Chapter 151
Chapter 151
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 151
Chapter Title: Quartz Throne 5
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Scott affirmed Azadin's opinion.
"That's right. They're probably drawing in King's Radiance here through the Divine King Formation Scripture too. Better for the boss to take it than let those guys have it, no?"
"That's not the issue. If King's Radiance weakens, it'll make it easier for them to summon Nether beings, right? This is like sawing at the pillar of a house that's already on fire and about to collapse."
No sooner had Azadin said that than the ground suddenly began to shake.
-Rumble!
Dust and pebbles rained down from the ceiling.
"Ah?!"
"What's this?!"
The water filling the underground passage sloshed wildly as stone fragments plummeted into it, sending splashes everywhere, and water gushed from cracks in the walls.
"You had to mention the collapsing house and jinx it?!"
"That's not it. Damn it. Let's go check it out!"
Azadin plunged toward the lower levels of the underground passage. It shook like an earthquake, with stones falling from the ceiling posing a danger, but staying put was no option.
"Oh man, boss. Hold up a sec."
Scott cast necromancy on the crocodile corpse Azadin had slain, climbed onto its back, and lay down.
"Go."
The crocodile corpse slithered forward in a zigzag, stones crashing down around it.
"Oh man. Hey, holy knight sir. Mind holding that shield over me?"
"Just protect your head with your arms and walk?"
Zibek walked along shielding only his own head with his shield, then extended it to cover Shati after she shifted to human form.
"Ah, thanks..."
"Let's move."
*********
Coral Sahar's Royal Throne was rooted into the earth via a massive quartz pillar, with quartz crystals thrusting up from the ground nearby to form the bedrock beneath the royal castle.
That bedrock was submerged in water, and beneath the throne lay a spirit mausoleum, atop which stood a single Aragas woman amid the coffins.
One of the four from the Emperor's Heralds—Flower Bird Wind Moon—Flower's Dimia was casting magic toward the base of the throne, the roots of the quartz pillar.
Around her, countless sea serpent naga sorceresses chanted incantations over Nether runes drawn in blood, participating in the ritual.
Piles of Divine King Formation Scripture copies surrounded Flower's Dimia, from which she extracted white mana to draw out the white mana—King's Radiance—from the throne itself.
"Excellent! The King of Raging Waves has descended!"
"Well done! Herald clan!"
The sea serpent nagas rejoiced. Some, seized by religious fervor, wailed and prostrated themselves on the ground like lizards, trembling.
"Ooh! The great one comes!"
"The era of Jupiter begins! The old kings shall reclaim their rightful throne! And we shall stand at their side!"
The sea serpent nagas had blood-membrane frills around their necks, which they flared out, quivering like those of frilled lizards.
A scene of utter madness. There was no other way to describe it.
'Too many of them.'
Zibek frowned.
Over thirty nagas, and no small number of herald clan members. The nagas were lost in frenzy, but it was still an overwhelming force.
'Fighting these wicked fools summoning Nether emissaries is the essence of a holy knight's duty, so I should welcome it...'
But there were too many, and Zibek wasn't properly armored right now. He'd stripped off his full plate to enter the water, wearing only simple clothes. Could he handle that many foes in this state?
Just then, Azadin signaled with hand signs.
Incredibly, even with this many enemies, Azadin intended to attack.
"We're attacking."
"There are too many. You sure...?"
"No problem."
Azadin nocked a black steel arrow like an iron spear onto the iron bow he'd brought through the water.
It was a Black Iron Bolt.
The more it was reused, the weaker the embedded magic became, diminishing its power, but even after a use or two—or even if all magic and curses depleted, leaving it a plain arrow—it was still a formidable weapon in itself.
Azadin asked Zibek for the "Mace of Judgment" and swiftly leaped forward, firing the Black Iron Bolt.
The black arrow hurtled with terrifying momentum toward Flower's Dimia. A man sprang out beside the startled Dimia.
"No!"
Instructor Krasli—former herald, now trainer for the Coral Sahar merchant guild—threw himself forward with a thick metal shield to protect her.
'A Black Iron Bolt might be strong, but I can block it! That Azadin's infamous for not using magic, so no yellow crane or white crane spells on it!'
Krasli positioned his shield at the perfect angle to the bolt's trajectory—tilted sideways to maximize the thickest part.
Even the mightiest arrow should ricochet!
But Krasli's confidence shattered as Azadin's Black Iron Bolt struck far faster and deeper than expected.
It tore through Krasli's shield and pierced his arm.
"Argh!"
His elbow was severed. The amputated forearm flew into the air, and the bolt, undiminished, surged toward Dimia behind him.
Dimia tried to dodge, but exhaustion from drawing white mana from the throne left her unable to evade.
"Tch!"
She parried the Black Iron Bolt with her sword and hand axe, but...
-Thunk!
Her arm failed to fully block it, impaled through. Bone snapped, leaving only scraps of skin and muscle holding it together. Blood poured out in torrents.
A mortal wound that would fell any normal person from blood loss and shock, yet Dimia calmly clamped her armpit to staunch the bleeding.
"Y-You!"
"Azadin! You dare interfere with our clan's vow?!"
Another Black Iron Bolt flew. This one targeted Nagaraja of the startled sea serpent tribe.
"Human!"
Azadin's bolt pierced clean through Nagaraja's head in one shot, leaving only the lower jaw attached as the upper half tore away entirely.
No naga, with all their regeneration, could survive such a brutal strike.
"Y-You bastard! Herald clan!"
"No, but the herald clan attacked first!"
"Is it someone else?!"
The nagas charged at Azadin.
Then Knight Zibek hurled his mace. The Mace of Judgment's magic activated, sweeping the oncoming nagas with a blast of light.
"Argh?!"
"Ugh!"
As the nagas reeled from the blinding light and shock, Azadin nocked the last Black Iron Bolt from his quiver. Each bolt was so massive and heavy that three in a quiver built for ten normal arrows threatened to burst it.
"Now, the most dangerous one left is..."
Azadin loosed it toward Dimia, who still clung to life.
He'd inflicted grievous wounds tearing flesh and bone from her arm, but his instincts screamed she was the deadliest threat here.
One of Flower Bird Wind Moon's four—the leader figure among the herald squads—she had to be subdued now.
Yet burly nagas threw themselves in the bolt's path. Were they sacrificing their bodies to shield the herald clan Dimia? Even after summoning the Nether being, they still needed her.
-Splat!
The Black Iron Bolt impaled three massive sea nagas without slowing, then exploded midair.
"Argh!"
"Kyaa!"
Even the nagas—and Flower's Dimia—screamed.
"Ah. That Black Iron Bolt's reached its limit. Damn."
Azadin grumbled as he launched himself forward.
A massive naga blocked his path, swinging a trident, but Azadin flipped lightly over it—only to drop low to the ground.
-Flower Bird Wind Moon: Earth Spider, Kazas style!
Chilling aura bloomed behind Azadin as he sliced through the air in an instant.
His Wendigo Dagger trailed frost, cleaving the naga's skull as neatly as splitting a watermelon. Blood and brains spilled from the severed head as the giant collapsed helplessly.
"Warm-blooded beast! How dare you! To Lady Raja?!"
Another naga lunged with a curved sword, but Azadin smashed his iron bow into it.
The springy steel limb caved in the naga's skull, popping out an eyeball.
Nagas chanted spells from all sides, spewing venom from their mouths at Azadin, but he seized the blinded naga's body as a shield, blocking the incoming magic and poison before hurling it away.
"What?!"
"No way!"
The nagas panicked.
Male sea serpent nagas—even average ones without exceptional size—weighed around 30 stone (190kg), three times a typical Hubris human male.
Their strength and stamina were incomparable to humans. To handle one so effortlessly?
And he gripped a dagger and iron bow, preventing full grip strength—requiring insane power.
"Scott!"
"Got it! Coming!"
The orc atop the undead crocodile formed hand seals and chanted, turning Azadin's slain nagas into undead to bolster their numbers.
In the chaos, Azadin carved through freely, targeting and killing the most dangerous sorceresses, while Zibek wielded sword and shield to block any approaching Scott or Shati.
'I was worried about the numbers, but he trusted those black arrows.'
Zibek marveled at Azadin's courage, decisiveness, and sheer martial prowess. Empowered by absorbing strength from the Divine King Formation Scripture, Azadin showed no fatigue, slaughtering nagas at a ferocious pace.
*********
"Impossible."
Flower's Dimia was one of Flower Bird Wind Moon's four. Selected from 108 heralds when fully assembled, they were the most skilled and respected leaders— the era's pinnacle heralds.
She trusted her abilities implicitly.
Yet this Azadin—a known straggler—even with Black Iron Bolts, was neutralizing nagas and herald clan alike, pressing the assault.
'It wasn't a normal Black Iron Bolt. That bow... stronger than a moonhorn bow.'
Azadin's iron bow from Bikhreman looked impossible for human strength alone.
'Now I see—it's the iron bow from a dwarf-made heavy crossbow handled by two men? And he carries it around?'
"Are you alright, Dimia?"
Instructor Krasli fretted.
Despite his own arm lost, his subtle affection and zeal for her stirred disgust and superiority in Dimia.
But this wasn't the time for such indulgences. The tide was turning.
Azadin and his allies were dominating; her subjugation loomed.
"Of course... I am. Heh. Shall we draw out a bit more Hubris power here?"
Dimia took a deep breath and began chanting.