Regressing as the Reincarnated Bastard of the Sword Clan

Chapter 251

Like a graveyard filled with jagged tombstones, dozens of broken blades were lodged in the ground.

On top of one of those shattered hilts, a man quietly descended.

Thud!

Kyle folded his arms and gazed down at the world with an air of absolute authority.

“Hahahahaha!”

The Dragon Emperor burst into laughter upon seeing him. The booming sound of his laughter echoed, shaking the very foundation of the forest. It wasn’t merely a laugh; it was a roar of mockery and disdain.

The sheer force of his voice caused the Forest of Naga to tremble violently, as if a natural disaster were unfolding.

Rumble!

As the grin stretched across his lips, the once genial smile that adorned his face disappeared entirely.

What remained was the visage of a devil, malevolent and unrestrained.

“Well, well! Who do we have here? Isn’t this my proud son! Oh, how your father has missed you! Do you have any idea how much I’ve longed to see you again?”

The thunderous voice rang out once more. It was like the wind of a storm battering the surroundings, displacing the air itself. Trees, already weakened with exposed roots, fell like dominoes.

And yet, Kyle did not so much as flinch. His hair barely rustled in the chaotic winds. His cold, unyielding expression revealed nothing but contempt.

“Do I need to know?” he replied, his tone icy.

“Ah, true! You don’t. That’s just how it is, isn’t it? A father always worries about how his son is doing, even while the son is too busy with his own life to even send a greeting.”

“You make it sound as though you’ve been a model parent.”

“Well, if you ask me, I think I did a pretty decent job fulfilling my duties as a father.”

“Delusion knows no bounds, I see.”

“Oh? Am I mistaken? Well, if that’s the case, then so be it.”

The Dragon Emperor’s lips curled into a crooked smirk.

Crackle!

Behind him, a shadow loomed, dark and menacing.

“But tell me, what is a father’s duty if not to push his son to surpass him? To guide and challenge him? In that sense, I’d say I’ve done my part.”

Kyle remained silent, his arms still crossed. His stillness only served to intensify the tension.

“Which is why I’ll now take back what I gave.”

Flash!

The Dragon Emperor’s body surged with radiant energy, transforming into a streak of light as he charged toward Kyle.

***

"Patriarch!!"

"Why would you appear in a place like this?!"

The scouts of the vanguard dragons widened their eyes as they caught sight of Kyle.

‘Father!!’

Theo, too, felt an overwhelming urge to call out to his father but suppressed it. Kyle’s appearance at this critical juncture signified an enormous resolution.

Father sees this place as his final battlefield.

From the moment Kyle had mentioned that he would join Theo in battle, Theo had sensed it.

It wasn’t just an ordinary decision—it was a monumental one.

Kyle had always refused sublimation. He avoided drawing his sword as much as possible, and even when he appeared, it was only briefly, as if to remind others of his existence.

Even teaching Theo the sword had been a decision he had made after much deliberation, intending to ensure Theo would fully grasp the light-speed realm.

But against the likes of the Dragon Emperor and Hilda, there was no room for such restraint.

Theo couldn’t comprehend what had suddenly driven his father to make this choice. Perhaps Kyle had decided that the relics of the old era—like the Dragon Emperor and Hilda—could no longer be allowed to rampage unchecked.

Regardless, it was Kyle’s decision.

Theo had no intention of opposing it. Instead, he resolved to respect his father’s choice.

"I’ll hold these two off. Your task is to destroy the Ascension Gate."

The moment Kyle’s telepathic voice reached Theo, Theo nodded and turned in the opposite direction. Preventing the Ascension Ritual’s catastrophic spread took precedence over engaging the two enemies.

"Where do you think you’re going?!"

Hilda, reading Theo’s intentions, moved to intercept him.

Clang!

A large broken blade shot upward, blocking her path. Reflexively, Hilda drew her radiant sword and slashed the blade aside, retreating a few steps.

Her burning gaze shifted to Kyle.

Kyle, still standing atop a broken blade, casually deflected the Dragon Emperor’s oncoming strike with the back of his hand.

The ease with which he shrugged off the Dragon Emperor’s full-force blow was already astounding, but even more shocking was his composure as he spared a sidelong glance at Hilda in the middle of combat.

“You bastard…!”

Kyle chuckled softly. “I figured I’d try mimicking your pompous bravado. How do you like it?”

Swish!

As soon as he finished speaking, another broken blade shot up like an arrow, aiming for Hilda’s left cheek. She quickly tilted her head to avoid it and unsheathed her Ten Radiant Swords.

Crunch!

Grinding her teeth, her aura darkened further with fury.

“Are you… toying with me?”

Hilda, who had once viewed Kyle as an inferior—a failure unworthy of the title of a Chosen One—could not accept the situation.

The fact that he had surpassed her understanding of enlightenment infuriated her. But most infuriating of all was the faint glimmer she saw on Kyle’s shoulders—the particles of sublimation light.

The light, which appeared only for those who ascended to divinity through the Pantheon of Gods, was beginning to manifest around Kyle.

To those enveloped by this light, the body would disintegrate, the soul would merge, and the being would ascend as an Eternal Spirit.

It was the culmination of what Hilda had yearned for and failed to achieve. And yet, Kyle rejected it.

The proof was right before her: the light flickered momentarily but retreated, unwilling to claim him fully.

Hilda’s rage boiled over.

For something she had desired so desperately to be denied to her yet offered to someone who refused it—it was maddeningly unjust.

“This is absurd,” she thought. “Unfair.”

Hilda clenched her fists, her determination to ascend to the Pantheon growing stronger.

Crackle!

Her pupils turned pitch black. The whites of her eyes and even the crimson of her irises darkened until her eyes resembled black pearls embedded in her face.

Her pale complexion made her appear barely human anymore.

“…So, you’ve finally abandoned your last shred of pride. Tch.”

Kyle clicked his tongue lightly.

Unlike the already insane Dragon Emperor, Kyle had shared a decent rapport with Hilda up until now. But it seemed that, too, had reached its end.

Hilda’s pact was with a deity entirely separate from the Nameless Sovereign—a dangerous enough situation on its own.

If the Nameless Sovereign’s schemes weren’t troubling enough, adding another Outer God’s interference could plunge the world into outright destruction.

Kyle knew he had to put an end to her before the Outer God gained more influence.

‘At the very least, before my sublimation is complete!’

Kyle, as the Ragnar clan’s guardian of the world, could not forgive those who had betrayed their duty and become pawns of the Outer Gods.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Hilda’s Ten Radiant Swords became beams of light, surging toward Kyle.

But as they flew, the broken blades scattered across the ground flipped upward, intercepting and slicing through her attacks before they could reach him. The rebound created a whirlwind that engulfed Hilda entirely.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Simultaneously, Kyle sharpened his hand into a deadly karate chop and turned his attention to the Dragon Emperor.

“I’ll tear you apart.”

This miserable pawn of the Nameless Sovereign had plagued Kyle for too long.

He had defeated the Dragon Emperor once. Why couldn’t he do so again?

“Let’s see how much my son has grown during our time apart!”

The Dragon Emperor roared, laughter booming as he moved.

Swoosh!

The sound of the Dragon Emperor’s monstrous charge tore through the air.

***

The Black Dragon led a unit of warriors to the scene of the incident.

There, Ragnar’s reinforcements, dispatched to support the Stormblade Division, were locked in a tense standoff with the beastfolk warriors.

Scattered corpses littered the battlefield—a clear testament to the fierce battle that had just taken place.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

The Black Dragon’s voice thundered as he descended between the two factions.

The captains of the Stormblade Division and the beastfolk warriors, who had been growling at each other moments before, stepped back instinctively.

Even through the mask he wore, the sheer ferocity of the Black Dragon’s gaze was unmistakable.

Though he had shown a softer side to Theo, the Black Dragon was still known as the hidden blade of Ragnar.

His infamous reputation extended even into the Empire—where death followed wherever he tread.

“Robert,” he addressed the beastfolk warlord.

“Tabek! You had better have a clear explanation for this.”

The beastfolk, proud of their Battlefront Alliance, held a fierce and combative nature. They revered combat as the ultimate virtue, believing that it was their valor in battle that allowed them to wrest privileges from humanity, the world’s former rulers.

The title of Warlord wasn’t just bestowed upon a strong warrior—it also conferred the responsibility of leadership.

Tabek, the current Warlord, had held the position for a long time and had even shared a history of exchanges with Robert.

His white mane and towering physique—befitting of a member of the White Tiger Clan—radiated a pressure that even the Black Dragon couldn’t ignore.

“We’ve done no wrong,” Tabek began. “All of this is Ragnar’s fault.”

“Are you saying we provoked you first?”

“What else? We sought to claim the Mystic Artifact within, but Ragnar stood in our way!”

Beneath the Black Dragon’s mask, his expression subtly twisted.

It was, as always, the artifact causing trouble.

A power capable of reviving an entire lineage—or utterly dooming it.

Originally left by the Guardians to protect the mortal world from the threat of Outer Gods, the artifact had become the object of mortal greed.

Mortals no longer cared for its intended purpose; they sought only to use it for their own selfish desires.

But the Black Dragon didn’t bother explaining this lofty truth.

He knew it would fall on deaf ears.

If reason couldn’t sway them, only one option remained.

Shhhhkk!

The Black Dragon raised his sword high and slashed it downward.

A long gash marked the ground before Tabek.

Tabek’s face contorted in anger.

“You truly mean to stop us, Robert? All we want is the Mystic Artifact. Ragnar already possesses the Blessing of the Ancient Dragon. Surely you can afford to grant us the same! If you do, I swear upon my life that the beastfolk will become eternal allies of Ragnar!”

For the beastfolk, who valued combat above all else, an oath carried tremendous weight.

It was clear that this promise wasn’t just Tabek’s personal desire but the consensus of the entire Beastfolk Battlefront.

“So desperate for the artifact…”

Robert thought to himself, feeling the sheer absurdity of the situation.

But no matter the circumstances, he would never defy Theo’s orders.

“And if I refuse?”

“Then we will fight Ragnar to the bitter end!”

“We will fight!”

“We will fight!”

“We will fight!!!”

At Tabek’s declaration, the other beastfolk warriors erupted into a deafening war cry, their sheer ferocity filling the air.

Shiiing!

The Ragnar swordsmen who had accompanied the Black Dragon tightened their grips on their swords, readying themselves for battle.

It seemed there was no way forward but war.

Even as the Black Dragon resolved to defend the artifact at all costs, he couldn’t help but wonder if there was any way to change Tabek’s mind.

Rumble... Rumble...

Suddenly, the forest began to tremble.

“What... is this?”

Both the Black Dragon and Tabek turned their attention to the forest, sensing something ominous approaching.

From within the darkness of the Forest of Naga, something began to emerge.