Chapter 71: Flying Wings

“Hoo, within every tragedy lie tangled knots and the personal stories each person carries.”

The Sword Demon slowly lowered the hands that had been covering his face. His tears had already dried, and the eyes that had been moist were now honed to an even sharper edge.

“I will use today’s tragedy as nourishment for what comes next.”

His chilling gaze shifted to Isaac and the Grandmaster. It was his way of acknowledging that his trap for Arandel had failed and that he would bide his time for another chance—

But it also meant he intended to kill all those before him now, then leave.

“You’re ignoring us so blatantly.”

The Grandmaster smirked and rested her saber on her shoulder.

However, the Sword Demon spoke only what he intended, as if he couldn’t even hear the Grandmaster’s voice at all.

“So you truly mean to test your strength against mine with that?”

Both of them gripped their swords.

“Do you even realize before whom you stand, wielding those blades?”

He reminded them what it meant to fight against the Primitive—

The primordial transcendent race.

The progenitor of the great saber known as the Transcendent’s Blade.

The two who dared challenge this origin swallowed nervously but did not reply.

Perhaps their silence was answer enough, for the Sword Demon lifted his great saber once more and nodded.

“Learning is what most thoroughly fills our deepest void—.”

In the next instant, the Sword Demon vanished like an afterimage.

Hearing his voice suddenly from the left, Isaac’s eyes flew wide.

“Until the moment you close your eyes, be grateful for this lesson.”

Claaaaang!

The Grandmaster’s blade flashed past Isaac’s cheek. The Sword Demon had tried to decapitate Isaac in a single blow, but the Grandmaster reacted first, thrusting her blade forward to block the great saber.

Startled though he was, Isaac did not retreat. Instead, he threw himself toward the Sword Demon.

Now that the enemy’s saber was blocked, this was his chance.

Isaac’s blade swept in a graceful arc—but the Sword Demon caught it effortlessly in his hand.

His sword was stopped so easily it was almost pathetic. To have his full-strength swing parried by a mere hand—

It drove home the vast difference in their abilities and proved Isaac didn’t really belong on this battlefield. Even so, Isaac simply released the blade stuck in the Sword Demon’s grip and clenched his fist.

He’d learned this tactic through Arandel and had used it to knock down Lohengrin. Ignoring the sword entirely, he threw a punch at the Sword Demon’s vital spot.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

He struck from the temple, down the philtrum, and into the solar plexus. Even Helmut would have staggered from such blows, so one might expect decent results—

“……!”

But the blood flowing was Isaac’s. Blood dripped from his fist, and the pain felt like he had slammed it against a steel plate covered in spikes.

“Foolish.”

The Sword Demon looked down at Isaac, who had come in close for the strike. Just as he moved to harvest his life—

Swish!

A spear came hurtling toward the Sword Demon’s shoulder. Normally he would have ignored it and taken Isaac’s head, but the Grandmaster had already wounded that spot.

Forced to twist aside, the Sword Demon gave Isaac precious time to regain his footing.

He did not step back.

Isaac’s role was simply to create openings for the Grandmaster to fight more effectively.

Once more, Isaac gripped the saber held by the Sword Demon. He knew he couldn’t break free from that monstrous strength, so he poured power into his current stance.

Zzzzzzzz!

Electricity from Bricalla crackled like a raging storm. Feeling the sharp jolt surge through his palm, the Sword Demon flinched for just an instant.

“So you think you can reign forever as the Primitive? What an eyesore you’ve become.”

The Grandmaster, having readied her stance, swung her blade with a flash.

She aimed precisely for the Sword Demon’s neck, yet the Sword Demon reacted faster than expected, preventing a lethal strike.

Once again, he hastily retreated. Seeing himself driven back like this, he bit down hard on his lip in humiliation.

Thump.

The moment he noticed one of his horns fall to the ground, the Sword Demon’s eyes blazed with crimson energy.

“Well done. I suppose I must acknowledge that you can at least imitate my might.”

Along with the raging crimson aura, a dark force gathered in his great saber. If given even a bit more time, he would unleash that strike capable of cleaving Helmut’s knights in two.

And if that happened, it would be all over.

No one here could possibly withstand it.

“Stay sharp. We must now step into his domain.”

Resolving to secure victory, the Sword Demon decided to fight defensively.

After all, they continued pressing him with their numbers and unorthodox strategies, so he couldn’t guarantee the result either.

“I’ll open the way—follow me.”

“Understood.”

The Grandmaster sprang forward first. The Sword Demon, naturally more wary of her than of Isaac, lifted his great saber in response.

“You filthy, disgraceful half-blood—yet I will grant your sword its due respect.”

“Sorry, but I’m not particularly interested in your acknowledgment.”

Claaaang!

Their sabers clashed. The collision never lasted more than a blink; the rapid exchange was like a sword dance.

It was different from the raw power struggle with Arandel. If one had to compare, it was as though both blades were scalding hot, forcing them to repeatedly let go and seize them again.

Amid the whirlwind of blows, Isaac withdrew. It was all for the sake of victory, and Isaac held no hesitation in doing so.

“How pitiful.”

A sudden flash of black light burst from the Sword Demon’s great saber.

“Ugh?!”

The Grandmaster staggered backward, her stance crumbling under the shock. The moment she appeared not to care, the Sword Demon twisted his body and charged straight toward Isaac.

“This little charade ends now, you pathetic imitation.”

“……!”

“You stand on a battlefield where the unworthy do not belong.”

The Sword Demon’s towering form filled Isaac’s vision. The great saber swept in a vicious arc, ready to cleave him in two—

Claaaang!

Isaac’s body was flung into the air and rolled across the ground. Yet there was no slash wound. Though he had been overpowered, he had indeed blocked the Sword Demon’s attack.

“……!”

At that instant, the Sword Demon realized what had happened.

Before his blade could even fully swing, its trajectory had been anticipated.

For the first time, the Sword Demon’s eyes went wide, his pupils quivering.

“What in the world—”

It was different from the Grandmaster.

She responded to the blade’s movement as it came at her, but Isaac, limited by his human physique, couldn’t possibly react in time. So he must have predicted the Sword Demon’s path the moment he leaped.

-Grinding

It was humiliating.

Knocked to the ground, sprawled out.

All because of a mere human.

A sword the Sword Demon had honed for a lifetime was fully read—laid bare—after just a few exchanges.

His great saber, tempered through ages so deep no one could fathom them, was read by a mere swordsman who had hardly been holding a blade for any time at all—!

“Perhaps the sword is just old.”

Slowly pulling himself upright, Isaac wore a wry, mocking smile.

“It wasn’t that hard to read.”

“You insolent wretch!”

Thumb!

The Sword Demon stepped forward with a heavy stomp.

From the start, it had grated on his nerves—

Unlike his massive great saber, that shorter blade.

You could say it had been refined for a human’s use, which to him felt like humans had stolen and trampled on the pride of his kind.

“Time and again, you humans! You take from us! You rob us of what is ours!”

Swish!

He sprang forward in a long leap. The dark aura undulating along the great saber signaled it was fully charged. And the blazing, fiery intent of the Sword Demon was fixed entirely on Isaac.

“Isaac!”

Silverna’s spear came hurtling in. Yet merely pulling his blade back to swing was enough for the Sword Demon to swat her spear aside.

In a flash, he was upon Isaac.

His blade, once again, unleashed a savage strike—

Time seemed to slow, the blow passing like a fleeting flashback.

It was slightly slower than his previous strikes, likely weighed down by the countless powers swirling within that “cursed sword” of his.

But either way, it was the perfect moment to take Isaac’s head.

Yet the Sword Demon spun around instead—

Simultaneously deflecting the Grandmaster’s blade, which had been angling in from behind with a long hilt strike.

“……!”

Claaaang!

The Grandmaster’s saber flew high into the air. In that instant, the Sword Demon’s calm, resonant voice rumbled:

“Though the rage is mine—”

The fury he had shown just moments before was already gone. One would even wonder if he had ever truly lost his composure, for now he was calm and collected, betraying no trace of wrath.

“The karma and life I hold in my hands belong to my brethren.”

It had all been a ploy—an act of rage to lure out the Grandmaster.

He acknowledged Isaac as impressive enough, given how the young swordsman had managed to tarnish the pride of his swordsmanship.

But the Sword Demon was focused on a clear victory, acting to decapitate the most dangerous opponent first: that woman.

A dense black aura clung to the great saber.

Like a massive siege weapon being readied for a slow but crushing strike, the Sword Demon advanced with deliberate heaviness.

There was no way to dodge, and no means to block.

At the very moment the massive slash, condensed to slice the Grandmaster in two, began to draw its line—

“Do you know?”

A faint smile appeared on the Grandmaster’s lips.

“By nature, that fellow wields—dual blades.”

A gust of wind blew.

Amidst the space being stained black by the Sword Demon’s dark aura, a small breeze forced its way in.

In a reversal of what had happened just a moment ago, Isaac snatched the saber that had been knocked away, catching it midair. A demonic aura similar to the Sword Demon’s flickered in Isaac’s eyes.

He slid two sabers into his belt—

And, like a stately stork folding its wings,

he suddenly unleashed a slash from both hands, more akin to a hawk spreading its wings.

They called it—“flying wings.”

The instant the twin blades reached the Sword Demon’s shoulder, sinew and bone tore with a sickening crunch, and one arm fell to the ground.

Claaang!

“Grrrrrh!”

With an arm gone, the Sword Demon lost his balance, and the tip of his great saber scraped the floor. The darkness swirling around it, akin to festering hatred, had nowhere else to go and now ripped further into the Sword Demon’s wounded flesh. Black blood spilled from his mouth.

“Hah… hah…”

Isaac let his arms drop, the strength draining from his body in an instant.

He had overexerted himself, but he knew that had he not, there would be no victory.

Unlike before, however, he hadn’t passed out. It was proof of his growth.

“When those wings spread, you looked like a mighty hawk,”

the Grandmaster remarked, ensuring Isaac didn’t miss the praise in her voice.

“Yet you’ve borne the fruits of a phoenix.”

A bright smile touched the corners of the Grandmaster’s mouth.

– – The End of The Chapter – –

 

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