The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 956

 Chapter 956

 

A brilliant blue light that seemed to contain the sky and a chilling gray light as if dragged up from the depths of hell clashed in a world of pure white snowflakes.

Kuwaaaaaang!

A terrifying storm of light surged upward, followed by an explosion of demonic energy. In a space that felt like the sky and earth were collapsing, two beings of different colors violently collided.

Chiiiiiiiiing!

The clash between Wrath and Rage continued endlessly, and the demonic energy blooming between them condensed into a small orb, like a glass marble.

Wuuuuuung!

The silvery ultimate technique spreading from Wrath’s hand revealed a power capable of freezing the world, while the authority of ruin rising from beneath Rage’s feet sent out a wave that shattered space itself.

Jijijijik!

At the exact moment the authorities of the previous Demon King and the current Demon King collided head-on, the white, condensed orb of demonic energy shattered.

Kuwaaaaaaaang!

The ultimate techniques of the two Demon Kings and the demonic energy orb exploded at once, unleashing a colossal light that surged to engulf the entire world.

A power capable of erasing even souls stretched out in all directions, wiping away the pure white snowfield, and the frozen world tree, the manifestation of Wrath’s soul, was uprooted entirely.

And yet, at the very center of the explosion, both Wrath and Rage stood completely still amid the blackened smoke, as if both had died.

Fuuuuuuuh.

As the uprooted World Tree fell to the ground, the wind that followed pushed away the smoke, revealing the battlefield of the Demon Kings.

Wrath was kneeling on one knee, his hand pressed against the cracked ground, while Rage stood above him, hand extended over Wrath’s head, his eerie black eyes gleaming.

“I thought you’d always hold on to the moment you killed your own subordinates with your own hands and snapped my neck.”

Rage clicked his tongue softly as he looked at the fallen World Tree.

"To think you’ve forgotten all of that… You’ve changed a lot."

He let out a faint laugh, as if finding it strange.

“He hasn’t forgotten. He’s simply accepted what cannot be reversed.”

Wrath shook his head, saying there was no way he could forget.

“That’s what’s strange to me. The one who once radiated wrath with every breath has changed so much.”

Rage twirled his fingers above Wrath’s head.

“It seems a lot of time has passed since my death.”

He clicked his tongue again, saying that if Wrath still carried the same wrath from back then, the outcome of this fight might have been different.

“It’s not a matter of time.”

Wrath wiped the blood trailing from his mouth and narrowed his eyes.

“What matters is not how long or short the time was, but what one has gone through during that time.”

The time he spent as a king in the devildom was significant, but it was the time spent with Raon and the children of the Light Wind that allowed him to accept, with his heart, the uncontrollable wrath and his past.

He had undoubtedly grown weaker, but also stronger.

“You said you invested your power to the future… seems you've met someone you came to like.”

Rage let out a short sigh and lifted his head. His body began to tremble as if struck by a fierce wind.

“Someone the King of Essence likes?”

Wrath let out a hollow laugh, as if the idea was ridiculous.

“Quite the opposite. He’s a bastard he absolutely can’t stand. Every time he sees that weasel’s smug face, he gets the urge to punch him square in the jaw.”

He tightened his grip on the ground as Raon’s annoying face, always threatening him with Nadine bread, came to mind, and slowly pushed himself up.

Kuung!

In contrast, Rage lost strength in his legs and fell forward, kneeling on the blackened, cracked ground.

“But thanks to that damn bastard, he came to understand what the true root of the King of Essence is. His power may have weakened, but the King of Essence has not.”

It was true that much of his power had been taken by Raon and that he had lost his authority while saving the children of the Light Wind.

Yet beyond the boundary between humans and demons, he had found an answer about his very existence. The time spent with those kids had been the most important period in his life.

“…What a shame.”

Rage, leaning forward, coughed up dark, dead blood.

“I’m curious now… about that damned brat you spoke of. It would've been nice to see him, just once.”

“Forget it.”

Wrath firmly shook his head.

“If you’d met him, he would’ve stripped you bare, not just your power, but down to your underwear. He’s a complete lunatic.”

He shook his head again as he thought of Raon, the true monster of greed who had devoured even the authority of Greed, who could be called his sworn enemy.

“Doesn’t seem like an ordinary demon. Was he born with the fate of a king or something?”

Rage narrowed his eyes as he asked if the brat was a successor.

“He’s not a demon. He’s a human. And…”

Wrath straightened his back and looked down at Rage from above.

“He’s a monster who wouldn’t seem out of place even as a Demon God, not just a Demon King.”

“D-Demon God…?”

Rage's eyes flew wide open, utterly dumbfounded.

"You... surely you know what that title implies..."

“That’s exactly why the King of Essence’s saying it. He’s a vessel worthy of being a Demon God, one that surpasses even a Demon King.”

Wrath gave a calm shake of his head, as if saying he understood it even better than Rage.

“…Hah. Hearing you say that makes me truly want to see him for myself.”

Rage’s eyes quivered faintly, expressing regret that he would vanish from this place.

“Shut your mouth and disappear. You’re not even the real thing.”

Wrath snorted as he looked at Rage, whose entire body was trembling.

“No, I am real. I’m Rage, created from your memories.”

Rage slowly raised his hand, saying he couldn’t possibly be fake.

“Take it. This is your victory.”

A gray energy bloomed in his palm, rising and forming into a round sphere.

Taaak!

Wrath looked into Rage’s eyes and smacked away the hand holding the gray sphere.

“Even if you were born from my memory, he has no intention of accepting your power.”

He shook his head, stating that he would recover his strength on his own.

“Kuhuhuhu…”

Rage lowered his head slightly and let out a laughter that sounded like grinding teeth.

“You pass.”

“…Pass?”

“What do you mean?”

Wrath looked down at him, narrowing his eyes.
“For the monarch of Wrath to receive power from his enemy and suppress his wrath, that makes no sense. What’s right is to spit out that wrath to the very end.”

Rage nodded, saying Wrath made the right choice.

“Take it. No, this isn’t something you have a choice about.”

The moment he said that, gray energy surged up from the cracked ground and wrapped around Wrath.

Fwaaaaaa!

As soon as the gray energy touched Wrath’s body, it turned into a deep blue coldness and seeped into his body and soul.

“Hmm…”

Wrath narrowed his eyes as he inspected his body, which now sparkled white as if it had just been dusted with snow.

‘My soul’s level has risen.’

The soul level, which had dropped due to him using power while ignoring causality, rose sharply. It wasn’t quite back to its original state, but it wasn’t an exaggeration to say he’d gained decades' worth of recovery.

‘No… It’s not just that.’

Even the authority of <Wrath>, which had been consumed while giving Raon stats and traits, had been strengthened.

It seemed the power Rage possessed had become his own authority and been absorbed. It was a harvest beyond expectation, but it didn’t bring him joy.

“Rage.”

Wrath walked forward heavily and stood before him.

“The King of Essence will never forgive you.”

He looked down at Rage, grinding his teeth.

“If you hadn’t done all that madness, no one would’ve died. Whether in life or death, the King of Essence will curse you forever.”

Clenching his fist, he swore never to forget what had happened.

“That’s good.”

Rage let out a faint laugh and nodded his trembling head.

“Even in death, it means I’ll remain in the deepest parts of your memory.”

“You bastard…”

Wrath frowned as he looked at the smiling Rage.

“Kuhuhuhu.”

Rage let out a twisted laugh and leaned back against the cold ground. It seemed all his strength had left him.

Wuuuuuung!

As he collapsed, a circular dimensional gate of blue flames opened in the air.

“Kill me and step through that gate. The pain is unbearable, I’d appreciate it if you ended it quickly.”

Rage closed his eyes as he asked to be killed. Like a dried leaf crumbling away, his body began slowly turning to dust.

“I won’t let you die as easily as before. Disappear only after you’ve felt enough pain.”

Wrath narrowed his eyes as he watched Rage’s legs scatter like sand.

‘There’s still a bit of energy left, but it should be fine.’

To this place, the Chamber of Self, he was no different from an outsider.

Since he didn’t know when this space might disappear, he had done the same in both the black ocean and the cave that reflected the past, rather than absorbing all the power spread throughout those places, he had quickly taken only the most vital core and left.

Since he had already taken everything he needed from Rage, he figured it was better to leave the remnants of his body to scatter on their own, and let him feel the pain as it happened.

“How cruel. Exactly what I’d expect from the monarch of Wrath.”

“Only toward the likes of you.”

Wrath kicked Rage’s jaw, which was still smiling even in pain, and then turned away.

“Die. And die again.”

Wrath gave his final words to the vanishing Rage, then stepped into the dimensional gate formed of blue flame.

Fwaaaaaaaaa!

It felt as if gravity had disappeared, his legs floated upward in the air. But since it didn’t feel like his body was being forcefully dragged, he let himself go with the flow.

It felt like throwing himself onto a warm, soft blanket. He closed his eyes, enveloped in a deep comfort he hadn’t felt in a long time.

How much time passed? When he opened his eyes again, feeling refreshed as if waking from a deep sleep, he found a massive moon right before his eyes. It flickered with a mysterious silver glow, as if frozen over by frost.

“Hah…”

Wrath let out a dry chuckle at the sight of the massive silver moon, radiating a chilling cold so intense it sent shivers down his spine.

‘What the hell is this…?’

Just looking at the moon made it feel like his soul was freezing over. An immense cold, enough to shock even himself, flowed within that noble moonlight.

“Is it telling me to obtain the power of this moon?”

If he could absorb all the cold dwelling within that moon, not only could he recover all the power he’d lost so far, he might even ascend to a higher level.

‘So the King of Essence has finally received his fateful opportunity!’

Wrath clenched both fists as he looked up at the blade-like chill of the moonlight.

‘You damn weasel! You’re not the only one who gets all the lucky encounters!’

He had always envied Raon, who devoured fortuitous opportunities like they were three meals a day. But finally, such a chance had come to him as well.

If he could just obtain the power of that moon, he would be able to return every single humiliation he’d suffered.

“…Hoo.”

Wrath exhaled a breath laced with tension and slowly closed his eyes. As he began circulating Glacier and drew in the cold of the moonlight, it felt as though blades were tearing through the inside of his body.

‘This isn’t ordinary cold.’

If it had been, it would’ve transformed into Glacier the moment it touched his breath. But this one would require a long and thorough process of refinement, and with it, an excruciating amount of pain.

‘So it won’t be given freely? Fine. That only makes it more fun. Because…’

Wrath curled the corners of his lips into a faint smirk.

‘He has already endured pain beyond excruciating…’

He clenched his teeth with a grinding snap as he pictured Raon beaming while chewing on that wretched Nadine bread. Ignoring the pain stirred by the cold, he pushed Glacier to its limit.

‘This kind of pain is nothing before Nadine bread!’

*   *   *

“Hmm…”

Raon opened his eyes, sensing a chilly cold rising from beneath his feet.

‘Where is this…?’

The blue sky was covered in a gray haze, and the snow-covered ground had been completely shattered, with countless craters gouged into it.

Judging from the energy lingering in the area, it had to be Transcenders, monsters who stood at the very peak of the world, who had fought here.

‘The World Tree… did Wrath lose here?’

Even the frozen world tree that always appeared when Wrath descended had been uprooted entirely. That meant his opponent must’ve been someone nearly impossible to handle, even for Ras.

‘I can’t sense Wrath’s presence anywhere.’

Raon crossed the broken ground like stepping stones and entered deeper into the cracked snowfield.

‘Which way should I go…’

Just as he was wondering where to find Wrath, he spotted a body lying on the ground. It was a black-haired man, and his body was slowly melting away.

‘Is he… still alive?’

The man’s lower half was already gone, and even from the upper body, only his head and right arm remained. And yet, oddly enough, there was still a faint trace of life coming from him.

‘Was this the one Wrath fought? He does look strong…’

Just as Raon tilted his head in curiosity, the man, who he’d thought was dead, slowly opened his eyes. His pupils were a deep, murky black, as if reflecting pure darkness.

“A human…? Why is a human here?”

The black-haired, black-eyed man tilted his head, seemingly unable to understand the situation.

“I should be the one asking that. Who are you?”

Raon narrowed his eyes and looked down at the man.

“Ahh…”

The black-eyed man gave a thin smile, as if something had clicked.

“You must be that human Wrath spoke of.”

He nodded as if he recognized Raon.

“So you were Wrath’s trial, huh.”

Raon clicked his tongue lightly. The way the man mentioned Wrath’s name and recognized him suggested he was the trial created by the Chamber of Self.

“Your martial power is decent… But you're fundamentally different from the humans I've seen before.”

The black-eyed man smirked, twisting the corner of his lips in amusement.

“Cut the nonsense and answer me. Who are you?”

Raon stood before him, tilting his chin upward in a demanding gesture.

“I’m the former monarch. A pitiful king who was betrayed and killed by Wrath.”

The black-eyed man bit his lip as he claimed Wrath had stabbed him in the back.

“The fact that you arrived before I disappeared must be the will of the Demon God. If you would just grant me the power to exact revenge…”

“What a load of bullshit.”

Raon lifted his foot and stomped on the man’s head.

“Wrath would never stab someone in the back.”

Having shared countless days and battles with Wrath, he could say that with certainty. That guy might be betrayed, but he would never betray someone else.

“Kuhuhuhu…”

The black-eyed man let out a twisted laugh, as if realizing there was no fooling Raon.

“Now I understand why Wrath said you were different.”

He shook his head, muttering that it couldn’t be helped.

“But still, I’ll remain in his memory forever, buried deep in his pain, and always—w-what are you doing?!”

Rage flinched mid-sentence, eyes widening as he realized something was happening to him.

“Shut that mouth for a second.”

Without a care for Rage’s shouting, Raon casually rolled Rage’s head with his foot like a ball.

“What do you think you’re doing?! I am a Demon King!”

Rage gritted his teeth when he saw Raon’s face again.

“You’ve still got a bit of energy left. And since you’re Wrath’s enemy, I guess it’s fine if I devour you.”

“A mere human dares say he’ll devour me? Know your place and stop spouting nonsense!”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

With a faint smile, Raon placed his hand on Rage’s head.

“W-Wait! I’m the former Demon King, Rage—!”

“Don’t care. I’ll be taking it now.”

Sensing danger, Rage tried to reveal his name in desperation, but Raon ignored him and immediately activated both the Ring of Fire and Glacier.

“Graaagh! W-Wait!”

The black-haired, black-eyed man screamed in agony as if his vitality was being ripped from him, flailing his hand in the air.

“Just wait a little… There's still something I have to say to Wrath when he comes out, so he never forgets me...”

“If you tell me your name, I’ll pass it on.”

“I… I am—”

Raon told him to say his name, then immediately channeled Glacier at full power and absorbed every last trace of energy from Rage’s body in a single breath.

“Kkeueeugh…!”

Rage’s body vanished in an instant, along with the mouth he needed to speak, which turned to dust as well.

‘You told me to say my name, you insane bastard!’

It was the first time he’d ever met a madman who told someone to speak and then didn’t even give them the chance. And now, without a mouth, he couldn’t speak at all.

‘This… thing is human?’

He’s worse than any demon!

The moment the thought struck him, this human was worse than any demon, Wrath’s words echoed in his mind.

[Forget it. If you’d met him, he would’ve stripped you bare, not just your power, but down to your underwear. He’s a complete lunatic.]

‘Crazy…’

As his head turned to dust, Rage realized why Wrath harbored such resentment toward humans, and then melted into a gray light.

“Hmm…”

Raon clicked his tongue briefly as he sensed Rage’s authority gathering into his palm.

“Are all demons charity angels or something?”

 

Advance Chapters