The Sword Emperor Transmigrates

Chapter 157

When two Demigod Tier masters emitted their full power, the air around them would warp as the laws of nature bent.

Audrey and Demian weren’t even using augmented energy, let alone a unique trait, but the world was distorted just because they felt a little irked. Even Leonard took a step back. He was beginning to understand the power of the Demigod Tier.

Audrey and Demian. A glaive and a longsword.

The two weapons slowly began to move, each tracing their opponent’s openings. It didn’t seem as if Audrey and Demian were planning to use any auras or unique traits to resolve their fight, but they didn’t seem to have any intention of using words either.

This isn’t good. If I try to step in between them, they’ll take the sight of movement as a starting signal. Both of them had flawless fighting skills, so whoever made the first move and entered their opponent’s reach would be at a disadvantage.

That was why they were waiting.

They were waiting for something to break the perfect balance between them. It would only take a single feather—a single speck of dust—to set them off.

...Wait. Isn’t this a good thing, as long as they don’t kill each other?

Just as Leonard was wondering what to say to make the two commanders stop, a new thought occurred to him.

This was an opportunity.

If he could watch two Demigod Tier masters fight, just witnessing the battle would give him an enormous amount of experience. It would also no doubt greatly help him perfect his own martial arts.

“You’re quite calm, Demian. That’s unlike you,” Audrey remarked.

“What?”

“You were always running around with your tail between your legs like a little mutt. Don’t you remember? Or perhaps you’re thinking about all the times I disciplined you?”

“Ha! Ridiculous. Shouldn’t the person who asked for a fight make the first move? Looks like you’re the one who’s scared.”

“You’re as duplicitous as always.”

“Why should a warrior mince his words?”

As they exchanged insults, the tension heightened until it was as taut as a bowstring that would snap at the slightest touch.

The glaive pointed at the upper half of the body, while the longsword pointed at the lower part. Both of them had gone perfectly still, but at the distance that they were standing, Audrey had the clear advantage. No matter how the match began, she would gain the upper hand in their first exchange.

Riiiiiiiing—!!

The alarm sounded everywhere, not just in Meliora’s residence. The sharp mechanical sound made their blades stop.

If it weren’t for the warning bell, the sound would have acted as the signal to start their battle. In fact, the sword and the glaive had crossed several meters in a single moment, but they had stopped just before they met. Leonard had just managed to glimpse it.

What a shame. For a few seconds, he felt disappointed that he’d missed the chance to see two powerful warriors clash, but the look on his face quickly changed.

“Commander! I-I mean, Commanders!” Meliora, the active-duty mage who had summoned Demian, had sprinted back to her laboratory and to the two commanders as fast as she could. “The gate is going to open earlier than we thought! In two hours! And some say that there will be a Demoniac Corps Commander!”

A murderous look flashed across Audrey’s eyes. “This is urgent.”

“Wait, is that why you summoned me here? It wasn’t about Leonard?” Demian interjected.

Audrey shook her head. “No, I was serious about that too. Let’s continue once this is over.”

“Continue! If you drag that old man Wade into this too, it could end up a total mess! You’re fourth in line, so just be quiet and wait.”

“Fourth? Who else is there?”

“Grace. But I won’t stop you from trying to negotiate with her for your place in line.”

Leonard watched the commanders retract their weapons and bicker for a bit before Audrey, the one in charge of the place, turned to him.

“We’re going to immediately head to the Seventh Hellgate to prepare to defend the base. Will you come with us?”

“Yes, of course.”

“How much do you know about the Black Dragon Knights’ core mission?”

“I am well aware of the basics.”

“So you don’t know any of the details. I’ll explain on the way there.”

As Demian listened to the two of them talk, he stared at Audrey as if seeing a ghost. He couldn’t help himself. The heartless witch of the Black Dragon was being nice to someone? Not even the other commanders who’d worked with them for decades had ever seen her act like this.

“...Are you actually going senile?” he unconsciously muttered out loud.

Audrey glared at him. “If you don’t mind yourself, I’ll cut off your tongue.”

“Or maybe not? What in the world is this?” He looked back at her with a bewildered look.

Leonard and the Archmages followed behind them. As soon as they stepped out of Meliora’s quarters, the commanders began to run, traveling tens of meters with each leaping stride, but the three others behind them were no average people either. Leonard used a lightness art just like they were doing, while the Archmages used Floating Board to fly, and they kept pace with them, not falling behind.

When they left Meliora’s dwelling, it opened up to a large, long hallway, and past that was a vast underground pass. This was the seventh base of the Order of the Black Dragon.

“How much do you know about Hellgates? They’re the doors to the Demonic Realm,” Audrey asked from up front, glancing over her shoulder to look at Leonard. She listened as he recited word for word what he had read. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“As you’ve read, there are nine Hellgates, which are the borders between the Middle Realm and the Demonic Realm,” she added. “The name comes from the Nine Hells, which is where the ruling Demoniacs were born, according to legend. They’re not completely unrelated either. The great demon Crom Dubh’s body was split into nine parts when the gods’ powers struck and shattered the earth at the end of the God-Slaying War. Not only did it fracture the ground, it penetrated all the way to the Underworld and splintered the corpse.

“That is also how the Middle Realm and the Underworld, which is now called the Demonic Realm, became connected. Their power ripped the boundary between the two Realms, and Hellgates are openings that did not close completely. Sealing a dimension that was ruptured by a True God, and a Chief God at that, requires the power of the same type of entity. Not even Deification Tiers can do it.”

“...And these so-called gods left nothing useful behind. They even came crawling out after they died,” Leonard concluded.

“Sigh. You’re not wrong.” Audrey didn’t contradict him. “Fortunately, Hellgates aren’t like passageways that are always open. They’re more like volcanoes that erupt periodically. When that happens, we call them ‘bursts.’ As the name implies, that’s when the Hellgates burst open.

“When those ruptures don’t close completely, they distort more and more over time, and when it can no longer hold out, beings from both Realms will begin to pour into the other. That is why we cannot create bases or strongholds in the vicinity of Hellgates. We have to be careful because there’s too big of a risk of falling into the Demonic Realm.

“But from the perspective of the Demoniacs, when a Hellgate bursts, it’s an opportunity to invade the Middle Realm. When higher-ranking Demoniacs also imbue their power into Hellgates or intentionally try to cross over, the timing and scale of a burst can change.”

Leonard recalled what Meliora had said. “I think I heard that there was something called Corps Commanders. How strong are they?”

She answered, “The Demoniacs that can pose a true threat are ranked as nobles or higher. The monsters with lower ranks have a clear limit to how strong they can become, and even at the peak of their power, they cannot surpass the Demigod Tier. However, those in the noble class, such as the teeth and tongue Demoniacs, can progress to the point of being able to stand their own against a commander in a full-frontal fight.

“When those high-ranking Demoniacs lead invasions, they take on the role of Corps Commanders and become our first-priority targets. All commoner Demoniacs can do is expand their physical capabilities and their special abilities, but noble Demoniacs either have superpowers that resemble gods’ authorities or unique traits in martial arts.

“I’ve fought and killed several of them before, but I can’t deny that they are tedious enemies on multiple fronts,” Audrey admitted. “Still, while they’re strong enough that commanders have to interfere, they’re not on the same level as us. You could say that they’re stronger than Transcendence Tier knights but weaker than Demigod Tier knights.”

“That’s quite ambiguous,” Leonard remarked.

“They can become even more difficult to fight depending on the type of superpower they have. Out of all the ones I’ve fought, the most troublesome one had the power to possess humans.”

“Possess humans? How did you fight it?”

At that, Audrey’s face turned bitter. “I killed it with the person it had possessed.”

Even though she could freely use a heart sword, she hadn’t been able to kill the Demoniac alone. The monster hadn’t been able to overtake Audrey herself, so it was obviously weaker than the Demigod Tier, but this meant that it was hard to overpower a high-ranking Demoniac’s special ability with martial arts alone.

The seasoned troops of the Black Dragon Knights were all among the strongest warriors in the Transcendence Tier. It was hard to believe that a Demoniac had been able to possess them.

...Wait. A realization flickered across Leonard’s mind. If they trained in Buddhist or Daoist cultivation methods, wouldn’t they be able to resist the Demoniacs’ abilities or reduce their power?

In murim, there had also been occasional cases where those who had weak hearts and minds became possessed by an evil spirit or infected with wicked thoughts and went mad. The only reason they never became widespread catastrophes was because the afflicted were healed by passing ascetics or monks. They would solve the issue by reciting a few lines of Buddhist or Daoist scriptures and transferring a little bit of their internal energy to the victim.

“You don’t need to worry so much. Dragon Eyes protect you from any powers that try to invade your mind, you see. Your body won’t be stolen.” Demian suddenly appeared at Leonard’s side and patted his shoulder. In any case, it appeared that he was misinterpreting the boy’s silence as fear of the Demoniacs’ special abilities. Or perhaps as fear of Audrey, who had killed the person who had been possessed in order to kill the monster.

In reality, it was neither.

Ugh. Just as he was about to reply to the commander, Leonard swallowed his words as he suppressed a groan.

It was because they were getting closer to the Hellgate.

The air was thick with a force that was suppressing life itself. It made him understand why there wasn’t even a single speck of moss anywhere. If it was already this bad at the entrance, he couldn’t even imagine what hellish world awaited behind the door.

“We’re here,” Audrey said.

In just a few minutes, they had reached the edge of the Hellgate’s bursting radius. The troops had come all the way here to fight Demoniacs, and they had a magnificent sight.

This was the frontline.

The underground cavern was hundreds of meters beneath the ground, creating a battlefield with an area of tens of kilometers.

Leonard was impressed by the vast size, but he squinted. It’s at least several hundred meters high and can fit at least several villages, and then some.

It was suited to hold a concentrated battle.

In addition, the cavern was covered with advanced magic arrays. Are those Class 8 spells? No, they’re Class 9. There are tons of defensive spells, and there are even those for protecting the ceiling and the ground.

Even with his Dragon Eyes, he could just barely see the outlines. But naturally, the magic arrays approaching the power of god caught his eyes. In martial arts terms, they were no different from the carvings a Profound Realm master made with a sword.

There were even several spells that strengthened allies and weakened enemies, just like Jack Russell’s glowing Helios spell.

Demian, who had those same Dragon Eyes, grinned. “Amazing, isn’t it? These magic arrays were laid by the elders of the Wickeline family themselves. The cavern won’t collapse even if all of us use our full power, so you can fight as hard as you want.”

Leonard knew that Demian wasn’t exaggerating one bit. Neither the Southern God Style, which displayed an amazing amount of destructive power, nor the Eastern God Style, which nullified natural laws themselves could touch the magic dominating the cavern. Perhaps he could have a chance if he became a fully fledged Demigod Tier fighter, but there was no other way he would ever lay a hand on the arrays.

Once the three of them passed by the impermeable fortifications, they arrived at an open space as vast as a plaza and were greeted by the polished spirit of 330 knights.

“This is the Black Dragon Seventh Division! Thirty official members and three hundred official members! All 330 are present!” a knight declared.

“For the glory of the Cardenas family! The Black Dragon will be victorious!” they all shouted.

Meliora and Calantha had stepped aside to another area before they’d noticed.

The commanders calmly took it in, but Leonard gulped. Amazing! These forces alone would easily be able to fend off an entire murim sect.

There were thirty Transcendence Tier masters and three hundred others, whom the Transcendence Tier masters led in groups of ten. These three hundred were skilled warriors who only needed to progress the slightest bit more to surpass the Tenth Degree External Force Tier and reach the Transcendence Tier.

As expected of martial artists, they were all thoroughly trained in group tactics, armed with a sense of duty that made them unafraid of death.

With his current level of power, Leonard could probably win against them all, but the Yeon Mu-Hyuk of his past life wouldn’t be able to handle all three hundred.

And above all, their equipment is ridiculously advanced.

He assumed that their equipment was for fighting Demoniacs, which had all sorts of powers. It wasn’t just the official members who were equipped either. Even the reserve troops were armed with the finest artifacts from head to toe. They had defensive artifacts to protect them from every type of element, and there were even expensive magic stones embedded in their swords and spears so that they could aim for each Demoniac’s weak point.

With this level of preparation, even an External Force Tier fighter could fight a Demoniac all by themself. Rather than relying on one extremely powerful warrior, the knights were arranged so that ten powerful warriors would nurture a hundred elite troops.

It’s an army.

This was completely different from the Order of the White Dragon, which was made up of a small number of veterans.

“Hm.” Audrey stepped up to the dais that had been placed in front of the crowd and thought for a moment. Then she gestured to Leonard, who was standing behind her.

He quickly stepped forward and looked at the commander, asking with his eyes why she had brought him forward. She gave a light smile and turned back to the knights to address them.

“I assume that you all know that the Hellgate burst has been pushed up.”

They answered with their silence, not even blinking.

“Originally, I was not going to keep you for long when we have less than two hours before the battle begins, but our plans have changed a little bit.”

She gently pulled Leonard forward. “For the next hour, you will be learning special sword techniques and ways of mana use that are effective against Demoniacs. I have checked the validity of these techniques myself, so you do not need to suspect their efficacy or request proof. Am I understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Their answer shook the cavern. Leonard turned to Audrey as he reluctantly stood in front of the 330 knights. She looked back at him, smiling with her eyes. It appeared that Demian hadn’t expected this either, and he was glaring a hole into the back of her head.

Who knew that I would end up playing teacher to the Black Dragon Knights? Leonard had been taken by surprise. All he’d meant to do was pass on the techniques to Audrey by just showing her a little bit. However, his thoughts quickly changed.

They were expecting an invasion led by a Corps Commander.

There was no better way to test his martial arts. They worked well on the weakest and lower-ranking Demoniacs, but the Black Dragon Knights couldn’t capture mid- and high-ranking Demoniacs to experiment on.

“...Let us begin.”

Leonard also wasn’t completely inexperienced in teaching swordplay. I can just do it the same way I did when I was the Sword Emperor.

As he recalled those old memories, the air around him changed.

For a moment, his age had seemed to match his appearance, perhaps due to being overshadowed by Audrey. But his presence became heavier, as if he were an elder several generations older than them. It was usually hard to tell the age of a Cardenas based on their appearance, but even the knights who had sensed his true age based on his aura were momentarily thrown off guard.

“Draw your weapons. We do not have much time, and this situation is urgent. I will not take any questions or comments. Nor will I explain things twice, so I expect you all to focus properly,” he ordered.

The air in the room changed, and the knights felt strangely pressured, making them move. With his fighting style being centered on murim’s martial arts, Leonard gave off a demeanor that the Transcendence Tier knights, who were only members of the Cardenas family, didn’t have.

Before the knights even processed that they’d instinctively obeyed his command, Leonard immediately began to informally demonstrate the technique.

“The technique I am going to teach you today is called...”

Right. Skanda’s Demon Felling Sword was originally named for its ability to topple evil. What would it be called in this world?

“...It is called Demon’s Bane.”

Something that kills a demon.