The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman

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* * *

Thud!

A red-haired swordsman fell outside the arena, his tongue sticking out.
Raon snickered from the middle of the arena, which was filled with a heavy silence.

“That was the fifth.”

Including the swordsman that had just collapsed, he’d defeated five swordsmen in total using the exact same method.

Since Raon was superior in both physical strength and swordsmanship, he could defeat the Central Martial Palace swordsmen in a single strike without much difficulty.

“Uh…”

“I-Isn’t this a dream?”

“Did five people in a row really lose? In a pure contest of swordsmanship?”

“That’s not even a technique! He is just slamming his sword down!”

“But there were five whole people that couldn’t block that simple slam! You idiot!”

The ones watching the spars couldn’t look down on Raon and the defeated swordsmen anymore.
They finally accepted the fact that Raon was superior in terms of technique and physical abilities.

“What the hell is that guy…?”

“He wasn’t that strong when he fought against Raden.”

“What even happened at Habun Castle? Were the rumors actually true?”

“Damn it! We won’t be able to win without aura…”

The swordsmen glanced at Raon and swallowed nervously.
They hung their heads, not wanting to spar with him.

“Huh…”

Burren blurted and frowned.
His eyebrows were lowered in surprise, but his eyes were still shining.

He was clearly thinking about a way to fend off his powerful slam without using aura.

Burren was the only person that still had the will to fight Raon in that place.

“Is no one else stepping forward?”

Raon called for the next person with his sword on his shoulder, but no one was stepping up.

“If not, then…”

“Can I try?”

As he was about to step out of the arena, a voice could be heard from behind him.
When he looked around, a young man whose hair was covering one of his eyes was raising his hand.

“You are…”

His unusual hairstyle and the energy on a different level circulating around him made him remember the name written in Judiel’s document.

‘Holline.’

Holline was one of the two vice-squad leaders of Striding Lightning.
He heard his level was beyond that of an advanced Expert, which matched with the overflowing energy that seemed to be on a different level from the swordsmen he’d faced so far.

‘Pretty decent.’

He finally had a decent opponent.
Raon turned around and nodded.

“Of course.”

“It’s nice to see you being cool about it.”

He snickered and went up to the arena.
General Administrator Urek was behind him.
It looked like it was him that had called Holline, who was training somewhere else.

“We are fighting without aura, right?”

Holline asked, putting on the cassiterite cuffs by himself.

“Yes.”

“This is pretty fun in its own way.”

He drew his training sword while saying that.

“I’ll allow you the first attack.”

“S-Sir Holline!”

“You shouldn’t do that! You might be defeated in a single strike!”

The Central Martial Palace’s swordsmen tried to stop him as soon as he said he would allow the first attack.

“How foolish.
I’m allowing him the first attack because you guys were defeated so easily while bearing the name of Central Martial Palace!”

Holline glared coldly at the swordsmen before turning his head around.

“Come.”

“I won’t decline the offer.”

Raon fiercely kicked the ground, to a point where the ground started shaking.
In the blink of an eye, he ripped into Holline’s space and slammed down his sword.

Clang!

Even though no one had been able to stop the blow up to that point, Holline perfectly deflected it by twisting his blade with precise timing.

“Wow, that’s an amazing strength.
My shoulder was almost dislocated.”

With an easygoing smile, he thrust his sword.

Whir!

Even though he wasn’t using an aura, the tip of the blade was trembling.
It was an ever-changing swordsmanship that couldn’t be avoided unless Raon picked the correct direction.

‘He is supposed to be prideful.’

According to Judiel’s information, Holline had a proud personality.
That meant that his target was pretty obvious.

Clang!

Raon perfectly blocked Holline’s sword, which was aimed at his forehead, by using the Star Connecting Sword.

“It looked like you knew where I was aiming.”

“It was obvious.”

“You are so arrogant.”

Holline’s eyes glowed fiercely.
He leaned backward like a wolf and leaped for an attack.
The blade’s tip was trembling once again, making it difficult to predict his direction.
That seemed to be a characteristic of his swordsmanship.

Raon didn’t step back, focusing on his eyes.
The moment the tip, wavering like a leaf, would be the most stabilized would be right before the attack.

‘Now!’

The moment the variation decreased to the point that he could see it with his eyes, Raon thrust his sword like a ray of light.

Clank!

The training sword parried the variated strike and brushed past Holline’s waist.
He was aiming for his abdomen, yet Holline had twisted his body in the air during that short instant to make it a graze.
He wasn’t a vice-squad leader for nothing.

“Was your name Raon Zieghart?”

Holline gasped, looking at his torn side.

“You aren’t ordinary.”

He giggled and pounced at him again.
His footwork was faster and more diverse than before.
Although he was right in front of him, it felt like he was also moving from the left and right sides.

‘But I already saw it before.’

Raon’s perception was higher than his strength.
Thanks to that, he didn’t even need aura to grasp every single movement of his opponent.

Raon swung his sword in the direction his perception was pointing.

Clang!

Holline, who was trying a surprise attack, urgently swirled his sword to defend.

‘There’s no need to miss this opportunity.’

As Holline quickly stepped back, Raon followed him and consecutively used the Fangs of Insanity.
His sword was thrust like a beast’s fang, aiming at his prey’s back.

Clang! Claang!

Unable to reverse the flow, Holline could only keep defending.

“How crazy…”

His face looked clearly flustered, since he didn’t expect such a thing to happen.

If Holline’s level was at the peak of Expert, the same went for Raon.
Since Raon was superior in terms of physical abilities, there was no reason he would lose.

“Huff!”

Raon inhaled Holline’s insecurity and slashed horizontally.

Claang!

Along with the sound of crushing steel, Holline’s sword bounced away before getting stuck in the ground.

* * *

In the training ground, not even the sound of breathing could be heard.
No one could open their mouths—including Urek, who had brought Holline over, Reff, who was the referee of the match, and Burren, who was gritting his teeth as he watched.

“Huh, I lost.”

The first person to snap out of it was Holline.
He was laughing bitterly, as if he couldn’t believe what just happened, and started at Raon.

“Were you really fighting without aura? You are as strong as an ogre.”

Holline grasped his wrist and skimmed over the different parts of his body.
He looked like he just witnessed something ridiculous.

“Gasp! D-Did Sir Holline really lose?”

“How is this possible?”

“He only became a swordsman recently…”

“Uh…”

The swordsmen that were spectating the match finally came back to their senses, their lips trembling.

“Hmm…”

Holline looked around them with a smile before walking up to Raon.

“Well, I certainly lost, but shall we have a second match?”

He pulled the sword from the ground and carried it on his shoulder.

“I’m not making an excuse, but my swordsmanship relies heavily on aura.
What do you think?”

He was right.
His specialty was a variable sword and illusion sword.
He would be at a completely different level once he used his aura.

“I’m fine with it.”

“I like how cool you are about it.
You are different from the rumors.”

Raon nodded, and Holline grinned before taking off his cassiterite cuffs.
With the removal of the barrier blocking his aura, his pressure started to create waves that were powerful enough to crush the skin.

Whir!

Holline’s energy wave overflowed from the arena like a living creature to engulf the entire training ground.
It was a power befitting the highest rank of Expert, a warrior that had almost reached Master level.

‘Moreover.’

It wasn’t just an ordinary aura.
It had an ice affinity like Runaan, and the training ground’s fervor cooled under his aura.

“It’s too late for regrets.”

Holline raised his chin and curved his mouth into a smile.
He seemed to believe he would undoubtedly win as long as he was using his aura.

“Regrets?”

Raon snickered and gathered the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation that had been suppressed by the cassiterite.
The blazing flame of crimson light pressed on the coldness covering the training ground.

Rumble!

The wave of flame spreading from his feet melted the pebbles and sand to engulf the space.

“What…?”

Feeling the tremendous energy wave, which didn’t lose to him at all, Holline’s eyes wavered like a boat on a stormy sea.

“Did you believe you would win if you used your aura?”

A crimson ray of light shone from Raon’s eyes.
He raised his sword, burning in crimson flame, and pointed it at Holline.

“Come.
I’ll show you who is going to have regrets.”

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