The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman
Chapter 851

Raon did not panic. Instead, he bit the inside of his cheek as he looked at Denier, who was calming his gaze.

‘As expected, that person is strange.’

Among the key figures of Zieghart, the most difficult person to read is that Denier Zieghart.

Karoon is sensitive and cold, but he has a strong sense of pride in Zieghart. Balder is ignorant and gullible, but he’s even more loyal than that.

But Denier is different from the two.

He seems kind and righteous, but when it matters most, he never steps forward and instead reveals his incompetence.

‘The peak of this was during the White Blood Cult’s attack.’

Even when the White Blood Cult invaded Zieghart, Denier was said to have defended the main house but ended up causing the deaths of many elders and swordsmen.

Considering his strength as the family head and his usual display of intellect, it was odd in many ways.

‘If there’s a spy in Zieghart, Denier is the most likely.’

Sif said that after Aris, Glenn would be the next target, but Raon thought that was impossible.

‘The difference in strength is overwhelming.’

Even if Sif absorbed Aris’ strength and reached transcendence, the gap with Glenn is on a different level.

If Sif drained Glenn’s strength and spirit like he did with Aris and then ambushed him, there might be a minuscule chance to land a strike, but there’s no way Roenn or Sheryl would stand by and watch.

Honestly, even weakening Glenn or catching him off guard is impossible.

That’s because Glenn would never trust Sif, who returned alone after losing both the Light Wind Division and Aris.

‘Then there’s only one method.’

Use Sif as bait, and have one of the spies inside Zieghart exploit that opening. Others wouldn’t do it because Sif’s ability would be wasted, but for Derus, it’s a perfectly plausible plan.

-So that pale bastard is the spy?

Wrath glared at Denier with eyes full of fury.

‘No, it’s just my gut feeling for now.’

Ever since he was young, there were times when Derus Robert and Denier Zieghart seemed to overlap in Raon’s mind.

Especially at times like this, when he should be angry but instead smiles and endures, it reminded him of that bastard’s filthy face.

-Strange.

Wrath turned his head, narrowing his eyes.

-Normally, you’d gather information and slowly make your move after assessing the situation.

‘I don’t want to see any more people close to me die.’

Raon bit his lip. As Wrath said, his usual self would only act after collecting enough information on the enemy.

But after experiencing Rimmer’s death, he realized that sometimes, you have to act first even without certainty.

The black sword in his hand right now is an important item that could restore Aris and ruin Derus’ plans.

He didn’t want to hand it over to the inscrutable Denier.

“What are you doing?”

Denier looked at his own hand and then raised his gaze to Raon.

“Light Wind Division leader?”

His voice was calm. Even though the sword had been taken from his grasp, he showed neither anger nor surprise.

“As I said.”

Raon shook his head calmly.

“This black sword is cursed, so not everyone can touch it.”

“Are you looking down on me just because you reached transcendence?”

Denier joked lightly, not seeming angry at all.

“Ra, Raon?”

“Young master Raon….”

Instead, Balder and Roenn called Raon’s name in low voices.

“That’s not possible.”

Raon shook his head as he turned the black sword behind him.

“Because this sword could hold a dangerous curse beyond our understanding, the family head limited who can handle it.”

He said that the name of the Black Tortoise Palace Master was not among those allowed, raising his gaze.

“You still have many things to do, Black Tortoise Palace Master. Please focus on your other duties.” (T/N: Okay, it’s my mistake here. It should have been Black Tortoise Palace not Unit. Moving forward it will be called Palace. )

Raon politely bowed, saying to leave matters regarding the sword to himself and others.

-The old man didn’t say that!

Wrath’s eyes widened in disbelief.

‘Denier never goes against the family head’s words. He always just listens.’

-What if he argues with the old man?

‘He won’t.’

Unlike Karoon and Balder, who sometimes complain or argue with Glenn, Denier never steps forward.

Invoking the family head’s name was bound to work.

‘Even if he does complain, I can find another way out.’

He had already thought of what to do if Denier brought it up with Glenn, so it didn’t matter how he acted.

The important thing was to keep the sword out of Denier’s hands.

“But I already touched it.”

Denier said he had held the black sword, giving a faint smile.

“Even dropped food is safe to eat if picked up within three seconds. Since I took it back right away, it should be fine.”

Raon told him not to worry and shook his head.

“Are you alright?”

“I even fought Sif, who wielded this sword. Even if I was cursed, it’s already too late.”

He shrugged his shoulders at Denier.

“I see. Then did you come here just to tell me that?”

Denier lowered his lightly clenched fist.

“No.”

Raon looked back at Roenn and sighed quietly.

“My aunt woke up, so I came to let everyone know.”

“My sister….”

Denier let out a rough groan, furrowing his brow.

“Is Lady Aris alright?”

Roenn asked, sounding worried.

“Her body… is fine. She fell asleep again.”

“Ah….”

“…….”

Hearing that her body was fine, Roenn let out a sigh, and Denier turned his heavy gaze away.

“She fell asleep again, so I’ll have to visit later.”

Denier clicked his tongue briefly and turned around.

“Light Wind Division leader. Thank you for worrying about me.”

“It’s nothing. You’re a palace master, so you need to take care of yourself more than anyone.”

“Is that so? Now, I think you need to take care of yourself more than me.”

He murmured something indecipherable and stood before the door to the drawing room.

“Honestly, even if I’d seen that sword, I wouldn’t have found a solution. Please keep up the hard work, everyone.”

Denier politely greeted Roenn, Balkan, and the Beast Union’s shaman, Phasilon, then left the drawing room.

Walking down the corridor of the family residence, he opened the hand that had held the black sword.

Vmmmm.

Denier looked at the faintly shimmering fragment of the black sword in his palm and gave a brief, ambiguous smile. He looked both pleased and bitter.

“So this is how it turns out….” (T/N: Damn sus is sussing. lol)

—

“Young master, what in the world…?”

Roenn blinked, as if unable to understand the situation.

“It just turned out this way.”

Raon shook his head, telling him not to ask.

“You’re up to some strange idea again, aren’t you.”

Balkan snorted, saying he couldn’t figure Raon out.

“Yes. Please understand.”

Raon gave Balkan a thin smile.

‘I can’t say it.’

It was still only a hunch.

So far, there was no evidence Denier had done anything or leaked information.

Since his suspicion was just a feeling, he couldn’t bring it up with others.

“So you’re Raon Zieghart.”

The shaman from the Beast Union approached Raon and put his hands together.

“I am Phasilon of the Union, here to greet our benefactor.”

He bowed to Raon with the utmost courtesy.

It seemed he was referring to when Raon had entered the White Blood Cult to save Beast King Ogram.

“That was ages ago. Please, don’t.”

Raon waved both hands, embarrassed since it had been quite a while.

“If I’m rude to our benefactor, the Beast King will take my head.”

Phasilon bowed even deeper, asking not to reject his greeting.

“Ha, I suppose that’s true.”

Raon accepted the greeting with an awkward smile.

“Thank you.”

Phasilon bowed once more in gratitude and straightened up.

“So, is it impossible to break this sword’s curse?”

Raon went straight to the point, not wanting Phasilon to say anything more embarrassing.

Upon returning to Zieghart, he’d examined the sword, but he couldn’t break it with sorceries he knew. It was fundamentally different from dungeon curses.

“I wouldn’t refuse if you asked.”

Phasilon looked at the black sword and shook his head.

“It will take a lot of power and time, but it can be done.”

He raised his hand, saying that although it would require considerable manpower and time, it was possible.

It seemed he was willing to do it because it was Raon’s request.

“Then will my aunt’s strength return as well?”

“If the curse is lifted, her strength will return naturally. Like water returning to its source.”

Phasilon lowered his chin, saying it was possible if the curse was lifted.

“…Thank you.”

Raon bowed his head as he held Phasilon’s hand. If Aris could regain her strength, even a little, it would help. All he could say was thank you.

“However, I’ll need to call for more shamans. I don’t think I can handle this alone.”

Phasilon said they’d also need to find the source of the curse, so the strength of many shamans would be required.

“Spend as much as you need. Just do it.”

“I don’t think money will matter.”

He shook his head, saying money wasn’t important.

“They’ll be happy to meet their benefactor too.”

“Me…?”

“Yes. A swordsman who reached transcendence in his early twenties. Everyone is looking forward to seeing Raon Zieghart.”

“Transcendence?”

Raon blinked at Phasilon, who was smiling broadly.

“It seems you didn’t know.”

Phasilon tilted his chin as he saw Raon’s round eyes.

“Right now, rumors about you are spreading across the entire continent.”

—

Glenn returned to the audience chamber and sank deep into the throne.

“Huuuu….”

Perhaps because Roenn wasn’t even present, a deep sigh escaped him before he realized it.

‘I’m tired.’

He couldn’t recall a time when he was mentally this exhausted.

He felt like he could collapse right here and it wouldn’t be strange.

‘Well….’

He’d lost many comrades before, but it was the first time family had stabbed family.

Sif stabbed Aris, killed Rimmer, and in the end, was killed by Raon’s hand.

Leaving aside the process, a friend had died, a grandson killed another grandson, and the mother was mentally shattered—so it was only natural that even he felt depressed.

What hurt even more was not being able to do anything for Aris, who’d barely regained consciousness.

“Haaa….”

Glenn let out an even deeper sigh, resting his head on the throne and covering his eyes with the back of his hand.

He didn’t even have the strength to go to bed, so he simply closed his eyes, about to drift off to sleep.

Crackle!

Glenn frowned as he saw a blue spear sparking in front of a pillar in the family residence.

That spear was a magic spell for video conferencing, jointly made by Chamber and the Tower Master.

It kept sparking, asking for permission to open a call.

“What now….”

Glenn clicked his tongue and snapped his fingers, and four suppressed windows shot up at once.

“Glenn!”

“Zieghart family head!”

“Hey, old man!”

“Is that really true…?”

Beast King Ogram, King Lecross, Archmage of Illusion Chamber, and Tower Master Larian’s faces appeared all at once.

“Wh-what are you saying?”

Glenn’s jaw trembled in shock, not expecting four transcendents to stick their faces to the screen like that.

“Raon! Has he really reached transcendence?!”

Ogram pounded his hand, demanding an answer.

“That’s why I’m contacting you. Has the Light Wind Division leader really become a transcendent? The whole continent is buzzing with rumors!”

King Lecross swallowed dryly, saying he was dying to know.

“Old man! Why are you keeping your mouth shut! Is our Raon really a transcendent?”

Chamber smacked her lips, calling Raon “our” Raon.

“O-our side has been talking about it all day too. It’s the first time mages have been muttering a swordsman’s name….”

Larian blinked rapidly, saying the Magic Tower was abuzz with stories of Raon.

“To reach Grandmaster in your early twenties was already a first in the continent’s history, but transcendence? Even for Raon, it’s hard to believe.”

Chamber tapped the blue screen repeatedly, urging for an answer.

“No, Raon can do it! He’s on a different level from us!”

Ogram’s eyes shone with certainty and expectation.

“…Hoo.”

Glenn let out a hollow laugh at the four transcendents practically pressing their faces through the screen.

He didn’t know where the rumor had started, but it seemed only the part about Raon reaching transcendence had spread, leaving out Rimmer’s death and Aris’s loss.

“Don’t laugh, answer us, old man!”

Chamber made talking motions with her hand, demanding a response.

“That’s right. It’s true.”

Glenn looked at each of them in turn and nodded.

“Raon has stepped into the realm of transcendence.”

“Uoooooh!”

Ogram raised both fists and let out a beast-like roar.

“Ha, history of the continent… No, history of all dimensions is being rewritten.”

Lecross laughed in disbelief.

“As expected, that’s our Raon! I knew he’d do it!”

Chamber forgot her earlier doubts and waved her hand with a wide grin.

“Ah, I want to study him…”

Larian smacked his lips, wishing he could study Raon, who had achieved such an impossible feat.

“Hoo…”

Glenn exhaled as he watched the four of them react in their own ways.

‘Is it really that great?’

Usually, those who reach transcendence become indifferent to most things in the world. Seeing them get so excited, he couldn’t help but smile.

‘No, this is how it should be.’

Even reaching Grandmaster at Raon’s age would cause a stir across the continent, but he had reached transcendence.

He hadn’t been able to properly congratulate him because of Rimmer’s death, but it was certainly a great feat—worthy of spreading rumors across the continent and throwing a festival.

“Doesn’t this mean we’d have the upper hand in an all-out war now?”

Ogram laughed, saying their strength wouldn’t be lacking anymore.

“That’ll be the case once you recover. Who knows how many transcendents are hiding over there? Well, either way, Raon reaching transcendence is a cause for celebration. A cause for celebration.”

Chamber shouted that it was a good thing, munching on a lollipop.

“Ahem, does Raon have a girlfriend? There’s a real catch in the Raman Tribe who can hold two bulls with one hand.”

Ogram rolled his eyes, insisting on introducing a proper woman to Raon.

“What nonsense! There’s someone with ties to Raon on our side!”

“But she’s rude!”

“She’s changed! She’s a completely different person now!”

Chamber insisted that Raon’s match was in Balkan and shook her head.

“A mage suits a swordsman best…”

Larian rolled his eyes, saying there were plenty of good women in the Magic Tower as well.

“Hahaha!”

Glenn burst out laughing as Ogram, Chamber, and Larian argued over Raon’s future spouse. Hearing their praise for Raon seemed to ease the heaviness and fatigue in his chest. It was always that child who made him smile.

“Why are you laughing?”

“At least tell us if Raon has a girlfriend.”

Chamber and Ogram narrowed their eyes, pressing for an answer.

“Not yet…”

Glenn gave a thin smile and resolutely shook his chin.

“I won’t let him go to anyone!”

—

At dawn, a wind pushing back the night blew.

Raon opened the door to the 5th training hall and stepped inside.

‘All the lights are off.’

In the past, even when he came at dawn, the lights were often on.

He hadn’t realized it then, but it seemed Rimmer had always prepared everything for him.

‘He was someone who never bragged.’

Rimmer would struggle for recognition over trivial matters, but when it came to important things, he remained silent and never spoke.

Now that he was gone, the void felt even bigger.

-Still, you seem to be doing better than before.

Wrath yawned long and shook his head.

‘My heart is at ease.’

The more he grieved, the more it felt like he was dishonoring Rimmer, so he steeled his heart.

-That’s a good mindset. For one who fights with a sword, death is inevitable. The living should focus on carrying on the will of those who are gone.

‘I know.’

-As the Monarch of Devildom, I have lost countless subordinates…

“Meow!”

Just as Wrath straightened his back to begin his story, a cat leaped down from the wall.

-How dare a lowly cat interrupt me! I’ll rip open its feed bag…

“Raon!”

The cat called Raon’s name with its mouth barely open.

-Kyaaaaa!

Wrath, startled by the sudden speech, rolled his eyes and flopped like a freshly caught fish.

“Merlin?”

Raon narrowed his eyes at the cat. There were no cats around here, so he had already suspected it was Merlin from the start.

“What is it?”

“The spell is complete.”

The cat, possessed by Merlin, reached out a front paw.

“Let’s wake your sister!”

(T/N: At least we have a good news! Finally!)