The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 273

187. Ice Spring (3)

“Seeing that you were chased out of the Ice Claw, is the being I suspected inside here?”

[…If you’re curious, see for yourself.]

Unlike Caryl, who asked with an expectant voice, Jarka wore a sullen expression.

His entire body was covered in white frost, as if he had just emerged from a deep freeze. Despite being a dead lion, his voice trembled from the bone-chilling cold.

“Hmm.”

Following the finger pointed by Jarka Hoch, Caryl turned his head. The spring, which had been emitting frigid air intensely until just now, had quieted.

“What happened?”

[I briefly converted the cold air inside the spring into soul power to halt its rampage. It will fluctuate again soon.]

“You converted the spring’s magic power into the energy of death? Can spirit energy be transformed into soul power without the dark power of Duat [the Egyptian underworld]?”

Caryl looked at Jarka.

The soul power used in necromancy and the dark power, which is the attribute of Duat’s spirit energy, were both in the realm of black magic but distinctly different.

Moreover, the being expected to be inside this spring, while possessing a coldness greater than a corpse, had a coldness of ice, fundamentally different from that of death.

[That’s why I’m telling you to see for yourself.]

Crack, crack, crack…

The spring, which seemed on the verge of exploding, trembled violently.

As Jarka said, Caryl looked down at the bottom of the spring.

“This is…….”

At that moment, his eyes widened slightly.

[The reason I was able to escape the Ice Claw isn’t because the Queen of the Hail, the sword’s owner, is asleep inside, and I was pushed out by her power. It’s actually the opposite.]

Jarka Hoch’s transparent body gradually darkened, gaining substance, and taking on the perfect form of an elf, just as when Caryl first saw him in the Fortress of the Wraith.

[The dense magic power inside here isn’t because the Queen of the Hail is asleep.]

Splash—

Caryl, seemingly deaf to Jarka’s words, plunged his hand into the spring water as if entranced.

[Wh, what……!!]

Jarka Hoch shouted in surprise.

He knew better than anyone how intense the spring’s cold had been just moments ago.

Sizzle……!!!

However, as Caryl’s hand entered, heat surged from within the spring, and the water began to boil, overpowering the cold.

“…….”

Caryl, as if impervious to pain, retrieved something submerged in the spring with a calm expression.

However, even with Lamine’s heat enveloping his arm, the limb, once removed from the spring, had turned bluish, almost blackish-red.

As if the spring water was infused with poison, his flesh melted and sloughed off, and white steam rose from his arm, accompanied by a pungent, acidic odor.

[Anyway, that guy is like a monster…….]

Jarka Hoch shook his head and muttered under his breath.

“……Why is this here?”

The moment he pulled the object from the spring, Caryl asked, his face filled with bewilderment rather than pain.

[Could it be that you……. Do you know what that is? It didn’t exist in the Age of Mythology and was crafted in the Magic Era, so no one but me would recognize it.]

Jarka looked at Caryl, a hint of surprise in his expression.

“This was made in the Magic Era? It’s only that old?”

[Even if it’s the Magic Era, it’s still been a thousand years. Only that old……. What, were you pretending to know what it is without even knowing?]

“What are you talking about? This is Shinta…… g.”

Caryl started to answer Jarka but stopped abruptly. He couldn’t reveal that the necklace he found in the spring was one of the three relics he had to find, as dictated by the three oracles he received in his previous life.

“…….”

There was no need to explain the oracle that hadn’t yet come to pass. Besides, the place indicated for finding this necklace wasn’t here in the first place.

He bit his lip slightly and asked Jarka Hoch.

“Can you explain it to me?”

[Heh heh. Your face is quite different from when you were pretending to know everything.]

Jarka smiled triumphantly and said to Caryl.

“That’s right. So I’d like you to tell me what you know. Before I destroy it.”

[…….]

Caryl sighed and made a show of tossing the Ice Claw he had retrieved from the spring back in.

[Wa, wait!! Damn it, your jokes are too harsh.]

“Have you ever known me to joke?”

[……I was about to start talking now? So please calm down and put down the sword.]

However, despite his words, Caryl tilted his head, urging him to hurry and speak, while holding the sword aloft.

[The Necklace of Revelation.]

Jarka said, pointing to the rusty, ancient object in Caryl’s hand.

[That’s its name.]

“And?”

[In the past, Narhan Tinuviel, the leader of Ariel Wood [a fictional elven settlement] and an Elven artisan, created a weapon consisting of three pieces.]

“…….”

The moment Caryl heard his words, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Three relics.

And the three oracles given to the 10 people in his previous life.

Was it merely a coincidence?

“Continue.”

He unconsciously clenched the necklace in his hand and spoke to Jarka.

[He was one of the Bladers of the Magic Era. You know about Bladers, right? Maybe the old necromancer next to you might know him. Not the first Blader who lived in the Age of Mythology, but a group of eccentrics who gathered to create purely powerful weapons.]

“Don’t talk nonsense and tell me about this necklace.”

[First of all, don’t ask why an elf made such a weapon. And why it’s here. I don’t know either. And I don’t want to know.]

“So?”

[In the first place, it’s hard to understand why elves are mixed with humans and dwarves. Narhan Tanuviel was born into the Elven royal family, but he is someone who cannot be understood with common sense.]

Jarka Hoch said to Caryl.

[Because this is an object with the power of the Demon Realm.]

“……What?”

[That’s also why I can take this form. As you know, the Demon Realm is a world where spirits and souls are concentrated. The obsidian inherent in the Necklace of Revelation is a mineral that exists only in the Demon Realm, so it has that power.]

“Does that mean this is an object from the Demon Realm?”

Caryl, who had maintained a calm facade until now, couldn’t mask his surprise for the first time.

[No, to be exact, it should be said that it is an object containing the power of the Demon Realm. That’s why I said it first. I can’t understand why the elves touched the sacrilegious power of the Demon Realm.]

Jarka was a lich, but he never lost his awareness as an elf.

That may be why he protected Ariel Wood, which was called the land of the elves, and had a picture of Pyrel, the queen of Elvenheim [a fictional elven kingdom].

[Elven power alone was not enough. In the first place, the Bladers of the Magic Era wanted to create powerful weapons even by borrowing the power of other races.]

“But why the power of the Demon Realm of all things?”

[I can tell you the reason for that. Only elves have a soul spring that can open doors to other dimensions.]

Caryl looked at Jarka, his eyes demanding an explanation.

[The Spirit King with you seemed to say the same thing. When you obtained the essence of the soul spring from the vault.]

Caryl nodded.

Lamine referred to the soul spring as a kind of dimensional gate. And he said that the gate to the Spirit Realm could be opened through that spring.

“Could it be…….”

[Yes. Elves and demons are truly opposite beings, but ironically, the gate to the Demon Realm can also be opened through the Elven soul spring.]

Crack……!!!

At that moment,

The ground under Caryl’s feet cracked and shattered.

[…….]

Jarka paused for a moment.

The heavy energy emanating from Caryl was clearly anger, even if he didn’t voice it.

[But as I said, opening the gate to the Demon Realm is extremely dangerous. They must know that too. That’s why they divided it into three pieces. It is impossible unless the three pieces are gathered.]

“Conversely, does that mean that if these three are gathered, demons can come out to this continent?”

[That’s right. However, a soul spring with living magic power must exist…….]

Jarka Hoch said, pointing to the huge spring in front of him.

[There’s no need to find it. It’s here.]

At his words, Caryl unknowingly smiled.

[But who would do such a troublesome thing? There’s no reason to open the gate to the Demon Realm.]

“Heh…… Heh heh.”

As Jarka’s words ended, the laughter gradually grew louder, and soon Caryl’s head was thrown back, and it grew even louder.

[Wh, what…….]

Jarka stepped back in embarrassment at his sudden outburst.

“Someone did that troublesome thing.”

[……What?]

The moment that laughter ceased, Caryl said coldly. The cave inside the spring shook as if it would collapse from the potent magic power radiating from him.

When the oracle was given and Parel [a fictional character or entity] appeared in the world.

Along with the monsters of corruption pouring out from the massive tower, humanity had to contend with demons in addition to the already overwhelming situation.

The 10 people selected under the achievement of the oracle fulfilled the three oracles given for the future of mankind.

But…….

‘Dare…… to use us?’

It turned out that they were actually collecting the keys to open the gate to the Demon Realm. They had released other monsters that would kill humanity with their own hands.

Caryl looked at Jarka.

“Are there any others who know this?”

[Well…….]

Jarka Hoch shrugged slightly and said.

[Humans probably don’t know. But if someone inherited the blood of the elves, they would know instinctively. The power of the Tanuviel family is like a shackle, and that will is conveyed to all elves.]

At that moment, Caryl’s face hardened.

“Even a hybrid?”

[Of course, if even a little bit of Elven blood is mixed in. That’s how strong Tanuviel’s blood is. We don’t have things like the royal family being overthrown or newly changed by treason like humans. It has been passed down through the transmission of only one family since the Age of Mythology.]

Jarka proudly proclaimed his elven heritage even in death. But Caryl couldn’t hear his words.

“Rael…….”

The name echoed in his head.

The leader of Wooden Cloud [a fictional organization] and one who inherited the blood of elves and Nephilim [biblical creatures, offspring of angels and humans].

Caryl had dismissed them as mere fanatics with twisted ideologies.

And then, when he discovered that Wooden Cloud was cultivating plants from the Demon Realm, he assumed they were the ones who brought in the demons.

It was a natural conclusion.

The Blue Lore cults created by Wooden Cloud worshiped corruption and desired humanity’s demise.

‘That wasn’t it.’

The deeper he delved, the more secrets surfaced.

In his previous life, he was unaware that the soul spring remained. Olivon [a fictional character] chose this location as the battleground with the corruption because the Duchy’s alarm system was established, so there was no separate investigation into the Duchy.

‘Could it be that even that was all planned?’

No one is an enemy.

Even the Wooden Cloud members who worshiped corruption, and even Olivon, who attempted to kill them at the end of the Oracle War…….

And even the damn god who gave the oracle to find the key to the Demon Realm.

‘Everyone was in cahoots.’

Caryl looked up with cold eyes.

All he could see was darkness.

But that darkness seemed to mirror his heart.

‘God never intended to save humanity from the beginning.’

Bang―――!!!

He couldn’t shake the feeling of being manipulated.

No, because that’s precisely how he was used.

When even the last vestige of faith vanished, Caryl hurled the necklace he was holding onto the floor with all his might.

There was a loud crash, but the necklace remained unscathed, as expected of a Blader’s weapon.

‘Some of you must know that this necklace is here and moved it to another place before we found it. If I break this now, the Demon Realm will not open.’

He could have prevented one of the major conflicts in the Oracle War from the outset. That’s why Caryl raised his foot to stomp on it and shatter it immediately.

“…….”

But at that moment, he paused, his foot suspended in the air, and stared at the necklace.

“No.”

Crack―

Then, he slowly lowered his foot and stepped on the necklace on the floor.

“It’s no fun to just break this.”