NOVEL NEXT Chapter 60: A Swordmaster’s Oath
Recap – Chapter 59: Sword and Fang
The storm fell silent. Jemil and the swordmaster stood victorious over the Herald, but their triumph carried shadows—the Predator's Fang now burned in Jemil's grip, its hunger whispering in the back of his mind. For the first time, the swordmaster let her walls falter, revealing traces of the woman beneath the blade.
But the tower never allowed rest. The storm cleared, revealing the next floor: a hall of endless swords, each a monument to broken promises. To pass, Jemil and the swordmaster would need more than strength. They would need an oath strong enough to bind their fates.
Main Story
Scene 1 – The Hall of Blades
The stormlight dimmed, and silence pressed heavy. The ground shimmered into polished steel beneath Jemil's boots, stretching into infinity. Thousands of swords jutted from the walls and floor, their hilts catching the pale light, their blades humming as though they remembered every strike they had ever made.
The air itself felt sharp.
The swordmaster stopped beside Jemil, her voice unusually soft.
"This is a graveyard," she murmured. "Every blade here was carried by someone who swore an oath… and failed."
Jemil frowned. "Failed how?"
She brushed her fingertips over a sword buried hilt-deep in the wall. Her hand trembled, though she quickly withdrew it. "Some carried promises they could never keep. Others were betrayed. Every broken vow leaves a scar. When the warrior falls, their blade ends up here."
Her voice cracked at the last word. She clenched her fist to steady it, but Jemil saw it—the grief buried beneath her steel mask.
The swords began to sing. A low hum, rising into a chorus. From the center of the hall, one blade rose from the floor, glowing faintly, hovering between them.
Then came the voice. Not thunderous like the Herald's, but calm, precise—like steel against flesh.
"Two souls enter. One bond must be sworn. Speak your oath… or be cut apart."
Scene 2 – The Test Begins
The floating blade pulsed with light, casting reflections across their faces. The swordmaster's composure fractured further, her mask slipping away. Fear flashed in her eyes—not of battle, but of vulnerability.
Jemil tightened his grip on the Predator's Fang. The whisper inside him stirred, urging him to claim the oath, to bind her to him by force. Take her. Devour her. She'll never leave if you carve the bond into her soul.
Jemil ground his teeth. Shut up.
The glowing sword floated closer. "Speak, or bleed."
Jemil inhaled sharply. His eyes turned to the swordmaster, whose gaze flickered between him and the countless swords humming in judgment.
"I…" she began, but the words caught. Her lips trembled. Her hands curled into fists at her sides. "I cannot."
The swords around them rang louder. Several loosened from the walls, hovering like drawn weapons, points aimed at her chest.
Jemil stepped in front of her instinctively, raising his Fang. "Then I'll speak," he said, his voice cutting through the metallic song.
The Fang hissed in his hand. Swear the hunt. Swear the kill. Swear the blood.
He ignored it, lifting his head high. "I swear—"
The swordmaster's hand shot out, gripping his wrist. "No." Her eyes, fierce and trembling all at once, locked onto his. "If an oath is to be sworn, it will not be you who carries it alone."
Scene 3 – The Swordmaster's Walls Break
The blades stilled, hovering, waiting.
The swordmaster stepped forward, pushing Jemil's hand down. Her breath shuddered as she faced the floating blade, her voice unsteady but growing stronger.
"All my life… I have sworn oaths I could not keep," she whispered. "To my clan. To my master. To myself. I thought if I locked my heart away, if I lived only as a sword, I could never fail again."
Her shoulders shook. Her eyes glistened in the pale glow.
"But the truth is—I was already failing. I abandoned who I was. I abandoned what I wanted."
Her gaze shifted to Jemil, sharp yet soft, walls cracking open at last. "If I am to swear an oath here… it will be with you. And it will not be as a blade, but as myself."
The air vibrated. The chorus of swords quieted, listening.
She took Jemil's free hand in hers, grip trembling. "So hear me, tower. I swear—"
Scene 4 – The Oath of Two Souls
Her voice grew steady, the tremor hardening into resolve.
"I swear to fight at Jemil's side, not as his weapon, but as his equal. I swear that no wall, no storm, no blade will part me from him. I swear… that even if I fall, my spirit will remain bound to his."
Her words struck like steel against steel. The glowing blade pulsed, brighter and brighter.
Jemil felt the Fang writhe, hungering to twist her oath into something darker, something binding by force. But he raised his voice, drowning out its whispers.
"And I swear to you," Jemil said, turning to her, voice rough but sure. "That I will not let the tower, or the curse, or my own hunger make me lose you. I swear that I will remember. No matter what the tower takes—I will remember you."
The light exploded.
The hall shuddered. The swords sang a final, resonant note, then one by one sank back into the walls, silent once more.
The glowing blade lowered, point-first into the ground, embedding itself. A path opened ahead, the steel parting like water to reveal a staircase.
But Jemil barely noticed. His hand was still in hers. Her walls had shattered, and she did not pull away.
Scene 5 – The Aftermath
For a long moment, silence hung between them. Only their joined hands, their ragged breaths, their hearts racing in unison.
Then the swordmaster looked away, a faint flush coloring her cheeks. "Don't… don't mistake this for anything but necessity," she muttered, her tsundere mask hastily sliding back into place. "The oath was required. Nothing more."
Jemil smirked faintly, though his chest still burned with the weight of her words. "Sure. Just necessity."
Her grip lingered on his hand a moment longer before she finally let go, stepping past him toward the open stairway. "Come on, Summoner. The tower won't wait."
But her voice was softer now. And for the first time, her back wasn't turned to him in distance—it was turned with the quiet trust of someone who knew he'd follow.
Next Chapter Preview – Chapter 61: The Whispering Blades
The oath is sworn, but the tower never gives without taking. As Jemil and the swordmaster ascend, the Predator's Fang begins to stir more violently, feeding on the bond they forged. Whispers coil in Jemil's mind, threatening to twist his promise into obsession.
On the next floor, the trial is crueler still—a hall where blades whisper the truths warriors try to hide. To pass, Jemil and the swordmaster must face not their strength, but their secrets. And some truths… may cut deeper than any sword.
Call to Action (CTA)
⚔️ The oath has been sworn, but can a promise forged in the tower's heart survive the hunger of the Predator's Fang? And when the blades begin whispering their secrets, whose truth will be the first to shatter?
👉 Continue reading in Chapter 61: The Whispering Blades!