The Sword Emperor Transmigrates

“Ugh!”

A wave of dizziness washed over Leonard as a torrent of sensory input and energy surged into his perception. It had been a long time since his mind went blank, leaving him reeling with such disorientation.

In terms of time, it couldn’t have been more than a few dozen seconds.

Breaking free from the authority of the Bringer of Slumber, Leonard was immediately forced to doubt his own eyes.

“You’ve returned faster than I expected. Impressive.” Wade was standing at the far end of his sight, facing him directly.

Under Wade’s feet lay a massive serpent, one so enormous it dwarfed a mountain in both size and weight.

It was Ofnir, the Bringer of Chaos. Once a figure of fear and worship for being an apostle of the Outer God Mocking Slayer, the serpent now lay headless. The charred remains of his neck made it unmistakably clear who was responsible.

—■■■■■■■?! ■■■■■!!?

Even Svafnir, the apostle who had infiltrated Leonard’s mind, let out a shrill cry upon witnessing the scene. Unlike Ofnir, Svafnir’s smaller and semi-transparent figure floated with an almost ghostly form.

Wade sneered at the sight and ground his heel deeper into Ofnir’s massive body. “If the two of you didn’t collaborate, you’d be considered the weakest among Demigod Tier beings. Bastards like you dare take your eyes off me? Ridiculous.”

Neither the Bringer of Chaos nor the Bringer of Slumber were known for their combat prowess among the Demigod Tier beings. Their special abilities were menacing, and their powers had a synergistic effect when combined, which could have posed a challenge even for Wade if he had faced them together.

However, their critical mistake was underestimating Leonard. Unsettled by Leonard’s temporary disruption of the Corroded Realm, the two had split up—one attempted to stall for time while the other went after Leonard. This decision proved fatal.

Already lacking raw combat power, Ofnir, whose hideout had been discovered, barely lasted a minute before being pushed to the brink of death.

What on earth happened during that one minute...?

Leonard’s eyes darted from side to side as he tried to piece together what had transpired.

Due to Svafnir’s authority, Leonard hadn’t been able to witness how Wade had subdued the monster. Even as the Cardenas family’s strongest Knight Commander, defeating a Demigod Tier beast should not have been an easy feat. And yet, while Ofnir lay headless with a body charred black, Wade’s armor showed not even a speck of dirt.

—■■■■■■!!

Perhaps infuriated by the sight of its companion being trampled underfoot by a mere mortal, Svafnir’s translucent body began to shimmer with radiant orbs of light, which coalesced into a projectile faster than the blink of an eye.

The projectile streaked toward Wade with blinding speed, leaving no room to evade or defend.

The speed of light? Perhaps even faster. After all, thought was said to move faster than light itself. Just as heart swords could not be dodged but only countered or neutralized, this attack functioned on similar principles.

Boooom!

The radiant projectile shattered before it could even touch Wade. A crimson augmented energy, rippling like a flame, was encircling Wade.

This energy, which Leonard suspected was a clue to the mysterious power of the Yellow Dragon, completely nullified Svafnir’s authority. It was a power that did not intervene with the laws of the world yet far surpassed conventional limits. It would be nearly impossible for even a heart sword from a Demigod Tier martial artist to break through that.

“A high-level authority designed to interfere with minds and souls, is it? But if that’s the best you can do in the Material Realm, you’re nothing more than an oversized snake to me.”

Wade, who had effortlessly nullified the Bringer of Slumber’s authority, raised his sword. With one foot still pinning down Ofnir’s writhing body, he prepared to strike down the other apostle.

As Wade had said, Svafnir belonged to the spiritual plane, where its powers were at their strongest. In the physical world, however, its abilities were significantly weakened. If they were in the true Nastrond—not this imitation in the form of a Corroded Realm—a different outcome could have been possible, but such speculation was meaningless now.

Rumbleee!!!

Ofnir’s headless body, which had been convulsing beneath Wade’s foot, began to thrash violently. Blood spewed from his severed neck. Even the force of Wade’s suppression couldn’t stop his frenzied movements.

As a servant of the Outer God Mocking Slayer, Ofnir was born with an immortality that no mere Undead could rival. Despite the serpent being charred by Wade’s unique trait, his head was already beginning to regenerate.

The authority of Chaos caused the terrain to shift and distort at random, amplifying the thrashing of his massive body. The colossal creature’s movements were wild enough to topple a small mountain.

“Annoying.”

Wade furrowed his brows in irritation but remained unflinching. Lowering the sword he had intended for Svafnir, he brought it down upon Ofnir instead.

The resulting wave of crimson augmented energy erupted into a vortex, tearing through Ofnir’s massive body. Scales were stripped away, bones were shattered, and even the serpent’s attempts to burrow into the ground were stopped cold.

It was not even a proper technique—just brute power unleashed through sheer force of will. And yet, it pulverized the Demigod Tier beast with horrifying ease. Even if Leonard utilized all the techniques of the Southern God Style, he couldn’t hope to match such devastating force.

—■■■...! ■■■■■!!

—■■■■■■■■!

Despite the sheer destruction, Ofnir managed to escape from beneath Wade’s foot, his mangled body crawling toward Svafnir.

Even reduced to a pile of shredded flesh, Ofnir refused to die. The authority of Chaos allowed Ofnir to destabilize his own state, greatly accelerating his regeneration. Within seconds, his burnt neck sprouted a new head. His regenerative power rivaled that of the mythical Hydra, famous among the many Olympian lores.

But that wasn’t the end.

The two serpents began to coil around each other, their bodies intertwining like a grotesque mating ritual. Though Svafnir was smaller and appeared to be trapped, this merging was a prerequisite for their true form to emerge.

“Leonard, retreat at least five hundred meters and assume a defensive position.”

At Wade’s command, Leonard immediately obeyed, retreating at full speed. The ominous presence emanating from the merging apostles made it clear that something monstrous was about to occur.

The real apostle subjugation begins now.

If Wade’s earlier words were any indication, the true danger of Ofnir and Svafnir lay in their ability to fight as one: the merge of the Bringer of Chaos and the Bringer of Slumber.

Even individually, Leonard had less than a ten percent chance of surviving against either. Together, their combined powers could not only cause catastrophic collateral damage but also potentially hinder Wade.

And sure enough—

—■■■■■■■■■■!!!!

The two apostles let out a deafening roar as their combined form emerged, signaling the start of the second round.

Among the apostles of the Mocking Slayer, these two were unique. Normally, authorities conflicted, but the powers of these two apostles synergized instead. Chaos and Slumber amplified each other, extending their reach to levels that should have been impossible even for Demigod Tier beings.

“I see.” Adjusting his grip on his sword, Wade nodded. “When the two unite, they are monsters ranked at the very peak of the Demigod Tier. The records of our predecessors were not wrong.”

Svafnir’s authority of Slumber narrowed the gap between reality and fantasy, allowing Ofnir’s authority of Chaos to pierce through the thin barrier. It was as if the inner world of their consciousness had expanded outward, encompassing the Material Realm. Even Wade, who could overwhelm the two apostles directly, knew that engaging them within their consciousness would be suicidal. After all, a Demigod Tier being was a god within their own consciousness.

Rumble, rumble...!!

The ground quaked, and as if to prove that theory correct, a colossal skeletal hand burst out from the earth, followed by a skeletal giant’s gargantuan frame. The giant’s skull seemed to scrape the skies. Even among the giants of ancient times, it was rare to find one of such overwhelming size.

For an Undead of this scale, it was inconceivable that mere Demigod Tier apostles could command it in life. Yet, by transcending the boundaries of reality, these apostles had temporarily attained the impossible.

—————!!

With an agility ill-suited to its massive frame, the skeletal giant swung its hand down. Wade narrowly slipped through the gaps between its massive fingers, but the earth behind him exploded on impact, flinging debris into the air and covering the skies several kilometers above with dirt and shadow. The sheer physical force was enough to level mountains. Had it been alive, it might have rivaled the gods themselves.

Rumble. Rumble.

Other corpses of equally fearsome rank began to rise. A giant corpse adorned with a hundred dangling eyes, as well as the remains of a great warrior once favored by the God of War himself.

Even in their weakened states compared to when they were alive, each was a creature far surpassing Ofnir and Svafnir in might. In sheer numbers, even Wade could not fend off such a horde forever; being surrounded would mean certain death.

Observing from hundreds of meters away, Leonard hesitated and debated whether he should intervene. Yet Wade did not flinch, and he halted.

“Very well, I don’t need to hold back anymore.”

Standing atop a distorted terrain shaped by Ofnir’s Chaos, Wade gazed down at his enemies from nearly two kilometers high. His expression was still impassive, but his eyes burned with a rare intensity, the thrill of encountering a foe worthy of his full power.

The Cardenas family’s strongest Knight Commander began to unleash his power.

Flamberg

The moment Wade released the power boiling inside him, there was no grand explosion, no shockwave.

Instead, a deafening silence fell, as every trace of “sound” and “force” within his aura’s range had been obliterated. Leonard, whose Dragon Eyes could discern the essence of power itself, felt cold sweat trickle down his back.

This is insane...!?

Like heat waves, the space surrounding Wade rippled—not from atmospheric refraction, but from the distortion of space-time itself. It was a phenomenon one could observe in the study of celestial mechanics, but here, it was happening on a human scale, defying all reason.

Within a two-meter radius of Commander Wade... it’s already turned into another world.

It wasn’t just the perception of time—it was the acceleration of time itself. For Wade, what felt like a minute could be less than a second for Leonard.

As Wade’s aura condensed further, pushing the boundaries of physical law, it began to glow white-hot, nearing the speed of light. When Leonard strained his heightened vision to its utmost limit, Wade moved.

Or rather, Leonard could only assume he had moved, as even his Dragon Eyes hadn’t been able to follow the motion.

Boooooom!

The skeletal giant’s skull shattered, scattering shards in every direction. The hundred-eyed giant was likewise torn asunder.

The corpse of the God of War’s champion fared no better. Though it managed to block once with its massive blood-red axe, the axe was obliterated along with its arm, leaving the warrior no chance to defend a second time. Its half-destroyed head flew into the air, a faint satisfied smile lingering on its lips as though it had welcomed such an end.

In an instant, three Demigod Tier foes were annihilated.

I understand now!

Even amid such an overwhelming display of power, Leonard’s attention was focused elsewhere.

The secret behind Wade’s unique trait—his ability to exert such overwhelming force without directly interfering with the world’s fundamental laws—was now clear.

A key insight for advancing the One Origin Five Elements Cultivation Method was right in front of Leonard’s very eyes.

Wade’s unique trait did not involve altering the world around him. Instead, it was a power that fundamentally changed his self. Rather than bending the external world to his will, Wade altered his own existence to transcend it.

Leonard finally understood what this power could be named.

To think I’d glimpse the teachings of Buddhism in this world.

A unique trait of absolute self-mastery—Sole Dominion. It was the key to forming the framework of the Yellow Dragon in Leonard’s martial path.