It wasn't enlightenment—it was arrival.
Isaac had held that belief in his heart for as long as he could remember.
He wanted to believe there was a realm one could reach—not through talent or lineage, but through effort alone.
And Isaac had, in fact, produced results through such effort.
He never claimed to be talentless.
If he had been, he wouldn't have reached this point.
But limitations clearly existed.
When facing Helmut, even the most gifted individual would find whatever was in their hands to seem insignificant in comparison.
'Have I… arrived now?'
The question surfaced in his mind.
The roaring sounds coming from outside were no longer just about destruction or structure.
Even buried this deep, he could feel the unpleasant aura of hostility prickling against his skin.
Isaac wasn't particularly sensitive, but even he could tell something serious was happening above.
"…It seems my companions have arrived."
What confirmed this for him was the giant.
He spoke calmly, though his voice grew faint with weakening breath.
"There might not be as much time as I thought. My companions likely harbor deep hatred toward humans."
"I'm well aware."
No one knew better than Isaac the deep hatred the transcendents held toward humanity.
It was ridiculous that in such a dire situation, he was feeling a different kind of nervousness, but that was how things were.
"Huu…"
His hands rested atop his sword.
Looking up slowly at the giant, Isaac regulated his breath.
An aura of malice began to creep in.
The heat and desire surging through his entire body felt more like wrath than anything else.
—Graaahhh!
—Help meeee!
—I'll kill you! I'll kill you!
The voices echoed from the blade.
Where had they come from?
Isaac no longer questioned it.
They were the karmic burden he carried—resentment and grudge from the people of a previous era, slaughtered by the transcendents.
That's what karma was.
His hands began to tremble.
Even though the sword hadn't been drawn yet, the weight of the karma it contained was crushing.
He had swung his sword at the giant countless times—so many that it almost seemed meaningless—all to bear this burden.
He had trained his hands so they could endure that weight and still strike.
The rough texture of his palm.
The moment his hand gripped the sword, Isaac stepped forward and drew it in one swift motion.
Neither Marlin nor the giant could follow it with their eyes.
It wasn't just fast—it was a strike that showed the level Isaac had reached.
The two blades extended like the wings of a phoenix.
Clang!
"…!"
Isaac's eyes widened.
Pain shot through his palms and his trembling hands.
A broken blade flew past him and embedded into the ground.
The aura erupting from the shattered sword crashed violently into the giant.
The uncontrollable force raged like a storm—but the giant received it all, calm and unfazed.
As the wailing of the auras slowly died down,
In the darkness and silence, the giant opened his mouth.
"You've failed."
Failed.
That word crushed Isaac, and his head drooped.
The sword made from Bricalla's bones came into view. What he held no longer functioned as a sword.
"…Ah."
He slowly raised his head.
The moment his eyes landed on the area he had tried to cut—
Isaac held his breath.
Not even a little—
Not even the slightest—
Not even a scratch had been made.
"..."
It had been a long time since he felt like this.
Challenging the impossible had always been like this—
But this time, there wasn't even a glimmer of hope.
The only other time he had felt this helpless was in his previous life—when he lost his leg and still tried to wield a sword.
He thought of the countless swordmasters who could be called stars in their own right.
He believed this was the greatest opportunity to stand alongside them.
He believed this was the moment where the pursuit that had continued since his past life would finally bear fruit.
But it wasn't.
His shoulders slumped.
The weight of failure—of utter humiliation—pressed down on him.
Marlin and the giant looked at him, trying to say something, but no words came out.
They didn't know what to say.
He had tried.
He had truly tried.
And for a moment, it looked like it might be possible.
But in the end, he failed.
—Kekekekekeke!
—Foolish! Stupid fool!
—Die! Die! Die!
The auras embedded in his body screamed incessantly. The despair carried in the name of karma weighed Isaac down even more.
'Did I ask too much of him?'
The giant worried that his request might have broken Isaac's spirit.
'Ah…'
Even in this situation, Marlin regretted that she could do nothing for him.
She even feared her earlier confession might have affected his swordplay.
And so the silence flowed.
As if drawing the curtain on the story, darkness draped over everything like a veil.
And then—
A single star began to rise.
"…I see."
A man with stars in his eyes, for he had looked at them more than anyone else.
"Now that I've faced it, I truly understand."
The whisper, barely more than a murmur, wasn't directed at anyone.
It was to keep his thoughts flowing without obstruction.
[To cut, one must break the very concept of a sword.]
[There are swordmasters who can cut what should not be cut, or so they say—]
He kept recalling the words spoken when the Mu-myeong and the Grandmaster swung their swords at the giant.
What did it mean to break a concept?
"May I ask you just one thing?"
"…Anything."
Even the giant was momentarily startled this time.
The stars reflected in his eyes were so dazzling, he forgot to reply.
"How did you tear through the dimension to appear like that?"
"...."
"I don't think that's something that can be explained by mere physical strength."
The giant let out a soft laugh.
One might wonder if this was the same man who just moments ago had hit a wall.
'No… That's not it.'
Now the giant finally seemed to understand—
The meaning of the word 'reached' as opposed to 'realized.'
"You're right. It's not something one can do with strength alone."
That answer alone was enough.
The sword in Isaac's hand, Baekseol, began to emit a cold aura.
Thanks to its construction from Frostsilver, he still had one more chance.
The trembling at the tip of the blade calmed.
Isaac steadied his breath and once again looked up at the giant's imposing form.
That wall, which had once seemed so heavy, now felt strangely close.
It had been a long journey.
From the beginning, up to now.
There were always moments where everything he had built felt meaningless.
Wavering between effort and talent,
Every time he thought he had surpassed a limit, a new wall appeared.
But each time, he stood up again.
"Have you reached it?"
The giant's voice carried a teasing tone—
As if he wanted to hear, in words, what he already sensed.
Slowly, Isaac gripped his sword with both hands.
Like an executioner before a guillotine, it was solemn—
Like a craftsman ending an era, it was sacred.
"I have reached it."
Attainment.
The path he had walked was not one of sudden realization, but of steady attainment.
Realization is momentary. Attainment is enduring.
Thousands of swings, layered again and again.
Traces of struggle amidst despair—
Only when all of that accumulates does one finally reach a small realm.
Isaac now felt it with his entire being.
Even his failure just moments ago—
It was merely part of the path toward attainment.
"Thank you."
A small pebble underfoot crumbled and rolled.
In the silence where even that sound echoed, he took a step forward.
"For bringing me this far."
The Baekseol in his hand began to shimmer.
Everything was the opposite of just before.
The bloodlust was calm and gathered on the blade,
His advance was slow,
And there was no sound to be heard.
'What was the sword to me?'
Just before striking down,
Isaac recalled—
To him, what he held in his hand was both pain and hope.
Even at the end of a collapsed life, when he lost his leg, he couldn't let go of it.
If his sword was about challenging the impossible—
Then now, he had reached the realm of cutting what could not be cut.
What lay before him no longer mattered.
He simply gripped the sword, and focused on cutting.
Like walking through mist, there was no sound.
His sword moved through the air as if tracing the path of a star—so beautiful.
The blade moved forward without resistance.
Even the overwhelming presence of the giant felt like an illusion before that sword.
Marlin held her breath.
Unknowingly, goosebumps rose on her skin, and her eyes widened in awe.
She was certain.
The one before her had reached the ultimate realm of cutting concepts.
Even Arandel Helmut would not be able to replicate what Isaac's sword had just shown.
Slowly, gently—
The sword descended.
At last, the giant's form began to split.
There was no pain, no screams.
Only peace.
It was the liberation, the nirvana, that he had longed for.
From the space the sword had passed through, light seeped in.
The shroud of darkness split,
And golden sunlight slowly penetrated the depths of the cave.
Tap.
The moment Isaac's lowered sword touched the ground—
Beyond the giant's split form, the dawn broke brightly.
"Can you see it?"
Isaac asked.
"The sunrise you longed for so deeply."
The sun had risen.
He hoped that this could be the gift—
The reward for all the teachings and realizations.
Yet, the giant's gaze was not on the long-awaited sun,
But on Isaac himself.
"I see it."
More than the sun he hadn't seen in so long—
"It is truly, beautiful."
For before him stood something even more radiant.
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[TL Note]
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