The 9th Class Swordmaster: Blade of Truth

Chapter 112: The King of Blazing Heat (3)

"You impertinent brat...!!"

Ramine's flames suddenly flared up, significantly expanding in size. He was now as big as an adult man, and as he spread his hands wide, five fireballs formed above both his palms.

“Hup...!”

Karyl quickly gathered his mana and dashed to the side with all his might, the fireballs trailing behind him and crashing into the ground.

Kaboom...!!

The fireballs exploded on impact, engulfing Karyl in searing heat despite the illusory nature of the space. Timing his movements with the blasts, he twisted his body and drew his sword with all his strength.

Colorless Air Sword, Fifth Form.

As the aura of frost clung to his Freezing Talon, the blade shimmered a light blue, nearly resembling the color of a clear sky.

Let’s see how far this can go.

Karyl penetrated deeper into Ramine's domain.

"Weight, release."

Once he lifted the weight-increasing spell from his arms and legs, Karyl darted forward, moving considerably faster than before.

Since gaining mana from Einheri, Karyl had used restrictive spells on himself as if they were prohibitions, enhancing them after unlocking two more meridians at the Spring of Vision.

The amount of mana he could use had increased exponentially, and Karyl instead released the auxiliary spells that had compensated for his lacking physique and strengthened the prohibitive ones.

Swish-!!

As a result, his physical conditioning had improved exponentially compared to his previous life.

And in addition to that...

“Haste.”

Karyl further enhanced himself with some auxiliary spells he hadn’t been able to use in his past life.

“Auxiliary Acceleration.”

Karyl's silhouette blurred, leaving only afterimages behind. Not even Ramine could track his speed with his eyes.

“Strength.”

A heavy force filled Karyl's arms as he gripped his sword.

Kaang!!!

A deafening sound erupted as his sword struck the ground, but Karyl didn't stop, slashing repeatedly.

“Dex.”

Feeling as though an invisible force was pushing him from behind, Karyl moved even faster, pursuing the fleeing Ramine.

He spun mid-air, bringing his sword down in a sweeping arc.

Swish—!

The sharp sword aura sliced through Ramine. Although his physical form scattered along with the cold wind resulting from the slash, the flames didn't extinguish and instead retaliated against Karyl.

“Cough...!!”

Despite his magic shield, Karyl was assaulted by a searing pain as though branded with a hot iron. The flames engulfing him eventually converged in the air, forming Ramine’s body once again.

[That's the sword from my memory. Yes, it was made from grinding Clear Distilled Water and Cradle Stone. There were those who crafted such artifacts even back then.]

With that, Ramine clenched his fist, and a long flaming halberd formed in his grasp.

[Did you think you could defeat me with just a sword? How foolish.]

Ramine grew even larger in size, his flames swelling like thick armor. Karyl looked like a dwarf before him.

“Monster...”

Karyl looked up at Ramine, who had taken the form of a halberd-wielding knight, ready to strike him down.

The sheer oppressive aura of that enormous halberd made it seem like it could crush Karyl at any moment. Karyl hadn’t even felt this way when facing the giants during the Oracle War.

The flaming knight swiftly swung his giant weapon at Karyl, the blade seeking to slice him in half. Karyl was flung back with the speed of a bullet, rolling across the ground several times before the echoing sound ceased.

“Cough!”

Although he had no eyes, Ramine’s gaze seemed to shift, widening and narrowing as he looked into the distance.

Five Sword Steps.

Third Form: Long Weeping Posture.

Far away from Ramine, Karyl instinctively flipped his sword, redirecting the flames from himself onto the ground. The grinding sound of metal echoed as the Freezing Talon shook violently.

[You blocked that... Impressive.]

Karyl had used the only defensive technique among the Five Sword Steps.

“Damn it...!!”

However, that hadn’t been enough to fully block Ramine's attack. Karyl, unable to neutralize the lingering effects of the attack, charged at him with a pained expression.

First Form: Crown Posture.

His muscles swelled under the crushing pressure, but Karyl pressed on and launched a counterattack.

Crack-

Karyl's face contorted as he gritted his teeth. It wasn't a counterattack aimed at turning the tide. Ironically, if he did not nullify the remaining power of Ramine that clung to him, the undying flames would consume his flesh.

The mana blade isn’t enough, huh? Do I have no choice...?

Clenching his teeth, Karyl infused his dragon magic into the magic flowing through his meridians.

[It's too late.]

At that moment, just as Karyl’s arcane blade began to shine, flames erupted from his entire body, engulfing his shoulders, arms, and legs.

[My Nova will never be extinguished as long as even a small ember remains. That flame will consume your mana, grow stronger, and eventually burn your heart.]

“...Ugh!!”

In that instant, Karyl felt his heart seize, and he began convulsing uncontrollably.

[You were impressive for a human, but my flames must have already invaded your meridians.]

“Ghaah...! Ghhrrr!!”

Karyl swung his sword with all his might, but given that his arms were shaking badly, he only managed to graze Ramine’s leg weakly.

Hiss...

Steam rose from where the cold of the Freezing Talon made contact.

Karyl’s eyes turned red as if filled with flames, and his veins bulged and writhed.

[You should have evaded my attack. The one who seeks the power of kings shall inevitably suffer this fate.]

But then, something astonishing happened.

“...!!!”

Ramine’s leg fell, cut clean by Karyl’s sword. It seemed that even through the excruciating pain, on the brink of collapse, he had managed to sever Ramine’s leg.

“Krrraaak!!” The Blazing King roared in agony. Unlike before, his severed leg did not regenerate, and so he lost balance and toppled over.

How... How is this possible?

Stunned by his own sudden surge of Arcane Mana, Karyl dropped his sword and looked at his hands.

Did I... succeed?

Until then, every time he attempted to use Arcane Mana, the conflicting forces would explode upon contact, making it uncontrollable. Even at the sea where the Water King dwelled, his hands had been badly damaged after using Arcane Mana.

But now it was different. His previously agonizing body felt lighter and more invigorated.

Has another meridian opened?

Amazingly, the energies resulting from the Arcana Mana, which had always repelled one another, were now complementing each other, merging instead of colliding.

What’s going on?

Karyl looked down at Ramine’s flames scattered on the ground.

He had fought countless enemies on numerous battlefields. He had climbed the tower that defied time, slaying countless Tarak. He had slashed and slashed again, but even he, who had fought for eons, had never fought a Spirit King. After all, back then, humanity hadn’t even been aware of the existence of Spirit Kings.

Having experienced something new, Karyl’s mouth curled into a slight smile.

When Ramine’s flames erupted from his body, the will of the sealed Light of Rasis and Darkness of Duaat merged willingly, absorbing each other rather than conflicting. The strange thing was that Karyl hadn’t done that on purpose.

Is it because of these flames?

He hadn’t expected to find the answer here.

The flames acted as a catalyst in merging the two extreme forces into one.

Allen Javius had controlled Arcane Mana with overwhelming precision, fine-tuning the repelling forces to a minute degree, but Karyl had not yet reached that level. Despite his vast magic power and knowledge, his mana control was still rough and unrefined.

Hence, he had resorted to using the Arcane Blade as a desperate measure, and even that hadn’t been easy.

But this time, as Arcane Mana had flowed through the meridian affected by Ramine’s flames, the unstable reaction produced by the conflicting forces of light and darkness had been neutralized by the flames.

Death turned out to be an opportunity.

Karyl couldn’t help smiling, though he was still on edge. The flames connecting light and darkness were inherently unstable.

[You... you scoundrel...]

Ramine, stunned by the unexpected outcome, looked at Karyl in disbelief.

[Water and earth are calm and quiet, fire and lightning are fierce, and wind is free.]

Just as the five elements were defined in magical tomes, the characteristics of the five Spirit Kings were similar.

If the catalyst for Arcane Mana were Ethereal or Maktuun, I might have handled Arcane Mana as well as Allen.

The Queen of Tides, Ethereal, and the Lord of Rocks, Maktuun—knowing how fortunate he was to meet Ramine, Karyl already coveted the power of other Spirit Kings.

If I find a way to open the spirit realm, it’s not impossible. Karyl, drawing on his Arcane Mana, looked at Ramine.

So...

Feeling the mana flowing pleasantly through his meridians, Karyl felt like he was experiencing true magic for the first time.

“I must have you even more.”

Squeak-

Karyl tightened his grip on his sword.

[Impossible...!!] Ramine shouted in disbelief.

"Thank you."

A red spot glowed for a brief second on Karyl’s forehead. It was a sign that the fifth meridian had been opened.

“Thanks to you, I’ve ascended another level.”

With a single slash, the Arcane Blade cut through Ramine, shattering the subspace he had created and engulfing it in flames.

***

“What just happened?”

“I have no idea. He suddenly vanished in front of our eyes...”

Yurin Huygar had struck the invisible barrier with his mace multiple times, but it hadn’t even left a scratch.

“What’s inside there?”

Joey Johansel looked anxiously at Karyl, who stood motionless behind the opaque wall.

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anything like this in the lair of the Flame Dragon. What on earth is going on?”

He’s used us.

Yurin gritted his teeth at Joey’s words.

“When we get out of here, I’ll make sure he pays!”

But it was too late for regrets.

Boom—!!!

Suddenly, an explosion occurred, sending thick black smoke billowing over them. The wall that had been blocking their way shattered, debris flying in all directions akin to glass shards.

“Cough, cough...!”

The sound of footsteps approached through the smoke, sending a chill down Yurin Huygar’s spine.

“...!!”

As the figure slowly emerged from the smoke, Yurin's eyes widened in disbelief.

“Holy... crap!!”

Yurin Huygar couldn’t help cursing, and his outburst wasn’t directed at Karyl.

Whoosh—

It was aimed at the massive, flaming giant standing behind him.