The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1401

Chapter 1401

 

“A….”

Dorian touched his cheek with a trembling hand.

“Am I alive?”

When Archangel Gabriel told me to die with her Divine Word, my mind went blank and I couldn’t breathe, as though death itself were closing in on me.

The strength drained from my arms and legs, leaving me unable even to resist. I barely survived thanks to Gluttony’s help.

“Th-That was terrifying….”

I’ve come close to death many times before, but this is the first time true death has actually come for me. My entire body is still trembling from the fear that I’ll never see this world again.

“Th-Thank you!”

Dorian put strength into his legs and barely managed to get back on his feet.

“Thanks to you, I was able to survi—huh?”

He froze as he was about to thank Gluttony.

“What…?”

Dorian blinked blankly at the empty space in front of him.

“Wh-Where did they go? They’re both gone….”

Not only Archangel Gabriel, who had fallen into despair when her Divine Words failed to work, but Gluttony, the Demon King of Gluttony who had been fighting alongside him, was nowhere to be seen. He had thought everything was over, but worry suddenly began to well up inside him.

‘Don’t tell me it’s not over yet?’

Archangel Gabriel disappeared into that enormous white mouth that reached the sky, so I thought she was dead. But Gluttony is nowhere to be seen either. It seems that wasn’t the end of it.

“Ugh….”

Dorian grabbed his trembling arm and bit his lip.

“I-I really am at my limit now….”

I barely managed to hold on after overcoming the fear of death surging up from deep within my chest, but now I really am at my limit.

‘No….’

Dorian looked at the ground where Gluttony had been standing and clenched his weakened hand into a fist.

‘If I fight alongside her, I might be able to endure it.’

Gluttony understands my desire to provide supplies better than anyone else. I enjoyed fighting alongside her, so no matter how frightened I am, I feel like I can endure it.

‘Right. Let’s get ready….’

Dorian bit his lip hard and raised his head. He circulated his aura, drawing a small amount of vitality into his exhausted, weakened body.

‘Now I’m going to fight too.’

Until now, I’ve only supported Gluttony by giving her bead ice cream, but from now on, I want to take up my sword and fight too.

‘Of course, I’m still scared….’

My entire body still trembles whenever I remember Archangel Gabriel’s eyes, but I can’t keep hiding behind others forever.

Even though Sir Raon has put us in an advantageous position, this battle doesn’t belong to the demons. It belongs to humanity.

“Huff! Huff!”

Just as Dorian steadied his breathing and raised his sword,

Ssssssssss!

An eerie sound that sent a chill down his spine brushed past his ears.

“Uwaaaaaagh!”

Dorian screamed in shock and dropped to the ground. The one who appeared before him was Gluttony, smacking her lips as though she had just eaten something.

“What are you doing…?”

Gluttony blinked at Dorian as though wondering what he was doing.

“N-No, you suddenly disappeared, so….”

Dorian got back to his feet, breathing shakily.

“I was worried Gabriel had done something, so I was getting ready to fight.”

He raised his trembling hand, showing that he had drawn his sword to fight personally.

“I see….”

Gluttony calmly nodded as she looked at Dorian, who was still gripping his sword despite trembling all over.

“It’s all right now….”

She slowly closed and opened her eyes, telling him that there was no longer any need to worry about Archangel Gabriel.

“Th-Then!”

Dorian immediately understood what Gluttony meant and let out an exclamation.

“Yeah… She’s dead….”

Gluttony nodded, saying that she had personally killed Archangel Gabriel before returning.

“Ah….”

The moment Dorian heard that Gabriel was dead, all the tension left him, and the strength drained from his legs as he sank to the ground.

“So it’s over….”

Even so, he could still vividly remember Gabriel’s absolute power as she tried to kill him with her Divine Words. He could not fully believe that she was dead, and he found himself unable to lower his sword.

“Th-Then did you eat Gabriel before coming back?”

Dorian slightly raised his eyes as he remembered Gluttony smacking her lips.

He thought he would feel reassured if Gluttony told him that she had devoured Gabriel with her gluttony. After all, Gabriel had shown that she could heal her wounds in an instant.

“Hmm….”

Gluttony rolled her tongue around inside her mouth and tilted her chin slightly.

“No….”

She shook her head, saying that she had not eaten her.

“Whaaat…?”

Dorian’s mouth fell open.

“Y-You didn’t eat her?”

Gluttony was the Monarch of Gluttony. Hearing that someone who devoured everything had not eaten Gabriel made his anxiety surge up again.

“Yeah….”

Gluttony nodded as she ate some of the bead ice cream that was still left.

“I’m not going to eat things that taste bad anymore….”

She put a mouthful of bead ice cream into her mouth, saying that her gluttony was only satisfied when she ate something delicious.

“Th-Then what if Gabriel comes back to life….”

Dorian swallowed dryly as he asked whether Gabriel could use her Divine Words to resurrect herself.

“Maybe…?”

Gluttony tilted her head.

“M-Maybe?! Then that’s dangerous!”

Dorian jumped to his feet in horror. The thought of Gabriel coming back to life made every hair on his body stand on end.

“If I’d just left her there, she might have come back to life…. But….”

Gluttony opened a new box of bead ice cream and summoned a white mouth above her head.

Thud!

Something crushed beyond recognition, like chewed gum or a lump of mud, dropped out of the white mouth.

“W-What is this…?”

Dorian narrowed his eyes at the pale object, which gave off both a bizarre stench and a fragrant scent at the same time.

“It’s Gabriel….”

Gluttony waved the hand holding her ice cream as though it were nothing important.

“Uwaaaaaaagh!”

Dorian let out a piercing scream and stumbled backward.

“W-Why did you bring this with you?!”

“Because, like you said, she could come back to life….”

Gluttony nodded, saying that she had thought the same thing.

“Even if a god came down, they couldn’t bring her back in this state….”

She waved her hand, saying that Gabriel was completely dead and could no longer return.

“Ughhh….”

Dorian shook his head from side to side as though he did not even want to think about it.

“Th-This really isn’t a fight I can get involved in.”

He let out a sigh, saying that it was a battle he could neither take part in nor wanted to take part in.

“No….”

Gluttony calmly shook her chin as she looked at Dorian.

“You had what it took to take part in this battle…. In fact, more than that, I was able to kill Gabriel because of you….”

She nodded, saying that she had been able to hunt Gabriel because Dorian had stayed by her side.

“R-Really?”

Dorian’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Because you enjoyed using the authority of <Gluttony> that you awakened on your own, I was able to create a mouth capable of killing Gabriel….”

Gluttony gave an unusually long explanation, saying that she had been able to kill Gabriel by making use of Dorian’s <Gluttony>.

“I’ve clashed with Gabriel several times before, but none of those battles ever had a winner…. I was able to bring her down even while I was at a disadvantage entirely thanks to you….”

She smacked her lips, saying that without Dorian, she would never have succeeded in hunting Gabriel.

“Ah….”

Dorian’s bloodstained hands trembled as he listened to Gluttony.

‘There was someone besides Sir Raon who acknowledged me….’

Most people looked down on me for carrying so many things around, and some even insulted me by calling me mentally ill.

The first person who ever praised me for it was sir Raon. I thought it was enough as long as sir Raon acknowledged me, but hearing Gluttony praise me today brings a whole new wave of emotion over me.

“Th-Thank you….”

Dorian bowed his head deeply as he thanked Gluttony.

“Hmm….”

Gluttony blinked as she looked at Dorian smiling through his tears.

“I’ll never forget today’s battle for the rest of my life!”

Dorian tightened his grip on his sword, saying that he would remember this battle more than any other.

“Th-Then I’ll go help my comrades!”

Though all his strength had been drained, he said that he wanted to be with the Light Wind Palace. He bowed deeply to Gluttony, then ran toward the battlefield.

“U-Unlike the others, I didn’t get to fight an Archangel directly, so I probably won’t be able to get stronger, but just hearing those words from you is enough for me, Lady Gluttony! Thank you!”

Dorian stopped in the middle of running, turned around to thank Gluttony once more, and then raced back toward the battlefield.

“What is he talking about…?”

Gluttony tilted her head, unable to understand Dorian.

“You fought directly too… and you’ve even laid the foundation to become stronger than anyone….”

It was true that Dorian had not fought Gabriel directly.

However, he had endured Gabriel’s Divine Words with the power of his soul, something even more severe than taking her divine power head-on, and had even shown himself enjoying the authority of <Gluttony> in the middle of battle.

He had not swung his sword, but the level of his soul had grown explosively, and Dorian’s own authority of <Gluttony> had been completed. From now on, he would be able to grow so strong that his current self would be hard to remember.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds….”

Gluttony smacked her lips as she looked at the food Dorian had left behind.

“Both my friend’s growth… and the food he’ll bring with him….”

She spat out one of Gabriel’s feathers that was still stuck in her mouth, then popped one of the few remaining bead ice creams into her mouth.

Munch!

* * *

“The others finished faster than I expected?”

Greed chuckled as he looked at Gluttony crouching down and eating ice cream.

“Aren’t we taking too long?”

He said that they should pick up the pace a little as he rolled the gold coin resting on the back of his hand.

“You bastard….”

Archangel Raguel ground his teeth as he shook the enormous scale.

“You’re not even fighting properly!”

“Who?”

Greed rolled his gold-coin-colored eyes as though wondering whom Raguel was talking about.

“You! Why do you keep running away like a rat instead of fighting me head-on!”

Archangel Raguel ground his teeth, seemingly furious at Greed for constantly darting away instead of fighting him properly.

“I’m taking this seriously, though?”

Greed shrugged, saying that he was fighting seriously.

“There are already a hundred million gold coins on my scales right now.”

He raised a finger, telling Raguel to look at his scales.

“You dare….”

Raguel ground his teeth hard enough to make them creak and stretched out his hand. Following his gesture, the divine scale tilted and released a sacred light.

Paaaaang!

When the light Raguel created descended, the countless gold ingots resting on Greed’s scale vanished, leaving behind exactly one gold coin.

“Do you dare make a mockery of me, Archangel Raguel!”

Raguel furrowed his brow so deeply that it left marks on his forehead, as though asking whether Greed had truly thought he would fail to see through such a trick.

“Wow, you really are impressive.”

Even after his deception was exposed, Greed showed no sign of panic. Instead, he even applauded.

“You….”

Raguel bit his lip hard as he stared at the smiling Greed.

“What in the world are you thinking!”

“Who knows?”

Greed tilted his chin as though teasing Raguel.

“What do you think I want to place on the Scale of <Greed>?”

He twirled a finger as he pointed at the Scale of <Greed>, upon which only a single gold coin remained.

“Try to guess.”

Greed narrowed his eyes, fierce <Greed> blazing within them, as though simple victory in this battle was not what he wanted.

“What this <Greed> wants.”