Chapter 254
Chapter 254
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 254
Chapter Title: The Knights' Secret Weapon 8
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“Ugh…. Mmph?!”
Izmila’s body was already bound with ropes, and a gag had been stuffed in her mouth to prevent her from chanting spells.
But having grasped the situation, Izmila concentrated her mind.
From her arms, from her body, sacred flames erupted, starting to burn through the ropes.
“Damn it!”
“Stop her!”
The frantic Northern Aragas rushed in, but the golden flames rising from Izmila’s body looked ready to incinerate anyone who approached.
“Ow, hot!”
“Shit!”
The gag blocking Izmila’s mouth burned away and fell off.
At that moment of desperation, the mage stepped forward.
“Even if it kills you!”
The lightning spell the mage unleashed struck Izmila squarely between the eyes.
-Zzzt!
It was a gruesome sight just to look at.
Izmila’s eyes, blazing with golden flames in her fury, lost their light as she collapsed to the side.
“Impressive. A true Celestial. I hit her with enough output to kill a bear, and she just passes out. Shouldn’t some part of her body have been charred…?”
There were faint traces of lightning currents on Izmila’s face.
Her skin was slightly reddened in the shape of lightning, cooked just a bit, but even as she lay there unconscious, the wound healed rapidly and soon vanished.
A sight befitting the Rescue Knights’ secret weapon.
“You sure she’s okay? This?”
“Bind her with these iron chains. These are blacksteel chains. Even an angel can’t move once bound with these. No need for a gag either. Anyone chained with this can’t use magic or abilities.”
The mage pulled out chains made of blacksteel.
The Aragas flinched at the sight of chains forged from blacksteel.
To them, blacksteel was the ultimate treasure, believed to originate from the scales of the flawless dragon king Azadin.
A treasure and a cursed abomination. To have this much of it….
“How do you even have something like this…?”
“We can prepare anything. So… what now? Gonna keep running to your master, the Northern Lord, with pursuers on your tail?”
“You got another way?”
“Like this.”
With a gesture from the mage, two goblin soldiers hiding inside the windmill shuffled out.
The mage extended a hand with sharp claws sprouting from it and grabbed the goblins’ heads.
“Kieeeek!”
The claws pierced the goblins’ skulls with ridiculous ease, drawing wretched screams from them.
As they writhed, their bellies split open, and wings began to sprout from within.
A left wing from the left goblin, a right wing from the right one.
“Hmm….”
The Northern Aragas shuddered at the sight.
This mage was no ordinary figure.
Just moments ago, the mage had been angry comparing the Heralds and Northern Aragas, but that fury vanished in an instant, replaced by an ominous dread.
‘It’s not that we’re cowards.’
‘We just don’t know magic.’
The mage crushed the goblins’ heads with both hands, killing them, then lifted the corpses and merged them into one.
-Crackle crunch!
With a horrific sound, moments later a bizarre goblin corpse with wings sprouted on it appeared.
The mage wrapped it in a blanket, and it was about Izmila’s size.
“Hmm, two isn’t enough. The wings are pretty big…. One more?”
At the mage’s words, the goblins flinched in terror and prostrated themselves on the floor, trembling. They didn’t even dare think of fleeing, showing the mage’s authority over them. Even if they ran, that lightning magic would turn them into cornered rats.
“Kidding. Padding the blanket should do.”
The mage puffed up the blanket to make it convincing, then handed it to the Northern Aragas.
“Here. You lot take this and head west to lure the pursuers. We’ll take the angel and deliver her to your master.”
“No. We can’t do that.”
Squad leader Jan of the Northern Aragas objected.
“There’s no law saying you won’t ditch the angel midway and run off somewhere else. We’ve put in so much effort to uncover the Rescue Knights’ secret. We can’t hand her over to you Kurt Pantheon lot now.”
“You’re the ones being followed. It’s your responsibility.”
The mage bristled at Jan’s words. It sounded reasonable at first glance, but Jan shook his head.
“You think you wouldn’t have been followed if you’d done it? You monsters can’t even enter the city, so we had to handle it from the start. If you blame us for the responsibility that comes with taking the job, no one would ever work with you out of fear. So let’s split it fair and square here.”
“What?”
“Our half goes with the angel, the other half draws out the enemy. Same for you: half with the angel, half draws the enemy. Sound fair?”
“You don’t trust us.”
“Would you?”
“Haha. Fair point.”
The mage slapped his hooked claw-hand against his head and laughed heartily.
“Fine. We’ll do it that way.”
The mage accepted squad leader Jan’s proposal.
*********
Northern Aragas burst out of the windmill.
Spotting Arael’s Voice, they fired arrows skyward the moment they emerged, but even Aragas arrows couldn’t exceed the bow’s limits.
Hitting Arael’s Voice flying high beyond arrow range was impossible.
They switched horses and fled northwest on fast mounts.
‘Hmm. Something’s off.’
Azadin, manipulating Arael’s Voice, sensed something strange in their actions.
First, Izmila’s body looked wrong. It had been fine moments ago, now covered in a bloodied blanket.
Had they injured or killed her in the meantime?
‘Did they extract some magical treasure from Izmila’s body? No, then the body itself wouldn’t be needed if the treasure was the goal. Isn’t the angel herself the objective?’
The enemies had clearly kidnapped her alive. If they wanted something from her body or to kill her, they’d have done it from the start. When they stunned her with the lightning-talisman arrow, cutting her throat then would’ve been easier for looting.
‘All signs point to it being a decoy, nine times out of ten!’
Azadin wanted to lower Arael’s Voice to investigate the hut interior. But with arrows flying, descending to that altitude risked attack.
Arael’s Voice might vanish.
He couldn’t lose his sister’s legacy so easily.
But even as he thought that, the enemies kept riding away.
“What do we do?!”
Camilla asked.
“Search the building and pursue! Building first!”
“That okay?”
“I’m watching them separately! Prioritize the building! But don’t rush in blindly!”
Just as Azadin said that, arrows flew out from inside the building.
Those waiting in the windmill fired at them. With Camilla and Kuntachi ahead of Azadin, they took the brunt.
Normally Azadin would catch or slap away arrows with his hand, but knowing what felled Izmila, he urgently hurled coins to collide with the incoming arrows and leaped aside.
“Sis!”
Kuntachi shielded his sister with his massive body from the arrows. They hit him, but his chainmail prevented full penetration.
The chains broke as the arrow pierced flesh but couldn’t lodge deep and fell out. However… the talisman wrapped around the arrow unraveled, unleashing electric sparks.
“Gaaah!”
Lightning struck Kuntachi’s armor, coursing through his body.
Camilla avoided the direct bolt but fell from her horse.
Azadin detonated the arrow aimed at him upfront, dodging the extra sparks.
“You bastards!”
Azadin trembled with rage at the Northern Aragas who downed his subordinates.
Then three more arrows flew at Azadin.
These too were talisman-wrapped arrows.
The attack that even felled Izmila, who’d revealed Celestial power, now targeted him.
‘Those talismans must cost a fortune, yet they’re not skimping. Must be swimming in the Northern Lord’s wealth?’
Azadin scattered coins again to intercept.
Normal arrows would just bounce off coins, but these exploded on their own, spewing sparks.
-Flower Moon Twilight!
Azadin’s afterimage absorbed the sparks instead. Seizing the gap, he smashed through the windmill window and leaped inside.
Attacks came from both sides.
Northern Aragas squad members swung swords in ambush as he approached.
-Thud!
But as if anticipating it, Azadin punched one and kicked another away.
Light taps sent the Northern Aragas squad members flying into the mill shaft, tumbling forward.
“Urk!”
“Aaagh!”
Ribs cracked, shoulders dislocated in one strike.
Even as Aragas, they couldn’t fight with such injuries.
Most of their combat ability gone from Azadin’s mere brush.
“Damn it for real.”
Jan, seeing his men get taken down by Azadin, covered his face.
But he wasn’t entirely displeased.
His men had teased him endlessly for getting beaten by Azadin and traveling with him briefly, but now they’d tasted it too.
“We meet again, Jan.”
“Let us eat and live a little too. Isn’t that too much?”
Azadin was speechless at Jan’s cheeky attitude.
“Sorry about that, Jan. Vermilion Fortress needs talent, so I can make a living for you.”
“Why serve under you, a Squire Knight exiled to Chadra Plateau, instead of the Northern Lord aiming for emperor?”
Jan knew what it meant for Azadin to be a Squire Knight confined to Chadra Plateau.
But Azadin remained nonchalant.
“The Northern Lord was already a king. Me? Just a Squire Knight now, so join me and you could be a partner in great deeds. Not a mere underling—starting as a business partner. How’s that?”
“Huh? Tempting. As expected from someone who knows things.”
Jan was intrigued.
“Wanna make a deal then?”
“Well, that’s… hmm.”
“I’ve got a little plan.”
Azadin whispered secretly to Jan.