The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 393

240. Essence of Kaie Essir

“This is where he left the item when he made the contract with me.”

Hagane said, opening the door to the vault deep within the Demon Realm. Around them, SS-class monsters like Cerberus and Hydra, creatures rarely seen in the Human Realm, were abundant, eyeing Khalil’s group as if looking for prey.

Kwang-!!!

As Khalil nervously swung Rachna, an Aura Blade flew from the blade, slicing through the cliff face where the monsters were gathered, creating a tremendous roar.

The creatures scattered in a hurry, as if fleeing from the noise.

“Your pets need some training. Salivating in the presence of the Demon King is hardly respectful.”

“I will see to it if necessary,” Hagane said lightly, as if it were nothing.

However, Khalil took his words as further confirmation of the Demon Race’s ability to tame monsters. He thought that if he could utilize monsters in the war against corruption after the oracle [a prophecy or divine message], they would be an invaluable asset.

“He certainly has the makings of a king. Even in this situation, he’s thinking of using us as tools.”

“They’re just monsters that would bite and tear at each other if left alone anyway. Instead of being hunted and eaten, they’ll at least meet a more valuable death serving me.”

“Kekeke… That’s something to be thankful for, I suppose,” Hagane chuckled at Khalil’s words and shrugged.

“Then.”

He slowly pushed open the massive vault door. A magic circle unique to the Demon Race formed where his palm touched the door, scattering into dozens of branches. As light enveloped the entire door, it began to open.

“Only one person can enter inside. The rest of you will wait here. I won’t go in either, so you have no complaints, right?”

The door opened, but all that could be seen inside was darkness. However, it wasn’t just dark; it was as if the light itself was blocked, creating a perfect darkroom.

“Wait. How do we know what kind of tricks he’s set up in there?” Miliana said, looking at Hagane warily.

“Are you worried? If you think the master you believe in would fall for a simple trap, I’d be disappointed.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust the one I follow. It’s that I don’t trust the devious minds of the Demon Race. I still doubt whether you’ll truly pledge allegiance to Khalil.”

“A loyal subordinate,” Khalil smiled faintly at her concern.

“Honestly, can you easily believe that the king who rules the Demon Realm would hand over the entire world after just one defeat, even if you did it? If I were a king with any sense, I wouldn’t just accept one defeat but would sharpen my blade for revenge.”

“True.”

Her expression showed her bewilderment at his blunt answer.

“I don’t think he’ll completely obey me either. His test probably starts now,” Khalil said nonchalantly, even with the person in question standing right in front of him.

“The fact that the real test of my worth comes after establishing a master-servant relationship is truly befitting of the insidious Demon Race. I don’t know what’s inside, but depending on the result, he’ll either truly be loyal to me or prepare for a betrayal to rejoin the side of God.”

Hagane shrugged, still wearing an inscrutable smile at Khalil’s words.

“Worshiping power? It sounds cool, but in the end, it means you’ll betray me whenever a new strongman appears.”

“And you accepted that? A bat like that?”

“Yeah. I’ll just overturn the Demon Realm then. I’ll wipe out the Demon King and every last demon in the Demon Realm. You think I can’t do it?”

“No.”

Miliana nodded at that.

“That’s a more reassuring answer.”

“So don’t worry.”

She stepped back, pointing her fingers at her eyes and then at Hagane again, glaring as if warning him.

“This is quite a disgrace for the Demon King,” Hagane shook his head at the sight.

Kugugugugu…

A strange cry was heard from inside the vault door.

“See you in a bit,” Khalil stepped inside without hesitation.

* * *

[Khalil.]

“What?”

[It’s been a while. Not since Gray Garrison have I been in darkness like this.]

How long had he walked?

Aln Zabiuss spoke in the darkness where only the sound of footsteps could be heard.

“Why? Are you saying that because you miss that time?”

[Of course not. I don’t even want to think about the time I was trapped for a thousand years.]

“Then why?”

[Darkness makes people calm. It allows you to look back on yourself and stretch the threads of thought. Sometimes, it even lets you pick up missed fragments.]

“What do you mean?” Khalil frowned slightly and asked.

[It means time to be alone. Of course, there are many beings residing in your body… and you can’t separate from them now. But just not having someone to take care of gives you a chance to think.]

“I don’t need time alone now. I’ve had enough of that time. A thousand years? I’ve spent more than that.”

Aln smiled bitterly at Khalil’s words.

[But it will give you a chance to doubt.]

“Doubt?”

[Didn’t you notice anything strange in the Demon King’s words? He said that Kaie Essir never called himself a mage. But if you think about it the other way around…]

“It also means he never called himself a swordsman,” Khalil answered Aln’s words first.

“The shock of hearing ‘not a mage’ makes you miss the truth and think in a binary way. Of course, that’s what he was aiming for.”

[Indeed.]

Aln clicked his tongue and said.

[I was worried for nothing.]

“I always think the answer lies in 1 and 2, but human affairs always create a completely different result, 3, from the expected answer. The same goes for the White Gold Dragon.”

[Yes. But that’s what makes human affairs interesting, isn’t it? You and I met because of the existence of the White Gold Dragon. And in the process of learning about his story, there were many intertwined events involving Wooden Cloud, the Order, and even the Emperor.]

Khalil nodded.

[Just when we thought we had unraveled that thread, another person suddenly appeared. And now, going beyond the events of the present world that we experienced, he predicted your past life and prepared for regression… Do you have any guesses about his identity?]

“It doesn’t really matter. He’s just a person from 250 years ago at most. Nothing more, nothing less. I’m just trying to confirm that.”

[Reversing time. That’s an act of going against the world created by God. Everyone can imagine it at least once, but no one can experiment with it. Because it’s challenging God.]

Aln murmured in a low voice.

[Ironically, mages and priests are ultimately derived from the same source. The reason why the Empire called the foreigners heretics was ultimately because they worshiped magic. In other words, divine power and magical power may have different material forms, but no matter what you worship, it ultimately proves that humans are under God.]

His voice sounded somewhat angry.

Mages, after all, were those who sought to establish their existence by developing the power that God had given them, rather than simply accepting it as it was.

But Aln’s words a moment ago were an admission that no matter how hard they struggled, they would ultimately be in God’s palm.

“But we know that magical power is not God’s blessing that distinguishes races. It’s just God’s fake reward for the betrayers of the Divine Spirit War.”

Khalil showed Aln that he didn’t want to talk about God anymore.

“If God created humans, it can’t be helped. Rebellion is the weak opposing the strong. We have to accept the already created framework.”

[I suppose so. But what I’m curious about is how Kaie Essir was able to speculate about the reversal of time. If he was a swordsman capable of dragon slaying with a sword, he would have reached at least the realm of Sword Master [a highly skilled swordsman]. Such a person reached the 8th class of magic? You know what that means.]

Khalil nodded at Aln’s words.

“It means he became a Grand Master [a master of magic] at the same level as me without the Dragon’s Heart.”

[Do you think that’s possible? The things that were possible because you knew the future and had the Flame Dragon’s Heart.]

Khalil had no choice but to fall into contemplation at his words.

Who the hell is Kaie Essir?

It was a problem that he had encountered unexpectedly, and judging from his actions so far, it was highly likely that even his companion, Altemann, did not know his true identity.

However…

It might be a far-fetched and absurd connection, but there was one thing that kept bothering Khalil.

Since regressing, there have been only two things that he did not expect, including Kaie Essir.

Even if he didn’t know about the White Gold Dragon’s betrayal or the collusion between the Order and Wooden Cloud, he could have guessed enough while solving various incidents.

‘But the fact that there were two Millennium Freezes [periods of extreme cold] is as much a fact that I was not prepared for as the fact that Kaie Essir was a swordsman.’

It was just an exaggeration to associate the two things because he didn’t expect them.

After the White Gold Dragon incident, Khalil was always careful not to ruin things with simple speculation.

‘When I return here, I have to meet Altemann and reveal the truth, and then go to the other Millennium Freeze that Gordon mentioned.’

Khalil looked ahead as if he had organized his thoughts. It was still as dark as pitch, but he instinctively sensed that he had arrived at his destination.

Woooooong…

It was then.

A subtle tremor was heard in the darkness. Khalil knew that there was something inside, the essence that Kaie Essir had left behind.

Step- Step- Step-

His footsteps, which had not been heard until just now, echoed as if he had come from the water onto land.

“…What is this?”

Khalil looked at something in front of him.

It was a small fragment.

A hexagonal prism the size of a fingernail was floating in the air, spinning in place.

“It seems that the essence he left behind wasn’t something like a sword or magic,” he said, letting out a low sigh as if he was a little disappointed, and relaxed.

[Amazing.]

[That this can exist…]

[How…]

But unlike him, the Spirit Kings were looking at the small fragment and muttering in disbelief.

[Why is this here?]

Lamine asked in a trembling voice.

[I’m the one who wants to ask. Yula exists in our dimension, but there’s another fragment.]

Then, even Mael seemed embarrassed and answered towards the small fragment, and Khalil’s curiosity grew even more.

“You guys seem to know what this is?”

[Of course, we know.]

[This is the power of the rift that created us. It can be said to be the power that builds the world.]

Khalil smirked at their grandiose explanation, unlike the shabby appearance of the small jewel-like fragment.

“Builds the world? What does that mean? Is this little fragment supposed to be God or something?”

[It’s more amazing than that.]

“…What?”

[It’s different from divine power. That’s the power that God personally emits into the world. You can think of it as a kind of characteristic. But dimensional power is higher than that.]

“Higher than God’s power…?”

Mael paused for a moment before spitting it out.

[Dimensional Power (次元力). We call that power that.]

Khalil tilted his head at the unfamiliar name, but the moment the name was heard, a commotion was felt among the Spirit Kings.

[Dimension Spiral.]

That was before God was born,

A fragment that existed in the primordial time beyond the mythological era.