The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 274

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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 274

The moment I opened my eyes, a radiant light resembling sunbeams flickered across my pupils.

I placed my hand over my left chest. The seven rings rotating vigorously within confirmed that everything that had transpired was no mere dream.

“Finally complete….”

A new ring. The seventh ring, completed through sheer mental exertion, now circled my heart.

‘It was just a hair’s breadth away.’

Creating the sixth ring had been arduous, but nothing compared to this. Though the actual time spent wasn’t excessive, my entire body was drenched in cold sweat from the strain. Had I failed, I would have been bedridden for days.

Whoooosh!

I exhaled slowly, listening to the resonance echoing from my heart.

‘So it begins with the aura.’

The seven rings began purifying the essence of Manwha and Glacia within my dantian even more thoroughly.

Even with six rings, I had believed the purity was flawless, yet there was still room for further refinement.

‘My senses have transformed.’

My perception through the five senses—sight, hearing, and the rest—along with the range of aura sensitivity, had all ascended another tier. The world’s flow felt distinctly different once more.

‘My foundation has grown even more solid.’

While achieving a higher ring of fire doesn’t immediately elevate my martial realm, it broadens and deepens the foundation upon which I can climb to greater heights, and do so more swiftly.

Since this could become the catalyst to transcend Master and ascend even further, I couldn’t help but smile.

“Remarkable, truly.”

The rings of fire are absolutely stubborn when creating a new ring, but once complete, they welcome it warmly. Even now, the six rings sang out in crystalline tones as if greeting the newly formed seventh ring.

Raon smiled, enjoying the resonance of the ring.

“Still, I’m glad it ended quickly.”

Though I’d lost track of time in the middle, the fact that I wasn’t hungry or drowsy suggested only about two days had passed.

-Quickly?

Wrath emerged sluggishly from the Frost Flower Bracelet.

-You finished quiiiiiiickly?

He thrust his face forward, grinding his teeth.

-You’ve been lying there for a week without moving an inch, and now you call that quick?
“A week?”
-Indeed! You didn’t budge from that spot for an entire week!
“Is that so?”

I hadn’t realized a week had passed while performing ring resonance cultivation—not consuming elixirs or conducting aura training, just ring refinement.

‘So humans are capable of such concentration.’

This was the first time I’d maintained such focus. It seemed I’d underestimated human potential far too greatly. My heart raced at the discovery of a path forward.

-The True Demon King… the True Demon King….

Wrath trembled, his fists clenched in indignation.

-I couldn’t eat a single meal for a whole week! Not even one!
“Hmm….”

Words tumbled from Wrath that were entirely predictable.
I continued to feel it, but this demon king’s gluttony held not a shred of pretense—it was genuine. That’s what made it all the more remarkable.

“I kept all my food promises to you….”
-Shut your mouth!

Wrath raised two fingers—a threat that one more word and he’d gouge out my eyes.

-Do you know what that is?
“What, what do you mean?”
-Your handmaidens left food in front of your door every mealtime.

Wrath pointed at the gap beneath the door and bit his lip hard.

-Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks in between! Five meals a day existed behind that door, and I missed every single one of them! A total of thirty-five meals vanished before the True Demon King’s eyes!

Wrath grabbed his head and began shaking it. His eyes glistened as if moisture were gathering there.

-The sorrow of being hungry, of smelling food yet being unable to eat it. Do you even comprehend that despair? Hell! Yes, that’s what it was—hell itself!

Hell is your home, isn’t it…?

Ah, the Demon Realm, I suppose? Well, hell and the Demon Realm are probably similar anyway.

Watching a Demon King wail over merely missing meals made a hollow laugh escape me.

-You’re laughing? You’re laughing right now? You’ve tortured the Lord of Wrath himself and you dare curl your lips upward?

Wrath ground his teeth with an audible crunch.

-This is the first time I’ve ever been this enraged. If I couldn’t see it, I could endure it! But I could see it, and I could smell it! And yesterday, it was pineapple pizza! Pine-apple!
“I’m sorry, but…”

I raised both hands together as if in supplication.

“You’re about to get even more annoyed.”
-Nonsense! There’s no way anything could make me angrier than….

Before Wrath could finish speaking, a message appeared before his eyes.

[A new Ring of Flame has been forged.]
[Ring of Flame has reached the 7-star realm.]
[You can now perceive and feel more.]
[Your soul’s grade rises.]
[The trait Indomitable Will advances to 4-star.]
[The trait Focus advances to 5-star.]
[All stats increase by 7 points.]

My vision was filled with the rewards I’d obtained from completing the Ring of Fire.

-Gasp!

Wrath’s eyes bulged so wide it seemed they might pop right out of his skull, despite his earlier grumbling that there was nothing left to anger him.

“I’ve made decent progress over the past week, so I figured this was bound to happen.

I smiled as I read the message. A new Ring of Fire created, stat grades and trait ranks elevated—I always felt it, but Wrath’s very existence was a blessing in disguise.

-Grrrrr….

Veins bulged across Wrath’s forehead, and a frigid aura wrapped in rage began to burn across his shoulders.
I thought he was about to lunge, so I tried to activate the seven rings now in my possession, but he remained motionless, his lips clenched shut.

“Are you actually holding back?”
-D-Don’t you dare mock the True Demon King. I won’t do anything good for you anymore!
“Wrath has learned 【Patience】.”
-Shut your mouth!

The moment I spoke as if reading a system message, another vein appeared on Wrath’s forehead.

“Actually, that was smart thinking.”

If I resonated all seven Rings of Fire simultaneously, nothing Wrath did would matter. If he’d attacked as he threatened, he would have only gained more stats.

But I couldn’t help laughing at the ironic sight of the Demon King of Wrath forcibly suppressing his own rage.

-If you have any conscience at all, go make me something to eat right now! Pizza would be nice. Pineapple and shrimp pizza, to be specific.

Wrath growled out his demands with impressive detail. Truly, he was an absurd creature.

“Sorry, but that’s not happening.”

I pointed toward the window where moonlight was pouring in.

“Everyone’s sleeping right now, and I’m not waking them.”
-They’re all your subordinates, aren’t they? Wake them up!
“They’re not my subordinates, and I have no intention of waking them.”

I waved my hand at Wrath, gesturing for him to back away.

“As soon as the sun rises tomorrow, we’ll eat something delicious. Just be patient for now.”
-I’ve already waited a week! How can you ask me to wait longer!
“Then I have a good solution.”
“You’re just going to spout more nonsense. Hmph!”

Wrath snorted dismissively, as if to say I was joking.

“But what if I told you there’s a way to recover your lost week of meals?”
-R-recover a week of meals? What is this method!

The moment I mentioned recovering a week’s worth of food, Wrath bounced up like a rabbit.

I smiled faintly and unwrapped the cloth bundle I’d placed on the table. Seven perfectly baked, golden-brown loaves of bread came into view.

“Nadin bread—eating just one is enough to satisfy you for an entire day. With seven of these, you can recover your lost week.”
-Huuuuh….

The light drained from Wrath’s eyes, replaced by a swirling darkness.

-You are a being who should not exist in this world….

He unleashed a fury and cold that had been suppressed until now, erupting with unprecedented intensity as he lunged at me.

-WRAAAAAAAGH!

That night, my stats increased by an additional 2 points.

* * *

In the office of the Robert Family Estate, soft moonlight poured down.

Derus Robert’s hand, which had been mechanically working through documents, suddenly stopped. His cold gaze turned toward the back of his hand holding the quill.

Drip.

Fresh crimson blood dripped from the sword scar on his stiffened hand, falling onto the documents. The blood spread across the white paper, washing away the still-wet ink.

“Has it grown…?”

Derus Robert narrowed his eyes as he examined the wound on the back of his hand. The scar that had remained unmarked for twenty years since being bitten by his own beast seemed to have expanded ever so slightly.

‘There’s pain too….’

Until now, even when blood dripped from it, he felt no significant pain. But today, a rather intense ache had emerged.

‘A curse, they said.’

To erase this wound, I had consulted with priests, healers, mages, and even sorcerers, yet none could mend it.
They said a deep curse had taken root, that it would never fade in a lifetime, and that the only way to resolve it was to appease the resentment of the one who cast it.

But Raon, the one who had cursed me, was dead, and I had even cremated his corpse. I dismissed it, thinking that a curse cast by a mere spirit held no meaning. Yet today, that wound had opened for the first time.

‘Has the curse grown stronger.’

The last sorcerer I consulted had mentioned in passing that as a curse strengthens, the wound might expand.
It seemed the curse Raon had left upon this scar had become more virulent.

“Amusing. His resentment ran so deep that even in death, he torments me.”

Derus Robert licked the blood trickling from the sword wound with his tongue and curled his lips into a smile.

Whoosh.

As he placed his hand upon the documents, the white paper ignited in an instant, turning to ash. A remarkable technique—it burned only the papers stained with blood, leaving the desk and other documents untouched.

“Matio.”

At Derus Robert’s gesture, a black shadow rose from the floor.
The shadow rippled like moonlit water before taking the form of a man in dark night clothes with his face concealed by a mask. He prostrated himself before Derus Robert without a word.

“What information do you have on Raon Zigheart?”
“A line has been established to the Northern Region. We are organizing information based on reports coming through our Shadow network, observations from the Gazel River, and what was witnessed in Roengrin’s Dungeon.”
“You said he killed the 4th Apostle through ambush in Roengrin’s Dungeon?”
“He inflicted a fatal wound through ambush, then finished him with his blade.”
“Yes. That’s right. An ambush….”

He nodded with a faint smile.

“Relay this to the Shadow operatives in the Northern Region.”

Derus Robert curled his lips upward as he gazed at the wound on the back of his hand.

“Treat information regarding Raon Zigheart with the same priority as that of Glen Zigheart.”
“You mean… the same level as Glen, sir?”
“That monster deserves such consideration.”

Raon Zigheart was a monster who, at eighteen years old, had severed the neck of Tiller from the North-South Alliance and shattered the heart of the 4th Apostle. He wasn’t merely a promising talent shrouded in rumor—he was a tangible force reshaping the very fabric of the Continent, making intelligence gathering on him invaluable.

“Understood, sir.”

Matio bowed his head and, just as he had appeared, dissolved into shadow and vanished.

“Hmm.”

Derus turned his chair to gaze upon the moonlight pouring through the window.

“Raon. What are you, truly? A mere prodigy? Or something else…?”

*

*

*

I had eaten a hearty breakfast, enough to placate Wrath’s fury, and made my way to the Training Ground.
Upon opening the door, I found the Gwangpung Order swordsmen engrossed in their morning drills.

“Huh?”
“Raon!”
“The acting unit commander is here!”
“It’s only been a week since his last visit.”

The Gwangpung Order members waved their hands the moment they saw me. The smiles blooming on their faces spoke volumes—they were brimming with confidence in their recent progress.

“Indeed…”

Raon met the gaze of the Gwangpung Order swordsmen and smiled faintly.

‘They have every right to be confident.’

They had trained so intensely they were practically unrecognizable from a week ago. With proper rest, their eyes gleamed with clarity, and their entire bodies radiated vitality. That rabid, snarling demeanor had vanished entirely.

‘Defeating the Jeonmadan must have ignited their passion even further.’

A week prior, they hadn’t slept, exhausted and disoriented. But now, having rested and truly grasped that they’d defeated the Jeonmadan, their fervor had rekindled. The joy of victory was more intoxicating than any drug, elevating the spirit.

Raon savored the Gwangpung Order’s fierce momentum as he ascended the platform and took his place beside Dogyae.

“Chief Steward, you’ve worked hard.”
“Troublesome bunch, but not bad.”

Dogyae nodded, apparently satisfied with the time spent.

“Where did the Unit Master go?”
“No idea. Haven’t seen a trace of him.”
“I see.”

It wasn’t surprising—that was just how he was. I nodded, assuming he was off gambling somewhere.

Raon stood at the edge of the platform, observing the eyes of the Gwangpung Order swordsmen. In their vital, spirited gaze, I sensed grave determination and strength.

“You’ve all done well. You’ve exceeded my expectations.”
“Uuuuaaahhh!”

As I smiled and nodded, the entire Gwangpung Order erupted in cheers.

“Raon’s back to being handsome again.”

Lunan Slion let out a relieved sigh, his dull eyes closing slightly.

“That bastard does have a conscience after all.”

Martha chuckled softly, interlacing her fingers as she held the back of her head. Despite her casual demeanor, anxiety had clearly gripped her—a bead of sweat trickled down her forehead.

“I… I’m still here… right?”

Burren, who had been locked into additional training from the start, lowered his head with a pallid expression.

“Finally, it’s over!”
“Haha, we made it! We actually made it!”
“It was worth enduring without dying.”
“Phew, I really thought we were done for.”
“Getting stronger is nice and all, but a person needs some rest.”

The Gwangpung Order swordsmen’s faces bloomed with smiles now that they believed the hellish training had ended.

“What have you been up to, Deputy Commander?”

Dorian, whose complexion had brightened to match his hair color, raised his hand. A sweet smile played at his lips, as if he believed the training was finally complete.

“A good question.”

I nodded, regarding Dorian.

“I didn’t leave my room for a week.”
“Do you really have to confine yourself like that?”
“Right? You’re allowed to move freely within the Annex Building.”
“He’s just strict about everything.”

The Gwangpung Order member shook his head, saying I was too rigid about the rules.

“That’s not it. I was so absorbed in cultivating my aura that I lost track of time. A week passed, but it felt like not a single day had gone by. And through that, I realized something.”

I examined each of the Gwangpung Order members’ eyes one by one and lifted the corners of my mouth.

“That there are no limits to focus and stamina. That above the mountain peak you think is the end, there exists an even higher summit.”
“Uh….”
“Hm?”
“That….”

The Gwangpung Order members sensed something was going awry and their eyes rolled nervously.

“Fire burns brightest when fed with good kindling. I failed to become the proper fuel to ignite you all.”

I clenched my fists. I wanted the Gwangpung Order to experience that same extreme focus and exhilaration I had felt when creating the Ring of Fire.

-Yes, yes… do you not possess a human heart?

Wrath sensed Raon’s intention first and his jaw trembled.

“W-what is that bastard saying!”
“He’s saying he’ll conduct more training, I think?”
“Raon?”

Martha, Burren, and Lunan all swallowed hard as they met Raon’s chilling gaze.

“I promise you. From today on, I will help you push your limits to the absolute extreme. Our goal is simple.”

Raon raised his index finger straight up.

“Those at the lower Expert level will reach the intermediate level, the intermediate will reach the advanced level, and the advanced will reach the peak level. Over these three months until the new year arrives, you will transcend the limits you currently possess.”
“….”

The Training Ground fell into silence. The air itself seemed to stop flowing as only rough breathing echoed from every corner.

Shing.

What followed was the sound of blades being drawn. Not practice swords—thirty real swords were unsheathed simultaneously.

“Kill him. We have to kill him right now.”
“If we don’t kill him, we’ll die….”
“Three months? We won’t last three days before we’re withered corpses….”
“Grrrrr….”
“Grrraaah!

The Gwangpung Order members looked up at Raon with murderous intent blazing in their eyes. Many of them growled like beasts, as if they had reverted to a week ago.

Crackle!

Burren assumed his Slashing Wind Sword stance, Martha drew her Titan’s Aura to its maximum, and the frost Lunan unleashed began to coat the ground in silver ice.

“Eeeeek! I don’t want to die!”

Dorian pulled out a three-meter harpoon from his waist pouch—the kind used when hunting large monsters—and readied it.

“Arghhhhhh!”
“Kill them!”
“We have to kill them no matter what!”

I watched the Gwangpung Order members rushing toward me with murderous intent and resonated seven rings of flame. A satisfied smile crossed my face as I nodded.

“Voluntary participation is always welcome.”

*

*

*

Roengrin’s Dungeon, where I had destroyed both the entrance and exit, making it impossible for anyone to enter.
The sound of hard footsteps echoed through the lowest level, where Roengrin’s skeletal remains still lay.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

A figure cloaked in a black robe stood before the Research Laboratory, sharp footsteps announcing its arrival.
When a pale white hand was raised, the stone wall that could only be opened by Glacia vanished, revealing the full interior of the Research Laboratory.

The robed figure stepped into the Research Laboratory, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. Within the darkness of the robe, a pair of blue eyes gleamed.

“Wrath?”

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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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