The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 196

154. Ruins of Antihum

‘Well… does it matter?’

Cahill didn’t think much of it.

Unlike the Dawn Society, the Immortal Society was such a closed group that he didn’t know much about it either.

“This way…”

Benedict bowed his head, looking distraught. Cahill lightly patted his shoulder and spoke.

He flinched and trembled at his touch.

“Think seriously about it. If you’re a mage who can’t even create a proper mana web, being a scribe in the library wouldn’t be so bad.”

“……”

Benedict twitched his lips at Cahill’s words.

However, fearing he might get caught in the crossfire, he quickly fled out of sight.

“The Immortal Society’s mages aren’t anything special.”

“That old man is just useless. He’s not even a 5th class yet. At that age, that level means he has no talent. Mana Strategy Department? There’s no such thing in the first place. It was created to show off to naive kids.”

Cahill knew very well that the real mages of the Immortal Society were all in the basement of the grand library right in front of him.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen that person’s face.’

He grabbed the doorknob with a round handle shaped like a skull’s mouth and knocked.

Clang-

As he channeled mana into the hand holding the doorknob, a faint light began to flow from the two eyes of the skull above.

“……!!!”

At the same time, eerie black smoke slowly wrapped around Cahill’s arm. The black smoke soon covered his entire body, and Mikhail and Serica, who were standing behind him, were startled by the sight.

Clang-

A sound like a lock being released was heard.

Creak, creak, creak…

A strange sound was heard as the door opened, like a wailing ghost.

“It’s dark.”

Except for the light flowing from the entrance, the inside of the grand library was as dark as if there had been a power outage.

Moreover, a thick white mist covered the area from the floor to the ceiling, making the air feel cold on the face.

“Flame Finger.”

Whoosh…!!

As Cahill waved his hand, five flames sprouted from the tips of his fingers.

He thought it had been a long time since he had created flames with magic instead of Lamine’s flames.

“Ignite.”

The five flames grew as if exploding.

Tzzzz–!!

The mist that had filled the library made a burning sound as it touched Cahill’s flames.

As the hot air gradually filled the space, the view slowly became clearer.

“The atmosphere is completely different.”

Mikhail felt that just a moment ago, this place felt like a place where people lived, but inside the library, it felt like walking into a demon’s den.

“Right? Mages are eccentric. Sometimes, among the buildings they build, there are places with the characteristics of a demon’s den. The Ivory Tower [a legendary, often metaphorical, place of intellectual pursuit and detachment from everyday concerns] is probably similar? It’s good to be careful because there are not only condensed mana but also traps everywhere.”

Tap- Tap- Tap-

The torches hanging on both walls of the dark hallway lit up all at once the moment Cahill stepped into the library.

“Wow…”

The inside felt completely different once the lights turned on.

The walls up to the towering ceiling were all bookshelves, filled with countless magic books.

“It’s been a while since an outsider has come.”

A voice was heard from the darkness.

The end of the hallway.

A strange male voice was heard, as if it were echoing.

Mikhail and Serica flinched without realizing it.

Clang… Clang….

The sound of chains clashing was heard each time the man moved his feet.

“Heh heh heh……”

His back was hunched, and his face was so grotesquely distorted that he could be mistaken for a ghoul.

‘Is that Nine Darhon?’

‘What kind of person looks like that?’

The two frowned as if they had seen something unpleasant.

“Come up.”

He gestured to Cahill as he climbed the spiral staircase at the end of the hallway.

“Are you okay? My lord.”

Mikhail whispered in his ear with an uneasy feeling.

“Is that person perhaps the leader of the Immortal Society? Ugh, he looks like a black magician at first glance.”

However, Cahill only chuckled at his words for some reason.

“Ah, him? He’s nothing special.”

“……Yes?”

* * *

“So, you guys are the ones who caused a commotion at the entrance of Antihum.”

Mikhail, who had followed up the stairs, stared at the two in disbelief at the strange situation.

“I, I apologize.”

The hunchbacked man, who had been emitting an eerie aura just a moment ago, bent his back even further and answered anxiously as soon as he came up the stairs.

“To think that after decades of living in isolation from the outside world, it would be broken by mere kids like these.”

“……I’m sorry.”

In contrast, the man sitting in the chair and speaking to him was a handsome man with long black hair down to his waist.

“Being able to enter this place means that everyone has reached the ranks of a mage… Has the world changed a lot while I was in seclusion? To think that kids like these are already 4th class.”

If it weren’t for his voice, he might have been mistaken for a woman.

His snow-white skin and contrasting bright red lips made him look almost inhuman.

He leaned on the armrest of the chair, rested his chin on his hand, and looked at the group.

In terms of appearance, the hunchbacked man looked several decades older than the one sitting in the chair, making their conversation feel out of place.

“Nine Darhon.”

Cahill said to the man sitting in the chair.

“……?!”

At that moment,

Mikhail looked at the man in the chair once again with a surprised expression.

‘No way. That person is… Nine Darhon, the leader of the Immortal Society?!’

Serica looked at him with a look that asked why he was so surprised.

That’s because, out of the four existing archmages, excluding Deryl Harian, the leader of the Golden Magic Society of the Lurein Principality, who is called the Magic Bullet, the other three are all known to be of the same age.

Berch Blano, the leader of the Dawn Society, Kadin Luer, the imperial court mage of the Empire, and Nine Darhon of the Immortal Society.

The era in which three archmages were born at a time when magic was gradually weakening after the Age of Magic was also called the Golden Age.

Berch of the Dawn Society also did not show his face because he was in seclusion at the Ivory Tower, their base, but everyone knew about Kadin Luer.

An old man with gray hair.

When he thought of him, he couldn’t imagine that he was the same age as Nine Darhon, who could be believed to be in his 20s.

“Don’t be surprised. Changing faces is something anyone can do once they become a mage.”

Serica snorted as if it were nothing special.

“That human is originally that face.”

“……Huh?”

Cahill said quietly at her words.

“The Darhon family’s blood is a bit special. Vampire blood is weakly mixed in, so they don’t age well. Besides, to balance things out, they said he was the same age as the other two mages, but he might actually be older. Who knows? Maybe he’s an old monster who lived in the Age of Magic.”

At his words, the two looked at Nine Darhon once again.

“Heh heh… You know a lot, Cahill McGovern.”

Nine Darhon said his name as if he already knew Cahill’s identity.

“Still, the leader is better. The idiots at the front gate didn’t know. Mana Strategy Department? To think they’re creating such trivial things. It’s not even funny. Since when has the Immortal Society become a group that plays house?”

Despite his scathing words, Nine Darhon’s expression did not change.

“Sometimes, childish things are necessary to embrace the ignorant. If you put a hat on those without talent, they will be more loyal than anyone else.”

“Well… Looking at that gentleman from earlier, it seems like he would work hard no matter what you asked him to do.”

Cahill said, thinking of Benedict.

It wasn’t a place he had any connection with in his past life, but for some reason, he kept catching his eye.

“You should remember that too. About how to handle people. If you’re the king of a country.”

‘He already knows everything up to what happened in the Empire.’

Nine Darhon tilted his head further towards Cahill, twitching his bright red lips.

“Well, it’s not something you need to worry about. I’m already good at handling people.”

Cahill answered indifferently with a displeased expression at his appearance.

“Heh heh… You shouldn’t think that this childish game is the real face of the Immortal Society.”

Step- Step- Step-

Cahill moved towards him.

The sound of steady footsteps echoed in the hall before stopping.

“The real face… Are you talking about the library’s test? It doesn’t seem like much.”

Cahill glanced at the floor with a look.

It looked like there was nothing there, but for some reason, Nine Darhon’s complexion slightly hardened.

“You’re a perceptive fellow. It would have been interesting if you had stepped on it.”

The floor was raised so subtly right in front of his feet that it was not easily noticeable.

“If the leader is childish, the guys outside are just as bad. Trap? If I had stepped on this, I would have cut your neck right away.”

Cahill agreed with Nine Darhon’s words.

In the conversation between Nine Darhon and Cahill, who seemed like they would burst into flames, Mikhail and Serica looked at the two with tense faces.

“Well, fine. Even if I have to pay the price for the commotion at the front gate later, should I ask why you came here first?”

“Wait.”

It was then.

Cahill suddenly looked out the window from inside the grand library and pointed to the giant tree erected in the center of the village.

Unlike the dark hallway, the room where Nine Darhon was had a large window, giving a clear view of the village below.

“That tree……”

With a stiff face, he walked to the window.

He didn’t care if there were still traps on the floor and walked briskly.

“Ah… As perceptive as you are, your eyes are good too. It’s the World Tree. Of course, not the World Tree of the elves in the legends. The Immortal Society restored it. How is it?”

“……It’s not dead?”

“What?”

Nine Darhon looked at Cahill as if asking what he meant.

“Yes, the area around that tree was a completely black ruin.”

Cahill muttered lowly.

He remembered now.

The constant sense of incongruity.

The scenery he saw for the first time when he moved to the grand library through the teleportation magic circle in his previous life was completely different.

‘I thought something was strange.’

It was only after seeing that tree that he remembered. Cahill let out a hollow laugh at his inadequacy.

‘Right. When I came to Antihum, there was no such residential area itself.’

Only the grand library, the central building, remained.

Even this was so large and magnificent that the scenery didn’t catch his eye at the time.

All he could see was the World Tree, withered and black, standing powerlessly.

‘Why did it disappear?’

Coming to Antihum was only at most 3 months apart, comparing his previous life and this life.

There was no intense explosion enough to make a village of this size disappear in that short gap.

The whole village disappeared without a sound.

“……”

Cahill let out a low sigh.