Chapter 184
Chapter 184
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: Naga's Island 6
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“What, what is this?! What’s wrong with my eyes? Or have I gone mad?”
Dehasuram recoiled in horror at the carnage unfolding before him.
“Ah, over there.”
Then, astonishingly, one of Azadin’s group, Jiswa, approached.
“Y-You...?”
Why is this guy here?
Azadin’s group numbered only three. So why was one of them here? Did that mean just the two of them had raided the sea serpent nagas’ camp?
As Dehasuram stood dumbfounded, the man said something outrageous.
“Ah, Master Azadin sent me. He said the deal will go through, so load up the borrowed boat with plenty of food and water.”
“What!?”
Dehasuram was so flabbergasted he couldn’t speak.
‘So he’s so sure he’ll win that he sends one of his three to pack their bags?’
Meanwhile, Azadin skewered a naga charging at him with a campfire spit, jammed it headfirst upside down into the flames, then moved on to his next victim.
“If I may say, it was truly an excellent choice, Lord Dehasuram.”
“Indeed it was, Shati.”
Dehasuram couldn’t deny Shati’s words.
“To think this is the power of a herald from the Herald Clan, disciple to Demon King Kazas. Astonishing. Back at the pier when we had him surrounded, I should’ve disarmed him and demanded the copy of the New King Formation Book. No, wait—if I had, my head would’ve been the first to roll.”
The pier encirclement had been Azadin’s most vulnerable moment, but it had also been Dehasuram’s.
“Prepare the boat. It’s to our advantage to send him off quickly. Treating him with hospitality was a stroke of heaven’s fortune. No wonder Demon King Kazas shook the naga empire with his fame—this disciple lives up to it.”
Originally, Dehasuram had invited Azadin under the customs of hospitality because he saw him as a weakling he could eliminate at any time.
The leisure of the strong, or arrogance, one might say.
But seeing Azadin sweep through the sea serpent nagas unchecked, Dehasuram felt relieved he hadn’t picked a fight.
“Shati.”
“Yes, Nagaraja.”
“Deliver a message to him.”
“…Understood.”
*********
Azadin was growing weary as he battled the sea serpent naga warriors.
The sea serpent nagas, with their ferocious strength and battle lust, tore through the undead Scott had created—the corpses of their comrades from moments ago—and surged toward Azadin.
At first, Scott had mocked them with corpse explosion spells, but those consumed an enormous amount of mana.
“Boss... my mana’s running low.”
“Yeah. Time to retreat. How’s Jiswa doing?”
Azadin addressed the Emperor’s Voice.
[Jiswa and Shati have the boat ready in the dunes under the coastal cliffs. The Nagaraja is keeping his word.]
“Good. Let’s fall back there.”
Azadin used his undead as a barrier to create distance, then fired his bow. He’d long run out of arrows and was now using his elastic bow to launch stones from the ground, or the sea serpent nagas’ horns and spines.
He’d shot all the larger rocks, so there weren’t many launchable ones within reach anymore.
The nagas’ thick hides and scales required stones with real weight to make a difference.
“Retreat. Cover the rear.”
“Got it, boss! But after this, my mana will be completely drained.”
Scott poured his last mana into berserking the undead. Leaving the frenzied horde behind, he and Azadin dashed away. Scott usually relied on a wheelchair, but he could sprint surprisingly well over short distances.
But...
“Huff... huff. O-Oxygen shortage!”
“Your stamina’s abysmal.”
“Muscles mean... huff... huff... you need more oxygen. Oxygen’s air, boss. Plus, my brain’s as muscle-heavy as...”
“Stop talking and breathe.”
“Huff huff... H-High intelligence requires that much more...”
“I said stop talking and breathe. You wanna keep yapping?”
Azadin reached the boat glowing with light on the coastal cliff’s slope. Jiswa and Shati waited aboard.
“Why isn’t Shati staying with the nagas?”
“Well...”
Shati looked troubled.
Right now, she feared her own kind. Her low status, mission failure, and signs of collaboration with outsiders—even if coerced—who’d ruined naga business.
In this situation, Azadin’s side felt safer than her kin.
“The Nagaraja taught me a water control spell to pilot this small boat. Without my magic, rowing to Btuma would take forever. So don’t get the wrong idea—I’m only coming along out of necessity.”
“Is that so? Too bad. I thought you were finally returning to your people’s embrace.”
“Y-Yeah? But he couldn’t exactly spare other subordinates, right? Anyway, the Nagaraja said thanks for avenging his servant... but that it’s a bit excessive...”
Nagaraja Dehasuram had asked Azadin to find his gardener’s son, or avenge him if not. But he hadn’t expected Azadin and Scott alone to slaughter so many sea serpent nagas.
From a water serpent naga like Dehasuram’s view, seeing sea serpent nagas bleed was good, but Btuma Kingdom needed heavy losses too. Mutual destruction was ideal, yet Azadin had inflicted major damage on the naga forces.
“These guys were heading to Btuma as troops anyway, so thinning their numbers early isn’t bad. But this isn’t their only outpost, so we need to hurry to Btuma, prepare defenses, and organize the Blue Banner Party folks. So, Shati—what else did Nagaraja say?”
“No. He had a message. Demon King Kazas was a figure feared even in the naga empire, a rebel who halted his triumphant advance due to backlash from Kazas’ Curse. If you’re using Kazas’ Curse, don’t you share the same weakness?”
“Hmm. No other options right now, though. Let’s shove off, Shati.”
“Oh man, boss. Just assume I’m dead for a while. Even a genius orc born under the star of intellect can’t handle this mana drain plus running on muscle legs... huff huff...”
“Stop talking and breathe.”
“Huff huff. Ugh. I’m dying.”
Scott collapsed on the boat and passed out like he’d fainted.
‘This bizarre crew feels safer than my own kind. I must be mad.’
Shati gave a wry smile and cast her spell to launch the boat.
*********
Exhausted from the battle with the sea serpent nagas, Azadin collapsed on the boat and fell into a deathlike sleep, oblivious to the rocking waves.
How long had he slept?
A gut-wrenching pain like his insides were tearing woke Azadin.
“Ugh.”
“What’s wrong, Master Azadin?”
“My stomach hurts.”
“Need the bathroom? Boat’s... uh, Scott’s using it.”
“Doing what?”
Azadin saw Scott in the sea. Apparently handling business in the water before climbing back.
“Whoa, boss. Check this out. Fish swarmed when I went.”
“...Not a scene I wanted to see.”
Azadin turned away from Scott relieving himself in the water.
“You slept a good while. Hungry? Eat this. Nosebleed?”
Shati broke off some hardtack for Azadin and noticed blood trickling from his nose.
“Yeah. That’s what woke me.”
Azadin felt the powerful torrent from his imperfect Flower Wind Moon and the white mana drawn from the New King Formation Book copy clashing wildly inside him.
He quickly dispersed the torrent, channeling it throughout his body. The pain faded, strength filling him.
But now... his muscles, ligaments, and bones creaked under their own power.
And the thirst for more power followed.
Azadin pulled out the New King Formation Book copy, selected one with ample mana, gripped it, and absorbed the power.
Pain vanished, relief came, but each time, the next outburst would hit harder.
Yet in this situation, he couldn’t abandon Kazas’ Curse and his power.
“How far did we go while I slept? Where are we now?”
[About two hours from Bell Hoda. One more day to Btuma.]
The Emperor’s Voice replied.
“Already near Bell Hoda? We made good time.”
“I controlled the currents, and Jiswa rowed hard.”
“My hands are killing me. Haha. But we should make Btuma somehow.”
“Straight to Btuma along the coast?”
“Yeah. No need for land routes, right? We can sleep in shifts on the boat.”
“True. Boat’s the way to go.”
Azadin found Jiswa’s suggestion sound.
But then the Emperor’s Voice spoke.
[Herald Azadin, a petitioner.]
“...Ah.”
Someone nearby had used the Emperor’s gold coin.
Azadin normally covered the Salasma area, so this was another herald’s territory...
With the Herald Clan civil war, the petition had come to him unavoidably.
[A petition from a fishing village near Bell Hoda. This is normally another herald’s jurisdiction, but...]
“They dead?”
[Refused.]
“Refused? That possible?”
[The Arael tribe and the Elder Council are twisting service contracts with strange powers. In truth, the service contracts on you now differ greatly from those the Emperor first created.]
“......”
[This is info I shouldn’t reveal, but with true heralds dwindling, I have no choice but to disclose it to you, second in the herald hierarchy.]
“So the Elder Council’s abuse twisted the contracts? To manipulate the young at will?”
[I can’t say who or why changed them, but I can say non-Emperor entities distorted these service contracts. In the Emperor’s era, no ‘service curse’ killed people or forced men and women to breed children to death.]
“Hmm. Quite the promotion perk. But I need to get to Btuma, maybe save many lives there—why waste time on one petitioner’s personal issue?”
[Will you refuse as well?]
“No way. Just smashed a bunch of nagas on Dehasuram’s island—should balance out.”
Azadin spoke lightheartedly, startling Shati who’d overheard.
“That’s it? Weren’t you just saying rush to Btuma?”