The Sword Emperor Transmigrates-Chapter 266

The barrier was a putrid color, and as soon as Leonard burst out to the other side, the stench of sulfur stung his nostrils.

This was the Demonic Realm.

Even the air was deadly here, so hot it scalded the skin. The wind howled like a wailing ghost, spreading the stench and the toxins even more, and the gases released by the rotting corpses hung in the air, almost like fog.

Leonard tore his eyes away from the putrefying sky and looked ahead.

Booooom—!!

He watched as the Axiocersus, who had entered the realm before them, swept through the Demoniac’s battle lines.

With bodies forged from mithril and adamantium and hands configured with circuits made of orichalcon, the Jehoia had gone all-out with the materials they used. It was almost absurd that such heavy statues could move with such grace, but that was Hades’s power at play.

Their powers actually resemble the ones of the Five Great Wisdom Kings, at least according to the ancient records. But it’s probably because they were sculpted to look like them. There’s no way Hades would actually know what powers they possessed.

Acala swung his sword and lasso, unleashing his fire. The flames glowed with an almost sacred light, instantly reducing the monsters to ash, even those with greater regeneration than trolls.

Unlike regular fire, Acala’s purifying flames burned away anguished and evil spirits, bringing light to the world. With a swing of his sword, the Axiocersus vanquished tens of monsters, opening a way through.

Meanwhile, Trailokyavijaya wielded a staff with his four hands and attacked with golden vajra lightning bolts.

With a wave of his eight arms, Kundali conjured a vortex that stretched hundreds of meters into the sky. Whether it swallowed a Demoniac whole or merely grazed one, the tempest obliterated everything in its path.

Yamantaka gracefully brandished his eight swords, and Vajrayaksa threw punches and kicks, each strike unleashing a shockwave.

The Axiocersus were like a calamity. Caught off guard, the Demoniacs screamed and thrashed about, desperately scrambling to escape. The few hundred that survived the onslaught of fire, lightning, and wind collapsed in a twitching, bloodied heap.

They weren’t met with mercy, but with the bloodlust of the knights.

Western God Style

Cutter of All Things

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Sky and Clouds Piercer

With Leonard at the lead, the Golden Dragon Knights whirled through the monsters, blood and limbs flying everywhere.

Normally, Leonard would cut through the enemy once more to ensure none remained standing, but this time, he wasn’t alone. He trusted the Golden Dragon Knights and the other forces that would follow to clean up after him.

In any case, they were here to claim enough territory to ensure safe passage for the others.

“Onward! Kill them all...!” he cried using the Azure Dragon’s Roar.

As he took one step forward, he accelerated to the speed of sound, and with the second step, he stood right before his terrified opponents. The other Golden Dragon Knights followed, arriving at almost the exact same time.

They were the finest warriors of the House of Cardenas, or more accurately, of all Three Noble Houses—monstrous powerhouses whose physical prowess neared the Demigod Tier. They unleashed Aura Blades with Yamantaka’s Sword, reverberating with a sound akin to the toll of a Buddhist temple bell echoing across a sacred hall.

There were only thirty-six of them, without Commander Leonard. Even as a suicide squad, their numbers were small, but their power and skills made up for that. Even without Aura Blades, they could slaughter weaker Demoniacs on their own, so watching them move as a group was a truly fearsome sight.

Craaaaack—!

They cut down a Claw Demoniac standing in their way, splitting it in half. Their hides were even more durable than mithril, but the Golden Dragon Knights’ Aura Blades pulsed with a deadly, evil-banishing energy—more powerful than even Skanda’s Demon-Felling Sword.

The Claw Demoniacs, leading the frontlines to allow the others to attack safely, fell one by one. The Golden Dragon Knights were relentless in their onslaught.

Clang!

The Teeth Demoniacs, which were considered noble-class, could withstand a hit or two. Unlike Tongue Demoniacs, which used psychic attacks, the Teeth were known to rip and shred through anything—they could even shatter an Aura Blade.

The Teeth Demoniacs chomped right through the flurry of swords.

Crack...! Crack...!

But when they tried to bite through the auras created by Yamantaka’s Sword, it was the Teeth that shattered. Cracks spread across the Demoniacs’ bodies like a spider’s web, and they ultimately shattered like ice.

Even though they were born of Crom Dubh, their power was a far cry from that of a god. They were no match for the knights, who had the blessing of the true godly ruler of this realm.

Fragments of the Teeth went flying everywhere. Not even the noble-class Demoniacs could survive more than three hits. The Golden Dragon Knights had long seized control of the battlefield.

Southern God Style

Single Swing Sweeping Annihilation

And of course, Leonard had helped the most

Calamity Extinguishing Flame

His sword spewed fierce flames, reducing even the Demoniacs at the very back of the lines to ashes. They would have been able to survive a Class 8 fire spell, but not purifying flames. In fact, Calamity Extinguishing Flame was even stronger than Acala’s fire.

I think we’re now about a kilometer away from the Hellgate, Leonard estimated without even looking back. We’ve claimed more than enough territory to bring in the rest of the forces now.

He looked up at Hades, who stood proudly on top of one of the statues. They locked eyes. It was time.

Hades recognized the signal and grinned. “You wretched monsters! Not even Zeus could command me in my realm! You should feel honored to die by my hand!”

Despite his rage, Hades couldn’t hold back his satisfied smile. He raised his hand.

Thousands—no, perhaps almost ten thousand Demoniacs collapsed against his power, littering the ground with blood and gore. The energy released from their deaths should have created more Demoniacs, but Hades took hold of the newfound power.

“Your king has returned! Extinguish this vermin and return to me!”

His Divine Territory unfolded upon the Nine Hells—or rather, it consumed the Nine Hells, like painting over a used canvas. This was no longer the Demonic Realm; it had become Hades’s Underworld. The stench of sulfur faded, and so did the fiery heat, allowing the knights to cool down.

The chill in the air was very similar to the one that Leonard, Simon, and Demian had encountered before.

...I don’t see the Asphodel Meadows, let alone the five rivers, but it should come to resemble the original Underworld the more strength and territory he regains.

Hades’s power would expand every time they killed Demoniacs, and he would barely have to allocate any energy to sustain his realm. In fact, if he hadn’t sworn on the River Styx to follow a peace pact, the House of Cardenas never would have allowed him to reclaim so much power.

Leonard’s thoughts came to a halt when he sensed thousands of new entities, along with an explosive increase in power.

“You’re here.”

The others had arrived. The knights and mages immediately fell into formation in the space that the Axiocersus and Golden Dragon Knights had purified and reclaimed.

The mages marveled at the newfound sight of the Underworld.

“Has... Has Hades already set up his Divine Territory?”

“It’s not much, but I didn’t think he could reclaim power from Crom Dubh so fast. I don’t believe it...”

“My mana mastery isn’t as weakened here as I thought it would be. With this much, employing warfare magic shouldn’t be difficult.”

Combined with the thousands of Titans and golems, they made for a majestic sight. The forces would be almost impenetrable, even in the face of hundreds of thousands of Demoniacs. As with most missions, the very beginning of the conquest was the most dangerous, but they had made it through unscathed.

“I smell a rat.”

Hades suddenly noticed an unwelcome presence, his senses enhanced by the recreation of his Divine Territory.

Leonard rushed forward, having noticed it too.

A Demoniac that had been waiting to pounce suddenly turned around and fled at incredible speed, having sensed the sheer power of the forces. If they let it go, the Demoniacs would come marching in much faster than they had anticipated.

A Brain Demoniac...?! It must be the one in charge of this area! I have to catch it!

It seemed weaker than the one Leonard had faced before, but its strength was still at the Demigod Tier, making it difficult to kill with one blow. Besides, the monster would become much stronger as soon as it stepped out of the area under Hades’s influence, and Leonard likely wouldn’t have the time to strike a second time.

It was all or nothing.

His determination emboldened the forces in his Mindscape—the deified power of the Black Tortoise and Vermillion Bird flowed into his hands and poured into his sword. Dawn and dusk, light and darkness converged in his blade as one, giving off an ethereal light.

Leonard was dealing with forces that exceeded the Demigod Tier. He trembled all over from the sheer strain of wielding such power. He had to maintain a perfect balance; if he only focused on one, the other would overwhelm him.

If he couldn’t get the One Origin Five Elements Divine Sword to achieve deification or maintain the yin-yang balance, he could forget about using it altogether. But a single strike was doable. In the same way that the weak sometimes overpower the strong, he had advanced enough in the deification process to do it.

As Leonard chased behind the Demoniac, he readied his sword. There were still several kilometers between them, and the distance grew in the time it took for him to prepare himself.

One Origin Five Elements Divine Sword

Twin Deities, One Sword Style

Taiji Phasless Slash

And when he attacked, he had stopped running. He didn’t need to go any farther.

“■■? ■■■■?”

Delos, the Brain Demoniac, sensed something was off, and the pineal gland inside his transparent skull twitched. But he didn’t stop. He was just about to escape Hades’s reach, just about to reach safety.

He was almost there. Triumph had already welled up inside him.

“■■■■■■...?!”

But then he realized something was wrong.

Delos was moving as fast as he could, but his destination wasn’t getting any closer. In fact, it was getting farther away. Freedom, which had been right in front of him, was now all the way off in the horizon—no, even farther than that. He couldn’t believe it.

Though he hadn’t noticed, the space-time around him had been shrunken and warped into the shape of a yin-yang.

Yin and yang made up the foundation of all creation, but if the forces weren’t balanced and controlled, everything would be reduced to nothingness. Such was the nature of the Taiji Phasless Slash—a divine sword technique that borrowed the powers of two gods.

When the monster finally contorted and collapsed with the space around it, Leonard let out a sigh of relief. They had narrowly avoided a disaster that would have ruined their plans from the outset.

“...We have a long way to go,” he whispered.

Having chased the Brain Demoniac all the way here, Leonard now stood at the top of a hill. He gazed at the Nine Hells spread out before him.

It looked different from the Eight Hot Hells described in Buddhism, though it still bore the unmistakable air of suffering. Gaseous clusters of what looked like sulfur dotted the sky instead of clouds, and vile, corrupted mana engulfed the land as creatures slaughtered and ate each other.

Such was the corrupted state of the Underworld, and they were here to reclaim it.