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‘Th-This cannot be. He is of the Messenger Clan. And yet he is the most outstanding holy knight?’
Triodana was horrified as he watched Azadine wield Aurelia Dawn, fight evenly against Griselda, and stand shoulder to shoulder with the dreadful Death Knight Sok.
He too now realized that Azadine was no ordinary holy knight.
‘The ceramite longsword he uses is Aurelia Dawn, Sir Plank’s sword. The one Sir Plank knights at the end is said to be the holy knight among holy knights… Until now, I thought Father was Sir Plank’s final appointee, but it wasn’t Father. That man was the subject of the prophecy?’
Thanks to that, he had survived, but Triodana realized that Azadine was the Northern Emperor’s most powerful enemy and rival.
The night sky, where the blizzard melted into rain and poured down, was sparkling with a strange light.
The light from the torches and lanterns held by people on the ground reflected against the sky, scattering white specks across the dark heavens.
Azadine looked up at that sky and exhaled. His breath froze.
His black hair shone with luster, and his purple eyes occasionally flashed with strange color even in the darkness, radiating the bearing of a noble hero.
Dilia, Gerod, and those saved by Azadine’s appearance were captivated by his figure. At first, they had cheered at the sight of the Celestials, but now they had realized it. Azadine was truly the holy knight among holy knights.
The power of the ceramite longsword he wielded, and his decisiveness in even calling the Death Knight Sok as an ally if necessary—all of it made him worthy of being called a hero.
‘No, damn it. Why did Sok come?’
But Azadine himself was actually flustered. Niselda and the others had been planned as the second force that would arrive after Azadine, who had come riding a hippogriff.
However, he had never called Sok. He was not close enough with Sok to call him, and Azadine had not yet reached any agreement with Sok.
What Sok was after was the treasure Griselda had possessed, the Eye of Ashajit. Azadine had no intention of handing it over to Sok.
Blood continued to flow from this Eye of Ashajit, and the suggestion of becoming undead and using it as sustenance could not be called good, even as empty words.
Anyone sane should refuse, but Sir Sok’s army was mighty. On top of that, he had come as reinforcements and rendered a service, so there was no justification for refusing him.
‘Information is leaking. Has a spy infiltrated my subordinates? Or is it from Fireglyph? There are so many places to suspect that I don’t know where it came from.’
Azadine’s force was a hastily assembled group formed by absorbing existing forces, so naturally there would be spies from various factions within it.
Azadine had also acted under the assumption that spies or informants had infiltrated his force.
However, he had thought there would be no spy capable of contacting Sok. The Van Dyke Trading Company, the Rescue Knights Order, the King’s Church’s spies, bandit groups, and so on could, in any case, tempt people with religion or profit, but Sok had little he could offer humans.
Yet the fact that Sok was here shocked Azadine. Could there really be a human who wanted to become undead?
“I apologize for being late, Sir Azadine.”
Whether he knew Azadine’s thoughts or not, Sir Sok feigned nonchalance as he leaped from his wyvern and landed beside Azadine.
“Once Griselda withdrew, the cultist mutants went berserk. For now, I blocked them with the undead. They will destroy themselves with time, so there is no need to shed the blood of precious people. Would you not agree?”
Sir Sok spoke as though he had read Azadine’s mind. Griselda had made the cultist mutants go berserk in order to secure her own retreat as she withdrew.
The frenzied mutants rushed in without knowing pain or fearing death, wielding tremendous power.
However, such a rampage always came with a price. There was no need to fight them head-on; once time passed, they would self-destruct on their own.
But though that was easy to say, ordinary soldiers could not stand against rampaging mutants. Sir Sok was accomplishing it easily by using necromancy.
The specters led by Sir Sok possessed the mutants, whose minds had weakened from going berserk, and made the mutants fight among themselves, allowing everyone to catch their breath.
Sure enough, as time passed, the rampaging mutants began to sputter out. The individuals that had overused their strength too much suffered necrosis and collapsed, while the others looked around, unable to grasp where they were, as if they had just awakened from sleep.
“Good. Now the fierce battle has ended somewhat. What do you think? Was I of some help?”
“Ah. Of course… You were a great help.”
If he said now that Sir Sok’s help had been great, it would become difficult to reject his request later. However, no matter what, it had been an undeniable and enormous achievement.
The cultist mutants were, in truth, not enemies that ordinary soldiers should be made to fight.
They had tentacles with the power to break a horse and knight at the same time in a single blow, and they poured out cursed words and magical power.
If they faced monsters like these, no matter how well-trained the soldiers were, they could not avoid bloodshed. The front line had only been maintained because Triodana and the Celestial knights stood at the fore; Sir Gerod and his retainers would have melted away in an instant.
If people had blocked this, how much blood would have been spilled? The reason Azadine’s warlord faction had been able to keep winning until now was, in truth, because the casualties among those on Azadine’s side had been minimal. If many people died and casualties grew large, no matter how outstanding Azadine’s deeds were, the loyalty of the people would also fade.
“It seems you are worried that I may want the Eye of Ashajit. Do not be too concerned. I intend to leave the Eye of Ashajit in your care for a while.”
“…Pardon?”
“In any case, when Fimbulbert becomes harsher, you will hand the Eye of Ashajit over to me of your own accord.”
“…….”
At Sir Sok’s confident appearance and generous attitude, Azadine felt uneasy. Just how harsh would Fimbulbert become for him to be so certain of the future?
In any case, since Sok was not pressuring him to hand over the Eye of Ashajit immediately, Azadine was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
“More importantly, since Griselda escaped, we must first prepare countermeasures for that.”
“First, we need to gather these refugees and retreat to Sandokar. Then, Sir Sok. Now….”
“I understand. It would do no good to be seen together with the undead.”
The enemy’s spearhead had been broken, and it no longer seemed like the mutants would attack. We shall withdraw while you return to Sandokar.
Sir Sok said that and climbed back onto his wyvern. Sir Sok’s army withdrew as mysteriously as it had appeared, paying no mind to the cold of the blizzard-raging sky.
“…….”
Azadine sank into silence as he looked at Sir Sok’s departing back.
‘He is an ally for now, but this is incredibly burdensome. I may have to deal with him someday. What should I do? That man doesn’t suffer from Aurelia Dawn like vampires do.’
Azadine hesitated like that, but because he appeared calm on the outside, the others could not help but be deeply impressed, seeing it as Azadine controlling Sir Sok, the legendary leader of the Fimbulhorde.
“Oh! It’s the captain! Captain Azadine! Are you safe?!”
Selim waved his hand. On the road back to Sandokar, Azadine encountered the second force, including Selim.
The second force, including Selim, Bernard, and the Wild Druid, had been hurrying over with hippogriffs and fine horses, but they had encountered the cold rainstorm and gusts of wind, failed to make proper speed, and had fallen behind.
“Good. We’ll camp here. Have the soldiers pitch the tents and rest, and replace the carriage teams with horses in good condition.”
Azadine said that and had his own tent prepared. He set up an awning between two caravan wagons and made the space beneath it his tent, then called Bernard.
“I heard the story. They said you met Griselda.”
“Yes. I took the Eye of Ashajit from Griselda.”
“How astonishing. I heard Sir Sok helped you. Did he not want it?”
“He said he would leave it with me for a while. He confidently said that if Fimbulbert worsened, I would naturally hand it over to him.”
“Huh. As expected, Sir Sok is quite the figure.”
“More importantly, tell me about Griselda. You must know about her.”
“She is a vampire operating secretly in Banreung. Originally, she was a member of a witch coven.”
“A witch coven?”
“Followers of primal magic who grant twisted mercy to widows and grieving women. The Shade Hag is an existence akin to an officer of the witch coven. While she was a member of the witch coven, she was also a famous adventurer together with Sir Sok.”
“You mean she was of the same generation as Sir Sok?”
“That is so. It is said that at the Vatma Ruins, where Banreung Academy was established, they obtained an artifact called the Eye of Ashajit, along with a powerful black grimoire and blood-magic grimoire. With them, Sir Sok became a lich and created the Fimbulhorde, while Griselda became a vampire and then cooperated with the dwarves to form Banreung Academy.”
“As far as I know, Banreung Academy’s history is much longer than the appearance of Sir Sok and the Fimbulhorde.”
“That is because what is generally called Banreung Academy goes back to the time when the dwarf sorcerers formed their organization. You know how much dwarves value history and tradition, do you not? Would such people recognize the time they began cooperating with a vampire as the academy’s origin? They even boast that before the Naga Empire, there was a dwarf empire in Hubris, that an ultra-ancient dwarf civilization ruled the entire world, and that that era goes back as far as forty thousand years.”
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