The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 1266
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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 1266
Clang.
I stepped over the blood of the ghostly soldiers wearing helmets, surveying my surroundings.
‘Is this Eden’s Back Mountain?’
The location where Gwangpung Hall and I had entered overlooked the entire expanse of Eden from a mountainside. It wasn’t particularly high, but since Eden itself was situated in lowlands, surveying the area proved relatively effortless.
‘Or rather, I could call it a back gate.’
Given that I could observe all of Eden’s territory and there were virtually no guards here, the dimensional gate that Sphinx had opened was indeed a back entrance to Eden, just as I had initially anticipated.
‘More than I expected….’
I narrowed my eyes as I gazed upon Eden’s white buildings.
‘There are many monsters with formidable power.’
Powerful auras emanated from various locations throughout Eden Headquarters, suggesting some special force was at work here. A select few at the highest levels of the buildings appeared to be monsters who had transcended.
-Indeed it is!
Wrath smacked his lips with evident fascination.
-Quite the assembly of masters scattered about! Truly befitting a gathering of the most unhinged!
He rubbed his hands together, delighted at the abundance of powerful beings, speaking as only a madman would.
‘But one of them stands out as particularly formidable.’
From the highest floor of the tallest building rising at Eden’s center, a terrifying killing intent radiated outward. The presence had already sensed our intrusion and was now directing a chilling gaze in our direction.
-Ho!
Wrath also sensed that presence and let out a hearty exclamation.
—You’re no ordinary being, as you say. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call you my equal.
He narrowed his eyes, realizing he hadn’t known such an existence could be here.
‘I thought I only needed to be cautious of the Heavenly Demon, but I was wrong.’
With Tacheon dead, I had believed the only threat within Eden was the Heavenly Demon. But if beings like this existed, I would need to completely revise my war strategy from the beginning.
‘Coming here was the right choice.’
I had come to repay the blood debt of Budnew Village’s people while gathering intelligence on Eden, and arriving here had yielded invaluable information right away. I was satisfied.
“Hmm….”
The Bearwolf Sorcerer furrowed his brow, watching the Eden Ghosts who had died without even managing a proper scream. His lips trembled as he seemed to see his own future in those corpses.
“It wasn’t mere bluster.”
I narrowed my eyes, observing the terrified Bearwolf Sorcerer.
“There really is a monster.”
The Bearwolf Sorcerer had claimed that Eden harbored a creature of comparable strength to himself, and his words held no falsehood. Something truly lived within that tower that wouldn’t be strange to match my own power.
“I, I told you, didn’t I?”
The Bearwolf Sorcerer forced his trembling jaw shut and stammered out his words.
“This place is Hell! A place where you cannot live like a human unless you are strong!”
He gnashed his teeth, thinking that without Siria Slion’s aid, he too would never have escaped this hellscape.
“….”
Lunan Slion’s expression remained unchanged, as though he had already overcome everything, even as the mention of Siria Slion arose.
“There has never been an intruder! And we will never let an intruder leave alive! However….”
The Bearwolf Sorcerer bit his lip deeply as he looked at Raon.
“Perhaps things would be different with you.”
His trembling eyes revealed that he now had no choice but to acknowledge Raon.
“We’ll find out soon enough. Whether we collect our blood debt and return alive, or leave as corpses.”
Raon shook his head with a faint smile.
“What shall we do now?”
Burren Zigheart approached from behind Raon and bowed his head.
“It appears the Eden Ghosts have sensed our presence.”
He slightly furrowed his brow, sensing the turbulent energy rising busily from below. It seemed that monster at the top layer had issued orders.
“Hmm….”
I gazed down the mountain and lifted my chin slightly. Now not only the ghosts who had transcended, but every being in Eden was sensing Gwangpung Hall’s presence and preparing to climb the mountain.
“We could simply cut them down as they come….”
I rested my hand on the Heavenly Sword and shook my head.
“But there’s no need to handle this the same way they would.”
We hadn’t come here to wage all-out war against Eden, but to meet the Heavenly Demon. Only by meeting him could we resolve all of this.
“Where is the Heavenly Demon?”
I steadied my breathing briefly and spread my senses once more. In an instant, ten rings of fire resonated, and I felt the presence of every being throughout Eden.
‘…He’s not here.’
My senses had grown to rival even Wrath’s, yet I couldn’t detect the Heavenly Demon’s presence anywhere. It seemed he didn’t exist on this land at all.
“Looking for the Heavenly Demon?”
As I furrowed my brow and tried to concentrate further on my senses, a cool voice came from a tree to my right.
“Who are you?!”
“Without a trace!”
Burren and Martha spun around urgently, their blades pointing toward the tree from which the voice had emerged.
“Black….”
“A snake helmet?”
The two of them furrowed their brows as they gazed at the man leaning against the tree, wearing a black snake helmet.
“….”
Lunan Slion scattered azure frost around them, as if protecting not just Burren and Martha, but all of Gwangpung Hall.
“I have no intention of fighting now, so you can rest easy.”
The man wearing the black snake helmet waved his hand with ease.
“I’ve merely come to observe. Foolish ones who’ve wandered into Hell of their own accord.”
He curled his lips upward beneath the helmet, clearly amused by the situation.
“Black this time, then.”
I looked up at the man in the black snake helmet and let out a small sigh.
“After Geummyeonsa, the Red Ghost Knight, the Blue Time Envoy, and the Green Blade Master—what’s next? Are you becoming the Black Iron Knight now?”
A swordsman who dies each time and returns with a different mask form and color.
His presence had become so familiar that I could never forget it. The reason I wasn’t surprised when Siria Slion returned even after his neck was severed was because of this phantom before me.
“Close, but incorrect.”
The man in the black snake helmet waved his hand calmly.
“I am Muk Hyungsa. I will be quite different from those before me.”
He introduced himself as Muk Hyungsa and revealed cold, piercing eyes. True to his words that he was different from the previous snake-helmeted ones, an inexplicable sense of freedom emanated from him.
“Ah, ah….”
The Bearwolf Sorcerer’s mouth fell open as he stared at Muk Hyungsa, his entire body trembling with shock far greater than when Siria Slion had died at Lunan’s hands.
“What’s wrong? Do you know this specter?”
I tilted my chin as I observed the Bearwolf Sorcerer.
“Ugh….”
The Bearwolf Sorcerer offered no response to my question, only gnawing at his lips. I had assumed he feared death at Muk Hyungsa’s hands, but the wavering light in his eyes suggested something far different—longing, perhaps.
“So you’re the traitor who opened the gates so readily.”
Muk Hyungsa, by contrast, merely chuckled as though the Bearwolf Sorcerer stirred nothing within him. I would need to ask the Bearwolf Sorcerer later why the sight of Muk Hyungsa had unsettled him so.
“Whether you’re Muk Hyungsa or Black Hyungsa, I care not.”
I waved my hand dismissively toward Muk Hyungsa.
“Tell me where the Heavenly Demon is.”
I lowered my chin with arrogant finality, making clear that nothing else mattered.
“Just as I observed—a madman through and through.”
Muk Hyungsa let out a hollow laugh of disbelief.
“Coming to this cursed Eastern Mountain Base where the Heavenly Demon is revered like a god, and demanding to see him—it’s utterly absurd.”
He continued to laugh hollowly, as though finding me endlessly fascinating.
“It sounds as though you differ from the other specters who worship the Heavenly Demon.”
I narrowed my eyes to slits as I regarded Muk Hyungsa.
“Well, yes.”
Muk Hyungsa twisted his lips as he held my gaze.
“The Heavenly Demon’s whereabouts, protecting the Eastern Mountain Base—that’s not my responsibility.”
He shrugged his shoulders with an air of indifference, as though it were none of his concern.
“So I can answer your question, but I have one condition of my own.”
Muk Hyungsa leaned forward and approached Raon.
“What problem did Sphinx, the gatekeeper guarding this door, pose to you?”
He licked his lips, more curious about Sphinx’s riddle than anything else.
“What exactly are you?”
Raon shook his head as he studied Muk Hyungsa. Until now, every ghost in a snake helmet he’d encountered displayed a clear distinction between ally and enemy, as measured and precise as a ruler. But this Muk Hyungsa was so loose and fluid that he didn’t feel a shred of hesitation.
“I’m simply curious. How you got past Sphinx.”
Muk Hyungsa rubbed his hands together, saying he merely wanted to know what had transpired in the confrontation with Sphinx.
“Well, to answer your question first….”
Muk Hyungsa maintained his smile as he raised both arms and crossed them diagonally.
“The answer is that the Heavenly Demon is not here.”
He nodded, stating that the Heavenly Demon was not in Eden.
“What do you mean? I heard he entered closed-door seclusion to prepare for a life-or-death battle with the Head of House.”
Raon glared at Muk Hyungsa, his brow furrowing.
“There’s no rule saying the seclusion must take place here. You should have sensed it by now—the Heavenly Demon’s absence from this place.”
Muk Hyungsa snapped his fingers as if to say Raon should have known better.
-His words ring true.
Wrath nodded briefly in acknowledgment.
-I cannot sense that bastard’s presence within this place.
He clicked his tongue briefly, saying that since the Heavenly Demon reeked of a sworn enemy, he couldn’t possibly be unaware of it.
“Hmm….”
I peered at Eden’s sprawling vista visible beyond Muk Hyungsa, lightly biting my lip.
‘It’s true—I don’t sense the Heavenly Demon’s presence.’
The Heavenly Demon could be secluded in the underground Training Ground like Glen, but given his temperament from what I’d observed thus far, there was no way he’d hide like that. It seemed he was elsewhere, just as Muk Hyungsa suggested.
“Then where is the Heavenly Demon?”
I narrowed my eyes, looking at Muk Hyungsa.
“Before that….”
Muk Hyungsa raised a finger, pointing toward the mountain slope. The Eden Ghosts were rushing toward us, their eerie eyes gleaming with malice.
“Shouldn’t we deal with those first?”
His expression twisted as if suggesting it would be better to block the Eden Ghosts first.
Kuuuuuuuung!
As if answering Muk Hyungsa’s words, the Gwangpung Hall swordsmen drew their blades and deployed the Gwangpung Sword Formation in the direction the Eden Ghosts were ascending.
“That’s not your concern.”
Trusting Gwangpung Hall, I didn’t look back, my eyes igniting with crimson light.
“Just tell me where the Heavenly Demon is.”
“Hmm, so this is the extent of it….”
Muk Hyungsa’s fingertips trembled slightly as he gripped the tree, seeming somewhat startled by my aura. Yet he too refused to yield, radiating intense fighting spirit.
“Kugh!”
The Bearwolf Sorcerer stood at the epicenter where his and Muk Hyungsa’s auras clashed, yet somehow remained standing. He clutched his head, regarding Muk Hyungsa with desperate eyes.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know where the Heavenly Demon went either.”
Muk Hyungsa released his fighting spirit first, waving both hands to indicate he too was ignorant of the Heavenly Demon’s location.
“You’re lying.”
I stepped closer to Muk Hyungsa, reaching for the Heavenly Sword.
“I don’t know, but there’s someone who does.”
Muk Hyungsa waved his hands and pointed toward the Highest White Tower.
“Cheonma’s Disciple.”
He curled his lips upward, uttering the unexpected words—Cheonma’s Disciple.
“That one knows the Heavenly Demon’s location. No, if you defeat him, the Heavenly Demon might appear directly.”
“Cheonma’s Disciple, then….”
I followed Muk Hyungsa’s gaze toward the Highest White Tower.
‘With an aura of that magnitude, they would certainly qualify as Cheonma’s Disciple.’
The aura emanating from that tower was formidable enough to rival my own. I had wondered who it could be, and if the answer was Cheonma’s Disciple, it was entirely plausible.
“However….”
Muk Hyungsa gazed up at the tower, twisting his lips slightly.
“You must have sensed it too, but they are extraordinarily powerful. Far beyond a Heavenly Demon of the same age, or even the North Destruction King….”
“Straightforward then.”
I shook my head calmly and gestured dismissively at Muk Hyungsa.
“Actually, this works out better. If the disciple falls, then this Heavenly Demon creature will….”
I placed my hand on the Heavenly Sword, my eyes gleaming with cold resolve.
“You’ll come to understand just how heavy the price of a human life truly is.”
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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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