The Sword Emperor Transmigrates

Even among Demigod Tier beings, it would be hard to find someone capable of matching Wade.

Even when Wade started using his true power through Flamberg, his speed and destructive force alone were awe-inspiring, as if defying heaven and earth. But from the moment he wielded Bayard, the difference was like night and day.

Amplified through a double burst of extreme acceleration, the first strike of Areadbhar was a devastating blow. If it landed directly, not even a Knight Commander would survive.

Leonard evaluated the attack with a critical eye, channeling his internal energy to sharpen his perception.

However, it doesn’t seem to be a technique Wade can use without a price. The flow of his energy and the elasticity of his muscles have both significantly decreased. If the fight had lasted longer, even Commander Wade wouldn’t have come out unscathed.

Leonard’s Dragon Eyes allowed him to measure the toll of Areadbhar’s power. The staggering force expended in that single attack was undeniable.

Even for someone like Leonard, who possessed a Dragon Heart, full exhaustion would set in after a mere ten seconds of such exertion. Wade, who relied purely on his aura to activate his techniques, had to have experienced fatigue far beyond imagination.

Noticing Leonard’s unspoken concern, Wade responded with a calm yet firm voice, “You don’t need to worry. While it’s not on the same level as a Dragon Heart, I can cut energy consumption to less than half by combining the traits of the horn and the wings. At that level, it’s manageable.”

The bloodline powers inherited by the descendants of Ancestor Cardenas consisted of a total of fifteen dragon traits. Among them, the wings and the horns were considered intermediate-grade traits.

While not as rare as the eyes, which only appeared among a handful of individuals, or the heart, a trait exclusive to the family head, the wings and the horns were still highly practical traits. No matter how remarkable Wade was, if he didn’t rely on these traits, techniques like Bayard and Areadbhar would drain him dry within seconds.

“The wings granting their user transcendental speed—that is, my Bayard—are a unique trait stemming from my dragon traits. Cultivating something from nothing is far harder than refining something with even the slightest foundation.”

“Commander Wade, your unique traits seem to enhance your own abilities rather than altering external laws, correct?”

“Exactly so.” Wade gave a slight nod. “In my youth, I was arrogant to a fault, so much so that I can barely look back on those days without shame. That arrogance led me to believe that enhancing oneself was far more righteous than manipulating the laws of reality.”

Why distort space with a unique trait if you could cut it with a single slash? Why create countless illusions when a single strike could shatter them all? Why aim to manifest overwhelming destructive force when your own strength could reach the same heights?

Such convictions paired with unmatched skill and talent had proven themselves. This was how Wade Cardenas, the strongest commander in the history of the Cardenas family, had come to be.

“During the battle, your resolve seemed to shift. Did you find some clarity based on my unique trait?”

“Yes, I’ve finally found the answer to a question that’s been troubling me.”

“I see. No wonder you followed me without hesitation. A warrior’s drive for improvement doesn’t waver even in life-or-death situations.”

Wade’s tone was casual, as if it were no big deal. But Leonard realized the implications and broke into a cold sweat. To think Wade could notice someone’s moment of enlightenment while fighting apostles far away…

“Hmph!”

It happened in an instant.

Wade reacted just a fraction of a second faster than Leonard, turning sharply. And then it arrived. No, “descended” might be a more fitting term. This was a higher existence, one that transcended spatial constraints and moved in realms entirely incomprehensible to lower beings.

“Urgh…?!”

Leonard couldn’t breathe. His mastery over his body, down to the finest capillaries, crumbled under the sheer presence of the entity that now dominated the heavens and earth.

Even as he struggled, Leonard managed to shift his gaze toward where Areadbhar had obliterated the apostles Ofnir and Svafnir. He regretted it.

——————Ah.

The unshakable mental fortitude Leonard had honed, even after dying over a hundred times at the hands of the heart devil, shattered. His psyche teetered on the brink of collapse.

Because standing before him, without a doubt, was—

“Nidhogg, the Mocking Slayer!”

While Leonard desperately clung to his consciousness, Wade stepped forward to shield him.

Even in a world bereft of Deification Tier beings, Wade was unquestionably one of the three strongest warriors alive. A crimson aura blazed around him as he activated Flamberg, his aura burning so fiercely that without it, even speaking or moving would have been impossible.

What… what kind of monstrosity is this?!

Thanks to Wade’s intervention, the oppressive force receded slightly, allowing Leonard’s blurred vision to clear just enough for him to see.

The Outer God known as the Mocking Slayer stood before them.

Using the corpses of his apostles as sacrifices, he had projected an image of himself into the Corroded Realm—a monstrosity that had ascended to the ranks of a god.

His massive form was draped in scales resembling those of a dragon. His head, rising above his immense body, glowed with eerie green light. His eyes flickered with mockery as he surveyed the insignificant creatures before him.

―■■■.

Like Ofnir and Svafnir before him, he spoke in an incomprehensible voice. No, Leonard’s brain outright refused to interpret the meaning. Nidhogg’s voice bore neither malice nor hostility, yet neither Leonard nor Wade could muster a response.

An Outer God of such unparalleled stature had no reason to acknowledge lower beings like them. Just as humans felt no animosity toward the ants crawling at their feet, Nidhogg regarded them as nothing more than mildly intriguing pests.

Rumble…!

With the death of the two apostles, the Corroded Realm was on the verge of collapse. The skies and ground began to fade, imitating the dead plains of Nastrond. The once-countless army of Undead crumbled as the power sustaining them vanished.

Even Niddhogg’s projection, sustained by sacrificing his apostles, had only seconds left before disappearing.

―■■■■■.

If Nidhogg had exerted even slightly more effort to kill them, it would have been over. Although his projection was merely a fragment of his consciousness projected through a sacrificial ritual, its power was absolute in a world devoid of true gods. Even Areadbhar, capable of overpowering lesser deities, would have been crushed like a child’s plaything before Nidhogg.

Fortunately, Nidhogg seemed satisfied with merely observing the two. After uttering his incomprehensible monologue, he vanished.

“…”

“…”

Even after Nidhogg’s presence disappeared, neither Leonard nor Wade could stop clenching their swords. Though they knew it was a futile struggle, they clung to the reassuring weight of their weapons. Such was the fate of swordsmen.

After what felt like an eternity, Wade was the first to sheathe his blade, letting out a deep sigh. Though he had conquered a Corroded Realm dozens of times before, this was the first time he had faced an Outer God.

“…I can’t make sense of it. Nidhogg didn’t come to reclaim the power he had granted the apostles, nor did he seem interested in us. He expended all his resources merely to observe us. Why? That’s so unlike the Mocking Slayer.”

As the commander of the Order of the Red Dragon, Wade was well-versed in matters concerning Outer Gods, making the situation even more puzzling. For beings like the Outer Gods, who needed to project their power across dimensions, the Corroded Realm was a ripe fruit dangling just within their grasp.

Even if just one incarnation of the Outer God Mocking Slayer had descended, with abilities far surpassing what an apostle was capable of, this world would have easily fallen into his hands.

But instead of unleashing his wrath on those who had thwarted his plans, the Outer God abandoned his apostles’ power and merely cast a fleeting glance before vanishing. It was utterly incomprehensible.

“Huff… Huff…!”

Body and mind pushed to their limits, Leonard was just beginning to steady his breath, unlike Wade. Thanks to the synergy among the four elemental powers granted by his enlightenment on the Yellow Dragon path, Leonard had avoided severe internal injury, which would have otherwise required months of recovery.

If Leonard was in such a state, it went without saying that the others fared much worse.

For most beings at the Transcendence Tier, just gazing upon an Outer God could drive them into energy deviation!

Of course, this was due to Nidhogg being one of the most powerful Outer Gods, a monster that had few rivals even in ancient times. But that fact hardly mattered.

The realization that most of the Arcadian Empire’s and the Three Noble Houses’ accumulated forces were useless against a godlike entity left Leonard dizzy with despair.

Even so, Leonard had sensed something within Nidhogg’s cryptic final utterance and cautiously said, “Commander Wade.”

“Mmhm.”

“Did you feel nothing from the words he left behind?”

Wade raised an eyebrow and turned to look at him. “What do you mean? Did you understand his monologue?”

“No, not exactly. But… I could faintly sense the emotion within his words.”

This insight, magnified to its peak by the activation of Leonard’s Dragon Heart, was something only he could discern. Perhaps it was also because the Outer God Mocking Slayer had taken on a dragon-like form.

Whatever the reason, Leonard could state this with certainty:

The Outer God who had descended before them, Nidhogg…

“…He was mocking us.”

He had been laughing at them, true to his epithet.

* * *

As Areadbhar erupted, obliterating the two apostles, the tide of the expeditionary force’s battle shifted dramatically. With the Corroded Realm’s core shattered, it was only natural.

“The Undead are collapsing—!”

The Undead Legion, which had risen again and again, fell apart, having lost their immortality. But it wasn’t just their immortality. The deathly energy that had coursed through their bodies dissipated, weakening their combat strength.

Slash!

A Red Dragon Knight severed the neck of a death knight. Its head spun through the air with its helmet and disintegrated into dust before it even hit the ground.

Under normal circumstances, the death knight’s body would have continued fighting for several minutes, but now, it vanished the moment it received a fatal blow. If even the highest-ranking Undead were reduced to such a state, one could imagine the fate of the lesser Undead.

Among them, the ghostly entities without physical forms—those who had once roamed fearlessly, defying light and flame—were the first to meet their end.

Screeeech—!!!

Shrieeeek—!!

Deprived of the Corroded Realm’s influence that had granted them resistance to light and heat, they ran amok as if it were their last moments, only to evaporate into nothingness like a handful of straw.

As their piercing death cries echoed through the battlefield, dullahans and wights began to fall one by one.

Had it not been for the power granted by Nastrond, this would have been the natural outcome long ago. Without their infinite revival and overwhelming enhancements, the expedition could have easily advanced to the depths of the Corroded Realm.

“Hah, we’ve won.”

The witch Cruella looked down at the battlefield from her broomstick, her expression bored. Her gaze drifted to the horizon where Wade and Leonard had disappeared. If the Corroded Realm was collapsing, the cause could only be them.

“Apostles who lack direct combat abilities are no match for Wade. Even in a two-on-one fight, he would finish them in mere minutes.”

In her four hundred years of life, Cruella had seen and outlived many generations of Knight Commanders, but few were as overwhelming as Wade.

Was there anyone beneath the Deification Tier who could stand against him?

Even among the Pentagon, the Class 9 Grand Magi of the Wickeline family, no one would dare face him one-on-one. Regardless of their versatility, a Grand Magus was half a step behind a Demigod Tier knight in terms of sheer combat strength.

“Huh?” Cruella’s face turned as pale as a statue’s.

Don’t tell me… the Outer God personally descended? Even if it isn’t Nidhogg’s true form, Wade can’t handle something like that alone!

Even if she joined forces with him, their chances of survival were one in ten at best. But just as Cruella prepared to cross the dimensional space to aid them, she sensed the presence of the Outer God dissipate.

Yet, it wasn’t as though Wade and Leonard had been killed. If the Mocking Slayer had truly wanted to, it would have taken less than a second to annihilate them both.

“…What the hell?”

As she struggled to comprehend the situation, two figures emerged on the horizon. It was Wade and Leonard, who had just confronted the Outer God.

The moment they approached, Cruella forgot all decorum and barked out questions. “You two! What happened?! You met the Outer God, didn’t you?! If you’re cursed or under its control, speak now!”

Her broomstick aimed and ready, Cruella watched them warily.

Wade raised his hand, signaling for her to calm down. It was the right response, though ultimately unnecessary.

“Nothing happened to us. It mocked us and left.”

“Mocked you…? Why?” Cruella tilted her head in confusion.

It was a reasonable question.

Why would a god bother to reveal their emotions to mortals? If they laughed in front of ants, the god had to have found their antics amusing. If so, there had to be a reason behind Nidhogg’s mockery.

Understanding this, Wade said grimly, “I don’t know. But the fact that we don’t know… is the real problem.”

Light began to cascade down from the sky of the collapsing Corroded Realm. Though it would take decades, perhaps centuries, for the land corrupted by Nastrond’s poison to fully heal, the sight was breathtakingly beautiful.

Yet Wade didn’t so much as glance at it.

He spoke with quiet resolve, “As soon as we return, we’ll activate the information networks of all three families to their fullest extent. Cruella, I’ll need your cooperation.”

“…Understood. I’ll help.”

Even though the expedition into Nastrond and the Corroded Realm had ended in success, the faces of those who returned were far from triumphant.

The mocking laughter of the Outer God Nidhogg lingered in their minds like a grim harbinger of things to come.