Chapter 120: Coming For You

Despite facing such an imposing enemy, Isaac didn’t feel much fear.

If he was forced to make a comparison, this reminded him of his wedding day.

He had to face various distinguished guests from various countries, royalties and nobles he had only heard rumors of; their lofty eyes cast on him, evaluating him.

And yet he was able to stand confidently with her by his side.

Back then, I really believed that I could go through anything as long as she was there.

Ironically, now that everything had fallen apart, he was once again feeling that same emotion.

The difference was that this time, a real enemy stood in front of his eyes.

“Isaac, can you move?”

Though her voice bore the same tone as usual, he could feel the concern in it.

“I can.”

That answer was enough.

Respecting his will, Rianna nodded upon hearing that answer.

She didn’t add anything else afterward.

“If you can’t fight, just get out!”

“Is this guy under a spell or something? Like, a spell where he can’t speak without shouting??”

Immediately after, Lohengrin and Sharen joined in from the sides.

Having somewhat recovered from their shock over the revelation that their ancestor was part of the Transcendent Race, the two held up their greatswords together.

Their conversation didn’t continue for long.

Because Helric had fired his Crimson Essence at them again.

At this point, it didn’t even take up on the shape of a sword anymore.

Instead, it spread like thick fog, flowed like a gentle river, and poured down like a waterfall.

It would be more appropriate to view it not as Sword Aura, but materialization of his malicious intent.

“And that’s why it’s weak.”

However, if one were to ask if it only had advantages or not, then the answer was no.

It could be said as vast and free.

But that also meant it wasn’t as solid.

“…!”

Seeing his Crimson Essence being torn and split, Helric’s eyes trembled slightly.

What cut through the red Aura he had was a blood-colored Aura—an Aura of a different color than his.

This showed how different the quality of the Crimson Essence that Rianna shot from her greatsword was compared to his.

But, the overwhelming difference in quantity was still there.

When it came to mass, the difference was overwhelmingly in his favor.

“That’s…! Crimson Annihilation Strike…!”

Among those who were standing to face him, there was someone who couldn’t help but admire the Crimson Annihilation Strike. Lohengrin, the person who had been trying to imitate the strike and yet still failed to grasp its essence.

“I’ll open a path.”

Saying that, Rianna stepped forward, mercilessly cutting through the swirling Crimson Essence.

“Stay right behind me. This time, I’ll protect you for sure.”

There was no need to ask who she was talking to. Isaac stayed close behind her.

Her flowing red hair tickled his nose as her scent wafted over.

Of course, their close proximity meant that she caught his scent too.

Thanks to that, she could feel her body become more energetic, and the force that she used to wield her sword became even more extraordinary.

“Just this much…”

At that moment, a faint voice passed by.

Pretending not to hear that, Isaac placed his hands on the two tachi at his waists, steadying his breath.

“You dare to call this Crimson Essence…?! This isn’t even Aura…!!”

Lohengrin’s cry came from his right. Though the man noticed it a bit late, at the very least he noticed it, so he deserved to receive some praise.

“Ugh, I want to handle Crimson Essence in that way too!”

Meanwhile, Sharen expressed her jealousy.

Compared to other Helmonts here, she had the least Crimson Essence.

In any case, now the three Helmonts were surrounding Helric.

At this point, even the smile on his lips gradually stiffened as he continued to fire his Crimson Essence towards them.

“I can open a path soon.”

A more solid Crimson Essence than Helric’s was formed on Rianna’s greatsword, emitting light.

She had calculated that she could pierce through his Crimson Essence in a straight line.

“But, that’s all. I don’t know what he’d do if we got closer to him.”

What she was trying to say was, they should immediately launch a surprise attack on him after she opened up a path.

“I’ll do it!”

Lohengrin shouted boisterously, swinging his greatsword.

Since it was Rianna who’d open the path, she couldn’t take that shot, which meant the person with the most combat power should do it instead.

“Isaac, I’m counting on you.”

“Okay.”

“What?! I—”

“Oh, shut up, you lost all your duels to Isaac!”

At Sharen’s rebuke, Lohengrin shut his mouth tightly. The vein popping on his forehead was his pitiful attempt to reject her words.

“With that frail body of his, he’ll die right away if he rushes at him, you damn idiots! He isn’t a Helmont!”

“…You’re not wrong.”

Currently, even running was a struggle for Isaac.

The distance that he had to cover to reach Helric was around 40 paces.

If he sprinted all the way there, he could reach him, but in his current condition, doing that would be difficult.

But then…

“I’ll help you!”

Sharen gathered her Crimson Essence in her palm.

It was much lighter in color compared to the others’, and contained within it was warmth rather than a burning sensation.

Normally, such a weak Crimson Essence would’ve been disregarded as a disgrace to Helmont.

But when he saw it, Isaac’s eyes widened as he recalled the Grandmaster’s words from before.

[Because it’s interesting? She turned one thing that everyone admires into a child’s toy..]

She was young, and the amount of Crimson Essence she handled was less in quantity, but the way she handled it was extraordinary, though different from others.

The Helmonts had been using it as a means to destroy their enemies, but Sharen had a unique way to handle it as something to ‘assist’ her allies.

Seeing this, Rianna nodded.

“I’m gonna open the path. Get ready.”

Whoosh!

Rianna’s greatsword, held with both hands, extended far back.

When the condensed power completely covered the blade, it moved upward in a diagonal line.

Crimson Lament.

The strike that once splitted a river now splitted the sky upward.

Revealing a white landscape in the world that had been dyed red.

Just like that, a path was opened.

As Sharen’s Crimson Essence formed on Isaac’s back and feet, preparing to help him dash out in an instant…

“You’re quite clever?”

Helric’s bold laughter echoed.

As if he had anticipated it, a snake-shaped Crimson Essence opened its jaws behind Isaac who was about to dash out, trying to grab his nape.

Helric had anticipated that they were waiting for a moment of opportunity, so he had set up a trap for them, but…

“Damn it…!!”

Boom!

At that moment, Lohengrin threw himself forward and let himself be bitten instead of Isaac. Dragged by the snake, he rolled on the ground.

“For such a guy…!! I—!”

Angry that he had done such a thing for Isaac, he continued to shout even while being dragged.

Whoosh!

Then, Isaac’s body shot forward.

The Crimson Essence coating his entire body supported him throughout.

Soon, Helric was locked in his sight, and as he approached the man, he pulled out his tachi.

“Too slow!”

Clang!

The sword-shaped force on Helric’s staff deflected his tachi, sending it flying into the air.

But, Isaac didn’t stop.

Because he already lowered his body, ducking under the staff and brushed past its side

Before Helric could regain his stance, Isaac had already slid behind him.

“…!”

Screech!

His toes dug deep into the ground, forcibly stopping his body that had been shooting forward.

As he rapidly rotated his waist, his right foot moved forward to maintain balance, and his left foot firmly pressed the ground to support his body.

With that single rotation, a perfect posture for swinging a sword was formed.

“I told you.”

“You—!”

“Your swordsmanship gets a failing grade.”

He had already read his attack before it was swung.

Helmont’s swordsmanship was one that emphasized power. They had this tendency to swing their sword on the trajectory where they could unleash the strongest power.

Rianna had gone beyond that, which was why she won the last duel between them.

But…

This man couldn’t do that.

Because he was a Faker.

The reason why a fake, no matter how perfect, could only be called a fake was…

Because it was a mere imitation, it would never progress beyond that.

When Isaac drew his other tachi, blood finally poured out of the man’s body.

His eyes turned bloodshot, as his stance turned disheveled.

Isaac had aimed for his neck, but his blade could only cut about half of it.

Something invisible prevented his tachi from approaching any further.

Perhaps, it was a form of sorcery.

“Grrk!”

Clenching his profusely bleeding neck with his hand, Helric stepped back, retreating from Isaac.

“It’s not over—!”

His Crimson Essence disappeared.

It seemed as if he was trying to continue fighting with his original power, not the one he got from imitating Arandel.

But at that moment, Isaac pointed his fingertips at him.

Near his heart, space was twisting and swirling.

Which meant his allotted time had ended.

Looking down at this, veins popped on Helric’s body as he shouted roughly.

“Isaac…! I’ll remember you! I’m already looking forward to the day we meet again…!”

“Haa… Ha… Just…go…”

“I’m gonna kill you…! No matter what…!”

The hatred he poured out echoed in Isaac’s ears even after he disappeared, like a curse.

At that moment, he went to his knees, his strength drained.

Helmont Siblings quickly approached from afar.

Seeing his body was about to fall forward, Rianna embraced Isaac, patting his back.

“You did well, Isaac.”

“Yeah…”

There was no strength in his reply.

Even though he did it…

He survived and overcame the adversary that he faced…

And yet, he couldn’t hold back the tears forming in his eyes.

“So, what now…?”

Sharen’s question was one that Isaac had always asked himself ever since he started swinging his sword.

He had defeated Helric and sent him back to his original world.

But the Malidean Wall still didn’t return.

Due to the price of the sorcery, it had to stay in that other world.

In other words, the sorcery was still in effect.

“Sil…verna…”

Cradled in Rianna’s arms, he shed his tears.

In the end, he hadn’t been able to protect her.

Trying to comfort Isaac, Rianna embraced him tighter.

The wall that had protected the North had disappeared.

Perhaps because of that…

The unusually cold wind cut their hearts.

This was how the battle with the Transcendent Race always went.

Even after a victory, rather than shouts of triumph…

There was only sadness and flowing tears over those who had lost their lives.

Before they knew it, they had been pushed back to the inner wall.

Though their defenses became more solid as they were pushed inward, like one’s last breath rising to the chin, it was probably right to consider that their limit was closely approaching.

What happened to Father?

The air was extremely cold.

Everything had turned frozen due to the cold emitted by the Malidean Wall, as if it was letting out its last breath.

Now, looking out the window, all that they could see under the dark sky was white vapor like clouds.

Uldiran Cardias had gone out to block the entrance to the inner side of the wall.

He went out alone, and Silverna didn’t know what had happened to him.

However, seeing how the Transcendents kept on entering the inner wall, she could guess her father’s fate.

Inside the tavern.

Coincidentally, they had all been pushed into the tavern inside the wall; a good outcome for them, since it could accommodate a lot of people.

“Miss, soon they’ll discover us here…”

Anna said, with a weak voice.

Not being able to eat properly, she had turned so thin that she could barely hold a spear.

It wasn’t just Anna, though.

All the stalwart soldiers of Malidean Wall couldn’t even remember when they last had a proper meal.

No matter how excellent a soldier was, without proper supplies, there was no way they could exert their full strength.

Slowly, but surely, they were dying.

They could hear the voices of the Transcendents, coming from the corridor, looking for their hiding place.

“Here! The smell is coming from here!”

Their shout echoed, spelling a death sentence for the soldiers.

“Prepare for battle.”

Silverna gripped her spear tightly.

The newly made spear of Argentite already looked worn out and dull, not the best condition to be used in the final battle.

It showed how intense their battle had been so far.

“…”

Standing in front of the door, she closed her eyes gently.

What came to mind was the face of a man.

I can’t hold out anymore…

I know, you’re still looking for us…

But, we just can’t hold out anymore…

‘Did you give up?’

‘Did you fail?’

It wasn’t that such questions never crossed her mind.

But rather, even such questions were meaningless now.

Because in the end, it was them that couldn’t hold out.

That was what she decided to think.

“I’m sorry, Isaac.”

If there is a next time…

If another life exists, or another opportunity is given…

I hope that you’d receive all that, not me…

Because if it’s you, you won’t ever fail, no matter what…

The Isaac she knew was such a man. Even if he failed once, he’d try again next time.

Again and again, until he succeeded.

What a silly thought.

Feeling that she was thinking nonsense, Silverna let out a soft smile, thinking that her time to die had come.

Someday, you’ll reach this place… You’ll find me with my eyes closed…

That’s why, for the sake of that time…

“I’ll die beautifully.”

Bang! Crack! Boom!

At that moment, a commotion was heard from outside.

From what it sounded, someone out there was fighting with the Transcendents, trying to enter the tavern.

Normally, the smart thing to do was to hold their ground inside.

“We’re going out! We won’t abandon anyone!”

But at this point, they were already as good as dead.

So, Silverna chose to die an honorable death, and the warriors of the North tacitly agreed with her.

Clank!

She opened the door and stepped into the corridor of the inner wall.

Filled with biting cold, the air of the corridor was freezing.

And there, on top of a Transcendent’s corpse…

“Ah.”

Stood a woman, the Blood Rose, holding a greatsword.

“It really worked…”

Hearing Rianna muttering those words softly, Silverna was left dumbstruck, her mouth gaped open.

Whoosh!

Then, someone passed by Rianna, embracing her.

The warm embrace, familiar touch, rough skin…

“Silverna—!”

Hearing his voice, low as if holding back tears, tears flowed from Silverna’s eyes instead.

“Ah…”

She wanted to see him. Badly

So, she turned her head to look at his face.

And there he was. Isaac Logan. Looking more than just disheveled. Holding her tightly.

Yet, he didn’t look unpleasant or unsightly.

After all, it was the undeniable proof of how much he had struggled to save her.

“I…saac…”

“Finally…! I…finally found you…!”

“Isaac… Isaac…!”

Without realizing it, she had called his name several times, as if to reaffirm his existence.

“Yes, Silverna. It’s me…”

As if refusing to let go, he embraced her.

“I’ve come to save you.”

At that, her heart crumbled.

The tears that she had been holding back flowed down her cheeks, but they didn’t fall to the ground.

Instead, they only wetted his shoulder.