The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 1054:

“Ah….”

Martha’s eyes reddened as she watched Raon cut down both the Twelfth Apostle and the wall in a single strike. Biting down on her trembling lip, she thrust her sword toward the Tenth Apostle’s waist.

Fwoooosh!

For the first time, Martha’s sword pierced through the Tenth Apostle’s spear and tore open his long robe. It seemed she had regained her composure more from Raon’s words, ‘Now it’s your turn to show me,’ than from watching him kill the Twelfth Apostle.

》It means he trusts you.

Wrath smiled faintly as he sensed Martha’s now-stable momentum.

》Because she was shown trust, that beef girl wants to repay it.

He sniffled as if he were watching a daughter he had raised.

‘Why are you crying? Anyone would think you raised her yourself.’

Raon let out a hollow laugh as he looked at Wrath.

》Didn’t I carry her on my back and raise her! Of course my heart swells!

Wrath frowned as if asking why he would question something so obvious and rushed forward.

‘I’ve never seen you carry her even once….’

Just as Raon pushed Wrath aside and was about to enter the White Blood Cult Main Headquarters—

Whoooosh!

White blood burst from the corpse of the Twelfth Apostle, who had died split in half, forming a small puddle that coiled around Raon’s ankles.

“This is….”

Raon furrowed his brow as he looked at the puddle of Blood Energy gripping his ankles and tugging at his legs.

‘It’s slick, but sticky, and it won’t come off.’

As if he were sinking into desert sand, strength began draining from his body, and his legs were pulled deeper into the puddle. He tried to wrench himself free with aura, but even with effort, his legs would not budge.

‘Don’t tell me…’

[Haaaah!]

Just as Raon was about to slash the puddle with his sword, the Twelfth Apostle’s voice echoed from within the white blood.

[I never thought I’d die in a single strike. You truly are formidable.]

The Twelfth Apostle let out a hollow laugh, as if even he found it absurd.

“Twelfth Apostle….”

Raon lowered his eyebrows as he saw the Twelfth Apostle’s sly face reflected in the white puddle.

“You were alive?”

[No, I’m dead. You split me in half. How could I still be alive?]

The Twelfth Apostle slowly shook his head, insisting that he was already dead.

[This is the residual consciousness I left behind at the moment of death.]

“Residual consciousness?”

[Yes. I engraved a mutual-destruction spell into my soul, one that drags my killer down to hell with me.]

He stretched his lips into a wide grin and said that spell was what had allowed his soul to remain.

[You will never escape the Bleeding Curse!]

The moment the Twelfth Apostle let out a grotesque shriek and screamed that they would die together, the suction of the puddle pulling at Raon’s body intensified sharply. It was far stronger than the Blood Energy the bastard had wielded while alive.

“Haaah….”

Raon let out a rough breath as he endured pain that felt like thousands of needles piercing both body and mind.

‘So that was his hidden trump card.’

That was exactly why Raon had wanted to observe him a little longer before finishing him.

If he had drawn out the fight while provoking the Twelfth Apostle in return, he would have noticed this spell and either performed an exorcism beforehand or severed the man’s limbs before killing him. He regretted not having that chance.

‘But this may be better.’

Because he had called it the Bleeding Curse.

It was not just some ordinary curse. The fact that he had specifically called it the Bleeding Curse made it seem possible that it would instead benefit Raon.

“Raon!”

“Are you alright…?”

Martha and Runaan called out to him at the same time.

“Don’t worry about me. Focus on your own fight.”

Raon calmly shook his head, then stopped resisting the blood puddle pulling at his body and released his strength.

The moment he stopped resisting, the puddle’s suction rapidly grew stronger and swallowed his whole body.

Fwoooosh!

It felt like plunging beneath water, making it hard to breathe. Beneath the puddle was no ground, but a sea of pure white blood. Blood Energy surged endlessly in every direction.

[Kihahahahaha!]

The Twelfth Apostle’s soul, shaped like a shark, charged at him as if it meant to devour him whole. Red blood spilled from Raon’s forearm where the bastard’s teeth had grazed him.

[No matter how strong you are, you cannot escape this curse! You will die with me!]

The Twelfth Apostle opened his enormous jaws wide, this time aiming to bite off Raon’s neck.

“Don’t you think I came in here on purpose?”

Raon smiled faintly and thrust out the Soul Requiem Sword.

“This sword says it’s still hungry.”

[What?]

The Twelfth Apostle frowned as if asking what he meant.

“Devour it.”

Raon ignited the extreme Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation over the Soul Requiem Sword. Flames blazing over the crimson blade spread out like cloth and enveloped all of the Twelfth Apostle’s residual consciousness and Blood Energy as he lunged in with bared fangs.

It was the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation – Heavenly Flame : Myriad Incense of Heaven, which erased all malevolent energy.

Whoooosh!

Myriad Incense of Heaven, thickened by the power of the vengeful spirits, did not break even against the Twelfth Apostle’s struggling soul, saturated with vast Blood Energy.

[W-what is this…?]

The Twelfth Apostle’s voice trembled in disbelief.

“You called it the Bleeding Curse earlier, didn’t you? This Soul Requiem Sword was forged as a ceremonial blade to console those who died at your hands. A Bleeding Curse is nothing more than food to this sword.”

Raon twisted his lips and burned away Myriad Incense of Heaven along with the Twelfth Apostle’s soul and Blood Energy.

[Kyaaaaaaah!]

Along with the Twelfth Apostle’s shriek as he faced true death, the white blood melted away in the flames. After absorbing the Blood Energy remaining within the blood, the blade of the Soul Requiem Sword became even redder than before, as if there were still much resentment left to repay.

“Ugh!”

“The Twelfth Apostle was crushed that easily….”

“He even overcame the Bleeding Curse….”

“This power makes no sense. How can a monster like that….”

The archbishops swallowed dryly as they watched Raon easily overcome both the Twelfth Apostle and the Bleeding Curse.

“The spell protecting the wall has been broken. Runaan, Trevin, take your units inside and subdue the Apostles.”

Raon pointed inside the collapsed wall toward Runaan and Trevin. Apostles maintaining spells and Apostles summoning Blood Demons still remained inside, but the two of them would be enough to suppress them.

“Mm…!”

“We obey your command!”

Runaan and Trevin led their forces into the collapsed wall, cutting down the Blood Demons trying to fill the breach.

“Leave this side to me too!”

Aris winked at him and said she would cut off the First Apostle’s head and follow after. Though she was fighting the First Apostle evenly, she still looked relaxed, as if she had yet to reveal all her strength.

“Martha. Killing the Tenth Apostle isn’t your only job.”

Raon turned his gaze to Martha, who was locked in fierce battle with the Tenth Apostle.

“I know!”

Martha pressed her lips tightly together and nodded. She had clearly regained her composure.

“Go. Don’t worry!”

Denier showed a calm gaze and said he would assist Martha and protect the people on the bridge.

》The most suspicious one is the one telling us not to worry!

Wrath shook his head as if it were ridiculous.

》I’m more worried about him than the Blood Demons!

He shuddered, saying he had no idea what Denier might do.

‘Looking at him now, he really does seem like a father caring for his daughter.’

Contrary to all their previous suspicions, Denier had been cutting down Blood Demons and bishops without hesitation. He had saved Martha’s life and protected his subordinates countless times.

Judging only by his actions on the battlefield, he looked every bit like a father who treasured his daughter and subordinates more than his own life.

‘There’s no choice for now.’

Raon wanted to keep his eye on Denier, but there was no time.

‘I’ve already spoken to Balder, so I have to trust him.’

After hearing Raon’s request, Balder was now tearing through Blood Demons on the fourth bridge, close enough to Denier.

Since there was hardly any difference in their martial prowess, Balder should be able to stop him if he tried anything strange.

‘Stopping the White Blood Lord comes first.’

Raon entered the White Blood Cult Main Headquarters through the path Runaan and Trevin had opened.

It looked like a spotless white city, but beneath it ran a river carrying the pungent stench of blood.

Oooooooong!

The Soul Requiem Sword seemed to sense the foul Blood Energy that formed this city as well, letting out a fierce sword cry.

‘Where is the White Blood Lord?’

Raon narrowed his eyes as he raced toward the center of the city.

‘The paths are different from when I came here before.’

He could not see the roads or buildings he had seen when he came to rescue Ogram. It seemed the headquarters had been expanded in the meantime.

‘It’s too wide. I can’t keep wandering like this.’

Raon came to a stop and activated Azure Mind’s Eye. Clear energy seeped into his tired pupils, and he began sensing the flow of energy spread throughout the entire city.

‘It’s definitely different.’

Combining Perception of the Snow Flower with the Demonic Eye of Wrath, both his vision and senses opened wider than before, making it much easier to grasp the enemy’s movements.

Oooooooong!

As Raon focused Azure Mind’s Eye and scanned the entire city, his gaze turned northward.

‘What is that…?’

At the northern edge of the city stood a cathedral-like building, and something chilling was blooming from within it.

It was not aura or Blood Energy. It felt as though someone’s soul itself was being transformed into something sinister.

‘Don’t tell me…’

》You’re right.

Wrath furrowed his brow deeply.

》That mosquito wench is inside that building, and her soul is on the verge of awakening.

He clenched his fist and said that the White Blood Lord was trying to transcend the wall.

Kugugugugu!

Raon drove his heel into the ground hard enough to crack it. Using the Supreme Harmony Steps, he shattered the earth and leaped up toward the northern building.

Hwoooooosh!

As he stepped through the air and flew toward the cathedral where the White Blood Lord was hiding, a white fog that completely obscured his vision began rising before his eyes.

‘This is…’

It carried the same foul stench as the white fog that had protected the front lines of the White Blood Cult Main Headquarters. The fog twisted his senses and made it difficult to tell where he was.

“Sorry, but I have no intention of holding back now.”

Raon swung the Soul Requiem Sword and invoked Glacier. He split the blue sky, summoned the wind, and dropped wrathful lightning that tore apart the earth. Sky Piercing Thunder. The strike harmonizing the Sky-Piercing Sword and the Heavenly Thunder Art tore through the thick fog.

Kugugugugugu!

As Raon tried to rush through the torn fog toward the cathedral where the White Blood Lord was hiding, hundreds of spell formations and Blood Demons surged toward him.

“You shall not leave this place!”

A middle-aged man with a monk-like shaved head pointed at him while pouring out pure white spells.

That man appeared to be the Apostle who had been reinforcing the wall’s spells until now.

“Uwaaaaah!”

“Block him even if you must throw your bodies away!”

“Spill blood and bar the way!”

“It must not be breached!”

At the Apostle’s command, the archbishops and Blood Demons amplified their Blood Energy and charged at him, determined to stop him even at the cost of their lives.

Oooong!

At the same time, the Apostle used a spell that compressed Raon’s body and aura, preventing him from moving quickly.

“Just looking at your desperate faces tells me enough. A crucial moment has come for the White Blood Lord. If you’re willing to stake your lives to protect her…”

Raon looked toward the cathedral at the northern edge and ignited golden flames that burned away the white Blood Energy.

“Then I will stake my life to break through!”

===

A crimson space, utterly out of place within the White Blood Cult.

“Haaaah…”

The White Blood Lord scooped up the red blood filling the room with both arms and let out an excited breath.

‘I can feel it.’

She could feel the blood resonating as though it were becoming one with her soul. Just as a Transcendent who had crossed the wall freely wielded the mana of nature, the very concept of blood itself was harmonizing with her soul.

‘Is this the pinnacle of Blood Art?’

The true essence of blood, which she had once seen as nothing more than a tool of power, was now seeping into her soul.

‘If I embody this feeling, I will be able to replace my body with nothing more than a drop of my own blood, without relying on the Grand Method as I did before.’

‘If that becomes possible, no one in this world will be my equal.’

For there was no human without blood.

If she could replace her body freely, she would never again need to care about the limits of physical durability, and could unleash her full power at every moment.

Even Glenn, who was currently considered the strongest in the world, and even the Heavenly Demon, could be placed beneath her feet.

‘Huhu.’

The White Blood Lord curled her lips as she watched the crimson blood filling the room slowly turn white.

‘Not much remains now.’

The blood filling this room belonged to nobles with special constitutions.

Once that blood turned transparent like water, she would be able to control the blood of all humans. She would ascend not as a cult leader, but as the Blood God.

‘Just a little more…’

The crimson blood, once chillingly red, gradually turned white as if splashed with paint. She could feel her soul trembling violently, as if it were about to break free of its shell.

Hwooooo!

Just as the White Blood Lord closed her eyes to awaken her soul, a sharp pain pierced her mind, as if she had been struck by a tiny pebble.

‘Do you still have the strength to resist?’

Deep within the Mental World, she felt the soul of the body she was currently inhabiting, the one she had embedded there, begin to stir.

“Don’t worry. I’ll devour that child whole, just as you wished.”

The White Blood Lord lightly suppressed the resisting soul and was just about to begin the final purification—

Crack-craaack!

A crack split the southern wall of the temple, and the blood that had been reduced to mere dust through the purification began seeping out.

“Ah, no!”

The White Blood Lord screamed and reached out, but because her awakening was not yet complete, she could not stop the blood.

“What in the world…?”

Just as she tried to forcibly use Blood Art to block the escaping blood—

Kwaaaa-boom!

The wall shattered to pieces, and golden radiance poured in.

“Were you taking a bath?”

Raon Zieghart. The bastard with brilliant golden hair, as if carrying the sun itself, swept it back and looked down at her with a twisted smile.

“I’ll carve you up nicely. Wash your neck and come out.”