Hard Carried by My Sword

Chapter 244

—GRAAAAAAAAH!

Struck full-force by the light of Divine Judgment, the Death King desperately swept his hands through the air, throwing up layer after layer of barriers. Of course, a shield hastily formed stood no chance.

Among the sacred spells that borrowed the Goddess’s power directly, the Divine Radiance was one of the greatest and most sacred rites. No barrier fueled by exodimensional energy—whether a hundred layers or a thousand—could stand against it.

As the ectoplasmic walls melted like frost before a furnace, the Death King’s body beyond them also began to burn in the holy blaze meant to eradicate beings that did not belong in this world.

Leon watched the overwhelming spectacle. Then, he was startled by the sudden influx of strength into his body.

“H-huh? What is this?”

The Aura he had drained dry was now surging back to the point of overflowing.

El-Cid’s voice spoke lazily. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

—What are you so surprised about? The people from the Holy Church told you again and again, didn’t they? The Hero is the Goddess’s agent. That light pouring down from the heavens is basically the source of your power. So, of course, you can recover several times faster than normal.

The Stigmata carved into Leon’s body shone so brightly they were visible even through his clothes, taking in the holy energy, the purest strength in existence.

The ache in his bones vanished. The dizziness that struck with every breath evaporated. He felt as if he’d been restored to the moment before the battle against the Death King.

No... I feel even better than that.

As though the Goddess herself had blessed him, his physical abilities and Aura were both far higher than usual.

—The others won’t be much help. Looks like the saintess girl spent everything she had on Divine Judgment.

Elahan too?

—She may have the largest reserves of Holy Power in history, but it’s not bottomless. Considering she’s been fighting nonstop this whole time, it’s impressive that she held on for this long.

I see...

Only now did Leon look beyond himself and check the others.

Elahan and Karen were both at their limit. Cedric still had some room to spare, strangely enough, but Valter, Gilbert, and the two cardinals were in just as bad a condition. Only Leon and Cedric still had the strength to respond to anything unexpected.

And then, with a dying groan, the Death King’s massive body began to shrivel. In just a few minutes, he had shrunk to barely ten meters.

Because of the abrupt collapse, Apophis couldn’t keep his hold and slipped away. The serpent’s trunk, which had coiled around his lower body, slid back underground, glowing with baleful hunger in the dark.

It was waiting—ready to strike again if anything approached its den.

We should be okay as long as we stay clear of that hole.

Conscious of the Holy Sword in his hand, Leon stepped toward the Death King, who still lay sprawled on the ground.

That overwhelming “presence” of a transcendent being was gone. Even a mortal’s attack would be enough to finish him now.

“Grand Chariot.”

Gold shimmer merged with the Holy Sword’s silver edge. Cedric glanced over and looked genuinely surprised. He hadn’t expected Leon to be able to use any more skills.

Leon had only recovered thanks to the holy light of Divine Judgment, but explaining that now was pointless. What mattered was ending this completely.

He closed the distance again, down to fifty meters. He needed to reach thirty to land a guaranteed killing blow.

Without even thinking, Leon activated Rodrick’s Footwork and shifted his weight in perfect silence, even the vibrations of his footsteps absorbed. Even he was surprised at how stealthy he had become.

He took one step, then another. When he was just five meters away, when it was seemingly coming to an end, the Death King’s body twitched like a corpse hit by postmortem spasms, like a man sitting wrong whose legs suddenly cramped. Only Leon—right beside him—felt it.

A chill. Like Death’s scythe dragging along his spine.

In that one-tenth of a second, Leon instantly pulled his sword back to mid-guard, channeling all the power he had gathered for Grand Chariot into defense.

A heartbeat later, with a deafening boom and an immense shockwave, he was blasted dozens of meters away. If he’d taken that head-on, he would have died instantly. Was this truly the power of the weakened Death King?

That question tangled with a strange sense of déjà vu in Leon’s mind. It was a counterattack he had never anticipated, but why did it feel so familiar?

I feel like I’ve seen this before... recently.

Regaining his posture, Leon looked up, and his eyes widened. It was only natural.

From the Death King’s semitransparent shoulder sprouted something he had seen once already. A black arm, built of writhing, ominous shadow.

“Asura arm?! How?!”

It was the same power Nekator, second of the Nine Hell Bishops of the Evil Order, had gained by contract. That arm of the transcendent Asura race now grew from the Death King’s body.

—Hm. Perhaps I was too arrogant. I should have known I couldn’t fully control the madness.

With a single punch, the Death King had sent Leon flying. Despite losing nearly all his power from the combined assault and Divine Judgment, he rose leisurely to his feet.

And when he finally lifted his face, even the calmest among them recoiled.

Leon too.

“That face... No way. Are you...?” Adela shouted, her expression fierce. “Morse! You piece of shit! Once you go down the throat, you’re supposed to turn into shit! Why the hell are you crawling back out?!”

She was right. The Death King, risen once more, no longer bore the face of Nex. It was Morse, his features warped into that vague, unsettling shape no one could clearly comprehend.

—Unfortunately for you, it seems that fate was not meant for me, Hog of the Goddess. I hadn’t expected this either. Has the reduction in souls returned the control to me?

The Death King—no, Morse—looked down at his own body. The translucent ectoplasmic flesh, built from the souls of the capital, now bore a grotesque Asura arm as well.

Confirming his state, Morse turned to Leon.

—Hero.

“What.”

—I have a proposal. Would you hear it?

Leon blinked. What could this lunatic possibly have to say now?

If it was a last request, Leon was willing to hear him out before ignoring it completely.

Before he could reply, Morse continued. The words that came made everyone doubt their own ears.

—Let us end this meaningless fight here. I wish for you to let me go.

Even El-Cid let out a stunned, incredulous laugh inside Leon’s head.

What...? Here, in the middle of this hellscape? A ‘meaningless fight’?

Leon felt something snap inside his head.

—My objective is already fulfilled. With this body, I can enter the cracks between dimensions and still retain my sense of self. Unlike Nex, I have no desire to rampage any longer in this world. So leave me be. I swear I’ll depart this place and never return.”

Even Morse, who lied as easily as breathing, was sincere about this much. In a world where he could no longer enjoy anything, he had no more business. The answer he craved lay beyond the boundary of this dimension. He had no intention of flailing to become a god like the Mad Emperor.

“No matter what it takes...”

However, there was one thing Morse had overlooked. In the end, Morse was a monster who could not understand human hearts, and he didn’t realize that his words and actions could irrationally turn someone into an enemy.

Leon’s golden eyes blazed. It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced even while facing the Death King.

He could not forgive. He could not let this man live. He could not let him go. He could not leave him be.

Here and now, he had to crush him until not even a speck of his soul remained.

“I will...”

He remembered the moment he first set foot in the imperial capital, Calelum. He recalled the scene that insulted life down to its very bottom. He heard again the screams of victims whose lives had been stolen, whose bodies had been molded into a monster’s flesh.

Yes, accepting Morse’s proposal was the rational choice. Aside from Leon and Cedric, no one was in any condition to fight, and if Morse’s words were true, he would simply disappear on his own without further battle. It was a chance to end this without spilling any more pointless blood.

There was no real need to risk a life-or-death struggle against Morse, the worst exolaw wielder of the Evil Order, who had taken over the Death King’s body.

“...SMASH YOU TO PIECES!”

As if answering his emotions, the wings on his back beat violently. A fury with not a trace of impurity erupted. Two torrents of light and heat swirled like a storm around Leon: Icarus Wing and the release of Aura.

He roared that he could not forgive Evil. Rational judgment was gone out the window. Crime must be punished. Evil must be destroyed.

For a Hero, that was all there was to do.

“You’ve killed more people than you can count! You trampled the dead over and over! You started this pointless war, and now you dare stand in front of me and babble about ‘meaningless fight’?!”

Leon’s presence swelled severalfold. For a brief moment, the very rank of his soul rose. Maybe it was the blessing the Goddess had bestowed, or maybe it was simply time for him to fulfill his role as Hero.

Morse realized it too and took a step back with a groan.

—Fool...! To let yourself be swayed by the deaths of ignorant worms, to risk your life on a useless fight!

Glaring at the writhing shape before him, Leon leveled the burning blade of the holy sword at Morse.

“Shut up. If you’re going to swear something, then I will, too. There’s no salvation coming for you. Leave this world? Who said you could? No matter what happens, I’ll be the one to throw you into hell!”

—Hero...!

“From here on, don’t say another word. I’m not going to listen, and I’m not going to answer.”

At the same time, Leon’s sword traced a cross in the air. Morse didn’t even have time to react.

“Grand Chariot, Chained Secret Technique: North Star Cross.”

Seeing the golden cross, Morse reflexively raised the Asura arm to block it head-on. He might have taken the Death King’s body, but its immortality and rank were gone. A clean hit from the holy sword would leave an irreparable wound.

With a blast, the Asura arm shattered into four pieces. It was the same reaction Nekator had shown. No matter how great its power, no matter if it was equal or greater in raw scale, other-dimensional power came apart like mist before the Holy Sword.

Now.

Leon spotted the opening and accelerated. The moment he flared Icarus Wing, the sound barrier shattered, and his body, wrapped in shockwaves, shot into Morse’s face at a speed that would strain even an Aura Master’s endurance.

Clenching his teeth and enduring it, Leon brought his blade down.

“Heavenly Core, First Form: Dubhe.”

Swordlight exploded as the single arc of light aimed to split Morse from crown to groin in one stroke. Dozens of tentacles shot from Morse’s body, hurling themselves into the path of the attack. They were sliced instead, spewing dark green blood as they scattered in all directions. Even Dubhe’s swordlight couldn’t cut through all of it.

Leon slid back a step and glared at Morse. The ectoplasmic body that had been colorless and translucent was slowly turning a vile shade, exolaw energy seeping out and eating into the ground around him.

Hands weaving a grotesque series of signs, Morse spoke.

—Hm... So be it. I had hoped to conserve as much strength as possible before my journey, but at this point, there’s truly no other choice.

Even the cardinals, experts in exolaw knowledge, had never seen the spells that followed in rapid succession.

Two pairs of Asura arms burst from around his shoulders. Sticky scales and tentacles erupted across his skin, squirming. Four pairs of bat-like wings unfurled from his back. Horns—or antennae, no one could tell which—sprouted from his skull.

El-Cid groaned at the disgusting form.

—Ugh. That’ll definitely destroy your appetite...

It was an exolaw that transplanted the traits of dozens of exodimensional creatures into one body, surpassing the limits of life itself. At Morse’s level, he was a monster close to immortal.

He hardly even possessing vital points anymore. His heart and brain had been replaced long ago. To kill him, they would have to grind him down without leaving a scrap of flesh or bring overwhelming holy power that outright denied his existence.

“No problem.”

In this place, Leon was the only one who could do that.

***

Cedric watched the clash and finally clicked his tongue.

“Tch. I can’t do anything here. Neither side meshes with me.”

Cedric’s fighting style centered on technique. It was a terrible match with Leon and Morse, whose battle was built on overwhelming output.

It wasn’t a matter of who had the advantage. As a team-up, it was the worst possible combination. One swing of Leon’s Grand Chariot or Sun Sword would sweep Cedric up as well. So, Cedric withdrew to stand with the other Masters.

Elahan bit down hard on her lip.

“Hero Leon is fighting, and I can’t help him at all...!”

Her divine energy, which had never once run dry in her entire life, was now as parched as a field in drought. The Holy Iron Breaker she used to swing like a stick felt unbearably heavy. She could hardly believe she’d ever whirled it around like a windmill.

“Goddess, please... guide my steps.”

Barely managing to plant the Holy Iron Breaker upright, Elahan offered a prayer. It was a simple, abbreviated prayer, but the Goddess was not the sort to cling to fussy formalities.

Revelation came, as always. The Holy Iron Breaker toppled lightly in one direction, pointing toward a target.

Elahan followed it with her eyes, and they flew wide.

“Ah!”