The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 428

261. The Power of the Sun (2)

“…It’s here.”

Eurin Hugart led Carryl to a dismal location, quite unlike Heim’s clean and pristine reputation.

The carriage ride had been long, taking them far from any signs of civilization.

For some reason, Eurin seemed hesitant to actually enter the place.

Swish… Swish…

A foul odor rose from the moss-covered, filthy sewer, where stagnant, rotten water trickled out.

“Hmm.”

Carryl sighed softly, surveying the scene.

“Originally, priests were supposed to maintain this shrine, but during the purges under your orders, many of them were… eliminated,” Eurin said, watching Carryl’s reaction.

“I see.”

Surprisingly, Carryl didn’t seem upset by the shrine’s dilapidated state.

“That means you’re doing your job well.”

“Haha… You flatter me.”

“How long has it been since the Order cleared out the remnants of Wooden Cloud?”

“It’s been well over a month. Initially, many still followed the Bishop, and remnants secretly resisted you… I should have dealt with it sooner.”

“A month, huh…”

Carryl cupped his hand and scooped up some of the foul-smelling stagnant water from the ground, sniffing it. Eurin frowned.

[Do you have some strange new hobby? Why are you smelling that?]

Alun Zavius watched Carryl examine the sewage, dumbfounded.

“Isn’t this too filthy for just a month?”

“…Pardon?”

“This drain is located away from Heim’s main buildings. There’s no kitchen here, so no cooking waste. Even without maintenance, it shouldn’t be this bad. But… this smells like leftover food waste, doesn’t it?”

Swish-

The dirty water dripped from Carryl’s fingers in a sticky stream.

“Or maybe it’s vomit.”

Gulp.

Eurin swallowed hard, involuntarily, at the sight.

Step- Step- Step-

Carryl slowly approached the flustered Eurin.

Slap-!

He grabbed Eurin’s cheek. The dirty water on his palm smelled awful, but Eurin didn’t dare pull away.

“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”

“I… I don’t know anything. It’s true this place is a shrine for sacred objects, and it’s true the priests who managed it were connected to Wooden Cloud and were eliminated.”

Eurin’s voice trembled.

“Hmm…”

Carryl glared at him.

“Was there anything strange about them?”

“What do you mean…?”

“The priests who followed them when Rael Stalen was killed in the Imperial capital? Tell me honestly. Did you really eliminate them?”

At Carryl’s words, Eurin Hugart seemed lost for words, his lips twitching.

“Or did they commit suicide on their own?”

“H, how did you know…?”

“I knew it.”

Carryl wasn’t particularly surprised about Wooden Cloud’s demise.

“Those guys cultivated a demonic fruit called Black Spores in a secret place inside the Bloodstained Cave. They have powerful hallucinogenic effects. The ones here are likely high-ranking members of Wooden Cloud. They probably had the fruit, or had been taking it for a long time.”

“Hallucinations…?”

“They were trying to turn the Order into a fanatical cult. In some ways, Wooden Cloud is more devoted to faith than the Order. They are people who can easily face death.”

Eurin’s face stiffened at his words.

“On the other hand, the reason I entrusted the Order to you was because you were a priest who was trading with the Empire. I judged that you wouldn’t be swayed by Wooden Cloud because you’re the type who would abandon the Order if it wasn’t beneficial. And you didn’t betray my trust.”

“Ha, haha…”

Eurin Hugart didn’t know whether to laugh or not, making a strange expression.

“But I don’t think Wooden Cloud is completely finished just because Rael Stalen, who became the Bishop of the Order, is dead. I’m weeding them out through Hagane, but it’s not an easy task.”

Carryl nonchalantly mentioned receiving help from the Demon King in front of the priest, but Eurin couldn’t say a word.

“Did you check this place?”

“That’s…”

“It seems you haven’t. Did a madman get scared? Was their suicide that gruesome?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Carryl’s expression shifted unexpectedly at Eurin’s answer. It was a question asked on a whim, but Eurin’s reaction was surprisingly serious.

Clang…!!!

Passing through the sewer spewing filth, Carryl cut the chains locking the shrine’s door with his sword.

Thud…!!!

He kicked the shrine door open, the thick stone grinding against its frame, and a hazy smoke billowed out.

“Well, fine. At best, it’s just a warehouse where sacred objects are stored. What I find strange is that you, who crave power, didn’t even think about looking into these treasures after rising to the highest position in the Order. If it were the Eurin Hugart I know, you would have set your sights on this place before anyone else.”

“…”

“Nevertheless, the reason you haven’t checked this place means something’s bothering you, right?”

Darkness filled the shrine’s interior. Lamine’s flames flowed from the Ain Trigger on Carryl’s hand, illuminating the space.

A staircase leading to the basement was visible, and the shrine was much larger than expected.

“Tell me about their deaths.”

Carryl said as he walked into the shrine.

“So many priests died… I don’t know where to begin…”

“Who else? The Bishop, of course. The ones under him are just branches anyway.”

“Rael… are you talking about?”

Carryl gave Eurin Hugart a cold, pathetic look for asking.

“No.”

Carryl raised the corner of his mouth, as if stating the obvious.

“I’m talking about the former Bishop. You remember, don’t you? When I first met you in Heim, the Bishop of the Order was someone else. But when I arrived in the Imperial capital, Rael had become the Bishop.”

“Y, yes.”

“How did he die?”

“That’s…”

Just then.

[Krrr…]

A low growl echoed from below the stairs leading to the basement.

“Hmm. That sound doesn’t suit a place where the sacred objects of the holy Order are enshrined at all.”

Carryl didn’t stop walking. Instead, he spoke to Eurin as if he didn’t care about the growl.

Or perhaps he had expected it.

“Tell me what happened back then. An incident in the Order that I don’t know about. The opportunity that allowed Rael, just an errand boy under the Bishop, to take over the Order.”

In the past, Rael had transported the Book of Nightmares from the Order to Nine Darhon.

Even then, there was a separate Bishop; she wasn’t the head of the Order.

‘When we, chosen as the Ten of the Oracle in our previous life, visited the Order to receive the oracle, she wasn’t the Bishop.’

That meant the Bishop hadn’t died in the previous life. It meant that, unlike the previous life, singularities had occurred in the present life due to Carryl’s actions.

‘In the previous life, the Platinum Dragon intended to make Rael the leader of the fanatical cult. So, it would be better to separate her from the Order.’

As he thought, the Order and Blue Lore existed separately in the previous life. Now that he thought about it, the Platinum Dragon could have carried out his plans both internally and externally through those two organizations.

‘But this time, he put her in the position of Bishop, even before the oracle happened. Why would he do that?’

The biggest reason would be himself. But he had changed so many elements of the future that he couldn’t easily guess which part had altered the Platinum Dragon’s plans.

‘At first, I thought Nar Di Maugh made Rael the Bishop to test the limits of the divine power humans could use. But now I think about it, there was no need to kill the Bishop and merge the Order and Blue Lore. It would have been freer to act as a fanatical cult.’

‘…Salvation!!!’

Ugh…!! Ugh…!!

At that moment, the priests around her grabbed their heads and began to scream.

[Corruption…?]

Alun frowned slightly at the sight.

Kwaaaaaaaang—!!

Rael’s crushed body was trampled by the dragon’s foot, bursting like a balloon, and red blood splattered across the floor.

[You foolish wench.]

Nar Di Maugh’s voice was cold.

In the darkness descending the stairs, the scene of the Platinum Dragon stomping Rael Stalen to death flashed through Carryl’s mind.

‘Certainly…’

The Platinum Dragon had cut off Rael’s breath without hesitation when she tried to summon Corruption.

‘He killed her too easily.’

Rael was clearly a result of the Platinum Dragon’s experiment. Whether she, a mixed-blood with both Elven and human blood, was like that from birth, or whether that too was created by the Platinum Dragon, he didn’t know.

The important thing was that she could use the power of Corruption.

But at that time, the Platinum Dragon had hurriedly killed her to prevent Yula from finding out that Rael was summoning Corruption.

‘The reason is understandable, but it was too hasty.’

When Carryl saw Rael become the Bishop in the Empire, he also suspected there might be another replacement for her.

If so, killing Rael alone wouldn’t be enough to prevent the rise of the fanatical cult. That was also why he had to kill Nar Di Maugh on the spot.

And that suspicion was still valid.

Just because Nar Di Maugh died didn’t mean the replacements he had created had disappeared.

“It was a rebellion.”

“Hmm?”

“It may be strange to describe what happened within the Order with such an irreverent word… but in my eyes, that’s what it looked like.”

Eurin said to Carryl, who was lost in thought. Carryl turned his head at his voice.

“Continue.”

“It was before the expedition to the Empire. The Order should maintain neutrality externally, but everyone knew the former Bishop, Remiel Jurr, was on the side of the Empire.”

“And?”

“On the day the priests were gathered to help the Empire, a girl came to visit.”

[It’s Rael.]

Alun appeared, showing interest in the conversation.

“Hup…!!”

“Continue.”

Eurin gasped in surprise at his sudden appearance, but Carryl didn’t take his eyes off him.

“Ah, yes… But… the moment that girl appeared in Heim, something unbelievable happened.”

He continued.

“The priests who had been summoned for battle suddenly promoted her to a saint. Now that I think about it… when you mentioned they were seeing hallucinations through the demonic fruit, they may have already eaten it.”

“Hmm…”

[Carryl. When we searched the forbidden land called the Promised Land to find the Platinum Dragon’s lair…]

Alun Zavius said to Carryl, emitting an eerie aura.

“T, the Promised Land…? Don’t tell me you went to the Dragon’s Sanctuary…?”

Eurin couldn’t hide his surprise that Carryl had gone to the forbidden land.

[Do you remember that his lair was empty at that time?]

“Of course. But the trashy things he had done were left as remnants. The evidence of human experimentation was scattered everywhere.”

Gulp-

Eurin Hugart knew the conversation between the two was something he couldn’t interfere with.

[Perhaps this warehouse we’ve come to may not be a place where we can just pick up a few treasures and leave with a light heart.]

“On what basis?”

[Dragons are proud and high-nosed creatures. They always create their own territory. They consider that the way to protect their dignity.]

“…”

[But that lair was empty.]

“Why are you saying that now?”

Carryl frowned slightly at his words and asked back.

[I needed confirmation too. The Platinum Dragon is clearly different from ordinary dragons. He was someone who tried to deceive God to reach the realm of God, so I thought he might abandon his lair.]

“But why do you think that now?”

Alun slowly turned his head.

[Why? Don’t you have the same thought as me now?]

The face of black smoke slowly moved, making a strange expression as if smiling.

[The wastewater flowing from the sewer. The reason you looked at it as if you were possessed was because you felt the scent of Corruption in it. Besides, the debris flowing from the sewer was like leftover food.]

Carryl’s lip curled up at his words.

Click-

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the last door of the shrine came into view.

[The power of the sun is the power of purification. But… I feel the energy of Corruption inside now. You know what that means.]

Carryl slowly stood in front of it and grabbed the doorknob.

[There’s something alive inside.]

Creak—

The door of the shrine screamed like a ghost’s cry.

[And this may be the new nest that the Platinum Dragon built after abandoning the forbidden land.]