The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1002

 Chapter 1002

 

Kuwaaaaaang!

Larian furrowed her brows as she blocked the wave of darkness fired by the Fallen.

‘Certainly, the power itself has changed.’

Until now, she had been able to deflect the Fallen’s magic easily with just five daggers, but ever since that guy sprouted wings, even gathering seven daggers wasn’t enough to block it easily.

‘Still, it’s just as I expected.’

She had anticipated the Fallen’s transformation from the start. As long as the fight continued like this, he was confident he could definitely win.

Piaaaang!

Larian manipulated eight daggers with the mana at her fingertips and aimed for the Fallen’s vital points.

Uuuuuung!

But despite being infused with dense mana, the daggers couldn’t pierce the Fallen. They were stopped completely by the barrier of light he had raised and couldn’t move an inch.

“Is it because they’re just daggers?”

The Fallen flicked his fingers and struck the blades of the daggers.

“They’re pretty weak.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

When Larian twisted her wrist, the daggers began to spiral, drilling through the barrier of light that the Fallen had raised.

“Huh?”

The Fallen exhaled in surprise and tried to unleash darkness, but the daggers had already exploded the mana stored within their blades.

Kuwaaaaaaaang!

The stored spells within the daggers detonated one after another, violently bursting as if to wipe out the Fallen and the surrounding space from the continent.

Chiiiiiiiiik!

As the black smoke soared into the sky and dispersed, the Fallen’s figure reappeared. The right side of his upper body and the left side of his lower body were drenched in red blood.

“It’s definitely spicy.”

The Fallen chuckled as he looked at his torn right shoulder and left thigh. They were grave injuries, severe enough to make it difficult to continue fighting, but when he flicked his hand, the wounds vanished as if time had rewound.

“Though not enough to upset my stomach.”

He shrugged, saying it was just enough to sting his mouth.

“Then I’ll keep hitting you until it does.”

Larian raised nine daggers in front of her chest, eyes cold. As the blades of the daggers touched and connected with the same blue light, a brilliant radiance surged from their center and was fired at the Fallen.

Kuwaaaaa!

The Fallen unfurled a curtain of light and darkness to block the flash Larian had unleashed.

Kugugugugu!

The two forces clashed evenly, not yielding a single inch, and cracks spread thickly across the sky and land.

‘If I keep pushing like this…’

Just as Larian moved the remaining daggers to target the Fallen’s back—

Paaaaah!

She felt an unfamiliar energy surge up from beneath his feet.

‘Hm?’

Larian rolled only her eyes to glance downward.

‘So she died after all….’

Merlin’s breath had stopped, and Raon stood frozen like a statue, seemingly in shock from the result.

‘Then the energy I sensed just now was… no, wait!’

As Larian looked at Raon holding Merlin, her eyes shot open.

‘I can’t feel Raon’s soul.’

A sense of void was rising from Raon’s body. Right now, that child’s body held no soul.

‘He’s not dead, so what in the world…?’

Raon’s body still has vitality, there’s no way he’s dead.

A soul vanishing from someone while you’re checking their condition, it was something she had neither seen nor heard of before. It was so absurd that it felt as if her heart had dropped.

‘He mustn’t find out.’

Larian bit her lip as she saw the Fallen walking forward, breaking through the magical power of the daggers.

‘That bastard would aim for Raon even in the middle of a fight with me.’

The Fallen was a hideous monster who would do anything for victory.

Merlin was dead, Raon’s soul had left his body, and his subordinate had no strength left to fight, he wouldn’t be able to block even a single attack from the Fallen.

‘I need to make sure he doesn’t notice.’

Larian violently flicked a bright yellow dagger to draw all of the Fallen’s attention toward herself.

“This one might hurt a bit.”

A dagger wrapped in dense lightning ripped through the air, aiming to pierce the back of the Fallen’s head, but then, a chilling black mist rose up.

Puuuuuck!

Because of the black mist, the lightning dagger couldn’t stab the Fallen and only scattered fierce lightning into the air.

Tsk.

Clicking his tongue, Larian retrieved the yellow dagger back into his hand.

“Did you call in a subordinate?”

He sneered as he looked at the man in the black robe who had appeared behind the Fallen. The black mist that blocked the dagger wasn’t the Fallen’s doing, but that man’s power.

‘A Transcender…’

He wasn’t a high level Transcender, but the fact that he blocked Larian’s dagger made it clear he was indeed a mage who had stepped into Transcendence.

Ssshhh.

The man in the black robe slowly turned to face her.

A skull?

Larian furrowed her brows deeply.

‘Has he already found a new Specter?’

He was sure that the Specter had been killed by Raon and Merlin down below. Even if it was a lich’s mask, reviving again didn’t make any sense.

‘No…’

That’s no lich.

Looking more closely, the mask worn by the man in the black robe had unusually large holes for the eyes and mouth. It resembled a ghost more than a skull.

‘Now I see.’

A wraith.

Wraiths were a type of undead monster, ghastly creatures that floated in the air and fed on people’s souls and mana, like parasitic flies. The beings people commonly referred to as ghosts were, in most cases, actually wraiths.

Ssssshhh!

The man wearing the wraith mask opened a dim, shadowy dimension and pulled out a massive scythe that gleamed with jet-black light. The sight of him evoked the image of a grim reaper that harvested souls.

‘He’s no ordinary one.’

It wasn’t just his Transcendence-level power. There was also something off about the energy emanating from that scythe. He was dangerous.

‘And the bigger problem…’

He’s not alone.

The Fallen hadn’t just summoned this wraith-masked figure. More of Eden’s executives were gathering beneath her feet.

‘This is bad…’

Larian could withstand anything, no matter who came, but Raon, down below, could not. With his soul gone, he was so defenseless that even a child could kill him.

‘Not really my style, but I guess I’ll have to draw their attention.’

Larian let out a short breath and jerked her chin.

“When did you call in those bastards?”

She raised her dagger and pointed to the man in the wraith mask and the other executives of Eden.

“I didn’t call them.”

The Fallen calmly shook his head.

“Since you all have discovered our location, shouldn’t we retreat before the damage gets any worse?”

He smiled thinly, saying they had no choice but to come here.

“Of course, we’re not leaving because of you or Lady Chamber.”

The Fallen shrugged, saying it was because of Glenn Zieghart.

‘So he hasn’t noticed.’

Larian, relieved that he had drawn the Fallen’s attention, raised all ten of her daggers at once.

“Punishment Evil Demon, Thoughtless Demon, Slashing Demon Ghost. You three…”

The Fallen raised his long, slender fingers and pointed at Raon and Merlin.

“Kill them.”

He gave the order to the Master and Grandmaster level executives to kill Raon.

Kugugugugu!

The Eden executives, having received the Fallen’s order, erupted with chilling combative energy and kicked off the ground, rushing toward Raon.

‘Damn it!’

Larian bit deep into her lip as she watched the Fallen smirking faintly.

‘That bastard knew from the start!’

The Fallen had known Raon’s condition from the beginning, yet deliberately made Larian lower her guard before ordering his subordinates to attack. He was utterly vile.

“Come as much as you want!”

Mark Goetten gripped his saber with both hands and stood in front of Raon and Merlin. Even though his hands trembled from having used up all his aura and stamina, he didn’t take a single step back.

Tsk.

Larian clicked her tongue briefly and threw four daggers downward.

Kuwaaaaaang!

The four daggers embedded themselves in the north, south, east, and west, forming a defensive magic circle to protect Raon, Merlin, and Mark Goetten.

Kuwaaaaaaaang!

The Grandmaster Punishment Evil Demon brought down a massive hammer, but the protective barrier created by Larian’s daggers didn’t crack in the slightest.

Kyagyagyagyang!

Other demons of Eden unleashed combative energy, sorcery, and magic, but Larian’s barrier stood firm like an iron wall, perfectly protecting those within.

Paaaaang!

As Larian let out a sigh of relief, The Fallen’s light magic exploded before her eyes.

Jjeooooooong!

She blocked the light with the six remaining daggers, but the speed was too fast, and a bit of flesh was torn from her left shoulder.

“Only six? You think that’s enough?”

The Fallen smiled thinly, saying he could see Larian had slowed down. As he gathered his fingers, enormous spheres of light and darkness surging from the sky and land, pressed down on her as if to crush her.

"These daggers are just tools anyway."

Larian scoffed and slid the six daggers between her fingers. She linked the daggers to the mana in his heart and tore apart the spheres of light and darkness created by The Fallen.

“...Tch.”

Larian furrowed her brows as she looked at her trembling fingers.

‘Not easy.’

She was pouring mana and mental strength into the four daggers protecting Raon, making it increasingly difficult to fend off the Fallen’s attacks.

‘Still, there’s no helping it.’

Right now, she had to wait for an opening.

She hadn’t yet brought out all her weapons. She had to focus on defense until the Fallen exposed a gap, then pierce him in a single strike and end it.

Puhbuhbuhbuhbuk!

Unlike Larian, the Fallen seemed intent on ending things quickly, continuously pouring out magic cloaked in light and darkness. And befitting a high level Transcender, even while attacking so relentlessly, he revealed no openings.

Kugugugugugu!

Larian let out a rough breath as she watched the wave of darkness surge toward her.

‘This isn’t the time to think about counterattacking.’

The energy contained in that darkness, she would have to give it everything she had to block it without injury.

Jijijijijik!

Just as Larian released the mana infused in the six daggers to block the Fallen’s attack—

Kyaaaaaaang!

Suddenly, her mana shield shattered, and her left side was deeply gouged out by the darkness.

“This…”

Larian pressed her hand over the wound on her waist, from which black blood was flowing, and narrowed her eyes.

“That wasn’t your doing.”

She ground her teeth while looking not at the Fallen, but at the man wearing the wraith’s mask behind him.

“That’s right.”

The Fallen nodded calmly.

“The mask he’s wearing holds the power of the Wraith King, Pelin. He’s now called the Magic Absorbing Specter.”

He patted the shoulder of the Demon Absorbing Ghost, who was holding the black scythe, saying Larian was quick to catch on.

“Demon Absorbing Ghost…”

Larian bit down hard on her lip as she stared at the man wearing the wraith mask.

“Even if he is the Wraith King, he shouldn't be able to absorb magic, should he?”

Wraiths could absorb mana and souls, but not magic itself. She had stayed vigilant, and yet she had no idea how her magic had been broken.

“It’s because of that scythe.”

The Fallen pointed his chin toward the black scythe held by the Demon Absorbing Ghost.

“That scythe possesses the power to break spells. When a wraith that absorbs mana is paired with a scythe that breaks spellwork, your magic was bound to be broken.”

He nodded as if it were the most obvious thing.

“To someone like you right now, he’s no different from a natural enemy. No, more like the natural enemy of all mages.”

The Fallen gave a thin smile, as if to say, “Isn’t it amusing?”

“You sure talk a lot.”

“There’s no risk of any information leaking, after all.”

It seemed he was certain that both Larian and Raon would die here.

“Hah. And yet the great head of Eden has to fight two-on-one?”

Larian snorted as she pressed down on the wound at her waist to stop the bleeding.

“Of course. I’ve never cared much for words like fairness. As long as I win, that’s all that matters, no?”

The Fallen gave a slight nod, showing he wasn’t ashamed of borrowing the Demon Absorbing Ghost’s power, but rather proud of it.

“Yeah. That’s so very you, the Fallen.”

Larian gave a scornful snort and clenched her molars.

“Come at me both of you. As long as I take it all, it’s fine.”

She raised her six daggers into the air and drew in a deep breath.

Kyagyagyagyang!

The six daggers clashed with each other, gathering a massive concentration of mana before her chest.

Kuwaaaaaa!

The beam Larian fired, compressing the mana of the six daggers, pushed back the Fallen’s light and darkness and poured straight toward his chest.

Paaaaaang!

But when the Demon Absorbing Ghost swung his black scythe, Larian’s mana was swept away as if it had been erased.

A wraith’s ability to absorb mana, combined with the scythe’s power to destroy spells, it truly wasn’t an exaggeration to call it a mage’s natural enemy.

Puuuuuk!

On the other hand, the Fallen’s magic pierced through Larian’s defense and drove straight into her thigh.

‘My focus is fading.’

Dealing with The Fallen and the Demon Absorbing Ghost was already difficult, but defending the area below was a problem too.

The mana barrier protecting Raon and Mark Goetten was still holding, but due to the constant impacts, mana was draining rapidly, and her head began to spin.

Puuuuk!

In the end, her concentration broke. She missed the white flash fired by the Fallen, and it pierced through the right side of her chest.

“Ugh…”

She bit her lip as she touched the wound gushing blood.

‘This is dangerous.’

Unlike injuries to the waist or thigh, a wound to the chest could lead directly to death. The situation was growing truly dire.

‘So the one getting impatient… was me.’

It couldn’t be helped, but in this situation, the one who was in a hurry wasn’t the Fallen—it was herself.

‘I might have to bring it out, after all.’

Just as Larian tried to draw out the mana from her heart to use his hidden trump card—

Wuuuuuuuuung!

From Merlin’s body, which had been collapsed as if dead, a warm yet immense red light flared up.

Kuwaaaaaaaaaa!

Her stopped heart began to pound like the drums of a high mountain, and the fading vitality surged up like the heat of a volcano.

‘Resurrection?’

No, there’s no such thing in this world.

And yet, right before her eyes, something unbelievable even when seen was happening.

Uuuuuuuuung!

Merlin’s shattered and scattered mana circles began to reconnect on their own, forming an entirely new ring that set her heart ablaze. The tenth circle. The realm of Transcendence.

“What is this…”

Even the Fallen stood with his mouth open, stunned, staring at Merlin and Raon.

Huuuuuuung!

In the mysterious light and heat that even halted the battle of Transcenders, Raon and Merlin opened their eyes at the same time.

*   *   *

Thududuk.

Evelyn naturally rose to her feet and removed the cracked mask of the old woman with her own hand.

Hwaaaaa!

Beneath the mask appeared a woman of such beauty that even the word peerless seemed to pale, her purple eyes shimmering. Her gaze, a blend of sultry charm and pure grace, carried a gentle smile.

“How’s your body?”

Raon extended his hand to Evelyn, who had closed her eyes as if sensing this world.

"The best."

Evelyn slowly lifted her eyelids, feeling the pulse of her heart as ten circles swirled within it.

“It’s all thanks to you.”

With just those words of gratitude, she took Raon’s hand and stood up.

“You’re alive? From that death?”

Even the Fallen widened his golden eyes, as if he hadn’t expected this at all.

“It’s been a while.”

Evelyn looked up at the Fallen and curled her lips into a long smile.

“The Fallen. Or rather, should I call you the Sage?”

She tilted her chin mockingly at the Fallen.

“…So you’ve regained your memory.”

Sensing the change in Merlin, the Fallen narrowed his eyes sharply.

“Yeah. Thanks to Raon.”

Evelyn looked at Raon with a warm gaze.

“I found my name… and I got to see my mother again.”

She nodded, saying it had been a deeply fulfilling time.

“Still, nothing will change. Even if you’ve reached Transcendence, the outcome of this battle remains the same.”

Just as the Fallen shouted that nothing would change and began to condense light and darkness—

Puuuuung!

The flow of mana twisted, and the light and darkness gathering in his hands burst apart on their own.

“Guh!”

The Fallen’s eyes widened as he looked at his torn-up hand.

“There’s no way nothing will change.”

Evelyn curled her lips into a smile as she looked at the stunned the Fallen.

“You got wrecked by me five hundred years ago, remember?”

With a mocking smile, she flicked her finger.

“I’ll make you kneel beneath my feet again.”

 

 

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