The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 95

#96. Ara’el Tribe 6

Azadin and Ara’el were twins, born from the same womb.

Ara’el was born with the most powerful magical power in the history of the Messenger Clan, having taken the ‘Hwajopungwol’ grimoire [a powerful magical text] that should have belonged to Azadin. In contrast, Azadin was born a deformed child, unable to use even a simple spell and without eyes.

It’s very difficult to ask someone not to hate a twin who was born having stolen even the talent that should have been theirs. Azadin was no exception, and he hated Ara’el. But at the same time, there was something he acknowledged.

The charm and power to captivate everyone.

However, even that charm and power raised questions.

“What reason could justify cooperating with a guy who kills people so carelessly?”

The air was thick with the smell of blood and burning. From this fortress watchtower, one could see the smoke rising from several burning villages.

Count Rantark’s army had already looted the surrounding area and killed many people. They were nothing but trash. Even if there was some sad story behind it, had Ara’el joined hands with someone who committed such unforgivable acts?

“I’ll take charge of the defense here for a while. Any complaints?”

“Uh, um.”

“We have no complaints.”

The soldiers in the watchtower, and even the fortress commander, submitted.

Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t entrust their lives to a suspicious group like the Messenger Clan. But in this situation, the only ones they could trust were these suspicious messengers.

“Then, bring the arrows from inside the fortress and pile them up here! All soldiers, retreat from the ramparts!”

Azadin stood on the wall himself. Arrows flew towards Azadin with the sound of the wind. However, Azadin deflected the incoming arrows by swinging his cloak.

The arrows, now powerless, piled up on the fortress, and one of them was grasped in Azadin’s hand.

-Swish!

Azadin shot the arrow back. The arrow, flying towards the approaching soldiers, curved and then swept low across the ground, hitting the soldiers moving with the siege ram.

-Thud!

The power of the bow was so strong that the arrow pierced one person and then penetrated the next.

“Ugh!”

“W-What are the shield bearers doing!”

“Damn it! It was shot from above, so why is it coming from the front!”

The soldiers screamed, but Azadin shot arrows in rapid succession.

-Swoooosh!

With the sound of the wind, the entire right row of the siege ram carriers fell. When one axis of the carriers disappeared, the other side had no choice but to drop the ram, and some even tripped or were crushed by the ram they had dropped.

“Kuh-ack!”

“D-Damn it!”

“This is insane!”

As the siege ram carriers fell, the non-commissioned officers picked up shields and encouraged the soldiers.

“Shield bearers! Protect the siege ram! Soldiers! Go and lift the siege ram!”

“……”

However, the soldiers’ faces were filled with fear.

If they picked up the siege ram, they would become the target of concentrated fire. If they wanted to die, they should stick to the siege ram.

Azadin was saying that with his arrows.

“You can just block those arrows with a shield…”

-Thwack!

No sooner had the words been spoken than the jaw of the non-commissioned officer holding the shield was blown away. An arrow that flew through the gap in the shield had blown off the non-commissioned officer’s jaw.

“Hwaaaaaa!”

The non-commissioned officer, his jaw gone, screamed and collapsed.

“Forget the siege ram! Let’s just chop it with axes!”

“Raise your shields and axes!”

The soldiers raised their shields above their heads and ran towards the fortress. But this time, arrows flew from the fortress windows.

The arrows were shot by Ishmael and Midiam, and they were enchanted with the magic of the Messenger Clan, so they moved much more freely than Azadin’s arrows, ravaging the approaching soldiers.

“What are our archers doing! Shoot!”

Rantark’s archers shot arrows towards the fortress and the windows, but Azadin caught the incoming arrows and immediately loaded them onto his bow and shot them back.

-Thud!

Another soldier fell. Seeing him openly catch arrows and shoot them back, the archers couldn’t help but lose their morale.

“T-That…”

“Aren’t we just supplying him with arrows if we shoot?”

“W-We can’t go!”

“Are you stupid! The enemy is just one guy, and you can’t even approach the gate?”

However, in this brief skirmish, about ten soldiers had fallen.

Five dead, five wounded.

Even though it wasn’t many, ten people were 5 percent of Count Rantark’s total forces gathered here. It was too many lives lost in a short time. The soldiers’ morale could only plummet to the bottom.

“Is this the Messenger Clan!”

“They’re truly terrifying monsters!”

The soldiers could only pray to the gods that arrows would not fly towards them.

*********

“What are you doing, Messenger Clan!”

Count Rantark Garnahear was furious at the Messenger Clan for standing idly by in this situation.

“We are shooting as well, though.”

“Shooting at the fortress is a waste. Since he is also one of our clan, if the arrows flying at him don’t have power, he catches them and shoots them back.”

“If we shoot from here, we’re just supplying him with arrows.”

The Messenger Clan on Count Rantark’s side also shot arrows at the wall, but due to the difference in height, the power of the arrows was greatly reduced, and they were not causing any significant damage.

Of course, if they shot arrows with magic, it would be a different story, but the Messenger Clan here were not loyal to Count Rantark. They were just a loose alliance, temporarily joining hands for common interests.

“That’s why I recommended attacking at night when the sun goes down. If there isn’t enough time and you have to attack the fortress in broad daylight, then you should have rushed all the troops at once to finish it quickly.”

At Nephti’s words, Count Rantark shut his mouth.

It was true that Nephti had advised him that way. However, Count Rantark had ignored the advice and boasted that he could easily take down such a small fortress, and had sent the siege ram unit to charge separately. He thought that having all the troops rush at such a small fortress and chop at the gate with axes was a waste of manpower.

The result was this. Because the soldiers’ morale had dropped, they had reached the end of their offensive without even trying anything. Nephti was subtly criticizing the Count for that.

‘How dare you criticize me?’

Garnahear, a great noble, was not used to criticism. However, he had come to deeply feel the power of the Messenger Clan, so he couldn’t treat them carelessly.

“He shoots well. He can do the work of ten archers by himself. How many of those can the Messenger Clan shoot?”

“They can easily shoot about a thousand a day.”

“A thousand a day? With such a powerful bow?”

Even skilled archers using Ashwood longbows would be exhausted after shooting about a hundred arrows a day, drooling from their mouths. But a thousand?

‘Isn’t he bluffing? No, but if it’s true, it would be difficult no matter how many troops I throw at them? I need to make a catapult to be able to siege! But it’s not even a proper castle, just a fortress like a guard post…’

Originally, it was just a trivial fortress that didn’t even need to assemble something like a catapult. But when a master archer from the Messenger Clan entered that fortress, it was transformed into an impregnable fortress.

‘There was a reason why he was so confident when he negotiated the conditions for opening the gate.’

Garnahear couldn’t help but admit that he had made a mistake.

“Let’s wait until nightfall. Then our clan will infiltrate the fortress and resolve it.”

“Infiltrate?”

“We can climb those fortress walls as if they were flat ground.”

“Hmm, I understand. I’ll have the soldiers retreat. It’s just a waste of manpower to keep charging like this.”

If they got tired after shooting about forty or fifty arrows, they could break the fortress by throwing in a lot of troops, but if they got tired after shooting a thousand arrows, a wave attack would be meaningless.

“Then, can we also retreat and rest? We need to rest now to move at night…”

“Do so.”

Count Rantark, displeased, granted them rest and withdrew his troops.

*********

Yarabin, a young man from the Messenger Clan, was Nephti’s servant. Although he had given up on becoming a clan master, he was independently engaged in commerce and information gathering under Nephti, and he was dissatisfied with the structure of the Messenger Clan.

Originally, he had enough skills to become a clan master, but he had no choice but to choose to be a servant rather than a clan master in order to feed his poor family. If he didn’t do business and bring something to eat, his siblings and sick parents would starve to death.

However, he was also a talented individual who could use the ‘Iseon-gung’ [a type of bow] and handle the ‘Hwajopungwol’ grimoire. He himself was confident that he was not inferior to any ordinary lower-ranking messenger, and he actually had that much skill.

So, when Ara’el said that she would deny the existing order of the Messenger Clan and create a new structure, he was overjoyed.

Not only that, but the messengers under Nephti now were all those who were dissatisfied with the existing order, and that was why they had gathered under Ara’el’s banner.

“Hehe. That Count is getting what he deserves.”

Yarabin was delighted to see Count Rantark’s face being crumpled. Although he didn’t like Azadin, he was still an Aragasa [a race of people]. Seeing a Hybris noble who had looked down on Azadin being humiliated made him feel good. The Aragasas had a grudge against the Hybris nobles in many ways.

“Don’t be like that. He’s a customer.”

Nephti stopped Yarabin and stood up. The soft moonlight brushed against her body, which was like a nimble black panther.

She was a strong and attractive figure. It wasn’t just luck that she had obtained the position of 75th spirit at a young age without any special background.

“Now, shall we climb that fortress? Everyone be careful. Azadin is not easy. I’ve crossed swords with him, and he’s quite skilled.”

“But didn’t you say he seemed injured?”

“I can’t believe that Azadin has become such a great master.”

“He seemed injured, but that might have been a disguise. Be careful. I heard that Kazas Heseo is specialized in killing.”

Nephti didn’t know exactly what Kazas Heseo was. However, she had heard that Elder Kazas was not an Aragasa, so he was not born with the ‘Hwajopungwol’ grimoire, but he had acquired it in his own way, and that his technique was dangerous and destructive.

If Azadin had mastered it, they couldn’t let their guard down. Moreover, they had to climb the fortress now.

“The support team, prepare arrows below, and let’s choose the assault team. Who will go up?”

“I will go.”

Yarabin volunteered.

“I will stay below.”

Kahsan, who had been injured by Azadin’s arrow, declared that he would support them with his bow from below because it was difficult for him to climb the fortress.

“Okay, then Yarabin, you and I will go up. Kahsan, Nema, Kodanus. You guys support us with arrows from below. What about the scout team?”

A clan master called Nema was using scout magic to circle above the fortress and monitor the surroundings.

“They haven’t lit any fires on the fortress. There are guards, but they are hiding behind the ramparts and looking down.”

“Looking down? He was expecting it.”

Nephti realized that by hiding the guards behind the ramparts and having them look down, Azadin was wary of a night attack, and that he was wary of the Messenger Clan climbing the walls.

“It might be a trap. Should we avoid it?”

“No. If we avoid it after making fun of the Count like that, the Count’s patience will run out. Let’s break through.”

“Even if there’s a trap?”

“You can handle that much, right?”

Nephti smiled confidently.