The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1256

 Chapter 1256

 

Chiiiaaang!

As Runaan lifted the Snow Flower Sword before her eyes, just as she had when she manifested her sword field, the frost petals that had been swirling around her rose into the air.

Hooooooo!

The frost shards, still pure white even after drinking in Syria Sullion’s blood, drifted back toward the mountain they had once belonged to, returning to the form of eternal snow that had once stood in lofty, untouchable splendor.

However, there was one thing that was different from before.

Aaaaaaah!

Syria Sullion’s soul was screaming within the endless eternal snow. Just as Runaan had said, even in death his suffering did not end, he screamed until his throat seemed ready to tear apart.

It was only natural. Even a single frost shard caused unbearable agony, and now his entire soul was completely encased in them.

Uooooooo!

His soul let out a monstrous howl, violent enough to shake the mountain peaks, begging to be freed from this pain.

“You made the wrong choice again….”

Runaan shook her head calmly.

“You shouldn’t have begged to be released from the pain. You should’ve begged for forgiveness, said you were wrong, said you were sorry to me and to everyone else. Of course….”

She looked down at Syria’s soul with ice-cold eyes.

“I wouldn’t have let you go anyway….”

With a chilling slash of her sword, even more frost poured down onto Syria Sullion’s soul, burying his screams beneath the snow.

“Haa….”

Runaan let out a weary breath as she slid the Snow Flower Sword back into its scabbard. The ten snow-covered mountains that had risen behind her melted away like a mirage, revealing the original grassland beneath them.

Hooooo!

Syria Sullion lay dead beneath the blackened field he himself had created, his eyes rolled back.

Of course, his suffering did not end there. Just as Runaan had said, it would continue for endless ages.

“Ugh!”

Runaan doubled over, her entire body trembling as if she had been stabbed. The backlash from using the sword field after her sudden awakening surged through her, leaving her whole body numb with pain.

“Martha….”

Even while feeling the intense pain and trembling, Runaan forcibly moved her body and rushed straight to Martha.

“Haa….”

Martha lay there with her eyes closed, breathing faintly, the scent of blood mixed into each breath. It looked like she had lost consciousness from the shock of losing so much blood.

“The wound is too deep, it’s dangerous… huh?”

Runaan froze mid-check, her eyes widening.

‘What…?’

Her memories had returned. She knew she had stabbed Martha herself. The wound had been deep, and so much time had passed that she’d been certain Martha would be in critical condition, but now, she wasn’t.

“Why is she… fine…?”

Runaan examined Martha’s wound and her body again, her eyes round with disbelief.

She had been sure she struck a vital point, but looking now, the blade had missed her organs by a hair’s breadth.

She had lost a lot of blood, but thanks to the recovery potion, it looked like some rest would be enough for her to fully recover.

“How….how is Martha?!”

Burren forced himself upright, his eyes shaking.

“She’s… fine….”

Runaan set Martha down gently and blinked in confusion.

“Huh? Oh! Oh... how.”

Burren, his mouth falling open as he cycled through several stunned reactions.

“A-are you sure she’s really okay?”

“Yeah. Like this… she’ll be fine….”

“I don’t know how, but thank god.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, he lay back down on the ground.

“But seriously, what was that sword field of yours?”

Burren looked at Runaan again, letting out a hollow laugh.

“It’s practically invincible.”

Even after seeing it with his own eyes, he could hardly believe it, blurting out one exclamation after another.

“Syria Sullion had absurd might for someone who’d just reached Transcendence. Seeing you bring him down so easily, I honestly thought I was watching Raon. What kind of sword field is that, anyway?”

Even while injured, Burren’s eyes gleamed as he pressed her for an answer.

“It attacks, it defends, the strength, the speed, everything about it is insane. With that sword field, you wouldn’t lose to anyone, would you?”

He nodded vigorously, saying he couldn’t see a single opening in it.

“It’s not….”

Runaan blinked slowly, looking exhausted.

“...As perfect as you think.”

She knew this because she had wielded it herself. Her sword field was not the invincible force Burren imagined.

“What are you talking about? Sword fields like that barely exist!”

Burren swallowed hard, saying it rivaled even Raon’s sword field.

“I can’t use it with that level of strength against just anyone.”

Runaan shook her head calmly.

“The strength of this sword field depends on how much pain the enemy has caused me. Syria Sullion….”

She bit her lip slightly as she looked at his mangled corpse.

“He hurt me so badly that it wouldn’t have been strange for me to take my own life. That’s why I gained the power to completely crush everything about him.”

Her sword field could indeed be used for both offense and defense, but its strength and speed changed depending on the opponent.

If the enemy hadn’t caused her much pain, its strength wouldn’t rise very high. But against someone like Syria Sullion, who had inflicted unbearable suffering, it unleashed power that soared beyond the heavens.

“I see...”

Burren let out a short sigh.

“Shame. I was hoping I could have a sword field like that too. Guess there really is no such thing as perfect power.”

He clicked his tongue in disappointment. He had hoped that, through Runaan, he might glimpse the possibility of a truly flawless power, but that hope slipped away.

“There is… one thing that’s….”

Runaan narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at him.

“Hmm? What did you say?”

Burren tilted his head, having missed her quiet voice.

“Nothing….”

Runaan mumbled, then shook her head.

‘There’s no need to say that.’

The strength of her sword field clearly depended on how much pain her enemy had inflicted on her.

But when it came to protecting her allies, the strength of its defense was determined by something else entirely, how strongly she felt about the people she was protecting.

The fact that a single frost shard had blocked Syria Sullion’s greatsword swung at full power proved just how deeply she cared about the Light Wind Palace. Still, it was too embarrassing to put into words, so she kept silent.

“Still, we managed to pull something off, even without Raon.”

Burren curved his lips into a smile as he looked up at the thin moon hanging in the dark sky.

“Feels like I finally earned my keep.”

Even after enduring suffering so severe that death would not have been surprising, he still nodded, saying that, in his own way, he was satisfied.

“Of course, luck was on our side.”

Burren rubbed his palms together. He grinned, thinking about how Syria Sullion’s sword and the Bear Alteration Demon’s sorcery had miraculously missed, and how Martha’s wound had spared her vitals.

“Yeah….”

Runaan nodded quietly.

“I’m just glad no one died….”

She had made such a terrible mistake. If anyone had died today, she would never have been able to forgive herself.

She still had much to atone for, and would have to beg everyone’s forgiveness, but truly, she was grateful that no one had died.

“I’m really sorry….”

Runaan walked over to Burren and bowed her head.

“I knew you were trying to help me, but I couldn't find… my way back. I’m… truly sorry.”

Instead of asking for forgiveness, she simply repeated her apology.

“That’s just what it means to be a vice palace master. You get beaten from above and kicked from below.”

Burren waved it off calmly, saying it was just part of the job.

“But this one won’t be so forgiving.”

He chuckled, pointing at Martha lying beside them.

“You’d better beg properly. You might even get beaten up.”

He grinned, telling her to brace herself.

“Yeah….”

Runaan nodded heavily as she looked at Martha sleeping, one hand absently scratching her belly.

“I’m ready to kneel… take a blade for it….”

Knowing how Martha truly felt about her only made the guilt weigh heavier.

Clenching her fist, Runaan steeled herself, prepared to face it without even flinching, just like Martha did even after being stabbed in the stomach.

“If only you’d snapped out of it sooner, we could have avoided all this. Then again… things turned out this way, and you reached Transcendence and gained a sword field. Maybe it wasn’t a total loss after all.”

Burren shook his head. If this is what it took for Runaan to reach Transcendence and gain a sword field, then maybe it was worth it.

“And hey, Syria Sullion is dead too. That’s a huge win! He’s really dead this time, right?”

He shuddered slightly, clearly afraid that Syria Sullion might somehow come back again.

“Yeah… he won’t be coming back this time.”

Runaan nodded, saying that Syria Sullion was truly dead.

“Good… huh?”

Burren was laughing when he suddenly turned his head to the left.

“Runaan! That kid!”

He pointed at the child lying collapsed to the left, still wearing the forest wild rabbit helmet.

“I think he’s alive! I just heard him breathing, really faintly!”

Burren bit his lip, saying the child who had worn the forest wild rabbit helmet and lured Runaan all the way here was still alive.

“No way….”

Hands trembling, Runaan hurried over to the child.

“Ah!”

Just as Burren said, the child wasn’t dead. His breathing was faint, but it was there.

He was in a state where death wouldn’t have been strange, but with proper treatment, it looked like he could recover.

“Kill him.”

Burren frowned and raised a finger.

“He’s young, but he followed Syria Sullion. He should be killed.”

He bit his lip hard, saying it was unfortunate, but necessary.

“No….”

Runaan shook her head, thinking of the children she had seen in the dream.

“He’s the same as me.”

At the time, she had been immersed in sorcery and hadn’t realized it, but the children, Ruzel included, had all been coerced by Syria Sullion.

Since they hadn’t been devoured by the demons inside the helmet, nor fully consumed by the Bear Alteration Demon’s sorcery, she wanted to save them all, Ruzel included.

“Truly...”

Runaan gently touched Ruzel’s wounds and lifted her head.

“We were lucky….”

*   *   *

“Lucky, my ass!”

Evelyn snorted from the forest behind the field.

“If Raon hadn’t been here, those idiots would’ve been dead ages ago!”

She scowled, saying luck only goes so far.

“Right?”

Evelyn gestured behind her, telling him to say something.

Step.

From the dim shadows beneath the trees, a striking man with blond hair and red eyes stepped forward, his features so flawless they looked as though they’d been painted with a brush. A faint glow lingered around him, as if even the darkness of night couldn’t encroach upon him.

“They would’ve managed even without me.”

Raon waved his hand calmly, saying he hadn’t done anything.

“Huh? What are you talking about!”

Evelyn shook her head fiercely, saying that wasn’t true at all.

“You stopped the helmet-wearing kid from dying, stopped that rude, ill-mannered bitch from dying, stopped the self-important vice palace master from dying, stopped the Evil Goat Demon and the Bear Alteration Demon from running wild, and even stopped that stupid snow girl from dying! You did everything!”

She raised both hands as she rattled off all the support Raon had provided from behind the scenes.

“Killing the ones who needed killing, saving the ones who needed saving, the god who sets everything right! G-O-D! R-A-O-N!”

Evelyn even clapped her hands, saying that the current Raon had abilities worthy of a god.

“P-please stop….”

Raon shook his head with his face reddening. He knew Evelyn was like this, but today she was going too far, and heat rose to his cheeks.

Well, it’s not entirely wrong.

Wrath smacked his lips briefly.

Even the King of Essence didn’t expect you to be able to extend your healing trait over long distances.

He shook his head in disbelief, astonished that Raon had managed to heal others using the Divinity Blooming from the Underworld.

‘I’m surprised too.’

Raon curled his lips as he gathered the Divinity Blooming from the Underworld at his fingertips.

‘I just tried it on a whim, and it worked.’

The Divinity Blooming from the Underworld.

normally required direct contact with the wound to heal it. But by using the principles of the Dancing Sword and the Heart Sword, he’d managed to heal his subordinates from afar.

It was a small discovery, but the results felt like they would be enormous.

What kind of monster are you turning into…?

Wrath grumbled, looking genuinely fed up with Raon’s growth.

‘Wrath.’

Raon narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at him.

‘You once said that a monarch should value their subordinates more than the paperwork in front of them, that they should rush in and save them no matter what. And you weren’t wrong. But….’

He smiled faintly as he looked at Runaan, who had reached Transcendence, at Burren, who seemed to have found a new, greater goal, and at Martha, who had thrown everything she had into saving her comrades. The three of them would grow stronger from here on out, and their bond would only deepen.

‘I think a king also needs to know when to trust his people from behind.’

Raon shook his head gently, saying he didn’t want to take away the opportunity for the Light Wind Palace to grow the way it had today.

Hmph! Says the guy who couldn’t stand it and went running to beg the madwoman!

Wrath shot Raon a sideways glare, clearly displeased.

Still… He’ll admit you were right this time.

He nodded, saying he’d accept it just this once.

Now let’s go back! The King of Essence is hungry!

Wrath patted his own stomach, complaining that it was past mealtime.

‘Wait a moment.’

Raon curled his lips as he looked, not at Runaan and Burren leaving the field with Martha and the child on their backs, but at the Bear Alteration Demon, collapsed behind them.

‘I think an even better opportunity is about to present itself.’

 

 

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