The Sword Emperor Transmigrates

Chapter 165

Audrey wasn’t there to stop them, so Leonard and Demian immediately returned to the Ivory Forest.

Who knew that I would end up being away for several months? Leonard thought. I thought I was only going to be there for a little bit.

The air no longer felt tense.

The landscape was distinct. Because of the Hellgate, there wasn’t a single plant in these canyons. It made sense that the scenery would catch Leonard’s eye—he’d just come from the Black Dragon base, which was on the front lines, and returned to the Ivory Forest, which was all the way in the rear.

Demian gave a yawn so enormous that his jaw cracked. “Leonard, I’m going to go back and get some sleep. There’s still quite some time until Grace’s arrival, so rest up and don’t go anywhere. It seems you’ve been through a lot, what with those old geezers at the Black Dragon base.”

“It was better experience than I expected,” he admitted.

That caught Demian by surprise. “Well, there are things you can learn while teaching others, but it shouldn’t be easy, given your age.”

Then, Demian suddenly burst out laughing, realizing how silly his own words sounded. If Leonard were just a normal boy, commanders wouldn’t be bickering with each other over who would get him first and Leonard wouldn’t have been able to defeat Castor, who’d nearly been an Intermediary Void Deity, and invent techniques that completely changed the tide of battle for the Black Dragon Knights.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll do fine on your own. I’ll see you later,” Demian said, giving a light wave as they parted ways.

As Leonard watched his silhouette grow smaller, he realized that the commander’s injuries weren’t minor. He hid it so well that Leonard was just barely able to detect it even with his Dragon Eyes, but the mana flow in Demian’s internal organs was unbalanced. Though he wasn’t in critical condition, he’d been severely wounded.

Is Apollo so strong that he can inflict serious injuries even when three commanders team up against him? Leonard marveled at the idea of such power. They say that he is one of the five most powerful gods of Olympus. No wonder people say his divine power of the sun is so dangerous. Other than Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, I don’t think there’s a single god stronger than him.

The sun was a celestial body that human societies naturally revered. Deities that represented the sun were at the very least major gods, and there were no small number of pantheons where they were the rulers of the gods.

There was Ra, the god of creation; Surya, the god of light; Shamash, the god of justice; and countless other examples. Like lightning, the ability to harness the sun made these gods much stronger. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

...Now that I think about it, the three-legged crow is also a divine entity that represents the sun. It might be worth integrating into the Southern God Style.

Though the Cardenas family could not permit the existence of Void Deities, it wouldn’t be a big deal if Leonard studied or imitated their powers. After all, the fundamentals of martial arts tended to arise from imitation.

One of the basic Shaolin techniques, Shaolin Five Fists, was heavily inspired by animals. It emulated how animals were born weak and imitated the behavior of the strong yearning for power.

“Oh! Leonard!” a cheerful voice called out in greeting.

Before he could contemplate further, someone jogged up to him. It was Janet, the White Dragon Knight who’d fought Castor alongside him. Her rose-red hair swayed lightly, matching the rhythm of her footsteps. She had two swords hanging from her waist as usual, and she appeared to be injured, as she was favoring her left leg.

“Janet. It’s been a while,” he replied.

“I should be the one saying that! I heard that you were going to be temporarily reassigned to the Order of the Black Dragon, but I didn’t think you would be away for several months.”

“I didn’t expect it either,” Leonard admitted.

All he’d wanted to do was test whether demon-felling martial arts worked on Demoniacs. But not only had he ended up joining the battle, he’d also become the Black Dragon Knights’ teacher. In the end, the experience had been nothing but beneficial. However, had someone told him this two months ago, he would have likely hesitated.

Janet seemed to notice how he felt and didn’t press any further. “Oh right! Did you hear that we took down Circe? Commander Demian said he’d tell you.”

“I did, but I didn’t know it was the 3rd Division that defeated her.”

“So he didn’t tell you everything. This is what I mean when I say he’s an airhead. He only focuses on the highest priority issues and brushes aside everything else,” she grumbled.

“He really does,” Leonard agreed, nodding.

While Audrey was a staunch rule-follower who didn’t let the smallest thing slide, Demian was goal-oriented and only focused on one thing at a time. He waved aside small talk and trivial matters and focused solely on his order of business. His superiors loved this about him, but his subordinates had to deal with the odds and ends.

Demian was a very capable man, but he wasn’t exactly the best person to have as a boss.

“I got this injury from Circe too. It was nothing compared to when we fought Pollux, but she kept using poison and summoning monsters, so it was inevitable that we would get hurt,” Janet explained.

“Are you all right?”

“There’s a curse attached to the injury, so I’ll be limping for at least a month. Hugo, Grady, and even Captain Isaac are all in a similar state.”

They couldn’t disregard how dangerous or unpredictable a Void Deity could be, even if they were formerly a Lesser God. After all, Circe had managed to inflict both light and severe injuries on the White Dragon Knights, who were no doubt among the strongest of the Transcendence Tiers.

If it weren’t for the expertise of the Cardenas and their partnership with the Wickelines, they would not be able to flush out the poison, and people could have possibly died even after defeating Circe.

Leonard had already read her files at the White Dragon base, so he could guess what they had gone through. She’s a witch who can make people turn into monsters by making them go mad with passion or turn them into pigs or other livestock with a wave of her hand. I don’t think she would have let them get away just because they defeated her fairly.

Not all Void Deities were arrogant and cruel. There were some like Tyr who accepted that their time had lapsed and some like Pollux who accepted fair matches like a proper martial artist.

But just like most humans, most gods couldn’t simply be categorized into “good” or “bad.” Some were undoubtedly evil, but some were in between. Circe was one such deity. She was neutral, leaning toward evil.

“I’m glad that it’s not a permanent curse,” Leonard commented, observing Janet’s leg with his Dragon Eyes. He saw that the curse would lift and disappear in about a month.

Things could have turned out differently if they’d fought the old Circe, but she was only a Void Deity with a fragment of herself left, so it appeared that she couldn’t cast any long-lasting curses.

Janet already seemed to know this, and she gave him a faint smile. “It’s much too early for me to retire from the front lines. Maybe I’ll consider it after another fifty years.”

She said it casually, but Leonard knew that it wasn’t easy for members of the Seven Great Orders to safely reach fifty years of service. They faced entities like Celestials, Demoniacs, and Void Deities on the daily. One mistake could lead to instant death or something just as bad. Transcendence Tier knights, who were used to living in wealth and glory, could also die at a moment’s notice.

Even commanders weren’t much better. Demigod Tier experts had a lifespan of at least three hundred years, but Wade, who was the oldest, hadn’t even reached two hundred yet.

And that means their predecessors are all dead.

Those who only saw the Arcadian Empire’s glory lived and died without ever knowing this. And yet the kingdoms jealous of their prestige continued to send suicide squads at them like fools. They remained self-absorbed, never considering that the peace they enjoyed came from others’ blood and sacrifice.

“Oh, Leonard,” Janet said. “If you’ve just returned, you haven’t had the chance to go back to your lodging, have you?”

“Indeed.”

“The sword made of Pollux’s iron fists arrived yesterday, or maybe the day before. They sent it to your lodging, so you should take a look as soon as you return.”

“Ah.” He’d forgotten about it. Now he remembered that he’d obtained Pollux’s fists, which were embedded with Pollux’s authority, as spoils and sent them to the Jehoia family to commission a sword. Two months had already passed, so it made sense that they had completed it. “Understood. Let’s attempt Aiolos once the 3rd Division is fully recovered.”

“Agreed. I’ll send your message along.”

Janet limped away, just as she had when she came here. Since she was a Transcendence Tier knight, she had no trouble moving, even with one leg injured. Leonard waited until her silhouette disappeared into the distance before he began to walk away.

He’d thought that he had long stopped caring about expensive items, but he couldn’t help but be intrigued by a sword made from a fragment of a god. Apparently, the swordsman in him still had desire—he felt the excitement boil up in him, growing hotter and hotter.

It only took him ten minutes to sprint from the Ivory Forest to the outskirts of the Forest of Swords, where his lodging was. He flung the door open.

It’s not dusty, he observed. Have they been keeping it clean with magic, or has someone been taking care of it while I was gone? Well, he barely had any personal items anyway, so he didn’t really care either way, especially because there was something else that captivated him.

“...This is it,” he whispered. He carefully picked up a long package wrapped in a type of leather he didn’t recognize.

It lit up that ever-familiar feeling engraved into his instincts, a feeling that any swordsman would recognize.

The feeling of holding a blade.

When he unwrapped the leather packaging, the sheath immediately caught his eye. It was undeniably a piece of art.

The pattern of scales delicately carved on the surface couldn’t have been made by someone who was simply a good craftsman. Not even Leonard himself could replicate something like it, despite being a swordsman himself.

It couldn’t have been made by anyone other than a Jehoia, a descendant of dvergrs, who were themselves descendants of dwarfs, the famed race of master craftsmen. If someone who had an eye for beauty, such as a merchant, saw it, their eyes would bulge from how valuable the sheath was.

I could get ten thousand gold coins from selling the sheath alone. But what was more valuable—no, incomparably more valuable—was what was inside.

Leonard felt his heart pound as he unsheathed the sword.

Shing.

Even the sound it made was so sharp that it sounded like it could cut. Though the blade was infused with Pollux’s authority, it was still made of iron, and its jet-black face reflected light like it was a mirror, making even the wielder look elegant.

Not even a named or ceremonial sword could even compare to it.

It was even more magnificent than a sword made by Ou Yezi,[1] the legendary blacksmith from ancient times.

“If this sword was in murim, it would leave a trail of blood everywhere it went,” Leonard said out loud.

Greedy, materialistic people would always exist, from Ascension Realm experts to sects who already had plenty of power and wealth.

Even the Sword of Awakening, whose very existence was unconfirmed, had caused a storm. When it was revealed that the sword they found was a fake, everyone was disappointed, but hundreds of people had already died by then.

Vrrrrr! Leonard only imbued a small amount of mana into the sword, but the blade began to emit a dim light. Aura was more conductive in this world compared to the qi in murim, but not even the mithril alloy sword given to him by the Cardenas family absorbed energy so smoothly.

Typically, a sword would break if the aura was too conductive. However, since this one was embedded with Pollux’s authority, it wouldn’t crack or be worn down even if he completely flooded it with energy.

Not even Leonard himself could break or dent the sword unless he was in the Demigod Tier.

“It really is a divine sword.”

He drew a line in the air and gave a wide grin.

This was an authority in material form, a sword made with the fragments of a god. It could offset magic and other authorities by nature. Unlike Mimong, it didn’t reject mana either, so it would be fit to be his main weapon.

This treasure could even help with the Western God Style, which he only had a vague idea of right now.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ou_Yezi☜