The Reincarnated Assassin Is a Genius Swordsman

Chapter 1509 Kugugugugugugu! The moment a crimson crack was etched into the eastern sky, the war cries of the battlefield, the roar of a swordsman charging with a broken blade, and the screams of the dying all cut off at once, as if someone had pressed a palm against the strings of an instrument called the world. The crack spreading across the entire eastern sky stretched thin from one end of the horizon to the other like a fracture in glass, then shattered all at once. Blooming from that rift were the dark red flames of destruction. The worst flame of the dimension surged upward as if to consume the very sky. The flames of destruction burned fiercely, yet illuminated nothing. They simply erased everything they touched. Blood, iron, clouds, and even humans and monsters alike were melted away, as though nothing had ever existed there to begin with. The ancient pine forest that had endured for centuries within the Holy Sword Alliance's Holy Ground was erased in its entirety. It did not burn, nor did it collapse. The forest's very existence was simply deleted from that spot. All that remained was a forest-shaped hole gouged into the earth. The flames falling as if to erase the entire eastern land split apart, and from within it emerged a being that would tear the world asunder. When it spread one wing, the sun was blotted out, and when it raised the other, the moon was pushed away. When the Demonic Dragon, which for a thousand years had permitted only a single blade, unleashed its flames of destruction while clad in dark red armor of ruin, the mountain ridge guarding the rear of the Holy Ground curled up and was erased in a perfect circle. Hoooooooo! While the east was being erased by destruction, in the west, color died. Starting from the sky, the world slowly began to fade into ash grey. The blood-soaked red-green fields, the blue banners that were the knights' pride, the flowing river, and the swirling currents of mana all turned to a grey as if entirely burned away, hardening like stone statues. One of Owen's knights, as if entranced, stared at the encroaching border of grey and reached out a hand. The instant it touched the grey, his hand, arm, shoulder, and then torso lost their color in sequence, and he collapsed with his waist severed in half as though cut apart. Even the blood pouring from the knight's corpse turned grey and sank away. Onto the ash-grey earth, it descended. Neither the eight wings that were the symbol of an archangel, nor the dazzling, flickering halo, nor even the dignity so noble it bordered on sacred could be felt. What existed there was simply nothingness. Only a chilling Sword Aura bloomed, one that felt as though merely approaching it would leave one's whole body hacked apart and dying. Michael, the strongest of the heavenly realm and called the Archangel of the Soulless Blade, cleaved heaven and earth simply by gripping in her hand something that was a sword, and yet was not. Behind her, the splitting sky and earth were dyed grey, and everything that had existed beneath it froze as though time itself had stopped. The Demonic Dragon and the Archangel did not look at one another. The two beings, who by rights should not have existed in this Mental World, raised eyes blooming with Killing Intent, as if enraged at the single swordsman blocking their path. Yet it was neither the Demonic Dragon, nor the Archangel, nor the swordsman standing before them who broke the silence. Kyaang. Owen's Knight Commander dropped his sword. "Ahh…." The man, who had never once dropped his sword through over a hundred battles, stared at his hand refusing to obey him, then simply collapsed where he stood. "Aaaaargh!" "I-I can't breathe…." "Save me. No, just kill me!" The moment their commander fell, the knights threw down their swords and dropped to their knees. They bent even at the waist, as if they had no intention whatsoever of defying beings that human strength could never hope to withstand. "Oh my god…." The chief Magician of the magic tower murmured words that could have been a gasp of awe or of despair, and closed her eyes. "O God." She could not even bring herself to think of casting magic, and clasped her hands together instead. A person meant to explore the world's principles was praying to a god whose existence was not even certain. "Kuhheuk…." "N-no. Those things aren't something humans can stop…." "Monstrous forces beyond all reason…." The other Magicians, too, seemed utterly overwhelmed by the pressure radiating from the Demonic Dragon of Destruction and Archangel Michael, their faces pale as they vomited blood and pressed their heads to the blood-soaked earth. "Ngheuuu…." Conversely, the Holy Knight Order's commander, who should have been the one praying to God, could not utter a single word. He bowed his head, foaming at the mouth, as though even looking at the Demonic Dragon and the Archangel was terrifying. "Aaaaaaaah!" "T-there is no god…." "If a god truly existed, it never would have created things like those!" The Priests and Holy Knights hurled away their emblems, insulting with their own mouths the god they had believed in their entire lives. The battle line collapsed. There was no order to retreat. The mouths of those who should have given that order were sealed shut by despair. There were those consumed by despair who fled. Some collapsed as their legs gave out mid-escape, and clawed at the ground howling like beasts. Someone laughed. That mad laughter spread across the entire battlefield like an infection. There were even those who, convinced they could never win, drove blades into their own chests. With nothing more than the Demonic Dragon of Destruction and Archangel Michael unleashing Martial Prowess honed to its ultimate peak, humans were paralyzed with terror, crawling on the ground as though they regarded themselves as mere ants. Tens of thousands had stood there. Tens of thousands now lay prostrate. They pressed their foreheads to the ground, clawed at the dirt with their nails, cried out for their parents, screamed for God, and went mad. But one man did not waver. Even as he stood closest of all to bear the Martial Prowess of Archangel Michael and the Demonic Dragon of Destruction, he wore a smile at the corner of his mouth. "So this is your full strength. It's less than I expected…." Raon Zieghart. Head of house Zieghart and Alliance leader of the Holy Sword Alliance. The legendary swordsman who bore the epithet Sword Immortal of the World tilted his chin. "It's nothing much." * * * "….." Archangel Michael moved first. Despite her expressionless face, her hand, laced with irritation as though her pride had been wounded, thrust her sword forward. The blade, flickering grey, fell with terrifying speed. Kugugugugugu! The Demonic Dragon of Destruction, too, had no intention of holding back. It swung its tail, ablaze with the Authority of Destruction, at a speed ill-matched to its size, as if to obliterate Raon in a single stroke. The instant Archangel Michael's blade and the Demonic Dragon of Destruction's assault came at him simultaneously, Raon stepped forward. Step. The moment his foot struck the ground, Raon thrust out the Heavenly Drive and the Wooden Ring Sword together. Raging Blizzard Fang. The new swordsmanship, weaving together Fangs of Insanity swung by instinct and Blizzard Sword Art into one, unfolded on the battlefield for the very first time. With the Heavenly Drive falling rough yet graceful, he blocked Archangel Michael's blade, and by twisting the Wooden Ring Sword as it surged up fierce as a wave yet gentle, he deflected the tail the Demonic Dragon of Destruction had struck down. Kuwaaaaaaang! Archangel Michael's longsword lost its target and struck the ground, while the Demonic Dragon of Destruction's tail was sent flying uselessly into the sky. Both beings widened their eyes at once, as if in shock that a lone human had withstood their power. Step. Even though he had withstood the might of the Demonic Dragon of Destruction and Archangel Michael alone, Raon stepped closer still, as if it were nothing at all. What showed in his eyes was not fear, but the thrill of wanting to fight more. "W-what are you doing!" Derus Robert's chin trembled as he took another step back from Raon. "Strike him together! Kill him right now!" He raised a finger, shouting for them to keep Raon from approaching him. "Don't give me orders." Archangel Michael said not to command her, seemingly irritated, but contrary to her words, she stamped her foot down and drove her longsword forward fiercely. Her blade extended, dyeing space grey, and fell toward Raon's throat. Kugugugugugugu! The Demonic Dragon of Destruction, not because of Derus Robert's order but seemingly enraged at the very existence of the human called Raon, summoned and fired off five massive orbs charged with flames of destruction. Step. Once again, Raon did not move hastily. He walked at ease, as though out for a stroll in a garden, moving the hands that gripped the Heavenly Drive and the Wooden Ring Sword. Jjajajajajak! This time, he knocked aside Michael's thrust with the Wooden Ring Sword, and with the Heavenly Drive, cleaved through the orbs condensed with flames of destruction in a single stroke. Kuwaaaaaang! Michael's deflected thrust punched through space to the left, creating a massive rift, while the split and burst flames of destruction unleashed a terrifying shockwave. "Tch…." Archangel Michael, frowning, twisted her blade that had missed its mark and swung it right back. As though her pride had been wounded, she brought down a fierce slash laced with emotion. The grey energy flowing along her blade was slowing the very flow of time in that space. [Kuoooooo!] The Demonic Dragon of Destruction hastily drew in a breath. It sucked the surrounding air into its throat with enough force to warp space itself, then exhaled it all at once. It was not at full strength, but it was a breath of destruction more than capable of burning an entire nation to ash. Ssuuuuuu. Raon drew a short breath and stepped into the space where Archangel Michael's blade and the Demonic Dragon of Destruction's breath intersected. With the blade of the red-hot Heavenly Drive, he traced a round wrapping cloth as though stitching it, and with the Wooden Ring Sword, he spread its flat wide and wielded the Heavy Sky Cannon. Huuuuuung! Raon wrapped the Demonic Dragon's breath of destruction with the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's Dance of the Golden Flame, and drew in Michael's blade strike with the suction force of the Heavy Sky Cannon. After sealing off the energies of the Demonic Dragon of Destruction and Archangel Michael from spreading outward, he crossed the two swords. Jjeoooong! As the Heavenly Drive charged with the breath of destruction and the Wooden Ring Sword bearing Michael's blade strike collided, the space before Raon swelled as if about to burst, then slowly subsided. He had made the explosive energy of the breath of destruction clash against Michael's suppressing energy, pitting them against each other to minimize the damage. "T-this can't be…." Derus Robert's chin trembled, as though he couldn't believe it even with his own eyes. "Hmm." [Grrrrrr….] Archangel Michael and the Demonic Dragon of Destruction, too, glared at Raon with wide eyes, as if they had never imagined their power could be offset in such a way. "I've taken as much as I'm willing to take, so…." Raon stepped forward with his left foot, bending his upper body slightly. Taking a stance to charge, he looked in turn at Archangel Michael, the Demonic Dragon of Destruction, and Derus Robert standing before him. "Now it's my turn, isn't it?" Raon detonated the aura gathered at the tip of his foot. Treading the Supreme Harmony Steps that advanced as though piercing through space, he arrived behind Derus Robert in a fraction of an instant. "Behind you!" Derus Robert tried desperately to pull back, but it was already too late. Raon's blade was already lunging toward Derus Robert's throat. "….." Archangel Michael, as though she had read Raon's movement, thrust her longsword at the Heavenly Drive aimed at Derus Robert. Kugugugugugu! The Demonic Dragon of Destruction, too, as though it had predicted the direction of Raon's movement, aimed a massive spear forged from flames of destruction at his back. Kyaaaaaang! But Raon, wearing a mocking smile as though his true target from the very start had never been Derus Robert but Archangel Michael and the Demonic Dragon of Destruction, changed the path of the Heavenly Drive and released the Wooden Ring Sword from his grip. Chwaaaaaak! The Heavenly Drive, which had been heading for Derus Robert, shot upward like a thunderbolt, violently knocking aside Archangel Michael's blade and slashing her shoulder, while the Wooden Ring Sword shattered the spear of destruction summoned by the Dragon, piercing through its chest and twisting. "Kheuk!" [Kuooooo!] Archangel Michael and the Demonic Dragon of Destruction, wounded by the unexpected counterattack, let out low groans and fell back. "Raon Zieghart. You…." Derus Robert, seemingly startled by the sight, had death itself trembling in his eyes. "It'd be a problem if you're already this surprised." Raon twisted the corner of his mouth as he raised once more the Heavenly Drive and the Wooden Ring Sword, dripping with the blood of Archangel Michael and the Demonic Dragon of Destruction. "Because from here on, it's the real thing."