The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 161

127. Ariel Wood

[Those who know no romance.]

Sitting on the throne, Jarka Hoch clicked his tongue at Gordon as if he had witnessed something blasphemous.

He held his head high, seemingly paying no attention to Carryl’s group, and admired the small frame in his hand.

Thud.

Then, he carefully placed it on the table next to the chair.

“Romance, my ass. Coming from a guy who’s been rotting for 1,000 years. You’re more stagnant than stagnant water. This place stinks worse than the poison inside the barrier.”

At Jarka Hoch’s words, Gordon snorted and retorted,

“Shut up and give me my medicine.”

[……What?]

Jarka tilted his head as if he couldn’t believe Gordon’s words.

“I don’t know either. You must have something like medicine among the things you have. Like the treasures left by the bosses of the Demon Nests. I’m just glad you’re a demon I can talk to.”

[To think the human who came after so long is a madman…….]

This time, Jarka spoke as if he was dumbfounded at Gordon’s words.

Swish…….

As he stood up from his seat, an eerie aura filled the banquet hall.

Millyana channeled her mana at the chilling sensation.

[An familiar energy……. Indeed, it has been a long time since those who broke through the Dragon’s Barrier have come, and they seem to have the ability to do so.]

Jarka slowly nodded as if he recognized her mana.

“I have a few questions to ask, Jarka Hoch.”

Carryl spoke first.

[What is it?]

The tension was still high, but thanks to Gordon, the atmosphere had eased a little, and it seemed they had avoided a situation where swords would be drawn immediately.

‘Hmm, that’s a relief,’

Carryl thought as he watched him answer his question.

‘I have a chance to talk before I stab him with my sword.’

“Why is this insignia inside the Bone Dragon’s body?”

Carryl took out the insignia he had obtained earlier and showed it to him. When he took out the insignia again, a faint green light shone from the insignia and his armor once each.

However, perhaps because of the black magic in the castle, the light was fainter than it had been outside.

Jarka Hoch’s eyes trembled slightly at the sight.

[Then why are you, who is not an elf, wearing Elven Mail?]

“This wasn’t made by an elf. It was made by a gnome.”

[Hmph……. Did they steal a branch of the World Tree? Those rat-like bastards. They act the same as they did 1,000 years ago.]

It had been known since ancient times that the relationship between gnomes and elves was no better than that of dwarves.

But directly confirming that story felt as amazing as watching an old fairy tale.

“Ugh…….”

But that feeling was only temporary.

Looking closely at Jarka Hoch, who looked like a beautiful man, the thing that looked like skin was just a faint heroic spirit, and the skeleton inside moved every time he spoke.

Aidan, who had good eyes, shook his head with a look of horror as the sight became clearer.

[Well, fine. But why should I tell you about it? To those who have invaded someone else’s castle.]

“I don’t think you’re in a position to say that, considering you tried to poison us. We’re all the same, so why don’t we just make it easy on each other.”

Carryl said, kicking a bowl that was rolling next to him.

[I have nothing to say. The only thing you have to do in this sacred land is to breathe your last.]

At that moment,

A hazy magic barrier was created around Jarka Hoch.

“See? When I ask politely, the bonehead gets angry. Sorry about that. Ignore what he says and just tell me where my medicine is. Before I blow your fancy head off.”

“…….”

Gordon clicked his tongue again.

But the word ‘sorry’ from him, who had just blown the head off the man in the banquet hall, didn’t sound like an apology at all.

[Rude bastards……. You’re just thieves who came to steal the essence of the Soul Spring.]

“Essence of the Soul Spring……?”

“See? He’s telling us right away. Is that my medicine?”

Gordon tilted his head slightly towards Carryl and said.

[Nonsense……. Do you know what the corpses around you are? They are the ones who died trying to attack this castle. Like them, I will trap you here forever and make you dream an endless dream!!]

At that moment,

A fierce magical storm began to rage around the banquet hall.

Fizz…… Fzzzzz……!!

As if on fire, black magic covered not only Carryl’s surroundings but the entire castle like smoke.

“Be careful!!”

Knowing that it was no ordinary magic, everyone took out their weapons and focused their mana at Carryl’s cry.

[Escape from the bondage of the flesh and be free…….]

[Follow the master’s orders.]

Eerie voices began to be heard from here and there. The corpses lying on the floor began to rise, spewing out white smoke as the black magic touched them.

“Hiss……!!”

Instinctively, Gordon jumped out and swung the Mouter [his signature hammer] at Jarka Hoch with all his might.

Kwaaaang—!!

A solid echo rang out as it hit the wall. The magic barrier protecting his body rippled like waves, but it did not break and instead bounced Gordon’s hammer back.

“……!!”

[Heh heh heh……. Is that all? Mortals. Tremble in fear. Can you cover my misty magic with your crude hands?]

Jarka Hoch said with a low laugh towards Gordon.

“Necromancy, huh……. This is going to be annoying.”

Carryl muttered lowly, looking at the rippling magic barrier.

“We can just break it. We caught the Bone Dragon, didn’t we?”

At his words, Millyana said, emitting sword energy. She had been wanting to use her Dragon Mana properly since her meridians had been opened, so she was rather hoping for a strong opponent.

“Be careful. They’re different from the shabby undead outside. They don’t just have bones, but they have a skin made of spirits on top, like that Jarka guy, right? The guys who are resurrected with necromancy can use their abilities from when they were alive.”

But despite Carryl’s warning, Millyana said as if she was rather looking forward to it.

“They’re just people who died to that elf anyway. At best…….”

Kwaaaang—!!

It was then.

With a tremendous roar, Millyana couldn’t finish her sentence and was thrown back, her body floating in the air from the impact.

Bang! Kwagagang……!!

She rolled once on the floor and then plunged her sword into the ground, but the momentum did not decrease and she was pushed back dozens of meters.

She stopped only after hitting the wall, and then stood up as if she was about to rush in, but then flinched and stopped.

Trickle-

“Huh?”

Millyana rubbed the tip of her nose with the back of her hand.

Red blood was smeared on it.

“Blood…….”

She instinctively raised her sword to block, but despite that, she touched her throbbing nose with her cheek reddened by the necromancer’s strike, and said as if growling.

“You son of a……!!”

Flash!!

In an instant, her body disappeared, leaving only afterimages, and rushed towards the swordsman at an incredible speed.

Stepping on the floor and jumping up, she spun three times in the air and extended her sword towards him.

Clang!!

The Arc [Millyana’s sword] in her right hand collided with the swordsman’s sword. Millyana still did not stop attacking in the air.

Pushing the Arc away as if bouncing it off, the swordsman’s body staggered, and in that state, she drew the Gale [another of Millyana’s swords] horizontally, drawing a circle on the opposite side.

Kwagang! Bang!!

With a series of explosions, just before landing on the floor, she bent her body and kicked the swordsman’s head with her foot from top to bottom.

Tszzzzzz…….

The swordsman’s head was slammed into the floor, and the marble floor shattered, protruding in a V shape around the embedded head.

“You bastard…….”

Despite the relentless attacks, Millyana’s face hardened slightly as she looked at the fallen swordsman.

‘That woman is no joke either…….’

Aidan thought once again as he watched her fiercely pouring out her sword strikes.

“Kid, now is not the time to play around. Concentrate so you don’t die. Those two over there are your share.”

“……Yes?”

Gordon said to him, who had been lost in admiration.

The corpses resurrected by Jarka Hoch’s necromancy were already approaching them.

“Carryl, do you see? Those guys and Jarka’s barrier are connected to each other. It seems that the barrier will disappear only after we catch all those guys.”

Simple black magic would have resulted in undead resurrected by the caster’s mana, so if their bodies were destroyed or their cores were destroyed, they would no longer move.

Kwaaaang!!!

The swordsman who had fallen from Millyana’s attack a moment ago 벌떡 일어나며 휘둘렀다 [벌떡 일어나며 휘둘렀다 is Korean and means ‘staggering up and brandishing’].

“That’s the annoying thing about necromancy. An elf, called the race of light, is using necromancy……. There are so many strange things happening.”

[Krrr…….]

The surrounding corpses slowly narrowed the siege, growling like beasts.

The resurrected undead were wearing something similar to Jarka Hoch’s barrier.

In necromancy, mana is connected between the caster and the undead, forming a barrier. And until that mana runs out, it will not break, and even if it does break, it will regenerate in an instant.

“What’s the method?”

“Basically, it’s to attack until all the mana is exhausted to remove the magic barrier, but…….”

In his previous life, when Parel appeared and the demons who rushed out to the ground occasionally used necromancy.

But at that time, it was a war where a large number of people clashed, so it was possible to exhaust the mana, but now it was different.

“Elves are already a race that lives a long time, and they’ve lived for another 1,000 years on top of that……. To exhaust all that mana, how much…….”

Aidan said as if he was fed up.

[Kyaak!!]

A woman wearing a dress screamed sharply at him and swung her sword.

“Kugh!!”

It was an attack from a seemingly frail woman, but Aidan felt a throbbing pain in both arms.

“Get out of the way!!”

Gordon Fabian swung his hammer with all his might. Then, the woman’s waist bent into a ㄱ shape [ㄱ shape is Korean and refers to the shape of the Korean letter ‘ㄱ’, similar to an ‘L’ shape], and her ribs shattered as they were.

“…….”

Hooduk…… Hooduk……! Jjeogeudeok!! [These are onomatopoeic Korean words describing sounds of breaking and squishing.]

The corpse that bounced off the floor and crashed into the wall was half-destroyed and staggered, and the scattered bone fragments were newly attached.

As her body was restored, the woman ran madly and rushed towards Gordon this time.

“Damn it!!”

Gordon Fabian punched the woman in the face as she tried to bite his neck with her chattering teeth.

At the same time, he 찍어 버렸다 [찍어 버렸다 is Korean and means ‘stamped on it’].

The butler, 끼인 [끼인 is Korean and means ‘stuck’] between the floor and the head of the hammer, 분리되며 몸통과 다리가 바둥거렸다 [분리되며 몸통과 다리가 바둥거렸다 is Korean and means ‘separated, with the torso and legs flailing’].

Originally, the undead should not have been destroyed while Jarka Hoch’s magic barrier was maintained.

You could see that just by looking at the undead that Millyana was fighting.

But his attacks were things that surpassed the barrier on the undead with each blow.

“If it ends when you break it, then the method is simple. Hey, elf. 1,000 years of mana? Let’s see how long it lasts.”

Gordon said, smashing the head of the skeleton butler, whose broken upper and lower bodies were trying to merge again, with his hammer once again.

“…….”

Aidan felt for the first time among these monsters that he missed Suan Hazar.

“Come on.”

Gordon Fabian said, flicking his fingers.

[Krrr…….]

The undead in the banquet hall each drew their weapons.

Crack-

The skeleton butler, whose head had been shattered a moment ago, reassembled his powdered head, twisted his neck once to the left and right, and then rushed towards Gordon.

Kwaang……!! Bang……! Bang!! Bang!!!!

Dozens of undead began to cling to Gordon. The bone fragments 터지는 [터지는 is Korean and means ‘exploding’] in all directions began to cover the banquet hall like smoke.

“The lich’s mana might really be exhausted?”

Aidan said to Carryl with a low exclamation at Gordon’s monstrous appearance.

‘Something’s wrong…….’

But rather, Carryl felt that the 모습이 [모습이 is Korean and means ‘appearance’] of the undead rushing towards Gordon was somehow alien.

“Could it be……?”