A massive shockwave erupted from Bradley's greatsword as he swung down from an upward stance. This was not just a simple manifestation of sword energy, but it was also the evidence that his power was beginning to interfere with the physical world. He was on the cusp of reaching the Transcendence Tier, which meant that he was at the peak of the Tenth Degree External Force Tier.
Cardenas One Sword Style
Bradley Form: Footstep of a Giant
Like a colossal being stomping down, the shockwave poured over the heads of the shadow knights. The sheer magnitude of the attack made the shadow knights tremble, and it was difficult to believe that it came from a single swing. Some of the shadow knights were at the very peak of the Tenth Degree External Force Tier, but the gap between them and Bradley was still incomprehensibly vast.
"Do not fear. I am in front of you."
When the Fifth Shadow swung his sword, the shockwave was split, and the residual shockwave crashed into the white sand beach. His attack wasn't even a special technique—it was just a single slash. The strength behind it was a testament to the difference between the External Force Tier and the Transcendence Tier, and the swing had effortlessly countered Bradley's full-force attack. If Bradley wasn't fighting to protect his subordinates, he wouldn't have had the confidence to last a minute against the Fifth Shadow.
Bradley's rugged face, like a natural rock wall, contorted in frustration.
He's stalling for time. Why?
The Fifth Shadow only blocked or deflected his attacks, never engaging aggressively. This minimized the casualties among the Order of the Fledgling Dragon, but it also meant that few enemies were being defeated. A single Swordmaster had brought the battlefield to a stalemate.
Bradley glanced down at the magic circle beginning to glow under their feet and gritted his teeth.
A Mass Teleport scroll will activate fifteen minutes after initiation. Five minutes have already passed since we started fighting, so less than ten minutes remain.
It was impossible for them to jump into the Mass Teleport with the shadow knights when they didn't know where it led. Furthermore, the magic circle's area was too small for even a hundred Fledgling Dragon knights, and facing a Swordmaster with that number would result in total annihilation. There could also be ambushes or magical traps that distinguished between ally and enemy at the destination.
If possible, I need to end this here. But a single Swordmaster is tying us down. He's meticulously preventing me from reaching the place where the children are being held hostage.
Sweat trickled down Bradley's forehead.
If I keep pressing, even a Swordmaster won't be able to handle our numbers. However, the casualties will be too high. I also can't guarantee that we'll finish this in ten minutes.
They couldn't afford a suicidal charge, nor could they let their enemies continue to stall for time.
The Fifth Shadow was also growing visibly anxious. If the standstill continued, the Mass Teleport would soon activate, allowing the shadow knights to escape successfully. However, the shadow knights who had gone to retrieve the prisoners hadn't returned.
They're taking too long.
The Fifth Shadow extended his senses behind him. Within seconds, he had scanned hundreds of meters. His eyes were filled with shock and rage.
There are no signs of life. Are they all dead? When? By whom?
He glanced suspiciously at Bradley, whose expression remained unchanged. Decades of life as a shadow had honed his instincts. His blaring intuition was telling him that this wasn't the work of the Cardenas demons. This wasn't a problem he could solve by pondering.
I must see it for myself.
He made a hand gesture at his subordinates behind him and immediately turned to leave. Or rather, he tried to.
Boom!
Bradley unleashed his Footstep of a Giant in a makeshift manner, striking the ground and blocking the Fifth Shadow's path. While Bradley couldn't fight on equal footing, predicting and hindering the Fifth Shadow's movements wasn't too difficult.
The Fifth Shadow turned back and looked at Bradley, his eyes blazing with murderous intent.
"Loyal hound of the Cardenas, do you not know your place?"
His demeanor had shifted from stalling to confronting. A clear, shining blade of aura emerged from his sword, bringing a stillness to the battlefield. It was the symbol of the Transcendence Tier—the Aura Blade.
The Fifth Shadow was becoming serious.
"Know my place? Who do you think you're talking to?" Despite the oppressive aura, Bradley's voice remained defiant. "After breaking through to the Transcendence Tier, is all that you can manage kidnapping children? It seems the Kurdish Kingdom's downfall was destined even before we crushed you."
"What did you say?"
"Are you deaf? Or are you running away from the unpleasant truth? We know who you are, you Kurdish scum. Even if you escape, the Seven Great Orders will turn your worthless country into a wasteland. If you have any dignity, take your own life."
The Fifth Shadow's face twisted into a demonic scowl. Being exposed was already bad enough, but he was not in a situation where he could silence the opposition. Their mistakes had put the Kurdish Kingdom on the brink of destruction. No matter how much he pondered, no solution presented itself.
"Do you have any proof that we are from the Kurdish Kingdom?"
"We don't need any." Bradley cut him off firmly. "Who dares question the actions of the House of Cardenas, the Sword of Arcadia? Although we Cardenas do not cut down the innocent, we leave no room for mercy when bringing judgment to a sinner."
"We're sinners? For exposing your vile secrets?"
"Whatever excuses you make, your fate is the same. Fall to the depths of the netherworld and suffer eternally."
Their conversation ceased as both sides focused solely on their intentions and interpretations.
Bradley and the Fifth Shadow moved simultaneously.
Clang!
The Aura Blade clashed with Bradley's greatsword, putting a crack in it. The Aura Blade, a symbol of the Transcendence Tier, was a mass of augmented qi that had destructive power surpassing even Class 8 magic. No matter how compressed, sword energy was merely like a piece of straw against augmented qi.
Bradley received internal injuries from just three blows and spat out blood.
"Urgh!"
Facing the true power of a Transcendence Tier expert, a Tenth Degree External Force Tier knight was utterly helpless. Bradley realized the vast difference, and his eyes glowed with a yellow light.
Bradley mustered his Innate True Qi, which was known in this world as Prana. However, the difference in strength was not something that could be bridged with mere life force.
"How pathetic!" said the Fifth Shadow.
The light swirling around his Aura Blade grew even more menacing. Not even Bradley's sword energy, thickened several times by Prana, could withstand the fearsome destructive power contained within it. The dark green Aura Blade cut Bradley's greatsword in half and, continuing its onslaught, severed his right arm. The arm flew, scattering red blood.
"Argh!"
Of all things, it had to be the arm holding the greatsword.
As Bradley stood defenseless, the shadow knight said, "Fall to the netherworld first, you demon of Cardenas."
Death seemed inevitable, like an unavoidable fate no matter the effort. Bradley faced the Fifth Shadow's blade with a calm resolve, burdened only by the guilt of failing his duty.
I'm sorry, Commander Fabian.
As the Order of the Fledgling Dragon's banneret prepared to meet his end, a streak of blue light headed toward the back of the shadow knight's head.
Five Elements Sword Qi
Twin Thunder Swords' Flight
It was obvious that a Swordmaster would be able to react. The Fifth Shadow instantly reversed the direction of his descending sword to intercept the incoming sword energy. The sword shattered on contact with the Aura Blade, its fragments scattering.
The beach fell silent when the third party interrupted the duel between the two commanding knights.
"This is..."
The Fifth Shadow recognized the Twin Thunder Swords' Flight before anyone else. His eyes filled with chilling rage. The swordplay matched perfectly with the decapitated shadow knights he'd found in the Valley of Lions.
With eyes glistening with murderous intent, he turned around.
"You! It was you! It was you this whole time!"
A Swordmaster's intuition was at the realm of hyper-perception. From the Fledgling Dragon knights' sudden assault to the disappearance of his subordinates behind him, it was clear to the Fifth Shadow that Leonard had orchestrated everything. He raised his sword and emptied his mind, leaving only the killing desire to punish the culprit.
Bradley was staunching the bleeding from his wounded shoulder when Leonard, facing the Fifth Shadow, said, "Knight Banneret, all the apprentice knights have been rescued."
This wasn't the initial plan. Even if Bradley risked his life and fought until he died, the tide of the battle still wouldn't turn, and his perseverance would only result in more bloodshed. Nothing could change their inevitable defeat. Because it was such a lost cause, Leonard shouldn't have intervened if he wanted to hide his full power.
Still, Leonard had decided to trust them once. "I've dealt with those who came that way, so the remaining enemies are all here."
The Cardenas family valued talent and skill, unlike the false prestigious clans and great sects he knew from the Central Plains murim. They were a group who took in even abandoned children, treating them without discrimination. In the family, even those who envied those stronger than themselves didn't resort to wrongful deeds.
Leonard didn't intend to reveal everything, but he hoped that the family would shelter him as one of their own even though he had revealed some of his strength.
If you wish for someone's goodwill, you must extend your own.
Ignoring those dying here would leave him with no face to ask for kindness. Therefore, Leonard had chosen to reveal his power.
"Leonard? Who are you, really?"
Bradley's eyes flickered with disbelief, but he soon steadied himself. If Leonard's intentions were malicious, he wouldn't have stepped in to save him at such a critical juncture.
Leonard admired Bradley for being able to keep his composure despite losing an arm, and he quickly addressed the matter at hand.
"How much time until the Mass Teleport activates?"
"About three minutes. Maybe less, but not longer."
Coincidentally, Leonard could maintain his augmented sword energy for three minutes.
"That's perfect."
He had fully replenished his internal energy using high-grade mana stones, but the fatigue he had accumulated still remained. However, as the Sword Emperor, he had often fought in worse conditions, so this degree of weariness was only a slight handicap.
Five Elements Sword Qi
Augmented Energy Assimilation
Threads of aura were unleashed from Leonard's dual swords, and they wove together to form a blade as beautiful as a master weaver's craft.
Glowing red and black, Leonard's augmented sword energy was no less perfect than the Fifth Shadow's Aura Blade. With the Vermillion Bird Sword and the Black Tortoise Sword in a North-South Sword Stance, Leonard stood at the center.
The shadow knight recognized the strength of Leonard's presence and the completion of his augmented sword energy, and his eyes went wide with shock.
"That's impossible! You're just playing tricks! Even as a demon of the Cardenas, how could you have perfected the Aura Blade at your age?!"
Leonard said with a look of disdain, "Commander Fabian of the Order of the Fledgling Dragon is a Transcendent Tier knight just like you, but he never denied reality even when faced with my uniqueness. It's because you always run that you can't succeed."
"Enough bullshit!!!"
Unable to accept the painful truth, the shadow knight charged forward with his dark green Aura Blade. Leonard crossed his two swords to confront him.
Augmented sword energy against augmented sword energy. Though their force was equal, the difference in internal energy was clear. Losing in a contest of strength meant defeat. Leonard had to push the Fifth Shadow efficiently without letting his opponent realize his superiority.
Five Elements Style
Black Tortoise First Form: Soul-Deflecting Shell Mirror
The black augmented sword energy met the dark green Aura Blade.
The attack that had torn Bradley's sword energy like paper and split his greatsword was nullified. Black and green hues bit into each other and came to a standstill. Though the attack that should have been deflected was only stopped, it was enough for Leonard.
Five Elements Style
Vermillion Bird Seventeenth Form: Scorching Inferno
The red augmented qi split into dozens of branches and surged like a wildfire. Even though each strand was less powerful individually, they still far surpassed typical sword energy. Just a slight graze could sever limbs.
However, the Fifth Shadow was no easy opponent.
Seeing Scorching Inferno scatter without inflicting harm, Leonard clicked his tongue in frustration.
Augmented protective qi! His internal energy is overflowing.
In murim, even a master in the Creation Realm can't fully cover their body with augmented protective qi except for the Divine Monk...
When the ultimate offensive power enveloped the body, it naturally became the ultimate defense. It wasn't that Creation Realm masters were unaware of this. Even applying it just to the blade consumed immense internal energy. Covering the entire body? While it would perfectly block attacks, they'd soon die due to the exhaustion of internal energy.
Despite this, the Fifth Shadow not only blocked his attack with augmented protective qi but also launched a counterattack without breaking a sweat.
Clang!
Leonard was driven back by an attack deflected with the Black Tortoise Form. The inherent power difference in their augmented qi was clear. His wrist throbbed momentarily, but Leonard was resilient enough to withstand it.
A sudden dizziness made his vision go dark.
"Ugh!"
A blade thrust out from the darkness, but Leonard's reaction was still incredibly swift.
He had mastered his mind's eye ages ago. His twin swords danced through the air, slashing at the void. The Aura Blade, aiming for his throat, had to retreat. Leonard's sight returned, and he glared at the Fifth Shadow.
Augmented Poison Energy, huh.
It was a rare attribute that even the Sword Emperor Yeon Mu-Hyuk had only encountered a few times.