The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 377

236. The Final Battle (8)

Swoosh-

No sooner had Kei finished speaking than Zarka Hochi swung the dagger he was holding with all his might toward Neil Blanc’s neck.

Fsssk…….

However, just as Deril Harian had turned Zigra’s sword to dust, the dagger’s blade turned to ashes and scattered right before it touched Neil Blanc’s neck.

“……!!!”

Kei Rothschild wore a surprised expression, but Zarka didn’t yield. He flicked his wrist upwards with a sharp, rebounding motion.

Charrrrr—!!

Then, sharp blades popped out above his wrist like the claws of a raptor.

[Huu……!!]

Zarka’s Claw, divided into five branches, was ashen, as if imbued with poison.

Clatter……!! Crack……!!

The moment the blade touched Neil Blanc’s shield, it sparked sharply and scattered in all directions. But unlike before, the blade didn’t break easily.

“Not bad.”

Neil Blanc looked at Zarka, impressed.

“The Rothschild family’s puppetry is ultimately a part of necromancy. What you brought from the City of Specters wasn’t just a dead elf, was it?”

Whirring……. Whrrrrrr……!!

Amidst the sharp roaring, a wailing sound like a ghostly cry was heard. Each time the sound occurred, the blade of Zarka’s black claw trembled.

[Of course. I couldn’t have come alone. So many specters yearn for the moment I sever your head.]

Zarka Hochi considered it his karma.

A shackle he created himself. Whenever the specters of the dead elves rampaged within his soul, he endured the pain and reaffirmed his vengeance against the Platinum Dragon who destroyed Ariel Wood, the capital of Elvenheim, the land of the elves.

Ssssh……!!

As if sensing his pain, the souls of the elves trapped in the City of Specters thrashed to tear through Nar D. Maugh’s shield.

[I will avenge Fürrel!!!!]

Zarka Hochi shouted the name of the queen of the Tinuviel family, who led the elven race, along with the resentment he had been holding back.

Bang—!!!

At that moment,

The air burst as if a balloon had popped, brushing past Zarka Hochi’s face. The rampaging specters disappeared like smoke, and Zarka wore a dazed expression at the sudden turn of events.

“That’s why you’re a failure. You elves. You can’t forget the already extinct royal family and keep chasing after them so pathetically. Well… if you had turned that loyalty to me, you would have seemed useful, so I targeted you first.”

Nar D. Maugh spoke as if he were still dealing with something insignificant.

The anger he had built up over hundreds of years and the blade of revenge he had been sharpening failed miserably before Nar D. Maugh, so pathetically.

[You……. You…….]

Zarka Hochi realized that the ghostly cries of the dead elves he had been wailing for had disappeared.

Complete annihilation.

With just a flick of a finger, the soul had died so absurdly.

“Thanks to you, I had a chance to look for that potential in humans, so maybe you were a little helpful.”

[……What?]

The Zarka Hochi inside the puppet asked back in a trembling voice. It was as if his soul itself was trembling from the shock.

Elf Zarka Hochi, half-elf Altemann, and the human Council of Seven…

As if climbing up the steps, Nar D. Maugh’s experiment was repeatedly searching for the potential of the race.

“I thought I killed them all… I’m so naive. One hid in the north and disappeared, one appeared as an undead, and another remained as a soul itself and came to find me.”

Nar D. Maugh looked at them, annoyed, and said with a pathetic look.

“Really… Annoying. You’re just worthless waste.”

It was then.

Kwaaaaaaaaang—!!!

[You bastard……!!!!]

Fierce black mist rushed towards Nar D. Maugh, engulfing him. Dozens of streaks of blazing blue flames poured out from within the black mist.

[You dare spout such nonsense with that gaping mouth……!!! You……!! You dare……!!!]

The voice in the mist trembled.

Anger, curse, suppressed sorrow, and long-cherished murderous intent seemed to explode all at once.

Alun, who had always calmly assessed the situation and looked for openings, was showing his emotions without filtering them for the first time.

[Kuaaaaaaaa……!!!]

Along with Alun’s blue flames, Zarka Hochi screamed and plunged both arms into the ground, drawing up mana.

Saaa……! Giiiiii……!!

Then, the souls began to scream at the mana flowing through his arms.

“The imperial capital has more death history than anywhere else on the continent. Don’t think it’s over so easily. There are countless specters.”

Kei Rothschild said in a bitter voice.

Kugugugugu……!!

As black blood seeped into the ground below, the ground began to crack as if an earthquake had occurred.

[Krrr……. Krrr…….]

[Kaaack!!!]

The corpses that slowly rose up, gripping the cracked floor, some were completely rotten with only bones left, and some had intact human faces as if they had not been dead for long.

Creak…… Creak…….

Among the walking corpses was a very beautiful woman’s corpse, wearing a luxurious dress unlike the other corpses.

“Mother……”

Oliver looked at the woman’s corpse, whose cheek was rotten and torn, revealing the teeth inside, and called out to her in a pitiful voice.

There were large holes in the backs of her hands and feet, as if they had been pierced by pillars.

Flies swarmed around her as she staggered.

Thud.

At that moment, the empress’s feet touched the huge black blood puddle that Zarka Hochi had created.

[Kuaaaaaaaa!!! Oliver!! I curse you!! The empire was mine!! I can’t hand over the empire to you!!!]

Then, the empress’s face, which had no blood and was rotten, regained life as if it were alive, and began to run madly with an angry cry.

[Die!!!]

[I’m wronged……!! I’m……!!!]

It wasn’t just her.

The corpses that had risen from the grave began to regain life the moment they touched Zarka’s magic.

“Interesting. Something that is impossible with simple necromancy. Is this the Rothschild family’s secret art?”

Nar D. Maugh looked at the sight with interest.

“Even lowly humans can sometimes do things outside the realm after hundreds of years of history. After all… My idea that humans are the most promising race was not wrong.”

But Caril recalled the specters of the elves in the Forest of Specters as he looked at the revived corpses.

“It’s impossible alone. It was possible by combining his power and mine. You’ll never know. Because you only looked for the potential of elves and humans in blood.”

“It’s ridiculous for the cold-hearted descendant of the Rothschild family to talk about such camaraderie. Your ancestors, who directly created the best corpses to make puppets, would be appalled.”

“……What?”

“That puppet. It’s an elf, isn’t it?”

Kei’s face hardened at his words.

[Master. Don’t waver. Whether your ancestors killed or saved the elves, that’s just the past. It’s not you.]

Zarka Hochi growled at Nar D. Maugh’s words.

[Remember that you are the necromantic empress I have acknowledged. You don’t need to feel guilty about the deaths of those who died before you were born.]

Kuaaaaaaa……!!!

Kaaaa—!!

Corpses began to rampage here and there.

[Just make sure to listen to the resentment of those who died before you were born. That’s what our empress has to do.]

Unjust death.

Most of the corpses were commoners, not nobles.

“Stop them!!!”

“Never let them approach the lord!!”

“God……”

The knights who had arrived to defend the Sun Hall were entangled with the undead in a sudden attack and began to fight.

“How hideous!! The empress’s sins are heavy, but to revive the dead with dirty necromancy…!! That is an insult to the dead!!”

Oliver jumped up from his seat and shouted.

“Fight!! Protect human dignity and defend the empire’s honor!!”

Waaaaaaa—!!

Waaaaa—!!!

His voice echoed in the Sun Hall, and the knights shouted with unprecedented enthusiasm.

Oliver’s voice, filled with the power of *eonryeong* [a spiritual power residing in words], caused an essential enhancement in a different sense from the priest’s blessing.

Swoosh-!!

“Cough, cough……!!”

Zarka Hochi pressed the back of the knight’s neck with his sharp claw. Stepping on the knight who had fallen with a scream, he glared sharply at Oliver.

[Insult to the dead? What a load of crap. You brat who doesn’t even know what death is.]

Then, he stood in front of Kei Rothschild, grabbed her legs, and sat her on his shoulders.

[Let’s fight, Kei. Although our strength cannot surpass the Platinum Dragon, we must at least prevent those guys from rampaging. Let our swords tear their hearts apart.]

Kei chuckled at his words.

Charrrrr……!!

At the same time, as if conducting, she waved her slender arms in the air, and Zarka Hochi dashed forward like a bullet and swung his claws at the knights.

“Oliver.”

In a situation where a fierce battle was unfolding before his eyes, Caril called his name in a surprisingly calm tone.

“Did you know that he was experimenting on humans?”

“You’re stating the obvious. If the emperor doesn’t know about the empire’s affairs, who would?”

“Then, he put the church under his control to use humans as experimental tools, and expanded his territory to the demon world through Wooden Cloud to prepare experimental subjects that could not be found in humans?”

Caril looked at Oliver coldly.

“*Seonhyeoldonggul* [Blood Cave]. You know what happened inside, right?”

He continued.

“Of course you know. Because I saw you go inside. No, you must have shown it to me on purpose.”

Then, he lowered his head a little more. He asked in a low voice as if whispering to Oliver.

“……Why?”

Oliver’s eyes trembled slightly, but he didn’t answer.

“Was it just a provocation? Or…….”

Oliver’s face hardened for a moment as he looked at Caril.

“Are you so afraid of what the Platinum Dragon is doing that you can’t stop it yourself and asked for help? Asking me to stop that guy?”

But his face was turned away from Caril, so no one noticed the change in expression that occurred in this short time.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but whatever it is, you and I are just enemies. The result is no different. You and that guy behind you will die by my hands.”

“Nonsense.”

The answer to Caril’s words did not come from Oliver. A cheap curse that did not suit the noble dragon’s honor flowed from the Platinum Dragon.

“Nar D. Maugh.”

Turning his head, Caril looked back.

As if emotions were welling up, he looked back and forth at the two people standing on either side of him.

The emperor, who was his trusted friend in his previous life and whom he killed with his own hands.

And the dragon who told him how to return to the past to change that reality.

Suddenly, the moment he saw Oliver’s face, why did he have such a thought?

If it was not the emperor but the Platinum Dragon’s order that his companion in his previous life and those who tried to kill him…

He, who still acts as God’s instrument on the surface, could not enter Parell himself.

When the plan to obtain the power of God, which he had hidden until the end, failed, he may have gambled on one possibility.

What Oliver cannot do, only he can do.

That is, talent.

What Nar D. Maugh needed was not human power, wealth, or blood.

It was Caril, who had reached the pinnacle of the sword but ultimately regretted not having magic power in his previous life. The Platinum Dragon would have expected that if he obtained the Dragon Heart and gained magic power, he would reach the pinnacle of magic as well as the sword.

“Did you use me to experiment with that possibility?”

At Caril’s words, he tilted his head slightly as if asking what he meant. But Caril did not care whether Nar D. Maugh understood his words or not.

“Then you made a mistake.”

He just wanted to make sure he heard these words clearly.

Crack……!!!

At that moment, Caril’s sword pierced his heart as the shield protecting Oliver shattered.

“Yo, Your Majesty……!!!”

“No……!!”

It happened so quickly that no one could stop him.

“……!!!”

That was the same for Nar D. Maugh.

“How…….”

It was because he never expected that he could break the absolute magic protection he had created.

“Cough…….”

Oliver looked at the cold blue blade of the ice claw that had pierced his chest with trembling eyes.

Woo woong…….

At that moment, Caril slowly took something out of his arms. The old book in his hand began to glow.

“Polsettia……? How can a human have that……?”

Nar D. Maugh looked at the book with an unbelievable expression.

“Oliver.”

Caril called his name.

There was a hint of affection in his voice, which had been full of hostility until now.

“Cough……. Kulk…….”

At his words, Oliver tried to say something, but his words were not heard as blood flowed out of his throat.

Caril covered his eyes with his palm.

Was it the last mercy before death, or was it because he couldn’t bear to look him in the eye?

Whatever the reason, Caril spat out the last words he wanted to say to him.

“Don’t live as a puppet.”

Stab-

He pushed the ice claw that pierced Oliver’s chest deeper.