The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 737
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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 737
Raon lowered his gaze, picturing the Ghost King lurking somewhere in the darkness.
‘The Ghost King.’
I first encountered him when I was appointed as the leader of Shadow.
Had Derus not spoken to me, I wouldn’t have even realized his presence existed—such was the faint aura of this creature.
Yet despite that subtle presence, he wielded tremendous power.
He had been a Grand Master back then, so now he was at least at the upper tier, possibly even the highest tier.
‘Still…’
In actual combat, he would be far removed from the front lines.
The Ghost King had passed the title of the Southern Region’s greatest assassin to me and disappeared.
He reappeared only after Matio and Lisbon’s deaths, so I had the advantage with the continuous experience I’d accumulated.
‘Let me shake him up first.’
Raon gestured toward the cavern where nothing could be seen even an inch ahead.
“You know you’ve been discovered.”
I tilted my chin with an arrogant expression to unsettle the Ghost King’s mind.
“Come out.”
“Are you Raon Zigheart?”
An aged voice echoed from the pitch-black darkness. It was the Ghost King. He made his voice resonate throughout the entire cavern so as not to reveal his exact location.
“I am.”
Raon nodded briefly and swept through the darkness that devoured even light itself.
“You must be the Ghost King, then?”
“That’s right. I am the Ghost King.”
The Ghost King answered without hesitation, yet still concealed his form and disguised his location by projecting his voice.
“Matio and Lisbon, who raised you—they were children I nurtured.”
His voice carried a deep sadness and loneliness.
‘So it really is the Ghost King.’
I lowered my gaze and relaxed my fingertips.
‘He manipulates emotions at will.’
The sadness and loneliness emanating from the Ghost King’s voice were fabricated. He would never have regarded Matio and Lisbon as disciples.
The author probably never even considered Matio and Lisbon to be his disciples.
“Did you hear that from Derus Robert?”
The fact that he brought up Matio and Lisbon made it clear he had learned from Derus that I was the assassin Raon.
It was clear that he had heard from Derus that I was the Assassin Raon, seeing as he brought up the story of Matio and Lisbon.
“That’s right. So you’re the one called Raon.”
The Ghost King readily admitted it and let out a small laugh.
“You believe that con artist’s words?”
Raon swept his gaze across the terrain of the Cavern and let out a scornful laugh.
“He is a god.”
The Ghost King remained unshaken, as if Derus Robert were his one and only god.
“You know that bastard escaped with all his limbs torn off and a hole punched through the ship?”
Raon described how Derus looked when he ran away, his jaw clenched at an angle.
“You abandoned the family you raised your entire life and fled, yet you call yourself a god. Truly, what a remarkable god you are.”
“Silence.”
The Ghost King’s composure, as still as a lake, rippled ever so briefly. He seemed to follow Derus far more devotedly than I had anticipated.
‘Whether this is genuine or false, I can exploit it.’
In combat with an assassin, victory belongs to the one who dominates emotion and information. The more I knew about him, the better.
“Because of you, so much has crumbled.”
A sharp killing intent bloomed in the Ghost King’s voice.
“With Matio and Lisbon dead, I had to resume breeding duties myself, and I was forced to participate in improving the Necromancers as well.”
He spoke of living busily in his aged body, and a denser murderous aura radiated from him. A stinging pain prickled across my skin.
“Congratulations on your rehiring.”
I chuckled and offered a round of applause.
“I hear jobs are scarce these days. Getting hired at your age is quite the achievement.”
“Your mouth is more terrifying than a blade, they say. Now I see it’s true.”
The Ghost King laughed with a tsk-tsk sound, stirring a gentle breeze.
“But this is where it ends. You will regret coming to this place alone, even in death.”
He suppressed all the killing intent burning throughout the cavern. It felt like the will to kill with full force.
“I’ve always been curious. Just how strong is the Ghost King, called the greatest assassin?”
I smiled darkly and melted into the shadows.
“This darkness will become your tomb.”
“Whelp.”
The sound of the Ghost King’s scornful laughter echoed.
“I was a symbol of terror known as the Ghost King long before you were even born. And you dare challenge me to an assassination duel?”
“If you’re scared, just say so.”
Raon shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.
“Fine. Whether you die this way or that way, the outcome remains the same—your death.”
The Ghost King’s voice carried a calm, measured tone. The unwavering composure of a true assassin. The only moment he had shown any disturbance was when Raon insulted Derus.
Raon suppressed his presence with a ring of fire and lowered his stance.
‘Opportunities won’t come often.’
Judging by the flow of aura that resonated through his voice, the Ghost King’s martial prowess was at least at the high Grand Master level.
Meanwhile, I had just exhausted myself using the extended Sword Realm and unleashing my rage, leaving me barely able to muster half my normal strength.
The situation was disadvantageous in every way, yet the exhilaration from exposing Derus’s true identity made me feel as though I wouldn’t lose. Especially not in this place.
“Let’s begin.”
Raon slowly drew the Soul Reaper Sword and twisted his lips into a grin.
“A silent war.”
*
*
*
The Ghost King stared into the darkness where Raon had vanished, biting the inside of his cheek.
‘Assassin Raon.’
Derus had once suspected that Raon Zigheart was the assassin Raon who had once led Shadow, and at some point, that suspicion had solidified into certainty, causing him to conflate the two identities.
Just moments ago, while saying that his identity had been exposed by Raon Zigheart, he had warned that if anyone came to this place, it would surely be Raon.
He had accepted it half-heartedly and quietly, never truly believing it would be true.
‘Derus told me to retreat unconditionally, but….’
I couldn’t afford to miss this chance to kill that bastard.
Since Raon Zigheart is the assassin Raon, we cannot exist under the same sky. I had to kill him here, no matter what.
‘However….’
Still foolish.
Perhaps it was the joy of uncovering Derus’s true identity. Raon had come not for a direct confrontation, but for an assassination duel.
Raon Zigheart is strong. I don’t know who would win in a direct fight, but if he came to me like this with an assassination duel, it was a tremendous advantage for me.
‘His skill is predictable anyway.’
Even if I had been away from actual combat for a long time, there was only the Ghost King above me in assassination. I had confidence that I would not lose to anyone else.
“I can see exactly where you’re hiding.”
The Ghost King made his voice come from behind while spreading a certain level of aura in all directions.
He concealed his own position while pressuring the space where Raon could move.
“Why is Derus’s lackey making so much noise? Ah, now that your master has no feet, there’s no need to wipe them anymore.”
Raon insulted Derus while unleashing sword strikes into empty air, shattering the ceiling.
Crumble, crumble, crumble!
Stones and earth poured down from the collapsed ceiling, making the cavern’s air even heavier.
‘Is he trying to shake my resolve?’
The Ghost King licked his lips while observing the direction Raon had moved.
‘But it’s you who’s shaken, not me.’
Raon had destroyed the ceiling and insulted Derus out of anxiety and unease at not being able to sense my presence, but that was all according to my plan.
‘I deliberately showed my killing intent.’
When he insulted Derus, I intentionally revealed a small amount of anger to feed him false information. He was clearly trying to exploit that opening.
“Do not insult him.”
The Ghost King displayed feigned anger and headed toward the right corridor where Raon had entered.
‘I can sense something at the end there.’
A faint presence emanated from deep within the Brainwashing Training Facility, which bent to the left.
The Ghost King gripped the dagger in his hand in reverse and bent his knees slightly.
‘No, that’s not Raon.’
Though an ant-level presence existed from within the wall, it was not Raon.
‘He’s embedded a dagger in the wall.’
It was clear that Raon had drawn the dagger before disappearing, embedded it in the wall to mask his presence, and was planning to ambush from behind.
‘Not a bad plan, but…’
Since I was one of those who designed this space, I had memorized every inch of the terrain.
I could envision exactly where and how Raon would strike from.
The Ghost King pretended to be deceived and approached the wall, generating a subtle killing intent.
Whiiiing!
Just as expected, before reaching the wall where the dagger was embedded, the sound of a blade whistling through the air came from behind.
‘There!’
I turned around leisurely to counterattack, but the incoming blade was far too slow.
‘What is this!’
When the Ghost King’s eyes widened in shock, the crimson dagger he’d thought was merely embedded in the wall was already piercing through his lower abdomen where his core resided, gripped firmly in a pale hand.
“Kugh—hack!”
The Ghost King dropped the dagger from his grasp and fell to his knees.
“I told you.”
It was Raon. From the darkness, his crimson eyes blazed with an otherworldly radiance.
“This darkness would be your tomb.”
*
*
*
Boom!
Raon struck the Ghost King’s heart with a devastating impact, rendering the Rage Worm unconscious.
“Kugh….”
The Ghost King trembled violently, spewing black blood from the shattered core as his entire body convulsed.
“How… how did you get there….”
He stared at the minuscule opening that had appeared beneath the wall, his jaw quivering.
“I designed this place myself. There was no such passage….”
“Of course there wasn’t.”
Raon looked down at the Ghost King, twisting his lips into a cruel smile.
‘Because I created this place.’
This hidden passage was one of the secret routes I had prepared for escaping Derus, so it was only natural that the Ghost King would be unaware of its existence.
“…So that’s what happened.”
The Ghost King gnashed his teeth as understanding finally dawned on him.
“Slashing the ceiling, insulting Derus—it was all a deception.”
“Exactly. I figured the Ghost King wouldn’t get excited over something so trivial.”
Raon nodded calmly. Unleashing that blade strike to create noise and dust, mocking Derus—it had all been preparation to turn the Ghost King’s own psychological warfare against him.
He had anticipated that the dagger would be embedded in the wall, and the Ghost King had walked right into the trap beautifully.
Any other assassin would not have fallen for it. It was a sophisticated deception only possible because his opponent was the Ghost King.
“I underestimated you far too much. Kill me….”
The Ghost King spat out a vicious amount of blood, yet his gaze remained unwavering as he looked up.
“I am the Ghost King. Torture will be useless.”
“That’s something we’ll have to find out.”
Raon shook his head and drove the heat of Manhwagong and the cold of Glaccia into the Soul Reaper Sword embedded in the Ghost King’s abdomen.
“I know nothing and will not speak of what I… Kugh!”
The Ghost King’s expression, which had maintained an unshakeable resolve against any torture, shattered in an instant.
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
The Ghost King—no longer the greatest assassin—screamed like an ordinary person, his limbs convulsing.
“Why did you stay behind?”
Raon watched the Ghost King’s trembling pupils and flicked his fingers.
“Derus would have certainly ordered you to leave this place. If you had been targeting me, you would have made more thorough preparations.”
“I… I don’t know….”
“In other words, you stayed behind for another reason—either to retrieve something or to hide it.”
“Ugh….”
The Ghost King offered no answer, only groans escaping his lips. Yet his gaze, unlike before, wavered not with pain but with panic. His silence confirmed I had guessed correctly.
“He wouldn’t have hidden it elsewhere in a situation where combat could break out….”
I reached into the Ghost King’s chest. From his torso, I retrieved the only object that wasn’t a weapon.
It was a small wooden box, plain-looking with no patterns adorning it.
“Y-you….”
“This must be it.”
I opened the box’s lid while observing the Ghost King’s face, which was turning an ashen blue.
Whoooosh!
Contrary to its plain exterior, the interior of the box was inscribed with bizarre sorcerous incantations, and from the blood-red orb embedded at its center emanated a chilling malevolence and murderous intent.
“What is this….”
I brought the orb closer to the Ghost King, my eyes narrowing.
“What have you done!”
“Kugh….”
Even under torture, the Ghost King kept his mouth sealed. A stubborn one, indeed.
-Filthy.
Wrath furrowed his brow as he gazed upon the orb.
-Immense murderous intent, blood, resentment, and suffering are woven within it.
He shook his head, calling it a vile aura.
“This place….”
Rather than focusing on the blood-red orb, I surveyed the Underground Cavern and bit my lip.
“He gathered the resentment and death embedded in this land.”
Countless children had died unjustly here, leaving indelible blood and resentment within this cavern.
It seemed Derus Robert had attempted to weaponize even that malice.
“Kill him….”
By uttering those words, the Ghost King confirmed that my suspicion was correct.
“Where was I supposed to take this?”
“I-I don’t know. He only said he would come find me….”
Bleeding, he answered as though everything was already over.
“That’s all you know, then.”
I struck the Ghost King’s nape and rendered him unconscious.
-You’re not killing him?
Wrath flailed his hand, questioning why I hadn’t struck his neck.
‘This creature doesn’t deserve to die here.’
Everyone buried in this land was a child who had died unjustly. I couldn’t bury something like the Ghost King here.
“At least that’s fortunate.”
I exhaled as I observed the orb emanating increasingly dense malice.
I didn’t know what Derus intended to use this orb for, but I was grateful we had stopped it. If it had escaped to the outside world, catastrophe would have ensued.
-Ugh, get rid of it at once!
Wrath also turned away, sniffling as though he could sense the resentment emanating from the orb.
‘Should I absorb it?’
-With your abilities, you could purify the energy itself and accept it, but the resentment that cannot be erased would remain, and your soul’s rank would actually diminish.
He brought his fist down, insisting I simply destroy the orb.
“Perhaps that’s what I should do….”
As Wrath suggested, I could purify the orb’s power with the Ring of Fire, but it seemed I couldn’t erase the resentment.
“There’s no helping it.”
Whooooosh!
Just as I was about to clench my fist to shatter the orb, the Soul Reaper Sword unleashed a brilliant resonance.
“What? You’re saying you’ll consume it?”
Whooooosh!
The Soul Reaper Sword cried out once more, as if insisting I leave it to him.
-No, absolutely not! Just break it!
Wrath shook his head vehemently in refusal.
“Now I see. It wasn’t concern for me after all.”
-No, that’s not it! The True Demon King was….
“You were trying to hold me back from growing stronger.”
-Wait!
I ignored Wrath’s gesture and pierced the crimson orb with the Soul Reaper Sword.
Boom!
As the orb shattered, the scarlet energy that burst forth was drawn into the blade of the Soul Reaper Sword before it could reach me.
Whooooosh!
The Soul Reaper Sword resonated with a clear, pure tone, as if comforting the resentment contained within the orb.
‘It wasn’t about gaining power….’
Was it about offering solace?
I smiled faintly as I watched the blade glow crimson.
The Soul Reaper Sword hadn’t accepted this orb for power—it had done so to comfort the vengeful spirit and share in their revenge together.
‘I wonder if you’re in there too.’
I closed my eyes for a long moment, hoping that Number Nine, my first friend whose name I never learned, was also there with the Soul Reaper Sword.
I sheathed the Soul Reaper Sword and withdrew the Raon Zigheart Chronicle from my breast pocket.
On the first page, half-torn and weathered, I carefully inscribed my name.
“Lepon.”
I placed the book at the center of the cavern and bowed my head.
“My vengeance, your vengeance. And after I have concluded the vengeance of all those who sleep in this place, I will return.”
I held the bow for a moment before departing the Underground Cavern.
Turning my gaze toward the direction of billowing smoke, I beheld the magnificent sight of the entire Robert Family consumed by raging flames.
‘A scene I’ve yearned to witness for over twenty years.’
Having exposed Derus’s true nature and watching the family that had been his everything consumed by fire, an indescribable exhilaration and satisfaction surged through me. This emotion—no one but myself could ever feel it, and no one would ever know it.
This sensation belonged to me alone.
-Hey.
Wrath looked up at me, his nose bridge furrowing.
-You’ve been acting strange all day….
Just as he narrowed his eyes with suspicion.
[You have achieved the Impossible Achievement.]
[You have achieved an Achievement that will change the history of the Continent.]
[All stats increase by 50 points.]
[Trait 【Ambush】….]
[Trait 【Seolhwa’s Senses】….]
An overwhelming cascade of messages flooded my vision, as if to silence Wrath’s words.
-Kugh-ack!
Wrath’s jaw dropped as he beheld the messages, his breath catching in his throat.
-I thought the True Demon King would be flustered. Since we properly pranked that bastard Uriel this time, this level of reward is w-well deserved, isn’t it….
He drew out his words as if casting hypnosis upon himself.
-No, but fifty points is still too much…. No! I’ll give it! It’s sufficient compensation for silencing Uriel’s mouth….
Raon remained still while Wrath alone trembled violently, contradicting his own words.
-Yes. I’ll endure it this time. Endure. Next time….
[You have received acknowledgment from 【Wrath】.]
[Additional rewards will be granted.]
[All stat attributes….]
[Traits….]
Wrath’s jaw dropped as he saw the message that had appeared again.
-Next time…. my ass! I can’t endure this!
Wrath finally exploded without restraint, shaking his head wildly.
-When did the True Demon King acknowledge anything! I never even spoke that word!
‘It seems the system accepted your willingness to endure as acknowledgment.’
-That’s fraud! I was just happy that Uriel got destroyed, that’s all! And why are you giving additional rewards! This damn system, follow the True Demon King’s…. Huh?
Wrath let out a curse, then his eyes widened to twice their size as he saw the final message that appeared.
-No, you can’t give that! Did someone stuff cotton in my head!
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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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