Night of the Soulless Heathens – 84



#84. The Brass Knight 4

“You shouldn’t fight that bastard boss.”

“what?”

Donair was puzzled by the remarks of his subordinate who had been an agent of Count Lantaric along with him. The subordinate who had been with him for a long time immediately offered advice when he saw Donair trying to test Azadin’s skills.

“If the rumors are true then Count Salasma transformed into a Naga the size of a house and fought something and died. And then there’s a messenger clan that came to buy that Naga woman. Do you know what that means?”

“That guy is the one who killed Count Salasma?”

“Perhaps. If so they must be incredibly powerful. The entire herald clan is said to be a group of magical wizards who have killed queens and ministers with their powers… We who are not even nobles would be unable to deal with them.”

As he said that the thieves who had been brought to Azadin all nodded their heads and looked at each other to dissuade them from picking a fight.

“I’ve heard that the Herald Clan is amazing but… this is surprising. I understand.”

Donair also chose to negotiate rather than fight the messenger clan.

“A wise choice. Would ten silver coins be enough for the ransom?”

“That’s not enough. It seems like you killed a lot of our children. Wouldn’t it be better to collect the blood money to save face?”

“What?!”

Medium who was listening became indignant but Azadin stopped her and smiled.

“So how much is your blood worth?”

“…!”

For a moment the thieves were confused.

‘What the hell is this kid? What should I say to this?’

Azadin’s easygoing attitude sent shivers down Donairo’s spine.

‘If I ask for a cheap price I’ll feel embarrassed in front of my subordinates and if I ask for a high price they might not negotiate and just rush in. What the hell? Are you saying I’m scaring the kids?’

Then I saw smoke rising behind them.

“uh?!”

“What what?”

“Isn’t that direction our base?”

The bandits began to murmur. The bandits’ den was on fire.

‘A guy I’ve never seen before showed up and the den suddenly caught fire? Is it a coincidence?’

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It was actually a coincidence but the thieves seemed to think otherwise.

Suddenly an arrow flew from the forest. Azadin tried to catch the arrow but realized that it contained great power and dodged it.

Usually when Azadin would catch an arrow and shoot it back it was because his opponent was using a shortbow or a light hunting bow. However the one hiding among this group of bandits was using a full-fledged ashwood longbow.

This is something that only the most skilled archers can use and in mercenary groups like the Cell Sword Guild they are recognized as ‘Doppelsöldners’ that is skilled archers who receive more than twice the daily wage of a regular soldier.

‘As expected there are Count Lantaric’s warriors among this group of bandits.’

Azadin saw the expert archers among the bandits and instinctively knew that they were Rantarik’s warriors.

Although not all of them those who gather and lead the bandits are agents of Count Lantarik. Originally Count Lantarik had been targeting Salasma so he created a group of bandits and sent them to disrupt the peace of Salasma. That is how it should be seen.

“Damn it! Hit it! Hit it!”

Donair felt that things were going strangely as he watched Azadin easily dodge the preemptive strike but once he made the first move negotiations were out of the question.

“I wanted to avoid conflict as much as possible… but I guess there’s nothing I can do.”

Azadin also felt sorry for this situation and drew his sword.

“This kid!”

As the bandits approached Azadin spread his webbing and dove into Donair’s embrace in an instant.

“omg?!”

Donair was surprised and fought back but Azadin lightly grabbed his wrist and twisted it.

-Snap!

My elbow was literally torn off.

“Kaaaak!”

That wasn’t the end of it. Azadin grabbed his helmet twisted it and turned his body around then extended his donair to the incoming arrow.

-puck!

An arrow fired from an Ashwood longbow pierced Donair’s armor and lodged deep in his thigh. The archer who had attacked hesitated for a moment as Donair groaned in pain. Azadin pulled the dagger from Donair’s belt and threw it at the bowman.

“Ugh!”

The dagger cut off the archer’s finger.

“Eww! My hand! My hand!”

The archer was devastated by the loss of his fingers. He had spent his entire life drawing the bow but now he would be unable to use these hands to show off his archery skills.

‘This guy really is merciless in this kind of thing.’

Midiam clicked his tongue as he watched Azadin deliberately inflict permanent damage on his enemies. The bandits were utterly terrified as Azadin incapacitated the skilled archer.

“That’s why I told you not to do it…”

The thieves who had already tasted the bitterness of Azadin were resentful of the other thieves’ reckless actions. In the meantime Azadin leisurely grabbed Donair and secured a retreat route.

“If you chase me I’ll kill you.”

Azadin pushed Donair towards the bandits. While the bandits held Donair and supported him Azadin and Midiam Ismail quickly left the place.

There were clearly more bandits than the others but they did not dare to pursue them due to the amazing fighting ability and situational awareness displayed by Azadin and his party.

*********

“Kwaaah. You motherfuckers!”

Donair writhe on the ground.

“Messenger Clan! These bastards… Aaak!”

He was in pain touching the wound where his comrade had struck him with his Ashwood longbow. The arrow was deeply embedded in the wound and the shaft pierced it with every movement.

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I hastily broke the arrow shaft to make it shorter but to pull it out any further I needed tongs not human hands. The problem was the attitude of the other thieves.

“….”

Donaire the Thief King He was a former sergeant under Count Lantaric and was far superior to others. He was feared for his brutal swordsmanship and his cruelty in killing humans and feeding them to others.

In other words he had been controlling other thieves through fear.

However that fear soon became Donair’s weakness. He dominated other thieves through force and fear not popularity and monopolized the fruits of theft so his subordinates were growing dissatisfied.

No there may have been no complaints in the past but now that Donair was wounded and his most dangerous of his retainers the Ashwood longbowman was unable to lift a bow complaints that had never existed before were raising their heads.

Wouldn’t it be okay if we hit now? The thieves began to roll their eyes.

“Aren’t you guys going to close your eyes? I can see what you’re thinking right now! Have you already forgotten who gave you a hideout established contacts with slave traders and turned you into human beings while you were just highway robbers?”

Donair looked at his men who were looking at him like a pack of hungry dogs looking at meat and let out a groan.

But the bandits no longer feared Donair. Rather Donair’s sternness was proof that he had lost his fighting ability.

‘He used to threaten to kill me…’

‘Now you’re threatening me that I won’t be able to trade with the slave traders without you?’

‘I guess you can’t fight.’

They were ferocious beasts with blood-smelling prey right before their eyes.

If you think about it calmly Donair is right. If Donair who organized them into a proper band of thieves and opened up a distribution network for stolen goods and slaves allowing them to make more money from each theft were to disappear they would eventually disperse and become highway robbers.

But just as the Donairs felt liberated from the army of Count Lantaric they too longed for the freedom to do as they pleased rather than the strictures of the bandits he ruled.

-Slurp.

When someone pulled out a knife everyone including you started to draw their weapons.

“These kids…..”

Donair and the bandits from the Lantaric army supporting Donair also drew their weapons. That was when.

“Hmm….”

Suddenly a man in golden armor appeared behind them.

“uh?”

“Oh did I bother you? Just go on with what you were doing. Don’t worry about me.”

The man in the golden armor spoke with a smile and caressed his helmet.

“It was just when we needed human flesh and blood. I was planning to use the blood and flesh you shed from your fights.”

“What the heck you?”

“I am a passing knight. Have you seen a young man with a boy and a girl around here? I am a messenger.”

“….”

“Oh I see you have something on your mind. Everyone….”

“No I’m already upset what is this?”

“A knight?”

Donair’s bandits already had experience dealing with the knights of the King’s Church.

Ordinary thieves no matter how many they are are no match for the armored monsters but the thieves led by Donair are no ordinary people. They have already had experience in capturing a paladin using their excellent group fighting ability.

So they viewed the golden-armored knight before them as something to be plundered rather than a threat.

“Huh?”

The golden knight was surprised by the band of bandits’ blatant hostility before him.

“I think it would be better to step back.”

“Haha. You want me to step back? Seriously?”

“Why should we listen to that?”

“Because…..”

At that moment a loud noise suddenly rang out. A giant silhouette fell from the sky and trampled down one of the thieves who was guarding the paladin.

The monster which had a human body but had elongated waist and limbs trampled the thief and tore his flesh alive. The thief struggled as if he was dying from a bear bite but it was no use.

“Ugh ugh!”

It raised its head ferociously as it bit the struggling thief alive. Gravity caused blood to spray out as the bitten thief was lifted upward.

A beast that devours living humans. The horrific orgy of violence struck everyone’s retinas and optic nerves.

It was a horrible scene that made you want to turn your head away. However no one could turn their eyes away because they didn’t know when they would become victims of that monster. They had to watch the scene of people being eaten.

“That’s why it happens like this.”

The golden armored knight spoke and smiled.

*********

“If you go first Lord Jecht…”

Following this a pair of male and female knights appeared from the bushes and stopped. The two knights were none other than the knight Jibek who was a former attendant of Jecht and Meiya who was the chief of Salasma.

“Oh no why….”

Maya was appalled by the horrific transformation of Lord Gazrek before her eyes. What had been nothing more than a moving corpse at first had gradually changed into an indescribably hideous monster.

“Is it really okay Lord Jecht? Our father no Lord Gazrek is getting bigger and bigger?”

“This is all because of the curse caused by his unjust death. The forces that murdered and buried your father did not give him a proper funeral so the curse of black magic continues to transform your father.”

“….”

Since Maya was also a knight she had a rough idea why this was happening.

Not everyone who becomes a Ghost Knight mutates like this. In order for the undead to continue to mutate and maintain their existence they need human blood and flesh.

In order to keep Lord Gazrek as a phantom knight Judge Jecht had those people killed and eaten behind her back or right in front of her eyes.

Is it okay for a paladin to be like this?

She had such doubts but she was in no position to dare say anything in front of Lord Jecht. Then the thief who had heard their conversation raised his head.

“Wait a minute. If you’re Lord Jecht… are you Lord Jecht the Judge?”

A wounded man wearing fine armor who appeared to be the leader of the bandits joined the conversation of the paladins.