The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 987

 Chapter 987

 

Raon moved toward the faint sound he had heard and turned his eyes backward.

‘He’s keeping up better than I expected.’

Even though Mark Goetten had yet to reach Grandmaster, he wasn’t falling far behind and was following closely behind Raon. It truly looked like he was chasing with his life on the line.

‘Sorry, but I don’t have the luxury to pay attention to you today.’

Even though he was running with all his strength, he couldn’t sense Merlin, or anyone else, for that matter. Only dark thoughts swirled in his mind, leaving him no room to spare concern for Mark Goetten.

“If you lose sight of me, return to Zieghart.”

Leaving those words behind, Raon pushed forward, infusing the wind of Garunua and the principle of extreme swiftness into his footwork.

Kwaaaah!

As the speed of his footwork increased again, his vision narrowed and the surroundings dimmed into black. He relied solely on his perception to avoid the obstacles rushing toward him and dashed in the direction of the sound.

He has found it!

Wrath opened his blue eyes wide and raised his round hand.

Keep going this way and you’ll find a disgusting number of them!

He nodded vigorously, confirming they were heading the right way.

‘Got it…’

Raon couldn’t sense anyone yet, but trusting Wrath’s words, he followed the direction his finger pointed.

Tuuuuung!

Pushing his footwork even faster, Raon leapt over a hill as tall as a mountain, and at last, he sensed the presence of people.

‘There’s so many…’

From a great distance just barely within range of his aura perception, he felt the movement of countless people.

‘Combative energy!’

So it was Eden’s demons chasing after Merlin, just as he suspected.

Even from afar, a variety of combative energy were rippling through the air. Just as he suspected, it was Eden’s demons chasing Merlin.

‘But they’re increasing…?’

The closer he got, the more the number of presences he could sense with aura perception increased sharply. Countless demons of Eden were in motion, so many that it was nearly impossible to count them all.

‘Let’s check it out first.’

Raon increased the speed of his footwork once more and began climbing the mountain that had been blocking his view. At this breakneck pace, even just dodging trees and boulders threatened to scatter his focus, but he grit his teeth and pressed on.

Tuuuuung!

With steps so forceful they seemed capable of shattering the mountain itself, he reached the summit. Only then did he try to let out the breath he’d been holding, but what he saw froze him mid-breath.

Gooooooooh!

Beneath the sinking sun, he saw a swarm of black figures, countless humans and monsters moving like an endless tide of ants. The sheer scale of it sent a cold shiver crawling up his spine.

‘What is this…’

Raon exhaled shallowly, stunned, as he saw Eden’s demons and the monsters under their command advancing, not just from the west, but from all directions.

‘They’re not just trying to capture Merlin… It’s like they’re trying to destroy an entire kingdom.’

The number of Eden’s demons and monsters was beyond comprehension. This wasn’t pursuit, it was a full-scale encirclement, sealing off any possibility of escape.

‘...Sky and Earth Net.’

That formation meant spreading a net from the sky down across the earth, a strategy and formation designed to create a prison from which no one could escape.

Right now, Eden wasn’t just moving from the west. They were closing in from every direction, completely surrounding this entire region. It was clear they meant to stop both Merlin’s escape and any rescue attempts from the outside.

Even the King of Essence hasn't seen a sight like this in ages.

Even Wrath whistled, saying it was rare to see a trap of this scale.

Looks like that madwoman’s pulled another crazy stunt, huh?

He shook his head, guessing Merlin had probably escaped after stealing one of Eden’s helmets.

‘Yeah. This isn’t just some normal pursuit.’

Right now, Eden’s demons weren’t just chasing her, they were operating on a massive scale, mobilizing battle formations and casting large-scale sorcery all at once.

It was obvious now, Merlin hadn’t just discovered Eden’s location, she must have stirred up something far bigger inside before fleeing. Something that provoked them to unleash all of this.

‘I was planning to suppress my presence from this point on… but that’s no longer an option.’

The sorcery covering the entire area made it virtually impossible to hide his presence and infiltrate the encirclement stealthily.

‘Merlin is…’

Raon let out a short breath as he looked down at the vast plain spread beneath the mountain.

‘Is she in that forest?’

The demons of Eden were moving to encircle the forest at the center of the plain. It looked like Merlin was inside.

‘A Transcender’s energy wave…’

When he focused his aura perception on the forest, he sensed a sharp, skin-prickling energy wave.

It was clear that the monster inside was the one who had pushed Merlin into this crisis.

‘It’s not the Fallen. Have I encountered this one before? It feels oddly familiar.’

The distance was too great to be sure, but he had a vague sense it was one of the Transcenders he knew.

‘But that Transcender isn’t the only problem.’

Among the Eden executives maintaining the formation were a few Grandmasters and some Masters.

Individually, they weren’t a great threat to him, but as a group sustaining such a formation, they could become a problem even for him.

‘But…’

Raon bit down hard on his lip as he scanned the forest.

‘Why can’t I sense Merlin’s presence?’

He could sense Eden's demons and monsters forming the encirclement on the other side of the forest, but nowhere could he feel Merlin’s presence.

‘Don’t tell me she’s already…’

No, she is not.

Just as the image of blood-colored death started forming in his mind, Wrath leapt up in front of him.

She’s still alive. For now.

Wrath shook his head slowly, deliberately stressing the words ‘for now’.

But if you don’t get moving soon, that little imagination of yours might just become reality.

He frowned, urging Raon to move now if he wanted to save Merlin.

Kuuuuuuung!

Raon unsheathed both Heavenly Drive and the Blade of Requiem, planting them into the ground.

Fwaaaaaah!

As if to replace the fading sun, a golden sun and silver moon rose above the darkening sky.

‘There’s no time.’

Under normal circumstances, he would have hunted down the executives sustaining this formation first, but now, he didn’t have time. He had to break through it all with brute force.

Chiiiiiik!

Gripping the divine sword and the demonic sword, Raon leapt into the plain.

Kugugugugugu!

The overwhelming energy released by the manifestation of his sword field caused all of Eden’s demons and monsters surrounding the forest to turn at once.

“A sword of fire and a sword of frost?”

“Th-that’s Raon Zieghart, the Sword Emperor!”

“St-stop him!”

“Don’t let him through no matter what!”

Eden’s executives recognized the divine and demonic swords and shouted to stop him.

“Out of my way.”

Raon swung the golden-flamed divine sword at the approaching demons and monsters of Eden who tried to block his path.

Fwoooosh!

An immense pillar of flame erupted from the blade, descending like a burning avalanche to swallow the yellow earth below.

Kuwaaaaaaaah!

The fire imbued in the divine sword exploded, sending out waves of scorching heat that melted all the enemies in his path.

‘That should be enough…’

He had unleashed a powerful strike from the start to show them what they were up against. Now was the time to enter the forest while Eden’s demons were still reeling in shock.

“Haaah…”

Raon let out a rough breath, then kicked off the scorched earth and raced forward along the path his sword had carved.

Just as he advanced, a massive shadow fell over him from above.

Fwoooosh!

Looking up, he saw them, giant monsters like ogres and trolls charging at him to cut off his approach.

‘They’ve recovered already?’

It seemed the executive controlling this formation was sharper than he had expected.

“There’s no time to waste.”

Raising his killing intent, Raon traced a full moon in the air with the blue light of the demonic sword.

Paaaaang!

A brilliant frost bloomed from the shimmering demonic blade, shredding the charging giant monsters into tiny fragments of ice.

Hoo.

Exhaling a white breath, Raon dashed again toward the forest.

‘My body feels heavy.’

It wasn’t because of exhaustion from running this far. It felt as if gravity had multiplied, an enormous pressure was pressing down from the sky.

‘Have they shifted the formation’s focus onto me?’

It seemed they were concentrating the pressure of the formation on him instead of on Merlin, who was likely too exhausted to move.

‘Cunning bastard…’

If he had time, he could have focused on defense and analyzed the flow of the formation, but right now, there was no time to spare.

Chiiiiiing!

Gritting his lip, Raon activated the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier. Then, with the Fangs of Insanity and the Blizzard Sword Art, he struck at the monsters and Eden’s demons that charged to block his path.

Kuwaaaaaah!

The blazing divine sword and the frost-covered demonic sword exploded in sequence, engulfing the demons of Eden who stood in his way and reducing them to nothing but gray ash and glimmering ice dust.

“Wh-What is this…?”

"T-This is an absurd level of power..."

“So the nickname Sword Emperor was real…”

Even Eden’s executives, stunned by his overwhelming strength, were frozen in place, their pupils trembling in disbelief.

But the one commanding the formation didn’t panic in the slightest. Unfazed by Raon’s display of power. They continued to command the monsters and Eden’s demon to block his path.

‘Block me all you want. I’ll just crush my way through.’

Clenching his jaw, Raon charged toward the forest that was drawing ever closer. His body was growing heavier with each step, but he tore through walls of monsters and Eden’s demons the combined power of his divine and demonic swords.

‘Not much farther now… Hm?’

Just after passing the halfway point across the vast field, he felt a chilling presence from behind. Someone had fired an astral sphere at the back of his neck.

Jjjjjjjing!

Raon tilted the divine sword and deflected the incoming astral sphere, but that was just the beginning of Eden’s assault.

Kugugugugugu!

The ground beneath his feet flipped over, fire rained from the sky, ice blades followed, and spears and arrows flew from all directions.

Jjejejejejejek!

Most of it he could block with aura shield without even swinging his sword, but against the stronger spells, sorcery, and astral sphere unleashed by Grandmasters, he had no choice but to counter them head-on with both his divine and demonic swords.

‘They changed the formation’s form.’

Raon bit his lip as he cut through a wind spell that attacked him from behind.

‘I didn’t break out of the formation… they trapped me inside it.’

They’d used the path he opened to send Eden’s demons in from behind and flank him, whoever was commanding the Sky and Earth Net formation was a shrewd bastard.

‘He’s not even a threat. But that only means…’

It likely meant that Merlin’s condition wasn’t good.

The fact that the formation originally meant to trap Merlin was now moving to crush him, that could only mean the result had already been decided.

‘Should I go after the one controlling the formation first?’

Even if he managed to save Merlin like this, escaping might be impossible. He began to slow his steps, scanning the area to find the formation’s commander, but only grunts kept blocking the way. The real one never revealed himself.

‘They’re worse than the White  Blood Religion!’

Charging in without fear even after watching him erase dozens in a single strike… They were more insane than the White Blood Religion.

There was no fear in them. That left him with no choice but to cut everything down and push forward.

‘I know I’m not slow…’

But it was suffocating.

He was definitely advancing at a fast pace, yet the forest remained far away, and the constant interference slowed him, second by second. That delay was agonizing.

‘Still, there’s no choice but to keep moving.’

There was a Transcender in the forest, and the Fallen could appear at any moment. He couldn’t unleash his full power recklessly.

Right now, the best course was to conserve some strength while moving as fast as possible.

Kuwaaaaaah!

Raon pierced through the front with the divine sword, defended with the demonic sword, and pushed toward the forest where Merlin was.

‘The pressure keeps increasing.’

The Sky and Earth Net was a formation powered by the combative energy of countless Eden’s demons, even as a Transcender, he couldn’t fully ignore its weight.

He could feel it in real time, his body growing heavier, his senses dulling. His pace toward the forest was visibly slowing.

“Get lost already!”

Roaring, Raon swung the divine sword, incinerating the monsters rushing at him.

‘Even after cutting down hundreds… they still keep coming.’

Each time he opened a path, more monsters and Eden’s demons surged in to take their place. With enemy attacks rushing in from behind as well, he had to keep defending, his steps were growing heavier by the moment.

“Damn bastards!”

Raon couldn’t hold it in anymore and shouted in frustration. He was about to unleash the power he had been saving to fight the Transcender—

Kwarururururung!

A bolt of lightning fell from the mountain above, tearing through the demons and sorcerers of Eden that had been launching attacks from behind.

“Huff… Huff!”

It was Mark Goetten. Wiping away sweat mixed with blood, he gave a firm nod.

“Go! I’ll guard your back, palace master!”

Mark ran up to him, declaring that even if it cost him his life, he would hold the rear.

“Get out of here! If you stay, you’ll die!”

Raon shouted at him to retreat, reaching out a hand.

“There’s someone here stronger than you!”

The commander of the formation, or the executive standing on the eastern edge of the forest, wearing a bull-shaped helmet, was clearly a Grandmaster. If Raon left this spot, Mark Goetten would die.

“A guardian’s duty is to protect his lord! If I don’t stand here, I have no right to that title!”

Mark Goetten charged forward, his eyes resolute and fearless.

“My life has been yours since the moment you took my hand on the edge of the cliff.”

He gave a firm nod, telling Raon to leave the rear to him and focus only on moving forward.

“……”

Raon stared into Mark Goetten’s unwavering eyes, chewing his lip hard, then turned his head.

“You have to live. No matter what.”

He shouted for him to stay alive, no matter what it took, then turned his body forward. Right now, he had no choice but to trust his guardian.

“I won’t hold back anymore.”

Raon raised the divine sword. The flame clinging to the blade shot upward, brushed the sky, and came crashing down, forming the shape of a massive sword.

Kuwaaaaaaaaaah!

The Azure Sky Sword’s ultimate technique descended from above and swept outward, completely erasing the demons and monsters of Eden that had been blocking the forest entrance and the area around it.

Raon sprinted down the path engulfed in flames. Trusting Mark Goetten to hold the rear, he looked only forward, and charged into the forest.

‘Merlin is… huh?’

Horses?

Just as he began searching for Merlin, he heard the clattering of hooves and the clang of steel.

‘No way…’

Raon bit his lip and pushed his speed even further. As he dove deeper into the forest, he caught sight of armored horses, and the spear-wielding warriors mounted atop them.

‘The Demon Spear Guild!’

The ones in the forest weren’t Eden’s demons, they were warriors from the Demon Spear Guild. And the Transcender who had driven Merlin this far was likely the Demon Slaying Spear.

“Raon Zieghart?!”

“What is he doing here?!”

“How did he get here?!”

The warriors of the Demon Spear Guild widened their eyes in shock when they saw him.

Kuwaaaaaang!

Raon didn’t say a word. He simply swung the demonic sword. A wind laced with frost swept through, and in its wake, the warriors of the Demon Spear Guild shattered into glimmering shards of ice.

"M-Monster!"

“Fall back!”

Unlike Eden’s demons or the brainwashed monsters, the warriors of the Demon Spear Guild knew fear. Raon quickly pushed them aside and dashed toward the very heart of the forest.

Fwooooooo.

The deeper he went, the more clearly he could sense it, just as Wrath had said. Merlin’s presence. Her scent.

‘She’s still alive!’

Raon cut through blood-soaked bushes and reached the edge of the forest, where he saw the warriors of the Demon Spear Guild forming a spear formation in a wide circle.

Chwaaaaaaak!

With a roaring blaze from the divine sword, Raon shattered their wall and broke into the center of the formation.

“Sto—”

Just as Raon opened his mouth to shout for them to stop, Merlin, already drenched in blood, was pierced by a black spear.

Puuuuck!

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