The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1138

 Chapter 1138

 

“Ugh…”

Holy King Hopen let out a deep sigh as he placed two teacups on a spotless white table.

“Did you really have to come in like that?”

He pushed one of the steaming cups toward Saintess Olga, frowning.

“Please, at least let me maintain my dignity as the Holy King!”

Hopen shut his eyes tightly, as if begging her.

“The dignity of a king isn’t decided by something like that.”

Olga shook her head, sipping the tea he had brewed for her.

“It has nothing to do with what I do. Your dignity depends on the kind of person you are.”

She narrowed her eyes, studying Hopen as if to assess him.

“In that sense, you’re doing pretty well. That pathetic side of yours still hasn’t leaked out, which means your subordinates are keeping their mouths shut nicely.”

Olga chuckled, saying there were more people moved by Hopen’s kindness than by his authority.

“I kind of want to be cool too, you know…”

Hopen wrinkled his nose bridge, holding the warm teacup with both hands.

“Leave the cool stuff to other people. Like Raon, for example.”

Olga waved her hand, saying that words like cool or great were meant for people like Raon.

“Compared to Sir Raon, no one would stand a chance!”

 

Hopen whipped his head away, pleading with her to refrain from comparisons to Raon.

“Haaa… If only he were here, things would go a lot smoother.”

He smacked his lips briefly, as if regretful.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Olga slammed her fist onto the table. The tea rippled and splashed like waves.

“How many times has he helped us already? Just repaying the debts we owe him would break my back!”

She shook her head, saying that if not for Raon, the Holy Kingdom of Schper wouldn’t even still exist.

“I know that, but we’ve sent quite a lot of support to Zieghart too.”

Hopen raised a finger toward her.

“Especially you, Saintess. You joined every war, the one against the Black Tower, the recent one against the White Blood Religion, and plenty of smaller battles besides…”

“I know. But that’s not the point. If we ask for help, Raon will come to Schper without hesitation. However…”

Olga furrowed her brow as she looked at Hopen.

“Our land was invaded, and even our people were taken. Why would we call Raon here for that? This incident is a war that happened on our land! If someone has to die, it should be us dying, if someone has to kill, it should be us doing the killing!”

She shook her head, insisting that regardless of alliances, this was something Schper had to handle on its own.

“You’re not wrong, but just in case—”

“Quiet.”

Snap!

Olga flicked her fingers, hitting Hopen square on the forehead.

“Ugh…”

Hopen clutched his forehead, frowning.

“My head hurts… I don’t even know where that witch suddenly popped out from.”

He shook his head, saying his luck must be terrible.

“The world’s in chaos. Of course monsters that were hiding here and there are crawling out.”

Olga told him to stop blaming luck and prepare to fight, placing a softly glowing dagger on the table.

“Is that the artifact that purifies the mind with holy power?”

Hopen narrowed his eyes at the thin, long dagger.

“Yeah. If you infuse holy power into this dagger, it’ll break the witch’s mind  control. Now we can wipe that wretch out without holding back.”

Olga clenched her fist tightly, saying she had prepared thoroughly for this day.

“Understood.”

Hopen placed the dagger back down, glancing at Olga’s confident face.

“At dawn tomorrow, we’ll strike the witch’s nest.”

He nodded, saying he’d mobilize all the high-ranking holy knights and priests.

“That’s how it should be.”

Olga lifted her chin slightly and fastened the dagger back to her waist. Then she frowned, gazing out the window toward the northern center of Schper.

Whoooosh.

At the northern center of the Holy Kingdom of Schper, a massive circular barrier formed by holy power was rising up, and within it, a pink current carrying a mysterious flow was spreading.

“What is it?”

Hopen followed her gaze to the holy power barrier.

“Every time I see that witch’s energy…”

Olga frowned as she looked at the pink current flickering within the holy power.

“It feels like I’ve sensed it somewhere before.”

Her brows lowered slightly, the energy felt oddly familiar.

“Huh? Me too!”

Hopen raised his hand.

“I didn’t say anything because I thought you’d call me crazy, but I feel like I’ve felt that energy somewhere before too!”

He nodded vigorously, saying he had the same thought.

“Then should we… try talking to her again?”

Hopen smacked his lips, suggesting they speak to the witch once more.

“We already tried talking, countless times!”

Olga shook her head firmly.

“None of it worked! She just put our people under mind control and took them away!”

Ever since the witch settled there, they had tried talking to her several times a day. But she always kept her hood pulled over her head and repeated only one thing, that the scent lingering here was his, her own, and that they should leave.

It wasn’t that she was half-crazed, she had completely lost her mind. Nothing they said got through to her.

“For the last time—”

“Forget it. It’s a waste of time. And that current, it’s getting stronger.”

Olga shook her head, saying they had to end this before the witch’s power grew any further and devoured all of Schper.

“Tomorrow.”

She gripped the dagger wrapped in holy power and muttered.

“We end it by taking the witch’s head.”

*   *   *

“Huh…?”

Dorian blinked wide-eyed as he looked at the gates of the Holy Kingdom of Schper.

“The gates are closed.”

He tilted his head, noticing even the side gates were shut.

“They’re in the middle of a Holy War, so that makes sense.”

Raon stepped forward past Dorian and nodded.

“Still… something feels off.”

I could feel an enormous holy power gathering inside the kingdom. It felt as if the high-ranking holy knights and priests were gathered in one place.

‘Are they preparing before… No… this feels different.’

Raon furrowed his brow and activated the Mind’s Eye of the Azure Flower Eye.

‘Could something have happened inside the kingdom?’

I had assumed the battle would take place outside the kingdom, but from the look of things, it seemed the enemy was within.

‘I’ll know for sure once I check.’

Raon made up his mind and approached the main gate of the kingdom.

“Stop right there!”

A holy knight wearing a silver-faced helm raised his hand, signaling them not to approach further.

“The Holy Kingdom of Schper is closed to all visitors today due to an ongoing holy war. I must ask you to turn back.”

He didn’t even try to listen to their side, blocking their approach altogether. His tone was polite, but his voice carried unmistakable refusal, meaning something urgent was happening inside.

‘So my guess was right.’

Raon confirmed his suspicion as he saw the holy knight’s expression, which made it clear that entry was absolutely forbidden.

‘There’s a problem inside.’

Even if most of their forces had been deployed elsewhere, they wouldn’t react like this, unless the holy war was actually taking place within the kingdom itself.

‘However, I can’t sense the enemy’s energy.’

Because a powerful barrier of holy power surrounded the kingdom, no other type of energy could be felt besides the holy one. From here, it was impossible to identify the enemy.

“Understood.”

Raon nodded calmly and stepped back without protest.

“If you just tell them your name, Sir Raon, they’ll probably open the gates.”

Dorian tilted his chin, suggesting he try saying the name of the Light Wind Palace master.

“It seems like something very important is happening right now. I’d rather not interfere.”

Raon waved his hand quietly. He wanted to respect Olga and Hopen’s decision, to let them handle it themselves, unless it became truly dangerous.

‘Even if they take some losses, they’ll grow from it in the end.’

Judging by the fact that they had declared this a holy war, their enemy must be powerful enough to threaten the kingdom itself.

But if they overcame this crisis, they would gain strength and experience. Watching quietly from the sidelines might not be a bad idea.

“So, we’re not going in?”

Evelyn smiled, her usual expression back as if her earlier irritation had vanished.

“No, we’re going in.”

Raon shook his head firmly.

“We can all hide our presence when we move, but avoiding the holy detection spell on the wall will be tricky. Can you handle it?”

He pointed toward the boundary spell running along the fortress wall, powered by holy power.

“Of course.”

Evelyn nodded reassuringly.

“Five minutes, and it’ll be done.”

She told them to get ready to move in five minutes, then closed her eyes.

“F-Five minutes?”

Dorian let out a breath of disbelief.

“Five minutes to break the Holy Kingdom’s boundary spell?”

His jaw trembled as he muttered in astonishment.

“It’s holy power, that’s why it’ll take five minutes. If it were ordinary spell, she would’ve undone it the moment she saw it.”

Raon shook his head, answering in Evelyn’s stead while she focused.

“At that level, isn’t she even more amazing than Lady Chamber or Lady Larian?”

“Not really…”

Raon shrugged slightly, glancing at Evelyn.

“She’s just specialized in this sort of thing.”

Stealth, disguise, detection, trap removal, tracking, there was no one in the world who could match Evelyn in these shadowy kinds of magic.

“Get ready to move.”

Raon told Dorian to loosen up and turned his gaze toward the gleaming white wall.

‘It looks like the war’s about to start. Or maybe it’s already begun.’

Seeing the holy power inside the kingdom surging as if ready to explode, it seemed the battle had already started.

Raon shifted his eyes toward the eastern mountains. The sun was slowly beginning to rise.

‘Perfect timing.’

Holy power reveals its strongest force at the moment when darkness fades and the sun illuminates the world. The war was starting right now.

‘Could there really be an enemy capable of withstanding that power?’

Ugh….

As Raon smacked his lips, thinking about the Holy Kingdom’s enemy, Wrath suddenly began trembling all over as if struck by cold.

‘What’s wrong with you? You’ve been quiet for a while now.’

Raon frowned, glancing at Wrath. He had been lively before arriving at the Holy Kingdom, but now he looked completely drained, like a sick chicken, and Raon was getting worried.

S-something’s not right. My whole body feels cold…

Wrath groaned weakly, saying he didn’t feel well.

He has a really bad feeling about this. Can’t we just go back?

He lifted his hazy eyes toward Raon, looking as if he truly wanted to go home.

‘You’re really not feeling well?’

Raon narrowed his eyes at him.

H-He doesn’t know. The moment we got here, all the strength drained from my body, and my head’s pounding like it’s about to split….

Wrath sighed, saying he felt sick, as if he’d caught a cold.

‘Just hold on a little longer. We’ll confirm who the Holy Kingdom’s enemy is, get the emblem signifying their support, and then we’ll leave.’

Raon was just about to tell Wrath to rest inside the bracelet when—

“It’s done.”

Evelyn opened her eyes, dark mana rippling around her fingertips.

“Get ready. It will only last ten seconds.”

She tilted her chin, signaling that they had ten seconds to cross the wall.

“T-Ten seconds? Can I even make it?”

Dorian swallowed nervously.

“With your current skill, you could make it in one second, not ten, so stop worrying.”

Raon flicked Dorian on the forehead, telling him not to fuss.

“Then I’ll start.”

When Evelyn pointed her fingertip toward the Holy Kingdom of Schper, a snapping sensation filled the air, and the holy flow radiating from the wall froze for an instant.

“Cross the wall and head north, where the holy power is exploding.”

Raon jerked his chin toward Evelyn and Dorian, then softly kicked off the ground.

Whoosh.

The moment he decided to cross the wall, his body was already within the kingdom.
It was as if he had folded the ground to run, proof that his body, mind, and footwork had advanced to a higher realm of martial proficiency.

[Follow me.]

Raon sent an aura message to Evelyn and Dorian, then deliberately slowed his pace as he advanced through the Holy Kingdom.

‘As expected, the source is at the northern center of the kingdom.’

From the land where tall towers and cathedrals stood, immense waves of holy power were rising. That was where all the holy knights and priests seemed to be gathered.

‘This presence…’

Amid that powerful holy energy, Raon felt two familiar presences.

‘Olga and Hopen.’

As befitted the Saintess and the Holy King, Olga and Hopen stood at the forefront, radiating the strongest holy power as they led the holy knights and priests.

‘Still no sign of the enemy’s energy.’

Even after crossing the Holy Kingdom’s barrier, he couldn’t feel any hostile energy. It seemed to be sealed within that thick holy power.

‘Guess I should head over there first.’

Raon clicked his tongue briefly and quickened his pace toward the northern center of Schper.

Ughhhaak…

As soon as they neared the center, Wrath gasped sharply and clutched his head.

W-what the hell! Why is that here?!

He shouted that coming here was a huge mistake, grabbing Raon’s shoulders as if trying to pull him back.

But Raon’s body and legs were already standing atop the cathedral roof at the heart of Schper’s northern district.

Wheee.

Raon let out a quiet whistle as he looked down at the rows of holy knights and priests lined up before a radiant wall of holy power.

‘That’s a lot.’

The number of holy knights gathered there could easily destroy a small kingdom in a day. Seeing them standing in perfect formation, swords drawn, I couldn’t help but be impressed.

‘And those two are here, too.’

As expected, Olga and Hopen stood at the front, encouraging the priests and holy knights.

‘Then the enemy is… hmm?’

With a faint smile, Raon turned his gaze to the opposite side, then froze, feeling an ominous chill.

“Ugh!”

He let out a strangled sound as he saw the pink current rising inside the wall formed by holy power.

‘Why… why is that here…?’

The moment he saw the unmistakable color of the current, his mouth fell open.

T-The King of Essence told you we should’ve gone back!

Wrath now also recognized the owner of that pink current and screamed.

This is the worst kind of misfortune!

‘No… this is the best kind of luck.’

Raon said the complete opposite of Wrath, a slow grin curling across his lips.

‘I might be able to accomplish all three of my goals at once.’

 

Advance Chapters