become the restorer who will eliminate that rift and restore the connection between Hybriss and us.]

[If you do, you will ascend and join us.]

[Born as a mortal, you will become an immortal being through ascension, so do not fear the death of the body.]

[Your name will be praised forever among the descendants of Yaegas. Not as a soulless blasphemer, but as an Emperor with a great immortal soul, you will stand alongside us.]

The Yaegas spirits promised Azadin that if he burned all his life to eliminate the rift, he would stand alongside the spirits, that he would ascend.

“Me, Azadin of Muan, who was a black sheep even among the Herald Clan, becoming a spirit, the object of their faith, well, it does sound plausible, but….”

Azadin shook his head.

“I don’t want to do it since you’re telling me to sacrifice myself so blatantly.”