The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 386

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Kahlil spoke, his gaze fixed on an old man who was comfortably settled in a worn chair beneath a small tent erected just outside the imperial palace.

The old man was remarkably thin and short, hardly the image of a powerful martial artist. To the uninitiated, he would simply appear as a kindly village elder.

“Speak freely. Aren’t you the king of the continent now?”

The old man’s words were casual, and he remained reclined in his chair, almost lounging.

‘What an eccentric,’ Kahlil thought, briefly summing up his impression.

Fist King Balbont.

In Kahlil’s past life, Balbont was the most enigmatic of the Five Great Sword Masters. Like the Spear King, he avoided involvement in continental affairs, but unlike the Spear King, who had officially retired, the Fist King had never truly revealed himself.

Consequently, Kahlil had never had a proper meeting with him.

‘The only incident I know about was that… he was in Tramel, the ancient ruins where the Bloodspring Cave is located, during this time.’

Based on that recollection, he had dispatched Su-an, who had a connection with Balbont, to that location. He hadn’t anticipated reuniting with them in this manner.

“Fist King, you may speak freely as well. Did you rescue those two?”

Kahlil’s tone was neutral, betraying no emotion.

“How could I claim to have done that? Well… there was no question of saving or not saving. I merely allowed them to drift down the Ponaine River after they collapsed in the Bloodspring Cave.”

He paused, stroking his neck.

“More than that, my throat is parched…”

“Hey, old man. You still have a fondness for your booze. The empire’s liquor stores are depleted, so there’s nothing of high quality left. Be content with this instead.”

At that moment, a large barrel of liquor sailed through the air towards Balbont and landed with a soft thud.

Squeak-

The barrel, brimming with liquor, was caught with surprising ease, and not even the slightest ripple disturbed the liquid within.

“Hmm. Fine liquor. I wasn’t aware you’d be here as well. It’s a pleasure.”

“Mercenaries go where the coin leads.”

“Hehehe… Even a stray dog would scoff at the notion of the Kyo-do Mercenary Corps being motivated by money. Still, thanks to that, I received this gift, so I have no complaints.”

Balbont grinned at Gordon Fabian.

Physically, they were opposites, but the aura emanating from them was equally potent.

“I mentioned letting them fall into the Ponaine River, but don’t misunderstand. It was to cleanse the poison from their bodies with water and neutralize it. I had no means to bring them here. I’m not a mage capable of water-based magic.”

“Poison…? They were poisoned? What exactly transpired in the Bloodspring Cave?”

Kahlil’s question was laced with urgency.

“Take a look at their necks.”

* * *

[I can’t find a way to help with this either.]

A low sigh escaped Kahlil’s lips at Alrune’s response.

Before him lay Su-an Hazar and Israfil, appearing as though in a deep slumber.

They bore no visible wounds, but their faces were pallid and bloodless, giving them a vampire-like appearance.

“It’s truly perplexing… Their bodies are perfectly sound. In most cases like this, it’s largely due to the sealing of magical power… The magical power circulating from the mana nodes to the blood vessels is also not a significant issue.”

Nain Darhoon, his face ashen as the two prone figures, examined their condition with an expression of disbelief.

[The body and magical power are both normal, yet they can’t awaken… It’s akin to a seal of eternal ice.]

Laminue’s voice was hushed as she observed the two.

“A seal…?”

[His words aren’t wrong. A seal is also an act of trapping the mind with external force. But… is there really anyone who can do this in reality?]

“Then what course of action should I take to break the seal?”

[Well, he’ll know better than I do. You can’t discuss seals without mentioning the 2nd Wilderness. Isn’t that right? Laxis.]

Swooooong…

As soon as Laminue finished speaking, a small ball of light coalesced on Kahlil’s shoulder.

[A seal of the mind. It’s a rare technique, but it’s not impossible in the human realm either.]

Paat-!!

Simultaneously with his words, the ball of light burst and scattered in all directions, and a human figure enveloped in white light materialized before Kahlil.

[Like lingering incantations, most of these mental techniques are passed down under the name of curses. But this is… a little different from the curses you usually classify as black magic.]

“Then?”

[Laminue, the reason you called me is to find out who did this to them, right? It seems you’ve only learned shallow tricks from being with humans.]

Laxis gestured towards the blue veins protruding from the left side of Su-an’s neck. The color was so unnatural that it resembled a tattoo, and the protruding veins were mirrored on Israfil.

“This is…”

A slight frown creased Kahlil’s brow as a realization flashed through his mind.

“This must be it. The wound on the neck that the Fist King mentioned. But I’ve never encountered this type of poison before. There are a few poisons that turn blood vessels blue, but most of them are lethal.”

Dushalla, with her extensive knowledge of poisons, was the first to examine the necks of the two.

“Blue Mark…”

Kahlil murmured, scrutinizing Su-an’s neck.

[You seem to know about it?]

“A little.”

He replied, his face hardening at Alrune’s question.

“A wound inflicted by a demon. It’s not inaccurate to say that the Fist King said they were poisoned… Because the demons’ weapons are coated with poison that doesn’t belong to this world.”

[That’s right.]

Laxis nodded in response.

In his past life, Kahlil had fought against demons and knew about the Blue Mark.

[It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that the appearance of demons in this world is connected to these wounds.]

Kahlil’s expression hardened at Laxis’s words.

“Balbont said he found them exactly ten days ago, right? Those afflicted with the Blue Mark will have the poison spread through their blood vessels, leading to death after fifteen days. Am I correct in my understanding?”

[Yes, you’re right. But to add some context, the Blue Mark wound is inflicted by Goldavion, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse among the demons.]

“A demon… Are you saying demons have appeared on the continent?”

“Surely not…”

“How could this happen…?”

At Laxis’s words, people exchanged glances, seemingly confused.

“There’s no need to cause a premature panic. What’s more important than the presence of demons is that they only have five days left to live.”

‘What on earth happened there…?’

Kahlil bit his lip slightly, almost unconsciously.

‘This is clearly my fault.’

Su-an, along with Aidan, was one of the first subordinates he had gained and one of the most trusted. Israfil was a colleague, one of the Ten of the Oracle, in his past life.

The fact that they returned to him unconscious was perhaps the most significant event since his regression as an individual.

“Then, do you also know how to undo the seal?”

[Well… the only way to undo the seal here is to capture and kill the demon who inflicted the wound.]

“Does the phrase ‘here’ imply there’s another place where the seal can be undone?”

[Yes, there is. It’s the power of a demon, but since it originated in the human realm, moving to another realm will halt the wound’s effect. To be exact, it would be more accurate to say it’s paused… because within those realms, treatment is possible, and in the worst-case scenario, you can buy time to delay the Blue Mark’s progression.]

“Another realm?”

[As you know, this world isn’t limited to the human realm. There’s the demon realm where demons reside, the celestial realm inhabited by Nephilim [half-human, half-angel beings], the abyssal demon world at the very bottom… and even the spirit realm where we used to live.]

Laxis looked at Kahlil.

[If you move them to any of those places, excluding the demon realm, you can stop the poison from progressing for now. Especially since you know how to open the Soul Well, right? Don’t you?]

Kahlil nodded.

Using the Soul Well found in the Gnome Kingdom and the essence from the Fortress of the Wraith, he could certainly open the door to the Spirit Realm.

Furthermore, having absorbed all the power of the Two Great Wildernesses, his spirit power was also full, giving him sufficient resources to enter the Spirit Realm.

“That’s not the end of it.”

[Hmm?]

“It means that treating them isn’t a fundamental solution.”

Kahlil said, looking at the two lying down.

“Just leave the demons that may have emerged into the world? I can’t tolerate such trash in the world I’m going to create.”

Thump…

At Kahlil’s resolute words, people couldn’t help but feel their hearts beat faster.

Not long after the end of the Imperial War, he was already moving forward relentlessly.

If you only whip them, they will easily tire.

However, Kahlil’s subordinates knew that Kahlil himself, who was leading them, was running ahead of anyone else, not just whipping them.

Surprisingly, instead of fatigue, they were filled with a sense of elation about the future they would create, gazing at Kahlil’s back.

“Also, you mentioned that we can open the door to the Demon Realm through the Elven Soul Well.”

“Surely not…”

“Even if we exterminate the demons that appeared on the continent, if they know the passage to come to our world, it would be like having a dangerous element behind our backs. After hunting them down, I will open the door to the Demon Realm and the door to the Spirit Realm together.”

People couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at Kahlil’s words.

“Restore the Spirit Realm and completely eradicate the demons beyond the door to the Demon Realm through the Soul Well simultaneously.”

“……!!!”

“To do that, we need three artifacts to open the door to the Demon Realm. One of them is already in our hands, so we just need to find the other two.”

At Kahlil’s words, Kay Rothschild looked at him with a slightly hardened face.

That’s because one of the three artifacts he mentioned was none other than the Necklace of Revelation found in the Gnome Kingdom.

The jewel inside it was now being used as a heart in the doll containing the soul of Jarka Hoch.

“Don’t worry. I won’t try to achieve my goals by sacrificing my comrades. I’ll find a way before that.”

Kay nodded at Kahlil’s reply, as if he had read her mind.

“Before that, we need to target the closest place first.”

Kahlil looked out the window.

At the edge of the castle walls, there was a place covered in thick fog even in the morning. It was the Dragon Bone Tomb, the imperial artifact warehouse that he had passed with Randel when escaping the Imperial Capital.

“Is it a Mague Cave [a dungeon or magical site] raid after a long time?”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“I’ll hurry with the preparations.”

His subordinates answered without hesitation, without asking what was inside.

“Then, who should we entrust with the investigation of the Bloodspring Cave? If it’s a place related to demons, we need to be careful… Should we send Aidan, as you suggested before?”

Dushalla carefully asked Kahlil.

“No.”

Kahlil answered her question.

“I’m going there too.”

“…Yes?”

Kahlil answered nonchalantly to her, who widened her eyes in surprise and asked back.

“A Mague Cave raid is enough for half a day, right?”