Chapter 245
Chapter 245
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 245
Chapter Title: Rookie Holy Knight Azadin 6
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Azadin sat in his room on the top floor of the tower at Vermilion Fortress.
Even calling it the top floor, it was just a tower three stories high.
But since it stood atop the peak, peering out the window felt dizzyingly steep.
It was the perfect vantage point to spot anyone approaching the fortress at a glance.
Azadin had already finished all his paperwork.
The platoon leader had been gone for half a year, leaving a huge backlog, but it was just a small outpost in the end.
Once he cleared most of it, all that remained was time.
In the meantime, Azadin had meditated to sort through Arael’s grimoires nestled within his body.
Even the necromancy used to create undead for jinsha mining had come from Arael’s grimoires.
‘Truly incredible. Arael.’
Magic he’d known nothing about, yet simply contemplating the grimoires she’d grown inside him made the knowledge and memories surface as if he’d always known them.
Had Arael truly comprehended and mastered all these grimoires?
Azadin trembled at the immense legacy she’d left behind.
He could feel her talent, her resolve, and the crushing weight she’d carried on her shoulders.
‘Such a pity. If only my body were whole….’
Azadin felt regret as he organized the vast array of spells she’d bequeathed to him.
That was when Arael’s voice suddenly rang out in warning during his meditation.
Darkness surged forth like a flood, bearing down on Vermilion Fortress.
From the perspective of a bird soaring high overhead, the power of the Shade Hags was swallowing the fortress whole.
Azadin jolted in shock, ending his meditation and rising to his feet.
He approached the terrace side of the tower and looked down at the village.
Sure enough, darkness was rushing in, devouring the mountain valley.
“It’s starting.”
Azadin grabbed his Seramite longsword, moon-horn bow, and quiver of arrows.
“Platoon Leader!”
Shouts rose from the soldiers below the tower.
“I’m coming down!”
Azadin leaped from the Vermilion Tower.
A tower might be a tower, but it was only three stories high by building standards.
He dropped onto the roof of the adjacent barracks, rolled lightly, and landed smoothly on the ground.
“The wind’s unnatural! Shade Hags are coming!”
“I know. Everyone inside the barracks. Legion! Kalan! You two stay behind!”
“Yes!”
“The soldiers?”
“We’ve tied them all to the pillars!”
Shade Hags wielded illusions.
Especially ones tied to lust and desire that preyed on men, so no number of ordinary soldiers would help—they’d only fall under the spell and get in the way.
Kalan and Legion had taken the precaution of tying up the soldiers to the pillars whenever the hags appeared, preventing casualties ahead of time.
Which meant those two could be trusted to keep their wits against the hags’ illusions.
That was why Azadin had only readied the illusion-resistant dwarf Kalan, the half-elf Legion, and the native sorcerer Bernard, while binding everyone else in their homes.
“Untying them later’s going to be the headache.”
That was when a beautiful melody began to drift from the darkness of the night.
“It’s starting.”
A sweet floral scent rode in on the music.
A young woman’s lovely voice joined in song.
“Hey. Cut the pointless games and talk!”
Azadin shook off the Shade Hags’ attempt to beguile him and bellowed.
But they hadn’t grasped the situation yet, continuing their song and temptations in honeyed tones.
“Play with us. We’re nymphs of passion—petals primed to slake the desires of hot-blooded men.”
At that, the soldiers succumbed to the beautiful voices and intoxicating fragrance, writhing in enchantment.
“Ugh…”
“I wanna go out!”
But they were all bound tight to the pillars with ropes, so it was fine.
Except…
“Argh!”
“Ah! No, Kuntachi!”
Kuntachi was the problem.
Kuntachi snapped the ropes binding him with brute force and charged outside.
“Ah, no! Kuntachi! Listen to your big sis! Those are hags!”
Camilla panicked, trying to hold him back, but Kuntachi wouldn’t hear it—he bolted straight for the sweetly singing hags.
Fed up, Camilla drew her blackjack.
A thief’s tool: a flail with a sandbag tied to a mace for knocking someone out cold.
She swung it full force at her little brother’s temple, but Kuntachi didn’t even stagger.
If anything, he flew into an even greater frenzy.
“Grah!”
“Uwagh! Azadin! Help!”
“This is a mess. No helping it. Legion!”
“Y-Yes?!”
“You handle it.”
“Understood. A chance to prove my loyalty, Platoon Leader!”
Legion bounded forward like a beast, shifting into werewolf form mid-stride and slamming into Kuntachi.
Kuntachi had monstrous strength, but the transformed Legion overpowered him in an instant, pinning him to the ground.
Subduing without killing, though—that was no easy task, even for a werewolf.
“Guh, you half-orc scum! How’re you this strong?”
“Uwaa. Nymphs. Nymphs! So soft. Boobs.”
Kuntachi nuzzled his head against the coarse fur of Legion pinning him down, babbling about softness, then lunged to plant a kiss.
“Urk. Quit it, you perv. That ain’t nymph tits—that’s my junk…”
“…….”
Azadin clutched his head as a migraine hit.
Kuntachi flailed wildly, mistaking Legion’s most private spot for nymph breasts and smooching away.
“Grrr-rrk!”
“Ahh, we’re burning up right now. Cool our fevered flesh, my lord.”
“Anyone enveloped in our nymph petals tastes bliss in moments.”
The hags aped nymphs, egging on and mocking the scuffle between Legion and Kuntachi.
“Impersonating nymphs might be a step too far, even for hags. Enough.”
Deeming words futile, Azadin nocked an arrow and aimed toward the source of the voices.
“Don’t dodge.”
With that, he loosed the arrow at the origin of the sound.
- *Shreek!*
The shaft sliced through the air, stirring chaos in the distance.
“Guh?!”
The hags seemed to realize Azadin wasn’t succumbing to their charms.
“Cut the nonsense and talk. I’m Azadin: 1st Herald of the Emperor’s Heralds, Gold Herald Lion to Golden King Manja-Zadek, and Hospitaler-Errant of the Relief Knights Order.”
“What?!”
“Emperor’s Herald *and* a holy knight?”
The hags recoiled in shock at Azadin’s bombshell introduction.
“Hmm. They say the Shade Hags of Chadra Plateau are near-divine, granting even impossible wishes, but they don’t know me? Figures they’re not all-knowing.”
“…….”
The mood shifted in that instant.
The sweet perfume, the enchanting music and song—all vanished.
Replaced by the reek of blood and filth, nightmarish shrieks, and a grating screech like nails on iron.
Kuntachi, who’d been thrashing in illusion, finally snapped out of it.
“Huh? Uh? N-Nymphs?”
“Nymphs? Get real, idiot. You lucid now?”
“Nymph boobs were right there in front of me…”
“You moron. That was my…”
“Enough. Best leave it unsaid, yeah?”
Azadin cut Legion off.
In the interim, the hags’ voices swirled through the darkness, circling Azadin restlessly.
“Ahh…”
“Baby. Herald blood baby. We know. We know you so well.”
“You know me?”
“Indeed. Your past, present, future—we know it all.”
“After that fiasco, you expect belief? Fine. Call it an off day earlier—I’ll give you one more shot. Prove it.”
“Ahh, child’s play.”
The Shade Hags whispered eagerly to Azadin.
“Born in halves, at last made whole. But you lost your demigod half—the price of completion was steep.”
Shockingly, the moment they dropped the facade, the Shade Hags spoke of Azadin’s past with intimate knowledge.
No—they *knew* it, without doubt.
‘Looks like when they’re playacting as young temptresses to lure and devour men, they’re cut off from that otherworldly insight. But in hag form? Connected.’
Azadin had clocked the Shade Hags’ gimmick.
Even so, it grated that they spoke as if they knew every detail of his fate—and Arael’s—like the back of their hands.
“You joined the knights despite losing your heart’s star, steeling for the Jupiter Age ahead by embracing corruption. Heh heh heh. Not curious what fruit that resolve bears?”
“Don’t you crave to know the fate awaiting you? Come to us, child. Let’s chat. We’ve prepared delights and lovely ladies. This place is paradise.”
“I’m game for talk. But my question isn’t my future. Why keep slaughtering our platoon leaders here?”
“Contract terms.”
“And the woman who struck that deal—is she still alive?”
“Alive and well, serving us dutifully.”
“Soon one with us. Our adopted daughter now.”
The Shade Hags circled Azadin as they spoke.
But without looking, he fired an arrow backward.
- *Thwack!*
Visibility was poor, but flesh tore audibly.
“Kyaaak! You… wicked! Wicked child!”
Incredibly, despite the arrow strike, the Shade Hag scolded him like a misbehaving toddler or pup.
No light wound, that.
“Talk to my face. No sneaking behind.”
“You… rat! How?!”
Azadin needed no eyes to perceive; Arael’s voice scouted in the Emperor’s stead, granting perception beyond imagining.
Assume he faced forward? They’d circle back—all in his grasp.
Distance for safety? Still his playground.
“Arrow hit, huh. Kinda sorry. No apology, though. Anyway, let’s discuss that woman you nabbed—the one who begged you to kill the Hospitalers.”
“What?!”
“Hand her over. Alive, I rescue her. Dead, I claim the corpse.”
“Stunning. So you didn’t approach us begging for your life?”
“Your skills won’t kill me.”
“!!!!!”
The hags reeled at Azadin’s brazen claim.
“What in the…”
“A mere human?!”
The hags gnashed their teeth in fury at Azadin.
Yet he stood by his words.