The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman

stood in front of the door to stop the knights.

“Haa, I didn’t meet with them because it was annoying, and it ended up this way.”

“Cough!”

Vulcan sighed.
As he was about to go outside, Harren was sent flying inside with a scream.

“Keuh, those bastards…”

Harren tried to stand back up immediately, but he faltered and fell back.
The blow wasn’t that powerful, but he couldn’t regain his balance because he was hit on his chin and stomach.

“Tsk, I’ll be back in a moment.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Raon left the workshop alongside Vulcan, who was frowning.
The knights, wearing armor with a rapier emblem on the left side of the chest, were glaring fiercely at them.
They were knights of the Zetul Kingdom.

“Was it actually this brat?”

The blue-haired young man in his mid-twenties standing at the center ground his teeth.
An outstanding energy wave could be felt from him.
He was a powerful knight, somewhere between intermediate and advanced Expert.

“Blacksmith Vulcan! You are too cruel! How could you choose such a young boy when you didn’t even show your face to us?”

“I didn’t choose, I made a promise.
I promised this boy five years ago that I’d forge a sword for him.”

“F-Five years ago? He must’ve been a little kid back then!”

His eyes widened in bewilderment.

“Tsk.”

Raon clicked his tongue, looking at the knights’ reddening faces.

‘They grew up sheltered.’

It wasn’t like he couldn’t understand them at all.
It was understandable that they would be angry if the Continent’s Blacksmith, who they couldn ’t even see the face after visiting him ten days straight, opened the door to a young swordsman.

However, those were complaints they should have kept to themselves.
If they personally visited and started pestering him like that, just because they were angry, it not only disgraced their own reputations but also their kingdom’s.

The way they were acting under Zetul’s name could only be called immature.

“What did you even see in that brat to promise to forge him a sword?”

“Why do you keep calling me a brat? That’s so irritating.”

Raon’s brows furrowed as he stepped forward.

“Step aside, young bastard! It’s not your place to butt in!”

“You are the one who should step aside.”

“What?”

“The master is taking orders from the reserved client.
What right do you have to order him around when you are unrelated to the matter?”

“Th-That’s…”

“I don’t understand what you are hoping to get here, after you even beat up the master’s son.”

“Shut up! Blacksmith Vulcan’s swords are pieces of art of the highest quality.
They aren’t something an insect like you deserves!”

The young man in the center ground his teeth and stepped up.

“State your name!”

“You should introduce yourself first.”

“What impudence!”

“Who do you think he is?”

The knights next to the young man looked like they were about to jump at him.

“We are in Zieghart’s domain, not Zetul.
If you want to brag about your stripes, then you should do it elsewhere.”

“Argh!”

“You bastard!”

“Stop.”

The young man stopped the knights from drawing their swords, then stepped forward.

“Considering what you said, you must be from Zieghart.
I’m Tarkan, prince of the Zetul Kingdom.
I’m the blue eagle of Zetul.”

Tarkan raised his chin and continued.

“Even Ziegharts have different ranks.
I can’t feel any worth from you!”

“Hmm.”

Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Tarkan.

‘So, he was a prince.’

He could understand why he would be so hot-tempered, since he was between intermediate and advanced Expert in his twenties.

However, he wasn’t going to go easy on him just because it was understandable.

‘Now that I think about it, Zetul is famous for the quick sword and precise sword.’

Just as the rapier emblem on their armor suggested, Zetul was famous for their fast and precise swordsmanship.

‘Let’s extort some techniques from them.’

Since it came down to it, he figured he’d better learn the principles of the Zetul Kingdom’s swordsmanship by taunting the prince.

Is he also becoming a doormat…?

Wrath shuddered, looking at Raon’s small smile.

“Prince? I thought you were a thug because of your nasty actions.
I guess that’s how the Zetul Kingdom raises their successor.”

Raon smiled scornfully, trying to humiliate the prince.

“Sh-Shut up and state your name!”

“I’m Raon Zieghart.”

“Raon? I’ve never heard that name before.
So, you were a collateral after all.”

“I am.
So what?”

“Hah! You are just a collateral, not even a member of the direct line.
How could you receive a sword from the blacksmith Vulcan when you don’t have any reputation at all?”

Since Zieghart didn’t tend to spread information outside their territory, they didn’t know anything about him at all.

The reputation he had earned at Habun Castle had spread under the nickname of the ‘Young Sword Demon’ or the ‘Flame Wall’ instead of his real name, which made it natural for them to not know about him.

“Then, you can test it for yourself.”

“What?”

“I’m telling you to test whether I deserve it or not for yourself.”

“That’s exactly what I wanted!”

Tarkan gladly drew his sword.
The blade, thinner and sharper than an ordinary longsword, reflected the sunlight.

“Withdraw right away if I win.”

“Then you should kneel and apologize for your arrogance if I win.”

“Sure, but that’s never going to happen!”

“Come at me.
I’ll allow you the first strike.”

“You bastard!”

Raon flicked his fingers and Tarkan glared at him, then kicked the ground.
His blade was thrust towards his chest like a ray of light.
The first attack was clean, despite his enraged state—probably because he trained his swordsmanship properly.

Clang!

Raon rotated the Ring of Fire, watching his sword until the end before fending it off.

“Hmph, so you at least have something going for you.”

Tarkan snorted, bending his knee slightly to thrust his blade repeatedly.
A nimble and systematic flow engulfed him, just like rain falling on the ground.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Raon used the six resonating rings of fire and his thoroughly trained eyesight to analyze everything about Tarkan’s quick strikes.

‘Precision is mixed into the quickness.
It’s an advanced swordsmanship that only aims for the vitals.’

Speed wasn’t everything in Tarkan’s attacks.
It also had the precision to thrust the blade into the smallest vital points.
He seemed to have learned the prestigious swordsmanship properly, despite his hyper-aggressive personality.

“Let’s see how long you can keep blocking!”

Tarkan’s attacks grew fiercer as he decided to show his true strength, and the energy coming from his blade became a ray of light dropping down on him.

Slaam!

Not only the power, but also the speed had increased.
The alacrity seemed to sever the space.

“Haa…”

Raon kept blocking Tarkan’s endless barrage with a paper thin difference, polishing the principles of the new quick sword that he was making.
Since he’d never seen a technique that was so focused on speed before, he could learn a lot from it.

“Your highness! You are almost there!”

“He is too exhausted to even hold his sword!”

“Finish him off!”

The Zetul Kingdom’s knights smiled as they cheered for the prince.
Since Raon kept observing Tarkan’s sword until the very last moment and blocking it right before it reached his skin, it looked like Tarkan was overwhelming him.

However, Tarkan was feeling miserable as he fought.

‘Wh-What the hell is wrong with this guy?’

He thought he could easily win at first, since he could barely feel any pressure from him, but it became completely different once he crossed swords with him.

His hand felt like the skin was tearing apart each time the blades clashed, as if he were attacking a metallic wall, and his wrist kept trembling so much it felt like it would break.

‘Moreover…’

He couldn’t even see the quick sword properly in the beginning, yet his sword had become even faster than his own.
He must’ve been mistaken, but he had the impression that Raon was getting better throughout the duel.

‘I need to finish this quickly.’

Tarkan grit his teeth, drawing out all of his remaining aura to surround his blade and arm.
He focused the aura to the regions that were used to swing the sword, then exploded it at once.
It was Zorkin Swordsmanship’s ultimate technique, Deadly Onslaught.

Cring!

The thrust aimed at Raon’s chest was barely recognizable with his own eyes.

‘There’s no way he can block… Huh?’

Tarkan swallowed nervously.
Even though he expected to see Raon panic, the young man’s lips were slightly curved into a smile.

“I’ve been waiting for something like this.”

With that frightening voice, his hand soared like lightning.

Slaam!

Tarkan’s blade shattered like glass and scattered into the air upon being smashed by Raon’s sword.

“Ah…”

Tarkan’s lips trembled in fear.
Raon’s sword reached it first, despite having started to move later.
It was extremely quick, only possible for a Master.

“It was a nice learning opportunity.”

“L-Learning? What did you lear… Cough!”

When Tarken lowered his head with a trembling chin, Raon’s blade smacked his snout.

Smack!

With his chin and mouth smacked at the same time, four teeth came out of his mouth like corn kernels as he collapsed.

“Y-Your highness!”

“Oh, no!”

“Wh-What have you done?”

The guarding knights ran up to him to hold the prince in their arms, pointing their swords at Raon.

“Wasn’t it a fair fight? Why are you pointing your sword at me?”

“Th-That’s…”

“Ugh…”

The knights’ eyes trembled like a sailboat facing the tidal wave.
It looked like they still couldn’t believe that the prince had lost.

“If you have any problems, then come looking for me at Zieghart.
Of course, for now…”

Raon narrowed his eyes, pointing his finger at the limp Tarkan.

“Tell him to find me to kneel and apologize once he wakes up.
I hope you didn’t forget about that part.”

“Argh…”

“Just you wait…”

The knights bit their lips before turning back.

‘Just you wait, huh…?’

Although they must have been counting on their backgrounds from the Zetul Kingdom, Raon also had Zieghart’s huge name behind him.
They should be unable to even think about revenge once their heads cooled.

“You… Did you just learn that quick sword from the prince?”

Vulcan’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Rather than learning, I just took notes.”

“Huh.
You’ve become a real monster since the last time I saw you.”

He shook his head at the absurdity of the situation.

“They shouldn’t be able to return.”

Raon smiled slightly while sheathing his sword.

“Hmph.
I’m grateful for your consideration, but you didn’t need to do all that.”

“Sorry? What are you talking about?”

“You took all their attention away from us, so that me and my idiotic son wouldn’t be harmed.”

“Hmm…”

Raon awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
Vulcan had realized that he purposefully repeated Zieghart ’s name.
The old man told him he didn’t need to do all that as he waved his hand.

“You looked like an emotionless doll before.
You must’ve learned human qualities as well.”

Vulcan snickered and patted Raon on the back.

“Let’s go back.
I want to check what metal is most suitable for you quickly.”

* * *

Upon returning to the workshop, Raon placed his hand on the Golden Shard Stone.
He used the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier at the same time, inserting his aura into the stone’s fissure.

Whir!

The rock absorbed the red and blue aura just like a drawing paper absorbing the ink, radiating a brilliant light.

“This light and color means Dark Steel and… Huh?”

Vulcan’s eyes widened as he approached the Golden Shard Stone.

A new light sprouted like a bud between the red heat and blue coldness, and the three energies gathered in a spiral—as if they were one from the beginning—to radiate an auspicious golden light.

Crack!

Fissures appeared like a spider web on the Golden Shard Stone, which was never supposed to break, and the golden fever became even more intense.

Whaam!

The Golden Shard Stone was unable to withstand the power and shattered in the end, a small, brilliantly shining metallic bead falling out from it.

“Gasp!”

Vulcan’s eyes widened upon seeing that bead.

“How could the Golden Shard show itself on its own?!”

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