The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 950

 Chapter 950

 

‘How can this be…?’

Raon stared at the mirror, his fingertips trembling.

‘It was just a normal mirror, wasn’t it?’

Ever since entering the Chamber of Self, he had run various tests and experiments. Even when using the Ring of Fire or the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, there hadn’t been the slightest change in the room. He never imagined something like this would happen out of nowhere.

Ssssss—

Unlike his own face, which stiffened in surprise, the reflection in the mirror wore a faint smile.

‘At least… I don’t feel any malice.’

It didn’t seem like something from outside had forced its way in. The Raon in the mirror gave off a warmth that felt familiar and comforting.

Huh? What is that plump ball of cotton candy over there?

Wrath narrowed his eyes and pointed at his reflection in the mirror.

How utterly grotesque! So bloated with fat, it’s disgusting to look at!

He snorted dismissively as he insulted his own appearance.

‘…That’s you.’

Raon looked back at Wrath and let out a dry chuckle.

What nonsense are you spouting! There’s no way that lump could be the King of Essence, K-Kghk!

Wrath’s jaw dropped so wide it looked like his teeth might fly out as he realized that the cotton candy in the mirror was indeed his own reflection.

W-Why is the King of Essence being reflected in the mirror? And why does he look so ugly?

‘That’s how you’ve always looked.’

Raon waved a hand, telling him that he had looked like cotton candy from the very beginning.

No! Never! The King of Essence possesses the most stunning beauty in the entire devildom!

Wrath clutched his head in despair, lamenting the loss of his elegance and grace. Unlike Raon, whose reflection moved on its own, Wrath’s every movement was mirrored exactly in the mirror.

The Raon in the mirror, meanwhile, simply smiled quietly, as if unaware, or perhaps fully aware, of the current situation.

“What’s so funny?”

Raon furrowed his brows and asked. At that moment, the surroundings began to darken, and the room itself started to vanish. The old walls disappeared, leaving only the flickering darkness and the mirror reflecting himself.

‘Is it telling me to come closer?’

With nothing left but the mirror in front of him, there was no other choice but to approach.

“Hoo.”

He let out a short breath and stepped toward the mirror. Reaching out his right hand to the smiling reflection of himself—

Ssshhhhhh.

The surface of the mirror rippled and accepted his hand without resistance. It felt cool and smooth, like dipping his fingers into a shallow stream.

Y-You’re getting sucked in! Get out of there, quickly

Wrath grabbed his shoulders and shook him, trying to pull him away.

‘No… I think it’s fine.’

The reflected version of himself wasn’t showing the slightest hint of malice. He was simply smiling. This mirror felt like the true entrance into the Chamber of Self.

Wuuuuuuung—

Raon let himself be drawn into the mirror. As his hand, then his arm, and finally his whole body passed through, he overlapped with the Raon inside the mirror.

“You’ve finally arrived.”

The lips of the smiling reflection moved.

“My…”

* * *

“Ugh…”

Raon opened his eyes with a slight frown.

‘Did I fall asleep?’

As he pushed himself up with his hands, he looked down and saw black waves flowing beneath him like shadows. It looked like a river, but it didn’t seem to pull anything downward.

‘I definitely entered the mirror...’

He felt like his reflection had said something just before the end, but he couldn’t remember what it was.

‘But… where am I?’

He stood up and looked around.

‘Does a place like this even exist?’

The ground beneath his feet flowed with a black current, and in front of him spread a vast ocean, but its color was anything but ordinary.

‘A silver ocean?’

A silver snowfield lay atop a blue ocean, like a wintry sea stretching endlessly into the distance. The shimmering horizon made it clear, this was a vast ocean

‘Then what’s behind me?’

Feeling warmth on his back, he turned around and saw a massive mountain of sand, as if countless grains from the beach had been piled up. The mountain was so tall that he couldn’t even see its summit.

‘Is this the real Chamber of Self?’

Just as he suspected from the start, that small room seemed to be nothing more than the entrance to this place.

‘So that’s why he said I wouldn’t need that many Nadine breads.’

Now it made sense why Glenn had said that. Since he would be entering a space separate from reality, there was no need to eat.

‘Wait a second…’

I brought up Nadine bread… so why is it so quiet?

Normally, the moment the name Nadine bread was mentioned, that cotton candy would’ve started having a fit.

‘Wrath?’

He quickly turned his gaze around and called out to Wrath, but there was no sign of him.

‘Did I come in alone?’

It must’ve been a space where only one person could enter at a time. Wrath must’ve been bounced back and couldn’t follow him in.

‘It’s nice and quiet…’

But it felt a little lonely.

Maybe it was because he’d always had Wrath with him, without that guy’s constant chatter, things felt strangely quiet.

‘Still, it’s probably better for training this way. But…’

Where should I start?

The silver ocean and the golden mountain of sand, it was impossible to see the end of either. That made it hard to choose a direction. Strangely, both felt familiar in some way, which only made the decision harder.

‘Then for now…’

Raon raised his gaze toward the golden mountain of sand.

‘Let’s try climbing the mountain first.’

Compared to the ocean, where there was no way to know which direction to go, climbing the mountain seemed better, at least it had a summit he could aim for.

‘Then let’s move quickly… huh?’

Raon tried to step onto the mountain using the Supreme Harmony Steps, but froze in place.

‘My aura’s gone…’

The aura that had always filled his energy center was completely gone. No, he couldn’t even feel the energy center itself anymore.

‘So that’s how it is, huh?’

Raon looked up at the mountain summit hidden by the clouds and lifted the corner of his mouth into a crooked smile.

‘But so what? This won’t be nearly enough to stop me.’

*   *   *

His legs sank with every step. It was as if the entire golden mountain was made of loose sand, and every climb took a tremendous effort.

‘This isn’t ordinary sand.’

Even if his aura had disappeared, it didn’t mean the principles of the footwork he’d mastered would vanish. He was using the flow of the Supreme Harmony Steps, yet escaping this sandy hell was still difficult.

‘Just walking is draining my stamina.’

He was only climbing a mountain of sand, but his strength was being sapped away as if he were fighting in a war.

‘It’s not just my aura. My physical abilities have been severely reduced too.’

As he climbed, he felt it clearly. The body that had once surpassed human limits had been reduced to the level of an average adult man. Even though he was only climbing a steep slope of sand, he found himself short of breath and his legs losing strength.

‘And it’s way too hot…’

As a Transcender with fire resistance, he shouldn’t be affected by heat, but his clothes were soaked with sweat, and every step on the scorching sand felt like his feet were getting burned.

“Don’t tell me…”

Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked up toward the summit of the mountain.

‘Even my traits are gone?’

He reached a hand forward and tried to summon his status window.

‘Nothing’s appearing.’

The status window and system messages that had always responded to his call, were gone without a trace.

‘Even in the mental world, they’ve always shown up…’

The system messages had always appeared, even within the mental world. But now, even the status window that was linked to his very soul had been cut off. It meant that this Chamber of Self was a truly exceptional space.

“This is terrible.”

The words slipped out of his mouth, laced with irritation. The Chamber of Self, or rather, that man inside the mirror, seemed to want him to suffer.

‘Fine. I’ll take whatever you throw at me.’

If there’s one thing he had, it was grit.

Whether it was back when he lived as an assassin, or now as Raon Zieghart, he had never seen anyone more stubborn or tenacious than himself. If it was about endurance, he had more confidence than anyone.

“I’ll climb all the way to the top.”

Raon wiped the sweat dripping down his forehead and stepped forward into the sand before him.

The higher he climbed, the steeper the slope became. Soon, his legs alone weren’t enough, he had to claw into the sand with both hands to continue the ascent.

‘Feels like my hands are on fire.’

It was like his hands were wrapped in red-hot chains. He endured the pain that dulled his mind and continued forcing his way up the mountain of sand.

‘How long has it been since I last felt this kind of pain?’

He’d faced death more than once in battles against powerful foes, but it had been a long time since he’d suffered like this from the environment itself.

‘I really had it easy for a while.’

Whenever he achieved something, his stats increased. And whenever he acted, the system would create a corresponding trait to match. Even if he had put in the effort, the rewards he received always exceeded it. Looking back, it wouldn’t be wrong to say he’d grown up in comfort.

‘But why did it take away my aura and traits?’

He didn’t understand why the Chamber of Self had taken away all his abilities.

‘Let’s think. In this state… what do I still have left?’

Is it only my willpower and swordsmanship?

His physical strength, stamina, aura, and even the status window were all gone, but the swordsmanship he had honed over time, and the willpower he had built, remained.

‘Then maybe I should try refining my swordsmanship… not with my body, but with my mind.’

Now that he thought about it, he had been swinging his sword with his body every day, but it had been a long time since he wielded the sword within his mind.

‘Let’s give it a try.’

Not the sword he had now, but the sword he would wield once he had grown further. He envisioned the swordsmanship that would match that future version of himself.

Fwoooosh—

He imagined red petals of the Flame Spirit spreading like leaves of the World Tree, and the blazing arc of the Revolving Sky tracing the path of the sun. Just visualizing it lifted his mood, and a faint smile formed on his lips.

‘Wait…’

Now that he was thinking about swordsmanship, the pain from the heat started to ease.

The moment he filled his mind with thoughts of swordsmanship instead of how hard everything felt, the searing heat and the burning pain of the sand diminished dramatically.

‘So this was the answer.’

Raon curled his lips slightly. With the image of slicing through this mountain of sand with his own sword, he took his next step, very slowly.

*   *   *

‘Now that I think about it… the Fangs of Insanity would’ve worked better in that fight.’

As he shaped the sword in his mind, he found himself recalling past battles that had always left him slightly unsatisfied. He had thought he’d fought well at the time,  but looking back, they were full of flaws.

‘Maybe I relied too much on strength.’

He had mastered the versatile sword, capable of wielding all sword principles, yet all he did back then was fight by relying on strength. Thinking back on it now, he felt ashamed.
It wasn’t wrong to make use of his strengths, but he had leaned far too heavily in one direction.

‘My swordsmanship itself was the problem.’

He hadn’t perfected a single technique, yet kept increasing the number he practiced.

He had achieved a considerable level of proficiency in many swordsmanship principles, but not once had he brought a technique to completion. Even the sword techniques he created himself had never been perfected, and all he had done was increase their number. He regretted that now.

‘Let’s go back to the beginning.’

One footwork. One sword technique. He recalled his trainee days, when simply stepping forward and swinging his sword had brought him joy. With that memory in mind, he began recalling and drawing out each technique, one by one.

The heat of the sun, the pain of the sand, even the fatigue that had been draining him, none of it registered anymore.
All of his senses were now focused solely on forging his true sword.

Raon climbed the mountain of sand without end, envisioning a sword that could break through his own limits. As the principles of the versatile sword, engraved deep in his soul, shattered the walls that held them back and pushed higher, his foot touched solid ground.

“Hm?”

As he shaped nothing but the sword in his mind, the golden sand vanished from view, and a white, hardened plain spread out before him.

“Did I reach the top?”

There was no sand in sight. Only a vast expanse of solidified white ground. It seemed he had finally reached the summit, overcoming all that pain.

‘Even I find this hard to believe.’

He turned to look back on the path he had climbed. White clouds were so thick he couldn’t even see the ground below. No aura, no stats, no traits, yet he had made it to the top of this mountain, it was hard to believe.

‘Is that the path ahead?’

The only thing stretching from the summit was a staircase faintly glowing with golden light.

He let out a heavy breath and slowly climbed the steps. After climbing for quite some time, he saw a man standing atop a circular platform.

‘That man…’

The figure stood with his head bowed, so his face was hidden, but he was a tall, blond man. A sword with a flame-shaped knot hung at his waist, and his body was covered in a black coat.

“…No way.”

As Raon stepped onto the arena and narrowed his eyes, the blond-haired man slowly raised his head. Red eyes that glowed calmly, and radiant blond hair like melted sunlight. The man standing on the platform had a face identical to Raon’s, as if mirrored.

‘No… he’s a little different.’

Unlike the reflection he had seen in the Chamber of Self, this man looked slightly older than Raon, and every breath he took emanated the pressure of someone who had survived countless battlefields.

‘I see now. I know who he is.’

The first head of House Zieghart.

He had rarely seen the man from the front, but he had seen his back many times, enough to recognize him. That blond-haired, red-eyed man on the platform, radiating fierce pressure, was undoubtedly the first head of Zieghart.

“……”

The first head drew the sword at his waist without a word. From the silently unsheathed silver blade surged a domineering energy wave—the kind that could only come from someone who believed himself to be the strongest.

“Draining all my strength before a spar? That’s a bit unfair, don’t you think?”

Raon placed his hand on the hilt of Heavenly Drive and gave a faint smile. He still had no aura, his stamina was nearly gone, and the pain hadn’t fully subsided.

And yet, just the fact that he could face the man he had only seen in dreams brought a smile of anticipation to his face.

"I’ll take this chance to learn something."

With a trembling hand, Raon drew Heavenly Drive. He raised the silver blade, flashing with a chill that could sting, and leveled it at the absolute being of a bygone era.

"The strongest of a thousand years ago"