The madness that was not felt before was now visible in the charging Brikala.
Like a warhorse being whipped, he forcibly maintained an awakened state by electrifying his own body.
The sight of him charging on two legs and four hands was enough to intimidate any human.
But here, the man twisted from the human path moved first.
“Glory to Helmunth!”
Jonathan, the one who longed for Helmunth.
The sticky, thick aura emanating from his greatsword had transformed into something beyond mere descent.
Kwaaang!
The moment the two monsters clashed, aura and electricity scattered in all directions.
The balance of power was broken from the very beginning.
Upon impact, Jonathan’s greatsword was deflected, and he was pushed back as Brikala crushed and trampled over him.
“Guhk!”
“What the hell, acting all tough and then this?!”
Jonathan was taken down so quickly that Sharen’s reaction was a beat too late.
Before her horizontal slash could even be swung, Brikala deflected the greatsword with his fist.
With wide eyes, Sharen desperately tried to resist by emitting a descent aura from her entire body, but…
“Kyaah!”
Sharen too was unable to stop Brikala’s charge and was flung back, hitting the wall.
If the direction had been slightly off, she would have fallen straight down.
“……!”
Brikala’s target had been Isaac from the very beginning.
He clearly recognized the one who had almost taken his life here.
‘There’s no chance of winning in a head-on fight…!’
But there was nowhere to run either.
With Sharen now distant, Isaac’s body was once again freezing in the cold.
Kwoong!
He stomped his right foot forward.
Abandoning his spear, he placed his hand on the last remaining sword at his waist.
[What do you think is the greatest power of your master’s sword?]
‘Fear.’
At the time, Isaac answered without difficulty, and the Grand Master chuckled, grumbling, [Too outstanding, not cute at all.]
There was no hesitation in Isaac’s actions.
The moment his trembling, frozen hands touched the sword hilt, he felt an unbelievable sense of freedom.
He knows how to use his head.
He has wisdom, thinks, learns, and grows.
And because of that.
Kwoong!
Brikala stopped in front of Isaac and spread his four hands wide, as if on guard.
‘He fears because he knows. He guards because he has learned.’
Isaac was now asking.
His draw cut.
Could you follow it with your eyes?
A flash-like sword strike.
Could you block it again, like you did by chance last time?
Brikala’s unwavering gaze fixed on Isaac’s sword.
He was focused on when and how the blade within the scabbard would be drawn.
Bluff.
A lie played with lives, like in a card game.
The sword?
The moment it’s drawn, it would be swept by electricity, the blade ruined, becoming a sword that couldn’t even cut air.
But he doesn’t know if the sword at his waist is the same as the one before.
‘Thought holds back his feet. Knowledge builds fear.’
Having felt the possibility once, and with anger awakened within the horror.
Conversely, Brikala couldn’t easily approach Isaac.
But of course, that was only temporary.
“Kwaaaang!”
As Brikala’s fist slammed the ground, electricity surged through the wall, engulfing Isaac.
A wave of electricity poured down.
He threw the spear beside him to block it, but it was barely effective.
Finally, the electricity engulfed Isaac.
“Kkhheuuuk!”
It felt like his entire body would burst.
Just moments ago, his body felt like it was freezing, but now his skin was burning, emitting a charred smell and steam.
“Kryaaaah!”
Finally judging that Isaac had completely fallen, Brikala approached with heavy footsteps.
Whack!
He struck Isaac with all his might on the back of his hand.
“Isaac!”
Sharen’s scream was heard.
Thanks to that, Jonathan, who had been knocked out, woke up, but it was already too late.
Isaac’s body floated up and was pushed outside the wall, then fell vertically.
The shock felt like his frozen body was being crushed. Even the wind passing through his body was painful.
This is how I die.
“He- fell- down!”
“All- take- cover!”
“Isaac- nim!”
The intermittent voices, like tinnitus, barely held onto Isaac’s consciousness.
In his hazy, whitish vision, what came into view was the towering wall.
‘Ah.’
Without realizing it, Isaac had already reached the ground.
But there was no impact.
He thought he would die instantly.
“So what were you trying to do?!”
The reason was quickly apparent.
The warm green mana enveloping his body.
The pain that felt like it was pounding his entire body gradually seeped into his skin and disappeared.
His fingers twitched, and his blurred vision returned to normal.
The medic, Vivian.
“If I hadn’t caught you with magic, you would have died instantly without even getting treatment!”
He shouted while coughing violently.
“You said to run away-! Cough cough! What were you thinking fighting up there-! Hack! Kehk!”
He turned his head to the side and spat out phlegm.
Using healing magic was too much of a strain; his face looked haggard, indicating he had exhausted most of his mana.
“Ah.”
Isaac slowly got up.
He wasn’t in perfect condition, but he could fight again.
“Isaac nim, are you okay?!”
The soldiers of the Malidan Wall surrounding him asked with concern.
“Casualties, situation?”
As Isaac brushed off the ice crystals on his body, the answer came immediately.
“Except for the initial ambush, none. Thanks to your quick judgment in ordering a retreat.”
They seemed to want to reassure him that his decision wasn’t wrong.
But Isaac pushed through the soldiers blocking his way and trudged towards the wall.
“It’s not over yet.”
Up there, Sharen and Jonathan were still fighting Brikala.
With heavy footsteps, he moved forward.
Other soldiers hurriedly blocked his path.
“You can’t!”
“Going now is suicide!”
“Let us go instead! You rest here, Isaac nim!”
“Protecting the Malidan Wall is our duty from the start!”
To those who all insisted on going themselves, Isaac asked with bloodshot eyes.
“Going up? You all want to freeze to death?”
“…….”
“The defenders of the Malidan Wall are you guys. So stay here.”
If.
“If we die, you guys have to hold the line next.”
The longer you stay on the wall…
Brikala’s damage is piling up.
If you can’t kill it, you have to fight it from above for as long as possible to tire it out.
“Because you have our backs, you can fight with your life on the line.”
The speechless soldiers couldn’t stop Isaac as he moved forward.
But what blocked his path was a completely unexpected man.
“What happened to the other swords?”
“Antonio…”
He snatched Isaac’s stance as if stealing it and drew his sword.
Swoosh!
The blade was completely ruined, blackened and unusable.
It seemed to have been destroyed when Isaac was struck by lightning.
“Give me the sword.”
He reached out his hand, demanding the silver stance Antonio was holding.
“I wasn’t planning to give it to you like this.”
But now wasn’t the time for that.
Antonio handed over the silver stance, struggling to explain his mixed emotions before finally laughing it off.
“Save your thanks… for when you come back. Give them to the lady directly.”
Isaac’s eyes widened slightly.
The stance in his hand was surprisingly light and carried a mysteriously pure energy.
He instantly recognized it as a stance made of Frost Silver.
As Isaac nodded slightly and walked back inside, his body began to heat up.
“Cough! Hack! Cough!”
Seeing him vomit like that, it seemed Vivian had cast a warming spell on Isaac’s body as a last resort.
He moved toward the barrier.
The soldiers slowly raised their hands, making way for him.
Without a word.
They saluted the swordsman’s back as he marched to battle, showing their respect.
—
[Realization?]
The stairs leading up to the barrier.
In the midst of the chilling cold, the sensation of his brain freezing over returned.
Isaac’s ears rang with the voice of his beloved Grand Master.
[When did you gain realization? Huh, I thought my disciples’ growth had been slow lately, but now you’re asking such trivial questions.]
The Grand Master, tilting his wine glass, sighed and asked again.
[When do you think it was?]
‘……’
[Hm? Answer me. I won’t laugh.]
‘When you fight for your life? When you swing your sword with all your might, or when you focus on surviving, right?’
[How romantic!]
Well, I guess everyone imagines it that way.
Shedding a layer of yourself, the moment of realization surely comes.
In such a desperate crisis.
With your back against the cliff.
[Let me ask you this instead.]
The Grand Master, regretfully shaking the empty wine bottle, straightened his posture and smiled at Isaac.
[Then why do people die?]
‘……’
[A life-or-death moment? A crisis of life? That happens to everyone. It’s a common situation. Do you gain realization every time?]
His steps grew heavy.
[Everyone dies. Don’t put weight on death. Realization is called so because it doesn’t come from something common.]
The wind blew as if pressing down on his head, signaling the end of the stairs.
Isaac, completely frozen, passed the stairs covered in frost and icicles, arriving at the top of the barrier.
[Haha! How about it? Do you understand now?]
‘What do you mean?’
The high-altitude wind swept through his body.
A white, frosty breath flowed out.
Amid the flowing white mist, Jonathan and Sharen lay collapsed.
[Still don’t get it? Realization isn’t universal, so it’s considered precious. Think of it the other way around.]
Brikala, who had been pounding its chest with four hands, stopped moving.
Tired of returning again, it snorted at Isaac, pouring out its blazing anger with a roar.
[Realization doesn’t come from something everyone experiences, but from situations you rarely encounter, right?]
Scattering the falling snow, lightning spears stabbed in all directions.
The condensed mana took the form of lightning, and Isaac marveled at the sheer amount still remaining.
‘What is it?’
He took his stance.
His right leg boldly stepped forward.
His left leg anchored his body like a pillar.
As his hand rested on the stance at his waist, the posture he always took naturally formed.
[What is it, you ask?]
The Grand Master’s crescent-like smile.
[You should know well, since you wrote the manual.]
[Who was it that swung their sword when the moon was brightest?]
‘……’
[Who was it that held their sword at dawn, under the watch of the stars?]
[Or, who was it that watched the moon retreat and the sunrise, drenched in sweat?]
[Who was it that shouted their battle cry before the rooster’s crow?]
[Who was it that repeated this every day?]
[It’s rare, isn’t it? Someone who spends their time like that.]
Thud!
The sound of the Grand Master and Brikala’s footsteps overlapped as they struck the ground with their scabbards.
Isaac, snapping back to attention, saw Brikala keeping its distance, eyeing him cautiously.
[That’s the one.]
‘……’
[That’s the one who has reached what you call realization.]
Crackle!
Brikala’s lightning poured out in all directions. Just like before, it aimed to suppress Isaac’s sword with a wave of electric current.
The sword slid out smoothly.
Here, in the north.
He swung his sword when the moon was brightest.
He held his sword at dawn, under the watch of the stars.
He watched the moon retreat and the sunrise, drenched in sweat.
He shouted his battle cry before the rooster’s crow.
And.
He repeated this every day.
“The moment you draw it—.”
Because he had reached beyond the end.
It’s called the Great Iaido.
A silver line was drawn.
It stretched, and stretched, reaching somewhere unknown.
Cutting off the demon’s head.
Was simply one step in the process of moving forward.
[If you call it realization, doesn’t it seem pitiful?]
[So, if we must name it.]
[It is Transcendence.]
