The 9th Class Swordmaster: Blade of Truth C.146: Behind the Scenes (3)

“Is he even human?”

“We knew that Captain was a monster, but...”

“That kid also seems like one.”

The mercenaries inside the airship couldn’t hide their astonishment as they watched the fight between Gordon and Karyl. They had traveled all over the continent and encountered all kinds of strange things, but this was a first.

“That kid... Isn’t he the one who came to us before?”

“Yeah, he bought Mikhail and a few other mercenaries.”

“Did you hear? Mikhail switched to becoming a sorcerer. There's a rumor he’s reached the 4th Class...”

“What? That makes him extremely rare. He won’t be a B-rank mercenary anymore when he returns.”

They all remembered Karyl and marveled at him. Despite the varied comments, the common feeling was one of amazement.

“...”

Unlike them, Vice Captain Jaygun remained cautious of the uninvited guest who had come out of nowhere.

BOOM—!!

CRASH—!!

Gordon swung Martyr with all his might, the head of the hammer hitting the air with a thunderclap. But at that moment, Karyl vanished, and Gordon quickly turned his head to relocate him.

“There you are!”

As though predicting where he had gone, Gordon swung his Martyr once again with great precision.

Third Stance: Long Weeping Posture.

In an instant, Karyl shot forward like a bullet, blocking Martyr head-on. He then slid up the hammer’s shaft to infiltrate Gordon’s guard.

“...!”

It wasn’t just a defensive maneuver.

Second Stance: Unicorn Posture.

The next stance followed. Gordon had just seen a sword technique identical to the Colorless Air Sword, but unlike that one, even though he could see it right in front of him, he couldn't predict the trajectory of the sword.

“Hmph...!!”

Karyl held his breath. His arm trembled slightly. Using all five stances consecutively would still be taxing for him. The extreme swordsmanship Karyl had created, relying solely on physical strength, was indeed burdensome.

But without this level of exertion, he couldn’t hope to topple a giant like Gordon.

Splat...!!

Blood spurted from Gordon’s mouth.

“Captain!!!”

The mercenaries, watching in horror, rushed out of the airship.

Thud... Thud...

Both men froze, staring at each other as if time had stopped.

Karyl’s blade had barely missed Gordon’s neck.

Drip...

“...You bastard!!” Gordon roared, finally losing his temper after receiving a deep cut on his cheek. But in that instant, his movements halted for a split second due to the pain.

“...”

Karyl’s eyes glinted.

It was something that an ordinary person wouldn't notice, but in a duel between two people of such high rank, that split moment of vulnerability could very well be the decisive factor in determining the outcome.

Wham—!

However, for some reason, Karyl didn't move. Gordon, moving a step late, grabbed Karyl by the neck and slammed him into the ground.

BOOM...!!

The impact shook the ground.

“You...” Gordon looked down at Karyl and said, “You’re a Sword Master.”

Karyl couldn’t hide his disbelief.

“...You’re only realizing that now?”

That realization had come awfully late, only after the whole area had been turned into ruins. If Karyl were merely a Sword Expert, he would’ve been knocked out cold by Gordon’s heavy blows.

But Gordon was speaking nonchalantly, as if it was nothing extraordinary.

“Because I’ve never learned magic, I don’t care about class distinctions. In fact, I think it’s hilarious that there are such trivial distinctions between swordsmen. ”

“Oh, right.”

The more Karyl listened, the more he realized Gordon Fabian was beyond human standards.

This isn’t about learning magic or not, you dimwit. Karyl shook his head. Despite possessing overwhelming strength, Gordon seemed incredibly ignorant and dull in certain areas.

"The old folks will be pleased. They've been saying a lot of nonsense about how the lineage of Sword Masters has been cut off and how the younger generation lacks skill because there hasn't been a new Sword Master in a while."

Gordon bent down to look at Karyl lying on the ground.

“But strong guys always show up, eventually. Don’t you agree?”

As he said that, it was clear that he was asserting his dominance over the fallen Karyl. It couldn’t be helped. Those who had reached the pinnacle always believed they had worked way harder than any other rising individual.

Gordon was undeniably a powerful warrior, but in attaining that strength, he had also grown somewhat arrogant.

“You’re right,” Karyl responded calmly. He then infused his mana into the arm holding him by the collar.

Crack... Crack...

And then it happened.

“...?!”

CRACK! SMASH!!

Gordon had quickly pinned down Karyl’s arms, but the gauntlets of his Automata suddenly cracked from the fingertips akin to an earthquake splitting the ground.

“What the...?”

It was as though his arms exploded, pieces of the gauntlets flying everywhere. Then, almost immediately, the earthen armor covering his entire body crumbled as well.

Boom!! Crash—!!

The consecutive explosions flung the massive Gordon tens of meters away, sending him crashing into a distant sand dune.

“Phew...! It seems that time spares no one. Maybe it’s because you’re an old folk too...?”

Karyl moved his sore shoulders up and down as he slowly walked toward Gordon.

“Cough... Cough!”

Gordon looked at Karyl with an expression of disbelief.

“Rozes!!” Karyl shouted toward the airship while keeping his eyes on the staggering Gordon.

“...Y-Yes?” one of the mercenaries who had helped carry the Martyr shouted back in confusion.

“There’s something I left in Gordon’s room. Bring it here.”

“Oh, yes... Yes, right on!”

At Karyl’s command, the mercenary hurriedly moved. He ran with a large load slung over both shoulders, panting heavily as he reached Karyl.

“Huff... Huff...”

"Good job. Sorry, but I only knew your name.”

“Pardon? Do you know me?”

“Gordon just mentioned you, didn’t he?”

“Oh....” Rozes, with a scruffy beard, nodded clumsily at Karyl’s words.

"If you’d thrown this at me like you did with Gordon’s hammer, I would’ve thrown you the same way. Good thing you were careful, right?"

“...Yes, it seems so.”

Rozes bowed to Karyl, quickly set down the load, and ran off.

“That fool...” Gordon muttered under his breath as he watched Rozes in disbelief.

"Be grateful for his foolishness. If he had really thrown it out and damaged the contents, it would have been a bigger problem."

Click–

Karyl opened the box he had brought.

"The Oxidized Blood Syndrome you have is caused by a reaction between a specific component in your blood and the blood vessels in your body. The reaction generates heat, which causes your blood to boil, weakening your mana veins as well."

Thud... Thud.

Karyl brushed off the dirt on Gordon’s chest, right over his heart.

"The hardness of your Automata, which you could call your secret technique, may have diminished for the same reason. If it were as strong as in your prime...”

He shrugged lightly before continuing, "There might have been a one in ten thousand chance that my sword strike wouldn't have shattered your armor."

“Hmph... Overconfident, aren’t you? Are you saying it would have broken anyway?”

Karyl chuckled at Gordon’s retort.

“I’m joking. If you were in your prime, it might have been tough for me to break it. You’re one of the continent’s five Sword Masters, after all.”

“I don’t need your useless praise.”

“But it’s fortunate you’re weakened. If you could use your mana to its full extent, you wouldn’t have survived like you did.”

“What?”

"That brief moment of weakness earlier. Wasn't it because of the pain?"

Gordon's lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but he stopped.

“You know what would’ve happened if I’d attacked you in that state.”

“...”

"You would have either lost an arm to my sword or died of a heart attack before that."

Gordon had no choice but to admit it—Karyl had completely seen through his current condition. He also couldn’t help wondering if his prime-condition Automata could withstand Karyl’s swordsmanship.

“What are you planning to do?”

Karyl took out a key from his coat.

“Damn.”

But the key was bent and ruined beyond recognition from the intense clash with Gordon.

Clank–

He threw away the broken key and, without hesitation, ripped off the lock of the large box and opened the lid.

Whoosh...!!

Instantly, a tremendous chill and steam poured out from inside the box. Inside were dozens of precious quadrilateral cradle stones.

"...!"

Gordon's eyes widened as soon as he saw what was inside.

"Bringing this here took some effort. You need to keep it cold to prevent it from spoiling, and anything less than a quadrilateral elemental stone wouldn't work on its skin."

Inside the box lay Aeacus’ head, which had its eyes wide open and beak gaping as if still alive.

"I don't need to explain what this creature is, do I? To slow the reaction of Oxidized Blood Syndrome, you need to stimulate the mana veins to increase their circulation."

"Hmm."

"This is extremely hard to obtain. Consider yourself lucky and make a stew out of it. It will serve as a temporary measure. The electric force contained in Aeacus will stimulate and accelerate your blood circulation."

"...You want me to eat this?"

Gordon's face hardened.

"I guess you still feel fine. If you don't want to eat it, forget it,” Karyl continued as though it was no big deal. “Unless you can find another S-rank thunder element monster that's both visually appealing and tasty before you die."

There was no such thing as an appetizing monster, and catching an S-rank monster was no easy feat.

"Wait, wait...!" Gordon urgently asked, "Why should I trust what you say?"

"If nothing changes after you eat it, you can cut off my head. I don't mind."

In truth, there was no way to cure Gordon Fabian. Oxidized Blood Syndrome was a genetic condition, determined at birth. Besides, the rarity of the disease made experimentation quite difficult.

Allen Javius, I'm grateful to you once again. If you hadn't passed on that knowledge to me, I wouldn't have been able to save Gordon Fabian.

Magic poisoning was considered an incurable disease in this current era, but in the Magical Era, it was seen as nothing more than a common cold.

Gordon's genetic disease, Oxidized Blood Syndrome, was also rare, but it had been around since the days of the Magical Era.

Before reaching the 5th Class, Karyl had struggled even to access the vague knowledge stored in his mind. But now, although only partially, he could utilize the knowledge from the Magical Era recorded by Allen, apart from the magic itself.

Luckily, Oxidized Blood Syndrome had been around even back then, during the time of the Assembly of Seven Elders, when magic had flourished far more than these days.

Tap, tap.

Karyl lightly tapped the frozen head of Aeacus and said, "As I said earlier, this is a temporary measure. It will make handling mana a bit easier, but it's not a cure. I can't let the great Gordon Fabian become a toothless tiger."

"..."

Gordon frowned, feeling his pride wounded as he was being cared for by this boy.

"Do you know what triggers Oxidized Blood Syndrome?"

"What is it?" Gordon asked urgently. After all, knowing the cause could lead to a cure.

"Alcohol."

Gordon’s face instantly twisted.

"Quit drinking if you don't want to die."

"You crazy bastard..." Gordon scoffed at him. The storage room in the airship had more alcohol than food. "So it really is incurable,” he went on, realizing that knowing the cause didn’t help at all.

Karyl chuckled at his reaction, as if he had expected it.

"If you don't like that, there's another way...."

"What...?" Gordon asked with genuine interest, unlike before. He would rather die than quit drinking.

"What, for free?"

Karyl lightly patted Gordon on the shoulder.

"That's not going to happen."

At that moment, Karyl wore a peculiar smile.

"...What do you want?"

This time, Gordon replied with words instead of a punch.