Chapter 44

Reincarnated as the Sword Emperor in the Sword Clan (44)

In the midst of the wind-dancing petals of cherry blossoms, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written there.

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A special species, the Manticore, and five Shadow Knights lay scattered on the ground, with dry sandstorms passing over them several times. After Leonard and the fifth shadow disappeared, there was no sign of life, and it seemed that this chaotic scene would remain buried in the sand forever.

However.

Whoosh!

A hand suddenly sprang out of the flat ground, and its owner soon revealed himself.

It was Leonard.

"Dangerous."

He muttered, his back drenched in cold sweat. If he hadn't dug several meters into the ground using the Earth Penetration Technique and used the Great Turtle Breath Technique, the Transcendent Realm's senses would have been impossible to avoid. It was a matter of life and death in mere seconds.

'The fifth shadow, stronger than I anticipated.'

He had been disappointed by the thirtieth shadow and only returned to his original assessment after seeing the twelfth shadow. The fifth shadow was so powerful that it was embarrassing to compare it to the other two. Even with his senses dulled by the Great Turtle Breath Technique, his entire body was drenched in cold sweat.

He was on par with or even superior to the top two among the Seven Heroes of the Four Great Clans. 'Like Hongdo Roshak or Muyeong Gong. Considering the difference in internal energy and physical abilities, he is at least on par with two of them.'

The Sword Emperor, Yeonmuhyeok, would not have been more than 70% confident in victory against such a formidable opponent. Leonard's lips were already stretched wide, as if he were a madman, having felt the presence of this formidable opponent up close.

I want to fight to the death right now.

Knowing that the power of the Third Stage External Force Realm was not enough for a satisfying battle, he had been holding back.

After barely calming his fighting spirit, he dashed in the opposite direction.

Whoosh!

With a few leaps, he rode the wind and fled from the Valley of Lions, which had fallen into a heavy silence after the death of the resident. A Transcendent Realm expert can harmonize with nature, minimizing internal energy consumption while maintaining the fastest light movement for several hours.

He needed to get as far away from here as possible before the fifth shadow realized he had been deceived.

'However, I learned a lot from his monologue.'

Several pieces of information formed in Leonard's mind.

'It's too late, if only I had hurried a bit more, you all. This is enough. He has been consolidating the Shadow Knights. The five who died this time were almost the last.'

Out of thirty, only a few might have survived, perhaps no more than twenty.

The Shadow Knights, already at a numerical disadvantage, had no one to rely on except the fifth shadow.

'The two choices he can make now are to gather the surviving subordinates and escape the island, or to mobilize all remaining forces to achieve his goal.'

Although I don't know how he entered Galapagos, he must have a way to escape.

The thirtieth shadow mentioned a scroll containing the magic formula for [Mass Teleportation].

Since it is a large-scale spatial magic, it is easily detected upon activation, and a high-level magic scroll like [Mass Teleportation] requires a considerable amount of time for its effect to activate.

Therefore, there is a need to create a significant distance to prevent the Dragon Knights from arriving on time.

'The possibility of choosing the former is low. The fifth shadow was not ready to give up.'

If he chose the latter, then we need to consider the best approach for the Shadow Knights to achieve their goal with their limited forces.

Leonard quickly came up with the answer.

"...Leading with a Sword Master, they will launch a local raid, kidnap a few, and escape as quickly as possible. That's the best option."

Originally, they might have planned to kidnap dozens of defenseless apprentice knights scattered around the island, but that became impossible the moment Cardenas learned of the attack and began to prepare.

The only solution left is a powerful raid led by a Sword Master, which cannot be stopped once it is known.

'There's no way to respond except for Fabian to arrive. If we had a formation like the 108 Arhats Array, even a Sword Master wouldn't dare to enter.'

The 108 Arhats Array.

A formation famous for being the strongest in the Shaolin Temple, a prestigious martial arts school known for being the origin of all martial arts in the world.

Some might argue that it's strange for 108 people to gang up on one person, but if 108 peak experts can firmly block a single Transcendent Realm expert, anyone would be amazed.

It was one of the things Leonard regretted not experiencing during his time as the Sword Emperor.

'I've heard that if 108 peak experts gather, they can even handle a Transcendent Realm expert...'

Leonard, who had fought a Celestial Demon directly, can confidently say that this is impossible.

A 100-foot-tall Asura statue can destroy a mountain with a single punch, and a hundred or so peak experts would not be able to stop it.

Yeonmuhyeok could only last over a hundred seconds by burning all his innate energy.

'Since I can't teach the Dragon Knights the formation, it's a meaningless assumption. Sword techniques are intangible, so it might be difficult to move like a well-constructed mechanism.'

The higher the level of the formation, the more important the cooperation and compatibility of the participants.

For example, the Tian Gang Beidou Formation of the Front Line School is famous for not being able to achieve even 10% of its full power if the internal energy and martial arts techniques are not perfectly harmonized.

It's not something that can be taught haphazardly like the San Zai Formation.

"Is this it?"

The underground passage Leonard dug from his residence has several exits. Finding the one he dug at the edge of the Forest of Ash, he used the Earth Penetration Technique to enter his body.

After digging a few meters, he could step into an open space.

He had secretly left the Dragon Knights' base without anyone knowing.

After walking through the underground passage, which was over several hundred meters, Leonard returned to his residence and took a deep breath. Only then did he feel free from the pursuit of the Sword Master.

"Hmm?"

The atmosphere around his residence, and indeed the entire base, was chaotic.

Leonard felt an ominous sense as he left his house.

At the same time, his eyes narrowed.

'It's not a positive feeling. I sense confusion, anger, and a faint sense of fear.'

Leonard, observing the 'flame' overflowing in the area through the Upper Dantian, tilted his head.

Is there something that could shake the Dragon Knights so much?

He knew from Bradley that the enemy group had a Sword Master and was very powerful, but it doesn't make sense for them to start feeling fear now.

So Leonard decided to ask someone who might know.

"Senior!"

"Hmm? What is it? I don't have time to chat with you now."

A mid-level knight of the Dragon Knights, whose face he recognized but whose name he couldn't remember.

Leonard, who had stopped him, asked urgently.

"What's happening? I was in my residence and didn't know the situation!"

"Oh, is that so! Then..."

A shadow appeared on the mid-level knight's face.

He knew about Leonard's relationship with the others.

Sensing something was wrong from his reaction, Leonard continued to wait in place. The mid-level knight, turning his eyes, said:

"A patrol group was attacked by the enemy. A Sword Master appeared, and the battle ended before the nearby patrol groups and Banneret could arrive."

"What was the result?"

"43 mid-level knights died, and 8 apprentice knights are missing. They were definitely taken by those bastards."

Just as Leonard had predicted.

The only error in his prediction was that the fifth shadow's judgment and action were too swift.

'Damn it.'

He had misinterpreted the fifth shadow's words.

—...I was too late. If I had hurried a bit more, I could have brought you all without missing the great cause.

The words were not about regretting the loss of subordinates but about regretting not being able to involve them in a successful operation.

As Leonard clicked his tongue, the mid-level knight added cautiously:

"I know it's a regrettable matter, but among the 8 missing apprentice knights are some you were close to."

"Really?"

"Heiden, Ian, and Gale. The patrol group they belonged to was the target of the attack. We haven't found their bodies, so we assume they were captured by the enemy."

With that, the mid-level knight turned and left.

'...Those three.'

Leonard was momentarily lost for words, lost in thought.

'Heiden.'

Despite his seemingly frivolous behavior, he cared for his comrades and had considerable talent with the sword, making it fun to teach him.

'Ian.'

A thinker rather than a doer, but he never used his intelligence for ill. Despite approaching with the intention of bestowing favors, he ended up accumulating debts, which made him a bit scatterbrained.

'Gale.'

Slower in thinking than the other two, which could be frustrating, but his sincerity and perseverance made him a promising candidate for greatness after a few years of training.

He had given a lot to the trio, but they had also given him a lot in return.

'Can I save them with my current skills?'

Leonard closed his eyes and stood there, deeply pondering.

Third Stage External Force Realm.

Despite his mismatched physical abilities and 90 years of internal energy, he had no confidence in successfully rescuing the captives by pursuing the Shadow Knights led by a Sword Master.

If he couldn't do it alone, he needed to involve a friendly force, the Dragon Knights.

'There is a way.'

The plan forming in his mind was becoming increasingly realistic, with one idea leading to another.

The Shadow Knights' operation route.

The bodies left in the Valley of Lions.

The fifth shadow.

The pieces of information, which individually were insufficient, repeatedly split and merged, forming an answer that should have been unknown. Holding this conclusion in his hands, Leonard made his final decision.

'—The risk is high, and the outcome is the lives of those children.'

If left alone, the Shadow Knights, who had kidnapped 8 apprentice knights, would return to their homeland, and Cardenas would soon pour his anger on the Kingdom of Cruis, achieving his revenge. If even one of the Seven Great Knight Orders were to mobilize, the Shadow Knights and the entire kingdom would be devastated.

Cardenas' ambition to study the bloodline of the nobles and challenge the stronghold would be shattered.

But the safety of the apprentice knights could not be guaranteed.

"There's no choice."

Leonard, who had decided to jump into the fray, stroked the hilt of his sword.

'When did I ever worry about whether I could or couldn't do something?'

The question of whether to act or not is the only guiding principle that led the Sword Emperor Yeonmuhyeok throughout his life.