Elder Sebali warned Azadin.
"Arael… isn't to be taken lightly. I do not want you, who defeated me, to throw away your life for such a reckless act. Isn't there any way to reconcile? From the looks of it, it doesn't seem like you're doing this out of loyalty to the Elder Council."
"..."
"Of course, I understand. You're doing this because of your pride and philosophy. But if there's one thing you learn after living a long life, it's that you don't need to stake your life on ideals or ideology. Simply living by instinct isn't something to be condemned."
"That's exactly why I must stop this foolishness of tampering with the old gods of the Nether."
"Even though the whole of Aragasa longs for it? If you go through with this, you won't find a place anywhere. As you can see from the fact that I'm here, the Elder Council will eventually recognize Arael's faction. We've reached the stage where agreement is possible—so long as the Arael's faction grants a certain level of privilege to the Five Great Houses. Even so, you'll continue?"
Surprisingly, Sebali was genuinely concerned for Azadin. If not, why would he bother saying any of this?
Though Arael had led a rebellion, the Elder Council would come to acknowledge it. In other words, resisting Arael's vision was tantamount to resisting all of Aragasa.
And he was warning Azadin of that.
"First, thank you for your concern."
Azadin expressed his gratitude to Sebali.
"No, no. Since you've bested me, now my honor rests on your shoulders."
"I doubt that's the only reason you're sharing such valuable insight."
"I, too, once dreamed of unity with the people of Hubris. After all, the blood of the Emperor runs in our veins. I believed we could truly come together."
"..."
Even a stubborn elder who once seemed beyond reasoning had once been a young man dreaming of ideals. But the hatred Aragasa held toward the people of Hubris ran so deep that even brilliant minds were shrouded in a fog of hate.
"I'm worried all of Aragasa will turn against you."
"Is there really no one left with a conscience?"
"Haha. You truly are like Aldis. They say Aldis cherished you deeply—and it shows. Well, I'm the defeated one. Do as you will."
"Understood."
In the meantime, Azadin arrived at the Coral Sahar royal castle.
The lowlands had flooded, and the outer gates were submerged above a man's height—the outer castle had already fallen to the Nagas, and the humans inside had retreated to the inner castle.
Many Nagas seemed to have died, with countless corpses floating on the surface, but it was crystal clear that Coral Sahar stood on the brink of collapse.
"So, what now?"
"I'll infiltrate the castle and request an audience with the King of Korasar. In addition, I'll likely have to deal with Arael's agents sabotaging things from within."
"And what about me?"
"I'll release you. I can't exactly bring you over the wall with me."
"Is that alright? If you let me go, I'm no longer a meaningful hostage…"
"If you understand honor, please make sure they don't harm my companions."
"That's all you ask of me?"
"Yes."
With that, Azadin truly did release Elder Sebali.
"You're a hard man to pin down."
"Then I leave it to you."
With those words, Azadin left Elder Sebali behind and sprinted alone toward the castle wall.
The Sea Snake Nagas were startled, but Azadin shouted that he was of the Herald Clan, then launched himself up the soaked outer wall and climbed it easily, leaping over and entering the castle.
***
The Coral Sahar Castle was a masterpiece of contemporary fortress construction, possessing immense defensive capability.
Built atop coastal cliffs to oversee the Kora River delta, it was virtually impossible to approach from the water.
From the land side, one had to face three horrific layers of walls. These triple walls were normally connected by drawbridges that allowed movement along the wall tops, but when the bridges were retracted, attackers were forced to spiral their way in at the base—an utter nightmare for any invading force.
However, due to constant torrential rain, parts of the castle's ramparts had grown vulnerable, and Aragasa agents—moving across the walls like flat ground—easily infiltrated and opened the gates.
Then the Naga forces, who could move freely through both water and land, swarmed in, and the defenders lost the outer wall far too easily.
Two inner walls still remained, but Herald Clan agents were attacking day and night, loosing arrows and vanishing, driving everyone to the brink of exhaustion.
And once that fatigue had set in, problems began to arise.
"Ughhh!"
"I-It's coming!"
Weary soldiers were clawing at their own faces, drawing blood.
Whenever they tried to sleep, they were plagued by nightmarish visions of madness.
And every single one of them, when placed as lookouts atop the walls, would claim to see a massive monster from the sea staring down at them.
"N-No!"
"The god of the Nether is coming!"
"Please, save me!"
Whenever someone snapped from the madness and began acting out, it took several other soldiers to subdue them—wearing everyone else down even further.
"This is insane. I mean, I shouldn't say that in front of actual lunatics, but damn—I almost want to go crazy too!"
"Shit. But even I… sometimes think I see the shadow of a giant out at sea when the lightning flashes."
"Don't look. It's because your mind's weakening. Just hang in there. Reinforcements will come. They sent a courier to request help, and with how many traders used to come and go, there's no way we've been forgotten."
Just then, a strange young man stood atop the inner wall.
"Huh?"
"Reinforcements?! Is that reinforcements?!"
The soldiers, their minds broken by the relentless siege, believed the sudden newcomer to be their salvation.
After repeated infiltration attacks by the Herald Clan, they should have assumed anyone climbing the wall was one of them—but everyone had been so obsessed with the idea of reinforcements that they wanted to believe it.
"Reinforcements, my ass! That's a Herald!"
The squad leader, still retaining a shred of sanity, immediately recognized the intruder for what he was. At first, he thought the man wore a helmet—but on closer look, it was a mask.
"He's wearing a mask! That's a real Herald, alright!"
"Wait."
The young man atop the wall raised his hand.
"I'm not here to fight. I came to talk."
"What the hell? Aren't you a Herald?"
"I am. But I want an audience with the King of Korasar."
"D-Don't be ridiculous."
The Heralds were also the most elite assassins. So when one of them asked to meet the king, of course they had no choice but to refuse.
"Disarm yourself! If you lay down your weapons…"
But the young Herald paid no mind to the order to disarm and suddenly sat down where he stood.
"Huh? T-This bastard!"
"What the hell?!"
The soldiers were flustered by the unexpected behavior of the young man.
The youth ignored their raised weapons and pointed to his mask.
"Judging by your gear, you're not a knight, just a sergeant, right? You don't have the authority to disarm me. Go report to your superiors. I'll be waiting here until they decide. Hurry."
"W-What?! You arrogant—!"
The squad leader was outraged that this Herald ignored his disarm command, but when the Herald snapped his fingers, the rain scattered through the air, and a skin-cutting wind surged toward him.
"Urgh!?"
"It wasn't easy getting this far either. Let me rest a bit."
Saying that, the young Herald pulled out field rations from his coat and began eating.
"Uh."
Eating in front of an opponent is a clear signal that one has no intention to fight. The soldiers, already hesitant to engage, lost what little tension remained at the sight.
"Go get someone to watch me and report back."
"…And you? What should I tell them?"
"I am Azadin, the 108th Herald of the Emperor. I belong to a faction opposing the Arael group attacking you."
"..."
"The Herald Clan is not united. We're engaged in a power struggle of our own. You get what I mean, right?"
"U-Understood. For now, got it."
They listened to the young Herald, stationed guards around him, and withdrew.
***
'Good. They're listening. Looks like they've fought the Herald Clan before.'
Azadin knew well that the sergeant was afraid of him.
When the outer walls were lost, the sergeants and knights had already suffered through the assassination tactics of the Herald Clan and had firsthand knowledge of their combat ability. That was why they trembled the moment they saw him.
On top of that, as the power of the Nether grew, the soldiers' condition had worsened considerably.
In such a state, they'd want to avoid battle if they could. Since Azadin didn't show any signs of attacking first, they had no reason to provoke him either.
That talk about disarming him was just posturing.
"But things really are dire."
While eating his rations, Azadin noticed a soldier staring at him. A boy who looked far too young for the battlefield, wearing a helmet too large for him, was watching Azadin while sucking on his finger.
"Want something to eat?"
"…Yeah."
Azadin handed him a ration, and the boy snatched it and crammed it into his mouth. Other soldiers rushed over, begging for food as well, and Azadin was caught off guard.
'What if I'd laced this with poison or something? Don't tell me… their supply lines are cut?'
Whether it was poisoned or not, the fact that they were so desperate for food meant… their supply lines had been severed, and they were short on rations.
Unbelievable.
Even if royal castles are rarely besieged, they're typically stocked with at least a year's worth of provisions. There's no way they'd already run out with the siege just beginning.
"It's not the food that's gone. We're out of fuel."
"Ah."
So, they couldn't cook anything due to a lack of firewood.
Just then, a messenger from Coral Sahar Castle approached Azadin.
"Your audience has been granted. However… large weapons are not permitted."
"Alright."
Azadin laid down the Naga curved blade he had strapped to his back.
"And your bow…"
"Sure."
Azadin also set down his metal bow—originally a component of a heavy crossbow, it was incredibly heavy.
When the soldiers and knights accompanying the castle's messenger tried to casually take the metal bow from Azadin, they were caught off guard by its weight and dropped it on the wall, where it clanged with a thunderous metallic boom.
The soldiers recoiled in shock at the sound.
'He carried that up the wall?'
'Is this guy a monster? Is it even possible for a human to draw that?'
Though Azadin had set aside his primary weapons, he still had the Wendigo dagger, the halberd head from the city guard captain, and throwing knives.
Fortunately, the messenger and the knights didn't ask for those.
"Then please, come with us."
"Sure."
Azadin followed their lead and passed through the inner wall. Coral Sahar, with its multiple walls, still had another inner stronghold inside, and as they moved deeper, Azadin saw many refugees along the way.
'Disease is spreading.'
People who had come out of flooded areas were suffering from a condition that caused their skin to rot. Because the ground was submerged and there were few places to take shelter, those infected were forced to live and sleep alongside the healthy—spreading what wasn't even a contagious disease, but a skin infection, to everyone around them.