The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1121

 Chapter 1121

 

Sssss.

Raon assumed the stance of the Fangs of Insanity and narrowed his eyes to thin slits.

“So Lady Briana isn’t coming out right away.”

The person holding a sword in front of me was not Briana, but Brigit.

She didn’t call for her sister, instead, she infused her blade with a sharp, fierce pressure as if declaring she would face me herself.

“Don’t you think you should know how I’ve changed?”

Brigit curled her lips into a smile and aimed her sword at Raon’s chest.

“The name Queen of Swords wasn’t something my sister earned alone!”

The moment her words ended, she stamped against the arena floor with a fierce step.

Whoosh!

As Brigit twisted her fingertips, her sword shot out like lightning, whipping toward Raon’s neck.

Clang!

Raon raised Heavenly Drive, unleashing the Revolving Sky of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, and deflected Brigit’s thrust. The clash of immense power sent both her sword and Raon’s Heavenly Drive recoiling back.

“Weren’t we supposed to fight without using aura?”

The Divine Sword Gathering was originally a swordsmanship tournament without aura, yet she was openly channeling it into her sword and body.

“It’s fine. Since it’s the first time an outsider has taken part in the gathering, let’s break this rule too.”

Brigit claimed it was boring without aura and swung again. Bold conduct and fierce might, she fit the nickname Queen of Swords all too well. (Her literal nickname is Fierce/Ferocious/Vicious Queen of Swords)

Fwoooosh!

Raon raised flames of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation upon Heavenly Drive to block Brigit’s strike.

Chiiiiiik.

The flames called upon Heavenly Drive could not withstand Brigit’s aura and scattered in chunks.

‘Was Brigit always this strong?’

Since meeting her, I had grown rapidly. My aura’s quality had risen to just beneath the level of the heads of the Five Kings and Three Demons, so ordinarily the flames clinging to my sword would not be extinguished so easily.

Yet Brigit erased my fire with sheer power and speed. Even if she hadn’t gone all out, it was strength beyond my expectations.

Whoosh!

She rose onto her toes, regained her stance, and slashed down from left to right.

‘Fast and strong.’

Her swordsmanship had become a little simpler than before, but its force was not something to take lightly.

Clang!

Raon raised the Firewall and blocked her sword as it pressed down heavily. The intense impact made his shoulders tremble.

“How is it? Different, right?”

Brigit smirked, resting her sword on her shoulder.

“Yes. Your swordsmanship itself hasn’t changed much, but…”

Raon nodded calmly as he looked at her.

“Your physical ability and aura realm have clearly risen.”

She seemed to have focused entirely on training her body and aura, both of which had surged in growth. With that strength and speed, she pushed her sword strikes forward.

“Thanks to you.”

Brigit let out a small laugh as she drove in from the right. Her sword scraped the ground and shot upward toward Raon’s waist.

“Sorry, but…”

Raon took a heavy stomp and drew down the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s Crimson Slash with Heavenly Drive.

Jjeoeeoeeoeeong!

The sharpened blade of flame tore through her strike as effortlessly as twisting a child’s hand.

“Wh-what…”

Brigit exhaled in disbelief.

“It’s true that you’ve become stronger than before, Lady Brigit. But…”

Raon pressed her with greater power, speed, and aura, his eyes closing and opening again.

“I have grown even further.”

Through the successor candidate test, my might had leapt drastically.

Normally, the higher your stats get, the less effective each increase becomes. But since mine rose by over 200 points, the difference was bound to be enormous.

Moreover, I had never neglected my personal training, repeating it every day, so any gap would only widen, not shrink.

Kuwaaaaa!

When Raon focused the power of his body and aura, Brigit’s strike shattered like glass, and her body was blown back, staggering like paper caught in the wind.

“Hrgh!”

As if to say it wasn't over yet, Brigit twisted her ankle and swung her sword horizontally. Her sword, as if intending not to cut but to shatter him, was clad in a fierce aura as it dropped sharply in front of his chest.

Chiaaaang!

Raon slashed  the Frost Pond with Heavenly Drive. Two lines of blue brilliance carrying extreme swiftness split her strike and sent her body flying back violently.

“Haa…”

Driven back by the Frost Pond, Brigit planted her hand on the ground, breathing heavily in disbelief.

“Just what kind of monster are you?”

Her chin trembled as if she couldn’t understand.

“Every day I trained my body, chewed elixirs in this Martial Blade Pavilion where mana is the purest on the continent, and yet your body is stronger?”

Brigit shook her head, wondering how this could be possible.

That’s a natural reaction.

Wrath let out a short breath, saying he understood Brigit’s reaction.

This one is a monster blessed by the world. He is no human, not something even demons or celestials could reach.

He shook his head, saying that even if one searched all dimensions, there would be no other existence like him.

“I’ve gained some enlightenment.”

Raon said he was lucky and gave a slight smile.

“Even if you’ve gained enlightenment in swordsmanship, that’s not the same as aura or physical ability!”

Brigit furrowed her brow, calling it nonsense.

“I expected you’d be stronger, but I didn’t think you’d surpass even our highest estimation.”

She let out a hollow laugh, as if her excitement had cooled.

“But as you know, this isn’t all we’ve prepared.”

She lowered her sword and drew a deep breath.

“I trained my body and aura, while my sister trained swordsmanship in the mental world. We’ve been walking the path you told us about.”

Finishing with a word to expect more, she slowly closed her eyes.

Goooooh!

When Brigit opened her eyes again, the atmosphere around her was entirely different. Briana, the genius who had earned the nickname Queen of Swords, had awoken.

“You must have enjoyed tormenting my little sister.”

Briana smiled faintly at Raon. It resembled Brigit’s smile, but the emotion behind it was entirely different.

It wasn’t to show her growth, but to crush him without question. That fierce determination radiated clearly.

“And using aura in the Divine Sword Gathering too?”

She clenched her left fist, saying it was hard to forgive.

“It wasn’t me, your sister was the one who used it first.”

Raon shook his head, saying Brigit was the first to use aura.

“That’s not the point. The fact that it was used is the problem itself!”

Contrary to her scolding tone, Briana gave a broad smile.

“Now that it’s come to this, let’s drop the limits and fight properly.”

She stretched out her hand, suggesting they fight for real.

Kugugugugugugu!

As Briana unleashed her power, a massive energy surged out around her like a volcano erupting, the aura was so great that it made the clouds enshrouding the Martial Blade Pavilion burst apart.

“To be honest, that's what I was hoping for too.”

From beneath Raon’s feet, flames and frost began to rise. The two energies rose like massive pillars behind him, as if supporting him.

“Let’s begin.”

With a chilling smile, Briana vanished and reappeared to his right. It was a peerless footwork imbued with the principle of extreme swiftness.

Sssssk!

Briana thrust her sword straight toward Raon’s shoulder. A sharp strike that advanced as if erasing all sound. She too had ascended into a new realm.

Clang!

Raon blocked Briana’s sword, which seemed to blur time and senses, and clicked his tongue.

“You’ve risen higher than before.”

Her swordsmanship had grown rapidly, not falling behind Brigit’s training of body and aura.

Had I not grown stronger through countless experiences, it would not have been easy to block that strike.

“With my sister supporting me with all her strength, how could I, as her older sister, be any less?”

Briana nodded, saying thanks to Brigit she could devote herself solely to the sword.

“Then allow me to go next.”

Raon pushed off the arena floor with the tips of his toes and charged straight at Briana. With Heavenly Drive held in middle guard, he thrust it forward to unleash the sword technique of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation.

Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation. Thousand Flames.

Thirty-Six Crimson Slash.

A high-level sword technique of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, thirty-six Crimson Slashes launched simultaneously, aiming for Briana’s vital points all over her body.

“I’ve seen this technique before.”

Briana drew a circle with her sword, creating a form that could block all thirty-six Crimson Slashes at once, saying she already knew it well.

“This time, it’s a little different.”

Just before the Thirty-Six Crimson Slash collided with Briana’s sword, Raon slightly twisted Heavenly Drive.

Fwaaaaah!

In that instant, each of the Thirty-Six Crimson Slash mixed with different principles, transforming into a sequence of strikes with an entirely new flow as they shot toward Briana.

“You're a real madman.”

Briana let out a breath and raised her sword. In her eyes, not only shock but also exhilaration had welled up.

Chiaaang!

Briana lowered the sword that had been drawing circles and faced the Thirty-Six Crimson Slash rushing right before her eyes.

She twisted her lips upward and swung her sword roughly, as if her wrist might snap from the motion.

Hwaaaah!

Her sword shifted in elegant yet complex changes, erasing all the Thirty-Six Crimson Slash, each carrying different principles, at once.

It was like wiping away a sketch on a canvas with an eraser.

“Crazy…”

Raon watched Briana neutralize the Thirty-Six Crimson Slash and let out a hollow breath.

‘She neutralized the principles I had added with the same principles, returning the Thirty-Six Crimson Slashes back to their original form.’

Briana had grasped the flow of the Thirty-Six Crimson Slashes in an instant and created a perfect counter.

Even though she had seen the technique before, I had added new variations, and yet she had blocked it so easily, it was beyond what I expected.

“Did you forget that I’ve been thinking of nothing but defeating you in the mental world? The versatile sword isn’t invincible.”

Briana lifted her clenched fist, telling him to be ready.

“This is fun.”

Raon smiled as he raised Heavenly Drive.

“From here on, I’ll truly put you down.”

Unlike Briana and Raon's smiles, the swords held by the two overflowed with a fighting spirit that boiled like lava.

*   *   *

Kuwaaaaang!

Raon and Briana clashed again and again. Their swordsmanship realms seemed already to have reached the heavens, each displaying their own colors, scattering across the Martial Blade Pavilion’s sky like starlight.

“Haa…”

Martha captured the sight with both eyes, her fists tightly clenched.

‘It makes the realm called Grandmaster meaningless….’

I couldn’t see them properly.

Raon and Brianna seemed to be fighting at full power, but even to my eyes, their swordsmanship was not fully visible.

From the faint afterimages of their sword trails, I could only grasp a rough sense of their sword principles and movements.

‘I’m still so lacking.’

Martha bit her lip as she watched Raon press Briana back.

‘I let myself grow too complacent, thinking that once I avenged myself on the White Blood Religion’s leader and found my mom, it would be enough.’

My greatest goal had been to kill the White Blood Religion’s leader and rescue my mom.

But while I spent my days with my mom after accomplishing my goal, Raon ceaselessly trained himself, climbing to far greater heights.

Realizing that someone so much stronger than me was putting in even more effort, my chest ached with shame and disappointment in myself.

‘Father wouldn’t want to see me like this either.’

If he had seen me now, he would surely have scolded me.

‘I have to help Raon.’

Just as Raon had risked his life to help me, it was now time for me to devote my life to help him.

She placed her hand on her sword, vowing to once again swing until she collapsed from exhaustion.

‘If necessary…’

She glanced at Dorian, who had his mouth agape and drool dripping down his chin, and nodded.

‘Even if I have to borrow the Demon King’s power like that fool.’

*   *   *

Kuwaaaaang!

Briana was blasted away by Raon’s sword and crashed into the Martial Blade Pavilion’s ground.

“Keuk!”

She bit her dried lips and rose, her body covered in dust.

“That damned monster….”

Grinding her teeth, Briana glared at Raon standing calmly.

‘How could he possibly have grown this strong?’

I had trained without sleep in the slowed time of the mental world, and my sister had endured the crushing tedium of life or death training to hone only body and aura.

And yet, even with the two of us, both blessed with the greatest talent, our accomplishments still fell short of Raon’s by an overwhelming margin. It was absurd.

“Impressive.”

Raon nodded at the wounds on his hand and shoulder, lightly cut.

“You’re much stronger than before. I didn’t think you’d become this powerful.”

“Is that so?”

Hearing such words from someone who had once been barely any different from her made her insides boil.

“I was saving this for after it was perfected, but….”

Briana glanced at the Thespian Emperor, then lowered her sword.

“If I don’t defeat you here and now, I’ll never have another chance.”

She thrust her sword forward, calling out to the soul of her sister dwelling deep within her body.

Wooooom!

The souls of Briana and Brigit rose together within a single body, and her eyes began to shine with two different lights.

“That is…”

Raon swallowed dryly as he felt the sudden surge in Briana’s soul’s level.

“It’s a sorcery spell created by Ariel. For a brief moment, it can merge Brigit’s and my souls into one and maximize our power.”

Briana declared she would defeat Raon here today and released all the swordsmanship, soul’s level, and aura she had built up. Her very being erupted with a vast light, sweeping across the Martial Blade Pavilion.

“Magnificent.”

Raon nodded, saying he was truly impressed.

“Then I’ll go at you with all I have as well.”

With solemn eyes, he swung down Heavenly Drive, now blazing with dazzling light.

Fwaaaaaaah!

Briana’s vision turned white, and the supreme martial art she had unleashed with her sister melted away with a white mist, as though it had never existed in the first place.

In front of her, where the sword strike had subsided, stood Raon. He had his hand extended to his right, as if he had swung his sword only once.

“W-what is this…”

Even though her eyes had seen it and her body had felt it, Briana let out a hollow breath, unable to believe it.

“You… just how far have you climbed…?”

Her chin trembled as she admitted she could no longer even imagine it.

“After witnessing the full power of you two, I realized something.”

Raon gave a faint smile, saying he had gained enlightenment from his duel with Briana.

“Then… does that mean now…”

Briana swallowed dryly and lifted her gaze.

“No. I’m still below the heads of the Five Kings and Three Demons. But thanks to you two…”

Raon lowered Heavenly Drive with a smile and nodded with eyes full of certainty.

“It seems it won’t be long now.”

 

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