The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 234

175. Opening the Box (5)

“Isn’t that right, Lamine? Did I have to go through all this trouble just to hear something so trivial? The moment we get out of here, I’m going to drench you in mana, so be prepared.”

[Wa… Wait a moment!!!]

As soon as he finished speaking, Lamine’s flames burst out in a flurry of panic.

[The reason I couldn’t tell you was because of the rules. We lost the Divine War, and our defeat cannot be excused by any means. The defeated must follow the rules set by the victors.]

“Do you think I said that just to hear an apology?”

[…What?]

Lamine looked at Caryl.

“You shouldn’t be apologizing; you should be angry. Even I, a third party, am filled with rage.”

[What do you mean…]

“Yula ordered you not to speak, and you had no choice but to obey as the defeated, but what about blatantly sealing Blader in the northern cave for us, the descendants remaining on the continent, to see? How is that any different from the victor of a war hanging corpses in front of their city gates as an example?”

Crack-

Caryl gritted his teeth.

“Do you really think such petty behavior is something a god would do?”

[…Besides his eyes being black, were there any other distinguishing features?]

Mael, who had been listening to the situation, asked cautiously.

“Why? Curious?”

[There are a few things I’d like to confirm.]

Caryl responded coldly to his hesitant demeanor.

“If you’re curious, you can see for yourself. You and the Spirit Kings have been holed up since just one defeat, so even after all this time, you’re still the same.”

[We…]

Lamine tried to say something, but Caryl raised his hand as if to silence him.

“There’s a saying among humans that winning and losing is common in war. It may sound like an excuse from the defeated, but that’s also why I regressed.”

Caryl had been defeated.

The ending he faced after fighting to protect the Divine Decree [a sacred law or order].

No one knows the truth.

Only he knows, but at least when he reached that truth, he had to kill his own friend, Olyvern, which is a fact.

“Follow the rules of the victor? Is the war on the continent dirty, and the war you fought so noble and sacred? Don’t make me laugh.”

Caryl said.

“And there’s one saying that humans often use that I hold closest to my heart.”

The three of them looked at him.

“The one standing last is the real winner.”

Then, Caryl began to point at each of the three of them.

“You, you, and even you. You’re not all dead, are you? If I were a god, I wouldn’t be so lenient.”

[Yo, You idiot!! You don’t even know what it means for a Spirit King to be extinguished. Just us being sealed alone put the Spirit Realm at risk of disappearing.]

“So?”

Caryl tilted his head at Lamine’s excuse.

“It’s not functioning properly anyway, so what difference does it make if it disappears? If I were a god, I would have eliminated you, the dangerous elements, from the dimension.”

[……]

At his harsh words, none of them could offer any rebuttal.

“You are alive, and the god is alive. That means the fight isn’t over yet.”

Kwaaaang—!!

Caryl slammed his sword into the floor with all his might.

“The war is still ongoing. From the Mythological Era to the Magic Era, until now. The war has been continuing.”

Crack… Crack…

It was then.

The transparent floor hidden in the darkness, which had not been broken no matter what method was used, began to crack like breaking ice.

Caryl smirked as he watched the scene.

“I don’t know what’s down there, but it seems like he’s a little moved by my words. Isn’t that right, Mael?”

[……]

“Let’s talk after we see that.”

Kwaaaang…!!

Once again, he kicked the floor with all his might, and the cracked floor shattered like glass, causing his body to fall downward.

[Lamine, I think you’ve awakened a monster.]

Duaht muttered quietly, watching Caryl’s back.

[I told you before. It’s not that I awakened him, but that guy himself is a monster.]

[We were completely fooled. I never thought Caryl would know that person. We were foolish to try to hide it.]

Lamine gave a bitter smile at his words.

[He doesn’t gamble on impossible things. He’s right. If there’s no need to hide the existence of Blader from him anymore…]

The flames began to chase after Caryl, who had fallen to the floor.

[It’s time for us to be angry at the god who didn’t even give him rest, mocking us.]

Watching the disappearing flames, Duaht’s shadow also began to descend, as if eroding him.

[No, we should be angry at ourselves for thinking that believing those words and remaining sealed was the best option.]

[……]

Only empty darkness remained after everyone disappeared.

[Am I dreaming? Are you really thinking of opposing God again?]

Mael muttered, seemingly bewildered by their unexpected story.

Looking at the large hole, he eventually let out a low sigh and said.

[Is it really okay for you to be having these kinds of conversations in front of me?]

With those cryptic words, he, too, seemed to have made up his mind, and threw himself into the hole where the three had fallen.

* * *

“I didn’t expect there to be something like this under the floor.”

Caryl looked up at the floor he had broken, which had now become the ceiling.

Like a building with divided floors, the space that appeared inside after breaking the floor was a pure white, the opposite of darkness.

“I heard there was a clue to finding the Queen of the Tides… I should call her the Queen of Ice, not the Queen of the Tides.”

Each time he spoke, white breath escaped his lips.

He had lived in the cold of the North, but even for him, this place, filled with pure white ice pillars, made it difficult to breathe.

[The nature of freezing is to seal something or suppress its power. That means whatever is inside must possess immense power.]

Caryl nodded at Lamine’s words.

“That makes me even more curious. I wonder what’s inside.”

He said to Mael, who was following behind.

“Mael, it seems like the space you were in was separated from this place… Was this space here before you existed?”

[It probably existed before I was sealed. When I opened my eyes, the area was already divided. This is my first time seeing this place as well.]

“Hmm… Then let me ask you one more thing. The Council of Seven Elders commissioned Nar Di Maugh to create this sealing box. Does that mean the guy who sealed you was him?”

Caryl’s words made him shake his head.

[I don’t know. After our defeat in the Divine War, we were to be disposed of according to the will of God. Our consciousness disappeared, and we were trapped in emptiness, so I don’t know what happened to me afterward.]

‘I have a hunch, but no concrete evidence…’

At Mael’s answer, Caryl bit his lip slightly and glared.

White Gold Dragon.

It was difficult to suspect him even more because he was the only one he could confide in.

‘Just what were you hiding from me?’

He wanted to find him and ask right away.

However, the opponent was at the very top of the food chain in this world.

Of course,

He had no intention of losing easily.

Just like Kaie Essier, he felt he was qualified to challenge the title of Dragon Slayer.

However, regardless of the outcome, it was true that a battle between the two would cause enormous damage to the continent.

Furthermore, a battle with the White Gold Dragon could provoke animosity from the remaining dragons.

‘They ignored humanity during the Divine Decree War, but…’

It would be better not to get involved; if they turned to God’s side because of him, it would be a big problem.

‘It was revealed that dragons fought on the side of God against humans and spirits in the past Divine War. There’s no reason they couldn’t do it again.’

Although their numbers were not large, each dragon possessed power that easily surpassed a knight order, so he never wanted to turn them into enemies.

That’s why he had to be even more careful.

Acting as if he still trusted the dragons, but not letting go of his suspicion until the very end, and stabbing them with an unavoidable dagger when that suspicion became a reality.

‘Everything must be perfect. Perhaps the biggest task I need to solve before facing the Divine Decree is not unifying the continent, but uncovering the truth of the White Gold Dragon.’

Step- Step- Step-

After passing through a huge cave with ice pillars intertwined in a zigzag pattern, a pure white space like a temple appeared inside.

“Hmm…”

Caryl scanned the surroundings with a curious look.

‘This place can’t be found even in Aln’s Book of Knowledge. Maybe there are still things I can’t open yet…’

After reaching 6th class, he was able to open the Book of Knowledge one step further, but in order to obtain all the knowledge he left behind, he eventually had to overcome the wall of 7th class.

‘It’s highly likely that even Aln doesn’t know about this place. Judging from Mael’s expression, it seems like it’s his first time here too…’

Caryl moved his steps without hesitation.

His steps stopped as he went further inside.

“……”

His eyes trembled.

At the end of the temple.

There was a huge ice pillar, several times thicker than the pillars built around it, embedded in that place.

“Lamine, it seems like you were mistaken. Certainly, with this level of energy, it’s understandable that you mistook the cold you felt at the Gray School for that of the Water Spirit King.”

Caryl stared intently at the small object inside.

“Or maybe that really is related to the Queen of the Tides.”

He couldn’t take his eyes off the pillar.

“At least one thing is certain: this is an object related to the North. No, to be precise, it should be said that it is related to the barbarians.”

[Do you know what that is?]

Lamine asked.

“Of course.”

Caryl smiled coldly.

“This is the present where I live. The war you experienced is just the past. It will be completely different from the war I will wage in the future. But seeing this, there are a few things I need to make clear.”

Caryl took out a small dagger from his chest.

Whoooo… Charrrr…!!

When he brought the sword to the front of the ice pillar, the pillar, which had seemed so solid, trembled and melted away in an instant.

[…!!!]

[…!!!]

Mael and the two Spirit Kings, who saw the scene, couldn’t help but be surprised.

But Caryl’s expression was calm.

“You are by my side now, but you are also just beings of the past. You don’t know how time has passed, and you were just trapped in your time while sealed.”

The three of them looked at him.

“The existence of the past is only in the past, so the only person who can solve my curiosity is the guy who is living in the present with me. Just one guy who lived in the past and can influence my future.”

He said as if growling.

As his calm expression was swept away by anger, even the air surrounding him trembled.

“Mael, I don’t need anything else. Just tell me one thing. This is a question from the time you lived in.”

Caryl’s eyes flashed.

“Which side did the White Gold Dragon take during the Divine War?”

At that moment,

A heavy silence fell into the darkness.

“I need to know why Agnel’s scabbard was hidden in this place.”