Night of the Soulless Heathens – 438



#439. Manifestation of Darkness 2

Those riding on undead horses were white elves the confidants of Lord Sok.

They hadn’t found Azadin and his men lying in ambush but they were searching around to see if there was anything nearby.

“There is an artificial spirit floating in the sky so there must be a magician nearby. Be careful.”

The white elves warned their men.

It is incredibly bizarre to see the undead hunting dogs that follow them on horseback understand their words and howl in response.

It is clear that he came looking for Arael the artificial spirit of Azadin after recognizing her voice.

“What do you want to do?”

Ismail asked Azadin’s intentions. It was as if he was asking Azadin whether he could trust Lord Sok’s army.

“Sir Sok is an undead and twisted man but he has a purpose for the Knights Templar. It is unlikely that he has joined hands with the Wisdom Order. Since we will have to wander around here without any information anyway I will contact them for now.”

Azadin told his men so and then rose from his ambush himself and revealed himself.

“Wait a minute! Stop!”

As soon as Azadin rose the undead hounds immediately showed their malice and pounced on Azadin.

However Azadin was quickly overturned by an undead hound that charged at him while holding Grimslow’s club.

The body of the undead hunting dog that had rushed forward spun around in the air and fell blocking the path of other undead hunting dogs.

“Ugh!? King Azadin? Why are you here?”

“Everyone stop!”

The undead riders restrained the hounds.

“Isn’t it a little late to dry it?”

Indim and the other messengers appeared aiming their arrows at the undead.

This time the white elves were nervous.

Azadin signaled to Indim to lower his bow and said:

“I came here after hearing that Fireglyph had fallen. Can you tell me the situation?”

“So the King himself came? Hmm.”

Among the white elves it was Dahlia who took off her helmet and revealed her face.

She was the sister of the wild druid Cedrin who had joined Azadin’s service and was usually a beautiful woman with a captivating smile as a confidant of Lord Sok.

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But now he looks exhausted and confused as if he has been struggling on the battlefield for quite some time.

It was thought that undead people could not die and did not feel fatigue but in reality there was a clear look of fatigue on her face.

It’s clear that you’ve had a hard time.

“Can you explain the circumstances surrounding the fall of Fireglyph?”

“Of course I must King Azadin. Our master has commanded us to respect you.”

I am not loyal to Azadin but I will respect you because my master told me to.

It was a statement that drew a line. Azadin shrugged his shoulders.

“We don’t have much time so let’s get to the point quickly. Did the Fimbul Horde allow the Cult of Wisdom to capture Fireglyph?”

“No. We tried to help as much as we could. But those who invaded just now are Nether’s people.”

She called the Order of Wisdom the Nether’s Brigade.

“You’re saying that even with the help of the Fimbul Horde they still suffered?”

The Fimbul Horde was considered a death army that swept through the darkness and cold here and as far south as Chitai Assander.

But is that Fimbul Horde being pushed back by the Order of the Knights Templar?

“Understood. Let’s move for now. The artificial spirits you use will be able to track the enemies as well.”

“i get it.”

Azadin signaled to his men to follow them.

*********

Sir Sok’s men guided Azadin to their defensive outpost.

It was a small guard post overlooking the road built when Azadin took control of the Chadra Plateau to protect the people from attacks by goblins Bree and other bandits.

The undead have placed stakes here and are dragging corpses from around and placing them on the ground.

The floor was surrounded by ropes with talismans hanging from them and preparations were in full swing to stack corpses inside and cast a spell to turn them into undead.

The sight of the corpses piled up like a mountain resembled the Namdongbawi Fortress that the Wisdom Sect had conquered.

But surprisingly those who were piling up the corpses were living survivors.

“Huh? Your Majesty!?”

The survivors were all inhabitants of the Chadra Plateau and all recognized Azadin.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Oh yes. First of all that little little….”

People were so afraid of Sir Sok that they could not pronounce his name properly.

Azadin looked around and asked people.

“Is Lord Sok helping you in his work in exchange for giving you refuge?”

“Yes that’s right.”

“But it’s a bit… to treat the corpses of my family as undead.”

“Your Majesty! Please stop it.”

People petitioned Azadin to prevent their families from becoming undead.

The expressions of the Whites Lord Sok’s subordinates changed abruptly at this sudden request.

Normally they maintain their beautiful appearance as they did when they were alive but when they become angry their skin becomes parched and their sharp teeth and protruding jaws become visible as well as their eyes that sparkle.

They have an instinct to prey on humans.

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Those undead were the ones who under the orders of Lord Sok had gathered the civilians instead of killing them and they had reported to Azadin that Lord Sok and the Fimbul Horde were defiling the corpses of their families.

‘Oh this is a bit tricky for me too.’

Azadin inspected the undead ritual that Lord Sok’s men were creating.

Azadin himself uses necromancy but he does so only because he thinks it is better to make a human corpse do something than to make a human do something that should not be done by a human.

It only creates simple low-level undead that do not seriously harm human souls….

What was being created here was a type of sorcery that would trample on the human soul bind it to a region and cause it to rise again and again even if its body was destroyed.

Even by Azadin’s principles this is unacceptable but saying something unpleasant here makes me seem a bit tactless.

Still principles are principles.

Even if there is a risk that his relationship with Professor Sok will go awry Azadin must stick to his principles here.

“Wait a minute. This is a spell that binds the souls of humans to the earth.”

“Oh yes you are indeed a great wizard. You recognized me right away.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Otherwise we’ll just be mass-producing cheap zombies. No matter how many cheap zombies there are they’re useless. They need to have their consciousness and souls intact to be able to follow strategic and tactical maneuvers.”

“But that is what keeps people from being free even from death.”

“Only when the soul and flesh are complete can one say that this is the individuality of that human being that human being itself. There are some who overestimate the soul but surely King Azadin the renowned magician would not be unaware of that?”

“The soul can accept pain. I do not wish to increase unnecessary suffering in this world so stop this practice.”

“ha….”

The white elves the men of Lord Sok were annoyed.

“I think you’ve misunderstood something. We are not your vassals.”

“You are the ones who misunderstand. Those you are trying to turn into undead are my people. Is it really Lord Sok’s permission for you to invade my people? Can we assume that this is Lord Sok’s will?”

“…….”

The white elves heard Azadin’s words and glared at him with hideous undead faces.

Then soon he put away that horrible face and returned to his elf form and smiled.

“Okay I understand. I will cancel the ritual.”

They stopped the ceremony as if they had no choice.

“But if it goes on like this there will be no reinforcements.”

“It doesn’t matter. I came to assassinate Lord Triodana.”

“Is this your Majesty’s own speech?”

“Okay. So where do you think Triodana is? Do you know?”

“We are also good at that…”

“Then explain what happened during that time.”

Azadin demanded that the white elves explain what had happened.

*********

When the Fire Glyph was attacked Prince Kalintz closed the gates tightly and prepared his cannons.

The Chadra Plateau where the Fire Glyph is located is a place where it is easy to make gunpowder because it can procure its own sulfur and mercury so there is no shortage of ammunition.

As Azadin’s army occupied Banreung they had also amply supplied dwarven firearms so they were confident that they could easily last a year by just firing their firearms against the sturdy walls of Fireglyph.

Even if they are Triodana and the Wisdom Order they will not be able to easily take down the impregnable Fireglyph.

Prince Calintz planned to wait for reinforcements while maintaining a moderate defense until then.

But the moment they saw the army that arrived before them their expectations were dashed.

Living angels with their eyes gouged out and their sunken faces sewn shut with wire were dragged out as undead hanging from poles screaming in agony.

It was a terrible siege weapon. When the angel on the pole was raised to the height of the people the screams of the angel spread an agony that seemed to shatter the souls of mortals.

As the howling angels of corruption sang the humans became so terrified that many jumped off the walls and committed suicide.

Prince Kalintz immediately ordered the cannons to return fire but the gunners refused to fire.

Some shooters chose to commit suicide by placing the hand cannon against their chin and pulling the trigger.

And the fallen Celestials who were now able to fly freely through the sky flew over the walls and cut off the Fireglyphs and the path behind them.

This was a measure to prevent other forces on the Chadra Plateau from providing relief or supplies to Fireglyph.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

While they were attacking Fireglyph they began sending their remaining troops those who could fly over Fireglyph towards the Southeast Rock Fortress.

The goal was to capture the Namdongbawi Fortress and cut off the backbone of Azadin’s army’s supply network.

In such a situation Prince Kalintz encouraged his men by firing his own cannon.

Also his personal guard the Northern Aragasa troopers played a big role.

Like their older brethren the Heralds they carried out their duties without fear of the curses or taboos that the Hybris people feared.

Shooting arrows at the howling angel of corruption which is so terrifying that even hearing it makes people want to commit suicide…

He bravely fought against the fallen Celestials who had blocked his rear and somehow managed to open a path in the fight.

The actions of Prince Kalintz and his Northern Aragasa troops were truly heroic.

And finally reinforcements arrived.

Reinforcements from the Fimbul Horde and the Sisters of Mercy from the Chadra Convent had arrived behind Fireglyph’s lines.

And… Lord Triodana also started to move.