The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 79

The arrow, imbued with immense power, seemed to have been launched not by human strength but from a siege weapon. However, an invisible shield materialized around Sir Zekt, blocking the projectile.

‘Sacred Shield!’

The arrow shattered into pieces as it failed to withstand the force.

‘That’s similar to the Count’s magic,’ Azadin thought, frowning at the sight. It was the most troublesome of the Count’s defensive spells. If that holy knight could use it, it would be difficult to take him down by just showering him with arrows from a distance.

‘If it were Midiam or Ishmael, they could break it with the White Crane of Wind and Flowers [a powerful technique], but… if I involve the kids, they’ll become targets.’

Azadin clicked his tongue, realizing that Judge Zekt still had plenty of leeway.

‘Damn it. They said there are only sixteen Judges in the entire Royal Church, and it seems they were right! Please, just don’t follow me.’

Azadin began to flee, hoping that Sir Zekt would give up the chase.

As Azadin ran away, Meya fidgeted anxiously.

‘What should we do? He’s getting away, and he’s too fast! If we don’t pursue him now…’

‘It’s alright. We’ll chase him leisurely.’

‘Leisurely? Even if the wraith knight is pursuing him, if the opponent knows that, he’ll definitely come up with something!’

‘From the start, the reason he didn’t run away and stayed to fight us, buying time, was because of that person’s goat, or is it an alpaca?’

‘It’s a Kerim Mountain Goat,’ Zibek corrected.

‘Anyway, it’s because that alpaca is carrying a lot of luggage. He can gain speed for now, but he’ll have problems with endurance, so he stayed behind to buy time.’

The furry Kerim Mountain Goat was vulnerable to heat, so it couldn’t outrun horses unless it was in a cold region. It had escaped at a faster speed than the horses for now, but it would eventually tire, and above all, those who rode Kerim Mountain Goats in this area were only those from the north, making it easy to track them.

Besides, they had the wraith knight, Sir Gazrek, didn’t they?

‘Tracking him isn’t difficult at all. The problem is that we need to come up with a plan to catch him for sure so he can’t escape again. And…’

Sir Zekt removed his gauntlet.

‘Huh?’

Blood was dripping down.

‘Could it be?’

‘Yes. My finger was torn when I blocked his attack just now. It’s quite powerful.’

Sir Zekt’s hand, as he looked at it, was trembling.

‘Are you alright?’

‘Of course.’

Sir Zekt looked at his hand and chanted a spell. The bleeding from the wound quickly stopped.

‘Fortunately, it seems the bone isn’t damaged. If it were, I wouldn’t have been able to deflect the throwing knife he threw and would have died. The Messenger Clan is not an easy opponent after all.’

As Sir Zekt raised his hand, the non-commissioned officers who had just walked up to the holy knights brought spears.

‘A one-on-one fight is fun, but let’s catch him together next time. Hold onto your spears and join in.’

‘…….’

‘What’s wrong, Sir Zibek?’

‘Sir Gazrek…’

Looking in the direction Sir Zibek pointed, Sir Gazrek was writhing in agony.

‘Ah, I see. Sir Meya!’

‘Yes?’

‘Go find the horses that ran away with the non-commissioned officers.’

‘Ah, I understand.’

After sending Sir Meya away, Sir Zekt ordered the remaining non-commissioned officers.

‘Give him food.’

‘Yes!’

The non-commissioned officers dragged Sir Gazrek into the bushes off the road and threw him chunks of meat that had been loaded onto the packhorses.

Sir Gazrek pounced on the meat like a beast and tore into it. It was a human thigh.

‘…….’

‘It’s the corpse of a sinner who deserved to die. I admit it’s not a pretty sight, but isn’t it a very effective way to use those who would have been thrown into the fields anyway?’

‘That mindset is closer to that of a necromancer than a holy knight. What crime did the sinner who deserved to die commit?’

‘The crime of murdering a holy knight.’

‘…What?’

For a moment, Sir Zibek doubted his ears.

‘Are you talking about that young farmer?’

They had killed the young man who had been arrested for the murder of Sir Gazrek and fed him to that monster?

Sir Zibek shuddered. The investigation report he had seen was thoroughly distorted, but because of that, he knew something. Sir Gazrek had really been involved in the murder of civilians, and so the farm residents had attacked Sir Gazrek and his trainee knights in retaliation.

Zibek knew that what the young man had said was the truth. But they had killed that young man?

Then, Sir Zekt said quietly.

‘The Relief Knights are fools, but there is one truth in their teachings.’

‘…….’

‘Powerful black magic is still emanating from the depths of our continent. That is, without the light of the King, all corpses become undead. So, feeding corpses to get rid of them is a very effective method of burial.’

‘But the young farmer… his family was killed by Sir Gazrek.’

‘So, are you saying we should forgive him for laying a hand on a holy knight? Then people will ask, why was he forgiven? Should we say, “Ah, actually, Sir Gazrek massacred civilians?”’

‘…….’

Sir Zibek was speechless.

That’s right.

For the sake of the Royal Church’s Order of Holy Knights, what Sir Zekt was doing was right. But even so, it was too vile. To cover up the truth for the sake of the organization.

‘A sin is a sin. Sir Gazrek has already paid for his wrongdoings by becoming like that. And for the young farmer who laid a hand on a holy knight, death would be a suitable punishment. This is by no means an excessive punishment. Anyone else would have made the same judgment.’

‘Will Sir Meya be alright? If she sees this…’

‘That’s why I sent her away.’

‘Even so…’

‘Of course, it’s not a pretty sight, so I’m keeping it hidden from her. I would appreciate it if Sir Zibek would also be considerate in that regard.’

It was a way of telling him to keep his mouth shut as well. Sir Zibek gave a bitter smile. Suddenly, the actions of Azadin, the Messenger Clan member who had just escaped, came to mind.

He had carefully buried the villagers who had been killed by the Count’s son, and even though he had already received the Emperor’s gold, he was still fighting for the petitioners. Thinking of that, he felt endlessly ashamed of his own appearance, dressed up as a holy knight of the church.

‘Then, let’s pursue him when Sir Gazrek’s condition recovers. That messenger probably has a copy of the Divine King’s Scriptures that the Count had collected. He’s someone we absolutely cannot afford to lose.’

In the body of the wraith knight, Sir Gazrek, who was tearing into human flesh, a strange change occurred.

His body, already dead and with its metabolism stopped, with its internal organs, especially the digestive system, removed to prevent decay, and no longer able to eat and digest anything, began to change.

*********

Azadin ran along the road as the sun was setting, panting. The wound from the magic bullet was getting more and more painful.

‘I really shouldn’t, but should I rest for a bit?’

Azadin stopped the mountain goat. The goat’s temperature was too high.

‘I shaved the fur on its butt and legs beforehand, but it’s still like this. I’ll have to shave all the fur on its body.’

Azadin said this and began to take off his clothes by the roadside. The area hit by the magic bullet was bruised, and a bluish internal hemorrhage had already occurred.

Even if he had been hit by a hammer, it would take some time for the wound to bruise to this color. It was absurd that the wound was already changing color like this, even though it hadn’t been long since he was hit.

Moreover….

-Wiggle.

Something was moving inside the wound.

‘Damn it.’

Azadin found something in his saddlebag. It was a razor made of obsidian. He cut open the bruised wound with the razor.

-Squirm.

A dark red, worm-like thing made of coagulated blood popped out of the wound.

‘Damn it.’

Azadin took out a small ceramic bottle from his backpack, poured the contents onto his clothes, absorbed it, and put the dark red blood worm into the bottle. He cut open the other wounds, pulled out the blood worms, put them in the medicine bottle, and sealed the lid.

‘How can a holy knight be so good at using black magic? To fuse black magic with colorless magic like a magic bullet.’

That Judge Zekt was a magician so skilled that he could independently fuse magic.

‘A normal person would have already died.’

Azadin survived because he had strong magic resistance. Anyone else would have died the moment they were hit by such a terrible magic bullet.

Azadin used the obsidian razor to cut open the bleeding wounds, wiped them with the clothes that had been soaked in the medicine, and applied ointment.

It was while he was doing this that…

‘Are you alright?’

‘…….’

Midiam and Ishmael had returned along the road.

‘No, I told you to run away…’

‘We came back and saved you when it was the Count’s time.’

‘That was then. But that holy knight is really dangerous. He’s a powerful magician, so you might die if you try to help me.’

‘Then what should we do? That undead will keep chasing you, won’t he?’

‘I’ll have to make a warding doll.’

Azadin cut the mountain goat’s fur with a dagger, twisted it with his hands to make a warding doll, and put his hair and the medicine bottle containing the dark red blood worms he had sealed earlier into it.

‘Amazing. Where did you learn that? Did Elder Kazas teach you?’

‘Yes. I worked as Elder Kazas’s assistant when he was researching black magic. I can’t use magic, but I have the knowledge. This will temporarily help me avoid the wraith knight’s pursuit. The problem is that I need to move it.’

Just then, there was a person moving nearby with a torch, so Azadin approached him.

‘W-what is it?’

Although the sun hadn’t completely set, it was getting dark. Suddenly, someone jumped out of the roadside and blocked his path, so he couldn’t help but be flustered.

‘Ah, I’m sorry. Excuse me. Where are you headed?’

‘Why do you ask?’

‘I have something to deliver, and I was wondering if you could take it if you’re going south? I’ll pay you, of course.’

Azadin said this and took out a silver coin to show him.

‘Something to deliver, you say?’

‘Yes. I would be grateful if you could take this south and throw it into the river.’

‘…….’

‘I’ll give you five silver coins.’

‘F-five coins, you say? Um. Well, alright.’

‘You must never damage it.’

‘I won’t.’

‘I’ll give you the payment upfront.’

Azadin handed him the silver coins and the warding doll. The traveler, whether he was excited to suddenly earn silver coins or wanted to get away from Azadin quickly, disappeared from Azadin’s sight at a fast pace.

‘I hope this warding will throw off that Judge.’

‘Amazing. Are you afraid? Of him?’

Ishmael asked. Azadin readily admitted it.

‘You should fear fighting. Even if you are confident in your skills, it is wise to fear unnecessary fights. Now, let’s go. We need to put as much distance as possible while this trick works.’