Let's rewind time a bit.
How did Isaac and Liana cross dimensions to arrive at the Malidan Wall?
"Damn it! They're still coming!"
"When is the main force arriving?!"
They had defeated Helik and sent him back, but as masters of sorcery, the Transcendents continued to pour through.
Liana held Isaac tightly as if shielding him, while the siblings swung their greatswords to protect them.
"I shouldn't be the one holding him! You're stronger than me, sis!"
Sharen grumbled, but Liana ignored her complaints. However, she knew that the onslaught of Transcendents was too much for Sharen to handle alone.
"...."
In the end, Liana had no choice but to stand up.
"Isaac, rest for a little longer."
His pale face and labored breathing made Liana's expression harden. She didn't want to see him in such a weakened state, but she also knew there was nothing she could do for him.
So all she could do was wield her greatsword, cutting down their enemies to ensure he could rest.
There weren't too many of them.
Moreover, with the left and right flanks regrouping, their side had gained a numerical advantage.
The Transcendents, who had crossed dimensions, were now the ones being hunted.
Slash!
"Ugh!"
Liana's greatsword pierced the chest of a snake-like Transcendent and slammed it into the ground.
As it coughed up blood, awaiting its inevitable death—
Isaac slowly stood up and approached it.
"Isaac?"
"Maybe…"
A moment of hesitation.
He muttered while looking down at the struggling Transcendent.
"What if I use this guy as a passageway to cross into their dimension?"
It was a portal, after all.
If they were forcibly crossing dimensions as the price of their sorcery,
Then perhaps he could use them to cross over as well.
Everyone's eyes widened at Isaac's idea, but the risks were apparent.
"How do you plan to return? Even if this works, only a small number of us could travel."
"...."
"It's too dangerous."
She didn't want him to go.
Liana reached out to grab Isaac's sleeve, but before she could, Isaac pressed his sword against the wounded Transcendent's injury.
"AAAGH!"
"Where did you come from? Speak."
The snake-like tongue flickered.
Writhing in pain, the creature proved to be as loose-lipped as its forked tongue suggested.
"T-The Wall! We were attacking the inner fortress…!"
"The inner fortress? The Malidan Wall?"
"Y-Yes! Agh! Avoiding Uldren—"
Isaac's eyes widened.
The moment he saw a possibility, retreat was no longer an option for him.
"I'm going to use this thing to cross over."
"Isaac!"
For once, Liana raised her voice, but Isaac did not back down.
His determined gaze made it clear—he was going to help them, no matter what.
"…Then I'm going too."
Liana stepped forward.
"You might never come back."
There was no telling when the sorcery would end. If it ended before they could return, they would be trapped there forever.
But Liana did not hesitate.
"Rather than worrying about you every day, I'd rather die by your side."
"...."
Isaac's body trembled slightly for a moment.
He recalled the Liana from his past life.
If she had truly loved him until the end, she would have spent her days worrying about his safety.
Thinking of that, he could no longer tell her no.
"Lohengrin."
Liana immediately called for the eldest son of their family.
"Until I return, I hereby transfer all authority over Helmut to our youngest, Edel."
"Huh? I'll take responsibility— Wait, what?"
Of course, he thought it would be himself, but she were handing it over to the youngest, who was managing it together with the second son in the mansion?
However, there was no reversal of the decision.
"That child possesses a talent that Helmut does not. If I had to compare—"
He resembles his mother, Galenia.
"If guided well, Helmut will surely become stronger internally. This is the order of the head of the family."
The head's order.
Lohengrin gritted his teeth but let out a bitter sigh before nodding.
"I obey the head's command."
He didn't resist because he knew where Liana was about to go.
If things went wrong, this could be their final farewell.
At that moment, the snake Transcendent's body started to twist. The transportation had begun, and Isaac and Liana held hands as they stepped into the vortex that formed on the snake Transcendent's chest.
"Me too!"
"Huh?!"
From behind, Sharen suddenly clung onto Isaac's back, causing his body to tilt forward and accelerate further.
***
"So, that's how you ended up here?"
Silverna asked as she hastily wiped away her tear streaks, and Isaac nodded.
Their physical condition wasn't great, but seeing each other like this gave them strength.
"…Move away."
A palm was suddenly thrust between the two, who were so close their noses nearly touched.
Liana was looking at Silverna with the same gaze she usually reserved for Transcendents.
"Ahem, I got carried away in the moment."
Silverna awkwardly scratched her cheek.
The moment Liana's hand disappeared, Silverna lunged at Isaac again.
Her movements were like those of a hunter from the north.
Her eyes locked onto her prey with precision, and her lips had no hesitation in their destination.
Mwah!
The moment their lips overlapped, Isaac's eyes widened in shock.
But Silverna, on the other hand, tightly shut her eyes, clumsily attempting the kissing techniques she had picked up from romance novels.
"…..!"
Liana couldn't take it anymore.
She urgently pulled the two apart, causing Silverna to fall onto her backside.
However, a faint smile played on Silverna's lips, and she licked them in satisfaction.
"At least I got my first kiss before dying."
"You, you…!"
Liana stomped her feet, struggling to find words.
"What? Can't a man and a woman share a kiss?"
Silverna shrugged.
"Miss, your face is really red."
Though her words were composed, her expression was not.
Her face was flushed bright red, despite her attempt to appear calm.
"As expected of the lady."
"The northern warrior!"
"We never let our prey escape."
The soldiers of Malidan behind them nodded in approval, clearly entertained by Silverna's boldness.
"Ugh…"
Behind them, Sharen could only gasp in amazement, staring at Isaac.
He looked bewildered for a moment, but then he wiped his lips with the back of his hand and asked in his usual tone.
"What's the situation?"
"Huh? Ah, right—"
Everyone had been caught up in the commotion and forgotten the current situation, yet Isaac remained unshaken, as if nothing had happened.
Feeling oddly frustrated, Silverna still proceeded to report the situation.
"To be honest, even with a few of you arriving, things won't get any better. The wall is out of control, spewing cold air, which has disrupted the Transcendents' attack for now… but there are still plenty of them inside the fortress."
"The real problem is supplies. Frankly, we don't even have the strength to hold our spears anymore."
Behind her, the soldiers were visibly exhausted.
It was astonishing that so many of them had survived despite their poor condition.
"What about the Margrave?"
Silverna's face darkened rapidly.
"…My father insisted on blocking the fortress entrance himself. The passage is only wide enough for two or three people at a time, so he said he'd hold it alone."
But the fortress was crawling with Transcendents.
Did that mean Uldren had already fallen?
'This is a nightmare.'
Even with Isaac and Liana's arrival, the situation showed no sign of improvement.
The others seemed to share similar thoughts, as their expressions were far from bright.
"…I think we should first confirm Lord Uldren's survival. What do you think?"
Isaac asked Liana and Silverna. After all, the two women had been the ones leading the unit and held responsibility as its commanders.
They hesitated for a moment.
Liana was worried that if they went to the entrance, they might end up facing the Transcendents head-on.
Silverna wanted to go but was concerned that her emotions might be clouding her judgment.
"I actually think there's a possibility that there are no Transcendents at the entrance."
Even when looking down from the corridor's window, the thick white mist of cold made it impossible to see the ground.
"The Transcendents that have entered the interior either know how to climb walls or have wings."
As Isaac pointed at the corpses of the Transcendents, the two women's eyes gleamed with realization.
In the urgency of the situation, they hadn't noticed it before, but as he said, all the Transcendents present had exceptional mobility.
"If that's the case—!"
Expectation filled Silverna's eyes.
But he didn't give her an answer. Raising their hopes would only make their disappointment worse.
Instead, Isaac simply gave a short nod and said,
"Let's go. The Margrave might still be fighting."
With that, the group set off for the inner fortress' main gate in search of Uldren.
They encountered Transcendents along the way, but Liana's greatsword cut them down as if venting her frustration.
While she was slicing down a Transcendent that had appeared behind them, then returning to walk alongside Isaac—
"Hey."
Silverna grabbed Liana's wrist and called her in a low voice.
"…What?"
Her red eyes held an even deeper hostility than when she was looking at the Transcendents.
"Why is he… so unaffected?"
She gestured toward Isaac, who was walking ahead with a calm demeanor.
Liana felt a pang of jealousy, even at Silverna's blushing face.
"I don't know."
"Is it because he's done it a lot with you and gotten used to it?"
"I haven't done it much with him either."
"Really? Then did he do it before marriage?"
Flinch.
Liana frowned and glared at her.
"Isaac isn't that kind of person."
"I know. But he's just too composed."
"It's just the situation."
"Is that so…? I wish he'd show at least a little reaction."
Liana's gaze flickered downward for a moment. Silverna's hand, gripping her spear, was trembling.
She realized that Silverna's focus on Isaac's reaction wasn't simply because of him.
'She's scared.'
Was her father safe?
They were heading to find out.
To push away the dark thoughts creeping into her mind, Silverna was intentionally bringing up Isaac.
'…'
Even so, Liana felt irritated.
Before long, they neared the inner castle's main gate.
Ironically, the closer they got to the gate, the colder the air became, and as a result, the Transcendents became less frequent.
And then, when they finally reached the entrance—
They saw a man and a woman.
A man blocking the gate.
And a woman embracing him from behind.
"Ah… Father—! Mother!"
Silverna dashed forward in desperation.
The man, who had been standing motionless, slowly turned his head.
Covered in wounds, he saw his daughter and gave a faint smile.
"Take care of your mother. She'll freeze to death like this."
"I refuse. I'm staying with you."
Uldren's wife, Selene Caldias, had her arms wrapped tightly around his waist.
Her tears had long since frozen, sticking to her cheeks, showing just how much she had been weeping.
"Father…? Y-Your legs—"
As they approached, Uldren's lower body, which had been hidden by Selene, was revealed.
From the waist down, he was encased in ice, as if he had become an ice sculpture.
"The wall's cold did this to you—"
"No! That's not it! This foolish man—!"
Selene shouted again, tears welling up once more.
"He said he couldn't stand any longer! He froze his own legs on purpose!"
Even in this dire situation, the corners of his mouth did not drop.
The group couldn't hide their astonishment.
At the same time, they couldn't help but admire the sheer willpower displayed by the man standing before them.
To keep fighting.
Uldren had deliberately frozen his own legs to ensure he could guard the inner fortress entrance until the very end.
"Silverna."
Uldren called his daughter in a calm voice.
"As your father, if I've managed to pass down a final lesson, then that's enough for me."
Tears once again welled up in Silverna's eyes. She nodded vigorously and spoke her heart to her father.
"You are my pride. My proud father."
Simply put, he was great.
Just as the first Caldias once said—
The guardian of the North standing before them was nothing short of great.
And yet, Uldren let out a painful breath.
"Hah… In the end, that damned hunting dog wasn't entirely wrong. If it had been Arandel—"
"Father!"
She didn't want to hear it.
Who else could have made it this far?
Arandel Helmut was a monster beyond comprehension, but that didn't mean her father was any lesser.
And yet, Uldren thought of Arandel.
In this direst of moments, if it had been him instead of himself—would the outcome have been different? Would it have been better?
Like a lingering shadow, the thought clung to Uldren's back.
Then—Lianna stepped forward.
"My father… Until the very moment of his death, he told me to remain arrogant. That it was the only way not to disgrace those who had fallen to his sword."
"Hah… That sounds just like him."
Uldren nodded.
Liana continued in her usual steady tone.
"My father was always arrogant. He had absolute confidence in his sword. And yet—"
"..."
Precisely because she spoke so plainly, her words carried weight.
"Not once did my father ever deny the evaluation that you were his equal."
"…!"
Uldren's eyes widened.
His hands unconsciously clenched.
The words struck him with both shock and exhilaration.
"That was the kind of man he was. He never said it outright, but precisely because he never denied it—my father acknowledged you."
That Caldias' Uldren was a man who stood as his equal.
"Hah… Hahaha! That bastard! If he were here, I'd land a punch on him!"
Watching him laugh, Liana slowly closed her eyes and bowed her head.
"Please help us. If we are to escape this place, we still need the Margrave's strength."
Crack!
The ice fractured.
Crack, crack!
As shards of ice splintered and scattered, Selene Caldias instinctively stepped back.
And then—
Craaaaack!
His frozen legs began to move once more.
"That damned Helmut… Always pushing me to the end."
As he spoke, a triumphant smile spread across Uldren's face.