Night of the Soulless Heathens – 467



#468. Northern Qi and the Overlord 3

“For me power and fame are just means. If the Northern Emperor behaves in a manner worthy of the title of King of Kings I will gladly hand over all the glory to him.”

Azadin spoke in a serious tone.

When those in power say things like they don’t like power but they have no choice but to do it because no one else can do it… it’s all just nonsense but Jibek knew full well that Azadin was sincere.

“Don’t say such things in front of anyone but me. If the king they serve says something like that everyone will run away thinking that my ship will sink. Or are you testing me now? How long will my patience last?”

“Ah of course that’s the ideal and I also know very well that it’s not realistic. Even if I were to put down my sword first there’s no way the Northern Qi would trust me and the actions of my followers would become erratic. And if I let go of power the New Testament would eventually lose momentum and disappear. Even if I wanted to give in to the Northern Qi I couldn’t.”

“Yes. That’s fortunate. Then why is it true and not a trick?”

“Well in any case if the Northern Emperor accepts it I am sincere in my willingness to give up power. It is not a deception.”

“That is such nonsense. Do you know that there are things that are worse than not saying them? The tongue is a sword that cuts the body so I think Your Majesty would do well to be careful with your words.”

Jibek clicked his tongue at Azadin’s nonsense but he felt relieved inside.

Azadin truly sees power as nothing more than a tool.

But that doesn’t mean I’m the type of person to give up everything and step down.

Azadin realizes that he must seize power in order to leave behind even a little spark of ideals for future generations.

“So let’s send an envoy to the Northern Qi and ask them to meet here at the border.”

“Shall I come and meet you?”

“It would be burdensome to come and meet you. But I can’t ignore you. When I received the letter requesting aid you must have been happy thinking that the granary was attacked by the Sebalhan counterattack and that this guy was going to die. But now that the Northern Qi has stationed a large army at the border you can’t ignore him now that you’ve confirmed that his troops have been gathered. Even if he doesn’t run out barefoot and meet you right away he will send an envoy and coordinate the meeting.”

“I see. Is that something you had in mind when you did it?”

Jibek was once again amazed at Azadin’s depth of thought.

“No that’s just how it turned out. Because I was managing such a large country and giving out so many orders things kept happening all at once and I had a hard time keeping my wits about me.”

“No one but me can say that…”

“It’s okay. Of course I don’t do this to others. I have to maintain the concept of a king with deep concerns that no one knows.”

“I see.”

Jibek knew that Azadin also had many grievances so he kept his mouth shut.

*********

The Telvarin Guild’s headquarters were externally located on the surface of Assander but their real headquarters were in Assander’s underground city.

In the past during the Naga Empire the elves were defeated by the Nagas and had to offer up their entire city to the Nagas.

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The Nagas sank the ancient elven city in the hot spring-filled Asander Basin and made it a resort enslaving the elves as if they were their livestock.

At first the Nagas treated the Elves as food but the Elves proved their worth to the Nagas.

They taught the Nagas the joys of culture and pleasure and in return for their service the Nagas made the Elves their stewards putting them in a position to manage other slaves.

Elves served as the Nagas’ stewards and took the lead in enslaving and even slaughtering other races.

Yet the elves survived when the Naga Empire fell.

However the problem now was that they had to serve a new master the Yaegasu Shinjok.

The Yaegas were clearly a strong and wise race but their strength was derived from the power of the divine spirits which could only be diluted on the material continent of Hybris.

So compared to their ancestors the god-kings the descendants the modern kings and nobles were extremely ordinary so the elves formed a secret society in anticipation of the day when they would become the masters of everything.

The surface-level activity of that secret society was the Telbarin Guild.

At the headquarters of the Telvarin Guild the Asander branch the elves were gathered to discuss the current situation.

“Well this is something unexpected. King Azadin is truly resourceful.”

“I was going to burn down the warehouse and give the nether skeleton to Sebalhan to kill him but I didn’t expect him to get away so easily.”

“I gave you a copy of the Nether’s Silent Scripture but you only managed to use it for such ignorant purposes. I am disappointed in Sebalhan. Even though it is a copy it cost three-digit numbers of slaves to make just one copy. Do you understand?”

The elven secret society sold the name of the Northern Emperor and gave the secret scriptures of the Nether to Sebalhan in order to stop Azadin and control the Northern Emperor as well.

However it did not have much effect due to the unexpected runaway of Sebalhan.

Azadin was able to prevent the fall of Chitai but he managed to withdraw his forces without major casualties.

Sebalhan was chasing after Azadin without making a life-or-death decision but was slowly spreading like mold slowly spreading on the walls of a house devouring all the surrounding mountains rivers and plants.

It seemed as if he was growing in strength to swallow up the entire world.

Although this would normally be a fearsome move the whereabouts of Azadin’s army were far more important to the Telvarin Guild.

Azadin’s army avoided a war of attrition with Sebalhan and brought the troops they had withdrawn to Changgok to face the Northern Qi.

“I lost control while studying the Silent Scriptures and that’s why I ended up like that. It’s not that it was Sebalhan’s fault but rather that the situation was so urgent that I overdid it and ended up like that. King Azadin’s army was pushing all the way to Baekho-gwan so I guess it’s inevitable that he’d become impatient as a king.”

“I heard that King Azadin is not feeling well. When will he die? I heard he’ll be spitting up blood and all?”

Surprisingly the elves also received information that Azadin’s physical condition was not good.

Even though every minister in Azadin’s court was keeping his mouth shut he could not stop the elven information network that was seeping in like mold in an old house.

“It doesn’t seem to be a disease but rather the grimoire is so powerful that it is tearing at the inside of his body causing him to vomit blood.”

“Surprisingly King Azadin’s Book of the Kings seems to be more powerful than any of the Yaegas Kings of the past. Did you know that as he conquered Chitai the king’s protection was also manifested on the battlefields of the fish-people and Nagas in the south? It is said that King Azadin’s power has made it possible to farm and harvest crops in the south albeit to a limited extent.”

“oh….”

“oh my god.”

“It’s only natural that he’d vomit blood when he’s doing something like that. It may seem like he’s overdoing it but it’ll still be a long time before he dies and disappears from our sight.”

“Can’t we just wait for him to become a soldier?”

“yes.”

“But I heard that King Azadin is a disciple of Lord Kazas. If he is a disciple of Lord Kazas wouldn’t he be able to cooperate with us?”

To the elves Kazas is the name of one of their ancient kings a hero who was known as the Demon King and held in high esteem by all.

As Azadin rose through the ranks the elves discovered that he was a disciple of Kazas and made it a source of pride for them.

‘Look at that. That messenger guy is flying around like that because he’s Kazas’s disciple. He defeated all the kings and stood tall as the king of the south. His teacher was truly outstanding.’

‘After all it’s our Alphrim. Alphrim is the best race and history has proven it. Other races besides our Alphrim are inferior races that are hard to even describe and especially the Yaegas Gods who are running wild are nothing but corrupt tyrants who can no longer even properly use the power of the Book of the New Kings. We must quickly absorb their power and deal with them to bring back the supremacy of the continent to Alphrim.’

That was the national consciousness of the race the elves themselves called Alphrim.

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From that perspective couldn’t Azadin although not an elf be seen as Kazas’s successor and their most loyal collaborator?

“Haven’t you read his New Testament? He is a thoroughgoing member of the Knights Templar school. He is the antithesis of those in power. He is not our friend but our enemy since he is not on the same path as we are pursuing.”

“But there is no one in power who does not melt before the magic of our Alphrim. If we send our young daughter to him as his concubine wouldn’t we be able to melt his heart with a pillow fight and make him join our side?”

“They say he is faithful to only one wife.”

“Oh so that’s why you insist on monogamy? That’s not something a king should do. The culture of those with short lives is truly uncivilized.”

The elves had an extreme aversion to monogamy believing it to be an attempt to suppress human nature and force it into a system turning human sexuality into an institution for mere reproduction and inheritance.

It was truly an insult to existence that was the elves’ aversion to monogamy.

“Anyway handing over the silent scriptures this time was a bit excessive. The Northern Emperor has noticed.”

“He’s been aware of it from the beginning. He probably knows that we’re thinking of something else. But we’ve provided him with a lot of his assets so he can’t do anything he wants to us.”

The seven years’ worth of grain collected by the Northern Emperor was thanks to none other than the wealth of the elves.

Originally a member of the Knights Templar he suddenly returned to secular life after the death of the royal family. In fact it was the elves who chose him to be their king.

These elves annihilated the entire royal family of Assander allowing Cohen who had a low position in the line of succession to the throne to become the king of Assander.

It was the elves who provided Cohen who had no other foundation with funds and talent and built a warehouse to store seven years’ worth of grain to fulfill Cohen’s ambitions and bought the grain.

Although Assander is a bit wealthier than the other kingdoms it is not twice as productive as the other kingdoms. In terms of wealth Bthuma is wealthier.

However the reason that King Cohen of Assander was able to operate an intelligence organization that spanned the entire continent was because the funds came from the elves.

“King Azadin will be difficult to persuade and the Northern Qi are also wary of us. What do you think?”

The elves of Telvarin call themselves Alphrim and they also have ties to the Nagas.

They were willing to join hands with the Naga race who had been persecuting humanity for their own sake without regard for humanity and even with the messengers of the Nether as long as it was beneficial to them while the king was fighting over the worldly power and spiritual power of humanity.