The Sword Emperor Transmigrates

Boooom——!!

A comet-like streak was trailing behind Wade, who was flying at an astonishing speed. It was Leonard, riding a blade with the technique Sword Flight. They had already surpassed the speed of sound, entering hypersonic speeds.

Nastrond’s eerie scenery flashed past their eyes like a colorful blur. Undead creatures capable of flight threw themselves at the pair, but the turbulent aura surrounding Wade obliterated them like rotten tomatoes. Even banshees dissolved into dust the moment they brushed against his energy.

This is something far beyond an augmented energy shield... It’s imbued with a great intensity of Intent. Is this a unique trait that had evolved differently from Commander Audrey’s?

As Wade tore through every obstacle, Leonard narrowed his eyes and glanced around.

The Undead are increasing. Nastrond’s influence is growing stronger. These Undead aren’t the kinds we saw near the expeditionary force.

Death knights were no ordinary foes. Only warriors who had reached the Transcendence Tier—or performed extraordinary deeds in life—could become death knights after death. Even infamous necromancers whose names were inscribed in history rarely dared to control them on a large scale.

It was only through the willful contracts with the Cardenas knights that Cruella, a Class 9 Grand Magus, could summon battalions of them. Otherwise, it would have been impossible.

Screeech!

Streaks of ashen sword energy shot up from the ground. The sheer murderous intent embedded in the strikes burned with a single purpose—destruction.

Dozens of death knights unleashed their Aura Blades simultaneously. Though their lack of coordination made breaching their barrage manageable, even a single hit could slow them down, leaving them a vulnerable target.

Five Elements Style, One Sword Style

Azure Dragon Extra Form: Sky Dragon’s Flight

Leonard’s blade shimmered with a blue brilliance. It accelerated to nearly double its previous speed. In no time, he closed the distance between himself and Wade, who had been far ahead moments ago.

Without glancing back, Wade sent his voice directly to Leonard’s mind.

—Maintain your speed. We’re almost there.

In the hypersonic world where even sound couldn’t travel, Wade’s voice came through as calm and steady as ever.

Leonard stretched his senses to their limit, though the extraordinary speed dulled their precision. Reacting late to a Demigod Tier being’s sneak attack would spell immediate doom.

—It’s here.

A few seconds after Wade warned him, Leonard felt a chill shoot down his spine. Was it due to the heightened sensitivity granted by the Dragon Heart? At a time when he could have otherwise faltered, Leonard instinctively halted his blade and turned to face the direction of an oppressive presence.

—■■■■■■. ■■■■.

—■■■■, ■■■■■.

An incomprehensible incantation rang out in True Voice. As soon as Leonard registered the sound, the entire world warped, instantly reshaping Nastrond’s hellish landscape. The once-mournful wails and despair of the Undead flowing along the river of poison transformed into an unsettlingly serene yet grotesque spectacle.

Crimson flowers bloomed, painting the surroundings red, and the venom that dripped from the skeletal spines metamorphosed into fluttering butterflies. The surreal scenery resembled paradise—if not for the overwhelming malice and the permeating murderous intent.

“What… is this?!”

“Don’t be alarmed. It’s Ofnir’s power,” Wade explained calmly, now suddenly at Leonard’s side.

“One of Nidhogg’s seven apostles. In the ancient tongue, it means ‘Bringer of Chaos.’”

“So... this is all just an illusion?”

“No. This is reality, warped by Ofnir’s authority. While it might lose its substance once we leave Nastrond, here, within the Corroded Realm, it’s able to manifest phenomena similar to supreme magic.”

Wade’s detached tone made it seem trivial, but Leonard wasn’t naive enough to believe so. If Ofnir’s power allowed it to manipulate the forces of nature within Nastrond, then this territory was practically Ofnir’s domain. While Wade could force his way through with sheer strength, Leonard risked being instantly overpowered.

To counter such a threat, Leonard would have to either nullify Ofnir’s power with the Eastern God Style or tear it apart with the Western God Style. Anything less than a desperate, full-force response would lead to immediate entrapment.

“And the other apostle... Svafnir, I presume? The one called ‘Bringer of Slumber’ in the ancient tongue. If its authority puts you to sleep, your body will be overtaken, and you’ll become a wraith bound to Nastrond for eternity—even after death.”

“Is there any way to counter it?”

“Do not hesitate and cut it down. Never resist with brute force.”

Though Leonard’s Dragon Heart elevated his status, he knew that a direct confrontation against a true Demigod Tier beast was out of the question. If he couldn’t use a sudden burst of power to break through, he’d be dragged into the abyss.

Acknowledging Wade’s advice, Leonard unsheathed his blade. Maintaining Sword Flight while battling a Demigod Tier beast was daunting, but losing mobility against an entity capable of twisting reality was far deadlier.

—...■■■■■■

As Ofnir’s True Voice continued, the ground began to tremble.

And then—

Rumble!!!

The blood-red blossoms that had covered the land writhed and twisted. The ground convulsed, giving rise to colossal earth dragons.

Each dragon was a massive construct, ranging from dozens to over a hundred meters long. Neither undead nor spirit, these false creations, born of the authority of chaos, multiplied rapidly. Though they were merely clumps of earth, perhaps because they were created with parts of a Corroded Realm, their overwhelming presence was unmistakable.

“Tch, annoying. So this is just a probing attack?” Wade sneered, raising his sword. “Stop hiding like a rat and show yourself!”

The Aura Blade surrounding Wade’s sword expanded in response to his will, swelling to over fifty meters in an instant.

It was the power of potent yang. The destructive energy of his strike incinerated the earth dragons entirely, leaving not even a trace behind. A technique, so simple that it couldn’t be called a technique, was so devastating that it erased even the manifestations of the apostle’s power.

Wait, it’s more than that!

Leonard’s eyes widened.

From the tip of Wade’s overwhelming slash, the distorted space began to unravel, allowing the presence of an entirely different magnitude to seep through.

This distortion led to none other than the rift where the Bringer of Chaos Ofnir had been hiding.

—■■■■■■!?

Ofnir convulsed when his hiding place was unearthed in a single strike. He couldn’t help it. Ofnir wasn’t a combatant built for direct confrontation, as his moniker suggested.

Within Nastrond, its powers were amplified several-fold, allowing him to fight by exploiting the external laws of reality while hiding in spatial cracks, executing sneak attacks. But Wade’s overwhelming presence had drawn him out to observe, only for his hiding place to be discovered. Panic was inevitable.

“Tch.” Wade, who was about to deliver another strike, halted his sword mid-motion.

Turning to Leonard, he spoke a few curt words.

—Brace yourself for a mental attack. Don’t forget my advice.

There was no time for Leonard to respond or ask questions. The moment he reflexively concentrated his willpower, his five senses were abruptly sealed, his vision turned black.

The authority of Svafnir, the Bringer of Slumber, had activated.

* * *

A voice, simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar, echoed in the void.

“Leonard, wake up.”

Instinctively, Leonard forced his heavy eyelids open. A man who bore a striking resemblance to him was standing beside him, gazing down. His expression was stoic, but his eyes were brimming with affection.

The face was unfamiliar to Yeon Mu-Hyuk, but Leonard recognized it. In all his memories, he had never once felt anything akin to affection from those eyes.

...What a ridiculous farce.

Piecing together the circumstances, Leonard clicked his tongue, propping himself up from the bed and groping near his waist.

There was nothing. As expected, there was no sword hanging from the waist of a body that looked no older than ten. He didn’t need a mirror to realize he had reverted to that of a child.

Unarmed and reduced to a child’s frame, even his internal energy was undetectable—unsurprising given the authority of a Demigod Tier being.

Sensing Leonard’s silence as concern, the being impersonating his father asked with worry, “Hmm? What’s wrong, Leonard? Speak to me, my son.”

If Leonard had even the slightest longing for familial love, he would have possibly answered back despite knowing it was a lie. That, in turn, would have delayed his escape from this dream.

However, Leonard conjured a blade without hesitation.

Heart Sword

Even the world created by a Demigod Tier being’s authority couldn’t completely suppress a mental projection from his Mindscape. In a heart devoid of lingering attachments, there was no gap for Svafnir to exploit.

That was true even in Leonard’s previous life. Born into a family clinging to the fading glories of their past, Yeon Mu-Hyuk had beaten down his relatives who’d sought to use his life as a stepping stone, wandering the martial world instead. For a man who lived solely by the sword and martial arts, there were no weak points in his resolve.

“Leonard?! What is that sword? It’s dangerous! Put it down—”

Before the impostor could finish his sentence, his head hit the floor with a thud, silencing the room. Though Leonard was in the body of a child, his single strike had severed the neck of the adult figure.

Glaring at the fallen face, Leonard muttered under his breath, “A degenerate who abandoned his child to indulge in pleasure has no right to speak. It seems I’ve never been fated for parental blessings, even in this life.”

He now fully grasped Wade’s warning:

“Do not hesitate and cut it down. Never resist with brute force.”

The authority of the Bringer of Slumber was fundamentally rooted in heart devils, a power that manipulated the psyche.

Had Leonard been swayed by a longing for familial love, had his decision to cut through the illusion been delayed, or had his emotions wavered upon experiencing parental affection for the first time, he would likely have been trapped.

If his mind or heart, like his age, were reduced to when he was a young boy, it would have been difficult not to be shaken by the method. However, for Yeon Mu-Hyuk, whose mind and spirit had been tempered over decades of training and strife, resisting such a tactic was simple.

“Ahhh! Darling! Leonard, what on earth are you—!”

“To use the same trick twice is laughable.”

With a swift swing of his heart sword, the shriek of the mother figure was abruptly cut off. Even if they had been real parents, his sword would not have wavered. But against impostors who did not act their role properly and had abandoned their child? There was no hesitation.

From Svafnir’s perspective, the turn of events seemed entirely unexpected. The world momentarily froze, as though drained of color. The illusion began to crack.

“I can see an opening.”

Leonard, who had been waiting for this exact moment, concentrated all his strength and honed the heart sword in his hand.

No matter how powerful Svafnir could have been, it was impossible for it to directly interfere with Leonard’s internal consciousness, protected by his Dragon Heart. His earlier assumption had been correct: the absence of energy was not because it disappeared, but because it was temporarily suppressed.

Most importantly, Svafnir’s name itself held the clue.

The Bringer of Slumber. The trap had been set using my memories, but that confirmed one crucial detail: this was not Svafnir’s world of consciousness, but mine.

This meant that if Leonard could nullify the authority, even momentarily, he could regain control. Having mercilessly cut down the illusion of his parents, Leonard created the opportunity to reclaim his domain.

Now back in his original body, Leonard raised his sword high above his head. In a situation like this, what mattered most was the absolute certainty that his strike would cut down anything. A translucent figure of a white tiger flickered above Leonard’s form.

One Origin Five Elements Sword Art

Five Elements Style

Ultimate Secret Technique: White Tiger's Resolve

As his vertical slash descended, a deafening roar echoed across his entire world of consciousness. That roar was decisive. The ultimate technique, which partially replicated the spirituality of the White Tiger, obliterated the apostle’s authority that had already lost its flow.

Craaack—!

For a fleeting moment, cracks spread like spiderwebs across the entire illusion as Leonard regained his vision. Then, with the collapse of the fake world created by Svafnir, Leonard’s consciousness was forcibly ejected back into reality.