CH 1

Yaegas, the Eight Heavenly Kings.

It was a land ruled by cruel and ancient Gods. The Eight Kings were the saviors who freed the people of the land from the divinity’s rule and placed eight thrones across the continent.

‘When a righteous king ascends the throne, the great ruler’s virtue will illuminate the world under its protection.’

Those who sat on the thrones were considered holders of that great power and were worshiped by all.

But then came a king named Yaeslat.

He defeated the other kings who had been close to him like brothers and took on all eight thrones of the Heavenly Kings for himself. After that, he needed people who would follow his command to kill the Heavenly Gods, Yaegas…

The denizens of the land did not forget the kindness that the Heavenly Kings, Yaegas, had bestowed upon them. They refused to dirty their hands by committing the sinful act of killing God.

At that time, a tribe called the ‘Aragasa’ came from a distant continent on five sailboats that were wrecked during their travels.

The emperor approached these tribes with an offer to become his subordinates. Following this, they agreed to the proposal and murdered the Heavenly God, Yaegas, with no qualms about their sinful act. They did not hesitate to have his holy blood on their hands.

The people called them the messengers of the emperor and called them the ‘Messenger Clan’. People of this race were despised by natives of the land.

When the emperor died, the empire once more became eight kingdoms, each ruled by its kings.

Then the fall of the Messenger Clan came once more.

Once the empire collapsed, those of the Messenger Clan lost all of their authority and were persecuted throughout the land. Among those of the Messenger Clan, two siblings, in particular, were heavily persectured…

They were children of the traitor to the Messenger Clan.

The girl was called Arael.

The boy was called Azadine.

They were key figures of a myth that the Messenger Clan had believed in even before their arrival on this continent.

It was told that the angel of justice, Arael, and the eyeless dragon, Azadine, were locked in a constant battle to defeat and kill each other from the conception of the world to its end.

The hatred the Messenger Clan held for siblings associated with the ‘Battle to Victory and Death’ could only be imagined.

Yet the girl was someone with a distinguished appearance, remarkable abilities, intense magical prowess, and an arrogant attitude. Her existence was something that could not be dismissed nor underestimated.

On the other hand, Azadine was a boy with no eyes and was incompetent from birth.

Martial arts and respect for it increased, turning it into a cruel method of beating the weak and disadvantaged. The world then became an even more merciless and harsh place for the weakest boy in the clan.

Once, when the boy groaned because of the pain of the wounds to his mind and body, someone came to him.

“I see; these ignorant idiots are letting this jewel roll around in this dirt. They don’t even know this kid’s real worth. Tch.”

He stretched out his hand towards the boy.

“You should be happy, kiddo. I, the great Kazas, have chosen you as my disciple. I’ll turn you into the strongest messenger.”

“Eh?”

“What’s with the ‘Eh?’ huh? You should be crying tears of joy and gratitude right now. I don’t just take in disciples every other day. This is a rare opportunity.”

“By the strongest messenger, you mean even stronger than Arael?”

“Of course, you need to beat your older sister to become the strongest messenger, don’t you?

“Um, she’s not older than me. She’s my little sister.”

“Huh, look at this gutsy punk. Do I need to know every little detail about you? Let go of the little stuff. So, tell me, will you be my disciple? Or not?”

“Can I become a Rescue Knight too?”

Despite being a member of the messenger clan, the boy had great reverence for the Rescue Knights.

The Rescue Knights practiced the virtues of courage, wisdom, and mercy. They also used the strength of their pure magic spells to help those in need without any discrimination. The boy’s faith in the rescue knights was his mental support. It helped him endure the cruel torment he suffered at the hand of others.

“Rescue Knights? Those idiots? Of course, you can become one. Though I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Word began to spread. Elder Kazas was famous, but he was a mystery to the people who only knew of his name. It didn’t take long before rumors that Kazas had taken in an eyeless, incompetent, and powerless disciple spread across the holy land.

Those of the Messenger Clan were quite curious about the details and showed a lot of interest, but as the years passed, little news came from it.

Then, after 10 years.

Elder Kazas used his authority to forcefully appoint Azadine as one of the 108 without following proper procedure.

Within a single generation, only 108 people could become the ‘Emperor’s Messengers’, a position of both honor and a curse to the people of the clan.

Countless people would expend great effort and compete with others. Yet even those would remain unsure of taking up the position of an Emperor’s Messenger. That was why fierce opposition came from the public when the incompetent Azadine was forcefully made a messenger.

But that no longer mattered by then, as Azadine was already on his way to the southeastern frontier alongside the others of the 108.