The Reincarnated Assassin Is a Genius Swordsman

Chapter 1541 "I was reincarnated with my memories intact." Raon bit his lip as he revealed to Glenn that he was a reincarnator. 'I'm scared.' He was terrified, trembling all over, that Glenn might no longer see him as his grandson. In a way, it was a creepy thing—a grown man becoming a child and pretending to be his grandson. But no matter how frightening and terrifying it was, he had to say it now. Never revealing the truth and hiding it forever would be no way to treat someone who had given up his life for him. "Hm." Glenn gazed steadily into Raon's trembling eyes, then let out a short breath. "I see." Contrary to Raon's expectations, he calmly accepted the fact that Raon was a reincarnator and brought the cup to his lips. "...What?" Raon blinked blankly, watching Glenn empty his cup with a calm gaze. "I— I said I'm a reincarnator?" His voice rose on its own, out of sheer disbelief. "Yes. I heard you." Glenn tilted his head as if to ask why Raon was repeating himself when he'd already heard him. His reaction was so different from what Raon had expected that it was actually bewildering. "You're not surprised?" Raon struck the table and rose to his feet. "I'm not just reincarnated—I'm telling you I have the memories of my past life." He frowned deeply, wondering why Glenn was being so calm. "If I had remained on the Continent, I would certainly have been surprised. But this place is the Heavenly Realm." Glenn lightly tapped his fingers on the table where the cup sat. "It's a place where one can learn of the mysterious and bizarre happenings of every dimension. A reincarnator with memories isn't all that surprising a thing." He shook his head calmly, saying Raon's situation wasn't that big a deal. "Ah…." Raon let out a low groan, only now realizing why Glenn hadn't been surprised. 'True enough.' This place called the Heavenly Realm was where monsters who had ascended to the ranks of the strongest in their own dimensions gathered. To immortals who watched over every dimension as if it were their own living room and casually tore through the universe, something like reincarnation didn't seem like a big deal. 'That's a relief.' Raon let out a sigh of relief. If Glenn had remained on the Continent, the situation he'd feared might have come to pass, but to Glenn now, reincarnation seemed to be something he could accept calmly. "And even if I had remained on the Continent…." Glenn lowered his cup and gave a short click of his tongue. "I would certainly have been surprised, but nothing would have changed from how things are now." He looked at Raon with a gentle gaze, as if embracing his young grandson. "Whether you were reincarnated or regressed, you are my grandson, and a child of Zieghart." Glenn nodded calmly, as if to say he would accept Raon as his grandson no matter what form he took. "Let me say it again. Thank you for becoming my grandson." He said thank you in return, lightly clinking his own cup against Raon's. "Grandfather…." Raon met Glenn's gaze and bit his lip deeply. The sincerity that came from Glenn's calm eyes made him feel as though tears might come unbidden, so he lowered his head. "You've become quite sentimental since I last saw you." Glenn chuckled softly, watching Raon lower his head. "Well, I suppose it was thanks to you that I only came to feel human emotions in my later years." He closed his eyes briefly and opened them again, as if recalling his own past through Raon. "Then shall we hear our grandson's story of his past life?" Glenn looked at Raon and leaned back in his dining chair. "Hearing the story of a past life directly from a reincarnator isn't a common thing, even here in the Heavenly Realm." He nodded, as if telling Raon to speak of everything from his past life. "Yes. The first thing I remember is…." Raon was about to tell the story of his past life with a faint smile, when— "Ah, before that." Glenn raised his hand and gave a light wave of his fingers. "The cup is empty." He pointed to his own cup, asking that it be filled before he heard the long story. "As much as you like." Raon smiled brightly and poured liquor into Glenn's cup. "It's going to be quite a long story, so I'll fill it all the way up." * * * -D-damn it…. Wrath's eyes darted about as his lips trembled. -Raon Zieghart! Where in the world did you disappear to! Are you cowardly ascending alone! He pushed forward through the pitch-black space that led he knew not where, shouting curses at Raon. -He was definitely here just now…. Wrath chewed on his lip, his gaze darting around quickly. It looked like the kind of space humans called the universe, but this wasn't the real universe. It was a small crevice in the passage leading to the Heavenly Realm—a space no more than an alleyway branching off a main road. -Why has this king ended up trapped here? Raon had been moving toward the Heavenly Realm when he suddenly vanished like an illusion. Thinking he had lost sight of Raon, he let out a hearty curse and tried to descend back to the surface, but he couldn't escape this space. -Strangely, I can still faintly sense that ascended brat Raon's presence. If Raon had properly ascended, his presence should have vanished completely, but strangely, Raon's aura was quietly lingering somewhere nearby. Since he himself didn't know much about Ascension, he had no idea what was going on. -And on top of that…. Wrath swallowed hard and turned his eyes to the left. -What the hell is that damn chain. Why…. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of a blue-tinged chain piercing through the empty air, its end embedded in another space. -Why is this king's crest engraved on that thing! * * * Raon shared cups with Glenn as he brought up the stories of his past life one by one. From the moment his memory began, he was already caught in Derus Robert's grasp; he had honed his assassination skills through torture and brainwashing; despite not being especially strong in Martial Prowess, his assassination abilities were recognized and he became the head of Shadow; and finally, he had saved Lord Ephilan and his son, only to be caught by Derus Robert and killed for it. He told Glenn every moment of his past life that he could remember. Glenn didn't just listen attentively to Raon's story—like any grandfather, he chimed in with reactions along the way. Hearing that Raon had been kidnapped by Derus Robert at such a young age, he bellowed, 'Touching children? That bastard's very nature must be rotten to the core! Good riddance that he's dead!' Hearing that Raon had learned assassination techniques through torture and brainwashing, Glenn frowned and said, 'Pathetic! Instead of honing his own Martial Prowess and building up his own power, to commit such filthy deeds only in the shadows—that is the attitude of a lowly man!' But it was different when he heard that Raon's assassination abilities had been recognized and he'd become the head of Shadow. Glenn praised him, saying, 'As expected, there's nothing our grandson can't do! To become head at such a young age!' and then drew a deep smile, saying it had been the right choice to entrust Zieghart to him. Finally, upon hearing that Raon had saved Lord Ephilan and his son only to be killed by Derus Robert for it, Glenn fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking again. "It's a shame that you, an assassin, couldn't escape from Derus Robert, but thinking about it now, it's a relief." Glenn nodded, calling the death of Raon the assassin a relief. "A relief?" Raon looked at Glenn, his eyes widening. "Yes. That single act of a life-saving sword, sparing Lord Ephilan and his son, is what created the you of today—Sword God Raon Zieghart." Glenn nodded, saying that it seemed to be thanks to Raon's choice to save Lord Ephilan that the special event of reincarnating with his memories intact had come to pass. "If you had been reincarnated without ever having wielded that life-saving sword, you never would have been able to oppose Derus Robert. The realm you've reached now was only possible because you possess the warmth to know the preciousness of people." He smiled, saying he was proud that Raon had thought of others even in the worst of circumstances. "But…." Raon shook his head as he listened to Glenn's words. "I killed innocent people, under Derus Robert's orders. That…." "It's a sad thing. But don't regret the past." Glenn lowered his chin, his eyes calm. "There's nothing anyone could have done if they were brainwashed at such a young age. If anything, I want to praise you. The moment you broke free of the brainwashing, you saved someone even knowing your own life was in danger—that's not something just anyone could do." He let out a low sound of admiration, saying that even he himself couldn't have made the choice Raon made—to save someone the instant he broke free of Derus Robert's brainwashing. "And thanks to that, didn't we end up meeting?" Glenn smiled brightly and gripped Raon's shoulder firmly. "After hearing your story, I'm even more proud that you are my grandson." He wore a smile filled with pride, as if to wash away all of Raon's worries. "Grandfather…." Raon lowered his gaze to beneath the table as he listened to Glenn's words. "…Thank you." Glenn's sincere heart came across so warmly that he felt tears well up despite himself. Strangely, though his cultivation had surpassed that of a human, his emotions seemed to have grown even more sensitive than an ordinary person's. "Raon." Glenn smiled faintly, as if he understood Raon's feelings. "Do you happen to remember the last thing I said to you?" He suddenly asked whether Raon remembered the words he'd spoken before leaving the surface. "The last…?" Raon narrowed his eyes as he listened to Glenn's words. "Ah, you left me words about my name." Glenn had ascended after leaving him with the words that his name, Raon, didn't mean shadow, but joy. "That's right." Glenn smiled brightly and nodded. "So, how was it? Did you come here having lived a joyful and happy life, as I'd hoped?" He shrugged, asking whether Raon had lived joyfully, true to the name he himself had given him. "Joyfully, huh…." Raon ran a hand through his hair and let out a low groan. 'Did I live joyfully?' After Glenn had left, he'd focused solely on cultivation and war, so much so that he hadn't even noticed how time was passing. He trained Swordsmen, gathered allies, and endlessly refined plans and strategies to deceive Derus Robert. Thanks to that, he'd caught Derus Robert and the Demonic Dragon of Destruction and won the war, but joy and happiness hadn't really felt tangible to him. He had thought about spending more time with his family from then on, drinking with friends, getting married and having children to pursue happiness as an ordinary person—but with his Ascension, all of it had become like a dream. But he decided to lie, thinking that telling Glenn that story might only make him feel pity. "Yes. I lived joyfully." Raon said he had enjoyed himself plenty, smiling brightly. In truth, getting his revenge had felt refreshing, and far more people had survived than he'd expected, which was satisfying enough on its own. "No." Glenn's once-gentle gaze now gleamed with a noble intensity, like that of an immortal, too lofty to dare defy. "That isn't joy. It's merely satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment." He shook his head firmly, saying that the emotion Raon spoke of was different from happiness. "You still haven't experienced proper joy and happiness." Glenn sighed, his eyes sinking once more, as though pitying his grandson for having grown up too soon, beyond his years. "And with such a sudden Ascension, you must still have lingering attachments to the surface." Glenn smiled faintly, as though he understood Raon's heart even better than Raon himself did, having gone through the same thing. "Well…." Raon scratched the back of his head and gave a short chuckle. "That's true, but what can I do. It's already happened this way, so I have to accept it." It was true that regret for the Continent still lingered, but now that he'd achieved Ascension, there was no way back. It was confusing now, but he'd surely forget it all and be able to focus on the Heavenly Realm once time passed. That was how it had always been. "The very fact that you think that way means you're not yet ready to be in this place." Glenn let out a low sigh, as if he'd read Raon's thoughts completely once again. "Do you want to go back?" His voice flowed out gentler than before. "Um…." Raon couldn't answer right away, and bit his lip deeply. "No. I'm fine. Grandfather, you too had lingering attachments to the surface, but you adjusted to the Heavenly Realm, didn't you?" Just as he waved his hand, as if to say there was no need to worry— "You and I are different." Glenn shook his head firmly. "Even if I wanted to go back, I couldn't. But you can." He raised a finger and pointed at Raon's back. "What? What do you mean… huh?" Raon turned around following Glenn's hand, and his eyes went wide. Two chains, one tinged red and the other blue, were embedded deep in his back. "This is…."