The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 291

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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 291

I watched Merlin stride ahead, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.

‘She’s enjoying herself.’

Her steps were light as feathers, and it was clear she could barely contain her anticipation for what would come after I donned the dragon helmet.

‘She’s waiting for the soul inside it.’

What Merlin desired was for that soul within the helmet to take control of my body. But such a thing could never happen. No matter who my opponent was, I would never yield in terms of mental fortitude.

“Nervous?”

Sensing my gaze, Merlin stopped and turned around. Her eyes behind the mask gleamed with the light of desire.

“A little.”

I nodded honestly, since I wasn’t entirely without nervousness.

“There’s no need to be nervous. All you have to do is surrender your body to the helmet.”

Merlin smiled, saying that once I put on the helmet and fell into a peaceful sleep, that would be all.

“What about that one?”

I pointed to the Severed Soul Sword following behind me. It was rare for him to venture into the Great Hall, as he typically remained elsewhere.

“When you wear the helmet, you’ll be defenseless. I asked him to come here to protect you.”

Merlin’s masked lips curved upward as she looked at me, not at the Severed Soul Sword.

“I can’t allow even the slightest problem during your Soul Investiture Ceremony.”

She called the helmet-wearing ceremony the Soul Investiture Ceremony.

“Hmm….”

I narrowed my eyes as I observed the golden-burning gaze of the Severed Soul Sword.

‘Something is different about him.’

Unlike the Eden warriors I’d encountered before, the Severed Soul Sword emanated not just fighting spirit, but an indescribable aura of death.

It was as if they’d brought an actual lion and simply placed a helmet upon its head.

‘They’re all bizarre creatures, every last one of them.’

I shook my head and came to a stop before Merlin’s log cabin, but she continued forward as if that wasn’t our destination.

“Your Soul Investiture Ceremony will be held in a different chamber. You’re special, after all.”

Merlin beckoned me forward with her long fingers. She continued deeper into the Great Hall until we reached the wall at its far end.

Whoooosh!

When Merlin tapped the gray wall, a passage burst open at its center, flooding the space with brilliant white light. From within the corridor, wisps of pitch-black haze curled outward like smoke.

“Let’s go in.”

Merlin smiled knowingly and stepped into the passage first.

-Hmm…

Wrath’s brow furrowed as he observed the energy flowing from the wall.

‘Why?’

-It’s nothing.

Despite his denial, his eyes gleamed with irritation as he stared at the passage carved into the wall.

‘This one is truly the strangest of all.’

I smiled faintly and stepped into the passage that had opened before me. After a sharp, brilliant light flooded my vision, a vast square chamber materialized.

The grandiose chamber had five-pointed magical formations inscribed not only across its floor but also upon all four walls and ceiling, each one distinct in design.

Whoosh.

Black energy swirled above the magic circle—the same dark aura I’d glimpsed moments before. Yet unlike the malevolent force I’d sensed then, this black smoke carried something entirely different: pure mana.

-So it really is that bastard?

Wrath clicked his tongue as he observed the energy flowing from the magic circle.

‘That bastard?’

-Indeed. A fool of the highest order.

He clamped his mouth shut, clearly unwilling to elaborate further.

“Sit there.”

Just as I was about to press for more answers, Merlin pointed to a gray chair positioned at the center of the magic circle on the floor.

“….”

I studied the Severed Soul Sword’s eyes—revealing no emotion whatsoever—before rising and moving to the seat Merlin had designated.

“Such an obedient child. How convenient.”

Merlin stepped forward and extended her hand. Above her palm, the dragon helm I’d seen yesterday materialized, hovering weightlessly.

Scales sharp as sword blades and a vibrant azure mane gave the dragon adorning this helm an appearance of genuine life.

“Huh.”

I exhaled sharply and grasped the helmet with both hands. Despite its appearance, the helmet was as light as paper, with a rubber-like elasticity. It seemed designed to fit anyone, regardless of whether their head was large or small.

“Just wait a moment.”

Merlin’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled, bringing her hands together. Six magical circles bloomed above her palms—the same form as those inscribed on the walls and ceiling of this chamber.

Gooooooo!

The magical circles on the walls and ceiling resonated with her mana, vibrating and emitting a pitch-black light.

“Raon.”

Merlin nodded, gesturing for me to put on the helmet.

I closed my eyes, then opened them and donned the dragon’s helmet. The slightly oversized helmet shrank to fit my head perfectly, and a strange energy began flowing through my entire body.

“Safe travels.”

Merlin lifted the visor slightly. She aligned her crimson lips with the helmet’s mouth opening, her lips curling into a subtle smile.

“When you open your eyes, it will all be over.”

With those words, my vision abruptly went dark.

*

*

*

Zigheart Family Estate Patriarch’s Reception Hall.

Despite the family executives and vassal house heads gathering together, the reception hall felt as cold as if ice had been laid across its floor.

The executives’ expressions were equally barren, and the reason was entirely due to one presence.

Glen Zigheart. From him, seated upon the Throne of Northern Destruction, emanated such a virulent aura of dominance that everyone swallowed hard.

“Head of House. Everyone has assembled.”

Roen approached Glen’s side and bowed his head.

Tap, tap.

Glen gazed down upon the executives and heads, his fingers drumming lightly against the jade throne.

“It has been quite some time since Zigheart’s footsteps came to a halt.”

“Mm….”

The chill woven through his voice caused the Myeongjeondae Leader’s shoulders to tremble.

“Zigheart has demonstrated the capacity to devour half the Continent, so I believed there was no need to spill any more blood than that.”

Glen’s cold gaze turned to the right.

“We chose to halt our steps ourselves. Zigheart needed purification and rest, and we harbor no regrets about that decision.”

Sheryl, standing behind the pillar on the right, nodded slowly.

“However, it seems others do not share that sentiment.”

Glen’s eyes gleamed with a crimson hue.

“You all know by now that Raon Zigheart and Dorian Sepia have been abducted.”

The executives and Heads of House nodded heavily.

“Had the White Blood Cult and Eden slain the Gale Wind Squad on the spot, I would not have summoned you all. I would have entrusted Rimer with a single unit and commanded him to exact vengeance.”

His words rang true. Even if an entire unit or division of Zigheart were annihilated, the family would not summon everyone.

“But they abducted swordsmen bearing the name of Zigheart. What do you think that means?”

Glen’s eyes swept across the room. The swordsmen who had trembled in fear moments before now blazed with fierce determination.

“It means they have disrespected Zigheart.”

Sheryl answered on behalf of them all, her fists clenching tightly.

“That’s right. Kidnapping a swordmaster bearing the Zigheart name means they view us as insignificant. It means they don’t fear our blades, don’t dread our steel.”

The longer Glen spoke, the more his fierce momentum subsided. It was a sign of genuine fury.

A deep, resonant roar echoed through the hall.

In stark contrast to Glen, the executives of Zigheart and the heads of the Vassal Houses unleashed increasingly formidable auras. The collective force they generated caused the Patriarch’s Hall itself to tremble.

“Some may harbor resentment toward Raon or the Gwangpung Unit. Whatever their reasons, I respect that. But this matter is not internal—it is external. Now is the time to think not of Raon, but of the Zigheart name.”

Glen rose to his feet. His presence, devoid of any ostentatious display, suddenly loomed vast as a towering mountain.

“The search has already begun. Work with the Black Market to find Raon Zigheart and Dorian Sepia. Whether it leads to Oma or even the Six Emperors, I care not. Obliterate every location connected to their abduction.”

“Yes!”

The Patriarch’s Hall pulsed with a tremendous heartbeat, as if it had become a single living organ.

“Fear not, regardless of who our enemy is.”

Glen took his place at the edge of the platform. His crimson gaze, burning like the sun itself, consumed the entire world.

“I shall stand before you all.”

*

*

*

As I opened my eyes, a dark sky came into view. It was a ceiling whose end I could not see.

“Mmm….”

I pushed myself up and turned my head to the right.

Beyond the short expanse of black space lay frozen ground. A royal palace far larger than Zigheart Territory stood completely encased in silvery frost.

‘That chill is….’

A familiar aura I could not mistake. It was Glaceia’s cold.

‘Roengrin’s handiwork.’

Seeing the castle frozen by Glaceia’s chill, this was unmistakably Merlin’s Castle from the tales. The palace, untouched by human hands for countless ages, exuded a desolation that transcended mere emptiness.

“Hm?”

I rose to my feet while taking in the castle, then furrowed my brow.

‘What is this?’

Something felt different from usual. My perspective and the body I had grown perfectly accustomed to were slightly misaligned.

I examined my hands and clothes. The ice flower bracelet that never disappeared was nowhere to be seen, and instead of the Gwangpung Unit uniform, I wore black night clothes.

‘Could it be….’

Raon’s reflection appeared on the white ground. The golden-haired, red-eyed face that had been with me for nearly twenty years vanished, replaced by a dark-haired, dark-eyed youth with eyes wide open, as if shrouded in shadow.

“It’s me….”

Not the current me, but my former self. The visage of the assassin Raon from my past life—one who had lived with a leash held by Derus Robert until death.

Thud.

As I stepped backward, my foot caught on something. Looking down, I saw a short dagger and a longsword lying side by side.

‘These are….’

I could not mistake them. The short dagger and longsword I had wielded in my past life. The weapons that had remained at my side until death at Derus Robert’s hands.

“So this is what it means to face one’s soul?”

Seeing that my past self—not Raon Zigheart—had appeared, it seemed that facing one’s soul was no mere falsehood.

‘That’s why Wrath wasn’t here either.’

I had wondered why that chatterbox had remained silent, but it appeared we were in an isolated space, separated even from him.

Raon grasped the weapons of my past life for the first time in ages, a faint smile crossing my face.

“So….”

When would my restorative meal finally begin?

The moment that thought finished, the space trembled violently.

Crrraaaaaash!

The palace crumbled, and the massive neck of a dragon covered in sharp azure scales thrust upward. At its end, a pair of cerulean eyes blazed with fury toward the world.

Roooooaaaar!

The ice that had blanketed the entire castle shattered like glass, and the majestic dragon’s cry resonated through this realm.

Kuwaaaaaaaang!

Colossal wings unfurled, drawing a horizon across the sky, and the palace collapsed entirely.

Amidst the cascading rubble and shattered ice, a small wooden cabin—utterly out of place in this world—briefly appeared before vanishing beneath the dust.

Whoooosh!

The azure dragon kicked off the frozen earth and soared toward the heavens. The dragon, which had been drifting roughly through the endless sky, spotted Raon and plummeted down like lightning.

Kwaaaaaaang!

The azure dragon descended and trampled the pristine white earth. Its eyes, split like a serpent’s tongue, radiated a terrifying pressure.

Raon clenched his teeth, meeting the blue dragon’s arrogant gaze head-on.

Uuuuuuuung!

Pure white light erupted from the blue dragon’s body as its massive form began to shrink down to human size.

A young man emerged from the brilliant radiance. A handsome figure with ocean-blue eyes stood clad in knight’s armor—the kind of appearance that would make even Ensia cry out in admiration.

“This is incomprehensible.”

The blue-haired man furrowed his brow slightly.

“According to the princess’s words, your mental wall should have crumbled, and this world itself should never have opened. So why are you standing before me?”

He tilted his head in confusion.

‘So giving him the Severed Soul Sword wasn’t without reason after all.’

From what this man was saying, if I had destroyed the mental wall with the Severed Soul Sword, this space wouldn’t have formed at all—instead, his soul would have directly shattered mine.

‘But… a princess?’

This dragon couldn’t possibly be referring to anyone else. He had definitely called Merlin a princess.

“Is Merlin a princess?”

“You don’t know?”

The blue-haired man furrowed his brow as if I should have understood.

“Well, you were probably just dragged here by the princess as well.”

He clicked his tongue briefly, his expression one of disdain.

“You’re not a dragon.”

I twisted my lips as I looked up at the blue-haired man.

‘There’s no way he could be a dragon.’

Dragons, befitting their status as the mightiest race, possessed pride greater than any other being. Unless they were merely playing, a dragon who had revealed their true form would never refer to a human as “princess.”

‘Then this creature is….’

A glimmer of realization flickered in my eyes. There was only one type of being that could transform into human form while not being a true dragon.

A Draconian.

Draconians were the collective term for hybrids born of dragons and other races.

Most inherited either greater strength than their original race or exceptional mana affinity, but occasionally a Draconian was born with the anomalous ability to transform into a dragon—and the one standing before me appeared to be precisely such a case.

“A Draconian?”

“That’s correct.”

The blue-haired man nodded confidently.

“My name is Rocta Deport. I am the son of the Blue Dragon Kronos Deport and the Captain of the Royal Guard of Sirken.”

Clad in armor and bearing a sword, he spoke of himself as a knight.

“I harbor no ill will toward you. As a knight who failed to protect the princess, I am a sinner. I shall atone for my sins in death. If you surrender peacefully, I will spare you from suffering….”

“What nonsense.”

I laughed coldly. Perhaps it was because of my previous life’s body. Curses that I rarely used as Raon Zigheart spilled from my lips without hesitation.

“You kidnap people on your own whims and then speak of atoning for your sins in death? Stop spouting such drivel.”

“Resistance is futile.”

Rocta’s eyes narrowed with contempt.

“Look beneath your feet.”

I glanced down. Beneath me lay dark earth, starkly contrasting with the white ground Rocta stood upon.

“That dark earth is the entirety of your existence.”

“What?”

“That means the world dwelling within your soul consists of nothing but that land and two blades. Meanwhile….”

Rocta gestured behind himself.

“My world may have stopped at this frozen castle, but it is incomparably vaster and more solid than your pathetic existence.”

A chilling coldness and the despair of one who had brushed against death emanated from his gaze.

“If I so desired, I could crush your narrow, fragile world this very instant. I grant you one final chance. Withdraw. I have no desire to exert my strength against the weak.”

Rocta still believed himself to be a knight, spouting such nonsense. I couldn’t even muster a scoff.

“It’s always the weakest dogs that bark the loudest.”

I let out a derisive chuckle and flicked my finger.

“Stop your prattling and come. Half-baked lizard.”

“So you reject the invitation to drink in celebration and choose instead to drink in punishment.”

As Rocta’s eyes blazed with an icy gleam, a wave of frost erupted from the frozen ground beneath his feet.

Roooaaarrr!

A pristine white torrent of ice consumed the blackened earth, expanding its domain. The sensation of my mana circuits freezing over—it was a pain similar to Wrath’s attacks, which I had grown accustomed to enduring daily.

‘So this was it.’

So that’s why it’s called a Soul Duel.

Now I understood. This place was a visualization of my own body—the one I’d fought Wrath in every single day. Rocta’s soul, possessing far greater power, had consumed most of this space.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

The chill Rocta unleashed and his despair grew exponentially, shrinking the black space at a geometric rate.

Before long, the entire space had frozen over, leaving only a single span of earth beneath my feet.

“Didn’t I tell you?”

Rocta let out a blatant sneer. He spoke of knighthood and such, yet he was no different from Merlin in the end.

“It’s futile. It’s impossible for you to defeat me in this world.”

“Why is that?”

“Because our experience differs. This is your first time here, but I’ve fought in this world since I was alive. I’ve battled here over a hundred times.”

“A hundred times.”

I curled the corners of my mouth upward.

“Is that all?”

I summoned a ring of fire and stepped into True Form. The flames of Manhwa Palace erupting from beneath my feet began to sweep across the frozen earth.

Whoooosh!

The crimson flames melted away the endless cold and despair in a single instant, and in turn began to devour even the frozen earth. The speed was in a completely different dimension from the chill Rocta had unleashed.

“What… what are these flames!”

I smiled as I watched Rocta’s eyes widen to the point of tearing.

“You see, I’ve been tormented by that annoying cotton candy for half my life. I’ve fought battles like this not a hundred times, but a thousand times over.”

I walked across the earth ablaze with crimson flames, exhaling a cold laugh that contrasted with the heat of Manhwa Palace.

Thud.

The sound of worn shoes soaked in flames transformed into the crisp sound of polished dress shoes. Dark trousers and a shirt shifted into the gleaming uniform of the Gwangpung Unit, and black hair ignited, transforming into brilliant golden locks that shimmered like melted gold ingots.

Boom!

Eyes that had been filled with emptiness now burned crimson like they had swallowed the sun itself, piercing through Rocta’s very soul.

Whoooosh!

Endless flames spread, revealing the Annex Building and the 5th Training Ground behind me, and the entire vista of Zigheart came into view.

The desolate black earth that had been filled with only loneliness was now filled with the bonds I had built with my own hands.

My world was no longer empty.

“Yes, yes—what are you! How could a human’s spirit undergo such a drastic transformation…!”

Rocta’s jaw trembled as he stared at Raon, whose very being seemed to have transformed. Beyond mere shock, he appeared gripped by genuine fear at this incomprehensible turn of events.

Whoooosh!

Regardless of Rocta’s astonishment, the heat radiating from Manhwa Palace melted the frozen earth and began to reach even the royal castle that Rocta had toppled.

“I am merely human.”

Raon gripped the hilt of the Heavenly Severance Sword tightly, his gaze growing cold and measured.

“A human who has cast off his chains and now lives as he truly is.”

“What nonsense is this!”

“I apologize. You and your precious princess will never obtain what you desire… hm?”

“What?”

Raon’s words faltered as I turned my gaze to the right. Rocta’s head snapped in the same direction simultaneously.

Shhhhhhh!

Pale blue threads twisted and coiled across the burning floor of Manhwa Palace, weaving an otherworldly domain into existence.

“What in the world is that! How could an intruder breach this space!”

Rocta’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“You! What did you summon?!”

“I didn’t summon anything. It came on its own.”

I frowned as I gazed at the ice flower bracelet that had materialized around my wrist.

“Illegal squatter.”

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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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