-Thwack!
Doneor's blade missed Azadin, and Azadin's kick shattered Doneor's ribs, driving them into his lungs and liver.
The picture-perfect scene of evasion and counterattack left those watching in awe.
"Ugh!"
And it forced the last breath of air from Doneor's punctured lungs.
"Ghhk… impossible."
Just moments ago, Doneor had been intoxicated with the superiority and omnipotence that violence brought him.
'I thought this time would be different….'
In the past, Doneor had shrunk before Azadin's power and the name of the Herald Clan. Now, having grown stronger, he thought it would be different if he fought—but somehow Azadin overflowed with the power of king's virtue, making their compatibility even worse than before.
Every strike brought excruciating pain, as if his whole body was being burned alive.
"As expected of our captain."
Scott simply stretched his legs out and watched from behind.
"Damn it!"
"Save the boss!"
His underlings rushed to save Doneor.
The thugs transformed into writhing masses of countless maggots, like flies swarming a week-old corpse, and lunged at Azadin. But Azadin drew his Azure Steel longsword and swung it one-handed.
The blue sword light cleanly bisected the monsters rushing him.
Had it been an ordinary steel blade, it would never have withstood such immense force, but the Azure Steel longsword split a monster's arm vertically and remained unscathed.
"What!?"
Then Azadin whipped his cloak, striking the severed cross-sections of the swarm, and followed with a palm strike. With the sound of a dull drumbeat, the insects exploded all at once.
"Ghhhk!"
And that was not the end.
A thief struck through Azadin's cloak staggered, then suddenly his whole body erupted in white flames.
"Uaaaah!"
"Wha, the light of king's virtue?!"
The light of king's virtue charged within Azadin's body was burning them alive.
"...!"
Doneor's gang, who had believed themselves to be immortal, found this attack just as fatal.
The omnipotence and superiority that had ruled them vanished in an instant, replaced by fear and shock.
'Hoo. This power is overflowing, huh?'
Meanwhile, Azadin himself was surprised. The Beauty of Nature, Kazas Haeseo, had grown far too powerful.
Thanks to continuous mana supply through the copy of the Book of the Divine King, the Beauty of Nature, Kazas Haeseo—which had always been a raging flame—had now become a torrent devouring everything with immense power and ferocity.
'To be honest, the stronger it gets, the harder it is to control….'
That was why facing enemies and unleashing the power like this was actually easier for Azadin. If he stayed still, the torrent boiling inside him felt as if it would rip him apart from within.
Kazas Haeseo, a technique that forced multiple grimoires or incomplete grimoires like Azadin's to run rampant, became harder to control the stronger it grew.
But to outsiders who knew nothing of his circumstances, Azadin appeared nothing short of a reaper.
"Uaaaah!"
Doneor's men lost their fighting spirit and began to flee.
But Azadin wrapped a page of the copy of the Book of the Divine King around an arrow and loosed it at the retreating men, striking them true.
"Ghhhk!"
White flames erupted, engulfing Doneor's gang.
The flames clung like flaming tar, and when they tried to pull the arrow free, the sticky fire spread to their hands, burning them alive as they screamed and died.
"Good. I was uneasy about letting the bastards who killed Sir Brand's family live, but to think you'd come seeking me yourselves."
Azadin strode toward Doneor, who neither resisted nor fled.
"On top of that, you captured me and even tried to torture me!"
Shati added. Doneor, hearing that, grew indignant.
'That naga! You didn't even torture him properly! No—wait, why the hell is this lunatic bringing a naga along? A herald of the Emperor?'
But then a flash of lightning struck his vision. Azadin had struck his face again.
"Keep your eyes honest. What kind of expression is that? Considering your crimes, I should take my time torturing you to death, but I'm in a hurry and don't have the luxury…."
"W-wait. L-let's make a deal!"
"Is there a reason I should spare you? Even as a human, you ate flesh and mocked people. Now that you've become a monster, there's absolutely no reason to let you live."
"If I die, Sir Zekt will know."
"Ah… is that all? If you want to live, show a little more sincerity."
Though Azadin's expression was hidden by his helm to avoid notice, his voice carried clear disappointment.
"W-we, we've hidden loot and supplies from our raids."
"..."
Doneor had thrown the words out without much thought, but they made Azadin pause.
'Hoh? This bastard….'
Doneor was flustered by the unexpected reaction.
"Fine, so you've hidden them. But for loot like that, your crimes are too severe for me to let you live."
"T-then, Bruma Kingdom will soon be attacked. How about that?"
"Where did you learn this?"
"From ogres we killed just recently. Followers of the Kurt Divine Clan plan to raid Bruma! Ah, yes. If you want, I can even lead you to the battlefield where we fought their ogre army!"
"Ogres?"
Azadin's heart sank at the word.
He already knew the Naga Empire was preparing to attack, but ogres too, attacking Bruma Kingdom?
'If he had just claimed the Naga Empire was coming, I'd have killed him outright. But ogres said this? Then I need to know more. Killing him here might have been a disaster.'
If true, the situation was dire indeed.
"Good. Lead the way."
Azadin ordered Doneor thus, then drew out the copy of the Book of the Divine King and wrapped it around the hilt of his Azure Steel longsword, Bluey.
Then he strode toward the remaining survivors of Doneor's gang.
-Swish!
The blue sword light slashed their torsos in a cross, and white flames erupted from their bodies.
"!!"
"Urgh?!"
"Th-this…."
As the white flames rose, they collapsed.
"Leaving just one alive will make things easier to manage."
"..."
"These men were vicious killers who indulged in cannibalism within the territory of Count Lantarik. Long ago, I received the order from the current Count Guillaumevalt himself to carry out their execution, so this is the rightful exercise of law."
Azadin declared thus to the astonished onlookers, then pointed his sword at Doneor.
"Lead the way."
"..."
Doneor clicked his tongue inwardly at Azadin's stance.
With such a justification, survival would not be easy. Even if he gave up information and treasure, escaping alive would be nearly impossible.
'Not that I can refuse. If I do, he'll kill me painfully right here.'
Clinging to the faintest hope, Doneor guided Azadin.
***
The bandits of this region, who had come to target Doneor's gang, now felt their revenge complete, and were preparing to bid farewell to Azadin.
"Thank you for killing that monster."
"Now that we've avenged our fallen comrades, we'll be taking our leave."
"There are wounded among us, too."
Some had been injured while fighting Doneor's men. At that moment, Azadin gestured to Shati.
"Shati. Heal them."
"Huh? Are you serious?"
Shati asked back in disbelief.
To anyone's eyes, they were nothing but a bandit rabble.
They had been useful to observe Doneor's gang's fighting style and abilities, but there was no bond deep enough to warrant healing them.
Her green magic could trigger regeneration without a catalyst, rapidly closing wounds, but it was not something to be given out freely.
"I plan to hire them."
"What?"
The bandits turned in surprise toward Azadin.
"Forgive my late introduction. I am Adan, Taoist Master of the Blue Sky Order."
"..."
Shati's face twisted, as though she were staring at a grilled mushroom left out in the air for five days.
'Taoist Master of the Blue Sky Order, really… When he was offered the position he looked suspicious, yet now he shamelessly uses the title.'
"As you can see, many seek the teachings of the Blue Sky Order, and I need men to guard them. What say you?"
"A-and what is the pay?"
"One silver coin per day, and healing magic."
"..."
A silver coin per day was the standard starting wage for a mercenary.
These men wore plate armor on their chests and fought with notable skill, so they could be considered Doppelsöldners, elite soldiers who earned twice the pay of common troops.
"Couldn't you raise the pay a bit more?"
"We have many mouths to feed. That's hard to do. Besides, maybe you're fine now, but if those worms burrow into your wounds you'll end up like those creatures. Think about the cost of healing magic."
"..."
The bandits flinched, looking at Doneor's men still burning to death.
To be infected through their wounds and end up like that? The value of healing magic could not be measured in coin.
'As if. My green magic doesn't negate nether magic at all.'
Shati didn't know what expression to make at Azadin's bluff.
"Ah, understood."
The bandits agreed to Azadin's offer of employment.
***
Shati healed the wounds of the bandits. As expected, there was no trace of nether infection.
But traveling with Azadin had rubbed off on her—she managed to feign concern with a well-placed lie.
"That was close."
"O-oh… really?"
"Yes. Had the treatment been even a little late, your bodies would have rotted away in agony until…."
With a sorrowful expression, she cautiously gestured toward the still-burning corpses.
The bandits, captivated by Shati's beauty, shuddered at the gruesome deaths of Doneor's gang, and were completely enthralled by her. To those who had narrowly avoided a terrible fate, Shati seemed a goddess who had saved their lives.
'Well done.'
Watching from a distance, Azadin retrieved the copy of the Book of the Divine King he had used, then drove Doneor forward.
After about two hours of walking, they crested a hill, and before them lay a staggering number of corpses. Ogres bearing the banner of the King of Fang were strewn dead in ruin.
"By the heavens…."
The bandit-mercenaries and the Blue Sky Order members were horrified by the sheer number of bodies, the massive scale of the army. All of them turned to look at Doneor anew.