The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman

“Ah…”

The first thing Merlin saw when she reached the village was Uncle Phillip—who always greeted her with such a gentle smile—being struck through by a ghastly blue blade.

Squelch!

Uncle Phillip, whose warm hands had patted her head so many times, couldn’t even scream. He clutched his stomach and collapsed.

Thwack!

The knight who had attacked him pulled out a jet-black stake. His eyes were cold, as if he were dealing with an insect rather than a person.

He drove the stake down, pinning Uncle Phillip’s hand to the ground.

“Kuaaaaargh!”

Uncle Phillip screamed, but the knight didn’t even react. He simply rose to his feet.

His next target was the child Uncle Phillip had been shielding. He drove similar jet-black, rust-colored stakes through the child’s hands and feet.

“Uwaaaaaaah!”

The child who always teased and mocked her now screamed in agony, blood spilling from their hands and legs, and Merlin’s mind went blank.

The heat consuming the village, the blood splattered across her body—it all felt unreal.

Thud.

The dizziness overtook her. Merlin dropped to her knees. The sight unfolding before her was more than her young self could bear.

Crunch.

The knight who had staked the child noticed her and started walking over with a twisted smile.

“Ah, ah…”

Merlin’s lips trembled as she watched the knight’s thick hand reach toward her head.

Thwack!

Aunt Mela threw herself into the knight, shoving him away and blocking him with her own body.

“A-Auntie…”

“Quickly! Run! Go to Lady Sella!”

She waved Merlin off, urging her to run to Sella while she held the knight back.

Squelch!

But Aunt Mela couldn’t stop the blue light that surged from the knight’s sword. She was cut down, and she collapsed.

A dark pool spread across the ground. Merlin had never imagined a person could spill so much blood.

“Auntie?”

Aunt Mela—who had always protected her from the teasing children and slipped her dried fruit—lay there, her legs no longer moving.

“Quickly…”

Even then, Aunt Mela lifted her hand, urging her to run, before her breath finally gave out. Merlin had always known people could die, but seeing it happen right in front of her made the world feel distant and wrong.

“You idiot!”

Another knight snapped at the one who had killed Aunt Mela.

“I told you not to kill them!”

His brow furrowed as he insisted they were to be captured alive.

“My apologies…”

“Hnngh!”

As the knight bowed his head, Merlin bolted deeper into the village.

The moment Aunt Mela died, the only person she could think of was Sella.

“Lady Sella!”

She ran toward the house, calling Sella’s name, but all she saw were villagers pinned down with stakes.

It felt like she’d stepped into a burning nightmare.

‘Wait…’

Merlin halted.

From the center of the village, she felt a familiar pulse of Mana.

‘It’s Lady Sella!’

In the entire village, only Sella could wield Mana of such purity. She had to be fighting the knights.

‘Wait. Come to think of it…’

Why wasn’t anyone else using magic?

The Mana was flowing as usual, yet no one was casting anything.

‘No. I don’t have time for that.’

Merlin bit her lip and ran toward the source of Sella’s Mana.

Crunch!

Knights flew back, their breastplates caving as they hit the ground.

It was Sella.

Flames, frost, and telekinesis burst forth as she shielded the fallen villagers and drove the knights back.

“Lady Sella!”

“Where have you been!”

Sella’s trembling lip tightened as she spoke. She said she’d been searching for her.

“Still… I’m so glad you’re safe.”

She pulled Merlin into her arms, finally letting herself breathe.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Wrapped in Sella’s warmth, the frantic pounding in Merlin’s chest eased, as if this were all some horrible dream.

But it wasn’t. The stench of burning and blood still filled the air.

“Step back for a moment.”

Sella guided her behind her and stepped forward to face the knights.

Crunch!

She extended a hand.

Chantless magic activated, and the charging knights were crushed along with their swords.

Rumble!

A wall of fire cut off the knights on the right, while those on the left were sealed in frost, unable to move.

A mage standing alone against dozens of knights, Sella looked like an iron fortress.

“Haaa…”

But she was tiring. Her hand trembled as she wiped cold sweat from her brow.

‘For Lady Sella to be struggling this much…’

Sella had immense magical power, even among the Fara Clan. Merlin couldn’t understand why someone who could use magic all day without tiring was already drenched in sweat.

“Impressive.”

A middle-aged man who appeared to be the commander raised his visor and nodded.

“According to the Sage’s words, you shouldn’t be able to use magic, yet you can do this much. Just as expected of a race that sold its soul to the Demon race. You beast-like things.”

He clicked his tongue, as if forced to acknowledge it.

“Demon race? What nonsense is this!”

Sella’s eyes blazed as she ground her teeth.

“We received intelligence that you, the Fara Clan, are connected to the Demon race. I was conflicted when I accepted this mission, but now I can accept it.”

The commander nodded, as if he could finally commit.

“We can treat you as monsters.”

“You’re insane! So we’re just supposed to offer our necks when you attack us?”

Sella stomped her foot, shouting for him to come to his senses.

“…It matters not what the circumstances are. A knight can only obey his lord’s command.”

The commander stated that since the order had been given, there was no refusing it. He raised his sword toward Sella.

“If you surrender quietly, I will not kill you.”

“So it comes to this in the end. You swindlers.”

Sella bit her lip and brought her hands together. Mana ground together like sandpaper, and a massive explosion detonated in front of the commander.

KABOOOOOM!

Even as the blast raged, the commander didn’t flinch. He simply brushed at his blackened armor as if he hadn’t felt a thing.

“Since you resisted first, I too shall go on the offensive.”

He nodded and swung his sword down.

A wind infused with red Aura poured from above.

CLAAAAANG!

Sella condensed Mana into a wall, but the commander’s Sword Strike was so heavy she was forced back.

Two villagers she’d been shielding rolled to the commander’s feet.

“So you are the leader of this village.”

The commander remarked that she was indeed different and swung his sword again.

It seemed he meant to capture not only Sella, but every member of the Fara Clan.

Wooooong!

Sella didn’t even answer. She wove her Mana like a mirror, blocking slash after slash.

Judging by how naturally she fought, this wasn’t her first battle against knights.

KRRRAAANG!

She blocked the commander’s attacks and the Sword Strikes of the other knights as well, protecting the villagers to the very end.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just give up?”

The commander shook his head and set his foot on the heads of the villagers lying at his feet.

“Not only you, but they will be hurt as well.”

“Don’t worry.”

Sella calmly shook her head and brought her hands together.

“No one else will get hurt now!”

As she spread her Mana, blue light radiated across the village, and the fallen villagers’ bodies began to glow faintly.

“This is…”

The commander’s jaw trembled, as if he’d realized her intent.

“Next time, I will be the one to find you.”

Sella chewed her lip and activated multi-target Teleportation magic.

Woooong.

But just before it completed, the magic circle dimmed and fizzled out.

“Ha?”

Sella exhaled hollowly, staring at her hand where the light had vanished, as if she couldn’t believe it.

“The Sage emphasized two things when preparing for this operation.”

The commander lifted a finger toward Sella.

“The first was to block your magic. And the second…”

He smirked as he glanced at the dead light on the ground.

“Is the complete nullification of Teleportation magic and scrolls.”

He shook his head, stating there was no escape.

“Ah…”

Sella bit her lip as she looked around at the village, which had begun to burn again.

‘Dammit…’

She had barely managed to draw on external Mana to force the Teleportation, but she never imagined it would fail so completely.

There was a powerful spellcaster behind this attack.

“Now, to end this…”

Just as the commander raised his sword, ready to strike down the drained Sella—

“Lady Sella!”

The villagers at his feet grabbed his ankles.

“Run!”

“We’ll be fine!”

“These bastards won’t kill us!”

“Please, just go!”

They begged her to escape, blocking the commander and his knights.

“You things!”

The knights trampled the wounded people as they pushed forward toward Sella.

“Ah, ah…”

Sella looked back and forth between the villagers falling underfoot and Merlin trembling behind her.

Then she made her decision and leaped backward.

“I’m sorry. I will definitely…”

Sella nodded, wrapping herself and Merlin in blue light.

“I will definitely save you!”

With those last words, she vanished in a flash.

“Did she change the formula in that instant?”

The commander’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the ground, now frozen solid blue.

“They are a dangerous race indeed.”

He nodded with cold eyes, as if vowing not to be careless again.

“Clean this up, quickly!”

Whooosh!

When Merlin opened her eyes again, she found herself in a dim, unfamiliar forest.

“Keuk…”

Sella coughed up black blood, as if she’d pushed herself far too hard.

“Lady Sella!”

Merlin rushed to her, hands trembling.

“Are you alri—”

“Were you frightened?”

Sella smiled at her, reassuring her as if she hadn’t just coughed up blood.

“I-I’m fine. But you, Lady Sella…”

Merlin bit her lip as she looked at Sella, who couldn’t even lift her arms properly.

“I’m fine, too. I just pushed myself a little.”

Sella patted her back, telling her not to worry.

“More importantly, we need to move.”

She forced herself upright on weakened legs.

“What? Shouldn’t we rest here before we—”

“I forced the Teleportation magic, so there’s a high chance our location was exposed. We need to get out of here first.”

Sella said escaping this place came first and cast a spell to erase their tracks.

Now that they were out of the magic-disrupting formation, she seemed a little more at ease.

“Ah… I understand.”

Merlin lowered her gaze and bowed her head. Breathing the quiet air only made her chest heavier, thoughts of the villagers captured by the knights pressing down on her.

“They’ll be okay.”

Sella hugged her and smiled gently.

“We can definitely see them again.”

She repeated it—how they could all live together again—as if she were promising not only Merlin, but herself.

“Let’s go.”

Having quickly composed herself, Sella took Merlin’s hand and led her toward the distant lights of a town.

Behind the young mother and child, blue moonlight poured down, shimmering like falling tears.

===

“Indeed…”

The King nodded as he scanned the members of the Fara Clan imprisoned in the royal palace dungeon.

“Their eyes are different. They really could be seen as monsters.”

As if the Sage’s words had taken root, he muttered “monsters” as he looked at them.

“A few were killed to make an example, but most of the people in the village—no, most of the Fara—have been captured alive.”

The commander nodded impassively as he looked at the people with stakes driven through their arms and legs.

“Hmm…”

The Sage inspected the Fara Clan, ropes around their necks like slaves, then narrowed his eyes.

“By any chance, was there not a woman with blonde hair and red eyes who appeared to be the village leader?”

He gestured toward the commander with his chin.

“I was just about to report on that matter.”

The commander bowed his head to the Sage.

“Among the Fara Clan, there was the woman you mentioned, Sage. She…”

He recounted how Sella had tried to save her people, ultimately escaping with only Merlin.

“Hah, this is not good…”

The Sage shook his head, his brow furrowed.

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

The King’s jaw trembled as he hurried toward the Sage.

“The woman the commander let escape is the most important figure for us. She is Fara royalty.”

The Sage shook his head, saying they could have used royal blood to supplement the insufficient numbers of the Fara Clan.

But now, they’d missed that chance.

“S-So what are we supposed to do now!”

The King waved his hands as if demanding an answer.

“You need not worry.”

The Sage replied calmly.

“From what the commander said, it seems she will come to us on her own.”

“Come on her own?”

The King blinked his hazy eyes, not understanding.

“Yes. We have some very excellent bait right here, don’t we? If we use it well…”

The Sage smiled as he ran a hand along the iron bars of the cell holding the Fara Clan.

“She will take the bait on her own. However…”

He gave a faint smile as he looked at the King, who seemed to have aged even more.

“I would like you to grant me a little authority to command the other knights as well.”