Hard Carried by My Sword-Chapter 164

A roar like the heavens and earth overturning rang out, the shockwave lashing the entire area. Even the sturdiest of city walls would not have survived that strike intact.

The ground beneath the Black Pharaoh, Nephren-Ka, caved in a wide circle, collapsing dozens of meters down. Elahan had unleashed a blow that would normally be enough to kill just about anything with a single strike. Its power would have left not even a shred of flesh from an ogre, and yet, Nephren-Ka merely staggered, letting out a groan of surprise.

“Khuh-urk?!”

At most, it was like a human being slapped across the face. Damage was there, but it was not great. The shock had been more from the suddenness of the blow. His very tier was beyond mortal measure; even overwhelming physical force alone could not bring him down.

However, that had never been Elahan’s aim.

“O Goddess, punish this blasphemer!”

The moment the Holy Iron Breaker struck Nephren-Ka, the gates of judgment burst open, locking onto him to unleash Divine Judgment. Light spilling down from the heavens where the goddess dwelt focused on a single point on the surface.

To the righteous, it would be no more than warm radiance, but on a body corrupted by exolaw, it was a fire that seared greater than the hottest of the furnaces. Giving no time to dodge or block, the sky split, and a pillar of light crashed down upon him.

“Guaaaaahhhhhh!”

Unlike the hammer strike, the light of Divine Judgment was fatal even to the demi-god.

Nephren-Ka snatched back the hand that had been reaching for Leon and desperately shielded his head. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of scarabs hurled themselves into the light like moths to flame. As the stench of burning rot filled the air and light and darkness tore at one another, Elahan used the chance to hoist Leon onto her back and run.

“Hero Leon! Are you all right?!” she asked.

At her voice, Leon forced his eyes open and whispered, “Ela...han...?”

“Yes! It’s me, your Saintess, Elahan!”

“Where am I...? No, what about that bastard...?”

Even half-conscious, he had not forgotten his duty. His body was in tatters, heart slowed by blood loss. The sight of him, so broken yet unyielding, brought heat to Elahan’s eyes. She shook her head once, then answered firmly,

“Thanks to your effort, everyone is safe! The Bedouins’ evacuation and the alliance of the two powers, the nomads and the beastkin, are a success!”

“That’s... a relief...”

“Beast King Varg and Al-Razzaz have pledged their full support! The Church and the Guild have gathered their representatives, too. So, please rest. I’ll take you somewhere safe!”

Leon could only nod, too drained to reply. The heat radiating through his armor, the breath against his cheek—these convinced him she was real, not some hallucination. He finally allowed himself to be relieved.

Even unleashing the Holy Barrier at full strength, Elahan accelerated, retreating from Nephren-Ka. Her burst of speed brought her up to nearly double that of sound.

However, even while scorched by the falling light, Nephren-Ka’s obsession remained fixed on Leon. Bearing both sunlight and holy might, Leon was the one true threat.

“Insolence! To steal away the sacrifice chosen by Pharaoh!”

Leaving the scarabs to block the Divine Judgment, Nephren-Ka cast his power, summoning three Apophis avatars that lunged for them.

Elahan could not ignore them. Alone, perhaps—but not while burdened with the broken Leon. Her barrier could not protect them both completely.

“Ugh, so persistent!”

She stopped, gripping the Holy Iron Breaker in one hand. Whirling it like a spinning top, like a storm, she spun it from fingers to wrist to elbow, raising a golden vortex.

“Kyaaaaah!”

One avatar, reckless, plunged into the whirl, and its head burst with a single glancing blow. The other two faltered at the sight, circling warily, unwilling to press closer.

It was a stalemate. Even Elahan could not fully block two more with one hand, so she had to keep the spin going. The avatars would wait until the rotation slowed.

Only three things could break the deadlock: The hammer stopping, the avatars attacking, or...

“I had hoped to carry you myself, but it can’t be helped.”

Elahan’s gaze turned, disappointment evident. In a stalemate like this, an outside force, a third-party, could change everything. From where she looked, shadows writhed.

Before the Apophis avatars could react, a human-shaped shadow flashed forward. In an instant, Karen was there, snatching Leon from Elahan’s back and sprinting hundreds of meters away in the blink of an eye. The Assassin Master’s full speed was the definition of swiftness.

However, Nephren-Ka’s reaction was even faster.

“Think I’m just going to let you go?!” he shouted.

With a convulsive sweep of his arm, he summoned four more avatars. Already strained from blocking the Divine Judgment, yet his instinct screamed that Leon could not be allowed to escape.

Elahan hastily reset her grip on the Holy Iron Breaker. Gathering all the power from her spin, she slammed it down upon the cluster of six.

With a deafening boom, three were crushed and dispelled, but the other three slithered around the strike and closed in on Karen.

Even Karen, swift as lightning, was overtaken within seconds by the serpents swimming through space, immune to resistance. Three gaping maws opened wide enough to swallow a manor whole.

In a single instant, they clamped down on the ground where Karen had stood, devouring earth and leaving only vast craters. Those swallowed by Apophis were dragged into another dimension, a stomach of pure abyss where no human could live.

Nephren-Ka watched and sneered, “A shame I cannot make her a slave, but it matters not. Her life has ended. Without her, your odds dwindle—"

However, before he could even finish his sentence, the three Apophis bodies bulged grotesquely. Then, they exploded as if packed with powder.

Only then did Nephren-Ka understand that the presence he thought his summons had swallowed—those two life forces—was already kilometers away.

“Secret Art: Worm in a Can.” Karen, carrying Leon on her back, smirked and said, “How’s that? You enjoy that shadow trick?”

She had thrown out a shadow shaped like the two of them as bait, and in that instant escaped. Nephren-Ka trembled with fury at her words, but that was all he could do. Elahan leveled the Holy Iron Breaker at his face and shouted.

“Begone, wretch! Know that your time of rampage is already over!”

Behind her, the rising sun pushed back the darkness, the sky paling to blue as it glared at him.

It was dawn.

Seeing it, Nephren-Ka’s body shook. The light of Judgment, the mortals who had defied him—

His hatred for all the living turned toward the sun now climbing the horizon.

“So be it, insects. You have clung onto life, for now.”

Though his eyes burned to cinders, he glared at the sun until the end, then retreated westward. The darkness blanketing the world receded, and the land that had been eroded by the Black Pharaoh’s power returned to normal.

And with a voice twisted in hatred, Nephren-Ka left his declaration of war.

“Savor these final days. For I shall be your death.”

With that, his presence faded. Elahan watched his retreat until she was sure he was gone, then turned. Her face, taut with fury and resolve, finally softened.

“I am still lacking...”

Even after repelling a Transcendent, her judgment was self-mocking.

“I unleashed Divine Judgment, yet I could not bind his steps, and even let mere summons force a path. This is unworthy of a Saintess.”

Her words were humble, but her eyes blazed. Next time would be different. She swore it to herself and hurried her steps.

Dozens of kilometers were nothing. It was she who had received the revelation and rushed first to Leon’s side. For three days and nights she had not slept, yet her fatigue was long forgotten.

Compared to Hero Leon, this is nothing!

Following Karen’s trail, she soon spotted a gathering beyond the horizon. The most elite of the Twelve Tribes, the finest warriors of the Bedouins, adventurers answering the Guild’s call, and last but not least, Holy Iron Inquisitors dispatched at her request.

An unnatural assembly of such disparate forces was arrayed in a circle around a single man.

“Karen! How is Hero Leon?” Elahan asked immediately upon her return.

Karen answered, “He’s fine. He just fell asleep,” as she stroked Leon’s hair as his head rested on her knee, his body wrapped in healing light.

Even with healing spells poured upon him, his body was not whole. Anyone could see from his state how horrific the past days had been. Four wounds deep enough to show bone, blood lost in quantities enough to kill an ordinary man ten times over.

One Holy Iron Inquisitor approached cautiously and whispered, “Sainte... no, Sister Ella. Is this truly... him?”

“Yes. It is.”

Elahan pressed more power into Leon’s healing, and at that, the knights’ eyes widened. As if ready to burn away their own lives, they gathered every scrap of holy power they could muster, already straining themselves yet refusing to hold back. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

As the light grew brighter, Al-Razzaz muttered, “We... now owe an impossible debt.”

Among nomads, grudge and favor were life itself. An enemy must be slain even at the cost of one’s life. A benefactor must be protected even at the cost of one’s life.

And what of a debt to the man who had saved their entire people?

Al-Razzaz clenched his fists, staring at the wounded youth. As chief, he would bear the burden of responsibility, yet here he had to entrust it to another. His life as a Swordmaster felt shamed.

Meanwhile, Varg smiled.

As expected of his descendant. Brave and noble.

Even while being kilometers away, he could sense the presence of an impossible monster—one so strong that facing it alone would have meant nothing but death. And yet, here lay the warrior who had survived it, alone, for days.

Varg felt neither worry nor gratitude—only pride. Pride so fierce he wanted to shout aloud that he shared the same martial lineage as this man.

“You really do love throwing yourself into thankless roles.”

Karen gave a wry smile, caressing Leon’s cheek. His skin, once smooth thanks to Holy Power, now felt raw, like untreated hide.

Even carrying him on her back for those brief moments, she had felt death crawl up her spine again and again. To flee with him like that for days—she herself would not have endured it.

Elahan clutched his scarred hand, tears streaming down her face.

“Thank goodness... I wasn’t too late...”

Had she been a minute later, he would have died. Without revelation, she would have been late.

Facing the heretic who had tried to seize him, she had not felt alive. Only now, in the aftermath, did the reality sink in, and with it came her tears.

It was a strange sight indeed. Beastkin, Bedouins, and the Holy Church. Groups with nothing in common, all bowing respectfully together. Only the adventurers, ignorant of the full tale, looked on in confusion.

“It isn’t over yet,” someone said.

“Tonight,” another answered.

And so it was. The night to bring down Nephren-Ka was tonight, and tonight alone.