The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 560

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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 560

I activated the mechanism installed on the rock. A massive boulder shaped like a turtle’s head slid silently aside, revealing a passage that descended into the underground.

Drawing in the biting dawn air, I stepped without hesitation into the pitch-dark opening that yawned before me like an abyss.

Following only the stairs that Belus Lakion had traversed, I descended further. The pale yellow lighting illuminated the cold floor below, just as it had before.

But there was one difference from that previous visit. Lakion’s swordsmen. Warriors with crimson demonic energy blazing in their eyes now blocked the passage.

‘A meaningless obstruction.’

I swept past the swordsmen, the darkness of the cavern clinging to me like a robe, and came to stand before the central door where Basion awaited.

“Hmm….”
“What, what is it?”
“The door opened, but no one has come down.”

The Lakion Family swordsmen spread their senses throughout the area, searching, yet none of them detected my presence.

“Hmm….”

The middle-aged warrior who appeared to hold the highest rank among them furrowed his brow and knocked on Basion’s door.

Knock, knock.

Before the two knocks had even finished echoing, the door swung open and Basion, the second son of Huan Lakion, burst out.

“What is it!”

Basion wiped blood from his cheek, his eyes narrowing. Using the gap in the doorway, I peered into the chamber beyond.

Sieulren lay slumped with bruises covering her forearms and thighs, while her Nanny bore wounds as if she had been mauled by a beast—chunks of flesh torn from her shoulder.
Both remained motionless, unconscious, breathing only the faintest of breaths.

-Did that bastard actually strike a child?

Wrath furrowed his brow as if utterly exasperated.

‘I only touched the parts that could be hidden under clothes.’
-You bastard! With nothing better to do, you torment a child!
‘For once, we’re on the same page.’

I forced down the seething rage and tensed my fingers.

“Who’s here, knocking on the door like that!”

Basion, apparently aware that the stone had opened, shouted while glancing toward the staircase.

“B-But the door is open, and no one is coming down.”
“What nonsense is this.”

He twisted his mouth and stepped out of the room.

Whoosh!

The moment Basion took his second step, I swung my clenched fist straight at his face.

Crack!

A sound like shattering stone erupted as Basion’s face contorted and he slammed into the wall.

“Kugh… agh…”

I seized Basion by the collar as he groaned, drew the Soul Reaper Sword with my left hand, and severed his arm.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Basion’s right arm, which had instinctively tried to counterattack, fell to the cold floor, and he let out a piercing scream.

“Y-You! Who are you!”
“Do you think anyone who does this in the Lakion Family will live?”
“Release him at once!”

The Lakion Family swordsmen raised their demonic energy above their shoulders, their eyes blazing.

“Shut your mouth.”

I pressed the Soul Reaper Sword against Basion’s throat, my voice dropping to a deadly whisper.

“If you speak another word or move a single finger, your master dies.”

As I spoke, I grazed his Adam’s apple with the blade. Crimson blood wept across the Soul Reaper Sword’s edge.
I made it clear to these malevolent spirits who had abandoned their humanity—that I, not Basion, commanded this place.

“Kgh…”

Basion’s left hand trembled as he touched his severed shoulder, his teeth grinding audibly.

“You think I’d yield to such a pathetic threat?!”

Fresh flesh was already sprouting from his shoulder—the demonic energy was regenerating him.

“Attack! This wretch can’t kill me anyway! Cut off his head now!”

Basion shrieked his defiance, screaming at his warriors to strike me down.

Shiiing!

The Lakion swordsmen surged forward as if they’d been waiting for this command, unleashing a torrent of blade strikes. Dark demonic energy coiled around their weapons as they descended upon me with ravenous ferocity.

I reversed my grip on the Soul Reaper Sword and drove it through Basion’s spine.

Crunch!

Bone shattered with a sickening sound, and Basion crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

Whoosh.

The moment the Lakion swordsmen’s blades closed in on my neck, I seized the Heavenly Sword’s hilt with my right hand.
Crimson sword light blazed from my fingertips, savagely tearing through the demonic-wreathed blades.

Boom!

A catastrophic explosion erupted, and the demonic sword strikes that had filled my vision, along with the Lakion Family swordsmen, crumbled to ash and scattered.

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

The tremendous power contained within the sword strike shattered the cavern’s ceiling, and warm sunlight poured into the underground chamber that had been filled only with sallow yellow light.

“Y-You… what on earth…?”

Basion’s entire body felt paralyzed from the impact to his spine, and he could only tremble his lips without moving a single finger.

“Did I say I wouldn’t kill you?”

Raon Zigheart locked eyes with Basion and removed the mask covering his face.

“G-Golden hair and crimson eyes. Raon Zigheart? Why are you here…?”
“That’s not what I asked. Why did you think I wouldn’t kill you? A hostage?”
“That’s…”
“Exactly. I won’t kill you now. I need that demonic energy you’re wearing.”

I watched Basion’s shoulder, which was still regenerating, and curled the corners of my mouth upward.

“But once you’ve outlived your usefulness, that neck of yours will be severed.”
“Ugh…”
“If you want to live even a moment longer, keep your mouth shut.”

I stepped on Basion’s head and entered the chamber. After treating the Nanny, whose condition was critical, with sacred light blooming from the darkness, I approached Sieulren.

“S-So the swordsman was Raon Zigheart?”

Sieulren, awakened by the explosion, trembled her thin eyelids.

“Yes.”

I easily shattered the iron chains binding Sieulren’s arms and legs, then nodded.

“Can you stand?”
“Y-Yes…”

Sieulren nodded and grabbed the wall to stand. She collapsed immediately since she had been kneeling for so long, but she got back up right away.

“From now on, I’ll be at war with your family. For this conflict not to escalate, the Lakion Family’s crimes must be exposed in full.”

Raon lowered his heavy gaze to meet Sieulren’s transparent eyes.

“Can you do this for me? I know it’s a difficult task, so I won’t force you. But if you step forward, we can minimize the damage.”

Since I’d kept Basion alive, I could fabricate evidence one way or another, but if Sieulren spoke the truth herself, I could awaken the warriors who hadn’t yet been consumed by demonic energy.

However, she had witnessed the people of the Sinigan Branch dying before her eyes, and she’d been imprisoned and tortured until now—I had to understand if she refused.

“I’ll do it. Please, let me do this!”

Sieulren nodded while looking at her Nanny, who still hadn’t regained consciousness, and at Basion lying collapsed.

“But can you save our family?”
“Huh….”

I exhaled a low breath as I heard the tremor in Sieulren’s voice.

‘So this is what family means.’

This child feared her father and older brothers, yet she wanted to save them.
It seemed she’d wanted to tell the Sinigan Branch about her family’s situation because she hoped the family structure wouldn’t crumble.

“I’ll do my best.”

I nodded without giving a definitive answer.

“D-Did it all end?”

Dorian, who had been waiting at the foot of the mountain, apparently heard the explosion and climbed up. His eyebrows twitched from atop the collapsed ceiling.

“I thought a landslide had occurred….”
“Come down.”
“Ah, yes!”

The moment Dorian descended into the cavern, he grabbed his nose and furrowed his brow.

“Ugh, there’s really a strange smell everywhere.”
“The stench of demonic energy.”

Raon opened the door to the adjacent room where Sieulren had been. People wearing the uniforms of the Lakion Family lay stacked in the corner, their breath extinguished.

‘Vile creatures….’

The corpses were shriveled and desiccated, stripped of every ounce of flesh—it appeared they had been drained of their very life force.

I walked toward the central cavern that connected to several chambers. From deep within, the most pungent and suffocating stench of demonic energy emanated.

Boom!

As I stomped my foot, the ground fractured violently, revealing what lay beneath. Root-like structures that reeked of foul demonic energy were embedded upside down within.

‘What is this….’
-Hmm?

As I rubbed my fingertips together, uncertain of what I was seeing, Wrath’s eyes widened at the sight of the roots.

Why is the root of the Myungju tree here?
“Myeongju County?”
“I’m not sure why it only has roots, but this is a tree from the Demon Realm. It’s a greedy thing that quietly burrows into the ground and sucks up all the nutrients around it. Its appetite is so strong that no demons live in the areas where the Myeongju tree exists.”

He snorted dismissively, saying the creature reminded him of Gluttony and he disliked it.

‘Did they offer people as sacrifices to these roots to accumulate demonic energy?’

Yet the roots themselves didn’t emit particularly strong demonic energy. Only the stench was overwhelming.

“Dorian. Take this.”

Although the magic energy was not strong, the residual scent of the magic energy could be important evidence, so the root of the silk tree was thrown to Dorian.

“Ugh!”

Dorian, terrified, demonstrated the remarkable feat of grasping the root with only his fingernails.

“Are you ready?”

I grabbed Basion by the hair, lifting his head as he lay collapsed in front of the door.

“Tch, what kind of preparation are you talking about…?”
“You know exactly what I mean. Why ask?”

I twisted my lips while meeting Basion’s trembling gaze.

“Preparation to lose everything you’ve ever had.”

*

*

*

A thunderous boom echoed across the sky.

Huan Lakion kicked off the platform and burst from the Patriarch’s Hall. Belus and the other executives rushed out after him.

“What the—!”
“What… what is that…?”
“Why is there smoke coming from Bakkin Mountain?”

The swordsmen of the Lakion Family trembled as they watched gray smoke billowing from the middle slopes of Bakkin Mountain to the east.

“You! What in the world have you done!”

Huan glared at Rimer, who walked out slowly toward him. A chilling murderous intent flowed from his dark eyes.

“Are you finally showing your true colors? There’s demonic energy flowing from your eyes.”
“What… what nonsense are you spouting!”

Huan trembled with even greater shock than the mountain’s destruction. Not only him—the executives protecting him from all sides also let bizarre light flash across their eyes.

“Ah, I was just joking.”

Rimer shrugged as if he’d been mistaken.

“But why are you so flustered? If it’s not demonic energy, you could just say so.”

He tilted his chin up with a sneer playing at the corners of his mouth.

“One day, that mouth of yours will be the death of you.”
“Perhaps. But wouldn’t you meet that fate first?”
“Belus!”

Huan turned his head away, unwilling to engage further, and called out to Belus.

“Yes.”

Belus heard Huan’s gruff voice and prostrated himself forward.

“Go and find out what happened!”
“Understood.”
“No need to go.”

Rimer waved his hand cheerfully.

“Our mad dog is already on his way here with the bone in his teeth.”
“…Raon Zigheart.”

Huan seemed to realize who Rimer was referring to as the mad dog, and he bit his lip.

“Oh, speak of the mad dog and he appears.”

Rimer smiled faintly and raised his finger, and at that moment, Raon came bounding toward the Patriarch’s Hall, his footsteps thundering across the rooftops in succession.

“H-He seems to be carrying someone?”
“What? That person is—!”
“It’s Basion! Lord Basion!”

The swordsmen of the Lakion Family recognized that the person in Raon’s grip was Basion, and their eyes widened in shock.

Thud!

While everyone was reeling from the surprise, Raon lightly kicked off the wall and descended before Huan.

“Hey. I’m late. Your guests have been waiting.”

Rimer placed his hand on his waist and furrowed his brow.

“There was quite a lot to search for.”

As Raon answered, he tapped Basion’s head repeatedly.

“B-Basion….”

Huan Lakion bit his lip as he watched his second son, whose arm had been torn off and whose body could barely remain upright.

“What is the meaning of this!”
“Even for a Zigheart, such brutality is unforgivable!”
“We will never tolerate this!”

The swordsmen of the Lakion Family drew their blades with a murderous intent, ready to attack at any moment.

“A fight sounds good.”

Rimer gently gripped his sword hilt, and the Gwangpung Corps adjusted their spacing to deploy their formation at any time, their sharp aura rising menacingly.

“Your second son was nowhere to be found, so I searched for him. Turns out he was burrowed in a tunnel like a mole, hiding away.”

Raon lifted Basion up so he could meet Huan’s gaze.

“F-Father….”
“You wretch!”

Huan snarled, his dark eyes blazing with fury.

“What is the meaning of this! Do you understand what will happen as a result of what you’ve done….”
“You’ll die.”

Raon cut off Huan’s words as sharply as a sword thrust.

“Your second son is in my hands. How much longer do you plan to keep up this act?”

A sneer crossed my face as I twisted Basion’s left arm. With the sound of bones cracking, his arm hung limp like a severed string.

“Gaaahhhhh!”

Basion shrieked, his shoulders trembling. Whether his damaged spine had regenerated through demonic energy or not, some sensation had returned to his body.

“Hmm….”

Huan Lakion couldn’t respond and merely bit his lip. He wasn’t alone. Belus and the other swordsmen fell silent as well.

Unlike Sylvia, who had gone mad within the Slion Family, it meant that most of those here were complicit in the same scheme.

“What do you mean by that!”
“Don’t insult the Head of House!”
“What did the Second Young Master do!”

However, the warriors who were either too young or too old to have been selected by Huan Lakion spoke up boldly, as if they knew nothing at all.

“Since there are those who don’t know, I suppose I should explain.”

Raon smiled as he gazed at the swordsmen’s eyes burning with intensity.

“This man. No, not just this man. The Head of House Huan Lakion and the executives standing before you now have joined hands with the Holy Sword Association and sacrificed the warriors of the Lakion Family as offerings to the Demon Sword.”
“Nonsense! Utter nonsense!”
“That’s right! Why would our family ever ally with the Holy Sword Association!”
“Bring us proof!”

Because it was something they could never have imagined, the bold voices of the Lakion Family warriors sank like words buried in mud.

“You’ll understand when you see this.”

Raon turned Basion’s body to reveal the torn shoulder. The demonic energy that had infested his body was forcibly regenerating the arm.

“Regenerative ability? No, that’s demonic energy….”
“Then… everything you just said is….”
“Yes. It’s all true.”

I nodded in response to the warriors’ words.

“The attack on the Sinigan Branch, the masquerade as bandits, the murders after claiming the family’s key executives had departed—all of it….”

Raon raised his index finger, pointing directly at Huan Lakion.

“Was committed by your Head of House and his executives.”

As those words ended, the swordsmen of the Lakion Family turned their gaze toward Huan. Their eyes, stripped of trust, wavered like waves crashing against the shore.

“I-Impossible!”
“That’s right! You could have cursed him with demonic energy yourself!”

Yet many still refused to accept this truth.

“H-Head of House!”
“This is a lie, isn’t it?”
“Tell us it isn’t true!”
“You doubt your own Head of House?”

Belus stepped forward, his eyes burning with unwavering conviction.

“Believe him. If we don’t trust our Head of House, who will?

He cried out that Zigheart was attempting to sow discord within the Lakion Family, urging them to trust their leader.

“There’s no need to refute such nonsense.”

Huan spoke his lies without so much as a blink.

“He committed the act and now tries to pin it on us.”
“Of course!”
“So the Hundred Sword Dragon, the Dragon Slayer—he was possessed by a demon all along!”
“He’s an enemy! We must kill him at once!”

Though the swordsmen’s minds knew Huan’s words were false, their hearts could not accept it, and they cried out in rage.

“Yes. I knew it would come to this.”

I let out a soft chuckle and nodded. To them, Huan was a respected Head of House—of course they would find this difficult to accept.

“Come forward.”

I gestured with my hand, and Dorian stepped forward, bringing Sieulren with him.

“Ah, Miss?”
“The young lady has also been captured….”
“No, that’s not it.”

Sieulren shook her head vigorously and stepped forward.

“I wasn’t captured by Raon Zigheart, sir. I was being held by my second brother. During all this time….”

She revealed everything that had transpired before the assembled members of the Lakion Family.

Ironically, Sieulren’s pitiful appearance only made her testimony all the more credible.

“H-Head of House.”
“How could this happen!”
“Please, say something!”
“…”

Huan Lakion lowered his head without answering.

“Haaa….”

He exhaled a violent breath and lifted his gaze. His eyes gleamed darkly, as if storm clouds had gathered in his pupils.

“Head of House?”
“Forgive me.”

As Huan Lakion extended his hand calmly, the chests of the inspectors who had demanded the truth burst open, and black spheres were sucked into his palm. It was corrupted demonic energy reeking of the foulest stench.

“Ah….”
“H-Head of House….”
“Kugh!”

The inspectors collapsed without even closing their eyes, unable to believe their own deaths.

“Your deaths shall become the great foundation upon which Lakion rises.”

Huan Lakion nodded solemnly, as if those words came from the depths of his heart.

“Impressive. They say the most terrifying aspect of Raon Zigheart isn’t his sword, but his mind. It seems that’s truly the case.”

He looked up at Raon, his eyes narrowing with displeasure.

“But you don’t know me. You don’t know how I’ve lived, what thoughts have kept me going until now!”

Huan’s voice rose toward the sky, as if crying out not at Raon, but at this entire world.

“I am not wrong.”
“What?”

Raon regarded Huan with an expression of utter disbelief.

“Do you understand the life of a Vassal House?”

Huan ran his hand through his hair and let out a bitter laugh.

“Vassal House. It sounds grand, but it’s nothing but slavery. We’re just dogs who must come running whenever Zigheart calls.”

He continued speaking as he scratched the back of his hand with his fingernails.

“When I became the heir, Zigheart devoured Lakion. Do you understand what that means? It means this family was never truly mine. I’m the Head of House, yet Glen Zigheart stands above me!”

Huan’s laughter ceased abruptly as he clenched his fists.

“That humiliation. The humiliation of being forced to kneel beneath someone else from the very beginning—you don’t know what that feels like!”
“I do.”

Raon shook his head calmly.

“Even when accomplishing the same feats, I’m scorned. Even when doing nothing, mockery and ridicule follow. I know that life well.”

Born into the Main Lineage yet living as a Branch Family member, I’ve endured countless humiliations. Even now, holding the position of Unit Commander, the Main Lineage members cast contemptuous glances and reveal their disgust.
That’s why I understood perfectly what Huan was saying.

“But so what?”
“What?”

Huan’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t expected such a response.

“To overcome that contemptuous gaze, that humiliating mockery, you should have done it with your own strength. Yet you borrowed another’s power—and from the Holy Sword Association no less, accepting a Demonic Sword?”

I curled the corners of my lips upward, drawing a cold, contemptuous smile.

“You haven’t stood alone apart from Zigheart. You’ve merely switched the master whose tail you wag to the Holy Sword Association—you’re still just a dog.”
“Ugh….”

Huan Lakion couldn’t respond, his Adam’s apple trembling violently. He must have harbored the same thoughts himself.

“Why don’t you wag your tail for me instead? Who knows—I might just teach you a sword technique.”
“Shut your mouth!”

He leaned his upper body forward and let out a bestial roar.

“Ah, Father.”

Sieulren gazed at Huan Lakion with her hands clasped together.

“Please stop. Just stop right here!”

The young girl realized this was her last chance and rushed forward to stop her father from crossing the line.

“Sieulren.”

Huan Lakion shook his head sharply.

“You. You’ve ruined everything. It’s all because of you.”
“Ah, Father?”
“You should never have been born!”

He ground his teeth and extended his hand. A sphere of condensed black demonic energy and aura shot toward Sieulren’s chest.

“Ah….”

Sieulren froze in place, unable to even think of dodging the incoming dark current. Feeling death approaching, she closed her eyes.

But no pain came. As I opened my eyes, feeling the warmth that dispelled the trembling seep across my shoulders, I saw Raon’s back, his jet-black robe fluttering.

“R-Raon, sir.”
“I’m sorry.”

Raon turned around, his lips curving into a bitter smile.

“I’m afraid I can’t grant your request.”

With those words, he gently tapped Sieulren’s neck.

“Ah….”

She let out a low moan before losing consciousness. I caught her and handed her over to Dorian.

“I’m counting on you.”
“No matter what happens, I’ll protect her.”

Dorian nodded, his eyes hardened with resolve—a stark contrast to his usual demeanor.

I watched my trembling fists and bit down hard on my lips.

‘It wasn’t a threat.’

Huan had truly intended to kill Sieulren just moments ago.
If I had been careless, I would have witnessed that young girl vanish without a trace. The anger I had forcibly suppressed began to blaze uncontrollably.

“F-Father.”

Basion reached out his left arm—sensation finally returning to it—toward Huan.

“Please save me. I beg you….”
“Don’t worry. Since you inherited my power, you will never die. I will surely save….”

I raised my right hand and snapped Basion’s neck as he listened to Huan’s words.

Crack!

With the sound of bones twisting, the light faded from Basion’s eyes.
The sanctity blooming from darkness severed the line of demonic energy, leaving him unable to regenerate as his life simply ended.

“B-Basion!”

Huan’s jaw trembled as he witnessed Basion’s death.

“I’ve disposed of your worthless son who had no place in this world.”

I dusted off my hands and laughed coldly.

“No need to thank me.”
“Y-You dare!”

As he reached his hand toward the ground, the earth fractured like a spider’s web, and a grotesque blade studded with dozens of blades—as if uprooted from the ground—emerged from beneath the surface.
The blades gleamed with an eerie black luster, their grain still alive as though carved from wood.

‘Is that a Demon Blade?’

He had apparently hidden the Demon Blade deep underground, concealing the stench of demonic energy.

‘It really does look like it’s made of wood.’
-It’s not just made to look like wood—it is made of wood.
‘What?’
-The roots of that Luminous Wood you saw earlier consumed the vitality of humans, and now that trunk releases demonic energy. Quite an interesting application.

Wrath let out a low exclamation, saying he never knew the Luminous Wood could be used in such a way.

Crack, crack, crack!

As Huan thrust the Demon Blade toward the sky, a black liquid erupted from the fractured earth, sinking the ground and darkening the heavens.
It was a grotesque phenomenon that perfectly matched the name “Demon Blade.”

“I am not the only one growing stronger with the Demon Blade Creatus. No one will escape alive from this place!”

True to Huan’s words, an intense aura blazed from the swordsmen standing behind him. The demonic energy within their bodies seeped into their auras, beginning to radiate a power of an entirely different caliber.

“Ugh….”
“What kind of insane Demon Blade is this….”
“Hmm.”

Not only the ordinary swordsmen but even the unit leaders like Burren, Martha, and Lunan bit their lips, overwhelmed by the demonic energy.

Boom!

I stomped my foot and activated the Formation. Crimson flames erupted, scorching the darkened earth.

“Gwangpung Corps, hear me.”

A noble aura emanated from him, dispersing the foul demonic energy and casting forth a crystalline light.

“For collusion with foreign powers, murder within the family, and the crime of human sacrifice, I execute both the Head of the Lakion Family and all its executives.”
“We accept your command!”

The Gwangpung Corps reversed their swords, tainted by demonic energy, and assumed the proper stance, unleashing a roar that thrust back the darkness.

I nodded as if making a request, then stepped forward. The flames blazing beneath my feet made the darkness tremble with fear, beginning to dissolve.

“I will show you how utterly worthless the power you gained by abandoning your family, casting aside your pride, and destroying your clan truly is.”

I drove the Heavenly Sword and Soul Reaper Sword into the battlefield.

“Sword Realm Manifestation.”

My final words tore through the space stained with demonic energy, summoning the crimson and azure blades into existence.

“Divine Demon Harmony Union.”

Like that moment of dawn when sun and moon crossed paths, a golden veil enveloped me, pushing back the abominable darkness.

“Now.”

I raised the divine blade, my eyes burning redder than the flames that consumed the steel, fixed upon Huan.

“I carry out immediate execution.”

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