The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 950
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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 950
‘How is this possible…?’
My fingertips trembled as I stared at the Mirror before me.
‘It was definitely just an ordinary Mirror before…’
I had conducted several experiments since entering the Chamber of Self. I never expected such a situation to unfold in a place where nothing changed, even when I operated the Ring of Fire and Manhwagong.
Whoooosh.
Unlike my expression, which had grown rigid with shock, the Raon reflected in the Mirror wore a subtle smile.
‘Fortunately, I don’t sense any malice.’
The reflection didn’t seem to be an external intrusion; my Mirror self emanated a familiar, warm presence.
-Eh? What is that fluffy cotton candy doing there?
Wrath pointed at his own reflection in the Mirror, his eyes narrowing.
-How utterly hideous! Nothing but bloated fat hanging everywhere! Absolutely repulsive!
He disparaged his own appearance and snorted derisively.
‘…That’s you, though.’
I glanced back at Wrath and let out a hollow laugh.
-What nonsense! There’s no way that lump could be the True Demon King… Kghack!
Wrath’s jaw dropped so wide his teeth nearly fell out as he realized the cotton candy in the Mirror was himself.
-Why, why am I reflected in this Mirror! And why do I look so hideous!
‘You’ve always looked like that.’
I waved my hand, saying it had been cotton candy from the start.
-Absolutely not! The True Demon King possesses the greatest beauty in the Demon Realm!
Wrath tore at his hair, lamenting that his elegant and beautiful form had vanished. Unlike me, Wrath’s real-world actions were reflected perfectly in the mirror.
My reflection in the mirror seemed oblivious to the situation, simply smiling serenely.
“What’s so funny?”
As I furrowed my brow and asked the question, the surroundings darkened and the room itself began to fade. The crumbling walls disappeared, leaving only the rippling darkness and the mirror reflecting me.
‘Is it telling me to come closer?’
With only the mirror ahead remaining, I had no choice but to approach it.
“Hah.”
I exhaled softly and stepped toward the mirror. I reached out my right hand toward my reflection, who was smiling back at me.
Shhhhh.
The mirror’s surface rippled and accepted my hand without resistance. It felt cool and soft, like dipping my hand into a stream.
-Wait, you’re being pulled in! Get out of there!
Wrath grabbed my shoulders and shook me, urging me to escape the mirror.
‘No, this feels right.’
My reflection showed no malice whatsoever, only smiling. This mirror seemed to be the entrance to the true Chamber of Self.
Whoooosh!
I surrendered myself to the mirror. As my hand, then my arm, then my entire body was drawn in and merged with my reflection—
“You’ve finally come.”
My reflection’s smiling lips moved.
“Mine….”
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“Hmm….”
I opened my eyes, my brow furrowed in confusion.
‘Did I fall asleep?’
As I pushed myself up with my hands and glanced down at the ground, I saw black waves flowing like shadows. It resembled a river, yet I didn’t sink into it.
‘I definitely entered through the Mirror…’
I couldn’t quite remember what my reflection had said at the end.
‘But where am I?’
I rose to my feet and surveyed my surroundings.
‘Does such a place even exist in this world?’
The ground beneath me was traversed by black currents, and before me stretched a vast sea.
Yet the sea’s color was far from ordinary.
‘A Silver Sea?’
A winter sea stretched endlessly before me, as if a silvery snowy plain had been laid across blue waters. The shimmering horizon suggested it was a vast ocean.
‘Then what lies behind me?’
Feeling warmth against my back, I turned around to see an enormous mountain of sand, as if the beach itself had been piled high. The peak was so distant that I couldn’t see it clearly.
‘Is this truly the Chamber of Self now?’
Just as I’d initially thought, that small room seemed to be the entrance that granted access to this place.
‘So that’s why Glen said I didn’t need Nadine Bread.’
Now I understood why Glen had said Nadine Bread wasn’t necessary. Since I was entering a space that wasn’t reality, there was no need to eat.
‘Wait….’
I’d brought up Nadine Bread, so why was it so quiet?
Normally, the moment that name was mentioned, the cotton candy should have thrown a fit and appeared before me.
‘Wrath?’
I quickly turned my gaze and called out to Wrath, but he didn’t appear.
‘Did I come in alone?’
Since only one person could enter this space at a time, it seemed Wrath couldn’t follow and had been bounced back out.
‘It’s nice and quiet, though….’
Still, it felt a bit lonely.
Since I’d always been with Wrath, the absence of his constant chatter felt oddly empty.
‘But this should be better for training. Still….’
Where should I go first?
The Silver Sea and the Golden Sand Mountain built from sand—both stretched endlessly, making it difficult to decide which direction to take. Both felt equally familiar, which made the choice even harder.
‘Then for now….’
I lifted my gaze toward the Golden Sand Mountain.
‘Should I climb the mountain first?’
It seemed better to climb the mountain, which had a peak, rather than venture into the sea where I didn’t know where to go.
‘Then quickly… huh?’
I stepped forward with the Heavenly Steps technique to ascend the Golden Sand Mountain, but my body froze in place.
‘My aura… it’s gone.’
The aura that had always filled my dantian without fail had vanished without a trace. No, I couldn’t even feel my dantian itself anymore.
‘So this is how it works?’
I gazed up at the peak of the Golden Sand Mountain shrouded in clouds, twisting my lips into a wry smile.
‘But what of it? This alone won’t be enough to stop me.’
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My legs sank with each step. As if this entire Golden Sand Mountain were composed of nothing but sand, even climbing a single step proved arduous.
‘This isn’t ordinary sand.’
Even though my aura had vanished, the subtleties of my mastered footwork technique remained intact. Yet despite channeling the flow of the Heavenly Steps, escaping this sandy hell was proving difficult.
‘My stamina drains just from walking.’
I was merely climbing a sand mountain, yet my energy was being siphoned away as if I were waging war.
‘It’s not just the aura—my physical abilities have been drastically reduced as well.’
I felt it clearly as I climbed. The transcendent physical capabilities I had cultivated had plummeted to the level of an ordinary adult male. Simply ascending this sloped sandy hill left me breathless, my legs weakening with each step.
‘And it’s unbearably hot….’
As a transcendent with fire attribute resistance, I should have been immune to heat. Yet my clothes were drenched with sweat, and each step across the scorching sand felt like being branded by flames.
“Could it be….”
I narrowed my eyes as I gazed up at the Mountain Peak.
‘Has even my trait disappeared?’
I extended my hand forward and attempted to summon my status window.
‘Nothing appears.’
The status window and messages that had always answered my call were completely gone.
‘Messages that appeared even in the Mental World have vanished….’
The status window and reward messages were visible even in the Mental World. The fact that even the status window connected to my soul had been severed suggested that this Chamber of Self was truly a special space.
“This is relentless.”
My irritation spilled from my lips. The Chamber of Self—or rather, the man in that mirror—seemed to want me to suffer.
‘Fine. I’ll take whatever comes.’
I had confidence in my perseverance.
Whether during my days as an Assassin or now as Raon Zigheart, I had never met anyone more stubborn than myself. When it came to endurance, I was second to none.
“I’ll reach the summit.”
I wiped the sweat trickling down my forehead and took another step toward the sand before me.
As I climbed higher, the angle made it impossible to ascend using only my legs, so I clawed at the sand with both hands, forcing myself to continue the climb.
‘My hands feel as though they’re burning.’
It feels like my hands are wrapped in heated iron chains. I endured the numbness in my head from the pain and continued climbing up the sand Mountain.
‘When was the last time I felt this way?’
I had faced death many times while fighting the strong, but it had been a long time since I suffered at the hands of nature itself.
‘I’ve grown complacent these days.’
When I achieved something, my stats would rise, and whenever I did something, the System would create a trait to match it. Even if I had put in effort, I received rewards beyond that and grew, so it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I was raised preciously.
‘But why did the Chamber of Self erase my aura and traits?’
I couldn’t understand why the Chamber of Self had taken away my abilities.
‘Let me think about this. What remains for me in this state….’
Was it only mental fortitude and swordsmanship?
Physical ability, stamina, aura, and the status window—many things had disappeared, but the swordsmanship and mental fortitude I had continuously accumulated remained intact.
‘Then instead of training my body, why don’t I refine my swordsmanship with my mind?’
Now that I thought about it, I swung my sword with my body every day, but it had been quite a while since I wielded a sword in my mind.
‘Let me try it.’
Instead of my current sword, I envisioned my future self when I had grown stronger, and recalled the swordsmanship techniques befitting that vision.
Whoooosh!
I imagined the red petals of Flame Blossom unfolding like the leaves of the World Tree, and the flames of Heavenly Rotation tracing an arc like the sun. Just thinking about it made me feel good, and a small smile formed on my face.
‘Wait….’
As I thought about swordsmanship, the pain from the heat diminished?
When I filled my mind—which had only been filled with thoughts of suffering—with swordsmanship, the scorching heat of the blazing sun and the pain from the heated sand rapidly decreased.
‘This was the answer.’
I curled my lips slightly upward. Imagining myself cutting down this sandy mountain with my sword, I took the next step very slowly.
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‘That’s right. The Radiant Sword would have been better there.’
As I traced the blade in my mind, even regrettable battles from the past surfaced. I thought I had fought reasonably well, but looking back, it was nothing but mistakes.
‘Did I rely too much on raw power?’
I felt ashamed of my past self—having mastered the Myriad Swords that encompassed all sword techniques, yet fighting only through brute strength. While leveraging one’s strengths was valuable, I had been far too one-sided in my approach.
‘The swordsmanship itself is the problem too.’
I had increased the number of techniques without perfecting a single one.
I had learned various sword techniques to considerable mastery, yet I had never seen any through to completion. I regretted accumulating techniques without even perfecting the swordsmanship I had created myself.
‘Let me return to the beginning.’
One footwork, one sword technique. Recalling those days as a trainee when I was simply happy to step forward and swing my blade, I traced each technique I had learned in my mind, one by one.
Now I felt neither the sun’s heat, nor the pain the sand inflicted, nor the difficulty of exhaustion. I could focus entirely on honing my true blade.
I climbed the Golden Sand Mountain endlessly, tracing swordsmanship that could shatter my own limits. As the myriad techniques inscribed in my soul pushed through walls and sought to ascend higher, my feet touched solid ground.
“Hm?”
Before my eyes, which had been focused only on the blade, appeared a white plain instead of golden sand.
“Have I reached the top?”
The sand was gone, and only hardened white earth stretched ahead. It seemed I had endured all that suffering and finally reached the Mountain Peak.
‘Even I find this absurd.’
I turned around to look back at the path I had climbed. The ground was barely visible beneath white clouds. I couldn’t believe I had reached the summit of this mountain without aura, without stat increases, without traits.
‘Is that the way forward?’
The only path extending from the Mountain Peak was a Staircase with a faint golden hue.
I exhaled heavily and slowly climbed the Staircase. After ascending the rather long steps, I saw a man standing on a Circular Platform.
‘That person….’
His head was bowed, so I couldn’t see his face, but he was a tall man with golden hair. A sword with a flame knot engraved on its hilt hung at his waist, and a black coat concealed his body.
“Could it be….”
As I climbed toward the Sparring Arena, my eyes narrowed. The golden-haired man lifted his head. Quiet, deep crimson eyes and brilliant golden hair like melted sunlight. The man on the Platform bore a face identical to my own, as if reflected in a mirror.
‘No, it’s slightly different.’
Unlike the mirror I’d seen in the Chamber of Self, the man before me appeared somewhat older and seemed to have lived a far harsher life—the very breath he exhaled carried the fighting spirit of the Battlefield.
‘Now I understand. I know who that man is.’
The First Patriarch of Zigheart.
I rarely saw him face-to-face, but I’d seen his back often enough to recognize him. The golden-haired, crimson-eyed man radiating fierce fighting spirit from atop the Platform was undoubtedly the First Patriarch who founded Zigheart.
“….”
The First Patriarch drew his sword without a word. Over the silver blade drawn in silence, a tyrannical aura bloomed—one that regarded itself as the strongest.
“Asking me to spar without using my full strength seems rather unfair.”
I placed my hand on the hilt of the Heavenly Sword and offered a thin smile. My aura was still absent, my stamina depleted, and my pain hadn’t fully subsided.
Yet the mere opportunity to face the man I’d seen in my dreams filled me with eager laughter.
“I will learn from you.”
I drew the Heavenly Sword with trembling hands. I raised the piercingly brilliant silver blade and pointed it at the absolute being of an ancient age.
“Greatest of a thousand years past.”
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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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