117. Primordial Hellmouth

Whether intentional or not.

All eyes of the Transcended were drawn to the Grand Master who had stepped forward.

The woman called Number Two and the Grand Master wielded swords so similar, their sword dance seemed like the wings of butterflies.

*Ka-ang! Kwa-ang!*

“So! To be below them in that place –! Is that what you truly desired!”

Even at the Grand Master’s outburst, the woman maintained a consistent, light scoff. As if the answer to the question held no importance.

“The dreams we shared, watching the moon together that night –! Were they truly only mine?”

The Grand Master was the one whose sword dance faltered.

Isaac’s mind felt frozen.

Still reeling from the shock of losing Silverna, now the Grand Master was about to leave him as well.

‘I cannot let this happen.’

This time, it would be different.

He found himself kneeling, his strength having deserted him.

Desperately rising, Isaac took a large step forward, his fist clenched tight.

As he swung his greatsword.

The exact opposite of the Grand Master’s advice – never put too much strength into it.

Isaac gripped the sword so tightly it felt like it would break, and he charged directly toward the Grand Master.

“What are you doing!”

“Baron Logan.”

Hands grabbed him from either side, and Isaac snapped his head around.

The Levis siblings stood there, and they flinched and recoiled as they met Isaac’s gaze.

For a chilling, murderous aura had taken root within Isaac’s eyes.

But they couldn’t back down.

“Everyone will die if you go there! We must buy time until the right wing arrives!”

“We can’t stop them on our own. We need you to minimize the damage.”

The sounds of fleeing horses were audible. Mixed with the screams of knights or nobles atop them.

They had learned and grown accustomed to the Transcended through battle.

Conversely, that was precisely why they lacked the confidence to face that number of Transcended.

On the other hand, those resolved to fight dismounted.

They carried long lances tucked at their waists, attempting to form their own makeshift formation.

“We need you.”

Marlene Levis grasped his hand, pleading.

It was ever thus.

Emotionally driven, yearning for what he desired.

Simply wishing to stride forward.

But the wall of reality always intervened, and the chill of reason cooled his fervor.

As it was when his leg was broken, and as it was now.

‘I can’t… I can’t reach you, can I?’

Realistically, holding the line with the remaining soldiers was far more prudent than fighting beside the Grand Master.

The remaining knights, nobles, and soldiers were mostly young.

Perhaps that was why they could remain here without restraint, or maybe they simply thirsted for glory, eager to etch their names into heroic tales.

The Azure Stream Company had many such men.

Arrogant and brimming with fervor, they spoke of their duty as if anticipating their place to fight and their day to die.

For them, a heroic sacrifice was akin to a reward.

“Not just full of hot air after all.”

Isaac’s voice, as cold as a northern gust.

There was no reply, but their expressions were telling.

“If we survive here, we will reign as a new era.”

“We shall be recorded in history for this war against the Transcended.”

“Young men, pursue glory! Honor will follow!”

The shouts that echoed from every corner were not those of simple immaturity.

Rather, they forcibly cloaked themselves in bravado, lest their legs betray them and flee.

“Numerically, we have the advantage.”

Isaac turned his head once more towards the Transcended and the Grand Master.

Their dazzling dance of swords continued unabated, and even the northern chill dared not trespass into that space.

His gaze fixed on the spectacle, Isaac continued.

“But when the number of Transcended exceeds a certain threshold, the number of humans opposing them ceases to matter.”

When they fought together, one had to consider it as multiplication rather than addition.

Their overwhelming physical prowess complemented one another, leaving no room for weakness.

“Many will die.”

Isaac’s blunt truth hung in the air.

“Trying to block their attacks head-on is futile. The proper way is to evade or deflect.”

“Wait, Baron Logan. Are you suggesting we scatter and engage them?”

“That’s reckless! We’ll be picked off one by one!”

“No, we will concentrate our forces.”

A confused glimmer filled the eyes of his companions.

To remain clustered together, unable to evade, forcing them to meet the enemy’s attacks head-on… It seemed to contradict everything he had just said.

But in his past life, he had fought the Transcended in various ways.

If the numbers were roughly equal, rather than heavily favoring one side as they usually did, the situation changed entirely.

There were roughly thirty enemies.

“Ensure that they cannot kill more than ten of us, no matter how many they slay.”

“B-Baron Logan!?”

Speak plainly.

It meant sacrificing the lives of the comrades beside them to kill the Transcendents.

“Keep your wits about you. This is war against them.”

To even assume we can fight the Transcendents without taking losses is arrogance from the start.

The nobles’ gazes turned to Reian. He was listening to Isaac, the one with the most knowledge about Transcendents.

But he simply couldn’t accept it.

To kill the enemy by risking the lives of comrades, or one’s own.

Receiving glances that hoped he, as Commander of the Left Wing, would make a different decision, Reian calmly asked.

“Baron Logan, is that truly the best course?”

“Yes, with the forces we have, that’s the best way to deal with that many Transcendents.”

The Left Wing didn’t even have many soldiers to begin with, and many had already fled.

“We must kill with the thought of death.”

They might think they’ve grasped the Transcendents’ strength and gained some experience.

But this was the point where the Transcendents began to truly move.

The battle against them would demand a level of brutality beyond imagination.

“…Baron Logan, since it is you who proposed this method-.”

Isaac said nothing more.

He simply took his stance, placing himself at the most prominent position at the front line.

A place, as they say, perfect for dying.

“We don’t have much time.”

The Grandmaster didn’t seem to be in a state to give them the luxury of gathering their resolve.

The Transcendents, who were slowly beginning to look away from her whirlwind swordsmanship, were hungrily eyeing them.

The Transcendents who initially tried to help the Grandmaster’s fellow disciple, the one called Number Two, were now slipping away.

In fighting them, it wasn’t a large number of soldiers that was effective, but a few with overwhelming ability.

Watching the approaching Transcendents, someone stood beside Isaac.

“I had anticipated a heroic death, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon.”

Reian Rivais.

And following behind him, Marlin Rivais.

Their swordsmanship was useful.

One would steal the eye, and the other would strike with a hidden attack.

Their swordsmanship, where light and darkness coexisted, should be seen as the siblings wielding a single blade.

“Reinforcements will come, right?”

“Since there were those who fled.”

The ones who ran away would inadvertently be acting as messengers.

Reian, hearing Isaac’s nonchalant words, raised the corner of his lips in self-deprecation and asked.

“You don’t seem to mind?”

“…I don’t know.”

Isaac, until now, had fought the Transcendents several times. But this was the first time he would be locked in a life-or-death battle with so many Transcendents.

In truth, it wasn’t that he didn’t mind.

He was just a little excited, his heart pounding.

“It feels like I’ve been waiting for this moment, forever.”

The scenery he’d watched from afar, day in and day out.

The years spent merely observing, thanks to this cursed leg, even as his comrades fell.

He’d overcome all that, and now, he stood at the very forefront.

He was still lacking to reach the Grandmaster’s level, yet the feeling of accomplishment for having come this far.

It all gathered and coalesced, creating a subtly sharp taste.

“Tch, I can almost see why Blood Rose fell for him.”

“…Probably for a different reason.”

“They’re coming.”

Before Marlene could even finish her sentence, the Transcended Ones had already arrived, weapons swinging towards Isaac and Reian.

Isaac deflected one of the Transcended One’s attacks at an angle.

Reian, on the other hand, rolled backward and flew away completely.

The difference between the two was Marlene. As if she’d anticipated her brother being sent flying, she was already positioned behind Isaac.

“Hah-! Is that all you’ve got-!”

Marlene, who had been hiding, revealed herself. Her hair flying, she swiftly stabbed her sword upward from below.

Isaac saw it as a clean thrust that would pierce the Transcended One’s chin.

However, another Transcended One who followed grabbed his teammate and pulled him away before he could receive the counterattack.

“Tch.”

“…A pity.”

Isaac clicked his tongue, and Marlene chastised herself.

This was the problem.

The more of them together, the stronger they become, exponentially. There was a limit once their numbers increased to a certain point, but this seemed like the perfect level.

He was told to prevent a single Transcended One from killing more than ten people…

‘But that’ll probably be difficult.’

Killing a Transcended One who had suddenly fallen from the sky hardly taught them anything.

It couldn’t be called a real fight.

A blue aura settled around Isaac’s body.

As he’d said before, a single outstanding individual was far more effective at dealing with the Transcended Ones than a large group.

With a determination to somehow prevent the front lines from being breached, Isaac was about to swing his sword when.

A surging red aura was visible in the distance. It shot along the ground and fiercely slammed into the Grandmaster.

The Grandmaster’s body floated into the air.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and his clothes were soiled. He wobbled in the air but managed to regain his balance by flicking his tail and landed.

Kneeling on one knee, he glared at the Transcended One’s Helmundt who had interfered in the duel between himself and his fellow disciple.

An intense and forceful strike.

“…!”

Seeing that, Isaac unknowingly opened his mouth. It was similar to but different from the use of Spiritual Descent that Arandel had shown.

It was rougher, cruder, as if it was a raw Helmundt.

“Something like that-?”

Isaac didn’t even realize he’d spoken when.

“Baron Logan!”

Rarely did such passionate cries erupt from Marilyn. By the time Isaac regained his wits, it was too late.

A fleeting distraction, a moment’s disbelief at the sight before him, and he’d allowed the transcendent to strike.

The tip of the fiend’s spear was about to pierce Isaac’s chest.

*Krrr-crack!*

A vortex began to unfold right before his eyes. An overwhelming suction, defying space and matter, instantly devoured the transcendent who had been aiming for Isaac.

“Of all times-!”

The fiend’s death throes, lamenting the lost opportunity, vanished with him.

The same phenomenon as with the black hound previously had just occurred before Isaac’s eyes.