Night of the Soulless Heathens – 452



#453. Weight 4 or more

“First let’s treat the family of Count Gienta. It’s a big deal that their predecessor Count Ivechek was killed so shouldn’t the family line be cut off?”

“Your Majesty that is…..”

“Count Gienta passed away last night unable to endure the pain.”

“Oh that’s right.”

Azadin could see why the residents were angry.

The massacre at Naisandhokar and the assassination of Count Sandhokar’s family.

When the Count Ivechek family who had a good reputation among the people of Sandokar were almost annihilated all the people were united in anger towards the invaders.

*********

Azadin chaired the staff meeting.

The Celestial Fire Knights the New Testament Knights led by Xibek and the counterintelligence unit of the wild druid Cedrin and the half-vampire Niselda attended the meeting.

“Your Majesty thank you. Some of the souls of my clan if not all have been set free.”

Wild Druid Cedrin expressed his gratitude upon seeing Azadin.

Perhaps during the process of recapturing the Fireglyph some of Lord Sok’s subordinates the wights were killed and it seemed that this was passed on to Cedrin.

“No you don’t need to be thankful. It’s not that I intended to do it it’s just the result.”

“Even so it was something I could never have imagined in the past. If it weren’t for you our bloodline would not have walked the glorious path of liberation after fighting to save our people even as ghosts. If Your Majesty had not come to this land and brought a new wind the Fimbul Horde would still be the Fimbul Horde and I would never have been able to find a way to free the soul of my clan. Before Your Majesty came to the Chadra Plateau I think I was just half-abandoned. But since Your Majesty came at least I have a sense of purpose.”

Cedrin was grateful for the destruction of the wights in the recapture of Fireglyph.

Judging by the fact that he was released in an honorable manner even after death it seems that he still considers his blood relatives to be blood relatives even though he has been turned into a white.

“Our achievements are shameful compared to Your Majesty’s. We are tied down by the assassins and cannot do anything. I feel ashamed because without Your Majesty we cannot achieve proper results.”

Niselda reported to Azadin.

“We are pursuing the assassin but our skills are far superior to those of our enemies. So I have been arbitrarily valuing the lives of my agents but the results have not been good.”

Half-vampire Niselda is investigating an assassin alongside agents of the Church of Mercy when a Church of Mercy agent who was tracking the assassins on the outskirts is found corpse after suffering a horrific ordeal.

Niselda saw the situation and ordered that groups of at least three be formed to minimize damage.

Since we moved in groups of three our bodies naturally became heavier and it became difficult to catch the enemy’s tail.

The Mercy Church agents were proud of being able to fly and crawl but the Northern Aragasa’s abilities far surpassed theirs.

“So what happened to Count Gienta and his family?”

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“That is…..”

That’s when Jibek stepped in.

Zibek who leads the Knights Templar and effectively performs the duties of the Inquisitor reported looking as haggard as the sick Azadin.

“The Count of Gienta would regularly call a priest to the family tomb to hold a family mass. The assassins would set up spring traps on the path leading to the family tomb and ambush the Count and his family. The spring traps contained bottles of acidic solution and when they hit the Count the entire Count’s clothes and skin melted and fused together. The Count’s enraged guards rushed at them but the assassins easily killed them and mocked the corpses before leaving. It is said that they used the martial arts and techniques of the Herald Clan.”

“The story that it was because of Kazas?”

“We saw it.”

The agents of the Charity Sect raised their hands. Niselda Jibek and others examined the technology used by the enemy and found that it was a technology belonging to the Messenger Clan and also to the Kazas Sect.

This is what Jebeck who has been watching Azadin closely said so it must be accurate.

“They killed the bodyguards but they didn’t kill the count’s family.”

“Yes. They left the Count’s family to suffer as much as possible. The Count’s family who had been suffering from the mountain burning their skin gradually developed an infection through their wounds and they passed away just yesterday.”

“What about the other family members?”

“When the Count passed away everyone fell into despair and committed suicide by drinking poison.”

“….”

When the acid burned my skin and the wound became infected I felt the pain of being stabbed with a dagger all over my body and the pain of the affected area burning away.

The only pillar of support was the Count but as soon as he died other family members also committed suicide to ease their suffering.

“Because of this horrible murder method all the people of Sandhokar are now calling for war. There are also those who lost their families in Naisandhokar and those who were lucky enough to survive the massacre.”

War only creates more victims.

In normal times the people would have been patient and tolerant but now the situation was different.

“The people’s anger is reaching the sky Your Majesty. Now that Your Majesty has arrived everyone is excited about the prospect of subduing Chitai.”

“Hmm. Didn’t you give the Chitai cavalry a hard time once? And they’re still acting up?”

Azadin sent Celestial Fire to Sandokar to lure the Cheetah light cavalry into engaging him.

The Chitai light cavalry would use their light mobility to attack and retreat attacking merchants and supply lines traveling between towns and cities around the castle. So the Celestial Fire Knights lured the supply line with bait and launched a single attack on the Chitai light cavalry.

Light cavalry without armor have the advantage in mobility but once they come into sight and engage in a head-on battle light cavalry are no match for heavy cavalry.

Moreover Azadin’s Celestial Fire Knights were arguably the most powerful heavy cavalry force on this continent.

“Yes. The hanging people you saw when you came are the ones I scolded this time…”

Celestial Fire tore through the Chitai light cavalry without much damage and took a large number of prisoners.

But then the count’s family was attacked by Northern Qi assassins and the enraged villagers and soldiers massacred all the prisoners.

“Then the assassin will remain around. I’m sure of it.”

“Yes that is very likely.”

“I’m embarrassed.”

Zibek and Niselda bowed their heads to Azadin.

Originally they were supposed to uncover the hidden assassin but because the agents were afraid of being killed they couldn’t properly investigate and just wasted time without achieving any results until Azadin arrived.

“Then there’s nothing we can do. Arm your soldiers and set up a forward base towards Naisandhokar. I’ll go there.”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems the assassins were waiting for me to come and I was going to be the bait in their trap.”

“….”

Azadin’s vassals felt ashamed that the king himself was offering to be the bait because of their incompetence.

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“Don’t be so shy. You should use whatever is most useful as bait.”

Azadin however was speaking nonchalantly.

*********

The news that Azadin had come to Sandokar and was personally preparing an army to subdue the Chitai soon spread throughout Sandokar.

The northern Aragats naturally heard the news and understood Azadin’s intentions.

“Oh my goodness. You’re a king and yet you personally march out to drag us out.”

“Is that really leading by example?”

“It’s really Aragasa.”

The northern Aragats were amazed by Azadin’s generosity.

But on the other hand….

“How long have you been ignoring us?”

“Those messenger clan guys always ignore us.”

The Emperor’s herald clan tended to secretly look down on the northern Aragasa and see them as inferior to themselves.

Northern Aragatha knew this fact well so she planned to use this opportunity to subdue the herald clan Azadin and sound the alarm for the emperor’s heralds.

“How are the troops deployed?”

“It’s not good. I’m getting hit every time I use reconnaissance magic.”

“Is that the work of a druid elf?”

Wild Druid Cedrin’s power is so strong that when she uses her magic in earnest you cannot look down from the sky with a scouting spell.

So the northern Aragasas had no choice but to scout out on foot.

Fortunately it was a small army so gathering reconnaissance information was not that difficult.

“King Azadin is guarding the supply corps with his men in the middle of the road. Judging by their formation they seem to be blocking the road. And on the left wing the Celestial Fire Knights are…”

“Oh I guess you’re going to put the lid on.”

Azadin’s Ban Lung Kingdom army blocked the route of retreat to deal with the Chitai light cavalry that had invaded the Sandokar region and created a forward base by deploying supplies there.

It was clear that the intention was to block the retreat of the Chitai light cavalry by covering them with a lid as they returned.

“We will assassinate the king. Chitai light cavalry dismount from your horses and take a detour through the forest path.”

The centurion the commander of the Northern Aragasa gave orders to the commander of the Chitai light cavalry.

Then the cavalry captain snorted.

‘Are these assassins crazy? Why are they giving us orders?’

The Northern Aragasa are the Northern Qi’s personal guard and these Chitai light cavalry are vassals of the Chitai Kingdom.

Given that situation it was only natural that there would be opposition.

“The king himself came out? Why should we give you this great opportunity to achieve such great feats?”

“Wake up. If it weren’t for us you would have been torn apart by the Celestial Fire…”

“what?!”

“He was actually hanging on the side of the road dying. We managed to save face by successfully assassinating him.”

“…….”

The Chitai Light Cavalry suddenly appeared and were dissatisfied with the Northern Aragatha for assassinating Count Sandokar Gienta. They felt that the credit had been stolen.

Moreover they secretly ignore them.

Just as the Emperor’s herald clan secretly regarded the Northern Aragasa who were of the same Aragasa ethnicity as inferior beings the Aragasa who were of nomadic origin also looked down on the Chitai light cavalry who were also of the same nomadic ethnicity.

The Chitai light cavalry also used a bow similar to the Moon Bow of the Herald Clan and their mounted archery was also quite excellent but to the Aragas who knew how to use the two-line bow even as a child it seemed extremely trivial and lowly.

So they secretly no openly laughed at mocked and looked down on them. In this situation when the messenger clan ordered the Chitai light cavalry to dismount and move secretly into the forest everyone felt antipathy.