The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 464

274. The Battle of Parel (8)

“Prepare for battle.”

Caryl said quietly.

“You… are you really going to fight Yula? Even with a million human soldiers, it’s absurd to think you can defeat a god.”

The snake-lipped woman looked at Caryl with a tense expression.

“Then why don’t you join them? Though you’ll probably end up like that guy.”

“…Are there any chances of winning?”

“In the past, during what was called the Mythological Era, the Bladers [a race chosen by the gods], the highest-ranking race chosen by the gods, rebelled. But they were defeated, and all were sealed or disappeared.”

“What are you trying to say?”

The snake-lipped woman couldn’t hold back her anger at Caryl’s words.

The fear of death.

Like any other god, she was just like a human in this aspect.

“To have lived for countless ages… and to end up doing something so foolish. Were we really just being used!”

“If you don’t want to die, you’ll have to fight too.”

Unlike the anxious woman, Caryl was strangely calm, even though he was about to face a battle.

[Yula…!!!!]

A giant of flame appeared behind him.

As fierce flames soared, the Spirit Kings appeared as if they had been waiting.

[We will avenge the Mythological Era!!]

[We have been waiting for this day!!]

Led by Lamine, the power of the two Great Wildernesses struck Yula.

KWAH-AH-AH-AH—!!!

The Flame King’s flames poured down on Yula’s front, followed by wings of light that enveloped her, while Duat’s dark blades aimed for the back of her neck.

Despite the Spirit Kings’ all-out attacks, Yula slowly raised her hand to block them, as if she found it amusing.

WHOOSH……!!!

With a single wave of her arm, the hellfire vanished without a trace, the wings of light shattered, and the dark blades disappeared.

[Keuk……!!]

[Kuaaaaak……!!]

Like paper being torn by a sharp blade, the Spirit Kings screamed in agony at her attack and scattered.

Annihilation Strike.

Caryl leaped into the smoke of the exploding Spirit Kings. The sharp sword energy emanating from Folsettia’s blade aimed for Yula’s neck.

SWOOSH……!! SWAAAAAASH……!!

But as she flicked her fingers, the remnants of the shattered Spirit Kings condensed as if sucked into a vortex, turning into sharp spear blades that flew towards him from behind.

Clench-

Caryl gritted his teeth and twisted his body with all his might.

CLANG!! CLANG-!! CLANG-CLANG-CLANG—!!

He deflected three giant spear blades, but the impact shattered them, and the debris poured down on Caryl as if alive.

Hundreds, thousands of blades targeted him like a rain of swords.

KWAH-AH-AH-AH……!!

It was then.

Suhan Hazar, who had broken through the pouring blades and stood in front of him, slammed his gauntlets together, creating a hazy shield in front of him.

“Now is the time!!!”

Suhan, clad in Automata [a suit of armor], known as Absolute Defense, was covered with countless spear blades like a hedgehog, making the word “absolute” seem meaningless.

“Cough……!!”

The chance created by Suhan Hazar, who coughed up blood.

ZZZZZZT……!! Crack!!!

Aidane shot out like a bullet, pressing down lightning strikes and thunderbolts from above Yula’s head.

“Uwaaaaaaa!!!!”

“Your eyes reveal too much.”

Yula blocked Aidane’s blade with her fingers, even as the fierce lightning power unleashed by Kungen struck her.

“The intention to throw yourself to create an opening for him, that is.”

She raised her hand and pierced Aidane’s chest.

Thwack-

Aidane tried to dodge in a hurry, but even he, who surpassed swiftness, could not escape Yula’s grasp.

“Cough…….”

Yula’s arm, which had pierced through his back, came out from inside his chest, holding his still-beating red heart in her grasp.

“Uh……. Uh-uh…….”

Aidane looked up at her with disbelief.

“Do you want to live? Then beg. Just as your master mocked the gods, if you curse him, I might give you a chance.”

“Ptooey-!!”

But instead of answering, Aidane reached into the large hole in his chest, pulled out his hand, and raised his middle finger.

Yula’s face contorted, and she mercilessly crushed Aidane’s face.

Thwack……!!!

With a sound like a watermelon breaking, red blood splattered like an explosion beneath her feet.

[Kuaaaaaaaaa!!!!!]

Toscah, who had soared into the sky, shook his massive wings and roared.

SWAAAAAASH—!!!

Hundreds of orbs of light poured from his mouth like a rain shower towards Yula. But the golden dragon’s breath disappeared as if swallowed by darkness just before reaching the god.

“You’re still the same. Even after regaining your memories, you still defy me. Yes, even when all the dragons had succumbed to me, I couldn’t break your stubbornness.”

The energy around her changed.

Light and darkness.

As if representing the two sides of the god, her halo, which had been shining brightly until just now, turned as dark as if it would swallow even the deepest black.

[Atonement for me that you failed to do while alive. Then, as a dead one, pay the price for your sacrilege.]

Her voice sounded double, as if two people were speaking.

SWAAAAAASH……!! Crack-crack!!!

She threw the coldly frozen heart she had been holding onto the ground and raised her hand, causing the streaks of light from Toscah that had been absorbed into her shadow to surge forth.

Unlike the blinding light from before, the streaks of light newly created by Yula were the same color as her shadow, a deep darkness.

The tendrils of darkness, which had grown instantly like thorny vines, surrounded Toscah’s limbs.

[Kuaaaaak!!]

As the tendrils of darkness touched the golden dragon, black smoke billowed from his entire body as if burning his flesh.

Even though he was already a dead Bone Dragon, he shook his body as if in agony.

But the more he moved, the more Yula’s tendrils of darkness tightened around his flesh and bones.

[Yula—!!!!!]

It was an outcry of Toscah filled with rage, but all that returned to him from her was a cold sneer.

[Struggle all you want. You will realize that the result of your machinations is only destruction!!!]

The god’s wrath was truly terrifying.

Crack……! Crackle!!

The sound of the golden dragon’s bones crushing could be heard. The giant dragon tried to escape from the god’s grasp, but it was futile.

“Fire!!!!!”

“Attack!!!!”

“Deploy the tactical formation!!”

The Free Army announced their advance all at once the moment Yula’s attention was diverted by Toscah.

Doo-doo-doo-doo……! Doo-doo-doo-doo—!!

The sound of hooves echoed from everywhere.

“Hwaaaaa!!!”

Wingel Hart’s Ascalon pulled the Aegis [a protective shield] out of Parel and began to run at the very front of the golem unit.

The Panfinel Knights followed behind him, and the northern barbarian troops and southern warriors rode their horses, each wielding their Azure Dragon weapons.

“Don’t slow down!! Show the power of Mujin!!”

Kaila Chang shouted.

“Burn them!!”

A thick shield was created in front of the Free Army riding their horses. Supported by the magic corps, the formation, which rotated in the form of dozens of large wheels and dug in, surged as if a vortex was gathering to trap Yula inside.

“Fire!!”

Kinu Mukari drew his bow with all his might. The archers of the Bi Gung tribe fired arrows after him, and Kargonne of the Digon clan sprinted across the earth, digging in.

Waaaaaaa—!!

Waaaaaaa—!!

The shouts of the entire army echoed wildly.

Despite their charge, which did not fear death, Yula’s face remained hardened.

“Vanish.”

It was a single word spoken calmly.

As if annoyedly brushing away gnats gathering on a summer day, she waved her hand,

KWAH-GA-GA-GA-GANG!!!

The ground cracked beneath the feet of the golem unit, and the golems that tripped over their feet fell in a tangled mess. The knights and Free Army troops following behind the golems were crushed beneath them.

“Aaaagh!! Aaaagh!!”

“S, save me!”

Once again, she waved her hand, and Toscah’s massive body, which had been bound by black tendrils, shattered into pieces, and his bone fragments covered the wyvern troops.

Clang!! Clang-!! Clang-ga-ga-ga-gak—!!

The sound of swords clashing rang out wildly at that moment.

Caryl swung Folsettia’s sword with all his might, and Yula blocked his attack, saying,

“Is this the future you wanted? Look around you. How many have died for this one attack?”

The blade of Folsettia was bent to the point of being distorted, and even though it was a blade made of magic, the sound of metal bending and creaking could be heard.

[I’ve been waiting.]

Mael popped out of Folsettia’s sword and wrapped himself around Yula’s arm, which was holding the blade, and climbed up.

The blue snake, which had instantly wrapped around her body, bit her neck with a snap!

“Kuaaaaah!!!”

Unlike before, Yula screamed in surprise when Mael’s fangs touched her.

[Don’t make a fuss. If I expected you to die from that, I wouldn’t have made such a big deal out of it in the first place.]

But Mael sneered at her reaction, scoffing.

Whirr-rrr-rrr……!!

The aura of darkness that had been enveloping Yula astonishingly faded away as if a fire had been extinguished when it touched Mael’s fangs.

“……?!”

Caryl did not miss that change.

“I wish I could grind you into dust……!!”

Yula shouted, grabbing Mael’s tail and pulling it.

[Coming from a god, that’s quite a thing to say……. You don’t want to die, so what’s wrong with us killing a god to live? Even if it’s a desperate struggle, this is only natural.]

But Mael did not let go of Yula’s neck, biting down even harder with all his might.

[And we were born for that desire.]

“You, you dare……!!!”

She staggered, but still tore off the snake that had wrapped around her with all her might.

Fsh……! Fsh……!!!!

Mael, who had finally fallen, wiggled his tongue and glared at Yula. Her flesh was embedded in his fangs, and Yula, distorted with rage at the sight, grabbed the snake’s jaws and tore them apart.

“Just because you, the fifteenth of the Master Keys, are considered special, do you really think you are the key to challenge the divine throne? Just as the Bladers were originally meant to serve the gods, you are merely tools that exist for the gods!!”

Clang-!!!

Yula threw Mael away and stomped on him, crushing him. Blood continued to flow from the neck where the snake had bitten her, and she clutched the wound with one hand.

It was then.

Thud……!!!

Caryl, who had already dug in beneath Yula, kicked off the ground and jumped up, striking her lower jaw with his knee.

With a dull sound, Yula’s head snapped back and she staggered. The dizzying impact was by no means a force that a human could generate.

‘As expected…….’

Caryl stepped back in mid-air and landed on the ground.

Yula distorted her face and looked ahead, as if unable to believe that she, a god, had allowed a human to attack her.

“Beast……?”

At that moment, she realized that blue light was enveloping Caryl’s legs like armor.

“So, this is the trump card you believed in. A human with two Master Keys……. Even after all these years, you are the first human like you I have ever seen.”

Yula sneered as she looked at Caryl, who had manifested the will of the Lycanthrope [a werewolf-like being].

“I can’t help but admit it. You have reached the highest realm a human can reach. To make me use divine power……. You have accomplished what even the Bladers of the Mythological Era could not.”

She slowly walked towards Caryl.

“But this is the end. Look around you. What do you have left?”

Piles of corpses.

The earth had long been stained with blood, and the humans who had attacked the god had vanished into her wrath with futility.

“…….”

Caryl looked around.

It was as if,

The day of his previous life was coming to mind.

“You should have followed my proposal, prevented the disaster, and climbed Parel.”

She gave a bitter smile.

“It’s your defeat.”

Then she slowly raised her hand.

Her finger, which had instantly taken the lives of millions, was now pointed at Caryl.

“Certainly……. Killing a god with human power is close to impossible. It is indeed overwhelming power.”

But even now, with the result of defeat evident, Caryl’s face seemed calm, as if he had come to know the result.

“Yes. This time, it’s my defeat.”

“……What?”

Yula sensed something strange in Caryl’s appearance, as he readily admitted defeat.

“This time?”

At her question, Caryl gave a faint smile.

“Good job. I made you have a terrible experience. But thanks to you, I found it.”

“Who are you talking…….”

[Yes, death is truly awful. For the first time since I was born, I have to thank a god. Thanks to your wonderful rules, you sealed me instead of killing me.]

“……?!”

It was then.

Surprisingly, Mael’s corpse, with its face crushed, was speaking. Every time his tattered mouth moved, pieces of flesh fell off, creating a grotesque shape.

“It wasn’t just them who were deceived.”

Caryl pointed to the remaining gods, who could not close their mouths with faces full of shock.

Crack…….

Crack-crack-crack……!!!

The space where Caryl and Yula were standing cracked as if tearing apart, and all the scenery began to peel off one layer at a time, as if unwrapping a package.

“H, how…….”

Yula had an unbelievable expression.

She scanned her surroundings.

Another space began to appear inside the torn space. Surprisingly, the soldiers she had annihilated a moment ago were standing there in perfect condition, wary of her.

“You too.”

Caryl’s voice began to echo in her ears.

Spot—!!!

A pure white light permeated Yula’s vision, and the world shook as if the earth and sky had been reversed.

Caryl took out a book from his arms.

“You must be curious. You won’t understand. How could you, a god, be deceived? But you gods are easily deceived by just one of my magic mirrors, aren’t you?”

There was no title written on the worn-out cover.

“That’s……?”

Even Yula did not know what the ancient book he showed meant, and tilted her head with a face full of questions.

“There is a truth you don’t know here.”

The one book that Caryl had hidden in his arms until the final battlefield.

“But it was hard for me to believe either. That’s why I needed to confirm it.”

It was none other than the book containing the will left by Kaie Esser.

“And now that I’ve confirmed it…….”

His eyes gleamed.

“Next time, it’s your defeat.”