Chapter 118: Failing Grade

“…?!”

It was a sight that made Isaac’s eyes widen.

Despite him nearly losing his life due to a momentary mistake, his bewilderment overwhelmed his relief for surviving.

The Transcendent’s disappearance was as sudden as it was loaded with various implications.

“What in the world—“

Just as Marlin beside him began to question what had just happened, other Transcendents charged in, giving her no time to think.

It was as if they were trying to prevent the pair from analyzing what had just happened.

Screams, groans, and tears erupted amidst the continued assault.

Ironically, the battle quickly became simplified.

If their side were to swing a sword first, they’d only expose their vulnerabilities, and as a result, they’d end up getting stabbed.

And so, they played it defensively, trying to withstand or delay the Transcendents’ attacks, even if just a little.

When a Transcendent attacked someone, everyone would jump in and target its openings.

It might sound like an ordinary defensive tactic of exploiting the enemy’s vulnerabilities, but…

What was actually happening was a whole different thing than anyone could expect.

“Keuk!”

“Sorry…! I-I’m so sorry…!”

“Goddamn it!”

In essence, they were just waiting.

Waiting for their comrade’s death.

Using their comrade’s life as a sacrifice to wound the Transcendents.

They fought as if they were offering their comrades one by one to an evil deity.

This was the reality of this battle.

There was no victory without bloodshed.

Even after victory, only tears and regret remained, not cheers.

This was why the Transcendent Race was a nightmare and terror to humans.

“Grrr…”

“Vain struggle…!”

If there was one thing worth noting…

It was that the Transcendents had intelligence equal to or greater than humans.

From the moment they understood the humans’ strategy, they hesitated to charge in.

Even they felt fear or disgust at this strategy of exchanging lives.

Naturally, each side grouped up.

The humans stayed together, ready to thrust swords and spears over their comrades’ corpses at any moment.

Meanwhile, the Transcendents kept their distance, wondering how to deal with this.

At that moment, an unpleasant external wind blew.

As the space twisted, another Transcendent disappeared.

“…”

Amidst his rough breathing, Isaac continued to ponder the meaning behind the phenomenon he had just witnessed.

But perhaps due to lack of oxygen, his thoughts couldn’t extend far.

“Damn it! Don’t retreat!”

“If we stay still here, it’s over!”

Until now, it was the humans who showed impatience in their movements, but after seeing their comrades disappear one by one, the Transcendents began to charge in urgently.

“Stay firm! Do not retreat! If you can’t kill them, your comrade will!”

At Leian’s shout, everyone raised their swords and spears imitating porcupine’s quills while screaming.

People died.

And so did the Transcendents.

As this flow continued for a long time, finally, the thunderous sound of hoofbeats echoed.

“They’re here! Reinforcements!”

“Red flags! It’s Helmont! Helmont has arrived!”

That was the moment when the weight and meaning behind the name ‘Helmont’ could be felt on the battlefield.

The moment that showed why all the soldiers back in Isaac’s previous life and this current life had praised and revered Helmont so much.

Finally…

With Marlin supporting him at his side, Isaac let out a heavy sigh.

Leian was already buried among corpses—he was still squirming though, clearly not dead.

“She’s here.”

Marlin encouraged Isaac in her own way, telling him to gather more strength. Meanwhile he caught his breath while wiping away thick drops of blood.

“Damn it…”

“Grr!”

“For now, let’s retreat—”

Moreover, the name Helmont didn’t just affect their side.

It also influenced the other side, who backed away as soon as they saw the red greatswords advancing like a wave.

“Arandel is already dead! All that’s left are worthless Helmont remnants—!”

The goat-like Transcendent’s words were cut short.

Because a red greatsword, which flew like a mage’s magic missile, instantly severed its neck.

Blood Rose. That name didn’t exactly mean a pleasant thing.

A rose soaked in blood.

A woman as cruel as she was beautiful, harboring countless thorns.

There she was, Rianna Helmont, standing there, holding her greatsword.

After cutting down the Transcendent, her red eyes quickly surveyed the remaining soldiers of the left wing.

The moment she saw Isaac, who was still standing at the forefront…

She let out a faint breath that no one could notice.

Shing.

Silently, she raised Ragnavel and advanced toward the Transcendents.

“Damn it—! Rianna! Don’t rampage on your own! My sword is as strong as yours—!”

Behind her, Lohengrin followed in a horseback. Actually no, he leaped from his horse, causing it to tumble forward and roll on the ground.

Crazy bastard.

But thanks to that, he managed to catch up to Rianna.

Soon after, the right wing troops poured in.

The Helmont Knights, all in full armor.

Among them was Sharen and Jonathan—who looked ready to fight despite his injuries.

With Helmont joining, the battle situation improved dramatically.

Those who had been standing on their comrades’ corpses until just now shed tears of relief.

“I-I survived.”

“Goddess…”

“Ah, Helmont!”

“Sob, Darren! My friend Darren!”

Death showed its fangs towards everyone. Not only common soldiers and knights, quite a few nobles from the Blue Stream Society had also been taken to its embrace.

“Brother.”

After parting with Isaac, Marlin went to save her brother. She found him under several corpses, barely breathing.

“I-I thought… I was going to be trampled to death…”

The sibling then approached Isaac. Perhaps feeling a sense of camaraderie after fighting together, Leian extended his fist.

“We survived! We’re the strong ones!”

“…”

Seeing he could still move his tongue, Isaac decided that he was okay.

So he didn’t respond and instead watched the battle between Rianna and the Transcendents.

Rianna’s greatsword, surrounded by Crimson Essence, flew cleanly toward the Transcendents.

Perhaps it was due to her frustration for being unable to do anything properly in the previous battle with Black Dog.

She displayed her overwhelming might, somewhat reminiscent of Arandel Helmont.

Whoosh!

But her greatsword only cut through empty air.

Because the Transcendents were disappearing one by one, swept into spatial vortices.

Hence why, despite the fact that there were only a few Transcendent corpses scattered around, the battle was about to end soon.

“The magic those creatures wield are truly peculiar—Oh, wait, it’s called sorcery, isn’t it?”

“It’s…strange, yes…”

Leian went even further and cursed at them.

“Those crazy bastards.”

“…!”

At that moment, the dimension twisted again, and other Transcendents appeared from different directions.

It was truly a bizarre sight.

Those guys would suddenly appear like this, and at some point, they’d suddenly disappear.

If there was something particularly unique about this, it was that even they themselves couldn’t control the phenomenon.

It was apparent from the Transcendents’ confused faces as they appeared and disappeared.

In this strange scene where it could be both advantageous and disadvantageous…

Something doesn’t add up.

Isaac felt like he was gradually piecing together the clues. Many questions still remained, but as he calmly organized all the information with the little time he had…

Boom!

The sound of an explosion echoed, and he urgently moved his feet. It wasn’t the time for him to be caught by all those questions.

“Master—!”

With bloodshot eyes, he ran.

“Isaac?!”

“You—! Where are you going?”

“I-Isaac—!”

The Helmont siblings shouted at him as he passed them, but he was already running, uncaring even though his legs felt like they were about to break.

Please…! Please…!

Currently, the Grandmaster was facing the Helmont Predecessor and her schoolmate by herself.

That alone already could be considered as the greatest contribution in this battlefield, but…

“Master—!”

She had to be alive for it to have meaning.

One might call him a hypocrite.

After all, he was the one who asked the soldiers to die, and yet he desperately hoped for the Grandmaster’s survival.

But that was how precious she was to him.

And now, the Grandmaster was lying on the ground.

Her clothes were messily torn and her blood drenched her body.

She looked all limp, devoid of strength, her eyes were gently closed.

In her chest was a long odachi, piercing through it.

“M-Master…”

The Helmont Predecessor that was standing near her looked at Isaac with a grin.

“You’ve come? We have no choice. Traitors only deserve death, after all. Of course, we tried to show some mercy in our own way.”

“…”

Meanwhile, Number 2 slightly opened her eyes, looking at the tachi in Isaac’s hands.

She sent him a strict gaze like that of a teacher’s, as if measuring something, but…

Unfortunately, Isaac had no time to pay attention to her.

“M-Master.”

His trembling voice was as unstable as a child’s cry.

Approaching the Grandmaster’s body was tantamount to suicide, but he couldn’t not approach her either.

By the time Isaac had knelt before her with staggering steps…

Her breaths that seemed about to stop at any moment greeted him.

She’s still alive.

“Indeed, she is.”

As if reading Isaac’s thoughts, the Helmont Predecessor grinned and shrugged.

“I’ve never gone fishing, so I don’t know well, but they say that one should use live bait when fishing, no? By the way, one thing I want to do after I conquer this land is fishing. Elegant, don’t you think?”

“…”

Isaac gripped his sword, glared at the man.

With a sneer, the man planted the staff he had been carrying on his shoulder into the ground.

Boom!

Soon after, an enormous amount of Crimson Essence poured out like a whirlwind, taking the form of a greatsword.

Compared to Arandel Helmont, he clearly had a greater amount of Crimson Essence.

It was obvious from how it looked as if it would fill the sky.

“Do you consider a worm on a fishhook alive? In the end, fate is like a fish.”

Whether the Grandmaster or Isaac, they were like fish.

They would end the same way. That was what his mockery implied.

Isaac, firmly gripping the tachi in both hands, caught his breath and called out to the man in front of him.

“I have questions for you…”

“Is it your last words? I regret to say that I have no intention of—“

“Does it hurt your pride that you are just imitating him in the end?”

Slowly.

Ever so slowly.

The smile that the man had been wearing came down.

His red eyes instantly filled with hostility as he glared at Isaac.

The mask of composure on his face was cracking.

“Helmont Predecessor… You packaged it well with such fancy words. With Arandel gone, you thought no one would notice.”

In truth, that would probably work on most people.

Even if Rianna had seen him, she wouldn’t have noticed it.

After all, his appearance truly befit the name ‘Helmont Predecessor’.

A child surpassing their parents.

A disciple defeating their master.

The common point between the two was that the hierarchical relationship was reversed.

But, the way they accepted that outcome differed, depending on the person.

For example, the Grandmaster would’ve smiled brightly at a disciple who surpassed her.

She’d embrace them tightly, telling them that they had done a great job.

But, in this man’s case…

It was different.

“Looking at Arandel, you must have realized.”

The Helmont Predecessor.

It was an undeniable truth that he was indeed, the origin of Helmont.

However…

“You couldn’t surpass him.”

The man had probably realized

That with just the power of the Primordials he couldn’t surpass Arandel.

Seeing his child surpassed him…

He got jealous, denied his child’s achievement, and finally, he tried to imitate him.

This was why he kept postponing their invasion until after Arandel’s death.

Until Arandel was out of the picture.

“You probably thought that no one would notice.”

But unfortunately for him…

There was a man who had admired and studied Helmont more than anyone.

The man who bore the name ‘Ink Sword’ who had seen beyond Helmont, even further than Arandel.

“You’ve mixed various things together to create such an imitation.”

At this point, the man’s expression wasn’t simply stiffened, but had completely distorted.

Toward him…

“From the beginning, you’re wielding the sword wrong, you Faker.”

Isaac gave him a cold and decisive failing grade.