The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 206

160. The Twoarts of Darkness (2)

“Crazy! He actually subdued the King of Darkness Spirits…! You know it’s all thanks to the opening I created, right? Otherwise…”

“Quiet.”

Nাইন Darhon rushed over, shouting in an excited voice, but Carryl raised his hand to stop him.

The joy of victory was fleeting as Nাইন Darhon’s face flushed with annoyance, his lips twitching.

“What, what is it?”

“Lamine. If it’s you inside me, wouldn’t you have heard it? During the battle with Twoart just now, I heard another voice besides yours… am I right?”

Carryl seemed more concerned about that than the fallen Twoart, asking in a trembling voice.

[That’s right. I wasn’t the one who spoke about Arcane Power.]

“Arlene…!!!”

Nাইন Darhon tilted his head, watching Carryl, who had jumped up while calling out the name.

But there was no one around.

“How foolish…”

It might just be an auditory hallucination.

As if returning to reality, Carryl regretted his earlier loss of composure.

He stomped on the floor and bit his lip.

‘Arlene…? Could it be Arlene Xavius?’

Nাইন Darhon remembered him mentioning the Council of Seven Elders in his study.

‘Could he really be connected to them?’

On top of Dragon Power, the power used to subdue the King of Darkness Spirits was Arcane Power.

Arlene Xavius’s unique magic, passed down only in literature.

But no one had ever succeeded, so it was just considered a legend.

‘No, it can’t be. How could he be connected to the Archmage from a thousand years ago…? Carryl McGovern… just what is your true identity?’

Nাইন Darhon trembled without realizing it.

The more he learned about Carryl’s unfathomable identity, the more he was filled with astonishment.

‘To be able to defeat Twoart… the Dust of Emptiness being easy wasn’t just boasting.’

He gradually felt the darkness disappearing.

The aura of Twoart, which had filled the air after the seal of the Book of Nightmares was broken, was slowly fading away.

[Why are you…]

As the bandages that had been covering his entire body unraveled, Twoart’s form became as limp as a clay doll.

“Thanks to your power, sealed in the Rock of Nadir [a powerful artifact or prison], I was able to use Arcane Power. That means half of you is already mine.”

[Did you break that seal?]

At Twoart’s question, Carryl shrugged.

“It was impossible for me alone. Well… it’s just me now.”

Carryl didn’t think it was necessary to tell Twoart about Arlene Xavius and the Arcane Golem.

[I see…]

For some reason, Twoart didn’t ask any more questions at Carryl’s ambiguous answer.

[So that’s how it was.]

Instead, he wrapped his arms around his spirit body, as if embracing himself, and muttered in a low voice.

[I’ve finally found my contractor.]

Whoosh…!!!

At that moment,

Twoart’s spirit body split into several strands and disappeared as if absorbed into Carryl’s body.

“…?”

Even Carryl seemed surprised by his sudden change, touching his chest.

“Just now… Twoart went into your body, right? Did you make a contract with him?”

“Well, it’s surprising to me too. I thought we’d need more conversation. It feels like he gave his permission too easily, considering how fiercely we fought…”

“Huh…”

Nাইন Darhon also stared at Carryl with a gaping mouth, surprised by the current situation.

“Well, spirits are inherently fickle. Maybe he just admitted defeat. Now it’s your turn. Keep your promise. When we return, we’ll teach those two.”

“That’s not a difficult task. But… I really didn’t expect you to have Arcane Power as well.”

Carryl smiled faintly at Nাইন Darhon’s words.

“I had been mistaken all along. Knowing that the primordial forces of light and darkness were created from the rift, I thought they were solely the property of gods and spirits.”

“And?”

“I realized it from the lightning you used. Even though the origin of that power may be divine, humans have also created that power in their own way through magic.”

Fizz… Fizz…

As Carryl spread his palm and condensed magic power, Arcane Power was created in the form of a round sphere.

Looking at the magic power emitting a purple glow as the two attributes combined, he thought.

‘Until now, I had been defining Arcane Power as a single entity. I thought that the completion of Arcane Power required combining the forces of light and darkness, but I never thought of separating the two attributes within it.’

Carryl sighed softly, recalling the voice of Arlene Xavius he had heard for a moment.

‘I’ll get an earful from him when I meet him. I still have a long way to go…’

Although he had a genius-like talent for swordsmanship, he couldn’t help but be weak when it came to magic, which he was using for the first time in his life.

Arlene Xavius’s vast knowledge was in his head, but it wasn’t fully open, and most of the knowledge was theoretical, so it was up to him to incorporate it into swordsmanship.

[The most important thing in magic is imagination. Arcane Power was also born from that. What can you do with such a narrow mind?]

It was as if Arlene’s scolding could be heard.

[There are dozens, hundreds of schools of swordsmanship, and thousands of spells depending on the attribute of magic. But you can use both together. Then how much can you do?]

Carryl smiled without realizing it and slowly raised his head.

“…?”

At that moment,

His face hardened.

[Grand Master? Don’t be absurd. You haven’t even properly unleashed your own power yet.]

“…Arlene?”

Carryl doubted his ears.

[You inherited my knowledge and you’re still only a 5th class? And with that vast magic power, all you use are auxiliary spells and the only idea you’ve come up with is Arcane Blade…]

And now he doubted his eyes.

[Aren’t you going to pull yourself together?]

“…Arlene Xavius!!”

[You’re going to make my ears bleed, you brat. Even the dead can hear and speak the same way.]

Carryl stared at the man in front of him with a distorted face.

“H, how…?”

[Didn’t you come to Antium to summon me from the underworld? Are you asking me that now?]

“That’s true, but…”

Unlike back then, when he lived as a parasite in his body through a soul contract, he now had a complete body and was standing in front of Carryl.

[I didn’t expect this either. At best, I thought I’d be resurrected as a soul parasitizing your body again.]

“To face your face in reality…”

[Heh heh heh, would you have imagined it?]

Arlene laughed at Carryl’s answer.

But it wasn’t a complete body.

He was neither a corpse like necromancy nor the soul of the dead, but something difficult to explain, like a state between spirit and flesh.

Unlike at first, his face was covered with bandages with unknown ancient words engraved on them.

[Fortunately, I wasn’t in the underworld and was sealed in your body as a spirit body itself just before disappearing. It was fortunate for me that you had Dragon Power. By accepting my Arcane Power, my soul was able to use that power as nourishment and not disappear.]

“Ha… Then you should have explained it properly before leaving!”

Carryl shouted as if he were being spoiled.

Perhaps Arlene was the first person he had ever opened his heart to.

Wasn’t he the one who believed in him even after knowing about his regression in this world?

The feelings Carryl had for him were bound to be special.

[Didn’t I say we’d meet again? And I’ve done this much, so that’s enough. You have to figure out the rest on your own, you brat.]

“But how suddenly…?”

[It’s Twoart’s power.]

Arlene said, fiddling with the bandages covering his face and body, as if they were cumbersome.

[His power allowed me to maintain my form again. Besides, now I can be outside your body like this, not just inside. Of course, I need your spirit power.]

“Ah…!!”

Carryl recalled the moment when Twoart’s power was absorbed into his body a little while ago.

[The darkness of Dark Power is the power of creation, unlike its name. It’s the closest thing to the rift of death, so its compatibility with me is very good.]

“That’s what was absorbed into me.”

[That’s right.]

“Then does that mean my Arcane Power has become even stronger? If it’s enough to revive you, the Dark Power of the King of Spirits is definitely enormous.”

[What are you talking about? You can’t use Twoart’s power.]

“…What do you mean?”

Arlene Xavius smiled mischievously, as if teasing Carryl.

[He made a contract with me. In exchange for building my body, I will show his power to the world. Don’t be absurd. It’s too early for you to use Twoart’s power.]

“The attributes of Arcane Power are ultimately light and darkness. As you said, it’s the surest way to become stronger, isn’t it?”

[First, get to the ranks of the Archmage and then talk. What can you do with a subject who hasn’t even properly opened his bloodline…? And you said it well. Arcane Power is the power of light and darkness as you said. Arcane is completed when the two forces are balanced, but what are you going to do if only darkness becomes stronger?]

“…”

[Rather, if the power of only one side becomes stronger and loses balance, Arcane Power may explode. If you, who already have tremendous magic power, cause a problem… it won’t even compare to what that brat did.]

Arlene Xavius said, pointing to Nাইন Darhon, who was standing next to him.

He had been sealed inside Carryl’s body, but he hadn’t completely disappeared, so he knew everything he had done so far.

[Still, there’s someone in this world who has a brain that works. To think he studied the same corruption as me. But he only has a failure and attaches a grand name like Dust of Emptiness. What a funny guy.]

At his words, Carryl looked at Nাইন Darhon, who was standing behind him.

“Anyway, I was going to revive you with Twoart’s power based on his research… It’s a good thing I didn’t have to do anything troublesome.”

[Hmph, you, who inherited my knowledge and are still stuck in 5th class, or a brat who can’t even handle the dregs of corruption properly and asks you for help, are going to revive me?]

Arlene pointed at the two and laughed.

Nাইন Darhon couldn’t hide his dumbfounded expression at the sight.

Who in the continent could treat himself and Carryl like this?

But what was even more surprising was Carryl’s reaction, who didn’t seem to care even after hearing the word brat.

[So it’s better for me to come out on my own. Twoart proposed to me first. It was welcome to me.]

“I see…”

Carryl could finally understand what Twoart had said just before disappearing.

The word contractor was referring to Arlene, not himself.

[Anyway, the essence of darkness will remain with me for the time being. You already have the essence of fire.]

“I see.”

[But there will be no problem in using Arcane Power. It’ll be better. Since half of the Rock of Nadir has been combined, Twoart is now complete, so he can give you more pure power.]

Carryl definitely felt more comfortable when he created Arcane Power a little while ago.

[And from now on, when you use Arcane Power, focus on the power of light. I’ll take care of adjusting the power of darkness to you.]

Using Arcane Power was like doing two things at the same time.

But now Arlene would take on one of those tasks, so even though Arcane Power itself hadn’t become stronger, he could focus much more on operating that power than before.

It was by no means easy to operate Dark Power to suit Carryl, but Arlene Xavius was the primordial magician who had already surpassed the title of Archmage 1,000 years ago, so how great he was could not be evaluated by ordinary standards.

[Hey, brat. Lend me your cloak.]

“Yes? Ah, yes…!”

Nাইন Darhon hurriedly took off the cloak he was wearing at Arlene Xavius’s words.

[He’s quite talented. The Darhon family’s bloodline has been excellent in black magic for generations. If you do well, I might accept you as my disciple, so work hard.]

Nাইন Darhon couldn’t believe his eyes right now.

‘Is this a dream or reality…’

Arlene Xavius, the Archmage from 1,000 years ago, no, the primordial magician who was not enough to be described as an Archmage, was now talking to him.

[Anyway, brat.]

Covering his face with the black robe he handed over, he could now really feel that the great magician from 1,000 years ago had returned.

Swish-

Arlene reached out to Carryl.

The body wrapped in bandages and the flesh inside, which was neither human nor soul but a purplish color close to black, didn’t matter at all.

He said softly.

[Nice to meet you again.]