The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 411

253. Blood (1)

KWA-AAAAANG……!!

The first to open the gates of attack was Suan Hazar.

Magic gathered in his Kalduan Gauntlets, emitting a blue light. Then, it streaked through the darkness, striking at the encroaching Corruption.

POW……! WHACK!! KWAGAGAGANG—!!!

Each time Suan Hazar’s heavy blows, erupting from both hands, struck the Corruption, flames burst forth.

“Not bad?”

Aidan, with movements that surpassed swiftness, passed by Suan’s side and spoke.

However, without even acknowledging his admiration, Suan was busy cutting down the Corruption at the forefront, clearing a path.

“……”

Watching his back, Aidan closed his mouth. The expression on Suan’s face as he passed was hardened. But Aidan knew well that the reason for his hardened face was not just the tension from the fierce battle.

Proof.

Suan Hazar knew that this battlefield was the last chance to make up for the mistake that had been constantly weighing on his mind.

That was why he was more desperate than anyone else here.

“HAAAAAA!!!!”

With Suan Hazar’s shout, a sharp pressure poured out each time his fist moved.

Balbunt 8th Stance – 1st Strike.

As he pulled both arms back with all his might and then unleashed them, the bodies of the Corruption trying to engulf him exploded with a BANG!! as if struck by a bomb.

“One more time……!!”

KWADDEUDDEUDDEUDDEUK—!!

Suan began to sprint, stepping on the corpses of the Corruption that had burst apart.

“Suan is pushing himself too hard.”

“It can’t be helped. If the Lord is watching, it will naturally be so.”

Karril asked Aidan, drawing his sword.

“Because of me?”

“It was the same for me. Do you remember that day? Because the Lord was there, I was able to surpass Simon Coden.”

“That was just your skill.”

Karril said with a calm expression to Aidan’s words.

“It’s not just that big guy. Their subordinates can’t help but fight when the king they follow is fighting at the forefront.”

Miliana, who had followed along unnoticed, spoke from behind Karril, piercing through the black smoke.

“I just hope he doesn’t get too impatient.”

Although he was under Olivon, Karril knew well that he had achieved many accomplishments in his past life.

“You don’t have to worry about that. It’s not that he’s moving out of haste, but rather he’s excited to show you his skills.”

She wasn’t the only one who thought so.

The soldiers, who had been unable to shake off the faint anxiety in their hearts just before departing from the Sky Castle, were now all following Karril.

It wasn’t just because they were in a position where they had to fight.

From the sight of Karril jumping down from the Sky Castle first and heading into enemy territory, people felt that he had not changed.

‘Whether the enemy is human or monster, the Lord is still the Lord.’

As that thought arose, an unknown sense of elation arose in their hearts. Because there was an absolute belief in the Lord they trusted.

There is no defeat in the battles he participates in.

The soldiers’ morale had already changed the moment Karril jumped down below the Sky Castle without hesitation.

Miliana glanced at Karril’s profile and chuckled without realizing it. Then, she tightly tied her long hair with a red cloth.

“Look closely!! Is the enemy in front of you human? No. This is not war, but a hunt!! Show no mercy. Do not forget your essence. Awaken the instincts of the hunter.”

WAAAAAAA—!!

WAAA—!!

At Miliana’s cry, the warriors of Digon, including Digon, all cheered in unison. When she kicked the Corruption that had fallen to the ground, the creature’s body, turned black, scattered into ashes.

“It’s good that we don’t have to clean up the corpses.”

She smiled coldly, waving her sword as if to shake off the dust, and shouted.

“Don’t be slow!! Are you going to let them steal the first move!!!”

“Hyah-!! Hyah-!!

“Run!!”

The Digon warriors spurred their mounts even harder at her appearance, each starting to sprint.

“Don’t lose!! If it’s hunting, you can’t leave us out! Show the spirit of the Great Plains!”

Kinu Mukari shouted, raising his bow as he watched the sprinting Digons.

“Bi-gung Tribe!! Prepare to fire!!”

WHOOSH……!!

Strangely enough, as soon as he drew his bow, the trajectory of the opposing wind, which had been blowing as if to block them, changed and turned smooth as if pushing them from behind.

PAANG—!!

The arrow shot from the bowstring flew towards the Corruption with a fierce sound, and the Corruption began to explode without fail the moment the blue-green arrowhead touched them.

[He’s definitely blessed by the wind. Especially with Samiad around, the effect seems to be doubled.]

Lamine said, watching Kinu Mukari spew out arrows as if pouring them out from a distance impossible with human strength.

[It seems Samiad, sealed in the necklace, is eager to rampage.]

His voice was heard, and Hwarin, who was running across the field, hurriedly grabbed the swaying pendant.

“Did you hear that? I’d like to release the seal if I could, but it takes time. Now is not the time to be leisurely. Hwarin, give it your all instead.”

“Of course.”

She said, biting her lip.

That was because it was the first time Samiad had reacted directly. But she didn’t like that it had arisen from Kinu Mukari’s appearance, not her own.

It was proof that her Lycanthrope powers were not satisfying him. That was an insult to her pride as a warrior of the North.

SQUEEZE-

Hwarin grabbed the pendant on her necklace.

“Did you say that the one inside is the Wind Spirit King? Sorry, but I can’t fly in the sky like Karril, nor can I shoot arrows with the power of the wind like that guy.”

CRACK……. CRACKLE…….

Her body began to change.

“But as long as my two feet are on the ground, I’ll let you rampage more freely than in the sky.”

The thick thighs of the beast swelled up as if about to burst, and when she kicked off the ground, her body shot out with a sound like a thunderous roar.

Swinging her arms back with all her might and slashing with her claws, the Corruption surrounding her exploded and disappeared in an instant.

[AAAAAAAH……!!!!]

Destroying dozens of Corruption, Hwarin stepped on the corpses of the Corruption and jumped up, then snatched another Corruption in mid-air and slammed it to the ground.

KWANG—!!

Landing on the ground, she tirelessly roamed the battlefield, smashing and destroying Corruption here and there.

WHOOSH……!! HWA-ACK……!!

If the direction of the wind changed when Kinu Mukari drew his bow, then the wind rose around Hwarin as if to support her.

People could see that it was the inherent power of the Wind Spirit King, the Gale, Samiad.

[KREAAAAAA!!!!]

Hwarin, transformed into a Lycanthrope, roared.

Heaps of corpses piled up around her to the point where it was hard to tell who the monster was, and when the corpses of the Corruption turned into smoke, the wind pressure caused by her sharp claws swirled like a vortex in various places along with the smoke.

TAP……! TAP-TAP-TAP……!!

But even in the midst of the chaotic battle, there was a figure running at high speed through the smoke beside her.

The owner of that figure stepped on Hwarin’s shoulder and jumped into the air.

CRACK-! CRACKLE-!

Each time the huge blade, disproportionate to her small frame, cut through the wind and touched the Corruption, the Corruption froze instantly.

“Mikhail!!”

At the sharp cry, a blade of wind pierced the frozen Corruption exactly from somewhere.

KWAAAAAAAANG……!!

The Corruption, shattered into pieces by the blade of wind, disappeared as if melting away with the ice shards.

“Hmph.”

Serica Lauren waved her hand at the terrible stench emitted as the Corruption dissipated. Then, glittering ice melted around her as if snowflakes were falling.

“Huff……. Huff…….”

Mikhail ran to her side quite a while later. He seemed out of breath, taking off the hood of the robe he was wearing and squatting down.

“You’re late.”

Serica Lauren said with an indifferent expression as she looked at him.

“Mikhail was a mercenary, but his stamina is worse than that little miss. He still needs more training.”

Hashir, who was fighting while leading the Northern tribes, said in a low voice as he watched their figures from afar.

Having watched Karril’s subordinates from the beginning, he could understand the feelings of Suan and Mikhail better than anyone else.

“I don’t know. Those two were on our front lines until just now. He may not be able to run as fast as the little miss, but he had already overlapped the blades of wind before she attacked the Corruption at this distance where arrows can’t even reach. It was a perfect prediction. I wonder how many mages in the continent can do that?”

Lilianna retorted to Hashir’s words. At her question, he raised one corner of his mouth.

“Indeed. Since he is the only mage on the continent who can use the magic created by Kaie Essir, it would be ridiculous for me to evaluate him.”

Hashir gestured to the Wolf Fox unit and shouted.

“Let’s go!! Support those two!”

“Advance!!”

At the same time as the Wolf Foxes moved, the warriors of the Zannabi tribe also began to run at Lilianna’s cry.

“It’s an overwhelming victory.”

Miliana said with satisfaction, looking at the battle lines pushing up from here and there.

“……”

But Karril was silent, watching the entrance of the cave. The forms of the pouring Corruption were not clearly formed, but rather in the form of black mucus.

Compared to the Corruption in Karril’s memory, which had complete forms, these ones felt like clay dolls that had not been fully shaped. Moreover, they were easily destroyed by external shocks than expected. Although the corpses emitted poison when they were incinerated, it was not a very threatening thing.

‘It’s still incomplete.’

Karril knew that his subordinates were excellent, but he also recognized that the Corruption was being pushed back too easily.

If it had been at this level in his past life, he wouldn’t have suffered such great damage and sacrifice.

Karril thought, looking at the tower rising far away, Pharel.

‘It seems that the fact that a proper oracle was not given and that we struck them first before Pharel was completed had an effect.’

Looking back on his past life, when he did not know that the Corruption was being created in the Blood Cave by the suddenly appearing Pharel, the biggest mistake at that time was giving them time.

And Karril, who did not miss that gap, was convinced that his forces had arrived one step closer to victory.

POW—!!!

It was then.

A dull roar, different from anything before, echoed.

Karril and Aidan hurriedly turned their gaze to Suan, who had been running ahead.

“Kuh……?!”

Suan, who had been relentlessly destroying the Corruption, stopped in his tracks, and his fist bounced back as if he had hit something hard, and he grabbed his trembling arms.

“Suan!!!”

Aidan hurriedly called his name and ran over.

CHIIIIIIII…….

Reaching Suan’s side, Aidan felt a terrible chill. The black smoke flowing around was similar to that of the Corruption, but something was different.

Red eyes visible behind the smoke.

Unlike the Corruption so far, something in the shape of a person was visible.

Aidan frowned as he looked at it.

“What…… is that?”

One half of its face had its skull exposed, and the other half was severely corroded, looking down at them like a corpse. He spoke in a trembling voice to the monster holding a huge scythe in its arm.

BOOOOOOOONG—!!

At that moment, the huge scythe in the monster’s arm flew towards the two men’s necks at an unbelievable speed.

POW—!!!!

“……?!!!”

The sound of sharp wind pressure cutting through the air echoed across the battlefield.

[Could it be……. That’s……. Unbelievable. To think I’d see a Grim Reaper, who only remained in literature, here. Did Yula summon that monster?]

“I will only cut down those who block my path. The result is the same.”

Alun muttered to himself as he looked at the monster that had appeared at the entrance of the cave, but Karril spoke in a calm voice even though he was seeing the same sight.

“Manifest.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Spirit Kings appeared all at once from behind him.

KWAAAAAAAANG……!!!

The Blazing Inferno King, spewing out fierce heat, and the Queen of the Tsunami, holding cold air, swept away the surrounding Corruption as if they had been waiting, and the sight of the Corruption blocking Karril’s path being swept away with the acrid smell of burning corpses was truly spectacular.

TAK-

But it didn’t end there.

The moment Karril kicked off the ground and jumped up without slowing down, the light of Lachesis and the darkness of Duat soared, enveloping his entire body.