112. The Limit

*Kwaang!*

The instant he collided with the Black Hound.

Isaac’s body was flung backward.

He barely managed to recover, preventing an ignominious tumble across the ground, stopping merely with a hard slide.

Thanks to that, he could resist the Black Hound that followed closely.

*Kaaang!*

“Kuh!”

This time, the Black Hound swung its arm from above with crushing force.

He barely managed to block it, both Tae-Do crossed, but…

One knee buckled, head bowed, shoulder absorbing the impact on the flat of the blade.

The Black Hound’s power threatened to overwhelm him.

Crimson energy surged, pushing back the black hound.

“Isaac!”

Rianna’s voice was laced with urgency.

She’d left her greatsword behind, forcing her to respond with the crimson energy drawn from her own hands.

The crimson energy taking shape in her grasp resembled the beast’s claws she’d witnessed during yesterday’s sparring.

“Are you alright?”

Rianna stepped forward, shielding him. Isaac, catching his breath, staggered as he righted himself.

“I’m fine… just a little numb.”

“That creature is-.”

“A Primal. Blood of the first transcendents.”

“That is…”

Rianna had never faced a Primal transcendent before.

The overwhelming presence emanating from the black hound gave even her pause.

“Father faced five of these things…”

As the current head of the household, recalling the stature of the previous patriarch, she bit down on her lip.

Then, a thunderous shout echoed.

“Enemy attack!”

She glanced to see Jonathan. His voice was raw, nearly tearing, and thanks to him, figures began to emerge from the strategists’ barracks.

The Azure Stream and Eisenwolf.

Soldiers clutching spears and swords.

At first glance, the situation seemed overwhelmingly in their favor, and truthfully, it was.

The black hound appeared lost, as if it couldn’t comprehend how it ended up here.

“Rianna, we can’t afford to lose men here.”

“…Understood.”

Rianna immediately grasped his meaning.

Each and every soldier was precious for the sake of reclaiming the North.

They wouldn’t simply reach the Malridian Wall, they’d have to hold it, endure.

Losing a significant number of troops against a Primal transcendent from the outset would likely spell doom for the Northern reclamation.

“The Grand Master will be here soon. So-.”

The black hound, however, didn’t hesitate.

A hunting dog unleashed, with no leash.

It bared its fangs and lunged at the humans around it indiscriminately.

Its first target was Jonathan.

Being a transcendent hybrid might have made him a more noticeable target.

“Glory to Hellmunt!”

A crimson energy, almost black in hue, erupted.

Not the flimsy energy of the past, but a distinct aura with a clear will and color of its own, yet,

*Crack!*

With a single sweep of its hand, the black hound shattered Jonathan’s crimson energy.

Following up, it raked its claws across Jonathan’s chest, leaving three long gashes as he tumbled across the ground.

“Kheu-heuk?!”

A single blow.

Even if Jonathan hadn’t been able to utilize his full strength, the difference between them and the Primal was extreme.

Next, the beast moved towards the command tent.

A sense of smell befitting the name ‘Hound’.

Knowing exactly who to target, pursuing ‘the hunt’, not desiring ‘battle’.

There was a reason it intentionally avoided Rianna, who had pushed it back.

“Hmm! Did it underestimate me because I’m old!”

Eisenwolf drew the sword from his hip.

The Azure Stream Society around him likewise drew their weapons, and among the younger men, one was brimming with courage.

“This body! Rayan of the Rivaise family is here!”

Rayan Rivaise unleashed his aura while gripping his sword. An aura of brilliant yet refreshing colors, befitting the name ‘Magic Sword’.

The Black Hound’s crimson eyes didn’t even glance at Rayan, charging instead towards Eisenwolf.

“You dare look elsewhere with me standing before you!”

The radiant aura, reminiscent of the aurora borealis, illuminating the night in place of the moon, was impossible to ignore.

Seeing the aura bearing down on it, the Black Hound ultimately shifted its course towards Rayan.

Ku-dang-tang!

Rayan, unable to withstand even a single exchange, collapsed.

“Keo-eok?!”

“Kruooo!”

The Black Hound, stepping on Rayan, roared and attempted to crush and pulverize him.

The brightest light, within that moment.

Concealing herself in darkness, someone moved.

A faint line appeared on the Black Hound’s back.

Soon after, red blood flowed from the line. Marlin Rivaise, expressionless, prepared to swing her sword once more.

The Black Hound seized her wrist and flung her away.

“……!”

Ku-dang-tang!

Marlin crashed into a soldier’s tent.

But thanks to the brief opening created by the Rivaise family, Isaac and Rianna had managed to stand before the commander.

Rianna’s hand reached out roughly. The Crimson Claws clashed against the Black Hound’s fist.

The fact that it wasn’t a greatsword was key.

She managed to hold on, but ultimately, the Crimson Claws, fashioned by hand, lacked durability and quality.

The Black Hound’s hand, having shattered the Crimson Claws, reached for Rianna, but a chilling sensation enveloped its neck.

“……!”

For the first time, the Black Hound recoiled.

Drooling, its sharp teeth gnashing, it glared at the swordsman who had targeted its neck.

“Isaac……?”

Even Rianna looked at him with a bewildered voice.

Because a strange energy was flowing from Isaac’s entire body.

That azure thing was like a waterfall flowing in reverse.

It didn’t assert itself as intensely as an aura, but the subtle, lingering presence harbored a sense of foreboding.

Isaac’s new weapon, obtained through countless lives taken in Bolten.

“Nether-spirit…?”

Even the black hound, who had only snarled until now, stared at Isaac with surprise.

Astonished that the power wielded by his kin, the Sword Demon’s bloodline, now resided within Isaac’s body.

“Huu.”

A chill clung to his breath.

The coldness was as sharp as a blade, and the black hound slowly lowered its stance, wary.

‘The Grand Master will arrive soon.’

He had been told not to use the nether-spirit lightly, but when else would he use it if not now?

‘I’m still not skilled enough to wield both blades.’

He sheathed both swords.

He subtly lowered his waist and extended his right leg far behind, dragging it along the ground, assuming his stance.

Already, the black hound was leaping, flying towards him.

“That belongs to our kin! aaargh!”

‘I can react.’

The very foe who had been too fast to even follow until now was suddenly visible, and a single sword unleashed a nether-spirit-infused quick-draw strike.

Kwaang!

A sound like something exploding rang out.

Isaac’s eyes widened as he realized he was being thrown backward, belatedly realizing that the exploding sound was the impact of the black hound’s strike.

“Kkeueuk!”

A crushing pain surged in his shoulder.

His eyes widened in agony, lips pressed tightly together.

“Isaac!”

Rianna caught him from behind, preventing him from tumbling to the ground.

Enfolded in her arms, he still tracked the black hound with unwavering eyes, even as he whimpered in pain.

“Kreureung….”

A wail filled with a brief shudder.

The black hound grimaced, looking down at its left arm, severed at the elbow.

Each had dealt the other a crippling blow.

However, the hound’s physical strength was far superior.

Unlike Isaac, the black hound seemed capable of continuing the fight, picking up its severed left arm and putting it in its mouth.

Just as the beast was about to pounce on Isaac again, Rianna stepped in front of the black hound, scattering crimson flames.

“How dare you-!”

Crimson flames rained down like a storm.

Even lacking her greatsword, her ferocity was nothing short of a calamity.

Even the black hound momentarily hesitated.

Furthermore.

“As a master, I have no excuse, even if I am called incompetent.”

The Grandmaster arrived in haste.

The tight grip on his greatsword seemed to chide his tardiness.

“Grrr.”

The black hound took in the two women, bracing himself.

A vicious determination shone in his eyes, promising to kill at least one more before succumbing, even if it meant his own demise.

“I *will* kill you, Black-haired Dual-Swordsman.”

Especially incensed by the perceived theft of swords wielded only by the Transcendants, the black hound glared at Isaac, grinding his teeth.

Just as the black hound lunged again, fueled by murderous intent,

a vortex-like shift occurred within his body, and then, as quickly as he had come,

he vanished.

* * *

A sky devoid of all but darkness.

At first glance, it might resemble a night sky, but here, there were no stars, no moon, no clouds; merely a long, endless expanse of pitch black.

A place where not a single blade of grass could take root, where only desolate dust devils tumbled aimlessly.

There, an enormous, utterly incongruous bulwark stood.

The bulwark was riddled with the marks of countless battles.

The Malidian Bulwark was even furiously emitting the chilling aura it unleashed in times of crisis.

“It’s a good thing it’s here.”

Behind the bulwark, Sylverna, a spear slung over her shoulder, muttered with a toneless voice.

Her expression had grown murky, and vitality had deserted her. The dull emotion clinging to her eyes could aptly be described as despair.

“My Lady, please rest a little.”

Anna approached Sylverna.

Her voice, unlike before, was low and lifeless, but no one dared to object.

Smiling in this kind of extreme situation was unthinkable in the first place.

‘No supplies, no light, and even the air is harsh.’

The air was especially torturous.

It felt as though their lungs were burning, and there was no mana to be found.

Because of this, Sylverna could not even use the aura she had so diligently cultivated.

‘If that was all, it would be a blessing…’

The real problem was the Malidian Bulwark.

The chilling aura pouring forth was, in fact, magic.

If the stored mana were to run out, it would eventually be reduced to an ordinary wall.

And then, the Transcendants would launch another all-out offensive.

‘Will reinforcements arrive? No, can there even *be* reinforcements?’

They themselves didn’t even know where they were.

They were simply struggling to contend with the bizarre demonic beasts and Transcendants that assailed them daily.

‘I never thought the day would come when I would yearn for the sky so much.’

Even if you looked up, there was only darkness, rendering the space utterly meaningless.

What grew each day were worries, sighs, and the tombstones of their comrades.

Does anyone even know that we are fighting here?

“Forgive me, Isaac.”

I didn’t want to say something like this.

It seems I might not see you again.

I truly wanted to show you how I’ve grown.

“Lady, what happened to that Transcendent from earlier?”

Anna forces herself to change the subject.

At her words, Silverna nods, letting out a sigh.

“That’s what I’m saying. He definitely had the blood of the Primeval, right? He wasn’t ordinary.”

“Absolutely. Could his sudden disappearance be an ability he gained from the Primeval blood?”

“I don’t know. The reason I’m even here is because of that thing. It vanished near here.”

Transcendent beings had poured into the wall, but now they were retreating. The hound-like creature’s aura was beyond menacing; it was terrifying.

“Just what—”

Whoosh!

Without any warning, the sound of wind tearing apart filled the air.

Silverna and Anna raised their heads at the same time.

The warped space vomited something out and then vanished without a trace.

Thump!

A cloud of dust billowed out from the impact of the fall.

Though bewildered, Silverna and Anna instinctively shifted into battle stances.

At the center of the crater created by the fall.

“Khaaa!”

The black hunting hound howled, consumed by rage.

“Its arm…”

“What is it?”

Not only did it appear out of nowhere, but the sight of its severed left arm made even less sense.

Even though they couldn’t understand what was happening, they recognized the opportunity and surged forward.

“The twin-sword wielder with black hairrr!”

At the black hound’s raging cry, Silverna’s eyes widened.

Twin swords, black hair.

Only one person came to mind.

“Isaac?”