The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 936

 Chapter 936

 

Glenn furrowed his brow as he observed Derus Robert, who remained composed.

‘He’s gotten stronger.’

The energy wave emanating from Derus made Glenn’s fingertips tremble. A power that had surpassed the normal level of Transcendence. It was no wonder the King Lecross, known as the Silent Sword Sovereign, had been brought down so easily.

‘But more than that…’

What truly shocked him wasn’t Derus’ strength. It was something deeper. The very soul of the man once known as Derus Robert had changed. It no longer felt human—he had become something else entirely.

“It’s been a while.”

Derus Robert slowly turned to face him.

“Glenn Zieghart.”

He raised his chin, placing the king Lecross in front of him, as if to use him as a hostage.

“Judging by how quickly you got here, you must’ve been on standby in Zieghart.”

With a faint gesture, Derus lifted a finger in amusement.

“I thought you’d be hiding out in Montiro, where the Black Tower is. But you stayed in Zieghart? I guess the deaths of your son and grandson don’t concern you”

Derus brought up the names Karoon and Raon, as if to say he knew everything about the Black Tower raid operation.

“They’re strong. Something like the Black Tower won’t bring them down.”

Glenn calmly shook his head, revealing his unwavering belief in Raon and Karoon.

“Oh? That’s not quite what my information says.”

Trying to provoke Glenn, Derus gave the sword embedded in king Lecross’ shoulder a slight twist.

“……”

King Lecross, even as his flesh and bone were being torn apart, didn’t let out so much as a groan.

“Head of house... I’ve shown you a disgraceful sight. Please, pay me no mind, and cut down this demon.”

Raising his firm gaze, he urged Glenn not to worry about him and to kill Derus.

“You don’t become a king of a nation for nothing, I see.”

Derus muttered in admiration and let out a dry breath.

“I guess I’ll have to shut you up.”

Bringing his index and middle fingers together, he thrust them into the Lecross’ back.

“Urgh!”

Lecross immediately stiffened as if all flow of aura in his body had been blocked, unable to move a single finger.

“……”

Glenn looked at the immobilized Lecross, who couldn’t even move his eyes, then turned his gaze back to Derus.

“When did you find out we were targeting the Black Tower?”

"A little earlier than the Black Tower."

Derus shrugged, as if to say he’d known their plan before the attack had even begun.

"Then you could have stopped the attack?"

Glenn narrowed his eyes, glaring at him.

“Why would I?”

Derus shrugged again, as if to say there was no reason to stop it.

“What?”

“The Black Tower becoming the final battlefield? That’s not the outcome I want.”

He shook his head, stating that this wasn’t yet the time for true war.

“It was more profitable to use the moment when all attention was on the Black Tower to test my strength and eliminate this useless king.”

Twisting his lips into a smirk, Derus said it was better to reduce the number of enemies than to save allies.

“Don’t you think so?”

He flicked his finger, pressing down on Lecross’ wound.

“……”

Though in unbearable pain, his eyes remained steady, urging Glenn once more to kill Derus.

“Wait for me.”

Glenn accepted Lecross’ gaze into his heart and tightened his grip on Heavenly Tremor.

“Are you really going to try it? The moment you move, this nation will lose its king.”

Despite having energy waves that weren’t much weaker than his own, Derus felt no shame in taking hostages. It was an action that defied understanding.

‘And on top of that…’

That wound, he inflicted it through a sneak attack.

You could tell just by looking. King Lecross wasn’t stabbed from the front, he was struck from behind, caught off guard.

For someone with that level of power to use a fighting style more befitting an assassin… It was deeply unsettling.

‘I knew Derus Robert, the Sky Sword Saint, was a man forged from lies, but I didn’t think he’d changed this much.’

Derus had abandoned the chance to save the Black Tower’s master and instead infiltrated Owen to target the king Lecross.

Even though he had more than enough power to rescue his allies, he chose the strategy of killing an enemy instead. Glenn realized that because he still remembered the old Sky Sword Saint, it was even harder to grasp who Derus truly was now.

‘He’s difficult.’

I can’t read what that bastard is thinking.

Until now, thanks to my experience, I’ve been able to get a decent read on people based on their social standing and the way they speak and act.

But not Derus Robert.

Despite having the power to overwhelm even the Transcenders of the Five Kings and Five Demons, he showed no shame in launching sneak attacks or taking hostages. Glenn simply couldn’t comprehend him within his own understanding of the world.

“How strange.”

Derus, observing Glenn, lowered his chin slightly.

“You’re just a human, and there’s no one behind you, yet how did you reach such a level?”

He narrowed his eyes, as if he were the one unable to comprehend Glenn.

“Of course, being human, you can’t escape causality.”

He gave a smirk, as if he was fully aware of Glenn’s condition.

“Come on out now.”

When he raised his hand, a blond youth with white wings unfolded stepped out from behind a pillar. His stunning appearance alone was enough to shake one's mental composure. He wasn’t human. He was a celestial.

“I’ll leave him to you.”

Derus handed the hostage, king Lecross, to the celestial. Judging from his tone, there didn’t seem to be any hierarchical relationship between them.

“……”

Glenn furrowed his brow as he looked at the scene.

'He's no ordinary angel.'

Having witnessed Uriel's descent, he already knew that Derus had connections to the heaven realm.

If it were just an ordinary angel, he would have dealt with it in a single strike, but this one was different. He could sense real danger if he didn’t take it seriously.

“Actually…”

Derus Robert raised the sword soaked in king Lecross’ blood and pointed it toward his own heart.

“I’ve been curious about the difference between you and me. This is a good opportunity.”

He gave a small tilt of his chin, as if inviting him to fight.

Gooooooooh!

As Derus raised his sword, a chilling pressure surged from beneath his feet, like icy thorns piercing up from the ground.

“As your junior, I’ll make the first move.”

He stomped his left foot and thrust out his sword, which carried a blue radiance.

Chiiiiing!

Even before Derus' sword made contact, a sharp pain bloomed in Glenn's body and soul as if pierced straight through by a blade.

It was a level of swordsmanship that manifested the sword forged in the mental world into reality. As Glenn had expected, Derus Robert had reached a level different from the other Transcenders.

‘But it’s still not enough.’

Glenn twisted Heavenly Tremor diagonally and struck down Derus’ sword strike as it pierced through space.

Chaaaaaaang!

It was merely the clash of swords, yet a massive storm of aura erupted, ripping apart the royal palace. The roof flew off, walls crumbled, revealing the blue sky and the blackened earth.

“You blocked that so easily?”

Derus let out an incredulous breath. It looked like a simple thrust, but just now, he had unleashed the extreme limit of one of his secret techniques.

He had aimed to split not just Glenn, but also to tear apart the land behind him, he hadn’t expected it to be blocked so effortlessly.

“My turn now.”

Glenn raised Heavenly Tremor, and red lightning blazed along its blade. With a brilliant radiance, his sword came crashing down toward Derus’ head.

Kwarururururung!

The strike, as if it contained the thunder of the sky, carried an intense will to completely obliterate the enemy.

“Impressive!”

Even though the power of that strike could have torn apart the limbs of any Transcender among the Five Kings and Five Demons, but Derus, far from being afraid, charged in even closer.

Paaaaang!

An oceanic blue light burst forth from Derus' sword, cutting straight through Glenn’s lightning-infused strike just before it could explode.

It was the principle of severing sword that cut the flow before the technique could unleash its full power.

‘Just as I expected.’

Glenn narrowed his eyes as he watched Derus shake off the lingering lightning from his sword.

‘That bastard is already in a different league from the rest of the Five Kings and Five Demons.’

At this point, Derus Robert possessed the strength to defeat every other head of the Five Kings and Five Demons, aside from the Heavenly Demon and Glenn himself.

It hadn’t been that long since he disappeared, and yet he had returned with such overwhelming strength. Glenn couldn’t understand how it was possible.

“Now that I’ve tested the waters, how about we get serious?”

Derus twirled his wrist with a cold smile. The blue light surrounding his sword darkened ominously into pitch-black darkness.

‘Energy of death…’ (죽음의 기운)

The energy of death (죽음의 기운) was a refined and condensed form of the energy of death (사기). Naturally, it was far more dangerous and toxic, requiring even physical contact to be approached with caution. (Derus’ energy of death (죽음의 기운) was a superior version than the energy of death (사기) used by the DemonBlade, both 죽음의 기운 and 사기 literally mean "energy of death" or "death's energy" in english.)

Chiiiiiiiing!

Derus’ sword slash tore through the air, splitting the ground as black flames erupted. It felt as if he were summoning hell into this world.

Uuuuuuuuung...

Glenn didn’t flinch even as he witnessed the bizarre phenomena created by Derus’ sword.

Summoning an even denser lightning energy atop Heavenly Tremor, he swung wide, slicing through the darkness crashing toward him.

Kuwaaaaaaah!

Since ancient times, lightning has possessed the power to vanquish demons. The energy of death was powerless against the red lightning and was consumed without resistance.

"A fitting display for the Lightning God."

Despite his own sword strike being erased, he didn’t show the slightest panic. Instead, he unleashed another strike, this time laced with an even denser energy of death. It was as if darkness capable of blotting out the sun was rising around him.

Kuwaaaaaaaaang!

The energy of death and red lightning clashed violently, tearing open black and red cracks in the sky and earth.

The citizens of Owen, watching the battle unfold at the royal palace, fell to their knees, murmuring that the end of the world had come.

‘This is dragging on too long.’

I need to end this quickly.

Just as Glenn was about to slice through the darkness Derus had unleashed and move forward, he felt a chilling sensation on his back.

Ssssss…

A chilling sensation crept up his back.

Derus Robert. Just as he had done to Lecross earlier, he hid within the darkness and launched a sneak attack.

Because the energy of death had spread like a mist, it was nearly impossible to sense the sneak attack before it struck.

However, his body had already reached a state where he could manifest the visions in his mind into reality. Lowering Heavenly Tremor as if performing a sword salute, he deflected Derus’ grotesquely twisting sword.

Claaaang!

Derus was pushed back and exhaled deeply.

“You really are different.”

Lowering his trembling hand, he curled his lips into a grin.

"But not that far out of reach."

*   *   *

Lecross bit his lip as he watched the celestial behind him.

‘There’s no opening.’

Even if he hadn’t been injured, the angel’s energy wave alone made it clear this wouldn’t be an easy opponent.

Unlike the celestials that Raon had captured before, this one seemed to be a named high-ranking angel.

‘Then I’ll have to wait for an opportunity.’

If he moved carelessly now, he’d only get in the way. It seemed better to observe Glenn and Derus’ battle and wait for a chance to act.

‘To think Derus had grown this strong.’

It wasn’t just that he had defeated him, he was now clashing evenly with Glenn’s sword. That alone proved Derus had ascended far beyond the other heads of the Five Kings and Five Demons.

‘I can’t understand it.’

Even though Derus possessed strength rivaling Glenn’s, he used sneak attacks and dirty tricks like throwing rocks and dirt.

Even in a proper fight, he wouldn't be at a big disadvantage, so it made no sense that he would resort to such disgraceful methods.

‘Of course, in the end, it makes no difference.’

Whether Derus attacked with orthodox swordsmanship or launched sneak attacks, Glenn blocked every assault without fail. It was as if the god of the sword had descended, every movement was close to perfection.

‘I’ll place my trust in him and wait for my chance.’

As Derus’ energy of death crept up around him, tightening around his body, Lecross slowly forced it back and focused on the fight between the two.

*   *   *

Chiiiing!

Glenn brushed aside Derus’ sudden upward thrust from below and countered by thrusting Heavenly Tremor toward Derus’ heart.

Paaaaang!

A blast of red-black energy exploded, and Derus Robert’s shoulder was deeply torn open. Vivid red blood poured from his body in a grotesque stream.

“Tch.”

As if the wound didn’t concern him at all, Derus stood up and launched a chillingly sharp slash.

The energy of death emanating from his sword took the shape of a grim reaper’s scythe, slashing forward.

‘This one’s dangerous.’

A true Transcender is someone who can manifest their imagination into reality. If Derus envisioned that scythe as the weapon of a reaper, then even a mere touch could deliver a fatal, soul-inflicted wound.

Hoo…

Glenn let out a brief breath and infused true lightning into Heavenly Tremor.

Heavenly Lightning Cultivation.

Secret Technique, Soul Mirror Lightning.

A lightning bolt forged from his very soul manifested as a crimson flash and rained down.

Kuwaaaaaaang!

The scythe of the reaper and the heavenly lightning collided, annihilating everything in front of them.

Aura evaporated as blackish-red currents shot into the sky, and everything beneath it was erased black.

Gooooooh…

Glenn stood in place as if nothing had happened, tilting Heavenly Tremor slightly. It looked as though the battle had never occurred at all.

But Derus Robert was down on one knee, black blood trickling from beneath his lips.

“Ngh…”

He furrowed his brow, forcing out Glenn’s lightning energy that had climbed up through his sword and was now affecting his body and soul. For the first time in their evenly matched duel, a gap had emerged.

“That was… dangerous…”

As Derus let out a dry breath, Glenn’s sword rose once more. A grand arc of sword energy, trailing like a comet’s tail, came crashing down toward Derus and the celestial standing beside him.

“Tch!”

Derus twisted his lips and poured energy of death into his faltering sword. Fresh black flames surged like thorny vines, engulfing his entire blade.

Kuwaaaaaang!

Even that wasn’t enough. Glenn’s sword strike tore through the energy of death without hesitation, carving another bright red wound into Derus’ body.

“Guh…”

Derus was blown back, coughing up thick, blackened blood.

“This is insane… So this is a sword at its peak…”

Though their energy was evenly matched, the gap in swordsmanship was enormous. It felt as though facing Glenn head-on was simply impossible.

“So I’m still not there yet, huh…”

Derus laughed awkwardly as he retreated. As if nothing had happened, he steadied his body, wiped the blood from his lips, and stood tall once again.

“But still… I did gain something.”

He tilted his chin at Glenn, who stood quietly.

“So this is your full strength right now, without using the Heart Sword.”

He smiled, as if all was within his expectations.

“The next time we meet, I’ll be able to reach that level.”

“Who said I’d let you leave?”

Glenn raised Heavenly Tremor again, pointing it at both Derus and the celestial restraining Lecross.

“Can you really kill me? Even if it means killing your ally too?”

Standing beside the king Lecross, Derus curled his lips into a twisted grin.

“I can kill you.”

Glenn stared at him without the slightest tremor in his eyes.

“If I intend to kill someone, no one can escape.”

Unlike before, he had honed the blade of his Heart Sword to perfection. At this moment, he was certain that no matter who his opponent was, he could cleave their soul without fail.

But… that angel is a problem.

That angel carried a presence strikingly similar to Uriel, made him uneasy. Even if he did succeed in cutting down Derus’ soul, if that angel used some trick to bring him back, it would all be for nothing.

And more than that…

I'm not sure I'm ready yet.

Now that his Heart Sword was perfected, the backlash would be just as great. Even if he succeeded in killing Derus, he would also vanish from this world right afterward.

He wasn’t afraid of his own death, but worry for those left behind caused his fingertips to feel strangely numb.

“…”

Glenn bit down on his lip as he looked at Derus and Lecross.

“You really are serious, huh? In that case, I’ll give you a choice.”

Wiping the playful expression from his face, Derus made a small gesture with his hand.

Puhhhhk!

Without the slightest hesitation, the angel raised his hand and pierced Lecross' chest.

“Kuheok…!”

A fountain of blood burst from Lecross’ chest as he crumpled to the ground.

Thud.

The angel grabbed the back of the fallen king’s neck and flung his body to the right, then summoned a golden flash in its palm.

“You choose.”

As Derus lowered his finger, his and the angel’s bodies began to blur and fade.

“Kill me, or save this nation's father.”

He twisted his lips into a grin, stating that unless Glenn struck them down, they would disappear like this.

“No, actually… There's one more option. If you kill me, you’ll also disappear. Even if the Black Tower is destroyed, can the people left behind survive on their own?”

He shrugged, as if asking, “So, what will you do?”

“P-please, don’t worry about me! Kill him!”

Even as blood poured from his mouth, king Lecross cried out for Glenn to kill Derus.

“…”

Glenn tightened his grip on Heavenly Tremor and slowly raised his gaze in silence.

 

 

 

 

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