The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1282

 Chapter 1282

 

“But, um…”

Dorian slowly raised a trembling hand, shaking so badly he looked downright pitiful.

"I-if we just make sure we don't kill that guy called Black Form Snake, wouldn't that stop this Hydra thing from coming out?"

He tilted his head, as if wondering why everyone was acting like Hydra’s appearance was inevitable when they could simply leave the Black Form Snake alive.

“I-I mean, unlike the other demons from Eden, he didn’t seem hostile toward us at all.”

Dorian swallowed nervously as he recalled the strangely friendly way the Black Form Snake had approached them.

“Oh!”

Martha clapped her hands and let out a shout.

“That’s true! He didn’t even look like he wanted to fight us in the first place!”

She smacked her lips, saying she hadn’t sensed even the slightest killing intent from the Black Form Snake.

“You seriously think it’s that simple?”

Burren let out an exasperated sigh while looking at Dorian and Martha.

“He’s still one of Eden’s executives. You think they’d just let a Transcender sit around doing nothing?”

Shaking his head, he said it had never been something worth hoping for in the first place.

“…”

Runaan quietly nodded as though she agreed with Burren.

“B-But if we just leave the Black Form Snake alone…”

Dorian clasped his hands together, his eyes reddening as though he still couldn’t bring himself to let go of that last shred of hope.

“That won’t work either.”

Evelyn spoke up with an unusually serious look in her eyes.

“The Black Form Snake is a Transcender, and a high-level one at that. Magic and martial arts are different paths, but judging purely by realm, he was leagues above me.”

She frowned slightly, remembering the terrifyingly refined might the Black Form Snake had concealed beneath the surface the first time she saw him.

“So if we don’t kill him and just let him roam free?”

Evelyn curled her red lips upward.

“Half of Zieghart could disappear.”

She warned that the damage he could cause would be beyond imagination.

“Of course, our Raon could keep him under control easily enough, but that’d still mean one of Zieghart’s main pillars would be tied down just dealing with him.”

She shrugged, making it clear this wasn’t a problem with any easy solution.

“Ugh…”

Dorian grabbed his head, already looking like he could picture Hydra appearing and destroying everything in its path.

“Mmgh…”

The Bear Alteration Demon clenched his fists tightly and stared only at Raon. More than fear of Hydra, the desperation to save his son burned stronger within him.

“There’s something I want to ask.”

Raon lowered his chin while meeting the Bear Alteration Demon’s gaze.

“If the Black Form Snake dies… are you absolutely certain your youngest son, the one imprisoned in Eden’s headquarters, will be reborn with Hydra’s power?”

Now that he thought about it, the entire story had originally come from Syria Sullion. That alone made it difficult to trust completely.

“Y-Yes.”

The Bear Alteration Demon nodded firmly.

“After hearing Syria Sullion’s story, I investigated Eden myself. Just as he said, the souls of the fifth child and my youngest son were connected…”

He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, as if uncovering the truth had only driven him deeper into despair.

“Judging by the flow of the sorcery… if the fifth dies, the souls of my other sons, along with Hydra’s power, will pour into the youngest.”

His trembling hands clawed into the ground as though he had already confirmed every last detail himself.

“Evelyn.”

Raon let out a short sigh and called her name.

“Is something like this actually possible?”

Since Evelyn came from Eden and was skilled not only in magic but also sorcery, she was the best person to judge whether this story was real.

“It’s absolutely possible.”

Evelyn shook her head casually, as if it weren’t even particularly difficult.

“If someone really obtained Hydra’s magic stone, splitting its power among five brothers and then having a true Hydra emerge from the youngest once the others died? Hell, even I could pull that off.”

She shrugged again, saying it was entirely feasible.

“…I see.”

Raon frowned, irritation briefly flashing across his face.

After hearing both Evelyn and the Bear Alteation Demon, it sounded almost certain now. The moment the Black Form Snake died, a new Eden executive possessing the complete power of Hydra would be born.

“There’s one thing I still don’t understand.”

Raon lightly bit his lip before looking back at the Bear Alteration Demon.

“If the Black Form Snake really is the final head needed to awaken Hydra, why would they let him roam free?”

From the moment the Black Form Snake had encountered them today, he hadn’t shown the slightest hostility.

If anything, he had only looked at them with curiosity and amusement, as though he simply wanted to watch something entertaining unfold.

"The Black Form Snake didn't show loyalty to the Heavenly Demon or to Eden. In fact, he explicitly disobeyed their orders. It's far too strange."

Aside from the Heavenly Demon himself, the Black Form Snake might very well have been Eden’s strongest force. Letting someone like that wander freely made no sense.

“That’s the trigger.”

Evelyn stepped forward and answered in the Bear Alteration Demon’s place.

“Removing the leash placed on the Black Form Snake and giving him freedom, that was the restriction built into the sorcery so the youngest could inherit Hydra’s full power once the Black Form Snake died.”

A knowing smile curled across her red lips, as though she could already see through the entire scheme.

“The greater the restriction, the stronger sorcery and magic become. So…”

Evelyn narrowed her eyes while looking at the Bear Alteration Demon.

“If the Black Form Snake dies, a real monster is going to emerge.”

She let out a short breath, seeming slightly tense herself.

“Of course! Our Raon will take care of everything anyway!”

As if she trusted Raon completely, Evelyn clung tightly to his arm like she always did.

“Evelyn. Can you locate Eden?”

Raon narrowed his eyes at the wall where the dimensional gate had opened earlier.

“No. The spell formula changed. Probably the Heavenly Demon’s doing.”

Evelyn shook her head, saying the Heavenly Demon had likely moved the entrance to Eden.

“In that case…”

Raon slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again.

“Even if the Black Form Snake truly is the trigger that will awaken Hydra, there’s no way to resolve this right now.”

The path into Eden had already been sealed, and both the Heavenly Demon and Pride were inside.

Even Glenn wouldn’t be able to enter that place and bring the Black Form Snake out alone.

“And besides… I have no intention of forgiving you.”

No matter what reasons the Bear Alteration Demon had, he had still tormented Runaan and murdered Zieghart’s people. Raon could never forgive that.

“Ah…”

The Bear Alteration Demon’s eyes shook violently, as though his last hope had just shattered.

The emotional shock seemed to worsen his internal injuries again, and blood spilled from his mouth.

“But I’ll look for a way to save both the Black Form Snake and your youngest son without killing them.”

Raon frowned while looking down at the Bear Alteration Demon, who was coughing up black blood.

“Not for your sake…”

His eyes hardened.

“For Zieghart’s.”

*   *   *

Before returning to Zieghart, Raon headed toward a red brick mansion located in the center of Cameloon.

Swoosh!

As he approached the entrance, a man and woman dressed as a butler and maid emerged from the shadows of the night.

“We greet the Sword Emperor.”

As though they had been waiting for him, both knelt and bowed deeply before Raon.

“And the Black Market’s master?”

Raon accepted their greeting before speaking calmly.

“She is waiting inside.”

“We shall escort you.”

The two bowed politely once more before opening the mansion doors for him.

“I’ll leave it to you.”

Raon entered the mansion under the guidance of the butler and maid.

‘Terrifying.’

It looked like an ordinary home on the outside, but inside lurked countless assassins, hidden mechanisms, and arrays.

It might not stop a Transcender, but it felt like it could easily subdue a Grandmaster without much trouble.

Feeling the chilling atmosphere permeating the Black Market master’s mansion, Raon followed the maid and butler up to the second floor.

Knock knock.

The maid stopped in front of a brown door and carefully knocked.

“Come in.”

A warm, gentle voice drifted out from inside. It was a voice he had heard before.

After straightening his clothes, Raon opened the door and stepped inside.

A faint yet bittersweet tea fragrance brushed against his nose.

Just as the pleasant scent began easing his tension, he saw an elderly woman with a kindly face sitting behind a desk.

She looked like nothing more than an ordinary old grandmother with a bent back, but this woman was none other than Roseline, the master of the Black Market who had expanded her organization across the entire continent.

“I greet the acting head of Zieghart.”

As though already aware of everything happening within Zieghart, Roseline bowed first and addressed Raon by his current title.

“I greet the Black Market’s master.”

Raon also bowed respectfully to Roseline, the leader of a massive organization.

“When we first met, you were merely the Light Wind Squad vice leader. Yet before I knew it, you became Zieghart’s acting head. You’ve truly grown a great deal.”

Roseline smiled softly, as though recalling their first meeting.

“It’s thanks to all the help you gave me, Black Market’s master.”

Raon nodded, saying he had survived and grown stronger largely because of the Black Market’s support.

“Please, sit.”

Roseline gestured toward the sofa beside her, inviting him to speak comfortably.

“Yes.”

Raon nodded and sat down on the warm brown sofa.

“Did everything you prepared go well?”

As if she already knew the situation, Roseline poured tea while quietly studying his eyes.

“It went better than expected. But another problem appeared.”

Raon lightly bit his lip while looking at the teacup she handed him.

“This time…”

After taking a sip of tea, he explained everything to Roseline except for the part involving the Demon King’s authority.

“Hydra…”

Roseline let out a low murmur while staring at the green tea rippling inside Raon’s cup.

“Most people wouldn’t know of it, since it existed before the era of the Dragon of Destruction. But there are still records left behind.”

She pulled out an ancient book from beneath the table, its cover so worn it looked ready to crumble apart.

“‘Cutting off Hydra’s heads was not especially difficult. Despite its enormous size, it was slow and weak. The creature focused only on attacking, to the point it did not even notice its own heads being cut. However…’”

Turning the pages slowly, Roseline read as though reciting the memoirs of someone who had personally fought the real Hydra.

“‘The more heads Hydra lost, the stronger it became, so much stronger that it felt like facing an entirely different creature. Even the continent’s greatest warriors could not withstand its venomous fangs, melting into black blood. And when only a single head remained… despair was the only word left in my mind. Nothing could even touch the creature anymore…’”

She closed her lips and carefully shut the book, implying the record ended there.

Hmph! At the end of the day, it’s still just a snake!

Unlike earlier, Wrath snorted dismissively, calling Hydra nothing more than some oversized snake.

‘That’s not what you were saying before.’

It irritates the King of Essence that something that isn’t even a Demon King gets described like that! Kill the thing yourself and turn it into snake wine!

‘Seriously…’

Raon chuckled quietly. Thanks to Wrath’s ridiculous complaints, the oppressive weight behind the name Hydra suddenly felt much lighter.

“If someone that has fully awakened Hydra’s power truly appears, they’ll become an enormous threat in the coming war. It would be best to resolve this somehow before then.”

Roseline smacked her lips lightly, saying the Hydra problem needed to be dealt with before the war began.

“I agree.”

Raon nodded calmly.

“But we have no way to solve it right now. Especially since locating Eden has become nearly impossible.”

He bit his lip while explaining how the Heavenly Demon had sealed off Eden’s entrance.

“Even so, we have to find it.”

Roseline gently set down her teacup and smiled faintly.

“Even if I have to mobilize every agent in the Black Market.”

Though her face remained gentle and grandmotherly, the sharp gleam in her eyes belonged to a hardened warrior willing to do anything to win the coming war.

“Tell me everything you saw inside Eden’s headquarters. Even if we have to search every mountain across the continent and sift through every map preserved since ancient times, we’ll find it.”

Clenching her wrinkled fist tightly, Roseline declared that she would find Eden no matter what.

“Ah…”

Raon swallowed dryly while looking into Roseline’s piercing eyes.

Seeing that sharp, blazing gaze, he finally understood how this woman had built the Black Market into what it was today.

“And one more thing…”

Roseline raised a single finger, as if to say what came next was even more important.

"Are you prepared to become a hero?"

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