Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Temple of the Serpent 6
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“Wow, incredible. What did I just witness?!”
Midi'am was stunned by the spectacle unfolding before her eyes. A house-sized monster—no less than a naga, one of the ruler species that once dominated humanity—had been taken down by Azadin. Sure, he was the Emperor's Herald, but he couldn't even use magic.
“Perhaps he...”
Ismail, who had been maintaining the Foresight Bird spell, had a clear view from atop the bell tower of exactly what Azadin had done. Inside the tower, Azadin had looped the bell rope around the lower rafters—the beams supporting the structure's midsection—and yanked it free.
With the bell tower collapsing under its own weight, Azadin had sprinted up through the crumbling debris to the rooftop. From there, he'd used the rope to haul a jagged, broken rafter straight at the count, smashing it into his head and impaling him.
The count, struck by the massive blow as the rafter pierced his skull, hadn't been able to evade the falling tower and was buried beneath it.
“......”
“W-We can't just stand here! We have to go rescue him!”
Midi'am charged toward the collapsed bell tower, where Azadin and the count lay entangled.
*********
“Kraaak!”
Blood poured from the count's mouth. His life force was draining away. Even the power he'd received from the Kurt Divine Clan was leaking from his body.
“Urgh... What is this?!”
“Hah... hah...”
Azadin pushed himself up. Having leaped from the bell tower and charged the count, he pursed his lips and spat out a thick glob of blood.
“My victory, Count Kazel.”
Count Kazel was dying. His body slowly shrank, reverting to human form. But the wounds he'd sustained would persist even then, dragging him to his death.
“You've won, Herald. Astonishing. To think you'd fell a kin of the Kurt Divine Clan like this.”
“...Why?”
Azadin posed the question to the count. It was an odd one.
“Why? For ambition, as I said. But...”
“Corrupt nobles usually get lost in vice and extravagance. They don't beg the Kurt Divine Clan for power out of mere greed. So why?”
Azadin had sensed something peculiar in the count's behavior. No one craved power so blindly. Even someone like Ara'el, who aspired to tyranny, had her reasons: as the child of a traitor from the Herald clan, she had to prove her strength or be devoured.
So why had the count—a descendant of the Yaegas Divine Clan—colluded with the nagas?
“...Despair.”
“Despair?”
“That's right. This world is hollow, destined for ruin. With doomsayers shouting in the marketplace about the coming era of Jupiter... the blood of the Yaegas Divine Clan grows thin, and the King's Radiance fades.”
“......”
“But excuses are just pathetic, aren't they? Heh heh heh.”
“The New King Scripture copies?”
“The ones I had... I gave them to my lovers. By now, their apostles are probably delivering them to the nagas' lair.”
“......”
“Urgh...”
The count's breaths grew ragged. As his body dwindled, the arrow Azadin had plunged into him and the massive rafter tore gaping wounds across his flesh.
The head wound had cracked open his skull, spilling his brains. He could speak no more, and with that, his life ended.
Azadin dragged his grievously wounded body through the ruins of the fallen bell tower. He pried the seal ring from the count's corpse.
Symbolizing the lord's authority, this ring served as a seal for official decrees. It would stand as proof that Azadin had slain the count.
*Assassination commissions are meaningless now... but this will come in handy.*
Azadin pocketed the count's seal ring and turned away.
At the entrance to the count's palace, the soldiers and knights who had fled in terror were now battling the mummy soldiers that had broken free of control. Ismail and Midi'am approached Azadin.
“Let's slip away while we can.”
“You're not suggesting we save them, are you?”
“Of course not. Midi'am, Ismail. Thank you.”
“Yes?”
“Oh, it's nothing. Assisting the Herald is a priest's duty, after all.”
“No, you've gone above and beyond duty. Thank you.”
Azadin offered them his sincere gratitude before heading with them toward the collapsed rear annex.
“Uh... you're escaping through here?”
“We go down to the underground passage and finish the job.”
“What if mummies are still down there?”
“They got crushed in the collapse, so we should be clear. But... ugh.”
Azadin groaned. His body was a wreck from head to toe.
“Nngh. Let's descend carefully.”
“Yes!”
Azadin and Midi'am secured a rope and rappelled into the depths.
*********
As they returned to the underground passage, sure enough—just as Azadin had predicted—fallen boulders from above had pulverized most of the mummy soldiers.
“Ismail, the wand...”
“Ah, right!”
Ismail gripped the bone wand and cast the spell. It immediately revealed that a New King Scripture copy lay very close by. Azadin approached to find a naga woman crushed to death beneath the rocks.
“A New King Scripture copy.”
Azadin extended the bracelet Aldis had given him, and two copies flowed into it.
“And the remaining three?”
“That way.”
Ismail pointed the still-glowing wand at a heavy iron door, firmly shut. Midi'am inspected it and found the lock undone. There was blood on the handle, too.
“One got away alive. That's bad news.”
Azadin limped over and shoved the door open—but soon he was hobbling outright.
“Ugh...”
With the battle's thrill gone and adrenaline ebbed, his body now exacted its toll for the abuse.
“Aaagh.”
Unable to give chase, Azadin dropped to one knee.
“Should we pursue?”
“P-Please do. Both of you, together.”
Azadin tasked Ismail and Midi'am with hunting the naga who had fled with the New King Scripture. Then he collapsed to the floor.
“Ugh.”
Azadin lost consciousness and passed out.
*********
Midi'am and Ismail pressed on through the underground passage, scanning their surroundings. But even after emerging at the parched riverbank and into the refugee camp teeming with people, they found no sign of the naga.
The naga sorceress had already shifted to human form and escaped.
“I can't use the wand where people might see.”
Ismail concealed the bone wand. Waving around such an ominous magic item in public would draw the Church of the King's priests or holy knights in an instant.
“This is as far as we go. Asking around...”
As children, wandering a refugee camp at night would only invite trouble for Midi'am and Ismail. Besides, Azadin weighed on their minds.
“Let's head back.”
“You sure it's fine to give up like this? They made off with a New King Scripture copy, and he's hurt. The enemy...”
Ismail couldn't shake his fixation on the New King Scripture copy. He was a Herald clansman, after all. It was his people's deepest yearning—the key to freeing the clan from the curse of servitude.
To let it slip away right before his eyes...
“More importantly, we need to keep Azadin safe. Hurry back and protect him.”
In a way uncharacteristic of the Herald clan, Midi'am let go of the New King Scripture copy without regret and turned back to Azadin. With her taking the lead, Ismail had little choice but to follow.
*********
The undead soldiers—the mummies the count had created—had lost all control and gone berserk, clashing with the soldiers and knights guarding the palace.
As mummies radiating curse auras, they inflicted heavy losses on the ordinary troops and knights. To make matters worse, with the count vanished, no one knew who held command.
Just then, a knight galloped in through the south gate.
“I am Holy Knight Gibek of the Church of the King!”
Sir Gibek declared from horseback, then began chanting a spell. A brilliant halo blazed above his head, spreading outward and repelling the undeads' curse auras.
“Ah!?”
“S-Sir Gibek!”
“A holy knight!”
“Yes!”
The soldiers erupted in cheers as Sir Gibek joined the fray. He charged ahead, cleaving through mummy soldiers, breaking the deadlock and rescuing the beleaguered troops.
“Th-Thank you.”
“What happened? I heard rumors...”
“Yes! A giant serpent! It burst from the rear annex...”
“Rear annex?”
“Yes. That's where the count was.”
“These beasts came from there too!”
“And the giant serpent?”
“They say it got crushed under that collapsed bell tower!”
“Hmm. I see.”
Sir Gibek clicked his tongue. Monsters swarming from the count's own quarters? Add the rumors of enigmatic witches infiltrating the palace, and it all pointed to the count's involvement.
*Then I need to assume command from him. But am I the one to do it?*
The count's appointed knights and officers might be cronies. As Sir Gibek wavered, the soldiers and knights implored him instead.
“S-Sir Gibek!”
“Please take command!”
“Very well! I'll lend what strength I have!”
Sir Gibek rallied the soldiers and knights. First, they purged the monsters from the servants' quarters. Then he ordered the rescued servants to erect barricades of furniture and baggage, blocking the creatures from spilling into the streets. Afterward, Sir Gibek headed to the ruined bell tower...
“Hmm.”
He discovered the count's corpse, crushed beneath the debris.
“Th-This...”
“Hold steady—no rash moves. We'll recover the body once we've cleared the remaining monsters!”
Sir Gibek hushed the panicking soldiers, assigned trusted knights to guard the corpse, and set about exterminating the rest of the beasts.
As the sun rose, most of the monsters crumbled, stripped of power by the King's Radiance and the sunlight.
*********
“So you're saying...”
Bishop William of Salasma clicked his tongue as he heard Sir Gibek's report.
“The count was a naga?”
“The testimonies align that way. He wasn't originally, but likely after consorting with those witches...”
“Then you're claiming the bishop at his side—overseeing his rule—was incompetent, blind as a bat in a hole?”
“N-No, that's not what I—”
Sir Gibek bowed low at once.
He'd spent the night battling mummy soldiers to rescue troops and servants, leaving him sodden with exhaustion like a drenched sponge. Still, he kept his poise before the bishop. The bishop, however, gazed down at him with open contempt.
*It's the truth, though?*
The silent priests and holy knights around the bishop silently agreed with him.
*The bishop's incompetent and blind as a bat.*
*He gets reality once in a blue moon.*
They all thought it, but none dared voice it. They could only pity Sir Gibek.