The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 482

283. Finale (5)

Crack…!! Crunch-!!

As Yula tightened her grip, the sword, now fully embedded in Zarka Hoch’s waist, pierced through him.

“Kay!!!!”

Even split in half, Zarka called out her name. Kay, with desperate focus, manipulated the doll.

Despite his severed torso, Zarka embraced Yula tightly.

“You…! You bastard!!!!”

Zarka’s limbs crumbled into dust under Yula’s power. Unsatisfied, she incinerated the remaining fragments.

“Now…”

Even as his soul shattered, Zarka’s last voice echoed.

Whoosh…!!

In that instant, a violent storm erupted from the doll’s burning corpse.

Eidan Hamil’s sword turned towards Yula.

“Kuaaaaaaaah—!!!!”

Simultaneously, Zarka Hoch’s final words seemed to trigger Toska’s transformation into a massive dragon.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t a living dragon, but a Bone Dragon [an undead dragon composed of bones].

“You madman…!! Do you even realize the implications of becoming a lich [an undead being who retains their intelligence and magical abilities] while possessing divine power?!”

Toska scoffed at her horrified cry.

“Annihilation. It’s like containing darkness within light, carrying a bomb that could explode at any moment. But with this, I wield both light and darkness simultaneously.”

He seized Yula’s body.

“So what? The Elven Hero already said, we aren’t afraid of death.”

“You…!!!”

“But you will be. I won’t say let’s meet in the afterlife, because you and I will vanish completely.”

Toska shielded Yula with his wings and shouted towards Eidan.

“Strike!!!”

Crackle…!! Crash!!!!

Eidan’s blade struck Yula’s collarbones directly. Simultaneously, Toska’s body exploded with pure white light, like a bomb.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Yula’s scream, a piercing shriek of agony, echoed.

It was a genuine cry of pain, unlike anything she had shown before.

Screaming, she lifted her head, and a black, mist-like substance poured from her open mouth.

Swish…! Swish!!

The ends of the black mist contorted into demonic shapes, and dozens of strands scattered, opening mouths in all directions as if alive.

“Hoo…!!”

Hawat raised Aegis [a powerful shield], standing in front of the fallen Miliana.

“Everyone, to me!!”

“Protect the Empress.”

“Pardon?”

The remaining members of Godslayer, even as the mist approached, didn’t hide behind Hawat’s shield.

“Listen, priest. I don’t like it, but you absolutely cannot kill her. If anything goes wrong, I won’t stand by.”

Serica Lauren, grimacing as she favored her broken leg, raised her spear.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Yurin Hugahrin gave a bitter smile.

“Then…”

Hawat said with a trembling voice.

“We must fight.”

In response, the remaining people nodded silently.

Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaang—!!!!

“Dragons!! Scatter and deploy barrier magic!! Focus all your power on defense to protect the humans!!”

Simultaneously, Enuma Elish soared into the sky and shouted. At his command, the remaining two dragons scattered.

“It’s coming…!!!!”

Kuaaaaaaaah—!!!

Sensing intense divine power within the black dust surging from the ground, the Gold Dragon mustered all his magic and stood in its path.

Crack…! Crrrrack…!!!

The ground crumbled like a crushed cookie, scattering into fragments, and the black mist monsters rampaged, seeking to devour all surrounding life.

“Wh, what…!”

“Such suffocatingly dense magical energy!”

“Is this really something a god created?”

The three dragons were horrified as the black mist, along with thick smoke, multiplied like bubbles, trying to overwhelm their barriers.

“We must stop it no matter what!!!”

Enuma Elish raised his voice, even in the suffocatingly toxic mist.

Booooooo—!!

Lifting his head, Enuma Elish flared his scales like a trumpet and roared.

The Gold Dragon’s unique golden light soared into the sky with a magic circle, swallowing the black smoke, which transformed into a viscous, lava-like liquid.

Squelch… Squelch…

Then, the liquid instantly solidified, hardening like solid iron.

“D, did we survive?”

The soldiers watching the dragons sighed in relief, believing they had blocked the god’s attack.

Crack-!!

But only for a moment. Cracks appeared in the hardened metal, and with a whooshing sound of escaping air, immense heat was felt.

“G, get out of the way!!!”

“Run away!!”

The soldiers screamed in terror.

The lives devoured by the black mist began to become small orbs of light and were absorbed into Yula.

The soldiers were at a loss, unable to stop the mist monster that even the dragons couldn’t block.

“Golem unit, formation!!!!”

It was then.

Amidst the black smoke piercing through the metal, Wingel shouted urgently and pulled the lever.

“Ready.”

As if waiting, Kalipsohn’s shout was heard from Ascalon’s cockpit, and Wingel nodded, pulling the lever with all his might.

“Trance Adjustment Rate – 78%”

“Conversion Value Adjustment Complete”

“Coordinates Modified”

Red dots, indicating location, appeared throughout Ascalon’s body.

Whooooooo…!!

Simultaneously, dozens of gates appeared above his head.

“…Multiple summoning?”

Berch Blano shouted in surprise as a large-scale summoning magic circle appeared above Ascalon’s head.

“That’s not summoning. It’s just a passage. I thought magic engineering was just a gimmick for those lacking magic power… Can’t underestimate it.”

Nine Darhoon chuckled involuntarily as he looked at the tunnels.

“Transfer magic circles that move living beings require a process of constructing the lifeform, so the number that can be moved is small compared to the amount of magic power used. But that’s just creating a passage to transfer only energy to Ascalon’s coordinates through the Superior Eye, one of the ancient magics.”

“Energy then…”

“Probably drawing the magic power stored in the magic artillery corps across the Amago Strait.”

Berch Blano recalled the astronomical room in the Ivory Tower.

“Transferring magic power itself… I knew engineers were eccentric, but I didn’t expect them to imitate what we did in this way.”

In the Hekt Battle, Berch Blano spewed out the magic mirror of the Ivory Tower, pinpointing the locations of disasters across the continent and blasting Toska’s power at the monsters.

“Looking through a magic mirror and creating summoning gates seem similar, but they are completely different. Moreover, they achieved it solely with their own power.”

The heads of the two magic societies, who had only worshiped magic until now, had no choice but to acknowledge magic engineering, a power that humanity had discovered on its own for the first time.

“Magic Artillery Energy Conversion!!”

Whooooooo…!!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!!!

With Wingel’s shout, the condensed energies transformed into large rectangular shapes, falling from the sky like a barrier and blocking the way.

“Don’t underestimate the progress of humanity…!!!!”

Holding the shield made of magic power stored in the magic artillery corps, the golems lined up and deployed a defensive formation.

Kuaaang…!!

An initial explosion erupted, and the black mist seemed to be trying to swallow the golem’s barrier as well, but, perhaps due to the dragon’s barrier, it seemed to be struggling and only bubbled.

“Alright!!”

The golem operators shouted as they watched the mist gradually subside below the barrier.

“Kyak!! Kek!!”

“Kegegegek…!!”

But as if mocking their cheers, strange cries were heard from within the black mist. Simultaneously, thumping sounds were heard on the armor of the golems that had erected the barrier.

“M, monsters?!”

“How… from inside there…”

The golem pilots shouted as they saw the gray goblins clinging to their golems.

Unlike ordinary goblins, their eyes were pure white as if they were blind, as if they had only lived in the darkness.

“Get off!!”

“Aaaagh-!!”

An uncountable number of goblins crossed the barrier and swarmed the golems. The golems, unable to withstand the weight of the goblins, began to fall one by one.

“Oh, God…”

Yurin Hugahrin, hiding behind Aegis, muttered involuntarily as he watched the horrific scene.

But soon, he shook his head as if he himself was dumbfounded by the words he had uttered.

“I was talking nonsense. All those terrible things are what God has done…”

But no one said anything to his words. The people standing behind Aegis were in a state where they wanted to beg if there was a real god.

It was utterly pathetic that they, who were among the ten strongest in the human realm, were merely hiding behind a shield.

Kuaaaaaaaaaang—!!

But unlike them, who were in despair, the battle on the battlefield was not over. As if trying to absorb life to heal wounds, the goblins rampaged, and the black mist flew again towards the soldiers beyond the collapsed barrier.

“Commence bombardment!!!”

“All wyverns [a type of dragon], drop barrier bombs towards the goblins in the rear!!!!”

The wyvern unit led by Ganes glided and dropped dozens of bombs onto the ground.

Bang! Bang! Kuaaang—!!!

As the shells exploded, hemispherical clusters of light were created here and there on the ground.

“Kek! Kek!!!”

“Kegegek…!”

The goblins screamed as if in pain when they touched the light.

“Commence bombardment!!!”

“Advance towards the goblins!!!!”

The shouts of Grace Panpinel and Thomson were heard, and behind the charging knights, the magic corps, led by the Ulkas Guild, simultaneously unleashed magic.

Tactic – Gale.

It was truly a charge that did not fear even death.

The Panpinel Knights unleashed the fastest and most intense strike ever towards the goblins in the black mist.

“Aaaagh!!!”

“Aack!!!”

The screams of the knights who entered the black mist echoed on the battlefield.

Squeak-

While listening to their terrible voices, Viola could only clench her eyes shut and bite her lip.

“Maintain formation!!! We will support the golem unit together with the Northern forces!! Never break formation!!”

Knowing well that she cherished Grace and his knights more than anyone else, the soldiers of the Lanion Alliance instead burned with even hotter fighting spirit instead of sorrow.

“Aven.”

Marze said in a low voice as he watched Viola driving the carriage.

“It seems the old men have something to do.”

“We must use even our wretched bodies valuably. We cannot let our lord be saddened.”

“Do you think so too?”

The old veterans who had guarded Twin Armor in the past nodded, understanding each other with just their eyes without speaking.

“It’s been decades in Twin Armor alone… I really have a tiresome relationship with you.”

“Kekeke…”

Marze and Aven grabbed the reins and moved their horses in a different direction from the main force.

“Let’s meet in the afterlife.”

Marze said in a low voice as he ran towards the black mist.

* * *

“…What the hell are we doing here?”

“A, are you regaining consciousness?”

Watching the battles unfolding, Miliana clenched her fist tightly, but soon released it.

“I was foolish to be conceited after being chosen as one of the Ten of Godslayer…”

“Please calm down. Empress, you have done enough.”

Yurin Hugahrin replied in a soft voice, unlike his nickname of Madman.

It was understandable.

Anyone who had seen her battle would not be able to raise their voice in front of her.

“I can’t go in there anymore…”

At her words, Yurin lowered his head. Frankly speaking, it was a miracle that she hadn’t stopped breathing.

“Although humans cannot intervene in the battle in the realm of God… If only I could fight for those who believed in me and came to the battlefield…”

Miliana tried to get up.

But even with a little strength, she couldn’t move because of the pain that felt like all the bones in her limbs were shattering.

“Kugh!!!”

At her groan, Yurin hurriedly supported her.

“Damn it…”

Tears welled up in Miliana’s eyes.

But it wasn’t because of the pain, but because of the resentment towards her own body that wouldn’t move as she wanted.

“There is a way.”

It was then.

At the voice coming from inside Aegis, people hurriedly turned their heads.

“You…”

Miliana frowned slightly and said.

It was none other than the Demon King, Hagane.

“This will breathe strength into your breath, which may be cut off at any moment.”

He stood in front of Miliana, who was barely breathing, and took something out from his chest.

It was the Armor of Extremes.

“What is that…”

Not only that.

The Necklace of Revelation and the Denial of Lament, which had been turned to dust on the day the oracle was given, were all intact in his arms.

“You… Did you deceive Karil?”

“Haha… Isn’t there a famous saying in the human realm? Never trust a demon.”

Miliana realized that he had secretly restored the relics of the Demon Realm that were thought to have disappeared.

“But trust me this time. Of course, whether you trust me or not is your choice.”

Hagane shrugged with a strange smile.

“But if you want to save them, open the gates of the Demon Realm. Then the demons will lend you their strength.”

His eyes flashed.

“Extinguish the Demonic with the Demonic.”

He handed her the Necklace of Revelation and knelt on one knee.

“Command the Demon Army. Empress.”