The 9th Class Swordmaster: Blade of Truth-Chapter 461: The Battle of Pharel (5)

“Let go of me!”

Karyl eventually let go. The fly-faced god clutched his stinging cheek, unable to hide his bewilderment.

“You arrogant bastard... Who do you think you are?!”

It wasn’t just the master of the Fourth Calamity—the other gods were also speechless. They had existed since the dawn of time, and never before had anyone acted with such arrogance toward them.

“In all dimensions, there have been fools who dared to defy us, but never someone as outrageous as you, human.”

“You think we’ll be your dogs, barking and biting at each other for your own amusement?”

“Surely you don’t think we’ll actually play along with your game.”

The gods scoffed at Karyl’s proposal.

“You had me quite intrigued, but this turned out to be nothing but wordplay. Consider me disappointed. But then again, I suppose this is the limit of the human mind.”

“Yeah, how dare you stand before us and spout such nonsense?!”

The gods’ anger was so palpable it almost made one’s skin sting.

“...”

Suan Hazer tensed up into a defensive stance.

“It’s fine.” Karyl gently put his hand on Suan’s shoulder. “They can’t kill us.”

“What...?”

“Think about it. If there’s anything inside those heads of theirs, they’ll realize that the moment I die, so does their second chance at the Divine Throne.”

At that, the gods whose Calamities had already been vanquished—including the elder—frowned deeply.

“Haha, so you never intended to bargain with the remaining gods in the first place. You’ve been targeting those three from the start,” sneered Allen Javius, glancing with delight at the gods’ defeated expressions.

“Enough. I won’t be drawn into this foolishness. Let’s see if you can stop my Calamity,” one of the gods sneered as he turned to look at Karyl.

“Huh? Which one were you?”

“The one who will unleash the Sixth Calamity.”

The god was a man with sharp eyes and a defined jawline that stood out even beneath the hood of his robe. His commanding presence set him apart from the others.

“I am the one who will inherit the Lord’s will. I am not like the rest.”

“I see,” Karyl nodded.

The Sixth Calamity, known as Xeck-Met, was a form of Tarak with a name oddly similar to Xeck-Mut, the so-called Apostle of the Gods. This Calamity was a plague of venomous fog, similar in appearance to Hathor, the Fifth Calamity—though an entirely different beast.

Initially, believing the cure for Xeck-Met could be derived using the same method as Hathor, tens of thousands of people were driven into the heart of its lair to serve as test subjects.

It was a horrific approach, but at the time, it seemed like the only viable solution. The results, however, were catastrophic. Rather than eradicating the plague, the corpses within Xeck-Met's fog came back as Xeck-Mut—reanimated monsters that turned on humanity.

As if dealing with the monsters pouring out of Pharel wasn’t enough, the forces of humanity suddenly had to deal with the tens of thousands of Xeck-Mut rampaging across the continent.

“That’s how it played out...” Karyl muttered under his breath.

“Indeed, you’re different from the others,” he went on.

“I don’t need your praise,” the man snapped, his pride clearly wounded.

Karyl flashed him a cold smirk. “So, the Sixth, huh? You really think you’ll get a chance?”

“Perhaps the Calamity will consume you before I get my chance. If so, there’s nothing to do but accept that outcome. That was the deal, right?” the man said, his lips twitching into a sneer.

“As unfortunate as that may be,” he went on, “having my Calamity destroy you would be quite satisfying. Yes... even if I don’t get to claim the Divine Throne, at least I’ll have the pleasure of taking your head!”

Voosh!

The ground quaked as the man’s rage spilled forth. He stormed toward Karyl with a murderous glare.

“If I could make one wish, it’s this—don’t fall to any other Calamities. I want to be the one to kill you! Your corpse shall be my trophy!”

“Hmph...”

“Gah—?!”

The god’s aura was so oppressive that both Suan and Aidan felt choked by it.

“Grrrrr...”

Even Toska reacted with a low growl, circling Pharel warily as though preparing for an attack.

“The opportunity I spoke of isn’t what you think,” Karyl replied with defiant calm.

“...What?”

Thwack!

It happened in an instant.

The man’s brow twitched uncontrollably as Karyl pulled back his hood.

“Hoo... Your expression is priceless,” Karyl remarked derisively, finally getting a good look at his challenger.

“Y-You bastard...”

The man’s face twisted with fury and disbelief as he turned his head. A sharp shamshir[1] was lodged in his side, and standing behind him, the serpent-lipped woman looked him in the eye with a wicked smile.

“You...! How dare you...?!”

“I never really liked you,” the woman said, as though she had been waiting for this moment. “Inheriting the will of the Lord? You were allowed to take that name merely out of pity. You’re only the Sixth, and yet you think you’re special...”

“Y-You bitch...!!”

Shrk!

Unfazed by his outburst, the serpent-lipped woman pushed her shamshir deeper into his body.

“Manifesting Divine Power in a foreign realm may violate the rules, but using it against another god? That’s an entirely different matter.”

Crack! Krrrr...

As she twisted the hilt of the sword, the blade grotesquely scraped against the bones.

“Gah—!” The man gasped, barely able to breathe through the sheer pain.

“Your proposition isn’t bad, human. I suppose it’s only fair to make an effort on my part to reclaim what I’ve lost,” the woman remarked nonchalantly.

“I figured you’d be on board.” Karyl flashed her a wry smile. “You know, you remind me of someone.”

Hissssss...

At Karyl’s words, the blue snake tattoo on his wrist shimmered briefly before vanishing.

“Haha...” The serpent-lipped woman chuckled softly, as though she understood the allusion.

“A Master Key, huh? They hold extraordinary power, as it was us who created it, with utmost care. One might call them weapons of the divine.”

She lifted her chin slightly, eyeing Karyl’s arm intently.

“But that snake... he’s unique. Samael, Diago, Kamael—he went by many names across many dimensions. What matters is that, above all others, I invested the most effort into creating him.”

She looked at Karyl with a haughty expression.

“No wonder he’s so cunning,” he remarked.

“Indeed. And perhaps the one able to control him might understand me better than anyone else,” she hissed.

“You overestimate my interest in you.” Karyl shrugged. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

“Weren’t you hoping someone would make the first move?” she asked teasingly.

“Weren’t you the one waiting for a chance to kill?” he shot back.

“Heh.” She shrugged slightly. “The trigger’s already been pulled. Now all that’s left is to see what choices they’ll make.”

“And how do you suppose this plays out?”

“Funny enough, our history isn’t much different from that of humans. Of course, your lifespans are insignificant compared to ours, but in the end, we are also bound by a history of strife, just like you.”

She slowly drew her forked tongue across her shamshir’s bloodied blade.

“The world was forged through an endless cycle of bloodshed, and so we established rules to prevent such conflict among ourselves.”

“So to avoid killing each other, you decided to use us as pawns instead,” Karyl replied, his tone edged with scorn.

She nodded slowly. “Yet, as history has shown, there’s always someone who breaks the rules. Much like humanity, our history is defined by power. Some gods are stronger than others, just as dictated by the natural order..."

She flicked her tongue, her gaze fixed on Karyl.

“The strong feast, and the weak submit. Simple as that. Shackling the strong with unnecessary rules is what’s truly unnatural.”

“Like you?”

“It’s not just me,” she hissed.

It was then that a scream broke the tense atmosphere between them.

“Ghraaaaaah...!!”

The god who had first lost his chance at the Divine Throne, along with the serpent-lipped woman, stretched out both arms. As he did, his arms were wrapped by bandages, just like those of Blood.

“Hah...!”

With a deep breath, the god slammed his fists together. Following the resounding impact, his arms swelled to monstrous promotions.

That transformation... Just like Blood, huh? Well, I guess Calamities share the traits of their respective gods. That means the strategy shouldn’t change.

Though Karyl had failed to stop all Calamities before, he nevertheless remembered every single one of them, vividly.

There’s only one left.

Karyl glanced at the god of the Sixth Calamity, who lay dead at his feet. For the first time, he had stopped a Calamity without sacrifice or bloodshed. His hands were squeaky clean.

“Enough with this madness!” someone shouted.

“Sorry, but the water’s already been spilled,” the woman hissed back.

“You imbeciles!”

The god of the First Calamity raised his fist once more, and the god of the Fifth Calamity stepped in to block the attack.

Crash! KA-THOOM—!!

The elder quietly drew his staff. The fly-faced god of the Fourth Calamity kept his wary gaze on him, refusing to lower his guard.

“Aaaaagh...!!”

“Ugh—!!”

Chaos erupted as the gods became entangled in a flurry of violence, screams rising from all sides.

“Hi-hihihi-hihihi...” the serpent-lipped woman hummed to herself as she watched the spectacle, lightly swaying from side to side.

“...”

Though everything was progressing as planned, Karyl remained tense. While four gods had joined the fray, the gods of the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Calamities remained on the sidelines, not yet involved.

No matter how desperate the gods who lost their chance may be, there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to kill all the others.

The gods still competing for the throne could unleash their respective Calamities at any moment.

Karyl had incited the gods to fight, but he couldn’t face them himself. Frustrating as it was, that was the immutable rule—one by which the gods were equally bound.

He had emphasized to the defeated gods that if humanity failed to stop the Calamities, their chances of claiming the Divine Throne would vanish. The fuse was set, and it was the woman’s sly lips that had lit it.

Now, the gods of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Calamities were at each other’s throats, but the remaining gods still in the game were far from few.

They’re clearly taken aback by the chaos, and they’re just watching for now. But if they decide to join forces against those three, I won’t be able to guarantee victory.

The ideal outcome would be for them all to destroy one another, but Karyl wasn’t that naive. Rather, he would try to influence the battle so that the survivor would be someone he had personally faced in his previous life.

The Tenth.

Karyl’s gaze fell on a single silent figure among the bewildered gods. The Calamity of Regeneration—the final one—was unmistakable. His mere presence made it clear that he was the ultimate threat.

That one absolutely cannot be allowed to survive.

Karyl had considered going for him right away, but slaying the final god from the beginning would have seemed suspicious and drawn unwanted scrutiny.

For that, I need the final piece.

He stared ahead. The brawl of the three gods was growing more and more intense, threatening to spiral into something catastrophic—something that could very well endanger the whole world.

“Are you watching? Your world is on the brink of collapse. Will you remain seated in silence?”

Karyl looked up as he called the name of the final piece.

“Yula.”

Wooooong...

The sky began to distort.

“Hehe... So the high-nosed god is finally joining the dogfight,” Allen Javius sneered, watching her figure emerge through the dimensional rift with utmost disdain.

1. A kind of deeply curved cavalry saber used in the Middle East and Mughal India. ☜