The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 84

71. Narak Rock Battle (1)

“Where did that suddenly come from?!”

At the adjutant’s cry, Naril furrowed his brow and glared at Karil.

‘Did he activate the Spring of Secrets? How did he know a secret that no one has ever known until now…’

Besides, what’s with the Sand Serpent behind him? It’s an enormous size, probably twice the size of a normal serpent.

He shouted, looking at the monster that could almost rival a dragon.

“Lye Knights! Prepare to attack!”

Clang—!!

As the vice-captain’s cry was heard, the knights simultaneously raised their swords and shields.

“A monster of that size would be rare even on the continent. Could it be… the rumored master of the hillocks?”

“Stop with the useless talk. I’ve never heard of anyone taming such a monster.”

“But…”

He didn’t want to believe it, but the monster in front of him was clearly following human commands.

“At the end of the day, it’s just a monster. The Lye Knights won’t be defeated by such a thing!”

“Yes, sir!!”

Calm Naril quickly suppressed the confusion and encouraged the knights.

As if accustomed to it, they formed groups and maintained their formation.

For knights composed of Sword Experts, hunting monsters was not particularly unusual.

“The flame of glory!!”

With the Lye Knights’ slogan, the knights rushed towards Karil all at once.

[Kuaaaaaaah…!!!]

The Sand Serpent let out an intense roar and leaped towards the knights.

“Block it!!”

“Fight!!!”

As the monsters and knights intertwined, screams erupted from everywhere.

Watching them, Karil said in a calm voice.

“Kaila Chang, take your tribe and leave.”

“What?”

She, who was supporting her fallen father, asked Karil back.

“You’ll only be a hindrance.”

“I can fight. They are the enemies who annihilated my family. Are you saying we should leave them to you?”

“I’m not talking about you, but your father. If he occupies a spot in such a narrow place in that condition, I won’t be able to fight properly. If you don’t want to see him trampled to death by the guards, step back for now.”

Thud-

Karil took out a small potion from his chest and threw it to her.

“I paid a lot for it, so feed it to him little by little. It will allow the rest of the people to walk to some extent.”

Looking at the red liquid sloshing in the bottle, Kaila Chang looked at the fallen tribe members.

“…I’ll be back, so wait.”

“It’ll be over by then. Don’t be reckless and wait at the evacuation site. I’ll be there soon.”

Even with the knights closing in on him, Karil had a relaxed face.

Kaila Chang nodded without saying anything more.

“Heu-ahp!!”

“It’s been a while since I’ve fought a swordsman who uses Mana Blade [a blade infused with magical energy] since Tatur.”

Karil blocked the knight’s sword and muttered in a low voice as if admiring it.

“And it’s still old-fashioned swordsmanship.”

Clang-!!

The knight’s body staggered over the Ice Claw that had been thrust upwards with all its might.

“Got you!!”

It was then.

Banhon, aiming for Karil’s back, swung his sword with all his might.

Because of his unique earth-attribute Mana Blade, his greatsword was swung with a whoom-!! sound, like a huge blunt weapon.

“…”

There wasn’t enough time to rotate the Ice Claw to block his sword.

Skeung-!!

At that moment.

Karil boldly released the Ice Claw he was holding. Then, twisting his waist horizontally, he thrust his fist with all his might into Banhon’s abdomen.

“…”

Karil’s fist reached his armor.

Banhon’s body froze in place, still holding the greatsword he had raised above his head.

“Cough.”

Red blood clots fell from under his helmet.

“…!!”

The Lye Knights’ members couldn’t close their mouths in surprise as they watched Banhon collapse.

“Lord Banhon!!!”

The knights shouted his name.

Clank-

But instead of an answer to their cries, only the sound of a sharp blade piercing through the armor and entering the mithril gauntlet [a glove made of a strong, silvery-white metal] was heard.

Crack…!!

A bizarre sound, like bones grinding, erupted along with a scream.

“Aaaaaaack!!!!”

“You!!”

At that moment.

Naril brought his huge axe down on Karil with all his might.

Clang—!!

With a deafening roar, the floor shattered mercilessly, and debris scattered everywhere.

‘Naril.’

Karil kicked Banhon’s corpse, pulled out the gauntlet, and avoided his attack.

One of the few nobles who had treated him as a colleague in his previous life. The gaze looking at him trembled.

[What are you going to do?]

‘Even if Banhon is like that, not Naril. If I kill all the Lye Knights here, Prince Ruon’s power will become too great. We still need a balance between the two princes.’

Karil said to Aln, stepping on Banhon’s fallen corpse.

[Are you serious?]

However, as if he didn’t like his answer, Aln asked again.

“…”

Perhaps he noticed the hesitation in his eyes.

“Uaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

Naril raised his axe, shouting in angry rage.

A clear light gathered as if condensing on the blade of the semicircle. Intense lightning, different from Banhon’s Mana Blade, poured out like a light source.

“You… you!!”

With a thunderous roar, Naril’s axe cut horizontally over Banhon’s corpse, which Karil had been stepping on a moment ago.

Clang-!!!

The axe split through the air because of Karil, who had stepped back, but the intense pressure, as if it would shatter even the air, caused two or three lightning bolts to burst in all directions in an instant.

Thud, thud, thud…

The axe stuck in the ground trembled. Naril picked up Banhon’s fallen corpse and said to Karil.

“What the hell are you?”

His expression no longer showed any composure. Although he knew it was a belated regret, Naril now watched Karil as an enemy he had to take seriously.

Instead of answering, Karil kicked off the ground once again.

Five Sword Step.

Crown Posture.

With a flexible flow, he stretched out his arm and quickly penetrated into Naril’s domain, swinging his sword.

“…!!”

Even though he had been on the battlefield for a long time, he had never received such a sword before.

Naril hurriedly rotated his axe, blocking Karil’s attack with the wide surface.

Clang, clang, clang…!!

His body staggered along with the sound of the thick axe grinding.

‘How can a little kid have this kind of power…’

The momentum emanating from the small frame felt like facing the commanders.

“Heup!”

Karil did not slow down his attack.

Concentrating magic power on one palm, he pulled the Ice Claw inward.

Colorless Sword-7th Form.

A sword strike that continues as if a spring is bouncing, moving the sword in a zigzag pattern.

Clang, clang, clang…!!

Clang!!

It was too late to react.

In an instant, dozens of attacks were exchanged between the two, and Naril’s huge axe, which he had barely blocked, shook greatly and bounced away.

Not missing the opportunity, Karil swung the Ice Claw with all his might.

Thwack-!!

A chilling impact echoed.

“Vice-Captain!!”

The knights shouted, looking at Naril’s axe that had fallen to the ground.

But a panting voice was heard through the rising dust.

“Don’t make a fuss.”

The person who made the dull impact sound was surprisingly not Karil, who had attacked.

At the same time as the dust that had been blocking the view disappeared, two people facing each other were visible.

‘He’s a berserker. To be standing even after taking this.’

Karil thought, clutching his shoulder, which had no strength left. He had not only blocked his ultimate move but even counterattacked at the last moment.

“Keuk!!”

But at that moment, a groan erupted from Naril’s mouth. His large body collapsed and knelt down.

“You…”

The pride that had swept through the battlefield was now completely crumpled.

“Naril.”

Karil pointed his sword in front of his eyes. But Naril glared at Karil without paying any attention.

“Leave this place right now. And tell your master. The teeth of the savage will soon tear the Empire apart.”

“Shut your mouth with that nonsense. I’m going to catch you here today, tear you limb from limb, and hang you on the flagpole!!”

Naril shouted, raising the veins in his neck.

The knights took a stance as if they would rush in at his cry.

It was then.

Swish-!! Swish, swish—!!

“…!!”

Since when?

He was so distracted by Karil that he hadn’t noticed.

“Is that so?”

Arrowheads shining in the darkness.

Dozens?

No, there seemed to be at least hundreds.

‘When…? Who are those guys? There’s no way the remaining Four Great Families would move… Those bug-like guys. Were there any who were still alive? No, there’s no way.’

Enemies whose identities could not be known.

That’s why he was uneasy.

Naril felt fear for the first time as he looked at the hundreds of arrows aimed at him.

But Karil slowly nodded as if he had expected their appearance.

“I’m warning you. Take the knights and get out of here right now. Just once. It will be the last chance I give you to save your life.”

Sreureung…!! Kwadeuk!!

Karil swung his sword with all his might at Naril’s axe that had fallen to the ground.

The axe, made of thick steel, was mercilessly shattered.

“…”

Randol readjusted the liberated flame.

He sensed that he was the only one who could face Karil now that the vice-captain and adjutant had been defeated.

“Stop. Don’t step forward.”

However, Naril reached out and stopped Randol.

Wagdeuk……. Wadeudeuk…….

Only the sound of the serpent chewing on the knight’s corpse was heard in the silence.

Naril frowned at the sight.

It was a terrible loss.

Dozens of knights had been defeated in an absurd way.

“That weapon is unusual. Besides, even those monsters… If something goes wrong and we lose even you in a place like this, I won’t have the face to see the Prince.”

“However…”

“Now that we know the location of the spring, we can come back anytime.”

Naril said in a low voice, growling, and glared at Karil.

But without paying attention to his fierce gaze, Karil instead retorted.

“We will meet again. I hope you can say that then too. I will take your head when we meet next time.”

“…”

Karil watched him retreat.

[You’re too soft.]

But Aln still spoke as if he didn’t like his decision.

* * *

“Everyone, stand by!!”

A man shouted behind a long line piercing through the blizzard. Old blood was thickly frozen on the silver, rough armor.

The knight was waiting for the returning scouts in the distance.

The faces hidden by the helmets were not clearly visible, but a sense of embarrassment could be felt from their hastily returning figures.

“What happened?”

The adjutant next to the knight at the head asked them.

“That’s…”

“Again?”

“Yes. The village is completely empty.”

As if this was not the first time, the adjutant looked at the knight at the scout’s report.

“Commander, this is the third time already. Could it be that the northern guys ran away?”

“You know too. These immigrants would rather die fighting than run away. They are like beasts.”

Whoooo-oop…

Every time he spoke, a pure white breath was exhaled into the air.

A conquest that lasted nearly a year.

Despite the obvious signs of exhaustion, the knight, who exuded a sharp aura, was none other than Cwell McGovern.

“Look closely. Like the previous villages, it hasn’t been long since they left this place. If they had intended to run away from the beginning, they would have moved when the Edict of Heresy was issued. They also intended to fight at first.”

At his words, the scouts nodded.

“That’s right. The battlements for the battle have also been repaired, and the household goods remaining in the empty houses have been used until recently.”

“Then where on earth did they disappear to?”

The adjutant looked at Cwell, saying that he could not understand this situation even more.

“Well. We have to find out. Prepare to camp in the empty village. And you, divide the soldiers and thoroughly investigate the surroundings. There may be a fox den [a hidden place or refuge].”

“I understand.”

Cwell looked around.

Although it was covered with snow, there would surely be hidden paths on the surrounding hills.

‘Because that’s their characteristic.’

Cwell thought, kicking the broken battlement.

‘They may be hiding somewhere. We should postpone leaving the north until we find them.’

Cwell was confused by the unexpected reaction of the immigrants who had disappeared.

He had no choice but to be careful.

That’s because, unlike the combative northern immigrants, they are the most secretive.

Exactly.

The Wolf Fox Tribe.