The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 374

Thud-!!!

Caryl’s ice claws plunged into the floor.

“Ugh! Aaaagh!!”

Raelle screamed, rolling on the floor and shouting madly. In her desperate attempt to block Caryl’s sword, her fingers were severed.

“Where’s that composure you had in the lair? You’re quite pathetic when faced with reality.”

“Impossible…!! How could you escape the Divine Prison? In such a short time, too…?!

She shouted at him, her voice filled with fear and astonishment.

Crack-

Unlike her, Caryl tilted his head from side to side, loosened his shoulders, and slowly approached.

“Do you think Exordia is a prison of the gods?”

Caryl scoffed at Raelle’s words.

‘I see. I didn’t expect you to be able to use Exordia… But this confirms it. You don’t fully understand Yula. That means your power isn’t truly Yula’s.’

Caryl kicked Raelle’s severed fingers away and slowly moved.

“Using that power without even knowing Exordia properly. How foolish.”

“…What?”

Raelle felt a sense of bewilderment and embarrassment at his words, as if he knew everything.

“Well, go ask her yourself. Priests of the Order return to Yula’s embrace when they die, or so they say. Isn’t that right?”

“Th-that’s…!!”

Exordia.

Caryl knew it better than anyone. It was neither a prison nor a barrier. It was merely a kind of test.

A trial used to issue the Divine Mandate and select the Ten of the Mandate. Only those who survived it were qualified to fulfill the Mandate.

It was a terrible test he never wanted to do again, but since he had passed it, it wouldn’t be difficult for him even if the trial came again.

Considering the countless eons he had endured in Parell, the trials of Exordia were a joke.

“Don’t come closer!!!”

Raelle crawled backward, trying to grab the staff that had fallen to the floor.

But with her fingers severed, she couldn’t pick it up and could only flail awkwardly, leaving the staff behind.

“How pathetic.”

Caryl smiled bitterly as he watched her.

“I see why the White Gold Dragon placed you in the Order. He wanted to see how far the power of God could be used by humans.”

It was now clear that Raelle was an underling of Nardie Maugh. But in his past life, he had not placed her in the Order.

Instead, he had appointed her as the leader of the opposing fanatic cult.

But in the end, both the Order and the fanatic cult served God in the same way. The Empire had already unified the continent before Raelle created the Blue Lore fanatic cult.

That meant Nardie Maugh might have been experimenting with the power of God in different ways in both the Order and the fanatic cult.

‘There might be other options. If Nardie Maugh created the Blue Lore, it means there could be a replacement to establish a fanatic cult even if it wasn’t her.’

That also meant that if he let Nardie Maugh live, the same fanatic cult could arise as in his past life when the Divine Mandate was issued after he unified the continent.

‘One more reason to kill him has been added.’

Caryl glared at her sharply.

‘But before that, Nardie Maugh, I need to find out what you’re trying to do with the power of God.’

“Get away from me!!”

She shouted, clutching the staff on the floor with both arms instead of her severed fingers.

“What, what are you doing!! Stop him!!”

The battle priests hurriedly stood in front of Caryl at her cry. But Caryl didn’t stop walking.

Slash-

Before they could even swing their weapons, their necks were cut off around Caryl.

The priests, blessed by the Divine Barrier, fell without even slowing his advance, and the priests in the Sun Hall lost their will to fight and fell silent.

“Is that all you have to show? Truly pathetic power of God.”

Caryl scanned his surroundings and said.

“Y-Yula’s liberators…!!!!”

Raelle gritted her teeth and screamed.

‘Is this really acting? Or was it the composure she had in the lair because she thought she was safe without a physical body? Showing this much emotion is even stranger.’

Caryl felt a little puzzled as he looked at her. Of course, she was much more human now than she had been in the White Gold Dragon’s lair.

But the problem was that humanity.

Ironically, the sight of her screaming in pain and expressing anger felt too human, making it feel out of place.

“Salvation!!!”

Ugh…!! Ugh…!!

At that moment, the priests around her began to scream, clutching their heads.

“Aaaagh…!!!”

“Aaaaaagh…!!!”

As if their heads were swelling like balloons, blisters covered their entire bodies, and pustules began to burst all over their bodies as if they were boiling.

Their bodies began to turn black with the terrible smoke and black mist emanating from the corpses.

[Corruption…?!]

Aln frowned slightly as he watched the scene. The Seven Elders had also studied the art of dealing with corruption while learning magic from the White Gold Dragon, so they knew more about it than anyone else.

Kwaaaaaaaang—!!

It was then.

“…!!!!”

An unbelievable thing happened.

[You foolish wench.]

A cold voice rang out.

Raelle’s crushed body was trampled by the dragon’s foot, and red blood splattered everywhere on the floor as if a balloon had burst.

Everyone in the Sun Hall looked up in stunned silence at the sudden situation.

“Wh-White Gold Dragon….”

The priests trembled at his appearance, not knowing what to do and stepping back.

“The Bishop has passed away.”

“Unbelievable…!! Such a terrible thing…! The dragon has murdered the Bishop!!”

“Yula’s judgment!!”

“May the wrath of God be upon you!!!”

The priests screamed madly as they looked at Raelle’s gruesome appearance, torn to pieces so that not even a piece of her corpse could be found.

But Nardie Maugh looked at those priests as if they were insects, and as he flapped his wings, the necks of the priests who were behind him, casting a barrier, were instantly blown away.

Chwaaaak—!!

The pillars of the Sun Hall turned red.

“Ugh, ughaaagh!!”

“Aaaagh!!”

The priests, covered in the blood of their comrades, screamed in horror at the blood on their faces.

“White Gold Dragon, the Order has lent its strength to the Empire. It would be difficult if you treat them like this.”

Olivern looked at the fleeing priests and sighed softly.

[In the end, it’s you again. You made me show even unnecessary things.]

The White Gold Dragon glared at Caryl without giving Olivern a glance. Anger could be felt in his voice.

“What was that just now? If I’m not mistaken, you. It seems like you’ve touched something you shouldn’t have.”

Caryl glared at the White Gold Dragon with sharp eyes as he looked at the corpses that had only partially boiled.

Resurrection of the dead.

Magic with such effects already existed, but the spell Raelle had been trying to cast was not just simple black magic.

‘Nine Darhon of the Immortal Assembly also researched corruption in their own way. But that was just a technique using corpses. It wasn’t something that could instantly turn a living person into corruption.’

Because it was literally the transformation of life itself.

“You… what are you doing with humans?”

Caryl gritted his teeth and said to the White Gold Dragon.

[So, ambushing the Empire from behind means you did it alone? What a foolish move.]

But the White Gold Dragon ignored his words. Perhaps he was deliberately trying to change the subject.

“Well? It’s the result you see. In the end, you came back to stop me.”

Caryl raised his sword and pointed it at the fallen Kadin Ruer and Belin Valention once each, and finally pointed at Raelle, who had been trampled to death by the White Gold Dragon’s feet.

“Is there anyone among them who can stop me? My plan has already succeeded. Without you, the Free Army will never lose in a battle between humans. Whether the Imperial Army has 500,000 or 1 million men.”

[Are you saying you became bait yourself?]

“No. I’m saying my plan is to wipe out all you bastards alone.”

[Crazy… You’re spouting such nonsense. Distributing your forces in an already inferior situation. Do you think you can beat me when you’ve already lost to me in the past?]

Nardie Maugh scoffed at Caryl’s words.

[It will be the opposite result. You will lose in the Imperial Capital, and your Free Army will lose in Tatur.]

“We’ll have to see who’s right.”

[Foolish…]

Nardie Maugh slowly raised his foot. The pieces of Raelle Stahlen’s flesh that were attached to his feet fell off with a crack.

Even the slightest doubt had now completely disappeared.

That appearance alone was enough to answer how the White Gold Dragon thought of humans.

He killed even Raelle, who had stood by his side, without hesitation, which meant he ultimately didn’t think of humans as anything more than his tools.

[I’ll make you regret your recklessness!!!]

Kwaaaaaaaa—!!!

The White Gold Dragon opened his huge mouth and roared at Caryl. The terrifying Dragon Fear, which was incomparable to when they first met, swept through the entire Imperial Capital.

“Huk… Huk….”

“Cough!!”

The priests who were still left in the Sun Hall, as well as the citizens who had not evacuated inside the Imperial Capital, could not withstand the pressure of his roar and collapsed.

“….”

Caryl frowned slightly as if it were noisy, touched his ears, and turned his head.

The dawn was slowly beginning to shine through the window. Dawn was breaking.

“It’s morning.”

At this time when the long day was coming to an end.

Caryl sensed that it was finally time to tie up the loose ends of the long and arduous Great War.

[Only one of us will be able to see the full sun. Wail in your grave. You lowly human.]

“You talk too much. But if you’re going to do it, do it right. Not two, but three. Today, all of you will die.”

Caryl expressed his will to assassinate the Emperor as if it were natural, even with the dragon in front of him.

“Nardie Maugh. I’ll ask you clearly what you were plotting after this. I’ll make you feel the pain in every single scale.”

[You arrogant bastard…!!]

Nardie Maugh spread his huge wings towards Caryl. The wounds he had suffered from Caryl had healed cleanly, and the pure white gold scales gleamed in the shattered Sun Hall.

[Do you think a mere human can defeat me!!!!]

It was then.

Just before Nardie Maugh and Caryl were about to clash, a shadow fell from the ceiling of the shattered Sun Hall.

Both of them raised their heads at the change in the Sun Hall, which had darkened as if the approaching dawn was meaningless.

Kugugugugu….

At the familiar engine sound coming from the sky, Caryl unknowingly raised the corners of his mouth.

Behind the wings of the huge airship visible through the hole in the ceiling, pure white light, not the rainbow color that used to be used by mixing several attribute stones, was being emitted from the outlet.

A huge box was hanging below the airship, which was circling in the sky at a high speed without slowing down.

A man waving his hand lightly on the deck.

“Yo.”

Gordon Fabian gave Caryl a faint smile and pointed to the bottom of the airship.

“Delivery’s here.”