Chapter 150
Chapter 150
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: Quartz Throne 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
At that moment, Azadin asked,
"Doesn't the Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon grimoire have any underwater breathing spells?"
The grimoire Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon had no underwater breathing magic. That was the reason they were floundering here.
"And you're not the only ones here, right? Someone must be performing the ritual near the Korasar Royal Throne. Who is it?"
"Uh? Th-that..."
The members of the Korasar Peddlers' Guild, the servants of Aragasa, were flustered.
Was Azadin an enemy? Should they fight?
While they couldn't make a decision, Azadin approached them with full confidence.
Just as an army without a commander becomes a rabble, those without a decision-maker had no choice but to be swayed by someone acting with conviction.
Azadin naturally took control of the situation and asked Scott,
"Scott. Can you cast underwater breathing on them?"
"Boss, damn it. It's so cold my body's stiff. The muscles..."
"Can you cast underwater breathing? Yes or no? Just say that."
"Of course I can."
"Underwater breathing?"
The servants panicked at Scott's words.
The underground passage kept flooding with more and more water, and now he was offering to cast underwater breathing on them. It was like a lifeline dropping from hell.
'Come to think of it, even if he's Arael's brother, isn't Azadin a Herald?'
'We couldn't beat him anyway. He's a Herald.'
'He's Arael's brother, so even if he has the power to harm us, we shouldn't let him.'
'Is there any need to fight?'
The servants' minds tilted toward avoiding combat.
"Good. Scott! Cast the spell on them."
"Got it, boss."
Scott cast underwater breathing on them.
"I've already killed the crocodiles, so you can just head back. It isn't far. If anyone questions you about me when you get out, go to Elder Sevari and ask for his protection."
Azadin had dumped them on Elder Sevari, but from the servants' perspective, it seemed like Azadin had an agreement with Elder Sevari and was helping them, which only moved them to gratitude.
"Th-thank you."
"Thank you so much."
"But who's still inside? Who's in charge here? Near the throne?"
As Azadin sent the servants off, he subtly inquired.
It was reasonable to be suspicious, but when Azadin mentioned Elder Sevari, they naturally assumed he was already on their side.
"It's Lady Dimia."
"Dimia of the Flower?"
"Yes."
"Is it just her?"
"There are nagas, and Lord Krasli is there."
"Krasli... who's that?"
"A former Herald and our Korasar Peddlers' Guild's combat instructor."
"Ah, I see. Got it. How many nagas are gathered?"
"About thirty. There's one boss called Nagaraja."
"Right. And the rest with Raja? There must be some big ones."
"Ten of them, and one is huge."
"Five of them, one takes a human form like a sorcerer."
"Yeah. Got it. Be careful, everyone."
Azadin extracted the information and sent the servants of the Herald clan back through the water without engaging in combat.
*********
"Impressive."
Zibek admired Azadin's actions.
At first, he had braced for a fight. The problem was how flooded everything was. Even now, his wrinkled hands could barely grip his sword properly.
In that situation, could he have fought those servants at full strength? And there were more forces deeper inside?
"He talked them down without fighting."
"If you put it that way, it sounds like I deliberately tricked them."
"Wasn't it a trick?"
"I did dominate the situation a bit."
"How?"
"Nothing special. Always act confident and friendly, but never say anything that definitively marks us as enemies—keep it ambiguous. For example, mentioning Elder Sevari makes them think I'm on his side, which means their side. And if they go to their superiors, they'll say they thought I was one of ours because I mentioned knowing Sevari. Sure, they could ask me right here, 'Are you exactly Arael's clan's enemy or ally?' but..."
"They didn't."
"Of course. They're scared too. Of openly antagonizing me in this situation. So I left it ambiguous and shaped it to be interpreted as positively as possible. I got just enough info that's favorable to them, and let them believe it."
"Isn't that a scam?"
"I just let them believe what they wanted to believe. I merely responded to the voices in their hearts. They could have sent some to Dimia to report, but they didn't."
Even those servants hadn't wanted to fight Azadin. And if some of them went back to report to Dimia and Azadin turned out to be an enemy? They'd lose their way back to the surface after getting the underwater breathing spell.
"Ah, anyway, now that they're gone, let's rest a bit. It's cold. Can't fight like this."
Azadin said that and took off his clothes to wring out the water. Coming out of the icy water, his breath was visible.
"Anything around to start a fire? Going on with such low body temperature doesn't seem good."
Azadin looked around, but there was nothing to burn. Just ashes from what had been burned and traces of pots hung there.
The servants from earlier must have been huddling around a bonfire, cooking meals to endure the sudden temperature drop.
"They've already used up anything usable as firewood. Let's raise our body temperature that way, boss."
Scott made a suggestion.
"What's that?"
Azadin was taken aback by Scott's sudden proposal.
"You know, that thing."
Unable to hold back, Shati asked,
"...Something naughty?"
"No, the New King Formation Book copies."
"Oh."
When Azadin pulled out the New King Formation Book copies, the ones used before had regained some of their glow.
"Y-you're not suggesting we burn the New King Formation Book copies for fire, are you?"
Zibek asked in alarm.
"Not that. Infusing the mana from these into my body generates a lot of heat. Last time..."
"You're saying we warm up that way... Achoo!"
Even Zibek, saying that, sneezed. Everyone's condition was poor after pushing through the ice-cold water.
"Hmm. But shouldn't we keep them charged for emergencies?"
Azadin looked at the glowing New King Formation Book copies and asked, but Scott shook his head.
"From watching you all this time, boss, you're the type who hoards and never uses them."
"No. I used it in that crisis and caught you right away. I broke your shadow demon with the New King Formation Book."
"So how much did you gain from it, boss?"
"I pulled you to my side. Huge gain."
"Kahaha. A 120-out-of-100 answer. Damn. I like this employer."
"Right?"
"But let's use it anyway. The New King Formation Book copies. We need to warm up our body temperature..."
Scott had Azadin hold the New King Formation Book copies and began the ritual.
He had Azadin absorb the white mana charged in the New King Formation Book. Not only did Azadin's body temperature rise quickly, but even the surroundings warmed up.
"Whoa... much stronger than last time?"
"Of course. We're close to the throne, right?"
Scott said that as he helped circulate Azadin's mana.
Azadin's body housed the altered Flower, Bird, Wind, and Moon grimoire, which rejected other mana intrusions, but by suppressing that grimoire and circulating the white mana from the New King Formation Book along his mana channels, Azadin felt his minor pains vanish, his stamina recover, and strength surge.
Moreover, the others nearby could feel the warmth.
"Oh... it's warm."
"Not quite a bonfire, but pretty toasty."
"Can I touch?"
Shati, curious, placed her hand on Azadin's body without permission.
"Wait."
Azadin tried to stop her, but Shati stroked his skin happily.
"It's warm! And your skin feels amazing. No wonder some nagarajas keep humans as pets. There's a reason..."
"Shati. I'm cold. Wait, this is awkward—can you back off?"
At Azadin's request, Shati startled and pulled away from him.
"But this New King Formation Book copy—wouldn't it be stronger if Zibek, as a holy knight of the King's Church, read and wrote on it?"
"The King's Church magic books are the same as the New King Formation Book but different. Probably... this is something far too profound for my wisdom to grasp."
"Want to try reading it as a test?"
"Won't hurt to try. Sir Zibek."
Azadin handed Zibek one page of the New King Formation Book copy.
Zibek hesitated as he took it. For a holy knight of the King's Church to read this was grave blasphemy.
The leaked secrets of the kings, an unjust grimoire that profaned the authority of the Yaegras divine race.
But thinking of his past self, bound by precepts and overlooking Kozel's atrocities, he felt that true justice required transcending the precepts.
"Let's see..."
Zibek focused on the New King Formation Book copy and tried to read, then jolted in shock.
"Urk!"
An immense headache hit him. Zibek looked away from the New King Formation Book copy.
He hadn't read a single character, but just concentrating on it made his head spin and lights flicker before his eyes.
"Fortunately or unfortunately, I can't read it."
"Unfortunately. What's fortunate about it? Don't be timid. You should regret not being able to wield such an incredible grimoire."
Shati regretted not being able to possess the grimoire despite seeing it.
In the meantime, Azadin cleanly absorbed the white mana from one page of the New King Formation Book copy.
"Wow... it works so well. Different from last time?"
"Part familiarity from doing it once, and this place is good, boss. Probably because the Korasar Royal Throne is close."
"Hmm. But this isn't me sucking up the King's Radiance here, is it? We came to stop that..."
Azadin asked Scott anxiously.
"Ah. Um."
"What?"
"Your body's warmed up, so it worked, right, boss?"
Azadin panicked at those words.
"Wait. So this is absorbing the King's Radiance right now? Huh?"
Indeed. Azadin could sense the situation himself.
The New King Formation Book copy, which he had just drained of power, began emitting a faint glow again.
Compared to its usual brilliance, it was like a firefly—barely noticeable unless you strained your eyes—but that was still an incredibly fast recovery speed.
It seemed the nearby Korasar Royal Throne was rapidly recharging the white mana.
"Whoa. This is killer..."
"No, wait. Isn't this it?"
Azadin furrowed his brow.
"This is exactly how to weaken the King's Radiance?!"
How had Arael's group weakened the King's Radiance? Azadin finally understood their method.
Arael's clan must possess a large quantity of New King Formation Book copies, draining their power here to extract white mana from the throne.