The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1038

Chapter 1038

 

Sseuuu!

Raon let out a faint smile as he watched the spirit, wagging its tail lightly, swim through the ocean.

‘Is it adjusting its speed on purpose?’

The ocean spirit occasionally looked back to check if he, Evelyn, and Roenn were keeping up.

Since it had the appearance of a young wolf, just watching it swim was adorable.

[Raon. Should we raise a wolf too, later?]

Evelyn sent a telepathic message laced with laughter, saying she wanted to raise animals after retiring.

[You know already, but I like animals. And animals tend to like me too.]

She twitched her finger, saying she wanted to raise various animals on the seashore.

[I’ll help as well.]

Roenn chuckled softly, saying that would be a lot of work.

[Let’s save that talk for later. Both of you, focus on your movements.]

Raon turned to Evelyn and Roenn and gave a small nod.

[We’ll soon arrive at the place where the Turtle Rock disappeared.]

Ever since the Turtle Rock disappeared, they had searched the surrounding area, but they couldn't find a path anywhere.

He was starting to worry that even the ocean spirit guiding them now might get lost.

However, the ocean spirit, as if it knew another path, didn’t stop even though Turtle Rock was no longer in sight, sniffing the ocean as it continued forward.

Kyareung.

As if signaling that this was where things began to matter, the ocean spirit started to move slowly, waving its downy front paw.

Seeing its slowed pace, it seemed the White Blood Religion's headquarters wasn’t far off.

Kyaang.

The ocean spirit moved with its nose nearly pressed to the sand, then came to a halt in front of an underwater canyon whose floor could not be seen.

Kyawoo.

Its entire fur bristled and its eyes trembled, as if it was scared.

‘So it’s saying it’s down there.’

But this underwater canyon wasn’t a place from the memory.

In the memory the ocean spirit had shared, this canyon hadn’t existed at all.

In fact, the direction also seemed quite different, so he couldn’t tell what exactly had happened.

‘Could it be…’

Had that huge city actually moved?

He had started to suspect it ever since the Turtle Rock disappeared, and now he was seriously considering the possibility that the White Blood Religion had relocated its entire headquarters.

[From this point on, we’ll need to move more carefully.]

Raon sent an aura message to Roenn and Evelyn, telling them to be more cautious from here on, then stood beside the ocean spirit and looked down into the canyon below.

‘A foreboding feeling.’

He couldn’t see anything, couldn’t sense anything, yet from within the hazy darkness, there was a pressure that felt like it was tightening around his chest.

‘I'm counting on you.’

Raon took a breath and gently patted the ocean spirit’s head.

Kyareung!

The ocean spirit gave a heavy nod, as if it had made up its mind in response to his request, and leapt into the canyon.

To think it would keep moving forward even while trembling in fear…

Wrath nodded, as if impressed that the ocean spirit, though trembling in fear, didn’t stop moving.

It’s better than most demons, that little one!

‘Right.’

Raon nodded in agreement with Wrath’s words.

‘That little guy already repaid his debt just by giving me the memory of the White Blood Religion, the ocean’s mana, and healing me.’

The ocean spirit had given him mana greater than a top-grade elixir, healed all his wounds, and even gave him the information that the White Blood Religion’s headquarters was under the ocean.

The repayment for saving it had already been more than enough, so Raon was grateful that it still continued to help him this far.

Thunk.

Raon followed after the ocean spirit and jumped down into the dim undersea canyon.

‘The pressure’s increasing.’

Though he could endure it without issue, the water pressure was now reaching a level that ordinary people or weaker warriors would find unbearable.

‘Could it really be in a place like this?’

The White Blood Religion's headquarters he saw in the ocean spirit’s memory was huge, big enough to be called a city.

No matter how much it was protected by sorcery, it was hard to believe such a thing could exist this deep in the ocean.

‘Still…’

Raon bit his lip slightly as he looked at the ocean spirit struggling to move forward.

‘Let’s keep going.’

Trusting in the spirit that had given him its faith, he continued down toward the floor of the dim canyon—

Fwoooosh!

A damp, sinister presence that made his spine shiver caught on his senses.

‘Bloody energy!’

Just like what he had felt in front of the harbor that the Ninth Apostle had attacked, very faint, yet a foul-smelling blood energy was rising from directly below.

[Stop!]

Raon raised a hand to block Evelyn and Roenn’s path.

[From here on, there’s a barrier created by sorcery.]

It was sorcery that alerted them to the presence of intruders, but it was spread extremely wide and densely, and swayed along with the currents of the ocean, making it look anything but easy to avoid.

Kyareung.

The ocean spirit raised its front paw slightly, looking at them as if to say they should proceed carefully.

[Looks like it’s finally my turn to step in.]

Roenn, as if he too had sensed the blood energy with his aura perception, let out a soft chuckle and stepped forward.

[Do you think you can move while avoiding it?]

Raon looked at Roenn, lowering his brows slightly.

[Embarrassing as it is, this old man has spent his whole life doing this kind of work. The water currents are shifting rapidly, but the pattern remains consistent, it shouldn’t be too difficult.]

Roenn clicked his tongue, saying the currents in the area seemed to be manipulated by sorcery.

[Hmm…]

He closed his eyes and felt the movement of the currents with just his fingers, then calmly opened his eyes.

[From this point on, just follow behind me. Since Lady Evelyn is a bit slower, it would be best if you stay by her side, Sir Raon.]

Roenn brought his hands together and motioned for them to follow him, looking after Evelyn.

[Understood.]

Raon nodded and positioned Evelyn in front of him.

[Hold on tight!]

Evelyn forced him to grab her waist, insisting he absolutely not let go.

[My waist is slim, right? Easy to hold onto!]

[Haa…]

Even with the White Blood Religion’s headquarters right before them, Evelyn was saying things like that, Raon closed his eyes tightly.

How can someone be this insane…?

Wrath shook his head in disbelief.

[You two look quite good together.]

Roenn chuckled softly, seemingly amused by Evelyn’s tendency to charge forward no matter what.

[Please, just get moving already…]

Raon called out to Roenn in a voice that had slightly lost its strength.

[Very well, let’s go.]

Roan let out a serious voice as if he had never joked, and continued down the canyon, avoiding the sorcery of blood energy.

[Let’s go too.]

[Yeah! As long as you’re beside me, I can do anything!]

Evelyn sent a telepathic message so loud it made Raon’s head ring, clearly in high spirits.

[Quit thinking about useless things and focus.]

Raon led Evelyn and followed the path Roenn was opening through the ocean.

Though they didn’t descend much deeper, and the pressure didn’t increase, the currents became more violent,making it harder to avoid the bloody energy’s sorcery.

Fwoooosh!

But Roenn moved as if he knew every path, sensing the blood energy with his body and avoiding all of the White Blood Religion’s barrier sorcery as he headed deeper in.

[It seems we've arrived.]

He let out a deep breath as he looked at the ground covered in brown sand and the white fog that filled the space in a circular spread above it.

‘This is…’

Raon clenched his fist as he gazed at the huge white city shrouded in fog.

‘The White Blood Religion’s headquarters.’

The form seemed to have changed a little from when he entered to save Ogram, but the alien feeling, as if this place didn’t belong to reality, remained just the same.

‘If I memorize this place’s location and condition and then return… huh?’

Raon took a step forward to gather a bit more information but suddenly froze in place.

[Then let’s move a little farther.]

[No!]

Roenn was about to move forward when Raon raised a hand to block him.

[If we go any farther, we’ll definitely be detected.]

[What? It should still be fine….]

[No.]

Raon shook his head firmly, saying it was absolutely not okay.

[Erasing our presence and avoiding the barrier aren’t everything.]

He bit down on his lip deeply as he stared at the sand covering the ground where the White Blood Religion’s headquarters was built.

[We’ll be caught by the eyes of the thing down below!]

*   *   *

Thud!

Martha struck down hard with her sword in the training ground inside the Wise Martial Palace.

‘Why isn’t it working?’

It definitely worked when I fought the Ninth Apostle...

When she fought her last battle, risking her life against the Ninth Apostle, the Destructive Noble Sword moved as if it had a will of its own and cut down the thick blood energy.

She had tried again and again to revive that sensation through training, but the feeling wouldn’t come back.

‘I want to feel it again.’

That feeling of my body and mind becoming one with the sword.

When I became one with the Destructive Noble Sword and cut down the Ninth Apostle, I felt overwhelming ecstasy and exhilaration. I want to experience that feeling again, but I have no idea how.

‘Even if it doesn’t work, I’ve got no choice but to keep going.’

In the end, it just means my swordsmanship proficiency is still lacking, so the only thing to do is keep practicing until it works.

She picked up her sword again and resumed training with the Destructive Noble Sword.

Hwooouuugh!

Time passed unnoticed as she trained, and before she knew it, the violet dawn had faded, and morning had come.

‘Still not enough. Again.’

Just as Martha was about to swing the Destructive Noble Sword again under the rising sun—

“Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

Denier opened the training ground door and stepped in, draping a coat over his shoulders.

“I have no choice.”

Martha shook her head without stopping her training.

“We don’t know when the war with the White Blood Religion will break out. I need to get stronger as quickly as possible.”

She also wanted to rest, but there wasn’t enough time. Every minute, every second mattered.

“I understand how you feel, but excessive training can become poison.”

Denier shook his head in front of her, telling her not to overdo it.

“If I want to land even a single strike on the White Blood Religion’s leader, what I’m doing now isn’t enough.”

Martha bit her lip, saying she could do anything if it meant saving her mother.

“And I can’t even express what I’ve realized properly.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Denier lowered his chin slightly, asking her to explain.

“I told you before that I defeated the Ninth Apostle. But the truth is, I didn’t cut him down with my own strength alone.”

“Yes. You said Raon was the one who finished him.”

“That’s not what I meant…”

Martha looked at her hand holding the sword and shook her head.

“When I clashed with the Ninth Apostle for the last time, the Destructive Noble Sword changed its form on its own and completely tore through his blood energy.”

She explained the details of what had happened back then, details she hadn’t shared before.

“The Destructive Noble Sword did that?”

Denier raised his well-groomed brows in surprise.

“When you cut through the bloody energy, did it feel like slicing through several layers of paper?”

“Yes! Exactly like that!”

Martha nodded immediately.

"Do you perhaps know what happened?"

She approached Denier, asking him to tell her how.

“Think back to your battle with the Ninth Apostle, and try to cut through my aura using the Destructive Noble Sword.”

Denier created a solid shield of aura atop his palm and extended it toward her.

“Okay.”

Trusting Denier completely, Martha took a stance without hesitation and brought her sword down.

Fwoooosh!

Her blade cut through Denier’s aura like the bow of a ship slicing through waves, stopping just in front of his palm.

“This is it! This is the feeling!”

Martha raised her fist, exclaiming that it was exactly like when she cut down the Ninth Apostle.

“As your proficiency with the Destructive Noble Sword increases, the ability to cut through sinister (evil) energy is added.

It seems you've finally reached that level.”

Denier applauded her, saying congratulations.

“So that’s how I cut through the bloody energy…”

Martha lightly trembled her lips, as if she had finally understood.

“Then, if my proficiency with the Destructive Noble Sword increases, does the ability to cut through sinister energy become stronger too?”

“It does.”

Denier nodded, saying that naturally, the power grows in accordance with one's proficiency in swordsmanship.

“Then I don’t have time to be standing around like this!”

Martha said she’d even save the time it takes to breathe, and swung her sword once more.

“Truly…”

Denier nodded heavily as he looked at the faint cut that had appeared on the hand that received her sword.

“It’s getting close.”

*   *   *

Gulp.

Raon swallowed dryly at the calm yet tremendous energy he felt beneath the white city.

‘Something is there.’

A colossal presence was lurking beneath the White Blood Religion’s headquarters.

It was hiding while carrying the energy of the ocean, just like the spirit beside him, if he had entered without knowing, he would’ve been done for instantly.

Strangely enough, though it was detectable by his aura perception, he couldn’t see it with his eyes.

Grrrnnng…

The ocean spirit, as if it could go no farther, clung tightly to his side, its whole body trembling.

[Could you please tell us what's going on?]

[What is it? Come on, say something!]

Roenn and Evelyn, both being in the depths of the ocean, didn’t seem to be sensing the presence beneath the White Blood Religion’s headquarters.

Krrh…

Wrath furrowed his brows as if in disbelief.

Among all the things the King of Essence has seen, this one is the biggest! Even bigger than those damned lizards!

Wrath let out an empty laugh as he looked down at the brown sand spread across the ocean floor, as if he had realized the identity of the hidden being.

‘You can see what it is?’

Raon narrowed his eyes at Wrath.

That is so.

Wrath nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

If you use that new eye of yours, you’ll be able to see it too.

He waved his hand, as if telling Raon to activate the Mind’s Eye of the Azure Flower.

‘Hmm…’

Raon clicked his tongue briefly and activated the Mind’s Eye of the Azure Flower.

The moment the blue energy seeped into his eyes, a massive being came into view beneath the sand—

no, it looked as though it had become the sand itself.

‘Insane…’

Something that huge actually exists?

It made no sense—and yet, it also did.

Thanks to that being, it now made sense why the location of the White Blood Religion’s headquarters differed from the memory he had received from the ocean spirit.

[Let me know too!]

Evelyn grabbed his hand, asking him to explain it to her as well.

[It’s hard to explain. Just watch carefully.]

Raon took out a fish from his subspace pocket that had only recently died and still retained some vitality, then pushed it forward.

Ssssss.

The dead fish drifted along with the current and began to approach the vicinity of the White Blood Religion’s headquarters—

Fwaaaaaang!

From the floor where only brown sand could be seen, a single white tentacle, like a spear, shot up and shredded the drifting fish’s flesh into powder.

Fwoooosh!

On the tentacle, which was larger than a building, the sorcery of the White Blood Religion was engraved in the form of letters.

That sorcery seemed to detect enemies, the tentacle moved to search for another target at a speed like a flash of light, then sank back into the ocean floor and returned to the same color as the sand.

[Th-this is…]

[A tentacle with suction cups, don’t tell me!]

Roen and Evelyn both seemed to have realized what was hiding beneath the city, and swallowed dryly.

[Yeah…]

Raon bit deep into his lip as he confirmed the existence of the mythical monster hiding beneath the city, carrying it on its back.

[It’s a Kraken.]

The Kraken is carrying the White Blood Religion’s headquarters.

 

 

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