Chapter 133: Chasing After the Stars

The rising dust slowly rose up, as if trying to scale up the tower.

Meanwhile everyone there was bewildered by the sight of what had just happened. Then again, no one would expect a large rock would roll towards them like that.

“What are you dawdling around for?!”

At that moment, Sharen, with her greatsword in hand, shouted towards the group.

‘I’ve opened up a path, hurry up and move!’ It was as if she was telling them that.

Without missing a beat, everyone started running towards her.

Thanks to Pressing Stone clearing the path, they managed to get to the tower in no time.

Meanwhile the Heaven Slaying Squad, who had been holding them back, was forced to chase after them in a hurry.

“O-Ow… Owww…”

Meanwhile Pressing Stone, still dizzy from all the rolling, was now stuck on the ceiling of the tower.

Sharen heard its groan and immediately hit it to get it to move.

“Hey! Quickly! Get up! Let’s go!”

“I-I can’t…move…”

“What are you talking about?! Didn’t I tell you that I’d bring you with me?! Hurry up! Do you want to die here?!”

“B-But, can I even…?”

Using her brute strength, Sharen forcefully detached it from the ceiling. For a moment there, it wondered if it could even ascend the stairs due to its large size.

But it turned out that its worry was unnecessary since the stairs were quite wide.

Perhaps due to the Transcendents needing to sacrifice huge Demonic Beasts for sorcery, they even had the tools necessary to carry huge things up the stairs.

Soon after, Isaac arrived at the tower’s entrance.

Followed by Rianna almost immediately after.

She approached him, her greatsword was covered in blood. It seemed like she had cut several Transcendents on her way here.

“…”

She didn’t seem to be aware of what was going on here, proven by her confused expression.

Regardless, she knew that since the door to the tower had been broken, it meant that their side had forcefully secured a way somehow.

“The villagers are still raising commotions right now. Those fanatics…are more extreme to their beliefs than I thought…”

Rianna briefly reported her situation.

She seemed to be quite amazed by the doomsayer terrorists who willingly threw their lives after she commanded them to.

Regardless.

Thanks to those villagers, she managed to draw the Transcendents’ attention away from the group.

Now, what they needed to do was to climb the tower before the Primordials arrived.

They climbed up the stairs, the only thing they could hear was each others’ heavy breathing.

Their steps were urgent as they ascended, while beads of sweat rolled on their faces, showing their anxiety.

“Isaac, can we—”

Silverna opened her mouth, but closed it back quickly.

‘Can we really go back to our world if we climb these stairs?’ That was what she wanted to ask.

According to Nameless.

As long as they went to the source of the sorcery, they’d be able to return.

This tower was exactly that.

But when they got here, it wasn’t the Transcendents that they had to fight, but their own anxiety.

Unfortunately, they were at the point of no return.

Besides, from the moment they were trapped in this world, they had no choice but to come here.

If they chose not to fight and ran away, they’d be left to die in Naraka.

Had they chosen to dawdle in the Village of Sinners, those fanatics would notice that there was something off with them, and regardless if they wiped those fanatics off or them being wiped off by the fanatics, they wouldn’t be able to get here since there’d be no one to guide them.

This is the best option we could take.

They had to move forward, they had no other choice.

The more they climbed the stairs, the more their expectations and anxiety piled up.

It was to the point that none of them were able to open their mouths.

They advanced forward, slashing and knocking down the Transcendents who were on their way, the sorcery users who were stationed here.

A ‘Laboratory’. That was the most apt word to use to describe the inside of the tower.

Though the group had turned into a sweaty mess, the scent of their sweat failed to overpower the stench of blood emanating from their surroundings.

Dimly-lit candles were placed on each side of the stairs, but that only served to make the center of it look darker.

Isaac kept on walking, carrying his disgust and fear when he sensed it; an eerie sensation that came from above his head.

“…!”

The ones who lifted their heads first were Uldiran and Rianna.

But they were too late.

The source of the eerie sensation had already harvested two soldiers’ heads, holding the two heads in their hands.

Their eyes were tinted black.

On their lips, their sharp fangs were hanging, on their back were bat wings, wrapping around their body like a cloak.

The story of a being who’d drink humans’ blood had been passed down like a legend.

Now, everyone here knew that story wasn’t just a myth passed on by mouth to mouth.

But rather a story that came to after someone had seen this being—this woman—in the past.

“Ahh, so sweet… Humans’ blood is always so sweet…”

The woman was hanging upside down on the ceiling, her tongue resting on one of the severed head’s neck.

On the corner of her lips was a bloodstain that only added to her creepiness. Amidst the growing discomfort, Isaac unconsciously muttered a name.

“Jonathan?”

“Huh?”

“…”

Sharen and Silverna immediately reacted to that, taking a closer look at the woman.

Then, their eyes were wide open.

“S-She really looks like Jonathan! Is she his sister? Or mom?”

“Yeah, she looks exactly like him when he went berserk…”

However, the woman didn’t show any interest towards their words. Let alone care, she didn’t even seem to know that Jonathan existed.

From the atmosphere she was exuding and her overwhelming presence, it was clear that she was a Primordial.

This meant that Jonathan was actually a Half-Primordial, but none of them could care about such a revelation now.

Also, even if they were to tell her about Jonathan, it wasn’t like she’d let them off.

She wasn’t one of their pursuers from the outside, it seemed like she had been waiting at them here inside the tower.

Judging from her bat-like characteristics, she was probably a Transcendent who was more active at night.

The situation was tense, but the bat-woman looked calm and collected.

“…”

After a while, she ran away.

Their group had Rianna and Uldiran. No matter how strong the Primordial was, she still couldn’t deal with those two quickly, so it wasn’t a strange thing that she’d run away like this, but…

The problem here was that she ran away without even a second thought.

And that only made Isaac’s discomfort grow.

Wooosh!

But, in their group, there was a woman who couldn’t just dismiss the death of her comrades so easily like that.

Bang!

Silverna’s spear passed through the woman’s side. A frown appeared on her brows as she turned to face them again while hanging on the ceiling. She then threw a glare at Silverna.

“Where do you think you’re going, huh?”

Two of her comrades whom she had come with all the way here had died so easily like that.

Many of them had died along the way here, but that didn’t mean she had become accustomed to it.

She never had and never would.

“…”

The woman’s black eyes were fixed on Silverna.

They didn’t carry any particular emotion.

No anger nor hatred, just a pair of discerning eyes, as if evaluating her prey.

Wooosh!

Then, she turned around and ran away again. She made a quick judgment, unswayed by any emotion that she felt at that moment.

“Hey!”

Silverna called out to her urgently, but Isaac quickly placed his arm around her waist, urging her to move on.

“Get a grip, Silverna!”

Silverna gritted her teeth.

This happened once before.

It was back during the Great Colony, the fight against the yeti that took Blackthorn’s Pollu’s life.

Back then too, the death of her comrades made her too worked up to make a proper judgment.

Of course, she wasn’t a foolish woman who’d make the same mistake twice.

“DAMN IIIITTT!”

Instead of chasing after that woman, she climbed the stairs, howling to the point her throat turned sore.

Even though her comrades just died, she had to move on.

If nothing else, it was for the sake of her comrades who were still living and fighting alongside her.

The group then advanced forward while dealing with everything that was standing in their way.

Demonic Beasts that the Transcendents hurled at them, sorceries that were thrown at them, the Heaven Slaying Squad who caught up to them, and so on.

Though they managed to deal with everything so far, the sticky discomfort continued to press against the back of Isaac’s neck.

Why haven’t we seen any Primordials after that woman?

That question bugged Isaac a lot, but it wasn’t like they could just stop moving.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the top of the tower.

A strong wind was blowing at them.

It wasn’t visible from below, but the top of the tower was actually roofless.

Under the silver star that shone brightly, an altar was set up.

On its legs were various black stains, and it didn’t take a genius to tell that the identity of those stains was hardened blood.

And…

Standing in front of the door that connected the two worlds…

Was Helric, the man who claimed to be Helmont’s predecessor.

Beside him was Nameless, who was hiding her complicated face below her satgat.

“Why are you all here? The answer to that question is so obvious that I can’t help but tear up.”

He said with a smirk and tone that sounded almost like a hum.

The staff in his hand began to emit a red light that had once threatened the group.

“Want to go back to the human’s world?”

“…”

“Did you think it’d be that easy?”

Isaac’s anxiety had turned into reality.

Did Nameless betray us?

No, that can’t be.

If she wishes us harm, she’d try to kill us the first time we came across each other.

In other words, Nameless didn’t know that this would happen…

“After receiving reports that our troops failed to kill Uldiran at the Malidean Wall, I immediately ordered them to stop chasing after you and waited for you here instead.”

As he spoke, the group could hear commotion from behind their backs.

The Transcendents had surrounded them. From their overwhelming atmosphere and hostility, it was clear that these guys were Primordials.

And so, this was it.

They had to fight their way to survive.

Everyone here knew.

That their chance to survive was next to none.

The reason why they didn’t say it out loud was because it was a show of their resolve, that they wouldn’t give up no matter what.

“…”

Suddenly, Isaac felt warmth in his hand.

When he glanced to the side, he saw Silverna holding his hand.

“Hey.”

There was a faint smile on her lips, as if she was hiding her tears with that. She added more force to her grip.

“I love you.”

“…!”

Suddenly, she confessed her feelings in a whisper.

“I–”

“Don’t.”

She let go of his hand and gripped her spear tightly.

“Even if you accept my love now, there’s no point.”

He could see her hands trembling, but he couldn’t reach out to hold them. Not now.

Thud! Thud!

Because heavy footsteps, filled with hostility, approached them.

At that moment, Nameless stood up, as if trying to shield her master. She threw Isaac a wry smile.

“I didn’t expect that the promised time would come this quickly.”

“Me neither.”

“Nothing ever goes according to plan, doesn’t it?”

She said with a bitter voice, clearly regretful of their circumstances.

Nameless placed a hand on her oodachi, expressing her apology once again.

When she was about to unleash her Iai, announcing the start of their fight…

“Leave him alive.”

She stopped, turning her head to look at Helric.

The latter pointed at Isaac.

“I thought about it for a good while.”

“…”

“You have insulted me—treated me, the ‘origin’, the predecessor, as a mere fake.”

Even now, Isaac didn’t change his view.

After all, Helric’s swordsmanship truly was a fake, as he couldn’t even grasp even the most basic of swordsmanship.

Not only that, since it was a mere imitation, it also had a clear limit.

“At first, I was really angry. Who knows how many nights the thoughts of killing you kept me awake…”

“Did you not feel any shame?”

A smirk appeared on Helric’s lips as he heard Isaac’s remark.

“Indeed. I felt shameful. I was embarrassed. It felt like you had exposed my shame.”

Though he said that, he didn’t have the look of someone who felt great shame.

But rather someone who had overcome that shame and moved on.

“However, as days went by, I began to see you in a different light. After all, you’ve seen through my swordsmanship that even the Helmonts’ direct lines couldn’t see through.”

“…”

“That’s why I thought to myself. If I can have you, someone who has seen through my swordsmanship, won’t I be able to complete it?”

Baaang!

The tip of Helric’s staff struck the floor, as if trying to crush it.

Then…

A red magic circle formed in the air and the altar began to tremble.

Helric’s shout echoed in the air, as if he was singing an opera.

“Isaac! Aahh! Isaac Logan!”

In the midst of what seemed like a theatrical performance, Helric’s eyes were fixed on Isaac.

“O, how envious I was of your wisdom! Ah! All the knowledge you have accumulated in your whole life…!”

The magic circle began to shake violently.

A red light swept through, threatening to swallow Isaac.

“Give it to me!”

Vassalization.

Sorcery that turned humans into the Transcendents’ slaves.

When it was about to sweep through Isaac…

Up above, in the dark sky.

A silver star, shining by itself, showcased its brilliance even more than usual.

As if…

Welcoming the child who had been chasing after the stars.

The confession