The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 423

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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 423

I withdrew my arms and stepped into Sloth’s barrier. The sensation was like submerging into water. I felt no resistance whatsoever.

“Free pass, then.”

Turning back with a smile, I saw Wrath’s jaw hanging open so wide it nearly touched the ground.

“It’s just like saying ‘Welcome in.'”
-W-why is it opening?

Wrath’s lips trembled as he pounded the barrier with his fist.

-This shouldn’t happen! Where in the world does a barrier open this easily?!

Apparently flustered, he abandoned his usual dignified tone and began whining.

-You bastard! What trick did you pull this time?! Why isn’t the barrier working?!
“Why do you think?”

I pointed to the black flower bracelet on my wrist.

“Because the emotion of Sloth is embedded in this bracelet and within my soul. That’s why it opened.”

Just moments ago, I felt the black flower bracelet and the Sloth within my soul resonate with Sloth’s barrier.

Since Sloth had created this barrier, and both the black flower bracelet and the Sloth within my soul were his power, it was only natural that the barrier wouldn’t repel me.

-Uh…

Wrath examined the barrier closely, his plump hands trembling. His eyes, which had been narrowed, widened like a full moon.

-You stupid lazy bastard! What kind of barrier is this?!
“What? You made it well.”

I wagged my finger at Wrath, whose face had turned as red as strawberry cotton candy.

“You know exactly who to reject and who to accept.”

I touched the Barrier again. There wasn’t even the slightest resistance.

Seeing that Sloth—who finds everything in the world tedious—had created such a Barrier, it seemed like his way of saying he was pleased with the Goblin King’s mana stone I’d given him before and that I should feel free to visit anytime.

-Ugh….

Wrath didn’t seem pleased about that, his face growing even redder.

-If the True Demon King finds a body, I’ll make sure that bastard Sloth never sleeps again! I will never forgive him!
“You can do whatever you want about that later.”

I extended my palm toward Wrath.

“I need to pay what I owe.”
-Hmph!

The moment Wrath saw my hand, he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Haven’t you heard the saying not to make a bet unless you’re certain of winning?”
-Never heard of it! You damn swindler!

He was more indignant than usual, probably because he’d thought he’d already won the bet before losing.

“Well, you’ve learned something today. Consider this the tuition and pay it faithfully.”
-Tu, tuition….
“Not some useless trait, but something proper.”
-I won’t decide it myself like before, so don’t worry about that.

Wrath muttered that if he decided it himself, there would be a fairness problem with the bet, so he’d leave it to the system’s choice.

‘What a peculiar fellow.’

Despite being a Demon King, he didn’t lie or deceive. Except for the occasional bursts of fierce rage, he was more virtuous than most people.

“I’ll look forward to it eagerly.”

I waved goodbye to Wrath, who was trembling with indignation, and climbed the remaining stretch of Mountain.

Within Sloth’s Barrier, there were no monsters or wild beasts, so I could ascend to the summit without difficulty.

Standing atop the Sturrin Mountains, I whistled softly.

“So this is the summit of the Sturrin Mountains.”

The summit was a slightly tilted plateau, its entire surface gleaming white.
It wasn’t snow—the ground was frozen solid, like a lake in the depths of winter.

The transparent ice, clear enough to see through to its depths, combined with the pale sunlight filtering down, created an otherworldly, mystical atmosphere.

“Where is Sloth… ah, there.”

I let out a hollow laugh as I gazed toward the center of the frozen expanse.

‘Sleeping openly, of course.’

At the heart of the ice field lay a small cotton-like creature clutching a red stone. There was no doubt—it was Sloth.

-That idiot!

Wrath’s fury hadn’t subsided; he struck Sloth with his round ham fist. Predictably, nothing happened.

-Because of you, the True Demon King got torn apart again! You useless sleeping lump!

I approached Sloth while listening to Wrath’s furious outbursts.

“A baby polar bear?”

With short limbs and legs cradling the Goblin King’s mana stone, it looked exactly like a baby bear.

However, unlike ordinary polar bears, it had two small horns the size of candies sprouting from its head, and a black star was inscribed on its chest.

‘Is this really Sloth?’

I could sense the aura of Sloth, but the form was so different from what I’d seen before that I doubted whether this was truly Sloth.

-And you still don’t recognize it with that vacant expression! It’s the sleeping lump!

Wrath smacked his lips happily and pointed at Sloth with a grimace.

I chuckled and nodded in agreement.

‘There’s definitely something off about him.’

As I listened to Wrath’s words and examined Sloth’s face more carefully, it overlapped with the expression I’d seen when we met him in front of the Castle Wall.

“Sloth.”

I called out to his round ears, but Sloth didn’t even twitch.

“Sloth! Wake up!”

No matter how many times I shouted his name, he remained completely motionless, not even muttering in his sleep.

‘Is he dead?’
-This fellow won’t wake for quite some time.

Wrath withdrew his hand from Sloth and breathed out heavily.

‘Why?’
-Sleep has two states: shallow and deep. When creatures sleep, they cycle between these two states, and this fool is currently trapped in deep sleep.
‘Then we just need to wait until shallow sleep comes. It shouldn’t take that long.’
-For ordinary humans or the Demon Race, the cycle repeats every 90 minutes, but this one….

He looked down at Sloth with an expression of utter contempt.

-The cycle is measured in years.
“Wh… what?”

My mouth fell open in shock. I was so stunned that the words escaped aloud.

‘Y-years?’
-Indeed. From what I can tell, he’ll wake around next year.

Wrath shook his head, saying that once in this state, he would absolutely not wake up.

-He made it through the Barrier, but in the end, it was all for nothing.

He curled his lips upward as if relieved by that much.

‘Is that really true?’
-If you don’t believe me, shake him or hit him. Since I’ve sealed his ears, no amount of screaming will do any good.
‘What if he wakes up and goes on a rampage?’
-Your pathetic strength could never awaken Sloth. His recovery is far faster than your attacks.

Wrath scoffed, saying that Sloth would only wake if he felt his life threatened by an attack.

‘This is ridiculous….’

Wrath rarely lied. The fact that he spoke so bluntly meant it was the truth.

-Even if by some miracle you did wake Sloth now, it would be a problem. Awakened from such deep slumber, he wouldn’t recognize you and would rampage, trampling you flat.
‘Then there’s no way?’
-For now, all you can do is wait.
‘What kind of sleep is this ridiculous!’

The absurdity wasn’t that he slept for a year—it was that the cycles between deep and shallow sleep spanned years.

-That’s why he’s 【Sloth】. For him, only sleep matters. That fool cares about nothing else—not even if other demons sold his name throughout the Demon Realm, as long as he could sleep peacefully.

Wrath rambled on about how there were many lesser demons in the Demon Realm who used to sell Sloth’s name.

“Sigh….”

I grasped Sloth’s shoulder and shook him.

“Wake up!”
“….”

But Sloth remained motionless, his blissful expression unchanged.

‘Should I try taking this?’

I applied force to pry the Goblin King’s mana stone from his grasp, but it wouldn’t budge—as if rooted to the earth.

‘Even in this state, a True Demon King is still a True Demon King?’

Despite channeling every ounce of superhuman strength I possessed, I couldn’t pry the Demon Stone from Sloth’s grip. It seemed he hadn’t claimed the True Demon King’s throne for nothing.

“Sigh…”

I exhaled deeply and set Sloth down.

‘I can’t even strike him.’

Wrath had said it was fine, but drawing my blade after coming to make a request would be madness no matter how I looked at it.

-This is impossible, unlike that barrier from before. Why not return and eat some pineapple pizza instead?
‘Pizza, huh…’

Hearing the words “pizza” and “barrier,” a final method came to mind.

‘It’s worth a try.’

Just as I had pierced through Sloth’s barrier moments ago, I decided to harness sloth itself.

Roooooar!

I summoned the essence of sloth clinging to the depths of my soul, drawing it forth as I had once awakened wrath from Wrath.

As the emotion of 【Sloth】 rose through my spirit, my entire body grew languid.

A subtle sensation washed over me—as if closing my eyes would drag me into sleep—accompanied by a helpless apathy toward everything. This was the pure power of sloth itself.

With the hand channeling sloth, I grasped Sloth’s shoulder.

Whoooosh!

As sloth met sloth’s essence, a faint tremor ran through Sloth’s form.

“Huh…?”

But it wasn’t moving in the direction I intended.

“Heh…”

Sloth’s smile deepened as he sank into an even more profound sleep, his expression brimming with contentment.

-Kehehehe!

Wrath clutched his rounded belly and burst into raucous laughter.

-Laziness piled upon laziness only begets greater laziness.

He snorted derisively, declaring that the world didn’t revolve around his whims.

‘I don’t care.’

I clenched my teeth and stretched out on the transparent ice.

‘I’ll sleep until this bastard wakes up!’
-Fool. Waiting here for a year….

Just as Wrath was about to sneer again, a message materialized before me.

[You have achieved victory in your wager with Wrath.]

I lifted my chin upon seeing that message.

‘I can wait while watching this.’
-Damn it! Why now!

*

*

*

The Sword Ghost placed his hand upon Mustan’s forehead and closed his eyes.

‘He should awaken soon.’

Mustan remained unconscious, the psychological trauma from his one-sided beating at my hands proving severe.

However, having administered a high-grade spirit elixir and channeled its essence through aura, his body had recovered substantially, and consciousness seemed imminent.

‘Fortunately, there shouldn’t be any aftereffects.’

After two days of constant care by his side, Mustan’s body bore no lingering damage whatsoever.

Thanks to the potent elixir’s essence, he could move immediately upon waking.

‘He really did beat him thoroughly.’

It would have been easier to kill him. To pummel someone to this extent without leaving any aftereffects—it was almost miraculous.

‘Surely this fool has learned his lesson now.’

Having been thoroughly beaten by someone so much younger than him, Mustan must have finally gained some sense.

“Wake up now.”

As the Sword Ghost manipulated his aura to loosen Mustan’s body once more, a faint groan escaped.

“Mmm….”

It was Mustan. His eyes opened slowly, like a tortoise emerging from its shell.

“Where… where am I….”
“The medical tent.”
“Master?”
“Are you alright?”

The Sword Ghost withdrew his hand from Mustan’s forehead and studied his eyes. Fortunately, there seemed to be no damage to his mental faculties either.

“There’s… there’s no severe pain anywhere, sir.”

Mustan’s hoarse voice tugged at his heart, but there was something that needed to be said now.

“Do you remember what you did?”
“Ah….”

Mustan’s mouth fell open as the memory of his defeat at Raon’s hands returned to him.

“I’m… I’m sorry. I lost again….”

He bit his dry lips and clutched his head in his hands.

“I’m truly sorry for tarnishing your name, Master….”
“That’s not it.”

The Sword Ghost shook his head.

“Do you regard me as your master?”
“O-of course, Master!”
“Just as you hold me dear, Rimer is precious to Raon as well. If your master is precious to you, then another’s master should be equally precious. You spoke words you should never have spoken.”
“Ah….”

Mustan’s eyes wavered like a small boat caught in waves.

“You were precious to me just as much as they were, but it seems I guided you in the wrong direction. I should have cultivated your character first, not just your strength. That was my mistake.”
“M-Master….”
“Your body has recovered well, and your mind has cleared. When you wake, apologize to Raon and Rimer first. I will accompany you as your master.”

The Sword Ghost patted Mustan’s shoulder and rose to his feet.

“This is the internal injury medicine Raon left behind. Your internal injuries haven’t fully healed yet, so take it after you finish eating.”

He placed the wooden container that Raon had left on the head of the sickbed.

“Be grateful for Raon’s consideration. You could have truly died this time.”
“….”

Mustan bit his lips as he watched the Sword Ghost, saying nothing.

“Rest now.”

The Sword Ghost left the sickroom with words of encouragement to recover well.

“Sigh….”

He leaned his back against the wall outside the sickroom and exhaled deeply.

‘I’m sorry, but it was something I had to say.’

Mustan would have preferred that Raon not mention his name at all, hoping only for concern, but doing so would merely create the same situation again.

To awaken his disciple’s spirit, he needed to drive the point home decisively right now.

‘Raising a disciple is truly exhausting.’

Crossing blades with a sworn rival was far simpler than nurturing a disciple.
I found myself admiring Rimer and Sylvia Zigheart for raising the younger Raon so brilliantly.

The Sword Ghost stepped out of the Medical Tent and pressed his palm to his forehead.

‘I’m exhausted.’

Whether from channeling aura for two straight days to heal Mustan or from delivering harsh truths to his disciple, a faint dizziness washed over him.

‘I need to rest.’

He glanced back at Mustan’s ward before heading toward the Dormitory.

*

*

*

After the Sword Ghost left his ward, Mustan stared blankly at the ceiling for over an hour.
When meals and medicine arrived, he didn’t even glance at them, his jaw clenching instead.

‘Raon. Always Raon. The moment I wake up, and I have to hear that bastard’s name from my master?’

The Sword Ghost’s first words had been ‘Are you alright?’, but Mustan had forgotten that concern entirely, dwelling only on Raon and the rebuke.

Creak, creak, creak.

Mustan ground his teeth so hard they made a sound like twisting metal.

‘Why on earth….’

Why would he say such things!

A true master should worry about their awakened disciple first, not rush to admonish and criticize them. It made no sense.

‘He changed because of that bastard.’

My master once cared for no one else, his gaze fixed solely upon me.

Seeing him prioritize Raon Zigheart over his own cherished disciple—my fists clenched of their own accord.

“So Raon Zigheart means that much to you.”

The jealousy I’d buried beneath Raon Zigheart’s violence and terror stirred back to life. It blazed forth with even greater fury than before.

‘I was the chosen one!’

I’d been recognized as the second-greatest talent in Ryeon, worthy of becoming the Sword Ghost’s Disciple. Yet now, thinking he no longer saw me, I felt suffocated—as though I might die from it.

“Damn it!”

Mustan pushed himself upright. His entire body ached, but it was bearable. After changing clothes, he climbed out through the window.

It was still early morning, so the streets were sparse. He staggered his way up onto the Castle Wall.

Beneath a heart stained pitch-black lay the pristine white expanse of the Snowy Plain.

“Ugh!”

Gritting his teeth, he leaped down into the Snowy Plain. The Scout Unit and knights called after him from behind, but he paid them no mind as he trudged across the white waste.

“Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!”

Jealousy consumed me.

More than anyone else in the world, I envied Raon Zigheart.

His fame spread across the entire Continent, his epithets of the Little Sword Ghost and the White Sword Dragon, his master’s genuine affection—everything about him kindled an unbearable envy.

Unable to contain the rising tide of jealousy, Mustan stamped the ground with fierce intensity.

Strength surged into legs that had been withered as dry branches, and breath filled lungs that had shriveled and twisted.

As the emerald flame blossoming in my chest grew larger, power surged through my entire body.

It was the same as before fighting Raon—no, the energy felt even more violent than that.

Kugugugu!

I couldn’t control the emotions and power erupting from within. Fearing my body would burst if I let it continue, I focused all my concentration on running.

I had no idea how long I’d been running. Even though the Lower Castle was barely visible anymore, it still wasn’t enough to calm the turmoil inside me.

“Damn it!”

I envied Raon Zigheart.

I wanted to steal everything from him—his name, his reputation, his power, and even the Master’s attention.

“I envy you, Raon Zigheart!”

For the first time, Mustan spoke the word “envy” aloud.

“I will take everything you have, using any means necessary! I will never let you go!”

The moment those words left my lips, the power that had been rising to my throat exploded outward.

Kuuuung!

An uncontrollable, tremendous force began to release outward.

“What…?”

But this wasn’t my power.

‘What is this?’

Before my eyes, something like a green blade erupted forth, tearing open the space itself.

Zzzzzzick!

Within the dimensional rift where emerald and black light intertwined, a presence that shouldn’t exist in this world surged forth.

A ferocity I had never sensed even from my master—it was the magnificent undulation of a soul that only the Ryeon could possess.

Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch!

As Mustan trembled and halted his steps, a deep emerald gleam flashed from the space that had been torn asunder.

“Quite an impressive 【Envy】, I must say.”

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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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