Dust rose, climbing up the towering spire.
The scene unfolding before their eyes was so unexpected that everyone was momentarily stunned.
"What are you doing!?"
Sharen, running with a greatsword slung over her shoulder, shouted at the group.
She was demanding to know why they were hesitating when she had already cleared a path for them.
At her urging cry, everyone began to run frantically.
Thanks to the path Nureumdol had opened, they reached the tower in no time.
The ones who had been guarding it now found themselves on the other side — chasing instead of blocking.
The Transcendents of Danseongdae scrambled to catch up and stop the group.
"Agh, haaaah?!"
Nureumdol, eyes spinning dizzily, had crashed headfirst into the magic tower and lay sprawled on the ground.
Sharen slapped him a few times while shouting,
"Hey! Get up! We've gotta go!"
"I-I can't move…"
"What are you saying?! You have to come with me! Are you just going to die here?!"
"I-I said I won't do that—"
With her brute strength, Sharen pulled Nureumdol to his feet. Given his massive size, one might have doubted whether he could even climb stairs.
But the stairs inside were surprisingly wide.
Among the sacrificial offerings used in the rituals were beasts, so the structure seemed built to accommodate them.
Isaac reached the entrance.
Just in time, Liana arrived as well. She came running, her greatsword stained with blood from the Transcendents she'd already cut down.
"..."
She didn't seem to fully understand what was going on,
But it was clear enough that the tower's main gate had been destroyed, creating an opening to enter.
"The Transcendents in the village are causing a commotion. Fanatics consumed by ideology… they're far more blindly devoted than I expected."
Liana gave a brief summary and shared her thoughts.
It seemed she was quite moved by how these doomsday cultists were truly willing to die for their beliefs.
In any case,
Thanks to the chaos, they had managed to buy time before other Transcendent reinforcements could arrive.
Now, the problem was climbing the tower before the Primordial Transcendents showed up.
As they ascended the stairs, only their heavy breathing echoed in the air.
Each of them was desperately racing upward as if chasing an answer, their anxiety dripping like beads of sweat.
"Isaac, really—"
Silverna started to speak but then closed her mouth.
If they climbed higher… would they be able to cross into the human world?
Nameless had clearly said:
If they reached the origin of the ritual, they could cross into the human realm.
And this tower — this was the place.
It wasn't the Transcendents chasing them now, but anxiety.
But there was no room for regret.
From the moment this situation began, running here had been inevitable.
If they'd fled, there'd be no future.
And if they'd wasted more time outside the city, the sinners would have grown suspicious, and they wouldn't have been able to step foot in this land.
'This is the best we can do.'
Believing they had placed their bet on the most likely chance, they could only press forward.
With each floor they climbed, hope and fear built up together.
Their chattering teeth could no longer form words.
They cut down Transcendents who appeared to be sorcerers as they advanced.
Inside, the tower looked most like a laboratory.
Even as sweat dripped from their foreheads, the air reeked with a chilling stench of blood.
Dim candles were placed at the ends of each staircase,
But they only made the center of the stairs darker.
As they climbed, overwhelmed by disgust and dread, a chilling sensation passed overhead.
"...!"
Liana and Uldren were the first to look up.
But it was already too late.
The creature had already taken two soldiers' heads, dangling them in its hands.
Eyes black as pitch.
Fangs bared, and bat wings draped like a cape over its back.
Stories had long circulated — of humans who drank human blood.
Now, it was clear those tales hadn't been spread for nothing.
Someone, at some time, must have seen this woman. That's how the rumors began.
"Ah, so sweet. Human blood is just too sweet."
Dangling upside down from the ceiling, the woman licked the severed neck to quench her thirst.
The blood smeared around her lips only added to the horror.
In that moment of building fear, Isaac unconsciously muttered a name.
"Jonathan…?"
"Hm?"
"..."
Sharen and Silverna reacted at the same time, studying the woman carefully.
Then, their eyes widened as they nodded.
"It's true! She looks just like Jonathan! Is she his sister? Or maybe his mother?!"
"She looks like him when he went berserk…"
However, the woman showed no particular reaction.
It wasn't so much that she didn't care—more like she didn't acknowledge Jonathan's existence at all.
From her overwhelming presence and the aura she exuded, it was obvious she was a Primordial Transcendent.
The fact that Jonathan was a half-Primordial was unexpected, but there was no time to care about that now.
It wasn't like talking about Jonathan would make her show mercy.
She hadn't followed them from outside; she had been waiting inside all along.
Judging from her bat-like appearance, it seemed she stayed here because she was active at night.
Even in this tense situation, the bat-like woman remained astonishingly calm and composed.
"..."
And just like that, she fled.
Uldren and Liana were here. No matter how strong a Primordial Transcendent was, it wouldn't be easy to fight them head-on.
But the fact that she simply came, took what she wanted, and left with barely any resistance—
It was more unpleasant than expected.
Screeeeech!
But there was one woman who couldn't simply let her comrade's death go.
Crack!
Silverna's spear grazed the woman's side. The woman frowned, twisted her body, and clung to the ceiling, glaring at Silverna.
"Hey! You think it ends just like that?"
Two comrades who had come with them to this place had died in an instant.
No matter how used they were to death, that didn't mean it didn't hurt.
And Silverna was not someone who could just move on from it.
"..."
The woman's eyes, darkened and devoid of pupils, fixed themselves on Silverna.
Devoid of emotion, they twitched at the brow as if targeting prey—not with hatred or rage, but cold intent.
Screee!
Once again, the woman twisted her body and fled. Swift and rational, unshaken by emotion.
"Hey!"
Silverna shouted urgently, but Isaac wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back.
"Silverna! Get a grip!"
Silverna clenched her teeth.
She'd been like this before.
There was a time when she couldn't make sound decisions because she'd been overwhelmed by the deaths of her comrades.
It was during Polo's death—when they fought the Yeti of the Grand Colony.
But Silverna wasn't a woman foolish enough to repeat the same mistake twice.
"Damn iiiiiiiiiiit!"
Screaming with a raw, ripping voice, Silverna ascended the stairs once again.
Having witnessed her comrades' deaths right before her eyes, she could only move forward—
For the sake of those still at her side.
They continued to advance, dealing with the remaining Transcendents behind them.
The deliberately released beasts, the Transcendents preparing spells, and the Danseongdae chasing them—
Even so, a sticky unease continued to weigh heavily on her neck.
'Why aren't the Primordial Transcendents showing themselves?'
The question lingered, but their steps could not stop.
Before long, they reached the top of the tower.
A fierce wind blew.
Though it couldn't be seen from below, the top of the tower was open to the sky.
A shrine stood beneath a particularly bright silver star.
The black stains soaked deep into it were clearly hardened blood.
And then—
Standing there instead of the long-awaited portal to another dimension—
It was Helik, who had once claimed to be the ancestor of Helmut, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Beside him, Nameless had her head lowered, her face hidden by her bamboo hat as though trying to conceal a conflicted expression.
"I can see right through what you came here for. It's almost enough to bring tears to my eyes."
A sneer on his lips.
His voice more like a hum than speech.
The red light forming at the tip of Helix's staff began to threaten the group once again.
"You want to go to the human realm?"
"..."
"You really thought it would be that easy?"
Their fears were becoming reality.
Had Nameless betrayed them?
No—probably not.
If she had betrayed them, she would've killed them when they first met.
She simply didn't know either. Didn't understand how this place truly operated.
"After receiving a report that Uldren wasn't killed at the Malidan wall, I immediately sealed it off. Just in case he might make it here."
The sound of Transcendents climbing up from below echoed behind them.
The intense and overwhelming hostility of the Primordial Transcendents filled the air.
This was it.
A desperate gamble for survival.
They had known the odds were slim from the start.
Everyone knew.
But they never spoke of it—because admitting it would have meant giving up.
"..."
Isaac felt warmth in his hand.
When he glanced to the side, Silverna was holding his hand.
"Hey."
Hiding her flowing tears, Silverna smiled faintly and tightened her grip.
"I love you."
"...!"
She confessed her feelings in a whisper.
"I—"
"Don't answer."
Slowly letting go of his hand, Silverna gripped her spear tightly.
"If you accept it, I might regret it."
The emotion rising in her eyes was not hard to read.
"Because then I'll start wanting more."
Her released hand trembled. But he couldn't hold it again.
Step, step.
Heavy footsteps filled with sorrow.
To protect her master, Nameless stepped forward, staring at Isaac with a blank expression.
"I didn't think you'd come so soon."
"Neither did we."
"Yes… nothing ever goes according to plan."
There was bitterness in her voice, the sound of regret.
Nameless, genuinely dismayed, placed her hand on the greatsword at her waist.
Just as her lightning-fast slash was about to signal the start of battle—
"Spare that one."
Nameless froze, turning her head.
Helik pointed at Isaac and spoke.
"I've thought long and hard."
"..."
"You truly insulted me. Calling me, the origin and the Primordial, a mere imitation."
That belief hadn't changed even now.
His swordsmanship was a crude imitation that hadn't even grasped the basics.
A style that had clear limits, starting from mere mimicry.
"At first, I was disgusted. I don't know how many nights I stayed awake, wanting to kill you."
"Did you feel shame, perhaps?"
At Isaac's sarcasm, a sly smile appeared on Helik's lips.
"Yes, I was ashamed. Deeply ashamed. As if my flaws had been exposed."
But that wasn't the expression of someone who was ashamed.
It was the expression of someone who had overcome it.
"But day by day, I began to see you differently. Even the direct descendants of Helmut couldn't see through my false swordsmanship."
"..."
"But you did. So if I take you in, won't my sword finally be complete?"
BOOM!
The tip of Helik's staff slammed into the ground.
In that moment—
A red magic circle began to form in the room, and the altar began to move.
With an echo like an opera, Helik cried out.
"Isaac! Ahh! Isaac Logan!"
The entire scene felt like a grand theatrical stage, with Helik as the lead actor—his gaze fixed solely on Isaac.
"Now this is truly desirable, O wise one! Ahh! All the knowledge you've amassed your entire life—!"
The magic circle roared to life.
The red light flew toward Isaac to consume him.
"Offer it to me—!"
Subjugation.
A spell to turn humans into their slaves.
As it shot straight toward Isaac—
Above the black sky,
A lone silver star shone ever more brightly.
As if—
Greeting the child who had Chased the star.
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[TL Note]
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