From the count's perspective, the female Naga mages were his lovers, and seeing them under attack drove him mad. As he lost his patience and approached Azadin, the arrows Midiam had shot earlier fell from his body.
"Thanks!"
Azadin picked up the arrows from the ground.
"Shaaah!"
"Kyaaak!"
The mummy soldiers blocked the Naga mages with their bodies, shielding them from Azadin's arrows. However, Azadin rushed toward the nearest mummy, kicked off its shoulder, and fired another arrow midair.
"Kyaaah…"
The mage was in bad shape.
"You bastard!"
The enraged count couldn't hold back and charged forward with his weapon, but Azadin dodged between the mummy soldiers. The count swung his weapon indiscriminately, not caring whether the mummies were in his way or not.
-Thwack!
The mummy soldiers were shattered into pieces and sent flying. However, Azadin had already escaped to another side. The agitated count tried to move, but with the large Naga in the underground aqueduct stirring, the mummy soldiers kept getting in his way.
"You're the one destroying your precious mummy soldiers!"
"You insolent wretch!"
The count, furious, lunged again. However, Azadin skillfully used the mummy soldiers to evade, weaving around and avoiding the attacks.
The count struggled to corner Azadin, but Azadin kept slipping away and called out to Midiam.
"Midiam! Can you lower more ropes?"
"Yes!"
"Good, here I go!"
Azadin slung his bow around his body and dashed toward the statue. The enraged count tried to swing his sword, but he hesitated because of the Naga idol. If he attacked recklessly, he would end up destroying it.
"As expected!"
Azadin stepped on the Naga idol and leaped.
-Whoosh!
At that moment, the bronze torch stand in the count's hand came hurtling through the air. The count had timed it perfectly, throwing it just as Azadin jumped. However, Azadin only pretended to make a strong leap before tucking his body down to avoid the torch stand.
"I knew you'd attack on my first jump!"
Azadin taunted the count as he grabbed the rope Midiam had lowered.
"Uwah! A-Are you okay?"
"Can you pull the rope up?"
"Ishmael is… He says it's too heavy!"
Ishmael was gritting his teeth, gripping the well pulley, but the speed at which he pulled was too slow.
"Hey! Ishmael! Just secure the rope!"
"Huh?!"
Midiam was startled by his words. At that moment, the count began chanting a spell to capture Azadin. Blood coalesced into a spear and shot toward him.
"Hup!"
Azadin swung his body while holding the rope, dodging the attack like a giant pendulum.
"You won't escape!"
-Thwack!
One of the blood spears hit Azadin!
"Ah! Azadin!"
Midiam, who was holding the rope a little higher up, was horrified… but Azadin was completely fine, gripping the rope with one hand and holding something in the other.
"This thing is really sturdy. I like it!"
It was the head of a halberd—the same one used by the captain of the guard in the easternmost public stage station. He had gripped it like a tonfa, using it to deflect the incoming blood spear.
"You wretch!"
The count, furious, swung his greatsword and leaped. At that moment, Azadin used the momentum of his pendulum motion to swing toward the wall, then began running along it while still holding onto the rope.
By spiraling up along the wall, he completely evaded the count's charging attack.
"Kraaagh!"
The count's attack missed, and his massive body ended up wedging itself between the idol and the wall.
-Crack!
The idol shattered under the force of the count's body.
"As expected of a descendant of the Yaegas Clan. Even after becoming a Naga, your spirit refuses to yield to the likes of the Kurt Divine Clan! Incredible! You even smashed the Cobra Queen's idol!"
Azadin sneered as he climbed the rope, finally escaping the Bloodbath Chamber.
***
"Uwah!"
Midiam scrambled up the rope and let out a sigh of relief.
"Huff, huff… A-Are you okay, Azadin?"
"Yeah. Thanks to you. If you hadn't come, I'd have been in big trouble."
"I think we're already in big trouble."
Ishmael pointed downward at the count, who had begun crawling up after them.
"Let's run!"
"Y-Yeah!"
As the count hauled his massive body up the wall, cracks began spreading across the Bloodbath Chamber's floor.
Azadin and Midiam retraced their steps, passing through the dissection chamber used for mummy production and arriving at the first floor of the rear annex. There, they found themselves confronted by corpses with blades attached to their hands and feet, moving like puppets on strings.
"What is this?"
These undead marionettes had been created based on the idea of using muscle fibers as power sources to control their limbs. They now threatened Azadin's group.
"What the hell is this now?"
"They weren't here when we came in… The count's palace is swarming with monsters."
Midiam felt uneasy at the sight of new enemies blocking their escape. Somewhere in the darkness, a necromancer was controlling the corpses.
From a hidden position, the unseen mage manipulated their mana, making the marionettes move. The undead puppets spun and advanced, their movements eerily resembling a dance, exuding an ominous air. But Azadin remained calm.
"Got any arrows left?"
"Here."
Ishmael pulled arrows from his quiver and handed them to Azadin. Azadin had instructed them to bring as many arrows as possible, and they had followed his order faithfully.
Besides the quiver, they had even brought bundled arrows in their backpacks, ensuring they had plenty of ammunition. Azadin took the arrows, and following his sight's guidance, aimed at the mage emitting dark mana and fired.
-Swoosh!
The arrow pierced through the light wooden obstacles and struck the mage controlling the marionettes.
"Gah! H-How did you find me? I erased all traces of my presence!"
The enemy screamed, their human form dissolving as they reverted into a Naga. But…
—Swish, swish, swish!
Azadin fired additional arrows, completely blowing off the transforming Naga's head. As the mage died, the undead marionettes collapsed onto the ground.
"Nagas sure are tough. I had to embed this many arrows to take one down. Then, maybe those Naga mages aren't dead after all?"
Azadin contemplated whether he should go back and finish them off. However, that would be an incredibly reckless move.
Even if his return was justified by the cause of saving the refugees, it would be disrespectful to Midiam and Ishmael, who had risked themselves to rescue him.
'I can't just throw away the life they saved.'
Besides, those Naga weren't the only ones who knew the magic to awaken mummy soldiers. Retreating here was the right decision.
"Let's go!"
"Ah, just now, you looked really grateful toward me. Phew, can't be helped. Just like my fellow trainees, you've fallen for me too."
"…What nonsense are you spouting?"
Ignoring Midiam's rambling, Azadin left the rear annex with her.
***
As Azadin emerged outside, the mummy soldiers wandering the grounds spotted them and started to approach. And then…
—Rumble!
The roof of the rear annex collapsed, revealing the count. His upper body alone was the size of an ogre.
"Herald Clan!"
The enraged count swung his greatsword and charged at Azadin. Azadin leaped over the garden's fountain to evade the attack, but…
—Crash!
The fountain, made of terracotta pottery and tiled over, was too fragile to withstand the count's strike and shattered instantly.
—Whoosh!
Azadin rolled and fired an arrow mid-motion, but once again, the count conjured a magical shield, detonating the arrow before it could reach him.
"Useless! You dare to obstruct my ambition!"
"Then it's not useless, is it?"
"What?"
"If your ambition is being obstructed, then it's not useless."
"No, I meant your arrows are… Ah, forget it! I'll tear you to shreds, piece by piece!"
The furious count lunged once more. Azadin raised his left hand and shouted to Ishmael and Midiam.
"Aim for the right eye!"
Then, he threw a few arrows into the air, preparing for rapid-fire.
Midiam and Ishmael understood Azadin's intention and began shooting at the count's left eye instead. Among the Herald Clan, it was standard practice from childhood training to signal and target the opposite of what was called out.
Although Azadin, Midiam, and Ishmael had never formally agreed upon this signal, they instinctively followed it, all aiming for the count's left eye. Azadin unleashed a rapid barrage of arrows toward the same spot.
"This…"
On a dark night, even the eye of a Naga as massive as an ogre was just a tiny target at this distance. However, Midiam and Ishmael's arrows flew with remarkable accuracy, and Azadin's rapid shots were precise beyond measure.
But then, the count opened his mouth, and venom gushed from his fangs like a fountain, washing away the arrows before they could reach him.
"Ah!"
"Dodge it!"
Azadin quickly withdrew, avoiding the venom.
The mummy soldiers swarmed in, but Azadin grabbed one, stripped it of its sword, and hurled its body toward the count's spraying venom.
"Argh! Damn it!"
As Azadin made contact with the mummy, black mana seeped into his hand. Merely touching the undead allowed the curse of weakening to invade his body.
Still, he had successfully avoided and blocked all the venom. On top of that, he had obtained a crude but effective iron-bladed sword—almost more of a battle axe than a sword.
"Grrrghh!"
The count clicked his tongue in irritation. Midiam and Ishmael's arrows had been deflected by his venom, but Azadin's arrows had not lost their momentum, striking around the count's eye.
Azadin's precision was so high that, despite the venom altering the arrows' trajectory, they still struck the area around his eye, piercing through the scales. Since the arrows had been soaked in venom, the toxin was now seeping into his body.
A snake is not immune to its own venom. Most creatures that use hemotoxins are still vulnerable if the toxin enters their bloodstream. The count's massive body ensured he wouldn't die from mere traces of venom on an arrow, but…
His vision was blurring. The venom, seeping into the blood vessels around his left eye, was beginning to impair his vision. If it spread fully, he would undoubtedly lose sight in that eye.
"Damn it! You slippery little rat! You've got some tricks!"
The count, despite his rage, couldn't help but admire Azadin.
Infiltrating this deep, engaging in combat, and yet still managing to evade attacks while continuously launching frustratingly effective counterattacks—this level of endurance and skill was no joke.
Was this truly a man who had rejected the gods? Was this the same Divine King Slayer?
Risking his own life to protect powerless refugees—not even his own people—choosing to fight rather than flee despite having the chance…
'How ironic. A godless heretic, a Divine King Slayer, yet the epitome of chivalry!'
For the sake of defenseless people, he was willing to risk death even those outside his clan.
The other Heralds the count had faced before—Harad and Kebna—had not been like this.
In other words, the count had the misfortune of encountering a rare, truly devout Herald, one who was now standing in the way of his ambitions.