The Sword Emperor Transmigrates

Chapter 264

There were four main objectives they had to meet in order to conquer the Demonic Realm, the Nine Hells.

The first, of course, was gathering enough forces to eliminate the sheer number of enemies. The Black Dragon Knights didn’t have the slightest chance of winning if they went in alone, but now that the Green Dragon, Blue Dragon, and Golden Dragon were going to join in, this condition, at least, was met.

However, the second objective was more important than exterminating the Demoniacs. No matter how many monsters of any ranking they killed, as long as the Nine Hells remained in its current state, it wouldn’t matter. That was where Hades came in—he would revert the realm back into the Underworld.

The third objective was dealing with the Demigod Tier enemies outside of the Demonic Realm. The Named monsters still had the blood of Demoniacs, and given their long lifespans, their accumulated combat prowess and experience had to be formidable.

Fighting them in the Middle Realm already required at least two commanders or someone at that level. The knights couldn’t even imagine just how daunting it would be to fight them in the Demonic Realm. The only solution was to allocate as many forces as possible to fight the Named.

“...And we have to seize control of the Hellgates. That will be the most difficult part,” Audrey muttered, looking doubtful.

Simon Magus laughed bitterly as if in agreement and stroked his beard. “Indeed, it will. Even though you have reached the Demigod Tier and I Class 9, we’re still mortals of this world, tied to its rules. Unlike us, the Demoniacs are a part of Crom Dubh, the ruler of another realm, so they’re the only ones with the ability to open dimensional doors.”

“But a divine being can overtake the netherworld and take control of the Hellgates, which is why you all made a deal with Hades,” Audrey added.

“Precisely. Those monsters might be Named and powerful, but they’re still just fragments of a higher being. A god, even without their full power, can naturally overpower and overrule that authority.”

While Demigod Tier master fighters could bend the laws of nature at their will, it was an acquired ability, not something inherent. On the other hand, the Demoniacs still had the ability to open and close dimensional doors with their sliver of Crom Dubh’s power.

“However, the Demoniacs take time to open the Hellgates, which is why the guards who watch them have time to alert the others,” Simon pointed out. “If Crom Dubh himself did so, they wouldn’t even have the time to scream.”

And now, Hades could do the same.

Still, they were lucky that Crom Dubh’s body was the only thing that remained. If his soul hadn’t been shunned from the realm, Hades wouldn’t be able to take control of the Hellgates. In fact, he might even have been weakened.

But if the Outer Gods started to cross over into the Demonic Realm, Crom Dubh might also be among them and regain control.

“The lowly monsters have not noticed yet. The fringes of the dimension are a little unstable, but not enough to become connected to the otherworldly dimensions. I believe we still have time,” Hades remarked.

“According to the Celestials, it will be another year or two until the actual invasion starts,” Leonard said. “We have to weaken Crom Dubh’s influence as much as we can before then.”

The more his power waned, the less Outer Gods could cross over into the Middle Realm. It wouldn’t be enough to stop all the True Gods, but they could at least stop a few.

“...I see. I suppose my role in this matter has already been decided,” Audrey remarked. She looked away from Hades, who was standing right next to the Hellgate, and turned back to the other three—or rather, to Simon.

“Let us return to the main estate. We must call upon the Grand Council.”

“Tsk. You’re making this old man work too much.” Still, he hit the ground with his staff, creating a magic array to teleport them over.

“I will remain here and wait for the enemy army’s advance. Do not leave me waiting for too long,” Hades said as he watched.

“We won’t,” Leonard promised.

And then, the four of them were enveloped by the magical light.

The day of judgment was coming.

***

It wasn’t that unusual for groups from the Three Noble Houses to meet up and work together, but during a Grand Council, at least one family head had to be present.

The Archduke of Sword, Declan.

The president of the Arcane Society, Simon Magus.

Grand Elder Arktur.

As the symbols of the Three Noble Houses, they rarely participated in such affairs themselves, typically leaving them to others. In addition, leaders of the Seven Knight Orders and the Pentagon traditionally had complete authority in situations that were not urgent or severe.

“Conquering the Demonic Realm, you say? How ambitious! Hahaha!” Arktur burst into laughter, unable to help himself.

Declan wore a tense smile. “Well, as this has been presented by the three commanders and Simon himself, I suppose we need not question the feasibility of this plan any further.”

“The Blue Dragon is ready for deployment at a moment’s notice.”

“The Red Dragon as well.”

“The Golden Dragon has also finished cleaning things up.”

“The Green Dragon is willing to lay down our swords and our lives, just as Commander Uluka would have wanted!”

“The White Dragon has also pushed back our missions and is on standby.”

Even without the Order of the Black Dragon, which would make up the key fighting unit of this operation, with the other five knight orders, the House of Cardenas was ready to launch the greatest expedition they had ever seen.

And they weren’t the only ones.

“I’ll join too.”

“My assistants can take care of the library while I’m gone.”

“As long as we leave Antonius to watch over the royal palace and someone at the Arcane Society headquarters, it should be good.”

Even the Pentagon’s Grand Magi, who were notoriously uninvolved in worldly affairs, put down their pens and picked up their books and staffs for what was likely a one-in-a-lifetime chance to investigate the laws of the netherworld.

“Goodness. You all look so excited, but it seems we’re the only ones without anything to do! Even if we want to forge armor and weapons to help, we don’t know enough about the Demonic Realm to do so!” Arktur exclaimed.

“We can make weapons that are effective against the weaker monsters, but the House of Jehoia should be able to do more than that!” Garneau cried in agreement.

Seeing how Demoniacs were essentially living weapons themselves, it became clear that fighting the higher-ranking ones with just conventional weapons would be incredibly difficult. Jehoia could modify some weapons to fight titans and golems and use them against Flesh Demoniacs and Blood Demoniacs, but anything stronger required weaponry that could target specific weaknesses.

On top of that, the knowledge they had about Celestials and Spriggans didn’t apply here, so there was a lot of research to do.

The members of the Jehoia family were a little dejected by the time the week-long council had come to a close, as they still hadn’t found anything to do. But then, Leonard requested a private meeting with Grand Elder Arktur and Garneau and approached them with a proposal.

“How would you like to make some divine statues?”

“What? Please, go on!”

Their secret meeting went well into and beyond that night. And in the end, Leonard managed to ignite a passion in the two old blacksmiths. They had finally found their part to play in the campaign against the Demoniacs.

Jehoia was to make something fit for the gods using human techniques. Leonard’s idea was reminiscent of the old myth of Pygmalion, who made a sculpture so perfect it came to life and became his bride.

In truth, however, Leonard hadn’t made this suggestion just to give Jehoia something to do. The real reason was that they had hit a wall while developing demon-banishing martial arts.

When it comes to combating evil forces directly, Buddhist techniques are definitely more effective than Daoist ones. But Buddhist teachings are too complex and esoteric, which is why I developed Skanda’s Demon Felling Sword to have both Daoist and Buddhist elements...

However, that technique wouldn’t be as effective in the Demonic Realm as it was in the Middle Realm. Daoist martial arts fundamentally relied on following the natural flow of the world, and the natural flow of the Demoniac Realm was different. So, Leonard pondered on what Buddhist techniques he could use until he came up with an alternative—the martial arts of the Five Great Kings[1].

Violent and aggressive, they stemmed from Esoteric Buddhism[2] and differed greatly from the traditionalist Shaolin school. It emphasized power and wrath over mercy, aiming to reform evil spirits through force. It may be even more effective against the Demoniacs than the Dharma Three Swords Arts.

When Yeon Mu-Hyuk visited the Potala Palace in his past life, yoga was the only thing he was formally taught, but he encountered a number of different martial arts with his sword. The Esoteric Buddhists were hostile to outsiders, so he’d had dozens of ugly run-ins with them. It was during that time that he witnessed the martial arts of the Five Great Kings, which were more intense and dynamic than Shaolin martial arts.

Acala’s Art.

Trailokyavijaya’s Palm.

Kundali’s Kick.

Yamantaka’s Sword.

Vajrayaksa’s Fist.

Each one was a profound martial art of the highest realm, and winning and losing against them countless times had taught Yeon Mu-Hyuk a multitude of things.

Since they’re designed to annihilate evil spirits and malicious beings, they should be able to harm Demoniacs directly. And the techniques themselves are so well-designed that even those in the Transcendence Realm have much to gain by learning them. This should do.

Just as Leonard was about to make up his mind, Hades, of all people, offered some advice.

“How fascinating. You intend to borrow the powers and blessings of divine beings from another world? And yet they bear no connection to this one. Even if you try to use those techniques here, they’ll have less than a tenth of their original power.”

Then what should I do? Leonard asked back.

“You should borrow the powers and blessings of another deity. One that is deeply connected with the netherworld.”

...You’re talking about yourself.

“Indeed,” Hades affirmed, pleased. “Construct idols of these ‘Great Wisdom Kings,’ and I shall imbue them with my own blessings. Then they will be empowered with their original abilities when in the Underworld. Though, I am sure you would know better to address someone else as a Great King in my presence.”

Indeed, there was only one Great King of Olympus, so Leonard made sure to choose his words carefully.

I will call it whatever you wish.

“I already had one in mind. It shall be called Axiocersus, and they will symbolize my five generals that maintain order in the Underworld.”

What does Axiocersus mean?

“The hairless one.”

...

If there was one thing that the followers of Shaolin Temple and Potala had in common, it was that the vast majority were completely bald, without a single hair on their heads.

When Leonard made that connection, he wasn’t sure how to respond and lost his train of thought. But in any case, his top priority was to help the master craftsmen sculpt idols that resembled the originals as much as possible.

Though they would eventually be imbued with Hades’s power, they had to create fitting hosts before they brought the Underworld’s generals to life. The blacksmiths got to forging right away, excited for the new commission.

With that, there was only one more thing for Leonard to do.

“It’s good to see you all again... unless I haven’t met you yet, I suppose. Thank you all for coming here today. I am the commander of the Golden Dragon Knights, Leonard.”

He looked down upon them from the dais, groaning to himself internally.

Well, I should’ve known this would happen.

After all, there was a limit to how much one could learn from books and scriptures alone. So here he was, playing teacher again. But unlike last time, he was now a commander. No one dared to question his qualifications, and that included the Golden Dragon Knights, who had fought a Demigod Tier using the Eighteen Arhat Formation he had taught them.

A tense atmosphere settled over the training ground as the knights listened intently, and Leonard couldn’t stop himself from letting out a long sigh. Not only did he have to teach them the five stages of Skanda’s Demon Felling Sword, but he also had to impart formation arts as well.

He felt it would be a long day.

Shing—

Yet he unsheathed his sword like always, the blade glinting in the sunlight. That alone was enough to make everyone go still.

The hundreds of knights looked up at Leonard in anticipation.

“Draw your swords.”

It would be another few months until they marched into the Demonic Realm, but the tension in the air was so palpable that everyone felt like the campaign would start tomorrow.

The knights’ eyes widened when they realized they were holding their swords at the ready. Leonard hadn’t even used Draconic Words, but their bodies had instinctively followed his orders.

Only Leonard looked unbothered, his tone calm.

“Let us begin.”

1. Deified heroes in Esoteric Buddhism. ☜

2. Also called Vajrayana and Tantric Buddhism ☜