The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1108

 Chapter 1108

 

Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble!

Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the downpour of mana pouring from the sky.

‘That’s not an attack.’

The malice Rimmer had dragged into Seipia had all been purified by the World Tree.

That was, quite literally, lumps of pure mana, so even if one received it with their body, there would be no serious problem.

It is just as you said.

Wrath nodded as though confirming Raon’s judgment was correct.

Because an enormous amount of malice was purified, the mana is extremely dense, but it will have no effect on you. However….

‘Right. I’ll be fine, but Sir Sterin and Lady Siyan could be in danger.’

Sterin’s body and mind had weakened to the point where even a small touch could kill him, and Siyan was so exhausted from playing that she could barely hold herself upright.

Even if I myself were fine, those two could be at risk.

“You two, avoid this….”

Raon tried to stir Garunua’s wind to push Sterin and Siyan away, but then he stopped.

‘Wait. Just now, I definitely saw that fool elf’s face.’

At the moment the crimson wind and fog were erased, Rimmer’s face in spirit form had appeared. He was smiling faintly, just like when he played pranks on me at the fifth training ground.

‘He’s aiming for something. That’s probably….’

To restore Sir Sterin, and to make Lady Siyan into a true Protector.

Rimmer had conveyed, through Haerang, his wish to extend Sterin’s life and to make Siyan into a Protector acknowledged by all.

It seemed he had deliberately dropped the purified mana for that purpose.

“It’s alright….”

Sterin pressed his lips tightly and grasped the bow that had been resting against the chair. Using it as a staff, he slowly pushed himself up.

“Even if I die here, I’ll accept that damned grandson’s gift.”

Sterin, too, seemed to have grasped Rimmer’s intent. He straightened his back and entrusted his body to the falling masses of mana.

“M-me too. My brother, and also….”

Siyan nodded as she said she would be fine.

“I trust you, Sir Raon.”

She nodded at him and stepped into the shower of mana.

“…There’s no helping it then.”

Raon slightly furrowed his brows and followed Sterin and Siyan into the storm of mana.

Fwaaaah!

The huge lumps of mana, contrary to Raon’s expectations, gently drew his body in. It felt like sinking into an emerald-colored sea.

Thunk.

As he felt his feet touch the ground again and opened his eyes, he found himself standing not in Seipia, but in a forest he had never seen before.

‘No. This is….’

The forest behind the annex building.

It was the entrance to the North Grave Mountain, a place I had often come with Rimmer and Glenn.

Fwoooosh!

The autumn sun shone with a gentle warmth, and the ground was soft and comfortably warm, making it feel like a place one could easily drift to sleep.

‘But this isn’t reality.’

Wrath, who had been perched on my shoulder, was nowhere to be seen, and since I had arrived at this new place without any sense of movement, this was not reality but someone else’s mental world.

‘This must be master’s mental world.’

The cool scent unique to Rimmer drifted through the entire forest, confirming that I had indeed entered his mental world.

‘Originally, master’s mental world shouldn’t have been in this form.’

It seemed that after entering the Blade of Requiem and helping to fulfill Martha’s revenge, a peaceful change had also taken place in master’s soul.

‘Then where are Lady Siyan and Sir Sterin… huh?’

As Raon turned his head to search for them, his eyes widened.

Whoooosh!

Sterin was in the clearing beyond the forest, eyes closed, holding his bow raised.

“Sir Sterin?”

Raon called out his name, but Sterin gave no answer and did not open his eyes.

Swaaay.

Looking as if even standing was too much for him, Sterin’s body swayed like paper in the wind, yet he did not fall. He held tightly onto his bow.

‘I shouldn’t disturb him.’

Because he was in a state of deep focus, Raon could not bring himself to speak to him.

‘Then where’s Lady Siyan?’

Raon turned again and entered the forest in front of him.

Aaaaah….

From deep within came a clear singing voice.

Following the sound at a run, he found Siyan, both hands clasped together as if in prayer, singing a song imbued with the breath of the World Tree.

Around her, spirits of every kind had gathered, all smiling brightly.

‘Were they drawn in by Lady Siyan’s voice?’

Siyan possessed the most beautiful voice among those I knew, but her lack of confidence had kept her from making use of that gift.

Aaaaaah!

But as she overcame her shyness and sang, a graceful tone blossomed that seemed to melt straight into the ears.

The spirits danced along with Siyan’s song, sharing the spirit power each of them possessed.

Fwoooosh!

Spirit energy seeped into Siyan’s body, and Raon could feel her mind and body growing further.

‘An awakening!’

Raon swallowed dryly as he watched Siyan changing while she sang.

‘Did those lumps of mana trigger Lady Siyan’s awakening?’

No, it couldn’t be just that.

While preparing the Song of Purification together with me, Siyan had achieved great mental growth.

From someone who had always been protected to someone taking on the role of protecting everyone, her usual thoughts and heart must have changed greatly.

Being in a state prepared to gain enlightenment, and then being showered with a massive amount of mana, no wonder her awakening was proceeding as it was now.

‘I shouldn’t disturb this side either.’

Because this was an important moment for Siyan, it was best to stay back.

Whooom!

Just as Raon was carefully stepping backward, a dull gust of wind came from the clearing.

‘What now?’

Furrowing his brows, Raon turned back toward the clearing.

“…Huh?”

So startled, a sound slipped from his mouth without him realizing.

Whooong!

Sterin, the former Protector who had grown old not only in body but even in spirit and could only lie down, was drawing a bowstring.

Of course, it wasn’t fast or strong. He was so slow and weak it wouldn’t have been strange if the bow dropped from his hands at any moment. Yet, though his hands trembled, he drew the string to the very end.

‘Is he all right?’

Sweating in streams as if burning up his last embers, Sterin drew the bowstring and then released it.

Raon worried he might depart like this without even a chance for farewell.

But Sterin, as if declaring he could never die yet, poured his whole will into pulling the string all the way back.

The most basic of an archer: hold the bow, nock the arrow, draw the string, then aim at the target.

Like the basic swordsmanship he valued the most, Sterin focused on the basic stance of an archer.

He released the fully drawn bowstring toward the clear sky and shot the arrow.

Raon, watching the moment that could be the old archer’s last, or perhaps a new beginning, clasped his hands together in a solemn posture.

*   *   *

“S-Sir Raon!”

As soon as Dorian saw Raon being buried in the mass of mana, he kicked off the ground and rushed forward.

Now, his loyalty had risen far above his fear.

“It’s fine.”

Martha raised her arm to block Dorian’s rush.

“If you look closely, you’ll see he isn’t hurt anywhere.”

She shook her head, saying not only Raon, but Sterin and Siyan were unscathed.

“Huh?”

Dorian blinked at Raon, who stood frozen in place.

“A, are you sure he’s okay? He isn’t moving….”

He gulped, saying Raon seemed strange.

“It’s a forced awakening.”

Evelyn touched her red lips with her slender fingers.

“F-forced awakening?”

Dorian snapped his head toward her so fast it nearly broke his neck.

“That’s right. When one comes into contact with a massive amount of mana in a fleeting moment, it is a phenomenon where one is forcibly drawn into a trance.”

Evelyn’s voluptuous gaze fell on Raon.

“However, seeing three people enter awakening at the same time is something even I’ve never witnessed before. Perhaps it was only possible because that pure mana, newborn-like, fell like a meteor shower.”

She said she had seen something interesting and examined the condition of Sterin and Siyan.

“I feel a bit jealous, though.”

Evelyn frowned as she looked Siyan up and down.

“Ugh….”

Dorian felt the dark killing intent rising from Evelyn’s shoulder and gulped down his dry spit.

“I–it’s work! It’s just work, that’s all!”

He waved both arms, begging her to hold herself back.

“Well, that’s true!”

Evelyn brushed away the killing intent from her palm, saying she would let it go for now.

“Awakening…?”

Martha’s lips trembled as she looked at the statue-like Siyan.

“Is that really an awakening? What kind of spirits are….”

Spirits from all over the world were gathering around Siyan. Not only fire, water, earth, and wind, but even the nearly unseen ones, like lightning, ocean, light, and darkness approached her as if drawn to her.

“L-look at Sir Sterin’s hand!”

Startled, Dorian pointed toward Sterin.

Crackle, crackle!

On the back of Sterin’s hand, where deep wrinkles had been carved like tree bark, vitality sprouted like new buds, the skin smoothing and regaining its natural color.

“Crazy….”

Martha’s eyes widened as she watched Sterin’s skin smooth out as if ironed, and at Siyan, who was gathering the spirits of the entire world.

“It’s only just beginning.”

Evelyn curved a faint smile as she looked at Raon, standing between Siyan and Sterin.

“Raon. What will you obtain and bring back?”

*   *   *

It took over an hour until Sterin first drew the bowstring and shot an arrow.
However, his movements gradually sped up: the second time took fifty minutes, the third forty, and the fourth only twenty.

Fwaaaah!

At first, the arrow couldn’t fly properly and crashed into the ground, but as it improved, it now sent out an intense shockwave as if tearing through the sky.

That wasn’t all. A great change was also occurring within Sterin himself.

The skin that had sagged with wrinkles regained elasticity and vitality as if touched by fire, and the thin, threadlike hair fell away as new strands grew.

Not the flicker of a dying flame, but a return to youth.

The former Protector had never lacked enlightenment.

It was only that his stamina and mana had run dry. Now, as the pure mana brought by Rimmer was absorbed, the halted awakening had resumed.

Thwaaang!

The arrows that had once sunk weakly now shot forth with ferocity, unleashing shockwaves that seemed to pierce space itself.

Whoooosh!

Now Sterin needed not even a moment to fire, and each arrow overflowed with strength and vitality.

Fwaaaah!

In the end, Sterin shot an arrow, looking younger than when Raon had first come to Seipia. He could feel that his essence, qi, and spirit were all restored.

Thuuud!

After displaying all the archery techniques he had mastered in just thirty minutes, Sterin planted his bow and arrows into the ground.

As his eyelids slowly lifted, his noble eyes shone like ancient starlight.

“……”

Sterin nodded as if to thank Raon, then became a green wind and left the mental world.

“I never thought I’d witness an awakening like this. It feels like grasping a new realm.”

Raon wore a gentle smile and entered the forest where Siyan was.

Aaaah….

Siyan was still singing with her hands clasped.

Goooooo!

However, now, around her were not spirits, but natural energies that could be called the archetype of spirits, whirling like a Milky Way.

Those vast natural energies, enough to make one’s fingertips prickle, rotated very slowly and seeped into every pore of Siyan’s body.

Voooooom!

Constellation-like lights blossomed upon Siyan’s snow-white skin, and the spiritual power she possessed grew so dense it could hardly be compared to before.

Thump.

Siyan lowered her clasped hands and slowly opened her eyes. Her mysterious golden irises rippled as if to draw Raon in.

“……”

Like Sterin, Siyan also nodded to Raon, then became clear water and left the mental world.

The forest she left sank into a tranquil darkness as if it had lost its light.

“They both succeeded in awakening.”

Raon let out a breath as he looked back at the forest where Siyan had sung and the clearing where Sterin had displayed his archery.

‘To think they achieved awakening so easily. No, that’s not it.’

Sterin had prepared the enlightenment needed to achieve awakening, but in the final moment, he seemed to have failed due to the lack of stamina and mana. Yet the masses of mana that served as an alternative poured down, letting him grasp again the thread of awakening he had once missed.

Siyan, on the other hand, had abundant stamina and mana, but her fragile heart and mind had kept her from enlightenment, it was clear that through this training, she had now come to gain it.

‘How did master know this?’

According to Haerang, Rimmer had come here deliberately carrying malice.

That is, it means he aimed for the awakening of Sterin and Siyan, but I don’t know what on earth he saw to feel that.

‘Truly a peculiar elf.’

When Raon softly laughed and shook his head, a light green wind approached over his shoulder.

“Master?”

From the wind came Rimmer’s uniquely refreshing yet playful temperament.

The malice that had remained in the Blade of Requiem had been purified, so it seemed he had returned to his original state.

However, he did not return to the form of an elf, existing only as wind.

“Could it be….”

Raon bit his lips as he looked at Rimmer, who seemed to be fading more and more.

“Did you use your last strength to bring Sir Sterin and Lady Siyan to awakening?”

Fwoosh.

Rimmer slightly lifted his bangs as if to answer, but it was unclear whether that meant yes or no.

However, one thing was certain: there was not much time left to be with Rimmer. It didn’t feel like they could meet again as before.

“……”

Raon bit down on his lips, staring at the ground. Before Rimmer truly disappeared, there was something he wanted, something he needed, to say.

“Master.”

Raon straightened his posture and looked at the green wind that carried both clarity and playfulness at the same time.

“There is one thing I have not told you.”

Advance Chapters