The 9th Class Swordmaster: Blade of Truth

Chapter 256: The Battle of Yoman (3)

“There is a breach in the Great Wall!!”

Despite being in the northernmost part of the principality, where the harsh cold seeped into one’s bones, the commander’s shout ignited the soldiers’ morale like never before. The fire of battle burned brighter here than in any other front of the civil war.

“Everyone, give it your all and get over that wall!!”

“Waaaaaaaahhh—!!”

“Waaaahhh—!!”

The clash of weapons echoed loudly.

“Don’t let the enemy breach the wall!”

“Shield-bearers, move up immediately!!”

“Archers, prepare to fire!!”

Seeing the flood of enemy soldiers pouring in, the commanders of Yoman’s defense forces urgently shouted their orders. Although the mighty Great Wall had been breached, the well-trained soldiers quickly recovered from the shock and began to repel the enemy’s attack.

“Argh!!”

“Ugh...!!”

However, they could no longer capitalize on the height advantage the wall had provided.

“Fight back!”

“Push the enemy back!!”

The soldiers had no choice but to focus their efforts on the breach in the wall. The narrow spaces of engagement at the entry points meant that the numerical advantage was now meaningless, as the fighting became more concentrated and intense.

“...”

Ganeth swung his halberd with all his might, channeling his mana into the weapon.

BOOM—!!!

The thunderous strike, charged with lightning, cleaved through the soldiers trying to enter the breach in the wall, cutting them in half.

Slash!! Splatter—!!

Blood sprayed from the bisected bodies, splattering around the base of the Great Wall of Yoman.

“Ugh...”

“Yep, that’s a Sword Master for you...”

Though only one man stood in the breach, his single strike resulted in more casualties than any other battlefront. In an instant, dozens—no, hundreds of soldiers lay dead. The blood pooled at the breach, still warm and steaming in the cold air, soaking into the snow and quickly freezing over.

The soldiers faltered, instinctively retreating from the weight of Ganeth’s presence.

“Unbelievable... To bring down the Great Wall. No strategist could have conceived of this. I’ve never seen anyone like you in the principality... Who are you?”

However, Ganeth paid no attention to the soldiers. Rather, he focused his gaze on only one person as he advanced.

“Are you really praising the enemy?” Serica Lauren shot back as he met his gaze. “You must be pretty confident. As for who I am, you don’t need to know that, do you? It’s not like you guys give a damn about anyone else’s situation when you go to war.”

When the civil war first broke out, her home had been destroyed by artillery fire. Her voice was filled with conviction because, at that time, she had been just another victim.

She must be a monster... She feels different from Karyl or Miliana.

Though her expression remained calm, now that Ganeth was within striking distance, Serica could feel the full weight of his aura. Her opponent sent chills down her spine and made the hair on her nape stand on end.

Can I defeat him?

Despite her usual confidence, the first thought that crossed her mind was one of doubt.

“Our numbers are evenly matched. Even if the Great Wall has fallen, Yoman itself won’t. Capturing you will be my first priority.”

“Same here.”

Ganeth looked at Serica, surprised that she could stand before a Sword Master like him without being overwhelmed.

“I have a reason to capture you.”

“As you should.”

A curious smile tugged at the corners of Ganeth’s lips. Ever since he had become one of the five Sword Masters on the continent, he had encountered countless challengers and students eager to learn from him. And no matter the circumstances, their ultimate goal was always the same—to test their limits and surpass them, using Ganeth as a stepping stone.

“It’s been a while.” Ganeth chuckled.

How long had it been since he last faced an opponent willing to throw their life on the line, regardless of their strength?

“Let’s see if your skills match your words.”

“I’ve heard they call you the Halberd... How about ditching that moniker? I mean, you don’t seem like you know how to properly use your weapon anyway.”

“What?”

“Just hand it over to me.”

Serica spun her long staff behind her back, and Ganeth raised an eyebrow slightly at the sight.

“Haah!!”

With a sharp cry, her staff froze over with a cold sheen. The spear she wielded, crafted from an elven wand based on sleet, was certainly a unique weapon, but what truly piqued Ganeth’s interest was something else entirely.

That stance...

Watching her with mild surprise, Ganeth chuckled and shook his head.

Crack...!!

The snow beneath Serica’s feet hardened into ice as she launched herself forward, twisting her staff in mid-air.

Whirr...!!

With both hands pressed together, she pushed the handle of her staff, causing the spearhead to spin sharply.

Baam!! Boom—!!

The tip of the sleet staff glowed, forming razor-sharp ice blades that shot toward Ganeth.

“Hmph...!”

Ganeth held his breath, gripping his halberd tightly as he swung it upward in a diagonal slash, shattering the incoming ice blades with a resounding crash.

Rather than keeping his distance from the advancing Serica, Ganeth closed the gap, charging directly into her.

“...?!!”

A typical halberd featured a spearhead for thrusting, an axe blade for slashing, and a hook on the opposite side for grappling. This versatility was the weapon’s strength, but Ganeth’s halberd was different.

Clank—!!

The halberd’s blade aimed for Serica’s back. Instead of a traditional axe blade, it resembled a massive sword blade, designed more for reaping like a scythe than for slashing, forcing Ganeth to use it primarily to pull and trap his opponents. This meant that the distance between him and his opponent was crucial.

...Or so Serica had judged when she saw Ganeth’s halberd, assuming his attack strategy.

Counterattack...!

But she was caught off guard by Ganeth’s unexpected charge. This made her grit her teeth in surprise, realizing there was no escape.

The halberd’s blade was behind her, and a wrong move could mean her head. This was a completely different fighting style than what she had expected. Ganeth wasn’t using his halberd as a mere weapon, but as a tool to completely restrict his opponent's movements.

“Damn it!!”

She ducked in an attempt to evade the blade of the halberd, but as she lowered her head, Ganeth’s palm suddenly filled her vision.

Thud...!!

The first strike was enough to make her vision blurry and her mind go blank.

Thud! Thud-thud-thud―!!

Ganeth did not relent. Even after letting go of his halberd, he continued to land dozens of punches on Serica in the few seconds his spear remained airborne.

“Urgh...!!”

Serica’s head jerked from side to side as his blows connected with her abdomen, sides, and finally her chin, snapping her head back sharply.

“...”

Then, as if waiting for this precise moment, Ganeth yanked his halberd back with all his might.

Whoosh...!!

The blade of the halberd came crashing down toward her neck.

Screech!!

Serica twisted in the nick of time, raising her staff with both hands to block the strike. The collision sounded like metal being scraped.

“Frost Hand!!”

As she chanted, her staff froze over, and the frost quickly spread to the blade of the halberd, coating it in a layer of white ice.

Crack...!! Bang!!

With both weapons encased in ice, Serica quickly pulled her staff away and shouted, “Ice Field!!”

A large sheet of ice formed beneath Ganeth’s feet, momentarily freezing him in place.

“Hyaaa!!”

With her face battered and bruised, Serica lunged at Ganeth’s vital point.

Using a technique called Twin Spear, she swung her spear in such a way that it seemed as though she were attacking with two spearheads simultaneously, aiming at Ganeth with a strange and unpredictable trajectory.

This is the first time I’ve seen a sorcerer use magic like this. Swordsmen usually just condense their mana into their weapons...

Serica wasn’t simply combining magic with spear techniques; rather, she was seamlessly weaving both into her combat style, using them in perfect harmony as though performing two tasks at once. Her fluid, ever-changing movements were so fast that it was hard to believe she was a sorcerer.

Is this Black Slash Seven Forms? No, it’s a bit different.

Ganeth’s eyes widened in surprise as he blocked her strikes. He wasn’t necessarily taken aback by her strength, but by how closely her stance resembled the techniques of the Spear King.

Focusing his mana, Ganeth caused the ice clinging to the axe blade of his halberd to melt away like snow.

But she’s too slow.

Although Serica was fast by a sorcerer’s standards, to a Sword Master like Ganeth, she was still sluggish.

Clang!! Clang-clang-clang―!!

Serica pushed herself to the limit, delivering sharp thrusts with her spear, but Ganeth parried each of her blows with little effort. If her opponent had been merely a Sword Expert, they wouldn’t have been able to withstand her spear strikes combined with her magic.

Crunch—!!

Ganeth lifted his halberd and spun it like a windmill, catching Serica’s staff in the rotation. The pressure was too much, and with a loud crack, her staff shattered.

“...!!”

Then, Ganeth slammed the halberd's shaft down onto Serica’s shoulder.

“Argh—!!”

With a dull thud, she was slammed into the snow.

“Your spear technique is similar to the Spear King’s, but there’s something distinctive about yours. Do you have any connection to him?”

As Ganeth pressed the halberd’s shaft down on her shoulder, Serica trembled violently, as though her bones were about to shatter.

“Ghah...! N-No... I don’t even know who the Spear King is. I’ve never seen him. I just thought of this after reading the books from Antihum that he supposedly read,” Serica groaned through the pain, her voice strained.

With that, Ganeth looked at her with an even keener interest.

“...You created a spear technique on your own without ever seeing one?”

“I may not know the basics, but I’ve read enough books on spear techniques to get an idea.”

To think that a self-taught spear technique could resemble the Black Slash Seven Forms of the Spear King...

Ganeth was speechless.

“Are you a spear wielder?” he asked.

“No.”

“Then how long have you been training with a spear?”

“...It’s been less than a year since I first properly held one,” Serica replied, frowning as if to ask why he was so interested in such trivial details.

How incredible of a talent... It’s a shame to kill someone like her.

Ganeth found himself captivated by Serica, staring at her for a moment as if forgetting they were on the battlefield.

“It’s clear that I’ve lost.”

Serica raised her hands in surrender and tossed aside her broken staff, glancing at the halberd embedded in her shoulder.

“The claim that you’re the strongest in the principality holds true. If only I had another year, or at least six more months, things might have been different.”

“Heh...” Ganeth couldn’t help chuckling at how confidently Serica spoke, even as she was on the ground. She seemed to be just a teenager, and yet she had the audacity to suggest that the gap between them was merely a few months of experience.

“I like your confidence, kid. It’s just unfortunate that we met as enemies. Killing someone with your potential... The civil war will soon end, and your side is bound to lose. Why not join me instead?”

“Who said we’re going to lose?” Serica scoffed.

“...What?”

Ganeth was taken aback by her audacious response.

“I may have lost this duel, but I’ve won the war,” Serica declared confidently, though her gaze wasn’t on Ganeth but on something in the sky behind him.

“Waaaahhhhhhh...!!”

“Yeaaaahh...!!”

It was then that cheers echoed from below the broken wall.

“...!!”

Ganeth quickly turned his head.

Fwoooosh—!!

In that instant, a massive winged creature soared up from behind the collapsed wall of Yoman. The wyvern, blocking out the sun with its wings, circled the sky before slowly descending to the ground.

Crunch—! Crunch—!

The beast was clutching a soldier’s corpse in its jaws, blood still dripping from the pulpy mess as it kept chewing, seemingly unsatisfied.

That bridle...

Ganeth’s expression hardened.

The massive wyvern, with crimson scales that looked like a flowing mane on either side of its jaw, was unmistakably distinct from the others. Any knight of the principality would recognize it.

That’s the wyvern of Terix, the captain of the 1st Wyvern Squadron. Has the First Squadron been deployed? But why is it here...?

At that moment, as if it were the most natural thing, someone descended from the creature’s head—not Terix, but a boy much younger.

“Good job, Serica. Your duel with Ganeth was quite a sight. I’m sure it was a valuable experience.”

“...You came late on purpose, didn’t you?” she responded, curling her lips slightly as she recalled seeing the wyvern’s wings just as she had fallen during Ganeth’s initial attack.

Gulp—

Ganeth, feeling the tension in the air, unwittingly swallowed. He was shocked to realize that he, a Sword Master, had instinctively gone on guard.

“The Great Wall has fallen.”

As if on cue, the blizzard ceased, and Karyl’s voice rang out clearly across the battlefield, cutting through the clear air.

“The Battle of Yoman is ours. We are the victors.”