Hard Carried by My Sword-Chapter 126

“Kiek...?”

A flicker of confusion crossed the spider’s eight pairs of eyes. It felt an inexplicable chill in its thick body that looked like shattered mirrors clumsily pieced back together. It was as if a gaping hole had opened somewhere.

Sensing something was wrong, the Kaleider brushed over its body with one of its legs. Right in the center of its torso was a perfectly round, cylindrical wound.

A beat later, the pain struck, and the Kaleider shrieked. It was a fatal wound.

“Kyaaaaaaaaah!”

Even an ordinary weapon would have caused severe damage, but this was a strike from a Holy Sword, the natural bane of a creature from another dimension. A power that thoroughly erased all things not permitted in this world.

The flames of divine energy burned it from within. It wasn’t dead yet, but its time was short.

“Tch. Was I off?”

Watching it writhe, Leon spat bloodied saliva. Had he hit according to his aim, the creature’s head would be gone—but somehow, the trajectory of the light had bent, piercing its torso instead.

El-Cid curtly supplied the answer.

—My disciple. Intelligence has always chased after you, but you were always a step ahead of it. Your attack had a property of light. Doesn’t it make sense that it bent a little when it touched a mirror?

“Ah... I see.”

—If you have a brain, maybe try using it once in a while.

“Is that really coming from someone without a head?”

Regardless of the scale of power, the relationship between attributes still applied. In a way, the Kaleider, with its mirror attribute, could have been a natural predator of the light attribute.

Had Leon not used Psychokinesis to grant Alkaid the ability to pierce into the mirror dimension, the creature might have reflected all of its attack power. The environment limiting his ability to freely use Grand Chariot had, ironically, prevented a disastrous mistake.

That could’ve gone a lot worse.

The Kaleido-Spider was indeed the sort of monster worthy of a Goddess’ extermination decree. If he hadn’t killed it here, it could have turned the entire expedition team into its own, reversing the invasion back into Jugend. Just imagining a hundred A-ranks resurrecting endlessly to slaughter was horrifying.

“Kyaaaaaaaah!”

Without the luxury to hide in the mirrors anymore, the Kaleider burst out into the open, thrashing against the ground. From the gaping wound, a liquid—likely its blood—poured out, and the mirrors embedded in its body shone with an eerie light.

For a second, Leon thought he saw human shapes inside that light. No, not thought, did. He blinked and rubbed his eyes at the incomprehensible sight of people spilling out from Kaleider’s body.

“Berger?”

The members of Unit 14 lay sprawled out—including Berger himself. These weren’t duplicates—they were the real people.

“Don’t tell me it just vomited out everyone it had captured inside its body?!”

A quick count showed it wasn’t just one or two units—more like nearly thirty people. Twenty-eight in total. Seven units had been trapped inside the Kaleider’s body.

Even excluding the twelve it had sent against Leon’s group, that meant sixteen more. It must have split them up to deal with the rest of the expedition.

Those who hadn’t realized the people they were fighting were duplicates must have been in utter chaos. Leon gave a weary chuckle at the thought, then stood, raising his Holy Sword. Just in case, he intended to finish the creature for good.

Then, with an ear-splitting roar, the ceiling collapsed. A torrent of dirt and shards of glass-like debris exploded outward.

“What the hell is it now?!”

Leon instinctively leaped back, startled. He’d been careful all along to avoid causing a cave-in, but it had all been for nothing.

Something moved beyond the cloud of dust. Focusing what little Aura he had left into his eyes, Leon peered through it.

What is that lump of mud...?

It was unsettling. Just looking at it made his stomach churn, a violent, almost reflexive urge boiling up like spotting a massive pest in the kitchen.

Through the Stigma of the Observer, Leon saw it for what it was—plague itself.

The ground beneath its feet blackened and rotted; the wind that brushed past it carried pestilence. A whirlpool of blight and filth, standing in a vaguely human shape.

Then, with a thud, someone dropped from the collapsed ceiling, landing beside Leon with a heavy impact. Even without any hostile intent, the weight of their presence pressed on his shoulders.

Leon turned, jaw dropping.

“Your Eminence...?” Leon called.

“Yes, it’s me.”

Irexana replied in his usual calm tone, but his condition was far from normal. The ceremonial robes Leon had seen before departure were shredded; blood and dust clung to his upper body. Multiple deep wounds along his side and ribs exposed bone, and his left ear was just... gone.

Sensing Leon’s gaze, Irexana gave a wry smile and explained, “I would have preferred to finish it myself, but it’s a rat with an exceptional talent for running. I ended up dragging it here.” 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

“Are you all right, Your Eminence?” Leon asked, full of concern.

“It’s nothing. Three days of bed rest should get me all patched up.”

“For something to injure you like this... I sense the ominous energy of exolaw. Is it from the Evil Order?”

Still staring past the dust cloud, Irexana answered, “Yes. One of their bishops—Cordia of Despair.”

“A Nine-Hell?!”

Leon flinched in shock, but Irexana remained composed. He gripped his twin battleaxes, studying his prey like a hunter closing in for the kill. The cornered are most dangerous—there would be no carelessness now.

“Kehehehehe...!”

As the dust settled, Cordia, the Bishop of Despair, emerged. His face was hidden; the inside of his robe was shrouded in impenetrable darkness, even to the Stigma of the Observer. It seemed to be a form of exolaw designed to conceal his identity.

Standing atop the dying Kaleider, Cordia shouted, “Strong, aren’t you, mongrel cardinal! Worthy of calling yourself the goddess’ dog!”

From his robe’s sleeve, he extended a leprous, rotting hand, pointing two remaining fingers at Irexana with pure hatred and with pure loathing. Stabbing the air again and again, he screamed like a madman.

“Do you know how much misery from the weak your blessed life is built upon? Wagging your tail to the goddess, gnawing on the scraps she calls mercy—like the dog you are!”

“How bold of you, for a piece of trash who sold his soul to an exogod.”

“Our god! Our god is...!”

A silver flash shot from Irexana’s left hand. With a deafening crash, Cordia’s arms, blocking it, shattered like rotten branches. Splintered bone tearing through ruptured skin from the supersonic throwing axe.

Even standing right there, Leon hadn’t seen the attack coming.

“Gaaah! You filthy mongrel bastard!”

Irexana replied with a flat expression, “I have no interest in the pathetic doctrines of heresy. Stop fouling the world and die. The sooner the better.”

“You think I’ll die to the likes of—”

“Did you not hear me?”

With that taunt, he hurled the battleaxe in his right hand—and also the one that had already returned to his left hand.

Two silver flashes crossed midair in an X, then veered apart at the last moment, one toward the crown of Cordia’s head, the other toward his heart.

Cordia’s face paled as he threw up a guard, but his dying body moved a beat too late. The swirling darkness that had shielded him scattered, and in that instant, Irexana stepped forward and drove his fist forward.

Cordia’s head burst like a watermelon. For one of the Nine Hells of the Evil Order, it was truly an ignominious end.

Leon, who had been holding his breath, finally exhaled. The clash between a Nine-Hell and a Cardinal made a minute of battle feel like an hour.

“Hmm.”

When Irexana clicked his tongue, Leon turned to follow his gaze.

“Ugh...!”

It was a sight that could make anyone gag. Cordia’s headless body was rotting away, but merging with Kaleider beneath it.

The boundary between the two beings dissolved, flesh and blood mixing together. A desecration of life, bordering on obscene.

“Death-Curse,” Irexana explained evenly. “It’s an exolaw triggered by the user’s own death. It seems he used his corpse and that spider as the sacrifice.”

“Can you stop it?” Leon asked.

“It’s too late. It’s a kind of suicide technique. Once he died, all its activation conditions were already met. Once it’s been triggered, the only way to stop it is to erase the entire construct of the exolaw it used.”

Kaleider, caught in the spell, gave a short, dying scream, but it was quickly cut off. The Death-Curse activated.

With an inaudible creak, an unbearable sense of wrongness, as if the gears of the world were grinding out of place, crawled up Leon’s and Irexana’s spines. Then, the fused mass of rotting flesh was sucked into the air, becoming the center of a spatial distortion.

It was a dimensional gate. Beyond the warped boundary shimmered a world made entirely of mirrored surfaces. Both Leon and Irexana understood instantly what realm lay beyond. It was the Mirror Canyon.

The very realm of monsters that the Kingdom of Jugend had sealed off. Now, a second exit was about to be forced open.

The gate’s frame was incomplete, but once it stabilized, even ninth-tier magic couldn’t remove it. What had been one defensive line would become two, and Jugend’s burden would more than double.

“This is dangerous,” Irexana muttered, clenching and unclenching his fists. “Even if I use all the strength I have left, it won’t be enough. I also need to stabilize the ground to keep the tunnel from collapsing, so I can’t destroy that myself.”

“Your Eminence!” Leon shouted, pointing urgently at one wall. “Units 8 and 11 are still back there. If we gather their strength, couldn’t we—?”

“I’m aware. But even if they were at full strength, it would be difficult. In their current condition, it’s impossible.”

“I see...”

It was a despairing answer. Would they be forced to just stand by and watch the gate open? Leon clenched his fists in frustration, but Irexana smiled faintly, incongruously calm.

“Well, we do have one way.”

“What is it?”

When Leon turned to him, Irexana brought his palm to his spatial bracelet, and a dazzling light flared. When it faded after a bright pop, Leon saw a longsword in Irexana’s hand.

It was clearly a masterwork blade. Even Leon, who had little eye for weapons, could tell that much. The perfect balance, the flawless forging of the blade, the way the power in it seemed sharp enough to slice his skin—every detail radiated mastery.

Seeing his admiration, Irexana smiled and said, “Jugend Steel number 111—Brave.”

“Brave...?”

“Yes. A sword for the Hero.”

It had been forged solely for a Hero’s use, resting in the royal vault for centuries until it could be passed down.

“It was also the final work of my father, the Grand Meister before last—Alecto.”

“Your father...”

Even El-Cid reacted at that.

—Alecto? That stubborn little big-toe-looking dwarf?

You knew him?

—I saw him a few times in my day. Said he’d make a sword even I would acknowledge. Looks like he managed to leave one behind after all.

It was an intriguing tale. Leon was tempted by the history, but also wondered—did a Hero with a Holy Sword really need a second blade? Surely the blacksmiths had considered that.

Not wanting to keep Irexana waiting, he set the doubt aside and extended his left hand. After centuries, Jugend Steel number 111, Brave, finally met its rightful wielder.

At that moment—

“Whoa?”

As soon as he gripped Brave’s hilt, Leon felt power flood into him. The Aura that had been nearly depleted surged back to fullness, and so did his stamina and mental strength. If that had been all, he wouldn’t have been so shocked.

Even El-Cid burst into rare, roaring laughter.

—Kahahahaha! Alecto, that crazy bastard! I’ve never seen anything like this! Who makes a disposable sword?!

It was true. The treasured blade Jugend Steel number 111, Brave, was a consumable item. It stored immense power for a single strike, vanishing after being swung once, like the legendary Eastern “Mountain-Cleaving Sword,” but actually real.

“I was going to give it to you after the expedition, along with a proper explanation, but...”

Irexana gestured toward the dimensional gate. Leon guessed the rest and let out a short laugh.

All right. Let’s give it a swing.

—You only get one, so make it count.

Ignoring El-Cid’s poor joke, Leon sheathed his Holy Sword and gripped Brave with both hands.

This single-use sword only allowed one strike, but it would give Leon enough power to annihilate anything.

Grand Chariot was out of the question; it was power that raged outside the user’s body, and even controlling its direction was pushing the limits. It was like holding the reins of a hurricane.

With a pleasant hum, the blade in his raised hands blazed gold. It was a sun. As though the Aura’s attribute had taken physical form, immeasurable power stirred within the sword.

With this much power output... I can destroy that dimensional gate!

Leon pulled the storming energy tight, aiming at the warped space before him. The Mirror Canyon, a land teeming with monsters like Kaleider, where no human could survive. Just connecting to it would let it consume the world—that was why it was called a demonic realm.

“Huuup!”

Fighting the tremendous resistance, Leon pulled the sword down from above his head. From crown to hips, he executed a perfect vertical cut.

And in that instant, just as the world was drowned in blinding light, Leon understood why Alecto had made Brave this way.