The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 1179
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 1179
What is the heart?
Everyone possesses a heart, yet most never harness its true power.
Even transcendent warriors and mages fail to comprehend it fully, using it merely as intention. But now, I have come to understand what the heart truly is.
The power that allows me to be myself.
The power to live as Raon Zigheart alone, unbending to the will of others—that was the heart.
Yet I do not possess only the life of Raon Zigheart. The assassin Raon, that hellish existence that never once glimpsed light from birth, was also woven into my heart.
Raon Zigheart, who pursues life and radiates brilliant light; Raon, who follows death and cloaks himself in shadow. Since both lives are me, I wished for this new blade to contain them all.
Heart Sword: Life is Death.
The blade of my heart, encompassing both of my lives, pierced into the Dragon Lord’s very soul.
Screeeeeeeech!
Though no physical sound should have emerged when a blade of the heart struck the soul, everyone present heard the chilling sound of a sword embedding itself in a heart.
[Roooooooar!]
The Dragon Lord writhed in agony far greater than when struck by the recoil of absolute power magic, golden scales cascading from his entire body as he unleashed a scream that seemed to tear the very dimensions asunder.
[No… this cannot be… Grrrrr!]
The Dragon Lord, no longer resembling a dragon but rather a reptile, spewed forth a growl mixed with raw instinct.
“…”
I gazed silently at the Dragon Lord crawling across the ground, my eyes cold and piercing.
‘Finally, I’ve contained it.’
I had always harbored the desire to meld two different lives—my past existence and my present one—into a single blade, and at last, I had achieved it.
A profound exhilaration I had never felt before sent shivers down my spine.
‘I never expected the Dragon Lord would foster my growth like this.’
In truth, I had adapted so deeply to my present life that I had forgotten much of my past existence. Though I understood that my previous life could be of aid, I had struggled to merge them seamlessly—until the Dragon Lord pronounced my death sentence, and everything changed.
As I lay buried in sand that devoured souls, awaiting death, the final moments of my past life came flooding back—helpless in Derus Robert’s grasp, unable to do anything. That hellish existence replayed in my mind, the one that ended with my throat severed by my master’s hand, and only then did I truly comprehend death through my very soul.
In truth, even now, Life-Death-as-One is not a perfected blade. If I continue to refine my heart-sword by embracing death and life with greater subtlety, one day it will become a true heart-blade capable of even tearing asunder Derus Robert’s soul.
Whoooooosh!
I grasped the hilt of my heart-sword firmly, filled with such anticipation. Though no sound should have emerged, a crystalline blade-song seemed to ring within my ears.
-Tsk!
Wrath furrowed his brow and smacked his lips.
-Well, not half bad. The edge of your heart-blade has grown just a touch sharper.
He was reluctant to admit it, but he averted his gaze slightly, acknowledging it was a decent blade.
-However, you still have far to go. With a heart-blade of that caliber, you cannot slay Demon Lords or Archangels. That lizard wouldn’t have been pierced properly if he hadn’t been weakened!
Wrath snorted, insisting that I needed to grow far more than I had.
‘He urgently called out my name, and now he’s at it again.’
I recalled how Wrath had frantically shouted my name with worried eyes, and I let out a soft chuckle.
-W-what are you saying!
Wrath shrieked like a fledgling bird.
-The True Demon King merely wished to cry out, that is all!
He shook his trembling jaw, insisting it was not out of concern for me.
‘I wasn’t actually mocking you.’
I waved my hand lightly.
‘I wanted to say thank you.’
In Wrath’s urgent cry, I felt such profound concern for me—it seemed we had become family, inseparable from the Demon King of Wrath himself.
-Grrrgh….
Wrath’s eyes rolled around like spheres as he let out a low groan.
“And grateful? Bah! The True Demon King merely took pity on a pathetic creature like you, nothing more than a pet, and gave it a moment’s thought!”
He turned his head away in embarrassment, his face flushed, toward where the Dragon Lord was.
[Grrrrr….]
The Dragon Lord was breathing heavily, white foam flecking his lips. From the sword scars etched across his entire body, black blood infused with death itself gushed forth.
-But why isn’t that thing dead?
Wrath narrowed his eyes as he observed the suffering Dragon Lord.
-You cast a death sentence through some pathetic dragon incantation that failed, and his soul was pierced by your awakened heart sword—he should have died long ago!
He tilted his head in confusion.
-Your heart sword is still weak, and even if that lizard has lived ten thousand years, he should have died ages ago, shouldn’t he?
Wrath examined the Dragon Lord carefully, finding it all very strange.
-Wait, could it be….
‘That’s right.’
I nodded, watching the Dragon Lord gasping for breath.
‘I’m deliberately keeping him alive.’
Just as Wrath sensed, the Dragon Lord should have breathed his last long ago. The absolute power magic governing death had failed, unleashing a devastating backlash, and with his soul pierced by the Heart Sword, there was no flaw in that reasoning.
-So that Heart Sword truly isn’t ordinary!
‘That’s right. Life and Death is a special Heart Sword.’
The Heart Sword Life and Death was, as its name suggested, a blade that governed life and death itself. Piercing an enemy’s soul with it was far more difficult than with an ordinary Heart Sword, but once it penetrated, the battle ended in that very instant.
‘Because I can now control the Dragon Lord’s life and death.’
I could sever the Dragon Lord’s breath this very moment, or keep him alive for years while inflicting endless torment upon him. At this instant, the Dragon Lord was nothing more than an insect resting in the palm of my hand.
He was utterly powerless before me.
-W-what kind of insane sword is that!
Wrath cried out in disbelief.
-That’s completely broken!
He furrowed his brow deeply, questioning why I possessed such an ability.
‘That’s precisely why the difficulty in wielding it is extraordinarily high.’
I shook my head, explaining that the greater the difficulty, the greater the effect.
-Still, isn’t it far too powerful? That… huh?
Wrath looked at the Dragon Lord again, his eyes narrowing slightly.
-The aura embedded in that lizard’s chest feels strangely familiar…
He tilted his jaw side to side, sensing something amiss.
‘That will be revealed soon enough.’
I too had noticed it, and I approached the Dragon Lord with heavy, deliberate steps.
“You screamed quite enough, didn’t you?”
I twisted my lips into a cruel smile as I stepped down hard on the head of the sprawled Dragon Lord.
“Then let’s begin.”
*
*
*
[My Lord!]
[Your Majesty!]
[You cannot fall to a mere human!]
[Rise!]
Dragons rushed forward in desperation to save the Dragon Lord, their roars and shrieks tearing through the air.
“Not so fast!”
Martha seized the moment without hesitation, severing more than half of the Gold Dragon’s thick neck in the chaos of battle.
“That should feel refreshing!”
She sneered mockingly at the dragon whose flesh had been torn away.
[Kraaaaaaagh!]
The Gold Dragon shrieked in agony and stumbled backward, its neck ravaged.
“Dragons aren’t always rational, it seems.”
Burren Zigheart followed close behind Martha, cutting off the fleeing Gold Dragon’s breath.
Splurt!
To ensure a clean finish, he extracted the dragon’s heart with his blade.
[Grrrrgh!]
The Gold Dragon, who had only recently ascended to the ranks of ancient dragons, collapsed to the ground lifeless without so much as a proper struggle, its final breath extinguished.
“Ha! That bastard actually pulled it off.”
Martha let out a hollow laugh as she watched Raon trample the Dragon Lord’s head beneath his feet.
“It was inevitable that Raon would capture the Lord, and thanks to that, we’ve also earned merit by subduing the ancient dragon.”
Burren Zigheart exhaled a sigh of relief as he gazed at the neck of the ancient dragon he and Martha had defeated together.
“Argh! The spells keep coming! When will this end!”
Dorian was too preoccupied dodging the relentless barrage of magic to even consider charging at the dragons, yet he stood firm before the Dimensional Rift like a guardian of old, blocking the path. Despite his fear and dread, his resolve was unwavering—he would protect Raon to the very end.
“You held well.”
Evelyn seized the moment when the dragons’ attention was drawn to Dorian, and using her mana control magic, she simultaneously ensnared two dragons weaker than herself.
[W-What!]
[M-My mana is slipping from my control!]
The dragons, experiencing for the first time in their lives the suppression of their own mana, revealed their terror through widened eyes.
“Vanish.”
As Evelyn clenched her fist, the necks of the dragons under her control burst open, and their dragon hearts shot outward.
“How beautifully the roses have bloomed.”
She brushed the back of her hand upward across the blood-soaked dragon scales that resembled rose petals, her smile fresh and serene.
[T-This human is insane….]
Red Dragon Balashiur instinctively distanced himself from her, clearly unwilling to engage in combat with her.
[And that one is even more insane!]
He muttered under his breath about how terrifying humans were as he observed Raon, who had subdued the Dragon Lord.
[Even a battle-crazed dragon has learned to fear…!]
The Blue Dragon Sirtiren laughed as she batted away a White Dragon of comparable size with her wings.
[We certainly underestimated humans!]
She licked her lips slowly, sensing that things were about to become far more entertaining.
[To think the Lord would fall so pathetically!]
The Black Dragon Dariauran let out a hollow laugh.
[Had I known this would happen, I would have volunteered to face him myself!]
He clicked his tongue as he suppressed a frail old dragon with his venom.
[Hmph! You would have been pierced through your entire body by his blade of light the moment you approached the Lord, and you would have perished!]
The White Dragon Busiharabi scoffed.
[This outcome came to pass because Raon Zigheart was strong.]
He nodded solemnly, as if he had now come to fully acknowledge Raon.
“Raon Zigheart….”
The Gold Dragon Barthius pressed his lips together as he watched Raon’s straightened back, his hand placed over his chest as he bowed respectfully.
“Thank you,”
for protecting the convictions of our dragons.
*
*
*
[W-what are you about to do?]
The Dragon Lord’s eyes trembled with fear as he opened his mouth.
“What else would it be? An interrogation.”
I chuckled softly and waved my hand.
“I have quite a few things I’m curious about regarding you.”
I told him it would be better to answer properly, then rotated my wrist.
[You filthy vermin!]
The Dragon Lord’s jaw trembled violently as he lifted his eyes. Much of the pain seemed to have faded, and he let out a bitter laugh.
[I am the King of Dragons! Even if I die by your hand, I will not suffer the indignity of—Gaaaaaahhhhh!]
The Dragon Lord was boldly proclaiming his death when suddenly a wave of agony struck him, and he screamed like someone electrocuted.
“Your life and death are both mine to decide.”
I pointed the Heavenly Sword at the Dragon Lord’s neck, where his dragon heart lay embedded.
“If I do not permit it, you cannot die even if you wish to.”
I stopped the soul-rending blade that had been tearing through the Dragon Lord’s spirit and lowered my hand.
[Ah…]
True to his cunning nature, the Dragon Lord seemed to grasp the situation immediately, and he let out a murky groan as he looked at me.
[That blade you embedded in my soul…]
“Exactly. That blade controls your life. I can kill you this very instant, or I can keep you trapped in agony until I myself perish.”
I said the battle was over and curled my lips upward.
[Th-This is absurd!]
The Dragon Lord lashed the ground with his tail.
[Glen Zigheart was like this, and you are too! Why does the heavens grant such power to mere humans! Creatures that cannot even live for a hundred years!]
He gazed up at the sky and let out a piercing wail. From his fractured voice, I could sense a deep and intense jealousy and resentment.
[Uaaaaaaah!]
“Silence.”
[Grrrrgh….]
The moment I told the Dragon Lord to shut up, he screamed but then clamped his mouth shut.
“From now on, I’ll ask the questions. You just need to answer.”
I smacked my lips briefly and gazed into the trembling Dragon Lord’s eyes.
“Why do you want to kill humans?”
There were many things I needed to ask the Dragon Lord, but I brought up the most pressing question first. Honestly, even now I couldn’t understand why the Dragon Lord hated humans and sided with the Archangel.
[Hmm….]
The Dragon Lord kept his mouth firmly shut, showing no intention of speaking.
“You’re only hurting yourself by doing this.”
The moment I twitched my chin, the Heart Sword embedded in the Dragon Lord’s soul began to rampage again.
[Kroooooooh!]
The Dragon Lord clutched his head and screamed as the intensified pain washed over him.
[P-please! Stop! I beg you!]
He couldn’t endure the agony of his soul being torn apart and cried out desperately for me to stop.
“Hmm.”
I stopped the raging Heart Sword and gazed into the Dragon Lord’s eyes once more.
“Speak. Why did you hate humans?”
[T-that is….]
Despite the Dragon Lord’s excruciating agony, he refused to open his mouth immediately. It seemed like a question he found genuinely difficult to answer.
But I had no reason to wait for him.
“If you don’t want to speak, that’s fine. Let’s see who wins instead.”
Just as I dusted off my hands and prepared to move the Heavenly Sword again.
Whoooooosh!
A green Dimensional Gate opened above the Dragon Lord’s eyes.
“Ah, I’ve been preparing for so long, and who on earth interfered with my plans!”
A graceful-looking Green Woman with crimson lips burst forth from within the Dimensional Gate, her expression twisted.
“I barely managed to blind him over countless ages by exploiting the jealousy embedded in his heart… Wait? Gasp!”
The moment she locked eyes with me, her mouth fell open as if she’d arrived at the wrong place.
“Hoh.”
I gazed at the flustered green-haired beauty and flashed my teeth in a smile. I waved my hand, making no effort to hide my delight.
“Who is this?”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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