The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 56

Azadin, with his back to the entrance, skillfully avoided being surrounded. Though encircled on three sides, he had a clear escape route. He seemed to have anticipated the were rats’ intentions, and he scoffed.

“In that case, you, as the superior, should set an example, Curven. Why don’t you come at me?”

“Kuh!”

Curven was also reluctant to approach. The broken arm and ankle he had suffered when Azadin threw him hadn’t fully healed, even with the were rats’ regenerative abilities.

In fact, he was only alive because he was a superior among these were rats; if he were a normal were rat, he would have died from a single strike of Azadin’s Clear Pine [a type of sword].

“Kiek!”

Unable to watch any longer, one of the were rats pushed his companion towards Azadin. Azadin’s sword flashed, and this time, too, he sliced off the were rat’s head.

However, with this attack, the sword in Azadin’s hand broke. The inner iron part was still holding, but the blade was bent at a 90-degree angle.

“Good! Now’s the time!”

“Kyaak!”

Taking advantage of the opening, another were rat leaped at Azadin. A ruthless choice to sacrifice a comrade to create an opening! The were rats were actually proud of such choices. They considered it their unique wisdom that humans could never imitate.

But wisdom is only wisdom if it succeeds; if it fails, it’s just a despicable act. Azadin first aimed a vital strike at the neck of the leaping were rat.

-Thud!

Azadin’s vital strike broke the opponent’s neck bone in one go. As the were rat’s body stiffened, losing consciousness from the broken cervical vertebrae, Azadin caught the body and used it to block the other were rats’ attacks.

“Kuh…”

“Kuk!”

“Unbelievable! We are the hunters! With Mezere’s blessing, we should be the ones plundering…”

“You’re ridiculous.”

Azadin kicked the torso of the were rat, who was staring with disbelief at their failed attack. The tip of Azadin’s boot seemed to sink into the were rat’s liver.

The were rat, lifted off the ground and staggering back, had blood gushing from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

“Kuaaaak!”

The were rat writhed in pain from the powerful kick that had ruptured his liver. Sadly, their regenerative abilities only prolonged their suffering.

Their regeneration wasn’t good enough to fully restore major organs like the liver without any damage, so they were just left in agony for longer.

The were rats were astonished by Azadin’s reaction speed, which allowed him to defeat them one by one, even though they had him surrounded.

It was on a different level. Just because they had him surrounded on three sides—front, left, and right—didn’t mean they had the advantage. Rather, they were just getting beaten by Azadin.

‘What is this guy?’

‘Is this really the guy Curven always talked about?’

Curven had always blamed the Messenger Clan for his devotion to Mezere [a deity].

The least capable member of the clan had become a messenger simply because of the elders’ political maneuvering. That’s why someone like him, who had diligently worked as a peddler in Korasar, couldn’t become a messenger. This was clearly a flaw in the organization.

He had always complained like this. But seeing Azadin’s skills, he was incomparable to Curven, wasn’t he?

Taking advantage of the were rats’ confusion, Azadin picked up the staff he had dropped on the floor and retreated, escaping through the building’s exit.

“A-ah, no! Chase him!”

Curven realized what Azadin was trying to do and panicked, ordering his subordinates. But they were all hesitant.

“That’s outside.”

“If we go out, other humans will…”

They had already transformed into were rats, and if they ran out into the middle of the street in broad daylight, there would be witnesses. So, they all let Azadin go outside, which was a mistake.

As soon as Azadin got outside and created some distance, he took the moon horn bow from his waist, placed it between his legs, and attached the slingshot string. Then, he began to shoot the abundant stones from the riverbank with the slingshot.

-Swish!

A stone flew at a terrifying speed, passing through the building’s entrance and striking a were rat inside.

“Kyak!”

“T-this bastard!”

But the intervals between the stones flying were incredibly short. If you didn’t see it directly, you would suspect that a large army was continuously launching projectiles.

*********

Azadin was outside, picking up stones and shooting them with the slingshot. But all the irregularly shaped objects, like stones, were being sucked into the doorway, attacking the were rats inside the building.

“Get away from the door! Damn it! That bastard!”

As Curven panicked, Azadin reached into his clothes and pulled out the arrows he had hidden. Azadin broke off the arrowheads and placed them on the bowstring. It was something Curven hadn’t expected.

‘What is that guy trying to do?’

Then, Azadin unfolded not a double bow, but a triple bow with the headless arrows. Three arrows struck the roof tiles of the building’s outer wall in quick succession…

The roof tiles began to burn. The friction between the wooden arrow shafts and the roof tiles had caused a fire due to the continuous friction heat.

Even in a dry situation, even for a Messenger Clan member who had mastered the double bow, ‘ignition’ was only possible if the arrows hit the exact same point continuously.

Moreover, if they hit directly, they wouldn’t ignite; they had to hit while maximizing friction… How could a human do something like this?

Everyone panicked as the building began to catch fire. Due to the prolonged drought, it began to burn even faster.

“Hey! Do you know there are other humans here?”

Curven shouted, unable to watch any longer. Azadin shrugged his shoulders after hearing that.

“Oh, really? My apologies. Put out the fire. I won’t interfere.”

“Kuh!”

“Or you can become roasted rats inside. I saw refugees roasting rats outside. Come to think of it, you guys were saying something funny? What? That you became the hunters with Mezere’s blessing? You rat bastards? Well, maybe if you transformed into werewolves or were tigers, but you’re pathetic, aren’t you? Honestly.”

“…N-no!”

“Do you think we wanted to become were rats? We also think were tigers are cool…”

“Hey, stop it!”

The were rats were startled when one of them made a statement denying Mezere’s blessing.

In any case, the fire spreading in the dry wooden building was a serious problem.

“Damn it! You’re really not going to attack, right?”

Curven ordered his subordinates to put out the fire. The roof tiles, which had dried out due to the drought, were burning quickly, and the embers were continuously falling inside the building, but once the were rats started putting it out, it wasn’t too difficult.

They extinguished the fire by removing and clearing away the roof tiles that were starting to burn.

“Whew. It’s out.”

“But… where did he go?”

If Azadin had attacked while they were putting out the fire, they would have been helpless. But Azadin really didn’t touch the were rats while they were putting out the fire.

That’s good, but… he’s nowhere to be seen.

“S-surely?”

“Did he already go inside?”

It was when the were rats were panicking and checking the inner entrance.

“Hmm. So, the fire is all out now, right? Shall we start again?”

Azadin, who was already behind them, muttered.

“Ugh!”

“This bastard?”

Azadin was holding the head of a halberd in his hand. He was holding the pike part of the halberd, which had been separated from the shaft, like a tonfa [a type of weapon].

“Hup!”

As Azadin swung it, a were rat’s jaw was shattered.

The were rats tried to scratch Azadin with their claws. Just being scratched by them could tear human flesh and cause death through infection with poison and bacteria. If you were unlucky, you could even be infected and become a were rat through Mezere’s blessing. It was a terrible claw attack.

But when Azadin swung the halberd head, their fingers were sliced off in chunks.

“Kiek!”

The were rat who had disguised himself as a paladin drew his sword and rushed at Azadin. However, Azadin simply parried the blade with the halberd head, slid it off, and then closed the distance with a kick. This time, it was a liver kick again.

“Kuk!”

While the were rat was staggering, Azadin snatched his sword and swung it at the other were rats. A tragedy unfolded as the were rats’ arms and legs were severed, and their heads were cut off.

‘H-he’s too strong! What is this? Is this Azadin? He’s not a mere 108th Messenger!’

His skills were definitely not those of a lower-ranking messenger. His individual martial prowess was more like that of a top-tier messenger. Curven was horrified as he watched Azadin sweep away the were rats like fallen leaves.

“Kuh. W-wait a minute! Azadin!”

“Why? Are you trying to leave a will?”

“I, I’m going to run away. Let me go!”

“Do I have a reason to listen to you? If you’ve become a follower of the Kurt God, you should know that I have no reason to let you live, right?”

“Ugh… Isn’t there such a thing as childhood friendship?”

Azadin scoffed for a moment.

‘Is this guy crazy? Childhood friendship?’

But Curven seemed to have interpreted Azadin’s scoff differently.

“We’re from the same neighborhood, we ate from the same pot! We trained together! We can be called childhood friends! Right?”

“Don’t you remember how you used to bully me?”

“T-that was just some roughhousing when we were kids. And you know? Everyone was bullying you, and if I didn’t do something, I would get bullied too! I had no choice to survive. You have to understand that!”

“So, to survive, you ended up becoming a were rat?”

“It’s the regional leader’s fault! That guy sent me to investigate the missing people, and I was attacked by were rats there, and I became a were rat too. It’s not like I wanted to become one. So, let me escape! Okay?”

“Haa.”

Azadin was taken aback by Curven, who was only talking about himself. He was always an annoying guy, but it seemed like he had become even more self-centered after becoming a were rat.

‘Could it be that their intelligence decreases after transforming into a were rat compared to when they are in human form?’

Azadin nodded.

“Okay. Run away.”

“Oh, really? Thank you. Hehe.”

“But before that, give me some information. Is Baroness Nort inside? She went missing yesterday.”

“Ah, that noblewoman? Of course, she’s here.”

“What are you planning to do with her?”

“I knew there was a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture nearby… but it hasn’t manifested. The copy of the Divine King’s Scripture has a self-defense function, even though it’s a magic book, so we can’t just get our hands on it. So, we’ve been torturing and abusing people, hoping that the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture will manifest. It just so happened that we needed nobles too. Humans with the blood of the Yaehagas gods are very good sacrifices.”

So, is it responding to people’s calls and desires, as it is the King’s magic book?

“That’s high-level information, isn’t it? It’s information that only high-ranking wizards of the Kurt God clan know. Then, I’m going.”

Curven backed away from Azadin, and when the distance widened, he started running away.