The Blood Rose
“Huh?!”
Sharen looked flustered, glancing at Isaac with an expression that screamed she had no idea what to do. But the situation didn’t allow for any leisure. Black smoke billowed out from between the piles of corpses, morphing into something eerie. If she had to compare it to anything, it was shadows. Shadows without masters began rising one by one, letting out shrieks.
Kirrrraaaaaah!
Their voices poured forth like a chorus of the damned. And among them, the largest shadow of all. Even its shadow had a head dangling loosely, but it was the only one with eyes and fingers. The moment its finger pointed straight at Isaac...
The shadows surged forward like a crashing wave.
“Everyone!”
Anna, who had been preparing to flee at the ominous turn of events, came galloping up with the horses in tow. They mounted their rides and bolted straight out of the village.
“What the hell are those things?!”
Silberna demanded, but even Isaac had no answer. He’d witnessed all sorts of horrors in his previous life, yet transcendent shamanism was something rarely seen.
The horde of shadowy minions trailed after the massive, head-lolling shadow, spilling out of the village.
“Th-they’re not as fast as I thought?”
Meladick’s words rang true, his eyes flicking anxiously behind them. The shadows weren’t as quick as expected; they merely flailed after them. But their advance, polluting the surroundings like a swamp, exuded a horrifying pressure.
“Fleeing looks easy enough, but—”
Isaac trailed off. If they just headed back to the Mallidan Wall like this, the nearby villages would be swept up by the shadow minions. In the worst case, their numbers could swell even more.
“We stop them.”
Silberna finally reined in her horse.
“We have to. We can’t lose any more people.”
“I agree... but...”
Isaac understood her heart. Still, they needed to think coldly.
“Jonathan’s not in good shape either.”
“I-I’m fine!”
Jonathan was drenched in cold sweat. His eyes were returning to normal, the black patterns on his skin fading, but he still didn’t look well.
Silberna had once lost control during the Pollu incident, nearly getting herself killed. Even amid the head-boiling horror of the Andes village massacre, she issued her orders with icy calm.
“Meladick, take Jonathan back to the Mallidan Wall and request reinforcements.”
“Understood.”
“But I—!”
“Jonathan, that’s an order. No time.”
Jonathan fell silent before Silberna’s curt resolve.
“Anna, head to the nearby villages and evacuate the residents. They know you well, so they’ll listen quickly.”
“Yes, miss.”
Anna spurred her horse toward the villages without hesitation. Urgency seeped from every moment.
“Isaac and Sharen, you’re with me. We’ll lure them and buy as much time as we can.”
The others departed on their orders, leaving the three behind.
“Hup! Hup!”
Sharen gripped her greatsword tightly, breathing deeply in tension.
“Isaac, any thoughts?”
Silberna straightforwardly asked for his advice. Watching the pursuing shadow minions, Isaac recalled the earlier events and nodded.
“Shamanism is akin to magic. It follows certain laws of cause and effect.”
Mages used mana, and through spell circles or incantations, one could roughly predict their spells. Shamanism worked the same way.
“The shadows are probably the villagers. The biggest one is Nortemus.”
“The dangling head means the shamanism activated right before death?”
Isaac nodded and added,
“The corpses had their eyes and fingers destroyed.”
It was the same now. Only Nortemus’s shadow gleamed with eyes and pointed at Isaac with fingers. Without eyes, they couldn’t see. Without fingers, they couldn’t point. They were merely a damaged horde compelled to follow.
“So we just take out Nortemus?”
“They won’t attack with intent like now.”
Isaac’s words carried conviction, but they also sparked a question in Silberna.
“You seem to know more than what you told the Kaldias about transcendents last time.”
During the previous All-White raid, Isaac had given the Kaldias a brief on transcendents. Now realizing that was just the surface, Silberna’s expression soured as she pressed him.
“...I’ll explain later.”
Isaac gave a wry smile. No time for that now.
[Aura?]
[No need for such things. No hindrance without it.]
‘But there must be times it’s necessary.’
[Never was.]
‘You’re not just unable to use it, right?’
[Would you like it if I asked if you can’t use your legs?]
‘...’
[...Begone.]
Aura was crucial. Most knights wielded it, and certain families had their unique variants—like the Helmonts’ Red Aura.
“Should’ve sent Isaac with Jonathan.”
Unfair, but not wrong. Meladick could use aura.
“But hey.”
Sharen cautiously pointed at Nortemus’s shadow again.
“Isn’t that thing pointing right at Isaac?”
As if to confirm her suspicion that its finger aimed straight at him. Skeptical, Isaac shifted his horse sideways—and Nortemus’s finger subtly followed.
“...”
Isaac had become the lure totem.
* * *
“Miss?”
At the Mallidan Wall, Kelsey—Sharen’s maid—cautiously called out to Lianna, who was gazing up at the sky.
“Your expression doesn’t look good.”
“You can see my face?”
Lianna wasn’t being sarcastic; she was genuinely curious, her face shrouded in a mask and headband. Kelsey smiled faintly.
“I’ve spent enough time with you alongside Miss Sharen to know.”
“...Right.”
Lianna felt nothing particular. She merely murmured while staring at the pristine white sky.
“Something foul is riding the wind.”
“Pardon? It feels refreshingly clean to me.”
Kelsey inhaled deeply through her nose. But Lianna replied flatly,
“Something ominous.”
Kelsey knew the Helmont physique all too well, so Lianna’s words stirred her own unease.
“Miss Sharen’s on a simple rear-guard mission today. It shouldn’t be dangerous, right?”
“It had better not be.”
Though her words said as much, Lianna’s gaze fixed on the rear wall. The wind blew from that direction.
Then.
A commotion stirred from the rear wall. Soldiers scrambled urgently, footsteps echoing discordantly from all sides.
“S-something... feels off.”
Kelsey grew increasingly anxious, perhaps influenced by Lianna’s earlier words—worried if Sharen was in trouble. In that moment, Lianna snatched the wrist of a soldier rushing toward the inner keep to report.
“Agh!”
The soldier flinched at the immense grip, staring at her.
“What is it?!”
“What’s with all the commotion?”
Despite her maid’s attire, her presence overwhelmed him. Compelled by the vise-like grip and sharp aura, he spilled it.
“Th-the recon team engaged an unknown beast. One village was annihilated, and part of the team returned gravely injured.”
“...!”
Lianna’s gaze snapped to the wall. Her crimson eyes caught Jonathan being urgently carried away.
“L-let go!”
At the soldier’s cry, Lianna released him limply. As he fled like a rabbit to report...
Lianna roughly tore off her mask and headband. The northern wind carried the scent of roses. As her red locks fluttered free, everyone around stared, entranced.
Helmont’s Blood Rose.
The moment Lianna Helmont descended upon the Mallidan Wall.