The 9th Class Swordmaster: Blade of Truth

Chapter 111: The King of Blazing Heat (2)

As Karyl touched the gravestone, a red line appeared at its base, connecting it to four other gravestones, forming a large magic circle.

The ground shook as a fierce gust of wind swept over the three of them.

"What's happening?!"

"What have you done?!"

Joey and Yurin, not understanding what was happening, shouted at Karyl, but the swirling dust soon dissipated, revealing a single red orb.

"A spirit...?!" Joey Johansel exclaimed in shock as he looked at the flickering light. That should’ve been impossible; with magic weaker than in the Magical Era, spirits had long disappeared.

Only a few spiritists remained, but with the human realm almost cut off from the spirit realm, the spirits they commanded were lower-tier, weaker than 1st Class magic.

“Joey, get a grip. The decline in the presence of spirits happened a long time ago. A spirit that can communicate? There shouldn’t be any high-level spirits left in the human realm.”

“Th-that’s true.”

Unfortunately, Yurin’s logical explanation was incorrect. The treasure hidden in the Flame Dragon’s lair, the Ein Trigger, was indeed an orb containing the power of Ramine, the Blazing King, one of the five great Spirit Kings.

The Spirit Kings have long since vanished, but this orb is the only artifact that still holds their power.

Karyl had once joked with Allen about possibly encountering a Spirit King at the Spring of Vision, but as expected, there had been no remains of Kungen, the Storm Lord, there.

Well... obtaining Arcane Mana alone was quite a harvest.

In a world where spirit power had nearly vanished, the power of a Spirit King was invaluable beyond comparison. The combination of the Eternal Frame, made from the bones of the Flame Dragon, and the Ein Trigger, containing the power of the Blazing King, was extraordinary.

Those two artifacts allowed Olivurn to be remembered not just as a king on a throne, but as a general who personally fought against the Tarak on the battlefield.

However...

This is strange...

Even Karyl, who knew the true nature of the Ein Trigger, was perplexed by what he saw.

[Why are mortals like you here? Riseria promised me rest.]

A clear voice resounded in his head.

In his past life, Karyl had visited the Flame Dragon’s lair with Narh Di Maug and witnessed the recovery of the orb. While it was true that the orb contained Ramine’s power, it didn’t mean that Ramine himself was sealed within it.

Was it because I had no mana back then...? Did others hear the same voice back then?

Karyl recalled his memories and looked at the two people beside him. Their frozen expressions, as if they were at a loss for words from the voice they had just heard, were reactions he had never seen in his past life.

Yeah. I never heard Ramine’s voice this clearly from the orb before.

It was as if the Spirit King himself was present and speaking vividly.

What exactly... made this outcome different from the past one?

[It’s you.]

At that moment, the floating orb descended and faced Karyl directly.

[You are the reason this seal can be broken.]

“...!!”

[So, the dragon isn’t here... You mortals have managed to get here by yourselves thanks to your dragon magic. In my thousands of years, I’ve only encountered one other like you. It’s been a long time.]

“W-wait!!”

Karyl turned his head hastily.

But Yurin and Joey, unlike moments before, were simply staring blankly at the floating orb.

[Don’t worry. These words are for you alone.]

Suddenly, the surroundings darkened. Although it had already been dim, this was different; it was as if the space itself had been completely isolated in perfect darkness.

[Given that you possess dragon power, it's unlikely that I would’ve seen you as ordinary. The one I saw before spoke similarly.]

Yurin and Joey, who had been behind him moments ago, were no longer visible. Only Karyl and the Ein Trigger were present in this place.

[The life of one with dragon power ultimately leads to one of two paths.]

For a brief moment, the flames surrounding the orb flickered.

[He either becomes a hero or a villain.]

It almost seemed as if the orb was smiling at its own words.

[You can never be ordinary.]

Karyl raised his head and laughed coldly at the orb's words.

"That's a relief, as I never intended to be ordinary in the first place. Even when I didn’t have mana, my life was anything but ordinary.” He then bit his lip slightly as old memories surfaced.

"I came here thinking it was just about taking a dragon's treasure. It's annoying that you're making me recall unnecessary memories. So tell me, why are you speaking to me?"

[That's something I'm curious about as well. Even if it was your mana that broke Riseria's seal, a conversation with me should have been impossible.]

The orb circled Karyl slowly, as if wrapping around him.

[I stayed here and made a pact with Riseria. He promised me rest in the crumbling spirit realm, and in return, I would grant my power only to dragons.]

Karyl thought about what the orb had said.

I see. Now I understand why Kaye Aesir made the emperor's sword from the Flame Dragon's bones instead of Clear Distilled Water.

Everything fell into place so perfectly that Karyl felt the urge to clap his hands.

Humans couldn’t possess draconic magic. If what the orb said was true, humans couldn't use the essence of flame either. But there was a sword with magic far stronger and denser than human magic—the Eternal Flame.

The mana sword containing Riseria’s magic can make someone holding it appear to be a dragon. That's why it could fool the Ein Trigger as well.

Certainly, something like that couldn't be achieved with Clear Distilled Water.

Karyl suddenly got a chilling realization. This was impossible to achieve without knowledge of the pact between the Spirit King and the dragon. Not even Karyl, who had seen the two artifacts in use, had known.

Was Kaye Aesir aware that the Eternal Flame was the key to using the Ein Trigger?

Karyl grew curious about the man he could no longer see.

[Even if you possess dragon power, I have no reason to lend you my power now that I know you are human. But I am curious. How can you, a human, converse with me?]

Karyl shrugged at his question.

"Your guess is as good as mine. Honestly, I'm just as perplexed. I was under the impression that the Ein Trigger was just an orb containing the power of the Blazing King. I never expected that the Spirit King would actually be sealed within it,” Karyl said with an incredulous expression.

[I see.]

Whooosh—!

Suddenly, the flames flickering from the orb grew and formed the shape of a small human.

[You don't just possess draconic magic. Though dragon magic doesn’t have attributes, it doesn't extend to the power of spirits.]

While the orb seemed to have realized something, Karyl himself did not understand.

[You...]

Ramine's form slowly pointed at him.

[You've been to the Spring of Vision.]

"!!!"

As soon as Ramine finished speaking, an unknown power flickered from both of Karyl's arms. On one side, a pure white light shimmered, while on the other, a dark shadow swirled. Without his intent, the two forces flowed from his arms and intertwined, transforming into a familiar violet magic.

"You’re right. I did go to the Spring of Visions, but there was nothing there related to spirits."

[True, there was nothing. But you didn't leave empty-handed, did you?]

Karyl looked at the merged energy in front of him with twitching eyes.

[The Abyssal Rock is Kungen's tomb. Do you know his nickname?]

Karyl nodded at Ramine's words.

"Thunder Lord."

[Indeed. The Thunder Lord was different from us and the other Spirit Kings. He possessed light and heat, and within water, he carried wind, while also holding the darkness of storm clouds.]

"Why are you telling me this? There was nothing sealed at the Abyssal Rock like you."

Ramine paused before speaking slowly.

[The spirit realm has nearly vanished, and the power of Spirit Kings has weakened. Some of us chose the human realm, others opted to slumber in the spirit realm. However, unlike us, there are beings forcibly sealed.]

"..."

[Power like Yula's.]

Light and darkness.

[The Light of Rasis and Darkness of Duaat —these two powers combined were hindering the gods' influence in the human realm.]

The gods sought a place to seal the two forces, a place where light and darkness could coexist without causing anomalies.

"That would be the Spring of Vision, the tomb of Thunder Lord Kungen."

[Exactly.]

"Are you saying that the vision power I obtained there contains the powers of these two Spirit Kings?"

[I can only describe it as a stroke of incredible luck. To obtain vision power, one must possess draconic magic. However, there are various ways to acquire vision power. There was even a sorcerer who directly obtained it from a dragon.]

Allen Javius...!!

[But the odds of a human with draconic magic obtaining that power from the Abyssal Rock are slim to none.]

Indeed, Allen Javius was the only sorcerer in history to possess vision power. Yet, not even he possessed the power of the two wildernesses. He had learned vision power from Narh di Maug.

So the Spring of Vision wasn't just a place to obtain Clear Distilled Water. If Allen hadn't stationed guards there, he wouldn't have been able to pass vision power to me.

Ramine had called this incredible turn of events a stroke of luck, but to Karyl, it felt more like a twist of fate.

[In the past, there was one other who, like you, possessed draconic mana and wielded the power of spirits. But he was a bit different from you,] Ramine said in a low voice. [We called the power he had attained...]

He enunciated each word clearly, as if engraving them into Karyl's mind.

[Great Mana.]

Karyl furrowed his brow slightly. He had never heard of such magic before, not even in his past life.

"...What is this Great Magic?"

[Who knows... He described it as such,] Ramine explained in a hushed tone. [Magic that can even kill gods.]

Karyl gulped without realizing.

[But it was unseen, its level unable to be described. Perhaps not even dragons can reach it... You might find a clue if you become a 9th Class master. Maybe...]

So far, Great Sorcerers were considered those who had reached the 9th Class, and only four individuals on the entire continent had broken through to reach that level: Berchi Blano, head of the Ivory Tower of Dawn, Kadin Luer, the imperial court sorcerer, Nain Darhon, the leader of the Immortal Council, and Daryl Harian of the Lurein Principality.

Even Allen Javius, who stood at the pinnacle of magic a thousand years ago during the Magical Era, only reached the 8th Class.

Only the 9th Class, known as the dragon's realm, was beyond reach. What kind of magic was this Great Magic that one couldn't touch even after reaching that realm?

Karyl felt the palms in his clenched fists get damp with sweat.

"If, as you say, I have the power of the two wildernesses within me, why can't I use it?"

[I told you, they were sealed by the gods. Unless you possess the power to open the spirit realm...]

"Open another dimension?"

[Only a master at the pinnacle of spiritism could achieve that. But only one has ever reached that level.]

"Is that the person you mentioned who wielded both draconic magic and spirit power?"

[Correct.]

Ramine looked at Karyl and shook his head.

"To open the spirit realm, one must possess spirit power. But you can't obtain the power of the two wildernesses now... And without a pact, one cannot learn spiritism..."

Ramine's flames flickered lightly as if to emphasize his words.

[What are you thinking?]

"And now, I can't use Kaye Aesir's method of deceiving you with the Flame Dragon sword...”

Karyl stared at the orb.

"This truly is fate. You're right in front of me, fulfilling the condition. If I make a pact with you, I can obtain spirit power, right?"

[...]

"Let me ask directly. How can I make you mine?"

Perhaps expecting this question, Ramine's flames flared much more fiercely than before.

[I refuse. I no longer intend to lend my power to any human.]

"Really?"

At that moment, Karyl slashed the air with his sword, causing the flames to burst outward.

[...!!]

"Well... If meeting you is fate, then perhaps this is truly a stroke of luck."

[You...!]

"What are the odds that a person with draconic magic would visit the Gray Training Ground before the Abyssal Rock?"

A slight smirk appeared on his face. Seeing that, Ramine looked at him with a tremor in his eyes, stunned for the first time.

Karyl possessed the artifact that completely negated his flames.

Boom!

Karyl embedded the Freezing Talon into the ground and declared, "I will take your power."