The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1288

 Chapter 1288

 

Fwoooooosh!

Raon bit down on his lip as he felt two overwhelming energies at once, a scorching heat that seemed ready to burn his heart to ash and a freezing chill cold enough to lock even his soul in ice.

‘It feels like my energy center is being torn apart.’

The two energies, one carrying flames and the other frost, erupted inside his energy center at the same time and surged through every mana circuit in his body.

The Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier clashed endlessly, like two warriors with utterly opposing beliefs throwing their full power against each other.

Crackle!

Raon bit his lip hard enough to draw blood from the agony raging inside his body.

‘If this keeps up, I could end up with serious internal injuries….’

Both the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier possessed power beyond Transcendence. If they continued colliding like this, it felt as though even his body, which had long surpassed human limits, would eventually shatter.

‘Why is this happening?’

Though they were fundamentally opposing energies, the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier had always kept to their own domains, producing nothing more than minor friction rather than an all-out collision.

But now, they were unleashing flame and frost with everything they had, as if each intended to annihilate the other.

And the only thing being torn apart in the process was the body that housed them both.

‘Ngh….’

Grinding his teeth, Raon tried to force the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier back under control, but the two energies ignored even their master’s will and rampaged wildly through his mana circuits.

Ever since reaching Transcendence, he had never lost control of his aura to this extent before.

Woooooooom!

Unable to endure it any longer, Raon activated the Ring of Fire with everything he had. As the ten rings resonated together, the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier stiffened like violently boiling lava forced into place.

‘I can only hold them down with the Ring of Fire for a moment.’

The two energies had stopped for now, but he couldn’t maintain this state forever. It was nothing more than a temporary fix, like trying to restrain a tiger with a paper leash.

‘Why did this suddenly happen?’

Raon let out a ragged breath.

‘I was finally starting to feel freedom within the pressure.’

Just moments ago, he had been wielding his swords filled with freedom amid the pressure of becoming acting head of house and the coming war. He couldn’t understand why the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier had suddenly exploded like this.

It felt like facing someone driven mad by wrath.

No… now that I looked closer, it almost seemed as though <Wrath> itself had seeped into both the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier.

‘I don’t understand it, but….’

There was no time to figure it out.

Soon, the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier that he I barely suppressed with the Ring of Fire would erupt again.

I had to act before those overwhelming energies tore my body apart from the inside.

‘Then I’ll let them out.’

Stamping his foot into the ground, Raon raised Heavenly Drive and Wooden Ring Sword.

‘I’ll force the two energies outside my body.’

As the ten rings resonated together, he thrust both swords forward.

With Heavenly Drive, he summoned the blazing beast of the Fangs of Insanity.

With Wooden Ring Sword, he unleashed a storm of frost cold enough to freeze even the Northern Sea.

Rumbleeeee!

Gripping his swords tightly, Raon unleashed every sword technique he had ever mastered.

The immense energies of the Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier poured into Heavenly Drive and Wooden Ring Sword like boundless oceans, causing the blades to blaze with terrifying crimson and azure light.

KWAHHHHHH!

Raon poured the erupting energies into his swords and unleashed his techniques with everything he had.

This was no light training session. Like a swordsman fighting for his life in a true battle to the death, his blade erupted with monstrous force, carving enormous arcs across the empty sky.

Wooooooooong!

An additional blade formed within the Blizzard Sword Art, the attraction force of Heavenly Heavy Cannon swallowed even the clouds like a black hole, and the Flame Spirit dyed the world crimson with burning red petals.

By expressing the explosive power of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation

and Glacier directly through his sword instead of suppressing them, he could feel his proficiency of swordsmanship rising on its own.

Rumbleeeeeee!

Raon continuously poured the endless aura surging from his energy center into Heavenly Drive and Wooden Ring Sword as he swung them again and again. Strangely, even though every technique had grown drastically stronger, the principles behind each sword technique remained intact, their individual colors only becoming deeper and more distinct.

‘Urgh….’

His jaw trembled as he continued tracing one sword form after another.

‘The pain isn’t the problem anymore. My body just can’t endure this.’

When was this going to end?

From the most basic swordsmanship to the techniques he had personally created, he cycled through every technique he knew over and over again, yet the aura of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier continued pouring forth without end.

‘Fine.’

Raon stopped biting his lip and instead formed a clear, fearless smile.

‘Let’s see which one of us breaks first.’

At the very least, he refused to lose to anyone in endurance. Even if his body collapsed or his energy center shattered completely, he swore he would never stop swinging his sword.

Fwoooooosh!

From afternoon until dawn.

And then until morning came again.

As he swung his sword with everything he had from afternoon until dawn, and then until morning came again, even his seemingly bottomless energy center finally began to run dry.

The relentless flow of swordsmanship that had surged like crashing waves gradually started to falter and break apart.

‘Finally….’

Raon let out a breath that sounded almost like a groan.

‘Is it over?’

Every part of my body screamed in agony, and my energy center felt utterly wrecked, like a tattered rag barely holding together. There wasn’t a single place that didn’t hurt, and my joints creaked as though they were about to come apart, sending chills down my spine.

Because I never fell into a trance, I remained fully aware of both the pain and the passing time, it had been a long time since I experienced something this close to hell.

‘But….’

Why do I feel so good?

Even now, I’m still swinging my sword. The pain kept worsening, and my mental strength had reached its limit to the point my vision was beginning to blur.

And yet, an odd sense of fullness and exhilaration was spreading through my entire body.

‘Is it because I finally unleashed everything I had?’

Ever since reaching the high levels of Transcendence, I had begun to feel stuck in an awkward position

Whether ally or enemy, the people below me were far too weak to match me, while Glenn, the Heavenly Demon, and Derus Robert still stood impossibly far above me.

Defeating weaker opponents brought me no real satisfaction, yet those three monsters were so far beyond me that I couldn’t even imagine reaching them. That frustration had been building inside me all this time.

I had always carried the dissatisfaction of never being able to unleash my full strength, but today, after unintentionally pouring out everything I possessed until my body twisted and my head throbbed with pain, I still felt exhilarated.

‘And on top of that, my swordsmanship has advanced tremendously.’

Perhaps because I had pushed my swordsmanship beyond its limits and unleashed it with everything I had, even my understanding of swordsmanship had deepened.

It had been an unbelievably brutal experience in every way, but by enduring it to the very end, I had gained rewards far greater than the suffering.

In the end, perseverance really was the key to victory.

So it’s finally over?

Wrath descended while glaring fiercely into Raon’s eyes, his jaw trembling.

What the hell did you even do?!

He pointed behind Raon, telling him to see it for himself.

Fwoooooosh!

The head of house’s training ground, protected by powerful barrier, had been reduced to ruins. The earth was cracked and barren like land that had suffered through a decade-long drought, and even the sky itself looked slashed apart, the clouds shredded into tiny fragments by his sword strikes.

“Ugh…!”

“A-Acting head of house….”

“What in the world…?”

The swordsmen guarding the training ground swallowed dryly, looking utterly exhausted, as if they had spent the entire night desperately dodging his swordsmanship.

“Raon! That was amazing!”

Evelyn waved both hands enthusiastically at him, seemingly having arrived at some point during the chaos.

“Hmm. It’s over now, so you can all rest.”

Raon gestured apologetically to the swordsmen before collapsing onto the training ground.

‘Honestly, I don’t really know either. The Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier suddenly started going wild….’

Just as he was about to explain things to Wrath, flames and frost suddenly began surging once more from the energy center that had already been pushed to its absolute limit.

‘W-Wait!’

Raon shook his head in panic.

‘I can’t endure any more than this….’

Both his body and mind had already reached their limit. He no longer had the strength to even swing his sword. If another uncontrollable eruption of aura happened now, he would have no way to stop it.

‘Damn it….’

Biting his lip, Raon hurriedly activated the Ring of Fire again, trying desperately to suppress the coming explosion.

But something entirely unexpected happened instead.

Wooooooooom!

Unlike before, the flames of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the frost of Glacier no longer collided violently.

Instead, they rippled together gently like waves upon a calm lake, filling all three energy centers and every mana circuit throughout my body.

‘No… it’s not just that….’

The flames of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the frost of Glacier had changed.

The flames still carried overwhelming heat, and Glacier’s frost still held a terrifying coldness.

Both were terrifyingly powerful energies, but there had always been faint impurities mixed within them as well.

But the aura now filling my energy center was different.

It was so pure and flawless that it felt as though raw natural mana itself had been condensed into physical form, utterly clear and free of even the slightest impurity.

With energy like this, I could unleash swordsmanship of far greater power while using far less aura than before.

Wooooooooong!

As Raon felt the crystal-clear flames of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and the frost of Glacier seep through his entire body like a transparent sea, he became certain that he had stepped into a higher level.

W-What is this now…?

Just as Wrath stared in disbelief with his mouth hanging open, a new message appeared before Raon’s eyes.

[The rank of the trait <Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation> has increased.]

[The rank of the trait <Glacier> has increased.]

[The rank of the trait <Water Resistance> has increased.]

[The rank of the trait <Fire Resistance> has increased.]

[The rank of the trait <Water Affinity> has increased.]

[The rank of the trait <Fire Affinity> has increased.]

The messages announced not only the advancement of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier, but also the rise of every connected trait.

Wooooooooom!

Ignoring the messages entirely, Raon focused solely on circulating the pure aura flowing within him.

N-No way….

Wrath’s jaw trembled in utter disbelief.

You just went insane and swung your sword around like a madman, so why are your aura traits ranking up?!

Unable to accept it, he wildly flailed his round fists in frustration.

Why does the world love this bastard so much?!

*   *   *

“Huu….”

After completely bringing the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier under control, energies that now flowed calmly yet carried even greater power than when they were violently erupting, Raon slowly opened his eyes.

‘To think their ranks would rise like this.’

All I had done was release the energies that had gone out of control, yet somehow it had led to an awakening like this. I felt exhilarated, but at the same time, slightly dazed.

‘I really learned a great deal. So entering trance isn’t always the best answer after all.’

In fact, he had gained far more insight than he ever had while reaching enlightenment through trance.

During this awakening, he had never once fallen into a trance state. He remained fully conscious the entire time.

Because of that, he was able to reexamine everything, the flaws within his swordsmanship, the direction he needed to pursue, and even the structure and methods behind his aura control.

If he had entered a trance, he probably wouldn’t have felt pain so unbearable it made him want to die.

But he also wouldn’t have realized nearly as much as he had now.

“Congratulations on your great achievement.”

“Congratulations, acting head of house!”

Roenn and Sheryl bowed respectfully, as though they had been waiting for the moment he opened his eyes.

“Congratulations on your breakthrough!”

The swordsmen of the Heavenly Blade Division also lowered their heads deeply while holding their breath.

“What a terrifying aura! Hug me while you’re still like that!”

Evelyn, as always, said something only Evelyn would say and grinned brightly.

“It’s not quite enough to call it a great achievement… no, thank you for the congratulations.”

Raon started to respond with his usual humility, but then shook his head.

This growth had been enormous even by his own standards. Pretending otherwise and modestly brushing off their praise no longer felt right. This time, it was better to acknowledge his own growth and accept their congratulations with confidence

“Oh!”

“You truly have become stronger!”

Roenn and Sheryl widened their eyes in astonishment at the clear change in his presence.

“There’s something I’d like to ask of you both.”

Looking at the delighted Roenn and Sheryl, Raon slightly lowered his chin.

“Please give the order, acting head of house.”

“Anything you need!”

Both Roenn and Sheryl nodded immediately, ready to carry out whatever he asked.

“One week from now, gather every member of Zieghart.”

Raon’s gaze turned serious, as though he were about to announce something extremely important.

Yet unlike his solemn eyes, the corners of his mouth curled upward savagely like a predator that had found its prey.

“Because I’d like everyone to experience the very entertaining thing I just went through.”

 

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