The Reincarnated Assassin Is a Genius Swordsman

Chapter 1477 Before the world went dark. "Finally...." Derus Robert looked up at the sky and exhaled a cold breath. "The time of destruction draws near." He curled his lips upward as he watched the sun and moon rise simultaneously in the sky. In truth, a solar eclipse where the sun and moon overlap for a brief moment is not such a rare phenomenon. At the very least, once every two years the sun and moon would come together as one. However, the only time the sun and moon remained as one for 24 hours while darkness descended upon the entire world was the Day of Black Darkness, which came once every thousand years. 'Even if I suffered defeat in the first war....' Derus Robert clenched his fist as he watched the sun and moon gradually drawing closer. 'As long as today exists, there was never any problem.' He had spent a long time preparing the plan to neutralize Glenn Zieghart and the Heavenly Demon, and to awaken the Demonic Dragon of Destruction, calculating countless variables—but he had never thought he could unconditionally destroy the Continent. 'That's why I prepared a lifeline as well.' Since Glenn Zieghart and Raon Zieghart were always ones to create variables, he had prepared an ancient Artifact called the 'Shield of Heaven's Mandate' so that no matter what they did, he could escape without dying. Glenn Zieghart's sword strike had contained such an impossibly high-dimensional power that it couldn't be fully blocked, but thanks to the Shield of Heaven's Mandate exerting its power, he had been able to undo the Curse that Glenn left behind in half the time. 'Thanks to that....' Derus Robert looked up at the sky again and let out a cold laugh. 'I was able to make it in time.' The Day of Black Darkness possessed the power to strengthen both his death aura and the Demonic Dragon's Authority—the Authority of Destruction. Not just those two, but it also amplified negative energies such as Death Energy, demonic energy, and bloody energy, making it nothing short of the greatest moment for all who followed him. 'If anything, this worked out better.' Derus Robert looked at the back of his gloved hand and slowly nodded. 'Because now I can bring everything to a perfect end.' Since Glenn Zieghart had disappeared, there was no longer any need for schemes or surprise attacks. With his own Martial Prowess alone, without the help of the Demonic Dragon of Destruction or the Angels, he could bring destruction upon this Continent. 'Even if Glenn Zieghart returned alive now, he could not stop me.' He had not been satisfied with merely undoing the sword seal left by Glenn Zieghart. By enduring Glenn's final sword strike and studying the shattered Shield of Heaven's Mandate, he had risen to a new realm of swordsmanship. He had succeeded in the impossible Achievement of converting the Curse left by the Sword God into power. 'With that sword, I could even cut down Glenn Zieghart.' Not a hypothesis, but a conviction. There was no being anywhere that could block the swordsmanship he had newly attained. 'Of course, Raon Zieghart is special, but...' Raon Zieghart had always displayed schemes and tactics that seemed to be a step above him. Since he had suffered greatly again recently, he absolutely could not let his guard down. 'But before this absolute power, it all means nothing.' No matter how brilliant the strategies and preparations Raon and the Five Kings had made, nothing would survive before his sword and the Demonic Dragon's flames. Fwooooom! Derus Robert was picturing Raon's face against the ever-darkening sky when he turned his back. His long robe was swept by the wind, revealing a pitch-black wave behind him. Kurumbleee No, it was no mere wave. Eden and its monsters, the Angels, remnants of the Five Demons, Revenants who had been consumed and killed by the Demonic Dragon, and even the death slaves he had personally raised from death—an army so vast it was difficult to count stood behind him. "Let us make the declaration of war once more." A young man wearing a black robe lifted his smooth chin. "This time, it will not be broken through." He drew a sinister smile, urging Derus to send forth the declaration of war to the entire Continent as if now fully confident. "That sounds amusing." Derus Robert curled his lips upward. "We will begin immediately." As the robed man clasped both hands together, Derus Robert's image spread across the entire Continent along with a blue light. 'I can feel it.' Derus Robert twisted his lips as he felt, through magic, the humans of the entire Continent becoming aware of him. 'The fear and despair of humanity.' The entire world was darkening, and his image was being projected over it, so the humans seemed to feel even greater fear—the death aura and the Demonic Dragon's Authority of Destruction were growing stronger. [Soon, the sun and moon shall become one.] Derus Robert arrogantly tilted his chin as if the entire world were already beneath his feet. He exhaled a heavy breath as he watched the sun and moon merging together like twins. [I declare here and now. Before the Day of Black Darkness—when light is swallowed by darkness—ends, I will destroy every human on the Continent.] Derus Robert radiated a murderous intent so dense it sent chills down the spine, as if he truly intended to erase every life in this world. "Waaaaaaaah!" "Uooooooooo!" "Derus! Derus! Derus!" "Robert! Robert! Robert!" The followers of Derus Robert let out roars powerful enough to shake the very darkness, as if declaring they would unconditionally follow his proclamation. [In a world melted beneath the flames of destruction, I shall become the new god!] He clenched his fist as if to place the world after humanity's destruction in the palm of his hand. [Humans. Wait for the death that crawls toward you.] As Derus Robert wrapped himself in the creeping death that bloomed around him and tilted his chin, the sun and moon overlapped perfectly and the entire world was dyed in darkness. It was the beginning of the Day of Black Darkness, which came once every thousand years, when an entire day is plunged into darkness. [From this moment, the destruction begins!] It was the moment Derus Robert laughed as he announced the start of the war, and those beneath his feet were cheering and shouting. CRAAAAAACK! A thunderous sound rang out as if the world were splitting apart. It was not a sound that could be heard with ears, but the sound of a sword that could only be felt with the soul. However, what was cut along with that Sword Mantra was not the world itself. Crackle crackle crackle! Between sky and earth. A red line was drawn across the neck of Derus Robert, who stood between them, and it was severed with a sickening cut. The sight of Derus Robert's head being severed right before the eyes of his followers who were chanting his name—Derus Robert, who had been declaring the destruction of the Continent—was utterly surreal. Thud. But the moment Derus Robert's head hit the ground, that reality came crashing in with merciless coldness. "Uaaaaaaaargh!" "Ghaaaaaaah!" "D-Derus, my lord!" The cheers of those who had followed Derus Robert turned into screams and cries of anguish that spread throughout the entire south. Kurumbleeeeee! On the other hand, all the humans across the Continent who had been watching Derus Robert erupted into praise and cheers at the demon's death, shaking heaven and earth. * * * Fwoooooh. Raon exhaled a white breath and lowered Heavenly Drive, which still held the sensation of having severed Derus Robert's neck. -T-This is.... Wrath's jaw trembled. -It actually worked? He shook his head as if unable to believe it even after witnessing Derus Robert's head fall. Wuuuuuung! Along with a blue light, the images of Archmage Chamber of Eternal Flame and Mage Tower Master Larian appeared as a projection. [G-Good heavens....] Chamber's mouth fell wide open within the projection. [At this distance, even magic shouldn't reach—just how on earth did you do that!] She trembled her lips, saying it felt as though the very concepts of magic and martial arts she knew had been twisted. [Waaaa!] Mage Tower Master Larian threw off the blanket that had been wrapped tightly around her entire body. [Research! Let me research! Your sword and your body!] She flushed red in her cheeks, saying that Raon's sword and body right now were magnificent subjects that demanded magical research. "Are you crazy?" Evelyn threw a fist at Larian's face in the projection as she lunged as if trying to rush toward Raon. "Raon is mine!" She shoved Larian away as if no other woman could lay a finger on him. "Raon!" Evelyn turned to look at Raon and clasped both hands together. "I believed in you from the very beginning!" She nodded emphatically, claiming she was the only one among those present who had believed in Raon. "Thank you." Raon lowered Heavenly Drive as the red heat faded from it and smiled faintly. -Just what the hell are you! Wrath ground his teeth as if he still couldn't believe it. 'I told you.' Raon calmly nodded. 'That the moment the war started, I would end it.' The reason he had endlessly swung the Heaven-Slaying Sword at full power in the fake Continent that Evelyn had created was precisely for today. He had pledged to cut down Derus Robert at the moment he declared war and his followers let out their roars and stepped forward toward the Continent—when all beings had no choice but to let their guard down—and now he had fulfilled that pledge. Swoooosh. As if his plan had worked perfectly, he could feel the life draining from Derus Robert's severed head. -Yeah. You did say that. Wrath nodded heavily. -But who in the world would have taken that seriously! He furrowed his brow, saying that anyone would have thought it was just bluster or words meant to boost morale, and no one would have taken it as the truth. 'She's right here.' Raon pointed to Evelyn, who was beaming with a radiant smile. 'And those guys too.' He nodded as he felt the emotions of the Zieghart and Holy Sword Alliance Swordsmen whose trust in him came through clearly even from a great distance. -Unbelievable... hm? This! It was just as Wrath was about to let out another exclamation while looking at Heavenly Drive. 'As expected.' Raon gave a small nod. 'I suppose it can't be ended this easily.' In the projection that had been showing Derus Robert's death, black death began to blaze from the neck of the already-dead man. [Resurrection!] [Tch, so persistent. But I want to research this!] Chamber ground her teeth in anger, while Larian smacked her lips as if simultaneously annoyed and intrigued. "You said earlier, didn't you? That we need confusion in order to lure them into the fake Continent?" Raon lightly shook Heavenly Drive clean and tilted his head. [Ah, y-yes! That's more than enough!] Chamber clenched her fist, saying that right now she felt she could make Derus Robert and his followers enter the fake world. [Right?] [Exactly! It's absolutely possible!] Larian also nodded, saying they could take advantage of the current chaos. "No. It's still not enough to deceive Derus Robert." Raon exhaled a low breath as he watched Derus Robert beginning his resurrection. "I'll make it more certain for you." * * * Swooooosh. From Derus Robert's head that had been severed by the Heaven-Slaying Sword, black whip-like tendrils of death aura grew out and reconnected with the severed body. "Hah!" The death that had been extinguishing in Derus Robert's eyes blazed back to life, and the breath and blood that had been blocked burst out from his mouth. "Wh-What was that...." Derus Robert ran his hand over his reattached neck and swallowed drily. 'What just happened....' He had only been able to feel that he had already been hit after the unstoppable blade entered his neck. But even having died once, he could not tell exactly what had struck him. 'Raon Zieghart.' Of course, he didn't know what had hit him, but he could tell who had done it. Raon Zieghart. It was certainly the doing of that trash who had once been beneath him and was now his sworn enemy. "Haaah...." Derus Robert spat out another breath mixed with blood and straightened his stiffened back. 'Now is not the time to be thinking about Raon's tricks.' The second declaration of war, which he had started thinking nothing could stop it, had also ended in failure. Rather than giving all the humans of the Continent despair and fear, he had instead given them hope, so he had to recover from this somehow. 'No, this might have actually turned out better.' If he could show that even having his head severed could not kill him, it might give the humans even greater fear and despair. He needed to show his unbroken composure right now. "Uooooooooo!" "Aaaaaaaaah!" "Derus! Derus! Derus!" Seeing Derus Robert rise from death, his followers began to cheer once more. "Do not worry." Derus Robert forced a smile toward those crying out his name. "I am the god of death who has even accepted death itself. Never will I...." It was the moment he called himself the god of death and rose to his feet. Gooooooo! Above the sky consumed by darkness, the sun and moon—which should not be there now—rose up. "If you are the god of death...." Between the golden sun and the silver moonlight stood a man who shone more brilliantly than either of them. "Then I shall become a demon king who mocks death itself." Raon Zieghart. The hope of humanity who should not be here leveled the Divine Sword that flickered with crimson light. "Come."