Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: Sword King
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On the snowy mountain where the snowstorm raged.
A man with long, blood-red hair sat at the edge of a cliff, flashing a sinister grin.
The red scarf wrapped around his neck fluttered slowly in the wind.
This was his favorite time.
When the yellow sky stretched out overhead.
The sensation of the entire world writhing as if in tension.
It reminded him of his old homeland.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Why mess with the Hardenharts?!"
It was then.
The man's head, lost in pleasant reminiscence, slowly turned to the side.
There stood a woman with disheveled long black hair.
She had traded her usual attire for a pitch-black robe.
Her fists were clenched tight, her eyes glaring at the man with unyielding fury.
The man, in turn, tilted his head as if he couldn't comprehend her at all.
"Because it's the perfect setup for harvesting some high-quality World Erosion power?"
His epithet was the Mad Emperor.
A World Eroder affiliated with Ixion.
The Mad Emperor's World Erosion grew stronger the mightier his opponent.
Naturally, the higher the stage, the more World Erosion power he could reap.
The Hardenharts currently hosted the Sword King himself, Rai Valheim.
There was no reason not to seize such prime-grade erosion.
"I heard you have power. If that's the case, then fight me instead!"
"Hahaha, impossible."
The Mad Emperor shrugged comically.
"You know better than anyone how World Erosion is born, being one yourself."
Evelask bit her lip hard.
World Erosion was erosion, plain and simple.
Born from corroding a fragment of the world itself.
So clumping together with outsiders unlinked to this world yielded nothing.
Evelask knew that all too well.
"If it weren't for that, I wouldn't be chasing after the strong like this."
"Don't make me laugh."
Evelask's expression hardened as she glared at him.
"You just want to fight. You're pinning all your excuses on that."
As she shot him a furious look, the Mad Emperor, who had been silent, covered his mouth.
He let out a brief, muffled chuckle.
"Sure. So what?"
As if it were the most natural thing, the Mad Emperor grinned, and World Erosion power began to swirl from Evelask's hand.
Even as pitch-black energy gathered around her, the Mad Emperor remained utterly relaxed.
"What I don't get is you newbies. Everything I do benefits Ixion."
At the mention of Ixion, Evelask faltered.
The group gathered to create a god through World Erosion.
They sought to forge their lost world anew.
"But you blocking me now—how does that help Ixion?"
"...It's not just the Hardenharts. It's the Valheims. How do you plan to deal with the aftermath? The Valheims will hunt Ixion down."
"Hahaha! Even better! More top-grade World Erosion! Our world draws one step closer!"
The Mad Emperor cackled madly.
His face suggested he meant every word.
"...You're insane."
Evelask stared at him in disbelief.
Meeting her gaze, the Mad Emperor slowly withdrew his smile.
"Nothing new there. We've already seen the end of our own world—we went mad long ago."
His red eyes gleamed faintly.
As if recalling ancient memories, he twisted into a grotesque grin.
"Newbie, looks like something's up with the Hardenharts, so I'll tell you one thing."
A thunderous boom echoed from the sky, followed by a bolt of lightning.
The sign that World Erosion was truly stirring.
"This world isn't ours."
He spread his arms wide against the backdrop of the crashing lightning, as if to drive home the point.
"It's just a lump of nutrients, existing to save our world."
Yellow raindrops began to pour from the heavens.
"Shouldn't we grind up the bugs living on that land and turn them into fertilizer?"
A yellow raindrop trickled down the Mad Emperor's cheek.
He genuinely saw this world's people as mere compost.
Just as they refused to treat World Eroders as human.
World Eroders returned the favor.
Feeling that truth, Evelask bit her lip.
She might have thought the same in the past.
But not anymore.
She had met someone decent, unlike before.
Evelask pressed hard against her chest.
She had made a promise with him.
To protect the Hardenharts.
A promise tied to the debt of her life.
The one that had freed her from bonds she thought eternal.
"Still, I can't let you..."
Just as she opened her mouth to stop the Mad Emperor again.
The space beside him warped violently.
Evelask swallowed involuntarily at the sight.
From the twisted rift emerged a single black frog.
Seeing it, the Mad Emperor grinned warmly.
"Oh, Captain Ixion? What's the occasion?"
"I bring ruin, crimson, descent upon."
In that instant, nonsensical words poured from the frog.
The Mad Emperor tapped it thoughtfully amid the grating, eerie noise.
"Captain, translation's glitching."
The frog fell silent for a moment.
Then it rattled briefly before the voice shifted.
"...I sensed a disturbance, so I came."
A clear, jade-like voice rang out, utterly unlike before.
Hearing it, the Mad Emperor grinned wider.
"Disturbance? Just doing some work. Sword King's here—gonna harvest some erosion."
"No guarantee it'll go as smoothly as with the Poison King."
"No worries! Got the newbie this time!"
The Mad Emperor laughed, pointing straight at Evelask.
She opened her mouth, then closed it repeatedly.
She knew exactly who owned that black frog.
The Black Witch.
Ixion's captain, the woman who could resurrect the comrades Evelask longed for most.
It was because of her that Evelask joined Ixion.
And because of her that Ixion endured.
She alone could forge a god from World Erosion.
"Evelask Venapoci."
The Black Witch called her name.
As Evelask flinched, the voice continued.
"Don't hang around the Mad Emperor too much."
A simple warning.
She didn't stop him.
Which meant permission granted.
Evelask's eyes wavered.
She wanted to shout for him to stop, but she couldn't.
Her life had been devoted to reviving her comrades, endlessly studying necromancy.
Yet true resurrection had eluded her.
The Black Witch was the only one who could grant it.
Evelask couldn't defy her.
'Not again.'
Just like when the Empire ripped out her heart, turning her into their Night Raven puppet.
She was becoming Ixion's puppet once more.
That realization filled her with bitter self-loathing.
Repeating the same mistake.
Meanwhile, the Black Witch's frog dissolved into smoke and vanished.
She had come only to check on the disturbance.
"Alright, newbie. Time to work."
The Mad Emperor grinned at the bowed Evelask.
He knew she wouldn't defy the Black Witch.
"You remember the job, right?"
"...Keep anyone from approaching while you fight the Sword King."
"Exactly! And no interfering, just in case. Gotta let it ripen nice and slow."
Evelask sealed her lips and turned into the shadows.
Watching her go, the Mad Emperor turned back.
And slowly began to smile.
For a figure was charging toward the mountain's edge through the blinding snow.
The Mad Emperor drew a sword matching his own blood-red hair.
One of the Ten Heavenly Swords.
Blood Leper Death Blade
The crimson-glowing blade gleamed today as well, hungry for its prey.
It was then.
Snow erupted in a massive plume from the direction he faced.
BOOM!
"From that range?!"
Even the Mad Emperor reacted with shock.
That's when he spotted something glinting amid the snow.
The instant he saw it and drew the Blood Leper Death Blade.
CLANG!
Crimson aura rippled as the blade parried something.
Whatever it was soared into the sky and halted midair.
The Mad Emperor's eyes followed it upward.
What he saw was a single sword.
A sword had flown at him.
From the farthest visible distance atop the mountain, no less.
"Whoa, a monster?"
But it didn't end there.
The sword hovering in the sky began to grow enormous.
The Mad Emperor smirked faintly.
He recognized it as the swordsmanship of the Sword King, Rai Valheim.
Imperial Annihilation Sword
Soon, the blade filled the heavens entirely, reflecting in his eyes.
A colossal shadow of the sword loomed over the mountain.
In the distance, flocks of birds fled in panic.
Before that overwhelming sight, no future remained but death.
And then, the sky began to crumble.
"Sheesh."
The Mad Emperor licked his lips.
"Stoking my anticipation like this."
At once, blood-red aura coiled around the Blood Leper Death Blade.
The scarlet aura extended beyond the sword, enveloping his arm.
Thump!
His fierce heartbeat echoed in his skull.
The aura wrapping him took form: a massive arm, skinless and bloated.
At its end.
The Blood Leper Death Blade in his grip had warped grotesquely.
Muscle fibers and veins twisted together to form the blade.
In that moment, the jet-black gem at its core began to open like an eye.
As the dark pupil manifested in the gem, heat surged from his body.
The Mad Emperor kicked off the ground.
He thrust his now-gigantic arm and sword-turned-blade toward the sky.
CRASHCRASHCRASHCRASHCRASHCRASH!
Rai's Imperial Annihilation Sword clashed with the Blood Leper, unleashing a deafening roar.
The surrounding forests and mountains shredded and scattered.
Anyone witnessing the spectacle would have been left speechless.
Clang!
And in that clash of power, the victor was none other than the Mad Emperor.
He had repelled the descending Imperial Annihilation Sword.
The Mad Emperor laughed triumphantly.
He was such a maniac that he savored the tingling in his arm.
As he descended to land.
He sensed the sky still darkened.
Belatedly looking up, another sword now overlaid the first atop the Imperial Annihilation Sword.
It had never been just one to begin with.
Imperial Annihilation Swords began multiplying in the sky.
"Whoa."
The sight of the heavens filled with them daunted even the Mad Emperor for a moment.
Beneath a sky of nothing but swords.
"They called Valheim a demon cave, and it's true."
This time, the real sky began to fall.