Chapter 79: Helmont Annihilation Battle (4)

If there was a good thing about this situation, it was that Arandel’s strength had significantly diminished.

He had wielded his greatsword through the night, fighting the Transcendent Race on his own.

A rough count revealed that the Transcendents he killed were in the tens, and among them were the 5 Primordials.

It could be said that he had achieved a feat unparalleled for a human.

After such a battle, even his Crimson Essence didn’t emit its usual near-endless atmosphere.

On the other hand, the bad thing about this situation was…

Despite all that, it was still hard to imagine him ever ‘losing’.

Boom!

Arandel’s greatsword once again swept through the area, showing its dominance.

By now, they had gathered around Rianna to respond to this attack together, but…

That was all. They were unable to progress beyond that.

Silverna, who was swinging her spear at the forefront alongside Rianna, asked angrily.

“Does he ever tire at all?!”

Normally, that question wasn’t something she’d have bothered to ask, nor was it something Arandel would answer.

However, due to the Vassalization, he moved his mouth to answer.

“Stop relying on luck.”

“Woah?!”

As he answered, he swung his greatsword, flinging Silverna into the air again. After rolling in the air several times, she landed hastily, losing her grip on her spear.

“Keeugh!”

Her hand that had received Arandel’s strike tingled. A frown appeared on her face.

“Just what kind of monster—“

There seemed to be no sign of victory in sight.

And this didn’t apply just for Silverna, but for the other knights as well.

At some point, they were only staying at the very edge of Arandel’s greatsword’s reach.

Instead of making a full-frontal assault into his ‘domain’, they were keeping their distance, as if trying to rely on luck.

There was only one reason why they could barely hold onto their crumbling resolve.

Because of the former couple who continued to fight without a single intention of retreating.

Boom!

Rianna’s and Arandel’s greatswords clashed again. She was the only one who could engage him in a battle of strength and endure his blows to some extent.

Rianna’s Crimson Essence surged on her greatsword while Arandel’s remained empty.

“You can’t use your Crimson Essence anymore…?”

“That is so.”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The inherent advantage in a battle against a Vassalized opponent was information.

As if accessing a library, one could easily know the opponent’s current state and what kind of hidden techniques they had up their sleeves.

After seeing Isaac doing it a few times, the others quickly followed suit and capitalized on it.

“Your sword is catching up with mine. But there are still crude parts all over.”

“…!”

Moreover, Arandel was even evaluating his opponent’s swords.

As he deflected Rianna’s sword, which he called unrefined, Isaac, who had been following like a shadow behind her, stepped forward.

Again, he swung his tachi.

His swift and precise strike was almost like that of a killing blow of an assassin, but…

“Hmph!”

Arandel’s left arm struck the side of the tachi, easily deflecting that blow.

“Too predictable!”

This was a method he had used several times already.

Declaring that he was not such an easy opponent, Arandel pushed Isaac back.

Thud!

“Cover him!”

“Charge in! Don’t slow down!”

The moment Isaac was pushed back, Heyrad and the other knights rushed at Arandel.

In this way, they complemented each other to prevent Arandel from swinging a follow-up strike.

This was the solution that the new generation was trying to show, but…

“Crude!”

With a frown, Arandel shouted.

Boom!

“Sloppy!”

Bang!

“Weak!”

Not only did he crush their swords mercilessly, he also called them pathetic each time.

If this had been a duel, this would’ve been a time when they realized how lacking they were.

As the knights were pushed back, Rianna stepped forward again.

She successfully filled in the gaps they had shown, but she too, was starting to tire.

“Don’t think of retreating.”

Arandel swung his sword at her while warning her.

“I won’t stop.”

“I know…that…!”

Rianna gritted her teeth.

Soon, Heyrad and the other knights regained their composure and charged in again.

At that moment, Silverna approached Isaac.

“Isaac, can we actually win this?”

“…”

“If it weren’t for Rianna, we would’ve lost a long time ago. Now, even she can’t get close enough to properly swing her sword.”

“You’re right…”

“Is there…a way to win this…?”

At Silverna’s question, Isaac took a moment to catch his breath. Clenching his fists, he looked down at his tachi before taking a deep breath.

“I think we were too complacent.”

“Complacent?”

“Even after what happened, he is still Arandel Helmont. No matter how much he’s holding back to let us kill him…”

He is still a man who is worthy to be called the strongest man in the world.

They were severely mistaken.

Thinking that this was a fight against a man who had accepted his death, they had fought somewhat passively.

“We too should have put our lives on the line.”

Isaac stepped forward, his eyes resembled the stars.

This was the same gaze he held back when he was acting as the Ink Sword; the time when he held a pen out of his admiration for the sword.

Boom!

Rianna was pushed back far, losing the battle of strength.

As she caught her breath with a dark expression, Isaac stood beside her.

“How is it?”

It was a simple question, but Rianna quickly understood the intention behind that and answered.

“I can barely keep up. Even in terms of strength, I’m reaching my limit.”

“It’s the opposite for me.”

Rianna glanced at Isaac.

“I can read his sword, I know where it will land on, but… I can’t keep up with it.”

“You can read Father’s sword?”

“Yeah, I want to talk about that. As long as you trust me—”

“I will.”

At her unhesitating answer, Isaac inadvertently met her eyes.

There wasn’t even a shred of motivation in her eyes.

Only truth, not nonsense, nor flattery.

“We need to risk our lives. If we make a mistake, we could just die.”

“My answer remains the same.”

“…Alright.”

Strength entered his hands gripping the tachi.

The hurricane of the swinging greatsword.

They had to enter it.

Arandel Helmont’s domain.

“I can’t explain everything in words. Whether this will work, or if you could still understand me despite that, I’m not sure, but…”

Isaac turned his gaze forward again, letting out a bitter smile as he took a step forward.

“I’ll leave it to you, Ria.”

Following a step behind, Rianna nodded, adjusting her greatsword.

“Yes.”

Heyrad and the knights finally couldn’t withstand the sweeping slashes and were thrown back once again.

As Isaac and Rianna walked past them together, Arandel nodded, resting his greatsword on his shoulder.

“Finally. Have you come prepared to die?”

“Forgive our rudeness.”

“Indeed. I said that I would let you take my life. But—!”

Whoosh!

The greatly raised greatsword fell straight down vertically.

“Don’t think you can take it so easily!”

Boom!

The greatsword struck the ground.

Rianna grabbed Isaac’s side, dodging to the side.

In the rising smoke.

Isaac’s eyes turned to the opposite side.

“Right!”

Isaac crossed his tachi, and beside them, Rianna positioned her greatsword diagonally.

Boom!

Hidden in the hazy smoke from the first strike, a blow came flying from the completely opposite direction.

It created the feeling of a beast leaping out from a dark underbrush.

This was precisely the feeling those who fought in Arandel Helmont’s domain would have experienced.

Not knowing where and how the large and powerful greatsword would be swung.

While knowing full well that they could be cut in half in a blink of an eye.

Gulp.

Rianna swallowed, her body tense.

Having come this close, there was no more room to escape.

The dust from the impact of the previous strike settled. Through the swirling rose petals, Arandel swung his greatsword again, but…

“…!”

Clang!

It was once again blocked by Rianna.

Moreover, she blocked it way before it reached the anticipated point of impact.

As a result, the blow came out a little weaker, and with Isaac joining in, it was blocked much more easily than before.

To this, Arandel didn’t say anything.

He just swung his greatsword again. But this time too, the two’s swords successfully blocked it.

“Ho.”

It was unbelievable.

“Oho.”

Even Arandel, who had wielded a sword all his life, had to ponder for quite some time to realize what was going on.

Rianna had read his sword and responded to it in advance.

No, to be more precise, she was predicting where the sword would come by reading Isaac’s gaze.

“A method close to utilizing luck.”

However, if it continued, it would be difficult to see it as mere luck.

Clang! Clang!

The sound of the clashing greatswords was different from before, lacking power.

Moreover, with Isaac also joining in, Arandel was in a position where he couldn’t break through their defense.

However…

“Merely blocking my strikes won’t make my head fall.”

Seeing how the pair keep blocking his greatsword, he let out a sneer at them.

He was curious to see how far they could block his attacks, but…

Having come this far, they couldn’t stop with just that; they had to think about how to kill him.

Just as Arandel was about to swing his greatsword again…

Clang!

A single spear struck his raised greatsword.

With his attention focused on the pair, a moment of cognitive gap was created.

Not missing that moment, Rianna raised her greatsword up high.

A momentary gap.

Before, she couldn’t even find a chance to swing her sword, but now, such a chance presented itself to her.

Crack!

This…! The strongest strike of my life…!

A mirage of a river unfolded before her eyes.

The sword that could split that river, the same one that she used to confess her love…was recreated here, in this place.

Judging that this was the only chance she could get, Rianna gathered all her strength and poured her Crimson Essence into her greatsword.

A single rose bloomed from the sword’s tip.

Even Arandel was surprised by this sight; this was the pinnacle that Rianna could show now.

“…Ah.”

But her arms trembled.

Strength wouldn’t enter the palm gripping her greatsword.

Though she had raised the greatsword up high, she lacked the power to swing it down.

The fatigue accumulated from the battle caught up to her. Instead of controlling the Crimson Essence, she was overwhelmed by it instead.

At that moment, a man embraced her from behind.

A familiar scent, the scent she had been longing for, entered her nose.

“You can do it.”

Having planted his two tachi in the ground, Isaac held the greatsword together with Rianna.

Her greatsword that had split the river…

This time, it plunged towards the giant.

Crimson Lament.

As red light spread in all directions, rose petals scattered beautifully into the sky.

The end of the sword became apparent, as he reminisced about the day filled with pathos.

Even as the Crimson Lament swept through and the red afterglow hadn’t faded, the result was visible.

A greatsword broken in half.

Blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.

His waist that was bent forward.

A faint smile on his lips.

And his two legs, standing firmly.

Arandel was still standing tall.

“Ah.”

Rianna’s face turned ashen. No longer having the strength to even lift her sword, she collapsed in disarray.

But then, she could see someone stepping forward.

Passing by her, Isaac, who had pulled out the planted tachi, was advancing forward without hesitation.

“Unfortunately.”

Towards Isaac, Arandel raised his broken greatsword.

“You dragged it out too long.”

Arandel’s Crimson Essence filled the empty space.

As the battle prolonged, he became able to use the Crimson Essence that had previously been emptied.

It was a little shabby, but at the end of the day, it was still his Crimson Essence.

“You failed to surpass me.”

Again, he swung the reddened greatsword.

Helmont’s Crimson Essence filled the gap of the broken greatsword, reshaping it into a single sword.

Crimson Essence.

It was a wall they ultimately couldn’t overcome.

Previously, with the help of Brikala’s Lightning, they could somewhat break through it, but…

Now, he didn’t know if it had malfunctioned, or if its power had been exhausted, but not even a ‘cracking’ sound came out of the lightning.

Nevertheless, Isaac rushed forward.

[Chasing stars… You pitiful child.]

In his Ink Sword days, the Grandmaster had described him as such.

She had seen how he chased after the stars in the night sky, stars that he couldn’t even begin to reach out.

“Isaaac!”

Someone’s scream-like cry from behind held his ankle.

Nevertheless, he rushed forward.

“Hmph!”

Arandel’s greatsword swung towards Isaac without a shred of mercy.

Nevertheless, he rushed forward.

Because…

A star…is there…!

Because the star he thought he could never reach was right before his eyes.

Isaac swung both his tachi towards the greatsword made of Aura.

[Aura?]

What he aimed for wasn’t the greatsword.

[When you reach the peak—]

Helmont’s pride.

[Such things are unnecessary.]

In his previous life.

He spent countless hours at a desk.

Thinking only of the sword.

Some laughed at him, calling him a bookworm, but…

The time accumulated layer upon layer before that now…

Made him reach for a fragment of a realm he shouldn’t yet touch.

Crack!

Fragments of the broken Crimson Essence scattered in all directions.

The tip of Arandel’s broken greatsword grazed Isaac’s cheek, but…

His two tachi that had shattered the red blade clearly reached Arandel.

“Truly—“

Without a shred of falsehood or any unnecessary addition.

“Splendid.”

With those final words, at last…

Thud!

The great greatsword fell to the ground.