The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 498

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 498

Burren swallowed hard as he observed the azure radiance enveloping the Sword Ghost’s blade.

‘Is this strong energy?’

It transcended sword energy entirely. The wind essence coiling around the blade condensed endlessly, emanating a sharpness that could cleave through anything.

Confidence flooded his shoulders—the certainty that he could overcome any opponent, that he could now unleash techniques he’d never mastered before.

‘That bastard warned me about this exact moment.’

Raon had cautioned that the most dangerous time was when one believed they’d transcended all limits and could accomplish anything. I needed to suppress this exhilaration.

‘I cannot let my guard down.’

Raon’s words were never wrong. My opponent had reached Master rank long before me. Even with his injuries, a moment of carelessness would mean my head flying from my shoulders.

“This much….”

The Water God Guard’s lips trembled as he wiped away the sword mark carved across his chest.
The torrential flow of blood ceased, and the wound compressed tightly. He appeared to have forcibly stanched it using his aura.

“Do not think you have defeated me!”

As he drew upon his full power, the strong energy gathered on his blade deepened to the color of blood.

“I harbor no such thoughts.”

Burren lowered his stance, raising his sword to upper guard position.

“Not until I sever your neck!”
“Whelp!”

The Water God Guard charged from the left. As he moved with violent speed, blood droplets streamed anew from his wound. The injury had not been perfectly sealed after all.

‘Then…’

I stepped back three paces, using the footwork technique to guide my retreat. Planting my left foot against the rock, I extended my right leg and drew my blade downward.
The strong energy coiling around the blade transformed into five streaks of wind that extended outward.
It was the Cutting Wind Blade’s ultimate technique—Revolving Wind Slash—something I had never achieved despite countless hours of training.

“Ugh!”

The Water God Guard, who had been charging like a wild boar, raised his sword barrier.

Crash!

It seemed he was trying to push through the strong energy and charge forward, but the wind force embedded in the Revolving Wind Slash created a fierce rotation that shattered the Water God Guard’s sword barrier.
Blood sprayed anew from the sword wound carved into his chest.

“You, you bastard!”
“We’re not done yet!”

Burren grasped his sword with both hands and brought it down in a curve like a wagon wheel. The strong energy gathered on the blade extended like sunlight reflected on water’s surface, shooting toward the Water God Guard’s heart.

Crash!

The Water God Guard failed to defend properly again and retreated backward, carving deep footprints into the ground. His left knee trembled violently from the impact.

“Cowardly bastard….”
“There’s no need to fight up close.”

The Cutting Wind Blade was a sword technique specialized in long-range attacks, and my opponent’s swordsmanship surpassed my current level. There was no reason to abandon my advantage and fight at close range.

‘But I’m in a bind too….’

Currently, Lunan was maintaining the Gwangpung Formation. He was bearing the burden alone that should have been shared by three unit leaders, so the strain must be severe.
But for now, killing this bastard decisively came first. If I attacked carelessly and failed, the Gwangpung Corps would be completely annihilated.

‘Just hold on a little longer.’

Burren bit his tongue as he extended the fiercely vibrating wind energy.

‘I’ll return as quickly as possible!’

*

*

*

“Haah….”

A thin groan escaped Lunan’s lips.

‘This is exhausting.’

Maintaining the center of the Grand Gwangpung Formation alone—a burden that should have been shared among three unit commanders—my bones and muscles had begun to scream in protest.
The pain radiating down to my lower abdomen suggested internal injuries as well.

And I had to constantly intercept the Master’s sword strikes aimed at crushing the formation itself. There was barely a moment to breathe.

‘But I have to endure.’

Burren was fighting someone even stronger than the Master here, while Yua and Julius filled the gaps in the formation, wielding their swords with determined effort. I couldn’t let them all die like this.

‘And….’

I glanced quickly toward Martha, who was being carried on Dorian’s back.

‘I can’t let the Rakshasa woman die like this.’

I couldn’t watch my first same-sex friend die in her sleep. Even if every bone in my body shattered, I had to endure.

Whoooosh!

As I steeled my resolve through the throbbing pain, the black-haired Water God Guard rushed to the right, bringing his blade down with devastating force.
A vicious blade coursing with aura—if that strike landed unimpeded, the Gwangpung Corps swordsmen would be cleaved in two.

Screech!

Without hesitation, I executed the Seolryeong footwork, gliding across the ice field and stopping before the black-haired Water God Guard, condensing the essence of frost around me.

Crash!

The barrier of cold energy, unable to withstand the aura, shattered into fragments, birthing a small blizzard.

‘Weak….’

The formation demanded constant aura and mental fortitude to maintain, leaving no room for a proper counterattack.

“Crude.”

The black-haired Water God Guard scoffed, his blade wreathed in overwhelming force as he effortlessly cleaved through the frost storm.

I thrust Seolhwa forward—the blade I’d kept angled back—to intercept the raw energy extending from his severed tempest.

Crash!

The force was utterly overwhelming. The brutal impact that obliterated my sword energy sent searing pain through my grip, as though my hands might tear apart.

“Ugh….”

I prided myself on my endurance above all else, yet the compounded agony drew an involuntary groan from my lips.

“Your screams lack flavor.”

The black-haired Water God Guard rested his blade across his shoulder, clicking his tongue briefly.

“What did you say?”
“Your face is lovely, but the screams that escape your mouth are tedious.”

His eyes began to burn crimson.

“I love the screams of vermin even more than swordsmanship!”

The black-haired Water God Guard cackled, darting leftward toward Julius, who stood bent at the waist, catching his breath.

“No!”

Lunan Slion’s brow furrowed as he pursued the Water God Guard’s shadow. With a sinister smile, the guard drove his blade downward toward Julius’s head—the pressure alone felt like it might crush me.

‘Wedge in!’

I drove Seolhwa between the Water God Guard’s blade and Julius.

Crash!

The impact was severe. Since I hadn’t properly anchored my stance before executing the sword technique, my shoulders and wrists trembled as though they might shatter.

“Ugh….”
“C-Captain.”

Julius’s split lips quivered. I wanted to tell him I was fine, but the shock had locked my jaw shut.
I stroked his head with my left hand and stepped forward.

“Just a small whimper? You’re truly a boring woman.”

The black-haired Water God Guard twisted his jaw and scowled.

“And stupid too.”
“….”
“If that brat hadn’t blocked the way, you wouldn’t have suffered such severe internal injuries.”

He sneered, gesturing at the blood trickling from his lips.

“This time….”

The black-haired Water God Guard rolled his eyes and licked his lips.

“Let’s try that direction!”

He kicked off the ground violently and advanced toward Yua.

“S-Stop him!”
“Don’t let him through!”

Crain and the other swordsmen tried to block his path, but the shockwave from the black-haired Water God Guard’s aura twisted their formation.

“Ahhh!”
“Ugh….”

The exhausted swordsmen were driven backward, crying out and spitting blood.

“What lovely screams!”

The black-haired Water God Guard drew a deeper smile as he stepped before Yua.

“I wonder what a little girl’s scream would sound like….”
“Disappear.”

The moment Lunan Slion moved to shield Yua, the black-haired Water God Guard descended with his blade from the left as if he’d been waiting for this exact moment.

Claaaang!

A collision between a Master who had finished his preparations and an Expert of the highest tier who had failed to establish proper footing—once again, Lunan Slion was sent flying backward. Through her tightly clenched lips, a thick stream of blood poured forth.

“Sister Lunan….”
“…I’m fine.”

Lunan Slion forced her lips upward into a smile. She couldn’t even tell anymore whether she was laughing or crying. Her mind felt numb, and her vision grew increasingly blurred.

“Still no scream? You’re the real deal, aren’t you.”

The black-haired Water God Guard shook his head slowly.

“Ever heard the term ‘poison seed’?”
“….”

Lunan Slion didn’t respond, instead pointing her blade toward the black-haired Water God Guard.

“Under normal circumstances, this would be tedious….”

The black-haired Water God Guard lightly tapped his own cheek and grinned wickedly.

“But today, it’s rather entertaining. So this time….”

He released a sinister laugh as he drove toward the center of the cracked formation. His gaze shifted toward Dorian, who carried Martha in his arms.

“I’ll run this woman through! I’ve been watching her this whole time—you two must be close, yes?”

The black-haired Water God Guard’s blade surged toward Martha. As cracks spread across the formation, his speed accelerated.
Even pushing the Ethereal Step to its absolute limit, there was no catching him this time.

“Kgh!”

Dorian bit his lip and retreated backward. It was a wise move—adjusting his lower body while employing footwork to evade the Water God Guard’s sword trajectory.

But the formidable aura coalescing on the Water God Guard’s blade sealed off every avenue of escape available to Dorian.

“Ah….”

Lunan’s jaw trembled. Like the lantern of life flickering at death’s threshold, the blade advancing toward Martha appeared to move with agonizing slowness.

‘I have to stop it. I must stop it….’

There was no way. As if all the accumulated impact had detonated at once, my vision flooded white.

‘Stop it? How? By what means? And….’

Why did I even need to stop it?

Questions surfaced about why I had only defended until now.

When even my own identity began to blur, a single silhouette emerged from the whitewashed world—a small back, not of an adult but of a child. A back I had never forgotten.
That back remained etched deeply in my memory.

‘Raon.’

During my training days, when I nearly succumbed to Sylvia’s terror once more, it was his back that first drove her away. That image was seared into my mind.

‘That’s right. I….’

Like Raon, I had trained in defensive swordsmanship to protect others, and in formations, I had taken on the role of holding the line.

I had made that decision myself—to save my cherished comrades and one day overcome my brother’s grasp.

‘So then….’

I cannot surrender now.

The moment the young Raon’s silhouette transformed into the present Raon’s form, a blue tempest surged through my consciousness.

The hazy world snapped back into focus, and I saw the black-haired Water God Guard’s blade descending to cleave both Martha and Dorian in twain.

Lunan Slion raised his hand, unleashing a torrent of frost energy that trembled as if shattering the core of his being.

Kuwaaaaaa!

In a heartbeat, the frigid aura surged through his mana circuits, erupting into a towering wall of ice with jagged, thorn-like protrusions between Martha and the dark-haired Water God Guard.
Its magnificent scale was as if an entire Mountain had been frozen solid.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

The overwhelming magnitude brought even the dark-haired Water God Guard, the Sword Ghost and blood spirits tapping the formation, to a complete halt.

Lunan Slion fired the condensed frost energy clinging to Seolhwa toward the apex of the ice wall.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

The moment the densely compressed force struck the ice wall, countless fractures erupted across its surface, triggering a catastrophic explosion.

Boom, boom, boom!

The shattered ice wall did not simply vanish into nothingness—instead, it transformed into silvery force energy, unleashing a torrential downpour of frost that cleaved through the very souls of the enemies.

“Cough!”
“Aaaaagh!”
“W-what is this!”
“Damage! It’s all force energy!”
“Ugh….”

The frost tempest conjured by Lunan Slion became the death knell of the Grim Reaper for the warriors of the White Blood Cult and the Holy Sword Association.

Meanwhile, not a single fragment touched the Gwangpung Corps swordsmen or the civilians.

“Ugh!”

The dark-haired Water God Guard was equally occupied deflecting the cascading shards of ice. The mist spreading around him dulled even his movements.

“This doesn’t make sense. Awakening isn’t some household name… huh?”

As he caught his breath after clearing the final frost fragment, Lunan Slion tore through the pale mist and carved into the space before him.

“I’ve been waiting for this!”

The black-haired Water God Guard unleashed a killing intent-laden smile as he brought his blade down. There was no carelessness in his form—his sword thrust was flawless and precise.

“Die!”

But the moment his aura split through where Lunan stood, her form vanished like a phantom.

“Wh-what is… Cough!”

As the black-haired Water God Guard’s mouth fell open, Lunan’s blade erupted from his left side, piercing through his left chest.

“Aaaaaargh!”
“You said you enjoyed screaming.”

Lunan twisted and wrenched the sword embedded in the black-haired Water God Guard’s chest. Blood gushed forth like a fountain, unstoppable.

“You… you….”
“Go on—let me hear your screams.”
“Damn….”

The black-haired Water God Guard collapsed, his eyes bloodshot, unable to produce the scream he claimed to enjoy.

“Ugh….”

Lunan coughed blood as she sank to the ground. Her mind felt hazy, her body impossibly heavy. It seemed she could do nothing more now.

As she exhaled breath tainted with the scent of blood and glanced to her right, she saw Burren slitting his opponent master’s throat before collapsing. He too had exhausted his strength.

“What remains now….”

Lunan lifted her chin and gazed forward.

*

*

*

“Ugh….”

Mark Goeten groaned as he observed the sword wound carved across his left flank.

“I know who you are.”

The commander of the Water God Guard nodded slowly.

“Mark Goeten of Nakhwado. Once called a prodigy at the start, yet a lazy mediocrity who never escaped Master-rank Low throughout his entire life.”

He nodded slowly, his tone devoid of mockery—merely reciting facts with calm indifference.

“I heard you became a mercenary and wandered about, but I never expected to find you here.”
“I know who you are as well.”

Mark Goeten twisted his lips as he observed the sword scar etched across the Water God Guard commander’s nose.

“Valben the Scar-Eraser.”

The scar running across the bridge of his nose and his swordsmanship as unyielding as an iron wall made it unmistakable—this was indeed Valben, once a high-ranked mercenary.

“That’s right.”

Valben nodded serenely, utterly unperturbed.

“Isn’t it amusing? You, once a celebrated knight, have fallen to become a mercenary, while I, a mere mercenary who excelled only at defense, have become the Holy Sword Union Master’s swordsman.”
“Not particularly.”
“When I witnessed your technique before, I believed it absolutely unstoppable. Now I can repel it with a single hand—it’s almost pitiful.”
“Shut your mouth. And I am not a mercenary. I am a swordsman of Zigheart.”
“Ah, I see.”

He nodded slowly upon observing the Zigheart crest emblazoned on Mark Goeten’s uniform.

“Was Raon Zigheart in such a hurry? To choose a lazy fool like you, of all people.”
“Do not speak his name so carelessly!”
“It’s not wrong, is it? You are lazy—that’s a fact. And you cannot pierce my blade—that’s also a fact.”
“Hmm….”

Mark Goeten bit his lip. Valben’s words rang true—his blade was as impenetrable as an iron wall. Even employing all of his techniques, he could not break through.

“The situation has become somewhat complicated, but….”

Valben glanced back over his shoulder while stroking his chin.

“Nothing will change. The Gwangpung Corps will kill you and dispose of you. Besides….”

He turned his gaze toward where Raon and Cloud had departed.

“Cloud will return soon enough.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.”

Mark Goeten exhaled a heated breath. He straightened his posture, brushing away the blood pooled at his waist.

“You might be able to kill me. The children behind me might fall to you as well. But….”

He shook his head firmly, meeting Valben’s gaze.

“Raon is different. He will return after cutting down your master.”
“Kahahaha!”

Valben, who had been as still as water, burst into raucous laughter, clutching his forehead.

“You’re foolish. It’s no wonder you became someone from Nakhwado.”

Valben shook his head, a sneer playing at his lips.

“You must have heard who Cloud is. He is a disciple of the Rion Lord. He has mastered countless martial arts and reached the Grand Master realm. He possesses a talent unparalleled throughout the ages—the ability to realize the swordsmanship of others at an even superior level without having seen them more than a few times. To lose to a mere Master….”
“Such things are irrelevant.”
“What?”
“Even if your master has touched transcendence, Raon will not lose. And in terms of talent, he surpasses your master as well.”

Mark Goeten’s eyes remained as unwavering as a pin fixed in place.

“Raon said he would return soon, and his words have never been wrong.”

Not once had Raon’s words ever been proven false.

‘It has been that way since the moment we first met.’

Even if I could never grow stronger, he said he would do his best to help me, and he kept that promise.

I had heard such words countless times before, but everyone who spoke them had only ever wanted the power of my inadequate mastery.

Everyone except Raon.

Rather than exploit my strength, he assisted my training through various methods, just as he had promised from the beginning, and the results manifested themselves.

Raon, who had lifted the goal that my family, my friends, and I myself had abandoned, was a god incarnate to me.

My muscles surged with renewed vigor.

As I recalled the training sessions with Raon, my body, which had been filled with fatigue and pain, suddenly blazed with fresh vitality.

“I misspoke.”
“I thought so. There’s no way Raon could defeat Cloud…”
“No, that’s not what I meant.

Mark Goeten slowly raised his chin. A different light now gleamed in his eyes.

“Raon asked me to live—both myself and the children behind me—until he returns.”

I stamped my foot and raised my sword.

“Come!”
“You trash.”

Valben twisted his mouth and thrust his sword, which had been tilted to the right, forward.

The clash rang out deafeningly.

The impact reverberated up to my shoulder. His sword was no longer specialized in defense. His attacks had grown so formidable that he could drive my blade back and force it upward.

Sparks erupted.

I forcibly unleashed my strength to push Valben back, then unleashed a barrage of Sword Wave Technique. Fireflies of light scattered across the void, yet Valben remained unmoved, solid as stone.

“A weakling has no right to open his mouth.”

Valben drew a sneer across his face as he twisted his wrist. His sword force began devouring space from the ground upward.

‘What?’

Mark Goeten narrowed his eyes as he observed Valben’s sword strike.

‘This form….’

Valben’s swordsmanship resembled the technique he had demonstrated during his recent sparring match with Raon.

[Your attacks are powerful, Mark. If you apply psychological pressure correctly, you could defeat even intermediate Masters. But given the nature of the Dao, you’ll struggle against a defense expert. What will you do then?]
[Then I’ll also strengthen my defense….]
[The Dao is not that kind of weapon. You must pierce through unconditionally. Even at the cost of your life.]

Raon demonstrated by unleashing a violent sword strike, piercing through the Dao barrier formed by Wallran Dao.
Though he used similar aura, his blade carried the will to cleave through anything.

‘I must pierce through unconditionally. If I can’t pierce through, I die!’

Recalling Raon’s teachings, I raised the Dao. Ankle, waist, shoulder, and wrist. I aligned my entire body like a single blade and brought the Wallran Dao crashing down.

But Valben’s sword barrier did not break. Still, I struck. Gasping for breath, enduring the throbbing pain in my dantian, I drew the Dao endlessly.

“You, you bastard!”

Rather than stopping, my assault grew stronger and faster, causing wrinkles to form on Valben’s face.

“You’ll die first at this rate!”
“Hraaaaaa!”

I answered with a battle cry instead of words. Following Raon’s advice—the resolve that if I couldn’t pierce through my enemy, I would die first.
A life-or-death battle, the grave directive my master had entrusted me with, and my own confidence burst through the surface, shedding all pretense.

My mind cleared, my hands grew light. Perhaps this was the final brilliance that comes before death.

Like a candle burning brightest just before it extinguishes, strength surged back into my body and dantian.

A laugh escaped me. Because I had found the strength to swing the Dao once more.

“Kraaaaaaah!”

Mark Goeten unleashed a roar that shook the earth itself. Pouring every ounce of his body, aura, and spirit into the strike, he brought down his blade to cleave the night sky in two.
The fierce energy coiling around the blade flickered like moonlight gathering and dispersing.

“Too slow!”

Valben bit his lip and kicked off the ground. His blade, wrapped in biting sharp energy, shot toward Mark Goeten’s heart.

“What?”

But his sword pierced not Mark Goeten’s heart, but his shoulder.

‘This… this can’t be…’

Valben’s eyes widened. His wrist trembled like a paper boat caught in the wind.
From endlessly blocking Mark Goeten’s relentless blade strikes, damage had accumulated in his hands and wrists.

Goooooh!

Mark Goeten’s expression didn’t change even as flesh was torn from his shoulder.
He stomped his foot and brought his blade down. The Heavenly Thunder Wall Lightning—the supreme technique of Wallran Blade. The thunder energy condensed at the blade’s edge became a roar that split the world itself.

Shiiiiing!

Valben drew his sword to solidify his defense, but the Heavenly Thunder Wall Lightning was faster.

Kyaaaang!

His blade shattered as if bitten through, and lightning-shaped scars bloomed across his body.

“Damn… damn it…!”

Valben stared at the lightning-branched scars etched into his body before falling backward.

“Ah…!”

Mark Goeten planted his blade into the ground and leaned against it. He could feel it clearly now. He had finally broken through the wall and reached the intermediate Master realm. Raon’s promise had been fulfilled.

Decades of abandonment—by family, by friends, by colleagues, by the world itself—flashed before my eyes, and tears streamed down my face without my realizing it.

Mark Goeten recalled the face of Raon, the one who had last reached out to hold his hand, and unleashed a roar toward the heavens.

“Arrrrrraaaaaaagh!”

It was a farewell to the incompetent, indolent man he had been, and a cry of gratitude to the master who had granted him a new life.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————