The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 964

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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 964

“Ugh!”

Burren exhaled a heavy breath as he climbed the sand dune flowing down from the base of Bekmang Mountain.

“What in the world did he do to make the sand this hot?”

Raon had instructed us to climb this sand dune as the first training exercise. I thought it would be a simple warm-up, but the sand was so scorching that it felt like walking through hell itself.

“It’s not just the heat!”

Martha gnashed her teeth, hopping from one foot to the other like a desert lizard.

“That damned bastard is suppressing our muscles and blocking our aura, so we can’t even run properly!”

Raon had somehow learned to control our muscles and aura, reducing us to the state of ordinary people.
As a result, we had no choice but to walk through the hot sand that sank beneath our feet with each step.

“I… I can’t go on anymore….”

Lunan panted heavily, her tongue hanging out like an exhausted puppy in the heat.

“I just want to sleep….”

She knelt down, asking to be buried here, and bowed her head deeply.

“You’ll die if you sleep here!”

Martha shouted at her to regain her senses and lifted Lunan by her collar.

“I never knew such a hot place existed in Zigheart.”

Trevin shook his head, saying there was no such location even in the Southern Region.

“It feels like we’ve climbed onto a volcanic terrain. No, it’s even worse….”

He bit his lip, muttering that this was far hotter and more grueling than the volcanic terrain he’d crossed during previous missions.

“Now that I think about it, were there sand dunes like this on Bekmang Mountain? This looks like the kind of sand you’d find on a beach.”

Burren Zigheart squinted at the golden sand shimmering with white heat waves rising from it.

“This sand….”

Mark Goeten trembled as his legs sank into the sand, pointing toward Dorian.

“It came from our quartermaster’s supply pouch.”

He swallowed hard as he explained that Dorian had installed this sand together with Raon.

“Hmm….”

The moment his name was mentioned, Dorian quickly hunched his shoulders.

“Dorian….”
“You again?”
“This unhelpful….”
“Was preparing supplies so thoroughly just your way of tormenting us?!”
“The Lord’s scheme!”

The swordsmen of Gwangpung Hall glared at Dorian, grinding their teeth.

“I only gave him sand because he asked for it! I had no idea he’d heat it up like this!”

Dorian shook his head vehemently, insisting he never imagined such a thing would happen.

“And I’m a victim too! I’m climbing up here with all of you!”

He exhaled hot breath rising from the heat, claiming he’d merely lent the sand. His expression was more aggrieved than anyone else’s.

“Damn it….”

Martha furrowed her brow as she looked at Raon standing at the summit of the hill.

“Where does that madman come up with these training methods!”

She stomped her foot in incomprehension, though the sandy ground only pulled her leg deeper into its grasp.

“It must be the Chamber of Self.”

Burren bit his lip while gripping his arm, flushed from the heat radiating around him.

“It’s exactly like that test he underwent in the Chamber of Self….”

Raon had manifested the sand mountain climb he’d experienced in the Chamber of Self into reality. I couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer execution required to create this colossal sandy dune and the raw power needed to heat the sand to such scorching temperatures.

“Ehehe….”

Lunan’s eyes spun in circles as if he’d finally lost his grip on his sanity.

“W-why don’t we all just stop and say we can’t do this?”

Crain whispered in a small voice, suggesting they strike from training.

“Strike from training?”
“Yes! Honestly, there’s no way we can do anything when both our aura and physical abilities are completely suppressed. Let’s just say we’ll try again tomorrow….”
“Shut up and climb.”

Just as he was about to say they should stop for now, a chilling sound like metal scraping echoed from behind.

“You think ‘let’s try again tomorrow’ will work?”

The owner of that sharp voice was Dogyae. He furrowed his brow, declaring it absolutely impossible.

“D-Dogyae….”

Burren swallowed hard as he watched Dogyae shove Crain aside with rough hands.

“Are you alright?”

Dogyae was drenched in far more sweat than the others, whether from the alcohol still coursing through him or the exertion. The black robe clung to him, making his struggle all the more apparent.

“But why is the Chief Steward here in the first place?”

Martha’s eyes widened in bewilderment at the incomprehensibility of it all.

“Why wouldn’t I? That damned bastard now demands I participate in training too. Says I’m weak….”

Dogyae’s pride wounded, he clenched his fists until blood threatened to spill, glaring at Raon standing atop the sand dune.

“You accepted that?”

Mark Goeten exhaled in astonishment. Dogyae could have refused, yet he’d accepted immediately—that was surprising.

“A single strike.”

Dogyae released a heavy breath and shook his head.

“We made a wager. I couldn’t even block a single strike without aura. He’s become a true monster.”

He bit his lip, lamenting that he couldn’t even defend against Raon’s blade without aura.

“As a swordsman, once I’ve made a wager, I have no choice but to accept. Though I had no idea the training would be this hellish….”

Dogyae trudged forward, muttering he’d rather have been cut down by the sword.

“A single strike without aura against Dogyae…?”
“The madman’s gone even more insane.”
“S-so cool, Raon….”

Burren, Martha, and Lunan swallowed hard, watching Dogyae climb the sand dune, unaware that sweat had plastered their robes to their backs.

“If he’s even putting Dogyae to work, there’s no way he’ll go easy on us.”
“Let’s go. We have no choice.”
“Right. If we stop, he’ll make the training even more brutal….”

The swordsmen climbed the sand dune with their eyes squeezed shut, heat shimmer rising before them.

At the same moment, the same thought crossed everyone’s minds.

‘Why did he come out of the Chamber of Self so early!’

There should have been another month left!

*

*

*

Shhhhh.

Raon withdrew his hand from the sand, a delighted smile spreading across his face.

‘This is working better than I expected.’

To recreate the sand mountain he had experienced in the Chamber of Self, he had used the Manhwa Palace to heat the sand, and thanks to reaching the 10th star, he could control the temperature without difficulty.

‘Their expressions are priceless.’

Raon chuckled as he watched the swordsmen, their faces contorted as if they had aged several years.

‘True training requires suffering.’

In truth, the swordsmen of Gwangpung Hall possessed the ability to evade the scorching sand through footwork or endure it with their aura, no matter how hot he made it.

However, if they simply dodged or blocked, it would not constitute proper training, so he directly suppressed their aura and restrained their physical abilities.

Since he had recreated the exact circumstances he had endured in the Chamber of Self, the swordsmen grimaced as if they wished for death itself, struggling up the sand dunes.

-Are you truly an angel? Wrath asked incredulously.

Wrath exhaled in exasperation at the absurdity of it all.

-You’re applying what you suffered directly to your subordinates! There’s no other word for it but madness!

He furrowed his brow, questioning how Raon had become so twisted.

‘This isn’t training for my own benefit.’

Raon shook his head with a serene expression.

‘I’m doing this because I want them to grow as I have.’
-Stop that smug grin and tell the truth! Wrath demanded.

Wrath scrunched his nose bridge, saying he wanted to show me a mirror.

‘Oh, really?’

I lowered my raised mouth corners with my fingers, dropping my chin.

‘To be honest, I wanted to see them struggling like that. Those guys have been breezing through most training lately.’

Since the entire Gwangpung Corps had reached Master rank, they’d been passing through most training without much difficulty, displaying a carefree attitude.

I couldn’t have them sparring or doing concentration training every day just because they were getting cocky, so I’d been wondering what to assign them—and thanks to the Chamber of Self, I’d found the perfect method.

‘Though I didn’t expect them to struggle this much with the heat.’

The Zigheart swordmasters, born and raised in cold regions, seemed more vulnerable to heat. From Dogyae to Sia, they all wore expressions of utter exhaustion.

‘Once they get used to the heat, maybe I’ll have Glacsia freeze the sea and throw them in?’

It didn’t seem like a bad idea to drench them with bone-chilling cold and toss them into the sea once they’d grown accustomed to the heat.

‘Maybe they’ll develop both water attribute and fire attribute resistance like me?’
-No matter how I think about it, you were born in the wrong place, you fool….

Wrath furrowed his brow, saying I would’ve definitely become a demon god if I’d been born in the Demon Realm or Celestial Realm.

‘Thanks for the compliment.’

I was waving my hand with a smile when I sensed someone descending from the direction of Bekmang Mountain’s peak.

When I turned my head, I could see Aris Zigheart running down the rocky Hill, drenched in sweat.

“I was wondering why it was so noisy, and it was you guys.”

Aris chuckled, saying she could hear screams even from the peak of Bekmang Mountain.

“The peak? You climbed all the way up there?”

I widened my eyes. I knew Aris had been conditioning her body lately, but I didn’t know she’d climbed to the mountain’s peak.

“That must be dangerous for you.”

Bekmang Mountain’s peak was perpetually blanketed in ancient snow—a frozen wasteland that couldn’t be traversed by legs alone. It was remarkable that Aris Zigheart, without an aura and with a damaged body, had managed to reach the summit.

“You’re underestimating your aunt. If I’m the Swordmaster’s aunt, I should be capable of at least this much!”

Aris Zigheart shook her head, claiming she’d grown healthier from climbing the mountain daily.

“Indeed….”

I nodded as I examined Aris Zigheart’s physique.

“You’ve changed considerably. Remarkably so.”

She was entirely different from when I’d brought her to Zigheart as an injured woman.
Though still lacking in many ways, it was evident she’d trained her body to its limits through systematic and nutritionally-balanced cultivation.

“It’s because of the Dragon Heart you gave me.”

Aris Zigheart raised her right hand and placed it over her left chest.

“I didn’t want to waste even a single drop of mana.”

She smiled brightly, saying she didn’t want to show me an embarrassing version of herself.

“And I find you even more remarkable.”

Aris Zigheart held my gaze, her lips curling upward.

“Everyone said you wouldn’t achieve any special growth in the Chamber of Self, but looking at you now, it seems you’ve gained much from it.”

Despite having heard no news, she was certain I’d made significant progress.

“Did you perhaps recover your aura?”
“No, I can just feel it.”

Aris Zigheart simply called it intuition and shook her head.

“I’m not quite at your level, but I’ll certainly have to accomplish something too.”

She smacked her lips, declaring she would devour every last drop of mana within the Dragon Heart.

“Your physical condition has improved considerably. It seems you’ll begin cultivation soon.”

I narrowed my eyes as I observed Aris’s arms, now visibly toned with muscle.

“Yes. I’m planning to start cultivation this weekend.”

Aris nodded, mentioning she had already drawn up her plans.

“Who will serve as your guardian?”
“The Saint. Though I didn’t ask him.”

She seemed to have already decided on Pedrick as her guardian without even consulting his wishes.

“About that guardian…”

I tilted my chin slightly as I looked at Aris.

“I can do it for you.”
“You?”

Aris’s eyes widened as if she had never even considered such a possibility.

“Yes. Right now, you don’t have even a single strand of aura, so during cultivation, the mana from the Dragon Heart could backflow or go berserk. I think it would be better if I helped you.”

Aris was clearly displaying her impatience to recover all her power at once. It seemed best that I personally serve as her guardian to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.

“No, I’m sorry. You’ve already helped me so much—I can’t ask you to be my guardian too.”

Aris shook her head, saying she couldn’t accept that much help.

“Especially with ‘that matter’—I should have ended it myself, not passed it on to you. I’m truly sorry.”

She bit her lip deeply, lamenting that she should have killed Seif with her own hands.

“Aunt…”

I couldn’t imagine what it must feel like to say that a mother should have been the one to kill her own son.

“Please don’t say such things. You’ve done far more for me than I could ever repay.”

Raon shook his head with a smile. He meant every word. It was no exaggeration to say that he was alive because of Aris.

“No, I….”
“I’ll visit you this weekend.”

Raon said they would see each other later and bowed his head respectfully.

“Sigh, very well.”

Aris nodded heavily, as if resigned to the matter.

“Huff.”
“We… we made it….”
“I thought we were actually going to die.”
“We did it! We crossed through hell!”

While Raon and Aris conversed, the swordmasters of the Gwangpung Corps had pierced through the scorching heat and finally reached the summit of the sand dune.

“How about that! We overcame the hell you created!”

Martha bared her teeth in a grin, laughing as if muscle control and aura meant nothing to her.

“That’s right. This is no different from our daily training.”

Burren also nodded, brushing sand from his clothes with a light gesture as if eager to boast.

“Piece of cake!”
“This heat is nothing but a sauna!”
“Don’t you have anything harder?”
“Did you perhaps play around in the Chamber of Self?”

The other swordmasters also seemed to feel a sense of accomplishment, raising their eyes to the sky and shouting in triumph.

However, not everyone was brimming with energy.

“Ugh….”
“P-please… water… give me water….”

Lunan sprawled across the ground like a slime, quivering helplessly, while Dogyae clawed at the earth with both hands, searching desperately for alcohol.

“They arrived thirty minutes faster than I expected.”

I glanced up at the sky and clicked my tongue briefly.

“Everyone did well.”

Honestly, I’d thought it would take at least thirty minutes longer, but the swordsmen of Gwangpung Hall, driven by sheer determination, had broken through the sand dunes faster than anticipated.

“Hah!”
“You really underestimated us!”
“Right. This is nothing compared to what we can do.”
“Gwangpung Hall even won the war against the Black Tower.”

The swordsmen began boasting, their sense of accomplishment rising to their very fingertips.

“Is that so? Then you can do more, can’t you?”

Raon twisted up the corner of his mouth and jerked his chin toward the bottom of the hill.

“Uh… what?”
“Surely not…”
“What are you standing around for? You climbed up, so now you go back down.”
“What are you doing? If you went up, you have to come down.”

Laughing, he told the flustered prosecutors to go back down the Hill the way they had come up.

“Back down here?”
“You want us to go down now? Through this sinking sand?”
“You want me to go down now? On this path where I keep sinking?”

The inspectors trembled their chins as they asked again, as if their ears had deceived them.

“If you won’t come down, should I roll you down?”

Raon smacked his lips as he exhaled a chilling aura.

“Ugh!”
“I’m losing my mind….”
“I want to die….”
“You two—the one who said it was easy, and the one who said we could do more. When you get down there, you’re finished!”

Unable to overcome their own momentum, the swordsmen slowly turned their bodies and gazed at the scorching sand below.

“Jenaaaaaaa!”
“Damn you, Raon Zigheart!”
“Mom. I think I chose the wrong job!”

The swordsmen screamed and hurled themselves into the burning sand.

“…Can I go first too?”

Unlike the other swordsmen, Aris looked at me, wanting to volunteer herself.

“Of course.”

I smiled and nodded.

“Thank you.”

She nodded and descended the sand dune with the Gwangpung Hall swordsmen. Though she lacked an aura and her physical abilities fell short, her sheer willpower drove her forward faster than the others.

“The time has come.”

I gazed at Aris’s upright back and smiled deeply.

“It’s time to release Zigheart’s red shark back into the sea.”

*

*

*

On the morning of the day I had promised Aris, I left the Annex Building and headed toward the Family Head’s Training Ground.

“You’ve arrived.”

Pedrick patted my shoulder warmly, as if pleased by my arrival.

“I was worried whether I could do this well, but with you here, I feel reassured.”

He nodded, expressing gratitude for taking time out of my precious schedule.

“I should be the one thanking you.”

I expressed my gratitude for always looking after my aunt, then bowed respectfully.

“Good. Go on in.”

Pedrick ruffled my hair with evident pride, then directed me toward the inner Cultivation Chamber where Aris waited.

“Yes, then.”

I bowed once more to Pedrick before entering the Cultivation Chamber where Aris was waiting.

Perhaps because it was the Family Head’s Training Ground, the Cultivation Chamber was more than twice as spacious. It seemed large enough for several people to cultivate simultaneously.

“You came?”

Aris, who had been leaning against the wall, raised her hand. Her pale expression suggested she was nervous.

“How is your physical condition?”
“Perfect. I’ve adjusted my conditioning to peak for today.”

She nodded, indicating that her body was ready.

“What about your mind?”
“That’s… a bit uncertain.”

Aris bit her lip delicately.

“I’m worried.”

She exhaled heavily, uncertain whether she could perform well.

“If you fail, it’s all over.”
“There’s no need to worry about failure, but even if I do fail, it’s fine. I can just find another Dragon Heart.”
“You certainly joke around.”
“I’m not joking. I can fail as many times as it takes.”

I meant every word. Considering that not a single Dragon appeared during the war with the Black Tower, we’ve already crossed a river of no return with them.
I plan to hunt down and exterminate every Dragon that appears from now on, so it doesn’t matter if Aris fails. I’ll provide what I have, and if I need to find a new Dragon Heart, so be it.

-Exterminate the Dragons?

Wrath let out a hollow laugh as if he found it absurd.

-You truly are insane….

He shook his head, saying that even the Demon Lords wouldn’t think of exterminating the Dragons.

“Ahahaha!”

Aris burst into laughter as if she found it equally ridiculous.

“Hearing you say that makes me think I absolutely cannot fail. I’ll make sure to succeed.”

She sat down in the center of the Cultivation Chamber with a lighter expression, as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

“Exhale.”

Aris slowly exhaled, then retrieved a Dragon Heart that shimmered with rainbow light from her spatial pouch and placed it on her lap. It was the one I had given her before.

“Then I’ll begin.”

Aris looked at me briefly and gave a subtle nod.

“Yes, whenever you’re ready.”
“I never thought you’d become this dependable.”

She remarked that her nephew was truly the best, then closed her eyes and began operating her aura cultivation technique.

Whoooooom!

The Dragon Heart’s radiance spiraled in a whirlwind, slowly being drawn into the tips of Aris’s fingers.

With the resolve she displayed, Aris showed no sign of opening her eyes until she had absorbed all the mana dwelling within the Dragon Heart.

‘This will take a while.’

I felt the conviction radiating from Aris and nodded calmly.

‘Since nothing will happen for a bit, should I check on something I’d forgotten about?’
-You idiot! What else did you forget!

Wrath muttered that my head was bad and shook his head.

‘Well, I wasn’t looking because of you.’
-Because of the True Demon King? The True Demon King fears nothing….
‘Then I can look now.’

I smirked and summoned the reward messages I hadn’t checked before.

[You have achieved profound growth in the Chamber of Self.]
[You have experienced 101 deaths.]
[All stats have…]
[New trait….]

-Huh…? That was it?

Wrath’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t even considered these were rewards.

-Damn it! Why did I bring it up!

He slapped his plump hand against his mouth in regret at his own words.

‘You didn’t see it last time anyway.’

I smiled as I checked the messages, then narrowed my eyes.

‘Hmm, that’s….’

Beyond the messages, I could see the mana from the Dragon Heart draining away from Aris’s shoulders.

‘As expected, she can’t accept it all.’

Her body was far from perfect, the mental shock was severe, and with her aura completely depleted, Aris Zigheart seemed unable to fully accept the Dragon Heart’s mana.

‘It can’t be helped… wait.’

I narrowed my eyes as I reviewed the reward message once more.

‘What if I don’t just protect her, but help her with that part myself?’

It certainly wouldn’t be easy. Assisting someone else’s cultivation. And helping someone without an aura was a dangerous act that could cause me significant harm as well.

But having grown in the Chamber of Self, I believed I could redirect the mana flowing from the Dragon Heart back to Aris.

‘Aunt….’

Watching her struggle through the cultivation, memories of the time we spent together surfaced.

Waking up on the pirate ship and meeting her for the first time, capturing Kaibhar together, flying in during a mission to save my life, and even her anguished face when she was betrayed by her son, Seif.

Recalling all those moments with her—joy and sorrow intertwined—my heart burned with warmth.

‘May this gift help my aunt who has endured so much hardship.’

I placed my hand on Aris’s back and activated the Ring of Fire to give her a gift, helping her through this trial.

I purified the mana scattering from the Dragon Heart with the Ring of Fire, then reconnected it to her mana circuits.

Whoooosh!

Around me, as I pressed my hand against Aris’s back, a light warmer than the sun that had granted me such tremendous power blossomed forth.

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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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