Memories of becoming a Familiar are short.
Not much research has been done on it, and not much has been revealed.
The fact that it’s done on ordinary humans.
Isaac, too, at the end of his past life.
He found out during the final battle.
It was still a vivid memory.
Flames and smoke rose from all directions, and the castle named “Everholt,” guarded by the Grand Master and his disciples, was collapsing.
What happened to Silbern, who was guarding the walls?
What about the other disciples of the Grand Master?
Is the Grand Master okay?
With these questions swirling in his mind, Isaac looked up at the sky, feeling troubled.
The Transcendental Tribe’s momentum was too overwhelming to even think of running away with a cane.
Isaac stood there, silently accepting his death.
Then, an old nemesis arrived.
[Brother-in-law! Kheh! Long time no see!]
There weren’t many people who would call him “brother-in-law.”
And that frivolous voice didn’t belong to anyone from Helmunth.
‘Alois?’
[Wow, I really didn’t expect you to still be alive, brother-in-law!]
His once-glossy red hair had lost its luster, and his whites had turned black, revealing a glimpse of madness.
The two horns sprouting from his head signified the loss of his humanity.
[Hahaha! I get to see all these familiar faces!]
‘How did you…?’
[After being kicked out of Helmunth, They picked me up! Haha! So, how have you been, brother-in-law? Still limping from when I broke your leg?]
‘……!’
Alois, who had harbored lustful thoughts toward his sister, couldn’t hide his ugly desires and was eventually exiled from Helmunth.
[Ah, I’m so glad. Really glad. I can finally kill you, brother-in-law. I could never forgive you for even once trying to take my sister.]
‘You’ve become one of Their Familiars?’
[Of course. It’s a blessing to be a child of the great Helmunth. Even after being kicked out, it’s thanks to the name Helmunth that I can run wild like this.]
If the Transcendental Tribe wanted to turn someone into a Familiar, they’d want a strong human.
Helmunth was the perfect vessel.
[Surprisingly, becoming a Familiar suits me well. Ah, Helmunth! Great Helmunth!]
The greatsword in Alois’s hand twitched. Isaac knew that soon, that sword would strike his neck.
‘In the end.’
Both ruining his life.
And ending it.
It was Alois.
[Where’s my sister’s body?]
Alois licked his protruding fangs and asked.
Just as Isaac was about to sigh at Alois, who still hadn’t given up his lust for Rianna.
A red line was drawn across his neck.
Thud!
Alois, not even realizing he was dead, collapsed to the ground, gushing black blood.
Beyond him.
The Grand Master stood, holding his greatsword.
[What a foul stench of blood.]
The Grand Master, with his wolf ears perked up, gave Isaac a sly smile.
*
“Guhk!”
Meladik’s scream echoed as his back hit a tree.
From the rustling in the forest, it seemed there were wild animals nearby.
The snow piled on the branches fell and covered Meladik, but ironically, it saved him from Polu’s follow-up attack.
“Khehahahaha!”
Polu laughed gleefully.
He immediately turned his head to find his next target.
“Ah, I hated you.”
Polu pointed at Isaac, waving his hand. Something seemed to push him as he charged forward in a bizarre posture. But Sharen stepped in to block him.
Clang!
“Guhk!”
Crimson energy erupted from her entire body. Helmunth’s unique aura, which could also be used like armor, was holding back Polu’s advance.
“Helmunth already lost earlier! Why are you still fighting, ahhh!”
“Shut up!”
The two clashed swords, locked in a struggle of strength.
Sharen bent her knees slightly, digging her toes into the ground.
The veins on her arms bulged as her sword trembled, showing how much effort she was putting in.
“Move! Move! Move!”
Snowflakes scattered.
The black aura spreading around gradually swallowed Sharen’s deep crimson.
Sharen, reminded of the time she was swallowed by black liquid, almost froze in fear.
“Push him back!”
At Isaac’s shout from behind, she clenched her teeth and focused her energy.
In an instant, Sharen’s crimson energy surged forward like a torrent.
Flame Wave.
A unique technique of Helmunth.
The aura, as fierce as steel, flared up like flames, forcing Polu to stagger back.
At that moment.
Isaac, passing by Sharen, thrust his sword with both hands.
Crunch!
The target was Polu’s chest.
Near where the ‘bone’ was embedded.
“Guaaahhh!”
Unlike before, Polu writhed in extreme pain.
Startled, he twisted his body to deflect the sword and then fled in a panic.
“Ahk! Kheh! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!”
“Hah! Hah! It, it worked, Isaac.”
“…….”
Sharen panted heavily.
The aftermath of using the Flame Wave had weakened her crimson aura.
“Anna, how’s Meladik?”
“He’s fine. Don’t worry.”
“Guhk.”
Anna had pulled Meladik out of the snow pile.
Meladik, who had hit the tree, didn’t look good, possibly having broken something.
Meanwhile, without a moment to rest.
“Youuu! I hated youuu!”
Polu pointed at Isaac with a trembling finger.
“You hated me?”
Isaac raised his sword to chest level, ready to counterattack at any moment.
“You’re, you’re just like me! You were abandoned by your family too! You were treated like trash, weren’t you!”
“Ahem!”
Sharen awkwardly cleared her throat.
“Why do you work so hard every day! You make me, make me feel pathetic! Because of you! Even as a commoner, you never slack off!”
Polu’s voice was filled with resentment.
Raw emotions are truly like filth.
Isaac had felt it through Alois, and now Polu reminded him of it again.
The rationality built through life’s values.
The common sense filled through education.
With those gone, Polu’s naked jealousy and desires were exposed.
“I could’ve done it too if I had Silbern with me! I could’ve done it if I had Helmunth’s support! I know! I know! I couldn’t do it! That’s right! I’m nothing! I hate holding a sword! Is it just jealousy? I know! Is it ugly? I know!”
It was as if his tongue had been pierced.
The metaphor fit perfectly.
He poured out words he should’ve held back.
It wasn’t his will.
His tongue spat out what his brain thought, exposing his thoughts raw until his mind changed.
“I’m sorry, Mother! I’m sorry, Father! I’m, I’m a sinner! Aaah! I’m a sinnnner!”
“Something.”
Watching Polu beat his chest, Sharen’s brow furrowed.
“Seems pitiful.”
Isaac slowly raised his sword.
Oh, I posted it.
“A sinner, you say?”
“Yeah, I’m a sinner!”
When asked a question, I answer.
This was Isaac’s reverse-engineered method of using the Familial Transformation.
“Why? Why are you a sinner?”
“Because I’m ignorant! Stupid! Lazy! Unworthy! No! I shouldn’t answer!”
Hearing the question, I think of the answer.
Only after spilling the words do I realize I shouldn’t have answered.
“The Transcendental Tribe your family colluded with cast a spell on you.”
“Transcendental Tribe? A spell? What’s that? I don’t know! Ah! Don’t make me answer!”
“It’s a spell called Familial Transformation. Don’t you really remember when it was?”
“Familial Transformation? I don’t know! I don’t know! Ah, was it that time?”
“That time?”
“That time! When I pretended to be asleep! My mother came and did something to me! There was someone I’d never seen before beside me!”
Folu, as if remembering that time, clutched his head and screamed.
“It hurt! It hurt so much! Something was carved into my chest! That person saw I wasn’t asleep! They knew I was actually awake!”
“But I endured it! I endured it! Because! That’s what my mother wanted! I wanted her to use me like that! Mother! Ah! My mother! Nooo! Don’t say it! It’s a secretttt!”
Bang bang bang!
Even as he kneels and bangs his head on the ground, telling himself not to speak, the words keep pouring out.
“Because I’m a sinner! I’m a sinner! I wanted to atone like that! Mother! Father! Ah! I’m a sinner of the Black Hand!”
Swoosh.
Isaac slowly approaches him.
Folu shudders and chokes.
“If you come closer, I’ll kill you! Seolin! Seolin will be here soon-!”
Whoosh!
Snowflakes scatter.
The sound of Seolin, pierced through the heart by Silbern’s spear, kneeling and collapsing.
“Ahhh! Seolin! No! Silbern is beautiful! Ah! Isaac! Am I, am I going to die?!”
“…I guess so.”
With a bitter gaze, Isaac stands before him.
Folu stands up and clashes swords.
“Fine, kill me! Kill me! I’m a sinner! I couldn’t even fulfill my mother and father’s wishes! I couldn’t even do this! Ah! I’m a sinner! I must die to atone!”
At that moment.
“I’ll ambush you!”
Folu’s sword flashes and swings.
A dark energy desperately scatters, adding power to Folu’s final strike, but.
“Uh, ugh?!”
It slashed through empty air.
Before he knew it, Isaac had crouched and stabbed Folu’s chest with the Pulsun again.
The Pulsun, along with the bone, digs into the wound.
“Gwaaaaaah!”
As Folu tries to escape again, Isaac releases the Pulsun and grabs the bone with both hands.
Swoosh!
As Folu pulls his body back to escape, the bone embedded in his heart is pulled out, and his body loses strength.
“Guh! Huh?!”
Folu gasps for breath.
The dark energies scatter like the northern snowflakes, beginning to purify and disappear.
Left alone, Folu looks up with surprised eyes.
“Huh, huh, how?”
To the question of how he knew the final strike.
Releasing the bone, Isaac answered bitterly.
“Because you tried to wield the Black Hand’s sword until the end.”
Somehow.
I want to be recognized by my mother and father.
I want to be praised by my mother and father.
I want to be loved by my mother and father.
Being honest about desires wasn’t just Folu’s mouth.
“If you had just relied on strength to swing, I wouldn’t have been able to react.”
However, his wish to use the Black Hand family’s swordsmanship, no matter how shabby.
Conversely, it became the sword that pierced Folu’s heart.
“Ha, haha… hahaha.”
Folu looks up at the white sky, tears streaming.
As if the aftermath still lingers.
He pours out the words in his heart.
“Actually, I didn’t want to wield a sword.”
“…”
“I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared to muster courage.”
“…”
“I enjoyed cooking. When I first learned to pack lunchboxes from a chef, I was really excited.”
“…”
“But I shouldn’t have! I had to wield a sword! I shouldn’t have found joy in cooking! I curse myself! I curse myself!”
“I’m sorry, mother, father. I shouldn’t have been born into the Black Hand.”
“It’s all my fault. I, I committed a sin.”
Isaac approaches Folu.
He kneels on one knee before him.
“Accepting differences. It took me a long time too.”
“I, am… a sinner…”
“Then, I am also a sinner.”
“You, too?”
Folu’s voice becomes intermittent.
On the verge of letting go of life.
“I want to live.”
Folu sheds tears.
“I’m sorry.”
“I, want to… live.”
“The only comfort I can offer you is-.”
“I want… to live…”
“I will definitely find the one who made you like this and make them pay for their sins.”
At those words.
Folu’s eyes widen.
The one who made him like this.
Was the Black Hand family.
The original Folu would have shouted to protect his parents.
He would have answered to somehow defend his family.
But.
The true feelings of the Familial Transformed Folu.
“Thank you.”
Came out as an answer.
Smiling like that.
Folu left, his eyes filled with the northern white sky.
Again, I repeat.
[Are you kidding? You can’t even do this? Do you plan to live as a disgrace to the family?!]
The boy’s mistake.
Was not being interested in swords.
[Why are you so weak-willed? Do you plan to tarnish the family name? How do you expect to welcome them like this-!]
Also, the boy’s mistake.
Was not being able to muster courage in the face of threats.
[You, cooking? Praise? Have you ever seen such a lunatic! Bring the cane immediately!]
Loving cooking and wanting to show it off.
This was also the boy’s mistake.
[Why did a child like you… sigh, a child who should have been born in a slum, from my womb-.]
Perhaps the boy’s biggest mistake.
Was being born here, in the Black Hand, without knowing his place.
So actually.
The boy did nothing wrong.
