The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger

“Damn!”

Azadine resisted the black gust of wind using his whole body.

“Ha… a knight has come forward. You withstood that for the ‘lady’, hmm?”

Azadine endured it without suffering any effects. The wind would have instantly crippled an average man, yet he was completely fine.

“Ah, right. Sorry about that. My immunity against black magic is a bit strong.”

“What?!”

“More importantly… everyone! I know you’re tired, but hang in there! I’ll put an end to him!”

After giving notice to all of the prisoners there, Azadine first launched himself backward towards the dangling Baroness Nort and held onto the rope that tied her.

“You!”

The Holy Knight tried to chase after him, but Azadine swayed the rope wildly as if it was a swing and sprung up on the other side. He then hopped to the next rope.

“You sneaky little….”

The Holy Knight moved to the opposite side to hunt Azadine down. However, his target had already skipped to another rope.

‘He-he’s too fast, this rascal!’

Azadine moved between the ropes faster than the Holy Knight could turn. To add, he also dangled behind the people who were tied to the ropes, making it hard to spot him.

“Ugh!”

Azadine jumped across the ropes from which hung the captives that were being used as offering scapegoats. He moved around the Holy Knight faster and faster, making it as if he was trapped inside a giant vortex.

“Wh-what is this?”

As the Holy Knight began to panic, Azadine leaped behind him and clung to his back.

“You bastard!”

The Holy Knight was incensed, but it was too late. Azadine’s speed had given momentum in the leap, and a wave of rats came crashing down from the impact.

“Did I keep you waiting too long? It’s over now.”

Azadine grabbed the Knight’s body with this comment and flung him backward.

Such terrifying strength and speed!

Azadine released all of the momentum he had built up from the ropes fully on the Holy Knight.

‘Blue Sun Farewell, Lonely Pure Night! Kazas Grimoire!’

The Grimoires of the Beauties of Nature- Flower, Bird, Wind, Moon, were originally linked to verses of a poem. Talented mages could, therefore, combine magic using phrases that described impressions of birds, flowers, landscapes, and the moon to use more powerful magic spells.

While the ‘Blue Sun Farewell, Lonely Pure Night’ was a revamped version of the original ‘Blue Sun Farewell’ spell, Azadine’s version was a phenomenal vertical drop that released a tremendous amount of kinetic energy on the target.

-Plonk!

He grappled the Holy Knight, twirled him around, and slammed him head-first right into the ground. The Holy Knight was driven into the ground with a loud thud.

Diving into the ground head-first from the height of a large wine barrel would instantly kill a bear or an ogre.

In truth, the Holy Knight’s spine was completely shattered. His ribcage crumbled, his spine was completely wrecked, and his chest caved in. His cracked bones also fully scrambled his guts, leaving him in a horrifying state.

“Ugh! I-I haven’t even… completely unleashed … my highest abilities and transformed as a follower of Mezerry yet!”

The fallen Holy Knight likely possessed a number of hidden powers as a follower of Mezerry. However, no amount of abilities could make up for a shattered spine or liquified guts.

In the end, the Holy Knight died without being able to use even a single trick.

“If you had abilities like that, you should’ve used them earlier. Did you want me to wait for you to transform?”

Azadine got up, releasing a deep sigh.

“Jeez, my body. It hurts all over.”

He had fought with far too many enemies.

“Ah, damn it. Come to think of it, those swarms of rats…”

Countless rats still surrounded Azadine. Having already tasted human flesh, they were still feral even after the Holy Knight, the follower of Mezerry, died.

The rats charged at Azadine. Since he was on the ground, he had no path of escape. At that moment, a copy of the Heavenly Kings’ Grimoire, floating in the air, descended with a dazzling light.

-Squeak!

-Squuueeaaakkk!

The rats burst into flames. Those closest to the Grimoire of the Heavenly Kings died instantly, while those further away ran after being blinded. There had been a sea of rats, yet they all vanished like a receding tide.

“What’s happening?”

Azadine reached for the Grimoire that hovered in front of him. The page flew right into his hand as if it was being sucked in.

“Did it choose me as its bearer? Whatever the reason, thank you.”

He stored the copy of the Grimoire in the bracelet Aldis had given him and untied the kidnapped people.

“Whew. That’s three copies in a row! I’m tired. So exhausted.”

He then retraced his steps from where he had come while holding Baroness Nort upright.

“Ah… excuse me, savior.”

The Baroness’ face blushed a crimson red. She was Tarki’s mother, but she was still a beautiful blonde who seemed to be in her early thirties.

“Oh, I apologize. Men and women should be treated differently, yet I made contact on my own….”

“No, please, it’s okay. Kindly support me. I can’t keep my body steady, so…. But I’m worried your body’s not in the best condition either.”

“No, I’m fine. I’ve been sleep-deprived lately, and I just finished knocking out all those guys here by myself, so….”

“Yo-you did it all by yourself?”

“It was extremely foolish of me.”

Just as Azadine said these words…

“Mother!”

Tarki was waiting at the entrance. Beside him was a very-much angry Mediam.

“Azadine, Even if it’s you! Why the hell would you try something like this? “

“What do you mean?”

“How could you go in there by yourself?! Weren’t we supposed to lure and defeat the enemies one by one? You dived in there all alone….”

“There was a clan member among the enemies. He recognized me.”

“What? There was a member of our clan?”

“Yes. Whether I want it or not, I’m notoriously known in the whole clan. Even strangers recognize me while I know nothing about them.”

“Anyhow. Don’t push yourself too far. I mean, your body’s not just carrying one person anymore.”

Mediam said this as she sidled alongside Azadine.

“No-not one person, do you mean…?”

Baroness Nort looked dumbfounded as she stared at Azadine and Mediam. It was the perfect scenario for a misunderstanding.

“Ah, well, the thing is, it’s a bit too strange to explain the situation.”

Azadine was annoyed that Mediam’s joke made the situation more complicated.

“Um, more importantly, what about the others imprisoned inside?”

Azadine was clearly worried about the others trapped inside the wererats’ lair.

“They’re all right, for now. Nothing could be done about the dead, but those who were living escaped on their own.”

“Escaped?”

“Well, it’s highly unlikely ‘but’ if the King’s Church investigates this matter, they’ll interrogate all the parties involved. Some of them might have turned into wererats….”

The Holy Knights and the Heresy Investigators of the King’s Church were the kinds of people who would be willing to kill a hundred innocent citizens rather than let a single cult member escape.

In other words, they would execute every suspect because the more they executed, the easier it would be to get a hold of the property of those who were killed. Even those injured by the wererats chose to flee before the King’s Church appeared.

“But there are countless wounded inside. To save them-”

“Let the Rescue Knights handle the rest. It’s their responsibility, after all.”

“Yeah, that would be better.”

Azadine agreed with Mediam and worked to settle his breathing.

Those who could walk somehow escaped from the wererats’ lair on their own feet. However, scores of survivors were still trapped inside. Some of their injuries impaired their movement, so Azadine and his party decided to summon the Rescue Knights for aid.

Azadine sought out the apocalypse preacher whom he had won over with a pack of biscuits earlier. He requested the preacher contact the Rescue Knights Order for help. Once the whole commotion calmed down, they retreated to Baroness Nort’s mansion.

“I am honored to have you as guests in my home.”

Baroness Nort ushered Azadine and his party into her mansion.

“Ah, excuse me….”

Upon setting foot in Baroness Nort’s mansion, Azadine recalled the existence of the Emperor’s gold coins.

‘I suppose I should ask her for the gold coins, but it might seem a bit unfair to expect her to compensate me for it while I let everyone else go freely.’

Just as Azadine struggled with this conundrum.

“Your son promised us the Emperor’s gold coins after we would rescue you as compensation in exchange for saving your life.”

Mediam immediately demanded the Emperor’s gold coins. Azadine admired her for being so straightforward.

‘This quality of hers reassures me quite a lot. Or do I have a low bar for social skills?’

As Azadine pondered these thoughts, he turned his head, and suddenly, his eyes met Baroness Nort’s.

“Savior, you said your name was… Azadine, right?”

“Yes.”

“In old times, your name was Asahdin, the Eyeless Dragon. Isn’t that an old Anukian myth, Asahdin, and Arael?”

“Do-do you know about that?”

“A li-little bit. I learned a little bit of magic on a whim of mine. I’m quite embarrassed, I must say.”

While embarrassed, she still straightened her posture as befitting the gentry.

Bring tied up must have exhausted her, yet the way she conducted herself was graceful. She was simply sitting down, yet her grace was so picturesque that it was hard to believe such a beautiful woman was Tarki’s mother. In fact, her youthful appearance made it hard to believe that she had an adult child.

“But how did you get a hold of the Emperor’s gold coin?”

“It was an heirloom passed down in my family. “

“I see. And how did you hire those mercenaries?”

Baroness Nort also possessed artifacts that were infused with the magic of Atra, the Spider Queen. She granted her female followers abilities that specialized for combat within the court, such as the seduction of the opposite sex or killing off their rivals.

That was why the book he read said that the Spider Queen had quite the following among female nobles. The mercenaries that she had hired were also kin of the Spider Queen. Randomly recruiting mercenaries from the streets would not have resulted in such.

“They were adventurers who acquired my desired magical artifacts for me. Was there a problem?”

“Yes. It’s about those mercenaries.”

Azadine explained to the Baroness all that had transpired.

“My goodness! So that’s what happened. Were you okay, Tarki?”

“Oh, yes. Fortunately. Thanks to the gold coins you gave me… these people saved my life.”

“That’s a relief. My goodness, savior, you saved not only my life but my child’s life as well. How can I ever repay your kindness?”

Baroness Nort smiled as she said this, and her radiant beauty became very obvious.

‘This seems strange.’

Azadine sensed a strange aura about her.

‘Is she saying she was completely unaware that she had hired ‘fallen’ mercenaries who were Atra’s kin? But then it doesn’t make sense for her to go so far as to hire mercenaries from the Kurt Clan’s cult just to support her son. Isn’t she contradicting herself?’

She was suspicious in more ways than one. Were the beauty and seductive elegance radiating from her a gift from the Spider Queen Atra?

But she didn’t seem to be a demon similar to Atra’s kin. If she were, the wererats would never have captured her so easily.

As Azadine’s thoughts spiraled, Mediam spoke up.

“I believe five of the Emperor’s gold coins will do.”

Azadine tried to find fault with Mediam’s discourtesy in butting in between him and the Baroness… However, he also coveted those coins.

“Mediam, this is my business. Do not interfere.”

“But Azadine, you look tired, and so does the Baroness. So I believe it would be best to settle the exchange and get some rest.”

Baroness Nort then asked a question in return.