Night of the Soulless Heathens – 464



#465. The Evil God’s Messenger 6

While Sebalhan’s army attacked Azadin’s army rescued Baekho-gwan’s troops and residents and retreated to the supply base they had set up in the rear.

During that time the Chitai nomads who had been the punishment unit of the Azadin army had protected the rear by sacrificing their lives and they all volunteered to become sacrificial lambs.

“It’s really strange.”

The centurion of the nomadic tribe grumbled as he looked at the approaching monsters with a pipe in his mouth.

“I don’t know how we came to be prepared to die here.”

“That’s true. You never know what fate has in store for you.”

The nomad leaders took turns lighting the matchlocks used in their matchlock guns and lighting cigarettes.

“We killed men and raped women that was all. We believed without a doubt that it was our right to kill those who lived better ate better and wore better clothes than us living in a better land than us. So why did we voluntarily sacrifice our lives here without anyone ordering us to do so?”

“Perhaps the King’s blessing and magic are bewitching us?”

“No way.”

“Kekekeke.”

The nomads laughed loudly as they shot their arrows.

Their arrows were blessed by the king and would burst into golden flames the moment they struck their enemies burning their flesh.

It was an unbelievable power for an arrow but the number of enemies did not decrease at all.

It’s like shooting a cannon into a wave and making a hole in it. Obviously even if you break one wave the water will continue to surge forward.

However these nomads were watching the monsters rushing in laughing out loud.

“At first I thought he was crazy.”

“This man is going to cause trouble. How dare he insult Your Majesty.”

“You know that I’m talking about the king just by saying that so I guess you’re a person who’s going to cause trouble.”

“But really? Our king.”

Before we knew it they were calling Azadin our king.

Although the renowned scholar Garasan had wavered from the time he began serving Azadin it was when Azadin went up to protect the soldiers of Baekho-gwan that they completely fell for him.

The moment the soldiers saw the enemy’s life being spared and they went up one of their questions was answered.

They didn’t understand Azadin’s actions all this time.

Why on earth does this guy do this?

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Why is this guy acting like this?

I couldn’t understand the reason for Azadin’s actions at all.

Of course Azadin writes down his principles of conduct in the New Testament and speaks through his clergy.

But the words were so eloquent that I couldn’t believe it at all.

It was a time when ideals were ridiculed and virtues could only be found in pamphlets.

But is it really the southern loser who built a nation that is willing to shed blood to protect the virtues he speaks of?

At that moment the soldiers understood all of Azadin’s actions up to that point.

Interest is real.

What he does is the true way of kings and it was they who had been looking at him with colored glasses until now.

Azadin realized that he had been treating them truthfully at least up until now.

Only then did the nomads feel the weight of their sins.

How much trash must these people have looked like slaughtering and pillaging innocent civilians while they were trying to protect even the soldiers who were their enemies?

However Azadin did not particularly target nomads as a penal corps.

He never wasted their lives while rationally deploying his troops along appropriate lines.

So they volunteered to remain here.

“Strangely enough I feel more willing to give it a try than afraid.”

“If we die here our king will take good care of our brothers and families who remain. Not only will he forgive us for our sins but we will become legendary heroes.”

“Haha. I don’t know much about that. Let’s try.”

The nomad commanders drew their curved swords and fought against the rushing monsters belching blue smoke.

*********

Baekho Hall was on fire.

Even though the sun had set and darkness had fallen Baekho Hall was lit up like a giant lighthouse hinting at the fierce battle taking place inside.

The distant thunder of gunpowder explosions occasionally sounded like the screams of a dying horse.

“Hmm.”

Azadin looked at the White Tiger Pavilion burning the horizon in the distance.

It was the first defeat and the first retreat of the Azadin army which had been winning by leaps and bounds since entering Chitai.

Azadin has broken the king’s blessing. No one can use his powers in the White Tiger Hall anymore.

The entire Baekho-gwan suicide squad was defeated without a single one being left behind.

And the moment that power was cut off Azadin also lost his balance and fell from the hippogriff’s saddle.

“your majesty!”

Niselda turned into mist and ran towards Azadin as if flying supporting him.

“Thank you.”

“No Your Majesty. There is just something I don’t understand. May I ask you?”

“What?”

“I hated nomads. Smelly dirty sheep- and goat-fucking bastards.”

A violent remark came out of Niselda’s mouth who was taking on the appearance of a nun.

“Because they killed and pillaged the people. Among the people of Naisandokhar there were many Chadra Highlanders who were under my command. Their terrible atrocities could not possibly be attributed to fellow humans. They were the kind of atrocities committed by the goblins the Apostles of Mezeri or the Apostles of the Tooth.”

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A significant number of the residents who stayed near the convent of Niselda were massacred by nomads while participating in the development of Naisandhokar.

The attacks by the nomads were truly horrific including a child who was thrown into a fireplace and burned to death a woman who was raped in front of her family and driven insane.

As a soldier he understood why Azadin had not killed them all but had them serve as his men on the front lines but deep down he still hated them and was angry at them.

But at this moment Niselda could not understand why they stayed behind and fought for everyone else.

“I still hate them but for some reason I also feel grateful to them.”

“That’s a given.”

“Is that normal?”

“Yes. People cannot be defined in one word. What they sacrificed today and what they brutally murdered the people all stem from the same root.”

“What is that?”

“warrior.”

“Are you talking about the warrior spirit?”

“Soldiers simply obey orders from their superiors. However unlike soldiers warriors are organized according to an organizational logic that makes it difficult to discuss good and evil which requires them to be cruel to the enemy and loyal to their allies. That’s why they sometimes commit unnecessary atrocities but sometimes they are inspired by them and make noble sacrifices.”

Azadin shook his head perhaps thinking that his words had been harsh.

“It sounds so cruel when you say it like that. For now I just want to honor their sacrifice without thinking about it. Isn’t humanity truly amazing? If it shines even for a moment it becomes eternal in our hearts.”

“If you shine even for a moment it becomes eternal in your heart?”

“Yes Niselda. Today you have seen their light and in your heart they will no longer be mere plunderers but complex human beings. It will be an experience that will forever change your perspective. In other words they will now live forever in your heart as complex human beings not just villains.”

“your majesty.”

“That’s how I am now. I live this moment and the future by making that momentary light that warmth the starlight of my heart. Isn’t that amazing? That a small meaningless kindness or goodwill can become a milestone for someone’s life?”

“….”

“Of course the evil deeds of the wicked will leave lifelong scars on someone. Good and evil sometimes leave an irreversible and eternal imprint. The motive may be trivial but the consequences are far greater.”

Azadin is by no means a savage.

The darkness of the world is so frighteningly familiar.

But still do not despair and keep your faith.

Do not despair of humanity and do not become lazy using faith as an excuse but cleverly pursue your beliefs.

That was Azadin’s belief.

“By the way Your Majesty how are you?”

Jibek asked about Azadin’s condition. If he fell off his horse it was definitely not normal.

Even the King’s Blessing that was unleashed today would be enough to kill a normal wizard if he were to maintain such a wide-area spell for that long.

The King’s blessing was so great that even hundreds of magicians could not handle it.

“I want to say it’s good. But honestly I don’t like it.”

“You are lucky just to be alive. The King’s blessing you showed today was truly incredible magic.”

“But this is a big problem. Something unexpected has happened and we might have to retreat further.”

Azadin admitted that he was currently unable to fight Sebalhan’s army.

Although Azadin’s forces had reduced their numbers greatly the Sebalhan army showed no signs of fatigue.

“Then I’m going to die without being able to move?”

“No. Those Nether-types are usually unstable so they will show explosive vitality and transform into monsters larger than their original weight right away but if you delay any longer they will not be able to handle their own size and will collapse on their own. The problem is that you have to buy time until then. The enemy who corrupted Sebalhan will also know this.”

“The enemy who corrupted Sebalhan…”

“That’s what the North Korean Cohen said.”

“I guess so? But I can’t say for sure.”

Azadin kept in mind that the being that corrupted Sebalhan might not be the Northern Emperor.

*********

Azadin’s forces were defeated.

King Sebalhan personally raised an army and won a fierce battle against the Azadin army which was rapidly conquering Chitai by burning down the entire White Tiger Pavilion.

The news quickly spread throughout the world through the king’s church.

Many followers of the King’s Church also accused the false king the soulless impious Azadin of stripping off the gilding when the true king Sebalhan came forward.

In addition during this time riots among the cultists broke out throughout Azadin’s territory.

The cultists attacked the Azadin Army’s food warehouse and succeeded in destroying part of it.

This was a fatal blow to the Azadin Army which had been operating by confiscating the vast food production of the Chadra Plateau and the assets of the drug cartel the Dwarven Arrow.

Many were delighted to hear the news that Azadin’s forces were being defeated in Chitai and that the assets that had been their base had been attacked by the cultists….

Even in the midst of all this sinister news continued to spread by word of mouth.

‘The scholars of Chitai say that Garasan supports Azadin as king.’

‘Since the day of the solar eclipse darkness seems alive and breathing. Do not enter the basement of a house without turning on the light.’

‘An entire city was wiped out in Karasar.’

‘The darkness is so fierce and powerful and the only one who fights against it is King Azadin.’

The power of winter and the Nether that threatened them now was growing stronger making it difficult to rejoice in Azadin’s defeat and decline.

And something terrible was happening in the Southern Rescue Knights.