The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 446

268. Attitude

“The sky is beginning to change.”

Kinu Mukari, with vision so precise he didn’t need to use Manhwan [magical sight enhancement], spoke in a low voice as he gazed at the distant red sunset.

“That must be a sign of the third disaster the Lord spoke of.”

“We have finished preparing to stop them.”

The people standing on the ramparts spoke in hushed tones as they watched the moon, dyed crimson in the distance.

“Indeed… Is it truly a perfect preparation?”

Miliana asked with a stern face at Kinu’s words.

“The Lord said that the corruption called the third disaster, Lice, is a monster difficult to find in form. Perhaps, unlike Hekt, they are very subtle and difficult to detect with the naked eye.”

“If they are monsters that cannot be found with the naked eye… I worry if we can be of any help.”

Beykan also spoke, understanding her anxiety.

“We walk the path of the sword, but we cannot solve everything with the sword alone. Disasters are the same. We can split a rock with a sword, but it is impossible to cut water.”

“I think the Empress could cut water too, though.”

Miliana chuckled at Hashir’s words.

“The leader of the Wolf Foxes has become quite sly.”

Hashir shrugged lightly as he looked at her.

“The power we have is not just the sword. What is needed in this disaster is not the sword but magic. Those who wield swords must support the magic and fight. Do you understand what I mean? That’s why I called you here.”

Miliana turned her head.

Following her gaze, the eyes of the others also moved in that direction.

“Serga.”

There stood a handsome man with keen eyes. Although the Empire had fallen, he still wore the robes symbolizing the Academy [a prestigious magic school].

“Or should I call you Repin? Isn’t it the first time you’ve been called by your given name since you were a child? The Serga family has a rule of calling the head of the family by their surname, but the Serga family of the Empire is gone now.”

Everyone was silent.

Tense gazes as if looking at a strange foreigner.

It was no wonder, as Repin Serga, who was called the youngest Archmage of the Empire, was only known through rumors, and very few people had actually met him properly.

‘Is that the author…’

‘He’s younger than I thought.’

‘He looks very delicate. I wonder if… he will be useful in the war? He looks like he would just stay cooped up in his study reading books.’

The evaluations of him by the Northerners and Southerners were not very favorable. This was because, unlike Cardin Luer, the head of the Academy, he had not surrendered when the Empire fell and the Free State of Caril was established.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, he just seemed like an arrogant and naive person.

“Serga is enough. Even if the country is gone, the bloodline has not disappeared.”

“……!!!”

However, the moment they heard his voice mixed with magic, the thoughts of the people there completely changed.

‘What is this…’

It was a truly astonishingly clear voice.

As if looking at transparent glass, the moment they heard his voice, people felt as if their hearts were being purified.

‘Was Repin Serga such a great mage? I knew he was a genius, but… I didn’t think it was to this extent.’

It wasn’t just the Northerners and Southerners, who had little experience with magic, who were surprised. Anthem Howard, who was from the Duchy, looked at Serga with a puzzled expression.

“Bloodline… Then you know how you should treat me from now on, right? Don’t you?”

At Miliana’s words, Serga looked at her with a slightly stiff face, but soon bowed.

“Of course. You who stand above the dragons, the pinnacle of magical power. I will follow your call.”

“I heard he was arrogant… You’ve tamed him well. Very satisfying. Enuma Elish.”

The three people standing behind him, who had appeared with Serga, smiled bitterly at Miliana’s words.

“Since the blood of Tosca, the ancient dragon of the beginning, flows in your body, it was natural for us to help.”

A low, thick voice.

It was the Dragon Lord, Enuma Elish.

Not only him, but also the Red Dragon Python and the Green Dragon Cruach were all gathered in one place.

“Of course, even for you, you should be grateful to us for teaching him dragon magic to win him over. Because your Lord… wanted him, so we broke the taboo.”

“What taboo? The world is about to end, what’s the point of that?”

Enuma smiled bitterly at Miliana’s answer.

“Now is the time when the power of magic is needed. The enemy may appear from anywhere and attack from anywhere. We are just preparing.”

She looked at Serga.

“Instead of Cardin Luer, you will have to lead the Academy’s mages and be deployed to the front lines. You haven’t shown your face until now, so I can trust your skills, right?”

“I am not great enough to lead a magic corps. Cardin will continue to take charge of the Academy, and I will act separately.”

Miliana nodded as if she expected Serga’s answer.

“Good. You are one of the ten who conquered the Tower with Caril. The time you spend on the front lines will not be very long. But at least prove your existence.”

“I understand.”

“We guarantee that. His magical talent is definitely outstanding. Even if the Lord hadn’t ordered it, it would have been worth teaching him.”

Python, who was standing next to Enuma, who was looking at the two, spoke. Cruach nodded as if agreeing with his words.

“You learned all three dragons’ magic? Serga, thanks to me, you have received an unimaginable fortune as a mage. Shouldn’t you be grateful to me?”

Miliana said with a joking smile, but the expressions of Mikhail and Serica Lauren, who were with her, hardened.

As fellow mages, the two remembered that his name was always mentioned in the places where they were active.

He, who had a clearer presence than anyone else despite not existing, had now appeared as a disciple of the dragons, so they could not help but be wary.

“The Ulkas Guild supports you two. Although it cannot be compared to dragons, we are confident that we will not lose to any magical group on the continent.”

Thomson whispered, as if reading their minds. As a mage without any particular characteristics, he knew better than anyone the anxiety of someone facing a competitor.

“You don’t have to worry.”

“I am walking a different path from that author.”

However, unlike his worries, Mikhail and Serica Lauren regarded Serga’s appearance not as anxiety but as a new rival, and rather burned with a desire to compete.

“Haha, I was worried unnecessarily.”

Thomson realized that he had forgotten.

That the two of them, who were with him, were also geniuses in a different sense, no less than Serga.

“The magic that shackles us is also made of Polsetia. You may not know, but the magic of the Golden Dragon is absolute for dragons. Of course, I wasn’t just helping you because of the leash on us… But coming here, there was another surprising thing.”

Enuma Elish looked at Miliana.

No, to be precise, he knelt down, watching her back. Following him, the remaining two dragons also bowed their heads.

“We behold the Sun.”

“Haha… Please rise. Lord.”

“Do not call me that. This seat should now rightfully return to you.”

In this world, there would be only one being to whom Enuma Elish would use such extreme honorifics. Tosca looked at the three dragons, now the only ones left on the continent.

“I am a dead being. Unlike you.”

“We knew that it was Tosca’s power that stopped the second disaster. When the power of the sun was spread throughout the continent, we were frankly amazed.”

“Caril helped. It would have been impossible if he hadn’t released me from the seal.”

“Indeed… That’s what he did. Amazing is not enough to describe it. He is the center of all the events on the continent.”

“But even he has things that are difficult to do. So I hope you will lend your strength to Caril, no, to humanity.”

Tosca placed his hand on Enuma Elish’s shoulder. His body, made of magical power rather than flesh, was faintly transparent.

“As I did in the mythical era of the past. Do not look down on humans, but look at them as comrades.”

“…I will keep that in mind.”

Only then did he nod at Enuma’s answer.

“It’s been a long time. It’s the first time since I saw you as a child… You too must have risen to the ranks of the ancient dragons.”

“That is so.”

They talked with faces that were new with emotion.

“I’ve done everything I can.”

Miliana muttered quietly, looking at the dragons. It was to forget the anxiety she had felt a little while ago.

But she knew very well that it was not caused by the upcoming battle.

‘Caril… Your existence was this great. I am ashamed as a warrior.’

It was the anxiety that came from his absence. But she didn’t know that it wasn’t just shame as a warrior.

“If you worry unnecessarily before a battle, it will also have a negative impact on morale. I guess I’m tired too from the continuous fighting…”

Miliana shook her head, trying to deny her feelings.

“How can the Dragon Empress say such a thing?”

Miliana chuckled at Beykan’s answer.

“Rather, I want to hear your stories. What was Parel like? Was it worse than the war we are about to face?”

“It was nothing. But if this body hadn’t been there, it would have been impossible to return.”

Hwarin said confidently at her question.

“Well… Honestly, I don’t want to remember it. At least this is where I was born and raised. But the anxiety that we might not be able to escape… And the terrible monsters that were everywhere tormented us with a terrible pressure that we wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.”

However, unlike her, Beykan let out a low sigh.

“That’s right. If I were alone in such a place…”

Kinu Mukari spoke with parched lips, as if he was nervous just imagining it.

“We might have gone crazy.”

* * *

“Hmm.”

Caril slowly opened his eyes.

“I think I’m getting used to it now.”

Then, with a satisfied face, he looked at the black patterns like wolf manes tattooed on his two legs.

[Krrr…]

Caril patted the head of the huge wolf standing next to him and then stepped on its head and climbed on.

“I’m going to take a nap, so wake me up at the entrance.”

He relaxed his body as if lying down on his bed in his room, and closed his eyes as soon as he climbed on the back of the Lycanthrope [a werewolf-like creature] without any wariness.

[Krrr…]

Looking at Caril, the wolf did not resist at all and just howled lowly. Behind the Lycanthrope, mountains of monster corpses were piled up. The wolf ran towards the exit of Parel, which could be seen in the distance.

Whoosh…!!

The moment Caril left, thousands of corpses crumbled as if they had been burned to ashes.