"Is this, a fragment of Grimslawn?"
Azadin shuddered at the uncanny sensation of the wooden piece in his hand, so warm, almost like living flesh.
"Yes, Grimslawn has chosen you. You are now the new Sky Lord of the Blue Sky Order."
"No, I didn't exactly receive any such revelation though."
Azadin, trying to avoid the overly moved Jiswa, focused his mind.
The wooden fragment in Azadin's grasp, Grimslawn's very body, began to mutate, coiling around Azadin's Moon Horn Bow.
'I only tried it thinking it might work, but it really did?'
Azadin was flustered as he watched Grimslawn's body devour the Moon Horn Bow.
When he drew the newly transformed Moon Horn Bow, it felt stronger than the steel bows of heavy crossbows. For a wooden bow of that size, such overwhelming power should have been impossible.
Moreover, the flexibility was excellent, transferring nearly all the pulling force into the arrow.
"This, is no longer necessary then."
Azadin set down the weighty steel bow. He was certain now, that Grimslawn's Moon Horn Bow would not break.
And Grimslawn's power did not end there. Azadin's Blue Sky Order cudgel gleamed, coated in Grimslawn's sap.
"Seems like it chose the captain. Or maybe, what should I say? Even after sending all its underlings to attack us while we approached, it was caught anyway, so perhaps before the captain burned it to ashes, it decided to submit? Instead of being forced into subjugation, choosing for itself looks far more dignified, doesn't it?"
"It seems like a divine clan of the Nether, but even a fragment of such a being wouldn't be so easily subdued. It must mean, it actually likes me."
Azadin gathered the bow and cudgel, now blessed by Grimslawn, and looked around. The hostility that had once saturated the entire jungle was gone.
"I had originally intended to just rip it out by force, but, well, to think such a miracle would happen."
Jiswa still looked choked with emotion.
"You really do drag miracles around with you. Perhaps the gods, rather like you?"
Even Shati spoke with a touch of envy, but Azadin was indifferent.
"Rather than saying the gods like me, isn't it more that their believers never follow the true teachings and instead only bully others over trivial things?"
"You do bully others too though."
Shati recalled some of the things Azadin had done to others.
"In any case, should we now go speak with the Sky Lord of the Blue Sky Order? You said the Sky Lord was in Bruma?"
"Yes."
"Then, let's head to Bruma."
Azadin turned back, retracing their way out of the black jungle of Kimalhaji, the holy forest.
***
Having secured Grimslawn's fragment safely, Azadin's group decided to return to the County of Kimalhaji in order to make their way to Bruma.
To reach Bruma, one had to travel by road, or else by river and sea. Otherwise, the land would instantly sprout grass and trees, making it impassable.
Perhaps that was why? Azadin's group soon spotted elephants and armed men by the roadside.
"Doesn't look like they have good intentions."
Komosal and his men were there. Around twenty stood openly on the road, while the rest hid in the jungle. Scott, the skilled necromancer, roughly estimated their number.
"About fifty in total. What do we do, captain?"
Currently, their wagon was not being pulled by a corpse abomination, but by a large panther they had found in the jungle.
Sending the panther to charge against so many people was meaningless.
Of course, there was no chance Azadin would lose to them, but his purpose in Bruma was to persuade these people to fight against the Nagas, not to kill and maim them himself.
When allies were too few already, there was no sense in sparking civil strife and causing more losses.
"Let's talk first then. Hey, Komosal! Good to see you, brother!"
When Azadin called out, Komosal scowled.
"Since when have I been your brother?!"
"Wasn't it said that all who follow the Azure Way and wear the blue cords are brothers?"
"That's…"
Doctrine indeed said so, but even the Sky Lord himself discriminated between those born in Bruma and those who were not.
Yet to say openly that the religious leader did the same would sound too petty, so Komosal faltered. Instead, he tried another argument.
"You heretic, you dare defile our sacred ground?"
"I received permission from the Count and Lady Gimela to pass that road, so what's the problem? And heretic? I am a master of the Blue Sky Order."
"Don't make me laugh. You, a master? You are of the Herald Clan, are you not? For one of the Herald Clan to claim to be a master? Even if the Count accepts it, I will not!"
"Is that so? But this doesn't look like it agrees with you."
Azadin lifted the cudgel infused with Grimslawn's power.
"W–what, what is this? Are you trying to provoke me?"
"If your eyes aren't mere knots of wood, you should recognize what this is."
"That's…?"
"It is, a fragment of Grimslawn. Proof that the Ancient Tree of the Swamp has chosen him! He was not subdued by force! He too was struck by lightning like the Sky Lord, and yet he still lives!"
When Jiswa stepped forward and shouted, everyone was startled. Of course, the one most shocked was Komosal.
"Don't be ridiculous, what a lie! This fellow is of the Herald Clan, isn't he?"
"To a god of the Nether, the difference between human races or tribes must be trivial. Wouldn't they care more about one who speaks the Nether tongue well?"
"Y–you insolent wretch, spouting nonsense! You dare to claim the title of false prophet?!"
"…You mean to say I usurp the prophet's name, or that I pose as a false prophet. The way you phrased it makes it sound like I'm admitting to being a false prophet myself, doesn't it?"
"Sh–shut up!"
Komosal, enraged, gestured to his men.
"Yaaaaah!"
Komosal's men charged forward, but Azadin swung and hurled his cudgel.
The cudgel cut through the wind, flying toward the head of the foremost attacker. Startled, the man raised his shield, but the cudgel twisted midair, climbed over the shield, and smashed into the skull of the man behind.
Though he wore a helmet and wasn't killed, the shield-bearer collapsed face-first into the dirt with a single blow.
"No way?!"
And that wasn't all. The cudgel, moving like a living creature, soared back and was sucked neatly into Azadin's hand.
"Wow…"
Azadin, impressed, threw the cudgel again.
Though he sent it flying as if to crush a man's head, the cudgel spun perfectly, its power diminishing midair… and struck with just enough force to knock the man unconscious, then returned to Azadin's grasp.
"A peculiar ability. With that throw, his upper body should have been torn apart."
"What, bastard?!"
Thinking Azadin's words were a joke, one of them lunged forward with his spear.
"He wasn't joking."
Shati caught the spear that thrust at Azadin. The man had dismissed her as a woman trying to block a soldier's spear, but Shati was a naga, whose body even in human disguise weighed more than two strong men. Naturally, her strength was proportionally immense.
"Huh?"
Shati, wielding her naga curved sword, threatened the attacker and wrenched away his spear.
"D–don't be afraid, all of you! The enemy is only…"
"Of the Herald Clan, yes. Do you not know what the Herald Clan is?"
Azadin spoke, then hurled the cudgel once more. And indeed, the cudgel struck with only enough power to knock men unconscious without killing them, felling enemy after enemy, always flying back into Azadin's hand. This was no ordinary enchanted weapon.
Even more, both the cudgel and Azadin's bow radiated an ominous aura. It was something even high-ranking members of the Blue Sky Order could not ignore.
"My god, that's… that's truly the Ancient Tree of the Swamp…"
"A true master, no, a Sky Lord!"
The members of the Blue Sky Order abandoned resistance, dropped their weapons, and knelt before Azadin.
"A m–miracle!"
"We were wrong!"
"What?!"
Komosal was thrown into panic as the very members he had brought surrendered to Azadin.
Once a few had knelt, the rest followed, until all fifty men Komosal had gathered were bowing before Azadin.
"This… this man has bewitched us."
"What should we do?"
The spearmen turned their spearpoints toward Komosal.
"Bring him here, make him kneel. Don't kill him."
At Azadin's words, they rushed in, clubbing Komosal with spear shafts, trampling him, then forced him down on his knees before Azadin.
"Grrgh…"
"Now, Komosal. You dared to drug the brothers of the Blue Sky Order, driving them to frenzy, did you not?"
"That wasn't my decision, it was the Sky Lord's command, I told you!"
"Did you not see the cudgel fly? Grimslawn spared your lives, smashing not your skulls but knocking you out. Do you think such a merciful god would condone such cruelty?"
Of course, one could not judge a being of the Nether by this alone.
Perhaps Grimslawn's cudgel struck without killing, but his bow would surely kill. The cudgel's nonlethal nature might simply exist to serve when a nonlethal weapon was required.
But Azadin, speaking in a voice heavy with authority, preached Grimslawn's mercy and rebuked Komosal.
The members of the Blue Sky Order, who themselves had exploited the weak for power, were moved to tears as they echoed Azadin's solemn condemnation of Komosal.
'Many of these people survived deadly illness, no wonder their devotion to this faith runs so deep. If I establish myself well here, it will be useful when resisting the Nagas' invasion of Bruma. But simply telling them to follow me into Bruma would be dangerous.'
If he marched to the royal capital with such a large group, the king would never see it favorably.
So Azadin wrote a letter.
"Within the next two weeks, a great calamity will strike. When the Naga army assaults Bruma, gather this much food and this number of soldiers. Inscribe this crest upon your banner, beat the drums, and march through the East Gate of Bruma's fortress."
Azadin handed them the letter as if it were prophecy, then raised Komosal to his feet.
"If you disobey, Komosal, you will surely be slain, and your soul will wander forever through the frozen plains of the Wendigo."
"…Ugh."
Suddenly, Komosal shivered violently, chilled to the bone.
In truth, as he spoke of the frozen plains, Azadin had flicked the Wendigo's dagger with his finger, sending its magic into Komosal.
The frigid aura and the presence of the Wendigo, coupled with Azadin's words, conjured visions of a true icy hell.
"Well then."
Leaving a letter with the members of the Blue Sky Order in Kimalhaji as a precaution, Azadin set out for Bruma.
'If Komosal came at me like that, the Sky Lord himself won't be easy to persuade. But if he too was struck by lightning as I was… there may be many techniques that will work.'
Azadin steeled his resolve, determined to persuade the Sky Lord of the Blue Sky Order, or, if necessary, seize the seat of Sky Lord for himself.