The 9th Class Swordmaster: Blade of Truth C.52: The Final Match (2)

The atmosphere in the stadium, where the expert competition was being held, was unusually quiet compared to the previous day. Karyl yawned and with a sluggish expression stretched his neck from side to side, warming up his body. He seemed uninterested in the commotion coming from the audience in the stadium outside the waiting room.

"What is this...?"

From the factory's bulletin board to the notices at the stadium’s entrance, the sudden announcement had left the audience bewildered.

"A final match out of nowhere?"

"Who organizes a competition like this? I want a refund for my ticket!"

The crowd voiced their grievances, each person with their own complaints. It wasn’t just about the ticket cost; what truly bothered them was the loss of the bets they had placed on their chosen contestants.

If it were just one or two contestants withdrawing, it could be understood. In expert competitions, it was not uncommon for top contenders to withdraw without any explanation. The audience, unaware of the organizers' manipulations, simply attributed such withdrawals to the eccentric nature of sorcerers. After all, such occurrences were not rare.

However, the current situation was far from normal. It was only the first day of the competition, yet dozens of contestants had simultaneously declared their withdrawal, with no explanation. They had all vanished, almost as if they had made a mutual pact to disappear. Only two contestants remained.

"Let's do our best."

"Ah, yes... of course," the sorcerer sitting with Karyl in the waiting room replied nervously.

The man quietly gripped his left arm, trying to hide the emblem of the Dawn Council embroidered on his robe, but it was too large to hide with just one hand. He was desperate to avoid provoking Karyl's displeasure.

Damn it...

The events of last night were something he couldn’t speak of, something that must never be revealed. Yet, he vividly remembered how effortlessly the young boy before him had overpowered a senior sorcerer with decades more experience in magic.

"How am I supposed to defeat someone who even bested the master..." The man felt an overwhelming urge to flee right then and there.

***

As the gates of the arena swung open, the audience erupted in cheers. Their excitement was incomparable to the swiftly concluded first match, and their voices rang out, directed at the two competitors.

"Since it's come to this, show us something spectacular!"

"The pride of the Dawn Council!!"

"Don't lose to a nobody!!"

It was expected that most of the support would be for the man in the robe. To the people of Azor, it made more sense to rally behind a sorcerer from the magic council than an unknown child from the empire.

Little do they know I come from a completely different tribe.

There was no way for them to know about his origins from across the continent. Especially the fact that Kuwell had brought him—a barbarian—during the issuance of the Heresy Extermination Decree, was a secret in itself. On top of that, he had changed the color of his hair and eyes using magic. A barbarian using magic? No one would suspect such a thing.

But perhaps it’s for the best. If they knew they lost to a barbarian, they would be too ashamed to show their faces.

Karyl adjusted his grip on the staff. The wand, previously belonging to Thomson, was old having seen its fair share of battles. It’s too good to be destroyed.

Humming softly, almost in contrast to his thoughts, he swung the staff in a wide circle above his head, as if wielding a spear.

Magic, huh... His repertoire of magic, aside from buff and support spells, was limited. However, he had a plan. Rather than a shoddy performance for the audience who came to watch his match, if they were here for a magical duel, he'd show them true magic.

“Let the match begin—!!!”

At the announcer's booming voice, Zaken looked at Karyl and flinched almost instinctively.

Expecting Karyl to charge forward as he did in the first match, Zaken hastily chanted spells. But to his surprise, Karyl simply waited. In a matter of moments, two magic circles materialized above Zaken's staff, followed by a third.

He was indeed a skilled sorcerer from the Dawn Council. Even though it was considered a fixed match, he couldn't have participated without the skill to gain experience and recognition. With a swooshing sound, a fourth magic circle was completed. The number of circles indicated the spells’s class.

Not bad.

Being able to chant a fourth-class spell so quickly was a testament to his skill. Even during the Oracle Wars, there were few who could cast spells of this caliber.

It was such a shame. Before the descent of the Oracles, because of Olivurn’s greed for uniting the continent, the continent was ravaged by his 400-day Continental War, causing enormous damage to the principality, the three kingdoms, and other cities. Countless soldiers perished, entire armies vanished, and with them, sorcerers unrelated to the conflict disappeared like morning dew.

It's too late to have regrets.

Olivurn, having planted his flag across the continent, achieved what some considered the pinnacle of human endeavor. But as if fate was mocking humanity, the divine being issued the Oracle.

An enemy not of this world.

To those who believed in the gods, it was yet another task, despite having achieved the objectives of the realm.

Karyl ground his teeth as the memories flooded back, forgetting the notion of a duel. Zaken flinched at his appearance. Honestly, even a sorcerer of Zaken’s would have been invaluable during the Oracle Wars. But Karyl wouldn’t blame Olivurn for that. He knew that without the unification of the continent, humanity would have crumbled even faster in chaos.

But that doesn't mean I condone the actions of those who tried to kill us.

Slowly, Karyl lifted his head. He was determined to bring about change. To honor those who had perished in the wars before his eyes, to lead them from death to the future. Whether he would be remembered as a traitor or a hero... That would be for the future generations to decide.

By the time Zaken had finished casting his 4th class magic “Cold Spear”...

"Flame Finger."

Karyl had cast only a basic spell.

He might not be very familiar with magic, but Karyl knew what the spell before him was. He had faced enough sorcerers to not know about it.

As Karyl flicked his hand, something shimmered from his other palm as well.

"Haaah...!!" Zaken raised both of his arms with all his might. Five ice spears formed above his head, poised to rain down upon Karyl.

"Huh, wha?!" However, having put unnecessary strength into his stance, Zaken slipped on the slick oil at his feet and fell backward. As a result, his ice spears, missing their intended target, scattered in every direction. Failing to launch properly, the spears shattered as they fell from the sky.

The audience stood in stunned silence. Was that the 1st class spell “Grease”?!

Indeed, such a spell existed, but sorcerers considered it low-class. After all, it was a spell used for moving heavy objects, using it for an attack was simply preposterous.

Sorcerers think only flashy and powerful magic qualified as a “true” attack.

Karyl looked at Zaken who lay sprawled on the ground, lost in thought. The high-ranking sorcerers of the council could never imagine it. After the Oracle War, “Grease” had become one of the most frequently used general-attack spells.

More accurately, combinations of it with other spells were frequently used.

Karyl released the Flame Finger he had prepared earlier, directing it to the spot right where Zaken fell.

Whoosh—

In an instant, flames erupted over the magic oil, transforming the small flame into a colossal fire demon, seemingly intent on consuming him.

"Aaack, aaaaah—!!" Zaken screamed in terror, desperately attempting to crawl away.

"If you're a 4th class sorcerer, you should be capable of using a 2nd class Barrier of Shadows."

Karyl, who hadn't reached even 2nd class, had cast both Flame Finger and Grease simultaneously.

"Though it might seem different, both are magic. And if both are 1st class, using a 2nd class Magic Shield would be better than trying to run."

Zaken realized the stupidity of his attempts to flee from the towering fire demon. But his realization was a bit too late.

"Is this all?".

Karyl prodded Zaken's buttocks using his staff—that had been lying on the ground—like a club.

"Eek...!" It was a humiliating sight.

As Karyl flicked his hands again, seemingly conjuring a breeze and extinguishing the flames that had risen from the Grease spell. Though he could easily dispel the magic with wind pressure, he instead used a Magic Shield. He contained the flames with the shield and compressed it to extinguish it in one go.

Using a Magic Shield to extinguish the fire?

Magic can be used in such a way?

How did he even come up with that? Even the masters of the Magic Council have never mentioned such a method.

The sorcerers in the audience marveled at Karyl's actions. The defeat was undeniable.

However, Zaken cried out in protest. "This isn't a duel between sorcerers!! I cannot accept this...!!!"

His outcry dripped with desperation. "This is a desecration of the sacred duel between sorcerers!!" Perhaps it had taken great courage for him to say those words.

"Even after all of this, to speak out... You have more of a backbone than those who scheme from the shadows," Karyl said, his gaze fixed on Zaken. For the first time since coming to Azor, Karyl’s lips curled into a genuine smile. "But..."

Swish—

Karyl drew his dagger—Agnel—from his cloak. The blade spun and flashed in his palm, before he thrust it into the ground, stopping a hair’s breadth away from Zaken’s cheek, sending shivers down his spine.

"I never claimed to be a sorcerer."

"What?"

"That's your thing. What’s more important to you: your honor or your life?" Karyl lightly tapped Zaken’s bewildered face. "War doesn’t wait for you."

He might not understand what it meant now, but the warning was clear: any further objections would not be tolerated. "In the end, death is all there is."

Even the lowest level of magic had the potential to take a life. Karyl's words pierced Zaken's heart like a dagger.

“The winner is... Karyl of the Ulkas Guild!!!” The announcer's shout rang through the air.

Karyl nonchalantly retrieved his dagger from the ground and tucked it back into his cloak.

As he watched Karyl’s retreating figure, Zaken finally realized his pants were soaked through.