The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 105

88. Lord of the River, Lord of the Sea (3)

“……What?”

Urin Hugart doubted his ears.

There were two monsters, each of which would have been difficult to handle alone.

Being in the middle of a battle was as good as giving up one’s life.

“Are you crazy? If you want adventurer’s honor, do it yourself. Don’t throw away other people’s lives!”

He grabbed Carryl by the collar and shouted. But despite his outcry, Karl Mack was already at the helm, following Carryl’s orders.

“Stop right now!”

Urin shouted, ready to strike Karl, who was trying to turn the wheel.

Clench-

It was then.

Carryl, who was holding his collar, slowly pressed down on his arms.

“……!!”

Urin’s sturdy arms were pressed down by Carryl’s slender hands and could not move.

‘What, this kind of power……?!’

He tried to break free from Carryl’s grasp, but the more he struggled, the stronger Carryl’s force became.

“Calm down. I’m not saying we should all jump in while those guys are fighting. And as Sir Urin said, I won’t throw away other people’s lives.”

“Th-this…….”

Urin couldn’t bring himself to tell him to let go.

“Think about it carefully.”

Although he was speaking politely, Urin felt a sense of intimidation from Carryl’s appearance.

The unknown sense of alienation he had felt since the archipelago.

A sense of unease crept in, as if he was about to confirm that appearance.

“Turning Four-Nine into a monster habitat, establishing his domain on the sea route to the south, and even Kraken, who blocked the archipelago, leaving only land routes.”

Carryl said, releasing Urin’s arm.

Urin looked at him, stroking his arm, which was clearly marked with handprints.

“If we manage to deal with them all this time, His Majesty will be pleased, right? Don’t you think so?”

Certainly, monster subjugation was an annual event in the Empire, but it was only aimed at lower-level monsters like goblins that attacked villages.

“You think you can hunt that monster?”

“If I fail, I’ll take responsibility. Either way, one of them has to be the winner. Isn’t ending the last one’s life for the sake of the Empire’s peace?”

“…….”

Urin frowned as he looked at Carryl.

In fact.

He stirred Urin’s heart with a nice story, but Carryl had already planned beyond that.

‘Of course……. The important thing is that if we solve the Kraken problem, we can also secure a sea route to go up from the south.’

It sounded like it was for the Empire, but his biggest intention was hidden in his words.

‘If I block the archipelago again after that……. A sea route will open up that only goes up from the south.’

The emblem of the Horned King hanging around his neck swayed lightly.

A secret he didn’t tell Urin.

Carryl had no intention of hunting them.

‘Tame them.’

The enormous result that difference would make.

If he could monopolize not only Four-Nine but also the sea, he would have numerous routes to travel to and from the continent.

In addition, he could secure military power, which would inevitably be inferior to the Empire and the Principality.

Only.

A monster unit that only he could handle.

Carryl smiled faintly.

‘The weaknesses of the Serpent family are all the same. The Sea Serpent also has a reverse scale, just like the Lord of the Hills.’

However, unlike the Sand Serpent, the Sea Serpent’s reverse scale was surrounded by a membrane made of sticky mucus that protected it.

It was difficult to cut through with a sword, and lightning magic, which was a weakness of water-based monsters, could damage the monster, but it could not damage the membrane protecting the reverse scale.

‘That’s because the membrane absorbs lightning power. Both sword and magic are impossible. I couldn’t easily subdue the Water King in my previous life because I couldn’t find a proper means of attack.’

But it’s different now.

The enemy the Water King is fighting now is the Lord of the Sea, called the Sea King, Kraken.

Ironically, the Sea King’s ability became the key to dealing with the Water King.

‘His suction cups can tear off the membrane protecting the reverse scale with force.’

It was a simple but surest method.

“Are you really confident in dealing with it?”

“Don’t worry.”

In the midst of the urgent situation, Urin was not calm enough to properly assess the situation.

Urin just thought it would be good if he could borrow someone else’s hand to deal with the troublesome monster.

Carryl laughed quietly.

‘Either way, once I tame the Kraken, it will be too late even if they find out about this. It doesn’t matter if there are any obstacles from the Empire or the Principality.’

This was an unprecedented opportunity.

Originally, it wouldn’t have been easy to go to the archipelago without any interference.

Normally, the Empire and the Principality’s warships would be constantly patrolling the sea.

In that case, the Empire would not have stood idly by even if he changed his route for no reason.

What if that direction was the archipelago of Goyo?

‘The Howard-ho would have had to fight the warships before meeting the Kraken.’

In addition, no matter how much of Carryl, it was difficult to face a Kraken that was unharmed.

‘Winning by a narrow margin is meaningless. Whether it’s the Water King or the Sea King, they are still monsters. They are great monsters, but their intelligence does not exceed that limit.’

Absolute strength.

There is no need for a fair fight.

The only way to tame a monster was to engrave that fear into its body.

But it was different from the Lord of the Hills.

First of all, unlike land, this open sea had limited places to stand.

It was difficult to perform proper swordsmanship, so the difficulty of dealing with monsters was bound to increase.

“Sir Joey, can you cast Ancilla [a priest’s blessing spell that grants temporary flight]?”

Ancilla, one of the priest’s blessing spells, had an effect similar to the wizards’ flight magic.

However, unlike Fly, which constantly consumes magic power, Ancilla continues to have a lasting effect with a single prayer from the priest.

But there were also disadvantages.

If concentration was not disturbed, wizards could maintain fly magic even if they were hit by external shocks, but Ancilla would be canceled with a single shock.

In that case, they would go straight into the sea.

A terrible thing could happen.

“I’m sorry. The Blessing of Assistance is a prayer that I cannot use at my rank.”

However, Joey Johansen expressed his difficulty at Carryl’s words.

Unlike wizards, whose ranks naturally rose depending on the number of bloodlines opened, priests could not learn high-level blessings unless they had the approval of the Order, no matter how high their divine power was.

“You’d rather use flight magic…….”

Joey Johansen carefully looked at Carryl and said.

In fact.

Carryl, who had now risen to the ranks of wizards and possessed near-infinite magic power with dragon magic, could now cast flight magic on himself.

However, like all magic, concentration was required to maintain it.

He thought it would be better to pour all the concentration into the attack, even the concentration required to maintain the magic, into the middle of the Water King and Sea King’s fight.

“I can cast Ancilla.”

Urin Hugart said to Carryl.

He no longer told Carryl to turn the ship’s head towards the Principality.

He seemed to have changed his mind to catch the two monsters at Carryl’s words.

“But if you make a mistake, you could fall into that hell. You could become their prey in an instant. Even I can’t save you in that situation.”

“It’s okay. I just have to not get hit.”

“Huh…….”

It was a natural thing to say, but how many people could actually do that?

Urin looked at Carryl with a dumbfounded expression.

“Do as you please. If it’s the wish of a guy who’s going to die, a prayer is an easy thing.”

He held the mace and chanted the prayer.

Red light flowed from him and slowly wrapped around Carryl’s body.

“May there be Yula’s freedom.”

Woo-oong…….

“Ancilla.”

Certainly, his incantation as a first-class priest was more effective than Joey Johansen’s blessing.

Carryl’s body floated lightly.

“Karl, you have something to do. Drop the auxiliary boat on the ship near those guys. After that, steer the ship northeast from here and there will be a small island. Wait there until I come.”

“Are you talking about Turtleback Rock?”

“That’s right.”

Karl, who knew all the maps of the straits, nodded.

“It’s something only you can do. Leave the rest to me. You don’t have to be here.”

“But……. In that situation, the auxiliary boat won’t last even a moment, will it? It will be destroyed.”

Karl said, looking at the scene where huge monsters were rampaging.

“It’s okay. It will be difficult just to get close. I’m leaving it to you.”

At Carryl’s words, Karl swallowed hard without realizing it.

“Hoo, I understand.”

Then, he turned the wheel and headed the Howard-ho towards the monsters’ battleground.

Chwaaaaaak—!!

Tension tightened his heart.

The guys, who looked tremendous even from a distance, felt like they were looking at a huge mountain as they got closer.

Truly.

A feeling of being overwhelmed.

Paat-!!

When everyone was frozen, the first to move was Carryl.

He flew quickly through the gaps where the monsters were entangled.

“Good…….”

Karl watched Carryl’s back and started steering the ship.

‘Left 27 degrees, 80m, then turn the wheel 70 degrees to the opposite side. The distance is…… 200m. Finally, get out by riding the waves.’

Karl calculated, aiming for the gap between the Kraken’s legs wrapping around the Water King’s neck.

“Hey, Karl! Where are you going!”

Somehow, the direction the ship was heading was strange.

Urin shouted at Karl in the control room.

“Sir Urin! I’m sorry, but please cut the rope that tied the auxiliary boat to the side of the ship when I give you the signal!”

“You……. Don’t tell me you’re going to go in there? Didn’t you hear what that guy said? He told you to just drop it nearby!”

Karl tightened his grip on the wheel despite Urin’s words.

“It’s meaningless to do that. If you’re going to use it as a foothold, you have to drop it in between them to stay in the current!”

“Damn it!! This guy or that guy……. They’re all crazy. Is the Rabat Guild full of monsters like that?”

Even as he said that, Urin was already heading towards the rope that fixed the auxiliary boat on the ship’s railing.

[Kuaaaa!!]

The Kraken spewed green venom from its mouth. When the venom touched the Water King’s cheek, the scales crumpled as if they were shrinking.

[Krrr……!!!]

With a burning smell that stung his nose, he wrapped around the Kraken’s back neck with his burning face and bit into the monster’s torso.

Kwaddeudeuk……!!

Kwajak……!!

It was then.

A loud sound of wood breaking was heard.

When he lowered his head, Karl surprisingly passed between the Sea King and the Water King, avoiding the venom, and dropped the auxiliary boat that had been hanging on the side.

“Heo…….”

Carryl unknowingly let out a low exclamation.

“Master!!”

As expected, the boat was hit by the Kraken’s leg and shattered in less than a second.

“I’ll go back and wait!!”

Karl looked around to find Carryl, but he was nowhere to be seen. If he delayed even a little, the Howard-ho would also end up like the auxiliary boat.

‘Please……!!

He gritted his teeth.

The ship started to run, barely escaping, creating a splash of water.

“Amazing.”

Carryl muttered quietly, looking at the back of the Howard-ho.

“He’s gone now. Telling him to drop the auxiliary boat was just an excuse to get him to return to the island……. Otherwise, he would have stayed here to help.”

But Karl succeeded in doing something he wasn’t even told to do.

“Karl…… He seems to have improved even more in this situation.”

He laughed quietly.

Carryl had a relaxed thought that if he left Four-Nine to Suan and the sea to Karl, it would be perfect even in the situation where the monsters were entangled.

Hooo-!!

As he stepped on the air as if stepping on the floor, he quickly passed in front of the Water King’s eyes as if he was running.

The Water King, who was biting the Kraken’s torso, chased Carryl with his eyes as if he was looking at an annoying fly, but soon didn’t care.

Without knowing what kind of result that indifference would bring.

Woo-oong…….

Carryl readjusted his sword.

In an instant, purple Arcane Aura poured out from his sword.

“The disturber is gone…….”

Carryl, who was using his sword for the first time since leaving Heim, said as if enjoying the sensation of the Ice Claw.

“Shall we go hunting?”

As the button on his shirt that had been fastened was slightly loosened, the empty space left on the emblem of the Horned King hanging around his neck swayed as if welcoming them.