The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1212

 Chapter 1212

 

Ssssss.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Raon approached the tower belonging to the man known as Kirk.

‘It’ll be over soon.’

Thanks to Priest Srude, he had established a foothold in Heaven far faster than expected. If he devoured just the final tower standing before him, he would reach the sky and finally meet the archangel.

Is it finally the end?

Wrath rubbed his hands together.

The food here wasn’t bad, but the King of Essence missed home-cooked meals. Besides…

A cold gleam flared in his eyes as he bared his teeth.

He’s curious which of those archangel bastards will show up and start running their mouths! If the King of Essence were still at full strength, they wouldn’t have even dared to show their shadows!

Wrath slowly smacked his lips as he recited the archangels’ names one by one.

“Th-that’s Jilpen!”

“Is he really going to challenge Kirk?”

“Has to be. Kirk’s tower is the only one left over there!”

“A fight between monsters who have never known defeat is finally happening!”

“Whoever wins that fight will earn the honor of meeting an archangel.”

Sensing that a war between tower masters was about to erupt from Raon’s movements alone, people began to follow closely behind him.

“We can’t miss this! It’ll be the biggest fight since Heaven opened!”

“Hah… I’m jealous. If only I’d had a chance like that…”

“There were plenty of chances. We just failed to seize them.”

“Jilpen burned himself out like a moth chasing the flame. That’s how he climbed this high.”

“Whether on the land or in Heaven, you only gain something by challenging yourself. The beginning is always the hardest, though…”

“That’s why I hope Jilpen wins. Watching him reminds me of my younger days.”

“Jilpen! If it’s come to this, you better win no matter what!”

“Yeah! Devour all the towers and become a Transcender!”

“And don’t pretend you don’t know us later!”

The residents of Heaven who had followed Jilpen’s journey now waved their hands wildly, as if they had become his devoted followers.

“Wow…”

Charlie let out an empty breath as he looked around at the people cheering for Raon.

“Why are they acting like this? They hated us not long ago.”

He blinked, clearly unable to understand the change in their attitude.

“It is strange, no doubt.”

Raon narrowed his eyes as he glanced to the right.

“Normally, they’d react with envy.”

The people standing to the right were glaring at me, their eyes burning with envy as they hurled curses. Considering the nature of Heaven, that reaction was actually more fitting.

“Then why are they cheering?”

Charlie tilted his head, still unable to understand.

“Because they’re human.”

Raon let out a faint chuckle.

“Humans always want someone to rely on. Even though they came here to fulfill their own desires, they end up searching for someone who can fulfill those dreams on their behalf.”

The people who seemed to be following me were hoping I would achieve dreams they themselves could never realize. Through me, they sought vicarious satisfaction for their own goals.

How pathetic.

Wrath clicked his tongue sharply.

To think they’d seek vicarious satisfaction through others, even in a place like this, where dreams can be fulfilled!

He thumped his chest in frustration.

‘That’s not quite right.’

Raon calmly waved his hand.

‘This place looks like it can grant any wish at a glance, but in reality, it’s nothing more than a pigpen with a slightly higher ceiling.’

He frowned deeply, recalling Derus Robert’s unpleasant smile.

‘These people have been trampled by the powerful since before they came here, so they likely felt the ominous nature of this Heaven instinctively.’

At first, I had thought the same as Wrath, I had looked down on people who desired something yet never dared to challenge for it. But after fighting duels over towers, my perspective had changed greatly.

The people in this Heaven had lived their entire lives being pushed around, which made them keen at reading situations. Through that hard-earned perceptiveness, they instinctively sensed this place’s ugliness and its limits, and what they had done was closer to resignation than a conscious choice.

‘Because of that thing.’

Raon curled his lips as he looked at the tallest tower in Heaven.

‘A ceiling like that, one that blocks humans as completely as a wall of lamentation, is the reason everyone gave up on fully unleashing their desires.’

Priest Srude said that people avoided duels over towers because they didn’t want to lose the desires they possessed. But the truth was different.

No matter what they tried, they could never defeat Kirk, the owner of the highest tower. Fearing that their desires would only end up being offered to him, they abandoned tower-staked duels altogether. Instead, they lived on by pursuing only small, insignificant desires. They were, quite literally, no different from livestock being raised.

“Well then…”

Raon lifted his foot, assuming a familiar stance.

“That’s enough.”

Just as he was about to kick the tower and make it shake as usual, a deep, heavy voice spoke from behind him.

“No need to kick it. I’m already here.”

Turning around, Raon saw a young man, short in stature, yet so pale his skin seemed to glow, standing with his arms crossed.

“K-Kirk!”

“Jilpen and Kirk meeting like this…”

“That’s Kirk? He looks like a kid!”

“Don’t underestimate him. Fight a duel with that monster, and you won’t be able to stand for a month.”

“Yeah, Jilpen is amazing, but I don’t even want to face Kirk.”

Just seeing Kirk made people swallow hard in tension.

‘As expected…’

Raon narrowed his eyes to thin slits as he looked at Kirk’s skin, which was so bright it was nearly translucent.

‘He’s not human.’

I had never met Kirk before, but the moment I heard that Kirk was the strongest in Heaven, I was certain.

‘Kirk is a celestial.’

There was no way a schemer like Derus Robert would give just any human the chance to have their wish granted. From the beginning, he must have intended to create a ceiling that could never be reached, knocking down everyone who tried to climb higher.

‘And just as expected…’

He’s a celestial.

Others couldn’t tell, but I knew instantly. Kirk was the same kind of celestial as Baif, the one who had brought me to Heaven.

Just as you said!

Wrath snarled, scrunching up his nose in disgust.

That bastard really is a celestial! celestial trash, those celestial bastards are lower than insects!

He ground his teeth, clearly furious at the celestials who toyed with humans.

‘That person everyone claimed had built a tower, had their wish fulfilled, and left Heaven, he must have been a celestial too.’

The person Baif and Charlie mentioned, the one who met the archangel and had their wish granted, was undoubtedly a celestial disguised as a human.

“There you are.”

Priest Srude pushed through the crowd and stepped forward.

“I heard that believer Kirk and believer Jilpen were going to have a duel, so I came to watch as well.”

Saying he couldn’t miss the duel between the two of them, he smiled faintly.

“Hey. If I take that guy down, I can make a wish to the sky, right?”

Raon lowered his brows and pointed at Kirk’s tower.

“Hmm…”

Priest Srude looked between Raon’s tower and Kirk’s, then nodded.

“Since Believer Jilpen has the additional benefits I granted, that should be sufficient.”

He said that if Kirk was defeated, Raon would be able to make a wish to the archangel immediately, a faint smile on his lips. That smile gave the impression that he was quietly declaring Raon’s victory to be impossible.

“If you’re here to challenge me, let’s start.”

Kirk spread his arms wide as he looked at Raon.

“I hate wasting time.”

He jerked his chin, saying there was no need for pointless staring contests and that they should begin the tower-staked duel immediately.

“Starting right away without even talking?”

“That’s Kirk for you. Still so straightforward.”

“I’ve never heard of him refusing a challenge.”

“S-so who’s going to win?”

The crowd swallowed nervously as they watched Kirk and Raon face off.

“Agreed.”

Raon chuckled softly and gave a light clap.

“I don’t care for pointless chatter either.”

Saying they should start right away, he nodded his chin arrogantly.

“Hmph.”

With a sneer that showed complete confidence in his victory, Kirk unleashed his desire.

Ssssss.

His desire took on a mist-like form and brushed against Raon’s soul.

‘This isn’t desire. It’s divine power.’

The energy Kirk released was divine power disguised as desire.

“So you do have some understanding of what desire is.”

Even though he wasn’t using desire at all, Kirk curled his lips into a sneer, posturing as if this fight would still be worth his time.

“You’re right. I do know what desire is. But…”

As Raon accepted Kirk’s duel, he returned the same mocking sneer.

“It seems you don’t know anything at all.”

He muttered words that were bound to strike a nerve, revealing a cold gaze.

“How dare you!”

Krik furrowed his brow, as if he had been insulted by a mere human, and unleashed divine power disguised as desire toward Raon.

Rumble—!

A pressure on an entirely different level from the tower masters Raon had faced so far slammed down on his soul. Now he understood why those who fought Kirk had been bedridden afterward.

‘I’d like nothing more than to tear him apart with aura, but….’

It wasn’t time yet.

Until I met Derus Robert and the archangel, I could never reveal my true identity. With priest Srude and the other celestials watching, I had to fight using nothing but desire.

Ssssss!

Raon released the emotions of the Demon Kings sleeping deep within his soul. Greed, gluttony, sloth, lust, envy, and wrath. Although they were human emotions, the energy of the monarchs of Devildom, which far transcended human limits, clashed against Kirk’s divine power.

Kuwaaaaaang!

A silent scream of the soul rang out. The Demon Kings’ energies instantly erased Kirk’s poorly disguised divine power and surged forward, trying to devour it completely.

“W-what is this?!”

Panicking, Kirk unleashed all of the divine power he possessed without even trying to disguise it. It seemed to be an outburst of pride, the refusal to accept defeat at the hands of a human.

“Tsk.”

Priest Srude raised his hand, causing a blue light to rise. He created an illusion so that Kirk’s divine power would not be noticed by the others.

‘Even so, it’s meaningless.’

The emotions of the Demon Kings were in absolute opposition to divine power. In this land, saturated with filthy desire, there was no need to conceal that power, so Raon freely let that vicious authority manifest, completely consuming every last trace of Kirk’s divine power.

“This… this can’t be…”

Kirk’s lips trembled, drained of color, as if he were horrified that he still couldn’t defeat Raon despite openly revealing his divine power.

“You said you hate wasting time, didn’t you?”

Raon looked down at Kirk with the same mocking sneer as before.

“N-No! Wait a moment!”

“I’ll finish it right now, without wasting time.”

Kirk waved his hand as if begging him to wait, but Raon ignored him and fired off the desire that had devoured divine power.

Kuwaaaaaaah!

Raon’s desire coiled around Kirk’s entire body like a coiled serpent, draining every last bit of the desire and divine power lodged within his soul.

“Keugh!”

Because Kirk was a celestial, the shock of having his energy, including desire, absorbed was even greater. He collapsed while vomiting blood, it was a truly pathetic end for the tower master who possessed the highest tower in Heaven.

“H-Huh!”

“K-Kirk lost?!”

“I never thought Jilpen would win…”

“To think it would end like this.”

“I-I thought Kirk would obviously win and have his wish granted.”

“I can’t believe a human could possess such desire.”

Those who had been watching the duel seemed to have overwhelmingly predicted Kirk’s victory, and they clicked their tongues in shock at his defeat.

“……”

Even Priest Srude seemed unable to take his eyes off the fallen Kirk, biting his yellowed lips in shock.

“Hey.”

Raon tapped Kirk’s tower lightly with his palm and called out to Priest Srude.

“I’d like you to stack the tower right away.”

He tilted his chin languidly as he looked at the flustered priest.

“Because I want to make my wish immediately.”

 

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