The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 500

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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 500

I watched Cloud lift his chin with arrogant pride, and I licked my lips.

‘This will make for excellent training.’

Cloud clearly intended to demonstrate the gap in talent by exploiting the flaws in my sword techniques, just as he was doing now, or by mimicking my swordplay itself.

If I could manipulate his psychology, I could shore up the weaknesses in the sword techniques I was currently mastering and elevate my martial achievement to new heights.

“From this point forward, it would be wise to think carefully before you move.”

Cloud lifted his blade, which howled with swirling wind, and laughed coldly.

“All of your sword techniques will become mine.”

He flicked his index finger as if to say I could do whatever I wanted.

“Nonsense!”

I feigned an expression of rage and thrust the Heavenly Sword, wreathed in Manhwagong’s flames, toward Cloud.

The moment the blade of the Heavenly Sword, stained with madness, became a crimson flash and flew forward, Cloud’s sword dropped sharply.

Clang!

Cloud lightly deflected the Heavenly Sword and delivered a sharp counterattack with his slender, curved blade.
It was a sword strike that flowed similarly to the second form of the Snow Wind Sword Technique—White Line Sweeping Point.

“I told you? Your sword techniques are now mine.”

Cloud’s lips curled upward. His expression was contemptuous, as if he had proven that his talent for swordplay was superior.

“Hmm….”

I narrowed my eyes as I observed Cloud.

‘He’s not even in the same league.’

He had added yet another technique to his arsenal.

The White Flash Sword technique originally utilized the essence of severing and swift strikes to rapidly cut through an opponent’s sword flow.

But Cloud had infused the White Flash Sword technique with the essence of predictive strikes, sharpening his flame-imbued energy into a cutting edge. It was undeniably exceptional talent.

‘That very talent makes his weakness glaringly obvious.’

The true essence of the Snow Wind Sword technique lay in severing the opponent’s sword flow entirely.

Cloud’s White Flash Sword technique certainly advanced with brilliant momentum, but by adding sharpness, he had sacrificed speed—unable to completely push through the blade. Adding the predictive essence was not the right approach.

‘Then….’

I twisted my wrist, raising the Heavenly Sword that had been about to strike the ground. I extended my left foot forward, pressing it against the earth. Gathering a tingling surge of energy through the mana circuits in my thigh, I extended the Heavenly Sword in my right hand.

Whoooosh!

I deployed the second form of the Snow Wind Sword technique—the White Flash Sword—once more. This time, I wove the essence of precise strikes between the swift and severing techniques.

“It won’t work!”

Cloud scraped across the pristine white battlefield, raising his blade to meet mine. This time, he was following with the Wild Fang Sword—properly channeling the ferocious sensory strike flow.

‘But.’

Your thinking will prove slightly different.

I twisted my lips into a smile, pouring the full force of my new White Flash Sword technique through to completion.
A line of azure wind, as if drawn by a brush stroke, struck precisely through the gap in Cloud’s unfolding sword strike.

Clang!

Cloud’s body was driven backward along with his blade, and he furrowed his brow as he lifted his head.

“You improved it in the meantime?”

He bit his lip as he watched his trembling wrist.

“I can’t just sit here and take it from a prodigy. Let’s see who wins.”

I let out a cold laugh and brushed my hand lightly.

“Arrogant!”

Cloud’s eyes blazed crimson as he rushed forward. Though he appeared excited, his movements were flawless. Indeed, a Grand Master.

Whoooosh!

His blade curved through the air as if floating, unleashing fierce winds and energy. It seemed he was executing the techniques of the Snow Wind Sword Form he’d displayed earlier.

‘This lacks balance.’

The Snow Wind Sword Form techniques he’d modified possessed tremendous power, but they contained too many subtleties to achieve true harmony.

Ching!

I deflected Cloud’s blade strike using flowing sword technique, a faint smile crossing my face.

‘There’s plenty to extract from this.’

Each of Cloud’s sword strikes contained the subtleties of multiple sword arts, so merely clashing with them provided profound enlightenment.

‘I need to extract more.’

Once he began employing Heavenly Ring, I wouldn’t be able to maintain this composure. I had to glean as much martial knowledge as possible before then.

“Running away again?”

Cloud twisted his expression as he pursued. His footwork was swift, as if he’d woven the wind sword subtleties from the Snow Wind Sword Form into his movements.

“I’ll sever those legs for you!”

Cloud burrowed in from the right, his wrist twisting. His blade underwent a bizarre transformation, targeting ten vital points of the lower body simultaneously.

‘If it’s this….’

I slowed my movement technique and wove the heat around the Heavenly Sword to construct a wall of flame. The thick, surging barrier of fire petals repelled every one of Cloud’s sword strikes.

“I’ve already seen that technique!”

Cloud gripped his blade tightly and unleashed a devastating strike in one fluid motion. The sword, shot forth like a beam of light, pierced straight through the center of the fire petal wall.

Crack!

The barrier of flame, now punctured at its core, melted away like spring snow.

‘The weakness of the fire petal wall is that its center is fragile.’

Since it was a barrier constructed from the fire attribute, it could withstand the barrage of attacks coming from all directions, yet it crumbled easily against a concentrated strike focused on a single point.

‘To improve that….’

I would need to shift my approach—concentrating my aura toward the point of attack the moment the opponent’s strike came in.

Rather than simply constructing a wall of flame and leaving it static, I should adapt it to respond dynamically to the opponent’s offense.

Whoooosh!

I etched the improvement to the fire petal wall into my mind and spun the Heavenly Sword, blooming petals of flame into existence.

I became curious about how to defend against the Flame Spirit—a versatile technique that could be used against both groups and individuals, as well as in one-on-one combat.

“Take this as well!”

Suppressing the urge to laugh, I scattered fragments of crimson-tinged aura toward Cloud.

“I’ll shatter as many as you send!”

Cloud charged forward with the mysteries of the Destructive Sword wrapped around his blade, generating a tempest of terrifying magnitude.

‘This is quite good.’

Cloud’s sword strike, employing the Destructive Sword, Heavy Sword, and Absorption Sword techniques, created a dark storm that concentrated vast amounts of aura at its center.

Boom!

The storm of flame and force collided head-on, unleashing a catastrophic explosion.

I gazed at the smoke billowing toward the heavens, weaving rings of fire in endless patterns.

‘A tempest born from the Broken Sword, the Heavy Sword, and the Absorption Sword techniques….’

This could prove useful.

If I harmonized the flame essence with those sword techniques, I could forge a true inferno storm.

-No, no, nooooo….

Wrath’s brow furrowed as he watched Cloud emerge from the parting flames.

-Why are you suddenly handing out sword techniques! Those who were perfectly fine become helpless the moment they face you!

He clutched his head in anguished despair.

-What’s the reason!

*

*

*

Clang!

Cloud parried my blade strike, his teeth clenched tightly.

‘What in the world is happening?’

How was he still standing!

Not only did he dismantle my sword technique, but he refined it into a superior form and recreated it.

Anyone would lose their mind witnessing their own technique unfold more sharply in an enemy’s hands. It was inevitable.

‘Yet….’

What the hell is he!

Raon shattered my technique and recreated the swordsmanship I had dismantled, refining it further before unleashing it anew.
What truly infuriated me was how difficult it had become to find flaws in the improved technique.

To erase the weaknesses of a broken sword technique in such a brief moment—it was absurd, impossible.

Moreover, the newly crafted swordsmanship was so difficult to replicate that my hands twisted and my feet grew unsteady.

I had intended to shatter Raon’s spirit, yet it felt as though my own mind was crumbling instead.
Even now, I couldn’t comprehend what had transpired.

‘Could it be that he….’

No. That’s impossible!

The thought that Raon had turned the tables and toyed with me flashed through my mind, but I immediately shook my head. To accept that would mean conceding in talent.

‘I cannot yield on this. Never!’

The Rion Lord shows no affection even to his disciples. Master-disciple bonds are meaningless words before the Dark Night Sword God.

He accepted a disciple solely because he hoped they would create swordsmanship interesting enough to captivate him.

If my talent went unrecognized, if a superior talent emerged, I would become utterly worthless. I could not afford to lose.

Shiiiiing!

Cloud drew his sword in a straight line as if performing a flash draw. The dark aura clinging to the blade unleashed a fierce tempest. It was the ultimate technique of the Dark Night Demon Sword—the Wheel of Calamity Ascendant, infused with the mysteries of blocking and striking.

Whoooosh!

As the intense wave swept toward Raon, his blade spun in the opposite direction. From the crimson-stained edge, a technique similar to the Wheel of Calamity Ascendant unfolded.

Kuwaaaaang!

A massive explosion erupted, and the Battlefield crumbled like paper, pulverized and scattered. Through the dark dust, Raon stood with a furrowed brow, his body bent at the waist.

Cloud bit his lip as he watched Raon exhale roughly.

‘That posture….’

Raon had been hunching his body as if suffering internal injuries all this while, yet he hadn’t collapsed, nor did I see him trembling severely anywhere.
In other words, it meant he hadn’t sustained even a minor wound, let alone a serious one.

‘And….’

The sword strike he had unleashed moments ago. From that technique where a dragon spewed flames, I sensed a flow and explosive power similar to Wrath’s Wheel Ascension. This couldn’t possibly be a coincidence.

“You couldn’t possibly….”

Cloud swallowed hard and licked his lips.

“Did you copy my swordsmanship….”
“W-what are you talking about?”

Hearing Raon’s trembling voice, my conviction only deepened.

“Stop pretending! Only your robe was torn—you’re not injured at all! Besides….”

I raised the hand gripping my sword and continued.

“You incorporated my subtle techniques into the swordsmanship you displayed just now! You thief!”
“Ah….”

Raon straightened his waist leisurely and smacked his lips.

“Caught, huh?”

He winked with one eye, as if all the ground he’d lost until now had merely been an act.

“If I’d gained just a bit more, I think I would’ve felt something coming. What a shame.”

Raon chuckled wryly, lamenting that he’d been on the verge of enlightenment but had fallen short.

“Grrrrgh….”

Cloud bit his lips until they bled. Though I had done this to others countless times before, experiencing it myself now made my insides churn with rage as if they might burst.

And another emotion surged through me.

‘Fear.’

A chilling dread coursed down my spine—the terror of not knowing how far that monster would ascend.

‘I have to kill him! No matter what!’

Cloud stamped the ground. Forgetting even the Rion Lord’s command to bring me back alive, he poured an endless torrent of aura into his blade.

Shriiiing!

The fierce energy blazing along the edge compressed as if it would crumple, erupting in a black radiance. The Grand Master’s technique—the Resonant Ring, as it was called—blazed with brilliant luminescence.

Cloud drove the radiant light straight down upon me as I erected my energy barrier.

*

*

*

Booooom!

A shockwave that seemed to warp the very earth itself ravaged the surroundings, and I tumbled across the ground before bouncing backward.

“Cough…”

I’d merely blocked a single strike, yet internal injuries had taken root. Defending head-on against a Resonant Ring infused with intent proved beyond my current capacity.

‘Was my confidence excessive? No, that’s not it…’

It came far too abruptly.

Cloud had imbued killing intent into his blade strike, but his heart wasn’t truly in it—constrained by the Holy Sword Union Master’s order to bring me back alive.

But that last attack carried genuine murderous intent. He was truly enraged.

-Wouldn’t you be furious! Everything stripped away right before your eyes!

Wrath’s eyes narrowed.

‘I was laughing just now.’

When Cloud replicated the Snowwind Sword Form, my heart genuinely raced. The thought of advancing my swordsmanship through him naturally drew a smile across my face.

-You’re a pervert!
‘No….’

Just as I was about to deny it, Cloud burst through the dust storm.
A chilling light flickered above his sword strike, which was unleashed alongside footwork of terrifying speed.

‘Stronghold.’

I bit my lip and raised the Lotus Seed Wall. Using the enlightenment gained from Cloud, I reduced the wall’s size and concentrated its power at the center.

Kuwaaaaang!

Yet before the Stronghold, even the wall of condensed energy was torn apart like paper.

“Futile.”

Cloud burst through the fragmented Lotus Seed Wall with his body. The sound of his long robe fluttering seemed to reach my ears only belatedly.

‘Fast.’

The moment I drew the Stronghold as my body strengthened through the application of energy, his movements accelerated drastically.

‘If I dodge, I die.’

A clumsy dodge would result in my body being pulled into the Stronghold and torn apart. I had to block it no matter what.

Kuuuung!

I stomped down hard with a deep stance and lunged forward. Before Cloud’s sword strike could reach its full trajectory, I drew the Manhwa Palace’s Red Seal.

Zzzzzzzzick!

The crimson radiance surging before the blade collided head-on with Cloud’s Stronghold.

Kwaaaaaang!

The tremendous shockwave carved a massive crater into the Battlefield, and multicolored sparks engulfed the air.

“Ugh….”

I wiped the blood trickling from my lips and gripped the Heavenly Sword again. There was no time to rest. Cloud was charging at me once more.

‘This time….’

I spun the Heavenly Sword like a clock hand before planting it at my center. The blade traced a blurring circle, spewing crimson flames.

Manhwagong Hundred Petals.
Crimson Thirty-Six Strikes.

The supreme technique of Manhwagong—piercing thirty-six directions in a single strike—surged forth through my body.

Fwoooosh!

Brilliant scarlet flames consumed the atmosphere, yet before Cloud’s Overwhelming Force they withered like a dying flower. The difference in power was absolute.

Zzzzzt!

I was driven backward, leaving deep footprints in my wake.

‘He’s strong.’

The power of his Overwhelming Force was formidable, but more than that—he wielded ten thousand swords flawlessly, leaving no openings.

Among all those I had faced directly, he was undoubtedly the strongest.

‘Does the real battle begin now?’

Cloud’s impatience and inferiority complex were buried beneath his Overwhelming Force. From this moment on, I had to treat him as a flawless opponent.

“Talent? Swordsmanship? None of it matters anymore.”

Cloud gnashed his teeth and raised his blade to meet the incoming strike of his Overwhelming Force.

“From this moment on, I’ll crush you with nothing but raw power!”

Not a shred of composure remained in his demeanor—only the savage will to tear me apart.

“Tch…”

I bit my lip as I observed the dark aura coalescing around Cloud’s blade.

Our willpower was comparable, but his dark aura was overwhelming my qi—honestly, I couldn’t see a path to victory in direct confrontation.

I had to evade head-on clashes and create an opening instead.

‘But…’

There was still something I could gain.

As Cloud wielded his dark aura, his swordplay revealed flawless, principle-based movements.

Now was a better moment than before to discern the flow of his ten-thousand-sword technique.

“Die.”

Cloud’s blade descended in a black arc, as if shadow itself had taken form, rushing toward me with lethal intent.

Screeeech!

The moment the dark aura threatened my heart, I drew the Soul Reaper Sword with my left hand. The blade sang against its scabbard, unleashing an eerie, piercing cry.

“Ugh!”

The resonant note from the Soul Reaper Sword jarred Cloud’s senses, causing his momentum to stall for just an instant.

And that was all I needed.

Whoooosh!

I slipped past the trajectory of Cloud’s blade and unleashed the Heavenly Sword I’d been holding in reserve. A straight thrust from my right shoulder down to my wrist—the cold night air parted as the blade sang, brilliant sparks erupting along its edge.
A straight thrust extending from the right shoulder down to the wrist. Sparks blazed up along the blade as it cut through the cold night air.

ROOOAAARRR!

Amplified by Cloud’s power, the Flame Dragon Technique unleashed a torrent of devastating fire.

Sizzzzzzle!

Yet again, Cloud’s sword aura remained unbroken. He swept his eerie luminescence through the flames, melting them away, and launched a counterattack instead.

‘There’s no time to block….’

I had no room for alternative strategies. I infused both the Heavenly Sword and Soul Reaper Sword with frigid energy and slashed diagonally downward. Successive frost cuts extended outward, colliding with Cloud’s blade.

BOOM!

Even after four sword strikes erupted, my wrists bent and my shoulders felt as though they might tear apart from the impact. My insides churned violently. Severe internal injuries nearly caused me to lose both blades in that instant.

‘Direct confrontation is impossible.’

The raw power was incomparable. Breaking his sword aura through blade strength alone was unrealistic. Moreover, since his aura quantity surpassed mine, winning head-on was nearly impossible.

‘This itself is a miracle.’

The only reason I could endure like this was because of my body strengthened through system-granted stats, the Ring of Fire, and my mastery of will.

Without those, my body would have shattered long ago.

“Now I see the end approaching.”

Cloud slithered forward like a serpent and brought his blade crashing down.

Crack-crack-crack!

I withdrew my left foot backward, channeling the subtlety of flowing swordplay. A gentle blade extended with the wind, deflecting Cloud’s sword aura.

BOOM-ROAAARRR!

Cloud’s blade struck the ground, triggering a massive explosion. The earth where I had planted my stance trembled.

‘As expected.’

His focus on the River of Strength had weakened the harmony and flow of his swordsmanship. There was no choice but to exploit that opening.

“I won’t miss this chance!”

Cloud’s fierce blade strike aimed at my waist, carrying the intent to crush my entire body.

I released the tension from my lower body and surrendered myself to the wind. Rather than blocking the incoming strike, I let it flow past me—drawing the Silver Wind Technique from the Soul Reaper Sword’s Snow Wind Sword Form, while tracing the White Shadow with the Heavenly Sword.

The Snow Wind Sword Form deflected the blade strike, and the subsequent River of Strength was erased by the white shadow.

Craaack!

But Cloud didn’t stop. His eyes blazed with crimson light as he pressed forward directly.
The intent burning from the sword held in both hands raised a chilling edge.

‘There’s no time to deflect.’

I gritted my teeth and drew the Red Slash with the Heavenly Sword, while detonating the Middle Heaven Cannon with the Soul Reaper Sword.

Booooom!

Another direct collision tore a twisted rift through the air, and a storm of black sword energy erupted.

I decided to use the dark storm to my advantage. Without retreating, I unleashed my blade strikes first from within the waves of sword energy.

Clang clang clang!

He poured everything he had learned and created so far into his technique, incorporating the subtleties of dual-sword combat that he had learned from Sheryl.

But the River’s flow was not cut off. A dark halo surged with a violent roar, tearing through the River and breaking in.

Crash!

Raon was pushed back by the brutal pressure created by Ganghwan and coughed up black blood.

“Huff…”

From below the middle dantian to above the lower dantian. Seeing the entire ship aching, it was a severe internal injury.

“At last, I can see the end.”

Cloud approached with measured steps. The weight behind each footfall seemed to make the Battlefield itself groan.

“I should have trampled you like this from the beginning.”

He raised his sword, still wreathed in the torrential aura that blazed around it. His eyes were sharp and merciless—no carelessness in sight.

‘Even now, he struggles to the bitter end… wait?’

As I watched the radiant aura warp and bend, the ring of fire erupted with a resonance so violent it seemed ready to detonate.

My entire body grew heavy, and my vision dimmed into shadow.

The trajectories of every sword technique Cloud and I had unleashed flashed through my mind, and crimson and azure lightning fell like rain.

‘I’ve finally obtained it.’

Not Cloud’s aura itself, but the subtle mysteries woven into his swordsmanship—they burned themselves into my mind like a brand.

The missing piece fell into place, and two swords materialized in my Mental World.

“Hah…”

I exhaled sharply and lifted my head.

“Have you finally surrendered?”

Cloud smoothed the frown from his brow and nodded.

“Your choice at the end wasn’t bad. But it’s already too late. I’ll slaughter not just you, but all your subordinates as well!”

He spoke of eliminating the threats thoroughly, his eyes turning cold and sinister.

“Thank you.”

I grasped the Heavenly Sword and Soul Reaper Sword in reverse grip, a faint smile crossing my lips.

“What?”
“Thanks to you, I could take another step forward.”

I wrapped the Manhwa Palace around the Heavenly Sword and coiled Glassia around the Soul Reaper Sword, then drove both blades into the Battlefield.

Craaaaaack!

Azure and crimson light filled the rifts that tore through the earth, raising a pillar that reached toward the heavens.

I rose to my feet, grasping the two swords that materialized in my Mental World.

An incomplete Sword Realm Incarnation.

Divine Demon Harmony Union.

The starlit night sky crumbles.

A distorted sun rises, and a twisted moon surges forth.

The moment when sun and moon cross at dawn.

Not the Heavenly Sword nor the Soul Reaper Sword—the Divine Blade and Demon Blade burning with flame and frost stood beside me.

“Come.”

A swordmaster’s majestic voice, opening a new mythology, resonated across the blackened Battlefield.

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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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