The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman

Whoooosh!

Raon calmly subdued the heat of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation burning along the Heavenly Drive.

‘She’s right. I’ve been too obsessed with the sheer power of my swordsmanship.’

During training, he had practiced everything from the basics to advanced swordsmanship, but in real combat, he mostly relied on techniques that were powerful and fast.

‘Because I had to end things quickly.’

If a fight dragged on, his comrades and subordinates could die, so he had always chosen the quickest path. And that quickest path was, naturally, the ultimate techniques of advanced swordsmanship—powerful techniques with wide ranges.

‘Of course, that wasn’t always the fastest way.’

Advanced sword arts were stronger, but he could have ended battles more quickly and effectively if he had thought things through and used the right swordsmanship for the right situation.

But he had stopped thinking deeply, trying only to finish fights with strong, fast techniques.

Heat rose to his face in shame, because he had known this and still failed to act.

‘Come to think of it, the sword arts I’ve used recently have all been pretty similar.’

He had frequently used the destructive Heavenly Flame: Flame Dragon Break, the offense-and-defense-in-one Flawless Sea of Flames, the ultimate techniques of the Sky-Piercing Sword and the Sky-Piercing Thunder Art, and among the sword arts he had created himself, Void Slash and Light Wind Style.

‘If I used all those techniques now, I could probably beat Briana.’

No matter how strong Briana’s soul was, the Evil Sword Marquis’s body and Aura did not surpass the Evil Sword Marquis’s limits. If he used his full strength—even employing Sword Field Creation—he would eventually win.

‘But there’s no meaning in winning like that.’

He had provoked the Evil Sword Marquis and the Thespian Emperor because he wanted to fight the Briana that Glenn had warned him about.

Form against form. Swordsmanship against swordsmanship. Only by defeating Briana that way could he find the reason he came here, and grow.

“You’ve had an enlightenment?”

Briana twisted her lips as if the idea were absurd.

“Sorry, but that’s not something you can realize right now.”

She shook her chin as if to say it was impossible.

“Understanding forms isn’t achieved through talent, but through hundreds of thousands of repetitions.”

Briana raised her faintly glowing sword, her eyes curving.

“Meaning, even a genius like you needs a long time.”

She smiled thinly, as if to show him firsthand, and kicked off the ground.

‘Fast.’

Even though she was using the Evil Sword Marquis’s body and Aura, her footwork was at its peak, allowing Briana to appear before his eyes in a flash.

‘Her swordsmanship is also near perfect.’

The Wizegre Sword was a style focused on thrusts, but at the moment of thrusting, Briana would twist the blade to slash or tear.

That strange trick was why his waist and thigh had been cut.

There was a stark difference between the Evil Sword Marquis and Briana.

“Hundreds of thousands of times…”

Raon seared Briana’s sword, sharp as an awl, into his eyes and took a step back with his left foot.

“I think I’ve done about that much, too.”

He executed the third step of the Supreme Harmony Steps, imbued with the principles of the Flowing Sword. Like an autumn leaf drifting down beyond a hand’s reach, he let Briana’s sword slide past him.

“Nonsense. That’s impossible even if you’d been swinging a sword since the moment you were born.”

Briana snapped at him to stop talking nonsense and twisted her wrist. The sword in her grasp bent at a strange angle and surged toward his chest.

‘Just because it’s fast and strong doesn’t make it perfect swordsmanship. To block Briana’s sword…’

Raon rose onto the balls of his feet and drew a semicircle with the Heavenly Drive.

Claaaaang!

The Heavenly Drive, flowing like a wave, blocked Briana’s sword with a deafening roar, like thousands of plates shattering.

But unlike the noise, no shock remained in his hand.

‘I should have received it like this from the beginning.’

So the impact flowed outward instead of into his body.

Because Briana had layered the principle of penetration into the Wizegre Sword, an immense shock had sunk into his body and mind even when he used powerful ultimate techniques.

But now that he harmonized his footwork and swordsmanship to match the situation, the impact he had felt even when using Heavenly Flame: Flame Dragon Break or Flawless Sea of Flames vanished completely.

‘Footwork is just as important as swinging a sword.’

In most battles, he used the fast second step of the Supreme Harmony Steps, but now the gentle third step or the heavy fifth step was far more effective.

Fwoooosh!

Briana, surprised by his unshaken defense, furrowed her brow but thrust again. The black Aura blooming from her sword energy rose sharply like icicles beneath eaves.

‘This isn’t a simple form either.’

Briana attacked like an ambush, but she shifted her sword energy so it was impossible to pinpoint her exact target.

‘Even if I can’t pinpoint it, there’s still a place it has to reach.’

Raon bent his knees and lowered his stance. He raised the energy of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation over the Heavenly Drive and waited for the moment Briana’s sword approached.

“Hmph!”

As if reading him, Briana turned her shoulder and thrust a breath faster, twisting the flow so he couldn’t mount a clean defense.

‘I expected that much.’

The instant her sword sped up, Raon leaned his torso back. Her sword energy grazed past his bangs.

“Hmph!”

As if anticipating his evasion, Briana reversed her grip and struck down at his chest.

Chiiing!

The moment Briana’s sword fell, Raon unleashed the Fangs of Insanity Sword Art, invoking the principles of the wavering Bewitching Sword and the Flowing Sword.

‘The opposite of precision is wavering.’

The Precise Sword struck an exact point, and the Bewitching Sword shook the sword to create confusion.

Since it was nearly impossible to block Briana’s Precise Sword from a broken stance, he invoked the Flowing Sword and the Bewitching Sword together to dismantle her technique.

Thwack!

Briana’s Sword Strike, wavering violently like a boat hit by a wave, struck the floor instead of his chest.

Sssshh.

Raon didn’t miss the opening. He straightened and aimed the Heavenly Drive at Briana’s neck.

“A sword duel is like chess, or a siege, you said?”

He lifted Briana’s chin with the Heavenly Drive and smiled.

“I agree. There’s definitely a thrill in breaking down the gate and taking the king’s head.”

Raon nodded, saying he had learned something valuable.

“Umm…”

Briana frowned at the Heavenly Drive touching her neck, as if she hadn’t expected a counter at the perfect moment.

“Y-You won in the end!”

Krein gasped, then clapped.

“My lord! I believed in you!”

“Don’t make me laugh!”

Martha smacked the back of Krein’s head and snorted.

“You were trembling like a puppy that needed to pee, saying the lord was going to lose!”

“I saw it too. I heard you muttering that it would be a disgrace if he lost.”

Burren smiled with his arms crossed, saying he would tell Raon later.

“Raon doesn’t lose…”

Runaan nodded as if she had absolute faith.

“It seems he’s realized something again!”

Dorian clasped his hands, saying this was the Raon he always knew.

The Light Wind Palace Swordsmen, seemingly sharing the same thoughts as their officers, watched Raon with relaxed eyes.

Swoooosh.

Hearing the cheers of the Light Wind Palace Swordsmen, Raon drew the Heavenly Drive back from Briana’s neck.

“What is this?”

Briana’s eyes narrowed as if asking what he meant.

“You seemed to have let your guard down, so I’ll give you another chance.”

Raon gestured with his finger, telling her to get up.

“You’ll regret this.”

A vein pulsed on Briana’s forehead as she gripped her sword tightly.

“A chance like this won’t come again.”

She bit her lip, saying she had only been caught by an unexpected move.

“No, you’ll be looking up at me from that same spot again.”

Raon spun the Heavenly Drive, telling her to start right away.

“Fine. From now on, I’ll acknowledge you and break you properly.”

Briana pulled her sword far back like a spear, then thrust in a single breath.

Whoooooosh!

Countless lights, like constellations in a cloudless night sky, connected and surged before his eyes.

It was the ultimate technique of the Wizegre Sword that the Evil Sword Marquis had shown, but its power, speed, and the level of principles within it were on a completely different plane.

Whooooooosh!

Raon let out a dry laugh as he watched Briana’s swordsmanship, as if it were bringing down the universe itself.

‘It’s beautiful.’

It was a sword art that could only be created by refining a form to its absolute limit and fully embodying the principles within it. His heart trembled in admiration for Briana’s effort and talent.

– “Is this the time to be thinking it’s beautiful!”

Wrath smacked his back.

– “If you don’t block it properly, you’re going to die!”

He shouted that Briana had unleashed it with her whole heart, and the shock would be immense even if Raon blocked it.

– “Stop messing around and use a powerful sword art!”

‘I don’t need a powerful sword art. I’ll only use just enough Aura to match that level.’

– “Huh?”

‘It’s only right to meet sincerity with sincerity.’

Raon resonated the Ring of Fire to its peak. In the transcendent realm where time slowed as if a clock’s hands had been forcibly stopped, he read Briana’s swordsmanship in detail.

‘The principles haven’t changed much. Except for one thing.’

The principles within the Wizegre Sword were still the Strong Sword, Swift Sword, Precise Sword, and Piercing Sword.

But between them, the principle of the Exploding Sword—condensing Aura and detonating it—had seeped in.

‘I have to break it before the Aura condenses. To do that…’

Raon laughed, excitement filling him, and raised the Heavenly Drive.

‘I just have to create more swords than there are stars.’

A world tree of flames blossomed over the red-hot blade. Brilliant, magnificent petals rose on the wind and faced the ultimate technique of the Wizegre Sword pouring down like darkness.

Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Thousand Flames: Spirit of Flame.

But this was not the Spirit of Flame he always used. Within the countless fragments of fire, different sword principles harmonized.

Light, fast, heavy, slow, strong, cloaked in wind, wreathed in lightning, erratic, and sharp.

Countless fragments of flame bloomed in full blossom and clashed with the Sword Strike that seemed to contain the universe.

Wooooong!

The ultimate technique of the Wizegre Sword pushed forward as if to swallow the Spirit of Flame, but the fragments spread gently like fireflies illuminating the dark and began to burn away the universe-like Sword Strike.

Fwaaaaaah!

Like a small spark igniting a mountain fire, each slender fragment traced a different movement, burning away every last trace of Aura from the ultimate technique Briana had unleashed with all her might.

Fwaaaaaah.

The fragments, as if their work was done, withered into dry petals and died down.

“Ha?”

Briana, unable to imagine that her ultimate technique would be blocked, stared at the embers scattered across the ground, her chin trembling.

“N-No way. How could this…”

She looked at Raon with eyes seeking an answer.

“If you want the answer, get up and come at me again.”

Raon aimed the still-hot blade of the Heavenly Drive at Briana.

“If you defeat me, I’ll give you the answer.”

He curled his lips, repeating her own words back to her.

===

Kugugugugu!

Unable to deflect Raon’s sword, Briana was pushed back, carving a deep crack into the training ground floor.

“Kuh…”

When she lifted her stiff neck, Raon was standing in the same spot, not wavering in the slightest.

‘Does this make any sense?’

Raon was clearly a swordsman who focused more on the amount of Aura and the power of his sword arts than on understanding forms.

But as he fought her, it was as if he had awakened, perfectly embodying and unleashing forms that contained only the principles needed for each moment.

She couldn’t understand how such growth was possible in so short a time.

-What are you doing! Why are you just taking it!

Bridget’s voice screamed inside her head.

-You’re not going to lose to a brat, are you!

‘Shut up.’

She erased the voice and gripped her sword with a trembling hand.

‘I won’t lose. Just watch.’

She didn’t know how many times she had already lost to Raon. Her strength was fading and her head was spinning, but she couldn’t collapse in defeat like this.

“Haaahp!”

Briana took a deep breath and thrust the essence of the Wizegre Sword at Raon.

Kyaaaaaang!

But Raon, as if he had already fully figured out the Wizegre Sword, received her sword without the slightest waver and counterattacked.

Fwoooosh!

Briana barely evaded Raon’s blade and bit her lip.

‘Damn it…’

Unlike Raon, who understood the Wizegre Sword, she still couldn’t read his sword.

But that was inevitable.

‘Even I can’t possibly grasp every sword art in the world.’

Raon kept changing the principles of the sword arts he used.

He would add new principles to what she had just seen and unleash it again, so no matter how confident she was in her eye for swordsmanship, it meant little.

It was to the point where the countless hours she had poured into swordsmanship felt futile.

“Is this what a real monster is…”

Unable to overcome her frustration, Briana’s lips parted on their own.

“A talent that even ignores time.”

“I told you.”

Raon looked into Briana’s wavering eyes and shook his head.

“I’ve also poured millions of hours into swordsmanship. You should be able to feel it if you look properly.”

He thrust his sword before her eyes, as if telling her to look.

‘Properly?’

Briana swallowed dryly as she stared at Raon’s Sword Strike, straight as the horizon.

‘Wait. That sword…’

It wasn’t born from simple talent.

She could feel countless strands tangled within that single strike.

It wasn’t a sword drawn in one go, but a product of effort—countless hours poured in, just like her.

‘He’s like me.’

That boy was also a swordsman who had trained in the Mental World, just like her.

The powerlessness weighing on her shoulders turned into elation and filled her chest.

Kyaaaaaang!

Briana struck back at Raon’s surging sword and curled her lips into a smile.

‘This is fun.’

I want to keep fighting!

Unlike when she swung her sword alone in the Mental World, vitality and joy overflowed through her body and mind.

Having met a kindred spirit, this simple act of blocking and swinging felt unbelievably enjoyable.

Fwoooosh!

With Raon before her, Briana fell deeper into the endless world of swordsmanship.

===

“Huh?”

Raon blinked at Briana, who had frozen mid-motion, sword in hand, slipping into enlightenment.

‘Again?’

Just as the Thespian Emperor had entered enlightenment, now Briana and Bridget had as well.

‘This is absurd.’

He had come to form an alliance with the Five Divine Orders, but he never thought he would end up throwing their leaders into enlightenment. A dry laugh escaped him.

– “Puhehehehehe!”

Wrath pointed at him and burst out laughing.

– “So there are times when you do good things for others too!”

Clutching his stomach, he cackled, asking if Raon finally understood how he felt.

‘It’s not like I only do good things for others.’

Raon lowered the Heavenly Drive and shook his head.

‘Because I realized something I had forgotten.’

Through the spar with Briana, he had rediscovered the joy of swordsmanship and regained the desire to improve—to create even better sword arts.

Thanks to reawakening a feeling he knew but had forgotten, a new vitality filled his mind.

‘This will be more helpful than some half-baked enlightenment.’

He had realized that he shouldn’t just cram principles into his swordsmanship and that he should add only what was absolutely necessary, yet in real combat he had ignored that and relied on strong sword arts.

That wasn’t wrong, but it would have eventually risen as a wall blocking his path.

But since he had realized it before hitting that wall, he was certain he could reach higher, faster.

‘My mastery of the Thousands Sword has also risen a level.’

There were no visible changes in his body or Aura, but because he had used every form and principle he had learned while sparring with Briana, he could feel the accomplishment of the Thousands Sword rising significantly.

– “Pfft!”

Wrath twisted his lips and waved his hand.

– “Growth of Thousands Sword, my ass! In the end, you’re just a pushover who put someone else into enlightenment!”

‘I told you I’m not a pushover.’

– “Pushover! Puuuushoooover! Sucker!”

Wrath clicked his tongue mockingly. It seemed he had been dying to call him that.

‘Think what you want….’

Raon chuckled as he looked at the giggling Wrath.

[You have shown the grace of the God of War to those who will walk the same path.]

[The Thousand Swords’ achievement has increased.]

[All stats…….]

[Trait…….]

[…….]

The messages appeared before Raon as Wrath stuck his tongue out.

– “Ugh….”

Wrath froze mid-“bleh,” only his pupils trembling.

‘Looks like….’

Raon grinned as he watched Wrath breathe heavily.

‘Looks like you’re the only sucker here, huh?’