"You mustn't push yourself."
Isaac spoke with concern to Uldren, who was being supported by his wife and daughter.
It was an immense relief that Uldren Caldias was still alive.
Just his presence alone gave the feeling of a solid backing.
But—
His condition was terrible.
He was insisting on fighting, but Isaac didn't want to lose him here. He resolved to avoid combat as much as possible.
"Hah."
But Uldren snorted.
"I'm not pushing myself. If anything, it's surprising how good I feel right now."
The scary part was—it didn't sound like bluffing.
His body was a wreck, yet his eyes held firm determination.
He looked ready to swing his spear at any moment.
"Isaac, what now?"
Liana poured cold water on the overly excited mood, thanks to the Margrave's presence.
It was a good thing.
Getting too hyped wasn't ideal in the current situation.
Isaac found it odd that he was the one expected to give orders.
But looking around, Liana and the others were all focused on him.
"We should escape. You're okay with that, right, Margrave?"
"To think I'd ever abandon the Wall of Malidan and flee… I believed I'd rather die first."
Uldren clicked his tongue.
In his previous life, he had actually died like that.
And even now, he stood firm, ready to die in this place.
But the situation had shifted, at least slightly.
"There is a separate exit underground. The underground prison was moved as well, so the passage should still be there."
He added, though, that it was hard to confirm where it led to.
"There's a high chance it may have collapsed midway."
Despite Uldren's words, the northern soldiers didn't show any signs of unrest.
It meant they already knew.
Even with death looming over them, fleeing hadn't even crossed their minds.
"Let's head that way for now."
Their destination was set.
They hurried toward the underground with urgent steps.
Whether it was the cold or Uldren's aura that had scared them off, no Transcendents were visible on the first floor.
"…Wait."
Liana raised her hand, frowning.
As they descended the stairs to the basement, the group halted.
There was a faint murmur coming from below—
But to Liana's ears, it was much clearer.
"They've noticed us."
She spoke calmly as she drew her greatsword and stepped forward.
The footsteps echoing from below grew louder and closer.
And then, the figure appeared—
"Black-haired dual-swordssmaaaaan!!"
The black hound bellowed with bared teeth.
Its presence was far stronger than before, fueled by a final, desperate resolve.
Its eyes were locked straight on Isaac—
But Liana stepped in front, raising her greatsword.
The blackhound wasn't the only one seeking revenge.
"I didn't have my sword last time—"
She had been overwhelmed by the hound before.
But back then, she was without her greatsword.
Now, she lunged toward the blackhound, stabbing rather than swinging—
A wise choice on the narrow stairs.
Whoosh!
The blackhound leapt to the ceiling and, with its one remaining arm, charged while clinging to the wall.
Its predatory obsession made Isaac's skin tingle for a moment.
But—
A red leash of light wrapped tightly around its neck as it pounced from the ceiling.
"You're not getting through."
Liana thrust her greatsword forward like a spear,
And the hound was yanked back, ripping away from the ceiling and crashing to the floor.
"Ghk!?"
The rest was left to the others.
As if waiting for this moment, the northern warriors lunged with all their might, spears piercing the beast lying on the ground.
At last, the beast closed its eyes.
"Persistent bastard."
"They must've released it from the underground prison."
Missing an arm, half-crippled from imprisonment,
They had been able to handle it relatively easily.
"These are the scariest ones."
Sharen skipped past with a grumble.
Isaac agreed, personally.
Enemies driven by obsession like that—
They had a way of overwhelming you through sheer force of will.
Some of the Transcendents who had released the Black Hound in the underground rushed in, but Isaac, Liana, and Sharen handled them.
There were quite a few, so it took some time—but then Uldren stepped in and cleared them out in an instant.
"Cough, cough!"
He ended up coughing up blood just from moving a little, and his wife smacked him on the back for it.
By the time they arrived underground,
An elderly man familiar to Isaac approached.
"Looks like you're making good use of it."
"Antonio…"
It was Antonio the blacksmith.
The master craftsman who had created the two swords Isaac was using.
"I'm glad you're safe."
"Well, in times like this, all I can do is hide behind the soldiers."
Since he didn't have to fight directly, he naturally managed to survive.
Among the group, there were a few non-combatants, including Vivian, a mage from the Magic Tower.
As Isaac's gaze settled on her, Antonio nudged him with an elbow, giving a subtle hint.
"There's no mana here. He's used up all the mana stored in his body… so now he's just ordinary now."
Isaac had thought he seemed overly dejected—now he understood why.
But no mana?
Even the techniques of Liana and Sharen relied on mana to control aura,
So he'd have to warn them to be careful.
The chill in the underground was even stronger.
Thick white mist flowed between the gray bricks.
Clear ice had already formed in the cracks of the corridor.
"…This was originally a passage for evacuating civilians. I always thought using it as a soldier would be a disgrace."
Looking at the underground passage, Uldren muttered with a bitter tone.
Using an escape route was something that, to him, compromised his honor.
"That's not what matters right now. We have to survive first."
At his wife's words, Uldren fell silent.
He agreed—and he didn't have the strength to keep talking anyway.
A dark underground passage.
"Should I light it with aura?"
Sharen stepped forward and gently ignited a small flame of aura in her palm.
The way she controlled her power with such restraint was something rare in the Helmut family.
Not only that, but she was no longer the girl who used to tremble in fear back in the north.
Even in this dangerous situation, she maintained a bright demeanor.
Not because she was immature—but because it made enduring things easier.
'She's grown quite a bit.'
Despite the situation, she wasn't shrinking back but instead leading the way.
As they moved forward, they spotted a large boulder.
A boulder?
Someone muttered, and the sound echoed down the corridor.
Isaac glanced at Uldren to see if this was expected, but even he wore a puzzled expression.
Could it be that something had blocked the way during the dimensional shift?
"We'll just cut it down."
Liana stepped forward, greatsword in hand, calmly preparing to slice the boulder in two—
"Yo?"
A voice rang out—one they'd never heard before.
The deep tone could've sounded heavy, but the way it spoke stripped it of any gravitas.
Everyone had the same confused expression.
The voice came from the boulder.
"…"
Tap tap.
"H-Hey, that tickles."
When Isaac tapped the boulder with the back of his hand, it answered immediately.
"Hmm… There aren't many beasts here like the ones we know. Most are bizarre and strange."
At Silverna's explanation, everyone looked up at the boulder again.
"This is a beast?"
A boulder that even five or six grown men couldn't hope to lift?
"Maybe…?"
"Is it going to suddenly sprout a mouth and bite us or something?"
Sharen looked skeptical—
And the boulder smirked.
"That's my butt, by the way."
"…"
Sharen's face instantly twisted as if she'd chewed something foul, and she took a step back.
While everyone was still baffled, Liana stepped forward.
"Move."
Her cold voice sliced cleanly through the atmosphere, as it always did.
In moments like this, her demeanor was something they could all rely on.
"Hehe, nope. It feels nice and cool with my butt stuck in here."
"..."
Just when we were starting to feel gross about talking to a butt, Liana ended up drawing her sword again.
"Then I'll just have to slice you in half."
"..."
The thing shut up. Must've gotten scared.
If it could talk, there was no need for violence. Honestly, we were still not even sure if it was actually a beast.
Isaac stepped in, lowering Liana's hand.
"How about just moving out of the way so you don't get split in two? We don't really want to hurt you."
"Oh, what a nice voice."
"..."
"I'm so jealous of people with nice voices. Are you good at singing too?"
"Not reall—"
"He is. Isaac sings really well. He sang for me once before."
Isaac turned to stare at Liana. She pretended not to notice and fixed her eyes on the creature's butt.
Thump! Thooom!
Its butt moved.
A gust of wind blew through the tunnel, brushing over us like waves. The warmth melted some of the chill from our tired bodies.
"Good-looking people always get their way," Sharen said with a smirk.
Anyway, it was a relief that we could talk it out.
The "rock" shifted a few more times and finally moved aside completely.
The dark sky outside finally greeted us.
We had clearly entered through an underground tunnel, but we had somehow emerged at the foot of a mountain. Maybe the space had been oddly warped through some kind of sorcery—but thanks to that, we got out easily.
"It really is a rock…"
From the outside, the huge rock loomed over us.
It had stone arms, legs, and even a face. And somehow, it didn't look all that unnatural—more like it just belonged that way.
"Thanks, for hel—"
Just as Isaac tried to express his gratitude—
"Ahh! I-I didn't recognize youuu!"
The rock dropped flat on its face and began trembling violently as it screamed.
A rock, trembling and groveling, really shouldn't make sense, but that's exactly what we were seeing.
"…That's kinda cute," Sharen muttered with a chuckle.
While we were all dumbfounded by the absurd situation, the rock kept begging for its life.
"I-I'm sorry I didn't recognize a Transcendent! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for making you talk to my butt!"
"Hm?"
"Please spare me! I'm begging you! I didn't mean to play a trick on you! I don't want to become a brick! I'm not as hard as the others! I'm not even good enough to be part of a wall!"
Isaac's eyes naturally shifted toward the two women.
Liana and Sharen.
Both descended from the bloodline of the Transcendents known as Helmut.
The rock must've mistaken them for actual Transcendents.
We can use this.
Quick on the uptake, Isaac gave Liana and Sharen a subtle signal with his eyes.
A silent cue to act like Transcendents.
Liana nodded in understanding.
But how exactly do you pretend to be a Transcendent?
While she hesitated and mulled it over—
"Hey, you bastard! Didn't I tell you to bow properly?! Get your face in the dirt like you're trying to bury yourself!"
Sharen, as if waiting for this moment, jumped right into character.
*
*
*
[TL Note]
Access 10 additional chapters on my Ko-fi page.
Link: https://ko-fi.com/astrascans