The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1239

 Chapter 1239

 

Hoooooosh!

Martha’s sword came down in a diagonal arc, trailing a long streak like a falling comet.

“Mom! How was that?”

The moment she finished her form, she turned toward Elena on her right, her eyes shining with anticipation.

“Hmm….”

Elena closed her eyes slightly, as if replaying the sword movement in her mind.

“I think it would be better if you cut it a bit shorter.”

She opened her eyes slowly and nodded at Martha.

“Right now, you’re letting the tip drag on too long. That leaves you open to a counter. If you stop the swing earlier and prepare your follow-up, it should flow better.”

She wiggled her finger as she spoke, honestly sharing what she’d noticed while watching Martha’s sword.

“M-Martha… but is it really okay for you to listen to me?”

She let out a long sigh.

“You know I don’t know anything about swords. Or martial arts.”

Her fingertips trembled slightly, as if she were worried she might mislead her daughter.

“I’m really just saying whatever comes to mind…”

“Mom. Just wait a second.”

Martha stepped aside, lifted her sword again, and prepared to test Elena’s advice.

Hoooooosh!

This time, instead of swinging all the way to the ground, she stopped midway, just as Elena had suggested. The motion naturally transitioned into a thrust, letting her drive in a sharp follow-up strike.

“…Was my sword always supposed to feel like this?”

Martha let out a hollow laugh as she replayed the flawless thrust in her mind.

Seeing how smoothly the forms connected, she realized she’d been practicing it wrong all this time, and that Elena’s advice had been dead on.

“Mom!”

She turned back to Elena, eyes sparkling with excitement.

“How did you see the flaw in my swordsmanship?”

Mom was just an ordinary person who knew nothing about swordsmanship or martial arts. Even a Grandmaster wouldn’t spot flaws in my technique after a single glance, so how had she given such perfect advice?

“Well….”

Elena scratched her cheek, looking unsure herself.

“I don’t know. I can just see it. Not just your sword, your aura too. It feels like it should flow differently.”

She nodded, as though the shortcomings in both the sword technique and the aura were simply obvious to her.

“I don’t really know why.”

She smacked her lips lightly, as though it wasn’t theory or experience, just instinct.

“Looks like that crazy bitch left you a gift.”

Martha drove her sword into the floor and let a cold smile curl across her lips.

“Crazy… bitch?”

Elena blinked.

“The White Blood Religion’s leader, the damned woman who stole your body.”

For more than a decade, Elena had endured her body being possessed by the White Blood Religion’s leader without losing herself. Even with her soul crushed under the pressure, she had held on to the very end. Though she couldn’t move her body, she had seen and experienced countless things through the eyes of a Transcender. That was probably why she’d gained the ability to spot flaws in martial arts.

“Oh… so that’s why!”

A soft gasp escaped Elena as realization dawned on her.

“The way you can point out my flaws and immediately tell me how to fix them…”

Martha nodded, certainty in her eyes.

“Then mom’s ability to see martial arts is at least at Transcendence level.”

Martha herself had reached the very limit of Grandmaster. Runaan was still ahead of her, but only by a step, both of them were standing before the same wall.

If she could find the right trigger, she knew she might be able to break through it.

For Elena to grasp her martial arts at a glance meant her perspective matched that of a Transcender, likely one near the very top of the realm.

“Mom. Just a moment.”

Martha stepped closer, grabbed Elena’s wrist, and pushed her aura into her.

‘Her mana circuits are all open.’

And even cleaner than mine.

Mom’s mana circuits stretched wide and long, like the main roads of a capital city.

Cleaner than those of a Grandmaster, proof of a Transcender body.

“W-What are you doing?”

Elena let out an awkward breath as heat suddenly surged through her body from Martha’s aura.

“Mom! Have you ever thought about learning the sword?”

Martha grabbed both of Elena’s hands and shook them excitedly.

“If you start now, you could reach Transcendence in the shortest time possible!”

Mom already possessed the body of a Transcender. Her mana circuits were fully open, and even her perception of martial arts matched that of a Transcender.

Honestly, the moment she picked up a sword, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her a Transcender warrior.

“Me…?”

Elena let out a breathless laugh, completely caught off guard.

“Yeah! I’m sure of it!”

Martha nodded firmly, as if there were no room for doubt.

“But when my body was examined before, wasn’t it normal?”

Elena narrowed her eyes, saying that when the Ragged Saint checked her body back then, wasn’t there nothing wrong with it?

“You only got your body back after nearly twenty years. Maybe it just hadn’t adapted yet. Or maybe you absorbed some of the sorcery the White Blood Religion’s leader left behind. I don’t really know either.”

Martha rubbed her hands together, saying they’d need a proper examination to be sure.

“Hmm….”

Elena glanced aside uneasily. Even hearing the White Blood Religion’s leader’s name still made her stomach churn.

“Then let’s start lightly. First, you help with my training.”

Martha squeezed Elena’s trembling hand.

“Your training?”

“Yeah! While you’re helping, you might end up wanting to pick up a sword yourself.”

She suggested starting by assisting with her practice, letting interest in the sword come naturally.

“Ugh….”

Unable to refuse her daughter’s burning gaze, Elena slowly nodded.

“Alright. But be careful. I’m really just saying this based on a feeling.”

She let out a sigh, telling her not to believe everything she said.

“Okay! Thank you!”

Martha laughed “ehehe” and threw herself into Elena’s arms.

“If it’s the two of us, we’ll definitely be able to win.”

She clenched her fist tightly, thinking of the friend who had once handed her an overwhelming defeat.

“Just wait a little longer, Runaan!”

*   *   *

“Hmmm….”

“Hey, doesn’t it feel kind of chilly?”

“Yeah. It’s sending shivers down my spine.”

“It feels like we’re standing on a battlefield, not a training ground.”

The Light Wind Palace swordsmen training at fifth training ground brushed at the goosebumps rising on their skin, as if they were feeling a cold they wouldn’t even feel in midwinter.

“Hey.”

Krein crept over sideways and poked Dorian in the side with his elbow.

“What do you think?”

Pretending to look at empty air, he swept his gaze in turn over Runaan, Martha, and Burren, who were positioned on the right, center, and left.

“A-About what?”

Dorian, clearly unsettled by Krein’s darting eyes, wiped cold sweat from his brow.

“The team leaders, no, I mean what do you think of the executives of our palace?”

Krein smacked Dorian’s back and bit his lip.

“They’re all weird! They’re not talking at all like usual and are just training!”

Panting, he looked at Martha and Burren, who were focusing solely on their individual training as if they had returned to their trainee days.

“They’ve been weird since Lady Runaan and Lady Martha sparred. What if this turns into a huge fight or something?”

Krein clutched his head, saying that if a fight broke out when Raon wasn’t here, who would stop it?

“Hmm….”

Dorian rubbed his chin and clicked his tongue lightly.

“I think it’ll be fine.”

Unlike usual, he did not panic much and calmly nodded his head.

“F-Fine? You serious?”

Krein grabbed him by the collar, eyes wide.

“Neither of them is angry, nor agitated. On the contrary, their minds are calm.”

Dorian smiled faintly, as though he had read Martha’s and Burren’s hearts through his mind’s eye.

“Either they gained something valuable… or someone they truly trust is helping them.”

He lowered his hand, saying that both Martha and Burren were in an unusually calm state.

“R-Really?”

Krein’s jaw trembled as if he couldn’t believe it.

“You can tell if you look with your own eyes. There’s conviction dwelling in Lady Martha’s and Sir Burren’s swords.”

Telling him to look directly, Dorian turned Krein’s head.

“When you put it like that… it kind of seems that way.”

Krein frowned, still unconvinced even after Dorian’s words.

“But….”

Instead of the people Krein had been talking about, Dorian deeply bit his lip while looking elsewhere.

“L-Lady Runaan is different.”

He studied Runaan with a far more serious look than when he’d watched Burren and Martha.

“Lady Runaan? She looks the same as always.”

Krein tilted his head while looking at Runaan, who was sleeping with her back against a tree as usual.

“I-I don’t know exactly what it is, but….”

Dorian’s entire body trembled as if he had returned to being his usual cowardly self.

“I’ve never had a worse feeling than this.”

Just as Krein said, Burren and Martha looked unstable on the surface, while Runaan, sleeping like she always did, appeared calm and steady.

But through Dorian’s mind’s eye, what he felt from Runaan was chaos.

He could see happiness and joy, but beyond that, far greater confusion and danger were blooming, enough to send chills down his spine just from looking at it.

“Lady Martha has sharp instincts.”

Dorian let out a hollow breath as he looked at Martha, who had instinctively noticed Runaan’s change first and requested a spar.

“S-So what do we do?”

Krein rolled his eyes nervously, like a startled lizard.

“E-even Lady Martha was pushed back, so there’s nothing we can do.”

Dorian bit his lip, feeling a sense of powerlessness.
“There’s no choice but for that person to come out.”

*   *   *

“Haa….”

Raon opened his eyes after steadily regulating his breath. His red, blazing pupils flickered savagely, less like a human’s, more like a starving beast’s.

He had been meditating at the center of the training ground. After staring up at the softly lit ceiling, he slowly rose to his feet.

Simply straightening his body, a majestic energy wave bloomed, as though a massive pillar were rising.

Kugugugugugu!

His beloved sword, which did not lose its luster even after clashing countless times with the greatest sword on the continent, stretched out like a tiger’s claw and carved sharp sword marks into the training ground.

“I’m ready.”

Raon bowed respectfully to Glenn, who had been watching him from behind. His voice rang out clear and resonant, like that of a general on the battlefield.

“Let’s begin.”

He leveled Heavenly Drive at Glenn, signaling the start of today’s spar.

“It’s already been a month since we came down to this training ground.”

Glenn approached Raon, lowering his eyes.

“And in just that month, you’ve changed so much.”

Facing the fierce fighting spirit blazing in Raon’s eyes, Glenn let out a dry chuckle.

“Anyone watching would think you’re about to face the Heavenly Demon.”

He laughed again, half in disbelief at Raon’s transformation.

“I had to change and grow stronger to be of help to you, grandfather.”

Raon nodded heavily, saying that he had lived this past month for that reason alone.

“Hmm!”

Feeling the sincerity in Raon’s words, Glenn formed a calm smile.

“Today will be very different.”

Like the demons of Eden who use combative energy instead of aura, Raon released a deep crimson energy and crossed Heavenly Drive and Wooden Ring Sword.

His powerful energy wave shook the training ground with a chilling, grand presence, not like Sword Emperor Raon Zieghart, but like the Heavenly Demon, the pinnacle of Eden.

“I know. Today, I won’t see you as my grandson… but as an enemy.”

Feeling goosebumps rise on the back of his hand, Glenn curled his lips upward.

“Come.”

 

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