Chapter 141
Chapter 141
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: Fair Trade 3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Come on, boss. Shall we charge ahead with vigor? Feeling recharged yet?"
A rat under necromantic control spoke to him in Scott's voice.
"Yeah, yeah."
Azadin popped a piece of dried fruit into his mouth and chewed as he dashed out into the pouring rain.
It was a torrential downpour that made it impossible to tell if it was night or day. Amid it all, the nagas were flashing their eyes, scanning for people, while some located the village's supplies and transported them back to their main base.
The sea serpent nagas, perhaps because part of their patrol unit had gone missing after being killed, were operating special patrols and scrutinizing the surroundings meticulously.
Flying fish—likely familiars controlled by the sea serpent nagas—were soaring about before diving into the water to monitor the area.
"Flying fish incoming! They're enchanted with magic!"
"Where?"
"Behind the boss!"
"Got it."
Azadin sprinted across rooftops, then grabbed the eaves with his hand and slipped underneath. The eaves were already partially submerged, so when he hung from them, the water reached his ankles.
"There's an alligator in the water. Watch out!"
"Ugh! This is a three-story building?"
Sure enough, there was an alligator in the water. Not particularly large at about 1.4 meters long, but it had been brought by the nagas and brimmed with hostility.
Hanging from the eaves of a three-story building with his feet in the water and an alligator below—this storm engulfing Coral Sahar was dire indeed.
'Of all times, an alligator... If I hang with one hand, will these eaves hold?'
The tiles, soaked through by the rain, had grown immensely heavy, making the wooden supports beneath the eaves creak.
Azadin gripped the eave timber with one hand to hold steady, pressed both feet against the wall, and readied his other hand to draw his sword.
If the alligator lunged, he'd slash it. The problem was the massive impact from swinging the sword—would the building withstand it?
"I'll cast an illusion spell."
As Scott's little rat widened its eyes, they bulged red as if they might pop out. The alligator spotted Azadin and approached, only to fall under Scott's magic and grow dazed.
"Phew. It worked. Lucky."
"......"
"What?"
"Nah. Good job."
Azadin was genuinely impressed by Scott's crucial assist.
He hadn't expected anything when he'd taken Scott as a companion. The guy had survived only because killing him felt wrong, but who knew he was this versatile? Azadin had heard from his master that orc mages were multifaceted, and experiencing it firsthand confirmed just how impressive they were.
"But Scott, you serve the Kurt gods, the Kurt pantheon, right? Is it okay for you to help me like this?"
"You're not seriously that naive, boss. You're just testing me, yeah?"
"Y-Yeah."
"Don't bother with such a dumb test. But to answer sincerely: if we leave them be, those naga bastards will think they're hot stuff, won't they?"
"......"
"That naga rajah came to you for a deal for the exact same reason, didn't he? Even among fellow Kurt godkin, we have to be the top dogs. Right?"
'What should I say? Man. From humanity's perspective, it's a relief, but humans are fractured anyway, all obsessed with their own gains. Same difference.'
Azadin confirmed the flying fish had passed and climbed back onto the roof to resume moving.
Near the lighthouse, nagas far larger than the others—over two meters tall—were dragging massive ropes attached to anchors.
With naga mages disguised as humans beside them, brute-forcing through combat looked tough.
"Need to infiltrate carefully."
"Oh, boss. Be careful."
"Why?"
"There's a Foresight Bird in the air overhead."
"What? A Foresight Bird?"
Wearing his mask, Azadin cupped his hands like a makeshift telescope and peered through at the skies above the lighthouse.
Sure enough, a Foresight Bird was flying there.
"Headache."
Leaving it be meant it'd spot him plainly while climbing the lighthouse exterior. Attacking it would alert its summoner to his presence right away.
Sneaking inside while avoiding its gaze was tricky too—the lighthouse entrance was guarded by quite a few sea serpent nagas.
"And the rain makes climbing even harder."
Azadin pondered entry methods and first touched his bow.
It was a steel rod salvaged from a heavy crossbow with a bowstring attached—quite heavy. Azadin nocked an arrow and drew it back.
Simply nocking the arrow would shatter its fletching against the string, so he fitted a release aid, drew with that, then set the arrow.
Azadin drew the arrow and took a deep breath.
"What're you doing, boss?"
As Scott grew curious, lightning suddenly flashed across the heavens.
At that instant, Azadin loosed the arrow.
-Thwack!
A naga near the lighthouse entrance took Azadin's arrow to the head. Its skull literally shattered, the top flying off like a watermelon split by a blade. No naga, no matter how tough, could survive that.
-Rumble-crash!
The following thunderclap swallowed all other sounds.
The guarding nagas didn't notice their comrade collapse.
"Good...!"
Azadin fired another arrow and charged forward.
This target was a hulking naga over two meters tall. The arrow to its head blew away a quarter of its skull like a burst watermelon.
"What?!"
By the time the naga mage realized, Azadin was already upon him.
-Thwack!
Without drawing his sword, Azadin swung the steel bow, smashing the naga mage's head. Its temple caved in, and it crumpled.
"Tough as expected. Doesn't even bend after blowing off a naga skull."
Azadin rushed straight into the lighthouse entrance. Inside spiraled a long staircase; he bounded up it swiftly, kicking off walls and steps.
He threw open the door at the top...
-Creak.
Dizzying, horrific Nether script was inscribed across the floor, ceiling, walls—every surface.
"Hmm?"
A middle-aged man seated in a rocking chair at the center rose.
"Ah. If it isn't... Azadin."
Elder Sevari Etar recognized him and greeted him warmly.
"You know me?"
"Who wouldn't? Son of the traitor, cursed child born under the Curse of Service. Azadin the Unseen. You've grown, but only a fool wouldn't recognize you."
"......"
"To come all this way—impressive. I had a Foresight Bird watching, yet you slipped past."
"Elder Sevari Etar..."
"You've arrived at the perfect time. Here to rescue your captive elder? Splendid."
"What happened?"
"As you see, they captured me and imprisoned me here."
Elder Sevari Etar said as much, but Azadin noticed no one else around and clicked his tongue.
The Foresight Bird had been monitoring approaches to the lighthouse. Meaning the one who'd deployed it here was this elder himself.
Perhaps that's why. As Azadin showed no warmth, Sevari Etar gave a wry smile.
"Oh dear. Not the sharpest, are you?"
"With a Foresight Bird outside, I figured it'd be Jenis or Demia. Never dreamed I'd find a hale elder instead. And you're not even tied up. Too obvious, no?"
Azadin subtly rebuked Elder Sevari.
"Hahaha. Indeed, too obvious. But aren't you currently dismissed from duty? Still loyal to the council?"
"Less loyalty to the council, more that Ara el's tribe isn't earning mine. Take right now—what exactly are you doing in Coral Sahar?"
"Seeking Coral Sahar's throne."
"Coral Sahar's throne? These nagas seem to think they'll claim it. Got a way past them? Quite a horde."
"We do. Once the nagas finish the job—slaying Coral Sahar's king, vassals, knights—we trigger the trap, wipe the nagas, and take the throne. That fulfills Ara gatha's vow."
Claiming the king's throne grants not a copy, but the true Divine King Writ. For Ara gatha yearning to escape the Curse of Service, it's a dream come true.
Yes. An irresistible temptation, even for an elder of the noble Five Great Bloodlines, Etar lineage, to join the rebels.
"Surely as an Ara gatha, you know our vow? That day is nearly here. Rejoice."
But Azadin scoffed.
"One question, Elder."
"What?"
"Do Ara gatha gain the right to live simply because they are Ara gatha?"
"What do you mean?"
"That trap manifests Nether entities, I take it. Even if sea serpent nagas revere them, doubtful the Nether truly sides with them. Water serpent nagas won't want to be devoured, so you'll seize the throne in the chaos... Do Ara gatha have the right to such acts?"
At Azadin's question, the elder eyed him strangely.
"You're denying the Ara gatha vow?"
"The world calls us cursed kin, soulless heretics. I've never cowered or felt shame at their scorn. But this shames me."
Azadin wryly smiled, pointing to the Nether script on the floor.
"What pride remains in such deeds? Do we deserve to persist by slaughtering Coral Sahar's innocent residents? Tens of thousands have already lost homes—more dead than all Ara gatha combined. Nagas are foes, fine. But we have no right to steal Coral Sahar folk's lives."
"You're odd."
Sevari shook his head.
"Coral Sahar's residents? They're Hybris scum! They bound us, sealed our fate! Weaklings who scorn us yet hoard more! We must survive! Take! Rule! Because we are us!"
"That's precisely why Ara el can't win my loyalty."
"Hahaha. Sane? Azadin, you'll betray the council too. Weighing Ara gatha fate equal to random Hybris rabble? That's not Ara gatha! Each of us outweighs thousands—no, all—of Hybris!"
Sevari spoke and formed seals with both hands. A black-shadowed blade rose from the floor into his grasp.
"Seems you truly lack a soul! Blind to Ara gatha's grievances!"
Azadin drew his sword too.
"If that's a soul, then being a soulless heretic suits me fine."