151 — The Quartz Throne (5)

Scott agreed with Azadine’s assessment.

“That makes sense. They must be using the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth to draw in the Light of the Crown here. Wouldn’t it be better for you to take it before they do?”

“That’s not the issue. If the Light of the Crown weakens, it becomes easier for them to summon a being from the Nether. This is like sawing at the pillars of a burning house that’s about to collapse.”

No sooner had Azadine spoken than the ground suddenly began to shake.

-RUMBLE!

Dust and pebbles rained down from the ceiling.

“Ah?!”

“What is this?!”

The surface of the water filling the underground passage rippled, chunks of stone fell into it, sending up splashes, and water began gushing in from cracks in the wall.

“See? You jinxed it by calling it a collapsing house!”

“That’s not it. Damn it. Let’s move!”

Azadine leapt into the lower part of the passage. It was shaking like an earthquake, rocks falling from the ceiling making it dangerous, but better to keep moving than stand still.

“Oh, Captain. Hold up a second.”

Scott cast necromancy on the corpse of the crocodile Azadine had slain and climbed onto its back, lying down.

“Go.”

The crocodile’s corpse began slithering forward, stones falling atop it.

“Oh dear. Hey, Holy Knight, could you raise your shield over me or something?”

“Just use your arms to protect your head and keep walking.”

Zebec shielded only his own head as he walked, but when he reached Shati—now in human form—he raised his shield to protect her as well.

“Oh, thank yo—”

“Let’s go.”

The throne of Coral Sahar was rooted deep into the earth with a massive quartz pillar, and around it, quartz crystals had erupted from the ground to form the bedrock foundation beneath the royal citadel.

That bedrock lay submerged underwater, and beneath the throne was a tomb. Atop the tomb and the coffins stood a woman of Aragasa descent.

One of the four envoys of the Emperor’s heralds, Dimia of the Flower, was casting a spell at the base of the throne, directing her magic toward the roots of the quartz pillar.

Surrounding her, countless sea-serpent Naga sorcerers stood on Nether sigils drawn in blood, chanting incantations and participating in the ritual.

Around Dimia of the Flower were many copies of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth, from which white magic was being extracted, drawing out the Light of the Crown from the throne.

“Magnificent! The King of the Raging Tides has descended!”

“Well done, Messenger Clan!”

The sea-serpent Nagas rejoiced. Some were seized with religious fervor, wailing and collapsing to the ground like lizards, trembling violently.

“Ohhh! The Great One is coming!”

“The Age of Jupiter begins! The ancient kings shall reclaim their rightful thrones! And we shall stand beside them!”

The necks of the sea-serpent Nagas bore membrane-covered spikes, which they flared open while trembling, resembling frilled lizards.

It was madness—there was no better way to describe the scene.

‘Too many of them.’

Zebec frowned.

Over thirty Nagas, plus a fair number of Messenger Clan members. The Nagas might be in a frenzy, but that was still an overwhelming number.

‘Fighting such evil creatures trying to summon a Nether emissary is the very duty of a Holy Knight, and something to be embraced…’

But there were just too many, and Zebec wasn’t even fully armored. He had shed his full plate to enter the water and now wore only light clothing. Could he really face this many enemies in such a state?

Then Azadine signaled him.

Amazingly, despite the number of enemies, Azadine intended to launch an attack.

“We attack.”

“There’s too many. Are you sure—”

“No problem.”

Azadine nocked a black iron arrow into the iron bow he had brought through the water.

It was the Shadowsteel Blade.

Its magical potency weakened with reuse, diminishing its power, but even without any enchantments or curses, it remained a formidable weapon by sheer physical force.

Azadine asked Zebec for the Mace of Judgment and dashed forward, firing the Shadowsteel Blade.

The black arrow flew with terrifying force—its target, none other than Dimia of the Flower. Startled, a man leapt out beside Dimia.

“No!”

Instructor Crassli—a former Messenger and now a combat trainer for the Korasar Peddler Guild—hurled his body forward with a thick metal shield to protect Dimia.

‘Even if it’s the Shadowsteel Blade, I can block it! Azadine’s known for being magicless, so he wouldn’t have cast Yellow Crane or White Crane on it!’

Crassli reasoned thus and angled his shield to catch the Shadowsteel Blade’s trajectory along its thickest edge.

No matter how strong the arrow, he believed he could deflect it!

But Azadine’s Shadowsteel Blade was much faster and more powerful than Crassli had anticipated.

It tore through Crassli’s shield and pierced his arm.

“Gahh!”

His elbow was severed. The sliced-off forearm flew into the air, and the Shadowsteel Blade, still potent, barreled toward Dimia behind him.

Dimia tried to dodge, but she was drained from conducting the ritual to extract white magic from the throne—she knew she couldn’t escape in time.

“Tch!”

She braced with her sword and hand axe.

-THWACK!

Even so, she couldn’t fully deflect it. The Shadowsteel Blade pierced her arm. Her bone snapped, and only shreds of skin and muscle kept her arm attached. Blood gushed out in torrents.

Ordinary people would have lost consciousness and bled out to death from such a wound, but Dimia calmly pressed under her arm to stop the bleeding.

“Y-You!”

“Azadine! Are you here to sabotage our clan’s secret rite?!”

At that moment, another Shadowsteel Blade was fired. This one flew straight at the stunned sea-serpent Nagaraja.

“Human!”

Azadine’s Shadowsteel Blade pierced through the Nagaraja’s head, leaving only the lower jaw attached to the body, while the upper part was shredded and blown away.

Even for the Naga, known for their regenerative abilities, surviving such a brutal attack was impossible.

“Y-You bastard! Messenger Clan!”

“No, the Messenger Clan attacked first!”

“Is it someone else?!”

The Nagas rushed at Azadine.

That’s when Sir Zebec hurled his mace. When the Mace of Judgment’s magic activated, a shockwave of light swept through the charging Nagas.

“Graaah?!”

“Urgh!”

As the blinding light and force battered the Nagas and they staggered, Azadine nocked his final Shadowsteel Blade from his quiver. The arrow was so large and heavy that a quiver normally holding ten arrows could barely hold three before bursting at the seams.

“Then the most dangerous one now…”

Azadine loosed the arrow at Dimia, who was still alive.

Though he had already inflicted a devastating wound that tore through her muscles and bone, Azadine’s instincts told him that she remained the most dangerous enemy on this field.

She was one of the four Flowers, Birds, Wind, and Moon—effectively the captains of the four divisions of the Messenger Clan. If he didn’t take her down now, it would be a mistake.

But shockingly, massive Nagas hurled themselves into the arrow’s path to block it. Were they really willing to sacrifice their bodies to protect Dimia of the Messenger Clan? Even though they had summoned a Nether being, they still needed her.

-THWACK!

The Shadowsteel Blade pierced through three hulking sea Nagas and, still undeterred, exploded in mid-air.

“Gaaaah!”

“Kyahhh!”

The Nagas screamed—so did Dimia.

“Oh. That Shadowsteel Blade’s done. Damn it.”

Azadine muttered as he launched himself forward.

A massive Naga swung a trident at him, but rather than flipping mid-air, Azadine ducked low to the ground instead.

– Flowers, Birds, Wind, and Moon’s Twilight Step, Kazas Grimoire!

A chill surged behind Azadine as he swiftly closed the distance, slicing through the air.

The Wendigo dagger in Azadine’s hand released a freezing aura, cleanly slicing through the Naga’s skull like a knife through a melon. Blood and brain matter spilled from the severed head as the massive Naga collapsed helplessly.

“Warm-blooded beast! How dare you harm the Raja?!”

Another Naga charged, slashing with a curved blade, but Azadine smashed him across the head with his iron bow.

The steel beam-like limbs of the bow struck the Naga’s skull, making his eyeballs burst out.

All around, Nagas chanted spells and sprayed venom from their mouths at Azadine, but he used the blinded Naga’s body as a shield, blocking the spells and venom, then hurled the corpse.

“No way?!”

“This can’t be!”

The Nagas panicked.

Even average-sized male sea-serpent Nagas weighed about thirty stone (roughly 190 kilograms)—three times the weight of a typical human from Hubris.

Their strength and stamina were incomparable to humans. And yet Azadine handled one like a ragdoll?

He was even wielding a dagger and iron bow—he wasn’t in a state to properly grip anything. Handling such an opponent in that condition was unthinkable without absurd strength.

“Scott!”

“Yes! On it, on it!”

The orc riding atop the undead crocodile formed a hand sign and chanted a spell, turning the slain Nagas Azadine had felled into undead to bolster their numbers.

Seizing the moment, Azadine darted across the battlefield, targeting and eliminating the most dangerous spellcasters among the Nagas. Zebec took up sword and shield, blocking any enemies approaching Scott and Shati.

‘He must’ve been counting on those black arrows all along. No wonder he wasn’t worried about the numbers.’

Zebec marveled at Azadine’s courage, decisiveness, and overwhelming power. Perhaps because he had absorbed strength from the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth, Azadine showed no signs of fatigue as he cut down the Nagas at terrifying speed.

---

“Impossible…”

Dimia of the Flower was one of the four Flowers, Birds, Wind, and Moon. Among the 108 Heralds, the most skilled and respected were chosen to lead squads, and being selected as one marked one as the greatest Herald of the generation.

Dimia had absolute faith in her strength.

But Azadine, that so-called dropout—despite using a Shadowsteel Blade—had overpowered the Nagas and the Messenger Clan and was now charging directly toward her.

‘That wasn’t just a regular Shadowsteel Blade. That bow… it’s stronger than a Moon Horn Bow.’

Looking at the iron bow Azadine dragged along, it didn’t seem like something a human could pull by raw strength.

‘Wait… That’s a dwarven heavy crossbow’s bow frame, meant for two operators! He’s carrying that around?!’

“Are you alright, Dimia?”

Instructor Crassli asked with concern.

Despite losing his arm, he still worried about Dimia. From his subtle affection and passionate gaze, Dimia felt both revulsion and a sense of superiority.

But now wasn’t the time to indulge such thoughts. The tide of battle was shifting.

Azadine and his allies were now completely dominating the situation, and it wouldn’t be long before they subdued her.

“Of course… I’m fine. Heh. Now then, shall we borrow more strength from the Hubris humans?”

With a deep breath, Dimia began casting another spell.