The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1228

 Chapter 1228

 

“A duel to the death…?”

Raon swallowed hard as he looked at Glenn’s back.

“Did you just say a duel to the death?”

The continent’s strongest factions had once been known as the Six Kings and Five Demon. Now, only the Five Kings and a single Demon remained.

Even if Eden, the only surviving Demon faction, boasted overwhelming might, if the Five Kings moved together, they could crush it through sheer numbers.

Of course, the Five Kings weren’t exactly in peak condition. Lecross, the King of Owen known as the Silent Sword Sovereign, had retired, and Chamber, the Archmage of Eternal Flame, had suffered injuries too severe to fight on the front lines. However, the remaining were still fully capable. With their strength intact, if they were to fight as they were now, the outcome would be a certain victory.

Even if Derus Robert were still alive, his forces had shrunk to less than half, so he would no longer mean much.

That was why I couldn’t understand it.

Why would grandfather fight the Heavenly Demon, the head of Eden, in a one-on-one duel to the death?

“Hmm.”

Glenn slowly turned his body and looked at Raon.

“That look says you don’t understand.”

He seemed to read Raon’s thoughts from his expression and let a faint smile form.

“Yes….”

Raon nodded briefly.

“We can dominate the war. I don’t understand why you’d choose to fight the Heavenly Demon in a duel to the death.”

He lightly bit his lip as he voiced the doubt he had been holding.

“The Heavenly Demon is strong.”

With his hands clasped behind his back, Glenn raised his gaze toward the sky once more.

“He surpassed Transcendence long ago and reached the absolute realm. And now, he’s shrouded in a power that can’t even be identified anymore.”

He nodded heavily, as if acknowledging the Heavenly Demon.

“Even if the Transcender warriors of the Five Kings attacked together, it would mean nothing to him. They could buy time, perhaps, but in the end, they would all die.”

Glenn calmly shook his head, saying there was no one who could stop the Heavenly Demon now.

“Which means I have no choice but to face him. As the head of Zieghart, and as one of the Five Kings.”

As if this were only natural, Glenn lowered his eyelids briefly, then opened them again.

“Or would you like to try instead?”

He chuckled softly and shrugged his shoulders at Raon.

“That’s….”

Raon bit his lip harder at Glenn’s words.

‘It would be difficult.’

The Heavenly Demon was a legendary warrior whom even Derus Robert had said he could not yet defeat. No matter how much I had grown, I could not face a monster on the same level as grandfather.

‘Still….’

If I were given time, maybe it would be possible.

My growth rate was unprecedented across all dimensions. If I continued growing at this pace, I was confident I could reach a level comparable to the Heavenly Demon before too long.

‘Yes. It would be better if I were the one to face him.’

If grandfather fought the Heavenly Demon, he would inevitably have to reveal his full strength, and regardless of the duel’s outcome, he would leave the continent and ascend to the heavens.

‘I don’t want to see grandfather go.’

Only now had I truly grown close to grandfather. I wanted to see him laughing with mother, scolding father, and hugging Sia. I wanted to stay together, even if only for a short while.

“Grandfather. It’s difficult right now, but if you could just give me a little—”

Raon was about to ask him to buy some time.

“Enough.”

Glenn waved his hand lightly, a thin smile on his face.

“Sometimes, let this old man show off a bit too.”

With eyes firm and unyielding, he gazed up at the darkened night sky, making it clear that this was something he would not compromise on.

“Just as you wanted to see things through with Derus Robert, I must settle things with the Heavenly Demon.”

As if he had already made his decision, Glenn nodded with resolute eyes.

“……”

Raon loosened his clenched hand as he looked into Glenn’s calm red eyes.

‘I made a mistake.’

Grandfather is right.

He is a warrior, an ultimate swordsman who spent his entire life pursuing and clinging to the strongest path. No matter how strongly I wished to stay by his side, this was not the time for that.

You accepted it well.

Wrath descended from the air and placed a hand on Raon’s shoulder.

Anyone who walks this path will eventually face a day when they must fight with their life on the line. You’ve always fought like that, so you don’t realize it, but that day is coming for that geezer too.

He nodded heavily, as if saying that accepting it was the right choice.

‘I know.’

Raon exhaled deeply inside and clenched his fist. Perhaps because his emotions were surging, the surface of the lake beneath his feet rippled violently, as if waves were crashing.

“From childhood, I knew that one could ascend to the heavens through the sword, and I always dreamed of ascension. Watching you grow was so enjoyable that I kept putting it off, but now I think it’s fine to go. And….”

As if recalling his youth, Glenn slightly spread his arms and closed his eyes.

“I think I can leave things to you now.”

He slowly opened his eyes and formed a smile utterly unlike any he had shown before, a smile so deeply relieved, as though a lifelong burden had finally been set down.

“Grandfather….”

Raon repeated Glenn’s words about leaving things to him and bit the tip of his tongue.

‘That doesn’t mean he’s simply casting everything aside.’

Grandfather hadn’t ruled out the possibility that Derus Robert might still be alive. He was also fully aware of the archangels who remained.

And yet, despite knowing all of that, he was choosing to trust me, and to personally settle matters with the Heavenly Demon of Eden, another being who stood at the very pinnacle.

That geezer….

Wrath twisted his lips as he looked at Glenn.

He always looked like he was living on the edge, but now he finally looks young.

Clearly pleased with the current Glenn, he pumped his fist up and down.

‘You’re right.’

Raon let out a small chuckle as he looked at Glenn’s face, which seemed almost free of wrinkles now.

And it’s not just that he wants to test the limits of his own martial path.

Wrath clicked his tongue, his gaze still fixed on Glenn.

With Derus Robert brought down, he intends to take away the one remaining existence that could become the greatest threat to you.

He rolled his shoulders lightly, adding that Glenn, as he was now, didn’t look like someone who could possibly lose.

‘I can feel it too.’

Raon’s lips trembled as he sensed the desperate emotion in Glenn’s red eyes that Wrath had spoken of.

‘But how do you know all that so well?’

Even in this situation, he couldn’t help but be curious. The Demon King seemed even more perceptive of human emotions than humans themselves.

…Experience.

Wrath ended it there, as if he had no intention of explaining further. It seemed he had gone through something similar himself.

What are you doing? You need to give your geezer an answer!

As if his part was done, he waved his hands insistently, urging Raon to answer.

“…I understand.”

Raon nodded, relaxing his entire body.

“On that day, I’ll stand back and watch your fight, grandfather.”

He bowed as he spoke, saying that he would go along, but only to witness the duel.

“Yes. Thank you.”

Glenn smiled faintly, grateful that Raon had accepted his decision.

“But how are you going to issue a duel to the death?”

Raon tilted his head slightly as he looked at Glenn.

“No one knows where Eden is right now.”

Unlike Derus Robert, who had left at least some traces behind, there had been no information about Eden for quite some time.

He couldn’t imagine how Glenn intended to issue a duel to the death to the Heavenly Demon when no one even knew where he was hiding.

“Calling the Heavenly Demon won’t be that difficult.”

Glenn rolled his shoulders lightly, confidence in his voice.

“If I use the same method he did, he’ll come looking for me on his own.”

*   *   *

The next day.

Glenn left the main building and climbed the North Grave Mountain. He passed the midpoint of the mountain, from where he had watched the annex building with Rimmer, and reached the summit in a single step.

“Hoo….”

Standing at the peak, where not just the annex building, but all of Zieghart lay spread out below, Glenn let out a slow breath.

‘It’s been a while since I last came up here.’

The last time he stood at the summit of North Grave Mountain was when he sensed his presence.

‘The Heavenly Demon.’

The only warrior on the continent who had reached the same level as himself.

Back then, he had felt the Heavenly Demon’s call, climbed the mountain, and exchanged a brief conversation with him.

‘Since he called me that way….’

I should just do the same.

The Heavenly Demon had no interest in Raon or Zieghart. His obsessive gaze was fixed on me alone. If I stood here and spread the energy that only those who had ascended to the heavens could sense, the signal would reach him for certain.

‘It might take a little time, of course.’

But he would notice.

Certain that the Heavenly Demon would receive it, Glenn released his energy. A presence even Transcenders could never perceive, power that only another absolute being could sense, spread across the entire continent.

“Huh…?”

As he unleashed that absolute energy, Glenn felt Raon’s gaze rising from the annex building and let out a faint breath of surprise.

‘He noticed that?’

I had thought only the Heavenly Demon, or perhaps Darkan, after growing once more, could sense it. I hadn’t expected Raon to sense it immediately.

‘He’s not at that level yet… but honestly, that boy….’

With eyes filled with awe and disbelief, Glenn looked down at Raon standing by the lake in front of the annex building.

‘You never stop surprising me.’

In truth, I had felt a great deal of unease throughout the operation.

Though I trusted Raon, my unease over Derus Robert had kept me awake at night.

Yet Raon had turned all those worries into nothing, deceiving Derus Robert and completely crushing the foundation he had spent years building.

True to his reputation as the most devious of men, Derus Robert fled back to his headquarters and devised a new scheme, but Raon saw through even that, turning the tables and utterly destroying him.

Even if Derus Robert were still alive now, I doubted he would be a match for Raon anymore.

‘That’s why I can step forward like this.’

And it wasn’t just Raon. Zieghart was now filled with people I could trust. Because of them, I could return to being Glenn Zieghart the warrior and settle things with the Heavenly Demon.

‘I want to tell you all this.’

Slowly sweeping his gaze across all of Zieghart, Glenn bent at the waist in a quiet bow.

‘Thank you.’

*   *   *

For a full week, Glenn climbed to the summit of North Grave Mountain every day, releasing an absolute energy wave meant to call the Heavenly Demon.

At first, he had expected a response within a day. Yet contrary to his expectations, even after a full week, there was no sign at all.

‘Is he in a situation where he can’t come?’

A monster like the Heavenly Demon should have sensed my presence no matter where he was. The continued silence suggested something else was going on.

‘Or did he run away?’

News of Derus Robert’s downfall had spread across the continent. Even if Eden’s intelligence network wasn’t great, they couldn’t have missed such rumors. It was possible he had gone into deeper hiding.

‘No, anyone else might, but never the Heavenly Demon.’

The Heavenly Demon I had seen was the type of man who would pursue his own purpose even if all of Eden were destroyed. A stubborn, boar-like existence. There was no chance he would flee.

“Haa….”

Glenn let out a long sigh as he watched the sun sink, staining the sky with a deep violet glow.

“I’ll try for a few more days. If he still doesn’t come, I’ll have to do this the proper way…”

He was brushing the snow from his coat, preparing to descend the mountain—

Goooooo—!

From beyond the mountain, at the far edge of the Northern Sea, a lofty, chilling energy wave tore through the sky, sending a shiver down Glenn’s spine.

“So you’ve finally come.”

Glenn turned with heavy steps. Red light burned in his eyes as a razor-sharp energy wave wrapped around him, and he spoke in a low voice.

“Heavenly Demon.”

 

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