[Do you have any guesses as to why you've returned?]
[Could I have a drink too?]
'Hm?'
The residence of Baron Volten.
After a major incident, Sharen, who had briefly fallen asleep, opened her eyes in the darkness.
Her body, still weary, refused to move, making it easy to pretend she was still asleep.
[I wasn't planning to deny it, but hearing you talk like this, I can't help but believe it truly was regression.]
[So, the knowledge you have of swordsmanship is from the era when you were known as the Silent Sword.]
The Grandmaster's tone sounded almost amused.
Sharen, who just wanted to go back to sleep, buried her face in the pillow with her eyes closed.
[That's right. You always used to call me a child chasing the stars, Grandmaster.]
[So that's why you shone so beautifully.]
'What are they even talking about?'
Sharen was having trouble following along.
The two of them were speaking as if there were another world entirely.
'Now that I think about it, Isaac used to write a lot…'
Could it be a story from one of his novels?
I hope it's a fun one.
[I think… the me from that era was disappointed.]
[Disappointed…?]
[Disappointed in humanity.]
'What does that even mean?'
The Grandmaster from that era?
Does Isaac include the Grandmaster in his stories too?
'Am I in it as well?'
That would be nice.
It'd be great if I appeared as someone super beautiful and super strong.
A swordswoman who could knock down Liana, Lohengrin, all of them!
[I will trust in you.]
[And I will stand on the side of humanity.]
At the Grandmaster's words, Isaac bowed his head deeply in gratitude.
'What is this…'
Sharen was now seriously struggling to follow along.
Was this about getting permission to have the Grandmaster side with people in a story?
Even for a novel, this felt a bit much.
[By the way.]
The Grandmaster, slightly tipsy from another sip, smiled softly and patted Isaac on the shoulder.
[How does it feel to regress? Did it make you feel omniscient, like you knew everything?]
Again.
Here we go again.
Seriously.
'What does "regression" even mean?!'
***
Later that evening.
The place prepared by someone claiming to be Rankellon's ally wasn't half bad.
It was a large warehouse, and it must've been well-maintained since there wasn't even a speck of dust floating around.
There was a faint yet intoxicatingly sweet scent in the air—perhaps it had previously been used to store alcohol.
People entering a warehouse wasn't something strange from an outsider's perspective.
Last time, it was alcohol. This time, it was humans.
From the transcendent beings' point of view, both were simply goods.
"Well, whatever it is, at least we get to rest a bit."
Isaac and Silverna sat down, having removed the ropes that had been tied around their wrists, and began to talk.
"We should get moving soon. Even if it's Liana and Sharen, they won't be able to keep pretending to be transcendents for too long."
Surely, some of the Transcendent would have noticed by now.
There's no time.
They had to reach the "Tower That Touched the Sky" as quickly as possible and find a way back to the human world there.
According to what Rankellon said, that was the most common method to cross over to the human world.
"Sigh… I really don't know how we ended up on this grand adventure. It was so much easier guarding the Wall of Malidan."
At Silverna's grumbling, Isaac couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
Sadly, the Wall of Malidan was now gone, but even so, they had protected the soldiers of the North.
Isaac valued them more than the wall itself, so he had no regrets or lingering regrets.
"Liana and Sharen must be happy. I bet they're resting in nice rooms again, huh?"
"Well, yeah."
The two were misunderstood by Rankellon as Primordial Transcendent.
From Rankellon's perspective, even if Isaac had to sleep outside, those two would be given better accommodations.
'…Still, I'm a bit worried.'
He was especially worried about Sharen.
Right after witnessing her cluelessness in not even knowing what the word "regression" meant—and thinking all this time that Isaac was just writing some novel—
'That was seriously dumb, even for her.'
But it was just so fitting for Sharen that Isaac decided not to dwell on it any further.
"Someone's coming."
At that moment, Uldren Caldias slowly got up and pulled his spear from where it had been hidden among the luggage.
The wind blew between the buildings of the city, carrying hurried footsteps.
They weren't alone—just from the sound of them, you could tell they were thieves.
Everyone responded to Uldren's words and stood up.
Isaac cautiously moved toward the door, and Silverna followed quietly behind him.
'I'm pretty much the only one here with a real weapon.'
The weapons the Northmen held were closer to clubs than actual arms.
Due to the long and arduous battles, their gear had worn down and was barely functioning.
Though Antonio the blacksmith had tried his best to maintain it on the journey to the land of origins, there were limits without proper tools.
And then—
Clunk!
The door opened, and the moment a horse-headed transcendent entered, carrying a bundle and a butcher's knife—
In that instant, Isaac's Iaido flashed out, slicing clean through the thick neck of the horse before it could react.
The target didn't even have time to react, only his pupils moved.
His head fell first, followed by his collapsing body.
Isaac widened his eyes and stared at the tip of his blade.
'It's… so much faster now.'
"Clean cut."
Silverna, watching from the side, was impressed as well.
The sparring with Liana, the training from Nameless and Uldren—
Due to the Nameless' request, Isaac had sealed away his Iaido technique. But using it again after so long, the feel in his hand was completely different.
And considering he had cut down a transcendent so cleanly—what more needed to be said?
"W-What the hell?!"
"Malcom's dead! Damn humans!!"
The other horse-headed transcendents behind him roared in rage.
They all carried different weapons, but each had a bundle strapped to their backs.
'So these are the kidnappers Nameless mentioned.'
He had heard that people were being kidnapped for profit, but didn't expect them to show up so quickly.
It gave a glimpse into how the transcendents lived in the Abyssal World.
The oldest world, and thus the wealthiest.
Even in the land of origins, it took only a single day before greed led to theft.
The desperation of transcendents living in a harsh world didn't even allow them patience for one day.
The battle didn't last long.
It couldn't.
Isaac's surprise counterattack with his Iaido was masterful, and on their side stood Uldren—the giant himself.
Their opponents were just petty thieves.
Compared to the Transcendents who fought in the human realm, they were nothing special.
"Aaaaaargh!!"
"Please spare meee!!"
Still, they were capable of screaming out their dying breaths in the middle of the city.
Fortunately, they were deep enough in an alleyway that they remained mostly out of sight.
"What's going on?!"
It was a Transcendent, the one closest to them.
Rankellon came out of the building next to the warehouse and shouted.
When he saw the humans—meant to be sacrificial offerings—wielding weapons and slaughtering Transcendents,
"You crazy bastards! I went through all this trouble to bring you here alive—!"
He immediately ran back into the building.
"Lady Liana! Lady Liana! They've gone mad! The humans have broken freeee!"
"…."
A moment later—
Thud.
Rankellon's head rolled to the ground, blood gushing from it.
His tongue stuck out and his expression was one of shock—he hadn't anticipated being cut down even in his final moments.
"…That was satisfying."
When Isaac said that while watching Liana's emotionless face, she quickly averted her eyes.
She had wanted to kill him many times but held herself back, so she may have looked forward to this moment more than anyone.
"What are you reading from that face?"
Silverna muttered curiously while holding her spear.
From her perspective, Liana's expression didn't seem to have changed at all.
"What do we do now!?"
Sharen came running next.
Apparently, she had been preparing for bed—she was already in her pajamas.
Isaac, telling her to go get dressed first, quickly scanned their surroundings.
Even if they were in a deserted area, a commotion this loud was bound to attract attention soon.
There was no choice.
"We're moving out now. To the Tower of Sorcery."
No one objected to Isaac's words.
It was obvious that dragging things out here would do them no good.
"I'll contact the Transcendents in disguise. We can hide Rankellon's death for now."
Liana planned to use them to stir up chaos in the Primordial Land.
"See you in front of the tower."
As Liana disappeared alone into the darkness, Isaac watched her go for a moment before turning his head.
"Let's move. It's a race against time now."
Everyone took one of the horse-headed Transcendents' weapons.
Uldren took up a spear, and just the sight of him wielding it was enough to inspire confidence.
"Stick close behind me."
"I will, dear."
Hearing Uldren and Selene's exchange, Silverna sidled up to Isaac.
"Stick close behind me."
"…."
Isaac said nothing, simply lifting his gaze.
The stars in the sky were shining unusually brightly.
The top of the tower glimmered in the distance.
The star of the silver clock hovering above it kept catching his eye for some reason.
"Let's go."
The Primordial Land.
The place where the Primordial Transcendents dwelled.
Their unintended race against time to escape had just begun.