118. Failing Grade

“…?!”

His eyes widened, registering the impossible.

Even in a situation where a single misstep could have cost him his life, a sense of bewilderment overshadowed the relief of survival.

The transcendent’s disappearance was abrupt, laden with implications.

“Just what in the-“

Marilyn’s question was cut short as other transcendents rushed in, giving no respite.

As if to prevent them from dwelling too much on the situation that had just transpired.

Screams, groans, and tears burst forth amidst the continuing onslaught.

Ironically, the battle situation naturally coalesced into a grim uniformity.

Swinging their swords first was pointless; it only left them vulnerable to a stab.

It was better to defend, enduring or at least delaying the transcendent’s attack.

When a transcendent attacked someone, everyone would simultaneously seize the opportunity to strike at the fiend’s exposed weakness.

This might sound like a standard defensive tactic, exploiting an opponent’s vulnerability.

But in reality, the scene witnessed was something else entirely.

“Hngh!”

“Sorry! I’m sorry!”

“Son of a biiiitch!”

It was a waiting game.

A way of waiting for a comrade’s death.

Sacrificing a life to inflict damage on a transcendent.

They fought as if offering their companions as sacrifices to some wicked god.

This was the nature of the battle between transcendents and humans.

There was no victory without bloodshed.

And even after victory, there were only tears and regret instead of cheers.

That was why transcendents were nightmares and terrors to humankind.

“Krrreuugh.”

“Pointlessly struggling.”

There was one thing, at least.

A trait that could be called both an advantage and a disadvantage: they possessed intelligence at or above the human level.

Once they understood how we fought, they couldn’t help but hesitate and waver.

Even transcendents couldn’t help but feel fear or unease at a combat style that relied on exchanging lives.

A collective formed of necessity.

Humans, huddled close, ever ready to thrust sword and spear over the corpses of their comrades.

The Transcendents, conversely, kept their distance, questioning how to proceed.

Again, a foul external wind swept through.

The very fabric of reality twisted, and another Transcendent vanished.

“……”

Breathing raggedly, Isaac continued to grapple with the phenomenon he had just witnessed.

But his thoughts couldn’t stretch far, starved as he was of oxygen.

“Damn it! Don’t fall back!”

“If we stay here, it’s over!”

Moments ago, it was the humans who were frantic. But seeing their companions disappear one by one, the Transcendents now surged forward with desperate haste.

“Hold firm! Don’t yield! Even if I can’t kill them, a comrade will!”

At Rayan’s cry, all roared in response, bristling with swords and spears like porcupines.

A human dies.

Then a Transcendent dies.

As this grim exchange continued, the thunder of hooves finally echoed.

“They’re here! Reinforcements!”

“The Red Banner! Helmunts! Helmunts are here!”

The sheer weight and meaning of the name ‘Helmut’ was palpable on the battlefield.

It explained why soldiers in his past life had so revered and deified the Helmunts.

‘Finally….’

With Marlin supporting him, Isaac gasped for air.

Rayan was already buried amidst the corpses, twitching as if not quite dead.

“She… is here.”

Marlin’s own brand of encouragement to push him further. Isaac took a breath, wiping away the thick drops of blood that fell.

“Damn it….”

“Krrrr!”

“For now, we retrea-.”

The name Helmult didn’t just affect the allies.

It had an effect on the enemy too. The Transcendents backpedaled, watching the red greatsword advancing like a wave.

“Arundel is already dead! All that’s left is the Helmult husk-!”

The mountain goat-like Transcendent didn’t finish his sentence.

For the red greatsword, flying like a mage’s bullet, instantly severed his neck.

If one considered the meaning of the name Blood Rose, it could hardly be called a favorable epithet.

A rose drenched in blood.

Beautiful, and therefore all the more cruel, possessing countless thorns.

Rihanna Helmult stood motionless, greatsword in hand.

Her crimson eyes, having cut down a Transcendent, swiftly scanned the remaining soldiers on the left flank.

The moment she saw Isaac standing in the very front line, still breathing.

She emitted a faint breath that no one could notice.

* * *

*Sreung.*

Silently, Ragnabelle lifted, and I advanced toward the Transcendents.

“Damn it—! Rianna! I told you not to rush off alone! My blade is just as good as—!”

Loengrin was shouting, spurring his horse to catch up. He even leaped from his saddle, sending the poor beast tumbling headfirst to the ground.

*‘Madman.’*

But thanks to him, Loengrin managed to join Rianna as well.

At once, the troops of the right flank surged forward too.

Knights of Helmunting clad in armor.

Sharen was among them, and Jonathan, unbothered by his injuries, had joined the fray.

The tide of battle shifted quickly as Helmunting entered the fray.

Those who had just been standing on their comrades’ corpses now wept tears of relief.

“W-we survived.”

“Oh, Goddess…”

“Ah, Helmunting!”

“*Kheuheup*, Daren! My dear friend, Daren!”

Among the dead, there was no high or low. Not just common soldiers and knights, but quite a few nobles from the Azure Stream Society had breathed their last.

“Brother.”

As Isaac pushed him away, Marlin went to rescue her brother. Pushing aside a few corpses, she found Rayan barely clinging to life.

“I thought I was going to be… trampled to death.”

Rayan and Marlin approached Isaac. Had they felt some camaraderie from fighting together? Rayan offered a fist.

“The one who survives is the strong one.”

“……”

Still running his mouth, so he wasn’t *that* worn out.

Isaac, without responding, watched Rianna fight the Transcendent.

Rianna’s greatsword, edged with red steel, flew cleanly toward a Transcendent.

Was she furious that she couldn’t do anything right in the previous battle against the Black Hound?

She displayed an overwhelming influence, almost reminiscent of Arandel Helmunting.

*Whoom!*

But the greatsword cleaved empty air.

The Transcendents were being swept away into spatial vortexes, one by one.

And so, despite the fact that there were only a few corpses of Transcendents, the battle was starting to slowly draw to a close.

“Those guys really use unique magic. Or, was it called… sorcery?”

“Something’s… strange, though.”

Even more, Rayan was actually swearing.

“Those crazy b*stards.”

“……!”

Space warped, and even more Transcendents emerged from different directions.

It was truly a grotesque spectacle.

Suddenly appearing, then just as suddenly disappearing.

And if there was one unique thing, it would be that they themselves were unable to control it.

The transcendent ones who appeared fought in disarray, then, just as suddenly, vanished in confusion.

Sometimes it was to their advantage, sometimes not; a bizarre spectacle.

‘Something… doesn’t quite add up.’

He felt like he was starting to piece it together. So many questions had arisen, but now he finally had time to calmly sort through them.

*Kwaaang!*

The explosion forced Isaac to hurry his steps. Though his curiosity held him, there was no time for that now.

“Master-!”

Isaac sprinted, eyes bloodshot with worry.

“Isaac?!”

“You wretch-! Where do you think you’re going!”

“Ah, Isaac-!”

The Hellmunt siblings shouted as Isaac rushed past them, but he was already running as fast as his legs could carry him.

‘Please, please!’

The Grand Master was single-handedly holding off the source of the Hellmunt and her brethren.

That alone would have been enough to consider her the greatest contributor to this battle, but…

“Master-!”

It only mattered if she was alive.

It was almost a paradox.

Forcing death upon the soldiers, yet desperately hoping for the Grand Master to live.

But to Isaac, the Grand Master was someone truly special.

And there she was, collapsed on the ground.

Her clothes were ragged and torn, blood pooling around her.

Her entire body hung limp, devoid of even the slightest strength, her eyes closed tight.

And a long greatsword pierced through her chest.

“M, Master…”

The primal Hellmunt standing near her turned to look at Isaac, a smirk twisting his lips.

“You’ve arrived? Ah, alas. Death is the only reward for a traitor. We even wanted to show her mercy.”

“…”

Number 2 narrowed his eyes at the greatswords clutched in Isaac’s hands.

His gaze, as if assessing something, was terribly stern.

But unfortunately, Isaac had no time to pay attention to that.

“M, Master…”

His voice trembled, as fragile as a child’s cry.

He was afraid to approach, yet he couldn’t stay away.

Finally, with faltering steps, Isaac knelt before her.

Only the sound of her ragged breath greeted him.

‘Not yet.’

She was still alive.

“Hmm, indeed. She still clings to life.”

As if reading Isaac’s thoughts, the man smirked and shrugged.

“Me? I’ve never fished, so I wouldn’t know much about it. But they say you use live bait when angling for fish, no? Ah, as an aside, conquering this land, I’d love to try fishing; doesn’t that possess a certain charm?”

“……”

Isaac, gripping his sword, glared at the man.

The man, still smirking, planted the staff he carried on his shoulder into the ground.

*Kwaaak!*

Immediately after, an overwhelming torrent of Scarlet Energy surged forth like a whirlwind, taking the form of a colossal blade.

Compared to Arundel Hellmant, the sheer volume of Scarlet Energy was clearly greater.

He seemed, quite literally, capable of filling the sky.

“Do you consider the earthworm on the hook to be alive? In the end, destiny is the same as a fish.”

Be it the Grand Master, or Isaac.

A taunt, that either way, they would meet the same end.

Clenching the hilt of his greatsword with both hands, Isaac composed himself and spoke to the man before him.

“Many… questions arose….”

“If it’s a last will, I’m sadly not inclined to-.”

“Did your pride get hurt, imitating him like that?”

Slowly.

Very slowly.

The smile he wore faded.

His crimson eyes, in an instant, filled with malice, glaring at Isaac.

The mask of composure upon his face shattered.

“Primal Hellmant… You’ve cloaked it well with flowery words. You thought no one would notice without Arundel, didn’t you.”

Perhaps that was so.

In truth, even if Rianna had seen it, she might not have realized.

It truly was an appearance befitting the name of Primal Hellmant.

A child surpassing their parents.

A disciple surpassing their master.

The two held one thing in common: the hierarchy had been reversed.

The manner of accepting it was also different.

The Grand Master would have smiled brightly at a disciple who surpassed him.

He would have said it was truly magnificent, and embraced him tightly.

However.

This one was different.

“You saw Arundel, and you realized it.”

The origin of the Hellmant.

It seemed to be an undeniable truth that he was the progenitor of the Hellmant.

But.

“You cannot surpass him.”

Perhaps he had realized it.

That he could not surpass Arundel with just the power of a Primal Transcendent.

When a child surpasses their parent.

The parent envied, denied, and finally, imitated.

That’s why the invasion had been delayed, and delayed again, until Arundel’s demise.

Until Arundel was gone.

“They must have thought no one would notice.”

But here.

There is a man who has admired and investigated Hellmund more than anyone.

Even surpassing Arundel, there exists a character named Silent Sword, who saw beyond Hellmund.

“Seem they haphazardly mixed in all sorts of things, trying to imitate…”

Already, the man’s expression is not merely hardened, but utterly contorted.

Towards him.

“Even the way you grip the sword is wrong, you imitation.”

Isaac delivered his verdict, cold and sharp.