The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 761

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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 761
“What is that?”
I leaned forward, studying the red and blue metal spheres Balkan held.
‘It’s not Geumgyeol, is it?’
The sensation resembled Geumgyeol, the metal said to amplify all energies, but the colors were different.
“You don’t know, as expected?”
Balkan chuckled, as if he’d anticipated my ignorance.
“This red one is Hongwhageum, which amplifies heat, and this blue one is Bingjeong, which draws forth cold energy.”
He lifted the metal spheres, revealing their names.
“Unlike Geumgyeol, they don’t amplify all energies, but they make flames and cold far more potent than even Geumgyeol could achieve—truly exceptional metals.”
Balkan nodded, suggesting they would suit me well.
“Of course, I have Geumgyeol as well.”
He withdrew a piece of Geumgyeol from an old box—the same kind I’d seen before—and shrugged.
“…How did you acquire all of these?”
I let out a hollow laugh, staring at the metals in Balkan’s hands.
‘Did he conquer a dungeon or something?’
These treasures were difficult to obtain even with money. I couldn’t fathom where he’d found them.
Especially Hongwhageum and Bingjeong—metals I’d never even heard of—made it all the more remarkable.
“I received them.”
Balkan shook his head as if it were nothing.
“You received them? Those?”
“Yes. An anonymous patron occasionally drops by and leaves them.”
He glanced up at the sky beyond the smithy and smiled faintly.
“An anonymous patron…”
They weren’t asking him to forge swords—just donating metals and leaving. I was curious who this person was.
“Strangely enough, they always visit just before you arrive, or right before you’re about to come.”
Balkan wiggled his fingers and twisted his lips thoughtfully.
“Before I arrive…”
I pressed my lips together. Hearing Balkan’s words, one person came to mind.
“Well, enough of that.”
Balkan set down the Heavenly Sword and gestured toward me with his chin.
“You seem troubled about something.”
“How did you know that?”
My eyes widened in surprise.
“Your sword tells me. A swordsman’s wavering heart is reflected in their blade.”
Balkan furrowed his brows, explaining that a warrior’s instability manifests in their weapon.
“You don’t have to tell me, but at least steady your mind.”
He ignited the furnace, clicking his tongue.
“If you waver, your sword will break as well.”
Balkan fixed me with a heavy gaze, demanding I get my head on straight.
“Sigh…”
I exhaled briefly and settled into the worn chair placed before the table.
“The story might take a while, so please sit.”
“Hmm.”
Balkan nodded curtly and took the seat across from me.
“Actually…”
I recounted everything that had transpired and the struggles I’d endured while seeking the path to Transcendence.
“Such trivial concerns.”
Balkan let out a scoff of disbelief.
“Pardon?”
My eyes widened. Balkan was not the type to speak like this, so his words caught me off guard.
“Do you remember what kind of swordmaster you said you wanted to become?”
He tilted his chin, recalling the words I’d spoken in the Charcoal Kiln.
“I said…”
“You said, ‘I wish to become a swordmaster who will never be broken by anyone, under any circumstance.'”
Before I could search my memory, Balkan’s voice filled the space—reciting my words with perfect precision, not a single syllable out of place.
“It was the first time a young pup made such a vow, so I’ve remembered it exactly as you spoke it.”
Balkan smiled faintly, his fingers tracing the blade of the Heavenly Sword.
“I thought your goal was harder than becoming the greatest warrior alive. In this world, even the most talented and determined can die suddenly. But…”
He nodded firmly and increased the intensity of the furnace’s flames.
“You are achieving that goal. You defeated the Demon King, earned the epithet of Usurper, saved Glen Zigheart, and even uncovered the truth about Derus Robert.”
Balkan brought his hand down with satisfaction.
“You are becoming the swordmaster you vowed to be—one who bends to no one. Where else could you find someone who has so thoroughly broken the legendary Derus Robert?”
“That was…”
As I began to attribute it to fortune, Balkan continued.
“Should Raon Zigheart, who has astonished the Continent, ascend to Transcendence in the ordinary way like everyone else? To remain unbroken, there is nothing wrong with taking everything you possess with you to the summit.”
Balkan spoke the same words as Glen, his lips curving into a knowing smile. It seemed that those who stood at the peak, regardless of their path, perceived similar truths.
“…I see.”
I nodded heavily.
‘I made that vow from the very beginning—never to be broken.’
Uncovering Derus Robert’s identity and elevating Sylvia to the Main Lineage—such goals would have been laughable from the start.
Yet I had achieved them all, and I had risen to the pinnacle of Grand Master.
Having accomplished the nearly impossible, I felt certain that nothing could stop me from reaching Transcendence.
“To remain unbroken, I cannot afford to be ordinary.”
“Now your eyes shine properly.”
Balkan murmured his approval and clapped his hands loudly.
“You remind me of that boy from the Charcoal Kiln—the one who maintained faith in himself even when he couldn’t manifest aura for months.”
He smiled softly, lost in those memories.
“I will not forget this again.”
I thanked Balkan and bowed my head to him.
“That’s enough. Now let’s get to work….”
Just as Balkan was about to begin, the smithy door opened and a middle-aged man with a pipe stepped inside. It was Haren, Balkan’s son.
“Raon? What brings you here?”
Haren pulled the pipe from his mouth roughly and approached.
“I heard that Balkan had returned, so I came to entrust him with the Heavenly Sword.”
I said it had been a while and bowed my head to Haren.
“Is that so? Then I’ll help too!”
Haren said it worked out well and moved toward Balkan’s side.
“Father! I’ll help as well.”
“No need.”
Balkan shook his head firmly, saying it wasn’t necessary.
“What? But I’ve been training all this time! You even acknowledged that I could sell swords….”
Haren’s eyes widened in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected Balkan to refuse.
“That’s precisely why it’s not necessary. Look carefully. See what your role should be.”
Balkan’s voice was calm. It wasn’t anger—there was something deeper in his words.
“Ah…!”
Haren looked between Balkan and me, then around the smithy, letting out a low exclamation.
“I understand.”
He set down the pipe and nodded with a solemn expression.
“I won’t disappoint you.”
“Haren?”
“Raon. Wait for me.”
Haren winked at me and left the smithy.
His back had grown even broader than Balkan’s from all the hammering he’d done.
“What’s going on here….”
“Don’t mind him. Now try infusing your energy into these metals.”
Balkan pointed to the Crimson Flower Gold, Frost Crystal, and Golden Bond laid out on the table.
“Understood.”
I nodded and grasped all three metals at once.
Gooooooo!
Starting with the Ring of Fire, I poured in all the energy I’d obtained from Manhwagong, Glaceia, the Gwangpung Style, and the Sword Saint Legacy.
‘Should I push further?’
Having learned from Karun how to draw out emotions and will, I infused the accumulated emotions and will into the metals as well.
“Perfect.”
Balkan let out an exclamation as he watched the Crimson Flower Gold, Frost Crystal, and Golden Bond tremble and vibrate.
“We can begin right away.”
He placed the gold charcoal into the blazing furnace and stepped on the bellows.
Whoooooosh!
The fierce heat of the gold charcoal, the finest charcoal, ignited a violent wind, unleashing tremendous firepower. It felt like stepping into a volcano brimming with lava.
“Breathe the way you did that day. That will be enough.”
“Understood.”
I stood before the furnace, my lips pressed thin, feeling the scorching heat prickle my skin as I activated the Ring of Fire and Manhwa Palace.
‘Raw power isn’t what matters.’
Right now, finding direction took precedence over growing stronger.
Clang!
The aura of Manhwa Palace trembled in resonance with Balkan’s hammer strikes.
With my eyes closed, I focused my mind on the hammer blows of a master craftsman who had transcended mortal limits.
‘I need to look back at my roots.’
Though I had learned countless auras and sword techniques, my foundation remained the Ring of Fire and Manhwa Palace.
Because these two auras formed my base, I had been able to forge a vessel that even Glen found remarkable.
To ascend to transcendence while carrying more than anyone else, I had to cultivate that foundation.
Whoosh.
As Raon and Balkan lost themselves in meditation before the same flames, the circular smithy echoed only with the thunderous ring of the master’s hammer and the swordsman’s breathing.
*
*

*
“This is ridiculous….”
Rimer turned away from Balkan’s Smithy, where thick smoke billowed forth.
“If you were going to do this, why not just give it to him openly!”
He glared at Glen standing behind him, his brow furrowed.
“You told him to go to Mirtan, but why keep the golden metals a secret!”
Glen had realized I was troubled about transcendence and came to Mirtan first, tossing three metals to Balkan.
What was even more absurd was that he didn’t just hand them over—he claimed he’d found them on the way.
He was doing something for my sake, so why hide it?
“Hmm! The other children might grow jealous, might they not?”
Glen cleared his throat briefly and shook his head.
“Since Karun has changed, there’s no one petty enough for that!”
Rimer shook his head firmly.
“And even if there were, they wouldn’t dare speak of it. Karun and Valdemar wouldn’t stand for it!”
He stomped his foot, insisting that the current Zigheart was different from before.
“Sigh! You’re not the Northern Destruction King—you’re the Excuse King.”
Rimer clicked his tongue in exasperation.
“That’s why Raon won’t call you grandfather.”
“Have you seen it?”
“Seen what? It’s obvious without looking. Just tell him to call you grandfather from now on and everything’s solved….”
“That’s not how it works.”
Glen moved his jaw slowly.
“That title only has meaning when Raon calls it of his own accord.”
That’s also why he hadn’t told Raon to call him Grandfather beneath Bekmang Mountain.
What he truly desired wasn’t a title forced upon him, but one that emerged naturally from the heart.
“Then you should at least mention the metal you gave him!”
Rimer let out a sharp cry.
“Well, that’s….”
“Ugh, seriously. I can’t stand this. Get your head on straight, will you?”
He tapped his own temple, urging him to think.
“That’s why people call you the back-room old man….”
“Shut your mouth!”
“Oof!”
Rimer was muttering when Sheryl’s kick sent him flying through the air.
“Y-you’re really insane! This damned woman… Kyaaaaaaah!”
He screamed as he plummeted over the cliff.
“….”
Sheryl watched Rimer disappear into the mist, then stepped back beside Glen Zigheart.
“I agree with the Head of House. A forced title holds no meaning. However….”
She narrowed her eyes as she gazed toward the cliff’s edge.
“It would be proper to at least mention that you gave him the metal, as that fool said.”
“…Then why did you push him?”
“He was being loud.”
Sheryl brushed off her hands and tilted her chin as if questioning what the problem was.
“I see.”
Glen Zigheart nodded calmly, as if in agreement with her reasoning.
“So what of Raon?”
Sheryl exhaled softly as she gazed at Balkan’s Smithy, where heat shimmered in the air.
“He won’t grow stronger immediately, nor will he gain enlightenment right away. However….”
Glen Zigheart smiled faintly as he watched Raon and Balkan’s breathing synchronize.
“It seems the vessel to receive that enlightenment is being forged.”
*
*

*
Two days later.
The endless heat pouring from Balkan’s Smithy finally ceased.
Raon slowly opened his eyes the moment the hammer’s relentless clanging—like dying embers—came to a stop.
‘Clear.’
Unlike the smithy filled with smoke, dust, and acrid heat, my mind was as serene and transparent as the lake in the Garden.
The worries that had clouded my thoughts seemed washed away like rain.
-Ugh, it’s finally over?
Wrath stretched and released a long sigh.
-I thought I’d die of boredom!
He shook his head, questioning how I could stand still for over two days.
‘I wasn’t standing still….’
I chuckled softly, tapping my temples.
‘I was refining my mind and spirit.’
-Indeed.
Wrath narrowed his eyes as he looked at me.
-You seem somewhat different.
He nodded, acknowledging a change beyond mere power.
I lowered my gaze, receiving Wrath’s approval.
On the anvil that Balkan had struck ceaselessly lay a sword gleaming with silver light.
It was the Heavenly Sword I had wielded countless times before, yet something was different now.
‘Red and blue lines?’
The blade remained noble and graceful as ever, but two lines were now etched across the sword body.
It appeared as though Crimson Flame Gold and Frost Crystal had melted together with the Golden Seam.
“Haaah!”
Balkan straightened his hunched back. Though he appeared a decade older, his eyes held even greater joy as he gazed at the Heavenly Sword.
“Take it.”
Balkan wiped the blade of the Heavenly Sword with a clean cloth and handed it to me.
“This is a new Heavenly Sword that can support you even when you waver.”
He gently waved the sword, urging me to take it.
“Ah….”
I carefully received the Heavenly Sword as if handling a child.
‘My arm feels longer.’
As I grasped the hilt, I felt my grip tighten as if glued to it.
It wasn’t that I was holding the sword—it felt as though my body itself had extended further.
Gooooooo.
I positioned the Heavenly Sword at the center and resonated the ring of fire I had refined while listening to Balkan’s hammer strikes.
Whoooosh!
As I activated Manhwagong, a vivid light blazed from the red line etched on the blade, dyeing the entire sword body crimson.
‘Is this amplification?’
Just as Balkan had promised, the Heavenly Sword infused with crimson fire blazed with even more intense heat than before. The blade itself seemed to be brimming with flames.
“How is it?”
Balkan tilted his chin with a knowing gleam in his eyes.
“It’s perfect.”
I nodded as I watched the flames dancing across the Heavenly Sword.
‘It will never waver.’
Just as Balkan said, even if my own resolve faltered, this blade would never break. Perfect. There was nothing else to say.
-Hmm….
Wrath examined the Heavenly Sword from every angle, then pouted his lips.
-It’s almost a waste for you to wield it.
The fact that he would say such a thing was praise in itself.
“Is that so?”
Balkan chuckled with satisfaction as he drank the now-cold liquor.
“Thank you.”
I lowered the Heavenly Sword and bowed deeply to Balkan.
“From the past until now, I’ve only received your help….”
“Stop with that grating sound of metal shrieking.”
Balkan furrowed his brow and waved his hand dismissively.
“You’re not the only one who’s benefited.”
“Pardon? What do you mean by that….”
“Every time you win a fight, more people come asking me to forge them a sword. Not long ago, even a Grand Master came.”
He clicked his tongue, noting that requests to forge weapons had been increasing day by day.
“So you made them swords?”
“Why would I forge blades for such greenhorns?”
“Of course not.”
“Right. I didn’t even open the door for them.”
Balkan shook his head, dismissing the notion as absurd.
“Then how have you benefited?”
“This place isn’t somewhere I live alone, is it?”
He spread his hand, gesturing toward Mirtan Village visible below the Smithy.
“Those greenhorns who were rejected by me went and asked others to forge them swords. Thanks to that, vitality has returned to the village.”
Balkan laughed, rotating his wrist.
“Your accomplishments have brought prosperity to this village, so I can only say thank you.”
For that reason, he shook his head, saying he wouldn’t accept payment for the sword’s repairs.
“Still….”
“I always keep my word. You know that, don’t you?”
Balkan took another swig from the bottle, insisting he didn’t need money.
“I understand.”
I smiled faintly and stepped back. Balkan is a man of integrity—he even kept his promise to me when I was just a young trainee.
There was no way around it when he was like this.
“Then please don’t refuse my gratitude.”
I performed a respectful sword salute and was about to sheathe the Heavenly Sword when the smithy door burst open violently.
Boom!
Haren rushed in, clutching a scabbard in his hand and breathing heavily.
“Ah, I’m not too late, am I?”
“Haren?”
“A new scabbard.”
Haren announced he’d crafted a scabbard for the Heavenly Sword and extended one with an intricately carved dragon’s head.
“Did you make this yourself?”
“Who else would have made it?”
He snorted as if it were obvious.
“Hmph. What business do you have making scabbards?”
Balkan approached dismissively and examined the scabbard first.
“Hmm…?”
Yet unlike his usual disdain, his eyebrows rose as he studied it.
“How is it? Not bad, right?”
Haren stood with absolute confidence, leaning back with his chest thrust forward.
“Not terrible at all.”
Balkan nodded, barely granting it a passing grade—which meant it was truly exceptional, given he never gave his son any credit.
“Yesss!”
Haren roared and thrust his fist upward, clearly delighted to have earned recognition from his father, the legendary craftsman of the Continent.
“So that was…”
I let out a small exclamation. It seemed the task Balkan had mentioned earlier was indeed the creation of this scabbard.
“Try it on.”
Haren rubbed his hands together eagerly, urging me to sheathe the Heavenly Sword.
“Very well.”
I nodded and inserted the Heavenly Sword into the scabbard.
Click.
The blade and scabbard fit together as if they’d been one from the beginning. The craftsmanship was flawless, as though a single artisan had created them as a matched pair.
“Perfect fit. The design is beautiful too.”
I bowed to Haren in gratitude, particularly pleased by the dragon’s head—it resembled Kaibhar, the Radiant Dragon.
“The true merit of that scabbard isn’t its durability or its form.”
Haren chuckled and lifted his chin proudly.
“You didn’t…again!”
“This scabbard has…”
As Balkan’s eyes widened, Haren raised a finger upward.
“A special ability!”

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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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