79. The Helmund Annihilation War (4)

One piece of good news was that Arundel’s strength was greatly diminished.

After all, he had spent the entire night wielding his greatsword, battling the Transcended.

Roughly counting only the Transcended he’d turned into corpses, there were over ten, five of whom were Primordial Transcended.

It could be said he had accomplished a feat befitting a legend.

Having fought such a battle, Arundel’s descent didn’t radiate the nearly infinite presence it usually did.

Conversely, what wasn’t good.

Was that even with so many constraints placed upon Arundel, the two characters spelling ‘defeat’ were nowhere to be seen.

*Kwaaang!*

Arundel’s greatsword swung again, dominating the vicinity.

Before they knew it, they were gathered, with Lianna at the center, responding together.

But that’s all it was, responding, nothing more.

Silberna, wielding her spear at the forefront alongside Lianna, asked as if in a fit of anger.

“Just! Do you ever tire?!”

A question he normally wouldn’t even acknowledge.

However, due to the influence of the Familia ritual, Arundel’s lips moved naturally.

“Do not hope for luck.”

“Ugh!?”

Simultaneous with the answer, Silberna was sent flying into the sky again by the swung greatsword. After tumbling in the air several times, she landed hastily, dropping her spear.

“Kuh-ugh!”

The hand that had taken Arundel’s blow throbbed. Silberna, wincing, couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded.

“What kind of monster is this-.”

There wasn’t a sign that they could win.

This was the case not only for Silberna, but for the other knights as well.

From some point on, they were simply holding their ground at the furthest reach of Arundel’s greatsword.

He wasn’t fighting a full-fledged battle, a realm he could truly call his own, but rather skirmishing, relying on a sliver of distance and a measure of luck.

The sole reason he could barely hold onto his crumbling resolve:

the unwavering defiance of the former couple, still standing their ground.

*Clang!*

Lianna’s greatsword and Arundel’s greatsword clashed once more. She was the only one capable of enduring this brute contest of strength.

Lianna’s greatsword pulsed with raw spirit energy, yet Arundel’s, conversely, remained starkly hollow.

“Have you lost the capacity to wield spirit energy?”

“Indeed.”

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

The benefit of fighting a subject was the advantage of knowledge.

As if accessing a library, one could easily discern the opponent’s current state and concealed tricks.

Isaac had demonstrated it a few times, and now others were utilizing it to fight Arundel.

“The sword is gradually catching up, but crude aspects still linger.”

“……!”

Furthermore, Arundel was even offering evaluations of his opponents’ swordsmanship.

The moment he deflected Lianna’s uncouth blade, Isaac, who had been shadowing her like a wraith, surged forward.

A swift and precise cut, reminiscent of an assassin, was unleashed.

“Hmph!”

Arundel’s left arm struck the flat of the katana, deflecting the blade with unnatural ease.

“Predictable!”

A tactic already employed numerous times.

He rebuffed Isaac, declaring he was no pushover.

*Thud!*

“Cover!”

“Engage! Don’t relent!”

The instant Isaac was pushed back, Heyrad and the other knights charged towards Arundel.

They complemented each other, preventing Arundel from unleashing a follow-up attack.

This was the solution the next generation offered to the previous, yet…

“Crude!”

Arendel, his face twisted in distaste, roared at their swords.

*Kwaang!*

“Careless!”

*Kwang!*

“Ineffectual!”

He crushed their blades with brutal force, lamenting each blow as pathetic.

If this were a simple sparring match, it would surely be a time for learning.

The moment the knights were forced back, Lianna stepped forward once more.

Filling the void they left behind, though even Lianna was beginning to tire.

“Do not think of retreating.”

Arendel, brandishing his sword, offered advice to Lianna.

“I will not stop.”

“I know… that!”

Lianna gritted her teeth.

As Heirad and the other knights regrouped and charged again,

Silberna approached Isaac.

“Isaac, can we win this?”

“……”

“If it weren’t for Lianna, we’d have collapsed long ago. Even Lianna, right now, can’t even get close enough to properly swing her sword.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Is there… a way?”

At Silberna’s question, Isaac paused, catching his breath. He clenched his fist, lowering his gaze to the battlefield, regaining his composure.

“I think… I was too complacent.”

“Complacent?”

“This is undeniably Arendel Hellment. Even if he awaited us here to die—”

Regardless, he was a man you could call the strongest in the world.

There was no denying it.

We fought with a somewhat passive approach, thinking this battle was predetermined, with the end result of a man accepting his death.

“We, too, should have gambled our lives in earnest.”

Isaac stepped forward, his eyes resembling, of course, the stars.

This was, the gaze of a bygone Ink Sword era, when he yearned for the blade but clutched a pen.

*Kuuung!*

Rihanna, pushed far back after losing the test of strength.

While she caught her breath with a darkened expression, Isaac stood beside her.

“How is it?”

A succinct question, but Rihanna quickly understood the intent and replied.

“Tracking it is all I can manage. Even the power struggle itself is starting to reach my physical limits.”

“I’m the opposite.”

Rihanna glanced at Isaac.

“I’ve read its trajectory, I can predict where the sword will be. But… I can’t keep up with it.”

“You’ve read…Father’s sword?”

“Yeah, so about that. If you trust me…”

“I do.”

At the unwavering reply, Isaac unconsciously met her eyes.

There was no wavering.

No empty words, no flattery, only truth resided there.

“We have to go in, risking our lives. One wrong move and we could die.”

“I already answered.”

“…Alright.”

Strength gathered in the hands gripping Tae-do.

The greatsword was a raging tempest.

They had to enter it.

Into Arundel Hellmunth’s domain.

“I can’t explain everything with words. Whether we even had any connection… to be honest, I still don’t know for sure but…”

Isaac, returning his gaze forward, smiled wryly and stepped forward.

“I’m counting on you, Ria.”

A step behind, Rihanna nodded, recomposing her greatsword.

“Leave it to me.”

Heirad and the knights, unable to withstand the flurry of slashes, were once again thrown back.

Passing by them, Isaac and Rihanna walked together as Arundel, resting his greatsword on his shoulder, nodded.

“Finally. Have you come prepared to die?”

“Forgive my previous discourtesy.”

“Yes, you said you’d let me die—!”

*Whoosh!*

The greatsword, lifted high, falls straight down, vertically.

“Don’t think you can take it so easily. Don’t take me lightly!”

*KWAANG!*

The greatsword slams into the ground.

Rianna snatches Isaac by the side, pulling him clear.

From within the rising dust cloud.

Isaac’s eyes snap to the opposite side.

“Right!”

Isaac’s words, cutting and clear, accompanied the sound of his arm moving as Rianna’s greatsword took position diagonally beside him.

*KuuuNG!*

Hidden by the thick smoke that arose from the first strike, a blow flew from the opposite side.

It evoked a sense of danger, as if a beast were leaping from the dark thicket.

This was the feeling those who fought in Arundel Hellment’s territory must have known.

A great, powerful greatsword; you could never know where or how it would be swung next.

In the blink of an eye, you’d be cleaved in two.

*Gulp.*

Rianna swallowed, tense.

Having come this far, there was no longer any retreat.

The dirt and dust from the previous strike settled. Through the scattering rose petals, Arundel swung his greatsword again.

“……!”

*KWAANG!*

Rianna blocked the greatsword.

And far faster than the expected point of impact.

As a result, the force behind it was weakened, and Isaac joining in made the block much easier than before.

Arundel said nothing.

Again, he swung the greatsword, but again, the two swords blocked it together in the same way.

“Hmph.”

Unbelievable.

“Heh heh.”

Even Arundel, who had spent his entire life wielding a sword, needed a moment to grasp the situation.

Lianna had begun to anticipate Arundel’s sword and react in advance.

More accurately, she was reading Isaac’s gaze and predicting where the sword would fall.

“A response bordering on luck.”

But, if it continued, it would be difficult to dismiss it as mere chance.

Clang! Clang!

The sound of greatswords clashing lacked its previous force.

Moreover, Isaac was now counterattacking in unison, putting Arundel in the impossible position of being unable to breach their defenses.

But.

“Simply blocking won’t make my head roll.”

Arundel sneered at the former couple who were parrying his greatsword together.

He was curious to see how long they could hold out.

But, having come this far, he had to think about killing them.

Just as Arundel’s greatsword was about to swing again.

Clang!

A spear struck the uplifted greatsword of Arundel, with great force.

His focus had been entirely on the two of them, creating a momentary lapse in thought.

Not missing the chance, Lianna raised her greatsword high.

A fleeting opening.

Distinctly different from all this time, where even the opportunity to swing her sword had eluded her.

Crack!

‘The most intense strike of my life.’

A river unfolds before her eyes.

The sword that parted it and confessed my love to you on that day… revived once more, in this very place.

Determining that this moment was her only chance, Lianna gathers all her strength and concentrates the Red River into her greatsword.

A rose blooms at the tip of her sword.

Even Arundel was startled, this was the pinnacle Lianna could display in this moment.

“……Ah.”

But, her arm began to tremble.

The hand gripping the greatsword lacked strength.

She lacked the power to bring it down, this thing she had raised above her.

It was the accumulated fatigue from the battles thus far, no longer controlling the Crimson River, but starting to be crushed by it.

A man embraced her from behind.

A familiar, yet longed-for scent.

“You can do it.”

With the dual blades stuck in the ground, Isaac joined Rianna, gripping the greatsword.

Rianna’s greatsword, that had once split the river.

Now, it plunged towards the giant.

Crimson Love Severed (紅愛絶).

Scarlet light bloomed in all directions, and rose petals scattered magnificently into the sky.

The final touch of the sword, a memory of that day, filled with heartbreaking affection.

The Crimson Love Severed raged, and even though the crimson afterglow lingered, the result was clear.

A greatsword broken in two.

Blood trickling from the corner of her lips.

Her back arched forward.

A faint smile forming.

Two legs standing firm.

Arundel still stood his ground.

“Ah.”

Rianna’s face drained of color. She no longer had the strength to even lift a sword, collapsing in a disordered heap.

She saw someone step forward.

Isaac, passing her, pulled out the dual blades he’d planted and advanced without hesitation.

“Unfortunately.”

Arundel raised the broken greatsword towards Isaac.

“You took too long.”

Arundel’s Crimson River began to fill the void.

As the battle dragged on, he was once again able to wield the Crimson River that had been empty.

It was rather dilapidated, yet even so, it was Arundel’s Descent.

“You… you did not overcome.”

The crimson-stained greatsword is swung again.

Helmut’s Descent fills the void left by the broken greatsword, re-forming as a single blade.

Descent.

A wall he could never surmount.

With the aid of Brikala’s electric strikes, he could at least manage to break through it.

But now, whether it was broken, or its power exhausted, not even a ‘fizz’ could be heard.

Even so, Isaac rushed forward.

[Chasing stars, oh, pitiful child.]

The Grand Master had described him that way during his days with the Silent Sword.

His eyes chase the stars in the night sky, yet he cannot reach out and grasp them.

“Isaac!”

A scream, close to a sob, from behind catches at his ankles.

Even so, Isaac rushed forward.

“Hmph!”

Arundel’s greatsword swings towards Isaac without a shred of mercy.

Even so, Isaac rushed forward.

Because.

A star was there.

A star he thought he could never reach was before his eyes.

Isaac’s two daggers are swung towards the aura-formed greatsword.

[Aura?]

His target is not the greatsword.

[When you reach the extreme-.]

Helmut’s pride.

[Such things are unnecessary.]

The past life.

Sitting at his desk for countless hours.

Thinking only of the sword.

Some would scoff, calling him a mere bookworm, a scholar unfit for the field.

Yet, the layers upon layers of time accumulated before him now.

Compelled him to reach for a fragment of a realm he should not yet touch.

*Crack!*

Shattered shards of crimson steel scattered in all directions.

The broken tip of Arundel’s greatsword grazed Isaac’s cheek.

But the two katana that cleaved through the shattered red blade found their mark on Arundel, unwavering.

“Truly…”

Untainted by falsehood, devoid of unnecessary embellishment.

“Magnificent.”

With that single word, at long last.

*Thud!*

The mighty greatsword fell to the earth.