The 9th Class Swordmaster: Blade of Truth-Chapter 486: Final Act (9)

“Miliana...!”

Karyl shouted her name as he swung his dagger wildly. With each slash, Agnel created a sharp gust, but the mist scattered only briefly before converging again.

“Calm yourself, Karyl,” urged the Blazing King.

“...!”

Karyl realized that many of the Spirit Kings were no longer with him.

“You’re the last one, aren’t you?”

“Divine Power has a price, namely life force. I hoped to resolve this with only our lives, but... it seems that’s not possible. My apologies.” Ramine gave a bitter chuckle.

“No, don’t apologize. This is my fault, not being enough...” Karyl replied, gripping his sword tightly.

“Regardless, take a good look around us. This mist is far thicker than before, but the density of the Divine Power is surprisingly low. I think we can assume Toska’s bone has weakened Yula.”

Karyl nodded in response to his observation.

“It feels cruel to say this, but the chance Miliana has given you will be the last.”

“...I’m well aware.”

“The real issue is how you’re going to find Yula in this mist.”

“No need to look for her,” Karyl said with a frown. “Since earlier, I’ve been able to sense her draconic mana.”

He pointed toward a specific direction. “She’s likely over there. As pathetic as it may be, all I have to do is thrust my sword exactly where she is.”

“I see.”

Fwoooosh...!!!!

As the Blazing King’s crimson flames flowed into Agnel, they reforged its broken blade into a sharp and deadly weapon. Karyl’s silhouette glowed in the darkness, blazing like a beacon. He could feel it—these flames were the last ounce of Ramine’s life force.

“I acted as though I could handle everything on my own, yet in the end, I’ve done nothing but rely on others.”

“That’s precisely our purpose. Without you, we would have long ceased to exist. We are all grateful for that.”

Ramine’s words drew a faint, bitter smile from Karyl.

Shing—

Karyl raised his blade and slowly closed his eyes. The mist sought to trap his senses, but the draconic mana guided him.

Not even Yula could suppress that power.

[I will never forgive...!!!]

The black mist took shape and roared at Karyl. The figure lunged at him as if to devour him whole, but he didn’t flinch.

[I will kill you...!!!]

[How dare you...! You and your kind...!!]

[This is unacceptable...!!]

The voices rang out in Karyl’s head, as if attempting to shatter it, but he didn't give in to the hallucinations.

He focused solely on the one presence he could feel vividly.

Fwoooosh...!!!

Each time the mist passed through him, Karyl felt as though his innards were being ripped apart. The sensation of his soul being torn from his body reminded him of that moment in Pharel, when he had defied time itself.

[You’re nothing but a monster...!]

[Do you truly believe this world will accept you?!]

[They will only fear you in the end.]

“Ghh...!”

Karyl’s legs buckled, the mist battering him relentlessly.

[Once again, you’ll be all alone!]

[You’ll suffer eternally in solitude!]

The inky silhouettes swirled around him, taunting and jeering, but Karyl slowly rose to his feet, his eyes still closed.

“...Phew.”

He exhaled softly.

“You talk too much. Are things so dire that you’re resorting to illusions to stall for time?”

Karyl opened his eyes and gazed at the mist with a mocking, lopsided grin.

[You...!]

[You wretched mortal...!]

[A mere human dared to tread in the realm of divinity! Did you think you wouldn’t face the consequences for this transgression?]

[Your fate will be the same as mine!]

The shadowy phantasms hurled every curse imaginable at him.

"Yula, you don’t understand."

Their outbursts only seemed to strengthen Karyl’s resolve as he spoke.

“I’ve heard the rubbish spewed by the echoes of gods countless times before, back in Pharel.”

Karyl stared into the twisted forms as if recalling a distant memory.

“With every step I took, you sneered at my failures, mocked my death, and reveled in my suffering. For what felt like eons, I walked that endless path alone.”

The shadows wavered, their gazes filled with doubt as they beheld Karyl.

“Compared to that, this is nothing.”

The silhouettes surrounding Karyl instinctively understood that they had no more tricks to play, for Karyl had already subjugated their world.

FWOOOOOSH...!!

One by one, the forms dissolved into mist as Karyl’s gaze pierced them. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“I’m not alone...” he muttered, as if to stoke the flames within himself further.

“Miliana.”

Fixing his eyes on a specific point, Karyl gripped his sword tightly. Without a moment’s hesitation, he swung his blade with all his might.

“I know you’re in there.”

Woosh!

The Divine Power imbued within Agnel, enhanced by the Blazing King’s fire, tore through the mist in an instant. The darkness shattered like a brittle shell.

No, it was not just the darkness—the world itself shattered. Where Karyl had slashed, only a void remained. The fragments of the broken scenery were sucked into that void, vanishing entirely.

Karyl’s vision splintered into dozens of reflections, as if he were staring into a broken mirror. He laid eyes upon the fading flame on Agnel’s blade and exhaled deeply.

Whooosh...

The lingering black mist was carried by the sharp winds, clinging to Karyl, seeping into every fiber of his being.

Yet he kept moving forward, for beyond the mist lay his true enemy.

Whooosh...

As he exhaled once more, the oppressive mist weighed heavily on him, making even the faintest movement excruciating. Mustering the last ounce of his strength, he found himself unable to lift the sword in his hand.

“Ghaaaaaaaaaah...!!!”

As Karyl let out a fierce, defiant roar, a hand emerged from the mist and grasped his.

“...!!!”

The hand lifted him through the suffocating haze, as if seeking to embrace him.

Fwoosh...!!

The platinum light radiating from the hand scorched the mist upon contact. The silhouettes screamed in agony, thrashing as they melted away into nothingness.

Wide-eyed, Karyl stared in disbelief at the hand. The blade moved, and it struck something.

Shk—

The unmistakable chilling sensation of steel piercing through flesh shot up his arm. The mana surrounding him, protecting him from the mist, was unmistakably that of a dragon.

This radiant platinum mana was both familiar and foreign to him. It had been with him for so long, yet it was something that should no longer exist.

“Narh Di Maug...?” Karyl spoke into the light, eyes locked on a shadow within it.

“Karyl,” the voice responded.

At that moment, Karyl recognized the figure.

“...?!”

Only then did he realize there had been another—one more entity, apart from himself and Miliana, who bore draconic mana. This man was the Platinum Dragon’s final contingency, a crucial factor absent in the previous timeline, which was why Karyl had forgotten him.

“Father...?”

Just as Karyl’s future had shifted, so had that of Kuwell, his father—the greatest divergence from the previous timeline. This time, Narh Di Maug had been instrumental in Kuwell’s growth.

But the change went beyond strength and skill. When Karyl clashed with him in Heim, he realized his father had gained a new kind of power—a colorless force, the closest thing to Divine Power: draconic mana.

“Aaaaagh...!!” Yula’s scream pierced through the air.

The wound left by Toska’s bone now bore Kuwell’s blood, running along the blade of Karyl’s dagger. The Platinum Dragon’s blood seeped into her, clashing with the remnants of her Divine Power and eroding her physical form.

Her veins, blackened from Divine Power, now burned under the corrosive power of the platinum blood, causing her to convulse violently.

“Karyl... Sir Kuwell...” Miliana mumbled in a shaky voice. She turned to Karyl, her face streaked with tears.

“Sir Kuwell... took my place...” Her voice cracked.

Karyl understood right away—Kuwell had taken the Dimension Spiral from Miliana and used its Divine Power to bind Yula. His blood, infused with draconic mana, had delivered a decisive blow.

Karyl couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly.

“Miliana... You...”

Karyl had sensed only one source of mana within the mist, and he had assumed it to be Miliana’s. Now, realizing it was Kuwell’s, the truth struck him belatedly.

“You no longer had draconic mana...”

Miliana had relied on artifacts from the Demon Realm to conceal the truth. In reality, she had long since exhausted all her draconic mana when she first tapped into the Dimension Spiral.

Even so, she clutched the shard and leapt toward Yula, fully prepared to sacrifice herself for a chance at victory.

“GHRAAAAAAA...!!! I’ll kill you all! I’ll erase everything! You humans and this accursed world...!! I’ll destroy it all! Creations that defy the gods do not deserve to live...!!!”

With the blade piercing her heart, Yula screamed like she had gone mad. But the more she raged, the faster her veins darkened and corroded.

“GYAAAAAA...!!!”

Amid her screams, Kuwell twisted the blade embedded in her. He too was being consumed by Divine Power. The pain was unbearable, yet his face remained calm—serene, even.

“At least this time... I wasn’t too late.”

“...Father.”

Karyl said nothing more. The two didn’t need words, as their gazes conveyed all the emotions they needed to share. There was no need for blame or reconciliation now.

“I never intended to deceive you. You did your part, just as I did mine. All of us... in our own ways, fought for this world.” Kuwell smiled faintly at Karyl. “Sacrificing myself to slay a god... A traitor like me couldn’t have asked for a better death.”

Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth. It rose, filling his throat, and spilled out in thick clots as he exhaled his final breaths.

As the veins along his body throbbed and blackened—the unmistakable sign of demise brought about by Divine Power—Kuwell pushed himself into Agnel, driving the blade further into Yula.

“AAAAAAAAHH...!!!”

Slash!

The blade made a sharp, decisive sound, and Yula let out a bloodcurdling scream as her form dissipated into the mist, scattering into nothingness.

“Raise your head,” Kuwell whispered weakly. He mustered the last of his strength to speak to his son, one last time.

“With this, the age of darkness has ended. There... are those who fought for you, who believed in you. Look at them now, Karyl.”

Whoosh—

A gust of wind blew away the lingering darkness, allowing Karyl to see the countless soldiers surrounding him.

“My lord...!”

“Karyl...!”

Those who called out to him were battered and broken—some missing arms, others legs; some blinded, others mutilated beyond recognition.

They had watched their comrades—their friends—die, and had been forced to step over their corpses. And yet... despair did not linger on their faces. Their eyes were not hollow.

“You’re not alone,” Kuwell whispered warily, leaning against Karyl.

“...”

Karyl’s lip quivered, his arm trembling.

Noticing his hesitation, Miliana gently guided Karyl’s hand to rest on Kuwell’s shoulder. The warmth of life still lingered in Kuwell’s body, but his heart had already ceased its beating.

Karyl closed his eyes. For the first and last time, he ran his hand down Kuwell’s back, as if to send him off.

Kuwell’s expression remained serene. As a father, and a knight, he had finally completed his duty.

“Karyl,” Miliana called softly. “There’s still more to do.”

Karyl nodded slowly.

***

“Humanity has triumphed.” Karyl’s voice rang out across the battlefield.

Countless magical projections emerged all throughout the continent, announcing their victory.

“...”

“WAAAAAAAAAAHH...!!!”

“YEAAAAAAAAAAA...!!!”

“WE DID IT...!!!”

The soldiers’ cheers erupted like thunder, rattling the very earth beneath their feet.

Looking at them, Karyl was overcome with emotion, trembling as though a jolt of electricity had surged through his entire body. For the first time since embarking on this long and arduous journey, he could truly feel it.

The future had changed.