Night of the Soulless Heathens – 197



#197. Golden King 3

The Emperor was a true Yaegasu god who was born after a long time. However he was an iron-blooded ruler who possessed great power and sought to realize ideals bordering on madness.

The emperor began to kill and purge royal family members who were not worthy of the throne and employed the herald clan to do so.

However when his purges became too much the herald clan unable to bear it any longer assassinated the emperor.

*********

“…That was just a superficial excuse and there are rumors that the real reason was that the illegitimate child they had with the Emperor was a member of the Yaegasu Shinto tribe. There is an opinion that their plot was to assassinate the Emperor and make his child the Emperor.”

Azadin was shocked by Manza-Zadek’s shocking words.

Is this the secret of the Yaegasu clan? And the secret of the emperor’s assassination?

“This is why the light of the King’s Flower is fading and why you have murdered the Emperor. And this is why I am here on the throne appealing to the pleasures of the flesh.”

Originally Manja-Zadek was a powerful magician and warrior just like his name the Golden King.

In order to increase the glory of Btuma he launched a war of conquest against the ogres in the north and achieved great victories by repelling the nagas and ogres never losing a single battle in 100 campaigns and under his reign Btuma’s wealth was further consolidated.

However as he explored magic he came across the records of his ancestors and learned the truth through the Shinwangjinseo sleeping within the quartz throne and the connection with the Yaegasu gods.

The gods have left this world and what is left here are their abandoned children the royal family and the natives who were trampled by the power of the Kurt gods and the Nether in the past.

“So I gave myself over to the pleasures of the flesh. People claim that I have abandoned glory and fallen into pleasure but this is my prayer.”

The beautiful and noble being in the portrait has become a hideous lump of flesh writhing on the throne.

“Our ancestors Yaegas gods here is the pleasure of the flesh. When you return and come again all of this will be yours so please save us!”

Is that a prayer or a wish?

Azadin had never met Manza-Zadek before but his heart ached.

A soul that had fallen into despair too great to bear that was the current Golden King Manja-Zadek.

“With all due respect Your Majesty. It seems to me that Your Majesty is suffering.”

“Haha. What are you talking about? Just look at this kind of pain.”

At Manja-Zadek’s beckoning Hee-Cheop brought out a pipe and placed it in his hand. As Manja-Zadek sucked on it and exhaled a sweet scent wafted into the air. It was opium.

“Pain will soon disappear and only pleasure will remain. Hehe. How is it?”

“….”

Are you saying that you are now offering opium as the answer to suffering?

But compassion took precedence over anger.

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Manja-Zadek the Golden King. King of Btuma the wealthiest of the Eight Kingdoms and a descendant of the Yaegas gods who are revered by all.

But the truth is that he was a desperate man who couldn’t live a single day without numbing his brain with pleasure.

It was then that he reached out to Azadin.

“Whatever you believe is vain. It is a lie. The only thing that is true is the pleasure of this moment. If you follow me I will give you all kinds of pleasure.”

“If I serve Your Majesty what is my mission? What do you want from me that makes you offer me such an honorable position?”

“It is to protect the wealth of Bthuma. By protecting the wealth and property here we can maintain the pleasures of the flesh and if we maintain those pleasures our ancestors will surely look down on us again one day.”

Are we just going to keep repeating the pleasures on the quartz throne hoping that the gods will return?

“How presumptuous of you to ask.”

Azadin said with regret.

“Even if you smoke opium and forget the pain in your body I still see Your Majesty in pain.”

“Tsk.”

Manza-Zadek clicked his tongue.

“Yes. I admit it. It hurts. I was proud of my bloodline as a descendant of the Yaegasu Gods. I fought against the ogres to protect my people and I never lost a single battle out of a hundred battles. I faithfully governed the country and achieved prosperity. But… the gods abandoned us. Because we were of no value to this world the gods abandoned us and abandoned us. So now all that’s left is….”

Manza-Zadek took another deep drag on the opium and groaned as he breathed out smoke like a dragon spitting fire.

“Only the pleasure that remains in this body is the truth.”

“Then this may be a stupid question but what is the Shinwangjinseo and its copy?”

Azadin took out a copy of the New King’s Book that he had collected so far and showed it to me.

“You’ve collected a lot. The Shinwangjinseo is a collection of rules that explain how the light of the King’s Flower works in this world. It is the most powerful book of magic and the very principle by which the light of the King’s Flower which has been passed down from the world of Yaegasu works in our world. If you understand it correct it and re-enter it into the throne the rules of the light of the King’s Flower will change.”

“Is that so? If so….”

“The fact that copies of the Book of the New Kings are appearing all over the world means that something happened to your herald clan and they leaked out. But I think differently. If the secretly active herald clan had taken the throne of Korasa your leader would have already finished interpreting the Book of the New Kings and created something new for himself. That’s why he endured it all this time and now he’s started to take the throne.”

“Do you think the interpretation of the New King’s Book has already been completed?”

“Yes. So you the heralds will take the throne and write a new divine book on it. By doing so you will be able to monopolize the light of the kingship. Then the people of Hybris will fear and serve you as the new royalty and nobility that they have ignored so far. Perhaps that is the goal.”

Manza-Zadek’s remarks were surprising. He had a very accurate grasp of the ambitions of the Herald Clan.

The light of the King’s Flower that the King’s Church believes in can be changed in the way it is distributed allowing the Herald Clan to rule the entire continent of Hybris?

“But now it’s meaningless. The light of the king’s flower and the power of the Divine King’s Book brought by this quartz throne are certainly powerful for one person to wield but after the Yaegasu gods abandoned this world they are just flickering embers in a pile of charcoal. Of course they can provide a little warmth but what good is it when darkness is coming soon?”

Then suddenly the bell on the Wangseong bell tower began to ring. And not only that. The other bell towers began to ring simultaneously and soon thunder flashed outside the window.

And a strong wind began to blow from the sea.

“your majesty!”

Armed warriors rushed into the audience room.

“A storm is coming from the sea.”

“The Nagas’ attack will begin.”

“Now it’s time to get started. So Azadin. You said you wanted to help defend this city right?”

“yes.”

“Here is my command.”

Manja-Zadek took off the ring he was wearing and threw it to Azadin. It was not a ring for a normal person but rather a bracelet that could fit three fingers at once and for a woman with thin arms it could be considered a bracelet.

“I appoint you as the King’s Knight of the Golden Herald. Do your best to defend Btuma.”

“Your kindness is greatly appreciated. I will gladly accept this mission.”

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Azadin rose from his seat accepting the title of Herald of the Golden Horde bestowed upon him by Manza-Zadek.

A storm was coming.

*********

“Captain! How was the audience?”

Scott was waiting for Azadin outside the audience room. Was it because of his longing for the Golden King? His eyes were shining with passion.

“It was a success. The king knighted me and gave me the title of Herald of the Golden Horde.”

“Really? You don’t look very happy?”

I don’t know how you can see Azadin’s expression when he’s wearing a mask but it was true.

Azadin was confused.

The fact that the Emperor had been murdered by the Aragasa and that the Aragasa had been preparing to usurp this world for a very long time tormented him.

‘Thinking back to my childhood even though we were of the same race as them other than Kazas and Aldis no one treated me warmly. But Aragasa is called a soulless blasphemer and is shunned by this continent. If I can’t even trust my own race how am I supposed to live?’

No matter how strong Azadin’s heart was Manza-Zadek’s words complicated his mind and heart. However there was no time to agonize alone.

“The Naga army is coming with a tidal wave. What are we going to do now? Is my position as the Golden Messenger useful? How are we going to defend?”

Shati asked Azadin. He asked because he was curious as to what use it would be to obtain a knighthood or some other empty official title.

“The defense of Manja-Zadek is excellent. To be honest it lives up to its name as the Golden King. It has created a base by demolishing houses one by one and its troops are also plentiful and even the Qing Dynasty will help defend the city. The problem is assassination.”

Assassinate key commanders or kings while regular forces attack.

That was the way of the Aragasa the messenger clan. Azadin had been trained as an Aragasa so he knew the ways of the Aragasa well.

The defense of the Golden King Manja-Zadek is better than you might think. This is because the tyrants who are addicted to pleasure and enjoyment and who loosen their rule are after pleasure.

But Manja-Zadek was a peculiar man whose only means was pleasure.

For him pleasure is a prayer to attract the attention of the gods. The more he indulges in pleasure the more he suffers.

The pleasure that ordinary people would desperately desire is seen by Manja-Zadek as a writhing in terrible pain and despair.

So he still has the insight and wisdom to live up to the name of the Golden King.

In that case what the Aragasas are aiming for is the assassination of the king.

Azadin decided to join the guard to strengthen the king’s security.

“So what are you going to do? I don’t know what the official position of Geumnyeongsaja is.”

“Let me check first.”

Azadin looked back at the servant who was watering the plants in the waiting room outside the audience room.

“Hey. I want to join the King’s security team. Who should I talk to?”

“Huh?”

The starter took a step back in surprise and fell flat on the ground.

“Meet the Golden Lion!”

“….”

It seemed that the official position given by Manja-Zadek was more valuable than I had imagined.

Sure enough a nervous voice was heard from behind Azadin.

“Hey rookie. You said you wanted to join the King’s guard mission right? I am Karchen the captain of the King’s guard.”

A middle-aged woman with brown skin walked over. She had a moon-bow wrapped around her thigh and by the looks of it she seemed to be a messenger clan recruited by Manja-Zadek.

“Carchen?”

“Yes. You are Azadin of Muan. You are famous for being dull.”

“you are….”

‘Who is it?’

That question lingered in Azadin’s throat.