The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 378
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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 378
I narrowed my eyes as I observed Burren standing there in a daze.
-You’ve gained quite a lot.
‘Yes. He’s accepted it well.’
No matter how excellent a spiritual elixir one consumed, it was impossible to absorb every ounce of energy within it.
When the essence of nature condensed, impurities inevitably accumulated. But Burren seemed to have purified the turbidity within while accepting only the highest-quality energy.
His realm hadn’t risen dramatically, but his physique had grown larger, and his aura had increased noticeably.
“What on earth did you do?”
Burren swallowed hard as he looked at Mark Goeten, who was trembling while gripping his ankle.
“I trained.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“T-trained? What kind of training leaves a person in this state!”
He muttered that the knight who had seemed so steadfast had become like a drenched mongrel.
“I threw flying blades, and Sir Mark deflected them. Simple training.”
“Simple training, yet why is he in such a state!”
“He must have gotten excited because the training was so enjoyable.”
“That makes no sense!”
Burren looked at Mark Goeten with an incredulous expression.
“Ugh!”
Mark Goeten shook his head vigorously, his eyes rolling back as he denied it vehemently.
“Look. He’s brimming with energy.”
Raon smiled as he watched Mark Goeten’s reaction. Mark Goeten coughed as if choking and hugged Burren’s leg even tighter.
-You heartless bastard….
Wrath turned to face me with a pale complexion.
-You’ve worked the man to the point of death, yet he’s overflowing with energy! The conscience embedded in your soul must have already become perfectly round!
‘What is he talking about?’
-Originally, conscience is triangular, but its edges wear away with each wicked deed until it becomes round! Just like you now!
‘The Demon King believes in fairy tales….’
Beyond being eccentric, the Demon King was remarkable—even extraordinary—in that he would invoke moral fairy tales taught to children.
“In any case, training isn’t finished yet. Lord Mark. Come over here.”
Raon twirled the dagger held between his fingers as he called to Mark Goeten.
“Give him a break! He’s going to die at this rate!”
Burren patted the back of Mark Goeten, who was trembling with fear, and frowned.
“He’s had plenty of rest…hm?”
Raon gestured to Mark Goeten, then glanced toward the Cultivation Chamber.
Seeing the auras being gathered inside, it appeared most of the Gwangpung Order had finished their cultivation.
Squeeeak!
The sound of poorly oiled doors opening in succession echoed as the members of the Gwangpung Order emerged one by one.
“Ahhhhh! That’s refreshing!”
Martha stretched and let out a shout that echoed through the Training Ground.
“Yaaawn….”
Lunan Slion, who followed after her, blinked his eyes as he yawned.
“How has everyone been doing?”
Dorian chuckled as he chewed on a snack he’d pulled from his pocket.
“Saunhwan really deserves his reputation as the Beast Alliance’s premier elixir.”
“Right. The aura alone is different, but you can feel the change in physique too.”
“If Saunhwan does this much, what happens when you undergo a complete rebirth?”
“They say your body transforms into one capable of mastering all martial arts.”
“Right now, I feel exactly like I’ve undergone that rebirth. I think I could beat anyone who comes.”
The Gwangpung Order members emerged with brightened expressions, their smiles brimming with excitement.
A low rumble echoed.
I extended Seolhwa’s senses to examine everyone in the Gwangpung Unit.
‘They’ve all transformed.’
Every member of the Gwangpung Order had devoted themselves to cultivation even more intensely than Burren Zigheart, becoming completely different people from when they entered.
Watching the swordsmen who had achieved such remarkable growth, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Ahem.”
Dogyae, who emerged last, approached with a slight cough. His dark complexion now carried a brightness within it.
While his aura had increased, his physical stamina seemed to have improved dramatically.
“It’s been a long time since I received an elixir from someone other than one I won through gambling. Thank you.”
“Not at all.”
I shook my head with a smile.
“Compared to what you’ve done for us, this is a bargain.”
Dogyae was already like family to the Gwangpung Unit. Giving an elixir to family felt anything but wasteful.
“You’re going to become something great.”
“Suddenly?”
“Ahem!”
Dogyae cleared his throat awkwardly and stepped back.
I gazed at the furthest Cultivation Chamber, still sealed shut.
‘The Unit Leader will take a bit longer.’
Since Rimer obtained the artificial core, he had been meticulously purging the turbid qi from within his body, which seemed to require more time than the others.
“Huh? What’s with this zombie? Why didn’t you kill him and just leave him here!”
Martha frowned as she looked at Mark Goeten, who was gripping Burren’s ankle.
“Zombie? Huh? Sir Mark!”
Dorian approached Mark Goeten with his mouth agape.
“Why, why have you become like this? What happened?”
“Ah, well, that is….”
“Why is the Training Ground in such a state?”
“Did it take some kind of bombardment?”
The members of the Gwangpung Order widened their eyes as they beheld Mark Goeten shambling about like a zombie and the devastated Training Ground.
“This is all that bastard Raon’s doing….”
Burren explained the situation to all the assembled Gwangpung Order members.
“Hey! You madman! Training is fine, but you have to give people rest time!”
“That’s right! Sir Mark is stretched out like dried radish!”
“You’re not even a demon! Let’s be reasonable here!”
“You’re all not monsters like the Vice Leader!”
Martha, Dorian, and the members of the Gwangpung Order gathered around Mark Goeten protectively, their expressions darkening. It seemed they had grown fond of him after saving him from falling off the cliff.
“Then would you like to take his place?”
I aimed the Blade of Ruin in my hand at the Gwangpung Order members in turn.
“All you need to do is block this secret technique. It’s a very simple training.”
“Great! I’ll do it!”
“I’m going too!”
“Count me in! For Mark Goeten, this is nothing!”
“We’ll show you we’re different now!”
Burren Zigheart and Martha clenched their fists tightly, while Dorian bit his lip. All the other members of the Gwangpung Order shouted their willingness to participate.
‘At this point, I feel like I can endure anything.’
‘I absorbed the Saun Orb, so training like this is nothing.’
‘I’ll show them how much I’ve changed.’
After five days and nights of cultivation, my physique had transformed, and both the quantity and quality of my aura had increased. Now I felt confident I could withstand even Raon’s grueling training.
“I like that confidence.”
Raon nodded as he gazed at the fiery determination burning in the eyes of the Gwangpung Order.
“Follow me.”
He climbed onto the stone wall of the Training Ground, heading toward the cliff where he had trained before.
“Whoa!”
Mark Goeten waved his hand as he watched the Gwangpung Order members.
“Ah, that won’t do. Right now, Raon is….”
“It’s fine. We’ve gotten stronger too.”
“We can’t last five days like Mark Goeten did, but we can handle a day.”
“Wait here. We’ll humble the Deputy Chief and come right back.”
The Gwangpung Order members, their confidence soaring after absorbing the Saun Orb, ignored his words and rushed toward the stone wall of the Training Ground.
“Uh oh….”
Mark Goeten clutched his chest as he watched the Gwangpung Order disappear from sight.
‘This is bad! They absolutely won’t win!’
If they had consumed the elixir and transformed from caterpillars into butterflies, then my secret technique had evolved from a caterpillar into a wasp—specifically, a Rekil wasp whose single venomous sting could kill even a man. It was a battle I could never win from the start.
“This won’t do! Raon’s secret technique is….”
Just as I tried desperately to stop them, Raon turned around and placed a black dagger against his lips, gesturing for silence.
“Gasp!”
At the sight of that dagger, memories of five days of beatings flooded back, and my stomach churned. My mouth hung open, but no words came out.
Mark Goeten watched the Gwangpung Order leave the Training Ground with confident strides, his lips trembling.
“I… I think I really came to the wrong place….”
*
*
*
I smiled as I gazed at the members of the Gwangpung Order standing before the cliff.
“The training method is the same as before. If even one of you reaches the top of the cliff, you win. You’ll have a full day of rest from tonight through tomorrow.”
“You’re not going to arbitrarily stop the training again, are you?”
Martha bared her teeth like an angry dog. It seemed her frustration from the previous ordeal still hadn’t subsided.
“Of course not. I’ll continue until you give up.”
I nodded calmly.
“If we pass, Mark Goeten will also get to rest with us, right?”
Burren seemed to pity Mark Goeten, who had been swaying like a zombie, so he made sure his welfare was included in this training.
“I’ll allow that too.”
“Good.”
“Let’s do this!”
“If it’s now, we can win!”
The members of the Gwangpung Order bumped their fists together lightly, steeling their resolve.
“Then get ready.”
Raon waved his hand lightly and leaped up the cliff. Like a bird taking flight, he ascended to the cliff’s peak in an instant.
“Wait! We didn’t block our auras….”
“Shut it.”
As Burren tried to call out to Raon, Martha struck his shoulder.
“Why, why are you doing this!”
“Raon forgot. No need to tell him.”
Martha gazed up at Raon with a cold smile.
“That’s what he always says—that the one who got tricked is at fault. This is our chance to settle the score for everything we’ve endured.”
“That’s right! Since the unit leader forgot, it’s not cheating!”
Crain’s eyes gleamed with excitement as he clenched his fists.
“Let’s go like this. If he complains later, we’ll just say it’s the fault of the one who forgot, like the first squad leader said.”
“Let’s climb to the top in one breath!”
“I want to see the unit leader’s flustered expression.”
“Seeing that guarantees a good night’s sleep today.”
The members of the Gwangpung Order’s lips naturally curved upward at the thought of pranking Raon.
“All right.”
Burren nodded, looking at everyone.
“Let’s go!”
At his shout, the members of the Gwangpung Order began climbing the cliff simultaneously.
Without using movement techniques, they scaled the cliff at a terrifying speed by channeling their auras.
“At this rate, it’ll be over soon… cough!”
Crain, who had been following right behind Burren Zigheart as they climbed, took something to the forehead and his body tilted.
“Gaaaaaahhhhh!”
He screamed like a pig being slaughtered and plummeted to the ground.
“Crain?”
“What, what just happened!”
“The unit commander threw a flying blade!”
“No, but why is it always him!”
The Gwangpung Order members swallowed hard as they watched Crain plummet below.
“Hack!”
As Burren Zigheart slowed his pace and climbed the cliff with tension, a Gwangpung Order member beside him took a flying blade to the ribs and collapsed.
Thwack! Crack!
With rough impact sounds, the Gwangpung Order members scattered across the cliff face fell like chestnuts from a chestnut tree.
“Ahhhhh!”
“What is this!”
“We couldn’t see it!”
“Ahhhhh!”
Each time the members were struck down by the invisible flying blades, they screamed and sank into the dark ground.
“Hey.”
Martha moved beside Burren Zigheart, her expression twisted like a malevolent spirit.
“Did you see it?”
“I, I couldn’t see it properly.”
Burren Zigheart shook his head. Something had simply blinked, and the person beside him vanished. It was terror itself.
“Focus your mind and look upward. The flying blades appear from the darkness. You can’t let your guard down for even a moment.”
Listening to her words, I drew upon my full power to manifest my aura and unfold my blade sense.
Piiing!
A hidden blade materialized with a faint, thread-like sound, striking Dorian’s cheekbone from the right where he’d been watching for an opening.
“Gwaack!”
Dorian shrieked as though his throat were being crushed, then plummeted from the cliff.
“Raon, you demon! Kyaaah!”
As he fell, another hidden blade struck him, and he went limp, losing consciousness.
“Ugh….”
Burren trembled as he watched Dorian tumble away, his lips quivering.
‘What is this.’
What kind of hidden blade technique was this!
Raon’s hidden blades appeared with such stealth and moved with the speed of light rays. Even if one weren’t clinging to a cliff, escape seemed impossible.
Thud-thud-thud!
A series of crisp impact sounds erupted, and soon the entire Gwangpung Unit had fallen. Only Burren and Martha remained, suspended midway down the cliff.
“We only need one person to reach the top anyway.”
Martha bit her lip and glanced upward.
“I’ll shield you. Use that time to climb up with your footwork.”
“But….”
“You won’t last long anyway.”
She declared she would block my hidden blades and rushed up the cliff first.
“Martha….”
“Shut up and get over here, now.”
“Yes, understood!”
Burren followed after her, thinking how much Martha had changed.
Crack!
Just as they neared the summit of the Cliff, Martha’s footsteps halted.
“Move!”
Burren heard her cry and dodged to the right.
Boom!
Martha unleashed a fist brimming with the Titan’s aura, striking down at Raon’s crimson blade.
But her reaction came too late, and the blade’s force sent her tumbling off the Cliff.
“Idiot! Keep going!”
She shrieked for him to hurry forward before vanishing into the darkness.
“Damn it!”
Burren didn’t look back at the falling Martha and pushed his footwork to its limit.
The instant he reached the Cliff’s summit, a crimson-stained blade came screaming down toward his head.
“I’ve been waiting for you!”
Having witnessed what befell Martha, I maintained my vigilance without pause.
Zing!
I gritted my teeth and raised my hand-sword. Treating my palm edge as a blade, I unleashed the Gale Wind Sword’s cutting technique with all my might.
My body, nourished by the Swordheart Elixir, and my aura flowed in perfect harmony, releasing a devastating blade strike—the Gale Wind Sword’s supreme technique, Pale Ridge Slash.
Boom!
The Saber Strike unfolded through my aura clashed head-on with Raon’s Flying Blade.
“If it’s like this… huh?”
Unlike Martha, I reacted properly, but my hands were pushed back. The Flying Blade that Raon unleashed contained an unimaginable amount of force. My technique, deployed with all my strength, crumbled like dry leaves, and the blade of the Flying Blade drew closer to my eyes.
Crack!
Burren, struck in the forehead by the Flying Blade, began falling from the cliff’s edge—just beyond arm’s reach from the top.
‘It wasn’t that Martha was slow….’
It was the absurd power contained in that Flying Blade!
“Damn it all….”
As Burren spat out a curse, Raon’s face suddenly popped up from the top. He grinned and waved his hand.
“Thanks for the effort climbing up, but maybe next time.”
“You damned bastard… gurgh!”
Burren lost consciousness to his rage at Raon rather than the pain, his neck going limp.
“Lunan didn’t come up, so that’s the end of it.”
Raon descended the cliff after knocking down all the Gwangpung Order members.
“Damn… it hurts….”
“How did he make the Flying Blade invisible?”
“That’s not the problem. Even if we could see it, it’s too fast to block.”
“And even if we block it, we get pushed back by the force. What kind of Flying Blade technique is that?”
The Gwangpung Order exhaled deeply, exhausted by Raon’s flawless technique.
Raon passed through the Gwangpung Order and approached Lunan, who hadn’t climbed the cliff.
“Why didn’t you come up?”
“You didn’t block the aura.”
Lunan tilted his head as if asking why I would pose such an obvious question.
-Krrgh!
Wrath let out an exclamation upon seeing Lunan.
-Indeed, Ice Cream Girl! A response befitting the True Demon King’s subordinate! Such quality—far superior to a spineless wretch like you!
‘That’s true.’
I chuckled softly and nodded in agreement.
“Good. Those who speak honestly deserve rewards. Lunan, you’re excused from training. Everyone else, resume the cliff ascent!”
“Nooooo!”
“Damn it!”
“I should have stayed quiet!”
The members of the unit wailed and shrieked, regretting that they had already climbed.
As I prepared to ascend the cliff again, Crain approached and bowed respectfully.
“M-Master Raon. You didn’t block our auras.”
Crain rubbed his forehead, which had swollen from the dagger strike, and offered a servile smile.
“Yeah.”
I climbed back up the cliff with an expression that plainly said, “What do you expect me to do about it?”
“Ugh….”
Crain trembled with his fists clenched and shouted toward me.
“You demon! This is discrimination! And stop throwing daggers at me… Ack!”
He cried out before a dagger struck his forehead and he collapsed.
In that moment, the same thought crossed everyone’s minds.
We should have stayed in the Cultivation Chamber longer….
*
*
*
The next day at noon.
I returned to the 5th Training Ground with the Gwangpung Order members who had failed the cliff-climbing training and simply fallen. Their faces were as pale as if they’d been defeated, their tails tucked between their legs.
“A-are you all right?”
Mark Goeten, who had been guarding the Training Ground alone, trembled as he saw the Gwangpung Order members covered in bruises.
“Mark.”
I gripped Mark Goeten’s shoulder firmly.
“Unfortunately, the Gwangpung Order has been defeated. We’ll need additional training.”
“Gasp….”
With a gentle gesture, Mark Goeten’s jaw trembled as he fell to his knees. His expression was almost as if he were being dragged away by a ghost.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to eat you.”
I smiled and climbed onto the Platform.
“Ugh….”
“Damn….”
“Curse it!”
The Gwangpung Order members lined up before the Platform had their shoulders slumped, their soaring confidence melting away.
“As promised, tonight is an all-night training session. My goal is to transform the Gwangpung Order into the Gwangpung Corps by the end of this year. You all need to prepare with everything you have….”
As I spoke of my new objective, the Cultivation Chamber door, which had remained closed until now, burst open roughly.
Crash!
Rimer walked out through the trembling door. From his flowing crimson long hair, a gentle wind seemed to escape, and sparks crackled in the air.
“I’ve already submitted the application for promotion to the Gwangpung Corps.”
Rimer grinned and pointed to himself with his thumb.
“Truly, sir?”
“Ha!”
“What’s gotten into that lazy commander?”
Everyone’s jaws dropped in surprise at the revelation that Rimer had prepared ahead of time.
“When is the examination, sir?”
“There are two rounds, but the first one is coming up soon.”
He narrowed his eyes as if recalling the date.
“How long has it been since I entered the Cultivation Chamber?”
“Six days have passed, sir.”
“Six days?”
Rimer counted on his fingers before lifting his head. A refreshing smile spread across his face.
“Then it’s tomorrow?”
“….”
Everyone’s eyes went vacant as they stared at Rimer.
That elf again?
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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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