The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 344

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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 344

Knock, knock.

Rezel rapped lightly on the door to the chamber where Derus Robert was staying.

“Come in.”

Derus Robert’s gentle voice drifted from within the chamber. Rezel carefully opened the door and stepped inside.

“What is it?”

Derus Robert, seated at a neatly organized wooden desk, lifted his gaze.
His voice was utterly transformed from moments before—the gentleness stripped away, leaving only an icy chill in its wake.

Rezel swallowed hard as he met Derus Robert’s serene eyes.

‘He’s already regained his composure.’

No trace of anger lingered in Derus Robert’s gaze. Despite Facility 9 being destroyed and the young ones released before their indoctrination could be completed, he had returned to his composed demeanor.

‘But he will never forget this.’

The orchestrator of this incident was not Borini Kitten. If the Derus Robert he knew was involved, he would scour the entire Continent to find the culprit and obliterate everything they possessed.

Rezel bowed his head and approached the desk.

“A message from Matio. The plan is proceeding without issue, and he says he will return from this expedition with good news.”
“I see.”

Derus Robert nodded slowly and closed his eyes, his bearing suggesting absolute trust in Matio.

“Hmm….”

Rezel clicked his tongue softly as he observed Derus Robert.

“Is something the matter?”
“I heard from Kosini that there’s a Spirit-class Monster beneath the Wizard Dungeon. Matio’s wounds haven’t fully healed yet, and I’m worried whether he’ll be alright.”

Matio and I had been taken in by Derus Robert at the same age and survived together until now. Because we’d spent so much time together, we were like brothers, so I couldn’t help but worry.

“There’s no need to worry. Matio and Kosini are more than capable of handling that level.”

Derus Robert shook his head lightly.

“That responsible fellow said he’d bring good news, so it’s right to trust him this time.”

Matio hadn’t forgotten his mistake in the Owen Kingdom. If he was saying something like that, he would risk his life to bring back whatever artifact was inside.

“Even if he’s been pushed back now, he was once the leader of Shadow.”

He lowered his gaze with a calm expression.

“Trust him.”

*

*

*

Matio swallowed hard as the blade came crashing down toward him.

‘I’ve been caught!’

I’d focused my senses on what was behind me, never imagining something would burst out from the side. My body felt frozen.

‘I have to block it….’

But I couldn’t just die here. I couldn’t prevent the blade from piercing me, but I had to minimize the damage.

The problem was that the creature’s sword technique was wavering, so I couldn’t tell for certain whether it was aiming for my neck or my heart.

‘In times like this….’

The heart.

Assassins most commonly target the heart. Unlike the neck, even a shallow cut there meant certain death, so protecting the chest was the right choice.

“Ugh!”

Matio bit his lip and twisted his upper body as far as possible.

*Screech!*

In that instant, exactly as I’d anticipated, the intruder’s blade shot toward my heart.

*Slash!*

Thanks to my waist bending to the point of nearly breaking, the blade missed my heart entirely and instead carved across my solar plexus before sliding away.

*Thud!*

Matio clutched his chest and quickly retreated to stand beside Kosini Sion.

‘Damn….’

The excruciating pain left my mind reeling. The solar plexus was both the conduit through which my entire body’s mana circuits flowed and a fatal vital point. I’d avoided a pierced heart, but the damage was severe. It seemed I wouldn’t be able to display even half my usual strength.

‘But….’

I could endure it.

If I were alone, perhaps not. But with Shadow and Kosini Sion here, I could handle an assassin like that without difficulty.

“Seize that bas— huh?”

Matio began to give the order to attack the intruder but stopped short, his lips trembling.

‘This… this can’t be real….’

Black hair and black eyes. The moment I got a proper look at that ordinary face—pale skin, sharp eyes, and a small scar beneath the right eye—my hair stood on end.

“Ah….”

The author was someone who shouldn’t exist in this place. No—someone who shouldn’t exist in this world at all.

“Raon….”

My heart clenched as though it might burst. Assassin Raon. The former leader of Shadow whom I had personally raised stood before my eyes.

“Raon?”

Kosini’s jaw trembled as her eyes widened in shock.

“Y-you’re really Raon!”

Her voice cracked roughly with astonishment.

“How are you here? No—how are you even alive!”

Matio shrieked in terror.

‘This is impossible.’

It made no sense!

Derus had killed Raon, and I had disposed of the corpse myself. I had melted the bones and flesh, erasing every trace of his existence from this world—yet somehow he stood alive.

“I’ve returned.”

Raon smiled faintly and drew his sword in a single motion. The three Shadow members standing frozen had their heads severed simultaneously. It was the Black Killing Sword—the technique I had taught him directly.

“To take you and your master to the hell where you belong.”
“Ah….”

His voice was the same as before. A chill ran down my spine, and blood erupted from the wound at my solar plexus that I had sealed.

“Nonsense! Such a thing is impossible in this world… Gasp!”

Matio’s pupils trembled as he gazed upon Raon’s blade.

“The Heavenly Sword?”

Raon’s sword looked identical to the one I had recently seen Raon Zigheart wield.

“You recognize it.”

He made no attempt to conceal it, raising the blade before his eyes. There was no doubt—this was the Divine Celestial Sword that Raon Zigheart had used.

“No… surely not….”
“That ‘surely not’ is exactly right.”

Raon placed his hand upon his face and ignited a crimson flame. Scarlet haze shimmered as his visage transformed. Black hair shifted to gold, and his dark eyes blazed with crimson light.

A resonant roar echoed forth.

A rare countenance in this world. Yet the golden hair and crimson eyes—those unmistakable hallmarks of Zigheart—were laid bare for all to see.

“Raon Zigheart….”
“Yes.”

Raon—no, Raon Zigheart—nodded in affirmation.

[I am the Raon you raised and consumed. I have returned to drag you all into hell.]

The final words arrived as an aura message, yet my mind could not process them. My thoughts scattered like dust.

‘He was right….’

Derus was correct!

Derus’s prediction that the assassin Raon and Raon Zigheart were the same person had proven true.

‘I must kill him. No—first, I must report this.’

Even in poor condition, with Kosini at my side, I could handle the Raon I had faced in the Sparring Arena.
But there was no way that monster had simply wandered here.

‘What I must do now….’

Matio drew his blade and issued commands to the shadows.

[Escape this place and inform Derus Robert! Raon and Raon Zigheart are the same person!]

It was a strange thing to hear, but nearly twenty shadows immediately fled toward the dungeon’s exit upon receiving the command, desperate to escape Raon.

“You see, I…”

Raon didn’t chase after the shadows. Instead, I remained in place, smiling.

“I haven’t forgotten what you taught me.”
“What?”
“That assassination succeeds only when I create the situation I desire.”

I snapped my fingers. The moment the sharp sound echoed, the dungeon trembled violently, and the ceiling above the shadows fleeing backward collapsed entirely upon them.

CRASH!

Not a single shadow managed to escape. They were all buried beneath rocks and earth. Among the more than twenty shadows, not one remained alive.

Footstep.

Raon stepped forward with a smile. The soft footfall, so incongruous with this place, made him swallow hard.

“The only ones who leave this place…”

My voice descended lower and lower.

“…are the dead.”

*

*

*

Raon gazed at Matio and Kosini, whose faces had gone deathly pale, and offered a cold smile.

‘It worked perfectly.’

Though I could have slit Matio’s throat from the start, I struck his solar plexus instead—to witness that expression of shock. Watching the face of one who always wore a mask of cold composure crumble into stunned disbelief, I felt the weight of twenty years of resentment finally begin to lift.

“Ugh…”

Matio’s hand trembled as he gripped his sword. He seemed profoundly shaken—not only by the situation itself, but by the fact that his own command had led to the complete annihilation of the Shadow operatives. A laugh escaped me unbidden, watching despair and horror paint his features.

“Let’s see this through to the end, Matio.”

I raised the Soul Reaper Sword, its point aimed directly at Matio’s heart. The blade’s frigid aura was so piercing that cold sweat began streaming down his forehead.

“H-how…”
“You idiot!”

Kosini struck Matio’s cheek hard, snapping him out of his stupor.

“Of course you’re terrified! My heart nearly stopped too. But if we die here, where do you think that bastard’s blade will turn next?”
“Ah…”

Her words steadied Matio’s trembling. His eyes began to regain focus and clarity.

“You’re right.”

Matio nodded and struck his own opposite cheek with equal force.

“For his sake, I must kill that monster no matter what.”

A suffocating killing intent blazed forth from his eyes.

“Kosini. Fight with everything you have.”
“I know. I don’t want to die either.”

The combined momentum of their unified resolve shook the entire dungeon.

Whoooosh!

Matio moved first, of course. As if untouched by his injuries, he burst forward in an instant and brought his blade crashing down. A deep black aura descended toward my neck.

Screeeech!

I lifted my body lightly and released the ferocious beast caged within my blade’s edge. The Wild Beast Explosion Slash tore into Matio’s sword.

Crash!

Willpower alone cannot overcome severe injuries. Matio couldn’t withstand the impact of the Radiant Sword and crashed into the wall.

Whoooosh!

As Raon tried to pursue him, a powerful surge of mana erupted. It was Kosini Sion. Her specialty—mental fragment magic—pierced into my mind.

“Futile.”

When the Ring of Fire was in operation, it granted immunity equivalent to mental attacks. The Ring of Fire rotating around my heart melted Kosini’s mana like spring snow attempting to dominate my consciousness.

Whoosh!

Raon pushed off the ground with the balls of my feet and surged forward. In a flash, I closed the distance to Kosini and unleashed the wind of the Snowstorm Sword Technique.

“Ugh!”

Kosini hastily deployed multiple shields, but the blade of the Heavenly Sword, infused with azure wind, shattered through three layers of barriers and descended toward her throat.

Crash!

Just as blood was about to burst from Kosini’s neck, Matio intercepted and deflected the Heavenly Sword.

“You bastard!”

Matio’s sword, engulfed in black aura, rotated. The bare blade, honed to its absolute limit, thrust toward my left chest.

‘Slow.’

Raon twisted my ankle and slashed the Heavenly Sword with fury infused. The Radiant Sword, brimming with full power, bared its blood-stained fangs.

Boom!

After the tremendous impact, Matio was driven back along with his sword, spewing blood. The injuries sustained in the Sparring Arena combined with the wound to his solar plexus, creating a devastating blow.

“Take this!”

Kosini extended her hand from behind Matio. A brilliant golden bolt of lightning descended before my eyes. Chain Lightning—the lightning-attribute magic she was most confident in after mental manipulation.

A sharp metallic ring pierced the air.

I stepped into the Tae Hwa O Bo stance and drew the Soul Reaper Sword with my left hand. The crimson blade, flowing as smoothly as raindrops cascading down a roof, ruthlessly tore through the lightning bolts.

The vital point that erased magic. For mages, it was a calamity incarnate.

“Not yet!”

From the circular lightning sphere blooming in Kosini’s grasp, dozens of lightning bolts erupted. Plasma Bolt—the most powerful offensive magic she could muster.

“I told you. It’s futile.”

I thrust the Soul Reaper Sword before the Plasma Bolt could fully materialize. The damp aura of the blade wedged itself between Kosini’s mana, detonating the incomplete spell.

A deafening explosion erupted before us.

Kosini was driven into the half-cratered ground by the mana explosion.

“Gasp…”

As Kosini spat blood and widened her eyes, I was already before her. I attempted to drive the Heaven-Severing Sword down to prevent her escape via Blink, but Matio intercepted, blocking my blade.

Another sharp metallic ring.

I twisted my blade and unleashed the secret technique of the Black Water Tribe. The overwhelming shockwave emanating from my wrist sent both Matio and Kosini tumbling across the ground.

“Ugh…”
“Hnn…”

Their faces paled as they were overwhelmingly suppressed by my superior power.

“Don’t worry. I won’t make your deaths painless.”

I looked down at Matio and Kosini with cold, unfeeling eyes.

“You’ll need to spill everything—what you know and what you don’t.”
“Nngh!”

Kosini’s jaw trembled as she gripped her shoulder.

“Mental manipulation won’t work on him. Neither will cerebral magic. That monster… he’s become something else entirely.”
[Use me.]

Matio clenched his fists until blood pooled in his palms, gripping Kosini’s shoulder. His aura message came through clearly.

[Use me.]
[What?]
[I’ll detonate my vital force. Cast Berserker on me.]

Kosini’s expression hardened at those words.

[If you cast Berserker while your vital force is detonating….]
[I don’t care.]

Matio nodded, his eyes now steady and unwavering.

[That monster’s blade will eventually reach him. We have to end this here.]
“Understood.”

Kosini nodded at the resolute firmness in Matio’s voice.

[Got it.]

Kosini leaped backward and extended her hand. The mana flowing from her palm twisted in reverse of its natural configuration, flooding through every fiber of Matio’s body.

Berserker magic—and the highest-grade variant at that, radiating brilliant light.

Uuuuuuuuung!

Matio’s eyes blazed crimson as his entire musculature swelled grotesquely, like an orc’s. It wasn’t merely his body that transformed. The vital force he possessed erupted like a volcano, consuming the space around him.

“Hmm….”

I narrowed my eyes as I observed Matio’s transformation.

‘Vital force detonation.’

Vital force—the life essence every human possessed from birth. It seemed he had drawn upon that irreplaceable power, the kind that could never be recovered once spent.

‘And on top of that….’

It seemed he had amplified his power using Kosini Sion’s Berserker magic. If I judged by aura alone, it had increased roughly threefold from his usual output.

“Die!”

Matio crushed the earth beneath him as he brought his sword down. The blade extended like a spear, thickened like an axe by the force infused within it. Unlike Martha’s berserker state, he maintained perfect clarity of mind, coldly driving his dark-stained blade forward.

“Struggle all you like.”

I laughed coldly and stepped into the Zenith Stance.

“I was almost disappointed at how easy this was!”

I unleashed the Continuous Clarity of the Snowwind Sword Technique. The force riding the ascending wind collided head-on with Matio’s blade strike.

Craaaaaash!

The impact felt as though every bone in my body would shatter. The primal force explosion and berserker state harmonized, unleashing more than triple the power.

Zzzzzzzt!

I grinned, baring my teeth as I clashed with Matio in a test of raw strength.

‘This is how it should be.’

I had to repay what I’d received in full measure.

Whoooosh!

I swept aside Matio’s blade with the Snowwind Sword Technique. As his blade was driven toward the wall, I drew the Heavenly Flame Sword upward from below.

Fwoooooosh!

Countless buds of scorching heat bloomed from the blade’s edge. The petals of the Flame Spirit, grown stronger through my ancestor’s sword marks, engulfed the space around us.

Raon didn’t stop his sword even after unleashing Hwaryeong. Manhwagong Hoecheon. The spheres that sprouted on the blade of the Jecheon Sword created a powerful rotation, spewing out intense flames.

Booooooom!

Hwalyeong and Hoecheon’s coordinated sword strikes completely blocked Matio’s defense.

“Pathetic!”

Matio roared and thrust his blade forward. The black aura embedded in the blade spread like a spider’s web, meeting the flames head-on. It was Changnyeong-gwi, a technique of the Black Flesh Sword.

Kwaaaaaaang!

The crimson aura I unleashed and the black energy Matio drew forth collided, creating a tremendous explosion.

Kugugugu!

The shockwave spread beyond the walls to the ground, and the carefully compacted earth crumbled and collapsed.

Thud!

I spun my body in midair and landed on the uneven ground. Though the dust obscured my vision, I could sense Matio and Kosini standing on the opposite side.

‘This is no joke.’

My right arm ached as if it had been broken from the sword clash. Matio’s blade strike, fueled by burning his life force and enhanced by Kosini’s magic, far exceeded normal parameters.

‘That’s what makes breaking him worthwhile.’

If one of my enemies honed over twenty years fell pathetically, that would be equally pathetic. His desperate struggle like this was far better.

Whoooosh!

I swung the Jechen Sword to sweep away the dust. Matio glared at this place with eyes that had grown an even deeper crimson.

‘What is this?’

He’s grown stronger?

Matio’s aura burned more intensely than before, matching that fierce gaze. It was impossible—his life force, which should diminish with use, was actually increasing.

“You said only the dead can escape this place?”

Matio charged forward, shattering the ground. Though I recognized the Black Shadow Step and Black Flesh Sword techniques, their speed and movement were on an entirely different level.

“You won’t escape this place alive either!”
“I’m the exception. I’m the host.”
“Shut your mouth!”

I tilted backward and drew a line with the Celestial Sword. Following that trajectory came a blue wave. Frost Chain’s twin blades aimed at Matio’s sword and neck.

Claaaaaang!

Matio spun his sword force, infused with killing intent, and blocked Frost Chain in a single stroke. He didn’t even budge, as if the overwhelming aura prevented it.

“It’s futile!”

His aura grew even stronger. Like gunpowder before detonation, his energy amplified endlessly.

‘Gunpowder?’

Could it be…?

A sensation like being drenched in ice water. It seemed he was aiming for self-detonation.

“Now you understand? I am a bomb.”

Matio’s lips curled into a long, twisted smile.

“Whether you attack me or not, your fate is death alone.”

He charged again. A denser, thicker sword force pressed in from the left.

Uuuuuung!

I ignited a line of flame on the Celestial Sword’s blade. A strike falling like lightning. Manhwagong White Flower Red Island.

Zzzzzzzzzt!

Even the brilliant flash of flames could not cut through Matio’s aura, infused with the vitality of life.

“Grrrrgh!”

Matio spat blood from his mouth as he forced his way through space with a shout.

I furrowed my brow as I gazed into Matio’s eyes, brimming with murderous intent.

‘He’s wagered his very soul.’

Matio was channeling Kosini’s magic as a conduit, pouring not merely his vital energy but his soul itself to draw forth power.

Kyaaaang!

I retreated, leveraging Matio’s force to create distance.

‘If this detonates as is, I’ll be buried alive.’

No matter how intimately I knew this place’s geography, I couldn’t withstand Matio’s self-destruction. I had to sever him before the explosion consumed everything.

‘If I erase that power with White Shadow Island and employ Silver Sword Dream, then… wait.’

As I scanned the surroundings for a space to draw Matio into, a familiar mark caught my eye on the wall.
The ancestor’s swordsmanship I’d witnessed atop the Wizard Dungeon—the blade marks of Manhwagong’s Infinite Ocean Sword.

‘It’s different.’

Yet the flow of the swordsmanship diverged. Unlike the entrance where the marks trembled only across walls and floor, these marks of Infinite Ocean Sword extended throughout this vast space in their entirety.

‘A colossal force that seems to break yet never breaks….’

The sea.

Unlike the Robert Family’s swordsmanship, which flowed like a river before becoming an ocean, it seemed the true essence of Infinite Ocean Sword was to become an all-encompassing sea from the very beginning.

Crackle!

The moment I grasped this truth, a crimson line descended upon my mind.

My second state of transcendence. My hand flowed along the blade marks etched into the wall. The Heaven-Severing Sword, infused with the ultimate essence of the ancestor’s swordsmanship, surged forward.

“No matter what you do, it’s already too late.”

Matio charged forward, his face engorged with bulging veins. His bloated body, swollen like a balloon, flushed crimson as though it were a bomb about to detonate.

“You will die here.”

Endless aura surged above his sword. It was as if a mountain made entirely of aura had risen before me.

Whoosh!

Before the mountain of aura that devoured space itself, my sword ignited a small spark.
The blade, rotating along the trajectory of the wall, drew an elegant line and soared toward the sky like a phoenix reborn from flame.

Manhwagong Hundred Blossoms.
Flame Sea Unbroken.

A tidal wave of flame traced along the horizon, swallowing the black mountain whole.

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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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