The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 315

209. The Rise of the North (2)

“We’re surrounded?!”

“How did they…”

“No way!”

The sight of the Digons appearing on the hill threw the Imperial soldiers into chaos.

“Don’t waver!”

Gahfel, having freed himself from Karil’s grasp, scrambled to his feet and shouted, brushing dirt from his face.

“They’re just a few thousand more barbarians! We still outnumber them! Wipe them out!”

He yelled, his voice laced with desperation.

Two Sword Masters.

But the enemy’s numbers were indeed substantial, even compared to the barbarians.

Even a Sword Master, with the power of a one-man army, couldn’t single-handedly defeat tens of thousands.

Gahfel wasn’t entirely wrong.

Of course, that logic applied to an ordinary Sword Master.

It was almost ironic to use the word ‘ordinary’ to describe a Sword Master, but Karil and Miliana had transcended the limitations of a typical Sword Master.

“…….”

Miliana, however, scoffed at Gahfel, looking at him with disdain.

“Karil, doesn’t that fool realize you could have taken his head already if you wanted to? A knight commander with such poor judgment… The Empire’s knight orders need to re-evaluate their standards.”

She drew her twin swords.

“Shall I take care of him?”

“No.”

Karil shook his head at Miliana’s offer.

“Gahfel is a capable knight. Although he hasn’t reached the rank of Sword Master, his raw strength is comparable to Gordon Fabian’s.”

“So, a strong but dim-witted guy.”

“More than that, his loyalty to the Empire is unwavering. That’s why Tylan Sutean used him when he captured the First Prince.”

When ordered to investigate Piasta’s secret ledger, Gahfel followed the Emperor’s commands more diligently than anyone else.

His unwavering loyalty now extended to Olivon, who succeeded the deceased Emperor.

“Gahfel, I acknowledge you as a knight. That’s why you are all the more worthy to be a sacrifice for our advance.”

Karil adjusted his grip on Lakna [his sword].

Seeing him take his stance, Miliana nodded, as if she expected nothing less.

“I’ll take the commander’s head. Miliana, you command the soldiers. As he said, the enemy outnumbers us. It won’t be easy to suppress them.”

“Understood.”

She nodded at Karil’s words and raised her hand.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

Gahfel shouted at her as she turned to leave.

A knight behind him hurriedly charged towards her.

Fwoosh—!!

At that moment, as she lowered her hand extended towards the sky, a sharp arrow was fired in the direction her index finger pointed.

“Cough!”

The knight desperately deflected the arrow hurtling towards him. But just as he blocked the initial attack, a rain of arrows poured down on the knight relentlessly, starting with that first arrow.

However, the knight remained confident.

Ordinary soldiers aside, it was almost impossible for ordinary arrows to harm a knight protected by magic.

That was the primary reason why knights could charge so aggressively on the battlefield.

“Ugh…!”

But then, an astonishing thing happened.

The arrows that he had easily deflected at first suddenly felt heavy, and the knight’s movements to deflect the arrows gradually became sluggish.

“Gasp?!”

The knight, who had deflected several arrows, staggered as if even the sword he was holding was heavy, and eventually an arrow struck his neck.

“……!!”

Gahfel couldn’t help but be shocked by the sight.

His knight had been struck down by an arrow that wasn’t even enchanted.

He picked up an arrow that had fallen to the ground.

A jet-black arrowhead.

The surface was so rough that it looked like it was crudely made from broken-up mana ore.

‘A knight died from something like this?’

‘What is that….’

The soldiers couldn’t understand how a knight could die from an arrow that wasn’t even properly tempered.

“You wouldn’t know how much technique is packed into those.”

Miliana said softly, looking at them in a panic.

“Did the Bi-gung tribe come along too?”

“That’s right. Kinu Mukari’s unit is stationed around the hills. Those are arrows made of Joam stone [a type of mana-absorbing stone].”

“Impressive.”

“Dushalla armed the Bi-gung tribe before coming to the North. I heard they made the arrowheads from the remaining Joam stones you sent to the Immortal Order before, right?”

“Indeed.”

Karil nodded, satisfied with Dushalla’s preparations.

“Nine Darhon discovered that Joam stone’s properties not only enhance dark energy but also absorb magic power, so now he’s working with Chunglin in Tatur to create weapons for anti-knight warfare.”

She pointed to the fallen knight and said,

“The effect is as you see.”

As soon as she finished speaking, arrows rained down like black rain from the hill.

Shushushushuk…! Shushuk…!

Swaaak……!!!

The knights desperately blocked the arrows, but they felt their magic power draining away as they deflected them.

“Having more numbers doesn’t guarantee victory. The opposite is also true.”

Miliana said, as if to demonstrate this to the barbarians.

“Kuaaaa……!!”

In a situation where the tide had turned in an instant, Gahfel charged at Karil and swung his iron mace with all his might.

Zwaang……!

Karil raised Lakna above his head.

As he lightly deflected the incoming giant iron mace with his sword, sparks flew with a cracking sound!!

Karil subtly guided Lakna along the surface of the round iron mace, and the iron mace, which had been making a fierce sound just a moment ago, fell powerlessly.

‘He’s changed?’

Miliana watched him intently.

It was a different approach from before.

The Karil she knew prioritized brute strength over flexibility in his swordsmanship.

He would have split the iron mace in half rather than deflect Gahfel’s attack.

“Softness overcomes strength, huh? He has reached the pinnacle of strength, and by instilling softness within it, it’s impossible to even fathom.”

She, too, was a leader of the Digon tribe who had developed her own swordsmanship.

Blocking Gahfel’s attack was not a difficult task. The method she used to block that attack was what mattered.

“I thought I had caught up a little… Karil, you’ve gone even further.”

Just as Aidan had sensed, she had already noticed Karil’s transformation.

“…….”

Thud—

Karil picked up Gahfel’s iron mace and stared at it intently.

“Gasp!!”

Then, with a guttural shout, he grabbed the head of the iron mace he was holding like a ball and slammed it straight into Gahfel’s face.

“Keugh……!!”

With a scream, Gahfel’s face was crushed, and blood and pieces of flesh torn by the thorns on the iron mace splattered on the ground.

“Aaaagh!! Aaaaaagh!!!”

Gahfel screamed in agony, writhing as if he had forgotten that he was the commander who had to lead the war.

Thwack!

Without hesitation, Karil began to drive several Joam stone arrows that had fallen to the ground into him.

Arms, legs, shoulders, and waist.

The arrows in Karil’s hand pierced through Gahfel’s armor as if they were nails, pinning him to the ground.

He tried to break the arrows, but the magic-infused arrow shafts were as hard as steel, and the Joam stone arrowheads embedded in his body continued to absorb Gahfel’s magic power.

“Huk… Haa….”

He let out a groan that didn’t match his size and looked at Karil with a face trembling in fear.

“…….”

Towards him, Karil slammed down the iron mace he was holding with all his might, infused with magic power.

Thwack—!!

With a sound like a watermelon being split open, the helmet Gahfel was wearing shattered, and blood pooled between the iron mace embedded in the ground and the ground.

Gulp—

Miliana couldn’t help but swallow hard as she looked at him.

“You’re still that kind of person.”

She clicked her tongue as if she was ashamed of her meddling about softness and strength.

“The answer is a person standing on two feet.”

Swish—

She spun around, rotating her body and crossing her two twin swords, Ark and Gale.

Two knights nearby were instantly cut in half as they were sliced apart.

[Why aren’t you using what you learned in the Thousand-Year Ice Cave?]

Aln said quietly to Karil.

[It’s only natural for humans to want to confirm what they’ve newly acquired, isn’t it?]

“I do too. I’m curious if the ultimate skill I’ve reached is the right answer. But it’s too precious to show easily. There’s a guy watching me, looking for a chance.”

[Hmm?]

Karil curled two fingers into his mouth and whistled.

Beeeep——!!!

The sharp sound echoed deep into the mountains of the North.

[Krrr……!!]

At that moment,

A drake with red scales flapped its wings and flew in from afar, approaching as if it had been waiting for Karil.

“It seems we’re not the only ones who cleverly came to the North.”

“What do you mean?”

In the drake’s eyes, there was a swirling current like a vortex. When Karil placed his hand on the wyvern’s head, the same current appeared in his eyes as before.

‘Superior Eyes.’

Miliana knew what that magic was.

“I had Israfil cast a spell on the wyvern. To share this guy’s vision. The number of Imperial soldiers is large, but even the dumbest guy wouldn’t attack the North head-on like this. They’ll aim for the rear.”

Hashir exclaimed in a low voice at his words.

‘As expected… He must have already anticipated the Empire’s strategy before coming to the North. The Lord even anticipated reversing the numbers.’

He once again realized that he should not judge Karil by ordinary standards.

“Did you see anything with the wyvern’s eyes?”

“Of course. I saw something quite interesting.”

It was then.

Whoosh……!!

As soon as Karil finished speaking, a shadow fell over their heads with a strong gust of wind.

“Airship……?”

Miliana muttered in disbelief, looking at the white snowstorm spewing out from under the airship’s wings.

But Karil, despite the sudden appearance, calmly grabbed Gahfel’s corpse.

Boom……!

The airship’s door opened, and the figures of two familiar people could be seen inside.

“Gordon Fabian.”

Karil’s eyes gleamed coldly.

Thud— Thud— Thud—

“We meet again.”

As the sound of the airship’s engine gradually subsided, Karil’s face hardened slightly at the voice he heard.

Clang—! Clack—!!

The knights, who had been in the midst of battle, neatly raised their respective weapons to their chests and turned their bodies.

“We meet again.”

As the sound of the airship’s engine gradually subsided, Karil’s face hardened slightly at the voice he heard.

“I didn’t expect to reunite like this… I’d like to hear an explanation about this situation. Am I to interpret this as the Kyo-do Mercenary Corps now siding with the Empire?”

The first person to speak was Olivon.

Surprisingly, the person who came down from the Kyo-do Mercenary Corps’ airship was none other than the Emperor of the Empire.

His appearance changed the atmosphere.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on him, but Karil didn’t seem to care about his presence at all, and said as if scolding the giant man standing behind him.

“Well, it’s just that the Empire made a request to us first.”

“There should be a deal with me before that.”

“If you want to get the covenant, you should have fulfilled what you promised before that. My airship has been flying for years, constantly replacing the ignition stones.”

Gordon replied nonchalantly to Karil’s words.

“The development of the ignition stone is almost complete. Please wait a little longer. I will definitely keep my promise.”

“That’s something we can talk about when the time comes.”

“The Kyo-do Mercenary Corps wouldn’t be a place where petty thugs gather to stab their benefactor in the back like this, would they?”

“If you want to use us, you have to pay the corresponding price. You can’t use us for free forever. Even Mikhail is doing his part.”

Gordon shrugged his shoulders.

Karil glared at him and said.

The Gordon he knew was not a man who would bet his cards on a foolish place where he would lose.

‘Does Olivon have a chance of winning?’

That wouldn’t be the case.

Gordon had acknowledged Tylan Sutean as the Emperor of the Empire, but he had not acknowledged Olivon.

That’s why he came to the South with Cromen.

“I don’t know what you’re up to.”

Despite his words, Gordon still maintained a firm face that was impossible to read.

“Well, fine.”

Thud—

Karil grabbed Gahfel’s corpse with its crushed head and threw it in front of Olivon.

“Whether it’s one or two, it doesn’t matter.”

Before he knew it, the noise of clashing weapons had disappeared, and the shouts that had been erupting here and there had subsided.

His voice echoed in the silent battlefield.

“Did you come here to die?”