72. A Dear Friend

“Hooosh!”

He breathed out a long exhale.

Amidst the violent act, he felt a unique energy swirling within his body—or perhaps he imagined it.

The sword, grasped in both hands, clung to my palms as if fused, the sensation enveloping my body both peculiar and not unwelcome.

I longed to linger in the afterglow of such feeling, but…

“Ugh…Kheu-euk!”

The inky aura emanating from the Sword Demon intensified, growing more violent.

He thrashed like a maddened beast, and my strength failed, nearly sending me sprawling.

“Careful now.”

The Grand Master, having anticipated my fall, caught me and set me back on my feet.

His gaze, however, remained fixed on the Sword Demon, as though contemplating whether to strike the kneeling wretch’s neck.

But in the end, he thought better of it.

“He’s about to burst. If we cut him anywhere now, the pent-up force will erupt instantaneously.”

“Then…”

“We must flee, for now. This one has no chance of survival left.”

His words rang true.

The Sword Demon himself seemed to understand that he could not escape his demise.

Writhing in agony, he strained to wield his sword until his very last breath.

“The resentment and karma… of my brethren-!”

But he only trembled.

He lacked even the strength to lift the greatsword with one hand, and instead, coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“Let us be gone.”

I expected a mere helping hand, but the Grand Master scooped me up into his arms.

“M-must we truly go this way?!”

A rare display of panic from Isaac.

Amused by my reaction, the Grand Master chuckled softly and darted past the Sword Demon.

“Shout for the others to flee.”

“…Understood.”

At my cry, the knights hastily retreated. Some supported fallen or injured comrades, while others dragged away the bodies of the dead as they rushed towards the manor’s exit.

In the midst of this chaos…

“My brethren-!”

A retching scream echoed from behind.

The inky aura that coiled around the Sword Demon detonated, scattering outwards in a blinding burst.

A violent gale surges forth.

Not a simple wind, but one perhaps laden with the accumulated karma and sorrow of souls.

It resembled a scorching heat, an unpleasant sensation as if skin rotted at its touch.

“Uwah!?”

Silverna, running beside me, is lifted into the air. Even the Grand Master, holding Isaac, finds his feet leaving the ground.

“Hold on tight!”

“……!”

I wrap my arms around the Grand Master’s neck.

Almost clinging to him, I tumble in the air a few times.

Now lost, unable to discern up from down, the Grand Master nonetheless lands with perfect poise.

Amidst the sprawled and scattered crowd, his solitary, upright stance only further accentuated his power.

Alas, with both hands supporting Isaac, he failed to notice his hood falling back.

“T-That’s-!”

A shout rang out.

Likely one of the soldiers waiting outside.

“A Transcendent!”

“The woman who fought Arundel-nim!”

“Ready, battle stations!”

Amidst the ink-black gale infused with sorcery, the dust, and the fingers of humans pointing at him, the Grand Master silently keeps his gaze fixed on the mansion.

Blackthorne’s residence, once merely damaged, was now nothing but ruins. He clicked his tongue at the sight of the Sword Demon’s corpse, exploded and scattered for failing to bear his karma.

“A pathetic end, for one who reached the Origin.”

However, the great katana embedded in the earth stood tall as if a final vestige of his pride.

A demonic blade that ultimately devoured even its master.

“Arrest her!”

“Surround her! Surround her now!”

After a brief moment of mourning for the Sword’s Origin, the Grand Master returned to reality.

Soldiers encircled him.

Isaac, barely clinging to consciousness, seemed to finally succumb to the raging gale and fainted.

“Hmph, you still have much to learn.”

The Grand Master cast a wry smile down at him, gently placed Isaac on the ground, then…

“Don’t be tense.”

He shrugged, raising both hands.

“I surrender.”

* * *

“Princess!”

Awakened, Isaac sought out Clarisse’s tent, despite Sylverna’s pleas.

The princess, in conversation with her bodyguard Heirad within, greeted Isaac warmly rather than taking offense at his intrusion.

“Isaac! You’re awake!”

Clarisse hurried to him, examining his body. She knew he wasn’t gravely injured, but a visual confirmation was necessary, just in case.

However, Isaac’s mind was elsewhere.

“I heard you apprehended Des… I mean, *her*.”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Clarisse’s expression darkened immediately.

“As you’ve surely been informed, she was the linchpin of this operation. Invaluable in wiping out the Transcended –!”

“I know. I heard. We already spoke. That without her, the Blackthorn subjugation would have been impossible.”

They had almost been overturned at the very last moment.

The chilling sensation still clung to the back of Clarisse’s neck.

“But Isaac, you understand. From my position, I had to do this.”

“……”

“She is, undeniably, the one who removed Arundel, your strongest force, from the front lines.”

He knew.

A princess of the realm had to act rationally, not emotionally.

And the fact that she bore the appearance of a Transcended played a large part.

Clarisse understood Isaac was agitated because it involved the Grand Master.

But for Isaac, she was a woman worth such agitation, and this excitement showed no signs of waning.

“Please, be calm. I spoke with her. She will be going to Evergard with me. For a trial.”

“A trial…!”

Each word she uttered sent tremors through Isaac’s chest, but Clarisse, conversely, remained still and composed.

“I heard her account of the matter, and I am convinced she did not intentionally try to harm Arundel. It seems she has things she wishes to say to you.”

“……”

“I see her as a crucial point of reference in this war with the Transcended.”

“A point of reference…”

“Yes, for preparing to understand the Transcended.”

Princess Claris’s pupils gleamed sharply.

Seeing her usual smugness and playful levity gone, it was clear how seriously she regarded this Great Master.

“Isaac, we still know so little about them. Where on earth did they come from? Where did they suddenly appear from? When did they even begin to exist, and their combat power… it’s simply absurd.”

The Princess had always been curious. That was why, despite being a princess, she roamed the front lines barefoot, gathering information with her own senses.

In Claris’s eyes, the Transcended were mysterious, veiled in secrets.

“They wield swords with their own unique style. Instead of magic, they use something called sorcery. Furthermore, they have operational forces. This is proof that they have a history.”

Just where…

“Where did they come from?”

Isaac, of course, could not answer Claris’s question, a question born of sheer disbelief.

It was an area he had not reached even in his previous life.

In his past life, the sudden, overwhelming attacks of the Transcended from all sides plunged the kingdom into immediate chaos.

There was no room to even consider the origins of the Transcended.

Only because Caldius had bought them about a month of time at the Malridan Wall were they able to regroup in the rear and even approach the edges of war.

Had the Malridan Wall fallen, they would have been annihilated long ago, knowing nothing about the Transcended.

This life is different.

Claris’s curiosity ran deep, seeing the Great Master as important.

Even before the start, she was preparing to learn about them.

“I already said it. If you provide information about the Transcended’s invasion, not only will your sentence be reduced, but you’ll also receive a separate reward.”

These words alone told Isaac that the trial was essentially a facade.

He retreated a step in relief, and Claris smiled gently, asking,

“They say warriors become friends when their swords clash, is that true?”

“Well, you could say so.”

He replied awkwardly, and Claris changed the subject.

“Isaac, you accomplished the Blackthorn subjugation with flying colors.”

“I only stepped in at the end.”

“Wouldn’t you say that’s the case for everyone except Arundel?”

With a smiling glance, Claris slowly approached Isaac.

“Silberna mentioned it, that Isaac knows so much about the Ascended because the person who raised him as a child was a half-blood?”

“……”

A lie he’d spun during questioning up north.

“I heard Isaac’s mentor and that person are supposed to be close friends? I offered to help him find his friends.”

“Ah.”

“Which, when you think about it, is like finding Isaac’s parents!”

Claris smiled, hands firmly on her hips. She seemed to want praise, but Isaac just gave a bitter smile and nodded.

A strange misunderstanding, piled upon misunderstanding.

Isaac stepped outside the tent.

He’d been told he could go see the Grand Master if he wanted to, so Isaac headed straight that way.

The Grand Master was already in the carriage. The awning cast a deep shadow, making it impossible to see inside from the outside.

Stepping inside, Isaac found the Grand Master smacking his lips.

“Are you alright?”

“Hmph, you ask me the very question I should be asking you.”

The Grand Master smiled faintly.

“I’m fine.”

“Yes, that’s a relief.”

A brief silence settled between them.

Isaac was the one to break it.

“I heard you’re headed to Evergard.”

“Isn’t that a strange coincidence? It seems we have the same destination.”

He was going to Evergard with Silberna for training, and to assess Alois’s condition.

It was only natural he’d travel with the Grand Master as well.

“Take good care of my belongings. It’d be a headache if they got so much as a scratch.”

Isaac nodded at the Grand Master’s request to look after the greatsword he’d entrusted to him.

There was something he wanted to say.

When should he say it?

As Isaac took a deep breath, preparing to open his mouth…

“Isn’t it fortunate?”

The Grand Master offered a soft smile, preempting him.

“Imagine, the princess of the kingdom herself offering to help me locate our fellows.”

“……”

“From what I hear, you’re not entirely sure where your master is either, are you?”

“……”

“Haha, wouldn’t that be wonderful? You too, should look forward to a reunion.”

His mouth closed naturally.

No, it was made to close.

Each word from the Grand Master felt as if it were begging Isaac to agree.

In the end, Isaac couldn’t prolong the conversation and left the carriage.

The heart that couldn’t forget his colleagues, his friends.

‘……’

Isaac, who had just asked the princess to move Millie, buried in an unmarked grave in Hellmunt, to the cemetery managed by the capital’s church.

‘And me, I’m no different…’

Faced with the Grand Master’s desperate struggle, he couldn’t bring himself to say a thing.