The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 181

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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 181

Archbishop Celine of the White Blood Cult stared at her severed arm lying on the ground, swallowing hard.

‘What happened? Where did everything go wrong?’

The moment I saw the boy named Raon, the vampiric urge I’d been suppressing erupted like madness. It meant a special power dwelled within his blood. I wanted to drink it, to become stronger.

Daragon had even told me to kill him if the opportunity arose, so I immediately chanted the enchantment spell and approached Raon.
Everything had gone perfectly up to that point. He’d lowered his guard, his eyes glazed over.

But the moment I tried to drive the blood spear into his heart, a cyan light blazed in his eyes and he thrust a dagger at me with terrifying speed.
I hastily condensed my blood energy, but the dagger tore through it effortlessly and cleaved my arm clean off.

Drip, drip.

Blood streamed from my cleanly severed forearm, yet I still couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.

“Ugh…”

Celine’s lips turned ashen as I clenched my teeth.

‘Damn, it hurts.’

The White Soul Aura, the cultivation method of the White Blood Cult, possessed the ability to diminish mental and physical pain, yet that pain-reduction capacity seemed to have vanished—a vicious agony screamed through my head.

“H-how did you break free from my spell? What did you do to me?!”
“You’re the one who did something first.”
‘Is it that dagger?’

Looking more closely, a ferocious demonic energy swirled around the dagger Raon held. The power imbued in the blade seemed to be blocking recovery and continuously inflicting pain.

“That dagger dispelled the spell.”

Celine glared at the dagger, her brow furrowing.

“Perhaps.”

I curved my lips into a faint smile as I twirled the dagger in my hand. My expression remained serene, as though everything had already concluded.
She possessed such composure before the blood energy I unleashed—a far cry from those two fools standing behind her.

“Do you truly believe you’ve won?”

Celine steadied her breathing and extended her bleeding arm, blood dripping steadily from the wound. The White Soul Aura blazed outward like wildfire as her severed hand flew back and reattached itself to her arm.

Sizzzzle!

White steam rose as the arm severed by my dagger began to knit itself back together. This was the regenerative power granted by the White Soul Aura.

“If you continue to be so carefree…”

Celine clenched her fist with her reattached arm, her golden eyes flashing with intensity.

“I’ll bore a hole straight through that neck of yours!”

*

*

*

I narrowed my eyes as I observed Celine’s reattached arm.

‘A regenerative ability, then.’

The White Blood Cult’s cultivation method—the White Soul Aura—was said to grant regenerative power exceeding that of trolls.
Judging by how she reattached her arm, her rank within the organization appeared to be Archbishop or higher.

However, her complexion suggested the recovery was far from complete. The Soul Reaper Sword’s resentful energy would continue to inflict excruciating pain upon her.

-A repugnant power, truly.

Wrath snorted derisively.

-A strength born from draining the blood of others—filthy and crude. Had I been in command, I would have frozen her at once and drained every last drop of that vile blood from her body.

He tapped my wrist repeatedly, urging me to eliminate her quickly as the sight of her displeased him.

“Gah!”
“Hah….”

Dorian and Jatis, finally regaining their senses, cried out in alarm.

“The, the White Blood Cult!”

Both of them recognized the woman before them as an executive of the White Blood Cult and hastily retreated backward.

“M, my lord!”
“It’s fine. Stand back.”

I waved my hand at the two of them and focused my gaze on the White Blood Cultist.

“The way you reattached your arm—you must be an Archbishop?”
“You remain composed even knowing that? You’ll come to regret giving me time.”
“We’ll see.”

The reason I wasn’t attacking now was simple. This mission wasn’t to kill the woman, but to resolve the disappearances. I needed to extract as much information as possible.

“Die for me!”

The Archbishop chanted an incantation in an incomprehensible language, her hands clasped together.

A resonant hum filled the air.

Her entire body turned white, and a thick floral fragrance enveloped the entire alley. The moment I inhaled the scent, my head grew hazy. It was a far more potent enchantment than the one from before.

‘Pointless, of course.’

The moment the Ring of Fire resonated, the fragrance dissolved into nothingness. Such trivial enchantments held no meaning against me. I gazed down at the Archbishop with clear, unwavering eyes.

“How, how is this possible….”

The Archbishop’s lips trembled in disbelief.

“If that’s all your enchantment amounts to, there was no point in giving you time.”

I smiled coldly and gripped the Soul Reaper Sword in reverse.

“Let’s end this.”

I pushed off the ground and leaped into the space saturated with blood energy. My body felt compressed, but the Ring of Fire and the Soul Reaper Sword pushed back all the blood energy.

“You bastard!”

The Archbishop glared and extended her palm strike. Even in her panic, there was no wavering in her technique—a blood-based martial art befitting her rank.

However, it fell slightly short compared to sorcery. This Archbishop seemed to have delved deeper into sorcery than martial techniques.

Roooar!

I spun the Ring of Fire at full power while focusing on the Archbishop’s successive blood-based strikes. Since blood-based martial arts were fundamental to White Blood Cult executives, observing them properly would prove invaluable in future battles.

“Die!”

The excited Archbishop continued extending her palm strikes, unaware that I was deliberately holding back.
The entire Alley erupted from the aura blooming from her hand strikes, yet I sustained not even a scratch.

‘Fast, powerful, and cunning.’

It was simple martial art, but all the stronger for it.

“You cowardly rat! How long will you keep running?”
“Then let’s stop playing.”

I redirected the force from my left foot that had been retreating and surged forward instead.

“Gasp!”

I pursued the startled Archbishop as she retreated, bringing down my Soul Reaper Sword in my right hand.

“Ugh!”

The Archbishop glared and extended her palm strike brimming with blood energy.

Clang!

Though blade and palm strike collided, the sound that rang out was like metal striking metal.

Crackle!

Yet it was far from an equal match. The ferocious aura of the Soul Reaper Sword, burning with resentment, tore through the Archbishop’s blood energy and pierced deep within.

“Ugh!”

The Archbishop’s pupils trembled violently.

‘Now.’

Without releasing the tension in my right hand, I swiftly moved my left hand and drove a crimson pin into the hem of the Archbishop’s upper garment.

Thunk!

The moment I confirmed the pin was properly embedded, I twisted my body and swept a kick toward her waist.

“Kugh!”

The Archbishop gasped and crashed against the wall.

Boom!

I seized the opening without hesitation, charging forward and bringing the Soul Reaper Sword down upon her shoulder. A sickly luminescent spray of blood erupted like a fountain.

“Aaaahhh!”

To escape, the Archbishop tore away the flesh from her shoulder where the Soul Reaper Sword was embedded and slipped to the side.

“I’ll kill you!”

She extended her fingers forward, and from the tips of her nails, white light surged forth like a flash. It was a blood technique that unleashed blade-like energy from her fingertips.

Whoosh!

This time as well, I did not let the technique pass. I activated the Ring of Fire, read the flow of the blood technique, and drew the Soul Reaper Sword.

Zing!

The blade of resentful aura, extending in a semicircle, tore apart the energy of the blood technique completely.

“It’s not over yet!”

The Archbishop continued unleashing lines of blood energy as if determined to end this once and for all, but they all dissolved without piercing through the wall of spectral energy that the Soul Reaper Sword scattered.

“What… what on earth…?”

The Archbishop stumbled backward in confusion. I advanced forward with equal pressure, matching her retreat.

“Don’t come closer!”
“You told me not to be careless, yet this is all you amount to?”

I laughed coldly and tilted my chin to the side.

“As expected, the White Blood Cult was behind the disappearances in Forban.”
“As… as expected?”
“Only you would commit such vile acts.”
“Shut your mouth!”
“Why did you attack? Did you think you could drink blood so easily?”
“I said shut it!”

As the Archbishop unleashed her blood technique, I lunged forward. I drew the Soul Reaper Sword diagonally across her body before she could withdraw her hands.

Splurt!

A sword wound tore across her body from shoulder to waist, and murky blood sprayed across the air.

“Aaaahhhhh!”

The Archbishop screamed and clutched at her wound.

“Where is your Branch? Are the people you kidnapped still alive?”
“Ugh…”

She didn’t answer, instead swaying like a drunk person before leaning her back against the wall and stopping.

“Fine… let’s finish this here. I’ll grant you death.”

The Archbishop’s eyes blazed with madness as she brought both hands together, forming a triangle.

A deep, resonant hum echoed through the air!

As the muttered incantation spread across the void, a crimson light erupted from the triangle, and a tremendous aura began to ripple outward.

“At this rate… gasp! What is this!”

Just before that aura could explode, a pale hole tore open in the wall behind her, spawning a spiraling vortex.

“Damn it! Daragon! What are you doing!”

The vortex sucked in the Archbishop who had been chanting, and she began to curl inward as she was drawn through.

“Damn it! My name is Celine. I will kill you! Raon Zigheart!”

Celine declared her own name with a furious scream, and then the hole sealed shut completely.

“What now. Did she flee?”

A light voice arrived from behind, accompanied by a gentle breeze. It was Rimer.

“It appears they fled upon seeing you, Master Rimer.”

From the circumstances, it seemed that not the Archbishop herself, but her ally had created the escape hole after catching sight of Rimer.

“Hmm? But you don’t look disappointed.”

Rimer chuckled as he observed the cold glint in my eyes.

“Is that so.”

I shrugged. He was right. I felt no real disappointment. To be honest, I had deliberately let her escape for something far greater.

“V-Vice Master!”
“Are you unharmed?”

Dorian and Jatis, who had been pressed flat against the wall, came rushing over.

“I’m fine.”

I approached Rimer, who was examining the bloodstains on the floor with a wave of his hand.

“As expected, the White Blood Cult was behind the disappearances.”
“Yeah, figured as much.”

Rimer smacked his lips as he gazed at the crimson blood, as if he’d already known.

“For someone at the Archbishop level or higher to be overwhelmed like that… you’ve gotten stronger again, haven’t you?”
“She seemed to have built her strength primarily through sorcery, so her martial prowess wasn’t particularly impressive.”

The sorcery of the woman named Celine was formidable, but her physical combat ability left little impression.

“Huh….”
“You’re saying she wasn’t strong?”

Dorian and Jatis dropped their jaws in disbelief.

“You’re probably the only one who’d say something like that to an Archbishop of the White Blood Cult.”

Rimer chuckled and rose to his feet.

“Still, it’s unfortunate we didn’t capture her. We could have learned the location of their headquarters.”
“That would be difficult. Torture doesn’t work on them.”

The White Blood Cult fanatics were stubborn zealots—torture proved useless against them. In my previous life, I’d tortured White Blood Cult members for days without them uttering a single word.

“True, they’re relentless. That’s why the White Blood Cult’s main headquarters still hasn’t been revealed.”
“Yes. We don’t know the main headquarters. However….”

I smiled faintly as I touched the crimson pin fastened to my collar.

“We may soon discover the location of the White Blood Cult’s Branch in Forban.”

*

*

*

Crash!

As Celine swung her pale-stained hand, the double-layered wall crumbled to dust. The force behind it was far greater than what I could have simply blocked with the Soul Reaper Sword.

“Damn it all!”

She clawed at the wounds I had inflicted upon her, her voice twisted in anguish.

“It hurts! It hurts so much! The pain won’t fade!”

Even as she continued to channel her White Soul aura, the wounds refused to close, and a searing agony persisted relentlessly.

“Daragon! Do something about this!”
“Calm yourself.”

An old man called Daragon approached with a furrowed brow.

“Why did you summon me? If I had killed him, I wouldn’t be suffering like this!”
“Rimer was moving. If we had stayed, we would have been captured.”
“Tsk….”

Celine ground her teeth and dragged her nails across the wall, which split and crumbled like pudding beneath her touch.

“Stop destroying things. We still need this room.”

Daragon clicked his tongue and examined Celine’s wounds.

“Severe.”

With an aura befitting an Archbishop-level cultivator, Celine should have already healed all her wounds. Yet a strange force embedded in the blade scars was obstructing regeneration, inflicting upon her a burning sensation that refused to subside.

“Resentment. Quite potent resentment has seeped in. It will take considerable time to purge.”
“Then he must be killed. Without question!”

A killing intent so palpable it sent shivers down one’s spine erupted from Celine’s eyes.

“I will kill him myself. I’ll tear his flesh, grind his bones and blood to dust….”
“Killing this man Raon won’t make the wound disappear. In fact, the resentment may only deepen, leaving a scar that will never fade in your lifetime. Moreover….”

He infused his vital energy into Celine’s wound, then turned his body away.

“They will arrive soon. Change your clothes and prepare yourself.”
“Damn it! Damn it!”

Celine cursed and struck the ground, shaking Daragon’s office as though it might collapse.

“I told you to gather information first. You just let your appetite run wild….”
“Shut up! If you saw that boy, you’d be thinking of sucking his blood first too!”
“Is that so.”
“Huff, that boy is mine. I won’t let this slide! No matter what it takes….”
“You didn’t only suffer losses.”
“What?”
“While you were being torn apart by that young one, our plan succeeded on this end.”

Daragon snapped his fingers, and the office door opened. A man in a pristine white robe entered and laid down two unconscious figures.

It was Inild and Princess Jeina, who had been admitted to the Healing Center after what happened with Raon.

“I heard they were at the Healing Center and went to capture them myself. If we take these two, the gains won’t be ordinary. The King of Valcar will go mad. He might even declare war on Zigheart.”
“Morel must have installed magical artifacts there?”
“Of course I removed them before bringing them here. Do you think I’m an amateur like you?”

Daragon’s wrinkled mouth curved upward in a thin sneer.

“If he permits it, I’ll give you Inild. Drink and recover from your wounds.”
“Cunning old fox.”

Celine frowned, unable to accept it. Her anger seemed to subside as the golden light in her eyes began to fade.

Neither of them noticed the pins embedded in Inild’s and Jeina’s clothes gleaming red.

*

*

*

I abandoned my original plan to visit the Thief Guild and headed to City Hall with Rimer.
I entered the Conference Room with the remaining Morel and the returning swordsmen and mages.

“First, we’ve identified the enemy’s true identity.”

I cast a barrier to prevent sound from escaping the Conference Room, then climbed onto the Platform.

“What?”
“Really?”
“So quickly?”
“Incredible!”

Not only the Gwangpung Unit, but Morel and Salamander’s mages also gasped in shock, their jaws dropping.
It was hardly surprising—City Hall had searched for months without success, yet I had uncovered it in mere hours.

“Many of you likely suspected this, but the mastermind behind the abductions is the White Blood Cult.”

As I spoke the name White Blood Cult, I produced the cloth stained with Celine’s blood. The murky, sickly light—nothing like the blood of a living creature—caused everyone’s eyes to waver.

“What a repulsive color….”
“The White Blood Cult!”
“So it was them after all.”
“Tch….”
“Despicable bastards!”

True to their nature as military organizations of the Six Emperors, the Gwangpung Unit and Salamander showed no fear of the White Blood Cult—one of the Oma—and instead ignited their fighting spirit.

Yet there was one person whose murderous intent burned far more intensely.

Goooooh!

Martha. Her obsidian eyes gleamed like hellfire as she unleashed a killing intent so palpable that everyone in the Conference Room turned to face her. Her ferocity was savage beyond measure.

-Why is the beef girl acting like that?
‘So it was the White Blood Cult.’

I narrowed my eyes as I observed the flames of fury burning in Martha’s gaze.

Until now, I’d thought her stubborn demeanor was simply an unusual personality trait, but it seemed she had suffered at the hands of the White Blood Cult before joining Zigheart.

“Where did you get that blood, and where did you clash with the White Blood Cult?”

Morel pointed at the cloth stained with Celine’s blood, his eyes wide open.

“Clashed?”
“Y-yes, we clashed. Ugh.”

When I echoed his words, Morel gritted his teeth and spoke in formal speech.

“On the way to find the Thief Guild….”

I told him everything—how I fought Celine and made her flee.

“Y-you cut down the Archbishop and made her escape?”
“Someone who just became a swordsman….”
“Haa….”

Morel’s eyes trembled in disbelief, and the Salamander mages swallowed hard.

“Just what are you….”

Burren also seemed flustered, speaking in his usual casual tone.

“….”
“The White Blood Cult….”

Lunan and Martha simply stared at the blood-soaked cloth, yet their emotions were entirely different. While Lunan gazed at it without much feeling, Martha glared at it as if she would devour it on the spot.

“But it’s unfortunate.”

Morel turned his head and let out a short sigh.

“They won’t show themselves anymore. No matter how insane the White Blood Cult is, they won’t make a move after their identity is exposed to Zigheart and Valcar.”

His words were right. They would need to take the kidnapped people with them, so they would prepare to withdraw now.

But this time was different.

“This time….”

Crash!

Just as I was about to speak, the conference room door burst open violently, and Jatis, who had supposedly visited the Healing Center, strode in.

“This is terrible!”

His hands trembled as he continued urgently.

“Princess Jeina and Inild have disappeared from the Healing Center!”
“What?”
“Huh?”

Everyone shot to their feet at the news that the Princess and Inild had vanished.

“Not only the healers at the Healing Center, but the knights and mages have all fallen into an unnatural sleep, while the Princess and Inild have vanished without a trace!”
“That’s impossible! The artifact shows no reaction at all….”
“The artifacts were left on the beds where they were resting!”

Jatis raised his hand. In his grasp lay two necklaces and a ring.

“Damn it! We’ve been played!”
“This is…!”

Morel and the mages shot upright, clenching their fists, while the Gwangpung Unit swordsmen swallowed hard, clearly unprepared for such a scenario.

Clap!

As everyone stood paralyzed by panic, a sharp handclap cut through the chaos, snapping them back to attention.

“Calm yourselves.”
“How can we stay calm?! This is no time for composure! We must find the Princess at any cost, or this entire village will burn to ash! The Zigheart could face ruin as well!”
“It’s fine.”

I met everyone’s gaze with the same composed expression I always wore.

“I know exactly where the Princess and Inild have been taken.”

I withdrew the crimson pin tucked into my collar and placed it in my palm. As I channeled my mana through it, the pin rose of its own accord and pointed in a direction.

“Where the Archbishop who fled is hiding.”

I smiled faintly as I watched the people standing with their mouths agape.

“I know everything.”

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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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