The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1053

 Chapter 1053

 

Huuuuuu!

The sky howled viciously, and the earth thrashed in fury. Savage mana surged in all directions as if to bring down the world.

“A not-bad sword, you say….”

Derus Robert clenched his fingertips as he felt the chilling air, as if the whole world had become his enemy.

“If someone else had said that, I would’ve ripped their mouth open right away—but you, you have the right.”

Back in the days of the Six Kings and Five Demons, Darkan was a monster ranked among the highest of Transcenders, but I was confident I could beat him without much difficulty.

‘Because I could read his thoughts, and his strength was completely visible to my eyes.’

But the current Darkan, nothing about him could be read. I could feel from him a strange power I couldn’t predict.

It wasn’t just that his strength had grown, he now possessed such an unusual energy that even if I went all out, he wasn’t an opponent I could easily defeat.

His appearance, and the unique nature of his presence, both caught me off guard, before I knew it, my jaw was clenched with tension.

“You seem seriously flustered.”

Darkan let out a faint laugh, as if he had expected this.

“Fine. It wouldn’t be any fun to defeat you like this, so I’ll give you time to focus.”

He clapped his hands, as if telling him to snap out of it.

“Why are you standing in my way here?”

Derus frowned as he looked at the smiling Darkan.

“Has the Holy Sword Alliance betrayed the Four Demons?”

“Holy Sword Alliance? Betrayal? You really say the funniest things.”

Darkan tapped his own forehead with a finger and twisted his lips.

“As I said at the beginning, I’m neither the master of the Holy Sword Alliance nor the Dark Night Sword God. This Darkan always walks the path he feels like, regardless of those Five Kings or Four Demons. Right now, I’ve simply come because I wanted to see your sword.”

He shook his head like that was all there was to it.

“Then you really did hand over the Holy Sword Alliance to that Sword Demon?”

“Handed it over? No, that guy just took it himself. Either way, it doesn’t matter. The only reason I played the role of the Holy Sword Alliance’s master was because I wanted to see more swordsmanship.”

Darkan spoke of the Holy Sword Alliance, one of the nine greatest factions on the continent, as if tossing aside a useless pebble.

“Don’t tell me… those eyes too….”

“Yeah. I pulled them out myself.”

He grinned as he said he’d gouged out his own eyeballs.

“You’re insane….”

Derus let out a hollow laugh as he looked at the unbothered Darkan.

‘I knew Darkan was obsessed with the sword, but I didn’t think it was to this extent….’

I had always known that the Dark Night Sword God, Darkan, was infatuated with swordsmanship.

But I never imagined he would go so far as to abandon the Holy Sword Alliance and gouge out his own two eyes to focus on his personal training.

A madman.

A lunatic beyond comprehension.

Until now, there had only been two people who ever eluded my predictions, and it looked like Darkan was about to be added to that list.

“There’s one more thing I want to ask.”

Derus let out a heavy breath and raised his gaze.

“Why are you with Ogram? And not even at the Beast Union’s headquarters, but… hmm!”

He let out a low groan as he looked down at his gloved hand.

“Don’t tell me… the child you mentioned is…”

Derus narrowed his eyes at the drop of blood trickling from beneath the glove.

“Raon Zieghart?”

“Correct.”

Darkan nodded heavily.

“In fact, that child even predicted you’d bring up the name Raon.”

He twisted his lips, saying Raon had foreseen even this moment.

“That twisted expression… I quite like it.”

Ogram let out a mocking laugh as he looked at the frozen Derus.

“You’re nothing more than a monkey dancing in the palm of Raon’s hand! Derus Robert!”

He stomped the ground, shouting that Derus’ insight couldn’t even reach Raon’s toes.

“Kh… Kha ha ha ha ha!”

Derus swept his hair back with his bleeding hand. Crimson blood smeared into his silver hair, creating a chilling image.

“I don’t know whether I should feel joy… or fury.”

Not even the subordinates who had followed me all my life knew that I would come to the Beast Union, no, to a tiny tribe where Ogram was hiding.

But Raon Zieghart read my mind and called Darkan here.

The fact that there was someone who completely understood me made me glad, and at the same time, the fact that it was Raon filled me with fury.

“This should’ve been more than enough time for you to collect yourself, don’t you think?”

Darkan tilted his chin as if saying, shall we begin?

“Haaa….”

Derus exhaled a white breath and rotated his wrist.

“My mood’s pretty damn foul right now.”

Despite saying he was in a foul mood, he grasped his sword handle with complete calm, without the slightest hint of agitation.

“It’s gonna sting real bad as a palate cleanser.”

The moment Derus drew his sword, the killing intent pouring from the heavens and earth twisted direction, and began to surge toward Darkan.

“Excellent!”

As if surprised, Darkan wrinkled the bridge of his nose and raised his sword, causing the earth to tremble violently, unleashing a powerful wave that seemed to lift him up.

Kugugugugugugu!

The sky, as if following Derus, flared with brilliant light, while from the earth, as if supporting Darkan, rose a heavy black current.

“Even if my palate gets completely torn apart…”

Darkan curled the corner of his lips, seemingly pleased by the momentum with which Derus pushed back his energy.

“Come at me with everything you’ve got!”

He nodded, as if saying he wouldn’t mind dying here.

“You’ll regret saying that.”

Derus and Darkan simultaneously raised their swords. Like statues, the two Transcenders didn’t move for a long while. But the moment they felt the winter wind cutting through the killing intent, they struck at each other’s throats.

As the black sword and silver sword collided head-on, a massive rift opened, linking sky and earth.

Kuuuuuuuuuuung!

*   *   *

Chwaaaaak!

Raon slashed down the Crimson Slash toward the bloody demons charging at him in suicide attacks. The flaming blade, as if cleaving through space itself, cut down the bloody demons and even the dimension behind them.

But the bloody demons opened new dimensions, burst forth, and threw themselves forward, detonating their bloody energy.

‘They’re determined to block the path no matter what, huh?’

Thanks to the White Blood Religion tossing out self-destructing bloody demons, the sorcery on the fortress wall was strengthening and the path was being blocked, but the loss of life was far too great.

Even now, hundreds were dying, yet the white dimension continued to pour out more bloody demons.

I could feel it, their determination to block the wall even if it meant sacrificing every last bloody demon left on the continent.

‘Are they really trying to create a new sorcery spell or something?’

Considering that even in this situation the White Blood Religion’s leader still hadn’t shown herself, it was clear she was hiding inside the headquarters, working on some other scheme.

“You filthy scum won’t enter the sacred land!”

“Die, evil spirits!”

“I’ll purify you even if I must offer up my soul!”

“Blood God!”

The White Blood fanatics, as if possessed, eyes filled with madness, charged at him.

‘I’ll have to cut down those first.’

As Raon was about to slash down the crazed bloody demons and close the dimensions behind them—

Fuwaaaaaaang!

A wave of bloody energy, of a level far beyond any he’d felt so far, surged from the top of the wall. Crescent-moon-shaped bloody energy was pouring down above his head.

Jjeooooooong!

Raon struck down the fierce bloody energy with the Firewall, then raised his gaze.

“So you’re Raon Zieghart?”

A blue-haired Apostle resting a giant scythe on his shoulder looked down at him, curling up the corner of his lips.

“Indeed, I can feel an energy on a different level from the others. If you were standing before me, you might have pissed your pants.”

Even on a battlefield where countless people were dying, he was smiling playfully.

"Apostle, huh."

"Yeah. I'm the twelfth. My name is—"

"I don’t need to hear your name."

Raon raised his hand to silence the Twelfth Apostle.

"Because you’ll die today and be forgotten."

Contrary to the mocking words, he calmed his heart.

‘He’s weaker than me, but I mustn’t underestimate him.’

The Twelfth Apostle is a Transcender who has reached a stable realm. Even if he’s slightly lacking compared to me, he is a warrior who has crossed the wall of Transcendence with a will he built up himself, so I must not be careless.

‘Especially someone who uses such a strange weapon should be approached with extra caution.’

Unlike swords, sabers, or spears commonly used by warriors, those who wield peculiar tools like that giant scythe are bound to have some hidden trump card that could save their life.

‘And since I have to conserve strength for the battle against the White Blood Religion’s leader, I’ll first observe what kind of abilities he possesses…’

As Raon was preparing to climb the wall, a powerful shockwave burst from the direction of the fifth bridge.

Kugugugugugu!

Denier and the swordsmen of the Wise Martial Palace had finally broken through the bloody demons and sent Martha to the Tenth Apostle.

“I’ve lived up to this moment just to kill you and that bitch!”

Martha roared as she swung her sword toward the Tenth Apostle’s neck.

Jjeoooong!

Unlike before, the Tenth Apostle could no longer ignore Martha’s attacks and summoned a spear to block it.

"You’ve grown strong."

He nodded calmly as he met Martha’s fiercely burning eyes.

"Shut up!"

Martha shoved aside the Tenth Apostle’s spear with her yellow-flaming sword. The way she pushed back an Apostle with her own strength made the bloody demons and swordsmen widen their eyes.

"So it’s you. Martha Zieghart."

The Twelfth Apostle looked over Martha’s face and twisted his lips upward.

“Seems you remember our senior taking your mother away. But…”

He slowly raised his finger, as if mocking her.

"I was there too, you know. Don’t you remember?"

The Twelfth Apostle pointed at himself with the finger tracing a circle in the air.

"What…?"

Martha, who had been overpowering the Tenth Apostle, turned her gaze to the Twelfth Apostle.

"Don’t you recall? I was the one who grabbed your mother by the hair and tried to rip out her throat. The senior in front of you now stopped me, remember?"

The Twelfth Apostle curled his lips as if asking why she was swinging her sword at her benefactor while leaving her enemy alone..

"You bastard!"

Martha ground her teeth and twisted her ankle. Without even glancing back, she charged at the Twelfth Apostle.

"Where do you think you’re going?"

But the Tenth Apostle wasn’t someone who would let her go just like that.

Bbaooock!

He tilted the spear shaft to push away Martha’s sword and struck her in the waist.

“Keugh….”

Martha crashed into the edge of the fortress wall, her sword-hand trembling.

“Don’t ignore the opponent right in front of your eyes.”

The Tenth Apostle thrust his spear, blazing white, as if to finish her off in one blow.

"Martha!"

Denier dashed up the wall and struck down the Tenth Apostle’s spear as it fell toward Martha’s neck.

"You damned monsters…"

Martha bit her bloodied lips and forced herself upright.

"I’ll kill every last one of you!"

She radiated a murderous intent so chilling it made one shiver, declaring she would kill not only the Apostles but every bloody demon in existence.

“I don’t get why you’re so mad.”

The Twelfth Apostle shrugged playfully as he looked at her.

"Wouldn’t it be better for that body of hers to live as a god, becoming our religious leader, than as an ordinary woman? It benefits both sides!"

He sneered not only at Martha but as if to provoke all of Zieghart. His voice echoed in the ears, it seemed some kind of mind-affecting sorcery was at work.

Gooooooo!

The Zieghart swordsmen, as if fully falling for the Twelfth Apostle’s provocation, unleashed fierce killing intent, not at the enemies in front of them, but directly at him.

"You son of a bitch!"

Naturally, Martha was the quickest and most strongly affected by the provocation, and she charged at him again.

Kuuuuung!

The Tenth Apostle deflected Denier’s sword and blocked Martha’s charge at the Twelfth Apostle.

"Seems you’ve remembered now? I was a bit hurt, you know."

The Twelfth Apostle licked his lips behind the Tenth Apostle’s back.

“But what I said isn’t wrong. Your mother’s soul was just one among countless insects. But our religious leader—she’s the one and only.”

He tapped his own lips with a finger, as if to say he hadn’t told a single lie.

"Graaaaaaagh!"

Martha screamed as if she would kill the Twelfth Apostle and swung her sword, but the Tenth Apostle and the archbishops didn’t let her go.

Woooooooong!

Raon gripped the Blade of Requiem, which let out a gloomy resonance in harmony with Martha’s emotions.

‘Is it empathizing with Martha’s sadness?’

The vengeful spirits dwelling in the Blade of Requiem are victims of the White Blood Religion. As if understanding Martha’s pain and grief, they were revealing their hatred toward the bloody demons.

Huuuuuu!

Even Rimmer's wind, which would normally soothe the vengeful spirits, today acted in concert, creating a rough and cold biting wind.

"You said you’re the Twelfth Apostle?"

Raon sheathed Heavenly Drive and drew the Blade of Requiem.

“I’ll tear that filthy mouth of yours first.”

Having lived as an assassin, I’ve always made sure to fully understand my opponent’s power and means before making a move.

Even today, I intended to preserve my strength for the fight against the White Blood Religion’s leader and properly gauge the Twelfth Apostle’s ability first, but I can’t hold back now.

“You're coming at me right away?”

The Twelfth Apostle lifted his chin provocatively, as if to taunt him. It meant he had a hidden power.

“With a short blade like that, I doubt you’ll even reach this wall, let alone me.”

He curled his lips, as if trusting both the wall’s sorcery and his own martial strength.

"Is it really short?"

As Raon let out a scornful laugh and activated the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, crimson flames spread across the blade of the Blade of Requiem, then soared skyward, stretching grandly as if to reach the heavens.

“What the…?”

The Twelfth Apostle widened his eyes as he felt the deep resentment within the Blade of Requiem and the profound aura of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation. He raised a bloody energy shield and began chanting a top-tier sorcery.

A dark, ominous energy, like a curse, rose from his shoulders. The blood energy rippled as if it would reflect any incoming attack.

"None of it will matter."

Raon advanced toward the fortress wall and raised the Blade of Requiem. Following the flow guided by the vengeful spirits, he brought the crimson blade down, unleashing all the sword principles of the versatile sword he had built up until now.

Kugugugugugugu!

The heavy sword became heavier, the swift sword became swifter, and the sharp sword extended even sharper. The will of the vengeful spirits to annihilate the bloody demons was channeled into his blade, elevating his versatile sword to an even higher realm.

Jjeojeojeojeojeok!

The White Blood Religion’s leader’s sorcery, which protected the White Blood Religion’s headquarters, cracked. The white fortress wall collapsed, and a red line was drawn across the body of the Twelfth Apostle, who had been standing on top of it.

"Th-That’s impossible. The absolute defensive sorcery and the reflection—"

The Twelfth Apostle, trembling, looked at the crumbling giant scythe, now split in half.

"Graaaaah…"

Unable to withstand the splitting of his body, he burst into white blood and plummeted along with the rubble of the collapsed wall.

"The resentment and sadness contained in this blade… are longer and deeper than any blade in this world. That kind of depth is far beyond what a bastard like you can handle. Of course… "

Raon stepped onto the blood-soaked ground where the Twelfth Apostle had fallen and crossed over the ruined wall.

“You didn’t know that, and that’s why you kept flapping your filthy mouth and died like that.”

He raised his clenched fist toward Martha, who was glaring with wide eyes to the right.

"Now it’s your turn to show them."

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