The Sword Emperor Transmigrates-Chapter 208

Boom!

With his reflexes quickened and movements sharpened by their previous encounter, Leonard narrowly escaped.

Cybele continued her ferocious assault, chilling the hearts of onlookers. Yet despite the relentless attacks, not a single direct hit landed. Leonard either dodged or parried each blow, only suffering minor grazes on the edges of his armor or clothing, buying himself time.

In mere moments, the exchange turned into a blur of attacks, evasions, and blocks—so intricate that the human eye could barely follow.

If I was against Boreas or Vulcanus, it would have been far more dangerous.

Despite Cybele’s formidable destructive power and skill, her technique lacked finesse. Unlike Boreas, who made full use of his abilities and battlefield, or Vulcanus, who adapted and optimized his power to fit the environment, Cybele’s strategy was straightforward—repeatedly using the same techniques against Leonard, controlling the mudworms and unleashing waves of mud in predictable, monotonous patterns.

Eastern God Style

Authority Nullification Technique

Rightful Return

Still, the fact that Leonard was forced into a corner, having to use his most advanced techniques, was evidence that Cybele remained the stronger of the two. As his ability extended and caused the mud waves to subside, Cybele snarled in frustration, severing her connection with the sludge before it could touch her.

Given her response, it became apparent that things wouldn’t continue as before. She was adapting.

She cut off the area in contact with Rightful Return before it could ride the waves and reach her. It’s simple, but it’s the most effective approach.

Still, Cybele was clearly wary of Rightful Return. The continuous flow of her attacks faltered and stopped. Leonard took this chance to breathe deeply, restoring the internal energy and mental strength he had exhausted in the last few seconds.

Hasn’t it been ten seconds yet? If things stay like this, I can probably hold out for another thirty seconds

Time felt warped—one second stretched into what felt like ten minutes. Leonard realized, with a bitter smile, that sweat had started to dampen the back of his neck. Despite his best efforts, he was being pushed back, unable to counter or even properly defend himself against Cybele, who relentlessly charged forward like a wild boar with no regard for anything but her target.

Being connected to Yggdrasil and fueled with near-infinite power, the Wraith Kings rendered attrition warfare meaningless. Whether it was thirty seconds or thirty minutes, it wouldn’t change the outcome unless Leonard could launch an attack that threatened Cybele’s true form, as he had done in their previous battle.

But she probably won’t fall for the same trick twice.

It wasn’t just Leonard who had learned from their last fight; Cybele, too, had adapted. She could now read his element transformation and react faster, recognizing the change to the Azure Dragon Qi before he could unleash Rightful Return. At this rate, a successful counterattack seemed impossible.

Northern God Style

Universal Suppression Technique

Cold Snowfall of Winter

It was time to change tactics. Instead of sticking to the optimal move, it was sometimes better to throw out an unexpected second-best option to catch the opponent off guard.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

Leonard’s only goal was to buy time. If he could delay Cybele by even one more second, there was no need to cling to the Eastern God Style. Even if he landed a direct hit with Rightful Return, it wasn’t powerful enough to force Cybele into a reverse-summon in his current state.

It was a wide-area suppression technique, spreading out across the battlefield and freezing everything within its reach. Countless fragments of sword energy, glittering like snowflakes, scattered in the air, freezing everything within a hundred-meter radius. Even the mud, empowered by the authority of Decay, slowed down and eventually came to a halt as it entered the freezing domain.

■■■, ■■■■...!

Cybele growled as frost crept up her body. Though the Cold Snowfall of Winter couldn’t freeze the entire swamp, it noticeably slowed her down. The sluggishness was a frustrating shackle for someone like Cybele, who already lacked mobility to begin with.

Though not as immediately dangerous as flames that could incinerate the mud or evaporate the swamp, the extreme cold was nonetheless unpleasant for Cybele.

The Black Tortoise Qi is weakening. She’s using her authority of Decay to eat away at the frozen surface and dispel its influence. It took her three seconds this time. She’ll probably escape even faster next time.

Under normal circumstances, Leonard would have immobilized her with this move and finished her off with a technique like the Life and Death Sword.

However, his techniques that could land a hit on Cybele’s main body were nullified, and any further attacks would only be a waste of energy. Leonard made the tactical decision to retreat and fortify his defense.

The thirty seconds Uluka requested wasn’t arbitrary. That was how long it would take for the other commanders to arrive for backup. With less than twenty seconds remaining, Leonard believed he could hold out.

■■■■■—

Leonard realized his mistake a moment later. From hundreds of meters away, he saw Cybele’s eyes, glowing with hatred and bloodlust, curve along with a mocking grin. She spread her arms wide, and from the swamp at her feet, a massive mound of mud rose.

The mud tower surged skyward, reaching a hundred meters in an instant and still rising. It was a surreal sight.

What?!

Leonard’s eyes widened as he instinctively looked up. It was impossible to miss.

Alongside the rising mud tower, a massive vortex was descending from the sky. It was the fusion of the techniques of two Wraith Kings. Just as Leonard realized what was happening, Uluka landed beside him.

—I couldn’t stop it. I’m sorry.

They communicated telepathically, as their perception of time was accelerated by a thousandfold, making normal speech too slow.

—What’s going on?

Leonard asked.

—Boreas and Cybele are going all out. As soon as they realized we were stalling, they went to maximum output. It’s a gamble for them, but they have less to lose than we do.

The mud tower and the vortex were closing in, and the sheer volume of power packed inside was greater than that of several commanders combined. Whatever the Wraith Kings were planning, the resulting explosion would be catastrophic.

Uluka’s expression darkened as if he had already guessed their intention.

—They wouldn’t inflate their power to this degree without a purpose. This isn’t about targeting you or me. It would be too inefficient.

The sudden realization hit Leonard like a bolt of lightning.

—...The Barricade Train!

Uluka blinked once in agreement.

—Indeed. These guys can’t be ignored, and at the same time they demand enormous resources to confront.

—They’re cunning.

—Keep in mind. They are mad, not foolish. Madness can sometimes surpass even the wisdom of sages.

With that advice, Uluka took to the sky again, summoning his Aura Dragon through Soul-Breaker. The dragon’s form had blurred significantly, likely due to the strain from the aerial battle with Boreas.

Leonard also checked his celestial energy and realized he had about two opportunities left to tap into his Demigod Tier power.

And then—

Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom—!!!

The moment Cybele’s mud tower met with Boreas’ vortex, the two powers merged, causing the fragmented mud to spin wildly, riding the currents of the vortex. It was a crude yet devastating combined attack.

Are they really trying to turn the disintegrated mud fragments of Decay, sliced finely by the razor wind, into a sandstorm and ram it into the Barricade Train like a battering ram?!

Leonard, recalling the sandstorms he had witnessed in the Taklamakan Desert in his past life, immediately understood the aim of the Wraith Kings. It was a sandstorm infused with two distinct authorities.

The razor wind would first damage the exterior of the Barricade Train, and then, as the Green Dragon knights inhaled the mud of Decay, which was turned into fine particles from the slicing winds, their bodies would quickly rot from the inside, leading to death. An entire sector could be wiped out in an instant.

Even with the defense barrier at maximum output, stopping the combined attack launched by two Wraith Kings right in front of them would be impossible.

If that’s the case, the commander and I must block it ourselves.

There was nothing favorable about this situation. Leonard had already pushed his conceptual martial arts to the limit. Moreover, though his swordsmanship was impressive, Uluka, with his unique trait specialized to counter spiritual beings, was not particularly powerful in terms of raw firepower.

In fact, among the seven commanders, Uluka was one of the weakest in that regard, and his abilities were not well-matched against Demigod Tier beings like the Wraith Kings, who specialized in raw strength.

Nevertheless, without a moment’s hesitation, Leonard drew upon his celestial energy and transformed it into the White Tiger Qi. As he entered a trance, an ancient proverb echoed in his mind.

“Life and death lie between breaths.” It’s truly perfect for this situation.

Indeed, there was no better way to force a martial artist to grow than to overcome the threshold between life and death. The Sutra of Forty-two Chapters spoke of how life and death existed within a single breath. It meant that life and death were not distant concepts; they existed in every moment, in every breath, in the space between inhaling and exhaling. It referred to the tiger moths, those who placed their lives on the very edge of existence.

Facing death head-on, Leonard’s sword traced a deeper and sharper path than usual.

Western God Style

Cutter of All Things

Sky and Clouds Piercer

He unleashed a powerful downward strike, as though a massive mountain were descending. A White Tiger’s claw, revealed in plain sight with great momentum, tore through space itself, aiming to split the sandstorm in two.

“Guh!”

Even with the Dragon Heart, Leonard’s internal and celestial energies still hadn’t been fully restored after Boreas’ previous attacks, and now they were quickly being depleted.

Blood rose up his throat, his internal wounds tearing open once more. He didn’t manage to swallow it back down, letting some drip from his lips as he raised his black sword once more, assuming a ready stance.

One strike wasn’t enough. Even if he were ahead in terms of conceptual mastery, against an enemy of equal status, the superiority of raw output wouldn’t easily reverse the tide of battle. Therefore...

Cutter of All Things

Sky and Clouds Piercer

Second Strike: Sky Splitting Cross Slash

Two consecutive Sky and Clouds Piercer crossed in an X-shape, tearing through the space in their path as they headed toward the sandstorm.

Kaboom—!!

As the Sky Splitting Cross Slash struck the middle of the sandstorm, the outermost layer of the whirlwind was sliced away, releasing the power within. Though the storm wasn’t fully nullified, its devastating force, which had seemed capable of reducing everything in its path to dust, was notably reduced.

As the sandstorm faltered in its advance toward the Barricade Train, Uluka seized the moment, swinging his sword to command the Aura Dragon.

Dragon Strike

The Aura Dragon fell like a meteor, crashing into the sandstorm. The resulting shockwave swept across several kilometers, causing weaker beings to collapse.

It wasn’t a physical shockwave but a spiritual one. The Spriggans, swept up in the aftermath, were obliterated, many of them completely annihilated. Even the Wraith Kings who had conjured the sandstorm were forced to withdraw, stunned by the force of the attack.

“Was it... still not enough...?”

Despite their fierce struggle, the sandstorm retained its form, still advancing toward the Barricade Train. The remaining power was still too much for Transcendence Tier knights to handle. If the knights realized the situation and sought refuge inside the train, they might stand a chance of surviving, but given that they were still engaged in combat with the Spriggans, a swift retreat was impossible.

It seemed inevitable that Leonard’s assigned sector would be devastated.

Areadbhar

That was, until a beam of light shot out from beyond the horizon. The light, moving faster than Leonard could perceive, headed straight for the sandstorm, piercing through the outer layers already damaged by the Sky Splitting Cross Slash and Dragon Strike.

■■■■■■—!?

Boreas reacted before Cybele. Thousands of feathers burst forth from his massive eagle form, creating an unavoidable barrage.

Boom!

However, Areadbhar not only tore through the web of feathers but also shattered Boreas into pieces.

The lethal attack was Wade’s charge, who had merged body and sword, turning into a beam of light. The technique, which had once slaughtered two apostles of an Outer God, was too much even for the Wraith Kings to withstand.

Realizing that Boreas was being reverse-summoned, Cybele attempted a swift retreat by burrowing into the ground. Though Areadbhar pursued, turning the ground hundreds of meters deep into molten lava, the effort yielded little result.

A soft hum resonated.

The light, Areadbhar, dispersed as Wade emerged from it. Though his complexion was pale, no doubt from the strain of covering dozens of kilometers at full speed, he seemed as composed as ever. He slowly sheathed his sword as he turned to look at Uluka and Leonard, who had approached him.

“Hmm...” In his usual grave manner, Wade finally said, “I came in response to the frontline commander’s request for assistance. Seems I managed to get here just in time.”

Behind him, the now-lifeless sandstorm collapsed, marking the total failure of the three Wraith Kings’ ambush.