The Reincarnated Assassin Is a Genius Swordsman

Chapter 1452 "What the hell is it!" Lawrence approached Raon while roughly running his hands through his disheveled hair. "What are you looking for that you come here every day acting up!" He sighed, asking to please stop tormenting him, just as he had before. "You said you already made a plan to catch the Demonic Dragon of Destruction!" Lawrence sat down in front of Raon, telling him to say something that would make sense since he was now completely awake. "The plan to deal with the Demonic Dragon of Destruction has been somewhat completed. However..." Raon shook his head while keeping his gaze focused on the book. "As you know, there has been absolutely no information about Derus Robert until now. It's certain that he has a relationship with the Demonic Dragon of Destruction." He said a method was needed to deal with Derus Robert for certain while wiggling his finger. "Then in that book..." Lawrence narrowed his brow while looking at the book Raon was holding. "Does that mean there's a story about that damned bastard's existence written in it?" He also clicked his tongue as if curious about information regarding Derus Robert. "That's right. But..." Raon blinked, looking at Lawrence. "Didn't you know? It's a book from your library, Lawrence." He hadn't come here deliberately to torment Lawrence. He had come here because Lawrence's cave was the place with the most books in the Holy Sword Alliance, but he hadn't expected him to react as if he had never seen this book before. "There are so many books here, do you think I've read them all?" Lawrence shook his head, saying it would be impossible to read all the books here even if it took a lifetime. Indeed, in his dwelling there were many books stacked on the floor because they couldn't fit on the bookshelves. "Ah, then this..." Raon started to say something but stopped. "Why! What is it! Say something!" Lawrence frowned as if he could sense what Raon was trying to say, even though Raon had stopped mid-sentence. -He's putting on airs again. Wrath let out a snort and sighed. -Just looking at how he grew his hair out tells you everything! That guy was putting on airs before and he's still putting on airs now! He clicked his tongue, saying it was all obvious from when he started growing his hair out. "I'm not certain, but this book contains content close to the answer." Raon nodded while looking at Lawrence's furrowed brow. "Content close to the answer?" Lawrence clicked his tongue as if his curiosity was rising again. "Yes. Have you perhaps heard of it?" Raon continued speaking while turning the book toward Lawrence. "Something called 'Revenant of Ash'." "Revenant?" Lawrence's eyes gleamed between his hair that reached down to his waist. "That's the Red Dragon's..." He widened his eyes as if he now remembered the book's content. "That's right. They're ghosts formed when humans burned to death in the Red Dragon's flames become spirits. In my opinion..." Raon turned his body. He looked at the slowly rising sun and nodded heavily. "It seems that Derus Robert's true identity is exactly that revenant." * * * Death. If you die, everything ends. Whether you die by being cut with a sword, having your heart pierced by an arrow, or melting away from magic, death itself severs the thread of life. Pain stops, consciousness disappears, and the soul departs. What remains is nothing but meaningless flesh. This was no different for humans, Angels, or Demons. However, dying to the Red Dragon was different. Those swallowed by the Red Dragon's flames become ash. Armor melts away, skin is incinerated, and bones become white earth and scatter. Up to that point, it was no different from others. It seemed like an end existed. But souls that died to the Red Dragon flowed neither to heaven nor earth. What dwelled in the Red Dragon's flames was not simple heat, but a curse. It burned life while carving a brand into that soul. Souls that should have been released were pierced by chains and dragged to the Red Dragon's soul. The night the Kingdom became ash. When the survivors were retreating, leaving the ruins behind, the first to sense something strange was the scout at the very front. "The fog is thick. Suddenly what..." However, that wasn't fog. What rose from the ashes was neither water vapor nor smoke. At first, the whitish substance wavered like a heat haze, then gradually began to take shape. Dozens, hundreds of human figures stood on the ash pile that still hadn't lost its heat. The scout raised his torch. When the blazing light fell upon those figures, he screamed. The faces of the figures were all too familiar. The guard captain who protected the kingdom's gates, the man who sold fruit in the market, the priest who prayed in the Cathedral, even the child who played in the alleys. They were all dead people. People who had been swallowed by the Red Dragon's breath and turned to ash stood there with warm smiles. At the familiar smiles of those he had always seen, the scout nearly forgot the chill down his spine and almost ran toward them. But their eyes were different. They weren't the lively eyes full of vitality from when they were alive. The pupils that should have been distinctly black and white were inverted. Where the pupils should have been, there was a dark red light. The Red Dragon's breath was pulsing. It was the light of the brand he had carved into the souls of the dead. They all turned their heads in unison. With affectionate voices, they called to their living families. Those who had barely survived the Red Dragon's flames ran toward their revived families. No one could stop them. The people revived from the ashes warmly embraced the survivors running toward them. They tightened their arms around their families like chains, as if they would never let their loved ones go. And they opened their dark red burning mouths like the Red Dragon and devoured the heads of their loved ones. In the end, there were no survivors. No one survived. Slaves whose souls were captured by the Red Dragon. Those who could not gain freedom even in death and lured their loved ones into the flames. They were exactly those Ash Revenants. * * * "That Red Dragon..." Lawrence swallowed his dry saliva. "That's right. Seeing that it possessed dark red flames, it seems the Red Dragon is the Demonic Dragon of Destruction." Raon nodded, saying it seemed certain. "Ha!" Lawrence stroked his head as if dumbfounded. "I thought that was just a novel..." He stroked his chin, saying he had completely failed to consider it because he had dismissed the book he read as fiction. -I, I had no idea either. Wrath shook his head vigorously. -To think it's not just about dying, but that it even traps souls, what a demonic bastard! He gritted his teeth, saying he finally realized what a vicious existence the Demonic Dragon of Destruction was. "Then is Derus Robert also a revenant?" Lawrence tilted his head. "He has a strong free will. Didn't it seem like he was commanding the Demonic Dragon of Destruction instead?" He frowned, saying wasn't it strange to call Derus Robert an ash revenant. "There's an explanation for that part too." Raon raised his aura and drew the shape of the Demonic Dragon of Destruction in the air. "When first becoming a revenant, the soul attaches to the Red Dragon's tail, but after that, each time they bring other souls, their position moves up like a promotion. From tail to legs, legs to belly, belly to chest, chest to neck, neck to head, and finally to the horns." He pointed to the horns of the dragon he had drawn in the air. "And if they draw in many souls even from the horns, it seems that soul falls out externally. Of course, with the mark of destruction remaining." Raon bit his lips while recalling the enormous number of souls that belonged to Derus Robert that he had seen in the mental world. "Derus Robert seems to be a revenant who tempted countless people, climbed from the dragon's tail to its horns, and then escaped to the outside. Of course, even after that, he continued absorbing souls, transcended being a revenant, and became an Anima. I remember reading something similar before." Like the explanation in this book, he remembered content about having the same face but different eyes. He clenched his fist while thinking of Derus Robert whose pupils' black and white had been inverted. "Anima?" Lawrence tilted his head as if asking what that meant. "It's a being that was a Revenant, which grew by consuming the souls of others and broke free from the Demonic Dragon of Destruction. The First Patriarch called them that." Raon told him that the First Patriarch had called the one whose pupils' black and white were inverted an Anima. "Ha..." Lawrence let out a sigh. "What terrifying beings exist. Even worse than that woman." He shook his head, saying he didn't know there would be someone more vicious than the Leader of the White Blood Religion. "Exactly! So evil!" A voice of agreement suddenly came from beside Lawrence. "Eek!" -Kieeeek! Lawrence and Wrath were startled and stepped back. Both seemed even more frightened because they had just heard scary stories and even let out piercing screams. "The Demonic Dragon of Destruction and Derus Robert are both unforgivable!" It was Evelyn. She nodded while firmly grasping Raon's hand. "You seem scared." Raon chuckled while looking at Lawrence and Wrath who were breaking out in cold sweat. "Wh-what nonsense! It's just because it's hot!" Lawrence firmly shook his head, saying absolutely not. -Sc-scared! I don't feel fear or anything like that! Wrath also gritted his teeth saying absolutely not, but his tail trembled faintly. "Anyway, Derus Robert's identity seems definitely to be a revenant—a slave who died to the Demonic Dragon of Destruction and then offered souls to it. Of course, not an ordinary ash revenant." Derus Robert was one who had grown as a Revenant, became an Anima, and then lived for thousands of years, so naturally he shouldn't be considered an ordinary Revenant. He had to be viewed as being on the same level as the Demonic Dragon of Destruction. "We've learned Derus Robert's identity, but..." Lawrence clicked his tongue. "Is there a way to kill him?" He narrowed his brow as if asking how they would kill a monster that had lived even after the Demonic Dragon of Destruction was sealed. "Honestly, I think it's become more difficult." Lawrence bit his lips, saying he could picture Derus Robert bringing those who died to the dragon in this war. -He's right about that. Wrath clicked his tongue. -Derus Robert should now be considered a different being from the Demonic Dragon of Destruction. He used the dragon like commanding a dog! He clicked his tongue, saying both the Archangel and the Demonic Dragon of Destruction all moved under Derus Robert's control. "Raon can do it!" Evelyn shook her head as if she had heard Wrath's words. Her trust in Raon was on the level of a Revenant following the Demonic Dragon of Destruction. "It will be difficult. Neither the Demonic Dragon of Destruction nor Derus Robert are ordinary beings." Raon nodded calmly. "However, now that I know Derus Robert's identity, I'm confident about what he's doing now and how we can bring him down." "Confident?" "As expected!" Lawrence blinked, and Evelyn let out an exclamation. -R-really? Wrath also opened his mouth wide as if he could hardly believe it. "It's time to pay them back now." Raon grasped the Heavenly Drive without hesitation while letting out a smile thick with killing intent. "Exactly what we suffered from them."