The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 370

236. The Final Battle (1)

“My lord.”

“Hmm?”

“I hesitate to say this, but no matter how I think about it, this is insane.”

Ziggurat, who had never once questioned Carryl’s decisions, replied with a troubled expression, looking extremely apologetic.

However, unlike his cautious words, Carryl said as if it were nothing.

“You mean attacking the Imperial Palace.”

At his words, Ziggurat’s face hardened.

“Indeed. You’re right. Even though the main force is gathered at Tatur, there are still about 100,000 troops stationed here, including Veril Valentiun’s Golden Knights.”

Carryl said, using magic to light the pile of branches Ziggurat had gathered.

“Even during the war, the Empire’s defenses are strong. Moreover, with the troops retreating from the Marquisate, there must be about 200,000 soldiers. Perhaps some of them are preparing to reinforce Tatur again.”

“That’s right.”

“It’s a safe place for anyone to see.”

Ziggurat lightly warmed the dried meat over the fire Carryl had started and handed it to him.

“But that’s why it becomes an even more perfect trap.”

“……Pardon?”

Carryl tore off a piece of meat with his mouth and said.

“The White Gold Dragon must think that if he attacks Tatur, I’ll naturally be tied down there. Because I’m the only one who can face him.”

Ziggurat, who had witnessed their fight firsthand, definitely felt that it was a battle beyond his capabilities.

“He’ll push Tatur even harder. Since he hasn’t figured out my location, he’ll try to lure me out.”

Carryl raised the corner of his lips.

“But it’s the opposite. I won’t let him make a mess of Tatur. I need to make him come to me on his own.”

He chewed the dried meat.

“To make him stick his neck out. That was the preparation for it. Aedan and Snakel, the elite of the Dark Shadow, were placed on the Dragon’s Island, swarming with monsters, and Mikhail, Serica, and Miliana were allowed to grow. They may not be able to win easily, but they will never be easily defeated by the White Gold Dragon.”

“Ah…….”

Ziggurat exclaimed without realizing it. The series of preparations so far were not simply to strengthen his power, but he had already set a clear goal.

“And don’t worry too much, it’s not just you alone.”

“Yes?”

“You’re right.”

At Carryl’s words, Ziggurat shook his head as if he couldn’t handle it.

“The Black Eye Clan has gathered.”

As soon as he finished speaking, nine figures appeared from the darkness.

“You’re in a terrible state.”

As if to prove the desperate battle, their bodies were covered in wounds. It was a great feat to have chased after him all the way here with broken arms and legs.

“It took time to find the mark, so we were late. I’m sorry.”

The one-eyed warrior with an eye patch, who was at the forefront of the nine Moonlit Nights who had come to find him, bowed his head and said.

The arm that should have been on his right side was missing.

The wrapped cloth had already turned red and was covered with black, hardened blood.

The pain from the wound must have been unbearable enough to make him lose consciousness, but he and his comrades had not slowed down until the end and had come all the way here together.

“What’s your name?”

“It’s Chamid.”

“I don’t have the ability to reattach your arm, but I’ll at least heal you so you can fight.”

“I, I’m sorry.”

Chamid replied, startled by Carryl’s words. He lowered his head, looking embarrassed, which didn’t suit his sharp impression and sturdy physique.

“Don’t worry. This is nothing.”

Hot magic power swirled around Chamid’s entire body, riding on Carryl’s hand, which was holding his shoulder.

Surprisingly, Chamid’s wounds healed at a rapid pace without him even casting a spell.

Alrune watched the scene with interest.

[He’s not casting recovery magic, but helping with biological regeneration with magic power itself. Isn’t that the same technique as that guy?]

Alrune looked at Chamid and recalled when the White Gold Dragon had recreated his severed wings.

“That’s right. I’m not as good as Nardie Maugré yet, but I also have divine power and dragon magic. I told you, I read his magic.”

Carryl replied lightly to Alrune’s words.

“To be exact, I should say I felt it rather than read it. Ironically, after becoming a 7th class, dragon magic circulated throughout my body through my bloodline, allowing me to feel divine power more clearly.”

[Not magic power, but divine power?]

“Do you remember when I used Mael’s divine power when I took the Archmage’s test?”

[Are you talking about when you fought that wolf woman?]

“That’s right.”

[I remember you borrowed the power of the Spirit Kings to draw out divine power in order to use Mael’s poison.]

Alrune said, recalling the memory.

At that time, when he first used divine power, Carryl felt a strange feeling in the swordsmanship containing Mael’s power, something that seemed to be caught but not caught.

A tingling feeling that seemed to be able to surpass the five sword stances that had taken countless years to complete. Since then, Carryl had been constantly trying to find that feeling.

“And I found it again when I met him. It’s not a problem of swordsmanship, but a problem of magic power. Dragon magic alone is not enough. Nardie Maugré may have thought so too. That’s why he devoured the power of Larciss, which has the same attributes as the power of God.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know the reason either. Unless I hear it directly from him… Does he want to become a god? No one knows his dark intentions from the age of mythology until now.”

[Hmm…….]

Alrune nodded at Carryl’s words, but let out a low sigh.

[Anyway, you’re saying that you’ve taken another step forward thanks to meeting him.]

“And I will go further than him.”

[Hmm?]

“When I used Mael’s power, I used the power of the Spirit Kings to control the poison at that time. Thanks to that, the power was halved.”

[It couldn’t be helped. You neutralized the toxicity with the heat of the Flame King. If you hadn’t, you would have been poisoned before you could even use swordsmanship.]

“That’s right. But if I can perfectly handle divine power, I will be able to use spirit power as my own power separately from that.”

Carryl smiled faintly.

[You are trying to do something unique that neither the Blader nor the White Gold Dragon has done.]

[I thought he was crazy, but I didn’t know he had such a grand plan… Geez.]

Laminue and Etheral said, looking dumbfounded.

[Heh heh… Good. That’s what it takes to be the one who wields my divine power.]

Mael, on the other hand, replied excitedly.

[Judex, who was called the first Blader to lead the Holy Spirit War, was a master of swords, magic, and spiritism. And the White Gold Dragon, who participated in the war with him, was nicknamed the Spirit Dominator. In other words, he, like Judex, could wield the power of spirits. But there is a crucial difference between the two.]

“Why?”

[The White Gold Dragon had already contracted with Larciss, the Spirit King of Light, before that. That’s why he was special, unlike other dragons. But he couldn’t handle divine power.]

Carryl nodded at Mael’s words.

[On the other hand, Judex allowed me to use divine power, but he didn’t use that power. The Spirit King he contracted with was none other than Duat, the Spirit King of Darkness. That’s because the divine power I have and the power of darkness are extremely incompatible. In addition, he believed that the power of darkness that Duat had was the only power that could cut Yula.]

[One with light and the other with darkness. That’s why they weren’t perfect. But the current Carryl can use Duat’s power and Mael’s divine power at the same time.]

[Yes. It’s all thanks to you. It’s true that Carryl has a contract with Duat, but the entity that can actually manifest that power is not Carryl, but Alrune, you. Thanks to the separation of objects, Carryl can maintain the power of darkness and use divine power at the same time. Whether it’s luck or a plan.]

[Heh heh heh… In the end, this body’s greatness shines.]

Alrune chuckled at Mael’s words.

[But the same goes for the White Gold Dragon. If the reason he put a new object called Neil Blanc is the same as mine, he will try to obtain the power of the attribute he did not have.]

“The power of Duat.”

[That’s right. Just as you covet Larciss, he will want the power of Duat. The two Great Wilds cannot coexist in the first place. But only when the two are together can the true Great Wild be achieved.]

[You’re saying that it’s a fight that can only be resolved by someone dying in the end.]

Alrune said quietly at Mael’s words.

“That’s what fights are all about.”

Carryl replied in a calm voice. Then, looking down at the huge imperial capital full of lights from the buildings below, he said.

“Judex reached great magic, but he couldn’t kill God, and the White Gold Dragon tried to reach God with the power of Larciss, but in the end he was just a subordinate of God.”

Squeeze-!!!

He clenched his fist.

“I will go to the realm that the two of them could not reach. Human swordsmanship, dragon magic, spirit contract, and even the power of God… I will make them all mine.”

At his words, as if making a pledge, the warriors of the Moonlit Night felt a chilling thrill without realizing it.

[Then let me ask you just one thing.]

“What is it?”

Alrune asked in a low voice.

[You didn’t kill Oliven in Heim, where the Emperor died that day. The reason was simply that you couldn’t gain the loyalty of the Empire just by ending his life.]

“That’s right.”

[But in the process, the Great War eventually started and many things were lost. There must have been talented people among them.]

Carryl nodded.

[Is it really worth it to create a stage to kill the Emperor with this much effort and sacrifice? I understand that you, as a descendant of the Godslayer, are challenging a higher realm that Judex and the White Gold Dragon could not reach, but apart from that, winning this war alone will not capture the hearts of the Empire’s talents that you first promised.]

Ensem Howard was like that too.

He showed the incompetence and mismatched appearance of those he served, making him more certain to bet his future on himself.

Bran Garmunt, on the other hand, was different.

He swore allegiance to the Empire until the end and chose death. Even if the Great War ends and he wins, if he just forces loyalty, many will choose the same decision as him.

“I may be wrong. But at least I myself am sure of my actions. Even if I had killed Oliven in Heim, the Empire would not have come into my hands for free. In the end, war would break out. Kwell McGovern and the countless swordsmen who will be born from the House of Swords will become my enemies, and people like Bran Garmunt will be born.”

Alrune shrugged.

[Isn’t that no different from now?]

“It’s different. Oliven is an enemy that must be killed anyway. But it’s not that he can be killed at any time. The reason I spared him in Heim is because he had to be alive in this war.”

Carryl’s eyes lit up.

“That way, I can target him, the White Gold Dragon, Wooden Cloud, and the Order all at once. I will steal the hearts of the Imperial Army with them as sacrifices.”

[A sacrifice to decorate the finale of the big picture you drew.]

“Yes. A tool to get their hearts as if to show off the color of these two eyes. Oliven exists for that purpose.”

[So that’s why. You can’t just use violence to keep the Imperials under your control as a foreigner.]

His black eyes felt even darker in the pitch-black darkness.

“This war is not just to wash away the stigma of the past as a foreigner. No, there’s no need to wash it away. How they thought and how they were thought of is just the past.”

Carryl said, looking down at the Imperial Palace from the cliff below.

“History will begin anew at dawn.”

Whoosh-!!!

He rushed towards the Imperial Capital without hesitation.