Chapter 112: Extreme

Claang!

The moment he collided with Heukgyeon, Isaac’s body was hurled straight backward.

He nearly tumbled across the ground in an unseemly way but managed to steady himself, ending up merely being pushed back.

Thanks to that, he could resist the Heukgyeon as it came at him again.

Kaaaaang!

“Ugh!”

This time, Heukgyeon swung its arm from above as if to pin him down.

He barely managed to block by crossing two swords in front of him, but one knee hit the ground, and he bowed his head, bracing the blade with his shoulder.

It looked as though he would be completely overpowered by Heukgyeon’s strength.

Just then, a red aura flared up and pushed the Heukgyeon back.

“Isaac!”

Rihanna called out urgently.

Having left her greatsword behind, she had no choice but to respond with the red aura that extended from her hand.

Just like the beast-like claws she had shown during their spar the previous day, the red aura formed around her hand in a similar shape.

“Are you all right?”

Rihanna rushed forward to protect him, while Isaac, catching his breath, staggered to his feet.

“I’m fine… Just a little numb is all.”

“What about that guy—?”

“He’s one of the Primitives. The bloodline of the very first transcendents.”

“That man is…”

It was Rihanna’s first time encountering a Primitive transcendent.

The overwhelming aura emanating from Heukgyeon even made her hesitate.

“My father faced five of those things…”

Recalling the stature of the former family head while serving as the current head, she bit her lip hard.

And then came a resounding shout.

“Enemies attacking!”

She glanced over to see Jonathan.

Thanks to his voice, raw from screaming, people began spilling out from the command tent one by one.

Those from Pure Flow Association and Eisenwolf, as well as soldiers brandishing spears and swords.

At first glance, it looked like they held an overwhelming advantage, which was true.

Even the Heukgyeon itself seemed unaware of why it had ended up here in the first place.

“Rihanna, we can’t afford to lose troops here.”

“…I understand.”

Rihanna grasped Isaac’s meaning immediately.

For the upcoming effort to reclaim the North, every single person was crucial.

What’s more, their task wouldn’t end upon reaching the Wall; they would have to defend and endure there.

If they suffered a major loss on the very first day against a Primitive transcendent, the odds of a successful campaign would plummet.

“The Grandmaster will arrive soon. So—”

But Heukgyeon showed no hesitation.

Like an unleashed hunting dog, it simply bared its fangs at every human in sight.

Its first target was Jonathan.

Perhaps because he was a half-blooded transcendent, he stood out even more.

“For the glory of Helmut!”

A jet-black aura surged up around him.

It was no longer the flimsy aura he had before; it now had a definite presence and color.

Yet—

Swish!

Just one swipe of its paw shattered Jonathan’s aura.

His chest then took a follow-up blow, leaving three long gashes. He rolled across the ground.

“Ugh?!”

An instant takedown.

Even if Jonathan hadn’t been at full strength, the gap between him and a Primitive transcendent was immense.

Next, the beast sprinted toward the officers’ tent.

A hound that hunted by scent, it knew precisely whom to target first. It was looking for a “hunt,” not a “fight.”

That was also why it intentionally avoided Rihanna, the one who had pushed it away.

“Hmph! So it’s ignoring an old man?”

Eisenwolf drew the sword at his waist.

The Pure Flow Association members around him also took up their weapons. Among the younger ones was a particularly bold youth:

“I am Rayahn of Leivice!”

Rayahn raised his sword, unleashing a brilliant yet refreshing aura—befitting a blade called a “Mystic sword.”

The Heukgyeon’s red eyes barely glanced at Rayahn as it charged for Eisenwolf, but—

“How dare you ignore me when I’m right here!”

His aura glimmered like an aurora, lighting the night in place of the moon. It was impossible to disregard.

Finally, Heukgyeon switched direction and rushed at Rayahn.

Thud!

Unable to hold out for even a single exchange, Rayahn immediately toppled over.

“Huh?!”

“Aaoooooooooooo!”

With a roar, the Heukgyeon pinned Rayahn underfoot and was about to crush him.

Just then, amid the brightest burst of light—

Someone moved in the darkness.

A faint line appeared along Heukgyeon’s back.

Crimson blood began trickling from that line, drawn by Marlin Leivice, who had quietly approached and was ready to swing again.

But Heukgyeon seized her wrist and hurled her away.

“…!”

Bang!

Marlin crashed into a soldiers’ tent.

Nevertheless, the Leviace House’s brief distraction gave Isaac and Rihanna enough time to position themselves in front of the officers.

Rihanna struck out with her hand. The claw of red aura clashed with Heukgyeon’s fist.

Not having her greatsword in hand turned out to be crucial.

They had endured it well so far, but in the end, the red aura conjured by bare hands lacked both durability and quality.

The moment Heukgyeon shattered that red aura and reached out toward Rihanna, an icy sensation wrapped around its neck.

“……!”

For the first time, Heukgyeon recoiled.

Drooling with bared, razor-sharp fangs, it glared at the swordsman who had aimed for its throat.

“Isaac…?”

Even Rihanna stared at him in a bewildered voice.

Because something strange was flowing over Isaac’s entire body.

A bluish glow, like a waterfall running in reverse.

Unlike an aura, it did not assert itself violently, but instead emanated a faint, ominous presence.

This was Isaac’s new weapon, obtained by claiming countless lives in Bolten.

“Demonic…?”

Even Heukgyeon, which had only snarled up to this point, was taken aback and fixed its gaze on Isaac.

It was shocked that the power once wielded by a Sword Saint of its own race now resided in Isaac.

“Hoo.”

His breath carried a chill.

Like a keen blade, that chill was sharp, causing Heukgyeon to lower its stance cautiously.

‘The Grandmaster will be here soon.’

Isaac recalled being told not to use this demonic glow carelessly, but if not now, then when?

‘I’m still not good enough to handle both blades.’

He sheathed both swords.

Slightly bending at the waist, he dragged his right leg far behind him, taking a stance.

But by that time, Heukgyeon had already leapt toward him.

“That belongs to our kin—!”

‘I can react…’

Until just moments ago, even chasing it was difficult. But the instant Isaac caught sight of Heukgyeon, he drew on demonic glow with a single blade, unleashing a lightning-fast slash.

Claang!

Something exploded with a resounding boom.

Isaac suddenly realized he was airborne. He belatedly recognized that the echoing blast was Heukgyeon’s strike.

“Guh…!”

Pain tore through his shoulder, as though it had been crushed.

His eyes flew wide, and he bit his lip hard.

“Isaac!”

Rihanna caught him from behind just in time, preventing him from hitting the ground.

Though wracked with agony in her arms, Isaac kept his eyes trained on Heukgyeon.

“Grr…”

A short, resonant growl.

Heukgyeon frowned down at its left arm, which had been severed up to the elbow.

Both had landed lethal blows on each other.

However, that creature’s physical toughness was clearly superior.

Unlike Isaac, Heukgyeon still looked ready to fight; it even picked up its severed left arm and clamped it between its teeth.

Just as it was about to charge Isaac again, Rihanna darted in front of Heukgyeon and scattered her red aura to block it.

“How dare you—!”

The red aura poured down like a storm.

Even without her greatsword, her onslaught was disastrous in its intensity.

Heukgyeon hesitated briefly.

At the same time—

“As your master, I have failed you. I can only blame my own shortcomings.”

The Grandmaster had arrived in a hurry.

Gripping a massive blade, she seemed to reproach herself for her late arrival.

“Grr…”

Heukgyeon shifted its stance again, fixing its gaze on the two women.

Its vicious determination said it would claim at least one more life before it died.

“I will kill you without fail, black-haired dual swordsman.”

Likely thinking its blade, which only the Transcendents should wield, had been stolen, Heukgyeon gnashed its fangs at Isaac.

The moment Heukgyeon, brimming with murderous intent, charged once more—

A whirlwind-like distortion rippled across its body. And before anyone realized it, exactly as when it first appeared—

It vanished.

***

The sky held nothing but darkness.

At first glance, it could have been night, yet there were no stars, no moon, no clouds—just an endless canvas of pitch black.

It was a place where hardly even a single blade of grass grew, with only barren dirt and dust swirling about.

Amid all that stood an enormous wall that looked completely out of place.

Covered in marks from countless battles, it bore the signs of heavy damage.

And at that very moment, the Malidan Barrier was releasing fierce bursts of icy magic in response to imminent danger.

“Without that wall, it would’ve been all over.”

Behind the wall, Silverna murmured bluntly, resting a spear on her shoulder.

Her expression was now clouded and lifeless, her eyes reflecting a dull despair.

“You should rest a bit, my lady.”

Anna approached Silverna.

Unlike before, her voice was flat and devoid of energy—but no one could blame her.

Smiling in such a dire situation was simply impossible.

‘No supplies, no light, and even the air is suffocating.’

Most of all, the air here was the hardest part.

The atmosphere felt like it was burning their lungs, and there was no mana at all.

As a result, Silverna could not use the aura she had painstakingly honed.

‘If only that were the extent of our troubles…’

The real problem was the Malidan Barrier.

The raging cold it spewed was indisputably magical.

If it ever ran out of stored mana, it would become nothing more than an ordinary wall.

Then the Transcendents would surely launch another fierce assault.

‘Is reinforcements even coming? Or can they come at all?’

None of them really knew where they were in the first place.

All they could do was fight off the monstrous beasts and Transcendents that attacked every day.

’Who would have thought we’d yearn for the sky this much.’

Even if one lifted their head, there was only darkness—an empty, meaningless space.

What grew day by day were worries, sighs, and the tombstones of fallen comrades.

‘Does anyone out there even know we’re fighting here?’

‘I’m sorry, Isaac.’

She hated to even think such things.

But it was possible she might never see him again.

She had wanted to show him how much she had grown.

“My lady, what do you think happened to that Transcendent just now?”

Anna tried changing the subject.

Silverna nodded wearily and sighed.

“That’s what I’d like to know. It definitely had the blood of a Primitive. It wasn’t normal.”

“No doubt about it. Could that sudden disappearance be one of their Primitive abilities?”

“I have no idea. The reason I ended up here was because of that thing, to be honest. It vanished somewhere in this area.”

Those Transcendents that had broken into the wall retreated, but the black dog-like creature among them was beyond fearsome—it was outright terrifying.

“What in the world—”

Bwoooom!

A sudden slicing of air, with no warning.

Silverna and Anna both jerked their heads up.

A twisted void spat out something before closing again.

Claang!

The impact of its crash kicked up a cloud of dust.

Startled, Silverna and Anna instinctively dropped into fighting stances.

In the center of the crater formed by the impact—

“Graaaaahhh!”

A black hunting dog, roaring in fury.

“Its arm…”

“What is that?”

They had no idea why it appeared out of nowhere, or why its left arm was missing.

Though they didn’t understand the situation, they saw it as their chance and moved in to attack—

“That Black-haired dual swordsman!”

Heukgyeon bellowed in rage, and Silverna’s eyes went wide.

Black-haired dual swordsman.

Only one person came to mind.

“Isaac?”

– – The End of The Chapter ––

 

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