The 9th Class Swordmaster: Blade of Truth

Chapter 284: Heim (2)

Click—

The door opened, and a priest from the Church entered, bowing deeply to Karyl.

“Welcome, King of Tatur. Thank you for visiting the Church. I must apologize, but the bishop is currently attending to the emperor’s health and is temporarily unavailable.”

“I was under the impression that the Church’s doctrine is to love all equally, regardless of their status. For the bishop, the highest authority of the Church, to attend to just one individual... isn’t that against the Church’s rules?” Karyl questioned with a hint of sarcasm.

The priest, maintaining a calm demeanor, responded smoothly, “It is precisely because the Church serves all, regardless of status, that the bishop personally tends to the emperor. Should Your Majesty require the Church’s assistance, the bishop would be more than willing to respond.”

At that, Karyl scoffed lightly.

“Let the bishop know that meeting with me might be more effective in treating the emperor’s illness than his holy intervention.”

“I will convey that message. A room has been prepared for you to rest. There are many others wishing to see the bishop, so it may take some time,” the priest replied.

“We have other guests, then?” Karyl inquired.

“Yes. His Highness, Second Prince Olivurn, has also arrived. It is a great honor for us to host such distinguished visitors from across the continent,” the priest said in a reverent tone.

“...”

At the mention of Olivurn’s name, Karyl’s expression hardened.

The invitation to Heim was a trap set by the emperor. This has nothing to do with Olivurn... so why is he here?

He momentarily considered the possibility that Olivurn and the emperor might be working together, but he quickly dismissed the idea. The emperor, eager to protect his position, would see Olivurn as a rival, despite their blood relation.

Conversely, for Olivurn, who was aligned with the Wooden Cloud, the emperor was simply an obstacle to be removed.

Perhaps he’s here to check on the emperor.

Karyl narrowed his eyes as he addressed the priest again, “I didn’t expect such a notable guest. Then I suppose I’ll have to wait, but... did the prince travel here alone?”

“No, the greatest swordsman on the continent, Sir Kuwell MacGovern himself, accompanied him as his guard, along with a few of his men.”

“Ku-Kuwell...?” Karyl’s voice faltered slightly.

Israphil and Kay Rothschild turned to look at him, sensing his unease. Karyl’s reaction to hearing Kuwell’s name was more pronounced than when he had heard about Olivurn’s arrival.

“Yes. He arrived a day earlier and is currently resting in the inner quarters. They also requested an audience with the bishop, but as you know, the bishop is currently occupied, so they are waiting as well,” the priest explained, his tone suggesting that Karyl should not feel slighted, as even the earlier guests were waiting.

Martte and Randol are here too. And Jake is still being treated by the Church. So five of us are here in Heim...

It wasn’t hard to guess why Kuwell had accompanied Olivurn. Though Jake had come to Heim under the pretense of receiving treatment, everyone knew it was more about keeping him hostage. With Martte and Randol also in Heim, Kuwell was undoubtedly here to ensure the safety of his sons.

This isn’t good...

Karyl would be reunited with his family, but the prospect of meeting Kuwell again killed any joy he might have felt.

Father is a pillar among the imperial knights. With the emperor out of the way, this would be the perfect time to stabilize the empire. And yet, he’s come here with Olivurn...

The reason for that was clear.

The nobles want to use me as an excuse to weaken the MacGovern family. The emperor would want the same.

And yet, the fact that Olivurn had brought Kuwell with him suggested a significant level of trust.

He’s here to end things.

For Olivurn, securing his position meant getting rid of the emperor. According to his initial plan, the emperor should have already succumbed to the poisoning, allowing him to claim the throne.

Kuwell, on the other hand, faced his own set of challenges. With his sons held as hostages, he couldn’t act freely.

He’s here to kill the emperor, Karyl concluded.

Karyl mulled over the situation as he considered the implications of Kuwell’s potential alliance with Olivurn. If Kuwell saw an opportunity to secure the MacGovern family’s freedom by facilitating the emperor's death, he might very well pledge his loyalty to Olivurn.

Was this destiny? The emperor, Olivurn, Kuwell, and Karyl himself—four individuals whose paths had always been intertwined, across both timelines. Karyl had never imagined that all four of them would converge in one place.

“Is Sir Kuwell the only one from the empire who has arrived?” Karyl inquired.

“No, Your Majesty. Sir Kuwell brought three knights as part of Prince Olivurn’s escort,” the priest replied.

“Who are they?”

“Uh... I’m not sure of the names of two of them, but one is named Elan,” the priest answered.

At that, a smile crept on Karyl’s face.

Elan of the Holy Silver... If Elan is here, I can already guess who the other two are. It seems their time has come sooner than expected...

Karyl was hit by a wave of nostalgia, as though recalling characters from a novel he had read long ago.

Elan of the Holy Silver, Spear Demon Faiman, and Archipelago King Magtou were the heroes who had risen to prominence with the outbreak of the Oracle War. Known as the Empire’s Three Divine Generals, these men would later fill the void left by Kuwell MacGovern’s death and be hailed as saviors of the nation.

All of them were taught by my father, honing their skills under his guidance. At that time, they were all Sword Masters... I wonder how far they’ve progressed now.

Karyl’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.

“Does Prince Olivurn know about our visit?”

“Yes, he should have received word by now that you have arrived at the Church,” the priest confirmed.

Karyl nodded. “I see. Then I’ll wait.”

The priest, perhaps surprised by Karyl’s willingness to comply, nodded with a slightly smug expression and left the room.

As soon as the door closed, Karyl turned to Israphil and Kay Rothschild.

“Let’s go.”

“What? But the priest said we should stay here and...” Israphil began, only to stop mid-sentence as the realization hit him. Somehow, he had momentarily forgotten that Karyl wasn’t someone who would be bound by the words of a mere priest.

“Hehehe... You should learn from him, boy. That gutsy attitude will serve you well.” Allen chuckled, manifesting from a cloud of black smoke.

“M-Master...?” Israphil stammered, startled by Allen’s sudden appearance. After all, it wasn’t every day that a lich casually showed up in the very heart of the Church, the epicenter of purification and anti-demonic forces.

“They already know you’re a necromancer. The Church worships their god, but they are not gods themselves.”

Clank— Clank— @@novelbin@@

Without a word, Kay proceeded to drag a large black box, similar to a coffin, from the corner of the room. The box, crafted by dwarves, was inscribed with a magical seal that concealed its contents, though what lay inside was no mystery to anyone present.

Click—

Thud—Thud—

Kay turned a lever on the side of the box, releasing the lock and revealing an eerie, lifelike doll within.

[Phew...]

As Kay pulled thin, transparent strings from the rings on her fingers and attached them to the doll, the doll exhaled a shallow breath as if awakening from a long slumber.

Karyl looked at the two of them with a satisfied expression.

Here they were, in the very heart of the sacred Church, with a necromancer and a lich openly preparing for what was to come.

There’s no way you saw this coming, Olivurn.

The journey to the Church was meant to pave the way for the emperor’s assassination, but Karyl’s presence had unexpectedly complicated the situation.

Or maybe you were waiting for this... After all, you did declare war back in the Blood Cave.

“How long has it been...?” Karyl muttered in a low voice.

It had been a long time since he first met Olivurn in the imperial capital. Many things had happened, and much had changed since then. Their first encounter had been under the shadow of Kromen’s death, and now, once again, they were about to meet in a situation where the emperor’s life hung in the balance.

Perhaps we’re destined to meet only through bloodshed, Karyl thought, a bitter smile playing on his lips. I hope you’ve grown stronger, Olivurn. If not, the price to be paid here might not be the emperor’s life, but yours.

Pzzzzzzzzt—!!

At that moment, a powerful surge of violet Arcane mana erupted from Karyl, enveloping him in a fierce, crackling aura.

***

“...!!!”

“What's wrong, sir?” one of the knights asked, noticing Kuwell’s sudden shift in demeanor.

“Didn’t you feel it?” Kuwell's eyes were fixed in a specific direction outside the window.

“Feel what, sir?”

Kuwell’s intense gaze made the three knights who were with him turn their heads in the same direction, trying to sense what had caught their mentor’s attention.

“I felt a foreign surge of mana,” Kuwell muttered.

“Mana...?”

One of the knights, a handsome man with his hair neatly combed back, furrowed his brow. “But with the Church’s barrier in place, no one except authorized priests should be able to use mana on these grounds. Perhaps it’s due to the bishop’s healing ritual?”

“Hmm...” Kuwell mused, still troubled.

“You’re being too sensitive lately, sir. Perhaps you could try to relax a little. Don’t you agree, Elan?” another knight added, trying to lighten the mood.

But Kuwell’s mind was elsewhere, and a single name rose to the forefront of his thoughts.

Karyl...

Elan, the knight mentioned, turned to the man with the clean-shaven head and thick eyebrows—a sharp contrast to his own well-kept appearance

“Faiman, our mentor doesn’t have the luxury of being idle like us. He’s been busy with matters of state while we’ve been honing our skills in the House of Swords,” Elan responded.

The House of Swords was a secluded training ground where Kuwell had personally gathered and trained promising individuals. Among those trained there, Kuwell had chosen these three to accompany him as part of Olivurn’s guard.

They were the best among the elite knights Kuwell had mentored, warriors who would later play crucial roles in the battle against the Tarak during the Oracle War.

“We were isolated there for too long. Now, it’s our turn to become our mentor’s strength,” Elan added, his voice filled with determination.

The House of Swords, located deep within the northern woods of the MacGovern estate, was a place solely dedicated to rigorous training. It was where these knights had spent years perfecting their craft, cut off from the outside world.

“We need to put in more effort,” Elan declared, almost as if reminding himself.

“Yeah, yeah, we know. But one can’t become a Sword Master just with hard work,” Faiman quipped, his lips curling into a smirk as he glanced at the muscular man with short, spiked hair sitting opposite him.

“Magtou, you and the others have already put in more than enough effort. I've never seen anyone with as much potential as you three,” Kuwell said with a faint smile, looking at his three disciples.

All three of them were talented warriors he had selected personally, and despite being young, they were already advanced Sword Experts, standing on the verge of becoming Sword Masters.

Good thing I brought them along, Kuwell thought.

Ever since he had learned that Karyl was coming to Heim, he had been unable to shake a growing sense of unease. Kuwell was fully aware that the emperor had chosen this place as the stage to confront Karyl.

He could only hope that Karyl would continue to reject all offers and pursue his own independent path.

Karyl, what are you thinking, coming here?

“Naturally,” a voice snapped Kuwell out of his thoughts.

Click—

“I’m here to meet Olivurn.”

The very question that had been troubling Kuwell moments ago was now answered aloud, causing him to whip his head around.

One figure stepped through the doorway.

“It’s been a long time,” Karyl said, his voice calm but his eyes locked onto Kuwell’s.

“You insolent fool! How dare you speak the prince’s name so casually?!” Faiman shouted and sprang to his feet.

But Karyl simply chuckled as he looked at the three knights, his eyes filled with a mix of amusement and nostalgia.

To see them here...

Karyl had trouble reconciling the image of those legendary figures with the inexperienced young men before him.

If it weren’t for them, the Oracle War would have been lost. I hold a sense of gratitude toward you. But that gratitude belongs to a past life, not to the present.

“You’re the one being rude.”

“...What?”

Faiman was startled to hear such insolent words from someone much younger than him.

“Sit.”

“...!!!”

At that moment, Faiman’s eyes widened. The sharp aura emanating from Karyl hit him like a wave, and he felt as if hundreds of blades had slashed him, painfully forcing him down into his chair.

“It’s best if you don’t think about picking up your spear. I know you’re excited to be out in the world, but before you try to show off your skills, learn to measure others’ strength. That’s the way to survive. You pick up that spear now, and it’s the last time you’ll ever hold one.”

Gulp―

A heavy silence hung in the room. Despite Karyl’s blatant arrogance, none of the three knights could muster the courage to retort. Elan and Magtou simply stared at Karyl with tense expressions, mumbling under their breath.

“Sir...”

“Don’t do anything rash.”

“...I suppose Elan was right. You do need to train harder.”

They realized the power radiating from the boy, who seemed far younger than them, was far beyond anything they could hope to contend with. When Karyl unleashed his aura, their first thought wasn’t about fighting—it was about survival.

Sweat dripped down Faiman’s forehead.

“That strange mana we felt earlier... It must have been his. Who... is this guy?”

As they stared at Karyl, the same instinctive thought crossed their minds.

“...He’s my son,” Kuwell answered in a heavy voice.

“What?”

“Y-Your son?!”

Following the outcry that broke the silence, they all looked at Karyl again.

“No.”

Karyl, however, denied it. As everyone stared in astonishment, he declared coldly, “I am the king of Tatur.”