Northern Threat (3)

-Thunk!

Doneor’s blade missed Azadine, and Azadine’s kick crushed Doneor’s ribs, driving them into his lungs and liver.

The scene, a seamless dodge followed by a counterattack, was so perfect it drew gasps from onlookers.

“Guh!”

And Doneor could barely squeeze out the air remaining in his punctured lungs.

“Gah… how could this be…”

Just moments ago, Doneor had been drunk on the superiority and omnipotence that violence afforded him.

‘I thought this time would be different…’

In the past, Doneor had been cowed by Azadine’s strength and the name of the Messenger Clan. Now that he had grown stronger, he believed things would change. But somehow, Azadine seemed to brim even more with the power of the Light of the Crown, making him an even worse matchup than before.

With every blow, the searing pain that racked his entire body overwhelmed him.

“As expected of our boss.”

Scott lounged at the back, legs stretched out, just watching the fight.

“Damn it!”

“Help the boss!”

Doneor’s subordinates rushed in to rescue him.

Like maggots wriggling out of a week-old corpse, the villains transformed into a writhing mass of insect-like bodies and charged at Azadine, but Azadine simply drew his Azure Steel longsword and swung it one-handed.

A sweep of blue sword-light sliced cleanly through the monsters charging him.

A regular steel sword wouldn’t have withstood such force, but the Azure Steel longsword cleaved a monster’s arm vertically without so much as a scratch.

“What the—!?”

Azadine then whipped his cape over the severed bugs and followed with a strike. A thudding sound, like a heavy drum made of hide, rang out as the insects burst simultaneously.

“Argh!”

And it didn’t end there.

A thief struck by Azadine’s cape stumbled back, and suddenly white flames erupted across his entire body.

“Waaaagh!”

“W-Wait—is that the Light of the Crown?!”

The Light of the Crown, charged within Azadine’s body, was now incinerating them.

“……!”

Doneor’s gang, once confident in their supposed immortality, was now suffering devastating damage.

The omnipotence and superiority they had just reveled in evaporated instantly, replaced by pure terror and shock.

‘Hoo… this power is overwhelming.’

Even Azadine himself was surprised. Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon from the Kazas Grimoire had grown incredibly powerful.

Thanks to the constant supply of magic from the copies of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth, the Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon, already a rampaging flame, had become a raging torrent, swallowing everything in its path with brutal force.

‘Honestly, the stronger it gets, the harder it is to control…’

So, it was actually better for Azadine to unleash his full power in battle like this. If he stayed still, the surging power inside him felt like it would tear him apart from within.

The Kazas Grimoire. This technique, which makes use of multiple grimoires or incomplete ones like Azadine’s, only grows harder to control as it gets stronger.

But to those unaware of the circumstances, Azadine looked like a god of death.

“Uwaaaaah!”

Doneor’s gang lost all will to fight and began fleeing.

But Azadine tied a page from the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth to an arrow and shot it, striking the fleeing men.

“Aaaargh!”

White flames erupted, engulfing Doneor’s men.

The fire clung like sticky pitch, and as they tried to pull the arrows out, the flames transferred to their hands and devoured them in agony.

“Good. I wasn’t comfortable letting you bastards, who killed Sir Brand’s family, walk away—but since you came to me, problem solved.”

Azadine approached Doneor, who neither resisted nor fled.

“Not to mention, you captured and tortured me!”

Shati added coldly. Doneor heard that and seethed inside.

‘That damn Naga! And I didn’t even torture her properly! Wait—why the hell is this lunatic bringing a Naga along? Isn’t he the Emperor’s Messenger?’

But just then, a flash burst before his eyes—Azadine struck Doneor’s face again.

“Don’t make that face. You should be on your knees for your crimes. Honestly, you deserve to be tortured to death, but I’m short on time, so I’ll have to be quick…”

“W-Wait! Let’s make a deal!”

“Why would I spare you? Even as a human, you ate human flesh and mocked others. Now that you’re a monster, I have no reason to let you live.”

“If I die, S-Sir Ject will find out!”

“Oh… is that all? If you want to live, show a little more sincerity.”

Azadine’s face was hidden by a helmet to avoid drawing attention, so his expression was unreadable—but his voice clearly conveyed his disappointment.

“W-We have plundered goods and hidden supplies!”

“…….”

Doneor blurted it out without thinking, but Azadine froze at his words.

‘What? This guy…’

Doneor panicked at the unexpected reaction.

“Right. You’ve hidden them, huh? But your crimes are too severe to let slide, even with that.”

“T-Then what about this? The Kingdom of Vthuma will be attacked soon. How’s that for a deal?”

“Where did you get that information?”

“From the ogres we killed not long ago! They said that followers of the Kurt God Clan are planning to raid Vthuma! A-And if you want, I can take you to the site where we killed their army!”

“Ogres?”

Azadine’s heart sank.

He had expected an attack from the Nagasura Empire—but ogres too?

‘If he’d said it was the Nagas, I would’ve killed him on the spot. But if ogres said this… I’ll need to investigate further. Killing him right away would’ve been a huge mistake.’

If that was true, then the situation had become truly dire.

“All right. Lead the way.”

Azadine gave the command to Doneor, then pulled out a copy of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth and wrapped it around the hilt of his Azure Steel longsword, Parangi.

Then he approached the remaining subordinates of Doneor who were still alive.

-Shwick!

As the blue blade-light cleaved through their torsos in a cross-pattern, white flames erupted from their bodies.

“!!”

“Guh?!”

“Ngh…”

White flames burst forth, and they collapsed.

“Only need to leave one alive to make management easier.”

“…….”

“These are vicious man-eating murderers who terrorized the lands of Count Lantarique. I was ordered long ago by the current Count of Lantarique, Sir Guillaumevalt, to eliminate them—this is the rightful execution of justice.”

Azadine declared to the astonished crowd, then pointed his sword at Doneor.

“Lead the way.”

“…….”

Doneor silently clicked his tongue at Azadine’s tone.

Now Azadine had a perfect justification. Even if he handed over all his information and wealth, survival still seemed unlikely.

‘Not like I can refuse. If I say no, he’ll just kill me painfully right here.’

Clinging to a shred of hope, Doneor began to guide Azadine.

The local bandits who had come targeting Doneor’s gang now seemed content with their revenge and prepared to take their leave.

“Thank you for killing that monster.”

“Now that we’ve avenged our comrades, we’ll take our leave.”

“We have wounded too.”

Some of them had been injured during the fight with Doneor’s gang. At that, Azadine gestured to Shati.

“Shati. Treat them.”

“Huh? Are you serious?”

Shati asked back, surprised.

Anyone could see they were bandits.

While they’d been useful in observing Doneor’s forces and tactics, that didn’t mean Azadine had grown emotionally attached enough to heal them.

The green magic Shati used stimulated rapid healing without a catalyst—but that didn’t mean it was free or something to use on just anyone.

“I’m thinking of hiring them.”

“…What?”

The bandits looked confused and stared at Azadine.

“Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Adan, priest of the Blue Turban Party.”

“…….”

Shati’s expression twisted like a half-eaten mushroom roast left in the open air for five days.

‘So now he’s Adan of the Blue Turban Party? He was suspicious when I brought it up, but now he’s shamelessly using it.’

“As you can see, many people seek the teachings of the Blue Turban Party. We need guards. What do you think?”

“W-What’s the pay?”

“One silver coin a day, plus healing magic.”

“…….”

One silver coin was the typical starting pay for mercenaries.

These men wore plated breastplates and had solid combat ability—they could pass for Doppelzöltners, elite soldiers earning double the normal wage.

“Could you offer a bit more?”

“We’ve got mouths to feed too, so that’s hard. And sure, you may feel fine now, but if those bug wounds aren’t properly treated, the parasites will burrow in and turn you into something like those guys. Think about what the healing magic is worth.”

“…….”

The bandits glanced nervously at Doneor’s gang, who were still burning to death.

Was it possible their wounds might be infected and turn them into monsters like that? In that case, the healing magic was priceless.

‘As if. My green magic can’t neutralize Nether magic.’

Shati had no idea what kind of face to make in response to Azadine’s bluff.

“A-All right.”

The bandits agreed to Azadine’s offer of employment.

Shati healed the wounds of the bandit group. As expected, there were no signs of Nether infection.

But perhaps thanks to her time with Azadine, she knew how to lie just enough to make them feel cared for.

“That was close.”

“O-Oh… really?”

“Yes. A little later and your whole body would’ve started rotting away in agony…”

Shati put on a tender expression and pointed delicately to the still-burning corpses.

Swayed by Shati’s beauty and terrified by Doneor’s gang’s gruesome deaths, the bandits were completely captivated. Having narrowly escaped ruin, Shati now seemed like a goddess who had saved their lives.

‘Well done.’

Watching from a distance, Azadine collected the used pages of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth and pushed Doneor ahead.

After walking for about two hours and crossing a hill, a shocking sight came into view—an enormous number of corpses strewn across the hilltop. A band of ogres bearing the flag of the King of Teeth lay slaughtered.

“By the heavens…”

The bandit-mercenaries and Blue Turban Party members gasped at the sheer number of corpses and the vast size of the defeated force. They all began looking at Doneor with new eyes.