The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1217

 Chapter 1217

 

There was something Glenn and Rector once said when they were talking about swords at Zieghart long ago.

[What is a sword, you ask? A sword is just a sword. There’s no need to think about it too deeply.]

[The head of house is right. The more complicated you make it, the harder the sword becomes. There’s no need to think of versatile sword as anything special.]

[Learning complex and diverse sword techniques is good. But every sword technique must be unleashed with intent and purpose.]

[It’s not difficult. The answer is already inside you.]

At the time, I didn’t understand what those words meant. After I had grown a little, I believed he fully grasped their meaning.

But that wasn’t true at all.

Even though I had grown tremendously, I still hadn’t truly understood what Glenn and Rector meant. I had only skimmed the surface.

‘A sword is just a sword.’

That really was all there was to it.

A sword was merely a tool for killing enemies, and everything was decided by the will of the one who wielded it. In the past, and even now, will was both the beginning and the end of a warrior.

‘Everything is my choice.’

Whether I cut an enemy’s neck or cut an enemy’s soul depended entirely on my own will. The deeper my desire and craving to cut became, the stronger my sword could grow.

‘I want to cut everything about that false angel standing before me.’

Raon clenched his teeth tightly and raised the level of his soul.

Wooooooong!

The ten rings now resonated together, releasing an intense heat. A complete circle, one that could not be formed with nine, was drawn, and a golden sun rose above his heart.

The tremendous flames created by the Ring of Fire spread throughout his entire body, delivering absolute power to both flesh and soul.

Ssssssh!

The martial arts he had understood before and the martial arts he had previously regarded as nothing more than theory flowed along the circle of the rings to form a single river. A sense of omnipotence, as if he could do anything, dominated his entire body.

Raon raised the hand that was not holding a sword.
A sword of the heart unfolded from his fingertips.

The pinnacle of the martial arts he had built in this life as a swordsman fused with the art of surprise attacks he had accumulated in his previous life as an assassin, and the new sword technique that was born from it shot forward, wrapped in golden light. 

“What—?!”

Derus Robert noticed, but it was already too late. No matter how strong he was, he could not catch a blade that had already been launched.

Crack—!

Raphael widened her eyes as if only realizing the attack after the sword had already entered her neck.

She tried to defend by releasing her divine power, but the sword Raon unleashed was a Transcendence flame that cut even that divine power.

Thud!

Unbefitting of her title as the Archangel of Protection and Healing, Raphael had her neck severed by a single sword strike and fell to the ground.

“H… huh?”

Even Derus Robert froze with his eyes wide open, as if he had never anticipated such a situation or outcome.

The back of priest Srude’s hand, originally pristine without a single scratch, now bore a long wound as if slashed by a blade, dark blood dripping from it.

C-crazy…

Wrath swallowed dry saliva, seemingly shocked by Raon’s sword.

What did you just cut? What in the world is that sword?!

Even after witnessing it himself, he couldn’t believe it, his jaw trembling.

‘What is that sword, you ask…’

Raon smiled faintly as he recalled the sword technique that had cut both body and soul at once.

‘I’ll call it the True Sword. Raon Zieghart Style Swordplay, Tenth Form, True Sword.’

Having once again realized how to use a sword, and what a sword truly was, I wanted to give the sword technique the name True Sword.

Thump!

As Raon named his new sword technique, Raphael’s headless body toppled backward.

The archangel’s body, once cloaked in divinity and nobility, tilted like a pile of trash, sending a small yet massive reverberation through the once-silent Heaven.

“W-what…?”

“Why did Jilpen kill Lady Raphael?”

“Kill her? That doesn’t even make sense, how could that guy kill an archangel?!”

“What in the world is going on….”

The residents of Heaven were struck speechless by a scene they could never have imagined.

“Y-you crazy bastard!”

“Capture him!”

“Call all the guardians!”

“We’re under attack!”

As the celestials in Heaven, including Baif, screamed and sent out signals, hundreds of celestials descended from the divine land where Raphael had come down, gripping weapons made of light.

Rumble—!

With blue eyes burning red with killing intent, the celestials surrounded Raon. If Derus were to say a single word, it looked as though they would immediately stab him with their weapons of light and turn him into a porcupine.

Ssssssh!

Derus Robert’s subordinates, who had been hidden within Heaven, took their positions behind the celestials, radiating cold aura. Unlike the celestials, they emitted a sinister aura never felt on the continent, lifting weapons that burned with black flames.

“……”

Despite being surrounded by hundreds of enemies in the heart of the enemy’s base, Raon showed no sign of panic. He slowly wiped the blood of Raphael from the edge of his hand.

Strangely, that sight looked more elegant and noble than the archangel who lay dead in such a miserable state.

“S-Stupid fool.”

Baif sneered at Raon.

“Lady Raphael is the Archangel of Protection and Healing! There’s no way she’d die from a sword like yours!”

He jeered, saying that Raphael could never die from something as trivial as having her neck severed.

“He’s right!”

“There’s no way Lady Raphael would die to a human’s sword!”

“She can even use avatars! That body was probably just one of them!”

“Exactly! She deliberately took the blow to find out your true intention!”

The celestials snorted at Raon, convinced Raphael wasn’t dead.

“Not dead…?”

Raon looked down at the celestials surrounding him and spoke calmly.

“Then why isn’t she getting up? Why is she still lying there like a worm?”

He lightly nudged Raphael’s torso with his foot, curling his lips into a crooked smile.

“T-that’s because…!”

Baif turned around, his lips trembling blue. He cast a desperate look at Derus Robert, as if begging him to speak instead.

“……”

But Derus Robert said nothing, only staring at Raphael’s corpse. His pale, hardened expression made it clear what the situation was.

“D-damn it! Kill him! Kill him right now!”

Baif ground his teeth and pointed at Raon.

“Aaaah!”

“Kill the demon!”

“He’s no different from a demon! Erase him completely!”

Just as the celestials were about to rush at Raon with weapons overflowing with intense divine power—

“Enough.”

Derus Robert raised his hand.

“Stand down.”

In a voice chilling just to hear, he stepped toward Raon.

“It’s been a while.”

As Derus Robert approached ten steps forward, Raon went out to meet him by five steps. Since distance meant nothing to that man anyway, it was better to face him head-on.

“Derus Robert.”

Raon spoke his name, a cold smile forming on his lips.

“So you knew who I was.”

Derus Robert nodded calmly, no longer surprised.

“You reek of filth.”

Raon pinched his nose while looking at him.

“That filthy stench, one that doesn’t exist in anyone else in this world. Even if you change bodies, there’s no way I wouldn’t recognize it.”

He waved his hand dismissively, as if telling him to bathe once in a while.

“Is that so.”

Derus Robert chuckled faintly while looking over his own body.

“I should have trusted my senses…”

He clicked his tongue as he looked at the wound on the back of his hand.

“What trick did you use?”

Derus Robert tilted his chin, as if saying everything was already over and telling Raon to speak.

“From the stage where souls are examined upon entering the land of Heaven… no, just now, how did you slip out of my grasp?”

More than Raphael’s death, he seemed more curious about how Raon had slipped free of the soul inspection he himself had carried out, and he frowned.

“You taught me yourself.”

Raon clasped his hands together as he met Derus Robert’s cold gaze.

“How to deceive people.”

He lifted his chin and spoke in words so simple that they held true in both his past life and his present one.

“You deceived everyone, so now it’s simply your turn to be deceived.”

Raon lightly waved his finger, saying that returning favors with favors, and grudges with grudges, was only natural.

“So you have no intention of explaining.”

Even after Raphael’s death and being openly mocked, Derus Robert maintained his cold composure. The unwavering calm in his eyes sent a chill crawling down Raon’s spine.

“What do you plan to do now?”

Derus Robert narrowed his eyes as he looked at Raon’s trembling legs.

“The elite of the celestials who’ve lost their master are flying here as we speak. In that condition, you won’t be able to face me, let alone them.”

Knowing that Raon had poured everything he had into killing Raphael, Derus let a chilling killing intent seep into his voice.

“Who knows? I didn’t really think that far ahead.”

Raon shrugged, never looking away from Derus’s icy gaze.

“I see. Then…”

Derus Robert nodded calmly.

“Die.”

Just as Raon had when killing Raphael, Derus sharpened his hand like a blade and brought it straight down.

Ssssssh!

Because Derus sensed something abnormal in the sword technique Raon had just used, he deliberately let a sinister power flow into his descending hand.

Kyaaaang!

As his strike flew toward Raon’s neck, space itself was torn apart.
The dimension shattered into hundreds of fragments like broken glass, and from within that fractured space, a single figure appeared.

“Raon!”

Evelyn burst out of the shattered dimension like a figure stepping out of a painting. With a bright, refreshing smile, she snapped her fingers. At once, the hundreds of split fragments of space spread wide, and familiar faces emerged within them.

“Take that filthy hand off my grandson.”

Glenn Zieghart. The strongest swordsman on the continent raised his coldly gleaming blade and cut Derus Robert’s arm.

“Derus Robert! To think I’d see that ugly face of yours again like this!”

Rector, the current master of the Holy Sword Alliance and known as the Sword Demon, bit his lip and cut through Derus Robert’s chest as his body staggered. Already accustomed to his prosthetic arm, he unleashed sword energy even fiercer than before.

“Kahahahaha! So it’s finally starting? I was getting bored to death waiting!”

Balder let out a villainous laugh and extended his sword, sweeping away the celestials blocking his path.

“Palace master! You’ve worked hard!”

Burren bowed respectfully toward Raon. He smiled with clear relief, as though the heavy burden of serving as acting palace master had finally been lifted.

“Save the greetings for later! Cut their heads off first!”

As always, Martha let out a spirited shout and cleaved the flustered heavenly beings in half. Her sword had clearly grown sharper, as if she had focused solely on training during that time.

“Raon…”

Runaan stepped out from the dimension and handed Raon two swords. They were Heavenly Drive and Wooden Ring Sword that he had entrusted to her.

“I kept them safe…”

She smiled faintly, saying she hadn’t let them leave her side even for a moment.

“I’ll fight now.”

Still smiling, she swung her beloved sword, Snow Flower Sword. Pure white currents surged forth, freezing Derus Robert’s subordinates, shadows and all, as they charged forward.

“Waaaaaah!”

“Protect the Light Wind Palace master!”

“Eradicate Derus Robert!”

“Wipe out the enemy!”

Zieghart’s elite swordsmen also poured out through Evelyn’s dimensional gate, cutting down the celestials and Derus’s subordinates in a single sweep.

“Ghk…!”

Derus Robert coughed up red blood as he clutched the wound in his chest with his one remaining left arm.

“You asked how I planned to survive here, didn’t you?”

Raon drew Heavenly Drive and Wooden Ring Sword. There was no strength left in his hands, yet strangely, it didn’t feel like he would drop them.

“I don’t know the answer.”

He curled his lips into a smile as he looked at the backs of comrades who wouldn’t hesitate to give their lives for him.

“But it looks like they do.”

“A war in a year? No.”

Raon looked down at Derus Robert’s twisted face with a chilling smile.

“I’m declaring war right now.”

 

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