The 9th Class Swordmaster: Blade of Truth-Chapter 342: Escape (2)

Karyl climbed over the wall, stepping outside—or rather, into another enclosure. Though he had passed the city walls, an additional barrier surrounded him, making it feel as if he had merely moved to a different section of the city rather than truly escaping.

“Where is this?” he asked aloud as he scanned his surroundings.

Despite being in the same city, this place stood in stark contrast to the capital’s streets, where soldiers dashed frantically, scrambling to find the intruder. Here, it was deathly silent. The stone structures were crumbling, and wild overgrown grass covered the area.

“I told you, it’s a graveyard.”

Karyl turned to Randol for clarification, frowning at his vague response.

“Ironic, isn’t it? Despite being a restricted zone, there are no guards here. Eh, to be more precise, this area has been abandoned by the capital. The gates may be open, but no one dares to venture in here.”

“There’s certainly something sinister about this place.”

Allen manifested in his spectral form, scanning the surroundings with his sharp senses.

“The aura of the dead still lingers. If Zarka were here, he could explain in detail about this place, but oh well... Perhaps we should’ve brought Kay Rothschild along.”

“There’s no point in dwelling on that,” said Karyl. “But the energy of the dead? It seems strange for there to be a graveyard within the capital...”

This city was, after all, where the emperor resided. Just like Heim, the capital ought to be a sacred place, not one associated with death. It didn’t align with the ideals of the late Emperor Titan Shutean.

“As I said, it’s not for humans.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Not everyone in the capital is wealthy. In fact, it’s often worse here. You’ve seen those who fled to Tatur, the slaves, the beggars... The capital has more than its share of the downtrodden. Children living in the city secretly come here.”

“Children come here? What for?”

“To search for treasures.”

Ssshhh...

As if on cue, a faint mist began to rise around them. Even Karyl, who rarely flinched, felt a bit unsettled by the eerie atmosphere.

“This place holds relics from the old empire. The late Emperor Titan Shutean stored ancient artifacts here, though it hasn’t been maintained for decades.”

“Relics? Why?”

Relics from the Magical Era, like the Five Great Artifacts, were incredibly valuable. Even a single piece of metal from that era could fetch astronomical prices due to the powerful magic imbued in them.

“They’re more like remnants. Dig through the dirt and ruin long enough, and you’re bound to find something valuable. Starving children, driven more by hunger than fear, come here to scavenge.”

“...”

Karyl couldn’t believe that priceless relics were hidden here, in this decrepit and forgotten corner of the capital, with no security whatsoever. It seemed absurd, especially given the late emperor’s notorious greed.

“Titan Shutean was a man full of avarice. You’re telling me he left a place filled with relics unguarded?” Karyl scoffed. “Spare me the fairy tales.”

Shaking his head, Karyl turned to search for a wait out.

“There are two types of relic sites, you know? One’s the generic structure that has endured since the Magical Era, filled with traps and barriers that protect the treasures within. The other kind of relic site is the one that used to be a monster dungeon and is now dormant, its power having vanished. When a monster dungeon dies out, monsters no longer emerge from it, but the valuable artifacts remain.”

“I’m not interested in a lecture,” Karyl retorted.

“Why would the late emperor gather the relics of the imperial capital in this god-forsaken place?”

“...”

“They weren’t gathered here. They were deliberately placed—offered as sacrifices.”

“Why?”

“So that children, spurred by their empty bellies, would venture in.”

Hearing that, Karyl looked around with a grim expression.

Ssshhhh—

[So it is a dungeon, after all,] Allen mused in a low tone, his spectral form moving alongside them.

[A dungeon within the capital itself... quite the audacious move. Monster dungeons normally grow in strength based on how much human blood they consume. It seems the late emperor was cultivating one in secret.]

A macabre grin strayed on Allen’s expression, almost admiring the cunning involved.

[Indeed, hidden in plain sight. If this dungeon has been growing undisturbed since the old empire... it could have been feeding for centuries, evolving into something far more dangerous.]

Karyl, suddenly wary, glanced around again. A low-ranked dungeon wouldn’t pose too much trouble, but an S-rank dungeon—especially one that had been growing for hundreds of years—could harbor something far more terrifying.

Seemingly oblivious to Karyl’s concern, Randol went on, “But the children who come here have found ways to survive. Over the wall, twenty paces forward, then fifty to the left, and straight ahead without looking back. It might sound like superstition, but it works.”

“So we’re following the same path now?”

Randol nodded, a subtle smile playing on his lips. “Yes, trust me. No soldiers will follow us here. We’re almost at the end. You’ll soon see the truth.”

Karyl remained skeptical. “And how do you know this place is a monster dungeon? By your own admission, you only came here as a child. A secret like that would be well kept within the palace.”

Randol let out a soft laugh. “I don’t know for sure if it’s a dungeon. It’s just rumors that only commoners like me would hear. But what I’m after is something else.”

“And what would that be?” Karyl asked with increased suspicion.

Randol paused briefly, his eyes calculating. “When we were ordered to stand down and placed under house arrest, I went to see our brother Tiren. He’s the only one among us still close to the emperor.”

“Tiren...” Karyl echoed the name of their second brother, knowing Tiren’s proximity to the throne meant he could be privy to certain secrets, perhaps even those concerning the empire’s darker dealings.

“I found something quite strange while waiting for him—documents about three relics.”

Karyl’s expression hardened at the mention of relics.

[Could it be...] Allen’s voice, for once tinged with urgency, echoed in Karyl’s mind.

Karyl didn’t respond to Allen, though he understood the heavy implication. He nodded subtly, acknowledging the thought.

The Necklace of Revelation.

It was one of the three powerful relics created by Narhan Tinuviel, the leader of Elvenheim, a sacred place of the elves. Karyl had found it at the Soul Spring in the Gnome Kingdom.

It’s the same relic we were prophesied to seek, Karyl thought to himself, recalling the Oracle he and the other nine chosen had once believed would save the world.

The necklace was one of the three pieces that had been prophesied to hold the key to stopping a monstrous force ravaging the continent. Alongside it were the Armor of Extremis and the Garb of Lamentation.

Karyl couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to these three relics. It couldn’t be mere coincidence that three pieces were needed to make a whole.

The unsettling feeling of fate began to creep over him once more.

“Why is that strange? The imperial reports are filled with information about such artifacts,” said Karyl, feigning nonchalance.

However, Randol bit his lip slightly at his question.

“The Wooden Cloud.”

“...?!”

“I don’t know what the artifact is, but the reason it stuck out to me is because of the person that Tiren met.”

“How do you know who those lunatics are? Even if you try to find them, their true identity is nearly impossible to trace.”

Karyl, startled by the unexpected name, momentarily forgot they were still within the imperial capital.

“Do you remember? When we—or rather, you—captured the Wooden Cloud spy during that goblin hunt? Father went through quite the ordeal because of that spy’s death.”

“An ordeal? Would you call it that? In the end, my achievement was handed over to you and Tiren, putting him by the emperor’s side.”

“Though in reality, Tiren’s little more than a political pawn, placed there to keep the MacGovern family in check.”

“The one who tried that is now buried underground, thanks to the current emperor. So, it all turned out in our favor, didn’t it?”

At Karyl’s sharp retort, Randol smirked.

“Well... regardless, after that day, Father secretly began investigating the Wooden Cloud, considering them a significant threat to the empire. Elliot was the one who helped him with that.”

“Elliot?”

“As you know, even though he’s fallen from grace, our brother is still the son of a merchant family. He’s quite familiar with shady dealings.”

“His lack of caution is the issue, though.”

Though he said that, Karyl acknowledged that Elliot, with his physical strength, was the best suited for such gritty work.

“And then?”

“They kept a close watch on areas where the Wooden Cloud could be operating. One of those places was the Lurein Principality. Among the people they monitored, some started acting suspiciously after you took over the principality.”

“Who exactly?”

“Douglas Hunt.”

When that name left Randol’s mouth, Karyl nearly slapped his knee in realization.

“...You really dug deep, huh.”

Douglas had been one of the key figures in the Wooden Cloud, alongside Ledios. Though they hadn’t reached the top of the organization, finding him was still a significant breakthrough.

[It seems they took advantage of the trap you set. Probably around the time of the civil war in the principality, when those Wooden Cloud members escaped through the gnomes’ territory.]

Yeah. We were keeping a close watch on them.

Karyl’s lips curled into a smirk.

“And then?”

“When I visited my brother, I saw him receive a letter, and I knew it concerned an artifact. One of the locations mentioned in that letter was...”

“This place, right?”

Randol slowly nodded.

“Be honest. You didn’t just stumble across Tiren’s desk; you snooped. Seeing what Olivurn did to Titan Shutean in Heim must have changed your perspective, enough to make you start doubting Tiren.”

“Who knows... I fight for the empire, not for the Wooden Cloud.”

“Does Lord Kuwell know about this?”

“Not yet.”

[Karyl. If the remaining artifacts are truly the ones you spoke of—the divine relics from the oracle—then if someone with elven blood gathers them all, they can open the dimensional gate, correct?]

Karyl nodded.

Yes, it could open not just the spirit realm but also the demon realm.

[It seems the Wooden Cloud is after those three relics. If the emperor is part of the Wooden Cloud, then in your past life, you basically handed them those relics on a silver platter. Hah, what a mess...]

Karyl bit his lip slightly at Allen’s mocking laughter.

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Yes, I was naïve, but things are different now. As long as I have the Necklace of Revelation, they won’t be able to bring all three relics together.

[True, but you’re also different now. This time, it’s your turn to use those relics. Instead of opening the gate to the Demon Realm and letting the Tarak plunge the continent in chaos...]

I’ll gather them and open the gate to the Spirit Realm.

[Exactly.]

Ssssss...

Once again, an eerie chill brushed past them, and the fog that had surrounded them moments ago dissipated. A narrow path came into view, leading into the forest. Karyl recognized that it led to the gorge behind the capital.

“We really made it out.”

Karyl turned to look back.

This isn’t where I retrieved the Necklace of Revelation before, after the Oracle was prophesied... There were no relics here.

If such divine relics truly lay within those ruins, then perhaps...

Even the Oracle relics may have already been discovered and deliberately placed in new locations.

By the hands of the Wooden Cloud.

Now is not the time.

It was unfortunate, but with the dragons hunting him, now was not the moment to leisurely search for relics. However, Karyl knew that he would return here someday.

And when he did...

The throne would already be mine.