The Son-In-Law Of A Prestigious Household Wants A Divorce-Chapter 77: Helmont Annihilation Battle (2)

A red storm blew fiercely towards everyone there.

Momentarily surprised by its intensity, the Primordials hurriedly retreated, creating distance between themselves and Arandel.

No matter how formidable the Primordials were, they still lacked the confidence to face Arandel Helmont head-on.

This is ridiculous...!

Strength, speed, stamina.

Everything was in their favor.

No matter how exceptional Helmont was, at the end of the day, they were still humans, their physical abilities were bound to be inferior compared to those who had reached the pinnacle of the Transcendent Race.

Moreover, Arandel was severely wounded.

And yet, despite his poor condition, the Crimson Essence he emitted seemed to be endless. They couldn’t see a world where they’d win if they were to cross swords with him.

“My lord, we’re going to assist you!”

“Knights of Helmont! Raise your swords and—!”

Naturally, the Helmont knights took their stances and moved to protect Arandel, but...

“Stand back.”

Arandel rejected them.

“You’ll get in the way.”

At Arandel’s words, the Helmont knights hesitated and stopped in their tracks.

This was an extremely humiliating situation for any knight.

Because his command implied that their mere presence was actually detrimental to him. But...

“As you command.”

They retreated without hesitation.

Completely trusting the family head’s judgment.

After all, they weren’t in a position to argue, nor did that have the right to. They could only follow his words blindly.

Now, there was only one thing for them to do.

“We’re heading out! Escort the non-combatants and the direct lines out of here!”

A middle-aged knight raised his greatsword and pointed towards the outside.

Judging by the screams and commotion coming from outside, as well as the smoke rising into the sky...

It was clear that the Transcendent Race had attacked the nearby village as well.

The Primordials could only glance at the fleeing knights.

They didn’t try to stop or chase them.

Because they had a clear objective; Arandel.

“Father—!”

“Young Master, we have to go for now!”

Edel, the youngest, reached out towards Arandel with tears in his eyes, but Jonathan picked him up and ran towards the outside.

Of course, the situation outside the mansion wasn’t good either.

Lower-level Transcendents that were deemed unhelpful in the fight against Arandel and the Demonic Beasts they led were rampaging around.

They were massacring the nearby village, so the knights drew their greatswords to confront them.

“Kuhit! Kik!”

“...?”

As the massacre unfolded, Jonathan started to laugh. He tried to bite his lip hard to suppress it.

But, he was still unable to contain himself even after all that, so he took out a handkerchief and tied it around his mouth like a gag.

“W-What are you doing?”

His behavior left Edel bewildered.

“Mmph.”

However, since he had already tied the handkerchief around his mouth, he couldn’t say anything to Edel. He just gestured for the boy to stay close to him.

*   *   *“...”

Inside the guest room of the royal palace.

The Grandmaster, who could be considered to be under confinement, surveillance, as well as protection was...

Silently maintaining her position, even as she watched the chaos engulfing Evergard through the window.

No matter how much trust she had gained from the princess, at the end of the day, she was still a target of surveillance.

If she were to make her move carelessly, unnecessary misunderstandings might arise.

Those guys are there anyway. It should be enough.

Isaac and Silverna weren’t the only ones, Helmont direct lines were there too.

Hence why she just waited silently for the chaos to subside without worrying too much. But, at that moment...

Creak.

The locked door opened far too smoothly.

A man entered, wearing a light smile that made him look just like a thief, but...

It was actually the Grandmaster who had taught him this technique; its purpose was to make one’s opponent lower their guard.

“Damian? Didn’t I tell you to wait on the rocky mountain?”

His name was Damian.

He was the Grandmaster’s disciple who had been with her on the rocky mountain.

Scratching the back of his head, Damian let out an awkward smile.

“You haven’t been back for so long, I was worried, Master. I didn’t expect you to be here of all places...”

“Hmm, how did you know I was here?”

The Grandmaster crossed her arms.

Sensing the unwelcoming intent behind her question, Damian carefully opened his mouth.

“The sponsors told me. They said I should go to see you, Master.”

“...”

At that moment, blue mana began to ripple right next to Damian.

Gradually, it took on a human form—this was their method of communication.

Soul Body.

They sent their consciousness here, but their physical body wasn’t here.

It was a unique and distinct method of communication.

-I’m surprised.

The Faceless Man, the person behind the Soul Body, let out a laugh, but it wasn’t because the atmosphere was particularly good.

If anything, his laugh was close to a mockery.

-We asked you to persuade the man who broke Helmont’s sword, not to become the princess’ dog.

“You’d do well to watch your words.”

The Grandmaster bared her teeth, arms still crossed.

“I’m not in a particularly good mood...”

-...

“And part of the reason for that is you.”

-Is there a reason why you’ve betrayed us like this?

“Your tone irks me. In any case, the reason is simple. It’s because you haven’t been sincere enough in your effort to look for my friends, even though I’ve cooperated with you plenty.”

-...We’re genuinely trying our best.

“Then, did you know that the man who broke Helmont’s sword is my schoolmate’s disciple?

At that, the Faceless Man went silent.

The Grandmaster sneered at him.

“Incompetent cur.”

-So, you’re going to sever ties with us?

“Well, it’s not like I’m going to need you guys anymore.”

The Grandmaster said so with a shrug.

Seeing this, the Faceless Man smiled at her.

-Fine, this might be for the best. We’ve changed our sponsorship target as well.

“Hmm?”

-From today onwards, the Transcendent Race is going to be the one who owns the world, and we’ve decided to ‘sponsor’ them.

“...You speak of betrayal, but it is you who betray your masters.”

-It’s a necessary endeavor for our survival. This way, we can preserve the Human Race.

“I guess living as livestock counts as preservation. What an interesting perspective.”

-Haven’t you experienced this before? Care to offer us some advice?

“...”

The Grandmaster’s mouth was clamped shut..

However, at the same time, she exuded a raw and intense killing intent, unlike anything seen before.

-Look, today’s the day the kingdom’s sword will break. Soon, the Transcendent Race are going to make their move in earnest.

The kingdom’s sword?

Arandel Helmont?

The Grandmaster’s eyes widened slightly.

She wavered a little at the mention of Arandel, but that didn’t last long as she immediately gave the Soul Body a warning.

“Don’t show yourself before me again, or you’ll die.”

-I’ll keep that in mind.

After saying that, the Faceless Man disappeared.

The Grandmaster shook her head with a sigh. Her disciple, Damian, then cautiously asked her.

“M-Master, if Arandel dies, does that mean the war is going to start right away?”

Considering that the reason why the Transcendent Race hadn’t started it yet was because Arandel was still alive, it was a reasonable conjecture.

However, the Grandmaster shook her head.

“I’ve already crossed swords with Arandel. He’s not the type to die so easily.”

“I-Is that so?”

“I’ve never seen such a powerful individual—“

The Grandmaster, suddenly craving for tobacco, licked her lips and turned her eyes back to the window.

“The decision between the survival of the Human Race is solely in Arandel’s own hands, one could say.”

*   *   *As the sunset began to fade...

The sound of fierce hoofs echoed near Helmont.

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At first, the villagers trembled in fear, but the moment they saw the horse riders, their tense bodies relaxed.

“Ah! Lady Rianna!”

“Y-You’ve arrived!”

“Lady Rianna has returned!”

It had been exactly two days since the Evergard Terror Incident.

With the royal carriage, Pegasus, destroyed, they had no choice but to ride horses all the way here.

The horses showed clear signs of fatigue from the forced journey, but they arrived nonetheless.

Following Rianna were Isaac and Silverna, and then Princess Clarisse with her guards.

As they entered Helmont in a line, they were all wearing grave expressions.

It was clear that the number of the knights had greatly reduced, while the people seemed to be no better than rats scurrying through collapsed ruins.

This meant the Transcendent Race’s attack had been so fierce that even after two days had passed, they still weren’t able to clear all the dead bodies.

“Sister, you’re back!”

At that moment, Edel, who had been leading the village restoration efforts, came running with tears in his eyes.

Rianna, who had dismounted, hugged her youngest brother and then carefully asked.

“What happened?”

“T-Two days ago. The Transcendent Race came.”

Two days ago.

It coincided exactly with the Evergard Terror Incident.

So Helmont really was their real target.

“They said there were five Primordials there, but Father—”

Edel’s subsequent story was astonishing.

The battle lasted for a day and a half.

Lightning strikes exploded continuously ever since the battle started, only ceasing a few hours before their arrival.

“...The sky is still dyed red.”

Listening to the explanation from behind, Isaac muttered softly.

The sky beyond the dark clouds was tinged red; evidence of how much Crimson Essence had been fired.

Not only that, the mana in the air was also extremely dense.

That was proof of how fierce and desperate the battle that had taken place was.

The second son, Armin, was nowhere to be seen.

Though they wanted to know what had happened to him, Arandel was their priority for now.

They all passed through the village and headed straight for the mansion.

“Please, Arandel. Please...”

Princess Clarisse, who was following behind them, was wearing an ashen expression.

Her muttering, as if in prayer, conveyed her desperation.

“The kingdom still needs you...”

It was obvious that the Transcendent Race’s offensive would begin in earnest the moment Arandel was out of the picture.

However, the generation to succeed Arandel wasn’t ready yet.

Hoping that Arandel had won the grueling battle, the reinforcements arrived at the entrance of the mansion.

Although...

It was probably safe to conclude that he had won.

Isaac thought so as they headed towards the mansion.

I mean, if the Transcendent Race won...

There’d be nothing left of the village.

It would have been reduced to ashes, with everyone greeting them as corpses.

This was the basis for Isaac’s beliefs in Arandel’s victory.

It was hard to believe that he had single-handedly killed five Primordials, but...

As they tread through the place that could no longer be called a mansion.

The moment they reached the ruins that only had its entrance remaining, he had no choice but to believe.

Helmont’s pride, the rose garden, was already gone.

The roses in the garden had all been broken by the battle’s aftermath, with only petals covering the ground.

And among those petals lay the Transcendents’ corpses.

Numerous Transcendents were sprawled on the ground, each having met a miserable death.

And...

Beneath the sky, draped like a curtain with dark clouds...

A man was waiting for everyone.

Atop the ruins...

Arandel Helmont, who had been sitting silently, slowly turned his eyes towards those who had come to find him.

“Lord Arandel! You’re safe!”

Just as Clarisse exclaimed with a bright smile, Isaac reached out to stop her.

“Isaac?”

“...”

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

No, it would’ve been more correct to say that he didn’t want to believe what he was seeing.

“F-Father?”

Sensing something ominous, Rianna expressed her doubt, but Arandel kept his mouth shut and only silently stared at those who had come to find him.

He hadn’t died.

Nor had he fallen.

He hadn’t been broken, nor defeated.

Just sitting there silently.

As if waiting for the next battlefield.

His figure, sitting on the rose petals scattered on the ground, instilled fear beyond intimidation.

“I’ve been waiting.”

Arandel extended his hand towards his greatsword again, letting out a low voice.

“I-I-Isaac... that—“

Having seen something similar to this before, Silverna’s eyes trembled.

Isaac, had a similar reaction, even though he still didn’t understand how it had come to this.

He felt dizzy at the thought that the future had developed into the worst situation possible.

However, there was nothing he could do about it.

“Take your stance.”

Biting his lip hard, he placed his hands on the tachi sitting at both sides.

Arandel’s blood-like eyes were tainted black.

The sign of Vassalization.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Arandel