The Reincarnated Assassin Is a Genius Swordsman

Chapter 1548 (Side Story) After Raon's Ascension, the Heavenly Demon, who had quietly disappeared from the Holy Sword Alliance, sat on the peak closest to the sky, his eyelids shut tight, and did not move even as a full day passed. Even having reached the Absolute realm, as long as he was human his body should have moved at least minutely, yet not even a small tremor rose in the Heavenly Demon's fingers, as if his breath had stopped entirely. Had it not been for his chest rising and falling with breath, one would have thought he was already dead. Even as the sun rose and set again and again, as rain and lightning poured down, and as a bitterly cold north wind fell upon him, the Heavenly Demon never once opened his eyes. He revealed a will that seemed to say that if he could not ascend to the heavens right here on this spot, he would simply die as he was. Thud. When the seventh moon rose after the war had ended, the Heavenly Demon's body came to a complete stop. Even his chest, which had slowly risen and fallen to draw breath, no longer moved at all. But the Heavenly Demon's breath had not stopped. A state of enlightenment. He had not achieved awakening through ascetic meditation—he had entered the mental world. As if the words he had spoken at the Holy Sword Alliance—that he would follow Glenn into Ascension—had been true, the Heavenly Demon paid no mind to the pain of body or soul, entering the mental world and focusing entirely on his training. As another day, two days, four days, a week passed, the Heavenly Demon's fingertips began to tremble faintly. His soul, still residing within the mental world, faced no issue, but his body had already reached its limit. No—it would not be an exaggeration to say it had crossed that limit long ago. In truth, beings of absolute power like the Heavenly Demon had already transcended the bounds of humanity, so going without food or sleep for about two weeks posed no problem at all. But right now, the Heavenly Demon's mind and body were more enfeebled than even an ordinary martial artist's. In the first war, his right arm and soul had been severed, leaving him with wounds so severe it would not have been strange had his breath stopped then and there, and before those wounds could even heal, he had forced himself to take part in the second war, completely shattering the balance between his body and soul. Rather than training, the Heavenly Demon had entered the mental world by instead overloading a body and mind that should have been resting and recuperating, so he could not even hold out a full week before he hit his limit. As if the pain grew worse as time passed, the Heavenly Demon was now trembling not just in his fingers but across his entire arm. But even feeling pain severe enough to shatter his state of enlightenment, the Heavenly Demon did not leave the mental world. With the single-minded resolve to somehow grow stronger, he clung to the roots of the mental world and did not stop his training. Trickle. Black, dead-looking blood trickled down from the Heavenly Demon's mouth. Having gone straight into training while the balance of his life essence was already broken, it seemed his internal injuries had only worsened. 'How bizarre.' Even while within the mental world, the Heavenly Demon sensed the change in his physical body and let out a low breath. 'It feels as though my mind has split into two.' A self training within the mental world, and a self feeling the body's pain exactly as it was. It felt as though a soul that should never be able to split had divided into two, experiencing both reality and the mental image at once. 'I can't tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing.' Neither Glenn nor Raon had gone through an experience like the one he was having now. He could not yet predict whether this would help him achieve Ascension, or whether it would instead bring about his own collapse. 'No, enough with these useless thoughts—let's focus.' On my own 'nothingness.' In truth, he was not currently in a condition to train at all. With his life essence shattered, the mental world itself would not open, so he had forced the door open through extreme ascetic suffering and pushed his way in. Since this was a moment where he was staking his life for the sake of Ascension, there was no need to think about the aftermath. 'I don't want to fall behind any longer.' If I cannot stand in the same realm as those two, I would rather die. Resolving that if he could not keep pace with Raon and Glenn he would die right here, the Heavenly Demon did not leave the mental world even as his body was collapsing. Another day passed. Now black blood trickled not only from the Heavenly Demon's mouth but from his eyes, ears, and nose as well. Even sunk in his state of enlightenment, his chest heaved violently as if he were struggling to breathe. It looked as though one were watching an elderly patient whose breath might stop at any moment. The Heavenly Demon's chest heaved as though it might burst, and even thicker blood seeped from his mouth. At the same time, a blue current bloomed above his head, drawing a radiance like that of the sun. A situation where death had come for the body through this ascetic suffering, while growth was being achieved in spirit. A critical, life-or-death moment where he might achieve Ascension, or he might meet his death. Thwack! From below the peak where the Heavenly Demon sat, incongruous with the urgency of the moment, came a dull sound, like a shovel digging into hard ground. "…." Even as his body and mind collapsed and he sank into a state of enlightenment, the Heavenly Demon could still sense what was happening outside, and his brow furrowed faintly. 'What is this sound?' The place where he currently was happened to be the highest peak of the tallest mountain on the Continent. It was a place not even large monsters or birds could reach, let alone humans, so he could not understand why such a human sound would be heard there. 'Could my own aura be causing the peak itself to crumble?' Thinking there might be some change within himself, the Heavenly Demon examined his body and aura, but his condition had only worsened further—even if he wanted to cause any change to the outside world, he had no way to do so. 'Then is it just my imagination?' It was just as he, thinking he had been mistaken, turned his focus back to his training. "Oh my! My bones ache!" After the dull sound of the shovel, a man's voice rang out. The voice itself belonged to a young, youthful man, but his manner of speech was so worn and rustic it sounded like that of a middle-aged man who had been through every hardship imaginable. "…." Hearing the man's voice, the Heavenly Demon bit down hard on his lip, as though maintaining his focus had just become even harder. 'So it wasn't my imagination after all!' Even if his body and mind were shattered, it made no sense that he would misperceive a sound like that. Someone was clearly climbing up this way. 'Then that sound was….' Just as he thought back to the sound he had heard earlier, that shovel-like sound came again. Listening more closely this time, he realized it wasn't the sound of a shovel at all. It was the sound of a thick sword striking the ground. It seemed the owner of the voice was climbing up while striking a broad sword against the rocks, as the sound of stone fragments scattering off the blade and onto the ground could also be heard. "Ugh, this is ridiculously high!" Having apparently finished climbing to the peak, the owner of the voice whistled as he brushed the sand off his blade. 'N-no way….' The Heavenly Demon bit down hard on his lip. Hearing the voice and the sound of the sword scraping the ground, he felt he knew exactly who had just climbed up the peak. 'No! Of all people, not him!' Sensing that the one being he least wanted to meet in the entire Continent was now right in front of him, the Heavenly Demon screamed inwardly. "Oh!" But contrary to the Heavenly Demon's wishes, the sound of a sharp intake of breath suggested the other man had recognized him too. "So you were here too!" The owner of the voice said he was glad to see him again and waved his hand. "Grgh…." Squeezing out every last bit of consciousness he could, the Heavenly Demon let out a groan, as if begging the man not to acknowledge him or come any closer. "I knew it—people really do all think alike." Without giving a single thought to the Heavenly Demon's intentions, the owner of the voice laughed and came closer. "I came here too, because I thought I'd be able to train well!" He said that although the space was cramped, they should make the best of it, and held out his hand. "Ngghhh." The Heavenly Demon somehow managed to let out another groan, as if begging him to just go away. It was only possible because he was in the worst possible state, with both soul and body shattered. "Honestly! It's been ages since the war ended—are you still sulking?" The owner of the voice sighed, saying it was frustrating. "Grk, no…." It was just as the Heavenly Demon tried to say that wasn't it, shaking his head faintly. Thrum! As if moved by the Heavenly Demon's efforts, a new realm flickered to life within his mind in a dark crimson light, forming a path toward reaching a higher realm of Martial Will. Conversely, because his mind had been so strongly stimulated, his body grew even weaker, to the point it would not have been strange for it to break apart at any moment. Once again, a moment arrived where one of two outcomes would be decided: death, or ascension. 'I can't let this slip away.' It was just as the Heavenly Demon, as if determined to reach a higher realm even if his body was utterly destroyed, tried to advance into the newly awakened boundary of his Martial Will. Thud! The owner of the voice placed a hand firmly on the Heavenly Demon's shoulder. "I already said I was sorry for suddenly butting in." He spouted another foolish remark, seemingly unaware that he was once again barging in all of a sudden. 'Aaaahh!' The instant the outside stimulus reached his body, the Heavenly Demon felt the mental world he had been forcibly holding together with vine after vine shatter apart, and he opened the eyes he had kept shut until the very end. "Grrrhhh…." The moment he opened his bloodshot eyes, what he saw was a black eyepatch, a confident mouth curled upward without any sense of restraint, and a dark sword broken clean in half. Dark Night Sword God Darkan. The fool who had ruined his life-and-death duel with Glenn had broken him down once more. "So you'll finally look at me now?" Darkan said he was relieved and patted the Heavenly Demon's shoulder once more. "You… khaghk!" The Heavenly Demon opened his lips to spit out a curse, only to vomit a fountain of blood mixed with his own innards. "I'll… k-kill you… this bastard, again…." He ground his teeth as if it were a lasting regret that he hadn't killed Darkan before, and then collapsed right where he was. "Sigh…." Darkan sighed as he wiped the blood off his face. "This guy really holds a grudge for a long time." * * * "You would have died." Darkan opened his mouth as he let out a long yawn. "It wasn't a case of deciding between Ascension and death—you would have simply died." He waved his hand at the Heavenly Demon, who had demanded to know why he'd interfered the moment he woke up. "Don't talk nonsense!" The Heavenly Demon, wrapped head to toe in bandages to the point he couldn't move even a single finger, shook his head vigorously. "I had clearly reached a new realm!" He scowled, insisting that through his ascetic suffering he had seen a path to a new stage. "That was just you seeing the god of death. It was a worthless dream." Darkan sighed. "You were dying. No, you were on the very verge of death." He let out a low breath as he recalled the moment he had found the Heavenly Demon. "No, I was…." "You. You didn't even realize that blood was gushing from the shoulder that had been cut off long ago, did you?" Darkan lowered his chin, saying that blood had also been flowing from the Heavenly Demon's right shoulder—the one that had been severed by Derus Robert in the first war and had since healed over. "Blood was pouring from all five of your orifices, you'd lost so much you had no color left in your face at all, your breathing was coming apart thread by thread, and your eyes had rolled back—you were completely unconscious." He shook his head firmly, saying that far from achieving Ascension, the Heavenly Demon had been in a state where he absolutely could not have survived. "If I hadn't deliberately struck you, you would have died for certain." Darkan tilted his chin, saying that in order to save the Heavenly Demon's life, he had deliberately struck his shoulder to knock him out. "If I'd really meant to kill you, I wouldn't have bothered treating you either." Darkan shrugged as he pointed to the bandages and medicinal herbs he had used to treat the Heavenly Demon. "Hmm…." The Heavenly Demon bit down hard on his lip as he looked at Darkan's calm expression. 'Then that was….' He had thought that while training inside the mental world, he could also sense reality, but it seemed that had been a mere illusion, and he had simply been dying. "How foolish." Darkan let out a deep sigh as he looked at the Heavenly Demon sunk in anguish. "If you were in such bad shape, you should have rested first. Why would you walk a path to death just to train a few days sooner?" He clicked his tongue, asking why he was in such a rush when it would have been plenty to recover first and train afterward. "It's because of you." The Heavenly Demon ground his teeth as he glared at Darkan. "If you hadn't interfered, Glenn and I would have finished our life-and-death duel, and whoever survived would have achieved Ascension!" He clenched his fist, saying he had intended to finish the duel he hadn't been able to complete, even if it meant doing so through Ascension. "Even the revenge against Derus Robert was finished by Raon. I accomplished nothing at all." The Heavenly Demon chewed on his lip, saying he himself had accomplished nothing. "That's right. It's because of me." Darkan nodded calmly, admitting his own mistake. "That's why I came here. To make up for that mistake." He nodded his chin, saying he had deliberately come looking for the Heavenly Demon. "What? What do you mean…." The Heavenly Demon's eyes narrowed, as if asking what that meant. "It means I'm going to help you achieve Ascension." Darkan smiled brightly and held out his hand. "With Glenn and Raon having ascended, I'm the only one left on this Continent who could possibly be your match." He reached his hand out toward the Heavenly Demon without hesitation, as if determined to undo his past failure even now. "I'll stake everything I, Dark Night Sword God Darkan, have, just to make sure you get to meet Glenn." Darkan lowered his chin heavily, as if to show he meant it. His eyes could not be seen, but the solemn gesture of his outstretched hand alone was enough to convey his sincerity. "…." The Heavenly Demon stared for a long while at Darkan's eyepatch and his quiet, outstretched fingertips. Before long, as if he had made up his mind, he tore at the bandages wrapped around his arm and torso together and raised his hand. "Fine." The Heavenly Demon took Darkan's hand. "To climb to the heavens, I'll wring you dry down to the very marrow." He shook both his head and hand, as if accepting Darkan's help. "Sure. Use me all you like. But…." Darkan smiled brightly, as if telling him to do as he pleased, then parted his lips to speak. "I'm going to ascend too. I really want to meet Glenn Zieghart again." He grinned, gripping the Heavenly Demon's hand even tighter, saying he intended to ascend together with him. "This crazy bastard…." The Heavenly Demon ground his teeth as he looked at the grinning Darkan. "That's just you saying you want to train together with me!" His eyes trembled, as if he found it utterly absurd. "Just stay out from between me and Glenn! You leech of a man!" The Heavenly Demon screamed at the top of his lungs for Darkan to just leave him and Glenn alone. "As I said before…." Darkan waved his hand calmly, saying there was still something the Heavenly Demon had gotten wrong. "I was first, remember?" (E/N: Glenn's harem)