The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 404

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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 404

Craaaaaash!

Rimer didn’t stop with a single sword strike. Maintaining his balance in mid-air, he unleashed a torrent of blade attacks, slicing the Phantom Soul Ghost’s body into fragments.

Boom!

The moment the black chains binding my hands and feet came loose, I stepped on the Heavenly Sword and caught Yua and Julius as they fell.

“Phew…”

After checking on the two children’s condition, a sigh of relief escaped me.

‘They’re safe.’

Fortunately, Yua and Julius had nothing wrong with them except that they were unconscious and asleep.

Whoooosh.

The heat from the Manhwa Palace completely erased the aura of death that the Phantom Soul Ghost had used to put the two children to sleep.

“Hah!”

Rimer descended to the ground and slung his sword over his shoulder. The way his lips curved upward suggested he was intoxicated with heroic fervor.

“Leader…”
“Ah!”

Just as I was about to speak, he extended his hand forward and shook his head.

“No need for thanks! Protecting you all is what I’m supposed to do!”

The smile on Rimer’s lips deepened. His raised pride seemed as though it might pierce through the clouds and wear away the very sky.

“The leader of the Gale Wind Squad? Then that elf is Zigheart’s Radiant Blade?”
“Incredible… I didn’t even know she existed!”
“What a magnificent swordmaster. Now I understand why she’s called the Radiant Blade.”
“To tear apart the Phantom Soul Ghost so effortlessly…”
“I heard she suffered grave injuries, yet she remains in perfect form.”
“So it truly is Zigheart…”

The swordsmen and mages, who had been crushed beneath the Phantom Soul Ghost’s oppressive aura, gasped in admiration at Rimer’s swordsmanship.

“Ahem! That was nothing, really.”

Rimer cleared his throat with a self-satisfied air, his chin raised high. His expression brimmed with arrogance.

“Tch…”

I exhaled in exasperation as I approached Rimer.

‘I’m grateful he saved us, but before that…’

Why did he arrive only now?

Watching him preen like that, memories of six days of grueling torment surged forth, and my blood began to boil.

“Why are you only arriving now?”
“What, am I the protagonist or something? Where were you all this time before crawling over here!”
“Looks like you were taking a nap somewhere, doesn’t it?”
“Latecomer.”

Following my lead, Martha, Burren, and Lunan all glared at Rimer with furrowed brows.

“The timing really was too convenient.”
“Right at the moment to become a hero.”
“You didn’t just roll down from a tree where you were napping because fighting was too bothersome, did you?”

The Gale Wind Squad swordsmen, having endured so much themselves, cast suspicious glances his way first.

“Huh…?”

Rimer’s mouth fell open—he clearly hadn’t anticipated such a reaction.

“I-I mean, I’m the unit leader, and I saved you all….”
“If you’re going to be a unit leader, you should have fulfilled your role from the start. You didn’t come straight here after finishing your closed-door training, did you?”
“W-well, about that….”

Rimer nodded awkwardly at Raon’s question.

“Then what have you been doing all this time… ah.”
-It’s not over yet.
‘I felt it too.’

I nodded and looked up at the empty sky. The Phantom Soul Ghost’s robes, which had been reduced to dust by Rimer’s blade moments ago, began gathering together.
It meant the creature was still alive.

“Burren! Dorian!”

I threw Yua and Julius, whom I had been holding, to Burren and Dorian behind me.

“Huh!”
“Wha—?”

The two caught the children gently despite their shock.

“Take the children and get out! Everyone except Master must leave this land!”
“Suddenly… huh!”
“Th-that….”

Those about to ask why trembled as they watched the Phantom Soul Ghost’s robes regenerating in the empty sky.

“It wasn’t dead!”
“Everyone, retreat from this land!”

Milend and Morel issued retreat orders to the swordsmen and mages they had brought.

“Your Highness! Please withdraw with the knights!”
“You cannot handle this!”

Borini Kitten and Trevin also pulled back all the knights and swordsmen they had brought.

“Huh?”

Rimer tilted his head as he watched the Phantom Soul Ghost beginning to reassemble itself.

“I know it can resurrect, but I’ve never seen an ability like that before.”

He clicked his tongue briefly, realizing for the first time that the Phantom Soul Ghost possessed immediate regeneration capabilities.

“It’s probably because of that orb.”

I pointed to the black orb gleaming within the Phantom Soul Ghost’s robes.

“It’s been continuously using that orb to amplify the aura of death.”

The Phantom Soul Ghost had used that dark orb from the moment it first appeared to summon the Black Hands and manipulate magic.
Seeing how its body was gathering around the black orb even now, it was certainly a plausible hypothesis.

“Then….”
“Yes. We should strike it.”

The moment I finished speaking, I kicked off the ground. Rimer leaped up in perfect synchronization, unleashing his aura.

Just as I was about to slash the Phantom Soul Ghost with the Soul Reaper Sword wrapped in the Manhwagong’s aura, a dark energy burst from its robes and formed a circular barrier.

Clang!

The eerily blackened barrier blocked both auras while possessing enough durability not to shatter immediately.

Crack!

Of course it couldn’t hold for long and collapsed, but the Phantom Soul Ghost had regenerated its body in that brief moment and retreated backward.

I spun my body in mid-air, stepped on Rimer’s shoulder, and charged toward the Phantom Soul Ghost.

Clang!

I struck the orb it was holding with the Heavenly Sword wrapped in aura, but it didn’t even leave a scratch, let alone cut it.

“Disappear!”

Black radiance poured from the Phantom Soul Ghost’s grip. The moment I saw that light, my heart felt as though it was sinking.

Boom!

I quickly increased my body’s weight and descended to the ground, then executed the Heavenly Harmony Three Steps to retreat backward.

Crash!

The earth where I had stepped exploded outward, leaving behind an eerie chasm with no visible bottom.

“You couldn’t even cut it? My shoulder was wasted!”
“It’s harder than I expected.”

I shook my head as I watched Rimer click his tongue in disappointment.

‘Still, that wasn’t bad.’

I’d demonstrated that the orb couldn’t be cut by sword force alone, so the creature would grow careless.
If I seized the opportunity and deployed ‘that power,’ I could shatter it completely.

“You wretched insects!”

The Phantom Soul Ghost trembled so violently that its mask nearly fell away. I could almost see what face lay beneath.

“I’ll erase you without leaving a single trace.”
“Like you just did?”

Rimer gestured toward the Phantom Soul Ghost and smiled faintly.

“Silence!”

As the Phantom Soul Ghost thrust the black orb forward, a tremendous wave rippled across the Land of Death, and the undead monsters I’d barely managed to kill rose again, burning with even more malevolent aura.

Roooooar!

Each one radiated power stronger than a mid-tier Death Knight, making it seem unlikely that even masters like Milend and Borini Kitten could dispatch them easily.

“We don’t need to deal with those. We just need to handle that one.”

Rimer smiled as if it were no difficult task.

“That’s right.”

I nodded and stepped onto the Heavenly Sword.

Crackle!

Rimer stuck close beside me, conjuring wind and lightning aura. The natural way he wielded the lightning aura suggested his training had been thorough.

Kuguguugu!

As I tried to approach the Phantom Soul Ghost, the ground beneath its feet began to collapse and fracture as if an earthquake had struck.

Kwaaaang!

The blackened earth twisted, and the head of a dragon wreathed in blue flames erupted from the ground.
Following it came massive wings and a body as vast as a mountain range. Finally, a tail sharp as a spear that seemed to pierce the heavens came crashing down upon the convulsing earth.

“That is….”

There was only one dragon stripped of flesh and composed entirely of bone, wreathed in frigid aura. It was the True Bone Dragon—said to be the mightiest among all undead monsters.

Kuooooo!

The Phantom Soul Ghost rode upon the back of the roaring True Bone Dragon, extending the orb forward.

“Your chance has ended. You will never reach me now.”

With those words, it ascended into the sky alongside the True Bone Dragon.

“Raon!”
“I understand.”

I drove my legs into the ground with such force my thigh muscles nearly burst.

Swoooosh!

I severed the black hands erupting from below to obstruct me with the Gale Wind Sword Technique, then thrust the Heavenly Sword upward.

‘The sword technique I’ll use now is….’

The True Demon King had already begun its ascent. Even if I deployed other sword techniques, the Phantom Soul Ghost could intercept them, so pulling it down was the priority.

Raon Zigheart Style Swordsmanship.
Second Form: Heavenly Descent.

A massive gravitational force erupted from the sphere of condensed aura blooming at the tip of the Heavenly Sword, dragging the True Demon King’s ascending body downward.

‘It works as expected.’

Heavenly Descent generated gravitational pull, allowing me to draw the enemy toward me. The intensified gravitational force, now at Master-Advanced rank, halted the True Demon King’s ascent entirely.
As they rose to Master Advanced, the strengthened personnel halted the dragon’s ascent.

“Our unit leader really has it!”
“Why don’t we do a little Unit chief work?”

As the Phantom Soul Ghost trembled his jaw in panic, Rimer floated above his head and smiled coldly.

“His personality is dirty, but his skills are real!”

Rimer clenched his teeth and brought down his sword, imbued with wind and lightning.

CRASH!

The Phantom Soul Ghost hastily created a barrier of black spheres, but it couldn’t withstand the tremendous power contained in Rimer’s sword strike, and the true dragon’s balance collapsed.

Now is the time.

Raon didn’t miss the gap created by Bone Dragon’s tilted body and detonated the concentrated energy of his sword strike.

CRASH! BANG! BOOM!

The flash of light that spread out from the Heavenly Sword’s sword technique shattered the black barrier created by Phantom Soul Ghost and tore through the True Dragon’s left shoulder and wing.

Crash!

The bone dragon, pressed down from above by Rimer and crushed from below by Raon, fell to the ground with its body flipped over.

Whoooosh!

Because its massive body was so enormous, a tremendous dust storm erupted from the ground.

As Raon rushed forward to finish it, a blue light surged from within the dust.

‘Surely not….’

An overwhelming chill. The True Demon King’s frigid breath.
Being undead, it felt no pain, so even with its body shattered, it immediately counterattacked.

Kwaaaaaaa!

The True Demon King’s frigid breath was incomparably more intense than Drake’s chill I had encountered before.
Even with 7-star water attribute resistance, it was a level I couldn’t endure with my bare body.

“Still….”

I pressed forward.

I didn’t evade the frigid breath. Operating the Ring of Fire and Manhwagong at maximum capacity, I charged into the frost storm.

Szzzzzzzzzt!

With razor-sharp red aura, I cut through the chill and surged forward, driving the Soul Reaper Sword into the True Demon King’s snout and unleashed the Flame Dragon Technique.

Whoooosh!

The scorching breath erupting from the crimson blade burrowed deep into the True Demon King’s interior.

Sizzzzzzzzle!

The chill enveloping the True Demon King was driven back by the flames of the Flame Dragon Technique, and its bones began to crumble.

Craaaaaack!

The chill was the very lifeforce binding the True Demon King together. As that chill melted away in the heat, it was only natural that it couldn’t endure.

Grrrrr….

The True Demon King’s jaw trembled with resentment before it collapsed.

“This one’s finished.”

I lifted my head after confirming the light had vanished from the Drake’s eyes.

Ching ching ching!

Rimer pursued the retreating Phantom Soul Ghost, unleashing a barrage of wind-infused strikes in rapid succession.

“You cursed wretch!”

The Phantom Soul Ghost thrust an orb forward. Its deathly aura amplified in an instant, and countless black spears rained down without number.

Kuguguugu!

Each spear carried power equivalent to Master-tier aura.

“Uwaaaah!”

Rimer let out a shrill cry, twisting his body to evade the deathly spears.

Uuuuuung!

But the Phantom Soul Ghost’s deathly spears were endless. If this continued, not only Rimer but those behind him would perish.

“Enough of this.”

I clenched my teeth and surged forward toward the Phantom Soul Ghost.

Ching ching ching!

I drew White Shadow with the Heavenly Sword and swept up with Crimson Annihilation using the Soul Reaper Sword.

White shadow erased the deathly spears. Crimson flame consumed them.

Before the elegant waves of white and crimson that bloomed like a dancer’s graceful movements, the deathly spears vanished without leaving a trace.

Ching!

Rimer seized the opening, becoming one with the wind as he advanced and slashed his blade down upon the Phantom Soul Ghost.

Clang!

But his blade never reached the Phantom Soul Ghost. A crimson gate suddenly erupted from the ground, intercepting the sword.

“What is this…?”

Rimer’s brow furrowed as he stared at the blood-red gate.

“Do you truly believe the pinnacle of undead summoned by an Arch Lich is merely a Death Knight or a True Dragon?”

The Phantom Soul Ghost’s mocking laughter echoed as the chains binding the gate fell away. The crimson gate swung open with a scream that sounded like thousands of voices crying out in unison.

From within the darkness-filled space emerged a knight clad in brilliant red armor, its shoulder guards conspicuously oversized.
The helmet, shaped like a dragon’s head, obscured what lay within, yet it was unmistakably clear—this being was not alive. Like the Death Knights, it too was undead.

Kuguguguugu!

The aura radiating from the red-armored knight transcended even that of a high-tier Death Knight. What blazed from its crimson eyes was not malice toward the living, but an insatiable hunger for battle.

“What in the world is this?”

Rimer’s lips twisted with unease as he hastily retreated several steps backward.

-Oh?

As I furrowed my brow at the unfamiliar monstrosity, Wrath let out a small exclamation.

‘You know what it is?’
-Of course I do. Such creatures exist in the Demon Realm as well.
‘What?’
-That is a Hell Pilgrim—what emerges when a fallen Death Knight’s soul transcends its limits and reaches the Demon Realm, evolving into something far greater.

Wrath explained that the name meant a pilgrim of the Demon Realm, and warned that I should exercise considerable caution.

Srrrrk!

As the Phantom Soul Ghost raised its hand, the Hell Pilgrim drew a greatsword from its waist. The eerie sound of the blade being unsheathed made my chest tighten.

“Go. Slaughter them all!”

At his cry, Hell Pilgrim stepped forward.

Paaaaang!

With the illusion that my vision turned crimson, Hell Pilgrim descended upon me with his greatsword raised high.

Unlike the Flame Hell Sword, the thin black flames dancing across the blade sent shivers down my spine.

‘A clumsy defense means death.’

I pulled the Manhwa Palace to full power and unleashed Shattering Peak Thrust, the Heavenly Sword’s most solid defensive technique.

Kzzzzzzzang!

Red and black flames clashed, and the surging aura that erupted shattered the earth and sent countless sparks scattering through the air.

Krrrrgh.

Hell Pilgrim let out a grotesque laugh, seeming to delight in his blade being blocked, and struck down again.

Whoooosh!

The blade curved down from the right, fast and unpredictable, making its trajectory difficult to read.

Only after heightening my senses by actively operating the Ring of Fire could I perceive the flow of Hell Pilgrim’s sword path.

Chichichizing!

Using the Heavenly Sword to execute Wind-Flowing Sword Form, I deflected Hell Pilgrim’s strike and thrust the Soul Reaper Sword forward while extending my left foot.

Krrr!

Hell Pilgrim showed no panic whatsoever, deflecting the Soul Reaper Sword with his shoulder guard before driving his elbow down.

‘His reactions are fast.’

I hadn’t failed to anticipate close-quarters combat, so I deflected his elbow with the back of my hand and drove my knee toward Hell Pilgrim’s abdomen.

Pwooogh!

Though the Manhwagong was in operation, Hell Pilgrim’s breastplate crumpled like scrap metal, yet he merely groaned softly from the pain and retreated.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I glided across the ice sheet, donning the Heavenly Sword. I surged behind Hell Pilgrim and unfurled Frost Chain.

Screeeech!

As two blades cascaded down in succession, Hell Pilgrim parried the Divine Heavenly Sword and incinerated the frost-laden blade with hellfire.

Swift reactions and apt countermeasures. It felt less like fighting an undead and more like dueling a properly trained knight or swordmaster.

Grrrrr!

Now came Hell Pilgrim’s counterattack. He lowered his stance by bending his right knee and raised his sword upward.

‘Upper stance.’

Normally, the upper stance was the most offensive of all sword postures. It would have been better to shift it to defense now.

‘But…’

Defense didn’t suit someone who possessed the Ring of Fire. I trusted in my own strength and pressed forward.

Kwaaaaaah!
Hell Pilgrim’s blade descended. Slow yet possessed of such tremendous weight that it compressed my entire body, making it feel impossibly fast.
The exquisite technique of a greatsword honed to its limits was woven into his blade.

‘That sword…’

I bit my lip.

‘I’ll shatter it.’

I had trained with the greatsword to a level where I would not yield to any swordmaster.

Planting my left foot firmly, I drew upon the Manhwagong with maximum intensity.

I channeled the rotational force drawn from my ankle through my waist and shoulders to my wrist, driving the Divine Heavenly Sword forward. A crimson sphere erupted from the blade’s edge, unleashing a ferocious rotation.

Tiiiiing!

At Manhwagong’s revolving heaven, a sphere of deteriorated heat condensed to its extreme collided head-on with Hell Pilgrim’s sword strike.

Kuwaaaaang!

A tremendous tempest of heat surged forth, etching spider-web cracks across the Land of Death, and the very earth trembled as if its axis had twisted.

“Huff….”

As I caught my breath, an eerie glimmer flickered within the black smoke. There he was. He’d already assumed a defensive stance.

Piercing through the smoke, a blackened greatsword shot toward my heart.

Kyaang!

I deflected it with the Soul Reaper Sword, infused with the wind of the Snowstorm Sword Technique, then brought down the Heavenly Sword, wreathed in the murderous aura of a raging beast.

Jjeojeojeojeong!

At close range, I twisted my lips as I pushed back Hell Pilgrim’s blade with the Heavenly Sword and Soul Reaper Sword.

‘He’s got some strength.’

Having transcended both humanity and Death Knight, his physical abilities defied all reason.

‘And on top of that….’

Looking at Hell Pilgrim’s sunken eyes, it seemed he was still holding back his true power.

“I’ll draw that strength out of you.”

As I wrapped heat around the Heavenly Sword and cold around the Soul Reaper Sword, pushing Hell Pilgrim back, suddenly my arms and legs lost all strength.

A throbbing dizziness clouded my vision, and the world seemed to spin. Feeling something flow from my nose, I glanced down slightly and saw blood trickling from my nostrils.

‘This level of impact shouldn’t have caused this.’

I had sustained internal injuries, but they were nowhere near severe enough to cause nosebleeds and loss of strength in my limbs.

-You’re being foolish.

As I swallowed hard in panic, Wrath’s voice echoed in my mind.

-The True Demon King warned you. I can restore stamina and aura, but spiritual essence cannot be recovered.
‘That’s….’
-Moreover, you’ve used the Silver Aurora twice. No matter how much I assisted, it was an act of devouring your very soul. The consequences have only now caught up with you.

Wrath rarely offered praise, acknowledging that I’d endured far longer than any human should.

‘But I have to hold on now… Ugh!’

I tried to push Hell Pilgrim back, but he’d sensed the weakness in my condition and began pressing forward with overwhelming force.

Screeeech!

As Hell Pilgrim’s blade drove past the Heavenly Sword and Soul Reaper Sword to sear my shoulder, a crystalline wind swept from behind, extinguishing the searing heat.

Claaaaaang!

Rimer’s blade, appearing from nowhere, flicked Hell Pilgrim’s sword away with effortless grace.

Grrrk!

Hell Pilgrim ground his teeth briefly before retreating.

“Haah….”

Rimer approached as I gasped for breath.

“I didn’t train my disciple to be this weak.”

Rimer shrugged as he looked at me.

“How long have you been fighting that you’re already exhausted, panting like a dog?”

Six days! You bastard!

I bared my teeth and glared at Rimer, wanting to protest that I’d fought for six days without sleep, but my voice wouldn’t come.

“Well, it’s been a while since I’ve played the role of a teacher. Might as well.”

Rimer smiled faintly and approached Hell Pilgrim.

“Did you ask about Sword Realm Incarnation?”
“Commander…?”
“Then witness it with your own eyes and understand. What has changed.”

His sword pierced the blackened sky, while his left hand pointed toward the earth.

“Sword Realm Incarnation.”

Rimer’s low voice suppressed the darkness itself.

“The Song of Wind and Lightning.”

With a solemn incantation, Pama’s lightning descended and pierced through the Land of Death.

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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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