Chapter 25 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Vassalization Memories
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Memories of vassalization were brief.
There wasn't much proper research on it, nor much known about it.
The fact that it targeted ordinary humans.
Isaac had learned about it at the tail end of his previous life.
In the final battle.
The memory was still vivid.
Flames and smoke surged from all directions as the fortress named 'Everholt,' defended by his grand master and fellow disciples, crumbled.
What had become of Silberna, who had been guarding the walls?
What about the grand master's other disciples?
Was the grand master alright?
Harboring such worries, he gazed up at the sky in dismay.
The transcendent race's momentum was too overwhelming to escape using his staff.
Isaac simply stood there, silently accepting death.
Then, an old grudge came calling.
[Brother-in-law! Krrgh! Long time no see!]
There were only a few people who called him brother-in-law.
And none in Helmunt with such a frivolous tone.
'Alois?'
[Whoa, I really didn't expect you to still be alive, brother-in-law!]
His once lustrous red hair had dulled, his sclera blackened with hints of madness peeking through.
The two horns sprouting from his head signified the loss of his humanity.
[Hahaha! To think I'd see all these familiar faces!]
'How did you...?'
[After getting kicked out of Helmunt, those folks picked me up! Haha! And you, brother-in-law? Still got that limp leg I wrecked?]
'...!'
Alois, who had lusted after his own sister, could no longer hide his depraved heart and was ultimately exiled from Helmunt.
[Ah, this is great. Really great. I can finally kill you myself. I could never forgive you for ever touching Sis even once.]
'You've become one of theirs? A vassal?'
[Of course. Lucky I was a son of mighty Helmunt. Even after getting booted, that name let me rampage like this.]
The transcendent race would want strong humans for vassalization.
Helmunt made the perfect vessel.
[Vassalization suits me surprisingly well. Ahh, Helmunt! Glorious Helmunt!]
The greatsword in Alois's hand writhed. Isaac knew it would soon sever his neck.
'In the end.'
The one who ruined his life.
And the one to end it.
Were both Alois.
[Where's Sis's body?]
Alois licked his protruding fangs as he asked.
As Isaac sighed at the sight of Alois still coveting Rianna, a red line slashed across his throat.
Splurt!
Alois collapsed, unaware of his own death, spewing black blood as he hit the ground.
Beyond him stood the grand master, gripping his massive sword.
[What a foul stench of blood.]
The grand master twitched his wolf ears and gave Isaac a wry smile.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Gah!"
Meladic's scream echoed long as his back slammed into a tree.
The noisy flapping from the forest suggested wild beasts nearby.
Snow piled on branches cascaded down, burying Meladic—but it also blocked Pollu's follow-up strike.
"Kuhahaha! Hahaha!"
Pollu cackled in delight.
He whipped his head around, seeking his next target.
"Ah, I hate you."
Pollu crooked his finger at Isaac. Sharen blocked his grotesque, propelled charge.
Clang!
"Ngh!"
Red aura poured from her entire body. The Helmunt signature aura could be used like armor.
It halted Pollu's advance.
"Helmunt lost earlier! You lost, so why come at me again?!"
"Shut... up!"
Their blades locked in a test of strength.
Sharen bent her knees slightly, digging her toes into the ground.
Veins bulged as her greatsword trembled—she was straining with all her might.
"Move! Move it! Get out of my way!"
Snowflakes scattered.
Black aura spread, slowly devouring Sharen's deep crimson glow.
Remembering when black liquid had engulfed her, Sharen nearly panicked.
"Push him back!"
Isaac's shout from behind made her grit her teeth, eyes fierce.
In that instant, Sharen's red aura surged forward like a torrent.
Crimson Flame Wave.
A Helmunt signature technique.
The steel-like aura blazed fiercely like flames, forcing Pollu to stagger back.
In that moment.
Isaac passed Sharen, gripping Pearl Thread with both hands, and thrust.
Krunch!
He aimed for Pollu's chest.
The area embedded with the 'bone.'
"Gaaahhh!"
Unlike before, Pollu writhed in agony.
He twisted in shock, deflecting the blade, then fled in hysterics.
"Ow! Ngh! It hurts! Hurts so much! It huuuurts!"
"Hah! Hah! It... works, Isaac."
"..."
Sharen panted raggedly.
Her red aura had weakened, likely from the backlash of Crimson Flame Wave.
"Anna, Meladic?"
"He's fine. No need to worry."
"Ngh."
Anna pulled Meladic from the snowdrift.
His face was grim—something must have broken on impact with the tree.
Without giving them time to regroup,
"Yooou! I hate yooou!"
Pollu pointed accusingly at Isaac.
"You hate me?"
Isaac raised his two-handed sword to chest level, ready to counter instantly.
"You're just like me! Abandoned by your family! Treated like trash!"
"Ahem!"
Sharen coughed awkwardly.
"Why do you try so hard every day?! It makes me look pathetic! Because of you! Even as a commoner, you never slack off!"
Pollu's voice brimmed with resentment as he poured out his self-loathing.
Raw emotions were like filth.
Isaac had felt it through Alois before, and now Pollu reminded him again.
Rationality built on life's values.
Common sense instilled through education.
Without those, Pollu's naked jealousy and desires laid bare.
"Me too! I could've done it with Silberna! With Helmunt's support! I know! I know I couldn't! Yeah! I'm nothing! I hate wielding a sword! It's just jealousy, right? I know it's ugly!"
A hole in his tongue.
The metaphor fit perfectly.
He spewed words he should hold back.
Not by his will.
His brain thought, his tongue spat it out instantly—his thoughts shifted openly as he heard himself speak.
"Sorry, Mother! Sorry, Father! I'm a sinner! Aaaah! A siiiinner!"
"Something about him..."
Sharen frowned at Pollu pounding his chest.
"Pitiful."
Isaac slowly raised his sword.
"A sinner?"
"Yes, I'm a sinner!"
Questions prompted answers.
This was Isaac's way of exploiting vassalization in reverse.
"Why? Why are you a sinner?"
"I'm ignorant! Stupid! Lazy! Unworthy! No! I shouldn't answer!"
He thought of the answer upon hearing the question.
Only after speaking did the realization hit that he shouldn't.
"Your family colluded with the transcendent race and cursed you with a spell."
"Transcendent race? Spell? What's that? I don't know! Aaaah! Don't answer!"
"It's called vassalization. You really don't remember when?"
"Vassalization? Don't know! I said I don't! Ah, was it then?"
"Then?"
"Then! When I pretended to sleep! Mother came and did something to me! A stranger was there!"
Pollu clawed at his hair as the memory surfaced, screaming.
"It hurt! Hurt so bad! Something got carved into my chest! She saw I wasn't asleep! Knew I was awake!"
"But I endured! Held it in! Because... it was what Mother wanted! I hoped she'd use me that way! Mother! My mother! Nooo! Don't say it! It's a secret!"
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Pollu knelt, smashing his forehead into the ground, begging himself to stop—yet words kept flowing.
"I'm a sinner! A sinner! I wanted to atone! Mother! Father! Aaaah! I'm Blackhand's sinner!"
Shing.
Isaac approached slowly.
Pollu flinched and coughed.
"Come closer and I'll kill you! The yeti! Yeti's coming—!"
Thud!
Snow scattered.
The sound of the yeti collapsing, impaled through the heart by Silberna's spear.
"Aaaah! Yeti! No! Silberna's a beauty! Aaaah! Isaac! Am I... dying?!"
"...You have to."
Isaac stood before him with a pained gaze.
Pollu rose, sword at the ready.
"Yeah, kill me! Kill this sinner! I couldn't even fulfill Mother and Father's wishes! Couldn't do this right! Aaaah! I'm a sinner! Punish me!"
In that instant.
"Ambush!"
Pollu's blade flashed.
Black energy trailed desperately, empowering his final strike.
"Wha—gah?!"
It sliced empty air.
Isaac had ducked, thrusting Pearl Thread back into Pollu's chest.
Pearl Thread pried into the wound alongside the bone.
"Gaaaaah!"
As Pollu tried to flee again, Isaac released the sword, grabbed the bone with both hands.
Squelch!
Pulling back yanked the heart-embedded bone free, draining Pollu's strength.
"Kgh! Huergh!?"
Pollu gasped.
Black auras scattered in the northern snow, purifying away.
Pollu stared up in shock at the lone figure left.
"H-How...?"
To his unspoken question about the final blow.
Isaac released the bone with a bitter reply.
"Because you tried to wield Blackhand's sword to the end."
Somehow.
He wanted his parents' recognition.
Praise as excellent from his parents.
Love from his parents.
Honesty with desires wasn't just Pollu's tongue.
"If you'd just swung wildly on raw power, I wouldn't have reacted."
Yet his wish to use Blackhand swordsmanship, however pathetic.
That became the blade piercing his heart.
"Ha, haha... hahaha."
Pollu gazed at the white sky, tears streaming.
The effects lingered.
He spilled his heart's words.
"Truth is, I hated swinging a sword."
"..."
"Scary. Terrifying. Having to muster courage scares me."
"..."
"Cooking was fun. When I first learned to pack a lunch from the chef, my heart raced."
"..."
"Shouldn't have! Had to swing a sword! Couldn't enjoy cooking! Curse it! I curse myself!"
"Sorry, Mother, Father. I shouldn't have been born a Blackhand."
"All my fault. I committed the sin."
Isaac knelt on one knee before him.
"Accepting difference... It took me ages too."
"I... am... a sinner..."
"Then I'm one too."
"You... too?"
Pollu's voice broke sporadically.
On the brink of death.
"I want... to live."
Pollu wept.
"Sorry."
"L-Live... want to live."
"The only comfort I can give—"
"Live... want... to live."
"I'll find who made you this way and make them pay."
At those words.
Pollu's eyes widened.
Those who made him thus.
The Blackhand family.
The old Pollu would have cried to protect his parents.
Vowed to defend his house.
But.
The vassalized Pollu's true heart.
"Thank you."
Answered.
With a smile.
Pollu took in the northern white sky and departed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ He recalled again.
[You're kidding? You can't even do this? Plan to live as the family's shame?!]
The boy's sin.
Was lacking interest in the sword.
[Why are you so weak-willed? Planning to tarnish the family name? How will you receive them like this—!]
Another sin.
Failing to muster courage before threats.
[You, cooking? Praise? Have you gone mad! Fetch the switch now!]
Liking cooking, wanting to show it off.
That too was a sin.
[Why were you born to me... Sigh, should have been born in some slum—]
His greatest sin, perhaps.
Was being born into Blackhand, oblivious to his place.
So in truth.
The boy committed no sin.
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