The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 512

[Your physical body has already reached its limit. The death of the body is fleeting, but the soul is immortal.]

“I don’t like that.”

A halo of light began to shine again above Azadin’s head.

The radiant heat wave was emitted once more.

However, this time the heat wave was not aimed at the rift.

It was shot deeper, at the roots of the quartz throne.

The quartz throne heated up as if it were a lump of iron in a furnace.

[What!]

[Stop! If you destroy this, the protection of Yaegas will have difficulty reaching this land!]

[Do you not need the protection of Yaegas?!]

The Yaegas spirits were flustered.

“I don’t need it!”

As the radiance emitted by Azadin heated the quartz throne, cracks began to appear on it.

The entire quartz throne pulsed with light.

[Stop now! You cannot handle this world without our protection! The Fimbulwinter [a great, endless winter] is not over yet!]

“At least, I can separate it from the Nether’s domain. By moving it a little further away from the Nether’s domain, I can end the Fimbulwinter.”

Azadin dismissed the warnings of the Yaegas spirits.

Zekt had cursed the quartz throne, making it easy to connect the Hybriss continent and the Nether dimension.

In other words, the current quartz throne is a passage connecting the world of the Yaegas spirits and the Nether dimension.

If the quartz throne itself is destroyed, the protection of Yaegas will be lost, but it will also create distance from the messengers of the Nether.

[You are inviting great disaster because you want to live even a little longer! Even though you were persecuted by the descendants of Yaegas, you refuse to sacrifice yourself for them!]

“If you put it that way, I have a hundred or a thousand reasons to refuse. Though, that’s not why I’m refusing!”

Azadin increased the output of radiance and began to sever the roots of the quartz throne.

The Yaegas spirits were bewildered by Azadin’s actions, but some of them surprisingly agreed with Azadin.

[If that is your choice, then so be it. Everyone agrees, right?]

[Humans choose, and we merely guide.]

[But if things had gone well with the power of cultivation, the world wouldn’t be in this state.]

[Won’t it be better now? The Emperor of the New Covenant has been born. He will be a milestone showing a new path to humans.]

[However, we wanted to be with the mortals a little longer. Their passion, their limitations, all of it was a joy.]

Listening to the confused voices of the Yaegas spirits, Azadin further increased the output of radiance.

The roots of the quartz throne shattered, and all eight thrones of Yaegas were severed.

At the same time, Azadin’s consciousness returned to reality.

********

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty, are you alright?”

Azadin opened his eyes at the voices calling him.

The Telbarin elves were giving Azadin artificial respiration.

Startled, Azadin looked around and saw that the throne was stained with blood.

“Ah, Your Majesty!”

“You’ve awakened!”

The mouths of the Telbarin elves were stained with blood.

They had sucked the blood from Azadin’s trachea and lungs.

“Oh, right.”

Azadin sighed and smacked his lips. The smell of blood lingered not in his mouth, but in his lungs and trachea.

If the elves hadn’t given him first aid, he would have drowned in his own blood.

“Cough, cough.”

As he coughed, Azadin looked at the Telbarin elves.

‘Is it because of the contract of service? They were my enemies just a moment ago, but when I was in danger of dying, they saved me.’

Azadin felt complicated as he looked at the elves who had tried to save him instead of killing him when he was helpless.

Considering what they had done, they were truly bad guys, but their loyalty and dedication were strangely high.

They would readily dedicate themselves to the organization’s goals, and once their loyalty was directed, they would be quite sincere in their service.

They were the perfect subordinates to bewitch those in power.

You might think you are controlling your subordinates, but if you are not careful, you might find yourself being manipulated by them.

‘They are dangerous guys. No wonder the powerful lost their minds and fell for them. I need to be careful, but I should praise them for what they did well, right?’

Azadin was wary of the Telbarin elves, but he decided to commend them for now.

“Thank you. You did well.”

“You are too kind. It was only what we had to do.”

“I wish you would have done that for others as well. Anyway….”

Azadin looked at the throne of Butuma and saw that the quartz throne was cracked.

Just in case, he got up, and at that moment, it shattered into pieces.

Surprisingly, the broken fragments became translucent as they touched the ground and seeped into the ground, disappearing.

“This can’t be. The throne….”

The Telbarin elves all bowed before Azadin, trembling.

The throne of Yaegas had been destroyed.

It was a truly blasphemous and terrifying scene, but an even more astonishing thing was happening.

Behind Azadin’s head, the eastern sky was turning gray with the dawn.

The night that would last forever was ending, and morning was approaching.

The blasphemous night was ending, and the dawn of humanity was breaking.

The blasphemous sight of the throne being destroyed, and yet, the moment of sunrise when the long night ended.

The Telbarin elves, seeing the Emperor greeting the light of dawn, shouted cheers without any prompting.

“Long live the Emperor!”

“Long live!”

Azadin scratched his cheek, but to them, Azadin was a great emperor who had ended the blasphemous night and brought the dawn, a being no different from a living god.

‘I don’t need to correct their misunderstanding.’

The long night ended, and finally, dawn arrived.

********

The night ended, and dawn began to break.

The Fimbulwinter finally ended, and the Nether forces that once seemed to overturn the world were annihilated.

The corpses of giants and monsters lay scattered everywhere, becoming food for beasts and monsters.

The cold was still severe, but the fact that the sun was rising and the monster forces had retreated was enough to give people a sense of relief.

However, an unexpected problem arose: the angel statues and seramites [weapons made from angel blood] all disappeared at once.

The bodies of the angels who had fought the Nether forces until their strength was exhausted and had fallen were enshrined as statues in the underground sanctuary of Saint Mallory.

In the past, the corrupted Wisdom Order had blasphemously damaged the angel statues and used the angels’ blood to create the seramites and the Celestial Fire Knights.

The angel statues were still a powerful source of divine power.

However, the angel statues disappeared along with the seramite weapons.

Not only that, but all the Yaegas thrones also vanished.

The King’s Church, which served the bloodline of Yaegas, was bewildered by this astonishing event.

It was because the thrones had disappeared, and the bloodline of Yaegas no longer provided the power of white magic.

‘This is the work of the Emperor of the New Covenant!’

That’s what they thought, but there was no concrete evidence.

The only ones who had witnessed Azadin sitting on the throne and the throne being destroyed were the Telbarin elves, and they had made a contract of service with the Emperor and had become his confidants, so they had no reason to give testimony that would be disadvantageous to the Emperor.

Of course, the Nagas and the followers of the Kurt Pantheon had secretly whispered, but their testimony could not be used as evidence.

It would only prove that they were in league with cultists, wouldn’t it?

Moreover, criticizing Azadin, the Emperor of the New Covenant who had ended the Fimbulwinter, was tantamount to suicide.

The position, trust, and popularity of Emperor Azadin, who had ended the Fimbulwinter and restored the sun, were absolute, and no one could challenge him.

And if the Emperor had destroyed the throne, then why had the angel statues disappeared?

Everyone knew that the Emperor preferred the Rescue Knights to the King’s Church, so there was no reason for him to destroy the angel statues, was there?

In the end, the disappearance of the angel statues and the Yaegas thrones was considered a natural phenomenon caused by the shock of the Fimbulwinter.

********

With Emperor Azadin ending the Fimbulwinter, the status of the Herald Clan was completely changed.

The Herald Clan, who had been regarded as soulless blasphemers, king-slayers, and terrible monsters, had now shed their past infamy and were recognized as the Emperor’s bloodline.

‘Emperor Yaeslat and Harkonia, the leader of the Herald Clan, fell in love, and their blood flowed into the Herald Clan, so the current Herald Clan is a descendant of the Yaegas gods.’

In the past, even if it were true, such words would have been considered blasphemy and would have been met with a barrage of criticism, but now it had become the accepted theory.

The Herald Clan were not incomprehensible outsiders, but descendants of the noble imperial bloodline. That was why Azadin could become Emperor again.

That was the perception that had taken root.

Regardless of birth and bloodline, one should dedicate oneself to virtue and cultivate high discipline. That was the teaching of the New Covenant, the Cultivation School, that Azadin was spreading, but people still liked to follow bloodlines.

“Well, well. The clan’s long-cherished wish has been fulfilled.”

The elders of the Herald Clan held a meeting and were perplexed.

“Emperor Azadin was the person we persecuted.”

“No, well, we couldn’t help but persecute him, could we? He interfered with our work and even attacked us in cooperation with the Arael faction. Do you know how many of us were killed by Arael and Azadin, the two siblings?”

“However, as a result, His Majesty the Emperor was right. His Majesty the Emperor fulfilled our long-cherished wish, and what we did to fulfill our long-cherished wish would be a public enemy of humanity if it were officially revealed.”

The Herald Clan had joined hands with the Nagas and betrayed humanity.

That was an unchanging fact.

“Should we also receive the curse of service again, like the Telbarin elves?”

“There is no need for that. Unlike those elves, His Majesty did not announce the fact that we betrayed humanity.”

“But isn’t that relying on His Majesty’s mercy? What if His Majesty brings up that fact at any time?”

“Then what are you going to do? Shut His Majesty’s mouth?”

“…….”

The elders of the Herald Clan fell silent.

Now, they could not dare to oppose Azadin.

“So, let’s just offer it up ourselves. His Majesty needs a lot of funds and manpower to rebuild the world.”

Sion Etar, as a member of the Etar clan who served Emperor Azadin, urged the elders to offer up their assets.

“Sion Etar, is that His Majesty’s intention?”

“Not really, I just thought that would be the natural course of things.”

Sion Etar feigned ignorance.

Since the Etar clan was close to Azadin, and even the Empress was a member of the Etar clan, all the other clans of the Herald Clan were watching the Etar clan.

“First, let’s return the Sun of Seonwoo that we took to His Majesty. He says he needs it to research farming. And let’s release the goods from the trading companies that our clans own to stabilize prices, and while we’re at it, let’s hunt monsters and beasts on the way to stabilize public order.”

“That, that seems like we’re trying too hard to please him? Aren’t you representing their position too much just because you’re the Emperor’s in-laws?”

“But what can we do? We have committed a crime. Besides, His Majesty will repay us for everything.”

“Hmph, what kind of repayment would that be? It’s probably just giving us some land in the Kerim Mountains, right?”

“No, that’s not it. Hmm.”

Sion Etar hesitated whether to say this or not, then spoke.

“Actually, His Majesty offered me a position.”

“What position? Count of Kerim?”

The Kerim area was already a mountainous area occupied by the Herald Clan. Giving them a countship in the land they already ruled would be a nominal position that would give them face but no real benefit.

However, Sion Etar shook his head.

“No. King of Corasar.”

“!!!!!”

Azadin offered the position that was originally promised to Zekt to Sion Etar.

The members of the Herald Clan were all surprised and clicked their tongues at the words.

‘Oh my, those Etar clan guys, they put in an Empress at the last minute and hit the jackpot.’

‘Unbelievable! He’s giving him a kingship?’

The elders of the council were all flustered.

“Wait a minute. So, Sion Etar, you’re going to be king?”

“Yes. And the vassals and lords under my command will probably be members of the Northern Araga.”

From Azadin’s point of view, he needed a force to keep the Northern Emperor Cohen in check.

He would give the Northern Araga, who had betrayed the Northern Emperor Cohen, suitable land, power, and positions, and Sion Etar, who had a political marriage with them, would control them.

Sion Etar was a relative of the imperial family, the head of the Etar clan, and was recognized by the Northern Araga through his political marriage with them. For these reasons, Azadin had bestowed a kingship upon Sion Etar.

“Wow, a kingship.”

“That’s….”

“Well, it’s not all good. Corasar is in ruins, so it will be quite difficult to rebuild it. So, what are you all going to do? Will you help me rebuild Corasar?”

“O-of course. King Sion Etar.”

“W-well, we have only persecuted and tormented His Majesty since we were young, but His Majesty has forgotten the past and is bestowing such great grace upon us, so we are just grateful.”

“It’s truly shameful.”

In fact, it was the Etar clan, who were the Emperor’s in-laws, who were receiving the benefits, but the Herald Clan was impressed by the generous grace that Azadin was bestowing.

‘Even if he only takes care of his in-laws, that’s something. It’s a blessing that he’s not killing us all to avenge his childhood.’

‘Now we are a clan that has produced a king and an emperor. We don’t have to listen to that nonsense about being soulless blasphemers anymore.’

‘Anyway, the Etar clan won’t be able to run the country alone. They won’t be able to survive without giving us a position.’

Thus, the Herald Clan rejoiced in the Emperor’s grace and decided to give up what they had without hesitation to rebuild Corasar.