Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Night Crawler 5
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“Orcs, and nagas too.”
Azadin pierced the darkness with his gaze, watching the scene unfold. An orc had emerged from the beachhead outpost, riding in a wheelchair, with nagas standing behind it.
“Any familiar faces? Shati?”
“W-wait a sec. I haven’t seen them around these parts.”
Shati said that and pulled something from her bosom. Glasses.
“Huh?”
Azadin marveled at the sight.
“Those are glasses. Wow, first time I’ve seen a pair.”
“All us Aragas have good eyesight, you know.”
“Quiet down. Nagas might be nearsighted, but they’ve got senses sharp as a tack.”
Shati peered through her glasses at the nagas in the outpost, frowning. She didn’t know them well, but she could tell which group they belonged to. Telling these people about it, though, would be treason against her own kind.
‘How can I bluff my way out of this? No way, right?’
That was when Shati had the thought.
“You’ve got that look like you’re scheming something shady.”
“This naga’s useless anyway—might as well kill her.”
Midiam and Ismail started eyeing Shati with suspicion.
Casually talking about killing her soured Shati’s mood. Azadin, Brand, the holy knight Zibek, Herald Clan attendants Midiam and Ismail—they all hated Shati’s guts. Their threats weren’t just bluster; there was real intent behind them.
“No, hold on—she healed us. Healed. Super useful, right?”
“Even so, if she lies outright…”
“I haven’t yet!”
“So you’re planning to later?”
With things turning out like this, Shati had no choice but to plead with Azadin.
“You, do something about these guys! Why are they all so hot-headed?”
“So, can you tell who those nagas are?”
“My eyesight’s bad; I can’t see great. But… probably the New King Scripture retrieval team.”
“New King Scripture retrieval team? Is the attack here connected to the New King Scriptures?”
“The New King Scriptures pop up when you humans get slaughtered.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Azadin was baffled by Shati’s words, but it wasn’t like he had zero inkling.
Among the New King Scriptures he’d collected so far, some had been revealed to him by the dead—souls already in the afterlife—when people were suffering. He’d obtained them at sites where Mezzeri’s apostles tortured, abused, and massacred humans.
“What’s the mechanism? Where do the New King Scriptures even exist in the first place?”
When Azadin asked, Shati shrugged.
“I don’t know the details myself. Just heard it from the higher-ups. A proper magic researcher would know.”
“Then maybe we grab that orc and interrogate it?”
Azadin watched the orc rolling out in its wheelchair. The undead must not have achieved much, so it was probably heading up the nearby hill to survey things with its own eyes.
Azadin had anticipated a situation like this from the start, which was why he’d set Midiam and Ismail in ambush here.
“Arrow range. What’s the call?”
Ismail asked for Azadin’s orders.
“Shoot to kill. It won’t die from that anyway.”
At Azadin’s word, Ismail and Midiam enchanted their arrows and loosed them. Azadin grabbed his own arrow right away, so it was three Heralds unleashing a volley from their divine bows at a single orc.
Shati watched with dismay. These guys’ arrows packed the punch of javelins. A sneak attack like that would critically wound even a naga with top-tier regeneration. An orc sitting still in a wheelchair didn’t stand a chance.
She didn’t want to keep getting dragged around by this Herald Clan guy, but from the looks of it, this ambush would wrap things up.
Then something unexpected happened.
*********
Many orcs choose a path of minimal movement to extend their lifespans. But most fail at it. They need massive meals to sustain themselves, which demands activity—and that leads to muscle growth.
Necromancers in this environment have long researched ways to spare their bodies the strain, using necromancy.
The downside? It leaves them vulnerable to death. Lying prone to avoid exertion, or sitting like Scott in his wheelchair, exposes them to ambushes.
Hence the need for powerful guardians against surprises. Scott had contracted with the wicked, capricious evil spirit known as the Night Crawler. It would protect him in crises, in exchange for a hefty price upon success.
Handling a Night Crawler requires mastery of necromancy, so few orcs can do it. Scott was hailed as a genius necromancer among them precisely because he wielded it freely.
But now that shadow spirit activated. Six arrows flew in, two enchanted ones forcing even the formless black evil spirit Night Crawler to groan in agony.
“Gasp?!”
Scott finally realized he was under attack and panicked. More arrows came, but the Night Crawler manifested, swatting them aside. The devilish black shadow swept its arm, blocking the barrage.
“Stop!”
Scott summoned zombies and ghouls with bodies to form a wall around him, trying to dismiss the Night Crawler. He was grateful for the ambush defense, but keeping it out even briefly demanded an enormous cost.
‘No need for the Night Crawler to block attacks after we’ve spotted the ambush!’
Scott recalled the Night Crawler and contacted the nagas.
“Ambush! Enemies have reached us, snake-heads!”
“What?”
“Where?!”
The nagas burst out.
*********
“Damn… should’ve killed it this time.”
Azadin fumed that the enemy orc necromancer had survived the attack. They’d unleashed six arrows in a focused barrage, only for a massive black shadow giant to appear and block them?
The necromancer was more capable than expected. He’d been wary because it was an orc, but running into this level of skill here?
“What the hell is that? Some insane monster?”
Just a glimpse of that shadow spirit made his skin crawl. Facing it head-on would mean heavy casualties.
“A beast like that would tax even a ritual circle. Keep shooting!”
Midiam loosed another arrow as she spoke, but the enemy was fully on guard now. Corpses of villagers ringed the orc in defense—a perfect barrier. Even Herald bows, powerful as they were, couldn’t pierce those bodies from this range to harm the necromancer.
“No good. You two keep up the pressure! I need to close in.”
Azadin turned to Shati as he said it.
“Huh? Me? No way! Absolutely not!”
Shati was cooperating under duress, held by Azadin. She could cough up some intel or cast a regeneration spell to survive, but fighting her own kind? No chance.
“It’s fine, Shati. Just your presence helps a ton. Transform into a naga.”
Azadin spoke softly as he hoisted Shati onto his shoulder.
“Eek! You warm-blooded creep! Hands off!”
Shati freaked out as Azadin picked her up.
“Transform into a naga already. Don’t want your allies mistaking you for human and killing you, do you?”
“Ah, damn it!”
Shati shed her human form and shifted to naga. Azadin then charged toward the enemy with her slung over his shoulder.
“…….”
Shati briefly considered squeezing Azadin to death with her tail. But as if reading her mind, Azadin drew a dagger from his belt and subtly hid it against his wrist’s inner side.
Start squeezing, and that blade would slice her open instantly.
‘Better not mess around—assess the situation first?’
While Shati hesitated, Azadin bolted forward with her aboard.
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“Huh?”
Scott spotted a man charging toward him, a female naga slung over the man’s shoulder.
“Help!”
The man shouted it while holding his sword back as if shielding the naga woman from incoming arrows.
“……?”
“What’s that?”
“Snake-head for sure? So the guy’s one too?”
“But none of our agents are nearby? Not a civilian naga either?”
Yet there she was, a naga woman, plain as day, carried by the man.
“Isn’t that one of the ones we sent to Count Salasma?”
“Oh, yeah?”
The nagas had their suspicions too. They’d dispatched naga sorcerers and agents to Count Salasma in exchange for New King Scriptures.
“Survivor, huh? At this timing?”
“Hmm.”
The nagas mulled it over. Circumstantially, it fit—but showing up right now?
“Support him for now.”
“But don’t let him in.”
“Tch. The boss would know.”
Grumbling, the nagas cast spells. Vines sprouted, forming a barrier behind the man charging with the naga on his back.
*********
‘We’re screwed.’
Shati realized Azadin’s ploy and was horrified. He was disguising himself as a naga too, using her to get close.
Showing her as a naga meant the others wouldn’t dream he was human—they’d assume he was a transformed tribesman.
‘This is bad!’
Threatened with death or not, letting him deceive her kin like this? They’d never forgive her later. She had to act now, or she’d be in hot water even if she returned to them.
‘But if I do anything, I die right here.’
Azadin wasn’t unarmed. That dagger was primed to gut her anytime.
‘If I expose him now, I die alone while he slips away?’
Having seen his skills up close, Shati knew blowing his cover here meant her death, and nothing more.
‘Better to wait till we’re in the thick of nagas and undead, then reveal it. But is this solid reasoning, or am I just scared of him?’
Shati lacked conviction in her choice. Meanwhile, Azadin closed in on the orc and nagas.
“Phew, you saved me.”
“Hold it!”
The orc necromancer called out to Azadin then.
“Drop your weapon and stay back. We can talk from there, right?”
“…….”
The orc necromancer blocked Azadin’s approach warily. For Shati, it was a godsend.
‘Orcs really are smart, huh? Lives up to the hype. Lucky break.’
Then the nagas approached.