The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 86

#87. The Brass Knight 7

“It’s Lord Zekt.”

As Azadin passed through the forest, he felt a curse that seemed to cling to his skin.

He didn’t have eyes, but he saw the world through a special vision, and in that vision, he could see the black magic of the curse flying towards him. It was clear that Lord Zekt and his wraith knight were pursuing Azadin.

“Good heavens. My skin is tingling. Well, thanks to that, I know where they are.”

Azadin felt the presence of the wraith knight targeting him and stopped his mountain goat.

If he stayed this far away, the others wouldn’t get caught up in it. Thinking so, Azadin took out his cheap weapons from his saddle and laid them on the ground. He filled his quiver with arrows and prepared some more by sticking them into the leather straps on his thigh.

“Come on, then.”

At that moment, a monster burst through the bushes. It was an unknown beast that ran on all fours with long arms and legs.

Azadin recognized him as the wraith knight Gazrek by the black magic emanating from him and the familiar curse mark. If it weren’t for Azadin’s special vision, no one would have recognized that it was originally Lord Gazrek, so grotesquely had he been transformed.

“Good heavens….”

Azadin was shocked to see Lord Gazrek, twisted by the curse.

This was no ordinary wraith knight. Powerful black magic was swirling inside Lord Gazrek. Did the paladins bring this?

“Hup!”

Azadin drew his bow. Lord Gazrek charged at Azadin, blocking his head with his forearm, but….

-Ping!

The arrow Azadin shot freely changed direction in the air like a fish crossing a rapid current and hit Lord Gazrek’s foot, severing his big toe.

Lord Gazrek, who had grown to the size of a huge bull, lost his balance and rolled on the ground.

“Nice!”

Azadin picked up an axe from the weapons he had thrown on the ground and jumped forward. At that moment, Lord Gazrek swung his arm. It was as if a broken sword was cutting through his body, but Azadin stopped in his tracks, still in his forward-leaping posture.

-Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon, Mirage, Kazas Haze! [A martial arts technique using illusions]

Other messengers used illusions with magic, but he unfolded it thoroughly with martial arts.

Azadin deflected Lord Gazrek’s attack, swung his axe hard, struck his elbow, and then leaped forward in a single rotation, swinging the axe again with tremendous force.

The axe, which had been stuck in his arm, came loose and accelerated with terrifying force, smashing Lord Gazrek’s head, splitting his skull, and severing his neck bone and collarbone.

“Kaaak!”

Lord Gazrek, who had suffered a massive fatal wound, swung his hand at Azadin to exchange blows. But Azadin abandoned the axe stuck in Gazrek’s body, stepped back, easily dodged the attack, and picked up a short sword from the ground.

“There!”

He swung the short sword at the attacking Gazrek, cutting off his fingers, and threw a dagger, sticking another blade into his body. Then, he stepped back again and picked up a weapon. This time it was a short spear, which Azadin also stuck into Lord Gazrek’s knee.

“Krrrrrr!”

The wraith knight, Lord Gazrek, spewed curses from his mouth, swinging his broken sword and arms at Azadin. But Azadin was not about to be hit by Gazrek’s attacks, who could no longer even walk. It was then.

“Chains of Light!”

A pure white rope of light wrapped around Azadin. Since it was just force without mass, Azadin could have broken free, but another caster shouted.

“Chains of Light!”

The second spell bound Azadin. The first voice was female, the second was male.

“Kuh!”

Lord Gazrek’s attack flew towards Azadin.

-Thwack!

Azadin’s body was thrown back, rolling on the ground before getting up. Lord Gazrek’s attack was terrifyingly powerful, but Azadin immediately got up and caught his breath.

“Grrrrr!”

Horrible worms wriggled from Lord Gazrek’s body. Countless worms, like earthworms or tapeworms, wriggled and connected the wounds Azadin had cut. Complete restoration was impossible, but they stitched him up enough so that he wouldn’t dangle.

“How gruesome.”

As Azadin gasped at the sight, those who had cast the divine magic on him revealed themselves.

“The enemy of my father!”

“…….”

Following behind Lord Gazrek were two paladins on horseback. One was Meya, the chief officer of Bishop Salasma, and the other was Lord Zibeck, the fencing master of Prince Kozel.

Azadin smiled wryly at them.

“Your father is right there?”

“You killed my father and dare to insult me in front of my face!?”

“I’m sorry about that. Even if he was a paladin who killed civilians, I didn’t want to insult your father in front of his daughter. But who is insulting your father’s death right now?”

“Sh-shut up! Don’t insult my father! Our father would never kill civilians without a reason! How dare you slander my father, I must kill you so that my father can rest in peace!”

Furious, Meya charged at Azadin.

“Lord Meya!”

Zibeck tried to stop her, but it was no use.

Meya confidently charged because Azadin, who had been thrown back by Gazrek’s attack, seemed to be groaning and clutching his body, not in a condition to fight.

It was clear that one or both of his arms or ribs were broken. So, she wanted to quickly execute him and free Lord Gazrek, no, her father.

With that in mind, Meya rushed forward and attacked Azadin with a spear from her horse. However….

“Welcome!”

Azadin skillfully used the hem of his cloak to wrap around and block Meya’s spear, then smoothly climbed up and hung behind Meya’s saddle, like flowing water. Before she knew it, Meya’s neck was in Azadin’s hand.

“Oh, dear….”

Zibeck clicked his tongue as he watched Meya become a hostage in an instant. Meya was more talented in magic than swordsmanship, so in case of an emergency, Zibeck would engage in close combat while Meya would provide magical support from behind. That was what they had agreed upon beforehand.

But when Azadin provoked her, Meya immediately got excited and charged in, forgetting all about their initial agreement.

‘His acting is amazing. Being thrown to the ground by Lord Gazrek’s attack… he threw himself to offset the impact.’

And yet, he pretended to be hurt and provoked Meya.

Zibeck had already seen Azadin’s skills and knew how strong and experienced he was, but seeing it again was still impressive.

“You’ve lost your composure, Lord Meya. Well, you probably know it too, right? Who is insulting your father right now!”

Azadin spoke to Meya, who had been easily captured. But Meya had no intention of talking to him.

“Kuh! Kill me now, you evil heretic!”

“Why would I throw away such a good shield?”

Azadin saw Lord Gazrek charging from behind and turned his horse, pushing Meya in front of his attack. Lord Gazrek was startled and stepped back. It wasn’t because he recognized her as his daughter. The one controlling Lord Gazrek had set a condition that he could not attack the paladins of the King’s Church.

“Stop it.”

Lord Zibeck spoke to Azadin.

“Lord Zibeck, I was respecting you, but I’m disappointed.”

“Huh?”

Meya was surprised when Azadin acted like he knew Zibeck. Judging by Lord Zibeck’s attitude, weren’t these two originally acquainted?

“We are just bait. The bandits are already going around behind you.”

“Hmm? You’ve joined hands with bandits? Well, I didn’t expect anything from the King’s Church, so I thought there was nothing to be disappointed about, but even so, it’s disappointing.”

“Lord Zekt cast black magic on them. No, it wasn’t just simple necromancy, it was… the power of the Nether [A dark, forbidden magic].”

“…….”

Azadin realized that the situation had become truly dangerous after hearing those words.

“As a paladin of the King’s Church, can you tolerate that?”

“The inquisitors are all well-versed in black magic. You can’t fight if you don’t know your enemy.”

“Then you should know that he crossed the line. I held a funeral for this Lord Gazrek. It’s definitely Lord Zekt who brought him back as a wraith knight….”

As Azadin said that, Meya, who was being held by him, stamped her feet and retorted.

“Lies! It’s a lie!”

“Isn’t that what you want to believe? You have to believe that to continue being a paladin.”

“L-Lord Zibeck! I don’t care, attack him!”

“No. What that man is saying is true.”

“Huh?”

“It’s also true that Lord Gazrek massacred civilians and that a funeral had already been held when he was discovered. It’s Lord Zekt’s magic that turned him into a wraith knight.”

“N-no way. Are you also defaming my father’s honor! Are you saying that my father massacred innocent people without a reason?”

“There was a reason. A shameful reason….”

“Then….”

Azadin released his hand from Meya’s neck, grabbed the reins, and turned the horse. Meya’s horse charged at Lord Gazrek, but he could not retaliate because of the prohibition against attacking paladins.

“I’ll borrow a sword!”

Azadin drew a sword from Meya’s hilt and swung it horizontally, slicing off Lord Gazrek’s head. His head, already weakened by Azadin’s axe, was easily severed.

“Aaaah!”

Ignoring Meya’s scream, Azadin stabbed the severed end of the neck vertically with the sword and kicked the horse, slamming Lord Gazrek completely to the ground.

The axe and spears that Azadin had stuck in him tore his body to shreds, and Lord Gazrek finally fell silent.

“Ugh! You fiend!”

Meya wailed as she looked at the gruesome sight of Lord Gazrek’s corpse. It was a result of the speed of the running horse and Azadin’s monstrous strength, but it was also because Meya, who was riding the same horse, did not resist. If she had struggled, even Azadin wouldn’t have been able to cleanly sever Lord Gazrek’s head like that.

‘Unlike what she says, she also knows that what I and Lord Zibeck are saying is true.’

Azadin understood Meya’s complex feelings, which she couldn’t even explain in words.

“So, Lord Zibeck, what are you going to do?”

“Release Lord Meya.”

“Hmm. Is that all you have to say? Tell me about the bandits.”

“Lord Zekt cast magic on them and ordered them to retrieve the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture. They thought the runaway slaves had taken it, so they left you to Lord Gazrek and went around.”

“Then there’s no time to be standing around like this.”

Azadin got off Lord Meya’s horse. He didn’t take her hostage, nor did he break any of her bones or harm her; he just let her go.

“What are you going to do? Are you knights going to condone bandits and monsters harming innocent people?”

Then Meya shouted in anger.

“What kind of innocent people are those who cooperate in leaking the copy of the Divine King’s Scripture….”

“Hmm. So, you’re saying that it’s okay for innocent people who are suffering at the hands of bandits to die just because they ran away with a copy of the Divine King’s Scripture? It seems that only the old man wearing a brass washbasin [referring to a helmet] is a true knight.”

Azadin scoffed at Meya’s statement and turned his back. It was a perfect opportunity to ambush him, but even Meya had no words to counter the current criticism.