The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 392

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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 392

I watched the zombies and skeletons collapse like autumn leaves before the Gwangpung Unit’s blades, scratching my neck in contemplation.

‘Something feels off.’

Undead monsters typically possessed strong regenerative abilities paired with weak defensive capabilities.

The lowest-tier undead—zombies and skeletons—were so fragile they barely had any defense to speak of, yet the bodies of these creatures seemed harder than anything I’d encountered before.

“Freica.”

At my call, Freica approached from the side.

“Y-yes, what is it?”

Freica trembled as she drew near, visibly unnerved by the Gwangpung Unit’s fierce aura.

“The bodies of these zombies and skeletons seem harder than expected. Do you know anything about that?”
“Ah….”

Freica’s eyes widened in surprise.

“B-but they’re all being shattered in a single strike. How could you possibly….”

She gestured toward the Gwangpung Unit effortlessly dispatching the skeletons and zombies, her jaw trembling.

“Because they’re different.”

If these had been ordinary zombies and skeletons, the mere aura the Gwangpung Unit released should have split their bodies apart. Yet the undead creatures here were several times more durable than typical undead.
The bodies of the undead monsters currently at the Facility were several times more durable than the existing undead.

“It is as the Unit Master has said.”

Freica nodded as she looked at the zombies.

“Since the water level of the Swamp rose, the bodies of the undead have become harder. There have been several cases where they don’t fall even when we hit their vital points—their heads—with arrows.”
“And you didn’t conduct reconnaissance even in these circumstances?”
“Of course Wendy reported this to the Head of House, but the order came down that there’s no reason to fear mere zombies—if one arrow doesn’t kill them, shoot two.”
“Two arrows….”

I let out a hollow laugh. Wigen seemed far more broken than I’d realized yesterday.

“Why isn’t the Rangers captain taking any action?”
“Well, the person who hates going on reconnaissance the most is Bainder.”
“Yet he sits comfortably in the position of commander.”
“That’s….”

I twisted my lips as I watched Freica struggle for words.

-Tsk.

Wrath wrinkled his nose in exasperation as well.

-Fitting for a family stuck in a swamp—nothing but stinking garbage.
‘Right. Not even worth recycling.’

There were plenty of clues about this abnormal situation.

The rising water level of the Swamp, the increasing number of monsters, and the hardened bodies of the undead.

Any one of these three phenomena alone should have sent him rushing out to conduct reconnaissance, but Wigen had likely dismissed it as bothersome, insisting nothing would come of it anyway.

‘I can picture it clearly.’

The image surfaced in my mind—Wendy pleading to investigate the Swamp, while the pot-bellied Head of House ignored her and indulged in debauchery with other executives.

-The True Demon King sees it well too.

Wrath placed a hand to his forehead and clicked his tongue.

-Similar things happened in the Demon Realm. The incompetent fools caused the disaster, yet the people bore all the suffering.

He made a gesture of drawing a blade across his throat, indicating the man deserved death.

‘That’s right. That’s more urgent than the swamp.’

Beyond the mission itself, I resolved to eliminate Wigen and the executives thoroughly for the sake of those living in the Arian Family estate.

“How much longer are you going to drag out clearing these zombies?”

I pushed forward with force concentrated in my left foot. My right hand’s aura rose as I tore through the thick fog blanketing the swamp. A fierce tempest erupted across my extended arm, stretching like an island.

Kwaaaaaaang!

The swamp’s bottom became visible as it carved downward, mud becoming an inverted waterfall surging upward.

Kugugugugu!

When the suspended mud crashed back to earth, not a single zombie or skeleton remained visible in my sight.

I turned around. My eyes gleamed with cold intensity as I gazed at the Arian Family Castle, its form barely discernible through the haze.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

What excuses those pigs would make to hold their ground.

*

*

*

Freica, the third-unit commander of the Arian Family Rangers, ran through the swamp at the vanguard while gripping her temples.

‘What should I do?’

After guiding Raon and the Gwangpung Unit to the Patriarch’s Hall yesterday, Bainder, the commander of the Rangers, had sought her out while she rested.

Since she disliked Bainder, she tried to leave by saying she was tired, but he grabbed her shoulder.

[Freica. Isn’t it time you moved up?]

He asked how much longer she intended to remain stuck in the third-unit commander position and whether she had no interest in the Ranger commander’s seat.

My steps came to a halt. The Ranger captain was one of the family’s executives—a position where one could obtain money, status, honor. Everything.

[The task is simple compared to the reward. All you need to do is adjust the search location slightly.]

Bainder smiled smoothly and unfolded a map.

He showed me a direction that would veer right from the end of the Swamp of Death, leading us somewhere entirely different.

[Don’t worry. From this point onward, I’ll only shift the direction by a foot’s width. No one will notice.]

He smiled, saying that even if Raon was a Master, he wouldn’t know the true direction of a swamp he was visiting for the first time.

[Once you reach this point and return, you’ll be in my position within a year.]

When I asked what he’d do if there was something truly dangerous at the end of the swamp, he said it would be resolved by sending the Yellow Sword Unit after the Gwangpung Unit left.

[First, we need to survive. If the Gwangpung Unit finds out, Zigheart finds out. The responsibility will fall not just on the executives, but on the Rangers too, won’t it?]

Carrot first, then the stick. Since I couldn’t claim to be entirely clean myself, I bit my lip.

[I’ll inform Wellis as well. I’m waiting for you to make the wise choice.]

Bainder said that and left. He should have refused for Wendy’s sake, who had helped him so much, but the words wouldn’t come out.

“Hey. Squad leader.”

As Freica bit her lip in contemplation, Wellis approached from the side. He spoke using the Ranger’s cipher.

“When are you going to do it?”

Wellis rolled his eyes nervously and sent a hand signal meaning we needed to deviate from here to take a longer detour.

“Sigh….”

Freica closed her eyes and recalled her conversation with Wendy from dawn.

[Please do well tomorrow. If we miss this opportunity, our family will never escape the swamp for the rest of our lives.]

Unlike Bainder, she offered neither carrot nor stick. She simply made a request from one person to another.

‘Wendy Arian….’

The most foolish woman I know.

Wendy could have lived a life of comfort like anyone else, yet she chose to walk a harder path than most.

While other noble daughters adorned themselves with jeweled bracelets, she wore weighted gloves. While they carried parasols, she wielded a sword under the merciless sun.

Her words carried the sincerity of a warrior willing to stake everything to transform her family—words that pulled at me without any reward, that ached without any punishment.

‘Damn woman….’

It wasn’t affection or pity. The life Wendy had lived since childhood—the life I’d watched unfold—stood as a barrier against Bainder’s proposal.

“Squad Leader!”

Freica snapped back to awareness at Wellis’s cry, her eyes opening.

“If we cross this point, there’s no turning back.”
“I’m sorry, but….”

Freica gazed forward with unwavering eyes and smiled.

“We go forward.”
“What? What do you mean….”
“This is our last chance to change this family.”
“Damn it! You think you’ll be safe just because you’re the squad leader?”

Wellis glared at her, as if to say she’d already waded into the mud herself.

“Bainder told you to threaten me like this, didn’t he?”
“That’s….”
“It’s fine. I have no intention of pretending to be clean.”

Freica nodded as she watched Raon rushing toward her from behind.

“I’ll pay the price for my sins too. I won’t squeeze my heart any longer.”
“Squad Leader!”

He didn’t turn back at Wellis’s call, only pushing himself faster through the swamp.

*

*

*

A day had passed since entering the Swamp of Death.

Thanks to the Gwangpung Unit swiftly crushing hundreds of undead, it seemed we would reach the swamp’s end—our destination—with just a bit more progress.

I watched Freica’s back as she ran with such intensity that her fighting spirit was palpable, and a faint smile crossed my face.

‘This family isn’t completely broken after all.’

I knew Freica had harbored other intentions.

Wendy had asked me to trust him, so I waited without pressing further—and he seemed to have set his mind straight on his own. His strides forward were unwavering.

‘Did the Ranger commander resort to tricks?’

Since Freica and Wellis belonged to the Rangers, the one who gave them orders must have been the Ranger commander bearing the name Bainder.

‘It was probably the direction.’

In this vast Swamp of Death, even the slightest deviation from the correct path would prevent us from reaching our destination.

That bastard Bainder clearly intended to lead us toward the outer edges instead of the swamp’s heart, trying to show that nothing unusual existed here.

‘It wouldn’t have worked anyway.’

With the Ring of Fire and Seolhwa’s senses, this much mist and swamp posed no obstacle to me whatsoever.
Had Freica led us in a different direction, he too would have been marked for disposal upon our return.

I glanced back.

‘That side is fine too.’

Despite fighting and running all day, none of the Gwangpung Order showed signs of fatigue.
Rather, they seemed to be relieving the stress they’d accumulated by crushing the undead monsters.

‘Yua and Julius are impressive too.’

Those two were sweating profusely yet gritted their teeth and pushed forward, refusing to fall behind their seniors. Admirable ones indeed.

‘When we return, I’ll arrange special training for them.’
-That’s not a reward, that’s a punishment, you fool.
‘It’s a reward. They’ll grow faster that way.’
-That’s only what you think! The Pineapple Girl doesn’t want that kind of reward!

Wrath gnashed his teeth, saying he wanted to crack open my skull and see what was inside.

‘Then I’ll ask her later….’

As I turned my gaze forward again, a fierce aura erupted ahead.

Gooooo.

A death aura of a completely different caliber than before. It was unmistakably a high-ranking undead, incomparable to zombies and skeletons.

‘So there was something at this level?’

A laugh escaped me. With this creature’s existence alone, I could now deal with the Arian Family’s bloated fool.

“Gwangpung Unit.”

I raised my hand with a faint smile.

“There’s an enemy ahead. Clear it as quickly as possible.”
“Yes!”

The Gwangpung Unit answered as one and surged forward ahead of the Rangers.

Screeeech!

About ten minutes into the run, a corpse resembling a zombie but moving four times faster came rushing from behind a tree on the left.

On the opposite side, a skeleton with dull gray bones approached, wielding a sword and shield.

“Ugh…”
“G-Ghoul!”
“Skeleton Warrior!”

Ghouls and Skeleton Warriors possessed greater strength and durability than zombies and skeletons, with faster movements as well.
With poison added to their arsenal, underestimating them like common undead would result in severe casualties.

Clang!

The Gwangpung Unit kicked off the swamp with greater force. A cascade of multicolored sword auras erupted from their blades toward the ghouls and Skeleton Warriors.

Boom!

The swamp’s surface cracked like a spider’s web as the charging ghouls and Skeleton Warriors were sliced into dozens of pieces and sank beneath the murky water.

“They keep coming!”
“Stay sharp!”

As Burren and Martha charged toward the ghouls and Skeleton Warriors, a massive horse burst forth from the vines on the right side.

Screech!

Its pitch-black body was twice the size of a normal horse, and atop it sat a giant clad in crimson armor.
However, instead of a head where it should have been on the neck, the creature held one in its left arm, while its right hand gripped a massive axe the size of an adult man’s torso.

“Dullahan!”

Burren’s aura surged to full power upon seeing the Dullahan.

“I’ll take that head!”

Martha kicked off the swamp with fierce momentum, launching herself forward ahead of the others.

“Isn’t that head heavy?”

Lunan raised his sword upright, eyeing the head the Dullahan carried.

The three squad leaders advanced simultaneously and brought their blades down together. As three streaks of sword energy intertwined like constellations, Durahan swung the axe in his right hand in a sweeping arc.

CLAAAAAANG!

The aura of death radiating from the axe perfectly blocked the sword energy of Burren, Martha, and Lunan.

WHOOOOSH!

Durahan didn’t stop at defense—he thrust the axe upward from below. A blackened aura shot toward the three warriors’ necks.

BOOM!

Lunan stepped forward and unleashed his frost energy. A wave of chilling power flowed smoothly, wrapping around the aura and freezing it solid.

“Hgh!”

Burren burst from behind Lunan and brought his blade down like a lightning strike. The piercing wind energy on his blade tore through Durahan’s aura and slashed across his armor.

GRRRRGH!

Crimson light blazed from the skull in Durahan’s left hand. He drove his horse forward as if to crush Burren beneath its hooves.

THUD THUD THUD!

As the death-aura-shrouded hooves descended to trample Burren, Martha charged from the right. She drew upon every ounce of her Titan’s aura and drove her two-handed blade downward.

SCREEEECH!

Durahan pulled the axe shaft upward and met Martha’s blade strike.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

A violent explosion erupted from the center of the swamp as raw power clashed with raw power. Durahan and the three squad leaders each staggered backward.

I observed the crack running across Durahan’s armor where a piece had been torn away and smirked.

‘Now it’s clear.’

The undead here possess formidable death aura.

Zombies and skeletons were too weak to be certain, but the Dullahan confirmed it.

The Dullahan possessed extraordinary stamina and defense among the undead, yet the wounds inflicted by Burren, Lunan, and Martha’s attacks should have been far more severe.

The undead in this place were shrouded in far greater quantities of malice than ordinary undead.

“This bastard is too tough!”
“Without a head, there’s nowhere decent to strike!”

Burren and Martha retreated from the Dullahan, biting their lips.

“The horse first.”

Lunan fixed his gaze on the steed the Dullahan rode, emanating waves of frigid energy.

A guttural roar erupted.

Despite its armor crumpling and flesh and bone scattering in all directions, the Dullahan released even denser malice than before.

“Why are there so many of these things!”
“You said it was nothing!”
“Shut up and just capture them!”

With the squad leaders blocked by the Dullahan, the other members of the Gwangpung Unit found themselves overwhelmed by the advancing ghouls and skeleton warriors, unable to push forward.

As I observed the battlefield in silence, Mark Goeten approached.

“Vice-Commander. I shall join the fray.”
“No.”

I shook my head as he began to draw his blade.

“They can handle it.”

The undead here were indeed formidable, but they were far from beyond the Gwangpung Unit’s capabilities.

“Gwangpung Unit.”

I drew in a measured breath and infused my voice with aura.

“Have I been training you too softly?”

At that chilling voice, the hands of the Gwangpung Order members engaged in combat flinched simultaneously.

“I told you to clear them quickly, yet many remain. I suppose I’ll need to prepare new training.”

The moment those words left my lips, a thick madness began to bloom over the shoulders of the Gwangpung Order.

“No, absolutely not!”

Dorian screamed and thrust his sword forward, causing the wall of Skeleton Warriors before him to collapse in a cascade.

“Ch-Charge!”
“Kyaaaaaaaa!”
“Tear them all apart!”

The Gwangpung Order, eyes blazing with fervor, began shredding the ghouls and Skeleton Warriors.

Watching the undead dissolve beneath the swordsmen’s blades, it seemed less like facing ghouls and more like battling zombies.

“Dieeeeeee!”

A powerful golden aura blazed across Martha’s blade, cleaving the Dullahan’s shoulder clean off.

“I don’t want to do any new training!”

Burren sniffled and pierced the body of the black horse the Dullahan rode. A small tempest blooming from the blade’s edge tore through the dark steed’s form.

“Sleep now.”

Lunan Slion unfurled Seolhwa in an elongated arc. From the silvery blade emerged petals of even deeper silver, coiling around the Dullahan’s torso.

Whoooosh!

Shards of cold similar to yet distinct from Seolhwa’s essence froze the Dullahan’s unbalanced body solid.

Craaaaaack!

Burren, Lunan Slion, and Martha surged forward simultaneously, mercilessly shattering the frozen Dullahan’s body.

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

The three squad leaders and the Gwangpung Unit tore through every undead in sight before turning to survey their handiwork.

“Gasp!”
“G-ghouls and skeleton warriors dispatched so easily…?”
“The dullahan was obliterated!”
“We knew they were strong, but not to this extent…”

The Rangers swallowed hard, watching the Gwangpung Unit effortlessly crush undead wreathed in such formidable auras.

I nodded leisurely as I observed the Gwangpung Unit’s performance.

“See? You can do it when you try. Why are you dragging this out?”

At those words, the madness blazing in the Gwangpung Unit’s eyes burned even more fiercely.

“Ugh…”
“That damned bastard!”
“Standing there doing nothing while we…”
“Being weak is a sin, a sin.”

The Gwangpung Unit couldn’t even protest, their fists trembling with barely contained rage.

“Freica.”

I gestured to Freica, whose mouth hung agape beside me.

“We’re almost done. Let’s move quickly.”
“Yes, understood.”

The Rangers took the lead once more, guiding me and the Gwangpung Unit forward. The mist grew progressively thicker, yet no more monsters appeared.

After the dullahan, we encountered not a single zombie before the three pillars marking the swamp’s end began to shimmer faintly into view.

“Was the dullahan the final one?”
“Seems like it.”
“Fortunately, it ended cleanly.”

Everyone was about to relax and smile when I raised my hand.

“Stop.”

At my command, the Gwangpung Unit and the Rangers halted their steps.

“Raon?”
“Why all of a sudden?”

I pointed beneath the pillar with a smile.

“The master of the swamp is rising.”

Before the words even finished, the marsh beneath the pillar began to churn and boil. The sickly yellow-green mud darkened to black as a pristine white skeleton slowly ascended from below.

Goooooooh!

The skeleton was clad entirely in blackish-red armor, and from its hollow eye sockets blazed crimson flames.

Kuguguguugu!

The aura it emanated was on an entirely different level from any undead we had encountered before—so much so that not just the Rangers, but even the Gwangpung Unit held their breath.

“Gasp!”
“A, a Death Knight?”
“Why is such a creature here…?”

Trembling at the Death Knight’s oppressive aura, the Rangers stumbled backward.

The Death Knight, known as the Knight of Death, fixed its gaze upon the Gwangpung Unit with eyes burning with malice.

“Krrr….”
“Is this a Death Knight?”
“We really have seen everything now….”

Led by the three squad leaders, the Gwangpung Unit raised their auras to counter the Death Knight’s oppressive presence.

I gazed at the Death Knight and the Gwangpung Unit, my lips curling upward.

“Good teaching materials have arrived.”

At that chilling voice, the shoulders of the Gwangpung Unit trembled far more violently than when they had faced the Death Knight.

-Is that really the right line to say here…?

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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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