The Reincarnated Assassin Is a Genius Swordsman

Chapter 1494 The thing the Bear Fire Demon pulled out of the cloth bundle was a piece of wood. It was smooth and elongated like a snake, but with horns on its head—a dragon. He lifted up the wooden dragon carving that looked like something out of myths and legends. "N-Natsu! It's the toy you used to love!" The Bear Fire Demon called the Silent Serpent Swordsman "Natsu" and showed him the dragon-shaped wood carving. Looking visibly nervous, his two hands holding the dragon carving trembled. "…Huh?" The Silent Serpent Swordsman blinked blankly as he looked at the Bear Fire Demon. "Are you actually insane…?" He let out a hollow laugh, as if it was absurd even on second thought. "A toy? A piece of wood? Did you really think something like that would work on me?" The Silent Serpent Swordsman let out a roar, as if he felt he'd been insulted. He spat out the irritation and anger surging within him straight at the Bear Fire Demon. "Ugh…." The Bear Fire Demon's eyes trembled, as if he could barely breathe under the crushing weight of the Silent Serpent Swordsman's overwhelming presence. Even so, he did not lower the wood carving in his hand. "You've truly lost your mind!" The Silent Serpent Swordsman shook his head, finding it absurd no matter how he looked at it. "I feel like a fool for tensing up, thinking some special artifact or magic was coming!" He smacked his palm against his forehead, as if embarrassed that he had tensed up over the Bear Fire Demon's movements. "Bear Fire Demon. I never thought you'd take me so lightly. I should have properly disciplined you back when you were still inside Eden." The Silent Serpent Swordsman ground his teeth, regretting that he hadn't killed him for certain back when he was following Syria Sullion around. "N-No." The Bear Fire Demon did not avert his eyes even as he took in the full brunt of the Silent Serpent Swordsman's killing intent. He took one more step forward on legs trembling as though they would give out at any moment, and held out the wooden dragon carving. "You are definitely my son, Natsu!" The Bear Fire Demon, as if pleading for him to look at it properly, put strength even into his fingertips and lifted the wooden toy up a little higher. The scales of the crudely carved wooden dragon had lost their original sharpness, worn round and smooth, and a faint, deep sheen ran across the surface where the warmth and touch of human hands had naturally seeped in over time. Judging by the tooth marks etched into the dragon's wooden scales, it did seem, just as the Bear Fire Demon said, to be a toy a child had cherished and played with. "You're irritating me…." The Silent Serpent Swordsman roughly shifted the fingers gripping his sword, as if he could no longer stand it. "Get lost!" As he swung his sword, the ground exploded with a tremor, and the Bear Fire Demon was sent flying while coughing up blood. "Guh…." As if he hadn't even thought to defend himself, the Bear Fire Demon knelt down and spewed out blackened, dead blood. "Kuhahahahaha!" Derus Robert burst out laughing mockingly at the kneeling Bear Fire Demon. "So the best plan you could come up with was showing off that piece of trash." He shook his head as he looked at the wooden dragon held in the Bear Fire Demon's hand. "You've wasted your time, Raon." Derus Robert shrugged, as if questioning whether it had really been wise to leave the Silent Serpent Swordsman to someone like the Bear Fire Demon. "I'm certain I taught you this—dispose of trash that isn't useful to the mission ahead of time." He twisted his mouth into a smirk, saying that the Light Wind Palace's very movements were being restrained because of the Bear Fire Demon. "That might have been the case if he were under you. But…." Raon shook his head firmly as he deflected the blade of the Sword of Beloved Death that Derus Robert had swung. "Right now, I am Raon Zieghart. I will only walk the path I believe to be right." As if he wouldn't be swayed no matter what Derus Robert said, he brought down the Divine Sword, gathered with Golden Flame, onto the Sword of Beloved Death. Kugugugugugu! Raon did not look back at the Bear Fire Demon. As though he trusted him completely, he focused all his strength solely on cutting down Derus Robert's neck. Jijijijijik! The Divine Sword, wrapped in crimson heat, split apart the blade of death that surged up from the Sword of Beloved Death. "That's exactly why you can't beat me." As Derus Robert nodded, as if he'd expected as much, a new blade of death surged up from the Sword of Beloved Death and slashed Raon's shoulder. "It's pointless even if you cut this blade down." He beckoned with his hand, sneering at Raon whose shoulder had been pierced by the blade of death. "No matter how many times you cut down these seven blades, they'll keep coming back to life endlessly." Derus Robert curled his lips, saying that while cutting down blades made of death aura wasn't easy in the first place, he could regenerate them the instant they were cut down anyway. "You, and that worm over there, both…." It was just as Derus Robert, mocking both Raon and the Bear Fire Demon at once, raised the Sword of Beloved Death. Jeoeoeoeong! Raon closed the distance, cutting through space without even stopping the bleeding from his wound. The Divine Sword he gripped surged forward at a speed even faster than the space-piercing Footwork, and ran through Derus Robert's chest. "Kuheok!" Derus Robert's eyes trembled as he coughed up blood, seemingly stunned that the Divine Sword had slipped past all seven blades that had surged up from the Sword of Beloved Death and struck home. But Raon's offensive was not yet over. The Demonic Sword, which had been hovering in the air waiting for its chance, dropped straight down and pierced Derus Robert's waist from the opposite side. "This speed…." Derus Robert's eyes trembled, seemingly startled by the movements of Raon and his swords that had exceeded his expectations. "From here on, it'll only get faster." The instant Raon tilted his chin, the Divine Sword piercing Derus Robert's chest surged upward, and the Demonic Sword dropped down, splitting his body in half. "Kheugeuk!" Derus Robert condensed death aura within his body to keep himself from being completely split apart, but the impact seemed far from small, as he bent at the waist and vomited blackened, dead blood and soul alike. "All you can do now is disappear right here." Raon declared he would surely destroy Derus Robert on this very spot, and flicked the blood off the blade of his Divine Sword. "Disappearing isn't hard for me. But…." Derus Robert shook his head, healing the wounds inflicted by the Divine Sword and Demonic Sword in an instant, as if he had already stepped beyond the bounds of humanity. "Before that happens, everything you're trying to protect will disappear along with me." He raised the Sword of Beloved Death, saying that Raon and the Continent itself would be erased before he ever disappeared. -That thing has truly become a monster. Wrath chewed on his lips as he watched Derus Robert's absurd regenerative power. -Not even the Devildom has regeneration like that! He ground his teeth, saying that not even the Troll King, who possessed the greatest regenerative ability of all, had regeneration on par with Derus Robert's. 'It's not strange, considering he can come back from death and even revive the dead.' Raon nodded calmly, as if he had already expected Derus Robert's regenerative power. -Then there's only one way. Wrath let out a low breath. -You must completely sever his body and soul before Derus Robert can regenerate! He narrowed his eyes, asking if that wasn't exactly why Raon had prepared the Heaven-Slaying Sword. 'You're right. But….' Raon frowned as he watched Derus Robert smiling with such composure. 'That bastard is hiding something right now.' -Hiding something? What? 'I don't know exactly what either. But it's not something related to his forces—it feels like it's Derus Robert's own power.' Wrath didn't seem to sense it, but as Raon fought Derus Robert, he felt a chilling sense of unease crawl up his spine. It was certain. Derus Robert was hiding a move he had prepared. Acting carelessly now could hand over crucial information and a chance to counterattack, so he couldn't afford to be hasty. 'Surely….' Raon nodded calmly as he charged toward Derus Robert, whose death aura was growing stronger by the moment. 'The chance will come.' * * * Peueoeoeok! At a mere gesture from the Silent Serpent Swordsman, the Bear Fire Demon was sent flying backward as if struck by a mace, blood spraying from his mouth like a fountain. "Ugh…." Despite suffering deep internal injuries, the Bear Fire Demon planted his trembling hands on the ground and pushed himself up. He moved his utterly drained legs and approached the Silent Serpent Swordsman once more. "Are you trying to play house with me or something?" The Silent Serpent Swordsman ground his teeth as if irritation had flared up, and unleashed a barrage of finely splintered sword strikes. Peobeobeobeok! The sword strikes the Silent Serpent Swordsman unleashed battered the Bear Fire Demon's entire body, and blood poured from his arms, legs, and abdomen. "N-Natsu…." Even with his whole body torn open by the sword strikes, the Bear Fire Demon struggled forward, calling the Silent Serpent Swordsman's name. The path he had crossed was stained red like a red carpet. "I said get lost already!" The Silent Serpent Swordsman brought down his sword as if to split the Bear Fire Demon fully in half and finish him off for good. Peueoeoeok! Thanks to the Bear Fire Demon stumbling, he narrowly avoided being split fully in half, but a severe diagonal gash tore open from his chest down to his waist. "Aaaagh…." Even the Bear Fire Demon couldn't seem to endure this wound, and he finally collapsed before the Silent Serpent Swordsman, gasping for breath. "I told you to get lost long ago." The Silent Serpent Swordsman ground his teeth, saying he didn't understand why the man was so desperate to die. He aimed his sword at the fallen Bear Fire Demon, clearly intent on finishing him off for good. "Natsu…." Even as he lay dying, the Bear Fire Demon, as if refusing to give up, held out the wooden dragon with a trembling hand. "T-This is the first gift I ever gave you. T-Take it…." Instead of asking him to remember, he let a smile spill from his blood-soaked lips. "Ha…?" A thick vein bulged above the Silent Serpent Swordsman's brow. "You really don't know your place, do you!" He shrieked at the Bear Fire Demon, seemingly angrier than he'd ever been even in defeat. "Fine! I'll start by smashing this trash you cherish so much!" The Silent Serpent Swordsman lowered the sword he'd meant to kill the Bear Fire Demon with, and lifted his foot instead. Twisting his trembling mouth, he stomped down, crushing the wooden dragon held in the Bear Fire Demon's hand. Kwadeudeudeuk! The sound of the wooden dragon shattering beneath the Silent Serpent Swordsman's foot rang out, both sorrowful and strangely satisfying. "Feel better now?" He snarled fiercely at the Bear Fire Demon, who couldn't even lift his head because of his wounds. "The son you knew—that Natsu—no longer exists in this world!" The Silent Serpent Swordsman sneered at the Bear Fire Demon and raised his sword once more. "I devoured his soul completely, down to the very…." It was just as he was mocking the Bear Fire Demon, boasting that he had eaten Natsu's soul. Uuuuuung! The wooden dragon that had been shattered beneath the Silent Serpent Swordsman's foot glowed a brilliant blue, whole once more. That light blended with the Bear Fire Demon's blood swirling around the Effigy Ghost, radiating a resplendent glow. "Wh-What is this…." The Silent Serpent Swordsman glared around him, eyes wide, as if he hadn't even imagined a situation like this. "D-Do you remember, Natsu." The Bear Fire Demon forced his head up and curled his lips as he looked at the flustered Silent Serpent Swordsman. "It's your favorite… game of hide-and-seek."