The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1019

 Chapter 1019

 

‘Wrath.’

Raon called out to Wrath while keeping his eyes fixed on the Queen of Swords.

‘You’re sensing it too, aren’t you?’

A person’s presence isn’t something that can change so easily.

Especially when someone shows a completely different color in such a short moment, it clearly meant that another being had entered the Queen of Swords’ body.

Of course.

Wrath nodded immediately, as if asking why even bother asking.

Another soul has taken root in that woman’s body.

He slightly turned his chin, saying it was certain.

‘Is it like how demons descend from the devildom, like you?’

It was possible that a demon king like Wrath or a demon had taken over Queen of Sword’s body, so Raon reignited the waning flame of his Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation.

No.

Wrath firmly shook his head, as if to say absolutely not.

The one inside that woman’s body is unmistakably human.

He twisted his lips, saying it wasn’t a being from another dimension, but a human of this world.

‘A human…?’

Raon narrowed his eyes at the Queen of Swords, who wore a faint smile.

‘Could it be the White Blood Religion’s leader?’

The leader of the Blood Religion currently possessed Martha’s mother’s body.

It occurred to me that someone might have taken over the Queen of Swords’s body using a similar kind of sorcery.

‘No, that’s not it.’

There’s no negative energy coming from that woman.

The Queen of Swords’ eyes were certainly shimmering strangely, but unlike bloody energy or demonic energy, there was no evil energy. As Wrath said, it felt like an ordinary human.

That’s right.

Wrath calmly nodded.

What’s inside that woman is human. Although there is a faint scent of sorcery.

He flicked his hand, saying there’s a faint trace of some unknown sorcery, but she’s still a human.

“Before I tell you who I am.”

The Queen of Swords approached him slowly, dragging her feet along the ground.

"Why don’t you step aside for now?”

Her voice was the same as the Queen of Swords’, but her tone was lighter, more hollow.

Now it was certain. A different soul had possessed the body of the current Queen of Swords, Brigit.

“You shouldn’t interrupt someone at the moment they finally gain enlightenment, right?”

The Queen of Swords beckoned him like calling to a child.

“I only stepped in front of you because I thought you might get in the way of the Thespian Emperor.”

Raon furrowed his brow, still holding Heavenly Drive without lowering it.

“Oh, right. A warrior like the Sword Emperor wouldn’t give someone an opportunity only to throw them away again. My apologies.”

The Queen of Swords brought her hands together before her chest, as if sincerely apologizing.

“……”

Raon bit the tip of his tongue as he looked at the Queen of Swords, who was casually apologizing.

‘She’s light—too light.’

Not just her tone, her entire personality seemed incomparably lighter than the original Queen of Swords.

“You asked who I am, didn’t you? My name is Briana.”

The Queen of Swords smiled faintly as she gave the name Briana, not Brigit. It was an expression the real Brigit would never have shown.

“Briana…”

Raon muttered the name with a deep furrow of his brows.

“Come this way.”

Briana beckoned to him with a flick of her hand, as if asking him to follow.

“Where are you trying to go?”

Raon asked without moving a step.

“Didn’t you come here because you had business with me?”

Briana tilted her head, saying wasn’t it because he wanted a proper duel?

“A duel…”

Raon slowly caught his breath as he sensed the calm pressure around Briana.

‘This is strange.’

Though Briana had the Queen of Swords’s body and aura, she was giving off an energy wave that didn’t feel the least bit inferior to his own.

‘Is she like you, bearing the causality and bringing out the original body’s power?’

Raon glanced at Wrath.

That’s not it. What’s changed is only the soul.

Wrath shook his head, saying a human wouldn’t be able to use such a method.

‘Then just the change of soul alone can create this level of difference?’

What exactly is making Briana give off a strength that feels like it’s on a completely different level?

“Hmm…”

Raon turned around.

“Th-thank you for looking after our master.”

“Please don’t worry about this side.”

“We’ll protect our master ourselves.”

The warriors of the White Whale stood guard around the Thespian Emperor with their weapons drawn, as if declaring they wouldn’t move until she woke up.

“I’ll trust you, then.”

He had just managed to create a big debt with the Thespian Emperor, he didn’t want to ruin this opportunity, and thankfully her subordinates looked like they would protect her on their own.

“You all, follow me.”

Raon motioned to the Light Wind swordsmen and followed after Briana.

She wandered around the market and shopping district outside the training ground, exchanging light greetings with people. She was the complete opposite of the typically quiet Queen of Swords.

“Doesn’t the Queen of Swords seem strange?” “I felt it too. Maybe she went crazy after losing the duel…”

Krein and Burren let out dry chuckles, saying her behavior was too different from the Queen of Swords they’d heard about in the rumors.

“She’s become a different person…”

“Yeah. There’s something inside her that’s not the Queen of Swords.”

Perhaps due to their childhood experiences, Runaan and Martha seemed to have noticed that another being was occupying the Queen of Swords’ body.

“Hiiik…”

Dorian, too, trembled slightly as he sensed through his mind’s eye that something about her had changed.

“This place should do, right? There’s no one around.”

Briana looked around the training ground built on the outskirts of Barene and shrugged her shoulders.

“This time, let’s have a proper fight—”

“Before that.”

Raon raised his hand toward Briana, who was loosening up her shoulders.

“Tell me who you really are.”

“I told you, I’m Briana.”

Briana laughed, as if wondering what more he wanted.

“You know I’m not asking for your name, right?”

Raon narrowed his eyes at her.

“If you’re curious, beat me. I’ll tell you everything.”

Briana smiled as she placed her hand on the sword at her waist.

‘She fights the same way?’

The Queen of Swords was a swordswoman who could use the sword draw technique, and Briana seemed like she intended to do the same.

“Fine.”

Raon exhaled briefly and nodded.

“That won’t be too difficult.”

Though he had taken some internal injuries from withstanding the Thespian Emperor’s brute-force attacks, he was confident he wouldn’t lose to Briana.

“Feels refreshing. You… Argh!”

Briana was smiling breezily when her eyebrows suddenly twisted.

“Would you shut up already!”

She stomped her foot at empty air in irritation.

“Tell me to say it in my head? You do it! Shame, my ass!”

The Queen of Swords clicked her tongue roughly and stepped forward.

“Sorry! Let’s get started now.”

She tilted her chin, signaling to begin the duel immediately.

“…Fine.”

Raon almost asked Briana a question but stopped himself.

‘If I win the fight, I’ll find out anyway.’

He had some guesses, but they didn’t matter now. What mattered was winning this duel.

“Ready?”

Briana gave a light hop on the spot like a jump rope and vanished like a wisp of smoke.

Fwoooosh!

She reappeared on his right side.

Chiaaang!

In a flash, Briana leapt through space and unleashed an extreme swift sword draw.

By the time he realized it, her sword was already in front of his throat.

Clang!

Raon tilted the angle of Heavenly Drive he was holding at mid-guard and blocked Briana’s sword strike that was crashing down toward his neck.

‘Kugh.’

So it’s not just speed?

Though he managed to block it, his reaction had been late, he felt a shock so fierce, it seemed as if the bones in his wrist and arm might shatter.

‘It’s not just speed.’

Briana used the same swordsmanship and footwork as the Queen of Swords, but the power behind it was on a completely different level. It felt like the martial art itself had changed.

“If you’re already surprised, you’ll be in trouble.”

Briana flicked her hand with a smirk, as if saying this was only the beginning.

“I know.”

Raon thrust the Thirty-Six Crimson Slash toward the halted Briana.

Chwaaaak!

Thirty-six flames shot forward as if to tear the earth apart, but Briana had already escaped from that space.

“Nice power! Alright, here I come again!”

Just as Briana laughed and swung her sword, a chill ran down his back.

Jjeooeoong!

Before he could even turn around, he moved Heavenly Drive to deflect a slashing strike of black light aimed at his shoulder.

‘Her strike is like an awl.’

Even though he had properly defended against it, Briana’s sword strike pierced through flesh and muscle and rattled his bones. It was a sword with terrifying penetration.

“If you don’t block it properly, you’ll end up seriously injured.”

Briana gave her sword a slight shake, urging him to focus on defense.

“You sure talk a lot now.”

Raon narrowed his eyes and drew the shape of a red dragon over Heavenly Drive’s blade.

Kuwaaaaang!

Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Thousand Flames - Flame Dragon Art.

A red dragon wrapped in fire incinerated everything in its path.

Fwoooosh.

Briana burst out from the left, piercing through the gray smoke and heat. It seemed she had escaped the range of the Flame Dragon Art by using extremely fast footwork.

Chiiik!

She stomped through the flames burning on the ground and drove her sword toward Raon’s heart.

“That’s some insane power.”

She shouted in admiration, but there was no fear in her eyes for the sword.

Kyaaang!

Raon let out a low groan as he deflected Briana’s sword strike that stabbed up from below like thorns.

‘It’s clearly the same swordsmanship, yet the difference is this big.’

Briana was using the Queen of Swords’ body, wielding her swordsmanship and footwork, yet the gap she created was so absurd it felt unreal, like he was dreaming.

‘From this point, I need to treat her as a completely different existence.’

Raon unleashed the Flawless Sea of Fire and the Grand Elegance of the Azure Sky Sword in succession to block Briana’s attacks and cut off the space where she could move.

“This is getting fun.”

But Briana slipped through his techniques with ease and struck back with sharp counters. It was like a cornered mouse biting a cat.

“Hmph…”

Raon furrowed his brows as he narrowly slipped past Briana’s thrusts by the width of a sheet of paper.

“I’m still coming.”

Briana frowned and unleashed a barrage of extreme swift thrusts.

Chchchchchang!

Raon used the Firewall to block the Queen of Swords’s thrusts, but the flaming shield didn’t last long, it cracked like a spiderweb and shattered.

His aura couldn’t withstand the sharpness contained in Briana’s aura.

“Now I get it.”

Briana tilted her chin as if everything made sense.

“Ever since you reached Transcendence, you’ve only used powerful sword techniques, haven’t you?”

She clicked her tongue and thrust her sword even faster, sharper.

“That…”

Raon bit his lip as he parried Briana’s thrust.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’ve only been fighting opponents way stronger or way weaker than you, so you’ve lost your ability to read your opponent’s moves, haven’t you?”

Briana twisted her lips, saying fighting him was way too easy.

Claaang!

Raon gritted his teeth as he barely blocked the piercing strike digging into his skin.

‘Come to think of it…’

She’s not entirely wrong.

Most of his recent battles had either been about smashing through encirclements with overwhelming force, or gambling everything with powerful techniques to take down enemies like the Black Tower’s master or the Fallen.

The Demon Slaying Spear. Even that, except for the last fight when he came to his senses, were mostly one-sided battles.

“Looks like I was right, huh?”

Briana nodded knowingly.

“How did you know?”

“There's something exuding from your sword. A certainty—‘I’m strong.’”

She grinned with the Queen of Swords’ serious face, as if finding it amusing.

“I’ll shatter that certainty today.”

Before she even finished her sentence, Briana vanished and reappeared right in front of him.

Claaang!

She was aiming for his abdomen. He quickly lowered Heavenly Drive to block, but because he was a moment too late, a sharp pain ran through his hand and shoulder.

“Kh…!”

Raon drew in a short breath.

‘She’s honed precise sword, swift sword, sharp sword, and light sword to their limits.’

Not to mention her footwork.

The four sword principles she had mastered surpassed even my own, and her footwork was also superior.

But even that couldn’t fully explain the level of strength she was showing now.

‘What am I missing?’

Raon furrowed his brows as he clashed his Crimson Slash against Briana’s sword, which stabbed in with a chilling sharpness.

‘Her aura and body are exactly the same… can something like this really happen just because the soul has changed?’

He couldn’t understand it, and the confusion made his sword waver.

“What do you think swordsmanship is?”

Briana asked while locking blades with him.

“Swordsmanship is simply the method of wielding a sword.”

“A fitting answer from someone who has reached Transcendence.”

Briana nodded, saying it was correct.

“Even the same swordsmanship can fail to cut a single twig or split the sky, depending on the person. But…”

She pointed to herself and lifted her chin.

“I think swordsmanship is like chess.”

“Chess?”

Raon deflected Briana’s sword as it came straight down, and furrowed his brow.

“Yeah. A duel between swordsmen is like a siege. Your opponent’s swordsmanship is their wall and gate. And we think about how to break down that wall and get through.”

Briana twisted her lips and shook her head.

“However, it seems your castle wall has already been breached.”

With that chilling voice, her sword strike sliced across Raon’s right waist.

*   *   *

“Haa.”

Briana smacked her lips as she looked at Raon, who didn’t even seem to care about the wound on his waist.

‘A swordsman approaching perfection.’

Body, mind, swordsmanship, and mindset, he was walking the path toward perfection more than anyone I had ever seen.

If he kept growing like this, he would surely become a vessel great enough to stand at the peak of the continent.

‘But when it comes to swordsmanship duels, I won’t lose.’

In the mental world, where only a faint light existed, I had trained the Sword of Majestic Will and the White Line Steps millions—no, tens of millions of times.

The sword principles contained within them had gone beyond embodiment and become one with her soul.

Especially in the mental world where time didn’t exist, she had endlessly fought against Brigit, who brought in external swordsmanship, so when it came to reading swordplay exchanges, she had absolute confidence that she wouldn’t lose.

Fwiish!

Briana pierced through Raon’s defense and struck his thigh, then smacked her lips again.

‘What a shame.’

Various sword principles, a body perfected to its limits, an aura with no end in sight, he had all the finest ingredients, yet Raon still hadn’t managed to cook a proper dish.

‘I know why.’

He probably hadn’t tried to dominate his opponents with strength and powerful techniques from the beginning.

But after so many battles, he had turned out this way. It wouldn’t be easy for him to change now.

‘Should I go ahead and finish this?’

Brigit had asked her not to kill him, just to break him, so it would be better to end it before some unexpected counterattack came.

Fwoooosh!

Briana licked her lips again as she watched Raon unleash a heavy strike.

‘A siege begins with holding off the enemy’s attacks.’

She twisted her blade diagonally and smoothly received Raon’s strike, which carried immense weight.

‘Now it’s time to break down the enemy’s gate.’

As Raon stepped back after his attack failed, she closed the distance and thrust her sword.

Fwaaaaah!

Raon raised a shield and spear of flame, but her sword dug into that fleeting instant and broke through his aura.

Wuuuuung!

As a Transcender, Raon forcefully raised Heavenly Drive, now blazing with golden flames, to block her assault.

‘I saw this coming too.’

Briana turned Raon’s surging sword strike against him and stabbed toward his neck.

‘Now it’s time to strike down the king’s head.’

She thought it was over and was about to stop her sword right in front of Raon’s throat when—

Wuuuuuuuung!

Raon’s sword, which until now had never been able to catch hers, suddenly twisted into an unfamiliar trajectory.

Claaaang!

A perfectly accurate defensive sword strike, with not even a hair’s breadth of error, blocked the Sword of Majestic Will’s ultimate technique and countered her blade.

Chiiiiik!

For the first time, Briana was pushed back, not by her own will, but by Raon’s sword.

On the floor of the training ground, just as the Queen of Swords had done, a deep footprint was imprinted, unable to fully dissipate the force.

“Huh?”

The Queen of Swords swallowed dryly as she looked at the steaming footprint on the floor.

“Swordsmanship is a battle of moves? Yeah… it used to be.”

Raon’s eyes glimmered with the spark of fascination.

“Thanks for helping me realize that again.”

 

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