The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 202

159. The Book of Nightmares (1)

“You’re asking me to teach *them*?”

Nine Darhon retorted, sounding incredulous.

“You’re not going to just stand by, are you?”

“I’m not exactly standing by. I’ll be dissecting the Book of Nightmares. I’m doing harder work than anyone. You should be grateful.”

“Even if I wanted to teach, how can I teach someone who can’t even wake up?”

He pointed to the fallen Mikhail.

“He’ll wake up soon. Just wait a bit.”

“…You’re good with words.”

“And even if you capture the Dust of Emptiness, if you can’t control the Book of Nightmares, the rift will just open again. You may have cast a 7th Circle sealing spell, but Duat [an ancient Egyptian concept of the afterlife] was sealed by a god himself. Do you really think mere human magic can hold back a Spirit King?”

Nine Darhon bit his lip at Carryl’s words.

“It’s not that I *couldn’t* capture it, but leaving the Dust of Emptiness alone and maintaining the Book of Nightmares as it was, was the right thing to do. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even be alive right now.”

It was nothing short of humiliating.

Each word pierced him like an awl, but Nine Darhon couldn’t deny that they were all true.

*To think that he, a great mage who had lived for so long, was being scolded by this little brat…*

“Honestly, because of the vampire blood flowing through the Darhon family, I even had some expectations that you might be a comrade of Kaie Esser’s…”

“Kaie Esser? Don’t tell me… you’re talking about that impudent dragon hunter.”

“You speak as if you’ve actually seen him. Are you really one of Kaie Esser’s remaining comrades?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Nine Darhon scoffed at Carryl’s words.

“Or are you perhaps going to say you’ve been alive since the Magic Era or something?”

“Think what you want. But I have a guess as to who you’re looking for. One of those two was a necromancer.”

“You know their identities? Do you perhaps know about the other one too?”

Carryl’s eyes widened as he spoke.

“I know. Those three once sought out Antihum.”

“Why?”

Nine Darhon replied to his question with a triumphant look, as if he had been waiting for it.

“Who said it? To make a deal, you have to pay a fair price. If you’re curious, deal with the Dust of Emptiness first.”

Carryl chuckled in disbelief at his words.

“You should know who you’re dealing with. If you don’t want to talk, fine. It’s not like we’re desperate.”

“…”

“Just so you know, that Dust will gradually split and increase in number. And if you attack it wrong… boom!”

Nine Darhon’s shoulders flinched at Carryl’s words.

“There will be an explosion in the area, so think carefully. If things go wrong, the village will be devastated.”

Nine Darhon swallowed hard at his words and let out a low sigh.

“Haa, fine. I give up. I give up. You’re doing this because you know I can’t handle it alone anyway.”

Carryl smirked at his words.

“Are you really the king of a nation? I can’t find any dignity in you, and your actions are completely those of a thief.”

“It hasn’t been long since I became king, so I don’t know much about royal dignity, but I’ve seen quite a few kings, and even the emperor of the Empire isn’t dignified. Rather, he’s the biggest thief of them all.”

“The way you talk… you’re not really a teenager, are you? Do you have a dragon or something hidden inside that shell? In the first place, that dragon magic power…”

“Think what you want.”

Nine Darhon frowned slightly as Carryl repeated his earlier words.

“Well, let’s figure out about Kaie Esser later. As you said, let’s deal with the things here first. Tell me, where did you get this from?”

Carryl asked the question he had since entering Antihum.

Just like the Flame King Raminu, the Dark Duat hadn’t been discovered in his previous life either.

However, in Raminu’s case, it was known that the essence of his power was in the lair of the Flame Dragon Riceria.

On the other hand, he didn’t even know the existence of the 2nd Wilderness.

If he hadn’t met Alun Zavius at the Gray Academy in this life, he wouldn’t have known.

*Considering that Antihum was already in ruins during the process of fulfilling the Divine Mandate, Nine Darhon must have obtained the Book of Nightmares, which contained the Dark Duat, in his previous life as well.*

But he couldn’t use it properly and was instead consumed by the darkness.

*Perhaps he realized it when the Divine Mandate was given and Parel came out into the world.*

That the Dust he created was the same as the corruption that was destroying the world.

*He must have thought that the Book of Nightmares was the same kind of power, so he sealed the book deep within Antihum forever.*

As a result,

In his previous life, he couldn’t draw out the power of Duat.

It was a pity.

Of course, if he had an item with the power of corruption in his hands, he would have done the same as Nine Darhon.

*If I hadn’t met Alun Zavius, that is.*

Light and darkness.

Powers that were the same as the divine power of creation and destruction, but completely different entities.

*If he hadn’t sealed that power, but instead opened it, the outcome of the Divine Mandate War might have changed.*

But he had no intention of blaming Nine Darhon.

His actions were also born out of a desire to protect the world.

“I got it from Heim.”

“…? !”

At that moment,

Carryl doubted his ears at Nine Darhon’s words.

“What did you say?”

“It sounds strange that I, who uses black magic, have ties to the Order [likely referring to a religious or knightly order]. It’s a natural reaction.”

Nine Darhon nodded with an indifferent expression at his words.

“You shouldn’t necessarily think that the Order is related to the Dawn Society. The Order and the Magic Society both consider magic power a blessing.”

“But not the Immortal Society. You were trying to create a rift with the power of darkness, weren’t you? That’s literally challenging the power of God.”

“It’s like two sides of the same coin. Just because one side is right doesn’t mean the other side is wrong. We are approaching God in a different way.”

“So the Order supported your research. Is that what you’re saying?”

Nine Darhon nodded at Carryl’s words. But with an uneasy expression, Carryl said disapprovingly.

“You have to say it right.”

“What?”

“It wasn’t the Order that gave you that Book of Nightmares, it was Wooden Cloud you met in Heim.”

Nine Darhon looked genuinely surprised at Carryl’s words.

“Huh… This is… You know all sorts of things. How do you even deduce such a result?”

“Well, I’m somewhat related to that side.”

The person most closely related to the Order was the Emperor. But the Emperor and Wooden Cloud were not exactly hostile, but anyway, the Principality was involved, so they were awkward opponents.

If the Order had handed over such an important item to the Immortal Society, the court mage from the Dawn Society would not have stood still.

*The Order has its own skills. They are contacting Wooden Cloud without the Emperor’s knowledge. Or is it more accurate to say that Wooden Cloud is taking root in the Order first?*

He was one of the few people who knew that Wooden Cloud and the Order were intertwined in the history of the Principality’s dukes.

But Carryl said with a look of renewed ignorance, as if grumbling.

“But what the hell are those guys doing? There’s no place on the continent they haven’t reached out to. They’re leading the Principality’s war, and even the Order?”

In fact, he already knew that the Order was related to Wooden Cloud.

Moreover, he even knew the future that after the Principality was destroyed, they would create a fanatical group called Blue Lore in the form of the Order.

“I have nothing to tell you either. The bishop of the Order just made me an offer.”

“Hmm…”

*Those guys hid the power of the 2nd Wilderness. The best place to seal Duat is the Immortal Society, and it’s a power that Nine Darhon can’t help but be interested in… Even if something happens, they can blame the Immortal Society.*

Cunning bastards.

*Then… they might know the whereabouts of Larcis of Light besides the Duat of Darkness.*

Carryl thought that he had to decide whether to destroy the Order or investigate Wooden Cloud again in order to obtain Larcis.

“It’s a headache.”

It wasn’t a concern about which place to stir up.

He felt that all his plans had been moving according to his thoughts since his regression in his previous life, but the only thing he hadn’t been able to get a proper handle on was Wooden Cloud.

*I’ve left it to Camma, but… I might not get a big harvest. The Order has deep ties with the Emperor of the Empire. In other words, Wooden Cloud is the only one on the continent that encompasses both the Principality and the Empire. It’s more dangerous than I thought.*

He didn’t think Camma would die or anything, but he was worried that his greed might get him too involved.

*Karl Mc is with him, so it’ll be okay.*

Carryl knew that there was no point in worrying about someone who wasn’t there anyway, so he shook his head and shook off his thoughts.

“I don’t know what your relationship is with those guys, but I really don’t know either. This is almost the first time I’ve contacted Wooden Cloud.”

“I’m not trying to blame you. I’m just asking because I’m curious. If you have anything strange or remember anything, I’d appreciate it if you could tell me.”

Wooden Cloud was already deeply rooted in the continent anyway. Even if he got something now, he didn’t know if he could deal with them.

“Well, if there’s anything I remember… there’s one thing I can tell you.”

“What is it?”

“The child who brought me this book had a unique appearance. She was a young girl, but her eyes were Odd Eye [meaning each eye was a different color].”

Carryl let out a low sigh, as if disappointed at Nine Darhon’s words.

“What’s so special about that? It looks like the blood of the Empire and the immigrants is mixed together. There are many such people in Tatur.”

“I’ve seen more of those hybrids than you have. Would I find that special?”

“…Then?”

“One eye was silver.”

“If it’s silver… an elf?”

Carryl’s eyebrows twitched at his words. But soon he regained his composure and said with a low sigh.

“It is true that elves are now known to be extinct. But it has not been confirmed whether they have completely disappeared. Anyway, a race that lived in the past. That blood may continue.”

Carryl did not tell him about the story of the Elven Kingdom that Nar Di Maugh had told him in his previous life.

He had told Jarka Hochi about the Elven Kingdom that might still exist, but he didn’t need to tell him, who was human.

“And the other one was gold.”

“…”

But as soon as he finished speaking, Carryl’s face completely hardened.

As if he couldn’t think of any excuses or reasons, Carryl swallowed hard without realizing it.

“You know what that means, right?”

“The meaning of gold. It means that the blood is not of a race living on the ground.”

“…Nephilim [a being of combined human and celestial lineage].”

“Yes. Two races blessed by God. The elves of the earth and the Nephilim of the sky. It means that child is a hybrid with the blood of both in her body.”

Nine Darhon said with satisfaction at Carryl’s hardened face for the first time.

“You can make that expression too. You must have been very surprised? Well, to put it another way… it means she’s not human.”

“Do you know who it is?”

“Well. She just introduced herself when she gave me the book.”

Nine Darhon said in a low voice.

“Rael.”

Crack–!!

At that moment, Carryl unknowingly put strength into the hand holding the Book of Nightmares.

“Rael… I’m finally hearing that name.”

With his lips twitching, he unknowingly raised the corners of his mouth.

“Nephilim. So she inherited the blood of those bastards I want to tear apart and kill. No wonder. Otherwise, she wouldn’t do such crazy things.”

Who was Rael?

She was the last mastermind of Wooden Cloud, whom no one had ever seen in her true form and was shrouded in mystery, the leader of the Blue Lore Order, and the person Carryl was so eager to find.

“…? You speak as if you know her?”

“Nine Darhon. That’s not trivial information.”

Just knowing that she was a young girl and that she was a child of a different race was an enormous harvest.

“Cough…!! Cough!!”

It was then.

Mikhail, who had been lying down, woke up with a pale face, coughing.

“Mikhail!!”

Serica hurriedly supported him.

“As you said. He passed the test without his mind collapsing inside the Book of Challenges for a day.”

“Of course.”

Carryl nodded.

“We should end the small talk here. Nine Darhon, that guy finally imposed his will. Now it’s your turn.”