The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 158

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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 158

Burren Zigheart, who had been sitting on the cave floor, lifted his head.

Countless sword marks were etched into the cave walls and ceiling—traces left behind by the Central Intelligence Agency swordsmen who had entered this cave.

“They look like nothing but scribbles.”

Perhaps among them lay the sword marks of the first Central Intelligence Agency master, but what I saw now were only crooked scratches, as if a child had drawn them with a pencil.

Yet these were not playful marks—they were traces of serious sword training. The reason the sword marks appeared wavering was because the mana flow within this cave was slightly distorted.

‘So that’s why training in here is pointless.’

I had once heard from my second brother that training in this place yielded no meaning.

At the time, I paid it little mind, but now it was certain. The mana distortion occurring within this cave meant that even with training, it was difficult to gain anything substantial. At best, one could only develop a modicum of mental fortitude.

Enduring slight headaches while spending tedious hours in a place where proper training was difficult—that was the only thing one could accomplish here.

“But….”

I clenched the hand I had planted on the ground.

“I cannot afford such indulgence.”

My goal is that monster.

Even after a week had passed, the battle between Raon and Horain refused to fade from my mind.

Horain was a prodigy who became vice-leader of the Jeonroedan at a young age. To catch up with Raon, who had defeated such a formidable opponent, I could not afford to waste time even here.

That monster had refined sword techniques I thought already perfected, so he would surely be training without hesitation even in a place where the mana flow was distorted like this.

“Haaah.”

I steadied my breathing, drew my sword, and assumed the new sword stance I had learned during my year in the Rebun Desert, my eyes gleaming with resolve.

‘If I perfect this, it won’t fall short of Raon’s blade.’

The swordsmanship I had acquired from the Rebun Desert during the survival trial transcended the mere concept of strength. If I mastered it properly, it would become a sharp fang capable of piercing even Raon, who had reached the pinnacle of Expert rank.

Whoooooosh!

The desert’s scorching wind that withered even sand itself. That death-laden technique bloomed magnificently from Burren Zigheart’s hands.

*

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*

I rotated the rings of fire ceaselessly without the slightest movement.

Perhaps thanks to my Focus trait, my thoughts narrowed, and I gradually adapted even to this distorted mana. Now I barely felt the dizziness or suffocation.

‘That’s not the only benefit.’

By accepting and purifying fragmented, twisted mana instead of ordinary mana, the progress of my rings of fire had skyrocketed exponentially in this short span of time.

Ching!

Not only were five rings rotating flawlessly, but a new ring was being formed at their edge.

-Hey, you bastard!

Just as I was about to concentrate on forming the sixth ring, Wrath’s irritated voice exploded in my ears.

“Sigh…”

I exhaled and cracked my eyes open slightly. Wrath, drenched in blue coldness, was grinding his teeth.

-For three days you haven’t eaten or slept! What are you doing?!
“Three days? It’s been three days?”
-Indeed! I have endured this hell for three days without food. If you have any conscience, go to the Annex Building at once and bring me sustenance!
“Get out of the way.”

I shoved Wrath away as he tried to cling to me, then unfolded the cloth bundle that had been sitting beside me.

-That bundle is….
“What? You kept telling me to eat this, at least.”
-And you ignored it all this time despite hearing that?!
“It wasn’t so much ignoring as it was too bothersome.”

I heard Wrath’s complaints, but responding only made him cause more of a fuss, so I simply continued to ignore him.

“You’re not the Lord of Wrath at all—you’re the Lord of Gluttony, aren’t you?”
-W-What nonsense are you spouting!
“A gourmet who nitpicks flavors asking me to eat this flavorless bread? That’s not about taste—you just want your belly full.
-I-I am a noble Lord of Wrath who cherishes the world of fine cuisine! How dare you compare me to some rabbit! Apologize at once!
“A rabbit….”

Just as I had called Sloth “bear-like” or “sleepy-like,” Gluttony seemed to have a similar rabbit-like quality to it.

Not a wild boar, but a rabbit—it was quite an unexpected nickname.

‘This is information too.’

True to his chatty nature, Wrath unknowingly revealed all sorts of important details. If I remembered what I learned now, it would surely prove invaluable someday.

I chuckled softly and picked up the Nadin bread. It had a round shape like a full moon and a brown color like a well-baked sweet potato. It looked delicious, but tastelessness was this bread’s defining characteristic.

-Hmm? It looks quite tasty though?

Perhaps because he had starved for three days, Wrath drooled icy streams from his mouth like saliva upon seeing the bread’s appearance.

“Really?”

Chuckling, I bit into the Nadin bread. It was chewy like biting into bunched rubber bands, and I couldn’t taste anything at all. The nostalgic flavor of my past life that I felt after so long made me laugh.

-Grrk….

Wrath hadn’t expected there to be absolutely no flavor. He hadn’t expected the texture to truly feel like chewing rubber, and he gagged, his mouth opening wide in disgust.

-T-This is a sin! A sin against provisions! Laughing while eating such a thing! You truly are a demon!

I’ve lost count of how many times the Demon King has called me a malevolent spirit.

“It’s edible, at least.”

I chewed the last fragment of bread thoroughly and swallowed, then patted my stomach. The fullness came instantly and completely. The taste was abysmal, but the satiating effect was undeniable.

-A bread designed solely to fill the belly… how terrifying. What manner of horror is this…?

Wrath trembled as he stared at the Nadin bread. I had witnessed many of his expressions before, but never one so utterly terrified. Whether he was a gourmand or a glutton, I couldn’t say for certain, but he was definitely a fool.

“Hmm?”

After drinking water and preparing to activate the Ring of Fire again, I heard two sets of footsteps approaching from outside the cave. Something about their gait filled me with unease.

“About time they arrived.”

I activated Glacial to lower the temperature in my left hand, making it pale pink as though frostbitten.

Thanks to purifying my internal mana with the Ring of Fire, I could operate my aura for a brief period.

I steadied my posture and waited. Around the corner, two faces suddenly appeared—Overseer Urek and Training Instructor Lef.

“Gasp! Y-you’re… alive…?”
“Are you… are you truly alright?”

Both men stared at me sitting calmly as though they’d seen a ghost, their eyes wide with shock.

“Of course I’m fine.”

I smiled faintly and nodded, and their complexions grew even paler, as if whitewashed.

“Ugh…”
“This can’t be… there’s no way you could be here and not sense that nauseating mana distortion…”

Lef approached slowly, his brow furrowed as he clutched his chest. The twisted mana rising from the cave made his stomach churn.

“Lef, close your mouth!”

Urek covered Lef’s mouth and stepped forward. He too had sensed the mana distortion, his lips pressed firmly shut.

“Is there truly no problem?”
“I feel a bit queasy, but as a Zigheart swordsman, I must endure this much.”
“A… a bit, you say…?”
“Hmm…”

Lef gnawed at his fingernails, while Urek remained silent for a moment before forcing a composed expression and nodding.

“Good. Three days have passed now, so endure well for the remaining eleven days.”
“Understood. However…?”

I met their wavering gazes with a faint smile.

“Why have you come here? This is a two-week ascetic practice—visiting like this will interfere with my training.”
“You insolent brat!”
“…It’s a routine check. Accidents occasionally occur inside the cave, after all.”

Urek explained the situation while restraining the glaring Lef.

“I see.”

Their trembling lips made the lie painfully obvious. I chuckled and nodded in acknowledgment.

“Then please leave. I must continue with this ascetic practice.”
“Understood. We’ll see each other later, then…”

Urek clenched his teeth as he retreated, then glanced at his left hand and narrowed his eyes. His pupils flickered with light for just a moment before he led the dazed Lef toward the exit.

‘As expected.’

I chuckled as I watched the shadows of the two disappear.

‘Just as he said.’

The fact that those two had come here confirmed what the self-proclaimed gourmet Demon King had told me—the mana flow in other caves wasn’t twisted to this degree.

Though Urek had tried to manage his expression, Lef’s flustered face rendered it meaningless. They had indeed chosen this cave to torment me.

Yet it had actually proven helpful instead.

The location I had chosen to torment myself had instead become a tremendous asset. In just three days, the Ring of Fire had grown more than it would have in three months of training elsewhere.

—Wait! You infused your hand with cold energy to deceive them, didn’t you?
‘Exactly.’
—Then you deliberately acted hurt when you sparred with that incompetent fool?
‘Yes. Now they believe I’m weak to cold energy, and when they ambush me later, they’ll use it against me.’

Not knowing I possess the most formidable cold energy of all.

Raon recalled Urek’s expression and smiled coldly.

—You’re insane. Truly, your mind has gone mad….

Wrath muttered that he was a ghostly creature and stuck out his tongue.

‘You were impressive too. You sensed that the mana distortions in the other caves aren’t nearly as strong here.’
—Khem! That is the greatness of this king. I can sense the energy not just from the adjacent cave, but from far distant places as well.

Wrath’s ears perked up proudly at receiving praise for the first time in a while.

—If you feel grateful to this king, then leave at once. Go and fetch the pineapple girl’s pie….
“Then let’s begin again.”

Raon sensed the two of them leaving the cave and sat back down, closing his eyes.

—Hey! Hey! Raon!

Wrath shook his head vehemently in protest, but Raon had already closed his eyes and sunk into the Ring of Fire.

—I’m sick of rubber bread now!

*

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*

“W-what on earth is that thing?”

Lef shook his head, clearly bewildered.

“That Cave is harder to endure the more sensitive one is to mana, yet I don’t understand how that monster at Expert-rank peak can withstand it!”

After three days without emerging, I entered thinking I’d need to collect a corpse, but the bastard looked perfectly fine.
No—his complexion was actually better than before he went in.

“His expression was remarkably composed.”

Urek bit his lip hard.

“As if mocking us.”
“That, that is….”
“Not just ‘fine’—his eyes were clear like he’d gained some enlightenment. That bastard has adapted to the twisted mana. Thanks to you, that damned fool will grow even stronger.”
“I, I’m truly sorry….”

Lef lowered his head. He’d acted without orders and inadvertently helped Raon, leaving him with nothing to say.

“What if we dragged him out now? We could make an excuse….”
“Pointless. His suspicion would harden into certainty.”
“Ugh!”
“Why did you meddle with useless nonsense!”

With each word from Urek, Lef’s shoulders shriveled like a boiled octopus.

“Sigh….”

Urek turned and gazed at the first Cave where Raon had entered, exhaling deeply.

‘I think I’ve made a grave mistake.’

From experience, such men should never be provoked. If one must provoke them, one must finish the job decisively.

‘Still, it’s not entirely without gain.’

I was certain after seeing those pink hands earlier. The wound on his hand, frozen by Horain’s chill a week ago, still hadn’t healed. Raon’s weakness was undoubtedly cold.

‘I have something to report to the Lord.’

Urek’s eyes grew cold and distant, like a frozen lake.

*

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*

After Urek and Lef departed, I manipulated the rings of fire without opening my eyes even once.

Within the five rings that collided and crossed endlessly, I carved a small, delicate ring like sculpting glass.

‘Just a little slower.’

When creating a new ring of fire, it must not collide with the previously completed rings. Therefore, as the number of rings increased, crafting a new one became exponentially more difficult.

‘Even if it’s slow, I must proceed correctly.’

Just as a cicada nymph endures nearly eight years beneath the earth before emerging to the surface, I carefully shaped a new ring of fire, moving with deliberate slowness to avoid the five rings meshing together like clockwork gears.

Discarding all unnecessary thoughts, I rotated the existing rings of fire while pouring every ounce of concentration into creating the new one.

Beginning and end.

The beginning and end of the ring of fire, which had seemed eternally unreachable, slowly began drawing toward each other.

‘This moment is critical.’

As the new ring of fire lengthened, the likelihood of it colliding with the existing rings increased.

Like an artisan shaping pottery, I heightened my concentration further and refined the new ring of fire.

Screeeee!

The fifth ring of fire rotated violently and clung to the new ring. I twisted the ring of fire finer than a human hair and barely evaded the collision.

Each time I narrowly escaped danger, cold sweat drenched my back. Without question, my entire body was now drenched in perspiration.

Yet there was no time to acknowledge that stickiness. A single careless mistake would not only shatter all my efforts thus far but could also inflict internal injuries.

Whoooosh!

Just before the ends of the fire rings met, another crisis descended. The first and third rings resonated, exerting pressure on the new ring.

‘I have to redirect it.’

I transmitted the twisted mana flowing toward me directly into the new fire ring. In an instant, the ring curved gracefully, deflecting the pressure.

‘Now!’

Crisis was opportunity.

I seized the moment of escape, drawing in a massive surge of mana as I extended the beginning and end of the sixth fire ring in one sweeping motion.

Screeeech!

The new ring, connected as smoothly as a master’s brushstroke, cut through the twisted mana and began to rotate.

Whoooosh!

Six fire rings resonated in harmony, and the pulse that erupted sent a shock through my mind—a tremendous thrill as if the very heavens were opening.

[A new Fire Ring has been synthesized.]
[Fire Ring has reached the 6-Star realm.]
[Two strands of the Curse of Bitter Cold disappear.]
[You can now perceive and feel more.]
[Your soul’s grade rises.]
[All stats increase by 5 points.]

I clenched my fists as tremors coursed through my entire body. The shock of exhilaration drew an involuntary laugh from my lips.

Though I hadn’t reached Master rank, I was certain—the massive wall that had been blocking my path had crumbled nearly halfway through.

-Gah!

Wrath, who had been sulking and refusing to speak because the bread tasted bad, dropped his jaw at the message.

-You, you’re taking everything from my original body and acting like you’re the one giving it! Damn this system!

Wrath bounced around excitedly, proclaiming that regardless of anything else, all the stat increases were his.

But I, having opened my eyes, neither saw the message nor Wrath. My gaze remained fixed on the cave wall as I swallowed hard.

“What… what is this…?”

The scrawled sword marks scattered across the entire cave—those ancient traces were now gleaming with a golden radiance.

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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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