The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 199

156. The Book of Challenges (2)

“Ugh… Ugh…!!”

The slender woman pinned beneath Khalil’s palm thrashed, clutching at his wrist as if suffocating.

Fsssh…….

Rough gasps filled the space.

To an outsider, Khalil’s act of plunging his sword into the woman’s neck would appear as nothing short of a horrific scene, warranting screams.

Yet, as if his rage remained unappeased, he twisted the ice claw embedded in the floor, digging the sword in deeper.

“Cough… Keugh…!!”

Red blood gushed from the pierced throat.

Each cough brought forth a bubbling burst of blood from her mouth.

“Do gods bleed? I wouldn’t know, never seen it. This trial isn’t about impossible challenges, but about showing what you desire.”

“You….”

Yulla tried to speak.

But Khalil, unwilling to hear her words, slammed the sword down with all his might.

“Can you kill a god? I couldn’t back then, but now it’s different.”

With a face half-torn, Yulla looked at Khalil and gave a strange smile.

“…Don’t you regret your life?”

“That’s a tough question.”

Khalil withdrew his sword, his face chillingly indifferent.

“The library’s trials are known for being perplexing.”

The meaning of the trials is obscure, the names ambiguous, and it’s impossible to know whether they refer to the past, present, or future.

But what’s clear is that the trial has a distinct impact on the challenger’s life and holds definite meaning.

In the end,

Yulla, appearing before him like this, was connected by an inescapable red thread [a metaphor for an unavoidable or destined connection].

‘Would the you of the past really be different from the you of now? Yulla, what part of my life are you influencing now?’

Khalil turned the blade of the drawn sword sideways.

“There’s a saying that the Book of Challenges wasn’t actually made by humans, but by the Nephilim [a race of beings, often described as the offspring of gods and humans, in various mythologies], the race of gods. At first, I thought it was just legends being embellished….”

Khalil grabbed the collar of the woman, whose face was half-smashed and throat pierced, as she slowly rose to her feet and looked at him.

“Keugh… Keu-heugh.”

“Maybe it really wasn’t made by humans. It’s giving me a chance to kill you.”

Thwack…!!!

Splat—!!!

He kicked Yulla’s abdomen with all his might, then brought the ice claw down on her neck as she flew into the air.

“I should just be thankful for the Immortal Guild’s skill in tainting the Nephilim’s work so darkly.”

The moment the blade, imbued with Jarkha Hoch’s spirit and radiating cold death, touched her, the god’s neck was severed amidst pure white frost.

Thud… Thud….

The cut surface froze, not a single drop of blood flowing.

“I should be grateful for having this trial again.”

The head that fell to the floor bounced a few times.

“……”

With a relieved expression, Khalil stomped on Yulla’s frozen head with all his might. It shattered like glass, her fragments scattering in all directions.

At that moment,

The darkness that had consumed the surroundings vanished.

He felt Nine Darhon’s gaze upon him.

As the owner of the Book of Challenges and the host of the trial, he must have been watching Khalil’s trial.

“You….”

It was the privilege of the book’s owner to understand, even if not perfectly, why such a trial was given to the challenger.

“You’re even more insane than I thought?”

Nine Darhon looked at Khalil with a hardened face.

“You dare trample on a god’s head.”

He didn’t seem to have noticed that Khalil had regressed.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Khalil’s words when he beheaded Yulla didn’t necessarily imply his regression.

But having lived for many years, he seemed to sense something foreign in Khalil’s words.

“Do you have a complaint against the Order?”

“Isn’t it the same for the Immortal Guild? The Dawn Society and the Immortal Guild are bound to clash because their goals in researching magic are different.”

“Heh heh….”

Nine Darhon said to Khalil.

“Now that I see it… do you want to challenge the realm of the gods?”

“Creation? I’m not interested. That’s for you to do.”

Khalil swung the ice claw once.

It was as if he was shaking off blood, even though there was nothing on the blade.

“Summoning corpses and calling forth spirits is enough for once.”

“What, you’re interested after all?”

Nine Darhon chuckled at Khalil’s words. But Khalil, still with a calm expression, glanced at the two people still lying on the floor and said to him.

“Since it’s quiet, we can talk a bit more.”

“I’ve been waiting for that. As I expected, I knew you’d be the first to pass the trial.”

“Dust of Emptiness. I’ve seen something similar before. In the beginning, when God created the world and space expanded, the current realms were completed.”

Khalil held the ice claw horizontally. Then, as if taking the next step, he moved the sword up and down.

“Including the Human Realm where humans live, the Celestial Realm where the Nephilim reside, the Demon Realm at the very bottom, and the Demon World above it. These four realms were created.”

“……”

“Elves and dwarves also had separate dimensions in the Genesis, but… that hasn’t been confirmed.”

“Are you going to read me a fairy tale? Even the kids outside know that.”

Nine Darhon yawned slightly as he replied to Khalil. Khalil smirked at his reaction.

“In the process of expanding these realms, cracks were inevitably created. And the residue that accumulated in those cracks is what’s called Corruption.”

“……”

The playful look from a moment ago disappeared, and Nine Darhon looked at Khalil with a hardened expression.

“God tried to eliminate it, but it was not eliminated. Rather, the condensed power of the cracks absorbed the attributes of each realm and gained immense power.”

“…Spirit King.”

Khalil nodded at his answer, as if he expected it.

“You included spirit power in the magic net you created to catch the Dust of Emptiness for that reason, right? Because the material of the dust contained the power of spirits. Isn’t that right?”

“……”

“But unlike the Spirit Kings, the residue of the cracks called Corruption has an inherent attribute. A power that opposes God. Yulla feared that power and sealed it.”

Khalil nodded as if confirming.

“Darkness Force.”

“How do you… know that?”

Khalil smiled faintly at Nine Darhon’s words and tapped his temple.

“The leader of the Council of Seven Elders. Alun Zabis. The repository of knowledge he left behind is here.”

“……?!”

Khalil spoke softly to him, who was looking at him with a surprised face.

“Well, believe it or not, it’s up to you. But my words won’t be wrong. You found the Darkness Force, which was once thought to be an extinct power, in the spirits.”

“What are you….”

“The Spirit Realm is almost lost, and there are no longer any dimensional gates connecting it to the Human Realm, but that doesn’t mean the spirits themselves have disappeared.”

Khalil took a step closer.

“There are two Spirit Kings born from the condensation of the power of the cracks themselves, not the five elements we know: fire, water, wind, lightning, and earth. That power is what constitutes and constructs this world.”

“……”

“Truly, it is like the power of God, and it becomes the reference point for creation and destruction.”

Step- Step- Step-

He now moved his feet.

“Cracks are ultimately like the back side of God. Therefore, the world can allow two forces to coexist.”

Nine Darhon was now close enough to touch if he reached out.

“Light and Darkness.”

“…I don’t know what you mean.”

Nine Darhon turned his head, but Khalil continued to murmur softly.

“Light is destruction, and darkness is creation. The power of darkness is needed to create the existence of cracks. That is something only God possesses. But there is an existence other than God who can create darkness.”

Khalil raised the ice claw and aimed it at his neck.

“Dwat of Darkness [likely a title or name associated with the power of darkness].”

“……”

A cold chill flowed between the two.

“Nine Darhon. How do you have the two Great Wildernesses that God sealed?”

Gulp-

The sound of Nine Darhon’s Adam’s apple moving as he swallowed dry saliva without realizing it was clearly audible.

“I need that power too.”

Khalil chuckled at the sight and put away the sword he had drawn, lightly patted his shoulder, and bent down.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard about the Kadihum Magic Mine. It’s my magic mine. Not yet, but it’s possible to mine octagonal stones there. That means there are also octagonal dark stones. I will provide that to you. You will be able to secure the Darkness Force needed for your research. But….”

He whispered in a low voice.

“Darkness Spirit King. That’s too much for you.”

He slightly raised the corners of his mouth and said to Nine Darhon.

“If you can’t handle it, just hand it over.”