The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 215
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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 215
“Ugh.”
Sheryl let out a brief groan of frustration. Her eyes were filled with regret, as if she had truly intended to sever our connection this time.
“That was your one-sided proposal.”
“You should have refused long ago. Haven’t you already experienced it once?”
I shrugged my shoulders with ease.
“Tsk!”
Sheryl’s expression darkened. She seemed to be recalling the time she had failed to stop the arm-wrestling match with Eckon and ended up doing the dishes.
“I understand deviating from expectations to some degree. But you’re far too unconventional.”
She sighed and shook her head.
“Still, a promise is a promise. I won’t tell you to leave. But in exchange, you must follow my orders without question. There’s no compromise on this.”
“Of course.”
I smiled, contrasting with Sheryl’s frown.
“But where did you learn to compress heavy sword force?”
Sheryl narrowed her eyes as she examined the blade of the Heavenly Sword.
“Compress heavy sword force?”
“The sword strike that shattered the Yellow Hyena Demon’s axe just now.”
She pointed to the finely fragmented blade of the Yellow Hyena Demon’s axe.
“You didn’t channel the momentum through the entire blade, but instead concentrated the force of a heavy sword into a single point, didn’t you?”
“I learned it by imitating that one.”
I pointed my finger casually at the Yellow Hyena Demon who had been knocked backward.
“I concentrated the heavy sword’s aura on just one part of the axe. I thought I could replicate it, so I tried.”
“So you tried it, and it actually worked?”
“Yes.”
“That’s an insane talent….”
Sheryl’s voice trembled faintly. Her expression was that of someone witnessing the impossible.
-That’s nothing special. If it were I, I wouldn’t merely replicate something I’ve seen once—I could achieve far greater feats.
Wrath frowned as if displeased.
‘Is that so.’
I smiled with genuine pleasure. The fact that he spoke this way meant he truly acknowledged it as remarkable.
‘Though it’s not really my own talent.’
Analyzing an enemy’s martial arts was the utility of the Ring of Fire, and my ability to unfold the compression of the heavy sword came from continuously training in it recently. It was the result of luck and effort combined—not thanks to some insane talent.
“Don’t go around saying you learned martial arts that way.”
“I only mentioned it because you are the Heavenly Sword Master.”
“Hmph. Flattery.”
Sheryl scoffed and turned away. Yet there seemed to be a faint smile at the corner of her lips despite her words.
“Thank you for saving us!”
“We’re truly grateful!”
As I prepared to depart, the warriors who had survived the Yellow Hyena Demon’s axe approached and bowed. Judging by their white and brown martial robes, they appeared to be warriors from the Bashin and Trian families in Letran.
“Roji the priestess was worried about you. Please return to Letran.”
“Ah, understood.”
“Um….”
The warrior in the white robe nodded, but the one in the yellow robe bit his lip and stepped forward.
“Our family head went after the Saint, but he still hasn’t returned. If you could find him….”
“Our family head went with him too!”
Both of them mentioned the names of different family heads.
“Could it be that the heads of the Bashin Family and Trian Family have also come?”
“Yes. They entrusted the city to the vice-heads and came to assist the Saint. However, we became separated in the middle of our journey….”
The warriors explained that both the Bashin and Trian family heads had moved to help Pedrick, but they couldn’t be found after becoming scattered.
‘So that’s why the heads weren’t visible.’
I had assumed they died defending the village since the two family heads were nowhere to be seen, but it seemed they had pursued the Saint instead.
‘Impressive.’
The heads must have made the audacious decision to chase after Eden, understanding that if the Saint died and Raeshin fell into Eden’s hands, it would have dire consequences for the entire Continent.
It was a judgment not easily made, and admiration naturally escaped my lips.
“Since we’re also pursuing the Saint, I’ll tell them to return if we meet them.”
I nodded to the two warriors.
“Thank you!”
“We’ve already wasted considerable time. Let’s depart now.”
Sheryl dashed forward like an arrow released from a bowstring without waiting for a response.
“I hope things turn out well….”
I drew a small breath and followed her footsteps with my movement technique.
As we crossed the field, fallen corpses came into view scattered throughout. They wore the same attire as the warriors I had seen moments before—warriors from the Bashin and Trian families.
“Those are true warriors.”
Sheryl, who was ahead, closed her eyes as she gazed upon the bodies.
“They knew it was a path to death, yet they advanced to help the Saint. Some might call them foolish, but I wish to pay my respects to their conviction.”
“I feel the same way.”
I nodded in agreement.
‘I’m the same way.’
When I lived as the assassin Raon, if someone had told me that people risked their lives for others, I would have scoffed. I would have mocked them as fools.
But living as Raon Zigheart, I received help from so many people. Because I understood the value of emotions and bonds, I wanted to applaud their courage.
I closed my eyes briefly in silent tribute to the fallen warriors, then opened them again.
*
*
*
Sheryl and I pursued Pedrick, following the corpses and traces of battle. Living Eden spirits blocked our path, but I cut through them in one breath and pressed forward.
“There was a battle between Masters here. He couldn’t have gone far.”
Sheryl narrowed her eyes, observing the floor marked as if by cobwebs.
“Based on the traces, he should be in that Forest.”
She pointed to a distant Forest in the Northern Region. It was so densely packed with trees and thickets that even moonlight struggled to penetrate.
“Let’s increase our speed a bit more.”
“Agreed.”
As I moved with full power in my footwork, I heard breathing coming from near a large boulder. It was a thin, dying sound.
I changed direction and ran toward the boulder. Behind it lay a middle-aged man in a white martial robe, covered in blood, with his right arm and left leg torn away as if devoured by a beast.
‘He can’t be saved.’
Judging from the ornate white martial robe and the refined sword, he appeared to be the family head of the Bashin Family that those I’d rescued had mentioned, but the bleeding was too severe for him to survive.
“Are you Demte Basin, the head of the Bashin Family?”
“Y-yes, I am.”
He nodded with great effort.
“It’s impossible. Even with time, he cannot be saved.”
Sheryl turned her head away as if resigned to the inevitable. True to her words, Demte had little life remaining.
“W-wait, please….”
Demte’s jaw trembled as he cast a pleading gaze toward us.
“Y-you don’t need to save me. P-please, just listen to what I have to say.”
I bit my lip and was about to move again when he painfully raised his remaining arm.
“Th-there was a count in Letran.”
“A count? Who is that?”
Sheryl approached Demte with her brows furrowed.
“Th-the head of the Trian Family. Stain Trian. He was a c-count of Eden….”
Demte spat out Stain Trian’s name as if grinding it between his teeth. Despite his weakened state, his voice carried unmistakable rage.
“The head of the Trian Family is a count of Eden? Since when!”
“I-I don’t know either. I tracked Eden with him all the way here, but then he suddenly put on an ogre’s helm and did this to me….”
The rest was self-evident from looking at his condition. After donning the ogre’s helm to amplify his power, Stain had reduced Demte to this state.
“An ogre….”
I clenched my teeth. It seemed Eden had found the successor to the Green Warrior and the Gwahyeolgwi.
“W-we sent sub-lords to pursue them and said we should secure the city first, but Stain insisted that if we couldn’t save the Saint, even saving the city would leave the Continent in danger, so we had to chase them unconditionally. I thought I was seeing his true heart for the first time and was moved, but I never expected it would come to this….”
Demte’s fist, which had been clenched, fell limply.
“Stain deceived not just me, but his entire family and the whole city. Th-that bastard must have opened Letran’s gates and brought Eden in. Now that I think about it, fires erupting simultaneously across the entire city and Eden appearing makes no sense.”
Demte forced his parched lips apart and continued speaking.
“Kgh… Th-that monster intends to kill me and devour Letran entirely. Th-that must never come to pass….”
He couldn’t finish his last words before his breath cut short. Unable to close his bloodshot eyes, whether from resentment or fury, they remained open.
“Let’s go.”
Sheryl gazed into the Forest with cold eyes. Her voice remained steady, but her aura crackled with barely contained rage.
“Yes.”
I closed Demte Basin’s eyes and stood up.
Boom!
Without any signal, we both kicked off the ground simultaneously.
“I’ll enter the Forest and bring the Saint back. You block the entrance so Eden’s people can’t get in.”
“Understood.”
I nodded. I wanted to go inside and fight, but I understood the concept of interference. Blocking the path from outside was the best strategy.
As I approached the Forest where Pedrick had entered, the presence of humans and monsters multiplied. It seemed Eden’s forces had surrounded the entire Forest.
‘This many…’
I furrowed my brow. They seemed determined to obtain both the child Julius and Rey at any cost.
‘The child is one thing, but I absolutely cannot let them have Rey.’
Rey, if used as poison, would become a deadly toxin capable of killing a hundred thousand people. Even accounting for exaggeration, it could enable mass slaughter of at least tens of thousands. I had to stop them no matter what.
‘Blocking the entrance…’
I gripped the hilt of the Heavenly Sword tightly. Their numbers were vast, but there was no Master-level presence among them. I could hold the line while Sheryl rescued Pedrick.
-Hmm.
As I dashed into the Forest, reading the movements of lower-ranking officials, Red Demons, and Green Warriors, Wrath smacked his lips.
-It seems those fools made a mistake.
‘What?’
Wrath didn’t answer, merely muttering that things had become interesting.
‘There’s something else here, it seems.’
This Demon King who loved to act mysterious wouldn’t say such things without reason. There was definitely something else in this place.
‘It doesn’t matter what’s here.’
I just need to do what I came to do.
If it was Sheryl, she would bring Pedrick no matter what happened. I just needed to stand firm here as a wall.
I reaffirmed my resolve and quickened my pace. The Forest was now within sight. A few more steps using my movement technique and I could reach the entrance.
“Stop.”
Just as I tried to move faster, Sheryl halted and grabbed my shoulder.
“What? Aren’t we going in?”
I pointed toward the Forest. A fierce battle was raging within. I needed to save the Saint while she was still alive.
“Change of plans.”
“What do you mean?”
“Tch!”
Sheryl clenched her teeth and spun around. She gazed down the path we had just traveled, breathing heavily.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The enemy demons, green warriors, and monsters scattered across the area surged forward like a tidal wave.
‘Even I alone could handle this much… hm?’
As I watched the Eden demons approaching, the empty air twisted like grapevines, and black foam bubbled forth. The dark light gathered in a sphere, then took on the shape of a human face.
Whoooosh!
A mask bearing the visage of an old woman—a wide-brimmed hat, a nose elongated like a carrot, a forehead etched with wrinkles.
I swallowed hard as I stared at that mask.
‘Merlin!’
It was Merlin, the Witch of Betrayal I had seen when I killed the doppelgänger at Habun Castle. But unlike before, not just her head—her entire body, draped in a robe, had emerged.
“Merlin….”
Sheryl recognized her and furrowed her brow.
“Wow, if it isn’t Sheryl.”
Merlin clapped her hands with an excited laugh.
“Why are you here?”
Sheryl stepped in front of me, blocking Merlin’s gaze.
“Because this is a plan I prepared.”
Merlin spoke without hesitation.
“I made a mistake last time, so this time I had to ensure certain results. I prepared carefully.”
That mistake was undoubtedly failing to take Yua with her at Habun Castle.
“So you targeted both the child and the Saint simultaneously?”
Sheryl twisted her lips, having caught on to that as well.
“The Saint can die or live—I don’t care. I just need to recover what he possesses.”
“What are you planning to do with Rayshin?”
“Isn’t it obvious? You think I’d use it as medicine?”
Merlin giggled. It was clear she intended to use it as poison, just as expected.
“I’m not planning any mass slaughter. I’m simply going to compress it, compress it further, and create a poison that could kill even a Grand Master in a single breath.”
She lifted her long fingers and twirled them in a circle.
“Insane….”
“But Sheryl. The child behind you is Raon, right?”
Merlin’s voice pierced through the mask, and heat began to seep into her words.
“It’s been a while. Raon.”
“Were you and I ever on speaking terms?”
I fixed Merlin with a cold stare.
“Your gaze has grown even more beautiful. I’ve been keeping tabs on everything about you. Now, does the idea of joining me appeal to you?”
“I’d sooner die here than stand beside you.”
“Even that coldness captivates me.”
The old woman’s mask Merlin wore twisted into a grotesque smile.
“Meeting again like this means you and I are bound by fate.”
“That’s not what fate means.”
“Your words are magnificent, your gaze is magnificent. Ah….”
Though her words echoed Ensia’s, Merlin’s voice sent a chilling, sickening dread down my spine the moment I heard it.
“How fortunate that I can take you with me too.”
Merlin’s eyes behind the mask flashed an eerie white.
“A helmet awaits you—one that belongs to no one else in this world, only to you.”
Her voice was tender, like an older sister speaking to her younger brother. Whatever scheme she had woven, my stomach began to churn with unease.
“Come with me. I’ll elevate you beyond Master, all the way to Grand Master.”
“Madwoman.”
Sheryl stepped forward. A formidable aura blazed forth, and the flow of mana Merlin had been commanding began to waver.
“Raon. We’re changing the plan.”
She continued without turning back.
“I’ll hold the line here. You go into the Forest and check on the Saint and the child. If they’re bound by three or more Masters, escape with only the child.”
“Heavenly Sword Master?”
“Do you know what the worst outcome is in a rescue operation?”
Sheryl placed her hand on the sword strapped to her back and turned her head.
“The people sent in for the rescue die as well. These bastards were thorough in their preparations this time. Normally, we should retreat immediately.”
“Precisely. You really are seasoned.”
Merlin nodded with a slight smile. I couldn’t fathom how she managed to express emotions so well through a mask.
“But I have no intention of leaving anyone behind. Even if I lose everyone else, I’m bringing you back, Raon. No matter what.”
She snapped her fingers, and heavy footsteps echoed from the darkness of the Forest.
Boom!
The thicket-filled entrance parted like a curtain, revealing a towering giant clad in crimson armor and wearing an ogre’s helmet with a single horn.
“Gwahyeolgwi. Capture that child alive.”
“I shouldn’t kill him?”
This Gwahyeolgwi was different from the one I’d seen before. The low, quiet voice dripped with bloodlust. This had to be Stain Trian, the patriarch of the Trian Family.
“Should I tear you apart along with that armor?”
Merlin’s eyes twisted savagely. The air itself began to vibrate—she was serious.
“Hmph.”
Gwahyeolgwi laughed coldly and stepped forward. The sheer presence emanating from his towering frame and immense fighting spirit pressed down on me like a weight.
“To receive her affection… how fortunate.”
“I don’t need that kind of thing.”
“You reject the chance to grow stronger? Do you truly have such faith in your own talent?”
His eyes gleamed with crimson madness.
“At that age, reaching the peak of Expert rank and possessing the talent to defeat the 7th Apostle—of course that would breed resentment.”
“Your words reek of inferiority. Did that inferiority drive you to betray your family and the people who believed in you, crawling into Eden’s shadows? Stain Trian.”
“You….”
At my frigid voice, Stain Trian—wearing the Gwahyeolgwi’s flayed skin—froze in place.
“I let him die slowly on purpose, but it seems that bastard couldn’t keep his mouth shut.”
Realizing that Demte Basin had revealed everything, the Gwahyeolgwi let out a crude, mocking laugh.
“That’s right. I did it. Joining Eden wasn’t all—I opened the castle gates in advance so Eden’s phantoms could enter, and I even helped prepare the flames.”
“How could you….”
“You’re right. Inferiority! I couldn’t overcome that inferiority and accepted Eden’s temptation. But now I regret it….”
“Regret?”
I narrowed my eyes. The words didn’t fit the situation at all.
“Yes. I regret accepting it so late! I should have grasped their hands far sooner!”
The Gwahyeolgwi slowly lowered his head, then burst into a laugh so eerie it raised goosebumps.
“This power! This might! Everything is so satisfying! I can now wield even the aura I could never achieve in my entire previous life!”
Crimson aura blazed and roared above the Gwahyeolgwi’s fist.
“You, who reached the peak of Expert rank at that age, could never understand. The agony of never surpassing my limits no matter how much I trained my whole life! The despair of being overtaken by those younger than me!”
The creature shrieked as if in anguish.
“You could never understand what it’s like to be overflowing with talent!”
“I understand.”
I approached the Gwahyeolgwi, my gaze as cold and merciless as winter ice.
‘I understand far too well.’
Living as an assassin, I had never once trained by choice. Everything was training to kill, a life as a mere cog in Derus Robert’s design.
I had lived my entire existence carrying a despair of a different dimension than Stain’s—one that came from never being able to train to become stronger.
“Stop spouting nonsense! You….”
“Does it feel good to be strong? Are you pleased to have gained the power you couldn’t wield before?”
“Of course! Demte, who was called my rival for life, couldn’t even withstand a single move from me! This is a power that won’t lose to anyone!”
Crimson aura bloomed abundantly over Gwahyeolgwi’s shoulders.
‘Strong?’
Of course he was strong. The energy I sensed was in no way inferior to the Gwahyeolgwi from Sebu Village.
But there was none of that despair from before. I felt no fear of mere strength that came without effort and enlightenment.
“Do you know how many times people asked me to save you? How many times they begged me to bring back word of you?”
“So?”
Gwahyeolgwi’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent, as if he had already abandoned human emotion.
“I like it.”
“What?”
“There’s nothing holding me back from killing you.”
“You insolent bastard….”
“Come.”
I drew my Heavenly Sword. Flames that could incinerate even moonlight bloomed above its majestic aura.
“I’ll show you how pathetic the power gained through sorcery 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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