The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 235

176. The Qualification of a Great Warrior

“Alright, alright! Let’s get things sorted out quickly!”

As the sun rose, Tatur, like everywhere else, was bustling with preparations for the morning.

The central building of Tatur, which housed the administrators, was busy with people starting to clean.

“Hngh… H-Hik?!”

But the commotion was short-lived.

The servants, passing through the hallway, saw the jet-black figure and screamed in surprise, running away.

[Hmph…]

Arhn Zaviuz scoffed at them.

It wasn’t just him.

As if they had stayed up all night, prominent figures of Tatur stood densely in the hallway, even before the earliest-rising servants.

“Don’t do anything today and keep people away. Absolutely no disturbances around here.”

“Yes, yes. I understand.”

The head butler nodded hastily at Dushalra’s words and hurried the servants down the stairs.

“Will it be alright? It’s been almost a full day…”

Israfil, standing nearby, cautiously voiced his concern.

At his words, everyone’s gaze turned to Arhn.

Suhan, Mikhail, Kinu, Beykan, and so on…

Many people were waiting in front of the door with tense faces.

[I don’t know either. Since I don’t know what’s inside the box, I can’t judge whether it’s dangerous or not. But what’s certain is that the Platinum Dragon told us never to open it.]

“The Platinum Dragon…? Are you perhaps referring to Nard Di Maugr?”

[Yes.]

“Are you saying that the box the Lord is opening now belongs to the Platinum Dragon?”
Mikhail asked cautiously.

[Maybe. Maybe not.]

“What does that mean…?”

Millyana asked with a slightly annoyed voice at the ambiguous answer.

[I told you, I don’t know. It could be something that guy left behind, or something he’s trying to hide.]

Arhn interrupted her.

[If you’re curious, listen to him directly.]

“……!!”

“……!!”

As soon as his quiet words ended, everyone seemed to sense something and quickly turned their heads towards the door.

Kuuuung—!!

The entire building suddenly began to shake, and the walls began to crack with a creaking sound.

“Everyone, get back!!!”

Suhan, who was standing behind, jumped forward, crossing his arms and colliding his gauntlets together.

Wuuuung……!!

With a sound like bronze resonating, Kaldwan’s gauntlets trembled, and a hemisphere like a stone wall was created, centered around Suhan.

Unlike shields made with magic, it looked like it was made from natural materials, like the stones that made up the building.

Kwaddeudeuk……!!

Kwagang……!

At the same time as his shout, a strong impact occurred.

With the sound of air exploding, the stone wall created by Suhan shattered into pieces.

Feeling a tingling pain in both arms, he quickly turned around.

“Don’t make such a fuss. There’s no one here who would run away from something like this.”

However, unlike him, who was full of tension, Millyana said, kicking the debris of the broken door with her foot.

When Suhan turned his head, the people standing behind him were standing there as if nothing had happened.

“…….”

Suhan scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed face and turned his head away, his face reddening.

“Move.”

Millyana passed by him and strode into the broken room.

Everyone watched her with tense eyes.

“How about giving us a little hint? There are so many people alive here, do we really have to hear it from a dead person?”
Millyana said, raising her head.

At her words, everyone looked at Karil, who was standing amidst the debris of the broken building.

The room was a mess.

The outer wall was shattered, and a cold wind was blowing in.

“What… is that?”

She was the first to notice his change.

The heterogeneous skin covering Karil’s left wrist to his shoulder. Millyana’s eyebrows twitched at the sight of the sleek, blue scales that looked like they belonged to a snake, not a human.

“Hey, you. Did you become a monster because you gained dragon magic, or has your body become a monster too?”

She said it casually, but she shuddered slightly at the unusual energy emanating from Karil, who had his head bowed.

“Hoo…”

Karil exhaled.

Then, a cold chill was felt from his mouth.

“Everyone, get back!!”

It was the same words that Suhan had said a little while ago, but as soon as her shout fell, the people standing in the hallway quickly stepped back.

Seogeogeok……!!

Seuaaaaaak……!!

Millyana drew two swords and pushed them forward with all her might.

Kwaaaaang—!!

With a sharp tearing sound, her body staggered. As if she had collided with something heavy, the tendons from her wrist to her shoulder, which she had stretched out, could not withstand the impact and burst with a papak! sound.

“Keuek?!”

With pain as if burned, she hurriedly pulled up her magic power.

But it was too late.

It was not enough to block Karil’s attack with the power she belatedly raised.

“……!!?”

The floor caved in.

Millyana’s back bent like an arch, unable to withstand the force of the downward strike, and she was slammed into the floor.

Karil plunged his sword in again.

Kang!!!

Kagang!! Kagagagagak—!!!

But the battle was heard not from the ground but from above. Millyana had already escaped from the floor where she had plunged her sword and rushed over Karil’s head.

A tremendous battle where all the surrounding air seemed to oxidize.

“How can this be…”

The people who were watching the scene were lost in thought as if they couldn’t believe it.

Everyone here was skilled, but they couldn’t readily muster the courage to delve into the Sword Master’s battle.

Seureung……!!

Karil’s ice claws cried out.

When he bent his wrist, it aimed for her vitals as if the sword were alive.

“What the hell did you do to Karil!! Just last night, he was a perfectly normal human, why did he become a monster!!”
Millyana shouted at Arhn, who was standing behind, while struggling to block his attacks.

Her face was filled with anger, as if she would kill Arhn right away.

[This is…]

Arhn was also watching the scene in a daze.

Unlike them, who were flustered, Arhn crossed his arms and watched them with a leisurely face.

[That guy is out of his mind.]

Then he said quietly.

“…What?”

At his words, Millyana looked at Karil, who was wielding his sword at her, with wide eyes.

“Did you notice?”

Karil said quietly, retrieving the sword that had stopped just short of Millyana’s cheek by a hair’s breadth.

[Who do you think I am, you rascal.]

At his words, Arhn scoffed and replied.

Millyana looked back and forth between the two with a dumbfounded expression, as if she didn’t understand the situation.

“Hey, what the hell is going on right now?”

“How was it?”

“…What?”

“I did it to the person I trust the most. It seems like I can’t use the Golden Realm yet. It doesn’t have any special meaning in the current situation.”

Karil nodded to Millyana as if nothing was wrong.

“The most trustworthy person here. That’s you.”

“What, what is it.”

At his words, Millyana blushed, clearing her throat as if she was embarrassed.

[Judging by your condition, it seems like you can move around.]

“Is the sun rising? How much time has passed?”

“A full day has passed.”

At Suhan’s answer, Karil frowned slightly.

“Time has been delayed more than I thought. I have to leave for the Principality right away today. Are the preparations for departure done?”

“Don’t worry. Everything is finished.”

At his question, Suhan answered proudly.

“Good.”

Karil nodded as if satisfied.

[What was there?]

“A snake. There was a snake curled up.”

Then he answered with a calm expression. A sense of fatigue was felt in his voice.

[A snake? Could it be… that’s Blader’s weapon.]

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

[Duaht, what does this mean? What happened inside there?]

[…….]

[Are you hiding it from me? Keu keul…]

Arhn said, feeling awkward at Karil’s ambiguous answer and Duaht’s silence.

[Well, I guess this is an area I can’t interfere in anymore. I thought this day would come someday, but it’s a bit disappointing. I guess my nagging is over now.]

A master is not called a master because he is always above his disciple.

The realm of strength had already surpassed him long ago.

Karil, who had to bear and lead everything, only had subordinates and colleagues, and there was no one to rely on even a little.

Arhn had just been waiting for Karil to break free from himself.

[The brat from Narak Rock is gone. He’s become useful now.]

He muttered at Karil’s answer and then chuckled.

Karil also laughed in the same way at his words.

The rest of the people, who did not know what the two people’s conversation meant, were just staring at them blankly.

[How did it go?]

“Just…”

Karil said quietly.

“I devoured it.”

With those words, he took out Agnel from his arms and said.

“Hashir.”

“Yes.”

When he called his name, the leader of the Wolf-Fox tribe appeared from behind him, as if he had been there all along.

“Take this and go to the North.”

“To the North? Are you entrusting me with the Great Warrior’s Sword once again? Do you have any message to convey?”

“It’s different from then. What was lacking has been filled. There are no more flaws.”

“……?!”

Hashir received Agnel, which was in its scabbard, and knelt on one knee with reverence, holding the sword above his head.

“How could you… This is what we couldn’t find for hundreds of years. Many artisans of the tribe made scabbards, but all failed because they couldn’t withstand the power of the sword…”

“So it will be more meaningful. Go and tell the chiefs of the foreign tribes my words.”

Karil said quietly, looking at Hashir’s surprised face.

“I will show you the completion of Agnel, which has not been achieved for hundreds of years. Now, only the completion of the Great Warrior who will use this sword remains. I will prove that qualification in the Principality, so watch it with your own eyes.”

* * *

Kwang……!!!

Kwagagagang—!!!

Here, where the civil war in the Principality is in full swing.

At the mouth of the Vinpredo River, which can be said to be the last bridge to Korb, the defense line was constantly erupting with loud noises.

[Keureureureureu—!!]

Every time the Wyvern troops gliding through the sky descended and spewed hot flames, flames erupted here and there.

“Hold on no matter what!!”

“This is the last defense line!! We must defend it at all costs!”

But as if to mock their cries, dozens of Wyverns that flew from the White Bunker ravaged the soldiers stationed on the defense line.

“Damn it…! Until the magic artillery arrives…”

The commander’s cry could not continue to the end.

Dozens of flames covered them.

“Uwaaaagh!!”

“Save me!!”

Kwang-!!!!!

Even that scream disappeared in an instant.

The flames spat out by the Drake dug up the place where the soldiers had been a little while ago, as if dropping a bomb.

“N, no way.”

The Wyvern troops of the 1st Duke Tulli Lurein were enough to cause chills, and the soldiers defending the last defense line of Korb could only feel fear.

The tide of the war had already turned.

With Fran’s pride, the Steel Fleet, tied up in Korb due to the betrayal of the 5th Duke Rakhiell, Tulli pressed Fran without delay, moving south from the White Bunker.

[Kuaaaaaaaa–!!]

[Kaaack—!!]

The Wyverns stirring in the sky were constantly screaming as if looking down at their prey.

“It’s over…”

A soldier with a blackened face, who was barely left in the place where the flames had fallen a little while ago, muttered as if he had lost his soul.

His one leg, which was sitting down, was cut off, and the cut surface was blackened.

As if he couldn’t even feel the pain, he was just staring blankly at the sky.

It was then.

Kuuuung……!!!!

One of the Drakes flying in the sky fell in front of him and suddenly began to convulse.

“……!!!!”

The surprised soldier quickly looked ahead.

“Hmm…”

A low sigh was heard amidst the Drake’s flailing wings.

Udeudeuk-

With a dull sound, the neck of the guy was twisted abnormally, and the body that had been rampaging until just now drooped down.

“It’s completely chaotic.”

Karil said quietly, giving his impressions of the battlefield with a low sigh.

“I’m tired because I got on the ship right away without resting.”

“Then who told you to do such a strange thing? Without even consulting us before the expedition.”

Jeobeok- Jeobeok- Jeobeok-

Karil stepped on the Drake’s corpse with a calm expression, jumped down to the ground, and slowly walked forward.

Keulgeok-

When had they been there?

The soldier was so surprised that he forgot that he was in the middle of a battle and was just looking at him.

No,

Looking at them.

As if one person was walking, the warriors were following him in step with his steps.

Cheok-

Karil raised his hand.

“I need to rest a bit.”

As if they had been waiting, those who were standing behind him scattered at a tremendous speed that could not be followed with the naked eye.

“……!!!”

The soldiers rubbed their eyes.

The feat he had shown a little while ago was amazing, but the scene unfolding now made them astonished for a completely different reason.

“No way…”

Did he hear the soldier’s words?

Karil crossed his arms and raised the corners of his mouth, looking at the battlefield as if he was watching a game.

The battlefield that I thought was over.

But the people who suddenly appeared began to change the course of the war in an instant.