The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 300

201. Proof (3)

“Cough…”

Simon Coden spat out blood.

“Haa… Haa… Haa…”

Aiden Hamill clutched his chest and slumped down, as if releasing all the breath he had been holding back.

“You…”

Simon Coden turned around and looked at him with trembling eyes.

Whoosh…!!

As Caryll waved his hand, the extinguished torches burst into flames.

The two distinct red lines that looked like tattoos, drawn from Simon Coden’s forehead, across both cheeks, to his chin, slowly disappeared.

Transcendent Roar Art, Stage 3 Awakening, Yaksha [a powerful, demonic state achieved through intense training].

In the fleeting darkness, the two exchanged sword strikes at extreme speed. The other assassins of the Dark Shadow didn’t even dare to enter the gap between them.

As the red markings, the symbol of awakening, disappeared, Simon Coden knew that his last hidden technique had been broken.

But he couldn’t believe it, couldn’t accept it.

A mere assassin, a subordinate who should have been below him, had now surpassed him.

“…What is that?”

“I named it ‘Shortened Earth’. My strength lies in speed. It’s nothing special, just a crude technique created by combining the Dark Shadow’s Inbo [a stealth movement technique] and mana manipulation.”

“You’re saying you created it.”

“Yes.”

Simon Coden chuckled at his words.

“How long has our Eastern Nation been established?”

“Since the Magic Era of the old Empire, it has been a nation that has maintained its traditions as a single family without a single rebellion. In terms of history, it is older than the current Empire.”

“You know it well.”

“Anyone from the Dark Shadow would.”

Aiden shrugged and replied to Simon Coden’s words.

“For over 1,000 years since the Magic Era, the Dark Shadow’s movement technique, Inbo, has not developed further. Do you know why?”

“…”

“Because it was perfect enough that there was no need to develop it. Or rather, they couldn’t find a way to develop it.”

He said in a strained voice.

“But you alone have surpassed the stagnation of the Eastern Nation for 1,000 years…”

Aiden calmly looked at him.

“…It wasn’t me.”

“What?”

“I understand now. I was made to be this way.”

As Simon Coden looked at Aiden, seemingly not understanding what he meant, Aiden instead spoke towards Caryll on the wyvern.

“Isn’t that right?”

Aiden never had the chance to confirm his skills, which he had always doubted.

The constant anxiety that only he was standing still.

Unlike Suan, who could receive help from the Fist King Balbont, Mikhail, who trained in the Immortal Society, and Serica, who received the teachings of the Spear King, he had no great master.

But ironically, that anxiety became an opportunity for him to grow.

Caryll’s idea was correct.

You can learn how to handle weapons or cast spells from a teacher. But the method of killing people can only be learned by oneself.

Aiden Hamill maximized his characteristics and developed Shortened Earth, which allows him to cut down enemies at extreme speed without a trace or sound.

“So, the outcome was decided from the beginning.”

Simon Coden’s expression was somehow hollow.

“With that kind of insight, you may have realized the essence of the Transcendent Roar Art I used. How was it?”

“…”

Aiden didn’t answer.

Caryll watched the scene with a faint smile.

‘It seems he noticed.’

A secret that only he, who had experienced a previous life, knew.

In the Holy War, Caryll not only exchanged swords with Simon Coden but also fought alongside him.

And the conclusion he reached.

The Transcendent Roar Art, known to have only three stages, had a final stage, and Simon Coden had not mastered it.

The reason Caryll sent Aiden to the Eastern Nation was because of that gap.

“There’s no better way to acquire secret techniques than through actual combat. But to steal someone else’s technique, you need the eye to see through its essence.”

Caryll muttered to himself.

[You knew that his capabilities had already surpassed his master, Simon Coden.]

Dwatt, who had been silent all along, spoke to Caryll. Caryll only gave a mysterious smile in response.

“I understand why he kept me alive. He made me fight him so that I could learn the Transcendent Roar Art from me.”

Simon Coden raised his head.

“…I’ve become a pathetic sight. The master of the Eastern Nation ending up as a puppet on a stage created by someone else.”

Thud.

Caryll got off the wyvern and stood in front of him, who was kneeling.

“…Do you think you can defeat the Empire?”

“Regarding the war with the Empire, I have never thought about winning or losing.”

“That means you’re going to fight desperately.”

“The opposite.”

Grabbing Simon Coden’s staggering shoulders, Caryll said to him.

“Tell me, Coden.”

“Kugh?!”

He frowned slightly at the pain of his shoulder being pressed down and looked at Caryll.

“Do you die when a mosquito bites you? Where do you have to be bitten to die? It doesn’t matter where. Bite hard once.”

Clap—!!

Caryll clapped his hands together.

“But if you can’t kill it, you’ll be killed instead.”

Simon Coden chuckled in disbelief at his appearance.

“Are you comparing the Empire to a mere mosquito? The strongest on the continent?”

“Even the Eastern Nation, said to be the best at assassination, has fallen before my subordinate. It wouldn’t make sense if its master couldn’t do that much.”

“Ha… Haha.”

“But it’s a pity.”

Caryll turned his head.

“Because you won’t see the Empire fall.”

Swish—

It was then.

Aiden Hamill’s sharp blade pierced Simon Coden’s neck. The blade pierced through his nape and out his Adam’s apple.

“Cough… Cough…!!”

Blood flowed onto the floor, and the severed body fell forward. Caryll looked at Simon Coden’s corpse lying on the floor.

He had been contemplating whether to spare Coden’s life.

Because he was one of the Ten Apostles of the Holy War in his previous life. But unlike other kingdoms, the Eastern Nation, which had been passed down through a single person, would never follow him as long as Simon Coden, an absolute being, was alive.

Caryll no longer looked at the dead and raised his head.

“You’ve finally stepped into the threshold of Sword Master, albeit a half-baked one.”

“Ha… Haha.”

Aiden threw away the blood-soaked dagger and nodded at Caryll’s words.

“To use Shortened Earth, you momentarily amplified the insufficient mana with mana manipulation. Thanks to that, you were able to obtain 4th class mana.”

Aiden nodded at his words.

“Don’t forget that feeling. Then you’ll be able to break through the wall of the 4th class. Put your name on the ranks of Sword Masters.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

In his previous life, Aiden Hamill reached the level of a powerhouse called the Empire’s Seven Spears, but he did not reach the Sword Master level, which was said to be the strongest on the continent.

But Caryll was confident that he could fully achieve the task he had not achieved in his previous life in this life.

“Aiden. Do you need time to take over the Dark Shadow?”

“I don’t need it.”

At that moment,

The assassins of the Eastern Nation who were still alive knelt down and lowered their heads.

“They know better than anyone that only the one who is alive and standing is the winner.”

Aiden turned his back on the assassins and knelt down towards Caryll.

“Yes, now the fate of the Three Kingdoms is decided.”

The east was dawning.

When he first decided to go to the Istria Three Kingdoms, he was a little annoyed, but now he thought the result was more satisfactory than he had expected.

Because he could confirm Viola’s strategy, Aiden’s joining, and the Istria Three Kingdoms falling completely into his hands.

“And the Eastern Nation on top of that.”

It only took,

Three days.

* * *

“Ha…!! Hahahahaha!!!!”

The woman laughing heartily in front of Liliana, who was kneeling, stroked the head of the messenger pigeon and handed her the note she was holding.

“Read it. It’s a message from him.”

Liliana, the leader of the Jannabi tribe’s action squad, held out both hands above her head and received the note she handed her.

The only person Liliana, who seemed to embody the nobility of the north, was so polite to was only one person.

Hwarin, the leader of the Jannabi.

She was wearing only a thin cloth robe, seemingly unconcerned about the cold of the snowy north.

Despite Liliana’s not inconsiderable height, Hwarin looked like a frail woman in front of her, sitting down. Hwarin had a physique that would not be inferior to a huge man.

The solid muscles, unbelievable for a woman, twitched every time she laughed.

Occasionally, even the foreigners wondered if the blood of the Titans [a giant race from mythology], a giant race that disappeared in the mythological era, flowed in her body.

“It’s a message that he’s heading north.”

“Did you read the bottom?”

At Hwarin’s words, Liliana said with a reluctant expression the words written on the last line of the note.

“…He declared war with the Empire in the capital. Furthermore, he has united all the forces in the south, so now only one last place remains. He will go to take the power of the foreigners.”

“Kuh… Keuheuk. It’s exactly as you said, without a single mistake. Arrogant and confident. Who else could do such a thing in the capital?”

Hwarin said with a voice full of anticipation.

“I’m finally going to meet him.”

She nodded.

“He will come to take the power of the north. He will come to take it, huh… I really like the last words. As if he had something he had left in my care.”

Liliana thought it had been a long time since she had seen her leader so excited.

“He’s really arrogant. But that’s how a leader should be. But he should also know that if he doesn’t have the ability to handle the power of the north, he will be eaten instead.”

Liliana said with a firm face at Hwarin’s words.

“But…”

“I know. The feats you told me about him are not exaggerated. Subduing the power of the Flame Tyrant, taming the wyvern, and even unbelievable magic… He is indeed worthy of being called the son of Kaliak.”

Hwarin continued to speak while still sitting and leaning back in her chair.

“You kept it a secret from him, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then that’s enough. Do you think the Jannabi will lose easily?”

“No.”

“Yes. The power inside here is as fierce as the cold wind of the north.”

She held up the necklace hanging around her neck.

Whirring…

Inside the hexagonal pendant with a huge emerald gemstone embedded in it, a small vortex appeared and disappeared as if there was wind inside.

“This may also be fate. I need to see if he is a man enough to pass the test of the Great Warrior.”

Clang—!!!

At the same time as she finished speaking, the tribe members inside the barracks drew their swords all at once.

“He is the son of Kaliak, who was my old friend. Tell the elders. And tell all the tribes to prepare to welcome him grandly.”

As Hwarin reached out her hand, her subordinates brought a huge greatsword from behind. She grabbed the sword, which several people barely lifted, with one hand without any effort.

“If… If he really receives the title of Great Warrior, he may find out the truth about the Northern War.”

The Edict of Eradication of Heresy [a historical decree often used to justify religious persecution].

The battle in which the northern foreigners were helplessly pushed back by the knights of the Empire was the worst war recorded in history books as a great battle that proved the power of the Empire.

She spun the greatsword, which seemed to reach the ceiling of the barracks, once and slammed it into the floor.

Thud—!!!

A dull sound, as if she had slammed the floor with a hammer instead of a sword, was heard, and half of the blade was deeply embedded in the floor.

The sight was truly beyond human power.

Hwarin swelled the muscles in her arms and commanded in a low voice.

“Prepare the Sword Festival.”