The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1208

 Chapter 1208

 

Crunch.

Raon clenched his teeth, forcing down the rage that threatened to explode as he looked at the priest who looked exactly like Derus Robert.

You idiot!

Wrath slapped Raon hard on the back with his palm spread wide, as if asking what the hell he was doing.

Are you going to ruin everything here? Hold it in!

He even leaned close and shouted in Raon’s ear, telling him to get a grip.

‘I know.’

If I had let my emotions slip even a little further, my identity would have been exposed on the spot.

I had thought I possessed both human emotion and an assassin’s cold composure, but in front of Derus Robert, even I found it hard to endure.

“And…”

Letting out a short breath, Raon looked at the priest wearing Derus’s face with sharpened eyes.

‘That guy isn’t Derus Robert.’

He looked exactly like Derus Robert and even possessed his energy, but that wasn’t him.

‘It’s probably some kind of avatar.’

Derus clearly didn’t even trust the archangel’s barrier. That must be why he had created his own avatar here, in this most important temple, to perform a final verification.

‘I had a feeling, but….’

Raon let out a dry chuckle as he realized Derus Robert still trusted no one, just as he had in the past.

‘To think he wouldn’t even trust the archangels.’

Not trusting his own subordinates was one thing, but to not trust archangels who transcended humanity, that was something else. In a bad way, it was almost impressive.

“Sir Jilpen?”

Charlie approached Raon, who had frozen in place after opening the door.

“You’re not going in?”

He tilted his head, clearly wondering why Raon had stopped.

“……”

The priest with Derus’s face also narrowed his eyes, as if sensing something strange.

“I was just thinking how the hell a guy could look that pretty,” Raon said, scowling at the priest.
“It’s an irritating face.”

Derus Robert was, in truth, an old man, but the Derus of today bore the face of a stunningly handsome young man, so the remark didn’t sound strange at all.

“Ah, right!”

Charlie clapped his hands loudly, as if he understood.

“Priest Srude’s face is famous even here. I was surprised at first too.”

He nodded, saying that among Heaven, that priest’s looks were second to none.

“It’s annoying. I want to leave right now.”

Feeling the suspicion directed at him wash away in an instant, Raon stepped into the temple.

To act jealous that convincingly…

Wrath let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.

Coming from the guy who cares the least about appearances.

He blinked, wondering how Raon had managed to act like that.

‘I’m not jealous, but I’ve seen it done plenty of times.’

As Wrath said, I didn’t care much about appearances. However, since so many people around me had been jealous of or envied my looks, I was able to act it out naturally.

“Please don’t say that. He’s a very kind person.”

Charlie shook his head, saying that the priest named Srude, who wore Derus’s face, was one of the few truly good people in Heaven.

“Srude…”

Raon let out a silent sneer.

‘So he just flipped the name. Careless, in details like this. Careless, in details like this.’

It was nothing more than Derus’s name turned around. Derus wasn’t always razor-sharp.

‘Then again, no one here would recognize that face anyway.’

The current Derus Robert had cast off his humanity, and even the wrinkles and blemishes he once bore were gone, leaving him with the face of a handsome young man in his twenties.

Even those who had seen Derus the Sky Sword Saint during the era of the Six Kings and Five Demons would never recognize the Derus of today.

“What brings you to the temple?”

Priest Srude smiled gently and bowed his head. Even his voice was identical to Derus’s, forcing Raon to suppress the urge to clench his fist.

“I came to offer my desire.”

Raon stared hard at Srude’s face, biting his lip as if he truly disliked that refined appearance.

“A new believer, then. Welcome.”

Even though Raon was openly showing his dislike, Priest Srude welcomed him with a warm smile.

“What is wrong with you, seriously!”

Charlie raised both hands in front of Raon, as if begging him to calm down.

“A man being jealous is ugly enough, over looks, of all things!”

He furrowed his brows deeply, acting as if it were pathetic.

“Jealous? Don’t talk nonsense!”

Raon shouted that it wasn’t like that and shoved Charlie aside.

‘This part is exactly like Derus, too.’

During the era of the Six Kings and Five Demons, Derus had despised all humans deep down while always wearing a gentle, benevolent smile on the surface. True to being his avatar, Priest Srude also seemed to be acting the part of a kind personality on the outside.

‘Still, thanks to Charlie stepping in, it passed easily.’

Charlie’s exaggerated reaction had dispelled the suspicion that had begun to bloom when I first hesitated. Once I accomplished my goal and left this place, I’d have to reward Charlie somehow.

“Believer Charlie. You’ve brought an interesting person with you.”

Srude gave Charlie a calm smile, as if everything was fine.

“Y-you remembered my name even though I’ve only been here once?”

Charlie stared at Srude with his mouth hanging open.

“Of course. I remember everyone who comes here.”

Srude nodded as if it were only natural.

“As expected of Priest Srude….”

Charlie clasped his hands together, deeply moved.

“I apologize on his behalf. He’s a bit… difficult.”

He bowed deeply, saying he would apologize for Raon.

“Why are you apologizing? I didn’t do anything wrong!”

Raon roughly kicked Charlie in the backside.

“Ugh!”

Charlie collapsed on the spot, clutching his rear.

“You’re Believer Jilpen, aren’t you? I’ve heard your name as well, for your outstanding performance right after arriving in Heaven.”

Srude helped Charlie to his feet, wearing a faint smile.

“I told you. I came to offer my desire. Don’t make me wait, just get it over with.”

Raon jerked his chin toward Srude. Since it had come to this, he decided it was better to continue acting brazenly and arrogantly, as he had been since arriving in Heaven.

“Of course. I can process it right away. However, before that….”

Priest Srude narrowed his eyes to thin slits.

“I need to hear what you want.”

He leaned slightly forward, asking what Raon hoped to gain by offering his desire.

“What can you give me?”

Raon asked in return.

“Anything. You could kill someone, become wealthy, or regain your youth. As long as the desire is sufficient, any wish is possible.”

Despite the gentle face, Srude spoke of killing for the first time, smiling warmly as he did.

“Then what about those people building towers like that?”

Raon frowned, looking at the many towers visible outside the temple.

“Those are towers built for greater wishes. They are towers of desire, meant to meet a messenger of the god and fulfill wishes that are normally absolutely impossible.”

Srude smiled, calling the Babel-like towers reaching toward the sky Towers of Desire.

“Reviving the dead, becoming a Transcender, becoming the richest person in the world, or even bestial wishes that are hard to put into words.”

He nodded calmly, as if he knew all the wishes of those building the towers.

“So…”

Srude looked back at Raon, curling his lips upward.

“What is your wish, believer?”

“…To become a Transcender.”

After a brief pause, Raon clenched his fist.

“With power, you can get money, food, women, everything! I’ll become a Transcender and melt into a handful of bloody muck the bastards who ignored me and looked down on me. I’ll do anything for that!”

He revealed the authority of greed and gluttony, raising a gaze so cold it was chilling.

Yet unlike his outward appearance, his inner state was calmer than ever.

‘This is right.’

As Jilpen, he had always presented himself as someone who wanted power and pursued it relentlessly. Rather than exposing clumsy or half-baked desires, it was best to be blatant, to show, openly and without restraint, that what he sought was absolute strength.

“Transcender….”

Priest Srude lowered his gaze and stroked his smooth chin.

“It’s an easy wish, and yet, not an easy one.”

He chuckled as he muttered something deliberately ambiguous.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Raon frowned deeply.

“If it is our god, granting a wish of that level would not be difficult.”

Priest Srude spread his arms and pointed to the statue of the god in the form of an archangel standing behind him.

“However, believer Jilpen’s current realm hasn't even reached Master. Since you must cross dozens of stages from there, a tremendous amount of desire is required. You will only be able to achieve it if you build a tower like those people and reach the sky.”

He nodded, saying that one must build a tower by offering desire.

“If becoming a Transcender is all it takes, then I can do that much as many times as needed!”

Raon bared his teeth in a grin, letting his greed show more openly.

“Very well.”

Srude smiled faintly and extended both hands toward Raon.

“Take my hands and hand over the desire you possess. Depending on its amount, a tower belonging to you will be built in Heaven.”

He let out a cold breath, saying that once the tower grew tall enough to reach the sky, an archangel would descend and grant the wish.

“Fine!”

Raon nodded sharply and grasped both of Srude’s hands.

‘This is where it really matters.’

If this were the Derus Robert I know, he’d be trying to sniff out a spy even now, at this very stage, while I’m offering my desire.

To keep my true thoughts from being exposed, I pushed the Ring of Fire to its absolute limit.

“I will begin.”

The moment Srude announced the start, Raon felt the desires lodged within his soul being naturally drawn outward.

But that wasn’t all.

Sssss—

From Srude’s hands, an extremely subtle energy slipped in and began to sweep through Raon’s soul.

It wasn’t reading his desire, it felt more like it was examining the state of his soul and mental image.

‘As expected.’

Raon sneered inwardly, realizing his prediction had been right.

‘It’s not even Derus himself. A mere avatar is easy enough to fool.’

The Ring of Fire rotated, and at the very edge of his soul, a false outer layer formed, one that contained nothing but the will to become stronger.

Sssss!

The insidious energy sent by Priest Srude read only that freshly created shell, then slipped out of Raon’s body like an eel.

“I can feel your yearning to become stronger. The god will surely recognize that desire.”

As Srude gave a large nod, as if Raon had passed a test, a thunderous roar erupted outside, as though the ground itself were splitting apart.

“W-what is…?”

Charlie gasped, clutching his head and bending forward.

“There’s no need to be surprised.”

Srude smiled gently and gestured to the side. Amid a storm of gray dust, a new tower rose into view.

“That tower contains your desire, Sir Jilpen. Impressive, isn’t it?”

He raised a hand, indicating that the gray, faintly shimmering tower belonged to Raon.

“It’s low.”

Raon frowned as he looked at the gray tower that had just been born.

‘At this rate, it won’t reach the sky even after a year.’

I had thought I’d gathered a fair amount of desire, but it was far lower than expected. By normal means, there was no way it would reach the sky within a year.

“It’s still low, but if you continue as you are now, it should reach the sky in a few years.”

Priest Srude bowed deeply, releasing Raon’s hands as if asking him to keep up the good work.

“A few years? Don’t give me that bullshit.”

Raon snorted as he looked at the back of Srude’s head.

“The bastards I need to take revenge on might drop dead in a few years! I don’t have time to wait that long!”

He shook his head sharply, repeating that he couldn’t wait for years.

“Then what are you going to do? It’s not like you can steal other towers. You should just focus on gathering desire—”

“Steal?”

Raon repeated Charlie’s word to himself, his gaze shifting to the other people’s towers that were nearing the sky.

“You said those towers are condensed desire, right? Then….”

A slow smile curled his lips as he revealed Greed’s greed without restraint.

“Then I’ll take their towers in a duel.”

 

 

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