Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Massacre of the Holy Knights 4
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“Guh?!”
While the squire knight staggered, Azadin grabbed the shaft of his spear.
‘I got played!’
Seeing Azadin gripping his spear and closing in, the squire knight panicked and drew the short sword from his belt.
Azadin and the squire knight drawing his short sword.
Just as the two were about to clash, interference came.
-Shwick!
Another spear thrust out from beside the squire knight, attacking Azadin. Another squire knight had spotted his comrade’s peril and charged in at terrifying speed, stabbing with his spear.
‘As expected, the holy knights aren’t pushovers.’
Azadin gave up the attack and had no choice but to retreat repeatedly. Still, it wasn’t without gain. He’d struck the squire knight with a stone and seized his weapon, the spear.
“Hey! Tasig! Fall back!”
“Watch out! This bastard’s no joke!”
The squire knight called Tasig retreated while catching his breath. Even with a helmet on, the stone Azadin had thrown packed such ferocious power that his vision shook.
“You okay? How’d you let him take your weapon?”
“You try it. I’m telling you, that guy’s no ordinary punk.”
“What the hell is he? An adventurer?”
Squire knights who had been massacring across the farm began gathering one after another.
The squire knights of the King’s Church furrowed their brows. They hadn’t wanted things to escalate this far either. They’d tried to subdue everything quickly, but then this skilled interloper had shown up to throw a wrench in their plans.
“Hey, you know we’re holy knights of the King’s Church, and you’re still picking a fight?”
Holy Knight Sir Gazrek addressed Azadin.
“You lot slaughtering Whibbris villagers like that, and you call yourselves holy knights?”
“These are heretics!”
“Proof?”
When Azadin shot back, the squire knights fell silent. Truth be told, they hadn’t meant to let things spiral like this. It started with a misfired arrow killing a civilian, then covering it up led to more deaths, and when one escaped, they’d gone ahead and massacred the whole farm to silence them.
‘Thinking about it, it’s pretty stupid.’
‘But now that we’ve started, there’s no turning back.’
‘Damn it, that arrow wasn’t mine. If we’d just ID’d the shooter and turned a few into penitent knights, that’d have been it.’
As the squire knights faltered, Sir Gazrek stepped forward.
“We’re holy knights. We’re experts on heretics. You doubting our judgment? Or are you a heretic yourself, daring to question a holy knight’s actions?”
“You’re grasping at straws. Labeling people heretics without evidence makes it so? You using that crap as an excuse right now?”
“Looks like you don’t recognize the King’s Church’s authority.”
Sir Gazrek drew his sword.
“You a heretic too?”
Azadin raised the spear tip to eye level.
“No. Just a humble pilgrim.”
The spear in Azadin’s hand shook like a willow leaf in the wind. Its afterimage stretched long.
“Hmph! Not bad!”
Sir Gazrek signaled with his hand while gripping his sword.
Dazzling light burst from the blade, blinding everyone. At the same moment, Sir Gazrek spun sideways and charged at Azadin.
‘That trick, huh?’
Azadin had already seen this once in his fight with Young Lord Kozel. A simple holy knight combo: blind the eyes with magic, then strike with the sword.
Simple, but highly effective. But Azadin wasn’t fazed by the flash. His vision wasn’t from physical eyes but a supersensory ability.
So it didn’t blind him at all, but Azadin pretended to suffer in agony, luring Sir Gazrek in. This guy seemed to be the leader, so Azadin aimed to deliver a fatal blow and crush the whole group.
But Sir Gazrek, mid-charge, pulled back.
“Damn.”
In the midst of the flash meant to blind Azadin, two arrows had flown.
Both targeted the weak points in Sir Gazrek’s armor. One at the inner thigh, the other at the neck joint—shots impossible without exceptional marksmanship.
Yet Sir Gazrek blocked them with the thickest parts of his plate and retreated.
“You okay?”
“Sir, you alright?”
Ismail and Midiam had seen Azadin surrounded by numbers and joined in, firing their bows.
‘Damn. Stay out of it.’
Azadin regretted Sir Gazrek escaping his trap but couldn’t snap at those who’d come to help.
“Watch out! These guys are from the Herald Clan!”
Sir Gazrek had figured out Azadin’s group.
“Why do you think that?”
“Why? Only Herald Clan kids that young could fire bows that strong!”
Sir Gazrek bellowed upon realizing Midiam and Ismail’s arrows had unexpected power. The squire knights sighed in relief at his words.
“H-Heralds?”
“Then we didn’t do wrong!”
“Yeah! These villagers harboring Heralds must be heretics!”
“Emperor loyalists!”
Sir Gazrek commanded his squire knights.
“You idiots! Quit yapping and surround them—now!”
“Yes, sir!”
Relieved of their guilty consciences, the squire knights moved with sharp efficiency, unlike when remorse had gripped them. They split in two: some aiding Sir Gazrek to encircle Azadin, others charging at Midiam and Ismail.
“Tch.”
As Azadin faltered, Sir Gazrek drew his sword and charged.
“Let’s see the Emperor’s Herald in action!”
Sir Gazrek’s sword thrust like lightning. At the same time, the squire knights half-encircling Azadin jabbed their spears. Azadin broke position to slip their half-encirclement.
“No you don’t!”
“Grab him!”
Everyone pursued Azadin. That’s when he closed on the squire knight at the edge of their formation, lightly brushing his spear as if toying with it.
“You bastard!”
The squire knight recoiled, trying to bat Azadin’s spear away. In that instant, Azadin’s spear wrapped around it, slamming it toward the ground, then rebounded into a thrust.
Stunned by the lightning counter, the squire knight raised his spear to block, but…
That too fell into Azadin’s trap. He’d read three moves ahead.
-Clang!
Azadin knocked the spear aside, fully disrupting his foe.
“Urk!”
Off-balance, the squire knight stumbled sideways, blocking his comrades’ path. The ones encircling Azadin couldn’t coordinate effectively with their ally in the way.
Azadin spun and bolted.
Trying to flee?
“Where!”
The squire knights gave chase, but Azadin hurled his spear.
“Huh?”
Surprisingly, it wasn’t aimed at the encirclement. He’d thrown it at the back of a squire knight approaching Midiam and Ismail, the young Heralds.
-Thunk!
Azadin’s spear cleanly pierced the squire knight’s thigh.
The force shredded hamstring and shattered bone—terrifying power.
“Gaaahhh!”
Screaming, the squire knight pitched forward, but as the spear tip hit the ground, it tore the wound wider. He collapsed sideways in horror.
“You bastard!”
“Treating us like nothing!”
Outraged that Azadin ignored them to throw his spear—leaving himself unarmed—the squire knights attacked as one. But Azadin ran again.
“Huh?”
“He’s fast!”
Azadin instantly widened the gap. Armored with spears, they couldn’t catch a lightly clad, unarmed Azadin.
“No way!”
Nor could they throw like him. No guarantee of hitting, and they’d never practiced much anyway.
A botched throw would just arm the now-unarmed foe.
“No way! This can’t be happening!”
The squire knights approaching Midiam and Ismail panicked. They’d had the numbers, but now they were outnumbered.
Up front: young boy and girl, but elite Herald archers. Behind: the adult Herald who’d just felled a comrade with a spear throw. Sandwiched front and back. Their allies flailed in pursuit, barely half the Herald’s running speed.
As he panicked, Azadin charged. Shockingly, not at him, but his fallen comrade.
“Gaaaah!”
Azadin approached the screaming squire knight with the pierced leg and drew the sword from his belt. Plain but solid knightly short sword in hand, Azadin rushed the still-untouched squire knight.
“N-No, stay back!”
The squire knight thrust his spear, but his rattled mind made the attack clumsy. Natural, with arrows possibly incoming from behind.
Azadin reversed the short sword, gripping the blade with both hands like a cross-spear. He used the reversed hilt to catch the spear between guard and pommel—like a laundry pole snagging a line.
The spear slid helplessly.
Azadin slid it down to the dirt.
-Thud!
The squire knight’s spear stabbed into the field ridge.
“Damn.”
Too late to pull it! Quick-thinking, he drew his own short sword. But Azadin was already upon him.
-Thwack!
Azadin swung the reversed short sword like a flail, smashing the guard into the squire knight’s helmeted head.
The helm crumpled, and he faceplanted unconscious. One strike, and a King’s Church holy knight was out.
They’d had the numbers…
But snapping to, they realized Azadin was picking them off one by one.
“Damn. He’s a seasoned fighter. Guess that’s what comes with being an Emperor’s Herald!”
Sir Gazrek realized his mistake. Unarmored, the foe knew his advantages well.
Azadin’s tactics explained why armored knights shunned spears.
Armored spearmen were too slow. A light runner could easily outpace them, letting Azadin—outnumbered—pick them apart piecemeal.
‘The Slayer of the New God’s reputation is well-earned. But we’ve got numbers…’
Sir Gazrek wondered if he might die here.