The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1145

 Chapter 1145

 

“We won’t be as easy to deal with as the old ones of our tribe.”

The Gold Dragon Bartius gathered lightning in his palm.

“They’ve been away from the battlefield for far too long, relying only on the mana they’ve accumulated over the ages.”

He raised his cold eyes, as if to say they were different from the ancient dragons.

“Then let’s begin.”

Raon let out a thin smile and kicked off the edge of the peak.
The instant he activated the Supreme Harmony Steps, his body pierced through an instant and appeared right before Bartius.

“Wha…?”

Bartius couldn’t even react, his eyes widening in disbelief that a human could move this fast.

“T-tele…”

He tried to teleport using the dragons’ unique dragon word magic, but Raon’s blade was already at his neck.

“Ah…”

Bartius’s smooth jaw trembled, as if he’d never imagined things could end so helplessly.

“I told you, didn’t I?”

Raon looked down on Bartius with arrogant red eyes.

“That it wouldn't take very long.”

Curling his lips, he sliced Bartius’s neck thinly with Heavenly Drive.

Drop.

A bead of red blood flowed from Bartius’s neck, running down Heavenly Drive’s blade and falling to the ground.

“I can’t believe it.”

Bartius bit down hard on his lip, barely regaining his senses from the faint pain of his lightly cut neck.

“That I couldn’t even react…”

He stared at Heavenly Drive, now stained with his blood, as if still unable to comprehend what had happened.

“He’s insanely fast! Let me fight this time!”

“Woooahhh!”

“His body seems faster than his sword. He’s surpassed human limits.”

“He’s got the skill worthy of being classified as a special class threat. Even if Bartius hadn’t let his guard down, it still would’ve been dangerous.”

The dragons each showed different reactions to Raon, who had ended the fight much faster than they expected.

“You look like you can’t accept it.”

Raon gave a short laugh and pulled back Heavenly Drive that was still aimed at Bartius’s neck.

“What are you doing?”

Bartius rubbed his neck where the blade had touched moments ago and frowned.

“I admit defe—”

“That’s not the look of someone admitting defeat.”

Raon shook his head as he saw the burning desire to win still lingering in Bartius’s eyes.

“Let’s go again.”

He flicked his finger after shaking off Bartius’s blood from Heavenly Drive.

“This time, you attack first.”

Raon took his stance again, telling him to fight properly so he could admit his own defeat.

“If I go first, you won’t get your turn.”

Raon curled his lips, openly provoking Bartius.

“Fine.”

Bartius bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and spread his arms wide.

“This time, I’ll show you my full power!”

His entire body glowed with light as a massive pillar of mana surged upward.

“Come, then!”

Instead of attacking first, Bartius tilted his chin slightly, beckoning him to come.

“As you wish.”

Raon twisted his lips and stepped forward using the Supreme Harmony Steps.
He moved even faster than before and thrust Heavenly Drive toward Bartius’s neck.

Wooooom!

Bartius watched the sword closing in, then disappeared into light at the last possible instant, barely a sheet of paper away.
Raon could already feel his presence behind him, his reaction and magic control were smooth and swift.

Crackle!

Sensing Bartius’s energy, Raon turned around just as lightning spears, condensed in Bartius’s hands, flew toward him.

Clang!

With Frost Pond, which split into two blades, Raon cut through the lightning spears. But immediately after, a dark orb of flame struck forward, it looked like a fireball, but it was actually the Flame Prison Art, a spell that summoned the flames of hell.

Whoooosh!

Raon called forth the flames of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation onto Heavenly Drive and cleaved through Bartius’ Flame Prison Art.

However, it wasn’t just one that was launched.

Fwoooosh!

Like a pouring rainstorm, a shower of Flame Prison Arts rained down over his head.
Even a single hit could pierce through aura and burn flesh and bone, a hellfire waterfall was descending upon him.

‘Where is Bartius?’

Even amid the storm of Flame Prison Arts, Raon calmly searched for Bartius’ presence.

‘He’s not around here. Then…’

Slowly raising his head, he looked at the massive cluster of Flame Prison Arts approaching right in front of him.

‘He must be hiding in there.’

A being like Bartius disappearing so suddenly could only mean one thing.
Since he couldn’t be sensed around, it was clear he was hiding within that mass of Flame Prison Arts.

“You fight skillfully.”

Raon curved his lips upward and drew Wooden Ring Sword with his left hand.

“You’ve earned the right to talk big.”

He raised Heavenly Drive upward and angled the Wooden Ring Sword downward, a stance that cut the sky, the earth, and the sea at once. The Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s Flawless Sea of Fire, summoned crimson and blue waves, collided head-on with the Flame Prison Arts Bartius had summoned.

Kwagwagwagwagwang!

A series of massive explosions went off, the sky crumpled, and nameless mountains shook as if they would collapse.

Whoooom!

As Raon took a moment to catch his breath after unleashing the Flawless Sea of Fire, Bartius shot up from within the crumbling Flame Prison Arts.

Paaaang!

Bartius fired a thin, small dagger of light at Raon’s throat. It was a perfect moment, perfect magic control, and a perfect stratagem.

Unlike the ancient dragons who only cast powerful spells and breaths, Bartius had thoroughly grasped strategy to win a fight.

‘Still…’

It meant nothing.

Raon lifted the Wooden Ring Sword he had angled downward.
His movement was calm—
The blade of Wooden Ring Sword shot up at high speed and bisected the light dagger Bartius had fired.

But Bartius had anticipated this.

Clang!

The split light dagger turned into two sharp spears mid-fall, striking for Raon’s chest and neck, a tactic meant to exploit even the slightest lapse in vigilance.

Zoooooom!

Even seeing the spears spring from the split dagger, Raon didn’t panic.
He raised Heavenly Drive and erected the Firewall to stop Bartius’s assault.

“Ah…”

Bartius’s mouth fell open in shock at Raon’s composure even after stopping his final move so effortlessly.

“I-Impos…”

As he tried to retreat, Raon shot forward through the fading light.

Shraaaak!

Raon leveled Wooden Ring Sword at Bartius’s neck.

“Two losses already?”

He tilted his chin, as if saying, try again if you can.

“O-of course.”

Bartius bit his lip and nodded.

“I…”

“Enough!”

“Now it’s my turn!”

The other dragons behind him jumped forward, shouting that they wanted to fight too.

“Hmm…”

Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at these young dragons, clearly different from the vile ancient dragons he had seen so far.

‘So there is hope among them after all.’

*   *   *

“Hm.”

Evelyn clicked her tongue softly as she watched the battle between Raon and the Gold Dragon Bartius.

“That one fights like a human mage rather than a dragon.”

Bartius did not return to his true form to unleash overwhelming magic, instead, he kept a human form to maximize mobility and fought Raon in intense close combat.

“His magic skill is considerable.”

Dragons can wield high-level magic as naturally as breathing. Still, despite their great power, they were not particularly difficult to face.

‘They lack the experience of life and death.’

Because dragons annihilated their enemies with overwhelming magic and absolute breath, they rarely needed to engage in true combat.

That innate might left them with very little experience fighting equals.
So as long as one had a way to deal with dragon breath, they were, ironically, not that hard to fight.

‘But those adult dragons are different.’

Even in human form, Bartius possessed power comparable to his true body and used his human form mobility to the maximum. He was a dragon with a great deal of real combat experience.

[Indeed. They aren't completely brainless.]

Lust sent a mana transmission, a faint smile playing on her lips.

[If he’d dared show his true form to a Demon King like Wrath, he’d have lost his head, or been frozen whole. Guess he wasn’t completely stupid.]

She let out a quiet sound of surprise, noting that the dragon seemed far more experienced in real combat than most.

“He’s not a demon king, not Wrath, it’s Raon.”

Evelyn snorted under her breath, muttering that she should call him by his real name.

[No, it is Wrath! You don’t even know the name of the one you love? What an idiot.]

Lust scoffed, laughing at Evelyn’s insistence.

“You’re the idiot.”

Evelyn shook her head and turned her gaze back to Raon and the dragons’ fight.

After three consecutive defeats, Bartius finally withdrew.
After three defeats, Bartius stepped back, and a Red Dragon in the shape of an orc stepped forward to challenge Raon next.

‘Hmm…?’

Although Raon could easily subdue the Red Dragon, he watched until the dragon’s spell was activated.

‘Even if you give a chance to fight, there’s no need to wait for the spell to… ah!’

Finding it odd, Raon tilted his head, and in that moment, his eyes briefly turned toward her.

‘No way…’

Could it be… he’s showing me the dragons’ magic?

No, that was exactly it.
Come to think of it, Raon could have easily cut through Bartius’s spells, yet he never interrupted their flow until the end.

At first I thought he was just testing their skill, but now it seemed he was deliberately showing me their magic.

‘Because dragon magic is so unique… was he telling me to study it?’

The dragons weren’t using known spells, but magic they had created themselves.

Raon must have realized that, and gave me the chance to observe and learn from it.
Once she understood that consideration, her heart, no, her very soul, trembled.

“Ahahaha!”

Evelyn covered her trembling lips with her hand, laughter spilling out uncontrollably.
Determined not to waste even a single opportunity Raon had given her, she focused all her attention on the battle.

[Are you insane?]

Lust frowned, exasperated.

“Yeah. I am.”

Evelyn nodded firmly as she watched Raon’s back, gracefully deflecting the dragon’s spell.

“Because you can’t endure without going insane.”

*   *   *

Boom!

The fifth dragon, a Black Dragon in the form of a goblin, was slammed into the ground, his whole body trembling.

“C-crazy!”

The Black Dragon, named Dariauran, stared at Raon with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“How is it possible… that I can’t even touch a fingertip of his?”

Even after countless spells cast by all five dragons, they hadn’t managed to damage so much as the edge of Raon’s clothes. He swallowed hard at the absurdity.

“All our spells were developed for fighting Demon Kings, meant for single targets! How can this be…!”

Dariauran’s clenched fists shook helplessly as he muttered in disbelief.

“Not bad.”

Raon brushed off the poison left on the blade of Heavenly Drive and spoke.

“They would’ve worked quite well against a demon king.”

“What? It didn’t even work on you!”

“Because I’m a specialist at taking down experts in one-on-one combat.”

He shook his head, saying that the number of mages and dragons who had died by his hand was beyond counting.

“Now that I’ve defeated all five of you, talk.”

Raon tilted his chin toward Bartius.

“Or do you still want to keep going?”

“May I ask for one last time?”

Bartius stepped forward, mana swirling around him.

“I developed a new spell after watching you fight.”

He nodded, saying that if he lost again this time, he would acknowledge it.

“No, I’ve already acknowledged it. I just want to see whether my spell will work.”

Bartius’s calm eyes turned toward Raon.

“Fine.”

Raon gave a faint smile and raised his sword toward him.

“You’re not so bad, after all.”

Unlike other dragons, these ones hadn’t resorted to vile tricks or cowardice, they truly understood battle. I hadn’t expected to meet dragons who carried themselves like true warriors.

“Here I come.”

Knowing full well how outmatched he was, Bartius raised both hands first.

The air gathered into his palms, and a vast beam of light burst forth, accompanied by a tremendous gust of pressure.

Rumble…!

Bartius was unleashing a Gold Dragon’s breath, through a human body.

“You really try everything, don’t you?”

Raon curled his lips upward and swung the Crimson Slash toward the incoming breath.

Kwoooaaargh!

The flaming blade tore through the rushing golden breath, splitting it cleanly in two.

But Bartius’s attack didn’t stop there.

Woooong!

From the sky, countless spears and blades of light curved at strange angles and fell at different speeds. It seemed he had arranged them to read Raon’s movements and make evasion nearly impossible..

“What an annoying mage.”

Wielding Heavenly Drive and Wooden Ring Sword, Raon unfolded the Fangs of Insanity and the Blizzard Sword Art, deflecting every one of Bartius’s spells by perception alone before charging straight toward him.

“You call this new? It’s not that different from before.”

He remarked that there was no real change as he slashed at a speed Bartius couldn’t react to.

“Is that so?”

But Bartius, as if he had predicted the slash, turned his body and narrowly avoided it.

“Hmm?”

Raon frowned and thrust his sword faster and more fiercely.

Whoosh!

Bartius once again dodged, by a hair’s breadth, and countered with a spell of light.

“So that new spell you developed…”

Raon drifted back and let out a dry laugh.

“It wasn’t an offensive spell, was it?”

“That’s right.”

Bartius nodded calmly.

“I’ve cast a reaction spell directly onto my nerves, it lets my body respond automatically to your sword.”

He opened his hand, explaining that he’d created a spell that made his nerves react to a sword on their own.

“With this, I can— huh?”

Before he could finish saying he could finally fight properly—

Swoosh!

Raon’s fist, which had been ten steps away a moment ago, was suddenly right before his face.

Thwack!

Bartius’s body bent like a falling leaf as Raon’s punch drove him into the ground.

“Uggghhh!”

Blood spilled from his jaw as Bartius forced his mouth open.

“H-how…?”

“If you cast a spell on your nerves, then I just have to crush them before they can react.”

Raon sheathed Heavenly Drive and shrugged.

“With a human body like that, you could never match my physical abilities.”

“Hah…”

Bartius let out a hollow laugh and closed his eyes tightly.

“So I was dancing in the palm of your hand.”

“No. Like I said before, it wasn’t bad. In fact, it might have worked on a demon king, not me.”

Raon said that sparring with the dragons had been enjoyable, and reached out his hand.
Having fought to his heart’s content, he felt, if only a little, a sense of familiarity toward Bartius and the other dragons.

“Hmm…”

Bartius looked at him quietly, then took his hand and stood up.

“Now tell me. What did you come to me for?”

Raon tilted his chin, sitting on the flattened remains of a shattered boulder.

“To get straight to the point…”

Bartius glanced at the dragons behind him,
then slowly opened his mouth.

“We came to you… to defy our Lord’s command.”

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