The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 58

Finding the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture was fortunate, but this grimoire seemed to possess a life of its own. The unholy and wicked could not touch it carelessly.

“Damn it. What kind of grimoire is this? Is this the power of the Yaegas gods? This thing!”

Just then, the rats began to clamor at the entrance of the wine storage. Azadin had arrived.

*********

-Squeak, squeak….

A wave of rats surged toward Azadin.

“Oh, crap!”

Seeing the swarming rats approaching like a tide, Azadin quickly leaped onto a wine barrel. The rats tried to climb the barrel and attack, but Azadin loosened the Moon-Crescent Bow from his waist, not fully stringing it, but only halfway.

He pulled the string and then struck the bow, causing the string to lash out like a whip due to the elasticity, sweeping across the barrel. The rats that were climbing the barrel were swept away and scattered.

-Whack!

With a sound like a whip crack, the rats were flung away.

“The bowstring is getting damaged… but this isn’t the time to be stingy!”

He kept striking the bowstring, and the rats that tried to climb onto the barrel were simply killed.

“Hmm… stop it. I can’t kill the one over there with that.”

At the command of the fallen holy knight, the rats ceased their attack.

“You’re his herald! A herald of the clan!”

Azadin looked at the man dressed in the plate armor and surcoat of the Rescue Knights.

“Are you a fallen holy knight? Of the Rescue Knights?”

“Fallen? Ha, haha. Fallen? What nonsense. I’m only now serving the true god. Not the false archangel!”

“False archangel?”

Azadin frowned. For a former holy knight of the Rescue Knights to say such things in front of him, who believed in the three archangels, was an unbearable insult.

“Yes. Believing in the archangels grants white magic? That’s all rubbish. The angels are already dead, and their corpses have no power. The Rescue Knights are a huge group of swindlers!”

The holy knight said this and pointed to his surcoat. It was a surcoat with the symbol of Mezeri [a dark god] overlaid in blood on top of the symbol of the Rescue Knights.

“The Kurt gods are the true gods. Their era is approaching! The Yaegas gods, weakened by mixing with humans, cannot handle it. When the true gods rule this world, we, their apostles, will become the new nobles and rule this land!”

“So, you became an apostle of Mezeri who harms people? You’re pathetic. A true holy knight is one who practices the virtues of wisdom, mercy, and courage. You obviously can’t use the power of the Rescue Knights. You’re not even close to virtue.”

Azadin criticized the holy knight. That seemed to have offended him this time.

“Are you daring to discuss the faith of the Rescue Knights with me? You, a soulless blasphemer?”

“I think you should be more worried about your own soul in this situation?”

“You’re a funny one.”

The holy knight raised his chin, and several shadows climbed onto the wine barrels. They were were-rats, but their bodies were horribly swollen.

“Are those the minions of Mezeri?”

Azadin wrapped the Moon-Crescent Bow back around his waist and changed his weapon to a halberd head. Then the holy knight snorted.

“You’ve displeased me, but you seem to have some decent skills. Judging by how you got here and how you handled the rats earlier. How about it? Why don’t you take this opportunity to serve the true god?”

The holy knight tried to persuade Azadin. But Azadin refused outright.

“Sorry, but I believe in the three archangels.”

“……”

The fallen holy knight’s expression was quite a sight.

A moment of awkward silence hung in the air.

“Why?”

“Wait a minute. Are you serious? You, a soulless blasphemer, have the faith of the Rescue Knights?”

The fallen holy knight was shocked by Azadin’s words. He had seen many fanatics who claimed to believe in the faith of the Rescue Knights, but he had never seen anyone with true faith.

Yet, this herald clan member was claiming to believe in the faith of the Rescue Knights.

“Yes.”

“You’re crazy! Didn’t you hear me? The three archangels are already dead, and they have no power! The holy knights who can use magic in the Rescue Knights are originally Yaegas gods! They’re just nobles!”

“Whether they have power or not is not important. It’s whether their virtues have aesthetics or not.”

“But you, in the first place….”

The herald clan were those who had committed the sin of killing the Yaegas gods. Because of that, they were persecuted by everyone in Hybris [the world they are in].

And from that position, he was seeking virtue and aesthetics?

“The three archangels are powerless, and the Rescue Knights are swindlers. I’m telling you from experience. This faith has only betrayed me!”

“It doesn’t matter. Even if the three archangels are powerless, I’ve already been saved in advance. So, faith cannot betray me. I’m only afraid that I might betray faith.”

Azadin said this and took a stance.

“You’re completely insane. You seem to have some skill, though. Fine. You’re just unpleasant. Die!”

The holy knight had a high opinion of Azadin’s skills, but his displeasure with his beliefs outweighed his admiration for his skills.

The minions of Mezeri, the diseased, began to rush at Azadin. Not only that, but the rats also climbed back onto the barrels and attacked. But Azadin, even as he faced enemies attacking from all sides, calmly said this.

“Let me give you a piece of advice.”

He moved toward the minions of Mezeri, the diseased, who were trying to attack him on the wine barrels.

“In this terrain, I have an overwhelming advantage!”

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Azadin kicked a ‘diseased one of Mezeri’ with all his might, as if he were kicking a ball. The head of the one climbing the barrel was smashed, and his body fell backward. Azadin looked like he was about to fall under the barrel with that momentum, but….

He jumped, grabbed a pillar that was used to secure the barrels from tilting, spun around, and landed on another barrel.

A diseased one followed Azadin, leaping from barrel to barrel in pursuit, but Azadin spun around and kicked the one in mid-air.

-Thwack!

Azadin’s roundhouse kick struck the diseased one’s leg in mid-air, causing his body to spin like a top. The diseased one hit his head on a barrel and fell headfirst.

The rats climbed onto the barrels and attacked, but Azadin ran across the barrels, dodging the rats, and released his cloak, grabbing it and swinging it wide as he slid. A bunch of rats got caught in Azadin’s cloak.

Azadin grabbed the cloak, made it into a sack, and slammed it on the floor, then swung the cloak again to release it. The bodies of the rats, killed by the impact of the slam, shot out like bullets.

“Ugh….”

“A, amazing….”

The diseased ones of Mezeri were so far gone with their illness that they couldn’t even speak properly. Even they couldn’t help but be amazed by Azadin’s performance.

The way he effectively used the terrain to repel the enemies was even exhilarating.

“Crazy bastard. But he’s incredibly skilled.”

The holy knight was horrified by Azadin’s amazing performance.

On top of the wine barrels, where it was difficult for ordinary people to even move, this herald clan member was freely running around, using the terrain to toy with the diseased ones who were climbing up.

“Ah….”

“A, amazing. Is that the Emperor’s herald?”

Those who were conscious among the bound people were in awe of Azadin’s performance.

The minions of Mezeri, the diseased, had a disease of madness that gave them much faster speed than ordinary were-rats, making them not only fast but also strong. Moreover, being hit by them would lead to a deadly disease.

But they couldn’t even get close.

No matter how much faster they were than ordinary were-rats, if they recklessly sped up on the barrels, their feet would slip between the gaps in the barrels, or they would fall straight down. But Azadin lightly toyed with them, kicking them under the barrels, cutting their ankles with the halberd head, and throwing them down.

“Hmm?”

The holy knight looked up, noticing the light flickering. The light from the pages of the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture, which was shining above the wine storage ceiling, was flickering.

‘He chose that guy! No way. Is the grimoire of the Yaegas gods acknowledging someone who has the blood of the Yaegas gods on his hands?’

But thinking about it the other way around, it was a good thing.

‘If I kill that guy, I can get the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture.’

The power that the grimoire copy was using to resist not becoming his possession was squeezing out the magic stored in the book itself.

If it chose a new owner here, that herald clan member, as its carrier, the power of resistance would inevitably weaken. If he killed that herald clan member, the resistance of the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture would weaken, and he could then seize the grimoire more easily.

“It seems I can’t let you do as you please any longer.”

The holy knight drew his sword and stood up. The swarm of rats at the bottom of the storage gathered at his feet.

-Kiri-ri-ri-rik!

The rats moved in perfect unison, lifting the holy knight to the height of the wine barrels.

“Huh?”

Azadin was surprised by the sight.

“I’ll show you the power of a Mezeri apostle!”

As the holy knight raised his sword, an ominous black aura flickered from the blade.

“Hup!”

Azadin threw something. It was a broken arrowhead. The arrowheads he had broken off earlier to set fire to the building when he entered. Azadin threw it like a dagger, but the holy knight snorted and swung his sword.

A black storm flew towards Azadin, sweeping away the arrowheads.

“Oh, crap!”

Azadin leaped to the side to dodge. Because of that, another person who was tied with ropes and hanging from the ceiling was directly hit by the black storm.

“Agh. Ughhhhh!”

His life force was sucked out, and his body became parched. He was a man with some flesh on him, but it was as if time had suddenly sped up for him, making him look ten years older.

“Did you dodge it? A wise choice!”

The holy knight chased after Azadin on a wave of rats, swinging his sword. Each time, a black whirlwind rose, aiming for Azadin.

“Ugh!”

Azadin dodged the black whirlwind, but then realized that the person behind him would be hit.

“Hold on!”

Azadin kicked backward, pushing the hanging person to help him avoid the black whirlwind. In this crisis, he was not only dodging himself but also rescuing the people who were tied up as sacrifices.

“Amazing! Do you really believe in the angels? A herald clan member trying to save people!”

“Shut up! Is it so strange to save people?”

Azadin threw another arrowhead, hitting the holy knight. But it didn’t pierce his plate armor. No matter how strong Azadin’s throw was, he couldn’t pierce plate armor with a light arrowhead in an unstable situation.

“You’re wasting your time!”

The holy knight unleashed another black whirlwind.

“Ugh!”

Azadin tried to dodge the black whirlwind, but then realized that the person behind him was the woman in the satin dress, the Baroness.

It was too late to get her out of the way.