The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 126

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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 126

“What kind of wager?”

Edquil raised an eyebrow. His expression betrayed eagerness at the thought of escaping his role as a pack mule.

“The wager is obvious.”

I tapped the hilt of my sword.

“A duel?”
“Yes. We live by the sword anyway—conversation and wagers like this are more than sufficient, don’t you think?”
“How naive, thinking the world is so simple for one so young.”

Edquil’s mouth curved like a rain-soaked branch.

“You’re comparing me to some mere monster or mercenary!”
“If you’re so confident, then accept the wager.”
“….”

He didn’t answer immediately, chewing his lip as he deliberated.

“There’s a condition.”
“A condition? You’re hardly in a position to make demands.”

I pressed my advantage from the start. I knew exactly who held the upper hand.

“Let’s settle this through pure martial prowess alone.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean we fight using only our swordsmanship and aura—not the power of special weapons.”
“Hmm….”

I glanced at the Soul Reaper Sword hanging at my waist, narrowing my eyes.

‘He took the bait perfectly.’

It was worth deliberately showing him how I defeated the Ice Troll Shaman with the Soul Reaper Sword.

As expected, Edquil seemed to believe he had killed the Shaman in a single strike not through his own strength, but through the Soul Reaper Sword’s exceptional power.

“Very well then.”

Raon nodded calmly, concealing the smile threatening to break across his face.

“So what additional price will you demand?”
“Simple. You all become Scout Unit members.”
“What? Huh?”
“Abandon your swordsman duties and serve as rank-and-file scouts. For about three months.”

Self-centered and arrogant bastards like Edquil and the Sulgyek Swordsmen only learned sense by walking in others’ shoes. Even if I cast them out from Habun Castle, I wanted them to understand what they had done before I did.

“Are you out of your mind?”

Edquil pointed accusingly at Radin and the scouts, his voice rising to a shout.

“They’re worthless trash who can’t even use aura! Why are you even bothering with such people! Besides, the Commander would never accept such ridiculous conditions!”
“Tch…”
“Ugh…”

The scouts bit their lips in frustration, but the murderous aura radiating from Edquil sealed their mouths shut.

“I see.”

Raon’s gaze froze over, colder than the glaciers of the Northern Sea.

“You are…”
“Edquil.”

Just as Raon was about to unleash the words he had drawn from within, Terian approached.

“I thought you knew restraint, but it seems you don’t understand limits.”

His brow furrowed like rotting bark as he positioned himself before Edquil.

“V-Vice Commander.”
“I never imagined you would regard a comrade you fought alongside as vermin, as trash.”
“No, that’s not what I meant….”
“Silence. Edquil. I’m restraining myself from beheading you right now.”

Terian stepped back from Edquil and turned to face Raon.

“I grant permission. I will serve as the witness to your duel.”
“V-Vice Commander!”
“Weakness is irrelevant. We can make him strong. But I have no intention of letting garbage who views their comrades that way simply walk free.”
“If all of us become Scout Unit members, Habun Castle will face numerous problems! The castle could collapse!”
“A castle that would crumble without the likes of you would have fallen long ago. Don’t overestimate yourself, Edquil.”
“Ugh….”

Edquil’s lips trembled.

“However, I cannot endanger everyone here because of your duel.”

Terian narrowed his eyes and pointed down the mountain.

“The match will commence once we reach a safe location.”

*

*

*

Habun Castle’s forces collected the heads of the Ice Troll Warriors and Ice Troll Shamans—their spoils of war—and departed the Sturrin Mountains.

The moment Raon and Edquil reached the safe zone, they set down their packs and began warming up, as if by mutual agreement.

The Scout Unit and Sulgyek Swordsmen cleared the surrounding area to accommodate the duel. A makeshift Sparring Arena took shape, and Raon and Edquil stood face to face.

“This is your last chance.”

Edquil drew his sword from his waist, baring his teeth.

“If you back down now, I’m willing to call it quits too.”
“The fact that you’re even saying that shows you’re anxious.”
“You bastard!”
“Step back. I’ll verify everything once more before the match begins.”

Terian, standing between them, turned his head toward me first.

“If you win, the entire Sulgyek Swordsmen will become Scout Unit recruits for three months. Correct?”
“That’s one part of it. They’ll also have to handle all the Scout Unit’s baggage and chores until we return from confirming the Northern Sea.”
“Fine. Then, Edquil.”

Terian’s gaze shifted to Edquil.

“Yes.”
“If you win, the porter’s role—the previous wager—disappears. Correct?”
“That’s true, but I’m at too much of a disadvantage.”
“What?”
“Please let me add one more condition!”
“What do you want?”

I tilted my jaw and smiled.

“That dagger. If I win, hand it over to me.”

Edquil’s gaze fixed on the Soul Reaper Sword was stained with greed. Even now, coveting an object—he was a thoroughly despicable human being.

“Agreed.”

The Soul Reaper Sword cried out, but I stroked its scabbard to reassure it.

‘Don’t worry. Even if I wanted to lose, I couldn’t.’

Through his battle with the trolls, I had already grasped the flow of Edquil’s swordsmanship. He was undoubtedly strong, but I didn’t feel like I would lose.

-Being wagered as a prize, how fitting for a mere trinket like you.

Wrath chuckled mockingly at the Soul Reaper Sword, unaware that his own flower bracelet received no attention whatsoever.

“I’ve never once unleashed my true power.”

Red aura blazed across Edquil’s shoulders in fierce waves. Whether he truly had never unleashed his full power before, the energy radiating from him now burned far more intensely than when facing the trolls.

“How arrogant.”

I clicked my tongue in disdain.

“Killing is forbidden. Now, let the sparring begin!”

Terian announced the start of the match and stepped back.

“Krraaaaaaah!”

Edquil charged forward with a roar nearly as monstrous as the trolls themselves, bringing his sword down in a direct strike imbued with tremendous aura.

Clang!

Despite my precise block, the blade wavered. Beneath his frivolous demeanor lay a sword that had been properly forged and honed.

“You won’t land a single blow—I’ll have you crawling on the ground!”

He seized the advantage without hesitation, unleashing a relentless barrage of strikes. The sheer force and shockwaves were so brutal that my winter coat and armor began to tear.

“Save the scouts? Become a scout? Talentless trash like them are a dime a dozen anywhere. Why does he care so much about those worthless dogs!”

Edquil’s blade grew brighter with each passing moment. The strands of sword energy converged into thick, concentrated lines—a higher realm of technique: Sword Mastery.

Boom! Clang!

With each collision of steel, the impact reverberated through my very bones. His strikes were devastating, yet my eyes grew steadily colder and more composed.

“When I came to Habun Castle, I held two expectations.”

I endured the onslaught of his strikes, my expression hardening.

“The first was the belief that I would grow stronger through brutal warfare. The second was trust.”
“Trust?”

At the word “trust,” a faint light kindled in the eyes of all those watching the sparring match.

“I came here hoping to see people bound together by trust and faith when facing a powerful external enemy.”

It was something I had never experienced before. I came here envisioning a future that the 5th Training Ground would eventually reach, given enough time.

“But it wasn’t like that. You obsessed over rank, debated power, and divided yourselves by status. Even the mercenaries here temporarily—they saw people as people. Yet you treated your comrades as servants.”

Raon’s blade erupted with a sword cry like the howl of a beast.

“You asked why I cared about the Scout Unit earlier? I wasn’t thinking of them—I was thinking of people.”

The leash on the Radiant Sword came undone, and a ferocious aura consumed the space.

“The price for shattering my expectations will be steep.”

*

*

*

“The price is nonsense!”

Edquil ground his teeth. I couldn’t fathom why some madman had to attach himself to me and cause all this suffering. But the fight had already begun. I had to win, no matter what.

‘I can break him!’

As I set down the short sword that was leaking aura as expected, Raon’s martial power visibly diminished.

With the Kator Swordsmanship I had spent a lifetime mastering, I could pierce through that solid defense and bring him to his knees.

“Kwaaaaah!”

Edquil unleashed five consecutive techniques from the latter half of Kator Swordsmanship. Silver blades tore through the cold air, driving Raon back.

Clang! Crash!

Raon advanced even as he received the devastating sword strikes. Rather than defending, he adjusted his grip as if preparing to attack.

“Now it’s my turn.”

My blade surged upward with brutal force, and his eyes were laid bare. Eyes as crimson as the moon hanging in the sky. A chill ran down my spine at that eerie, unwavering light.

“Hiss!”

Edquil brought his tightly gripped sword down diagonally. It was the sixth form of his technique—one designed to shatter an opponent’s blade with overwhelming power.

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

Just as the terrifying force in the blade threatened to consume the very space around us, my wrist rotated. His sword flashed like a beam of light, striking the flat of my blade.

Clang!

The blade rippled as if it might bend, and Edquil was driven backward to the right. The aura he’d poured into the attack vanished in an instant.

“Ugh, you bastard! What was that just now!”

Edquil’s beard trembled with fury.

“A strong blade that twists the trajectory.”

I looked down at him with cold eyes.

“I’ve already grasped the entirety of your swordplay.”
“Damn it!”

Edquil roared and charged forward. He unleashed the seventh, eighth, and ninth forms of the Kator technique in rapid succession without even pausing to breathe.

As his blade strikes—powerful enough to make the air itself vibrate—aimed for my throat, my hand surged forward with savage speed.

Clang!

The rotating blade strikes were deflected once more.

“How… how is this possible…?”

Edquil swallowed hard. His aura was stronger, faster—yet he was being pushed back. He couldn’t believe it.

“This is impossible! This can’t be possible!”

He stomped his foot and swung his blade upward toward Raon’s right side, aiming for the chest with an ascending cut. It was the fastest of the ten basic techniques.

But once again, the sword strike shattered before it could even touch Raon’s body. And then.

Crack!

A sound like a ball bursting echoed out, followed by a sharp, dizzying pain in his waist.

“Ugh!”

Edquil clutched his side and staggered backward.

“What—what is this!”
“I said it was my turn.”

Raon smiled faintly and spun his blade.

“Let’s see if you can block this.”

He launched forward like a wolf, pushing off the ground with explosive force.

“Hah!”

She brought down Kator Swordsmanship Technique 11 toward Raon, who was approaching head-on. The powerful sword that could reduce even rocks to dust swept through the air.

Clang!

He showed no hesitation before this unfamiliar technique, pressing forward relentlessly. His own blade was mercilessly pushed back against the raw, unrefined swing.

Clang! Clang!

He seized the opening and unleashed a barrage of savage strikes like a wild beast. The crimson aura pouring down like a torrential downpour made it impossible to breathe.

“Ugh!”

Gritting his teeth and mustering all his strength to endure, but those strikes kept targeting his weak points. He was like a ghost.

Clang!

His blade was forced back, and Raon closed in, driving a fist into his abdomen.

Gahhck!

Edquil’s body folded at a right angle, his eyes bulging as though they might burst from their sockets.

“Ughhhh!”
“We’re not finished yet.”

Raon unleashed a sword strike at Edquil, who hadn’t yet regained his footing.

Hnngh!

Edquil stumbled backward in desperation, raising a defensive stance, but Raon’s blade was far beyond what such clumsy defense could withstand.

Crash! Boom! Boom!

Like a sheet of paper caught in a tempest, Edquil tumbled across the ground.

“Y-you’re… gasp!”

He barely staggered to his feet, only to be met with swordplay even more ferocious than before. It felt as though he were trapped alone in a sandstorm.

“Ahhhhh!”

A scream he’d been holding back tore from Edquil’s throat.

‘What the hell is this bastard!’

Every technique of the Kator swordsmanship had been dismantled. It was as though he were living a nightmare.

Screech!

In the moment his mind wandered, his blade twisted, and Raon’s sword slithered through the opening like a serpent.

Slash!

A searing pain erupted across his left thigh—so intense it threatened to steal his consciousness. He couldn’t understand how such agony could exist when his bones hadn’t even fractured.

“Ugh…”

Edquil retreated, dragging his unresponsive legs. But I showed no mercy, pursuing like a shadow and driving my blade downward.

Clang!

Each time our swords met, my heart clenched with terror beyond pain. My teeth chattered from fear, not just agony. I wanted to stop, but too many eyes were watching, too many stakes were riding on this.

“Aaaahhh!”

Edquil unleashed his aura and gripped his sword with both hands. Drawing upon every ounce of strength, he brought his blade down from the heavens in a devastating arc. It was the final technique of Kator swordsmanship—Moon Breaker.

Whoooosh!

A crimson line traced across my blade. The tangled threads of light that had spiraled chaotically suddenly unraveled, bursting forth with a sunset-red radiance.

Crack!

The moment that brilliant light clashed with mine, Moon Breaker crumbled, and his blade shattered.

“Ugh!”

His palm split open as his sword flew from his grip, embedding itself in the frozen ground.

“I…”

Edquil’s jaw trembled as he looked at me. I stood before him exactly as I had at the start—unchanged.

“I… I lost… gasp!”

As he tried to speak his defeat, I covered his mouth.

“There’s no way to know what someone truly thinks inside. But…”

I stepped closer and smiled coldly.

“The moment those words leave your lips, you bear the consequences. Even as a newcomer, I know that dismissing comrades who fought alongside you with their lives on the line is unacceptable.”
“Wait! I lost… cough!”

I struck Edquil’s face with my clenched fist.

With a sound like stone shattering, his teeth scattered like corn kernels. His eyes glazed over as his head snapped to the side, and he toppled backward.

I picked up the blade that gleamed with a cold light and stepped before the Sulgyek Swordsmen.

“If anyone has grievances, I’ll hear them. Come forward now.”

My words, spoken with an icy chill that seemed to pass over their shoulders, made the Sulgyek Swordsmen tremble.

Their eyes fixed on Edquil, blood streaming from his mouth, and naturally, no one stepped forward.

-This matches the future I foresaw.

Wrath chuckled softly as he watched the unconscious Edquil.

*

*

*

I woke Edquil. He regained consciousness quickly, but pain and fear weighed so heavily upon him that he couldn’t even look around at where he was.

He seemed profoundly shaken—having his sword shattered by the Radiant Sword technique and his blade and aura severed by the Thousand Phantoms Swordsmanship.

“Commander.”

I left the trembling Edquil behind and approached Terian.

“Ah, yes.”

Terian’s eyes wavered intensely as he turned his head, apparently not having expected such a one-sided victory.

“Are you truly certain about this, sir?”
“A wager is a wager. It must be honored. If we allow those who undermine morale like this to go unchecked, discipline crumbles. The Sulgyek Swordsmen serving as Scout Unit won’t bring Habun Castle to ruin, so don’t worry.”
“Understood.”
“Listen.”

Terian climbed onto the temporary Training Ground, drawing everyone’s attention.

“The sparring match has concluded with Raon’s victory. As promised, I am hereby demoting the Sulgyek Swordsmen to the position of Scout Unit recruits. Since everyone agreed to this beforehand, there should be no complaints, correct?”

The Sulgyek Swordsmen appeared deeply dissatisfied, but when Raon glared at them, they flinched and turned their heads away.

“Ah, so you’re our juniors now! Right?”

Dorian rose with a smirk. He approached the Sulgyek Swordsmen, who seemed shrouded in gloom, and pulled out all the luggage they had handed over along with the Scout Unit members’ belongings from his spatial pouch.

“This is the baggage you’ll be carrying from now on. Juniors.”
“Ugh….”
“Damn it!”

The Sulgyek Swordsmen gnashed their teeth at the pile of luggage before them.

“Oh, one more thing.”

Dorian chuckled and withdrew four long logs from his spatial pouch.

“What, what is this?”
“Logs?”
“Why are logs coming out of there?”

Not just the Sulgyek Swordsmen, but everyone present widened their eyes at the sight of the logs.

“Logs are something anyone carries around for rafts or building, aren’t they?”

Dorian shrugged.

‘No. Nobody does that.’

I shook my head without realizing it.

“Anyway.”

Dorian’s eyes grew cold in a rare display of severity.

“Carry my logs carefully, juniors. Be prepared to die if you scratch them.”

He simply returned the words that the Sulgyek Swordsmen had spoken to the scouts, coming back with a refreshed expression.

“Ah, that’s exhilarating!”
“Looks good.”
“Good? I was holding back, actually. I was originally planning to pull out a boulder.”

Dorian muttered that I showed restraint and let out a snort.

‘There’s a boulder?’
-There’s a boulder too?

—————
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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