Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Audacious Challenger 4
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Chae required a wide angle, so whatever was launched from the bowstring wouldn't strike her own hand. However, it demanded tremendous grip strength and forearm power, along with impeccable timing.
Azadin wielded his bow like a ballista with that advanced technique, firing a stone that tore through the air toward Medium.
“Ugh!?”
Unlike a precise arrow, the stone's trajectory was unpredictable.
As Medium flinched in panic, the stone smashed into the ground and ricocheted, splintering into fragments that targeted her.
—‘Flowerbird Windmoon! Moon Haze!’
Medium conjured a faint barrier of moonlight to block the shards and retreated. They were mere stone dust and fragments, yet the razor-sharp pieces hurtled toward her with terrifying momentum, sending chills down her spine.
‘Huh?!’
Medium realized Azadin had vanished from her sight. He had circled around to the rocky path of barren crags in the desolate wasteland, slipping out of view.
Another stone came flying.
—Scree!
Medium freaked out as the stone twisted freely in midair.
‘Flowerbird Windmoon White Crane? Didn’t you say you can’t use magic?’
The Herald Clan’s signature ability—manipulating projectiles with spells—was being unleashed by Azadin.
But Azadin wasn’t using magic; he was simply imparting spin to the projectiles with sheer mastery, mimicking magical effects.
“What the hell is this!”
Medium panicked and began dodging. Her opponent was nowhere in sight, yet stones flew from all directions on bizarre paths.
“Medium! On your left!”
Ismael, unable to watch any longer, shouted a warning.
[Insolent!]
The Emperor’s Voice flared in anger. Interfering in a duel was a grave mistake.
“Don’t interfere, Ismael! If you taint the duel, you’ll be punished too!”
Medium reached for the sword at her waist, but Azadin was already charging in. His fingers thrust toward her eyes!
Medium reflexively slashed with her blade, but she only cleaved Azadin’s afterimage. Astonishingly, he twisted in midair as if anticipating her strike, effortlessly evading.
In truth, Azadin’s eye poke had been far faster—he could have gouged her eyes if he wished. Instead, he deliberately showed the attack, waited for her counter, then seized her wrist.
And then…
“It’s over.”
“What?”
In an instant, Azadin’s fist slammed into Medium’s torso.
“Ah!”
With her hand trapped, she had nowhere to dodge! Azadin had grabbed her and driven his fist home.
—Boom!
A thunderous roar erupted.
“Kyaaak!”
Medium screamed, squeezing her eyes shut.
“Lady Medium!”
Ismael couldn’t hold back and rushed forward.
Duels among the Herald Clan were sacred. But allowing the bloodline of a traitor to kill the noble daughter of the most esteemed founding bloodline?
‘I’ll never forgive you, you lowly scum!’
Ismael bared his teeth at Azadin as he charged to save Medium.
*********
Medium squeezed her eyes shut. That roar wasn’t the sound of striking flesh.
‘Ah, I’m dead. With a boom like that, I must be shattered to pieces. The force was so immense there’s no pain?’
She kept her eyes closed… and nothing happened.
“Huh?”
Startled, Medium opened her eyes to find Azadin already dusting off his hands and turning away. He extended a hand toward the furious, charging Ismael.
“Stop, Ismael. Or are you challenging me too? You’ve already done something reckless.”
“No, wait! I’m fine. It’s not over yet!”
Medium protested, stepping forward—but in that moment, something unexpected occurred.
—Rumble.
The stone pillar behind her crumbled instead.
“Huh?”
She had clearly been hit, yet the impact had passed through her and rebounded into the rock behind.
What kind of technique was this?
Medium racked her memory for Herald Clan spells.
‘It’s similar to Flowerbird Windmoon’s Water-Moon Wave? But he can’t use magic, right?’
One thing was certain: if that full power had focused on her, she wouldn’t have survived.
[The duel is over.]
The Emperor’s Voice, witness to the duel, declared its conclusion.
[Medium of the Etar House. You challenged a Herald as an attendant and lost. Your fate belongs to Herald Azadin. Unless he frees you, you cannot become a free citizen. And Ismael, you interfered in the duel, so join Medium as a Herald’s slave.]
The Emperor’s Voice pronounced the duel’s verdict.
“Ugh!”
Medium collapsed to the ground.
A slave?
She, child of Etar—one of Aragasa’s original five great houses, known as the Herald Clan—would become the slave of this traitor’s spawn?
A moment’s folly had ruined her life. But Azadin’s skill had been genuinely impressive. She’d been too complacent, trusting rumors and ignoring the aura he exuded, the instincts warning her.
The realization made her feel utterly pathetic and foolish.
“How could I suffer such humiliation!”
She drew her dagger and thrust it at her own throat.
“Lady Medium!”
Ismael panicked and tried to stop her, but before he could…
—Ting!
A metallic clang rang out as the dagger flew from Medium’s hand. Azadin had flicked a stone to disarm her.
“I figured you might try that.”
Azadin had anticipated her suicide attempt after losing.
“Little miss, sorry, but your life is mine now. Damaging my property on a whim won’t do.”
“…….”
“Did you challenge me to a duel with so little resolve?”
Medium steadied her trembling hand with the other.
‘What kind of stone….’
It flew like a crossbow bolt—and hit with pinpoint accuracy. Azadin approached her.
“Having lost the duel, you no longer have the right to die. You only die when your lifespan ends or when I decide. Besides, you’re no longer an attendant obeying official duties—you’re my slave, bound to follow my personal commands faithfully.”
“Ugh.”
Medium shuddered. As he said, her very existence now belonged to Azadin; she didn’t even have the right to die at will.
Only now did she groan at the terrifying consequences of her defeat. She’d been so sure she’d win, never imagining she’d fall so easily to someone rumored as the weakest among the Heralds.
‘What now? Should I kill him to regain my freedom? But Heralds are always under the Emperor’s Voice’s watch.’
As Medium fretted over her grim future…
*********
‘What an absurd little girl?’
Azadin chuckled at Medium’s scrunched and relaxed expressions as wild delusions played across her face.
“This should be lesson enough, right? Fine. I free you, Medium of the Etar bloodline. And Ismael, you’re free too.”
“What?”
“Huh?”
Onlooker Ismael was stunned. Permitting attendants or other Heralds to challenge a Herald existed because only skill justified the position.
But allowing endless challenges would wreck the hierarchy. Challengers who failed proved their error by becoming slaves.
Yet Azadin was releasing Medium, who had so rudely challenged him?
“More than that, let’s pretend this duel never happened. It’d be trouble if a record remained of you picking a fight with a Herald for no reason, right?”
“N-No, why?”
Medium couldn’t fathom Azadin’s reasoning.
“Someone like me, blessed with beauty and talent—enslaving such a girl and releasing her the same day without gain?”
“Beauty and talent?”
Azadin snorted.
“I wouldn’t know about beauty, but if you had even a fraction of Arael’s talent, you wouldn’t be in this mess, would you?”
“Ugh.”
Medium flushed with shame.
“B-But my beauty is real, right? Even you, just now, toward me…”
“It was to intimidate you. Scary, wasn’t it? Just what an immature little girl needs.”
“…….”
“I’m fine with it, but there are perverts who like young girls, and places with child marriage customs. So think hard before dueling. Actually, never duel again for the rest of your life. If someone needs killing, assassinate them. Don’t challenge head-on.”
“B-But why release us?”
“Too much hassle.”
“Huh?”
“Babysitting kids is annoying.”
‘W-What’s with this guy?’
Medium felt bewildered by Azadin’s attitude. It was refreshing.
“We’re not kids!”
“You’re plenty childish. I warned you multiple times to stop acting immature, but you ignored me and dueled anyway? And this guy…”
Azadin pointed at the droopy-eyed boy, Ismael.
“He jumps in mid-duel to become a slave too. You two are a matched pair of brats.”
“Urk.”
It was an undeniable fact. But didn’t that mean even Azadin—the most scorned Herald—found them unnecessary?
The insult stung so much that Medium desperately pitched her own value.
“Even so, you won’t keep a talented attendant like me by your side?”
“No, are you claiming your own talent now?”
“It’s an objective fact!”
“Subjectively and objectively, you’re a kid.”
“I won’t deny I’m overflowing with youth, but wait a little longer and I’ll be a huge help to you. Plus, I’m Etar. Enslave me, and the whole clan will see you differently?”
Azadin was floored by Medium’s words.
“You’re seriously suggesting I enslave you? You want to be a slave?”
“N-Not exactly, but your actions baffle me, so yes. Better to lose in a way I understand than gain from something I don’t!”
“That’s a truly idiotic thought. What if I revoke my offer to free you?”
Azadin tilted his head, perplexed by Medium’s stubbornness.
“So, if I explain why I’m freeing you, you’ll accept it?”
“Yes!”
“That’s exactly what I mean by no common sense. Must be the Etar bloodline.”
Azadin let out a wry laugh at her audacity.
“Think about it yourself.”
With that, Azadin started down the road.
“…….”
“W-What do we do?”
Medium turned to Ismael in a fluster.
“What do you mean? He said that much—time to head back.”
“B-But…”
Panicking, Medium chased after Azadin.