The 9th Class Swordmaster: Blade of Truth-Chapter 399: Nephilim

“Hagane.”

Watching the angels descend, Karyl softly whispered the demon’s name.

Woooooong...!! Swoosh...!!

The space between the fortress walls warped, giving rise to a portal.

“Yes.”

“...!”

Those who had never ventured into the Demon Realm were shocked by the Demon King’s appearance, more so than by the emergence of the Celestial Fortress above.

“Wait a minute... This scenery is oddly familiar.”

Looking past the Demon King, Miliana noticed something strange.

“Is that Piasta?”

Anthem nodded as he gazed at the portal. The ships docked in the harbor unmistakably belonged to the port city of Piasta.

Against everyone’s expectations that the gateway would be connected to the Demon Realm, it seemed that the Demon King had actually been waiting in the human realm.

Hagane held two severed heads, steam still rising from the warm blood that dripped from them.

“You summoned me?”

Perhaps even more shocking than his sudden appearance was the way he dropped to one knee before Karyl, greeting him like a servant.

“What’s going on with the Wooden Cloud?”

“As you can see...” Hagane began, holding up one of the heads.

“...!”

Anthem’s eyes widened in astonishment, recognizing those faces.

“Aren’t those...?”

Indeed, they were none other than Ledios and Douglas. But they weren’t the only ones. The other corpses behind Hagane seemed to be nobles from the former Lurein Principality—members of the Wooden Cloud whom Anthem had encountered when they used to follow Fran Lurein.

“Once I peered into their minds, finding those at the top was easy. However, there are still many left.”

“I thought you’d leave this to the Demon Knights, yet you handled it personally.”

“Doing it myself is faster. Besides, I could use some fresh air from the human realm. And we got to meet too, didn’t we?” Hagane said with a grin.

“Sure,” Karyl scoffed. “You’re just after human souls, aren’t you?”

“Merely a bonus,” the Demon King replied smoothly, his expression nonchalant. He glanced up and asked, “Is that why you summoned me?”

Even as he watched the descending Nephilim, his expression remained unmoved.

The sequence of the Oracle has changed, Karyl thought to himself as he gazed at the floating fortress.

According to the Oracle of his past life, Virtus was to deliver the prophecy, after which an altar would be erected at his command, where Yula’s incarnation would descend with the Oracle. Once the Ten of the Oracle were chosen, the Tower of Pharel would emerge, and from within, Tarak would pour forth.

In response, the Nephilim descended into the human realm, claiming they had come to eradicate the Tarak. They would purge the monsters with ruthless precision, and humanity would end up celebrating them as a blessing from the gods.

But that was merely a false hope.

They didn’t care if we lived or died—they fought only to kill the Tarak.

To the Nephilim, humans were no more than insects. They wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice a million humans if that meant capturing one Tarak.

You’re no less of an enemy than the Tarak.

Karyl gritted his teeth, imagining Yula’s mocking smile as humans cheered for the Nephilim’s arrival.

However, things were different now.

The emergence of the Nephilim’s Celestial Fortress before any Oracle was officially delivered meant they intended to address Virtus’s death independently of Yula’s will. For one of their own to be slain by a human was the ultimate disgrace.

The main reason humans had suffered so greatly at the hands of the Nephilim was that they had regarded them as allies. Now, Karyl knew he had to change that perception from the start. Yes, he had sparked another war, unsettling the people, but there was a way to put them at ease.

I’ll clear them all away.

Karyl had always believed that in order to dispel fear and anxiety, one simply had to act and achieve decisive results. Once he stood victorious, today’s unrest would become nothing more than a distant memory.

His eyes gleamed with determination.

“Hagane, do you recall that favor I mentioned? I asked if you had a replacement for the gem in the Necklace of Revelation.”

“Of course, I remember.”

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“Yes, but do you really intend to use it here? I should think it’s far too precious for something like this. It’s no different from tossing treasure into the gutter.” Hagane gave a sly smile.

“Enough nonsense. Hand it over.”

With a shrug, the Demon King drew a small box from within his cloak.

“Kay,” Karyl called out to her, noticing the tension in her posture. “Right now, I want you to remove the Necklace of Revelation from Zarka Hochi’s soul stone and replace it with this.”

“This is...”

“It’s crafted from the bones of the Platinum Dragon and infused with ground top-tier elemental stones. Adding Hagane’s magic, the composition of this gem is far superior to the Necklace of Revelation.”

“Oh...”

Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at the gem.

Booom...!!

A thunderous crash suddenly shook the air as something landed before Karyl, clutching the gem.

“Are you the king of humans?”

“I was in the middle of something. Get lost.”

“...”

Karyl slowly raised his head to look at the massive giant towering over him, nearly three times his size. His wings were similar to Virtus’s, only much larger and with an extra pair.

Behind the giant, three more angels descended, the fortress walls shaking terribly from the impact of their landing.

They were the Four Archangels, chosen by the gods themselves from among the Nephilim. Regarded as pure manifestations of divinity, the Archangels were far more powerful than Virtus, the messenger.

Karyl focused his gaze on the giant standing before him—the leader of the Archangels, Judge Judex.

He was Yula’s undisputed messenger, as proclaimed in the Church’s doctrine, yet he bore the same name as the first Blader, who had once rebelled and slain a god. Karyl couldn’t help but wonder if this, too, was some twisted joke on Yula’s part.

“Was the death of the Fallen Angel such an outrage that all Four Archangels had to descend from the Celestial Fortress?” Karyl asked mockingly, unfazed by the towering giant. “Or are you just using this as an excuse to do what you’ve wanted to do all along?”

“You insolent...”

“No matter. If you want a fight, I shall give you a fight.”

With that, Karyl raised the sword of Polsetia above his head.

[Restrain yourself. He is the leader of the Archangels. These are not the kind of Nephilim that will fall to a blade. Remember what we learned in the Thousand-Year Ice Cave.]

[Yes. He can only be killed by the power of Tarak.]

Karyl merely scoffed at the Spirit Kings’ warning.

“Doesn’t matter. If he can’t die, then I’ll just beat him until he wishes he were dead.”

“Graaaaah...!”

“Hyaaaa...!!”

The three Nephilim behind Judex lunged at Karyl, unable to hold back anymore.

“Prepare for battle!” Anthem Howard shouted urgently as more Nephilim approached from the Celestial Fortress.

In response, those standing behind Karyl drew their weapons and charged at the Nephilim reinforcements.

Thoom!

Karyl launched himself into the air, leaping and twisting as he shifted directions, evading his attackers. He swiftly grabbed the face of one Nephilim and hurled him back, sending him flying with a thunderous crash. The other two nearby darted around, scanning for Karyl after he vanished.

Karyl twisted mid-air, ready to strike them down.

“Haaa!”

But at that moment, Archangel Maron thrust his spear directly at Karyl, while Archangel Karanon aimed to crush Karyl’s head with his mace.

“You filthy...!”

Elanion wiped the blood from his mouth, eyes blazing as he recovered from Karyl’s blow. With a furious growl, he raised his greatsword high and brought it crashing down toward Karyl’s head.

The combined assault was instantaneous. Even the Sword Masters on the wall struggled to track the angels’ movements.

BOOM...!!

Karyl’s sword emitted an emerald glow as it sliced through Maron’s spear. He swiftly redirected the blade to slash Karanon’s wrist, severing the hand that held the mace.

Thud!

Next, he drove his other fist into Elanion’s chest, sending him flying.

“Gah...!”

By the time anyone located Karyl again, he was already pressing his sword against Maron’s neck. Karanon knelt before him, both arms severed, while Elanion lay crushed beneath Karyl’s foot.

All of it had happened in mere seconds.

“Here, my gift for Yula.”

Karyl casually picked up one of Karanon’s severed hands and tossed it toward Judex, who merely watched him in silence.

“How are you holding up? Does it hurt?” Karyl mocked Elanion as he pressed down harder on his back.

“Ghah...!”

“Don’t worry. This much is nothing compared to the agony felt by those people you used as meat shields.”

“Wh-What are you...?!” Elanion snarled, bewildered by Karyl’s words.

Schhk—

Rather than elaborating, Karyl simply drew his blade across Maron’s neck with brutal force. He then drove his hand into Elanion’s mouth.

“Mmph...! Ghhhr...!”

Karyl yanked his hand upward, and Elanion choked out a series of garbled sounds, desperately struggling to break free from his grip. His eyes widened as Maron’s head rolled across the ground, leaving a crimson trail in its wake.

“I’ll give you what you want.”

Crunch—!

Karyl clenched his hand into a fist and forcefully yanked it out of the angel’s mouth.

“Ghaaaah...!!”

Elanion’s anguished scream drowned out the clatter of his teeth hitting the ground.

“Call Yula.”

“You...!!” Elanion shook with rage.

“I want to see if the god you worship can deliver the Oracle to me without any fear.”

Karyl’s murderous glare sent a chill down the angel’s spine.

“What’s the matter? Isn’t that what you all wanted? Do it while I’m still giving you the chance.”

The angel was lost for words, not that he could say anything to Karyl. After all, he had subdued them all in mere seconds.

“You Nephilim look down on us who live on the ground. If you dare defy me, I’ll rip your wings out one by one. Then, you’ll crawl like the rest of us.”

The helpless angel trembled before a demon—perhaps something worse than a demon. Had his god forsaken him?

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