Chapter 122: Showcasing Talent

“You don’t need to push yourself…”

Isaac told Uldiran—who was being supported by his wife and daughter—in a worried tone.

He was extremely relieved that Uldiran was alive.

After all, his mere presence gave off the feeling that they had a strong backing. But…

Currently, he was in the worst physical condition he could’ve ever been.

And yet, he was still insisting on fighting.

Isaac didn’t want to lose him here, so he tried to make them avoid combat as much as possible, but…

“Hmph.”

Uldiran just snorted dismissively.

“I’m not pushing myself. If anything, I was surprised that I’m still this well.”

The frightening thing here was that it didn’t sound like he was bluffing. His body was completely broken, that was for sure, but his eyes were filled with determination.

He looked like he was itching to swing his spear at his enemies.

“What are we going to do now, Isaac?”

At that moment, Rianna threw cold water on the atmosphere that had considerably warmed up thanks to the margrave’s presence.

Of course, Isaac was thankful for that.

Because it wasn’t a good thing for them to get too excited in the current situation.

Regardless, he felt somewhat strange that everyone seemed to be staring at him, expecting him to call the shot here.

“I think we should escape first. Is that alright with you, Margrave?”

“To abandon the Malidean Wall and run away… And here I thought I’d never do such a thing even in my death…”

Uldiran clicked his tongue.

In his previous life, he had actually died that way, and even now, he had been holding out here, prepared to die.

But the situation had changed.

“There’s a separate exit in the underground. Since even the dungeon moved with us here, that passage should still be there.”

“However, it’s difficult to confirm where it leads to”, he added.

“There’s a high chance that the path’s been cut off in the middle.”

The soldiers didn’t show any particular agitation at Uldiran’s words. Which meant, they knew of the existence of this passage to some extent.

In other words, despite their lives being in constant danger, they hadn’t even considered fleeing the place at all.

“Let’s head that way for now.”

With that, their destination had been decided.

They headed underground with urgent steps. No one knew if it was because they were scared by Uldiran’s presence, or it was due to the cold, but no Transcendents were in sight.

“…Wait.”

But at that moment, Rianna raised her hand with a frown.

The group that was descending the underground stairs stopped in their tracks.

They could hear faint murmurs coming from underground; murmurs that must’ve sounded clear to Rianna’s ears.

“They’ve noticed us.”

She spoke calmly and stepped forward, holding her greatsword.

The footsteps coming from underground grew louder and closer.

And what appeared was…

“Black-haired dual swordsman!”

Black Dog, baring its large teeth as it howled.

It let out an intense atmosphere, incomparable to before; showing its final resolve.

Its eyes were locked onto Isaac, but Rianna stepped forward and raised her greatsword.

In this place, it wasn’t the only one holding a grudge.

“Last time, I didn’t have my sword with me…”

The creature had pushed her back once.

But, she didn’t have her greatsword back then, unlike now.

Rianna thrust her greatsword at Black Dog, which was nimbly climbing the stairs.

It was a wise move from her, as the place was too narrow for her to swing her sword, but…

Whoosh!

Black Dog jumped to the ceiling and, with its remaining arm, ran along the wall, before charging at them.

Its obsession, like a predator targeting its prey, momentarily sent a tingling sensation through their skins, but…

At that moment, as it leaped down from the ceiling, a ‘red leash’ tied around its neck.

“I won’t let you go.”

Rianna then extended her greatsword in a long thrust as she pulled back the creature’s body, forcefully dragging it down to the floor.

“Kghh?!”

The rest was up to the others.

As if they had been waiting, the warriors of the North thrust their spears with all their might at the creature that had fallen to the floor.

After a while, the beast finally closed its eyes.

“…What a tenacious guy.”

“It seems they’ve released the one we kept in the dungeon.”

Thanks to it having lost an arm and being half-broken from its time in the dungeon, they were able to deal with it relatively easily.

“These are the ones that are really scary!”

Sharen grumbled as she hopped past the creature’s corpse. Isaac agreed with her inwardly.

Facing an enemy consumed so much by obsession, one could sometimes feel overwhelmed by their aura.

After that, a few Transcendents—ones who released Black Dog from the dungeon—charged at them, but Isaac, Rianna, and Sharen dealt with them.

There were quite a few of them, so it took some time, but when Uldiran intervened, he cleared them out in an instant.

“Cough, cough!”

Although, he coughed up blood from just that bit of movement and got smacked on the back by his wife.

By the time they reached the underground…

A familiar old man approached Isaac.

“Seems like you’re using them well.”

“Antonio…”

Antonio the blacksmith.

The old man who had crafted the two tachi Isaac was currently using.

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Well, in times like these, I can’t do anything but hide behind the soldiers.”

Since he didn’t have to fight directly, he was able to survive.

Among the group where he came out from, there were several non-combatants, including the mage from the Magic Tower, Vivian.

When Isaac turned his gaze at the mage, Antonio nudged him with his elbow

“There’s no mana here, and he used up all the mana in his body, so he turns…ordinary.”

Isaac noticed that he looked a little bit too dejected, and now he understood why.

Still, no mana?

Rianna’s and Sharen’s Crimson Essence was Aura that stemmed from mana. He felt that he should warn them not to use it carelessly.

Underground, the cold was even more unbearable.

White fog flowed between the gray bricks.

They could even see transparent ice embedded between the cracks of the passage.

“…This is originally a passage for evacuating civilians. I always thought that using it would be a disgrace as a soldier.”

Uldiran muttered uncomfortably as he stared at the underground passage.

In his eyes, using the escape passage was an act that diminished his honor.

“That’s not what’s important right now. We need to survive first.”

At his wife’s words, Uldiran closed his mouth. He agreed with her words, and besides he was too exhausted to argue with her.

Then, they went through the dark passage silently for a bit longer until…

“Should I light this place up with my Crimson Essence?”

Sharen stepped forward, gently raised the Crimson Essence in her palm.

The sight of such miniscule amount of Crimson Essence being handled was a rare sight among other Helmonts.

She also looked way different back when she was trembling in fear fighting against Brikala.

Even though the current situation was even more dangerous than before, she still managed to maintain a bright atmosphere.

It wasn’t because she was immature, though, but rather because it was easier for her to cope with the situation that way.

She’s grown quite a bit.

Not being intimidated even in times like these, she was walking at the front.

They kept moving forward, until a large rock caught their eyes.

“A rock?”

That murmur echoed through the passage.

Isaac glanced at Uldiran, wondering if this was normal, but he also looked bewildered.

Has the path been blocked when the passage was transferred over?

“We’ll cut through it.”

Rianna stepped forward, holding her greatsword. Just as she was about to calmly cut the rock in half.

“Hoi?”

A voice they heard for the first time entered their ears.

Due to its deep tone, it sounded heavy, but it lacked gravity due to its speech pattern.

Everyone wore similar expressions.

Because the voice had come from the rock.

“…”

Tap, tap.

“T-That tickles.”

When Isaac knocked on the rock with the back of his hand, it immediately responded.

“Hmm… In this world, the Demonic Beasts here are ones we’ve never seen. They are all bizarre and unusual, so maybe…”

At Silverna’s explanation, they looked up at the rock again.

“So, this one’s a Demonic Beast…?”

This rock that five or maybe even six adult men couldn’t even begin to cover…?

“Maybe…?”

“Will it sprout a mouth out of nowhere and bite us?”

Hearing Sharen’s voice that was filled with bewilderment, the rock chuckled.

“That’s my butt.”

“…”

Sharen’s face immediately turned sour as if she had eaten something foul, and she took a step back.

While everyone was puzzled, not knowing how to react, Rianna stepped forward.

“Move.”

Like always, her cold voice cut through the atmosphere like a knife.

At times like this, her demeanor felt reassuring.

“Hehehe, I don’t want to. It feels nice and cool having my butt in here.”

“…”

Just as they were beginning to feel disgusted at the thought of conversing with its butt…

Rianna drew her sword again.

“Then I have no choice but to cut you.”

“…”

In an instant, the creature fell silent.

From its demeanour, it was clear that it was scared.

Still, since they could communicate, Isaac figured that there was no need for violence. Besides, they weren’t even sure if this thing was really a Demonic Beast.

And so, he stepped forward, lowering Rianna’s hand.

“Why don’t you just move aside? You don’t want to be split in half, don’t you? We don’t want to harm you either, if possible.”

“Oh, you have a nice voice.”

“…”

“I’m jealous of your voice now. Can you also sing?”

“Not really—“

“Yes, he can. He sang for me before.”

Isaac turned his head to stare at Rianna.

The latter pretended not to notice his gaze, keeping her eyes fixed on the creature’s butt.

Boom! Booom!

Then, it moved.

Almost immediately, the wind from the outside swept over them like a wave as their tired bodies melted by the warmth.

“Guess they appreciate a handsome man in this world too!”

Sharen said that with a grin.

Regardless, it’s good that we don’t need to resort to violence.

The rock tossed and turned a few more times before completely making way.

When it was done, they were welcomed by the dark sky outside.

They had started from an underground passage, but somehow they emerged on a mountain slope.

While the intricacies in how the space was connected, thanks to it, their escape had been going smoothly so far.

“It really is a rock.”

As they stepped outside, the large rock was looking down at them.

It had stony arms and legs, and even a face attached to it, but it looked too natural on it to call it a bizarre creature.

“Thank you—”

Just as Isaac was about to greet it…

“A-Ah… O-Oh, I-I didn’t recognize you!”

The rock prostrated itself out of nowhere, shouting those words while trembling.

It just felt wrong to see a rock prostrating at them while trembling, but…

The group just felt that way when they saw it.

“…It’s kind of cute.”

Sharen muttered with a chuckle.

Even amidst the confusion due to the unexpected situation…

The rock continued to beg for its life.

“I-I’m sorry for not recognizing the Transcendents! I-I’m sorry for making you talk to my butt!”

“Hm?”

“P-Please spare me! I-I didn’t intentionally try to play a prank! I don’t want to become a brick! I’m not as hard as my comrades! I’m too inadequate to be used as a wall!”

Isaac’s gaze naturally turned to the two women.

Rianna and Sharen.

Not too long ago, it was revealed that Helmont descended from the Transcendent Race.

So, it was only natural that the rock mistook the two for Transcendents.

We can use this.

Seeing this, Isaac immediately gave a signal to the two.

Knowing that his signal meant that she should start pretending to be Transcendents, Rianna nodded.

But how do you act like a Transcendent?

As she hesitated and pondered for a moment…

“Hey, you bastard! Have you not been taught to bow properly?! Bow again! Until you’re buried in the ground!”

Sharen eagerly got in character, as if she had been waiting for this moment.