The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 959

 Chapter 959

 

"Hmm…."

Raon opened his eyes in front of the exit of the Chamber of Self, which shimmered with a golden light.

‘Is this the third death?’

Even while screaming in fear, Wrath had unleashed his frost blade and slashed Raon’s neck. He might have called Raon a pervert, but when it came to action, Wrath never hesitated.

‘Now it’s certain.’

Raon nodded slightly as he controlled the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation rising from his energy center.

‘There’s no loss from dying here.’

Since neither his body nor mind had experienced any changes after dying three times, it seemed that death didn't truly exist in this place. Although it still hurt terribly and was undoubtedly frightening.

‘But the bigger problem is…’

I still haven’t figured out Wrath’s attacks.

Even after receiving Wrath's strike three times, Raon had no idea how or from where that cold energy came.

'Let's get going first.'

Raon smacked his lips as he stepped forward into the blue ocean.

‘What kind of technique is it? It's clearly a blade aimed at my neck…’

But I can't see the trajectory at all.

Considering how his head was cut off each time, it was obvious Wrath's strike was targeting his neck, yet he couldn't even catch a glimpse of it.

‘Should I try placing Heavenly Drive in front of my neck from the start this time?’

If he positioned Heavenly Drive in front of his neck and activated the Firewall on both sides, he might be able to block Wrath's attack.

'Yeah. Let's try it.'

As long as Wrath remained in the Chamber of Self, there were practically unlimited chances. He wanted to block that attack using every possible method available.

Raon continued cultivating Glacier, refined his footwork, and mentally replayed his fight with Wrath.

He moved forward, completely absorbed in concentration, recalling each fight vividly. Before he realized it, he'd arrived at the ruined snowfield where Wrath awaited.

“You, you’re here again!”

The moment Wrath saw him, he let out a wailing scream as if he’d seen a ghost.

"What on earth are you thinking?! Not knowing what schemes you're plotting makes killing you feel disgusting every single time!"

Wrath ground his teeth, desperately wanting an explanation.

“What you need to do is simple. Just kill me.”

Raon didn’t want to break his focused state, so he reached out as a signal to begin.

"If you don’t explain, he absolutely will not kill you! No, he'll kill himself first and escape this space!"

Wrath took a stance as if he was about to strangle his own neck.

“This time, even if you threaten me with Nadine bread, it won’t work! You’re terrifying, you bastard!”

He furrowed his brows, saying he wouldn’t move a finger unless Raon explained the situation.

“Alright. Calm down.”

Raon let out a short sigh and lowered the hand that was about to draw Heavenly Drive.

“Hmm…”

Wrath still eyed Raon with narrowed, suspicious eyes.

"You asked what I'm doing? Of course, it's training."

Raon lightly tapped the scabbard of Heavenly Drive.

“Tr-training?”

Wrath's eyes widened as if he couldn't believe what he'd just heard.

“You’re saying you’re training by dying?”

“Yeah.”

Raon nodded calmly.

“You already know. There’s no penalty or loss for dying here. My aura doesn’t decrease, my swordsmanship level doesn’t drop, and my soul’s grade won't drop either.”

He gave a light smile and tapped his chest with a fist.

“That makes this the perfect place for gaining real combat experience.”

“Ha…”

Wrath let out a dumbfounded breath of air.

"So you asked me to kill you repeatedly for that reason? How could someone be this insane…?"

Wrath shuddered slightly as if he still couldn't believe it.

"What exactly is inside that head of yours?"

Wrath bit down on his lip.

“No matter how certain you are that you'll come back to life, any living being should still instinctively fear death, yet you…”

Every creature with life instinctively feared death.

It was an instinctive feeling engraved from birth, something that no amount of training could eliminate. Yet, this guy had never shown any fear of death from the start. The more Wrath observed him, the more incomprehensible he seemed.

“Moreover, don’t you feel the pain when you die? The agony doesn’t disappear, so how can you keep coming at me again and again like this?”

Even if your head is cut off, a person doesn’t die immediately. They would first sink into darkness after experiencing extreme pain and terror, yet he kept charging into it as if it were nothing. It was horrifying.

“Well, yeah, it does hurt.”

Raon admitted that it was indeed very painful, gently touching the neck that had already been cut three times. Although he said it casually, his expression was so calm it left Wrath dumbfounded.

“Haven’t you considered the possibility of not waking up again?”

Wrath exhaled deeply, revealing clenched white teeth.

“You might have revived until now, there’s no guarantee it’ll keep happening! What if you really die next time? You’ve never considered that?”

He felt immensely frustrated, as if dealing with a brat who didn’t know fear.

“Of course I have. Honestly, it scares me too.”

Raon nodded while looking into Wrath’s flickering blue eyes.

“But I don’t have much time. Even if it’s just a frayed rope, I have to grab onto it and climb.”

"It's a bit embarrassing for the King of Essence to say this, but you’ve grown at a pace unheard of even in devildom. Just what is it that’s driving you like this?"

Wrath frowned deeply, unable to understand.

“You already know. I have a lot of things tying me down.”

Raon gave a faint smile and shook his head.

‘First, there’s Derus Robert.’

This time, Derus Robert had displayed a strength overwhelming enough to surpass even the Silent Sword Sovereign Lecross.

Since Derus had revealed a strength even Glenn acknowledged, the current Raon wouldn’t be able to touch even a single hair on his head. Taking risks was necessary to close that gap.

‘And there are many promises I need to keep as well.’

He had to destroy Eden, which had caused sadness for his mother, father, and Sia, defeat the White Blood Religion’s leader to rescue Martha’s mother, and help Runaan to defeat Syria by herself.

Not to mention the wishes of his subordinates like Burren, Dorian, Krein, and Mark Goetten. He wanted to make all of them come true.

Despite gaining nicknames like the youngest Transcender, the greatest genius in history, and even Sword Emperor, he had no time to indulge in such fame.

No matter what method or approach he used, he had to grow stronger as quickly as possible.

“Haaaah...”

Wrath let out a long sigh, gazing up at the sky like he was exhaling smoke.

“Every time the King of Essence sees you, he realizes it more… You’re the craziest one among all the demons and celestials he’s ever met.”

“I’m not a demon or a celestial, though?”

“From now on, the King of Essence will no longer consider you human.”

He shook his head, saying that seeing Raon had completely broken his image of what humans were supposed to be.

“Anyway, you understand now, right?”

Raon gave a faint smile as he drew Heavenly Drive from his waist.

“Then I’m counting on you.”

He bent his knees slightly into a defensive stance.

“Kill me with everything you’ve got.”

Now that he had explained everything, he no longer wanted to threaten Wrath with Nadine bread. Just as he had spoken from the heart, he wanted Wrath to face him with the same sincerity.

"To think you intend to keep all those promises...."

Wrath let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.

"What an utter fool."

“Even Demon Kings keep their promises. How could I, a human, lie?”

Raon nodded, saying he’d learned that from a foolish Demon King.

“Fine. If you want it that badly…”

Wrath rose to his feet, as if he’d made up his mind.

“I’ll kill you with all my strength.”

The moment Wrath finished speaking, a flash of blue light flickered before Raon’s eyes. Before he could even process it, his own neck flew off.

‘There was a flicker of light at his fingertips…’

Raon licked his lips, recalling the light he saw in the final moment.

‘Then the trajectory of the frost must’ve come from the left side…’

Even as the darkness of death blurred his vision, he was already thinking about the next fight as he closed his eyes.

“Phew…”

Wrath shook his head as he watched Raon’s body slowly vanish.

“No matter how many times the King of Essence sees it, that guy is not normal.”

Death is impartial to all things. Even archangels and demon kings cannot escape it and thus fear it, but that fear seemed completely absent in Raon.

As if he had actually died once before.

‘Well… He can at least understand why he wants to grow stronger.’

Saving Martha’s mother, destroying Eden, helping Runaan overcome her trauma with her own hands, helping Burren gain Karoon’s recognition, helping Dorian become the president of Sephia Company, and Raon himself becoming the head of house Zieghart.

Every goal Raon had set for himself was a difficult one. And because they weren’t just for his own sake, there were surely things he wouldn't be able to accomplish.

But not once did he seem willing to give up on any of them. He wanted to make all of those wishes come true, even if it meant sacrificing himself.

‘So, he wants to grow stronger huh…’

To be honest, Wrath had gone through a similar period in the past, so he didn’t find it hard to understand Raon. Of course, not to the insane degree of treating death like it was nothing.

‘This might take…’

Wrath let out a faint chuckle as he sat at the base of the World Tree.

‘…a very long time.’

Perhaps it was because he had met eyes with Raon, eyes that reminded him too much of his own past. Strangely, he didn’t feel hungry at all.

While recalling a past that was both painful and bitter, the dimensional gate opened, and the next Raon appeared.

“Let’s start right away.”

Raon nodded, as if asking Wrath to go all out again.

“Fine. I’ll kill you.”

Wrath rose to his feet and unleashed the same blade of frost he had used to cut Raon’s neck before, pouring his full power into it.

Wuuuuuuung!

Raon, seemingly having sensed something this time, twisted the trajectory of Heavenly Drive slightly. But the blade of frost flowed in a graceful arc like moonlight and cleanly cut through his neck.

“T-the angle…”

Even as he died, Raon's eyes flashed as if saying he would come again, before he disappeared.

“But this…”

Wrath licked his lips as he rubbed the hand that still remembered the sensation of killing Raon.

"This is... actually kind of fun"

After realizing Raon wasn’t trying to take revenge on him, the fear of killing him began to fade, and in its place came a strange sense of release. It felt as if the frustration and stress that had piled up inside him were unraveling, little by little.

‘Since things have come to this…’

Wrath looked toward the dimensional gate where Raon would surely appear again, and the corners of his lips slowly curled upward.

‘Might as well enjoy it for a while.’

*   *   *

As soon as Raon revived from death, he stepped back onto the ocean. As he moved forward using the Supreme Harmony Steps and channeled Glacier, he recalled what had happened right before he died.

‘There was a blue light at his fingertips.’

Just before his neck was cut, a faint blue light had flared from Wrath’s left hand. It seemed the attack had come from his left, not his right, as expected.

‘That’s why the angle was off.’

He had prepared to defend against a strike from the right, so of course he hadn't had enough time to block it.

‘This time, I should raise the Firewall from the opposite side.’

Fighting a left-handed opponent was completely different from facing a right-handed one. If he wanted even a single chance at blocking the attack, he’d need to adjust the path of his sword, twist the trajectory of his defense.

‘Or should I try striking before he does?’

Since his neck was cut before he could even react, it might be better to send out a sword strike before Wrath’s attack even came in.

‘Thinking while moving like this… feels good.’

The first time he’d revived, the walk back to Wrath had felt long and tedious. But now, he realized it wasn’t so bad, he could reflect on the previous fight as he moved.

‘I can also train footwork and Glacier along the way.’

Crossing the ocean allowed him to improve his proficiency in both Glacier and Supreme Harmony Steps, while also refining his swordsmanship in his mind. It was practically killing four birds with one stone.

‘I think I’d been too fixated on the fortuitous gains I’ve encountered.’

Sure, the reason I’ve grown so fast is partly because of those encounters, but more than that, it’s because I poured myself into turning them into something truly mine, training night and day without pause.

He had gained many things here in the Chamber of Self, but he hadn't yet completely made them a part of himself. And so, he decided, it was time to let them sink in, to refine them properly.

‘Let’s take it slow.’

Thinking about how to block Wrath’s attacks, Raon once again stepped into the ruined snowfield.

“You really don’t get tired of this, do you?”

Wrath let out a dry chuckle, as if asking if Raon ever rested.

“Once I die and come back, everything feels normal again.”

Raon gave a faint smile and shook his head.

“Then let’s get started right away.”

Wrath didn’t hesitate anymore—if anything, he looked even more eager, stepping forward and getting into an attack stance.

“Hoo…”

Raon drew Heavenly Drive and positioned it at mid-guard, slightly toward his left side.

“Hmph!”

As if mocking his confidence, Wrath sneered, and in that moment, blue light flickered at his left hand.

‘It really was the left hand!’

As the blue light flared from Wrath’s hand, Raon raised the Firewall using the flame carried in his blade’s swing, and in the same motion, brought down the Crimson Slash.

Chiaaaang!

But Wrath, as if he had predicted everything, effortlessly cut Raon’s neck again.

‘It’s fine.’

Even as his body crumbled from the lost neck, Raon smiled without disappointment.

‘Because I can just try again.’

*   *   *

Even the Flawless Sea of Fire couldn’t block it. He died.

Even the Azure Sky Sword couldn’t block it. He died.

Even the Void Severance couldn’t block it. He died.

Even the Sword Field (Genesis) couldn’t block it. He died.

…

…

…

Even when he combined three different ultimate techniques, he couldn’t block it. He died.

“Haa…”

Raon shook his head as he naturally rode the waves forward.

‘I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve died.’

After failing even with the Limitless Azure Sky of the Azure Sky Sword, he stopped counting. Roughly estimating, he figured he had already died more than fifty times.

‘Still, I’m starting to get a feel for it.’

At first, he hadn’t grasped anything at all, but after dying more than fifty times, he was beginning—just barely—to sense the flow of Wrath’s attacks

‘Of course…’

The problem was that even if he could sense it, he still couldn’t block it.

Wrath’s attacks were not only fast and intricate but also incredibly powerful. Each time Raon tried to block, Heavenly Drive snapped, and his neck would go flying.

‘One thing’s clear. I can’t block it with swordsmanship alone.’

Genesis, his strongest technique, is slow to activate compared to other techniques. Because Wrath’s attacks were too fast, his head would be severed before the sword field could fully be unleashed.

‘Then there’s only one option.’

Raon smacked his lips as he gazed at the gray island in the distance.

‘I’ll use everything I have—everything I’ve built up until now.’

Not just swordsmanship, Raon vowed to pour everything he had into his defense, footwork, cultivation techniques, body techniques, and all the combat experience he’d accumulated. With that resolve, he stepped into the cave glowing with blue light.

Even as he walked through the cave, Raon thought only of how to block Wrath’s attacks.

Strangely, he didn’t feel bored or frustrated, it was enjoyable. Because all of it was part of his path to growth.

Before he knew it, he had reached the end of the cave, and the black mirror came into view.

Within the softly glowing mirror, his reflection was smiling, as if saying that this very moment was the happiest he had ever been.

Raon drew an even deeper smile than the one reflected in the mirror and stepped into it.

Tap.

The moment he stepped onto the ruined snowfield, Wrath, who had been sitting under the World Tree, stood up.

“Let’s start right away.”

Wrath nodded calmly, as if now fully used to this situation. Judging by the slight grin on his face, he was starting to enjoy it too.

“As many times as it takes.”

Raon steadied his breath and drew Heavenly Drive.

“Try blocking it this time.”

Wrath scoffed, as if certain Raon couldn’t Wrath sneered, as if sure Raon wouldn’t be able to, and extended his left hand. The instant blue light flashed from his fingertips, a sharp pain ran across Raon’s neck.

He wasn’t actually cut. It was just that his senses—honed to the extreme—reacted to the instant the slash was unleashed, so sharp it seemed to cut through space itself.

Toooooong!

The moment he felt the pain, Raon activated the Supreme Harmony Steps. With extreme swiftness, he retreated, widening the distance between himself and Wrath’s incoming strike.

Wooooooong.

Wrath chased after him with a blade of frost, as if he had predicted everything. Even though Raon was using the Supreme Harmony Steps at full speed, he could feel the strike catching up to him instantly.

‘Now!’

Sensing Wrath’s frost closing in on his neck, Raon shifted his footwork, transitioning from the Supreme Harmony Steps into its softer form, the Third Steps of Supreme Harmony.

He let his body follow the flow of the frost Wrath had released. Then, he unleashed the Golden Void Infusion of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation. It was a defensive technique filled with softness. He infused it with the principle of severing sword and continued the smooth movement of the Third Steps.

Jjjjeojeojeojeojeok!

Even though he had used a redirecting sword technique, Heavenly Drive bent under the pressure, and crimson blood burst from Raon’s chest.

But this time, the world didn’t spin. He hadn’t been struck in the neck, it was his chest. For the first time, Wrath’s attack hadn’t killed him instantly.

“…You twisted it?”

Wrath widened his eyes in disbelief. From the look on his face, it was clear he hadn’t been holding back. He had intended to kill Raon with full power.

“Haa…”

Raon looked down at the blood pouring onto his broken Heavenly Drive, but still curled his lips into a faint smile.

‘I lacked strength.’

He had successfully redirected the strike, but the power contained in Wrath’s frost was simply too overwhelming. It had broken through his defense.

‘Still… I didn’t die right away.’

Even though he’d sustained a fatal wound, the fact that he managed to block it once made him happy. His application of the versatile sword had reached another level.

“Wrath…”

With his darkening vision, Raon flicked his finger at Wrath.

“I’ll be back.”

With those words, his body scattered into dust and disappeared.

“Hnggh…”

Wrath recalled the look on Raon’s face as he smiled, and swallowed dryly. Up until now, knowing Raon’s true intentions had made killing him feel fun. But for the first time, a chill ran down his spine.

“…You damn monster.”

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