Chapter 132: Big Stone

When they came out of the alley, they were greeted by a whistle-like sound and angry shouts.

“The humans got away!”

“Call the Heaven Slaying Squad!”

Heaven Slaying Squad.

It meant those who’d cut even the heavens, and according to Rankelon, they were those who maintained order in the Primordials’ Land.

They were like city guards of some sorts, except that if one were to get caught by them, they’d be subjected into some kind of torture, or even be executed.

Those shouts made the group become more anxious, and their steps to be more forceful.

Before them was the wide, empty street that they walked on earlier today.

At the end of it was the tower that reached the sky.

The road ahead of them was straight.

But, no one here thought that it was an easy road to take.

At the end of the road, stood a group of people in uniform.

The oodachi, tridents, and maces in their hands shone coolly under the starlight, as if they had been waiting for this exact moment.

Are they the Heaven Slaying Squad?

Isaac put his hands on his waists, taking his stance. This wasn’t training, this was a real battle.

He had to use everything he had, including his Iai.

The moment he took a step forward…

“Wha—!”

A man who stood tall like an iron wall stepped forward.

Uldiran Cardias.

The spear in his hand looked too worn out to be held by a man of his caliber.

Yet, the spirit radiating in front of him looked anything but.

There was no hesitation or reluctance in his movements.

In an instant, his spear pierced the head of a member of the Heaven Slaying Squad, and he pulled it back again in one flowing motion.

Before another guy could rush in he had already thrown his spear again.

For a moment there, he gave off the vibe that he could probably crush the whole Transcendent Race all by himself.

It seemed like the fall of the Malidean Wall turned him into a beast whose cage was broken.

Behind him, the Northern Soldiers followed suit, joining in to support him.

Their movements are smooth and skilled.

Isaac didn’t hide his amazements after seeing them.

In his previous life, the Northern Soldiers were hailed as great warriors, and from this scene, he could tell that such a claim wasn’t an exaggeration.

It wasn’t without a reason that they managed to hold off on their own for a long time against the invading Transcendent Race.

In this life too, the way they fought off the Transcendent Race even after being thrown into Naraka proved how skilled they were.

Seeing their movements directly like this only further strengthened that notion.

But the problem here was that they needed to break through, not endure.

The street was wide and long.

At first, the Heaven Slaying Squad was taken aback by their aggression, but it only took them a few minutes to get their bearings and slow down the pace of the soldiers’ advance.

“They’re trying to buy time.”

Isaac, who managed to approach Uldiran, said so as he sent an Iai to a nearby Transcendent.

Uldiran nodded with a faint sigh.

“For whom are they buying time for, I wonder?”

Of course, they didn’t need to spell out the answer to that question.

This was the Primordials’ Land.

It was the place where the Primordial Transcendents lived, anyone could connect the dots with just that.

Arandel had once taken down five Primordials at once.

But…

No one here knew how many of them would come in at once.

As Arandel had shown before, dealing with five might be doable.

But what if they came in double digits?

It was vexing, but the outcome of that would be their certain defeat, no question asked.

This was why they had to hurry—

“Isaac!”

As Isaac started to drown in his thoughts, Sharen approached him. Her eyes were filled with a mischievous glint that didn’t fit the situation at all.

Her smug face made it seem like she was trying to tell him that she had a way out of this situation.

“I’ll do something! Just wait a minute!”

“…Sharen?”

“I’ll be right back!”

“Sharen, wait!”

After she said that, she ran in the opposite direction of the group.

Isaac called out to her, but his shout echoed futilely as she ran without turning back, stepping on the puddle of their enemy’s blood.

Are you being serious right now…?

Left without any choice, he faced forward again, praying that she’d be safe.

Every now and then, smoke would rise from either side of the street, along with various commotions

The Heaven Slaying Squad also had to send their personnel toward those sides, trying to quell said commotions.

This was the fruit of Rianna’s effort; she had successfully used the villagers to get the enemy’s attention.

It was a stressful night.

In the darkness, the silver star shining above the high tower looked even more noticeable.

Are we heading towards the tower, or are we just trying to chase after that star?

[You’re a child, chasing after the stars.]

Isaac swallowed his question and took another step forward.

“Huh? What’s happening?”

Pressing Stone turned its head, startled by the loud noise that echoed this late at night.

It was sitting near the stone wall, talking to its fellow kin that he hadn’t seen in a long while.

The rock was listening to their grievances while reminiscing old tales, hiding a complicated feeling. But the noise made it frown.

“That was really loud. Did something happen?”

Hearing that question, some of the bricks of the stone wall answered Pressing Stone with indifferent voices.

“‘Something’ happens all the time here.”

“The Transcendents have a hard life, they don’t have enough to eat. They can’t even comfort each other, they just fight.”

“They weren’t like this in the past. I don’t know what changed them.”

The bricks took turns in telling their stories.

They normally would just keep their mouths shut and not think about anything.

But it seemed that the existence of their kin that they hadn’t met in a long while motivated them to talk.

On the other hand, they were afraid of the horrible emptiness that they’d feel when their kin eventually left.

“How did that Transcendent grow fond of you, Stoney?”

“I’m curious too. In their eyes, we’re just bricks. The moment they see us, they’d immediately plaster us to the wall.”

To the Transcendent Race, they were nothing more than a convenient tool to use.

Apparently it wasn’t like this in the past.

But that was only in the past. Now that they were living in the harsh environment of Naraka, their relationship with the Transcendent Race was like prey to the predators.

“Ah, that.”

In truth, Pressing Stone was amazed.

At first, it was scared of the Transcendent that found it by accident.

Actually, it was still scared.

It was just, right now…

[Want a taste of my sorcery?!]

Though she threw such words at it, it felt like she was just playing with it.

It was scared of her, but it had a feeling that the Transcendent wouldn’t just cut off its limbs and turn it into bricks like the other Transcendents would do.

Pressing Stone told its kin its first meeting with that Transcendent.

Then suddenly.

“There you are! Thank goodness you’re still here!”

A cheerful voice rang out from behind.

There was she, the Transcendent, Sharen, running towards her, swinging her greatsword.

“A-Ah, I-I was about to go back!”

It came here without her permission, but now that she was here, it was too late to ask for one, so it thought to apologize first.

But Sharen shook her head.

“No! I need your help!”

“…Huh? My help?”

“Yes! To clear the way!”

Pressing Stone made a dumbfounded expression.

It then glanced at the noise that came from afar.

“I-Is that—”

“We’re fighting! We’re trying to escape to the human world, so help us!”

“Me?! H-Help?! N-No, I-I can’t! T-There’s no way I can do that!”

What on earth do you want my help with?!

Pressing Stone shook its head, its face turned pale.

It appreciated Sharen for not cutting its limbs and turning it into a brick, but it had no wish to involve itself in a battle between Transcendents.

Besides, it never even fought in the first place.

“Why?! Help me! If you help me, I swear in Helmont’s name—!”

Sharen, who put her hand on her chest, hesitated for a moment.

She smacked her lips, at a loss for words, but the eyes in the stone wall had already locked onto her.

“I’ll swear on my name! I’ll make a spot for you in our rose garden! So, will you help us?”

“Rose garden?”

“Yes! We Helmont have a rose garden in our mansion! Well, it isn’t as big as it used to be, but I’ll beg my sister to make a spot for you!”

What is she talking about?

Helmont? Garden?

At that moment, a voice came out of a particularly old and worn brick.

“You…”

It opened its sticky eyes—clearly it had been such a long time since it last opened its eyes.

Hearing its hoarse voice, all the other eyes in the stone wall focused their gaze at it.

“You are a human, aren’t you?”

Sharen hesitated at the brick’s question.

Then, she shouted, clearly flustered.

“W-What are you talking about?! D-Do you want a taste of my sorcery?!”

“Roses don’t bloom in Naraka. And, isn’t Helmont a family in the human world?”

“Aa…”

How did he know?!

Sharen threw a ‘Hmph’ at the brick, who knew more than she thought.

“Help me!”

Not knowing how to respond, she decided to just press on the matter.

She didn’t have ways with words unlike Isaac, nor did she have the strength to press through with overwhelming force like Rianna.

But, even though this was all she could do, the bricks on the wall felt refreshed when they saw her.

“Help me! I told Isaac I’d find a way to help!”

It had been years since the bricks were captured and forced to stay in this place.

And this was the first time in such a long time that they had seen someone pleading in such a way.

“…Pressing Stone, just help her.”

“Surely you can do that much, no?”

“Look at her, she’s doing her best.”

Hearing the bricks reprimanding it like a bunch of nosy old men, Pressing Stone threw them a bewildered gaze.

“B-But, if I make a mistake, I-I might just die! I-It’ll be bad if I get caught by the Transcendents!”

Pressing Stone said in a tearful voice.

But Sharen pressed the issue and shouted.

“No need to worry! I swear I’m going to take you to our mansion! I’ll have our gardener set it up so you can fit in!”

“B-But…”

Her momentum was so strong that it stopped Pressing Stone’s tears from coming out. Not only that, the bricks also spoke out, supporting Sharen.

“If you stay here, sooner or later, you’ll end up like us.”

“What if they leave you here? What do you think is going to happen to you? You think you can get out of here on your own?”

“This is your chance, Pressing Stone. Hit the guys who made us like this back.”

“Ah…”

Seeing this, Sharen was amazed.

She never thought that the bricks would take her side.

It was clear that Pressing Stone didn’t want to do this.

In the first place, it was timid by nature, and it hated fighting.

Still, Pressing Stone knew that what the bricks told it was reasonable.

Whether Sharen and the others succeeded or not, lived or died, the moment it arrived at the Primordials’ Land, it was destined to be turned into a brick.

So…

“Ah, I don’t care anymore! M-Make sure you protect me so that nothing happens to me, okay?!”

“Yay! Thank you, Pressing Stone—No, Big Stone! You’re the best!”

Of course, Pressing Stone wouldn’t refuse a praise. So it grinned and asked Sharen.

“S-So, what do I need to do?”

“Uh, just sit over there and lie down.”

“…Huh?”

“Lie dowwnn.”

Rrrrrr!

A strange sound echoed in the ears of the group who were risking their lives to advance on the street.

Is it the Primordials?

Then, the sound only got louder and louder.

Isaac braced himself, but then he noticed that the sound was coming from behind him, not from the front.

And then…

“Get out of the way! Get out of the waaaay!”

Sharen’s voice cut through the night sky.

When Isaac turned his head and looked behind him…

“What the hell…?”

He could see it, a large rock rolling violently down the street.

The red river of blood on the street only added to its speed.

“G-Get out of the way! Quickly!!”

Hearing Silverna’s and Isaac’s shouts, not only the Northern Soldiers, even the Heaven Slaying Squad were taken aback, and retreated to the side.

And then.

The rock rolled.

And rolled.

Without stopping.

Then, it reached the entrance of the tower at the end of the street.

Baaaaaaang!

And slammed into it. Hard.