The Reincarnated Assassin Is a Genius Swordsman

Chapter 1506 War has a rhythm. Those who have been through many battlefields know that rhythm. Drums beat, archers' arrows blanket the sky, spear walls clash, and swordsmen surge forward like flashes of silver light. One side advances, while the other falls back to catch its breath. Most wars repeat that rhythm until they tip to one side and come to an end. The Continental War, too, was following that same rhythm. When the Demonic Dragon of Destruction appeared, the Alliance forces' terror had amplified to the point of exploding, only to be balanced out by the appearance of the two Spirit Kings; conversely, the leaders of the Five Demons whom Derus Robert had secretly resurrected were struck down by the leaders of the Five Kings, twisting the battlefield's breath as well. Both the Continental Alliance and the forces of destruction, thinking this war would drag on, caught their breath, and not a single one of them looked up at the sky split by green light. It was only natural. With the Demonic Dragon's Authority of Destruction exploding and the powers of the absolute beings colliding, the sky was endlessly shattering, so there was no reason to look up at it. Instead, the change began with a smell. Battlefields naturally give rise to smells one would never encounter in ordinary life. Blood and iron are only the basics—there's the stench of burnt flesh and bone, and even the soil soaked through with blood and sweat. After just a few hours of war, one's sense of smell dies, and nothing can be smelled at all. But when the green light split the sky over the Holy Sword Alliance, everyone standing in the Holy Sword Alliance's Holy Ground caught a scent of something. It began with the smell of water. Not the clear scent of a spring, nor the stench mixed with blood. It was long-stagnant water—a smell rising from a deep, deep layer at the bottom of a swamp that had never once seen sunlight. After the water came the acrid smell of flame. Unlike the murky scent of water, it was a smell as gaudy and unsettling as fireworks, one that crushed the scent of magic filling the battlefield. After that came scents of earth, wind, and iron unlike anything felt in ordinary life. It wasn't that their dead sense of smell had revived. The scent of that being's presence passed straight through the nose and went directly into the mind. The moment all five scents had spread and permeated the space between the Continental Alliance and the forces of destruction, the battlefield came to a halt. Kugugugugugu The change came first to Habun Castle's cavalry charging on the right flank. The war horses that had been galloping reared up on their front legs all at once, and the cavalrymen were flung from their saddles before they even knew what was happening. The horses had sensed it first. Yet they did not flee. Unable to find a direction to run, they only spun in place. The martial artists of the Beast Union moving on the left flank reacted around the same time. Following the breath of beasts, they sensed that being's scent faster than any human, and with the fur on their bodies standing on end, they clutched their heads and collapsed to the ground—a posture one would expect only from herbivores standing before a predator. The one responsible for all this change was a child shorter than a grown woman. Wearing a serpent helmet with twelve horns and six eyes, the child created a river of blood across the battlefield simply by walking with force, as though playing in water. The knights of Owen, charging to avenge their fallen commander, were crushed armor and all into pools of blood, while Balkar's mage corps, preparing to intercept, caught the scent of the green current and melted away, leaving only their robes behind. Behind the child approaching with an unblemished smile, the faint shadow of a massive six-headed serpent was rising into view. The Six-Headed Scourge, Yukdugeop. This title means that each time one of its necks is cut, the calamity returns doubled. At the emergence of this new calamity following the Demonic Dragon of Destruction, the martial artists of the Continental Alliance lost even the thought of resisting, their faces pale as they only retreated. "F-fall back!" "That thing—we can't!" "We c-can't even get close…." "A m-monster. It's a monster no less than the Demonic Dragon of Destruction!" The martial artists of the Continental Alliance watched in horror as everyone who approached Yukdugeop died without even managing to swing a sword once, and they fled. "So weak, and yet you have no courage either? The corners of Yukdugeop's mouth curled up long and wide. "Aren't you ashamed before your ancestors?" He smiled brightly, telling them to think of the humans who had once killed him. "A-aaaaaargh!" "Die!" Sensing that they could not flee, the terror-stricken martial artists charged at Yukdugeop. Pfffshhh! With a light wave of his hand, Yukdugeop literally burst apart the dozen or so martial artists who had targeted him. Pfshhk! Yukdugeop stepped on and burst the head of a knight who had barely managed to keep his form, then advanced once more toward the Continental Alliance. "Even after hundreds of years, humans haven't grown at all." He narrowed his eyes as though genuinely unamused. "What a shame." It was just as Yukdugeop clicked his tongue in disinterest that a man appeared before him who did not flee. "Naru." It was the Bear Fire Demon. He stood before Yukdugeop, having laid Natsu down behind him. "Naru? Ah!" Yukdugeop let out a small exclamation, as though he recognized the name the Bear Fire Demon had called. "The owner of this body was Naru, wasn't it?" He smiled as though he knew that name well. "You must be that child's father." Yukdugeop looked the Bear Fire Demon up and down, narrowing his eyes. "Unfortunately, I'm different from that kid." He shook his head, looking at Natsu behind the Bear Fire Demon. "I made sure to devour that child completely!" Yukdugeop's mouth split open wide—not the look of a child, but a chilling shape as if a serpent itself were truly smiling. "Such delicious flesh it was. You have no idea how much that little one cried out for you." He rubbed his two small, white hands together, calling it a very pleasant memory. "I—I know…." The Bear Fire Demon let out a deep breath, lowering his trembling chin. "B-because I can't feel Naru's presence in you at all." Even as he admitted it, his lips trembled violently, as though he could not steady his heart. "I like this body, so I'll let its father off just this once." Yukdugeop waved his hand as if telling him to step back. But the Bear Fire Demon did not move his legs even at Yukdugeop's offer. It was not because fear had frozen his body. He was staring at the serpent that had taken over his son's body with eyes that spoke of a will to fight. ** "You've lost your mind." Derus Robert twisted his mouth as he blocked the Divine Sword. "I'll admit the Bear Fire Demon overpowered the Silent Serpent Swordsman. But that thing is different." He scoffed, his eyes sweeping over the Bear Fire Demon standing before Yukdugeop. "The Six-Headed Scourge is yet another calamity. Even if he's not on the level of the Demonic Dragon of Destruction, he's more than enough to wipe out your entire Alliance alone." Derus Robert twisted his mouth, as though convinced of his own victory the moment Archangel Michael and the worst monster, Yukdugeop, had appeared. "Having played the role of a human for so long, you must know your fair share of words for human relationships." Raon looked down at Derus Robert, shaking his chin. "What do you call a husband who has lost his wife?" "A widower." Derus Robert frowned, as if asking why he'd bother asking something so obvious. "Then a wife who has lost her husband?" "A widow." "A child who has lost their parents?" "An orphan, of course." Even as he answered, he narrowed his brow as though he couldn't fathom the reason for the questions. "And lastly, what do you call a parent who has lost a child?" Raon steadied his breath as he threw out his final question. "Hmm…." Derus Robert, who had been answering as smoothly as flowing water, no longer opened his mouth. "That…." Derus Robert lowered his brows, as if he too did not know the answer. "As you said, a husband who loses his wife is called a widower, a wife who loses her husband is called a widow, and a child who loses their parents becomes an orphan. But there's no word for a parent who has lost a child. It's only forced into expression through the sorrow of a parent burying their child." (E/N: Another impossible to properly translate passage as it uses korean idiom) Raon closed his eyes, thinking of the parents who had lost him in his past life, then opened them again. "We didn't come here thinking we could unconditionally overpower the Silent Serpent Swordsman. In other words…." He looked at the Bear Fire Demon standing before Yukdugeop and gave a heavy nod. "It means we've prepared for that Six-Headed Scourge as well." Unlike before, Raon wasn't taunting Derus Robert; he steadied his breath with a solemn gaze. "I told you before, didn't I? That I'd show you the power of a father." He nodded, bringing up again the words the Bear Fire Demon had said when he saved Natsu from the Silent Serpent Swordsman. "Yukdugeop will be buried here because of the Bear Fire Demon. And…." Raon cut through death with the Divine Sword and Demonic Sword, both imbued with the Willpower of Heaven-Slaying. "So will you!" He carried the sword that had split death straight through, driving it into Derus Robert's chest. "Kraaaaaargh!" Derus Robert let out a scream and tried to retreat, but this time Raon would not let him go. Wooooong! Raon predicted the direction Derus Robert would retreat, stayed on him, and swung the Divine Sword and Demonic Sword in succession. Blades of flame and blades of frost followed one another like waves, tearing apart his enemy's bones and flesh. "Kkeuuugh…." Derus Robert drew up his death aura to restore the edge of the Sword of Beloved Death, but Raon had already closed in before him. Craaaaack! Raon cut down the deathly blade of the Sword of Beloved Death that Derus Robert had just restored, then burst open his abdomen with the Divine Sword—Heavy Sky Cannon. Detonated too quickly to unleash its full power, it was still more than enough to deal a heavy blow. "Keuheok!" Derus Robert, unable to adapt to Raon's suddenly changed Martial Prowess, only kept retreating, his brow furrowed. 'Th-there's no opening. No opening to escape!' Raon, unable to hold back, had released his power first. He too needed to bring out the power he had kept hidden in response, but the man wasn't giving him the chance. 'This leech of a man. How is he keeping up with me so well?' Could it be… that he'd been deliberately letting him flee until now? Whenever he himself had been pushed back and forced to retreat, Raon hadn't pursued him, only watching from behind. At the time, he'd thought Raon was just holding back his strength, but now it seemed Raon had been reading his every movement instead. 'To think even that was part of his plan….' Derus Robert ground his teeth. 'What a filthy, ruthless bastard.' He bit his lip and quickly turned his gaze. 'Something to steal Raon's attention… hm!' It was just as Derus Robert bit his lip, hoping for the smallest opening. Pfffshhh! The Bear Fire Demon, who had been blocking the way before Yukdugeop, burst apart into red blood as if it were a lie. 'That's it!' Sensing that this moment was his only chance, Derus Robert opened his parched mouth. "Look! See what's become of that father figure you were so confident in!" He curled his lips upward, shouting for Raon to witness the Bear Fire Demon's death. Kuuuuung! Raon showed no dismay at the Bear Fire Demon's death, and without even looking that way, he brought the Divine Sword down on the retreating Derus Robert. Pfshhk! He slashed through Derus Robert's shoulder, a cold light flashing in his eyes. "Y-you…." Derus Robert's eyes trembled in shock at Raon's movement, so different from what he had expected. "I told you already." Raon opened his quivering lips as he cut clean through the shoulder of a now-flustered Derus Robert. "That I'd show you the power of a father." He lowered his chin with a heavy tone, as though he had foreseen the Bear Fire Demon's death all along. "That is his revenge."