The 9th Class Swordmaster: Blade of Truth-Chapter 341: Escape (1)

“Find him!!”

“Signal immediately upon discovery!!”

“Narrow the encirclement!!”

“Strengthen all barriers!!”

The soldiers’ shouting echoed from all directions.

As Karyl ran down an alley, he glanced back at them and turned around.

[This is troublesome. The entire capital is covered by the dragon’s barrier. It seems they won’t let you leave so easily.]

Allen, now following in his smoky ethereal form, scoured the sky as he spoke.

[Considering how much you provoked them, it’s a miracle the dragons didn’t attack right then and there.]

Ramine’s remark made Karyl smirk.

Don’t worry. They won’t fight here.

Karyl kept running at full speed as he spoke to them in his mind.

[Yes, that’s the one thing working in our favor. The dragons would inevitably lay waste to the capital if they tried to capture you here.]

[Still, it’s odd. Why would the dragons side with the empire?]

[It feels like it’s more about that boy rather than the empire itself. If they’ve found the missing Blader relic, then...]

I’m just glad they saved me the trouble of looking for it.

Everyone had no choice but to marvel at Karyl’s audacity.

[There must be a gap somewhere. Even if they want to turn this place into a battlefield, withdrawing their forces will take time. Besides, those troops won’t manage to find you on their own...]

They’re just trying to force me into caution.

Or perhaps they were guiding him into a trap.

Karyl himself could feel that the paths he was being forced to take in order to avoid detection were becoming increasingly unnatural.

[Right. The one fortunate thing is that you also have dragon power. Your colorless mana blends with the dragons’ detection magic.]

At Allen’s words, Karyl nodded.

[What about the old empire’s secret passageways?]

They’re probably sealed by now.

[Hmm... There must be other routes. A capital like this surely has more secret paths.]

Karyl simply shrugged. Who knows. That’s the only one I knew. Unfortunately, I spent most of my previous life on the battlefield, so I didn’t stay in the palace much... Plus, I never cared to find those passages.

[Revealed your cards too soon, huh? This is quite a predicament.]

Well, it was necessary. It doesn’t matter. I’ll just break through like I always do.

Karyl sprinted toward the main gate of the capital. At least one dragon would be waiting for him outside the city gates.

[There are probably three gates leading out of the capital, each guarded by one of them. Let’s hope you don’t run into Enuma Elashi.]

Why not?

[He’s a descendant of the Golden Dragon Toska, who was a dragon lord in the Mythical Era. In terms of magic, no one can surpass him. He’s probably the trickiest opponent you could face right now.]

Didn’t you say the Platinum Dragon led the dragons?

[That’s slightly different. The dragon lord is more of a fatherly figure, while the Platinum Dragon is a commander who leads in battle,] Ramine murmured in a reminiscent tone. [Dragons are so powerful individually that they don’t live in groups. While there is a dragon lord, it’s not like other races where they have absolute power. The lord just coordinates their will.]

Karyl paid close attention to Ramine’s explanation.

[It’s incredibly difficult for dragons, with their strong personalities, to unite. That’s why the Platinum Dragon is special. Dragons have always rallied under him, even now.]

Why is that?

[Who knows...... Maybe it’s his strength.]

At that, Karyl frowned slightly.

[You probably haven’t seen him fight seriously either. Though he was an enemy, his presence during the Great War of the Spirits and Gods was nothing short of amazing.]

Was it really that intense?

[He is the only being who had contracts with all the Spirit Kings. Alongside Judex, he was one of the strongest Bladers.]

[Of course, when he sided with the gods, our contracts were severed... But who could have guessed that his betrayal would lead to such a catastrophic loss in the war? Trusting him was our biggest mistake.]

Their words forced Karyl to reflect on his past self. After all, he too had trusted Narh Di Maug.

As though reading his thoughts or perhaps sensing his inner rage as his contracted spirit, Ramine said softly, [Well, he’s the opponent you’re now faced with.]

[Well, in that case, I can only hope that the one waiting ahead for us isn’t Enuma Elash, but the Platinum Dragon himself.] Allen gritted his teeth.

At that moment—

“Over here,” came a whispered voice from deeper within an alley.

“...!!”

There, a man slightly pulled his hood up to reveal his face. Seeing him, Karyl’s eyes widened briefly.

“You...”

“Hurry.”

Before Karyl could speak, the man quickly raised a finger to his lips, signaling for silence as he motioned toward the alleyway.

“...”

After a brief hesitation, Karyl turned his steps away from the city gate and followed him into the alley.

***

“You’ve made quite the scene.”

After going into a small building down the alley, the man lifted a hatch on the floor, revealing a set of stairs leading underground. He descended at once.

“The pursuit squads stationed at the gate are quite reliable, but you should still be able to slip out unnoticed.”

“And why are you here?” Karyl asked, eyeing him cautiously.

The fact that this man knew of another secret escape route was surprising, but even more shocking was this man’s sudden appearance in the midst of all the chaos.

“Randol.”

He stopped briefly at the mention of his name.

“I’ve heard about what happened in the north. Great Warrior, huh? I couldn’t even imagine. And right after uniting the tribes, you plunge the continent into a war... You never fail to impress.”

“Answer my question first. Why are you here?” Karyl demanded.

The brotherly reunion was devoid of any warmth of sentimentality. Though Karyl couldn’t see it because of the hood, Randol found himself smiling slightly at his familiar bluntness.

“If we turn here, we can get out through a back route that leads to a small alley behind the square.”

“And how do you know that?” Karyl’s tone was filled with suspicion as he shot a sharp glance at Randol. “For all I know, this could be a trap.”

“You can choose not to trust me, but it’s not like you have any other options in this situation. What, you’d rather go out there and take on everyone?” Randol scoffed. “And besides, I’m here. If it’s a trap, you can always use me as a shield.”

“Oh, so they won’t attack me if you’re in front of me? You sure your life is valuable enough to be my shield?”

“As sharp-tongued as ever.” Randol shook his head as he continued going down the stairs. “I know of this passage because I’m a commoner.”

“A commoner?”

“It’s not one of those grand secret tunnels from the old empire. The capital has countless hidden alleys and shortcuts. Only regular folk know them... or more precisely, the street kids who used to beg around here.”

“...”

Karyl fell silent, caught off guard by Randol’s unexpected revelation. He had always known that Randol came from a commoner background, but he had never learned of his childhood in detail.

“A street beggar, fortunate enough to catch the eye of a Sword Master and eventually become an imperial knight... I suppose I’ve ruined the future that could have been yours.”

“Yeah...” Randon whispered as they continued through the underground maze of hidden tunnels, weaving through narrow pathways.

“My life has changed completely,” he went on. “I can’t say if for better or worse... but because of you, I’m no longer a knight.”

“Hmm...?”

“You know what happened after Heim. Martte and I were stripped of our knighthood and placed under house arrest.”

“In a situation where every skilled warrior is crucial to the war effort, dismissing two knights, especially you two, shows just how confident Olivurn must be. I hear even Kuwell MacGovern was ordered to stay at his mansion...”

“...Kuwell MacGovern, not Father, huh?”

“It’s not out of hostility, just a matter of circumstance. We may have crossed swords, but should the day come when things change, perhaps I’ll call him Father again.”

At Karyl’s response, Randol sighed softly.

“Martte was the one who drew his sword. Why did you end up punished as well?”

“For not stopping you, I suppose.”

“Stopping me? You? That’s absurd,” Karyl argued. “Everyone saw the fight between me and Kuwell. How could they have expected you to intervene in that?”

Randol simply shrugged. “Well, it doesn’t matter if it sounds like bullshit. The fact is that I, as a knight, stood by and did nothing.”

Karyl shot him a sideways glance.

“There are only two reasons you’d break house arrest to come here—either you’ve finally decided to defy the empire and act on your own, or you’re following orders to lead me into a trap.”

Click—

Randol swiftly moved through a series of dilapidated doors as they continued forward. The distant sounds of pursuing soldiers faded into the background.

[It doesn’t look like he’s lying.]

[But using these hidden paths doesn’t mean you can evade the dragons’ eyes...]

[Perhaps the dragons are allowing Karyl to escape, to avoid turning the city into a battlefield.]

They passed through more alleys and leaped over several walls until they reached a small gap in the city wall hidden by some trees.

“It’s narrow, but you can pass through. I came in this way myself, so there shouldn’t be any guards.”

“The ones pursuing me are dragons. They’ll track me down the second I step outside. How are you so sure about this?”

Randol shrugged again. “Because this is a forbidden zone.”

“...A forbidden zone? I’ve never heard of one inside the capital.”

“Most people haven’t. This place is a graveyard.”

“...?”

Randol peeked through the old cracks in the wall before elaborating, “Not one for people, though.”

His cryptic words left Karyl frowning in confusion, but Randol was already crouching down, carefully making his way through the gap in the wall.

“Karyl, since I’m helping you flee the capital... take me with you.”

“So I can assume you’ve abandoned the empire?” Karyl inquired calmly.

Randol made no answer, his silence stretching on.

“...”

This was most unexpected. Karyl needed to understand why Randol had come to the capital in secrecy and what had caused his change of heart.

“There’s no one around. You can come through,” Randol called out from the other side of the wall.

“Once I cross this wall, I’ll know whether you’re lying or not.”

“Are you still suspecting a trap? Surely the great Karyl MacGovern isn’t afraid of something like that.”

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Karyl looked through the small gap Randol had been peeking through earlier, meeting his gaze.

“You mentioned earlier that your life has changed completely because of me, didn’t you?”

Randol’s eyes widened for a fleeting moment.

“Then you should be grateful. Losing comrades at the Abyssal Rock and being stripped of your knighthood after Heim is nothing. Thanks to me, you’ve already overcome the greatest hurdle.”

“...What?”

“Heh, you’ve no idea when your destiny changed.” Karyl smiled faintly.

After all, life holds meaning only for the living.