The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1293

 Chapter 1293

 

‘The archangel of Death and Dominion…’

Raon slowly repeated Wrath’s words under his breath, narrowing his eyes.

‘Sariel?’

The moment he heard the words death and dominion, a chill crept down the back of his throat.

‘Dominion, I can understand… but why would an archangel be associated with death?’

He frowned, unable to understand such a sinister title for an archangel.

It is quite simple.

Despite saying that, Wrath bit down hard on his lip.

Because that bastard can manipulate the souls of others however he pleases. He can kill humans and devour their souls, or turn them into puppets molded to his liking and command them as he wills. 

Grinding his teeth, he said Sariel’s powers were unlike anything ordinary.

‘He can freely manipulate souls?’

Raon let out a stunned breath.

‘How is that even possible?’

If that were true, it would mean Sariel could wield the Heart Sword at a realm surpassing even grandfather's with complete freedom. No matter how powerful an archangel was, that sounded absurd. 

Of course, it seems there are limits to it.

Wrath stroked his chin sharply.

He couldn’t even touch the King of Essence’s soul! Which means a soul as vast and powerful as mine is beyond his reach!

His bluish fist trembled as he recalled how Sariel had fled the moment they met.

‘Really?’

Raon gripped the armrest of the throne, deep in thought.

‘Then maybe there’s a limit to the caliber of the souls he can control. Perhaps it only works on souls beneath his own level.’

There was no way an ability capable of manipulating another person's soul without any conditions could actually exist. 

If such a thing truly existed, Sariel wouldn't merely be called an archangel, he would be a god incarnate, or even a demon god. Just as Wrath had said, there had to be restrictions. 

That might be the case. After all, the King of Essence's soul is far larger and sturdier than that damned pigeon's.

Wrath nodded as if the explanation made sense.

‘Or perhaps there are limits on the souls he can manipulate. There could be a numerical limit, or perhaps the ability only works on humans.’

No.

Wrath shook his head firmly.

That damned pigeon forced the King of Essence's subordinates to kill themselves! Even chewing his bones wouldn't be enough to quench his rage! 

A deep murderous intent toward Sariel emanated from Wrath, and Raon finally understood why. He suspected that Sariel had manipulated the souls of Wrath's subordinates and ordered them to take their own lives. 

'Or perhaps he needs to attune himself to a person's emotions and thoughts. Considering he approached them through high society, listened to their secrets, and resolved their concerns, that's a strong possibility.'

Combining Chad's information with Wrath's knowledge of Sariel, Raon arrived at a logical conclusion. 

'The fact that he targeted nobles while ignoring ordinary people suggests he's incredibly arrogant. Though in reality, he probably doesn't see nobles as human either.'

T-That part is true. The bastard always ran away whenever he saw the King of Essence, yet somehow his pride remained absurdly high.

Wrath stammered slightly as he wrinkled his nose.

‘What’s wrong?’

Raon tilted his head at Wrath’s irritated expression.

It’s nothing! It just pisses the King of Essence off that you figured out things even the King of Essence didn’t realize from such little information!

Despite telling him not to mind it, Wrath scowled even harder. He really was an amusing Demon King.

‘Your damn head always works too well!’

Clicking his tongue, Wrath muttered words that sounded halfway between praise and insult.

‘Thanks.’

Raon chuckled softly and waved a hand dismissively.

‘If Sariel affects the soul through memories and emotions, then countering him shouldn't be too difficult.’

Since I possessed the emotions of all seven Demon Kings, it would be easy to draw upon their authorities and present false emotions. 

‘But if he tries to overwhelm me through the level of his soul, then things could become dangerous.’

The title archangel carried immense weight. Unlike Wrath, my soul was undoubtedly inferior to Sariel’s. If we faced each other head-on, the danger would be very real.

That is true. That damn pigeon did not earn the title of archangel by luck. Even for someone like you, overcoming him directly would not be easy. However…

Wrath turned toward him again and slowly shook his head.

If you spin that damned Ring of Fire, you won't lose

The dullness in his eyes vanished, replaced by burning blue flames.

Because your soul, wrapped in those rings, will never bow before the name of a demon king or an archangel!

*   *   *

‘My soul…’

Sitting atop the head of house’s training ground platform, Raon slowly closed his eyes.

‘Has my soul really grown to the point where it rivals an archangel’s?’

With the Ring of Fire increasing to ten rings and both the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier reaching the eleventh star, I had already sensed that not only my might, but the very level of my soul, had grown tremendously.

‘But still…’

I had never imagined it had reached the level of demon kings and archangels.

To me, those beings were still monsters that existed far beyond the heavens.

Even now, I could hardly believe Wrath’s claim that the level of my soul had become comparable to theirs.

Hmph! Only the level of your soul!

Wrath snorted while lifting his chin proudly.

But your actual might is still nowhere close to theirs!

He smacked the back of Raon’s head, telling him not to get carried away.

‘I know. That’s why…’

Raon slowly opened his eyes and nodded.

‘I’m still training even now.’

Ever since Chad informed him of Sariel’s appearance, he had been sleeping less and devoting himself entirely to training for the past three days.

Training?

Wrath frowned in confusion.

You’ve been sitting here this whole time! You even cut down your meal times, so what kind of training is that supposed to be?!

Wrath ground his teeth, telling him to stop talking nonsense.

‘This is training too.’

Raon exhaled calmly.

‘Training my soul.’

For a long time, I had focused solely on training my body and swordsmanship. Now, however, I was concentrating on the resonance of the Ring of Fire and meditation.

Since my opponent was an archangel who manipulated souls, strengthening my own soul and mental world was more important than anything else.

‘Thanks to the confidence you gave me, I’ve been able to perceive my mental world far more clearly.’

Three days ago, Wrath had told me that my soul would not lose even to an archangel. Because of those words, I had entered my mental world and begun sensing and understanding things I never could before. Just as Wrath said, my soul had become sturdy enough that outside forces could no longer shake it easily.

‘I may end up gaining a new weapon.’

Feeling the sword rising within his mental world, Raon curled his lips into a faint smile.

A new weapon? What do you mean by that?

Just as Wrath lifted his head curiously—

“Head of house!”

Chad, the master of the Shadow Agents, burst through the doors of the training ground.

“We’ve gathered more information!”

Waving a hand stained with ink, he announced that they had uncovered additional details about the archangel. The dark circles beneath his eyes made it obvious he had not slept in days.

“What did you find?”

Raon nodded and stepped down from the platform.

“T-The situation is worse than we expected.”

Chad bit his lip as though the reality had surpassed even his worst fears.

“It’s not just the Kingdom of Sarion. The entire surrounding region has already fallen completely into the archangel’s grasp. Not only nobles, but even royals and kings have become puppets who obey only the archangel’s commands.” 

He raked a hand through his hair violently, sounding unable to believe his own report.

“And even now, more kingdoms and cities are beginning to follow the archangel. His influence is growing exponentially. On top of that…” 

Chad clenched his fist as if what came next was even more troubling.

“I don't know how they're doing it, but we've completely lost contact with every agent we and the Black Market sent in. Even the agents who should have been safe because they were originally nobles seem to have fallen under his influence as well.”

He let out a heavy breath, as though he couldn’t even comprehend what was happening anymore.

“I see.”

Unlike Chad, Raon remained calm.

‘Just as I thought, he can read people's thoughts.’ 

Ever since hearing from Chad about the mysterious being who approached nobles, listened to their secrets and concerns, and resolved them, and then learning from Wrath that Sariel could manipulate human souls, I had suspected that the archangel might also be capable of reading people's thoughts. 

With every infiltrator they had planted in the region suddenly going silent, that suspicion seemed all but confirmed. 

‘A direct confrontation might not be the best option.’

If Sariel could read my thoughts, then he might discover Wrath’s existence and flee immediately. Charging in head-on no longer seemed wise.

“I… I don’t know what we should do.”

Chad clenched his teeth as if he could see no answer to the situation.

“At this rate… the entire south may end up swallowed by him.”

His jaw trembled as he spoke of how horrifyingly fast the archangel was taking control of the surrounding regions.

“There’s no need to worry. I already have a way to deal with it.”

Raon waved a hand casually, smiling calmly.

“Y-You have a solution?”

Rather than reassured, Chad looked even more shaken by the calmness in Raon’s eyes.

“Yes. I’ve thought of a weapon capable of hunting an archangel. But before that…”

Raon glanced across the empty training ground and smiled faintly.

“I’ll need to find the right people to wield it.”

*   *   *

“Haaaaah…”

“Why? It hasn’t even been a week yet!”

“Exactly! Exhaustion training is supposed to happen every ten days, so why are we being called back after only four?!”

“I don’t wanna do this! I wanna skip!”

The swordsmen trudged toward the head of house’s training ground, crying out like children. Their expressions screamed that they wanted to run away on the spot, yet they forced their unmoving legs forward anyway.

“This brings back memories.”

Burren let out a long sigh and gave a hollow laugh.

“Back then, we used to do focus enhancement training every single day. Though honestly… this is even worse.”

He shut his eyes tightly, saying that exhaustion training was far more brutal than the focus enhancement training.

“I-I like it….”

Martha lightly bit her dry lips.

“It’s fun! This is what real training should be!”

She shouted that it was fun despite wearing a face that clearly said she wasn’t enjoying it in the slightest, weakly waving her limp hand.

“Guh…”

Runaan blinked blankly as she took a deep breath like someone who had just woken up from sleep.

“Hngh…”

Even after reaching Transcendence, she still seemed too exhausted to fully recover, her head bobbing as she struggled to stay awake.

“I-I’m seriously gonna die….”

Krein slumped onto the training ground floor, unable even to find the strength to stand properly, his head hanging low.

"M-Me too... I'm so exhausted I don't even have the energy to organize my supplies..."

Dorian rolled his eyes back, saying he had even forgotten to organize his belly pocket he never normally neglected.

“I-I need a break…”

“I swear it feels like this training’s shaved years off my lifespan. It’s like we’re shortening our lifespans just to get through this training…”

“How did the acting head of house even come up with something like this?”

“H-He’s not an acting head of house, he’s a damn demon!”

“Shouldn’t we all band together and refuse the training or something?”

“Yeah! Let’s do it! This is way too much!”

Even the swordsmen from the other armed groups shook their heads, saying they had never experienced anything this grueling in their entire lives.

BOOOOM!

Just as everyone was venting their misery, the doors to the training ground burst open.

“T-The acting head of house entering!”

Along with the weak announcement from the gatekeepers, who were just as exhausted from the training as everyone else, came the sound of heavy footsteps that seemed to tighten around the swordsmen’s souls with every step.

Step.

It was Raon.

Wrapped in an even denser pressure than usual, he strode through the training ground and climbed onto the platform.

“Hk…”

“Ugh…”

The swordsmen froze under the weight of Raon’s presence, afraid of drawing his attention, they held their breath and stared blankly into space.

“You’re all tired, so I’ll skip the unnecessary talk and get straight to the point.”

Standing at the edge of the platform, Raon looked down at the gathered swordsmen.

“The reason you’ve all been summoned is, naturally, exhaustion training.”

The moment those words left his mouth, the swordsmen’s faces turned deathly pale, and their legs began trembling like puppies desperately trying to hold in their pee.

“However, if you manage to endure this round of exhaustion training longer than anyone else…”

Raon slowly parted his lips while watching their wavering eyes.

“I’ll give you the chance to accompany me on a mission. In other words, you’ll be exempt from exhaustion training for a while.”

He tilted his chin arrogantly, fully aware he had just offered the greatest reward the swordsmen could possibly imagine right now.

Whoooosh!

The atmosphere in the training ground changed instantly.

“Grrrrr!”

“M-Me! I’m going!”

“Out of the way! If you don’t want to die, then move!”

“I’ll endure no matter what! Hell, I’ll keep going even if it kills me!”

The very swordsmen who had just been talking about refusing the training together suddenly radiated hostility toward the comrades standing beside them as if they were mortal enemies. They even conserved the energy needed to speak, growling like beasts with their hands resting on the hilts of their swords, determined to outlast everyone else.

“Then let’s begin.”

Raon lightly clapped his hands together, saying the atmosphere was perfect.

“Exhaustion training… to avoid exhaustion training.”

W-What the hell is this…?

Wrath’s jaw trembled in utter disbelief.

You’re no different from Sariel, you evil bastard!

 

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