Anyone could see that the building was suspicious. Even if the Salvation Knight Order no longer used it, if it had turned into a den for wererats, there had to be a connection.
Given the current situation in Salasma, every building was precious. Even if there was no rain, the structure could provide shelter from the wind and dew for the weak and sick among the refugees. It could be used as a cooking facility for relief efforts or as a ward for treating the ill.
Under such circumstances, there was no reason to leave a building abandoned. Everything pointed to the presence of a Kurt cultist within the Salvation Knight Order.
"Let's rob it."
Azadin said, genuinely regretful.
***
By the riverbank, the wooden building belonging to the Salvation Knight Order appeared shabby on the outside, but it had originally been a wine cellar. The structure had been modified, with the floor and walls dug into the ground, creating a vast underground storage space.
A young man, tapping the ground with a staff, was approaching the entrance of the wooden building.
"You cannot enter."
"This place is under the management of the Salvation Knight Order. It is dangerous inside."
As the young man approached the entrance, those wearing surcoats bearing the emblem of the Salvation Knight Order stepped forward to block his way. Initially, they were tense as they stood guard, but to their surprise, the young man was blind. A large scar ran across his face, splitting both of his eyes horizontally.
"Ah…"
"You seem to have a disability."
The knights of the Salvation Knight Order, realizing he was blind, relaxed their guard.
"What brings you here?"
"Actually, someone over at the old canal told me to deliver this."
The young man spoke as he took something out and handed it to the knights. It was a medallion engraved with the mark of Mezeri— a grotesque talon symbol, carved with human blood and needles.
"They told me that if I found someone to help, I'd be given food, so I brought it…."
The young man subtly hinted at his expectation of a reward. However, the knights of the Salvation Knight Order were flustered.
"This… from the old canal?"
"Yes. There were iron bars, so I couldn't go inside, but someone called me from within and handed me this, saying that if I delivered it here, I'd be rewarded. They said there was a lot to clean up inside and were looking for help."
"Is that all? Did they give you any kind of password?"
"A password? Hmm, I feel like I heard something, but I can't quite recall."
"...."
The knights of the Salvation Knight Order exchanged glances.
"Please wait a moment. Oh, by the way, how many people did they say they needed?"
"They said at least ten."
"At least ten? That many?"
"Yes."
They opened the entrance of the wooden building.
"But we don't have much relief supplies at the moment…."
"If you don't mind, could you step inside and wait while we fetch them?"
A sly expression appeared on the faces of the knights as they spoke.
"What? Inside?"
"Yes. If you wait inside for a moment, we'll bring the relief supplies to you."
"Understood."
The blind young man carefully followed the guidance of the Salvation Knight Order, tapping the ground with his staff as he stepped inside.
Inside the abandoned building, many people were gathered.
"What the hell? I told you not to bring people in. It's broad daylight."
"Oh, this guy's blind. Besides, he says he was asked to come by someone from the underground canal."
"For relief supplies."
"Ah, yes. Special relief supplies. Heh heh."
A knight of the Salvation Knight Order made a mocking gesture behind the blind young man's back.
"Oh, relief supplies. Relief supplies, huh?"
"Fresh meat will be coming in soon, after all. Heh heh."
They were ridiculing the blind young man. He, tapping his staff on the ground as he entered, seemed to glance around nervously.
The entrance was shaped like a hall, and people stood on the second-floor balcony, so from the blind man's perspective, voices would be coming from all directions.
"T-There are quite a lot of people. Are they all Salvation Knight Order?"
"Ah, yes. Our associates."
"But… I hear groaning sounds. Are there injured people here?"
"Yes, we are the Salvation Knight Order, after all. Tending to the wounded and sick is our duty, isn't it?"
They laughed as they spoke. But the people inside were far from wounded or sick.
And then—
"Wait a moment."
Among those seated on the second-floor balcony, one man stood up.
"Ah, Lord Kurven."
"Hey, the guy you brought in— turn his face this way."
"Huh?"
"He looks like someone I know."
"...."
The blind young man clenched his staff, clearly taken aback.
"Yeah… You… Hmm, could you be… Azadin?"
"Ah!"
At that moment, the knight of the Salvation Knight Order who had escorted the blind young man reached for his sword. But the blind young man was faster.
He immediately swung his staff, striking the knight's head, then swiftly ducked down and snatched the knight's sword.
"You bastard!"
"Azadin!"
***
The blind young man's true identity was Azadin, disguised as a pilgrim. Whenever he disguised himself, people naturally let their guard down. That was why Azadin had deliberately feigned ignorance, using the symbol of Mezeri obtained from the wererats, intending to lure out the enemies and defeat them one by one.
"Send ten wererats to the underground canal passage."
By delivering that message and splitting up the enemy forces, he could take them down individually. But to think that there was a fellow Herald among them!
"Hey! Move aside for a moment!"
At that moment, Kurven leaped down from the second floor, landing on the ground floor.
"You've grown a lot, Azadin! I heard you became a Herald, but I never expected you to show up here."
"And you—so you've become a Mezeri cultist? A disgrace to the clan."
"Hmph. What has the Emperor ever done for us, besides placing the Curse of Service on us? Thanks to Mezeri's blessing, I've been completely freed from that curse. Now, if I want to take, I take. If I want to eat, I eat!"
Kurven smirked and slipped claws onto both his hands, blocking Azadin's path.
"Do you remember our childhood? When you crawled under my crotch? Hey! Everyone, watch! I'll take care of this bastard myself!"
Judging from the way he spoke, it seemed that Kurven held a rather high status among them.
Though he wasn't a Herald or a Servant, Kurven had still received systematic training during the Herald selection process. Compared to common swordsmen who later became mercenaries, his skills were undoubtedly on another level.
"So? You betrayed the clan just to indulge in your base desires? How utterly one-dimensional. Pathetic."
"Shut up, Azadin!"
Kurven lunged forward, slashing with his claws. Azadin responded by swinging the sword he had taken from the knight. But Kurven easily trapped the blade between the talons of his claws, blocking it with ease.
"Pathetic! And you call yourself a Herald with this level of skill?"
He twisted, attempting to disarm Azadin, but—
"Huh?!"
Kurven was momentarily flustered.
Even among those with Hubris, he possessed monstrous strength. And now, after becoming a wererat, his physical power has increased even further. Yet, to think that the boy he used to toy with as a child was now resisting him effortlessly?
Azadin grabbed Kurven's wrist.
— 'Beauty of Nature, Azure Lone Pine, Kazas Haeseo!'
Azadin slipped under Kurven and executed a magnificent throw, slamming him into the ground.
Originally, Azure Lone Pine was a magic technique that reversed an opponent's position, sending them crashing down. However, Kazas Haeseo modified it into a direct throw, forcefully driving the opponent into the ground.
The problem was that this throw was absurdly fast and powerful…
— Crack!
By grabbing the opponent's arms and crossing them, Azadin used them as leverage. At that very moment, Kurven's crossed arms snapped.
Kurven, still holding his weapons, was flung into the air before being violently slammed onto the floor.
Startled, he twisted his body midair and tried to land properly using his feet, but Azadin's throw had too much angular velocity. His legs shifted mid-fall, causing one foot to land sideways first.
— Snap!
Kurven's ankle snapped cleanly.
"Arghhh!"
A throw that simultaneously shattered both an arm and an ankle! This was Azadin's Beauty of Nature, Azure Lone Pine.
"You bastard! What kind of Azure Lone Pine is this?!"
Kurven tried to slash at Azadin with his claws, but his weapon was still tightly entangled with Azadin's sword, leaving him unable to make a move.
"Want another one?"
Azadin executed Azure Lone Pine, Kazas Haeseo once more.
With his leg already broken, Kurven couldn't even attempt to break his fall this time. He was slammed into the ground head first.
"Arghhh!"
Kurven crashed to the floor, unable to get up recklessly. Azadin had already tossed aside Kurven's clawed weapon and was now pressing his sword against Kurven's throat.
"Damn it! What the hell are you all doing? Just standing there?! Take care of this bastard!"
Kurven, now weaponless and helpless, scrambled away.
Immediately, other knights and bystanders charged forward.
Their eyes gleamed with a crimson madness as they attacked Azadin. Some had already transformed into wererats and lunged at him.
"Come at me!"
Azadin swung his sword horizontally, instantly decapitating the first wererat that charged at him.
— Crack!
The wererat's head was severed cleanly, and the sword shattered into fragments.
Even executioners sometimes chipped their blades when beheading restrained prisoners, yet Azadin had just cut down a living, moving target in a single stroke. The result was inevitable.
"...."
"Screech!"
However, the impact of that single strike was undeniable.
Even the wererats didn't want to die.
Seeing Azadin decapitate one of them in a single slash, the others hesitated, reluctant to charge in recklessly.
"Hey! His sword is cracked! It's fine, attack!"
Kurven tried to rally the wererats, but they were more focused on the fact that the sword still held its shape.
It was true—the blade wouldn't survive another strike.
Azadin's sword was already fractured.
Moreover, because he had been pretending to be a blind pilgrim, he hadn't carried a spare weapon.
In other words, aside from the sword he had taken from the holy knight disguised as a wererat, he had no backup weapon.
However, even though the iron blade was damaged, none of the wererats wanted to be the one to take the next hit.
"No matter how fast we regenerate…"
"If our heads are severed, it'll only prolong our agony…"
"This bastard's swordsmanship is no joke, either."
What Azadin had displayed just moments ago was swordsmanship at a near-divine level.
His lightning-fast strike had outpaced even a wererat's reflexes, slicing through the vertebrae in an instant.
Seeing the headless wererat's body convulse briefly before going still only sapped their will to fight even more.
And now they were expected to rush in, betting on the fact that his sword might break?
Absolutely not.