The Son-In-Law Of A Prestigious Household Wants A Divorce-Chapter 60: The Sword Dance Festival (7)

Boom!

Crash!

Boom!

Once again, dust billowed as the greatsword struck the ground.

And once again, Lohengrin failed to cut anything properly.

His eyes widened, and he could feel the cold sweat trickling down his cheek.

At first, he didn’t think that he’d be defeated, not at all.

But, from the moment he started exchanging blows with Isaac, it felt as if he had already lost.

The proof was that Lohengrin’s gaze had stopped turning towards Arandel’s direction for some time now.

“Do you think you can win just by running away?!”

Lohengrin shouted at Isaac, as if venting his frustration.

However, Isaac’s eyes showed no sign of wavering, focused solely on moving his body to make his next move.

As if these meaningless exchanges were a step towards victory for him.

And that...

Made Lohengrin’s heart race even more.

He felt it. Him, a Helmont, the overbearing powerhouse, was being outmaneuvered by a mere commoner.

And it wasn’t just him, others around were also feeling the same.

The Helmont’s knights felt an inexplicable fear creeping up their necks, while the audience were absorbed in the fight, watching it with excited eyes.

Lohengrin felt like he had become a captured Demonic Beast, the same one that they usually gave the knights for practicing real combat.

Demonic Beast called Helmont. Isaac was teaching the world how to defeat that very beast.

The moment he realized that Isaac was using him in this way.

Lohengrin unconsciously rolled his eyes.

Even as their swords clashed, he glanced at Arandel than Isaac, and...

Sure enough.

Arandel Helmont was watching Isaac with a new expression, one that he had never shown to any of his family members.

His body was slightly leaned forward, while the corners of his mouth were slightly raised towards his ears.

Even Galenia and Rianna beside him were surprised.

They were both focusing on his expression rather than the duel.

That was how astonishing the situation was.

Then...

Is he...smiling?

Clang!

For a moment there, Lohengrin’s greatsword tilted downward.

Cheers erupted from the surroundings.

Everyone exclaimed that Isaac’s efforts had finally borne fruit, and his sword had finally reached Lohengrin, but...

I see... He’s smiling...

In truth, Isaac was still unable to pierce through Lohengrin’s Crimson Essence, and he was once again forced to widen the distance between them.

“Ha...haha... HAHAHAHA!”

Lohengrin’s rose-like red eyes were filled with madness as he covered his face with his hands.

They looked like the eyes of a bloodthirsty demon.

“I’ll kill you.”

Everything displeased him.

From the flow of the duel that had changed at some point...

The thin, pathetic pair of swords that were challenging his greatsword...

This nonsensical preaching of the fool trying to convince everyone that Helmont’s sword wasn’t invincible...

The future cripple who always got beaten by him, yet somehow was giving him a fierce fight...

Even the setting sun dyeing the loser’s black hair red, just like a Helmont’s.

And lastly...

The fact that this lowlife had caught his father’s interest.

“I’m definitely going to kill you.”

Lohengrin’s pride and self-esteem were trampled.

The Crimson Essence enveloping his entire body momentarily disappeared.

And then...

Whoosh!

It became concentrated in his greatsword, it extended as if covering the sky.

“Kyaaah!”

“Crazy! What is that?!”

“I-I can’t breathe...”

The audience cried out in shock and terror.

Just being nearby already caused them distress.

In an instant, Helmont’s overwhelming presence dominated the space.

It extended and extended, as if about to split even the sky.

Lohengrin, holding his sword high with both hands, smiled brightly with tears in his eyes.

“Can you see it, Father?”

He desperately wished so that his father could see this.

“This is the sword you’ve shown me once.”

The most magnificent and overwhelming strike Arandel Helmont had ever shown.

Though he was never taught, Lohengrin had remembered this sword he saw as a child for his entire life.

He had tried to imitate it over and over again.

And now...

He finally did it.

“I’ll become your successor! The next family head of Helmont!”

He just wanted to follow the path his father had walked.

As a son, he wanted to follow that great back closely and elevate his brilliance.

He wanted to become someone worthy of the name.

Crimson Annihilation Strike.

Destroy, tear, burn, and crumble!

The great single strike that had only ever been shown by Helmont’s Family Head descended upon Isaac.

*   *   *Isaac’s lips twitched as he watched the strike that was meant to crush him.

In his peripheral vision, he caught Rianna trying to stop Lohengrin from afar and Arandel holding her back.

Huh, so he could smile like that...

His father-in-law was wearing a mischievous smile and an excited gaze he had never seen before.

Seeing Arandel’s excitement, Isaac’s lips finally curled up into a grin.

I can’t deny that it’s a great sword.

Until now, he had been breaking down Helmont’s swordsmanship, showing everyone around that Helmont wasn’t invincible.

But, at the same time...

As the very person who had broken down that swordsmanship, he had to acknowledge it.

Helmont’s sword was captivating. Extremely so.

Hence why a lot of swordsmen failed to imitate it, and were forced to only admire it.

So much so that they praised it as insurmountable.

[So, why did you fight?]

‘...’

[Your heart is like a reed. Make up your mind. Do you hate, or like Helmont?]

‘I was just frustrated that there was an idiot among our comrades that said Helmont simply fights with brute force.’

[Tsk. Well, I understand your feelings.]

He hated Helmont.

But he admired their sword.

Only the Grandmaster could understand his complex emotions.

[Their sword was one that came from the most talented swordsman in the world; one who discarded everything for the sake of the sword.]

[You can’t deny its magnificence.]

In truth...

At some point while studying Helmont’s sword, he came to understand.

If this was the reason why he had sacrificed everything...

Then, it might be well worth it.

Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.

But...

When he sought a deeper understanding and explored his will, his claim that Helmont had reached the end of its path...

He couldn’t help but let out a sigh as anger enveloped his heart.

“Kuaaaah!”

The Crimson Annihilation Strike fell with a battle cry.

He never thought he’d face this strike in his lifetime.

Just as the Crimson Essence, swirling like flames, was about to touch Isaac, he raised his tachi towards the sky.

Surprisingly, from just that simple and plain action, the flow of the Crimson Essence changed.

Like ink at the tip of a pen, the moment Isaac swung his tachi, the Crimson Essence swirled around him accordingly.

The sight of the force that had been roaring fiercely just moments ago now lowering its tail to its enemy was truly shocking.

“H-How is that possible?!”

“D-Did he just take Helmont’s power to himself?!”

“Impossible!”

They know nothing.

Isaac sneered inwardly.

Helmont’s sword might be based on power, but power wasn’t all there was to it.

Lohengrin’s sword might be an imitation of Arandel’s, but...

Had Arandel only been swinging his sword with solely his brute force?

Hell no.

If Cardias’ spear was meant to be wielded by everyone...

Helmont’s sword meant to be inimitable by anyone.

Lohengrin’s mistakes were...

He made a wrong step in his stance, gripped his greatsword the wrong way, swung his sword in the wrong direction, used the sword which length was unsuitable for the Crimson Annihilation Strike, took breaths that were too short, utilizing unconcentrated Crimson Essence and so on.

They were trivial mistakes, but those mistakes were numerous and they piled up.

Moreover...

The current Helmont’s Family Head wouldn’t allow such things to contaminate his sword.

That was Arandel’s sword.

“You—!”

The imperfect Crimson Annihilation Strike’s Crimson Essence suddenly reversed its flow, swirling around Isaac.

Seeing the sight of Isaac seemingly controlling the Crimson Essence, Lohengrin’s face twisted horribly.

He felt as if that bastard had stolen his father’s single strike that he had worked on for years.

“No!”

But, he couldn’t do anything about it and eventually, he lost his Crimson Essence.

His eyes were filled with terror as he suddenly found that his greatsword was left bare.

“Mine! That’s mine!”

Meanwhile, Isaac stepped forward.

For the first time in his life.

Helmont’s Crimson Essence became his strength.

“Helmont’s pride! Our glory—! It’s not for the likes of you to bear! That! That—!”

As Lohengrin shouted like a howl, Isaac’s admonition pierced his ears.

“It’s too crude.”

At least, it’s crude enough that I could twist it with the mana in my tachi like this.

If only Lohengrin had tried to overwhelm him with brute force from start to finish, Isaac might have had a higher chance of losing, but...

Facing this...

“A mere pale imitation.”

[Don’t become a pale imitation.]

“...!”

The moment Isaac’s and his father’s voices overlapped in his mind...

A sword wound was carved into Lohengrin’s chest.

Lohengrin fell to his knees, sinking into a pool of his own blood.

Thud!

The first in line to succeed as Helmont Family Head.

Helmont’s eldest son.

The moment Lohengrin was defeated, silence fell.

No one had expected this situation, nor were they prepared to accept it.

In this world that seemed to have stopped.

Isaac was only looking into Arandel’s eyes.

He had been itching to say something to this man.

The reason why he, the Ink Sword, became so angry after gaining his understanding of Helmont’s sword was...

Not because they had abandoned him.

Did you really think Helmont had reached the end of its path?

The reason why Helmont was able to reach that point was because they discarded everything.

But, at the same time...

The reason they couldn’t go further...

Was also because they had discarded everything.

That was what the man who had been discarded by Helmont was trying to say.

Clap!

A huge, resounding applause echoed.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

This was the first time that Arandel Helmont ever praised someone else’s sword.

Then...

The crowd’s cheers engulfed Isaac.