Chapter 14: The Sword Sage

They must have thought he was sweeping away dead leaves.

Seeing a person sent flying so helplessly—anyone would think so.

“Kkaaaaaaa!”

“Haaaaaaaaaa!”

All the guards meant to protect the nobles could do was scream.

He flaunted his transcendent power with nothing held back.

“I- Isaac-nim!”

Jonathan urgently positioned himself in front of Isaac and shouted.

“You must run away!”

If they stayed here, they would die.

But Isaac’s gaze remained fixed on the Transcendent, the one shaped like a tiger.

‘He’s swinging a greatsword?’

Isaac stared intently at his greatsword, as if he didn’t even hear Jonathan calling him—no matter how many times he shook him, he received no answer.

Puuuk!

A spear from Silverna plunged into the Transcendent’s back.

“So you…do bleed after all.”

Silverna pulled out the spear, forcing an upward twist of her lip as if to imitate a grin.

Tuduk!

Thick, heavy-looking blood trickled down the Transcendent’s back. Slowly, he turned his body toward Silverna.

“There’s at least one human worth watching, I see.”

Even after being speared, he didn’t seem to be in great pain. Rather, as if his body temperature had finally risen, he swung the greatsword lightly in the air and prepared to face Silverna.

In the meantime, the other nobles were fleeing.

Just a brief exchange of blows had made it clear they had no chance. The innate terror the Transcendent inspired was too overwhelming for novices to endure.

“Isaac-nim! We must run away for now!”

Jonathan, unable to bear seeing Isaac standing idly, tried to hoist him onto his back.

“Jonathan.”

Isaac pushed him away and asked:

“You’ve got confidence in your stamina, right?”

“Wh-What?! Suddenly asking this… What are you talking about?!”

“Can you carry me on your back all the way to the Malidan Barrier?”

Hearing the question, Jonathan widened his eyes and thumped his chest with his fist.

“I will do it, no matter what. I am your knight, Isaac-nim, and I shall protect you! So let’s hurry—!”

“Good, then wait.”

“Y-Yes?”

While Jonathan was feeling rather proud inside, believing he’d created a heroic moment, he grew flustered as Isaac walked right past him.

“Isaac-nim?!”

“Get ready to run. We’ll be going straight away.”

“What do you—!”

Jonathan could not finish his sentence.

Because Isaac was now standing in front of the two who were fiercely clashing.

“Isaac?!”

Silverna, who was desperately trying to parry the greatsword, looked at Isaac in shock.

She might have asked why he hadn’t fled, but Isaac did not answer.

‘There’s only one way to win here.’

The Transcendent would never let any human who saw it live.

Once it finished off Silverna and started chasing the fleeing nobles, it would likely catch them in no time. Even if they ran right now, it might arrive at the Malidan Barrier first and lie in wait.

So—

He had to draw its attention.

He had to show that there was a human here who couldn’t be dismissed so easily.

Isaac stepped forward, willing to take on that role.

How?

How could he make himself appear as special prey to this Transcendent, who regarded all humans as identical game?

“Run away! Isaac! This thing is a monster! Not just any ordinary beast!”

Despite Silverna’s cries, Isaac did not retreat.

Instead, he was cross-verifying his judgment to the bitter end, ensuring that his decision was correct.

Finally.

Just one phrase.

The moment his breath escaped, carried on the wind—

“…….”

The Transcendent halted its greatsword.

“W-What the—?!”

Silverna, who had been barely managing to parry the blows, was bewildered.

She hadn’t heard what Isaac said, nor did she know why the creature had suddenly stopped its sword.

But now, the Transcendent’s gaze was fixed solely on Isaac.

“Just now.”

Its brow twisted hideously, and a subtle tremor, uncharacteristic of it, was evident in its voice.

“What did you say?”

Facing the beast’s blue eyes, Isaac replied with a sneering grin, as if grinding them underfoot.

“Raven Swordsmanship. A style taught exclusively within the Blackthorn household.”

Blackthorn was one of the noble families of the kingdom, and one of their nobles was present here.

“At first, I was confused. Because you’re swinging a greatsword, I considered greatsword techniques. But that wasn’t right. Given your size and strength, I should have looked at one-handed swordsmanship instead of great sword swordsmanship.”

To him, a human’s greatsword wasn’t much different from a one-handed sword.

“Traces of that swordsmanship style are everywhere. Especially the way you intentionally widen your stride to stabilize your center of gravity—exactly the same.”

“…….”

“Want me to tell you something? Because your foot structure differs from a human’s, you don’t actually need to widen your stance that much.”

“Grrrrrr.”

Unconsciously, the Transcendent glanced down to check its stance.

“Do you know what that means?”

Though Isaac smiled meaningfully, the Transcendent had no words.

There was no need to overthink.

“It means the Blackthorn household taught you swordsmanship. The ones who were going to trade for Holstein’s grave robbed goods were probably them as well.”

But it seemed Blackthorn never intended to trade honestly.

They sent a Transcendent instead of gold coins.

Even if the grave robbers hadn’t disturbed the monster den, this same fate would have befallen them.

“I’ve always wondered: from where and how Transcendents gathered information about the kingdom and acted on it.”

Just as he had constantly wondered in his previous life, the question was finally resolved now.

“There was a traitor in the kingdom.”

The Transcendent pressed its greatsword more firmly into its grip. Veins bulged, and with its long tongue, it licked the protruding fangs.

Now there was an existence it must never let escape.

Not prey.

He had become a man it must certainly kill.

“All I did…was swing my sword a bit.”

Yet the Transcendent muttered as if it felt somewhat wronged. It had taken no action that should have revealed its identity. It had spoken little, and by wielding a greatsword, it should have been almost impossible to pinpoint its specific swordsmanship style.

“And yet, from that alone, you identified our true nature…and even uncovered a traitor?”

Isaac crossed his arms and laughed.

“If you think it’s only that much, then that’s all you’ll ever be.”

“Ha.”

The Transcendent let out a hollow laugh.

It conceded.

This man was, quite literally—

“A sage. A sword sage.”

With just a few swings of the sword in front of him, he had reached the truth without difficulty.

“I am impressed by your deep wisdom and knowledge. May I ask your name?”

“Isaac.”

“Yes, Isaac.”

He was clearly different from the ragtag prey the Transcendent had encountered before.

“I absolutely must kill you.”

“Isaac!”

The urgent voice of Silverna.

She thrust her spear desperately at the Transcendent’s back, but it only cut through empty air.

For the Transcendent had already kicked off the ground and was charging straight at Isaac.

It didn’t matter if it let the others go.

This man, however, had to die—no matter what.

With a single battle, Isaac had learned this much. With a few habitual sword swings, he had gleaned dozens of insights.

‘I’ll kill him for sure!’

If he survived now, who knew how many times he would trip them up in the future?

The Transcendents weren’t ready yet.

They needed time before their kin could drive out humanity and swallow the continent whole!

“Isaac-nim!”

But just like Silverna’s spear, the Transcendent’s greatsword now only sliced through thin air.

That was because Jonathan, emitting a faint red aura from his entire body, was already running with Isaac slung over his shoulder.

“Jonathan, Your Red River—what is this sorry display?!”

“N-Now’s not the time to say such things!”

Isaac couldn’t help but lament at Jonathan’s pitifully meager aura. Was this all a knight of Helmut could do with Helmut’s unique technique, Red River?

“Pull yourself together! Right now, you’re the only one who can outrun that thing!”

The overwhelming physical prowess of the direct line of Helmut—they were the only humans who could compare to Transcendents without shame. Knights of Helmut trained alongside such direct heirs and learned to use Red River.

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Hearing Jonathan’s response, Isaac looked back.

The Transcendent, now gripping its greatsword in its mouth, was running on all fours.

“Damn.”

At that unbelievable speed, Isaac cursed. It was even faster than he’d feared.

Though Jonathan, as a knight of Helmut, possessed considerable speed and stamina, it felt like they would be caught at any second.

They ran over snow-covered ground without slipping, and even the trees sprouting up everywhere seemed like mere playthings to their pursuer.

“Jonathan! Head for the rear barrier! That’s the right way!”

“Haaa! Haaa! W-What?!”

“The rear barrier! The place where the monsters were swarming! We have to go there!”

“Haaa! Haaa! But that place is crawling with monsters! Haaa!”

“There’s no other way to survive!”

“Haaa! Haaa!”

Jonathan looked like he wanted to protest, but he was too exhausted to speak.

Just as Isaac was about to glance back to see how far their pursuer had come—

“Grrrrrrrrrr.”

“…!”

It was right behind them. So close that if he reached out, he could touch them. Isaac momentarily choked on his breath.

‘That fast!?’

Unable to hide his shock, Isaac drew the sword he had brought. Even if he couldn’t put proper strength behind a swing while being carried by Jonathan, he had to try something.

“Grrrrrrrrr!”

The Transcendent gripped the greatsword, which it had been holding in its mouth, and swung it with lethal force.

This strike would cleave both Jonathan and Isaac in half without effort.

But Isaac angled his sword slightly, just barely deflecting the greatsword.

“Krrgh!”

He managed to do it once by bracing the back of his blade with his other arm.

“Ah, damn—!”

His grip failed, and he lost his sword. Just from that single impact, his weapon was gone.

“I won’t deny your great knowledge.”

The Transcendent murmured with hatred. It realized that Isaac’s insight into the Blackthorn Raven Swordsmanship had allowed him to deflect that blow.

“But now, it ends.”

Just as the Transcendent was about to swing the greatsword again—

“My apologies, Isaac-nim!”

Jonathan released his hold on Isaac’s waist and shifted his arms up to grip Isaac beneath both armpits.

“For the glory of Helmut!”

“Huhhh?!”

With that, he hurled Isaac forward.

The single burst of strength infused with all of his Red River was truly impressive. Isaac soared through the air like a bird.

He nearly crashed into some branches along the way, but by curling his body he avoided falling prematurely.

Except…

“Jonathan!”

He worried about the now-alone Jonathan. While the Transcendent might not care enough to pursue him, it had enough time to swing its greatsword once and take his head.

Given the Transcendent’s eerie hatred toward humans, hoping for Jonathan’s survival was difficult.

As Isaac braced for Jonathan’s sacrifice, he finally hit the ground.

“Krrgh!”

He didn’t hit bare earth. Instead, he sank into something wet and squishy.

It took Isaac a moment to realize it was the blood of the monsters.

Corpses of monsters were strewn everywhere.

And, in the distance, he could see the Malidan Barrier.

It seemed they had successfully repelled the monster invasion here.

“Grrrrr!”

Then, appearing from the slope of the mountain, the Transcendent emerged again.

Running on all fours, it began its pursuit, apparently determined to kill Isaac before he could reach the barrier.

To give meaning to Jonathan’s sacrifice, Isaac rushed toward the barrier.

Not to survive—

But to kill that thing.

****

The Transcendent, Beombaek*.

That was his name. His pure-white fur was so striking that he’d been given this name.

“Grrrr!”

Under the moonlight, he ran across the snowy field.

To catch and kill that black-haired man he spotted far ahead.

‘The barrier is still far away. I can kill him in time!’

He pushed himself harder, because he absolutely couldn’t let that man live.

Even if Beombaek died here, he vowed to tear out that man’s throat.

As he reached ground where the monster corpses and their blood had melted the snow, his speed actually increased noticeably.

He was closing in at an incredible pace.

Arrows rained down overhead.

‘They must’ve noticed from the barrier.’

It looked like they were providing covering fire to protect that man.

‘Mere arrows.’

His thick hide deflected the arrows. Once he reached a certain distance, Beombaek stopped running and grabbed the greatsword from his mouth.

“Gwaaaaang!”

With a ferocious roar, he pulled the greatsword back and hurled it straight ahead.

Spinning like a windmill, the greatsword flew directly at Isaac.

Right before it struck—

Shweeeek!

Kwoooom!

A massive spear fell from the sky, cleaving the greatsword in two and sending the pieces flying off course.

“What…?”

His blue eyes filled with astonishment.

A single spear embedded in the ground.

As Beombaek slowly lifted his gaze, he saw atop the barrier—

A colossal man stood with arms folded, looking down at him.

“Ah.”

Before coming here, the nobles of Blackthorn had repeatedly warned him:

‘You must never encounter him.’

‘He is said to rival the head of Helmut himself.’

‘The hero of the North. The guardian who protects the barrier.’

The Frontier Margrave.

Uldiran Caldias.

For the first time in his life, Beombaek realized he was trembling at the sight of a human.

Those cold, steady eyes regarded him no differently than the countless beast corpses scattered around.

“Gwaaaaang!”

Beombaek roared and charged forward again.

Even if he died, he had to kill Isaac no matter what.

Kwa-deuk! Kwa-deuk!

His powerful leaps made the ground crack underfoot.

Seeing Uldiran reach for another spear, Beombaek pushed himself even harder.

“Gwaaaaangggggg!”

As he closed in on Isaac, he leapt—

Shweeeek!

Once more, the northern night air was sliced by a spear.

Kwak!

Something filled his vision.

A spear shaft.

It had lodged into his body, piercing his heart—a realization that came too late.

“A… Aaa—.”

He reached out in despair.

“Isaac…!”

Because he had failed to kill him—

He could only imagine how many of his own kind would die as a result.

With a final sigh of regret, Beombaek’s strength drained from his body, and he bowed his head, eyes wide open yet seeing nothing.

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

[TL: Beombaek- This literally means all white.

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