Rookie Holy Knight Azadine (6)

“……”

In that instant, the atmosphere flipped.

The sweet fragrance, the pleasing music and song vanished—replaced by the stench of blood and filth, dreadful screams, and a metallic scraping like someone dragging a steel pot across stone.

Kuntachi—who had been rampaging under the illusion—finally came to his senses.

“Huh? Wha…? Th-the nymphs…?”

“Nymphs, my ass. You idiot—are you awake now?”

“I definitely had a nymph’s chest right in front of me….”

“You moron. That was my—”

“Stop. I think it’s better if you don’t say the rest.”

Azadine cut Rijen off.

While that happened, the hags’ voices drifted through the darkness, circling Azadine and disorienting him.

“Aaah….”

“My child. Child of the Messenger Clan. Yes. We know. We know you well.”

“You know me well?”

“Of course. Your past, your present, and even your future. We know everything.”

“You show me that little performance and expect me to believe you? Fine. Let’s say you were ‘out of shape’ earlier. I’ll give you one more chance. Show proof.”

“Aaah, that is very easy.”

The Shade Hags whispered eagerly.

“The child born in halves has finally become whole. But the price of becoming whole was steep—you lost your other half.”

The moment they revealed their true selves, the Shade Hags spoke as if they knew Azadine’s past.

No—he was sure they did know.

‘Looks like when they’re imitating young beauties to lure and devour men, they can’t access that supernatural wisdom. But in their crone forms, they can.’

Azadine grasped their nature.

Still, it irritated him how they spoke as if they understood him—and Arael’s fate—down to the marrow.

“Even after losing the star of your heart, you entered the corrupted Order to prepare for the coming Age of Jupiter. Heh heh… aren’t you curious what your resolve will bring?”

“Don’t you want to know the destiny that awaits you? Come here, child. Let us speak. We have prepared delicious food and beautiful women. This place is paradise.”

“I agree that we should talk. But I’m not curious about my future. Why did you keep killing the platoon leaders here?”

“Because it was the contract.”

“And the party who made that contract—she’s alive?”

“Of course. She serves us.”

“She will soon become one with us. She is now our adopted daughter.”

As the hags circled him, Azadine fired an arrow backward without even looking.

-THUNK!

He couldn’t see clearly, but the wet sound of flesh being pierced rang out.

“Ghk! You… nasty! Nasty little wretch!”

“Speak in front of me. Don’t circle behind.”

“Y-you bastard! How—!”

Azadine didn’t rely on eyesight alone to perceive the world. And because Arael’s voice—speaking in place of the Emperor’s—scouted the surroundings, his awareness extended far beyond imagination.

Even if someone assumed he was only watching forward and tried to slip behind him, or grew careless because of distance, everything remained within his grasp.

“So you got hit. Slightly sorry about that—though I won’t apologize. Now then, let’s talk about the woman you took. The one who asked you to kill the Hospitallers.”

“What?!”

“If you’re holding her, hand her over. If she’s alive, I’ll rescue her. If she’s dead, I’ll at least recover her body.”

“Incredible. You spoke to us not to beg for your life?”

“You can’t kill me with your tricks.”

“!!!!!”

Azadine’s arrogant declaration stunned the hags.

“What—”

“Just a human, and yet—!”

They ground their teeth in rage, but Azadine didn’t retract a word.

“You can’t kill me. I am Azadine, Arael’s younger brother. Even if you’re nightmares from old tales, you don’t measure up to the tip of Arael’s power.”

Because he was Arael’s blood, he refused to lose to things like this. He emphasized it openly.

Back when Arael lived, they hadn’t been close. But now he understood what she had done—defying the Messenger Clan to claim her freedom, gathering allies—and how strong and beautiful she truly had been. That knowledge had become Azadine’s pride.

Whispering devils in the dark had no right to harm someone who inherited Arael’s power.

“You claiming to know my future was your mistake. If you really know things, you’d already know I won’t die by your hands.”

“A splendid confidence, child. But you have sinned against the Order.”

“You intend to mine cinnabar using necromancy—ignorant of the truth that cinnabar was originally our gift.”

“Those who serve us are everywhere, and they could denounce you with their own mouths.”

Astonishingly, the Shade Hags even knew Azadine was using necromancy to mine cinnabar—and tried to threaten him with it.

Kallan and Rijen felt their guts go cold just listening.

Using undead was an unforgivable act to the Rescue Knights Order.

But Azadine didn’t fear them.

“Devils who pretended to be gods—now resorting to human tactics. Do you not realize how ridiculous you look?”

“…….”

“So that’s it? That’s all you have against me?”

Azadine remained unmoved by both threats and sweet talk.

“It seems you doubt our power, child.”

“We promised her we would kill the knights who come here.”

“Your talent is such a waste—we considered sparing you if you would serve us. But if this is how it is… you must die as well.”

“A Messenger’s soul belongs to the Emperor, so even in death you will not be free. How pitiful.”

Their voices vanished—and a guttural roar shook the air.

An ogre with grotesque tumors on its face, and a swamp crayfish nearly three meters long with enormous pincers, appeared and surged toward the village.

“Ha.”

A cold laugh curled at Azadine’s lips.

“Crude. When you can’t win with words, you cling to brute force. With that, how do you expect to swindle anyone into feeding you?”

Mocking them, Azadine drew up his fighting spirit.

The soldiers were bound and restrained because of the illusion threat. Only a handful could fight. And in that situation, monsters like these had appeared.

Azadine nocked an arrow to the Crescent-Horn Bow.

-SHRAAAK!

The fired arrow flew straight—then snapped into an acute angle midair and pierced the ogre’s ear.

The massive ogre toppled sideways from a single small arrow.

It writhed in pain on the ground, unable to stand. The arrow had struck the semicircular canals, stealing its sense of balance.

It wasn’t dead yet—just thrashing—but without balance it was useless.

Given enough time, it might adapt to a shattered vestibular system and move again.

But at this moment, it was nothing more than rolling meat—and a big target.

-GRRRR…

The swamp crayfish, its body covered in hardened plates, ignored the fallen ogre and charged forward.

Azadine calmly loosed a second arrow.

Again the arrow changed its trajectory in midair—then seemed to break away right in front of the crayfish.

‘Did it miss?’

Everyone thought so. The arrow had veered aside just before impact.

A moment later, they realized their mistake.

The crayfish wobbled, unable to orient itself.

Azadine’s arrow had severed both eye-stalks—the two protruding supports bearing its eyes.

Blind, the crayfish instinctively backed away, then tumbled down the fortress slope and rolled out of the fight.

Seeing an ogre and a giant swamp crayfish neutralized with only two arrows, even Rijen and Kallan couldn’t help but be impressed.

‘Unbelievable.’

‘So that grand title—“God-King Slayer”—wasn’t just for show. No… the rumor was actually too small for what this is.’

And yet Azadine, the one displaying that power, yawned as if bored.

“I was hoping you’d show me something more. Shade Hags—don’t tell me that’s all?”

He even went as far as provoking them.

“How dare you.”

“To mock us!”

The Shade Hags snarled from the darkness.

Their voices were so dreadful that any living creature should have frozen in terror—yet Azadine only mocked them more.

“So that’s all you can do. You can’t do anything but tremble?”

“Captain… do you really need to provoke them…?”

Rijen and Kallan looked uneasy at Azadine’s needless taunting. But what Azadine wanted was clear.

“You cannot kill me. And if you cannot grant the wish of that pitiful soul who cursed the Order and threw herself into you, then she is not yours.”

Azadine demanded the woman—the origin of Vermilion Fortress’s curse.

“You bastard! That child is part of us now! You want us to hand her over?!”

“Insolent!”

The darkness began to churn. In the heart of Vermilion Fortress, a black vortex rose—and a single crone wreathed in pitch-black shadow revealed herself.

A demon-hag as large as an old oak suddenly appeared in the middle of the square.

Had the Shade Hag finally shown herself directly?

“Her state is severe.”

Azadine frowned.

“Yes! This is me! You filthy hypocrite of the Rescue Knights! You preach virtue with your mouth while indulging your desires without restraint! Just one more! If I could kill just one more knight and offer the sixth sacrifice—the sacred number—I could become a true Shade Hag! And you dare interfere?!”

The Shade Hag before them was the very slave woman who had cursed the Holy Knights assigned to Vermilion Fortress.

In exchange for granting her wish, the Shade Hags had contracted for her body and soul.

Her wish: kill the Holy Knights assigned to Vermilion Fortress, complete the sacred wild-magic number six, and be reborn as a true Shade Hag.

But now that Azadine had been assigned as Vermilion’s platoon leader—if she couldn’t kill him, her wish would never be fulfilled.

And so the Shade Hags deployed the curse’s originator herself.