The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1066

 Chapter 1066

 

“How, how are you here….”

Martha closed and opened her eyes, thinking it was a dream. But Rimmer did not disappear and instead drew a deeper smile.

“I can't miss the moment the White Blood Religion’s leader gets the shit beaten out of her! It’s something to laugh about over drinks for a lifetime! Besides…”

Rimmer shook his fist, then looked at her with a calm gaze.

“It's your task, after all. Of course I had to crawl my way up, even from hell.”

He gently placed his hand on her shoulder as though it were the most natural thing.

“Division leader, you’re the same as ever….”

Martha’s eyes reddened as she looked at Rimmer. Her master, who was always full of mischief like a child yet showed seriousness at crucial moments, had not changed one bit.

“Division leader?”

Rimmer tilted his head.

“Feels nice to be called that? But wasn’t I the vice division leader before I died? Got beaten by Raon and demoted, remember.”

He laughed brightly as he said Raon had taken his position. The boyish smile was the same as ever.

“Well, enough about me who’s already dead.”

Rimmer’s grip on her shoulder tightened.

“You finally succeeded.”

He slowly looked around at her sword field, made of the sea of blood.

“I knew you would be the first to use the sword field.”

Rimmer nodded, as though he had truly believed in her.

“Ugh….”

Martha lowered her trembling head to hide her face. Hearing her master’s heartfelt praise, tears she had held back fell, staining the sea of blood.

Even if only a little, the red blood seemed to fade lighter.

“Of course, I didn’t expect you to make such a brutal sword field! But it does suit the name Rakshasa woman!”

Rimmer grinned, saying that for a rakshasa woman, this was fitting. At the sight of his refreshing smile, the fatigue and pain she had carried vanished, and vitality bloomed in her soul.

“Uh, um….”

“I’d like to talk more too, but you have something to do first.”

Rimmer cut her words and pointed at the White Blood Religion’s leader, surrounded by vengeful spirits.

“Those vengeful spirits can unleash their true power here thanks to Raon’s support. But….”

He slightly narrowed his eyes.

“They can torment her and weaken her, but they can’t completely kill her.”

Rimmer picked up a sword that had fallen into the sea of blood and handed it to her.

“You have to finish it.”

Saying he would help with the last fight, he summoned the Wooden Ring Sword from the air.

Uuuuuung!

The leaf-bladed sword suited Raon as well, but it shone brightest when in Rimmer’s hands.

“Understood.”

Martha nodded, for the first time speaking to Rimmer in formal speech.

“Master.”

Drawing out the title she had always wanted to say but never could, she raised her sword.

“Ugh, so cringey! My fingers are curling!”

Rimmer screamed, curling his ten fingers like an octopus’s legs.

“You damn bastard!”

Martha couldn’t hold back and kicked Rimmer’s butt.

“Do you know how much courage that took me!”

Just having Rimmer beside her melted away her tension and filled her with fighting spirit. It truly felt like the spiritual pillar of the Light Wind had returned.

“Master, huh…. Well, it’s not so bad.”

Rimmer waved his hand seriously, as if to say it was just a joke.

“And you over there, the father with many secrets, you're coming with us, right?”

He jerked his chin toward Denier, as though asking if he could fight.

“Of course….”

Denier let out a thin breath and forced strength into his trembling arms and legs.

From his back, a green wind rose, it seemed Rimmer had helped him.

“Let’s go.”

The moment Rimmer let out a low voice, Martha and Denier simultaneously kicked off the sea of blood.

“You wretches!”

The White Blood Religion’s leader exploded the remaining soul’s level and bloody energy, trying to blast away the vengeful spirits and Rimmer at once.

But the obsession and resentment of the souls who bore grudges against the White Blood Religion surpassed her imagination.

Kugugugugu!

The vengeful spirits hurled themselves at her even if it meant being obliterated by bloody energy, madly tearing off the White Blood Religion’s leader’s flesh.

“Aaaargh!”

The White Blood Religion’s leader, instead of preparing a counterattack, could only drop her hands and bloody energy to push the vengeful spirits away.

“Now!”

At Rimmer’s cry, three blades imbued with light green wind fell toward the White Blood Religion’s leader.

Puuuuuck!

Rimmer’s light sword strike split the White Blood Religion’s leader's waist horizontally, and Denier’s sharp blade tore out her heart.

Chwaaaak!

At the end, Martha’s Destructive Noble Sword pierced through the wildly spreading bloody energy and severed the White Blood Religion’s leader’s neck.

“Ah…!”

As her body split into three pieces and fell into the sea of blood, the vengeful spirits descended once more and began to shred her soul strand by strand.

“Kkeuaaaagh!”

The White Blood Religion’s leader, with no strength left to resist, could only let out screams that seemed to burst her tongue apart.

Kugugugugu!

The vengeful spirits, as though determined to satisfy endless resentment and hunger, devoured every fragment of her soul while listening to her screams.

The sight was like piranhas consuming a corpse, leaving not even a bone fragment.

“……”

“Haa….”

Martha, holding her mother’s soul in her arms, stared without blinking at the White Blood Religion’s leader’s screams and suffering, while Denier shut his eyes as if he could not bear to see it.

“What a view!”

Rimmer, lying in the sea of blood, let out a refreshing laugh.

“This is how a revenge story should end!”

He drank from a liquor bottle, who knows where it came from, and nodded in satisfaction.

“How about you? Satisfied?”

He jerked his chin toward her, as though asking how she felt.

“They said that once you fulfill revenge, there would only be emptiness….”

Martha clenched her fist as she looked at the White Blood Religion’s leader, her soul melting away in endless pain.

“But this is chillingly good. Like all the emotions and resentment that had piled up are being released.”

She nodded, saying with sincerity that she was satisfied.

“Kyaah! That’s exactly like the rakshasa woman!”

Rimmer clapped his hands, saying he liked that answer. At that familiar clap, she couldn’t help but smile.

“By the way, what did you mean earlier when you said you thought I would be the first to use the sword field?”

Martha narrowed her eyes at Rimmer.

“I meant it literally. I thought you’d use a sword field before Runaan and Burren.”

Rimmer blinked his eyes, saying it meant exactly what it sounded like.

“How?”

Martha narrowed her gaze further at him.

“Because you were more desperate than anyone else.”

Rimmer gave a faint smile, as if recalling the past.

“Burren worked hard too, but he carried the complacency of having inherited the direct bloodline. Runaan was desperate like you, but she still had a heart that pitied her older brother.”

Remembering his beloved students, his long lashes trembled.

“You, among the three, were the most desperate, carrying ruthless vengeance. The will and desperation that you would even stake your life on—those are what created the sword field you have now.”

Rimmer slowly closed his eyes, saying that he could feel his own soul and emotions within the sword field Prison of Fiends.

“Y-you mean you were sensing all of that? You?”

Martha heard the unexpected answer and let out a hollow breath.

“You called me master, didn’t you! A master must read not only a disciple’s talent, but their emotions too.”

Rimmer wagged his finger, telling her to remember it well.

“Mm….”

Martha bit her lips as she looked at him. He was someone who showed a different side every time she saw him, but she hadn’t thought she would see yet another new side even after his death.

“Since the vengeful spirits’ resentment has eased to some extent, shall we put an end to this now?”

Rimmer shook off the blood from his hand and gripped the Wooden Ring Sword again.

“You are the master of this sword field, and I have received the power of the Heart Sword from Raon. The two of us together can surely finish it.”

He took her hand and walked forward into the storm of vengeful spirits.

Fwoooosh!

The vengeful spirits closed the mouths that had been tearing at the White Blood Religion’s leader’s soul and opened a path for them.

“Hhhhhh….”

The White Blood Religion’s leader’s body had already been devoured by the vengeful spirits, leaving only her head floating on the sea.

“I’ll… I’ll kill you a—”

“Don’t speak.”

Rimmer sneered as he raised his sword.

“Yes. Because it’s something that will never happen.”

Martha nodded and, together with Rimmer, thrust her sword down toward the crown of the White Blood Religion’s leader’s head.

Puuuuuck!

Two blades pierced into the space between her brows, and her eyes turned pure white.

“Kyaaaaaaaagh!”

The White Blood Religion’s leader realized this was the end and struggled desperately to resist, but the two blades, imbued with the power of the Heart Sword and the sword field, did not let go and melted away every fragment of her remaining soul.

Uuuuuung!

The gates of hell had been waiting for this moment. They shot out chains that coiled around the White Blood Religion’s leader’s soulless head.

Kuuuuuuung!

Her head, from which the soul had flown away, was mounted on the right side of the hell gate, dripping pale white blood.

“Haaa….”

Denier let out a turbid breath as he looked at that sight. In that air, there seemed to dwell sadness, affection, and bitterness.

Kugugugugugu!

The Prison of Fiends, having obtained both the bodies of the Ten Apostles and the soul of the White Blood Religion’s leader, now opened the gate again, as though its role was complete.

“So this is the end.”

Rimmer clicked his tongue briefly as he looked at his blurring hands.

“Wi-will we be able to meet again?”

Martha bit her lip as she looked at Rimmer, who was tossing aside the emptied liquor bottle.

“Beyond this, I don’t know either. Perhaps not even the gods would know.”

Rimmer shrugged his shoulders as he stroked the vengeful spirits coming down behind him.

“Ah….”

Martha looked at Rimmer with eyes full of regret.

“Still….”

Rimmer approached and extended a reassuring hand.

“I was glad to see you.”

He softly patted her head, saying it was a blessing to fight one last battle alongside his grown disciple.

“W-wait a moment!”

As Martha reached out her hand toward Rimmer, a blinding light poured out, and the gate of hell fully opened.

*   *   *

Kiiiiiiik!

Raon swallowed dryly as he looked at the hell gate that had opened once again.

‘It’s changed.’

On the right door of the hell gate was now mounted a red-haired, red-eyed woman who had never been there before. Her breath had stopped, but within her I could sense dreadful bloody energy.

‘That’s the White Blood Religion’s leader’s true form?’

So does that mean Martha won?

As if to confirm his guess, the hell gate created a red current and disappeared into the lava-flowing ground, as if it had finished all its work.

That's right!

Wrath nodded as he looked at the ground where the hell gate had disappeared.

That queen mosquito’s soul can no longer be felt!

Wrath jumped up, saying Martha had done it.

“Haaa….”

Hearing that the White Blood Religion’s leader had died, strength drained from his legs, and he collapsed right there. Now he truly didn’t have even the strength to move a single finger.

Sssssss!

The Goddess of Blood Devouring Anguish, which had threatened him and the Light Wind Palace, as though its link with its master had been severed, slowly began to harden.

However, instead of vanishing, the Goddess of Blood Devouring Anguish began to crumble apart, its body breaking down into small pieces.

“Uaaaah….”

“I-it’s over!”

“The monster of blood has crumbled!”

The swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace, realizing through the Goddess of Blood Devouring Anguish that the White Blood Religion’s leader was dead, let out a cheer that shook the ground.

Kugugugugugu!

As the Goddess of Blood Devouring Anguish dissolved into sand, Martha, Denier, and Martha’s mother, who had been entangled together, all collapsed at once.

Paaaaak!

Because Martha’s mother had lost the White Blood Religion’s leader’s power, crimson blood gushed out of her chest where Denier’s sword was lodged.

“M-Mom!”

The moment Martha opened her eyes, she rushed to her mother, sprinkled holy water on her, and stopped the bleeding.

“Please!”

As if vowing she would never let her mother die, Martha poured every medicine she had onto the wound and into her mouth, but the cut was too sharp, and the wound refused to close.

“Uuugh….”

Raon wanted to help somehow, but his stamina and mental strength had reached their limits, and the Divinity Blooming from the Underworld had already all been poured out on Lecross, so there was nothing more he could do.

“M-move aside.”

Denier crawled on his knees toward Martha’s mother. When he extended his trembling hand, the blood flowing from her chest returned inward, and the wound began to close.

“H-how….”

“Your mother has long been exposed to bloody energy. When I saw holy water had no effect, I tried using bloody energy, and luckily, it worked.”

Denier, after confirming that Martha’s mother’s breathing had returned, spat out white blood. His face was pale enough that it wouldn’t have been strange if he died right then.

“Y-you, are you alright?”

Martha supported Denier, who was gasping for breath, as if worried about him.

“I’m fine. Fine….”

Denier waved his hand as if to say not to worry, but the time left to him did not seem long.

“Stay with me!”

Martha furrowed her brows, yet still fed Denier an elixir.

‘Hmm…’

Raon wanted to ask what had happened inside the sword field, but Martha didn’t seem to be in the state of mind to answer.

“Haa….”

Raon let out a sigh and opened his tightly clenched right hand.

‘Right, I should say my farewell too.’

The Blade of Requiem had lost its crimson blade, leaving only the hilt in my hand.

‘Thank you, for everything until now.’

As I gave my thanks, the hilt of the Blade of Requiem crumbled into powder like sawdust and scattered into the wind.

Fwoooosh!

The powder that had formed the hilt floated up into the air as if alive, then wrapped around me, shrouded in violet currents.

The vengeful spirits. As the souls that had made up the Blade of Requiem surrounded me, it felt as though my body lost its weight, as if I had entered another dimension, and I began to sense the presences of the spirits in the finest detail.

Uuuuuung!

I heard the voices of the vengeful spirits through my soul.

Thank you.

We were happy to be together.

It was joy to live the same time together.

Thank you for fulfilling our revenge.

We will miss you.

We hope your future is a happy one.

We truly want to meet again.

Such words echoed endlessly.

“No.”

Raon shook his head as he listened to the voices of the spirits.

“I was the one thankful, I was the one happy, I was the one who felt joy.”

I felt that the help I received from the Blade of Requiem was far greater than the help I gave, and so I wanted to say that I was the one grateful.

“So this really is the end.”

Raon bit his lip as he looked at the spirits, blurring as though about to depart.

“May we meet again someday.”

It was when he offered up a prayer, watching the spirits ascend.

Saaaaah.

A refreshing breeze was felt from above his head.

“Huh…?”

Swallowing dryly and turning his head, he saw Rimmer, wrapped in a pale green wind, looking at him.

“M-m, master?”

Raon stepped back, his jaw trembling.

Shitty ears? Is that really the Shitty Ears?

Wrath’s mouth also fell wide open as if in shock.

‘Is it real? Or some sorcery of the White Blood Religion’s leader?’

I had never even expected Rimmer to appear, so my heart nearly burst out of my chest.

E-even the King of Essence doesn’t know for sure!

Wrath panted, saying he couldn’t sense anything either.

“It’s a little awkward to call it ‘long time no see,’ isn’t it? Since I’ve been watching over you all along.”

Rimmer smiled faintly and lifted his hand.

“You’ve grown into a face that suits the crown well, Raon.”

He nodded with genuine delight, as though happy to meet face to face.

“Master….”

Even if what was before my eyes was nothing more than the White Blood Religion’s leader’s sorcery, my chest tightened so strongly I could hardly breathe.

“Is it really you, master?”

With trembling eyes, I met Rimmer’s gaze. The green eyes reflecting me were as clear and transparent as when I had seen them in the fifth training ground.

“I have something to tell you.”

Instead of answering my question, Rimmer showed a faint, shimmering smile.

“Please speak.”

Raon nodded firmly, determined to listen to whatever words Rimmer would say.

“By chance… do you have some money?”

“…What?”

It was so far from anything he could have expected that his mind went blank for a moment.

“I-I got cleaned out by these damned spirits, down to my underwear. I have to pay them back with interest, so it's quite a lot of money….”

Rimmer scratched his head, saying he never thought there would be so many spirits skilled at gambling.

“This wretchedness.”

This filthiness!

Raon and Wrath turned their eyes toward each other, as if they had agreed beforehand.

‘It’s the real one.’

It really is the Shitty Ears!

 

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