A calm, cold blade.
And Isaac's gaze at its tip.
Was it the same, then—whether in battle or in life—that true understanding only came after it ended?
He scanned his body, aching all over, and found blade marks slashed across him.
Some were so dangerously placed that, had they gone any deeper, they could've cost him his life.
"Haa, haa…"
"Sir Isaac!"
"You idiot! Are you alright?!"
"Idiot, seriously…"
As he watched Jonathan and Lohengrin running toward him from afar, Isaac let out a bitter breath.
His strength was drained, and he wanted nothing more than to collapse right then and there—but even that wasn't allowed just yet.
"Don't come to me… over there…"
Isaac weakly pointed toward the palace ruins.
Upon the debris of the fallen royal palace, Uldren Caldias was still locked in battle.
He had already slain two of the transcendent ones and was clearly exhausted.
Considering Arandel had taken on five alone, Uldren's feat of taking down two was impressive—but it was evident now that he was reaching his limit.
"Ah! Right!"
"Don't give me orders—!"
Jonathan, alarmed, immediately changed course and ran toward Uldren without another word.
Lohengrin shouted in annoyance, but still listened and turned back as well.
As he watched the two of them grow distant, Isaac turned his body with effort.
Liana and Silverna were still fighting.
He had to help them—just as they had helped him in his duel with Kangwoo.
But just as he tried to step forward, his legs gave out and he nearly collapsed.
"P-Please rest a little!"
Had it not been for Princess Clarice, who had rushed over to catch him, he would have crashed to the ground and fallen asleep on the spot.
Barely regaining consciousness, Isaac tried to push himself up from her arms, gasping for breath.
"N-No… it's not over yet."
"I know! I know, but please—just rest a little! You're not fighting alone, you know?!"
"..."
People passed by them.
Heirad and the royal guards.
Seeing them filled Isaac with a strange sense of relief, and he felt the tension in his body loosen.
"See? Everyone's doing their best. And you… you've already done your part!"
"..."
"It's alright now, Isaac. It's over. You did this."
Clarice gently wrapped her arms around him, holding him like something precious. Her touch was filled with warmth and affection.
"You did great. Truly… thank you."
"..."
Isaac stared vacantly at the scene before him.
In the distance, Liana was locked in battle with Helik.
Further beyond, Silverna was dueling the woman with the crescent moon blade.
He should've been there—fighting by their side.
But his body wouldn't move.
The fight with Kangwoo had been that intense… and perhaps, the reason his strength left him now was because he finally felt at ease.
He had defeated the enemy's strongest force.
That alone had brought them one giant step closer to victory.
"..."
Isaac let himself collapse, his body leaning heavily.
Clarice caught him, supporting him carefully.
So this is it…
The floor beneath him was hard, yet Isaac felt a strange comfort settle in.
It's really over.
He had lived through an era, followed the currents, poured in effort upon effort—and at last, he had reached this place.
In some ways, it could be called the final stop of his life.
Just as Isaac closed his eyes—
Amid the faint darkness came a dazzling silver light.
"Isaac…?"
Clarice called out anxiously, seeing his eyes suddenly flash open again.
Isaac, however, was already trying to rise once more.
"W-Where are you going?"
"I'm not going anywhere."
With a deep breath, Isaac forced strength into his waist and barely pushed himself upright again.
He planted both of his swords into the ground to support himself—but even that was difficult, and Clarice quickly came to help hold him steady.
"Why are you like this? What's wrong? Tell me—I'll help you."
"…The Star."
"…What?"
"I want to ask the Star."
"What do you mean by that…?"
Clarice had already heard about the Silver Clock, so she tilted her head back and looked up at the sky. But she couldn't quite grasp what Isaac meant.
Isaac, however, understood.
He knew she wasn't just a star.
A woman who had become a star through sorcery.
The one who had slowly tightened the noose around the necks of not just the transcendent beings, but their entire world.
Had she not even spoken to him directly once, interfering in the Abyss?
That's why Isaac wanted to speak with her again.
To ask her what her true intent was.
Helik had said she destroyed everything for the sake of humanity—that she did it because she feared the transcendent.
Isaac had seen a great many things.
He had faced all kinds of beings.
He had fought alongside humanity, and purged traitors among them.
He had sought revenge on behalf of a young noble boy, and once massacred an entire city of drugged-out lunatics.
He had fallen into the Abyss and witnessed the lives of various transcendent beings.
He had even learned about the non-transcendent races that lived there.
The giant Gaia, Nureumdol—he had encountered them all.
When he cut down Gaia and emerged from the cave, Isaac had said something to the transcendent beings.
"There may be a way to resolve this… without fighting."
"…What?"
Isaac murmured those words.
But they weren't meant for Clarice beside him.
"If there's even a chance to solve this without bloodshed… through conversation… then that's what we should choose."
"..."
Clarice, having now realized who he was speaking to, cautiously looked up at the sky.
The child who had chased after the stars.
That's what the Grandmaster had always called the Silent Sword.
Maybe he was reliving a similar life, even now.
In any case, Isaac looked up at the silver star shining above.
"Is destruction… truly the only answer?"
—That question…
The voice that echoed by Isaac's ear was filled with a warmth that seemed to wrap around his entire body.
Clarice had heard it too and was visibly startled.
But Isaac, who had already experienced this once before, listened calmly.
—You're the one asking me that?
"…I'm the only one who can."
—You, who fought the transcendents more than anyone else? Who cut them down yourself?
"Precisely because I fought them more than anyone… I've seen them more than anyone."
—...
"I'm not saying they're innocent. But…"
On the other hand—
"…Are we innocent?"
—...
"When I spoke of peace… they answered with survival."
Hatred, deep and heavy.
Within it burned a desperate hunger to survive.
The Abyss was collapsing beyond repair.
And if they wanted to sprout even a single new seed of hope—they needed the human world.
—So are you blaming me for that?
"..."
—If I hadn't stopped them, they could have crossed over more than a hundred years ago.
—Long before you were even born, humanity might have already perished.
—You've fought the transcendents yourself—you know how powerless humans are in front of them.
—You, who cut down a giant—you know what it means when those giants enter the human realm. It's no different from a natural disaster.
"…Yes. That's true."
He couldn't deny it, nor did he want to.
Those who lived in that world were unquestionably dangerous.
—They crossed over and fought for survival.
—But what if, instead, they crossed over with abundance as their weapon… and fought out of greed?
Then there would be no hope of victory.
The words struck cold and true.
—No one has the right to cast stones at me.
She had sacrificed her body, becoming a star, and brought down the transcendents.
Don't belittle that sacrifice—her voice insisted.
"…I know."
Isaac didn't want to deny that either.
In fact, he couldn't.
"Your sacrifice wasn't meaningless."
But still—
"You don't need to go any further."
— ...
"When the sorcery ends, you'll return to where you came from."
The Silver Clock didn't answer.
Which, in itself, was an affirmation.
— It was nice to look upon this place again after so long. So much has changed. To the point it's hardly recognizable.
She had merely gazed down at this world in a daze, briefly reminiscing.
"…Why not stop now?"
— Stop? So in the end, you're saying I was wrong, aren't you?
"That's not it."
In her era, she did her best.
To the transcendent beings, she was a disaster.
But to humanity, she was a savior.
However—
"The era has changed."
That day was over.
"There's no longer any need to annihilate them."
The transcendent beings currently fighting here were few in number.
They had likely scraped together everything they had left, but the disparity in forces was overwhelming.
Nearly all of the original transcendents had already been killed.
"I think this is the point."
The moment to sever the chain of hatred.
Helik had said it himself—
That their fury had grown to the point it could no longer be extinguished.
Watching Helik's back as he fought, Isaac couldn't help but feel the same.
To come here knowing he would die—
It was his way of putting an end to a hatred that refused to die.
If there was a curse upon the transcendents, perhaps it was their excessively long lifespans.
Unlike humans, who eventually forget and move on—
They continued to live in the past, clinging to every memory.
"…Time is moving on,"
Isaac said softly.
"Maybe it's time… to let go of their world."
— I won't deny it.
But despite her words, there wasn't a single tremor in the Silver Clock's voice.
— Time is indeed passing. This moment could be called the turning point you spoke of.
— But what if, in some distant future, the transcendent beings remaining in the Abyss rise again to spread their wings?
"..."
— They must be eradicated. Only then can humanity survive.
It bordered on obsession.
Isaac had seen them himself—
Transcendent beings who lived ordinary lives in the cities of the Abyss.
"Just killing them because they're transcendent—"
— It's for humanity's sake.
Her voice was firm, unyielding.
She claimed it was to protect humanity, but to Isaac, her words stung with bitter irony.
"We've already won the war against the transcendents."
— ...
"I've cut down Gaia, the giant."
— ...
"And even defeated the Sword Demon—the one they called the Father of the Sword."
Isaac looked back up at the moon and asked:
"I'm human. Even after all that… do I still look like someone who needs protecting from you?"
— ...
He understood.
The Silver Clock's devotion.
She was a woman both compassionate and merciless, who had no choice but to kill them in order to save humanity.
But—
"It's okay to stop now."
Humanity was no longer so weak that it needed her sacrifices—or her violence—to survive.