The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1049

 Chapter 1049

 

Raon closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them before stepping out of the annex building.

The maids had started their daily routines with chatter, and from the lakeside came the sound of Sia swinging her sword.

Enjoying the familiar sounds of the annex that always lifted his spirits, he headed toward the lake. Behind the lake, Sylvia and Edgah had laid out a table and were watching Sia hone her swordsmanship.

“To have breakfast together, and for you to still be here at this hour, what a rare occasion.”

Sylvia looked at him as she set down her teacup.

“You’re not going to the training ground today?”

She gave a faint smile, as if to say, well, even odd things like this happen.

Indeed, breakfast today was good.

Wrath relaxed the strength in his eyes and smacked his lips.

The meat lightly poached in wine melted smoothly in the mouth. It was perfect for cleansing the palate before eating grilled Kraken.

He nodded, saying he had finished a satisfying meal before the war.

“The intensive training period ended yesterday, didn’t it?”

Edgar raised his finger to point at the piercingly blue sky.

“Our son deserves a day of rest too.”

He gently patted Raon’s arm, saying Raon had worked hard and should rest well today.

“Would you like some tea?”

Edgar pulled out a chair beside him and gestured for him to sit.

“There’s something I need to tell you both.”

Raon exhaled softly as he sat in the chair Edgar had pulled out. The two of them set down their teacups and turned their gazes to him, as if telling him to go on.

“Do you remember the story from about three months ago, when the Light Wind Palace defeated an apostle and sank the White Blood Religion’s ship?”

Before telling the full story, he brought up the details of the mission that took place 3 months ago.

“Of course.”

“Of course I do. I could recite every word you said back then without missing a syllable!”

Sylvia nodded as if it were a matter of course, and Edgar muttered, seemingly recalling the story of that time in full detail.

“The truth is, that story didn’t end with killing the apostle. The ocean spirit I rescued told me the location of the White Blood Religion’s headquarters, and with Evelyn and Sir Roenn, I…”

Raon told the two of them everything that had happened since then.

“So that’s what it was.”

“No wonder you were moving around so busily…”

However, Sylvia and Edgar accepted it calmly, as if they already knew everything.

“So, you knew after all?”

He had suspected it to some extent, since neither Sylvia nor Edgar had asked anything when he left with Rector or when he recently returned from the ocean alone. It seemed they had read his movements and predicted the war with the White Blood Religion.

“Don’t underestimate your mom.”

Sylvia waved her hand, saying there are things she could feel even without them being said.

“Because I know you better than anyone in the world.”

She smiled gently, as if saying she could see right through him.

“Not just you, there was something I sensed from my father’s reaction too.”

He let out a snort, saying he had picked it up from watching Rector as well.

“That man… he’s terrible at lying.”

He let out a snort, saying he hadn’t picked it up just from Raon, but from watching Rector as well.

“I see.”

Raon nodded with a thin smile.

“Are you confident you can win?”

Sylvia met his eyes. In the past, she would have been so worried her eyes would fill with tears, but now, she was barely holding on, enduring it with just trembling hands.

It seemed she didn’t want to show weakness to someone heading off to war.

“I’ve prepared to the point that I won’t have any regrets. Now, all that’s left…”

Raon drank the tea Edgar had poured for him in a single gulp and stood up from his chair.

“…is to give it my all.”

He bowed, telling the two he would be going and would be back.

“Raon.”

As if she had heard he was leaving, Sia came over to the table.

“Are you going to fight?”

“Yeah. There are some bad guys who need to be taught a lesson.”

“Can’t I go too?”

She was hugging the sword he had given her tightly, as if she wanted to go with him.

“There’s a different place where you’re meant to fight.”

Sia was already strong now, and growing faster than anyone. Even if she were sent into battle right away, she would undoubtedly achieve great things.

But the ones she was meant to draw her sword against for the first time weren’t the White Blood Religion, but Eden. The ones who had toyed and mocked Edgar, herself, no, our entire family, had to be the first to taste the blade of her revenge.

“You can wait until then, right?”

“Of course!”

Sia nodded firmly, as if to say not to worry, and returned to the lake to continue swinging her sword.

“She’s grown a lot too.”

Sylvia let out a sigh that carried both pride and a hint of sadness.

“She’s past puberty now. She’ll probably become more mature than me soon.”

Raon said with a smile that the days he could treat Sia like a little sister wouldn’t last much longer.

“P–past puberty, you say?”

Edgar widened his eyes as if it were absurd.

“She still doesn’t let me enter her room! She does her laundry separately and won’t even sleep next to me!”

He raised his chin as if asking why she was acting like that.

“……”

“……”

Raon and Sylvia stared blankly at Edgar without saying a word.

“She doesn’t even eat the side dishes I give her! She just throws them away! Why is she like this?!”

Edgar grabbed his head, saying he had no idea.

Why, you ask…

Wrath snorted at the sight of Edgar crying out in confusion.

It’s because she hates you!

*   *   *

The sacrificial chamber where red and white blood flowed together.

The bloody demons approached the warriors bound with their eyes gouged out. The bloody demons panted roughly, unable to control their hunger as they stared at the blood dripping from the warriors’ empty sockets.

“Eat.”

As the blue-haired handsome man flicked his finger, the bloody demons unleashed their restrained desires and bit into the warriors’ throats.

“Guaaaaah!”

“Aaaaaargh!”

Though the warriors screamed as if their necks were being torn apart, the bloody demons only grew more excited by the sound and ripped into their flesh with sharp fangs.

The pleas for mercy were nothing more than the orchestra of a fine restaurant whetting the appetite of the bloody demons.

Fuuuuuu.

The White Blood Religion’s leader, who had been watching the scene, lowered her long pipe and exhaled white smoke past her red lips.

“To think you managed to bring back such fine prey in such a short time.”

She tilted her chin toward the blue-haired man approaching with a smile.

“Twelfth Apostle.”

"It’s thanks to the religious leader’s sacred teaching."

The man called the Twelfth Apostle placed a hand over his chest and bowed politely.

“You’ve still got a smooth tongue.”

The White Blood Religion’s leader snorted at the smiling Twelfth Apostle.

“I thought you’d spend your whole life just flapping that mouth of yours, but to think you’d reach Transcendence and show up like this.”

She furrowed her brow, as if she were genuinely surprised.

“I can’t even calculate how much of the offerings you skimmed off along the way.”

“Hahaha.”

The Twelfth Apostle let out an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“I apologize. I felt so much through your teachings, I got a little greedy.”

He lowered his gaze slightly, as if admitting he knew there was no deceiving her.

“Normally, the body would’ve burst before reaching Transcendence. Be thankful for that sturdy hunk of flesh you’ve got.”

The White Blood Religion’s leader waved her hand as if that was enough.

“Thank you for your understanding. It may be a small token, but…”

The Twelfth Apostle extended his hand with a faint smile.

“I’ve brought a gift for you, religious leader.”

At the flick of his finger, a red-haired archbishop brought in a woman who was bound, blindfolded, and gagged.

“She’s the captain of the royal guard from the Kingdom of Sevion. A Grandmaster.”

The Twelfth Apostle spread his arms as if saying she was untouched and could be enjoyed to the fullest.

“I hope this prey becomes the final piece in your great endeavor.”

“Slippery little snake.”

Despite her words, she curled her lips upward as if not entirely displeased.

“If you were mixed half and half with the Tenth Apostle, you might have turned out to be quite a decent man.”

Clicking her tongue, she glanced at the Tenth Apostle standing silently to her right.

“To be compared to such a great senior, it’s an honor.”

The Twelfth Apostle bowed his head to the Tenth Apostle.

“……”

The Tenth Apostle gave the Twelfth Apostle only a sidelong glance, then turned his gaze away without a word.

“How’s the atmosphere outside?”

The White Blood Religion’s leader asked with her pipe between her lips.

“The Five Kings, or rather, the entire continent, is quiet. But it doesn’t feel peaceful. It’s like a powder keg before the spark.”

The Twelfth Apostle smacked his lips, saying it felt like a tension about to explode.

“So that means they’re preparing to strike us.”

The White Blood Religion’s leader exhaled white smoke, saying she could see right through the Five Kings’ thoughts.

“Come to think of it, it seems the time has come for you to change bodies.”

The Twelfth Apostle narrowed his eyes as he looked at the white scales that had appeared on the White Blood Religion’s leader's hand.

“It reminds me of when that body was brought.”

He looked at the Tenth Apostle and shrugged his shoulders.

“It was something I was planning to eat, but senior stopped me. Thanks to that, the religious leader exists as she is now.”

The Twelfth Apostle clapped for the Tenth Apostle as if he had done something great.

“……”

The Tenth Apostle made no response to the Twelfth Apostle’s words, which could have been either praise or mockery, and simply kept his gaze straight ahead.

“Body replacement, huh…”

The White Blood Religion’s leader furrowed her brow as she looked at the scales on her hand.

“Indeed, I should make preparations.”

She nodded her chin toward the Tenth Apostle.

“Contact the Thirteenth.”

With that, the White Blood  Religion’s leader exited the sacrificial chamber, taking with her the captain of the Sevion Kingdom’s royal guard whom the Twelfth Apostle had brought.

“Even though I’ve reached Transcendence, the religious leader still trusts senior more. What a shame.”

Clicking his tongue in disappointment, the Twelfth Apostle followed the White Blood Religion’s leader out.

“The Thirteenth…”

The Tenth Apostle finally opened his lips slowly, without turning his eyes away from the person dying with all their blood drained.

*   *   *

Raon climbed the platform of the fifth training ground with heavy steps.

“You’ve all worked hard.”

He looked over the swordsmen who had endured his brutal training over the long yet short span of two months.

Satisfied with his subordinates who had grown both physically and mentally, he nodded slightly.

“This operation to strike the White Blood Religion was carried out with only a very few within Zieghart aware of it, and so we’ve come to participate as the main force in the war.”

Raon lowered his red gaze toward the swordsmen, whose energy waves surged with excitement.

“That means we must achieve results, even if it costs us all the effort and everything we’ve built so far. Can you do that?”

He stamped down with a step heavy as ten thousand pounds, saying that anyone who couldn’t, or lacked the confidence, should step back now.

“Of course.”

Burren responded with an unwavering voice, striking his chest with his fist.

“I’m ready too…”

In Runaan’s blank eyes, starlight flashed, wrapped in her will.

“I-I’m scared, but I’ll fight to the end. No, I’ll make it happen!”

Though Dorian hadn’t completely overcome his fear, he clenched his fist, saying he would fight with his life on the line.

“I’ll fight like a madman, just like our mad palace master!"

Krein, with his right eye bruised black, called him a madman again as if rebelling against him, but since Raon liked that spirit, he decided to let it go for now.

“We’ll follow.”

“So it’s finally a real battle with the Four Demons. I’m looking forward to it.”

Mark Goetten bowed as if simply following, and Trevin bumped his fists together, saying he’d been waiting for this moment.

“……”

Martha, who always roared at the front, said nothing. She gripped her sword so tightly veins popped on her hand. That alone was enough to show how determined she was for this war.

“Let’s go.”

Raon stepped down from the platform with a gaze as calm as still water, heading toward the exit of the training ground.

Goooooooh!

The Light Wind swordsmen followed behind, emanating sharp energy waves as if their swords had already been drawn.

Raon led the swordsmen, who seemed like a single master-forged blade, into the head of house’s training ground.

Rumble…

The head of house's training ground was the largest place in Zieghart, but the armed groups that had received Glenn's summons were lined up in formation, so there was almost no space left.

“Light Wind Palace, this way please.”

Following Roenn’s guidance, who had been waiting, Raon led his subordinates to the left side of the formation.

“Remain here until I give the order.”

After ordering the Light Wind swordsmen not to move, he stepped forward to the platform where the executives were gathered.

“Hey! Nephew!”

“You’re here.”

Balder and Denier, who had arrived earlier, waved at him.

‘Denier…’

Raon still couldn’t determine whether Denier was an ally or an enemy, but from him, he could sense the same stench as Derus Robert. He could never let his guard down, he had to remain vigilant to the end.

“I greet you, both palace masters.”

“You’re late.”

As Raon bowed to Denier and Balder, Karoon emerged from the far left.

“Raon! It’s been a while! I heard you’ve taken good care of my kids!”

Aris jumped out from behind Karoon and ran toward him.

‘What the…’

Raon let out a faint breath as he looked at Karoon and Aris.

‘They’ve grown that much?’

The two Transcenders had reached a state so high that their past selves couldn’t even be recalled. Excluding the Hearth Sword, it was no exaggeration to say they had caught up to just under his chin.

‘Incredible.’

He was astonished and curious as to what kind of training had enabled them to grow nearly as much as he had. No, more than that, he was moved by the effort they must have put in.

“You have worked hard.”

Instead of saying it was good to see them, Raon offered a greeting that acknowledged Karoon and Aris’ effort.

“Ahem!”

Karoon cleared his throat, his face flushing, as if he understood what Raon meant.

“I knew you’d notice.”

Aris, as if expecting it, hugged him tightly.

“You’ve changed a lot too. How do you grow so fast!”

Just as she laughed, saying his growth was even more surprising—

Thuuuuuum!

The doors to the head of house’s training ground opened, and Glenn entered with the Heavenly Blade Division.

“We greet the head of house!”

“We greet the head of house!”

At Karoon's greeting, all the executives and armed groups members standing in the training ground knelt and bowed their heads.

Step.

With pressure emanating from each step, Glenn walked to the center of the training ground and ascended the platform. The immense and overwhelming energy radiating from him made cold sweat drip down the spines of the swordsmen.

“Everyone, rise.”

At Glenn’s low voice, the swordsmen lifted their trembling knees.

“You’ve all worked hard during the two months of intensive training.”

Glenn looked over the swordsmen standing in the training ground one by one and nodded.

“Some of you may be wondering why this training period was extended to two months, when it’s usually one, or not done at all.”

Lowering his red gaze, he looked at Raon.

“That reason will be explained by the Light Wind Palace master.”

“Yes.”

Raon nodded and stepped onto the platform. Taking in the gazes of the swordsmen directed solely at him, he calmly opened his mouth.

“You all know that our Light Wind Palace killed the Ninth Apostle and stopped the White Blood Religion. However, there were a few circumstances even after that.”

He began to explain everything that had happened so far to the swordsmen of Zieghart. Since he had already spoken to Sylvia and Edgar back at the annex building, the words flowed without pause.

“Th-they found the White Blood Religion's headquarters? Under the ocean?”

Aris widened her eyes, as if it was beyond anything she could’ve imagined.

“A war against the White Blood Religion, huh…”

Karoon clenched his fist, as if pleased to have a chance to unleash his grown martial strength.

“……”

Denier said nothing. He only looked quietly at Raon and Glenn with calm eyes.

“An all-out war with the White Blood Religion?”

“So that’s why we were made to train for two whole months…”

“Yeah. That makes the time spent worth it.”

“Strangely enough, I’m feeling full of confidence.”

Perhaps because of the two months of intensive training, the swordsmen radiated powerful energy waves and raised their fighting spirit.

“So when does this war begin!”

Balder, as if eager for the war against the White Blood Religion, stepped forward to the platform and stomped the ground hard enough to make it rumble.

“……”

Raon didn’t answer right away. Instead, he raised his finger to the sky as he looked not only at Balder, but also at the Zieghart swordsmen standing behind him.

“Now.”

He pointed toward the blue dimension rising above his head and spoke sharply.

“The war has already begun.”

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