The Sword Emperor Transmigrates-Chapter 246

—A Blessed One of Poseidon, huh? I never thought I’d encounter one of them again, as they were rare even in the old era.

The Spirit King, whose life spanned eons, was unusually intrigued. It had been centuries since something had stirred a sense of déjà vu within him. Boreas was referring to Drake, a Blessed One of Poseidon, who was carefully guiding the ocean currents despite beads of sweat forming on his brow.

“I didn’t expect to meet a Spirit King from the ancient era either,” Drake replied, his voice steady but tense.

To those unfamiliar with the Spirit Realm, it was hard to comprehend. Within the elemental hierarchy, the title of King merely meant that the spirit’s power had temporarily expanded, granted authority not by innate strength but by the natural laws.

True Spirit Kings, like Boreas, who had once stood as equals among the deities of old, had long since disappeared or faded away.

—You don’t seem to lack power because you’re a mortal; rather, you lack experience. Are you afraid of your strength?

“...I suppose it’s hard not to be,” Drake admitted after a pause. “The more I become accustomed to it, the more I feel myself... changing.”

—Rejecting the opportunity to ascend to a higher form of existence? In the ancient era, humans would have sacrificed everything to attain this. It seems this era is vastly different from when we once roamed.

Boreas sighed softly but did not withhold his advice.

—Don’t resist it. A blessing as deeply embedded as yours cannot be expelled. You must master it yourself. Poseidon is gone, leaving behind only remnants. All you’re doing is taming a masterless power. At most, you’ll gain a longer lifespan and deeper insights into realms you couldn’t perceive before. That’s all.

“Why are you teaching me this much?” Drake asked, puzzled.

—Because the current situation is dire enough that even half-baked strength like yours must be nurtured!

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Drake’s eyes widened at the blunt response.

* * *

Kiiiiiiing!!!

Scylla roared, its six heads had briefly multiplied into nine before returning to six. The beams of light erupting from its jaws spread across hundreds of meters, tearing apart the very fabric of space.

The attack was not sharp or precise. It did not condense into a single cohesive force but scattered into dozens, even hundreds, of fractured rays. Like the cracks of shattered glass or the strands of a spider’s web, the light rippled outward. Against an equal opponent, its lack of focus might have been a weakness—but not here.

“Shit...! Did it hit me?!”

Demian groaned as he deflected the attack using the Mirror Blade, bending space repeatedly to reduce the damage. Still, he was forced to cut his left arm to stop the Hydra’s venom from spreading to the rest of his body.

Left unchecked, it would invade his organs and even cause his soul to decay. Fortunately, the venom spread slowly.

With gritted teeth, Demian used a healing scroll to regenerate his arm.

“Damn snake bastard...!”

Even fragmented, the powers of a True God entity were overwhelming. The attacks, though dispersed, exploited the absolute hierarchy of strength, leaving no room for the inferior Demigods to resist.

“I’ve already burned through more than half of the magic I’ve saved over fifty years, along with half my scrolls. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before we’re all wiped out.”

“Yeah. Our defensive formation is wearing thin. If even one of them is critically injured or dies, the entire formation will crumble,” Cruella, the Class 9 Grand Magus, assessed from atop the deck of Zaratan.

The Eighteen Arhat Formation they had deployed required every member to operate in perfect harmony, and losing even one person would result in immediate collapse. Ordinarily, the formation would distribute damage equally among all members, ensuring that either everyone survived or everyone fell. However, Scylla and Hydra’s combined powers defied such expectations.

Even with the functionality of the Eighteen Arhat Formation, it was not possible to disperse all the powers of Scylla and the Hydra. Even now, a few knights positioned closest to the collision points were accumulating more injuries than the rest.

“Scylla is getting stronger as well. No... more adept would be a better way to put it,” Cruella remarked.

“Exactly,” Nicholas agreed, frowning deeply. “The alliance of these Outer Gods is undoubtedly an unprecedented threat, but working together likely isn’t natural for them either. Mixing their powers and combining their authorities wouldn’t come easily.”

Indeed, there were telltale signs, like how the Hydra had not used its venom at the start, or how it had carelessly exposed its heads.

Despite their overwhelming strength, the two gods weren't experienced in such combat. They were immensely powerful yet unfamiliar with wielding their bodies.

Though their proficiency was improving through combat, they still needed more time to fully adapt. That sliver of inexperience was the expedition force’s only hope.

“...The problem is, that boy’s progress is so remarkable it’s hard to break this flow,” Cruella muttered, her gaze lingering on a distant figure.

“I won’t deny it. Even I’ve started expecting too much,” Nicholas admitted.

Supreme magic which borrowed the radiance of God was a heavy burden even for Class 9 mages, so it was common for the mage to catch their breath for a few minutes after using a supreme spell of that level.

As such, Leonard stood as an enigma. Not yet twenty, hailed as the greatest prodigy in the Cardenas family’s history, he captivated even the seasoned mages. In this moment, the impossible was unfolding before their eyes.

While Scylla’s six heads shredded reality itself, while the seasoned knight commanders scrambled to protect their lives, and while the Grand Magi forecasted dire outcomes—

Leonard alone pressed forward, wielding his sword resolutely. As the rifts in space approached him, Leonard slashed twice in quick succession. His blade didn't just cut; it obliterated the ruptures, reducing them to nothingness before they could expand.

Cutter of All Things

Sky and Clouds Piercer

Second Strike: Sky Splitting Cross Slash

The X-shaped slash created an impenetrable barrier that blocked even Scylla’s powers. The storm that seemed impossible to move through was split apart, protecting Leonard.

That alone should have been the end of it. Survival should have been the limit. Yet Leonard went beyond—finding a breakthrough point where there should have been none.

Heavenly Nature Sword Art

The Third Nature

Sword-Body Assimilation

Using the Heavenly Nature Sword Art with his jet-black sword instead of Mimong, Leonard fused his body with his blade—not wielding the sword like a tool but becoming the blade.

Following his transformation, Leonard pierced through a minuscule gap no larger than the eye of a needle resting in the vast expanse of sandy chaos before him.

—■■■■!?!

Even Scylla was momentarily stunned by this unthinkable maneuver. Frozen in disbelief, its reaction was delayed just enough. In that fleeting moment, Leonard reverted from blade to flesh, his power surging again.

No matter how mighty the ability, any power that was unleashed to its fullest would leave its wielder vulnerable. Facing the twelve wide-open eyes across its six heads, Leonard’s Mindscape was greatly disturbed.

One strike was not enough. Two strikes wouldn’t do, either. At least three consecutive hits were needed to leave a significant mark.

Northern God Style

Universal Suppression Technique

Cold Snowfall of Winter

Behind Leonard, a statue imitating Xuanwu emerged, wielding the Seven-Star Sword. With a single downward slash, a storm of frost-filled energy erupted, encasing Scylla's massive form in what seemed like frozen white chains.

Even though this version of the technique was much more powerful than usual, against a true deity, its effect could only last a brief moment.

However, that fleeting window was all Leonard needed.

Eastern God Style

Mountain-Severing Judgment

Lightning and Wind Cleaving Slash

This time, Leonard didn’t wield Rightful Return, which nullified powers and unique traits. Instead, he drew upon the highest possible power at his disposal as the master of thunder—the might of the heavens long revered as divine judgment, the kind of force feared as the wrath of the gods.

Leonard’s blade spun in place dozens of times, summoning streaks of lightning that lashed out like whips. These searing bolts ravaged Scylla’s frozen body, scorching it and carving deep wounds throughout.

The attacks bore a dual purpose: they generated heat to neutralize the Hydra's regeneration ability and cleaved through Scylla’s form with their sharpness. Though they did not break through to its bones, the streaks of lightning left deep gashes.

As Scylla barely managed to shatter the icy chains of the Cold Snowfall of Winter, its rage erupted. All six of its heads roared in fury, their maws opening wide to unleash devastating attacks.

But Leonard had already anticipated this response.

Dragon God Style

Execution of the Defiers of Heaven

Evil-Repelling Sword of Heaven

Just as the Hydra’s venom and Scylla’s space-ripping powers were about to activate, Leonard’s five-colored augmented sword energy struck first. With a single precise slash, he managed to sever one of Scylla’s serpent heads, nullifying its powers before they could fully activate.

The resulting backlash caused Scylla to clamp its jaws shut, momentarily immobilized by the interruption. This opening allowed the expedition forces, which had retreated earlier to evade its devastating powers, to rush in for a coordinated assault.

It was a decisive turning point brought about by three consecutive attacks executed to perfection.

—Your sword now reaches the heavens, though it is not yet perfect!

Even as Leonard’s mind burned with exhaustion from unleashing a series of conceptual martial techniques—essentially in a trance—the voice of Ancestor Cardenas echoed in his head, praising him. Though Leonard couldn’t hear it in his daze, the Ancestor acknowledged it—he had stepped into a realm that could rival Declan, the Archduke of Sword.

Meanwhile, a grave decision was unfolding somewhere else on the battlefield.

“Nicholas, hold onto your trump card. It’s not suited for this fight.”

“...You’re planning to go through with it?”

“There’s no other choice. We’re facing the fragment of an Outer God, so there shouldn’t be any complaints,” Cruella responded as she began weaving intricate seals with her hands. Her voice was firm, but there was a flicker of trepidation in her eyes.

Using high-level contracts and forbidden magic circles, Cruella proceeded to summon the undead. While the Death Knight legion of Cardenas’ knights was formidable, they wouldn’t even leave a scratch on Scylla.

To confront such a foe, she needed to draw an even higher card.

“Khuff—!”

She coughed up blood as the strain of the summoning ritual made her Circle waver. Contracting and summoning Demigod Tier undead was already perilous, but attempting to summon multiple Undead as strong as knight commanders was life-threatening for a Class 9 Grand Magus. It would have been a different story had she reached Class 10.

Three of the previous knight commanders had agreed to become Undead and contract with her. She had the right to summon the Demigod Tier undead three times, but at her current level, she could only do it once.

“Conditions for activating the death covenant have all been fulfilled. I call upon Sir Yuria and Sir Silo.”

For once, Cruella’s typically sharp demeanor softened as she spoke with reverence, bowing her head before two entities materialized from the summoning circle.

―...I accept your request.

―...I accept it.

They were Yuria, the former commander of the White Dragon Order, and Silo, the former commander of the Black Dragon Order.

Emerging from the ritual circle, the two Demigod Tier undead carried an aura that suppressed the very space around them. Their once vibrant complexions now carried the pallor of death, but their dignity remained intact. Their appearance, momentum, and presence—no different from when they were alive—momentarily overwhelmed the surrounding space.

With blades in hand, the former knight commanders unleashed their full strength—an opportunity they had only once in their undead state. Though time had eroded their souls and identities, their master over the sword had endured.

The Severing Blade, which cut through time and space, and the Void Blade, which extinguished all within its reach—these two ultimate techniques re-emerged after centuries of silence, shattering two of Scylla’s heads in a single devastating strike. Their mastery was so refined and overwhelming that even Leonard, wholly focused on Scylla, couldn’t help but marvel.

“...This is the last of what I can do,” Cruella whispered in a weak voice, blood trickling down her lips.

A shadow of Scylla conjured by Corbin’s Hidden Blade leaped onto Scylla’s form, relentlessly tearing into one of its heads. Though shadows were weaker than the real entity, when three heads focused on a single target, they managed to rip one clean off before dissipating.

As Corbin’s shadow vanished, he himself lost consciousness, collapsing into the ocean below. At the same time, Drake, captain of the Wild Hunt, pushed Poseidon’s blessing to its absolute limit.

“Great Boreas! Is it time?!”

―Yes, now is the moment!

The combined powers of Poseidon’s authority and Boreas’ ability wrested control of the sea from Scylla, whipping it into a massive vortex that surrounded it as its severed heads began to regenerate.

The Lightning and Wind Cleaving Slash inflicted deep wounds on the creature, blood gushing from the gashes. Scylla, now writhing in agony as its regeneration faltered, twisted its massive form in a rage, directing its murderous intent at the expedition forces.

The creature needed approximately three seconds to complete its regeneration and counterattack.

“Ha! Not on my watch!"”

Demian, pouring every last ounce of his aura into his blade, unleashed a slash with a range far wider than anything he had achieved before.

Parallel Infinite Fatal Strike

One of Thousand

The already bubbling, blood-soaked wounds were struck once again, delaying regeneration by another five seconds.

For Scylla, this delay was a minor nuisance. The creature, still standing with two remaining heads, sneered at the futile efforts of these insects. Their struggle was noteworthy, but its regeneration remained active, and its immortal heads would nullify any attempt to disable it permanently.

—■■■■■■! ■■■■!

With a guttered roar, as if to promise the team’s annihilation within five seconds, Scylla fully focused on healing. However, a strange sense of foreboding suddenly crept into its being.

Instinctively, the creature raised its two remaining heads, drawn to the rising aura of the most troublesome opponent among these vermin. That overwhelming threat was none other than Leonard.

If it’s now... I can do it.

Having stepped into the realm of unity, Leonard felt the boundary between the possible and the impossible blur. He realized, with every fiber of his being, that he could stand toe-to-toe with the Archduke of Sword Declan—or perhaps even surpass him.

As Leonard’s blood surged with fiery confidence, he observed the roaring Four Symbols Qi emerging from his Mindscape, threatening to break free into the physical realm. He knew what he had to do. It wasn’t something he had been formally taught, but something he had learned through observation.

Unleash my conceptual martial arts in full power, focusing purely on myself.

Just as the Red Dragon Commander Wade had once demonstrated, Leonard proceeded to replicate the technique of amplifying his power through his conceptual martial arts.

This was the limit of a Demigod’s domain—the pinnacle.

Not merely manifesting his Mindscape externally, Leonard sought to elevate himself to a higher form of existence. With relentless focus, he pushed his body, mind, and spirit toward a temporary state of divinity, becoming something that could rival True Gods.

One Origin Five Elements Sword Art

It couldn’t even be called a sword technique anymore. As Leonard gazed at the Divine Beast summoned through his sword, he realized the need to rename his creation.

One Origin Five Elements Divine Sword

Sun God of the South

Vermillion Bird’s Descent

The Vermillion Bird, now merged with Leonard, spread its fiery wings. Twin torrents of flame burst forth, soaring into the heavens. They burned away the dark clouds, flooding the once-shadowed skies with radiant light.

—■■...? ■■■, ■■■■...?!

Seeing this, Scylla felt an unprecedented sense of crisis.

Losing a few heads or suffering temporary wounds had always been minor inconveniences. But this—this presence—was different. It felt primal, as though it could carve through Scylla’s very essence, threatening to sever the creature from its origins.

Scylla tried to respond, but its colossal, ponderous form betrayed it.

Shiiiiing.

With no sound, not even a ripple of force to mark his movement, Leonard vanished. In the blink of an eye, his blazing sword cut cleanly through one of Scylla's remaining heads.

The severed head fell away, and Leonard burned the other heads, also severed by the expedition’s combined efforts, until they were charred black and incapable of regeneration. Even the edges of the stump were completely scorched, eliminating any chance of regrowth.

For a moment, silence fell on the battlefield. Even the raging waves calmed, as if in deference to the smoldering blade wielded by Leonard.

The crimson glow of his weapon resembled the sun itself, and with unwavering resolve, Leonard muttered, “Ten seconds."”

Much like Wade’s Areadbhar, Leonard’s ability allowed him to transcend his limits. However, such power came at a cost. Leonard knew he could only maintain this state for ten seconds, as the strain of channeling a presence on par with a True God would soon overwhelm him.

Still, the blade in his hand and the resolve in his gaze betrayed no hesitation. Victory was certain. It wasn’t about the possibility of victory or the desire to achieve it; rather, it was pure conviction.

“I will end this in ten seconds.”

—■■■Hea■■ven—!? ■I■t■■■...you...!!!

The gap between Leonard and Scylla’s divinity narrowed. What was once an incomprehensible, guttural language began to resolve into fragments of intelligible words. Even Scylla now understood the meaning behind Leonard’s declaration.

Stifled for a moment, the creature let out an earth-shaking bellow.

A guardian deity of the Tao versus a Monstrous God of another world—the remnants of these two divine beings clashed in the middle of the ocean, shaking both the heavens and the earth.