The 9th Class Swordmaster: Blade of Truth

Swish... Crack...

The walls of the massive castle crumbled, and black dust swirled around like ashes, covering everything in sight.

“What... happened?”

“It seems the lich took a liking to that guy. Or maybe he was swayed by something ridiculous.”

“Ugh...!” Aidan groaned, struggling as Gordon leaned on him with his entire weight.

“To think he could even turn a lich into his pawn,” Gordon went on. “We’ve got a real monster here.”

“It’s not over yet. Whether Zarka Hochi listens to me or continues to play dumb remains to be seen.”

Karyl gripped the Freezing Talon from the ground.

“Whatever the case, it’s true that you’ve sealed the master of the Ghost Castle,” Gordon argued.

With the towering castle gone and the undead hordes defeated, all that remained beyond the broken walls was a desolate land filled with toxic air.

[Ethereal will throw a fit if she learns about this. Putting a spirit into the Freezing Talon, of all things.]

Karyl’s Freezing Talon, which previously had a blue glow, had now shifted to a stark white due to Zarka Hochi’s influence.

Blazing King Ramine observed the changed appearance of the sword.

Ethereal? Are there other spirit kings like you, alive in a sense? Beyond the light and darkness from the Spring of Vision? Karyl asked in response.

[Alive, huh... Spirits are ethereal beings, so I’m not sure alive is the right word, but if we’re talking in the sense of not fading away, then yes, you could say they’re alive.]

Ramine continued, [As I mentioned before, while the Spirit Realm has weakened, it hasn’t vanished completely. Just as I chose the human realm, others have chosen the Spirit Realm.]

Karyl nodded.

Right. If I didn’t have enough spirit power to open the Spirit Realm, I wouldn’t be able to draw out the true power of the Light of Rasis and Darkness of Duaat I acquired. For now, there’s nothing to worry about. The Queen of the Tides should be in the Spirit Realm.

[I never said Ethereal was asleep in the Spirit Realm.]

Hearing that, Karyl’s expression soured. And seeing his reaction, those around cast curious glances in his direction.

...You’re saying the Spirit King of Water is in the human realm? Why tell me something so crucial just now?

[Because even if I told you, it wouldn’t change anything. There was no need to mention it.]

Where is she then?

[I don’t know.]

Ramine’s nonchalant reply left Karyl incredulous.

...Are you kidding me?

[But the one who sealed Ethereal knows. When he sealed her, he left behind a box along with the Freezing Talon.]

“...!!”

At that moment, Karyl remembered Allen Javius handing him a box from within the coffin where the Freezing Talon had been kept in the Gray Training Ground.

He recalled what Allen had said back then.

“In your past life, Narh Di Maug got his hands on this box. This time, you’ll get ahead of him. I’m certain he took this when you came to the Gray Training Ground.”

That’s right, I remember...

But it had been a long time ago, and Karyl hadn’t been able to open the box, so he had just left it in Tatur and forgotten about it until now.

Could Ethereal really be sealed in that box?

[Probably not. That man said he would separate Ethereal and the Freezing Talon. But there might be clues inside the box.]

Allen Javius had mentioned that dragon mana would be required to open the box. But even now, with dragon mana, Karyl hadn’t been able to open it.

Allen had to have known that the box had another layer of security to it, but there was no one left to ask about its secrets now.

If Allen was right, then it was Narh Di Maug who hid that box in my past life.

Karyl recalled his face after a long time.

Narh Di Maug emerged in human form after the Oracle was prophesied. His hair had a unique color, one that almost seemed like it shouldn’t exist—a peculiar boundary between silver and white.

Back then, he appeared calm and inscrutable.

That guy... What on earth was he doing?

Karyl used to think of Narh Di Maug as his sole companion, the one who had stayed by his side until the end, staring death in the face together. However, the stories he heard of Narh Di Maug after going back in time had left Karyl with more questions and doubts.

“...”

Karyl closed his eyes for a moment, recalling his conversation with Zarka Hochi.

“Is it true? Did the Platinum Dragon really do that? Why would a dragon burn down the Elven forest? What reason could it possibly have?”

[Hmph, then why would I lie about this? I’m not defending Narh Di Maug, nor do I have any interest in revealing his true nature.]

“But... Why did the Platinum Dragon do this to the Elven land?”

[I don't know. Dragons are like that. To them, everything is a toy. They don’t need a reason.]

Zarka growled as if speaking to the absent Platinum Dragon.

[Centuries after I became a lich I heard that the Flame Dragon was killed by humans. Serves him right. They should have killed all the remaining dragons in this world.]

“The Flame Dragon and the Platinum Dragon are different. The Flame Dragon was an evil dragon that terrorized the human world.”

Zarka sneered at Karyl’s words.

[Then what about the dragon that killed the Elves? Is it not evil, but holy?]

“That’s...”

[They’re all the same. In the end, they’re all the creatures of the gods. They’re just executing the gods’ commands.]

“What do you mean, the gods’ commands?”

Karyl’s face hardened at Zarka’s words, and he pointed the Freezing Talon at him.

“Speak clearly,” he said coldly. If you try to mislead me with vague words, I won’t let it slide.”

[Mislead? Hah... Seems like you’ve noticed that something was off, even without my saying it.]

“...Aren’t you Elves also a race of the gods? Didn't you call yourselves the race of light?” Karyl challenged, his face stern.

[What nonsense. Who said that? It seems human history has already been overwritten by Yula's will.]

“Overwritten?”

[The light the elves follow is different from yours. We follow the Light of Rasis. Originally, there were two kinds of light, Yula’s and Rasis’.. But this distinction isn’t made anywhere, is it? Yula must have erased all evidence of it.]

“The Second Light Night...”

[Yes. And where there is light, there is also darkness. The Dark Elves worship Duaat’s light, which is darkness.]

The Light of Rasis and the Darkness of Duaat. Unlike the five Spirit Kings, those two were the Spirit Kings sealed directly by the gods.

“...”

Karyl felt a chill down his spine.

Allen Javius had once told him that in the process of establishing the system of magic, the five elements were considered all-encompassing. However, he had also told Karyl about the elements of light and darkness and why they had disappeared.

Because that power is very similar to that of the gods...

Karyl suddenly looked at his palm.

If what Zarka Hochi had said was true and dragons merely carried out the orders of the gods, then Allen Javius’ death, related to the elements of light and darkness sealed away by the gods, might indeed have something to do with Narh Di Maug.

But...

Karyl’s mind became a tangled web of questions and suspicions. He sensed something odd in Zarka Hochi’s words.

“Aren’t dragons fundamentally beings of the spirit realm too? I thought dragon mana relied on spirit power as well?” Karyl asked, recalling what Allen Javius had told him.

[You know that? Only the sorcerers of the Magical Era would be aware of such a thing. The more we talk, the more you intrigue me.]

Zarka nodded before continuing, [You’re right. But even if the origin of power is spirit power, it’s not uncommon for those who wield that power to submit to the gods.]

“So, the dragon moved on the gods’ command...”

Perhaps, even before humanity received the Oracle, during the thousand-year Magical Era when the Elven forest was destroyed and the Assembly of Seven Elders was annihilated...

Could there have been a separate Oracle for the dragons?

Karyl shuddered at the thought. It sounded ridiculous, but if it was true, it would explain many things that had happened.

But...

It seemed that trying to find answers to those questions only led to bigger mysteries.

Narh Di Maug knew what I aimed for with my return. Would a creature of the gods simply leave me alone, knowing I intended to defy the gods?

Gulp...

Karyl swallowed dryly. He hadn’t a clue how much Narh Di Maug really knew.

“Was there anything else unusual besides the Platinum Dragon destroying the Elven forest?”

[Not sure, but... Narh Di Maug seemed to be searching for something. I don’t know what, but given it’s been a thousand years, he might have found it already.]

Karyl sighed softly before asking his next question.

“Why did you learn necromancy?”

Zarka Hochi shook his head at the question.

[I don’t know. I, too, was just one of the dead then. I just... woke up one day as a lich.]

“You don’t know who resurrected you...”

From the Gray Training Ground of Azor, across the southern plains, all the way to the Ghost Castle on the edge of the continent—Karyl had traveled a long way in search for answers, but in the end, nothing was any clearer than when he started.

“I guess... I’ll have to meet him after all.”

Karyl realized that the time to seek out Narh Di Maug, something he had planned upon leaving the mansion, was approaching.

“So, what’s your decision?”

At his question, Zarka Hochi responded in a low voice, [...I will follow you.]

***

“What should we do now?” Miliana asked, approaching him. Karyl clicked his tongue and, finishing reflecting on his conversation with Zarka, slowly surveyed the surroundings.

“He told me something before he disappeared.”

Holding the Freezing Talon that had sealed Zarka Hochi, he pointed toward the ruins of the castle.

“We need to take what we came here for. It feels a bit unsettling... but this is the best part. Right, Zarka?”

As he finished speaking, the blade of the Freezing Talon began to steam, releasing not only an icy chill but a deathly aura as well.

“You know? Elves may not match dwarves or gnomes in craftsmanship, but one of them was a member of Blader and forged the Five Great Artifacts.”

Karyl smirked slightly.

“This place hasn’t been touched for a thousand years. Imagine what’s hidden here... Ready to loot the warehouse, everyone?”