Night of the Soulless Heathens – 95



#95. The Tribe of Arael 5

No he tried to pull it out. But Azadin was faster. He put his foot out and blocked the pommel of the Count’s sword with his foot preventing the hilt from coming out of the scabbard. Then he lightly drew his own sword and swung it at the Count’s neck.

It was as fast as lightning and contained terrifying power. However….

-Kakak!

Azadin’s sword merely cut through the Count’s armored neck guard. Behind the Count Nephthy the 75th Herald pulled him back slightly to avoid the attack.

“You crossed the line!”

At that moment Nephthys drew his sword.

“Okay stop. You shouldn’t attack the other party during negotiations!”

Nephthy turned the Count back with one hand and aimed her sword at Azadin’s neck with the other. It was a skewer-like sword that specialized in stabbing even through armor. It was thin but surprisingly heavy but she controlled it easily with one hand handling it as if it were a part of her body.

But Azadin was also blocking Nephthy’s sword path with the tip of his sword hilt.

“When you’re negotiating with the white flag raised why would you make the first move just because the other party is angry? It’s just a minor provocation. If you get caught and do something stupid no matter how great your bloodline is—I mean even if you’re Arael’s younger sibling or even if you’re of some noble bloodline—I’ll kill you. No I’ll torture you abuse you and make you beg for death so that you regret being born.”

Nefty pointed her sword at Azadin and smiled.

“That’s right. You’re being an idiot who attacks while the negotiations are underway with the white flag raised…”

Azadin and Nefty both put their swords away at the same time.

“These guys!”

Count Lantarik was indignant when he realized that Nephthy and Azadin’s words were directed at him. However Nephthy’s words were on his mind.

I will punish you no matter what bloodline you are born with.

Isn’t that what the Count was told to hear?

“They say Kahsan was hit but he’s quite skilled. But Azadin aren’t you feeling well? You’re sweating profusely.”

“Because I have a constitution that reacts well to heat…”

Azadin avoided Nephthy’s gaze who noticed his wound and smiled sinisterly.

“So why did Arael join hands with the Count?”

“I can’t tell you that. If you’re curious why don’t you join me? Then I can tell you clearly.”

“At least it’s not a request for gold right? Well just the fact that she’s joined hands with this count is reason enough for me not to trust Arael.”

“That’s unfair. Do you think that other messenger clans besides our Arael clan are clean?”

“If you rebel against the existing power you should come with a flag of a different color. It seems a bit far-fetched to ask someone to change sides while carrying a flag of the same color. And do you know who put a scar on my face? It was that handsome Arael.”

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“Thanks to you you became very handsome?”

“I think that’s the end of the story. Please guarantee the lives of everyone in the castle and the civilians the Count’s army has captured. That’s all I demand.”

Azadin glanced at Nephthy and turned away.

“You’ll regret it you little messenger.”

The Count gave Azadin a warning.

The negotiations with the Count ended in failure. It was only natural that they had drawn their swords and swung them at each other’s throats during the negotiations.

The Count tried to draw his sword first but Azadin used that as an excuse to kill him on the spot.

This guy is wrong.

They have no qualms about releasing bandits to harass pillage and massacre civilians. Leaving such a noble alive will only increase the number of victims.

So Azadin was prepared to kill even if he would be condemned by everyone for breaking the rules of negotiation but Nefty interfered.

Still Nephthy defended Azadin. The count was the one who broke the rules of negotiation first. So she dismissed this as a simple incident and Azadin tacitly agreed with her.

“Okay then…..”

Azadin and his men returned to the fortress and locked the door again.

The soldiers came flocking like a flock of chicks waiting for their prey and were surprised to see their leader unconscious.

“How did the negotiations go?”

“For now it’s a breakup.”

Azadin said so boldly prepared a seat and lay down.

“yes?!”

“The Count underestimates the defenses of this castle. He believes that he can open the gates by force even if we do not open them and he has set the reward for opening the gates too low.”

When Azadin said this while lying down everyone was half in doubt. Then the captain of the guard who woke up from fainting was terrified.

“Uh uh… what is it?”

“Captain?!”

“Is it true that negotiations broke down?”

“Negotiations broke down? Oh shit! Hey!”

The captain of the guard who had fainted suddenly got up and looked around.

“Messenger Clan! Why did you refuse the Count’s offer?”

“What are you talking about?”

Azadin rolled over onto his side and looked at the captain of the guard.

“You said you’d let us go if we gave you one old man?”

When the captain of the guard said that all the soldiers were startled.

It’s different from what the messenger clan said. No the messenger clan just spoke vaguely. But if what the captain of the guard said is true doesn’t that mean they could have lived but negotiations broke down?

“You must have been unconscious but the Count demanded your lives after that. He said that knights and soldiers who betray their masters without reason are not worth living and that if you handed over the new soldiers of the fortress guards he would spare the lives of all the people who were imprisoned here.”

“….”

Jibek stuck out his tongue from the side. How can he lie so blatantly and shamelessly?

“What? What nonsense! Why would a great noble like the Count want the life of a low-ranking knight like me?”

“Then why would a senile clerk want his life? Count Lantaric is a very emotional and scary person. Asking him to choose between the death of all his soldiers or the death of all his people. He seems to be confident that breaking open this castle would be a piece of cake so he must be saying such arrogant things.”

Everyone who was listening was dazzled by Azadin’s eloquence.

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If you think about it doesn’t that seem a bit cheap?

Count Lantaric made a mockery of the fortress and insulted his negotiating partners who demanded security in exchange for opening the gates.

If you think about it that way it makes sense. However for Jibek who knew the inside story it was difficult to control his expression.

‘What kind of lie can you tell so skillfully?’

But Azadin spoke so calmly that no one thought about it that far.

“Wait a minute! Was that really so Paladin Sir?”

The captain of the guard asked Jibek.

“If you say something like that here it will be an awkward situation for the commander…”

Since he was a knight he didn’t lie. He just avoided answering the question.

When Sir Jibek trailed off everyone understood that Azadin was right and moved on.

“eww….”

When it came to risking someone else’s life they were aggressive but when their own lives were at stake the fortress guards quickly became docile.

Will the people be annihilated and the guards survive?

Will the guards be annihilated and the people survive?

If the Count had made such an offer I could not choose either side.

As Azadin said show the fortress’ defenses and inflict more damage on the Count’s army. Then he will understand that opening the gates is a great benefit.

At that moment the count’s army began to move.

*********

The count who had been insulted by Azadin could not contain his anger and immediately began sending soldiers to the front of the fortress.

“Are you in your right mind?”

Azadin clicked his tongue as he watched the troops approaching the fortress. It was actually more difficult to siege a small fortress like this. A large castle would be difficult to defend because it had gates all over the place due to necessity.

However this place is like a guard tower to control the road built by the emperor and there is only one entrance and the rest is made of sturdy stone walls. In fact it is a fortress that can be ignored and passed by without much problem but why did they charge straight in just because Azadin insulted them?

“Everyone get off the wall.”

Azadin ordered the common soldiers to fall back.

“Are you in your right mind?”

The captain of the guard spoke and stood on the wall holding a bow and a stone. At that moment an archer who was hiding among the attacking soldiers fired an arrow.

-Wedge!

An arrow flying with a terrifying momentum blew off the captain’s helmet. Azadin quickly grabbed the captain’s clothes and pulled him back preventing him from dying but he was unable to prevent the arrow from tearing through his helmet and creating a long gash in his ear and whiskers.

“this.”

It was Nephthy’s greeting. When Azadin attacked the Count Nephthy was able to protect the Count and prevent him from getting hurt.

In comparison Azadin protected the captain but ended up inflicting quite a few serious injuries on him.

“Ahhh! It hurts! It’s poison… It’s a poison arrow!”

“No. It’s just an arrow. What a joke.”

Azadin bent the captain over and examined the arrow that had torn his helmet.

“It’s Cheonggangjeon. Are you using good stuff?”

Arrows are usually divided into hunting arrows with light tips and combat arrows with steel tips to pierce armor.

The messenger clan had two arrows: the Cheonggangjeon made of luxurious Cheonggang and the Heukgangjeon coated with a powerful poison that could kill any being and tear through armor like a sheet of paper.

If you walk three times you get one gold coin.

That expensive weapon was none other than the Cheonggangjeon.

“Should I return the favor?”

Azadin fired his arrows. He aimed them at the archers who were covering those who approached the walls shooting arrows from below.

The soldiers nearby raised their shields to protect the archers but Azadin had already predicted their movements.

-The flowers birds wind and moon are like a cascade! Yellow crane!

Arrows flew sideways and began to fly off the archers’ bows and fingers.

“Ugh!”

Surprisingly Azadin’s arrow cut off a person’s finger or bow with just one shot and then flew without losing momentum attacking the other archers. However…

-Thump!

One of the archers moved and grabbed the arrow.

Another messenger not Nephthys was among the archers and caught the flying arrow.

“Is this because of Kazas? Even without using magic it moves with a similar trajectory and power as the Yellow Crane?”

Among the large Aragasa though larger than the peasants of Hybris a boy of not so great stature was holding an arrow and babbling.

“Don’t grab it carelessly. Azadin’s skills are unknown. What if you grab the arrow and your hand gets torn off?”

“No but I was curious. I heard that Kahsan was defeated…”

Among the Count’s soldiers a few messengers can be seen here and there. They are Arael’s subordinates.

“also….”

Azadin frowned.

“You have been preparing for rebellion for a long time.”

The confident girl’s voice Arael’s voice echoed vividly in Azadin’s ears.

‘I will re-create Aragasa. I will destroy all the old ways that prevent us from seizing what we enjoy with our own strength!’

The result of that confident voice was now unfolding before Azadin’s eyes.