Chapter 33: Blood Rose Beauty

“Huh?”

Caught off guard, Sharen looks at Isaac with a bewildered expression, unsure of what to do.

But the situation wasn’t so leisurely.

Black smoke began rising from between the piles of corpses, soon warping into something strange.

If one had to compare it to anything, it would be like a shadow.

Shadows deprived of their owners slowly began to rise one by one, letting out shrieks.

Kkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Their voices poured out in a wave, like a chorus.

And among them stood a being that possessed the largest shadow.

Even its shadow still had its head dangling loosely, and it was the only one among them with eyes and fingers.

The moment his finger pointed precisely at Isaac—

The shadows charged forward like a surging wave.

“Everyone!”

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Anna rushed over on horseback, having been ready to flee.

Everyone quickly mounted their own horses and raced out of the village.

“What the heck are those things?!”

Asked Silverna, but Isaac had no answer.

Even though he had witnessed countless scenes in his past life, it wasn’t easy to come across the Transcendent’s rituals.

Following the massive, head-lolling shadow, the subservient shadows poured out of the village.

“They’re… not as fast as I expected?”

Just as Melodic, who kept glancing back anxiously, had noted.

They weren’t actually moving all that fast; they just floundered after them.

Still, the ominous sight of them polluting everything around them like a swamp as they advanced was horrifyingly oppressive.

“Running away seems simple enough, but—”

Isaac trailed off.

If they returned straight to the Malidan Barrier like this, the nearby villages would be swept away by the subservient shadows.

Should that happen, the number of shadows might become even larger.

“Let’s stop them.”

In the end, Silverna reined in her horse.

“We have to stop them. We can’t afford to lose any more people.”

“I agree, but …”

He understood her sentiment, yet they had to be rational.

“Jonathan isn’t doing well.”

“I-I’m fine…!”

Jonathan was sweating profusely.

Though his eye color was returning to normal and the dark patterns on his skin were fading, he still didn’t look well.

During the Pollu incident, Silverna had nearly lost her cool and got badly burned.

Even in the midst of this infuriating situation—the Andes Village Massacre—she remained cold and composed in her directive.

“Melodic, go with Jonathan to the Malidan Barrier and request reinforcements.”

“Understood.”

“But I—!”

“Jonathan, that’s an order. We don’t have time.”

Struck by Silverna’s short, commanding statement, Jonathan couldn’t protest further.

“Anna, head for the nearby villages and evacuate the residents. Since they know us well, they’ll follow you right away.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

Without delay, Anna spurred her horse toward the village. Time was of the essence, and one could hear the urgency in her haste.

“Isaac and Sharen, you two stay with me and lure those things. Let’s stall them as long as we can.”

Following her orders, everyone split up, leaving three behind.

“Haah! Haah!”

Seemingly nervous, Sharen took a long breath and gripped her greatsword firmly.

“Isaac, do you have any thoughts?”

Silverna candidly asked Isaac for advice.

Eyeing the pursuing subservient shadows, Isaac recalled what had just happened and nodded.

“Rituals are a lot like magic. There’s a cause-and-effect pattern to it, so to speak.”

Mages utilize mana.

From magic circles or incantations, one can get a rough idea of what magic they’re about to cast.

Rituals were no different.

“Those shadows are likely the village residents. The largest shadow should be Nortemus.”

“Considering his head’s hanging loose, the ritual must’ve triggered at the moment of his death, right?”

Isaac nodded and added,

“The corpses were all missing eyes and fingers.”

And it was still the same now.

Only Nortemus’s shadow had glowing eyes and a pointing finger aimed at Isaac.

No eyes, so they cannot see.

No fingers, so they cannot point.

All they could do was follow—the damaged army of the dead.

“So if we just deal with Nortemus…?”

“They won’t be able to attack with intent like this anymore.”

Isaac’s words seemed quite convincing.

Yet at the same time, they raised a question for Silverna.

“You seem to know more than you let on last time when you explained the Transcendents.”

During the previous raid by Beombaek, Isaac had given Caldias a brief explanation about the Transcendents.

But now, seeing how extensive his knowledge truly was, Silverna furrowed her brow a bit.

“…I’ll explain later.”

Isaac forced a bitter smile.

Now wasn’t the time to delve deeper.

With eyes wide, Sharen glanced back and forth between the two, then cautiously pointed at the subservient shadows.

“But can we even cut those things?”

They were following them because they were being pointed at, that much was clear.

But it wasn’t like they could just herd them around forever.

“……”

“……”

Neither Isaac nor Silverna could give a clear answer, both wearing troubled expressions.

“Wait and see.”

Raising her spear once more, Silverna took aim.

She couldn’t steady herself too well while still mounted, yet she hurled her spear fiercely at Nortemus’s shadow.

Like passing through a cloud, it caused no impact and merely went right through.

“……”

“……”

“……”

All three of them fell silent at once.

They had an enemy that polluted everything around them and kept advancing, one they couldn’t even strike.

Slow as they were, if they couldn’t be stopped, defeat was inevitable.

“Maybe we should call a mage.”

While retrieving her spear with her aura, Silverna pulled it back.

Quaddukduk!

Shadows caught in the wake of the spear as it was reeled in with aura were impaled, losing their form and vanishing.

“Huh?!”

A gasp escaped Silverna’s lips as she grabbed the spear.

They could cut them if they used aura.

That meant there was a chance at victory.

Right when she was about to shout as much—

“…But, Isaac.”

Sharen casts a sidelong glance at Isaac and asks,

“Can you use Red Aura?”

Unintentionally, Silverna also turns to look at Isaac.

“Sniff.”

He has nothing much to say in response.

It’s just that it’s cold and windy, and he sniffed once. But somehow, that made him feel strangely miserable.

“Want me to teach you Red Aura later?”

“Aura isn’t everything.”

Hearing both of them try to console him in that odd way, Isaac feels a strange twinge of emotion and simply closes his mouth.

Aura?Aura?

Suddenly, his conversation with the Grand Master comes to mind.

[ Even without such a thing, it poses no inconvenience. ]

‘But there must be times when it’s needed.’

[ There never were. ]

‘Could it be… you can’t use it?’

[ How would you feel if I asked you whether you can’t use your legs? ]

‘……’

[...Go away.]

Aura is important.

Most knights can wield aura, and certain families possess their own unique form of it.

Such as the Red Aura of Helmut.

“We should’ve sent Isaac back with Jonathan.”

It’s unfair, but it’s not exactly wrong.

Because Melodic can use aura.

“But you know…”

Sharen again carefully opens her mouth, pointing at Nortemus’s shadow.

“Isn’t that thing pointing at Isaac?”

She’s asking whether the fingertip aimed at them actually stops at Isaac.

To test the theory, Isaac lightly steers his horse to the side—and sure enough, Nortemus’s hand shifts subtly, following him.

“….”

He had become a walking lure.

****

“Miss?”

In the Malidan Barrier, Rihanna was gazing up at the sky, and Sharen’s maid Kelsey called out to her cautiously.

“You don’t look too happy.”

“Can you see my face?”

She was practically covered up—mask, headband, the works.

She was not being sarcastic; Rihanna was genuinely curious, and Kelsey replied with a soft smile.

“I’ve spent as much time with Miss Sharen as I have watched over you, Miss Rihanna.”

“…I see.”

She doesn’t have any particular comment.

Looking up at the stark white sky, Rihanna mutters under her breath.

“Something murky is riding on the wind.”

“Huh? But the air feels really fresh.”

Kelsey took a long sniff through her nose.

But Rihanna responded calmly,

“Something’s… ominous.”

Knowing every aspect of the Helmut lineage’s physiology, Kelsey couldn’t help but share in Rihanna’s unease once she mentioned it.

“But Miss Sharen only has a minor rear-position duty today. She won’t be in danger, right?”

“She’d better not be.”

Even so, Rihanna’s gaze is fixed on the rear side of the wall.

That’s because the wind is blowing from that direction.

At that moment—

They hear an uproar coming from the rear ramparts.

Soldiers are scurrying about, their heavy footsteps echoing urgently from all sides.

“Something… feels off.”

Perhaps it was because of Rihanna’s earlier remark; Kelsey grew increasingly anxious.

She worries if Sharen might have run into trouble.

As a soldier rushes toward the inner fort to deliver a report, Rihanna abruptly seizes his wrist.

“Aagh!”

Startled by her startling grip, the soldier looks at Rihanna in alarm.

“W-What are you doing?!”

“What’s going on? Why is everything so chaotic?”

Though she’s dressed like a maid, her aura compels the soldier to submit.

Feeling the crushing grip on his wrist and sensing her edge, he blurts out,

“Th-The reconnaissance squad has encountered an unknown beast. One village was destroyed, and part of the squad returned with serious injuries.”

“…!”

Rihanna turns her gaze toward the wall.

Her red eyes catch sight of Jonathan being rushed off in critical condition.

“P-Please let go!”

At the soldier’s exclamation, Rihanna slackens her grip in a hollow gesture.

The moment he flees to deliver his report—

Rihanna tears off her mask and headband with a rough motion.

The northern wind carries the fragrance of roses.

At the moment her crimson hair flutters free, everyone around her looks on as if bewitched.

The Blood Rose Beauty of House Helmut.

It was the moment when Rihanna Helmut descended upon the Malidan Barrier.

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

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