Reincarnation of the Sword Master - Chapter 16

Chapter 16 – Assassin (3)
Translated by : betterdays

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“Oh, my God.”

The corners of the mouth went up on the lead assassin. He spoke as if he were having fun with the situation.

“Originally, I’d kill you straight away, but it seems that will have to be put on hold first. I’m going to have you tell me how you know of our organization so well.”

“Try me.”

As soon as the words were finished, Asher moved his body. It looked like a leisurely walk, but an after-image quickly took place of Asher’s position standing before him. Asher quickly arrived in front of a nearby assassin.

“……!”

The random assassin stepped back in surprise, but Asher was too fast to be avoided. Asher brutally gripped the arm of the nearby assassin and brought the sword down, slicing the arm off cleanly. Then, he quickly repositioned the blade and grabbed the elbow and stabbed into the gushing artery. There were thirteen assassins but now there were twelve in Asher’s eyes.

The rest were looking at him blankly as if they still couldn’t figure out the situation.

‘What a bunch of Idiots.’, Asher thought to himself.

Asher dashed forward to another assassin who was standing there blankly. Bringing the sword in a diagonal movement, he slashed the neck so fast, none of the assassin’s could even process what happened as the head slid off the shoulders and dropped to the floor.

Eleven left. Only then did the assassins hide themselves in a hurry as they realized they had provoked a monster.

“Do you think that’s really enough to prevent me from killing all of you?”

Asher sneered at the vain attempts of the assassins to gather themselves.

Asher’s body accelerated once more after chopping the head off of the last assassin. The shadows moving in the surroundings, shook and trembled as the assassin’s felt the ominous and eerie presence within Asher’s words. Their eyes showed a brief gap of hesitation at his threat, and Asher did not miss the chance to capitalize on it.

Kagak!

There was a brash sound of iron clanging against iron. Asher grabbed the next assassin’s arm and deflected the blade of a dagger thrown at him. The moment he tried to stab the heart of the assassin he was concentrating on, the body of the assassin became dark and disappeared.

However, Asher did not panic and turned around to throw a dagger. The forehead of the assassin who moved behind his back was penetrated viciously with the dagger he threw. Asher muttered, kicking the falling body.

“Did the Lord allow you annoying bastards to settle here? Eh, probably not. It’s to be expected, seeing how annoying your god is.”

“…how do you know that.”

An uncontrollable irritation and anxiety sprung up in the lead assassin’s voice. Worried about the true identity of the boy in front of him, he threw a couple daggers from the robes of his sleeves looking for an opening in Asher’s defense. But naturally, Asher did not even panic from the daggers and deflected them with ease.

Irritated with the lead assassin’s endless questions and aloof expressions from earlier, Asher spoke.

“I’ve had enough of this silly talk. If you can’t get used to the fact that information is for the winner, then you’re an idiot.”

Asher took a step back as he moved her foot. At the same time, an assassin on the wall ran out and wielded a knife where he was stepping back. Asher paused his feet and kicked upwards.

Crunch.

The neck of the assassin broke and the neck bones shattered as Asher kicked at the man’s neck with force.

“Just because you haven’t told me who you are, doesn’t mean I have my own means of acquiring information on you. So stop acting as if you’re hiding some big secret that needs to be kept hidden.”

Asher explained just how flawed the lead assassin’s thinking was as he attacked.

There were now only nine assassins left. One of the assassins noticed there were no weapons in Asher’s hands all of a sudden as Asher had left the sword in the elbow of one of the now deceased assassins, and yelled out loud.

“…He’s no longer armed! Kill him!”

The dark shadows moved once more. Five or six assassins rushed around Asher at once and encircled him. Several assassins came forward with daggers in their hands, killing intent eager in their hands at the defenseless Asher.

Then in a flash, a sword appeared in Asher’s hand out of thin air.

The assassins were frightened at the sudden appearance and paused, but it was the worst possible choice they could have made at that moment.. The sword made a smooth circle motion, and six heads flew in the air.

“Is it three now? How simple.”

Asher said with an annoyed face. It was too easy for him. The period of peace hadn’t just made the overall population dull with their swordsmanship, but even these assassins were incredibly dull in their movements, nowhere near the level of the assassins Asher had fought against in the era of strife and war.

Asher threw the sword into the air. Asher shakes his arms small as the assassins’ eyes turn to the sword. Two daggers ran out from under his wrists, and Asher grabbed them and threw them immediately without a pause in the motion. The assassins were taken down without being able to let out even a grunt.

“It’s a lot easier than I thought.”

Asher grabbed the sword with a satisfied face and tapped his wrist bracelet with pleasure. He had already deemed that this tool would be incredible through his practice, but it was even more useful than he could possibly imagine, now that he was using it in real combat.

His test with the bracelet’s effectiveness was over, and the lead assassin finally stepped forward, applauding Asher and clapping his hands at the display of his dead comrades.

“That’s amazing. I never thought you could kill all the assassins here by exploiting a simple trick of yours.”

“It’s not enough in real fights, I know that much.”

“Yes it’s obvious.”

The man nodded his head. He stopped clapping and pulled a sword out from inside his black robe.

“You managed to kill all of these assassins with no display of swordsmanship whatsoever, and by only using simple tricks to fool the eyes. How wonderful!”

The lead assassin giggled and pulled the sword close to himself as he dashed towards Asher.

“But that’s all it amounts to in the end. No matter how good you are at exploiting gaps with simple tricks, those will only go so far. You are nothing when compared under the guise of a talented swordsman.”

The assassin sped up and accelerated his movement. A shadow devoured the man’s sword and blocked Asher’s view at the same time. The pitch black sword aimed directly for Asher’s neck, drawing a thin line in the air.

Crnnng!

The sword from Asher and the lead assassin collide and the sound of iron rang out in the surroundings. Asher twisted his body, parrying the slash and released his tight grip on his sword to stab the sword rapidly at the chest of the lead assassin. The man flipped his back to avoid the stab and swung himself roughly, bringing the sword back. At that moment, the man’s sword shook and a dark haze covered the sword’s appearance as the blade disappeared.

“Tch-“

Asher lightly clicked his tongue and stepped back.

“Ha ha! Even if you’re an untalented brat, you must be able to tell that this is great swordplay!”

The lead assassin bursts into a haughty laughter. The hidden sword, re-appeared and suddenly scraped against the wall.

Asher put the sword back inside his spatial pocket without further delay, and took out a spear. Twirling the spear in a circle around him, he focused on defending himself from all angles and looking for an opening to stab with the spear. Finding it, Asher’s muscles exploded and tore the air apart.

The dark sword of the assassin shook, and the air trembled at the fierce incoming attack from Asher.

A sword appeared behind Asher’s neck like a snake twisting and writhing in the air. Asher ducked and avoided the strike as the assassin twisted the trajectory to follow Asher’s forehead. Asher raised the iron wrist brace and blocked the strike.

Bingggg!

Asher widened the gap again. The man grinned and shook the sword with his hand. Again, the shadow wrapped around the sword and disappeared.

“Oh, do you know how to respond to this? Of course, that Swordmaster must have been really interested in you. If I kill you, I wonder how he will react?”

Asher touched the wrist brace while looking at the amused expression on the face of the lead assassin. There seemed to be no abnormalities on the surface. Asher took the stance symbolizing the raw defensive prowess within his imperial swordsmanship

“You learned a troublesome swordsmanship, indeed.”

Asher responded. It was a swordsmanship that moved like a shadow, unpredictable and untraceable.

Asher knew that swordsmanship and he knew he had a hard time dealing with it. Thanks to its finicky nature, it was swordsmanship that almost everyone knew to be dastardly to deal with.

“Haha! My sword is the swordsmanship of our Great God!”

The man shouted loudly.

“This is the swordsmanship of our founder of Motorola! Would you truly dare to confront me!”

***

‘I never thought I’d see this swordsmanship again.’

Asher clicked his tongue lightly.

Motorola’s swordsmanship.

If Lepenia’s swordsmanship was known to move like a snake, Motorola’s swordsmanship was a sword embodying the shadows.

The sword disappears, and travels in the darkness to aim for the opponent’s vital points. Distance and form were meaningless in front of it. As one became proficient with the swordsmanship, the range of the swordsmanship increased, and the shape of the sword could also be freely transformed.

Thanks to its characteristics, it was very difficult to deal with in terms of how many angles there were to attack with it, so it was the natural enemy to imperial swordsmanship. If the Imperial Swordsmanship represented balance, Motorala’s swordsmanship embodied stealth and complete offensive maneuverability.

But it was just a meager advantage if one was only comparing the styles of swordsmanship. It didn’t apply any further than that. And for that reason alone, Asher grinned.

“It must be tricky to learn, but you must be quite talented if you were able to learn it.”

“Hahah Yes! I am one of the 13 Great Dark Stars under the Motorola Name.”

“The Dark Stars? Are you still calling yourself that? What a childish name.”

Asher muttered. The man heard Asher’s muttering and disrespect in his voice as he closed the sword into the shadows once more and moved.

“Then die. It shouldn’t be such a terrible death seeing how you’ll be dying to the natural enemy of your own swordsmanship. You only have yourself to blame for this as a swordsman.”

“As a swordsman?”

Asher twisted the corners of her mouth grimly.

The lead assassin sped up and then disappeared, only to reappear behind Asher on the wall behind him and stabbing at Asher’s back. Asher hurriedly blocked it, but his front side was defenseless thanks to it. The lead assassin didn’t miss this as he disappeared and then re-appeared in front of Asher’s front side exploding forward with strength in his sword.

Boom!

Asher bounced the blade of the assassin quickly off the iron wrist brace on his right arm. The assassin clicked his tongue and shook the sword again. The shadows surrounded Asher once more.

“ I’d rather die than lose to some crummy and untalented swordsman with the imperial swordsmanship.”

“…why is Motorola here in the Halvark Estate?”

Asher, who staggered up, asked suddenly. He snorted at the ridiculous taunt from the assassin.

“How crazy, what assassin would I be to tell you the motive?”

“I’m going to die anyway. Can’t you grant the dying child his last wish? What brings you here to this little estate in the countryside?”

“Well, it doesn’t matter.”

The man made a distorted smile.

“It’s polite I guess to honor your wish. In the first place, we came to this country estate just to kill you.”

“…kill me?”

“Yes, the order has come down from above.”

“From above…”

Asher muttered. The man said proudly.

“At first, it didn’t seem like I needed to come, but… It must have been a hard request seeing how well you’ve been standing up till now. Congratulations. I do recognize your strength now, and that I was needed to come, aren’t you happy to be recognized by one of the 13 Great Dark Stars? Hahaha! However, you will pay the price with death for this. “

“Ah yes, you did step up to come after me personally didn’t you.”

Asher straightened up. His trembling body was already finding stability in it’s balance. The assassin grinned.

“Yeah. Did you get enough information for your dying wish?”

“I did.”

“Congratulations. It truly is like a dying gift, isn’t it?”

The assassin shot forwards once more.

“If it is…then it’s time for you to die.”

The sword burned and melted into the shadows. Asher pulled out the spear as if he was bothered by the ridiculous words and didn’t bother to even use his sword.

Boom!

“Kurk!”

The man bounced off this time. He threw up blood and looked at Asher as if he couldn’t believe it.

“What… how…?”

“Of course, you knew I was just prying for information, but you didn’t know why I did so did you? Or why I had the confidence to ask you in such a so-called precarious situation.”

“You…”

The man clenched his teeth and grabbed the sword. Asher was holding onto the assassin’s sword before he knew it, rendering his motorola swordsmanship useless.

“You are not wrong. It’s true that Imperial Swordsmanship is insignificant swordsmanship compared to others. It’s also true that Motorola’s swordsmanship is top tier.”

But that didn’t mean the assassin was strong in Asher’s eyes.

Motorola’s swordsmanship was the natural enemy and predator to imperial swordsmanship. But Asher was not simply a swordsman who stubbornly relied on his swordsmanship alone like a prideful child. He was a warrior. A warrior who had survived many battlefields and endured wars that nobody would believe how bloody they were. He would easily abandon a weakness if it did not help him.

Asher could know this well because he saw and even sparred with many heroes in his years. Men and women who were talented. That much was clear to him. However, he had also killed some of these heroes that turned rogue in the past as he was under orders of the Emperor. He wouldn’t fall to some meager assassin.

He had killed some of the strongest men and women to walk the earth.

“Don’t worry about that. You already said it didn’t you? My Imperial Swordsmanship is nothing but a weakness”

“Bring it you bastard!”

The man raises himself up like he was possessed with rage. The shadow wrapped once more around the sword and he rushed in. Asher turned his body and hit the sword down with a simplistic movement that required no skill.

It was a very simple strike. A 3-year-old toddler could do it without any kind of experience with the sword. It was a move from the Imperial Swordsmanship that the assassin despised so much.

“Huh?”

But the man was overwhelmed by this simplistic strike. It was as if a huge wall was approaching him. He couldn’t even react to the blow. It was so ridiculously simple, yet there were no flaws in it. The assassin met the sword with his face and was crushed from the impact.

“uk-“

The assassin backed away in a hurry as he hit the ground. Asher approached slowly and lifted the sword again.

This time, it was another simple hit.

But, just like before, the man was overwhelmed again. The assassin brought his sword up in a hurry, but it was completely destroyed with the single strike.

“You don’t even have…any talent…”

The man mumbled, stuck on the floor kneeling on one knee.

He couldn’t fathom it. His great swordsmanship… was being utterly defeated… by Imperial Swordsmanship of all things!

The assassin raised himself up, denying the reality. He threw up blood violently and swung the sword. And… it broke again. I bounced out of his hands and snapped like a twig.

“Ah…”

The lead assassin looked at Asher blankly.

Why was he losing? His sword skill had been polished over years and years of training and several assassinations.

The man raised himself up, denying the reality once more. He managed to perform motorola swordsmanship with trembling hands. It was his pride, his everything, the collection of life he had built.

The shadow wrapped around the sword and the man wielded the dark haze around the blade of the sword. But… it broke again.

“Ah.”

The man was stuck groveling on the ground.

It had been a long time since Asher truly had performed his imperial swordsmanship in earnest when it came to a duel.

Waving his sword around his body, Asher thought. He always fought using basic stances of imperial swordsmanship, but he always added his own variations that he had developed over the years to cover the flaws of the swordsmanship.

“…I can’t do this.”

The assassin mumbled, stumbling back. The robe was torn and his face was visible for the first time. The man cried desperately.

“You can’t do this! This is ridiculous! How-How-! How dare you do that to me!

“The Imperial Swordsmanship does not lie.”

Asher nodded gently. Imperial swordsmanship was weak. There were no high-difficulty variations or complicated movements. It was just a simple direction of power and momentum.

“And you can’t even believe it still. After being shown and knocked down repeatedly, you deny the reality.”

It was humans who created the imperial swordsmanship, it was not a swordsmanship created to transcend human limits. It was not a complicated swordsmanship in the slightest.

“Apparently, the training period was too short for you as an assassin. What, three years at most? Of course you wouldn’t be a match for me. You probably would have even lost to Reika who has only been training for one year at most.”

The assassin flinched at the words. It was true. He knew he was talented. So he was revered by his peers, and had gotten drunk on the emotions of feeling powerful. He had never trained sincerely. And this was the result.

‘Am I… able to run away…?’

The man swallowed his saliva. Before Iheknew it, cold sweat was trickling down his neck. He had to run away. He didn’t want to admit he was weaker, but he didn’t want to lose his life.

Darkness surrounded the assassin, enveloped him, and he soon disappeared.

“Hmm.”

The assassin disappeared. He probably went to the guild. Asher approached where the assassin was last standing. The remaining darkness was blocking the view of Asher’s eyesight.

“It’s annoying if I let these guys run away….”

Unrestricted teleportation to a particular region. Even though it was a God-Given power, it should be used moderately. But this was too much. Thanks to this, Motorola’s influence as a god would diminish the more his power was abused.
(T/N : so confused here but it’s still coming together for me.)

It was the heroes’ jobs to deal with Gods, and it was the Gods’ job to deal with humans. Asher caught the dark.

“What a stupid kid.”

Asher was pissed. He wanted to capture the man alive, but he couldn’t do anything about long-distance spatial teleportation.

“Marena… Show me where he is going.”