Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Arael Tribe 8
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A whistle sounded from afar. The guards in Count Lantarik’s camp began blowing their whistles, and commotion started to stir within the encampment.
Someone had launched an attack on the count’s position.
“Ugh?! What the hell? Don’t tell me that’s your doing?”
Yaravin asked Azadin in shock upon seeing the scene.
“Stay calm! Whether it’s this bastard’s work or not, we deal with him now!”
Nefti kept her cool and pointed her sword at Azadin.
“You sure about that?”
Azadin drew his blade. But Nefti knew better—she had smelled the blood on him when they first locked eyes, and she’d seen the way his lips twisted in suppressed pain.
This guy was injured, and the trembling nonchalance he was putting on was just a bluff! Even if he weren’t wounded, she had no reason to lose!
“I’d rather not kill Lord Arael’s brother, but you leave me no choice.”
Nefti lunged with a lightning-fast thrust straight for Azadin’s throat. He recoiled, trying to parry the blade away.
A move born of confidence in his superior strength over a woman like her. But in that instant, Nefti switched to a wrist strike.
She baited the parry, then went for the wrist!
Azadin was forced to take another step back, and in that moment, Nefti hurled a dagger from her left hand.
-Clang!
The daggers clashed in midair. Azadin had thrown one as he retreated too. As expected from fellow Heralds—their moves were eerily similar—but Nefti’s hunch was confirmed.
‘For a guy, his strength’s pretty feeble. Must be a serious injury.’
Judging by how their daggers had glanced off each other, Azadin’s power was lackluster. Nefti circled to his flank, unleashing a flurry of thrusts.
-Snap!
Azadin had anticipated a fight and donned chainmail, but the blade grazed it, snapping links that flew up onto the ramparts.
“Azadin!”
Midiam tried to help, but Yaravin blocked her path. As Zibek drew his sword, Yaravin swung his war sickle—a massive, forward-curving hook blade—aiming for his neck.
-Clack!
Zibek’s sword tangled with Yaravin’s sickle.
“Not bad for a holy knight!”
Yaravin unleashed a barrage of explosive attacks, pushing Zibek back.
“W-What do we do?”
Midiam nocked an arrow but couldn’t loose it. The exchange between Azadin and Nefti was too fast and furious—even a master marksman wouldn’t dare shoot for fear of hitting the wrong target. And then…
‘Huh?’
Azadin slipped in behind Yaravin.
“Ah!”
Nefti thrust at Azadin’s back, but he was faster. And now another dagger came flying back at her. Azadin had turned his back to her and flung it over his shoulder.
Nefti deflected it casually with her sword…
“Guh?!”
A thunderous impact sent her staggering back. A crack formed in her blade, and her hand shook. This blow was leagues heavier than the last.
If she hadn’t whipped her head aside, Azadin’s dagger would have ricocheted off her sword and buried itself in her skull.
‘What the—how’s an injured guy packing that kind of power?’
Even more astonishing was what came next.
“Lightweight, huh?”
Azadin casually hoisted Yaravin and chucked him off the ramparts.
“…?!”
Yaravin wasn’t as massive as Kahsan, but he was still a hulking man. Heralds trained relentlessly and boasted immense strength, sure—but tossing Yaravin like a skipping stone?
“…?!”
Zibek, Midiam, and Ismail were just as stunned.
They knew Azadin had been injured for sure, yet here he was, moving without a care.
“All right, that should put them in a bind. Ismail!”
“Yes.”
“Take out the Foresight Bird circling overhead.”
“Understood.”
Ismail had been swayed by the Arael Tribe’s leader. Born into a servant family of the Etar bloodline, he couldn’t help but be drawn to Arael’s vision of a new order. Servant families devoted themselves generation after generation to the houses they served.
Even if they had the talent to become Heralds, if a child from the family they served was in the same cohort, they had to funnel all the evaluation points to them. Even if they rationally admired their master, they could never dream of pursuing those feelings.
A Herald who achieved massive success might be adopted or married into a low-ranking noble house, but that was rare luck. Most servants ended their days as servants.
In other words, Ismail’s future looked bleak if he kept blindly serving Midiam like this.
He’d become a squire, but with Arael’s rebellion shaking the entire Aragas Clan to its core, he’d been secretly weighing Nefti’s group against Azadin. And Azadin had come out on top.
‘I figured I’d watch and join the winner, but I didn’t expect this guy to pull it off. Impressive, though. How’s he dominating like this with those injuries?’
Ismail eyed Azadin suspiciously as he loosed a magically enchanted arrow at the Foresight Bird overhead.
“All right then, Nefti.”
As Zibek and Azadin closed in, Nefti realized she had no chance. She’d underestimated Azadin from the start. Worse, his movements were fluid now. No trace of any injury lingering.
He’d played the wounded part at first, but now he’d dropped the act and shown his true colors.
“Tch! Fooled me good! This isn’t over!”
Nefti hurled herself off the fortress wall, scraping her sword and sickle along the stone to slow her descent before landing stylishly on the ground below. Zibek’s eyes widened at the sight.
“Truly astonishing. How do you jump from this height?”
A fall that would splatter a normal person, and she’d done it without a second thought. But then Azadin yanked Zibek’s cloak.
-Whoosh!
An arrow streaked up from below toward Zibek, who had leaned out over the ramparts. Other Heralds waiting on the ground had fired it, predicting he’d poke his head out to confirm Nefti’s descent.
The Heralds who’d anticipated that and loosed the shot were impressive, but so was Azadin for reading their combat patterns and pulling Zibek back.
“Thank you. That gave me chills. But what about your injury? Are you all right?”
“That’s…”
Just then, a trapdoor in the wall below popped open, and a head poked out. It was Shati, the naga agent the nagas had infiltrated into Salasma.
“Hey, warm-blood! An undead army just showed up behind the count’s forces! Looks like they’re after the New King Codex. Shouldn’t we hightail it outta here?”
“Already? Faster than I expected.”
Azadin approached Shati.
“You okay, warm-blood? Did the Cobra Queen’s magic work all right?”
“Thanks to you.”
“Huh?”
Zibek, who’d been listening, was floored.
“You don’t mean you got magic from the Kurt Divine Clan?”
“Yes.”
“But how in the world…”
“It’s a long story, but basically, this naga girl had no choice but to help me, and the Kurt Divine Clan’s green mana accelerates the body’s life processes. It can shave a month off recovery time down to about a week.”
“So you’re not fully healed, then.”
“Right. Plus, it’s tailored for naga physiology, so it doesn’t mesh perfectly with me. But it was enough to fool Nefti.”
“Then what’s with the raid on the count’s army right now?”
“That’s from me unsealing the New King Codex.”
“What?”
“If you just carry the New King Codex around, those flies using tracking spells will come after you…”
Zibek knew that—Knight Zekt had used magic to track a copy of it once. But hadn’t Azadin evaded pursuit by using a Wraith Knight instead?
“I figured Count Lantarik wouldn’t listen, so I broke the seal.”
In other words, Azadin had deliberately unsealed the New King Codex to break out of being surrounded by Count Lantarik.
“What reckless…”
Getting chased by Knight Zekt was one thing, but pulling this stunt? Too bold! But the shocks weren’t over yet.
“All right, shall we?”
“Shall we what?”
Zibek gaped at Azadin, wondering what more he could possibly have in mind in this situation.
*********
“Damn it, I let my guard down thinking he was injured.”
Nefti grumbled, and Kahsan smiled.
“Doesn’t losing to one of our Aragas because you let your guard down just mean you’re praising the opponent?”
Kahsan had let his own guard down too, buying into Azadin’s usual notoriety, only to end up tossed aside. Seeing the others in the same boat made him feel better.
“Nothing to smile about. Let’s head back to the count’s forces. What the hell’s going on over there now?”
As Nefti started forward, a metallic grinding suddenly echoed from behind them.
-Creak, creak…
The fortress gates swung open, and out rode horses, kerim mountain goats, and Azadin’s group.
“What’s this? What the hell are you playing at, Azadin!”
“What else?”
Azadin answered Nefti’s bewildered shout.
“I’m going to rescue the civilians the count’s holding and make a break for it.”
“What?!”
Nefti grabbed her bow. But people were pouring out of the fortress—Azadin, Zibek, and Azadin’s squires too—making for a formidable force. And Azadin didn’t seem the least bit hostile.
“So, how about a truce for now? Not much in exchange, but I’ll give you a page from the New King Codex copy.”
“…?!”
“You have a copy of the New King Codex?”
“Yeah.”
Azadin pulled out the New King Codex. The page, made of ordinary paper, emitted a faint magical glow and pulsed with unfathomable power.
“This is…”
“The real deal!”
Nefti and Kahsan groaned in awe.
“So, what’ll it be? Truce? Or fight?”
“…”
From Nefti’s perspective, there was no guarantee of victory against Azadin’s group here.
‘And he’s Arael’s brother.’
Killing Azadin would saddle her with the guilt of slaying Arael’s kin, and with no sure win—plus this opponent offering peace with a New King Codex page as a gift—refusing would be the strange choice.
“Fine. Truce accepted. But if the count has something to say, all bets are off.”
“Fair enough. Here.”
Azadin handed over the New King Codex page gladly. Midiam and Ismail, watching, clicked their tongues.
‘Handing over a New King Codex page…’
‘What the hell? That’s straight-up treason—dealing with rebels. If the family elders or chieftains find out…’
Ismail had been tempted by the Arael Tribe, but he knew full well how reckless and irresponsible Azadin’s actions were. If this came out later, he’d have no defense against treason charges.
Hadn’t Azadin already been stripped of his Herald rank on suspicion of colluding with Arael? And now this?
‘Even if it’s a trap, isn’t this too much? Guy’s got balls.’
Ismail thought he’d gotten used to Azadin after spending time with him, but the man always had a way of surprising him.