70. Breath

“Do even the Primordial Transcendents know division amongst themselves?”

Despite the Grand Master’s question, Isaac couldn’t afford to turn his head towards her.

Though seemingly distant, no larger than a fingertip from his perspective, the threat of having his head severed the moment he looked away was palpable.

“Yes, I’ve heard so.”

He didn’t know the specifics, but the Primordial Transcendents were not all the same.

It was like comparing high-ranking nobles.

Just as the Albion Kingdom had various noble houses divided like Helmont, Caldias, and Blackthorn.

The Primordials, too, each seemed to possess their own domain, like aristocratic lords.

“That one…they are called Sword Demons, even amongst the Primordials.”

“What a name…”

A bitter taste, stinging like alum, bloomed on his tongue. The name Sword Demon suited it, he thought, given the ghastly aura the being exuded.

“To be frank, retreating from here would be wise – “

“They won’t let us retreat.”

“Indeed. Furthermore, could we even bring a greater force than this to bear right now?”

No.

Isaac stated it without hesitation.

Arundel was gone, yes, but the knights of Helmont remained.

Silberna of Caldias, and knights of other noble houses, were gathered here as well.

The moment they retreated, the kingdom’s forces would, in effect, be incapable of contending with a Primordial.

“Rather, this is the perfect moment to kill it.”

“…Are you certain?”

The Grand Master’s question was directed at Isaac, but his gaze was fixed on the knights ahead.

“These are the kingdom’s finest knights. I understand what you are worried about, but I still believe we have the advantage.”

“…”

“Have you ever witnessed the knights of Helmont?”

The Grand Master did not reply.

And so, a smile touched Isaac’s lips, instead.

“We can win. Humanity is not so helpless.”

He knew they were dealing with a powerful being.

But here, too, came knights hailed as great.

Isaac was certain that cleaving them all with a single greatsword was impossible.

The Grand Master, after a moment’s contemplation, nodded calmly.

“Yes, you are right.”

The Grand Master lent his weight to Isaac’s opinion. Despite his imposing entrance, they had to remember it was the transcendent one who needed to flee.

The arrows that rained down continued to fall uselessly to the ground, until, after a time, they ceased to fly altogether.

The fiend scanned the knights entering the manor with eyes like a serpent’s.

Without another word, he slowly drew the greatsword back.

He was preparing to draw the blade at any moment, and he was a beat faster than anyone expected.

“Kuh!?”

*KWA-AANG!*

A deafening roar that didn’t sound like swords clashing.

Loengreen’s eyes widened. He swallowed hard at the heavy impact he felt on his greatsword, angled defensively.

He, too, knew.

Through duels with Isaac, he understood that the sword was most dangerous when it remained in its scabbard.

Though he hadn’t been able to follow the blade with his eyes, experience had saved him.

“Hmph.”

The Sword Demon made a guttural sound.

A sigh of regret that his one-hit-kill ambush had been deflected so cleanly.

However, he didn’t dwell on it, nor did he show any sign of fluster.

“Greatswords forward! Form a wall and advance!”

With just one exchange, Loengreen sensed he couldn’t win in a head-on clash.

This, at least, was a form of progress for Loengreen, however unwelcome.

The fact that he was losing repeatedly to Isaac, whom he had so readily dismissed, weighed heavily on his pride.

*THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP!*

The red knights of Helmundt formed up, slamming their greatswords into the ground.

They became a single, massive wall, beginning to pressure the primordial transcendent.

“The response is better than I expected?”

“They’re responding well?”

The Grand Master and Sylverna muttered simultaneously. For a moment, their gazes met, but Isaac hastily pushed the Grand Master’s head down.

“Auk?! What in the—!?”

“A decent response, at least. Didn’t know Loengreen had a knack for this sort of thing.”

Isaac’s casual remark didn’t faze Sylverna, who continued his thought.

“Indeed. I was honestly a bit worried. Appropriate.”

The Grand Master glared from the side, but Isaac pretended not to notice. Better than letting Sylverna discover the Grand Master’s presence.

Anyway, at this rate, it seemed Clarice’s worries might have been nothing more than alarmist fluff.

“The problem, though, will be the ＜i＞Jeokgang＜/i＞.”

Every single one of them wore a thin coat of the scarlet aura.

Having poured everything into that initial strike, with a mindset of one-hit-kill, it was no wonder they lacked reserves.

The judgment couldn’t be called wrong, exactly, but it was hard to deny that it had become, in the end, regrettable.

“It’ll still be alright.”

Hellmunt would act as the wall, facing them head-on, while the others plunged in together.

Isaac, his hand on his greatsword’s hilt, followed the other knights.

From now on, he would be less a swordsman and more an assassin, seeking to subdue the monster like a thin needle piercing through the ranks of numerous knights.

“Hold on tight!”

The Grand Master’s roar erupted from behind. Hearing the shout, Hellmunt’s knights tensed their bodies instantly.

A dark, moonless night slash shattered the knights’ greatswords as it struck.

*Kwaddeudeuk!*

The ＜i＞Jeokgang＜/i＞ was useless. Hellmunt, the human wall, was cleaved in half, and the savage glint in the sword demon’s eyes burned with a crimson malice.

“Huu.”

His stance ruined from the single, powerful swing, the figure adjusted, seemingly realigning a dislocated shoulder.

More than half of the greatswords were broken.

Some knights had even lost their lives, but at least it hadn’t been a total wipeout.

“How could this even—!?”

Loengreen’s eyes widened in the face of the nightmare unfolding, and he dropped to one knee.

It was thanks to Loengreen’s famed blade that the sword demon’s strike hadn’t fully reached its target.

The knights of Hellmunt, ground down with such helplessness.

Even for a primal transcendent being, this was power beyond comprehension.

If Arundel had been here, could he have stopped him?

Such overwhelming strength could only inspire such questions.

“Sorcery.”

Isaac ground his teeth and surged forward. The Grand Master, keeping pace, nodded fiercely.

“Indeed. Just as you said.”

The crimson staining the Sword Demon’s body, coupled with the sable aura emanating from the great tachi, felt like a power altogether different.

The ink-dark hue within the great tachi was sorcery.

It devoured the life force of hundreds of citizens dwelling in Blackthorn, growing ever larger—.

“A demon sword in the truest sense.”

The primal Transcendent, empowered by the might of large-scale sorcery, was capable of unleashing such an absurd power.

Silberna, running alongside Isaac, tightened her grip on her spear, asking,

“Isaac! Is this even wise?!”

Having witnessed that overwhelming strike just moments ago, approaching him like this seemed akin to suicide.

Conversely, Isaac drove harder with his toes, closing the distance.

“Now is our chance! There’s no way he can recklessly unleash such an impossible power!”

Sorcery wields unimaginable force, but demands an equivalent price.

Having swung once, he wouldn’t so easily unleash another strike.

While everyone hesitated, Isaac bypassed them, launching himself forward, drawing his katana.

A strike that might appear somewhat petty compared to the iai he’d shown earlier.

The Sword Demon, seemingly amused, tilted the great tachi to block Isaac’s blade.

*Clang!*

The katana, unable to withstand the force of the great tachi, was deflected, slicing through empty air.

Just as the Sword Demon was about to mock him as a fool with insufficient strength even to hold a blade.

“Hmph!”

*Thud!*

Isaac’s opposite foot lunged forward, drawing yet another katana.

An iai strike even faster and sharper than before.

The Sword Demon realized Isaac had intentionally released his blade to deceive him, tilting the great tachi in the opposite direction to block.

*Kaaang!*

A resonance far clearer than the previous one.

“As if.”

The moment Isaac and the Sword Demon locked eyes, a voice echoed from above.

“Your breathing seems steady enough?”

Isaac’s discarded intention, plucked from the air, the Grandmaster’s singular strike hurtled towards the Sword Demon.

*Whoosh!*

“…!”

He leapt back frantically, widening the distance. From the long, slashed wound across his shoulder, blood gushed, staining the floor.

“Is your strength weakened? Since yesterday, I aim for your shoulder, yet cannot cleave through.”

Even in yesterday’s battle with Arundel, he’d targeted the shoulder, yet failed to cut through; the lingering issue remained.

“It was a moment built upon the sacrifice of our brethren.”

The Sword Demon’s forked tongue trembled. Within his voice, tightly gripping the greatsword, was contained hatred and injustice.

“Arundel, that place was to be his grave… how did it come to house the corpses of others, not him?”

The Sword Demon covered his face with one hand. Tears welled in his sorrowful eyes.

They streamed down his red cheeks, marking genuine dismay.

“Where did he go? The master of the sword who would clash blades with me… where, in all the world, has he departed?”

A trap laid for Arundel’s demise.

A cursed sword born from the life force of Blackthorn’s citizens, along with the deaths of other brethren.

Clutching it, the Sword Demon shook his head from side to side.

“Ah, what a tragedy.”

Keeping his gaze fixed on the lamenting figure, Isaac requested of Silverna, who had followed.

“Provide cover with your spear. If I enter his range, I won’t be able to track the slashes with my eyes.”

“Helping from afar, you say? That’s a tall order.”

Even so, Silverna infused her spear with white aura. A signal of her readiness to respond at any moment.

Hearing their exchange, the Grandmaster, still holding Isaac’s discarded intention, proposed,

“Go with the same sensation as before. I will endeavor to meet your mark.”

“Let us reverse it. I will be the one to strike true.”

“Hmm? Is that within your capabilities?”

The Grandmaster’s eyes flicked towards Isaac. At her question, Isaac smirked.

How many years had he witnessed the Grandmaster’s swordsmanship?

“Of course.”

He was confident enough.