The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 399

246. Nephilim

“Hagane.”

Karril murmured the Demon King’s name as he gazed at the angels.

Whooooosh…!! Swish…!!

Instantly, the space behind the ramparts distorted, creating a gate to another dimension.

“Yes.”

“……!!!”

Those who had never been to the Demon Realm couldn’t help but be more astonished by the Demon King’s appearance than when the Celestial Fortress had appeared in the sky.

“That background… It looks familiar?”

Milliana realized that the scenery where the Demon King stood was strangely familiar.

“Piasta?”

Anthem nodded at her words.

The place with ships docked at the shipyard was indeed the port city of Piasta.

Contrary to the expectation that the gate would lead to the Demon Realm, the Demon King was surprisingly in the human realm.

In the Demon King’s hand, as he stepped out of the gate, were severed heads, still steaming and dripping with blood.

“Did you call for me?”

Even more astonishing than his appearance was that he knelt before Karril, greeting him like a vassal.

“What about Wooden Cloud?”

“As you can see.”

Hagane said, lifting the head of a corpse in his hand.

“……!!!”

Anthem looked surprised, recognizing familiar faces among the corpses in his hand.

“Those are…”

None other than Redios and Douglas.

And that wasn’t all.

Among the severed heads were former nobles of the Duchy, all members of Wooden Cloud whom they had seen in the days when they followed Fran Lurein.

“After rummaging through the minds of those you told me about, finding the higher-ups wasn’t difficult. Well… there are still many left, though.”

“I thought you would command the knights, but you moved yourself?”

“I also wanted to get some fresh air in the human realm. And it’s a good thing to be able to see Karril-nim like this.”

Hagane said with a smile, but Karril scoffed at his words.

“Nonsense. You weren’t after human souls, were you?”

“That’s just a small byproduct.”

The Demon King replied smoothly, still with a relaxed face.

“But is that why you called me?”

Hagane looked up at the sky.

Even as he watched the Nephilim descend, his face wasn’t particularly surprised.

‘The order of the oracle has changed.’

Karril also thought as he looked at the fortress floating in the sky.

In his past life, Byteram would herald the will of the oracle, and then, according to his command, the oracle would descend with Yula’s incarnation upon the altar.

When the Ten of the Oracle were chosen, Farrell appeared, and corruption poured out from within. Afterward, the Nephilim descended into the human realm under the guise of eradicating the corruption.

They thoroughly exterminated the corruption.

Humanity hailed them as God’s grace, but that was a false hope.

‘Those bastards fought only to kill the corruption, regardless of whether we lived or died.’

To them, human lives were nothing more than insects. Whether a hundred or a million died, they would do anything to catch just one corrupted being.

‘You are also enemies of humanity.’

Karril realized then.

How much Yula must have sneered, watching the humans cheering at the moment the Nephilim descended.

Clench-

Karril unknowingly gritted his teeth in anger.

But it had changed.

The fact that the Nephilim’s Celestial Fortress appeared before the oracle was given meant that they had come to discuss Byteram’s death with humans, regardless of Yula’s will. To them, who looked down on humans, his death must have been an unforgivable disgrace.

The biggest reason they suffered so much damage from the Nephilim was that they considered them allies.

Therefore, making them recognize them as enemies from the start.

That was the plan Karril aimed for.

Of course, it was undeniable that he had pulled the trigger for the war with the Nephilim, and people couldn’t help but feel uneasy because of his actions.

‘I’ll wipe them all out.’

But as he had always done, the only way to quell this unease was to produce results.

If he stood in the position of the victor, the current anxiety would be nothing more than a fleeting moment.

Karril’s eyes gleamed.

“Hagane, there was something I asked you separately before. I asked if there was anything that could replace the gem in the Necklace of Revelation.”

“Of course, I remember.”

“Is it complete?”

“Yes.”

“But do you really intend to use this? I think it’s too precious. Like casting pearls before swine.”

Hagane said with a strange smile.

“Stop talking nonsense and hand over the finished product.”

The Demon King shrugged and took out a small box from his chest.

“Kay.”

Karril called her name as soon as the words ‘Necklace of Revelation’ came out, seeing her tense up.

“I want you to take off the Necklace of Revelation used for Jarkah Hoch’s Soul Stone right now and replace it with this.”

“This is…”

“It’s made of White Gold Dragon bones. I ground the highest grade attribute stones and mixed them in, so it’s much better than the materials used for the Necklace of Revelation. Besides, Hagane’s magic is intact in it.”

“Ah…”

Her eyes trembled slightly.

Boom—!!!

It was then.

With a thunderous sound, something fell in front of Karril, who was holding the jewel.

“Are you the king of humans?”

“We’re in the middle of a conversation. Get lost.”

“…….”

Karril slowly raised his head.

A giant, three times his size, was looking down at him.

He had wings like Byteram on his back, but their size was incomparable to Byteram’s, and three pairs of wings were fluttering.

Thump…! Thump!! Thump!!

At the same time, three more angels descended from the sky behind the giant.

The ramparts shook as if they would collapse from the impact.

Among the Nephilim, called the Progeny of God, the Four Archangels were said to be directly chosen by God.

They were called Archangels and possessed power that was incomparable to the messenger, Byteram, who had come before.

Among them, Karril stared intently at the giant standing before him.

The leader of the Archangels.

The Judge, Judex.

The nominal messenger of God, as stated in the teachings of the Order, ironically shared the same name as the first Blader who committed the betrayal of killing God.

It occurred to him that even this might be part of Yula’s cruel game.

“The Four Archangels have all come, and you’ve even summoned the Celestial Fortress. Was the death of the Reverse Angel that infuriating?”

Karril said, undaunted by the imposing figure of the giant.

“Or did you think it was a good opportunity and come as if you had been waiting for it?”

“You…”

“Whether it’s the former or the latter, it doesn’t matter. If you want to fight, I’ll take you on.”

Karril raised the sword of Folsettia above his head.

[Calm down.]

[He is the leader of the Four Archangels. They are different from the common Nephilim that can be easily killed with a sword. You know it too. The secret we learned in the Thousand-Year Ice Cave.]

[He can only be killed by the power of corruption.]

The Spirit Kings spoke in low voices to Karril, who was pointing the sword of Folsettia at Judex.

“Who cares? If they don’t die, I’ll beat them until they *want* to die.”

“Kuaaaaaa—!!!”

“Kyaaaaak—!!!”

It was then.

The three Nephilim behind Judex, unable to endure any longer, flew towards Karril.

“Prepare for battle!”

At the same time, Anthem Howard shouted urgently.

In addition to the Four Archangels, Nephilim were constantly being summoned from the Celestial Fortress and descending to the ground.

Clang-! Clang—!!!

The people standing behind Karril also took up their weapons and rushed towards the pouring Nephilim.

Boom…! Bang! Bang! Bang!!

Stepping through the air, Karril zigzagged, changing direction mid-air.

Thwack-!!!

Karril grabbed the face of the Nephilim at the forefront with his palm and threw him backward.

Kwaaaaang!!!

“……!!!”

With a roar, one was pushed back, and the remaining two Nephilim, who had been rushing at him, looked around to find Karril’s suddenly vanished location.

Crack…!!

Karril bent his back as far as he could.

“Heuk!!”

But not missing that moment, Maron, one of the Four Archangels, thrust a spear at Karril. At the same time, another, Karanon, swung a huge iron mace with a whoosh-!! and hurled it towards his head.

“Kueuaaaak!!!!”

And Elanion, who had been knocked down by Karril’s blow a moment ago, wiped the blood flowing from his mouth and raised his greatsword above his head with an angry growl, slashing at Karril with all his might.

A tremendous onslaught.

It was a speed that even the Sword Masters on the ramparts couldn’t follow with their eyes.

Clatter…!!

Karril’s sword emitted an emerald flash, cutting through Maron’s spear and bending the sword he had lowered, slashing Karanon’s wrist holding the mace.

Thwack!!

At the same time, he punched Elanion’s solar plexus with all his might with his remaining fist, causing his body to float into the air with a whoosh.

“Cough…!!”

A deathly scream erupted.

“…….”

When Karril’s figure was found again, he was already holding a sword to Maron’s neck, Karanon, whose arms had been cut off, was kneeling before him, and he was stepping on the fallen Elanion under one foot.

All of this had happened in just a few seconds.

“I can add one more gift to throw in Yula’s face.”

Thud-

Karril said, picking up Karanon’s severed wrist and throwing it towards Judex, who was standing still.

“…….”

Judex looked at him.

“Does it hurt?”

Karril asked, rubbing his foot on Elanion’s back.

“Keuk! Kueueuk…!!”

“The humans you used as shields without a second thought were in even more pain.”

“What…!!”

Elanion shouted as if he didn’t understand what Karril was saying.

Swoosh-

But instead of answering, Karril forcefully stabbed the sword he was aiming at Maron and shoved his hand into Elanion’s mouth.

“Oop…!! Oop…!!”

Then, pulling the inserted hand upward, the guy made a strange noise without being able to close his mouth, struggling to remove Karril’s hand.

Maron’s severed head fell to the floor.

“I’ll grant you what you want.”

Crack-!!

Karril put strength into the hand he had shoved into Elanion’s mouth and pulled it out.

“Kuaaaaak!!!”

Then, with a scream of pain, several white teeth fell to the floor.

“Call Yula.”

“You…, you bastard…!!!”

Elanion trembled and shouted.

“I’ll see if your god, whom you follow so much, can give an oracle in front of my face without a second thought.”

The cold murderous intent flowing from his whole body was enough to make even the angels blessed by God tremble in fear.

“Why? Isn’t that what you want? So you better do as you’re told.”

No one there could refute his words.

In a fleeting moment, Karril had already dominated this space.

“You look down on us who live on the ground. But if you disobey me, I’ll pluck out every single one of your wings so you crawl on the ground for the rest of your lives.”

The devilish eyes were enough to make even the angels blessed by God tremble in fear.