Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Curse of Service 4
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-‘Flower-Bird-Wind-Moon, Wall Lightning, Kazas Style!’
In an instant, the blade trembled violently….
-Thud!
“Argh!”
“Guh!”
Kellibre and Adan screamed as they were sent flying.
“Kraaak.”
“W-what the hell? No way. That was… Wall Lightning?!”
Kellibre and Adan staggered to their feet, their hands shaking uncontrollably. The shock coursing through their bodies felt just like being electrocuted, leading them to mistakenly believe Azadin had unleashed Wall Lightning.
“Y-you said you couldn’t use magic! How?!”
As they glared at him in shock, Azadin let out a sigh.
“Whew. Hey, don’t die on me. One of you two might survive, at least?”
In that moment, Azadin’s form blurred.
“Dusk?”
“Damn it!”
With their hands numbed, Kellibre and Adan reacted instinctively with taekwondo kicks, aiming to disrupt Azadin’s trajectory. But Azadin melted into the ground like liquid, already slipping behind them.
‘Earth Dusk?’
‘Dusk into Earth Dusk? The combo’s insane, and so damn fast?’
Kellibre and Adan finally realized it. The Azadin they were facing now was no longer the crybaby kid from their childhood who could only take beatings from them. Among the Herald Clan, he was a formidable force in his own right.
‘We’re screwed.’
‘Shouldn’t have messed with him….’
But regret came too late.
“Where’d you think you’re looking?”
Azadin shot between them like a bolt of lightning, kicking both simultaneously. Kellibre and Adan couldn’t resist as they were flung back, crashing into nearby trees and rocks.
“Keurk?!”
“Da-damn it! No way!”
A single strike had cracked their ribs. Not from the direct impact, but from flying back and slamming into the obstacles, fracturing the ribs on their backs. Adan had even tried blocking Azadin’s attack, breaking his arm in the process, while Kellibre took the hit straight on and fared slightly better.
“I tried just knocking you back without breaking anything… but the terrain made it impossible to hold back.”
“……!”
“…….”
Azadin’s claim of going easy wasn’t an empty boast. With the power and angle of that kick, he could have aimed for their heads if he wanted—instant death.
‘That’s not a human kick.’
‘No magic, and it hits like that?’
The moment they took a hit from Azadin, they felt the gap in their levels.
“But you’re both still alive. Even without being selected as Heralds, you didn’t slack on training? I tried to knock you out, but your bodies are tough as hell.”
“…….”
Kellibre and Adan were left dumbfounded by the thrashing they’d taken.
‘Why? Sure, we didn’t make Herald, but… we can’t be worse than this Azadin punk who didn’t even finish basic training!’
Kellibre and Adan had completed basic training but lacked the talent even for attendants. They kept applying every two years during the Summer Solstice Festival, hoping to at least become attendants, but with the peace holding, Herald deaths were rare. Then Arael rose to prominence, and the Herald Clan thrived without sacrifices.
So they’d wasted their youth as merchants in the trading guild, never even becoming attendants.
When they heard Azadin—the inferior student they used to beat up—had become a Herald on Elder Kazas’s recommendation, their disappointment and rage were indescribable.
‘No way.’
‘This punk actually earned his Herald spot through skill? I can’t accept it! If I do….’
It would erase their reason for existing. They’d truly become pathetic, inferior, incompetent failures. Until then, they’d cursed the Herald Clan’s stifling traditions under Aragsa.
*We had what it takes to be Heralds. We’re capable—it’s just no family background. Not being the founder’s bloodline kept us from our chance.*
They’d lived justifying themselves that way. Given the opportunity, they could showcase their skills, shine brilliantly, lift the clan’s curse, and become Heralds.
But now, they couldn’t even stand against the 108th Herald Azadin together?
‘Then we really are idiots?’
‘Damn it. Can’t accept this!’
They struggled to rise and fight again, but their legs gave out. Arms and body unresponsive, mouths agape with bile rising. A chill even crept through their bodies.
“Now, shall we talk? What’s going on here?”
Azadin looked at them coldly. That’s when it happened.
A large crow flew from the nearby bushes and perched on a branch.
[108th Herald Azadin… big trouble.]
“Oh, the Emperor’s Voice. Thought you were gone. Why speak through a medium?”
[The Two Leaders have dismissed you.]
“I know that.”
[That’s not all. The Curse of Service has been invoked.]
“!!?”
“Invoked?!”
Everyone recoiled in horror at the words.
*********
The service contract between the Herald Clan and the Emperor.
It was called the Curse of Service because, beyond demanding eternal loyalty from the Herald Clan, the method of enforcing it was brutally savage.
If the Herald Clan’s collective decision—via the Two Leaders and elders—invoked the Curse of Service on someone, that person would surely die. Not just any death. They had to first produce a replacement Herald for the clan and then perish.
“The Curse of Service invoked? What happens?”
[It activates in one year. You’ll probably bear a Herald clansman to fulfill the clan’s duty in your place and die. Just like Acre did.]
Yes. Bear.
Regardless of whether the cursed one was man or woman, they would give birth to a Herald clansman and die. That was the Curse of Service’s massive penalty.
“You sons of….”
Azadin rarely swore, but he couldn’t hold back now.
*********
In the past, Acre had become the clan’s enemy for stealing a copy of the Divine King Array Scripture, triggering the Curse of Service. Nearly the entire Herald Clan mobilized to capture him.
Astonishingly, Acre—who wasn’t even a Herald—evaded pursuit and repelled pursuers for a full year.
People thought the scholar, who merely interpreted magic tomes under an elder, had grown so strong by absorbing the scripture’s knowledge and power. Yet even Acre couldn’t escape the Curse of Service.
In the end, he birthed the twins Azadin and Arael from a man’s body and died.
“Ugh… getting pregnant as a man sounds awful. Are they insane? Why did the Emperor even make the service contract like that?”
[This penalty wasn’t my doing. It was Harconia’s.]
Harconia, the Herald Clan’s first of the Two Leaders.
A renowned beautiful, powerful mage and warrior, but a close read of the records revealed her extremely eccentric personality.
[And… oh, I shouldn’t say this.]
“What is it? Spit it out.”
[No, this Emperor’s Voice magic exists in this world eternally on the condition that it doesn’t directly convey certain information. I can tell you about matters concerning you, but anything else… Even contacting you now, after your dismissal from Herald, through a medium is eating away at my existence. Reaching out to you—who’s not even a petitioner of gold coins—is dangerous in itself.]
“…….”
The other Aragsa clansmen listening gasped. The Emperor’s Voice was breaking protocol out of consideration for Azadin.
To the Herald Clan, it was immense honor—unimaginable glory.
It could only mean the Emperor’s Voice saw Azadin as vital to the clan’s future. But Azadin just clicked his tongue indifferently.
“And yet, because of the curse you made, I’ll be birthing a kid from a man’s body and dying in a year. You cursed me to kill you, but now you acknowledge me? You joking?”
“Ho-how dare you, Azadin!”
“The Emperor’s Voice is the Emperor’s will! How can you….”
Kellibre and Adan scolded Azadin. Of course, to Azadin, it was maddening.
“Dare? I’m not even a Herald anymore! You guys suddenly dismissed me and invoked the Curse of Service! And now you’re lecturing me on decorum and nobility?!”
“B-but still.”
“There’s such a thing as propriety.”
“If there’s propriety, does summarily dismissing me make sense? Then tell me. Why are you trying to capture me? Why the sudden dismissal?”
“Well….”
They exchanged glances before speaking.
“Arael rebelled!”
“What?”
“Arael murdered Elder Kenahan and stole the stockpiled Divine King Array Scripture copies.”
“…….”
Azadin tilted his head at that.
“But why dismiss me?”
“Well….”
“You think I’m her accomplice?”
Azadin exploded.
“Are you kidding me? Who scarred my face? Your precious Arael! What? Me and her in cahoots? Even if it was just the two of us left in the world, we’d be at each other’s throats!”
“How are others supposed to know about your relationship?”
“To us, it looked like Arael protected you a lot. She cherished you so much.”
“That’s ridiculous! Arael protected and cherished me? Then what about my eye scar?”
“You didn’t have that eye to begin with?”
“How can I trust your judgment? You called her the Herald Clan’s exemplar! Harconia’s reincarnation! You licked her boots so much—how’d you miss her rebellion? With that kind of insight, why blame me? Did I profit a single coin from Arael’s success? No! Even when I was a snot-nosed kid crying, she’d yell about marrying me off to idiot Azadin! What did I do wrong to deserve dismissal and the Curse of Service?!”
“T-that’s….”
“We wouldn’t know.”
“You bastards! Is the Herald position so damn tempting? Take it all, shove it up your asses!”
Murderous intent flickered across Azadin’s mask.
“Fine, now that it’s come to this, should I just kill every clansman I see? Really rebel and give you a show?”
“……?!”
“N-no, wait! Ca-calm down.”
Adan and Kellibre held him back. If Azadin went berserk, they’d be the first to die.
“Just go to the Two Leaders and elders and ask them to revoke the dismissal!”
“Y-yeah. In clan history since becoming the Emperor’s Heralds, only one person has actually died from the Curse of Service.”
“That’s my father who birthed me, you idiots! Trying to rile me up?”
Azadin flew into a rage, practically breathing fire.
“…….”
“B-but, you know.”
Adan cautiously opened his mouth, eyeing Azadin.
“If you’re going to ask the Two Leaders to revoke it, you have to go anyway. So can’t you pretend we captured you for now….”
“Wanna die right now?”
Azadin drew his sword, and chilling killing intent stabbed at their skin. No joke. Everyone sensed the current Azadin could kill without hesitation.