The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 124

103. Southern Demon Realm (3)

“Your Highness, the fog is so thick that we can’t pick up speed. At this rate, crossing the Pona River will be difficult. Perhaps we should proceed more slowly…”

Originally, the autumn night sky should have been clear enough to see the moon distinctly.

But for some reason, as they approached the river, a thick fog, impenetrable even an inch ahead, awaited them.

“Although it’s common for fog to form in autumn… Was the weather in Pona always this cold?”

Ruon said with a disgruntled voice, clutching his collar. It was autumn and getting cooler, but this was excessive.

It felt as if winter had arrived.

The air was chilling to an eerie degree.

Squeak-

Prince Ruon frowned at the unpleasant air and roughly waved his hand in the air.

But as if mocking him, the annoying fog that obscured his vision slipped through his fingers, further hindering his sight.

The only thing visible were the white stones laid on the ground, indicating that this road was indeed Haron Street.

“It’s fortunate at least. As long as we follow this road, we can safely pass through Pona and reach the Three Kingdoms.”

Ruon said, looking at the neatly maintained ground.

“Indeed, Your Highness.”

Ajif, the vice-commander of the Golden Order, who was experienced, had also never seen such a dense fog.

‘I’ve experienced Pona for years, but this is strange… However, it doesn’t seem to be magically created either….’

He wondered if this was a scheme by Olivon, but soon dismissed the suspicion.

Creating a magical fog of this scale would require an unimaginable amount of mana.

‘It would be impossible unless it was a 7th-class Archmage [the highest level of magic user]. The proud Magic Society would never side with the Second Prince… The court mages are still neutral, so is this just a natural phenomenon?’

He considered every possibility, but there was nothing particularly suspicious.

‘I must be on edge due to the long expedition.’

Ajif chuckled to himself, wondering if he was overreacting.

Even he, with his extensive experience, felt the pressure. After all, he was the de facto commander of this large army.

‘Raise Prince Ruon to the throne, and I will become the commander of the Golden Order.’

He, too, was staking everything on this expedition to achieve his dream.

‘I must not make any mistakes.’

He thought and resolved this several times while coming down to the south.

Splash… Splash….

How long had it been?

The sound of the river lapping could be heard. At that sound, Ruon’s face finally relaxed.

“Bear with it a little longer. We only need to reach Marquis Bestal’s territory anyway. I’ve already contacted them through the communication device, so the Dragon Knights should have finished their deployment preparations.”

He encouraged the soldiers.

The Emperor had ordered all the princes to resolve the situation in the south.

The First Prince through war, the Second Prince through negotiation, and the Third Prince through the power of mercenaries, each was heading to the south in their own way.

‘I don’t care about Kroman anyway. Even though there was Father’s order, Gordon Fabian wouldn’t give him real power.’

The problem was the Second Prince, Olivon.

From the start, the battle for the throne was between him and Olivon.

Mistakes were not allowed.

If either of them were pushed out, it wouldn’t just mean losing their position, but also losing their head.

‘Damn it….’

When Ruon heard the news that the Valkyrie Knights had been annihilated, he thought his chance had come.

It was an incident where an entire knight order, not just one or two soldiers, had been lost. Even a prince couldn’t avoid being held accountable.

But his father didn’t hold Olivon responsible in any way.

Rather, he used this incident as an opportunity to send all the princes to the south.

‘There’s no need to think about the reason.’

A kind of test.

It was a southern subjugation by imperial order, but it wasn’t just about solving the problems of the barbarians.

In another sense, this was a battlefield created by the Emperor for the princes.

‘The one who survives here will inherit the throne.’

That’s why Ruon couldn’t delay any longer.

‘As long as I don’t make any mistakes, the nobles are on my side.’

Ruon was certain.

Like Ajif, he was thinking the same thing.

It was then.

Rustle- Rustle-

Along with the sound of rustling bushes, a group of figures appeared in the fog.

“Alert!!!”

The knight at the front shouted, and the knights around the prince drew their swords in unison.

“Please lower your weapons, Your Highness.”

An unexpected soft voice was heard from within the fog.

“…….”

However, Ajif did not lower his guard.

“……?!”

How much more time had passed?

The soldiers who were pointing their weapons forward were surprised when they identified the person who had appeared.

Surprisingly, the person who appeared was a woman with her face covered by a veil.

“Who are you?”

Prince Ruon looked at her with a puzzled expression as she emerged from the fog like a mysterious apparition.

But soon, seeing her curvaceous figure and the glimpses of fair skin between her clothes, he unconsciously licked his lips.

“I was worried we might get separated due to the thick fog.”

She said, looking at Ruon.

“We are guides from the Three Kingdoms, here to escort Your Highness. Recently, the fog around the Pona River has made travel difficult, so we are here to assist you.”

“Nonsense. Reveal your true identity.”

Ajif still shouted at her. But Ruon raised his hand to stop him.

“Calm down, Sir Ajif.”

Ruon looked at her.

“Yes. Certainly, as you said, the fog is annoyingly thick. If it weren’t for the newly built, clean road, we would have gotten lost.”

He said in a haughty voice typical of royalty.

“I see.”

“Sir Ajif, I sent a message to the Three Kingdoms in advance. The road to the south is only a narrow path. In order for our 70,000 troops to go south via this road, we have no choice but to pass through the Three Kingdoms last.”

“But, Your Highness…….”

“I didn’t expect the Three Kingdoms to show this much consideration… If your guidance is helpful, there’s no need to refuse.”

Ruon wasn’t a fool.

Of course, he had something to rely on.

The people in front of him were only a group of five at most.

He judged that it was impossible for them to harm his 70,000 troops.

Of course.

It was undeniable that his gaze continued to scan her entire body.

“You honor us. This is a confirmation with the seal of the Kingdom of Istan.”

She took out a small scroll from her bosom and handed it to him. Then she said.

“That’s fortunate.”

Behind the veil, her eyes sparkled.

Dusella looked at Ruon and gave a faint smile.

“That we didn’t make a mistake.”

* * *

Viola stared blankly at Carryl.

Her appearance was a mess.

Her dress was soaked with sweat, and the armor protecting her chest and shoulders was too heavy to bear; she just wanted to take it off right away.

[Kruaaaaa–!!!]

A particularly large, gray-skinned orc roared at Carryl.

Carryl’s Free Knights, without resting after subduing the Lizardmen, rushed to conquer another demon realm and arrived at the last, third demon realm in the blink of an eye.

He had initially told Viola that it would take less than fifteen days to conquer these three demon realms.

At first, she thought his words were simply an exaggeration to impress her.

Thud-!!!

Carryl’s ice claws pierced the back of the orc’s neck, and the blade protruded through the part where its uvula was located.

The gray orc collapsed forward without even screaming.

‘That person… Doesn’t he ever get tired?’

Viola looked at Carryl with a look of exhaustion.

“Maintain the formation!!”

“Injured, fall back!! I’ll take the lead!!”

The shouts of the knights surrounding her could be heard.

Grace, looking utterly exhausted, swung his sword with all his might.

His lightning-attribute mana blade flashed with electricity, tearing through the gray orc’s shoulder.

Crack……!!!

The sword, embedded about 1/3 of the way into the shoulder, could not go any further and stopped, caught on the orc’s tough flesh.

“Kugh!!”

Grace put strength into his two arms holding the sword.

[Krrr……!!]

The gray orc, not yet dead, swung the huge hammer it was holding at him with a distorted face full of pain.

“Hwaaak!!”

“Heeup!!”

Evading the hammer, Grace had no choice but to retreat, dropping the sword he was holding.

Two knights aimed for the orc’s back and stabbed their swords in with all their might.

After several stabs, the orc finally trembled and collapsed to the ground.

“Haa…… Haa…….”

The knights breathed heavily with exhausted expressions.

Grace pulled out the sword embedded in the orc. The tough flesh of the monster clung to the blade as if it would not let go.

Gray orcs are not ordinary monsters that live in the field but are demons that are only created in demon realms.

They were merely named that way because their appearance resembled orcs, but it was no exaggeration to say that they were completely different demons.

Like orcs that form colonies, hundreds of them gathered inside the demon realm, and they all had regeneration abilities comparable to trolls.

“How are we supposed to fight such monsters?”

The knight said, taking off his helmet as if even it was too heavy.

“We are doing it. That person is.”

Grace bit his lip and looked ahead.

Although.

The Panpinel family had become a weak family now, swept up in the dirty political world, but it was a historically prestigious martial family. It was no exaggeration to say that they had endured with pride in their swordsmanship, at least until now.

But such pride of Grace was being shattered mercilessly by a boy who was not even an adult yet.

‘How… How can he fight like that?’

Swish-

Claaack-! Clack!!

Carryl swung his sword with all his might.

The trajectory of the sword strike, without any hesitation, cleanly split the gray orc’s tough hide as if it were nothing.

Gray orcs, which several knights struggled against even with just one, were cut in half with a single attack from Carryl, their waists severed, spilling blood.

Splat!

As Carryl landed, he twisted his left foot, which touched the ground first, and his body rotated, and the blade flashed diagonally once again.

This time, there was not even a sound, and the gray orcs around him were cut down.

Blood spurted from the corpses of the demons, splattering on his clothes. But Carryl didn’t care.

“Tch.”

Carryl wiped his lips and spat out the dirty blood of the demons. Already covered in blood, he scanned the corpses that had been sliced around him and said.

“At this rate, there will be no end. If we want to make it on time, we need to hurry a little more. Beykan, Kinu, clean up here. I’ll go in alone.”

“Understood!”

“Yes.”

Unlike the two who answered casually, Viola and Grace couldn’t help but be surprised by Carryl’s words.

Even now, with orcs continuing to pour out, his words to go further inside, alone, was no different from suicide.

‘But…….’

Ironically, Grace, who had witnessed Carryl’s prowess with his own eyes, thought that he might be able to do it.

There were no flashy techniques. Nor was it a fierce, overbearing sword.

But every enemy that touched his sword always ended in a single strike.

“…….”

Grace had no way of knowing that it was the ultimate skill born only after holding a sword for countless eons.

The emotion he felt while looking at Carryl might be similar to what Randol felt during the goblin subjugation.

Like Randol, who was a commoner, he, the head of a weak noble family, had a desire for strength.

And he couldn’t deny that he became more curious about him when he witnessed it directly.

Squeak-

“You guys protect the princess. From now on, I’ll fight alone.”

“Yes? But…….”

“I’ll check it with my own eyes.”

It might be a crime of disrespect for him, the escort knight who should be attending to the princess, to leave the front lines.

But even so, he wanted to see it. Grace started running as hard as he could into the demon realm where Carryl had entered.

* * *

“You’re late.”

How long had he run?

Carryl said as if he had been waiting for him, holding the severed head of a demon that seemed to be twice the size of the gray orcs he had seen so far.

“What is this…….”

He was so surprised that he couldn’t even speak. The corpses of monsters were scattered around.

No, similarly, the corpses of monsters were laid out in the passage he had passed through.

He didn’t want to admit it, but this result meant that Carryl’s speed of breaking through the orcs was faster than the speed at which he had run.

He couldn’t believe it.

He had seen his swordsmanship so far, but there was no way such an absurd speed was possible.

“How did this…….”

Some corpses were charred black and turned to ashes, and some were frozen white and shattered into pieces.

Not only that.

Yet another was cleanly split by a sword, and the remaining corpses were scorched as if they had been electrocuted.

‘It’s completely different from before?’

Various attributes are mixed together.

This was not something one person could do.

Grace couldn’t even fathom Carryl’s fighting method at all.

Thud-

“……!!!”

Carryl threw the chieftain’s head at him.

Grace received the head of the orc chieftain, who had died without even realizing his death, with a blank face, unable to even close his eyes.

Then he turned his head.

A huge body that appeared to be the chieftain’s body was sitting intact on the throne among the corpses.

He hadn’t even resisted.

“Take that with you and follow me.”

“……Yes?”

Carryl wiped the blood of the demons from his face with the back of his hand, smiled lightly, and walked past him.

“It’s a surprise gift.”