The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 449

“Hoo…!!!”

Aidan felt the heat graze his cheek.

“Is that a Druid’s ability?”

Two large, jagged horns, like verdant antlers, grew from Anchar’s head, which was enveloped in pure white light, and her legs were bent like a deer’s hind legs.

Whoosh-!!

Anchar kicked off the waves as if they were solid ground, leaping onto the highest point of the ship.

“Amen-te Montaf!”

Anchar’s voice echoed as if amplified by a massive megaphone.

“Kuh?!”

“……!!”

The soldiers of the Silver Wing Fleet flinched and hesitated at her voice.

“Everyone, cover your ears and move to the magic galleons!! If there are drakes from the Wyvern Squad or other ships nearby, take refuge there!”

The fleet commanders shouted, deploying the remaining lifeboats onto the sea.

Unlike the ordinary soldiers, the knights could tell that her heart-pounding voice was not simply made of magic.

As Anchar chanted ‘Purification of the Spirit Realm’ in the Druidic language, a fierce wind began to swirl around her.

However, the wind was not simply made of air but was caused by the movement of countless insects.

Quazzzzz…!!!

Despite the fierce movements of the Rice [referring to the swarm of insects] trying to attack her, she gathered even more of her spirit energy.

[Muuuuuu—!!!]

A cry, not a human voice, burst from Anchar’s mouth.

Faaaaaa…!!

Kwagagagang!!

At the same time, light emanating from her entire body enveloped the surrounding insects.

Sacred Deer, Alkar, like the Spirit King of Light, Lacias, was a sacred beast with the power of light.

Of course, Alkar possessed the power of purification, and her purification術 [spell/technique] contained the purification of light.

Swaaang…!!!

A hemispherical barrier of light formed, centered around her hand stretched above her head. The barrier gradually expanded, and the Rice that came into contact with it began to burn with a crackling sound!

However, unlike the flames of a barrier grenade, those touched by the light were not actually burned.

It was, literally, purification.

The movements of the insects touched by Anchar’s light faltered, and they slowly began to fly around her like tamed beasts.

Phew-!!!

Although it was impossible to see with the naked eye, there were unique species among the hundreds of insects.

The ones with red wings, despite being hit by Anchar’s spell, instead spat out sharp poisonous needles as if resisting.

“Be careful.”

Just before the venomous needle reached Anchar’s neck, Aidan caught it with his index and middle fingers, breaking it.

Before she could even reply, his body had already disappeared like a phantom, emitting electricity as he dashed around the sinking ship.

‘Are there so many strong people on the continent?’

After leaving the Great Forest, Anchar felt that the world was wider than she had imagined.

Her belief that her tribe was the most powerful of the wildlings had been completely shattered.

However, in fact, the mutated monsters in the Great Forest were by no means weak, so the wildlings, when considering each individual in the tribe, were stronger than the northerners and southerners. So her thinking wasn’t wrong.

The problem was that only those around Kairyl were beings beyond common sense.

“Snakel!”

Aidan’s shout echoed in the strait.

The elite assassins of the Dark Shadow, who had been waiting on the magic galleon, scattered in all directions as if they had been waiting for his call.

“Already?!”

Anchar was surprised.

She had thought that only she and Aidan were on the magic galleon.

Aidan smirked at her surprised face.

The Snakel, who had perfectly concealed their presence, had not even been noticed by her, who possessed the aura of the spirits.

“I’m tired of waiting. Rescue instead of assassination isn’t really my thing, but… we need to get rid of them all to fight that damn monster.”

Juke Di Hold, running at the head of the Snakel, clenched her gauntlet tightly and muttered.

“Hoo-!”

As she inhaled and pulled her fist back, the gauntlet doubled in size. She, who had considered Aidan her rival, had not neglected her training as Aidan grew.

Her specialty, body transformation術 [spell/technique], had now reached its peak, and another Sword Master-level assassin had been born, one who had not existed in her previous life.

Kwaaaaang—!!!!

As her fist collided, the sinking ship rose from the water with a boom-!! due to the impact.

“Ugh!”

“Agh!”

The soldiers on board floated into the air along with the ship as if gravity had disappeared, and the Snakel began to rescue the soldiers flailing in the air one by one, bringing them to the magic galleon.

Jijijijijijik……!!

“Juke.”

At that moment, Aidan appeared, sliding across the deck of the ship falling from the air.

Blackened lines were drawn along the ship following his legs, and electricity flickered in their place, not yet extinguished.

“Shall we do something that suits my personality then?”

“……What?”

“The magic galleon entered the fleet faster than I thought. Karl Max, it seems that guy hasn’t just been playing around either. The Snakel should be enough to rescue the Silver Wing Fleet. You and I will catch the main body of the Rice.”

“How?”

“There are variants among the flying insects. There were guys shooting poisonous needles, but seeing that there are several of them, the real main body must be separate. When Anchar gathers the insects with the power of the spirits, we can find the variants in the group.”

Looking at Aidan, who spoke as if it were an easy task, Juke Di Hold burst into laughter as if she was dumbfounded.

“……That’s something only you can do.”

* * *

Tok- Tok-

“Think, Anchar.”

Kairyl tapped his temple with his finger and muttered in a low voice.

“The battle has now begun on a large scale. It’s similar to Hekt, but different. To block the invisible waves, it’s too late to build breakwaters. You have to control the flow itself.”

[Rice also has a main body after all.]

“Of course. Disaster ultimately refers to corruption. Hekt scattered his clones, but when all those clones were caught, the main body was revealed. Rice is the same. Among hundreds of millions of insects, there is bound to be a main body.”

[To find the main body again from invisible small insects… It’s truly one mountain after another. Seeing that guy jumping around so excitedly, it seems he’s trying to catch the main body in his own way.]

“Aidan might be able to find the main body of the Rice, though it’s unlikely. But that’s as far as he’ll get. It will be impossible to cut the heart of the main body.”

[Why?]

“Cutting down an enemy and finding one are completely different things. To cut, you must have a speed that surpasses the enemy. Otherwise, you’ll only repeat an endless cycle of chasing your tail.”

[You mean he’ll just keep chasing Rice’s tail. You mean even with his speed, he can’t catch up with the main body.]

“That’s why Anchar is needed. She can control Rice’s speed. She doesn’t see things with her eyes like we do. But whether she can find that method or not depends on her capabilities.”

[Indeed…….]

Aln Zabiuss nodded at Kairyl’s words.

[How on earth did you catch such difficult monsters back then?]

In his previous life, Aidan had not reached the level of Sword Master. Moreover, the other Ten Gods of Slaughter were also lacking.

“…….”

However, Kairyl, instead of answering the question, put his finger to his lips and gestured to be quiet.

[It’s only audible to you anyway.]

At his gesture, Aln shrugged and muttered lowly. Because he, too, had long since detected another aura.

“You don’t seem to want to help?”

Kairyl turned his head.

“Serga.”

Whoaaaaa—!!

A wind rose beside Kairyl, and a mage in a robe appeared.

“It seems you’ve returned from the Spirit Realm. I think this is the first time we’ve had a proper conversation.”

“Because you’ve always been hiding since the war. I told Anthem to entrust the academy’s mages to you, but seeing you come here alone… I guess you said you’d move independently.”

“That’s right.”

Kairyl nodded at Serga’s answer as if he had expected it.

“Well, that might be one way. You’re still in the position of an observer. But to maintain that position even when a colleague is struggling… Isn’t that too indifferent for someone who has risen to the ranks of Archmage?”

“Sword Master and Archmage. Aren’t you also quietly watching, even though you’ve surpassed both boundaries that were thought to be incompatible?”

“Originally, when you’re in a high position, subordinates should act before you do.”

Serga gave a faint smile at Kairyl’s words.

“Isn’t the Free Country a country created with the goal of equality? I thought you were trying to eliminate class and status.”

“You know it well. Why, don’t you like the Serga family disappearing?”

“I wonder.”

[I can feel the aura of a dragon. Miliana, it seems the dragon brought this guy as she said.]

Aln Zabiuss frowned as he smelled the magic emanating from Serga.

It was because he, too, was a disciple of the Platinum Dragon, a dragon.

“Actually, I’m tired. I didn’t just come from the Spirit Realm. I even took a look at Parel while I had time.”

“Huh…….”

Kairyl spoke as if it were nothing.

There was no need to mention that he had obtained the power of the Lycanthrope there, but the fact that he had entered Parel alone was shocking enough for Serga.

“I don’t know if you’re joking or serious. You’re still an unreachable person.”

“When there’s a capable subordinate, it’s also a virtue for a commander to see his skills. What do you think? Do you think there’s a way to catch Rice in this situation?”

Kairyl asked.

Serga knew that his question was to evaluate his perspective on the current situation.

A kind of test.

He smiled bitterly as if he couldn’t handle Kairyl’s attempt to assess him even in this situation.

“From what I can see, unlike the last corruption, Rice’s insects, except for the variants, are actual insects without the aura of corruption.”

He snapped his fingers.

Then, two insects spun in place above his palm, unable to move.

One was the variant that had shot the poisonous needle at Anchar a moment ago, and the other was a normal insect.

Even among the insects that were so small and fast that they were invisible to the eye, Serga casually picked them out.

[I see how you stopped Rice last time.]

Aln nodded at the sight.

“The Druid’s power will work on the insects. But it won’t work on the variants. If Anchar controls the normal insects and separates them from the variants, Aidan will be able to eliminate the variants.”

“But what about the main body? What if it’s faster and more powerful than the variants?”

“If the main body has the power of corruption, it will be impossible to control even with Anchar’s Druid術 [spell/technique]… so stopping Rice will be a failure.”

“What about you?”

“It’s possible. My magic doesn’t distinguish between corruption and living things.”

“You’re confident.”

Kairyl didn’t dislike his attitude.

A mage had to have a certain amount of arrogance to build up his skills in order to show off his magic.

Of course, Serga’s case was different.

It was just a simple answer about what he could and couldn’t do.

“You’re certainly amazing. You’re worthy of having lived your whole life hearing that you’re a genius. But…….”

Kairyl smiled at him.

“I think a little differently.”

“……?”

“There are geniuses even in the muddy swamps of the jungle. There are methods that a genius who sits nobly at a desk and only awakens with his head cannot find.”

At that moment, Serga’s eyes trembled.