78. The Helmund Extermination War (3)

The greatest of swords.

The knight who single-handedly restrained war.

The lion enthroned upon a crimson rose.

Arundel Helmund.

His massive frame slowly rose, strength flowing into the hand that gripped the greatsword.

Even that simple act radiated an oppressive weight upon those who dared challenge him.

To merely stand before him, blade in hand, demanded immense courage.

And then.

Stepping forward first, the black-haired former son-in-law, his hair dancing in the air.

It was Isaac.

“Isaac!”

Sylverna called out urgently, but Isaac was already locked on Arundel.

“I knew you’d be the first.”

Arundel spoke the words himself, then frowned.

He seemed startled, as though the words escaped him unbidden.

“Evidence of subservience. The words forming in your mind… they will keep spilling out.”

“So it seems.”

Arundel was composed.

Were it not for the obsidian tint of his eyes, one would never suspect he was afflicted.

“How is your body?”

“I will not live long.”

“The aftermath of the battle, perhaps?”

“No.”

Arendal was resolute.

“It’s a pre-existing condition.”

“……”

With the enthrallment, there are no lies.

Not only that, but conversation flows so much smoother.

Though Arendal himself seemed quite displeased.

“It’s considerably irritating.”

He says that, but honestly, Isaac was somewhat astonished. Considering Polus’s case, after succumbing to the enthrallment, there were no restraints on his actions, let alone his words.

Arendal was, in effect, suppressing them with sheer mental fortitude alone.

Normally, the instant we reached the manor’s entrance, Arendal’s greatsword would have greeted us.

“I heard from those fiends. The instant you succumb to this, you become a dog obeying their commands.”

“……Correct.”

Alois was like that in the past life.

“And as far as I know, there’s no method to undo the enthrallment.”

His knowledge of sorcery was lacking, but either way, as of yet there was no way to dismantle it.

From the start, it was uncertain whether he could even restrain Arendal until he found a way to undo it.

Then, suddenly, a question arose.

“Where is the transcendent race that wielded this enthrallment spell?”

“Dead.”

“Pardon?”

“I killed them. With my own hand.”

The spell of the transcendent race, the ones called apostles, reached Arendal, but he overcame their repressive power and wielded his sword.

Truly Arendal.

Just as Isaac was thinking that.

“Sir Arendal!”

“Princess!”

Claris hurriedly followed Isaac. Heyrad’s urgent voice chased after her back.

“Ah, Sir Arendal! Are you alright? How, how is your body?!”

“It bodes ill.”

Arundel’s indifferent words darkened Clarice’s expression. The tone, however, was a mere trifle to the princess.

“First! Let us first try to heal you! Summon the mages from the Magic Tower-!”

“You would squander the opportunity.”

“Pardon…?”

Arundel sighed at Clarice’s confusion.

“Wise princess, you let youthful fervor cloud your judgment.”

“What does that-“

“We were of like mind, were we not?”

*Kooong!*

“Indeed, would you not agree this is the opportune moment?”

Arundel’s greatsword plunged into the earth. Within his black irises, a subtle crimson flicker writhed.

“Sir Heiyard! Princess, behind us!”

Isaac’s desperate cry saw Heiyard snatch Princess Clarice by the waist and retreat hastily.

Crossing paths with him, Rianna and Silverna stepped forward.

Not only them, but also the knights who had accompanied them as support.

They possessed overwhelming numerical superiority, and Arundel had already endured fierce combat, making it difficult for him to use red mana.

And yet, why?

‘I can only sense disadvantage.’

The more she became aware of the reality of facing that man and his sword, the more her mind informed her that there was no advantage to be had.

“…Difficult,”

Silverna murmured quietly.

“Father,”

Rianna drew Lagnabell.

Isaac, too, had completed preparations to unleash his iaido at any moment.

Helmut’s entire body radiated red mana in all directions, as he posed a question.

“You, who would succeed me, Arundel?”

“Ugh!”

The cascading red mana was like a raging gale. While most were forced to fall back,

Rianna’s greatsword stood before Isaac and Silverna, shielding them.

“Can you bear it?”

The eyes of the castaways were already dismissed.

His gaze was fixed on the few who had endured his descent.

“The weight I carried-!”

They were, in a sense, on trial.

“The achievement of one who forged peace with a single blade-!”

Whoosh!

Arundel’s greatsword swept in a wide arc.

A strike to bisect.

A murderous intent to cleave all before him with a single swing, but-

Clang!

The eldest daughter, Lianna’s greatsword, preemptively blocked the impending calamity.

“Ugh!?”

Even so, Lianna groaned and stumbled back. As if to finish the motion, the veins on Arundel’s forearm bulged.

“Stop playing at children’s games!”

He pushed Lianna away with brute force, sending her flying.

Crash!

Lianna was buried in the rubble of the mansion. Arundel had sent the eldest daughter of Helmund flying with a single blow.

A fierce gust of wind swirled the rose petals scattered on the ground. Hidden within them, Silverna’s spear pierced toward Arundel.

A strike timed a beat early, anticipating Lianna’s fall.

One could even say it was an unintentional synchronization.

Crack!

Arundel seized the spear shaft.

Looking down at Silverna, he glared with ferocious intensity.

“Daughter of Caldia, haste makes the spear waver.”

“……!”

Whoosh!

Silverna, still holding the spear, was flung far away as well. She tumbled across the ground, skidding back.

Arundel’s gaze turned past her, toward Isaac.

“Can your blade-! Truly sever the head of this Arundel!”

Isaac’s twin Attitudes erupted from his waist in unison. Sparks flew, compensating for his lacking speed.

Rose petals in the swords’ path were cleanly bisected as ‘Biik’ was swung.

KaaaNG!

Arundel’s greatsword effortlessly blocked it.

“Feeble!”

He swung the greatsword, pushing Isaac back.

“So Light!”

“Kuh!”

Isaac’s feet momentarily left the ground as he slid backward. Had Heiread not caught him, he would have been pushed all the way to the mansion entrance.

“Are you alright?!”

“Yes…”

Only a single exchange.

Yet his arms trembled, a testament to the overwhelming power he had tried to resist.

“He’s like a monster.”

The knights who followed fared no better against Arundel. They, too, crumbled or were sent flying without lasting a single exchange.

As Isaac regained his footing and rushed forward again, Rianna had already leapt and was swinging her sword at Arundel.

KWAANG! KWAANG!

Father and daughter’s greatswords were swung at each other without hesitation. Rianna was the only one who could exchange blows with Arundel.

But her expression grew grim, indicating the increasing strain.

“Did you love mother-!”

Even amidst this.

Rianna spoke.

There was only this opportunity.

The chance to hear Arundel’s true feelings existed only now.

Rianna voiced a concern, a question, she had secretly harbored deep within her heart.

“Did you love her?”

KWAANG!

For a fleeting moment, Rianna sensed a slight weakening in Arundel’s sword.

And between the swinging blades.

“Like breathing.”

A secret, a word hidden deep.

Rihanna’s eyes widened, but she couldn’t withstand Arundel’s next blow and tumbled.

“What are you doing!”

Arundel’s greatsword swung once more.

Silberna’s spear blocked her, barely managing to protect Rihanna.

Unable to withstand the force, she planted the spear shaft on the ground, receiving the blow with practiced skill.

Even so, Silberna was struggling, her back bending further with each parry.

“Don’t drop your sword, hold on!”

“Silberna…”

Rihanna nodded, regaining her stance. Then, the two noble ladies once again brandished sword and spear towards Arundel.

Their synchronization was remarkable, yet they still couldn’t break through Arundel’s defenses.

The combined force of the two women opened a path.

The sword and spear parted to either side for an instant.

A tachi, gently rode the current, smoothly swung.

Stretching, reaching further.

Seeking to attain the realm beyond.

It was called Daigeup (Great Drawing).

Isaac’s moment, that had cleaved through Brikala, now challenged Arundel.

“Huh.”

For the first time, the corner of Arundel’s lips slowly curved upwards.

“Beautiful.”

Just a single word.

Having answered thus, Arundel extended his left arm, imbuing it with the Crimson Descent he hadn’t used since the initial attack.

*Kwaddeudeudeudeudeuk!*

Isaac’s tachi, imbued with electricity, collided with Arundel’s Crimson Descent, and the sword screamed in agony.

The result was immediate.

The Daigeup, was repelled by the giant’s hand, unable to reach its target and left unfinished.

“…!”

Smoke poured from the tachi.

Such was the intensity of the impact, the palm that gripped the tachi felt as if it had been trampled by a horseshoe.

“Isaac!”

“Dodge!”

The two women seized Isaac, pulling him back as Arundel’s greatsword splintered the ground where he’d just stood.

“Do not be humble.”

From amidst the rising dust and scattered rose petals.

“Be arrogant.”

The crimson in Arundel’s black eyes fixed on Isaac.

“Be even conceited.”

And therefore.

“Be great.”

*Thoom!*

Arundel, who had held his ground, took a step forward.

“That is the respect one owes those who cross blades.”

Isaac had heard those words before.

Or rather, witnessed them, one should say.

In Arundel’s will.

“Do not shame those who died.”

And also Arundel’s creed, his very conviction.

As a great swordsman, he had felled countless foes.

So he would not cheapen the deaths of those he had defeated.

He proclaimed, with arrogance and conceit, that their lives had been taken by a man worthy of the cost.

And thus, he was great.

As the Familiarization progressed, Arundel increasingly poured out his innermost thoughts.

“Let the world know—”

As if venting his surging emotions and pent-up frustration.

“—of Arundel’s death.”

He rebuked those standing before him.

Only then did Princess Clarice understand the meaning behind Arundel’s words.

They shared the same thought.

A changing of the guard, within the Kingdom’s Black Generation, was needed.

“Because you are here-.”

So then, this was.

Somewhat quick, and even abrupt.

“Peace is maintained.”

A generational shift.