The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 967

 Chapter 967

 

“Hoo…”

Glenn narrowed his eyelids slightly as he watched Raon standing before Karoon.

‘What on earth happened in the meantime?’

As far as he knew, after coming out of the Chamber of Self, Raon had been training the swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace and helping Aris with her recovery.

'He helped Aris with her cultivation, and yet, instead of getting weaker, he got stronger...'

It was hard to understand.

Raon hadn't focused on his own training, he had helped others, and yet he had returned even stronger. Glenn let out a dry chuckle at the absurdity of it.

'No, it's not just that he got stronger. It feels more like he's settled everything.'

It wasn't simply an increase in strength, it felt more like Raon had fully adapted to the enlightenment and realization he had obtained from the Chamber of Self.

The tremendous heat and cold energy that had once seemed ready to explode at any moment had now perfectly harmonized within his body and mind.

‘It was already surprising enough that he had helped Aris recover successfully.’

And yet, he has surprised me again.

Aris had still been under the curse’s influence, and even with the Dragon Heart, Glenn had judged that she wouldn't be able to break through to Transcendence immediately.

However, thanks to Raon’s help during her cultivation, Aris broke through the wall of Transcendence at once, completely defying his expectations.

Of course, her combat power wasn't the same as before she was cursed, but even so, it was something Glenn himself would have found difficult to accomplish. He couldn't help but admire Raon's ability once more.

‘Should I say it’s fortunate that I didn’t intervene?’

In truth, if Raon hadn’t acted, Glenn had been planning to help Aris’ cultivation personally.

But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t be confident that he could have helped her recover as completely as Raon had.

‘What a blessing he is.’

Glenn gazed at Raon with a gentle smile.

'He's almost too good to be my grandson.'

Not only did he possess outstanding talent in martial arts, but he also had maintained the warmth in his heart since he was a child. That lovable nature made Glenn’s lips curl into a soft, unconscious smile.

‘Hmm?’

As Glenn was smiling, his gaze shifted to Karoon standing before Raon, and his expression tightened.

‘That boy…’

He's nervous.

Karoon seemed intimidated and shrunk back, overwhelmed by the formidable energy wave and sword energy emanating from Raon. At this rate, he wouldn't even be able to display half of his original strength.

"Enough glaring at each other."

Glenn stepped between Raon and Karoon, shaking his head.

“It’s not time to begin yet. Step back and prepare yourselves.”

He gestured for them to retreat so Karoon could loosen up a little.

“Yes.”

Raon, appearing as calm as ever, nodded lightly and stepped back. He even rotated his wrist, showing he didn’t mind starting right away.

“…Understood.”

Karoon exhaled a rough breath and also stepped back. Though he was still tense, it seemed he had escaped from the heavy pressure Raon was exerting.

"Whoa? What's with that face? Don't tell me…"

Balder sidled up to Karoon with a sly grin.

"Are you scared? Of your little nephew?"

He twirled his finger forward, teasing him for his stiff expression.

“Shut your mouth.”

Karoon frowned and swung his elbow sideways.

Thud!

His elbow dug into Balder’s waist so forcefully that it looked like it could break him in two.

“Guh…”

Balder dropped to his knees on the spot, gasping for breath from the sudden blow.

"We're right before the spar. Don't provoke him for no reason."

Denier clicked his tongue in exasperation and started dragging Balder toward the edge of the training ground.

“I-I was just trying to help him relax…”

Balder quivered his lips, grumbling that he couldn’t even make a joke.

"Now’s not the time for that."

Denier’s voice turned dry, like a parched field in a drought.

“If you want to climb to greater heights yourself, you’d better watch this fight carefully. Though… I’m not sure if you’ll even be able to follow it.”

With eyes as cold and clear as glass marbles, he turned to watch Raon and Karoon.

“If you’re both ready, step forward.”

At Glenn’s signal, Raon and Karoon moved to the center of the training ground.

“For warriors of your level, there’s no need for a signal. Begin whenever you’re ready.”

Saying he wouldn't give a signal, he stepped back some distance.

"I'm curious to see where your limits lie."

Karoon met Raon’s gaze and tilted his chin slightly.

"If others cross the ocean of martial arts riding small boats, it feels like you're the only one sailing forward aboard a grand ship."

He acknowledged Raon's talent in a calm tone, giving him a nod of recognition.

"Isn't it the same for you as well, palace master?"

Raon shrugged lightly as he looked at Karoon.

“There was a time I thought so.”

Karoon let out a faint laugh and lowered his gaze.

"After reaching Transcendence and feeling myself rapidly growing stronger, I believed I had surpassed my older sister. But standing before you, I realize... I'm nothing more than a firefly before the sun."

His voice tightened as he continued.

"But that doesn't mean I'm acknowledging defeat before we even begin. The outcome of a duel isn't determined solely by the strength of one's martial arts."

Admitting Raon's strength, Karoon drew his sword. A blue flash, imbued with his will, rose along the surface of the silver blade.

"I'll be going all out from the very start."

He pointed the tip of his sword toward Raon’s throat, signaling he intended to give it everything from the first move.

“Then I will face you with all my strength as well.”

Raon bit down firmly on his molars and drew Heavenly Drive.

“And I agree, victory and defeat in a duel aren’t determined by strength alone. There’s no such thing as absolute in this world.”

Saying he hoped for a good duel, Raon pointed Heavenly Drive toward Karoon’s throat.

“……”

“……”

Neither Raon nor Karoon moved, keeping their swords raised against each other.

Glenn and Denier, watching their standoff, also held their breaths as if turned into statues.

“Guh!”

Only Balder, unable to endure the pain in his waist, let out a very short cough.

Clang!

At that moment, Raon and Karoon’s swords shot forward simultaneously.

*   *   *

Claaang!

Raon narrowed his eyes as he blocked Karoon’s strike, which carried a natural flow yet hid a sharpness within it, like the claw of a wild beast.

'He’s gotten stronger.'

Karoon’s sword was sharper and aimed more cleanly at his vital points than during their first spar.

‘Did he gain enlightenment from our previous spar?’

It seemed that during the time Raon was in the Chamber of Self, Karoon had also achieved growth.

It was an impressive accomplishment, but even so, Raon felt that with his current level of martial prowess, he would not lose to Karoon—or anyone else.

Fwish!

Raon smacked his lips slightly and twisted the wrist gripping Heavenly Drive.

Whoosh!

Flames erupted from the blade of Heavenly Drive, instantly swallowing the powerful sword strike that Karoon had unleashed.

Boom!

Karoon’s series of consecutive strikes stopped abruptly, and his body was flung backward. The difference in their level of martial arts and strength was overwhelming.

"Ugh…"

Karoon frowned as if he hadn’t expected his sword technique’s flow to break so easily. He bit his lip lightly and charged from the left with swift footwork.

"I will end this with this one strike!"

Karoon dropped his sword, which had carried a lofty spirit reminiscent of the towering peaks of the North Grave Mountain.

‘I have to end this in one strike.’

Through the clash just now, it became certain that Raon’s swordsmanship and aura had surpassed his own.

If he wanted even the slightest chance of victory, he would have to bring out everything he had right now.

Rumble!

Karoon drew up the aura from his energy center to the extreme and unleashed a newly refined ultimate technique. It was the Heavy Lotus Art, said to be capable of even severing the enemy's very breath.

Clang!

With the resolve to stake his life on this one strike, Karoon charged toward Raon.

Fwoooosh!

At the moment Karoon’s sword strike came rushing in, Raon rotated the Ring of Fire around his heart.

Fwoosh!

In that fleeting instant, the Ring of Fire resonated, thoroughly disassembling and analyzing the principles embedded within Karoon’s Heavy Lotus Art.

‘Destructive sword, flexible sword…’

Raon extended his left foot, incorporating the principles of the versatile sword, capable of breaking Karoon’s sword strike, into the Azure Sky Sword.

As he drew the Azure Sky's Judgment imbued with the destructive sword and flexible sword, the heat of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation at 10-stars blazed into golden flames along the blade.

Neither Raon nor Karoon dodged. Both swordsmen, trusting the swords they had honed, brought their blades down towards each other's eyes.

Kwaaaaaang!

The blue light and the golden flames collided head-on, unleashing a tremendous shockwave that roared across the heavens and earth.

However, the result of the clash became clear almost immediately.

Crackle!

Although Karoon’s ultimate technique carried an energy wave powerful enough to split even the sky, it could not overcome the golden flames of the Azure Sky's Judgment rising above it.

The blue light was devoured by the golden flames, losing strength little by little. It wasn’t merely dismantling, it was overwhelming destruction. The sword strike Karoon had unleashed with all his might crumbled helplessly before Raon’s sword.

Crunch!

As if his strength had been drained, Karoon dropped to his knees on the spot.

He was barely managing to hold onto his sword, but it looked like he could no longer swing it.

“Damn it…”

He tried to use his sword like a cane to push himself back up, but his body wouldn’t obey him and he collapsed backward.

“Haa…”

Raon raised a trembling hand and wiped away the blood that had trickled down from his lips.

'So this is how I won.'

He had defeated a Transcender who, until just recently, had been evenly matched with him, suffering nothing more than minor internal and external injuries. Even to himself, the growth he had achieved felt astonishing.

“It was a good spar.”

Steadying his breathing, he bowed his head toward Karoon.

"I'd like to force myself to stand and fight again, but…."

Karoon frowned slightly as he looked up at Raon.

"It wouldn't mean much."

He shook his head and admitted his defeat.

"If you were just strong, I could have endured it somehow. But you dug straight into the vital points of my swordsmanship. There was no way to overcome that."

Karoon tightened his grip on the sword, calling Raon’s ability frightening to an extreme.

"It’s thanks to the spar I had with the palace master before entering the Chamber of Self."

Raon wasn't just saying that out of courtesy.
It was because the spar with Karoon had allowed him to recognize his own shortcomings and achieve faster growth.

"Spare me the flattery."

Karoon snorted lightly as if to say he was fine.

"Leave me be and go."

He waved his hand, telling Raon to go, and then collapsed backward again.
It seemed the mental shock was greater than the physical pain.

"I’ll see you again next time."

Understanding Karoon’s feelings, Raon bowed to him and the others and quietly left the training ground.

"What, what was that…?"

Balder let out an empty breath, unable to hide his disbelief.

"He really lost like that? The gap was that big?"

He shook his head as if he still couldn’t believe it.

"Considering the difference in martial prowess, he actually fought well."

Glenn smacked his lips as he watched Raon’s back.

"He managed to inflict internal injuries and dealt a heavy blow to his body too."

He shook his head, noting that although Raon seemed fine, he too had taken some damage.

"Of course, it won't satisfy you."

Glenn lowered his gaze, as if understanding Karoon's disappointment.

"Outsiders call our house a gathering of monsters, but that kid... even to us, he’s a monster."

Denier smiled faintly as he looked at the spot where Raon had been.

Though he had not yet reached the realm of Transcendence himself, as a Grandmaster, he seemed unsurprised, as if he had expected this outcome from the start.

“Are you alright? Should I help you up?”

Balder swallowed dryly and cautiously approached Karoon, who had covered his face with his sleeve.

"...I'm fine."

Karoon waved his hand as if telling him to just leave.

“But still…”

“Leave him alone.”

Glenn patted Balder’s shoulder and headed toward the exit first.

“Denier, you too.”

Glenn gestured for Denier to follow and led the group out of the training ground.

“Yes.”

Denier gave a small nod and also headed toward the training ground’s door.

Before stepping outside, he paused for a moment, looking at Karoon with eyes as clear and emotionless as glass, then quietly exited.

“Haa…”

Karoon let out a rough breath as he stared up at the bright sky.

“Damn it…”

Strength was returning to his hand, but it was already too late.
His opponent had already left after making him fully taste defeat.

‘I didn’t expect the gap to be this big.’

Of course, if he hadn’t gone all out from the start, he might have dragged it out a little longer.

But in the end, he would have reached the same result, and that realization made his chest ache as if it were collapsing in on itself.

"I lost completely... but still…"

Karoon slowly lifted his upper body.

"I have to keep moving forward. No, I will catch up."

Unlike before, his mind wasn’t filled with envy or resentment toward Raon. Instead, only a burning desire to catch up to him remained.

'But... I can't do it alone.'

Karoon drove his sword into the ground and pushed himself up onto both legs.

Looking at the shadow drawn by the sun, he gave a firm nod.

‘I’ll need help.’

*   *   *

After finishing the spar with Karoon, Raon headed back to the annex building.

You could’ve at least comforted him.

Wrath clicked his tongue shortly.

He must be deeply disappointed, seeing someone he used to be on par with suddenly soar far ahead.

Wrath frowned, saying Raon was too cold-hearted.

'In a situation like that, it's better not to say anything.'

Raon shook his head calmly.

'Especially if it’s coming from me, it would do more harm than good.'

Had he still lived as an assassin, he might have agreed with Wrath’s thinking, but after living as a warrior for some time, he had come to understand their way of thinking, even if only a little.

Right now, Karoon would want to be left alone.

‘But…’

I seem to have gotten stronger than I thought?

'I knew I had gotten stronger, but I didn’t expect to defeat a Transcender with only minor internal injuries and some torn muscles.'

Raon had felt that he had grown stronger, but he hadn’t expected to defeat Karoon so easily.

Of course, it had been possible because he had already seen Karoon’s ultimate technique before.
But even taking that into account, it had been far easier than he expected.

You fool.

Wrath tilted his chin toward Raon.

Your growth isn't limited to swordsmanship alone. Your stamina, mental strength, physical ability, aura, and experience have all improved. Those factors combined naturally result in the martial prowess you're displaying now.

Wrath narrowed his eyes, repeating the very same thoughts he had once spoken before.

‘I see.’

Raon curled his right hand into a fist and smacked his lips.

'It feels like I'm finally getting a little closer to my dream.'

He had worried a lot about whether he could ever reach Derus, but now, ever so slightly, he felt like he was beginning to catch a glimpse of the man's back.

'Precisely because of times like this, I need to work even harder.'

Smiling faintly, he walked toward the annex building but stopped in front of Federick’s mansion.

‘I wonder if aunt is still sleeping?’

Even though it had been a long time since she should have woken up, Aris still hadn’t gotten up, which made him a little worried.

‘Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to stop by.’

Raon changed course and headed for Federick’s mansion instead of the annex building.

“Did your spar end already?”

Federick widened his eyes in surprise, as if wondering why Raon was back so quickly.

"Yes. Somehow, it ended earlier than expected."

"You even crushed Karoon now? Truly insane."

He let out an incredulous breath.

“I was lucky. More importantly, is aunt still asleep?”

“She woke up.”

Federick nodded, saying Aris had just woken up a little while ago.

"Really? Then—"

“No need to go.”

Just as Raon was about to head into Aris’ room, Federick raised his hand to stop him.

"She already left."

“Huh? Already?”

For someone who had just woken up today to disappear immediately, it was such a typical, almost nostalgic act of Aris.

“Where did she go?”

“I don't know. She just said she was going to find something she had lost and dashed out immediately.”

Federick shook his head, as if to say, "You know how she is."

"If it's something she lost..."

Repeating Federick’s words in his mind, Raon narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t tell me…”

 

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