The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1045

 Chapter 1045

 

“You….”

Raon let out a hollow breath as he looked at Darkan’s face.

“Your eyes… how….”

Unlike just moments ago, both of Darkan’s eyes, no longer hidden by the eyepatch, were gleaming.

“This is my mental world.”

Darkan pointed to the gray ground with his finger and curled his lips into a smile.

“It’s a space that reflects the soul, not the body. So having eyes here isn’t strange at all.”

“The mental world….”

Raon furrowed his brows as he looked around the space where only the gray land could be seen.

“Don’t tell me… you’re trying to get revenge for that time.”

Back at the Holy Sword Alliance’s holy land, when they had met, Darkan had tested him and ended up touching Wrath’s soul, which pulled him into that guy’s mental world.

Raon got the sense that Darkan had brought him into his own mental world to get revenge for that.

“No.”

Darkan shook his head firmly.

“I told you, didn’t I? That I would repay the favor I received from you. Besides….”

He gave a small smile as he looked at Raon.

“Why would I take revenge for something that helped me so greatly?”

“It helped you… greatly?”

“Yes. Thanks to that experience, I was able to grasp a clue toward achieving my own Heart Sword.”

Darkan even said he wanted to thank Wrath instead, and laughed.

“What do you mean by ‘your own Heart Sword?”

Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Darkan’s composed expression.

“Isn’t the Heart Sword just a martial art that cuts the enemy’s soul?”

“That’s what I thought too.”

Darkan nodded calmly.

“Your grandfather’s Heart Sword is exactly the ultimate form of that image. If he hadn’t tried to cut down multiple opponents at once, I would no longer exist in this world.”

He let out a hollow breath, saying that Glenn’s Heart Sword was beyond even the instant-death spell of myth.

“The only Heart Sword I had seen was his, so I initially walked that same path. But…”

Darkan stroked his neatly trimmed chin.

“It wasn’t fun.”

“What?”

Raon blinked at Darkan as he lowered his hand.

“What do you mean it wasn’t fun….”

“I mean it exactly as I said. Learning the    Heart Sword is more enjoyable than anything, but the moment you actually wield it to cut through someone’s soul is so fleeting… it feels hollow.”

Darkan clicked his tongue, saying it didn’t suit his nature.

“I’m different from your grandfather. My goal isn’t to kill the enemy perfectly. I want to see what kind of swordsmanship he mastered, how he mastered it. I want to witness the peak of the sword that that swordsman built up.”

A red ecstasy flared over his eyes.

“That’s why, after getting struck by the blue king inside you, I came up with my own Heart Sword.”

“Don’t tell me this is….”

Raon muttered as if he finally understood, lowering his gaze to the gray land beneath.

“That’s right. My Heart Sword doesn’t cut the opponent’s soul, it draws their soul into my mental world.”

Darkan nodded, saying it was thanks to the experience with Wrath that he was able to create such a Heart Sword.

“In this world, it’s swords clashing against swords, and souls clashing against souls.”

He curled his lips, saying there was no difference between this and paradise.

“Doesn’t it seem like happiness?”

“Hah!”

Raon let out a dry laugh as he looked at Darkan smiling without even a speck of dust on him.

“Madman….”

There was really nothing else to say but that he was insane.

The Heart Sword, at least as he knew it, was the final stage of swordsmanship, where one tempers their own soul and instantly cuts the soul of the opponent. That was true for Glenn as well, and it was the direction he had been pursuing.

But Darkan had created this absurd Heart Sword not to kill enemies, but to savor and feel their swordsmanship more perfectly.

In a way, it felt more like the Sword Field Creation than the Heart Sword itself.

“Of course, this Heart Sword doesn’t always succeed.”

Darkan continued, stroking the bridge of his nose.

“You must at least possess a soul of Transcender level to be pulled into this world. The souls below that level are too weak and die before they can be drawn in.”

That’s why, he said with a thin smile, he never intended to call Raon into this world from the beginning.

“I see….”

Raon rubbed his temples, feeling a throb in his head.

“That really is the perfect Heart Sword for you.”

If Wrath had seen this, he’d have screamed insane repeatedly, but from Raon’s perspective, it was a power that suited Darkan perfectly.

“But your mental world is rather simple. Other than the strange color of the ground, there’s nothing here.”

Raon frowned slightly as he scanned the world, which consisted of nothing but gray earth.

“What are you talking about?”

Darkan shook his head, as if saying Raon was seeing it wrong.

“What you’re standing on isn’t ground,   it’s a sword.”

“A s-sword?”

Raon’s eyes widened as he looked again at the gray land.

“Come with me.”

Darkan motioned with his finger and floated into the air, as if to show him directly.

“Hmm….”

Raon clicked his tongue briefly, then followed Darkan into the sky.

“This should be high enough. Look down.”

After ascending for quite a while, Darkan gestured downward.

Following his words, Raon looked down, and the land that had appeared to be ground was now clearly shaped like a massive sword.

“Crazy….”

Raon blurted in shock without realizing it.

‘It really was a sword?’

Just as Darkan had said, what he had been standing on wasn’t ground, it was an enormous, finely sharpened sword. Now he understood why the surface had been gray.

‘This goes beyond just being obsessed with the sword…’

He had entered others’ mental worlds a few times before, but never had he seen someone who thought of only one thing to this extent. It felt less like looking at a human and more like looking at a beast.

“You….”

Raon let out a hollow breath and stared at Darkan.

“You really love swords that much?”

He had heard many times that he was obsessed with the sword himself, but not to this extent.

‘No, a question like that isn’t even necessary.’

Darkan was one of the continent’s top warriors, and yet he had endured getting slapped in the face just to learn how to beg, all for the sake of advancing his swordsmanship.

He had created a Heart Sword not to kill, but to witness more sword techniques. That alone proved his obsession with the sword was on a level I could never reach.

“That’s right. All of my interest and passion lies in the sword.”

Darkan twisted his lips, saying that his hobby and specialty were swordsmanship.

“If I could unfold the ultimate sword with my own hands, I’d be fine with dying right here and now.”

He looked at the massive sword he had forged himself and let out a peaceful smile.

‘Even calling it sword-obsessed isn’t enough. But still…’

Raon clicked his tongue as he looked into Darkan’s eyes, glowing with heat.

‘Come to think of it, I’m not so different.’

If Darkan had created his mental world with a single colossal sword, then Raon had filled his own with countless swords and sword techniques. Though the form was different, the ideal they pursued was similar.

‘If I didn’t have the goal of taking revenge on Derus Robert, I might have made the ultimate sword my goal like Darkan.’

Training in swordsmanship hadn’t been tiring or boring, instead, it had been fun and joyful. So now, he could somewhat understand the emotion Darkan was expressing.

He had pushed it aside because there was something he must achieve even if he died twice, but if he had lived an ordinary life, he might have ended up thinking only about the sword, just like Darkan.

“I’ve seen all there is to your mental world. Let’s begin.”

Raon placed his hand on Heavenly Drive as he looked at Darkan.

“I like that there’s no need for long words with you.”

Darkan nodded with a smile.

“What you have to do is simple. Until the moment you leave this world, cross swords with me.”

He waved his hand as if just the thought of it was delightful.

“Sounds good.”

Raon smiled and drew Heavenly Drive from his waist.

“I’ve come all this way, I’ll have to unleash every bit of swordsmanship I’ve got.”

“I thought you’d be someone who could understand me.”

Darkan nodded as he summoned his black sword in midair.

“Then let us begin.”

As Darkan’s voice sank low, his pressure, or rather, the level of his soul, rose at a terrifying rate.

Kugugugugu!

An overwhelming surge of energy waves shook the vast mental world. The fool who had been discussing beggars with him was nowhere to be found.

The Dark Night Sword God, Darkan, whose presence alone made bones and flesh tremble, had descended before his eyes.

“I’ll go first.”

Darkan grasped the black sword in his right hand with a chilling smile. It was a firm tone that declared he wouldn’t yield as a senior, but it fit him perfectly.

Fwoooosh.

From the start, Darkan vanished into the air as if intending to fight seriously. The next time his presence was felt, it was to Raon’s right.

“Well, since it’s come to this….”

Raon twisted up the corners of his lips as he deflected Darkan’s sword with his quick-draw technique from the right.

“Let’s enjoy this to the fullest.”

*   *   *

Claaang!

Raon clashed swords with Darkan head-on and let out a rough breath.

‘How much time has passed?’

He had no idea whether it had been hours, or days.

He hadn’t paid the slightest attention to time, so he had no sense of how long he’d been here fighting Darkan.

“I didn’t know souls could get tired.”

His vision wavered, and the body composed of soul no longer moved properly, as if the time he could remain in this world had run out.

Even though Darkan had been holding back his strength during the fight, he had reached this state, if they had fought seriously, it would have ended long ago.

“Looks like you’ve hit your limit.”

Lowering his sword, Darkan clicked his tongue.

“Well, I suppose it’s understandable. No one has lasted as long as you in this world.”

He let out an exclamation, saying it was astonishing Raon had lasted in this world for so long.

“It’s a strange thing. A brat who’s barely past twenty, how can you possess a soul greater than your martial power?”

Darkan exhaled a hollow breath, saying the level of Raon’s soul was more astonishing than his strength.

“You’d be better off polishing that soul of yours more than your swordsmanship going forw—”

“Hey.”

Raon let out a short breath and called out to Darkan.

“As you said, there isn’t much time left. You’re not thinking of ending this just with mere small talk, are you?”

He raised Heavenly Drive toward Darkan and tilted his chin.

“I still have one last sword technique left.”

He had shown all the swordsmanship he had learned while dueling Darkan in this world, but he had yet to show just one. Only by unleashing that one would he be satisfied.

“Ha! Kuhahahahaha!”

Darkan clutched his forehead and burst into wild laughter loud enough to shake the entire space.

“So there really was someone more obsessed with the sword than me!”

Rather than being angry, he nodded with joy in his voice.

“Fine. Come at me.”

Darkan spread both arms wide, as if ready to accept it all.

“You’d best be careful.”

Raon gripped Heavenly Drive with both hands and bit his lip.

“This time will be different.”

Upon the blade before his eyes, he poured out all the sword techniques he had learned, and the emotions he’d felt as he mastered them.

Sword Field Creation, Genesis.

Upon the silver blade, a radiant golden brilliance bloomed.

The light of the sword field stretched out majestically, as if declaring ownership over Darkan’s gray mental world.

“Beyond expectations!”

Darkan grinned, showing his teeth, as if thrilled.

“I’ll take it!”

He brought his black sword down toward Raon’s endlessly rising sword field. The desire and will of a swordsman who had walked a single path his entire life turned into black flame and fell.

Kuwaaaaaang!

As the golden flash and black radiance collided, Darkan’s mental world, made solely of sword, shattered into thousands of fragments.

Jjjjjjjjjjjik!

Feeling the sensation of his soul twisting, Raon opened his eyes to see Darkan, once again covering his eyes with the eyepatch.

“Guh!”

Raon clutched his chest and dropped to his knees on the ground strewn with building debris.

‘Am I back?’

It seemed that the shock he took inside Darkan’s mental world had brought him back to reality.

“Raon!”

Rector, who had been watching the spar, ran to him and supported him.

“What happened!”

With worried eyes, he bit his lip as he looked at Raon.

You bastard! Where did you go?

Wrath struck his shoulder.

Your soul vanished from this world for about one full minute!

He frowned, saying if Raon had been even a little later, he would’ve taken over his body himself.

“I went into Darkan’s mental world.”

Mental world…?

“You—you went into a mental world?”

“Well….”

Raon told Rector and Wrath everything that had happened in Darkan’s mental world.

“Huhhh….”

Rector let out a hollow breath, as if he hadn’t even considered that possibility.

Insane… There’s really nothing else to say but that he’s insane!

Wrath gasped, dumbfounded upon hearing that Darkan’s Heart Sword had changed because of him.

A madman who’s a perfect match for you has finally appeared!

He bit his lip, claiming that he and Darkan were on the same level.

“It was a splendid sword.”

Darkan nodded calmly, as if satisfied.

"What's unfortunate is that I saw it before it was complete."

He clicked his tongue briefly, as if recognizing that Genesis wasn’t yet perfected.

“If I were to offer one piece of advice, your final sword didn’t contain Heart Sword. If you harmonize it with the Heart Sword, it will become a different sword altogether.”

Darkan gave advice necessary for growing Genesis and beckoned with his finger.

“Heart Sword….”

Raon lowered his brows as he looked at Darkan’s smile.

‘It’s true… I didn’t have room for that.’

Since he still couldn't manifest the Heart Sword through his own power, only by relying on the Blade of Requiem, the thought of incorporating its flow into Genesis hadn’t even occurred to him.

If he improved that part, just as Darkan had said, it might truly become a different Genesis.

“Thanks for the advice. But….”

Raon gave a small nod of his chin toward Darkan.

“Genesis has no end. It’s a sword meant to go beyond completion.”

“A sword meant to go beyond completion….”

Darkan smiled with delight, as if recalling the Genesis he saw at the end.

“That’s quite the confidence. But… it’s not wrong.”

He nodded as if he was looking forward to that day.

“And you said you would bestow a lesson upon me, but it seems you enjoyed it more?”

“Perhaps.”

Darkan let out a dry chuckle, not the least bit embarrassed.

“But I’ll make sure to keep the other promise.”

He gave a slight tilt of his chin toward Raon.

“Derus Robert. I’ll be the one to stop that bastard.”

Saying he would keep that promise, Darkan clicked his tongue. He seemed to be looking forward to seeing Derus’ swordsmanship.

“I’ll trust you on that.”

Raon pulled out a transparent orb from his subspace pocket and tossed it to Darkan.

“When the plan is set, I’ll contact you with that, so keep it on you.”

“Well, since I’ll be leaving this place, I suppose I’ll need it.”

Darkan said it was a good idea and tucked the orb into his pocket.

“You’re leaving?”

“Yeah. Thanks to you, I’ve gained enlightenment through being a beggar, so now I should look for a new path.”

Though it hadn’t been long since he’d gained that enlightenment, he was already looking for another path.

“What are you thinking of doing next?”

“Who knows? I’ve been a king, and I’ve been a beggar, so maybe I’ll try living a normal family life now?”

Darkan let out a faint laugh as he looked at the houses nearby.

“Your grandfather, one reason he reached his current level may be because of you.”

He waved his hand, saying that if it’s for that purpose, creating a family might not be a bad idea.

“If you’re going to do it, do it properly. If not, don’t do it at all.”

Raon shook his head firmly.

“A family isn’t something you make on your own. If you can’t be sincere with others, you’ll just be making the same mistake as when you acted like a fake beggar.”

He lowered his brows, telling him that if he’s going to build a family, he needs to think about responsibility first.

“I know. I learned that from you.”

Darkan nodded, as if to say not to worry.

“Well then.”

He gave a wave, as if bidding farewell, and disappeared into a dim alley.

His way of leaving without the slightest hesitation suited the nickname of Dark Night Sword God perfectly, of course, he still looked like a beggar wrapped in rags.

“Whatever the case, it seems to have ended well.”

Rector let out a sigh of relief, as if glad.

“Yes. Honestly, I thought just persuading him would be a huge gain, but I even got something extra out of it.”

Raon smiled and nodded.

“Something extra?”

“Yes. Like I said, being pulled into Darkan’s mental world helped my swordsmanship improve greatly.”

Though Darkan had summoned him there for his own enjoyment, Raon was able to cross swords with a highest-level Transcender and raise the realm of his versatile sword.

Hmph. Even so, it’s not a big deal. It’s not like you had an enlightenment or gained a new trait…

Just as Wrath snorted and shook his head—

[You have engaged in a clash of souls with one who has touched the heavens.]

[All stats increase by 20 points.]

[The level of your soul rises significantly.]

[The realm of Versatile Sword increases greatly.]

[The rank of the trait <Heart Sword (Spirit)> has increased.]

A stream of reward messages flowed in, as if mocking Wrath.

Huh? Huhh?! Wh-what is this all of a sudden…?

Wrath widened his eyes at the message, looking completely dumbfounded.

‘As expected of the generously giving Wrath.’

Raon smiled as he looked at Wrath’s trembling lips.

‘Your mouth is my fortune. Thanks.’

This isn’t what he wanted at all!

As if to commemorate the new bond with Darkan, Wrath’s scream rang out in the back alley of the royal capital.

Kkeuaaaaaaak!

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