The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 989

 Chapter 989

 

Drip. Drip. Drip.

A black spearhead pierced straight through Merlin’s chest. Blood spilled from the wound, flowing down the shaft and soaking the grass in red.

“Ah….”

Raon’s fingertips trembled as he stared at Merlin, who had closed her eyes, unable to even scream. Her breathing and vitality were fading rapidly.

‘Merlin…’

Seeing Merlin impaled on that black spear brought back the memory of Rimmer’s final moments.

The death of the teacher who smiled until the very last moment, worrying about his students, surfaced in his mind and began to wash his thoughts white.

Crackle!

It wasn’t Wrath that was entering his body, it felt like a completely different god of wrath was taking root in his body. From head to toe, his entire being surged with fury, and he felt an overwhelming urge to wipe out everything before his eyes.

You fool!

Wrath slammed both hands onto Raon’s shoulders, trying to snap him out of it.

She’s not dead yet!

He shook his head violently, insisting that Merlin hadn’t died completely.

‘What…?’

Raon exhaled heavily and looked at Merlin again. It was faint, barely there, but her breathing continued.

“Raon Zieghart?”

The man known as the Demon Slaying Spear, Cairn, the Transcender and master of the Demon Spear Guild, widened his.

“So you really were connected to this wench?”

The Demon Slaying Spear sneered, lightly shaking the spear still lodged in Merlin. Blood poured from her like rain.

“But you were just a little too late. It just ended.”

He remarked it was a pity and caressed Merlin's violet hair that had fallen over the spear shaft.

“You son of a bitch…”

Just as Raon was about to charge at the Demon Slaying Spear, erupting with murderous intent—

“Ra… Raon…”

Merlin slowly lifted her eyelids and called his name.

It was so slow that time itself seemed to stop, but he couldn’t look away from her.

“How did you get here…?”

Even while impaled and dying, Merlin smiled weakly, thinking of him first. Just seeing her like that made Raon’s chest ache as if it were shattering.

“Huh? She can still talk in this state?”

Demon Slaying Spear let out a disbelieving snort.

“Her skills were disappointing, but I’ll give her credit for her will and tenacity.”

He nodded, saying she was fitting of an Eden executive, even if only for a time.

“Leave here…”

Merlin gasped, telling him to run and leave her behind. Blood trickled from her eyes and ears.

“P-Please….”

Leaving those last desperate words behind, she closed her eyes again. Her vitality began to fade even more rapidly.

“So she says. What will you do?”

The Demon Slaying Spear shrugged, acting like he didn’t care, and twirled the spear embedded in Merlin’s chest as if playing around.

“……”

Raon bit down hard on the inside of his lip as he looked into the Demon Slaying Spear’s mocking eyes.

Stay focused. She’s still alive.

Wrath frowned and emphasized again that Merlin wasn’t dead.

‘I can feel it too.’

Raon didn’t know the exact reason, but even with her chest pierced through, Merlin was still breathing.

If he could just get her away from the Demon Slaying Spear, there might be a chance to save her.

It'll be hard to save her while she's impaled on the spear, but try somehow!

‘Right. This isn't the time to let wrath consume my head.’

He couldn’t afford to repeat the same mistake as with Rimmer. He sent the cold energy of Glacier into his upper energy center, pushing out the wrath that filled his head.

‘I can’t make a reckless move.’

No matter how fast he was, he would still be slower than the Demon Slaying Spear, who had Merlin impaled on his spear. He had to find a way to save her, not through force, but through something else.

“Why are you here?”

Raon swallowed down the curse that was about to leave his mouth and instead spoke calmly to the Demon Slaying Spear.

“You really don’t get it even after seeing all this?”

The Demon Slaying Spear scoffed and motioned around with a twirl of his finger.

“I joined the Four Demons. Specifically, I’m with Eden now.”

He said that was the reason he had hunted Merlin, and lowered the spear toward the ground.

Thunk.

Even though the tip of the spear that impaled her had touched the ground, Merlin, unable to regain consciousness, didn’t so much as move a finger.

“I thought that if I followed the Thespian Emperor and formed the Five Divine Orders, I’d finally get to clash properly with the Five Kings and the Five Demons. But they just kept hesitating, always watching how things would turn out. So…”

The Demon Slaying Spear lifted his foot and pressed it on Merlin’s head.

“I left the Divine Five Orders and joined the Four Demons. I wanted to fight the Five Kings head-on.”

“Why them? Why not the Five Kings?”

Raon let out a slow breath, deliberately keeping his gaze away from Merlin.

“The Five Kings have more people, don’t they? That means more strong opponents to fight. Of course I’d pick the Four Demons.”

Demon Slaying Spear grinned, saying he joined them just to fight more strong opponents. He was, without exaggeration, a man completely obsessed with battle.

“Even in Eden, all I did was wait around, but then someone asked me to take care of this wench. They blocked the path for me, so all I had to do was thrust my spear. Simple enough. Of course…”

He nudged Merlin’s waist with the tip of his boot, a scowl crossing his face.

“Since she’s a mage, there was no real thrill to it. She was weak too.”

He spat on the ground where Merlin lay, clearly dissatisfied with how boring the battle had been.

“Then…”

Raon took a step closer to Demon Slaying Spear.

“I'll be your opponent. In return…”

“Are you asking for this wench?”

The Demon Slaying Spear smirked, as if he could read Raon’s mind.

“Is there any need for me to do that? Looking at you, it seems you'll charge at me whether I give you this wench or not.”

He smirked, saying he could feel the fury Raon was struggling to suppress.

“You said you enjoy fighting, right?”

Raon shook his head, pressing down the wrath trying to tear through his mind.

“If I get swept up in rage and start swinging my sword recklessly, the fight won’t be fun for you anymore, will it?”

Since it was obvious that appealing to him about Merlin would be useless, Raon instead provoked the battle-crazed man’s thirst for battle.

“Hoh?”

The Demon Slaying Spear’s eyes, previously calm, glimmered with a spark of interest.

“If you hand Merlin over now, I’ll fight you with everything I’ve got. No, I'll even give you time to recover your stamina and aura.”

Raon nodded, saying he’d even give him time to recover his strength and stamina, just to provoke his competitive spirit.

“I swear in the name of Raon Zieghart, the Sword Emperor.”

Placing a hand on his chest, he swore not to run with Merlin but to settle things here and now.

“Forget all that…”

A vein bulged on the Demon Slaying Spear’s temple.

“You’re saying you’ll give me time to recover my strength and stamina? Someone like you?”

He furrowed his brow, dumbfounded.

“Yes. You’re not at full strength right now either.”

Raon nodded as he examined the various traces of magic engraved into the Demon Slaying Spear’s armor. He may have made it sound easy, but it was clear the man had been through a long chase and battle.

“Hah! You’ve got a knack for provocation. Fine! I’ve got no interest in a mage who’s going to die anyway.”

The Demon Slaying Spear curled his lips into a grin, as if finding it all amusing.

“But before that…”

He reached into Merlin’s robe and pulled out two pairs of bells, glowing with a dark crimson light.

“I was told I had to retrieve these, no matter what.”

He licked his lips and tucked the bells into the inner pocket of his armor.

“Take her.”

With a mocking smirk, the Demon Slaying Spear thrust the spear that still impaled Merlin toward Raon.

Fwoooosh!

With a smooth, whip-like motion of the shaft, Merlin’s body, still impaled, was flung helplessly into the air.

Thud!

Though Raon sensed that an attack could follow at any moment, he kept both his divine and demonic swords lowered and rushed toward Merlin.

Fwaaah!

The moment he let go of Merlin, the Demon Slaying Spear brought his spear crashing down toward Raon’s head, the blade of the spear gleaming with deadly sharpness.

Krrrrack!

Raon caught Merlin gently with his right arm, and with his left, he raised the demonic sword to block the crashing spear strike.

Sssshhhhhh!

To prevent the impact from being transmitted to Merlin’s body, he spread Glacier’s cold energy outward in a fan shape, shielding them and preventing his body from staggering under the force.

“Good. You pass.”

The Demon Slaying Spear stepped back, saying Raon at least seemed capable enough to justify keeping his word.

Though his pride was clearly wounded, the Demon Slaying Spear seemed eager for a full-power fight. Standing in place, he drank a recovery elixir to restore his aura and stamina, then began focusing his energy.

Ha!

Wrath let out a dry scoff, as if finding it absurd.

To think you actually managed to save her, that mouth of yours…

He shook his head, unable to believe what he had just seen.

‘Now’s not the time to be impressed by that.’

Once he confirmed the Demon Slaying Spear wasn’t making any further moves, Raon stepped back to check on Merlin’s condition.

Kurrrrk.

Blood was still gushing endlessly from the wound in her chest where the spear had pierced through, soaking his own uniform. The black fabric now looked red.

‘She’s still alive.’

Even though her chest had been shattered by the spear, Merlin was still breathing. But death was rapidly approaching, he had to act immediately.

Haaah.

Raon placed both hands on her chest, praying for a miracle. He poured all the Divinity Blooming from the Underworld he had accumulated into the wound.

Fwaaaaah!

Rather than a radiant divine light, a soft glow spread over Merlin’s chest, and her wound slowly began to close.

The bleeding stopped, and new flesh began to grow. It was nothing short of a miracle.

It’s still far from enough! You need to draw out more!

Wrath waved his hand, saying the healing was still insufficient.

‘I want to, but…’

Raon bit his lip.

‘There’s not much left.’

He had used up almost all of his divinity. With what remained, healing Merlin completely was impossible.

‘I have no choice but to use the last resort…’

Into the little remaining divinity, Raon imbued the authorities of <Sloth> and <Lust> that buried deep within his soul.

Fwooooosh!

Any ordinary divinity would have rejected a demon king’s authority, but his divinity had been born from the darkness, and thus embraced it smoothly.

You mad bastard!

Wrath’s eyes bulged in disbelief.

You might make this even more dangerous!

‘If I can’t heal her now, she’ll die anyway!’

There was no time to move Merlin somewhere else. He had to save her right here.

Ngh...

Even Wrath realized that there was no other choice and let out a low groan.

…But why Sloth and Lust?

‘<Sloth> has the ability to restore the body and mind during sleep. As for <Lust>… since Merlin spent a lot of time with Lust, I thought it might help.’

The authority of <Sloth>, as he understood it, enhanced recovery while the user was in deep rest. And Merlin, having spent time with Lust, had become familiar with the authority of <Lust>.

Hoping it would help her, he mixed the authorities of the two demon kings.

‘Please…!’

Raon focused wholly on the harmony between his divinity and authorities, desperately hoping Merlin’s breath and life force would return.

Fwaaaaaaah!

As if his desperate plea had been answered, Merlin’s wound closed completely, and the blood that had been gushing without end finally came to a stop.

Her skin was still pale like someone on the verge of death, but her breathing slowly began to return.

Sh-she’s recovering!

Wrath clasped his hands together, saying a miracle had happened.

‘Not yet.’

Raon shook his head firmly, then used the heat of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation to warm Merlin’s body and burn away the impure energy that still remained within her.

‘I should probably give her the elixir too.’

He took out the emergency-use elixir he had brought from Zieghart’s treasury. He reached to remove Merlin’s mask to give it to her, but strangely, it wouldn’t come off.

‘What…?’

He’d removed Merlin’s old-woman mask before without much trouble. But now, no matter how much force he applied, the mask wouldn’t budge.

‘No choice, then.’

Afraid it might break, he crushed the elixir into small pieces and slipped them into her slightly parted lips through the mask.

Fwoooosh.

As the heat of the elixir spread through Merlin’s body, her fading vitality gradually began to return.

Now you can breathe easy…

Wrath exhaled in relief, watching Merlin’s breathing begin to stabilize.

‘Yeah…’

Raon wiped the sweat from his brow and nodded. Saving Merlin had been far harder than facing down thousands of monsters. His entire body felt like it was soaked in water, heavy and worn out.

‘She’s really torn up…’

The wound to her chest had drawn all his focus, but now he saw that there wasn’t a single part of her body uninjured.

She had bled so much that her originally black robe now looked red.

‘And… she’s lost her magic too.’

Mages form their mana circles in the heart. Merlin was no exception, and now, he could no longer sense the mana circle that had once been within her.

“…Hoh? You actually managed to save her?”

The Demon Slaying Spear rolled his eyes in disbelief.

“Didn’t know you had a talent for healing. Impressive.”

He clapped, seemingly genuinely impressed.

“But that’s only going to prolong her pain. She’s going to die again anyway.”

He licked his lips, saying he’d just kill Raon and pierce Merlin’s chest once more.

“Your stamina…”

Raon ignored his provocation and turned his gaze.

“Have you recovered it all?”

“Thanks to you.”

The Demon Slaying Spear slammed his spear into the ground, declaring that he was fully recovered.

His energy wave surged out so intensely it felt like it crushed Raon’s heart. It was undeniably the energy of a high-level Transcender.

“I see.”

Raon rose to his feet after setting up a defensive formation around Merlin, where the flames of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the cold of Glacier swirled together.

“Then let’s begin.”

He raised the divine sword and demonic sword, apologizing for keeping the Demon Slaying Spear waiting.

“You sure you don’t need time to recover?”

The Demon Slaying Spear tilted his chin, as if offering a final chance.

“No need. The result will be the same either way.”

Raon calmly shook his head and stepped forward toward him.

Step.

With each step Raon took, golden flame and blue frost stretched outward like spreading wings, covering the entire forest.

“Huh?”

The Demon Slaying Spear’s furrowed his brow as Raon’s pressure fiercely pushed back his energy wave.

“You trying to play some childish game?”

Annoyed, he released an even stronger energy wave, but Raon’s pressure neither wavered nor gave ground.

“You…”

Raon pressed down on the Demon Slaying Spear’s overwhelming energy wave with nothing but sheer force, lowering his cold, blade-like eyes.

“I’ll show you… the true fear of battle.”

 

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