The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1205

 Chapter 1205

 

“So….”

Raon lay on his side and smacked his lips briefly.

“This place isn’t heaven, but hell?”

As if telling him to say it again, he lightly twitched the right foot resting over his left knee.

“Y-Yes? Yes! That’s right!”

Charlie nodded while kneeling on both knees. Unlike the confident appearance he had shown at first, dark blue bruises surrounded his eyes.

“I-It’s Heaven in name only, this place is hell. No, it’s a burning hell!”

As if regretting ever coming to heaven, Charlie grabbed and tore at the few remaining strands of hair on his head.

“Why?”

Although Raon already understood, to some extent, what Charlie meant by calling Heaven a burning hell, he tilted his chin as if he didn’t know.

“Because this is a place where people can’t be treated as people!”

Charlie bit his lip hard, as if that was the worst part.

“A place where people aren’t treated like people?”

“Yes. This is a land where desire itself becomes power. Those with weak desire are worth less than dogs or pigs….”

He lowered his head with a gloomy expression, as if that dog or pig were referring to himself.

“Then how do you turn desire into power?”

Raon raised his body halfway and narrowed his eyes to thin slits.

“You have to draw out your true desire. Not trivial desires like wanting to make a lot of money, live in a nice house, or meet a pretty woman, but ugly desires so vile that a human couldn’t even speak them aloud. Only by dragging out those desires can you become strong here.”

Charlie’s fingertips trembled as he said that only by bringing forth filthy desires no human could utter could one survive this burning hell.

Ugly desires, huh….

Wrath furrowed his brow, as if pondering what ugly desires might be.

Is it something like starving people and tormenting them? That would certainly be painful.

He tilted his head, his thoughts oddly gentle for someone called a Demon King.

“People who lived in the Land of Clouds, receiving only the pleasure their masters handed them like pet dogs, split into two groups after coming here.”

Charlie turned his gaze to the left, looking at mansions and towers that rose so high they seemed to touch the sky.

“A small number of fiends realized desires that couldn’t even be spoken aloud, trampled other humans, and built Towers of Babel like that, rising up toward the sky.”

He ground his teeth so hard a sound escaped, as if he himself had suffered at the hands of those fiends.

“The remaining majority were stripped of everything they had by those fiends and pushed off into that corner.”

Charlie pointed toward the shantytown on the right, his eyes reddening. It seemed he, too, was living miserably in that area.

“Those fiends stopped at nothing, water, fire, even blood. They competed to draw out ever greater desires, turned them into might, and then even stole our desires!”

Charlie gasped as if coughing up blood each time he spoke, as though he had endured countless hardships.

“What does it mean to steal desire?”

Raon asked, tapping the base of the tree with his finger. He understood most of it, but couldn’t grasp what it meant to take away desire itself.

“It’s simple. I told you that anything can be achieved with desire here, right? They use that desire to fight duels to the death.”

Charlie roughly clenched the dirt with both hands, as if even thinking about it disgusted him.

“Duels to the death?”

Raon’s eyes widened at a term he had never even considered.

A duel to the death means killing each other!

Wrath also gaped in shock.

“You’re a swordsman, so of course you know what that means. Yes, it’s that kind of duel. However, in this place, what’s taken isn’t the enemy’s life, but all of their desire instead.”

Charlie let out a heavy sigh, saying that if you lose a duel to the death here, you lose every desire you possessed and become a ruined person.

“I see. Now I understand.”

Raon let out a quiet chuckle as he looked at the towers that seemed to touch the sky and the shanties that looked ready to collapse at any moment.

“But there seemed to be plenty of people over there with strong desires too.”

He turned his gaze, recalling that even in the shantytown there were people who possessed considerable desire.

“You can sense that? Impressive.”

Charlie let out a hollow breath, as if wondering how Raon could have such perception.

“Yes. Those duels over desire can only happen if both sides agree. But….”

He bit his lip so hard it drew blood.

“The capable ones force situations where people have no choice but to agree to a duel, no matter what methods they use.”

Raon twisted his lips, recalling wealthy people who would even snatch a single piece of bread from the wretched.

“T-That’s exactly it!”

Charlie widened his eyes, seemingly surprised that Raon could figure that part out.

“They steal money, throw away food, and even destroy houses. Beating someone with clubs until just before death happens all the time, and in severe cases, they even bring in family members from outside to threaten them….”

His hands trembled violently as he said he had seen many cases far worse than that.

“Family members?”

Raon let out a sharp breath filled with anger at the word family.

“As I said, anything is possible here if you have desire.”

Charlie nodded heavily, saying that if you offered desire, you could even buy humans.

“They say if you accumulate desire and build a tower that reaches the sky, a real archangel will descend and grant your wish. Reviving the dead, becoming a Transcender, commanding angels. They say you can do absolutely anything.”

Charlie swallowed dryly, saying that even wishes that could greatly affect the outside world could be fulfilled.

“I see. It’s an interesting system.”

Raon closed his eyes and stroked the chin covered with his fake beard.

He set up the board better than the King of Essence thought.

Wrath let out a hollow laugh.

To go this far just for a war that’s less than a year away. Truly a devious bastard!

His disgust toward Derus seemed to deepen as he frowned.

‘No.’

Raon smirked and waved his hand.

‘The war may be less than a year away, but this board must have been laid out long ago.’

No matter how capable Derus was, he couldn’t have built something this massive in just a few months. Judging by the number of people and the desires spread throughout this place, it was clear it had been operating since before the war was declared.

“H-Honestly, you’re incredible.”

Charlie glanced sideways at Raon.

“How is it that you understand the workings of Heaven so well when you only arrived today?”

He had been in Heaven since the early days of Heaven, but had never seen anyone like Raon.

“Because it's not much different from reality.”

Raon shook his head, saying it wasn’t all that difficult.

“So what’s your desire?”

Raon brushed the dirt off his knee as he asked about Charlie’s desire.

“I-I’ve been forced into so many duels that I don’t have any desire left! Even if a little appears, others steal it right away!”

He shook his head violently, saying his desire had nothing left worth taking.

“I’m not planning on challenging you to a duel. Just say it.”

Raon waved his hand dismissively, telling him not to be annoying.

“T-that tower….”

Charlie’s lips trembled, as if he were afraid to speak.

“I want to bring it down!”

He clenched his fist as he looked at the towers built by the wealthy to reach the sky.

“That won’t do.”

Raon grabbed the shoulder of the angry Charlie and shook his head.

“I need to build a tower like that too.”

“Ah….”

Charlie let out a sigh, seemingly imagining himself standing at the top of the Tower of Babel.

“I need to meet the archangel.”

Unlike Charlie’s imagination, Raon sneered while picturing himself cutting off the archangel’s head.

“This place will be fun, too.”

*   *   *

As soon as the sun rose the next day, Raon took Charlie out to the main street.

“W-why did you come here?”

Charlie’s eyes darted left and right in unease.

“This road is the most dangerous place in Heaven! Yesterday, Sir Baif was with you, so they couldn’t touch you!”

He tugged at Raon’s sleeve, urging him to go back.

“Dangerous? Then we came to the right place.”

Raon smirked and nodded.

“If there’s no risk, there’s naturally nothing to gain. Ah, except for one thing.”

Saying there was one exception, he fixed his gaze on Wrath.

Huh…?
Wrath blinked blankly as he met Raon’s eyes.

What is it! Why are you suddenly looking at the King of Essence?!

He frowned deeply, demanding to know why Raon was staring at him.

‘Because you give things away even when there’s no danger.’

Raon didn’t miss the chance to tease Wrath and smiled faintly.

You damn bastard! You’re bullshitting even in the enemy’s territory?!

Wrath ground his teeth, saying he was about to lose his mind.

He seriously can’t take this any—

Just as he was grinding his teeth and about to explode in anger—

[You have truly enraged <Wrath>.]
[All stats increase by 1 point.]

A reward message appeared, as if mocking the enraged Wrath.

‘See? You give it even when I do nothing.’

Raon shrugged after reading the message.

He told you, this isn’t something the King of Essence is giving!

Wrath shouted, insisting it wasn’t his will.

Damn it! He’s done with you! You damn system, get out here right now!

Instead of Raon, he lashed out at the system, swinging his fists at empty air.

“H- Huk! L-Look over there!”

While Raon was watching Wrath, Charlie yelped in shock and clung to his side.

“You remember that person, right?”

Charlie raised his trembling hand and pointed to someone collapsed on the right.

“Hmm? That woman is…”

Raon narrowed his eyes as he followed the direction of Charlie’s finger.

“She’s the pot-bellied woman who entered Heaven with me yesterday.”

The woman whose belly had jutted out like a mountain as she bombarded Baif with questions was now crawling on the ground like a slum beggar.

“Her face is hardly recognizable anymore.”

In just one day, she had grown so gaunt that her bones showed as she gasped for breath. Her complexion was pale as well, making it seem as though she had been beaten severely by someone.

“S-save me.”

The woman cried, saying she wasn’t someone who should die in a place like this, tears streaming down her face.

“She fell victim to newcomer hunting.”

“She should’ve hidden or gone into an inn. What an idiot!”

“There are always idiots, full of themselves, then this happens.”

The people around them only mocked her. No one helped.

“You see?! She was targeted by newcomer hunting! Not just her money, her desire was taken too!”

Charlie’s lips trembled as he said there was no desire left in that woman anymore.

“You were targeting me too.”

Raon let out a small chuckle as he looked at Charlie.

“Th-That was just so I could survive…. Anyway, don’t do it! For now, hiding and building up your desire strongly is the way to survive here!”

Charlie tugged at Raon’s sleeve, urging him to return to the forest.

“No.”

Raon gently removed Charlie’s hand and shook his head.

“There isn’t much time to climb the sky.”

Saying there was no time to take it easy, he pulled out the pouch of gold coins he had received from Baif.

Taaak!

Raon tossed the pouch at his feet and spread both hands.

“As you can see, I’m a newcomer who arrived yesterday. Is there anyone who wants to fight me?”

He nudged the fallen gold coins with the tip of his foot.

“If you win, you’ll get these gold coins, and….”

Raon curled his lips as he drew out the desires of the demon kings sleeping deep within his soul.

“I’ll hand over my desire as well.”

 

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