The Reincarnated Assassin Is a Genius Swordsman

Chapter 1526 In my childhood, I thought of myself as a genius. Specialness. I could understand a Martial Arts Manual from the Central Martial Palace archive just by reading it, and I could copy a swordsman's stance just by watching them train. Not just in Central Martial Palace, but everyone in Zieghart knew my name, "Burren Zieghart," and praised me as a genius who would leave his name in the family's history. Unlike everyone else, my father never said a word to me, but I believed he trusted me, unlike my failed older brothers, so I strove with everything I had. There were many geniuses in Zieghart, like Runaan and Martha, but I was certain I could climb over all of them and stand at the peak. After all, I was the son of Karoon Zieghart. But it didn't take long for that certainty to be shattered. Raon Zieghart. At first, Raon was no different from the others. No, in fact he was a weakling far beneath them. He was such an unremarkable kid that it was embarrassing he was, like me, a grandson of Glenn Zieghart. Raon had weak stamina and a shabby, unimpressive build, but his persistence was strangely strong. Since I didn't like that, I riled up the kids who followed me and sent them at him, but they came back beaten instead. It was absurd, but I didn't think much of it. I figured he was just sand to be trampled beneath my feet anyway. Yet before I knew it, the very self who had vowed to stand above every swordsman was kneeling before that boy. It was only on that day that I realized what a true genius was. The martial art I had desperately trained in unfolded through Raon's hands into a far more profound sequence, and the footwork that had blistered my feet danced gracefully beneath his. I was a fake. Raon, whom I had looked down on more than anyone, was the one who truly possessed the specialness to stand above every swordsman. From then on, everyone around us shouted the name "Raon Zieghart" with a sense of specialness, not "Burren Zieghart." I despaired. I despaired over the gap in innate talent, and despaired once more over my father's icy indifference. Anger toward Raon boiled up inside me. I envied the genius who had beaten me with nothing but innate talent and no effort at all. But I was mistaken. While wandering in the wake of the first failure I'd ever tasted in my life, I went to the great training ground and realized what Raon's true talent was. In Raon's locker, there were more discarded shoes than all the trainees of the Fifth Training Ground combined. They hadn't been carelessly used and tossed. They were shoes worn until their soles had completely worn away. Only then did I feel it. That Raon hadn't beaten me simply because he was lucky enough to be born talented. After that, I changed. Without thinking about my own talent, I swung my sword and practiced Footwork until my breath ran out and I collapsed. There were many hard times along the way, and many times I nearly died, but thanks to Raon's help I achieved a great deal of growth. I rose to Master and even became Grandmaster at a younger age than the Twelve Stars of the Continent became Master, even though they are called the next peak of the continent, and today I finally crossed even the wall of Transcendence. I hold a gratitude toward Raon, my friend, comrade, and benefactor, that I can never repay. Because without him, the Burren Zieghart of today would not exist. Yet upon reaching Transcendence, there was one thing I realized for certain. I respect Raon as a swordsman and as the head of house, but I have also never given up on catching up to him. Even though I said in words that I would let go of Raon, I still haven't let go of that thread. No, I couldn't let go of it. Because my goal was to stand at the peak of every swordsman. After receiving the Authority of Pride, that thought grew even deeper, and today, on reaching Transcendence, that thought became a certainty. I had been sharpening my blade in the darkness all along. A shining sword to catch up to Raon, and to defeat him. Raon is a genius who shines on his own, and I am a mediocre man who gives off light meant to be shown to others. Silence: reveal nothing. Do not call out the name of a technique, do not raise one's presence, do not show one's sequence. One without talent draws out an illegible silence in order to defeat a talented genius. Radiance: and yet it shines. To conceal is not to vanish. The light of achievement, born when ten years of ground-in patience culminates into resolve, blooms at the tip of the sword. If a genius's sword is a bolt of lightning cast down by the heavens, a mediocre man's sword is a drop of water that bores through rock after tens of millions of strikes. Sword Domain: Silent Radiance. Burren's sword advanced monotonously. There was none of the flamboyant yet refined noble etiquette he had built up over a lifetime. It was the minimal sequence left after discarding flashy techniques and shaving away every excess. That simple yet lethal sword form was the culmination of the swordsmanship he had built up. "GUAAAAAAAH!" Six-Headed Scourge stamped his foot and let out a roar. Sensing that Burren's presence had changed, he unleashed every last bit of Fighting Spirit remaining in his body. KUWAAAAAAAAH! A terrifying Aura exploded from Six-Headed Scourge's entire body. As if the Bear Fire Demon's seal itself had come undone, flames burst one after another around him, Cold Energy rose up like a wall, and poison energy, thickened even further, crumbled the ground into a swamp. "You damned snake bastard!" Martha let out a roar not to be outdone by Six-Headed Scourge and drove her sword down. "Just die already!" As if determined to carve out a path for Burren to advance, she swung her sword to the very end to cut through Six-Headed Scourge's Aura, even as she coughed up blood. Ssssss. Amid the immense Aura that could melt even an absolute being, a light so faint and subtle it was almost invisible bloomed. Before the flames it turned red, before the Cold Energy it ripened blue, and before the poison energy it dyed itself green. "All of you, disappear!" Six-Headed Scourge, seemingly unable to see that light either, let out a roar and unleashed his Aura to kill Martha and all of Light Wind Palace. HWAAAAAAK! No swordsmanship could pierce through Six-Headed Scourge's explosive Aura. But Silent Radiance advanced naturally, as if assimilating into Six-Headed Scourge's explosive Aura, yet surely, and before anyone knew it, it had sliced sharply through his neck. "Ah...!" Six-Headed Scourge, feeling that something had cut through his neck, lowered the hands that had been spewing flame and Cold Energy. "H-how could a worm...." His eyes trembled violently, as if he couldn't believe his neck had been cut by a human he had scorned. "I trained in hiding. Like a proper worm." As Burren lowered his sword, from which a faint light bloomed, blood sprayed from Six-Headed Scourge's neck and his head fell. "Ngh...." As Six-Headed Scourge's breath cut off, his head fell onto the poisoned ground he himself had created and melted away without leaving even a single bone fragment. Swordsmanship that could be seen was swordsmanship already read; to avoid being read by a genius, one had to forget the sword oneself. It was the moment a mediocre man, by whittling himself away, arrived at the instantaneous talent a genius had possessed from the very start. "Hoo...." Burren raised a trembling hand and gazed at his sword, not a single drop of blood flowing from it. Even now, the sensation of the moment he cut through Six-Headed Scourge's neck remained vivid in his grip. Swordsmanship that could cut a throat as though the opponent had let their guard down, even when they hadn't. It didn't suit him, and yet it was a martial art that suited him, who had honed his sword in hiding, all too perfectly. "Woooohoo!" "Lord Burren did it!" "He cut off Six-Headed Scourge's head!" "That's our Vice Palace Master for you!" "He's Palace Master now! Light Wind Palace Master Burren Zieghart!" "Lady Runaan was amazing too!" "Right! She froze solid the entire poison formation Six-Headed Scourge made at full power!" "Not only did the two of them reach Transcendence, they even opened a Sword Domain! Amazing!" The Light Wind Palace swordsmen cheered, praising Burren and Runaan, who had played the biggest role in killing Six-Headed Scourge. "Um...." Burren blushed as he listened to the Light Wind Palace swordsmen's shouts. The name that always hung on their voices was Raon's, but hearing his own name today, he felt pride and embarrassment at the same time. "Hey! What about me?" Martha frowned as she watched the scene. "Why aren't you shouting my name?" She bared her white teeth, demanding to know why they were only shouting Burren and Runaan's names. "L-Lady Martha was amazing too!" "Congratulations on reaching Transcendence!" "Y-your voice was really loud!" "You gave us vitality!" The Light Wind Palace swordsmen, having seemingly focused only on Burren and Runaan, praised Martha with awkward faces. "You little brats!" Martha ground her teeth, seeming even more annoyed at the sight. "I used up all my strength in the battle against the White Blood Religion!" She stamped her foot as if wronged and lunged at the Light Wind Palace swordsmen. "Impressive, but I'm envious too. I've fallen far behind...." Mark Goetun sighed as he watched Burren, Martha, and Runaan, who had gotten ahead of him. "Not that far. We're standing on the wall too now." Trevin patted Mark Goetun's shoulder, saying they too would soon be able to reach Transcendence. CRACKLE! As Six-Headed Scourge's body fell onto the poisoned ground and completely melted away, a single transparent Aura surged up from within it. "W-what! Isn't he dead yet?" Martha ground her teeth at the sight and raised her sword. "No...." Runaan shook her head, stopping Martha. "The Bear Fire Demon... has come to say his final farewell...." She let out a heavy breath, saying that the transparent Aura wasn't an enemy, but the Bear Fire Demon's soul. HWOOOOOK! As if giving thanks for having stopped his son's body, the Bear Fire Demon's soul swirled around the Light Wind Palace swordsmen before fading away like sea foam. The swordsmen, seeming to know where he was going, all closed their eyes for a moment. KWAAAAAAAK! After the Bear Fire Demon's soul disappeared, the Poison Demon's Formation Six-Headed Scourge had created shattered into pieces like a rotten eggshell. "What about Lord Raon! What happened to Lord Raon and the Demonic Dragon of Destruction?" "It's quiet. Did they go somewhere else?" "O-over there! It's over there!" The Light Wind Palace swordsmen turned their gaze west at Dorian's words. KUGUGUGUGU! In the sky dyed black, a Demonic Dragon as vast as that sky itself was plummeting down, having lost its head. "Waaaaaaah!" "Lord Raon won!" "He even took down the Demonic Dragon of Destruction!" "That man really is a god of the sword! A Sword God!" "Honestly, Sword God suits him better than Sword Emperor!" The Light Wind Palace swordsmen sent Raon throat-tearing cheers and applause, for cutting down the Demonic Dragon of Destruction right after Derus Robert. "He killed it in that short time?" Martha let out a hollow laugh, as if at a loss for words. "A real monster is a monster, alright. A crazy monster, at that!" She shook her head, saying it was embarrassing that she herself had reached Transcendence. "As expected...." Runaan gazed at Raon while holding her sword, which she had made together with him, close to her chest. "Amazing...." She bowed her head, a flush on her cheeks that hadn't even shown while fighting. "I thought I'd caught up a little...." Burren let out a breath like a sigh as he looked at Raon. "There's still so far left to go that I can't even see the end." He sank down onto the ground, seemingly drained of strength both physically and mentally. Yet he clapped, a faint smile on his face, as if vowing never to give up on catching up to Raon. * * * "So Light Wind Palace won, huh." Raon let out an admiring exclamation as he watched the Light Wind Palace swordsmen on the ground below. "Impressive." The Light Wind Palace swordsmen, their bodies battered to a wreck from fighting Six-Headed Scourge, could barely even stand, yet they were shouting out cheers of joy, having apparently claimed victory without a single sacrifice. 'That was much faster than I expected.' He had entrusted Six-Headed Scourge to Light Wind Palace, but he had thought it would take far more time than this, that there would be more injuries than this, and that there would even be deaths. But thanks to Burren, Martha, and Runaan awakening and opening their Sword Domains, it seemed they had been able to win without the death of a single comrade. -Kheup.... Wrath sniffled with his hand over his mouth. 'What's wrong?' Raon's eyes widened as he watched Wrath suddenly choke up. -This King's children.... Wrath's chin trembled as he looked at Light Wind Palace with blurry eyes. -They are far too admirable! He screamed, overwhelmed with emotion that the swordsmen he had raised had defeated Six-Headed Scourge. 'Sigh....' Raon sighed as he looked at Wrath. There was so much he could refute in what Wrath said that he didn't even feel like bothering. 'Derus Robert, the Demonic Dragon of Destruction, and now Six-Headed Scourge are all dead, so....' Raon turned his gaze away from Light Wind Palace and looked up at the sky over the Holy Sword Alliance. 'Now only that side is left, huh.' He narrowed his eyes as he watched Pride, the Monarch of Pride, and Archangel Michael, who were still locked in a standoff. 'Their Auras are similar, but Pride seems to have the upper hand... Hm?' Raon's eyes widened as he watched the standoff between Pride and Michael. 'What's this? The Ring of Fire....' He looked down at his own chest, his brow furrowing. 'It's stopped.'