The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 52

45. The Final Battle (2)

The arena where the Expert Competition was being held.

“…….”

Unlike before, the waiting room was quiet.

With a languid face, Caryl yawned softly and stretched his neck from side to side, loosening up his body.

He seemed uninterested in the commotion that was likely occurring in the stadium’s audience seats outside the waiting room.

“What… is this?”

From the factory bulletin board to the 안내문 [information board] at the entrance of the stadium, the audience members were bewildered by the sudden announcement.

“Suddenly the finals?”

“How can they run things like this? Give me back my ticket money!”

People shouted.

The ticket price wasn’t really the important thing.

The money they would lose due to the withdrawal of the players they had bet on was much greater.

If it were just one or two, it would be understandable.

In the Expert Competition, sometimes even the favorites to win would give up without any reason.

The audience members who didn’t know that it was the organizers’ behind-the-scenes manipulation just thought it was the mages’ unique eccentricity, but such things happened frequently.

But now it wasn’t just that level.

It was the first match yesterday.

But more than a dozen participants had declared their withdrawal all at once.

Moreover, the reason was unknown.

It was because they had all disappeared as if they had made a promise.

Only two people remained.

“Let’s do well.”

“Ah, yes… yes, sir.”

The mage sitting with Caryl in the waiting room involuntarily shuddered at his words.

The man quietly grabbed his left arm.

He tried to hide the emblem of the 여명회 [Yeomyeong Society, a magic organization] drawn on his robe, but it wasn’t small enough to be hidden with one hand.

He was desperately trying not to upset Caryl.

‘Damn it….’

What happened last night.

It was an incident that he couldn’t tell anyone and should never be known.

But he remembered it clearly.

The boy in front of him had overwhelmed a high-level mage who had trained in magic for decades longer than himself.

‘How can I beat a guy who even beat my master….’

The man wanted to run away right away.

* * *

Wahhhhh—!!!

Waaa—!!

As the stadium doors opened, the audience’s cheers could be heard.

The audience, which was far larger than for the first match that ended so quickly it was boring, shouted at the two.

“Now that it’s come to this, show us something exciting!!”

“The pride of 여명회 [Yeomyeong Society]!! Jaken!!”

“Don’t lose to some unknown guy!”

Most of their cheers were directed at the man wearing the robe.

It couldn’t be helped.

It was natural for the people of Azor to side with the mage of the Magic Society rather than the empire’s child whose origins were unknown.

‘They probably can’t even imagine that I’m an 이민족 [iminjok, a person from a different race or ethnicity].’

You couldn’t find out about him even if you searched the entire continent.

In the first place, it was a secret that 크웰 [Kwell] had brought him, an 이민족 [iminjok], now that the 이단섬멸령 [Idan Seommyeongnyeong, Edict of Heresy Extermination] had been issued, but he had changed his hair and eye color with magic.

An 이민족 [iminjok] who uses magic?

No one could ever suspect that.

‘Still, be glad. To borrow your words, if you knew you lost to an 이민족 [iminjok], you would be too ashamed to lift your head.’

Caryl slowly readjusted his staff.

The staff that 톰슨 [Tomson] used was old, but it was quite worn and usable.

‘It’s a shame to break it.’

Whoosh-

Contrary to his thoughts, he swung the staff in a large circle above his head as if he were holding a spear.

‘Magic….’

After all, the magic he could use was limited, except for buff-type auxiliary magic.

But he had an interesting idea.

It wasn’t a performance for the audience who came to see his match, but if they came to see a magic battle, he would show them magic properly this time.

[Start—!!!]

At the same time as the host’s shout, Jaken looked at Caryl and involuntarily flinched.

But when he saw Caryl waiting quietly, thinking that he would rush at him like in the first match, he hurriedly chanted a spell.

Two magic circles instantly overlapped above Jaken’s staff, and a third was created.

“…….”

He was also a competent mage of 여명회 [Yeomyeong Society].

Even though it was a match where victory was certain, he wouldn’t have participated unless he could gain experience and be recognized.

Whoo-oong…!!

The fourth magic circle was completed.

The number of circles indicates the class.

‘Not bad.’

Just being able to chant 4-class magic at a fast speed was enough to know his skill.

‘Even during the 신탁 [Shintak] War, there weren’t many mages who could chant magic to this extent.’

It was a pity.

Before the 신탁 [Shintak] was issued.

In the 400-day continental war caused by 올리번 [Olibun] to unify the empire, the principalities, the three kingdoms, and other small cities suffered enormous damage.

Soldiers died, armies disappeared, and along with them, mages who had nothing to do with the war also disappeared like dew.

‘It’s too late to regret it.’

올리번 [Olibun], who had raised his flag in every place on the continent.

It would be like achieving the ultimate goal that a human could achieve.

But as if to say that human affairs are trivial, God gave a 신탁 [Shintak].

‘An enemy that is not a being of the human realm.’

To those who believe in God.

Ironically, God gave us an even greater task, who had achieved the purpose of the human realm.

Clench-

Caryl unknowingly forgot that it was even a battle and gritted his teeth.

Jaken flinched at his appearance.

“……Hoo.”

Honestly, even a mage of that caliber was a pity.

But I don’t blame Olibun.

If he hadn’t unified the continent, humanity would have collapsed even faster in a disorganized manner.

‘But that doesn’t mean I’ll condone the actions of the guy who tried to kill us.’

Caryl slowly raised his head.

That’s why he’s going to change things this time.

His future from death, and even those before his eyes who disappeared in the war.

Whether he becomes a traitor or a hero…

That was for posterity to judge.

“Flame Finger.”

When Jaken completed the 4th class magic, Caryl had only cast one basic spell.

‘4th class Cold Spear.’

He can’t use magic, but he knows exactly what the magic in front of him is.

Even if he doesn’t have knowledge of magic, he’s seen enough magic to be sick of it.

Clack-

Caryl flicked his opposite hand.

But something rippled from his palm.

“Haaah…!!”

Jaken raised both arms with all his might.

The five ice spears created above his head were about to pour down on Caryl.

“Uh, uh?!”

That’s when it happened.

Was it because he was nervous?

The moment Jaken, who had put in unnecessary strength, took a stance towards Caryl, he slipped and fell backward on the greasy oil beneath his feet.

As a result, the ice spears he created lost their target and scattered futilely into the air.

Thump…! Thump…! Thwack!!

The spears, which couldn’t even fly properly, fell from the sky to the ground and shattered.

The people who saw it were dumbfounded.

‘1st class Grease magic?!’

It certainly exists as magic.

However, the magic that creates magical oil on the ground to make objects that touch it slip is mostly used when moving heavy objects, so mages only recognize it as a low-class magic and don’t think of it as an attack magic.

‘Mages think that only flashy and strong magic is suitable for the word attack.’

Caryl thought as he looked at Jaken, who had fallen coolly.

Even the high-ranking mages of the Magic Society would never have imagined it.

One of the most commonly used general-purpose attack magics after the Shintak [divine revelation] was issued was this Grease.

‘To be exact, it’s a linked skill of this magic.’

Caryl dropped the Flame Finger he had cast earlier under Jaken’s feet.

Whoosh…!!!

In that moment.

Flames soared instantly over the magic that had been poured under Jaken’s feet, as if setting fire to oil.

A flame the size of a fingertip was about to become a huge fire demon and engulf him.

“Ugh, Uwaaaah—!!”

At the sight, Jaken was startled and tried to run away, crawling on his hands and knees.

“If you’re a 4th class mage, you should be able to cast up to 2nd class spells without chanting.”

Of course,

In Caryl’s case, who had not reached the class, he had cast both Flame Finger and Grease magic at the same time.

“Even if it looks like that on the outside, in the end, they’re both magic. Besides, if they’re both 1st class magic, you should defend with a 2nd class Magic Shield rather than running away.”

Jaken, who was trying to escape from the huge fire demon, finally realized it at Caryl’s calm words.

“What. Is this all you’ve got.”

It was too late to realize.

Caryl poked Jaken’s butt, who was lying face down, with the staff he was holding like a club.

“Ick…!!”

It couldn’t be a more humiliating sight.

When Caryl stretched out his hand strongly, the wind he created extinguished the flames that had risen above the Grease a moment ago.

With his skills, he would have been able to break through the magic with wind pressure alone, but what he used was a Magic Shield.

He trapped the flames with magic, compressed them as they were, and extinguished the fire all at once.

‘Extinguishing fire with a Magic Shield?’

‘You can use magic like that.’

‘How did he come up with that idea? Even the masters of the Magic Society haven’t mentioned it.’

The mages mixed among the audience clicked their tongues at Caryl’s appearance.

It was an undeniable defeat.

The man shouted as if he was wronged.

“This isn’t a duel between mages!! I can’t accept it…!!!”

A scream as if he was driven to the edge.

“It’s an act of desecrating the sacred duel of mages!!”

Perhaps he had worried a lot to muster the courage to say this one word.

“To shout in the midst of this. He’s got more guts than a guy who’s trying to do behind-the-scenes work.”

Looking at him, Caryl smiled genuinely for the first time in Azor.

“But.”

Swish—!!

He pulled out Agnel from his chest.

Grasping the dagger that was spinning with its blade flashing on his palm, Caryl slammed it into the floor with all his might.

The cold energy felt eerie as the dagger was embedded in the floor, a paper’s width away from Jaken’s cheek.

“I never said I was a mage.”

“…What?”

“That’s for you to do.”

Thud-

“Which is more important, honor or life?”

Caryl lightly tapped his face full of questions.

“War won’t wait for you.”

He probably doesn’t understand what that means now.

But the meaning that he wouldn’t let it go if he raised any more objections would have been conveyed to him.

“In the end, it’s over when you die.”

Even a low-level magic could take a life.

Caryl’s words pierced Jaken’s heart like a dagger.

[T, the winner is…!! Caryl of the Ulkas Guild!!!]

With the host’s shout, Caryl pulled out the dagger stuck in the floor and put it back in his chest.

“…….”

Looking at his back as he walked down the stage, Jaken finally realized that his pants were wet.