The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 685

*Squelch!*

The White Blood Religion leader’s head burst apart from Ogram’s punch, dissolving into a white pool of blood. Her body, too, melted away as if it had never existed in the first place.

“You’re quite impatient.”

The White Blood Religion leader reappeared about twenty paces away, emerging from a pool of blood. The blood at her feet rippled with a pale white glow.

Her appearance was almost saintly, but the blackness of her eyes radiated nothing but ominous allure and the stench of blood.

“Blood Doppelgänger.”

Ogram flicked off the white blood clinging to his hand, furrowing his brows.

‘It was sloppy when I last saw it, but now it’s perfected.’

The Blood Doppelgänger technique allowed the user to shed their skin like a snake, leaving only a puddle of blood behind as they escaped.

Previously, her mastery over the technique was poor enough that he could still land an internal hit, but now the White Blood Religion leader had completely evaded his strike.

It seemed she had not only regained her former strength but had grown even more powerful.

However, Ogram had also grown stronger since their last encounter, so there was no reason to be afraid.

“Notice something different?”

The White Blood Religion leader’s red lips curved into a thin smile.

“It means I don’t need to run from you anymore.”

She reached out her hand to the right, and a figure draped in crimson robes handed her a glove. The being radiated power on par with a higher demon.

“You recognize this, don’t you?”

She slid on the glove, giving Ogram a mocking smile.

“Your friend treasured this dearly.”

She raised her chin in a taunt, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

“White Hawk Glove.”

Ogram bit his lip so hard that it bled as he recognized the glove, adorned with the image of a white hawk.

That glove was a legendary artifact, capable of amplifying its wielder’s energy and allowing them to grab and suppress powerful energy attacks barehanded.

And it had once belonged to his dear friend, King Bellon of the Carl Kingdom.

‘Bellon….’

Bellon had once offered the glove to Ogram, but Ogram had declined, joking that weaklings needed good gear more than the strong did.

Seeing such a treasured keepsake from his friend in the hands of this wicked woman made his insides burn with fury.

“The White Hawk Glove is indeed special, but….”

Ogram’s gaze sharpened as he glared at the White Blood Religion leader, clenching his fists.

“That won’t save your life!”

With a roar, he surged forward, closing in on her from the right.

*Chiiiiiing!*

The ground beneath them erupted with sharp, white spikes of blood. These jagged pillars weren’t just aiming to pierce his feet—they were large enough to impale his entire body.

*Boom!*

Ogram crushed the spikes beneath his feet, smashing through them with sheer force, and continued his charge.

‘Calm down.’

Even though his eyes blazed with anger, he forced the fury down in his chest.

In battles between transcendents, the most important factor wasn’t strength but the condition of the body and the mental state during the fight.

Charging in recklessly could leave him wide open to heavy damage.

“Hmph.”

The White Blood Religion leader followed his movements with her dark eyes. Not with her sight, but by prediction. She summoned a transparent wall of blood to block his advance.

“It’s pointless!”

Ogram swung his fist toward the blood barrier, undeterred by the streams of blood cascading down it.

*Thud!*

A golden aura burst from his fist, shattering the blood barrier and pushing the White Blood Religion leader back.

This was the *Hundred-Foot Punch,* a strike capable of killing an enemy from a distance.

“Your strength is still as filthy as ever.”

The White Blood Religion leader was flung back but quickly stabilized herself, though her eyes narrowed in pain.

“Just as one would expect from the strongest physique among the Six Kings.”

Her hand trembled as if her body had taken internal damage.

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

Ogram’s eyes sharpened as he swiftly followed her, not allowing any distance between them.

“It’s not just the strongest body. It’s the strongest, period.”

“Looks like that thick skull of yours has turned to stone.”

She sneered and stretched out her hand, summoning a white, magnolia-like light to block his path.

*Boom!*

Undeterred, Ogram blasted through the blooming light with another punch, his intangible power crushing the light into nothing.

Yet, the sheer volume of the blood aura was too much to avoid unscathed, and his skin was left with small, torn wounds.

‘Finish this quickly.’

There was still that powerful figure, radiating the strength of a demon, lurking within the village. To save the villagers, he had to eliminate the White Blood Religion leader as fast as possible.

Ogram ignored the injuries. Without hesitation, he launched forward again, sending a powerful strike toward her blood barrier.

*Boom!*

The barrier collapsed, and the White Blood Religion leader’s shoulder crumpled as though it had been crushed by a giant’s hand.

“It’s over.”

Ogram accelerated again, his strike now closing in with speed even faster than sound.

“Not so fast.”

She laughed coldly, raising her hand. White streaks of light bloomed from her fingertips, like someone had splattered pure white paint onto the canvas of reality.

*Boom!*

Ogram frowned as his punch collided with the blood aura. The barrier was too thick; even his devastating power couldn’t reach her.

“You know this, don’t you?”

Behind the blood aura, the White Blood Religion leader smirked.

“Just like you have the strongest body, my blood aura is the strongest among the Six Kings.”

With a simple wave of her hand, another wave of blood aura crashed toward Ogram.

*Boom!*

Ogram braced himself, planting his feet.

‘I can’t retreat.’

Her blood aura seemed endless. If he backed down, it would be impossible to close the gap again. He had to endure it here.

Focusing his resolve, he balled his fists and prepared to unleash the *Bursting Lotus Fist* technique against the incoming blood aura.

*Boom!*

The clash of his fists and her blood aura shook the earth, sending ripples through the sky. But the blood aura kept swelling.

‘This aura….’

The White Blood Religion leader had absorbed the energy of countless lives. In terms of sheer volume, even Glenn Zieghart and Derus Robert couldn’t match her blood aura.

“Ten Thousand Blood Demons.”

The White Blood Religion leader spread her hands wide, and behind her, a tidal wave of blood erupted.

“Drown in this flood of blood and die.”

The towering wave of white blood crashed down toward Ogram.

‘Now.’

At that moment, Ogram’s eyes flickered with yellow lightning. He halted his barrage of punches, focusing all his energy into his right hand.

*Whirr!*

With a slow, deliberate motion, he threw a single punch at the incoming tidal wave of blood. His brown aura swirled, creating an ethereal glow around his fist.

*Boom!*

The terrifying impact shredded the wave of blood into countless pieces.

“Ugh….”

Ogram let out a low groan as blood trickled from the wounds on his shoulder and chest, where the blood aura had grazed him.

“So reckless.”

The White Blood Religion leader sneered, her lips curling into a mocking smile.

“You can’t fight like that… *Kugh!*”

She abruptly coughed up white blood, her eyes wide with shock.

“Wh-what is this?”

She stared in disbelief at the blood she had just coughed up, her confusion growing.

‘How could he have…?’

She knew about the *Bursting Lotus Fist* technique. It could penetrate an opponent’s aura and strike deep into their body. But she had reinforced her blood barrier, even filling her own body with blood aura, so how had she been injured?

‘Wait a moment….’

Was this really internal damage?

It didn’t feel like internal damage. There was no pain in her organs or body.

Instead, it was her spirit that had taken the hit. Her head and upper body throbbed painfully, as if her very soul had been struck.

“Could it be… my soul?”

The White Blood Religion leader’s jaw trembled as she stared at Ogram.

“That’s right.”

Ogram nodded as he shook his fist free of her blood.

“When the *Bursting Lotus Fist* reaches its peak, it doesn’t just break through aura; it strikes directly at the soul.”

His eyes glinted with a deadly intent.

“For a spirit-stealing demon like you, it’s the worst possible match.”

With that, Ogram charged forward, ready to end it.

“Ugh….”

The White Blood Religion leader staggered back, but Ogram moved even faster.

*Thud!*

His fist slammed into her side.

“Kugh…!”

She staggered backward again, spitting up thick, dark blood as the impact from his fist rattled her body. Her complexion grew ashen.

“It’s over.”

Ogram locked his gaze on her, fist clenched, ready to strike the final blow.

“Not a chance!”

With a desperate cry, she clasped her hands together. Behind her, a white goddess with fifty arms and three eyes, a goddess as pale as snow, appeared.

The eyes of the *Mara of Blood and Mercy* wept blood as it raised its many arms.

“*Mara of Blood and Mercy*, huh?”

Ogram stood unfazed, even as he stared at the monstrous apparition behind the White Blood Religion leader.

“There’s nothing the *Bursting Lotus Fist* can’t break through.”

“Shut up!” the White Blood Religion leader screamed, her hands pressed together as the massive figure of the goddess behind her raised its arms. In its many hands bloomed white lotus flowers, radiating an immense and terrifying aura that cracked the ground beneath them.

*Thoom!*

Without hesitation, Ogram launched himself at the approaching tidal wave of blood aura.

‘I can see it.’

He could now perfectly trace the movements of the *Mara of Blood and Mercy*. The White Blood Religion leader, shaken by the damage from his soul-piercing attack, was failing to wield the power of the apparition properly.

*Rumble!*

Ogram dodged the giant palms with only a hairsbreadth to spare, channeling all his aura and determination into his left fist.

‘I’ll finish it with one strike.’

The White Blood Religion leader possessed the ability to steal and transfer her soul to another body. He had to annihilate her soul here and now, in this very body.

*Boom!*

He deflected one last blood strike with the back of his hand and broke through the shield of blood aura.

“Gugh….”

The White Blood Religion leader’s lips quivered as her eyes widened in disbelief. She hadn’t expected the *Mara of Blood and Mercy* to crumble so easily.

‘Perfect.’

Ogram had blocked all her escape routes. One final punch, and this monstrous vampire would be finished.

*Whuuuum!*

Ogram’s fist powered forward, tearing through the air with unstoppable force. Just as it was about to land, he felt a chilling presence behind him—a sense of imminent death.

*Slash!*

His left arm, which he had concentrated all his energy into, was severed clean off, spinning through the air.

*Thud!*

His arm landed on the ground, limp and lifeless. The White Blood Religion leader smirked as a massive field of blood aura exploded from her body, blasting Ogram away.

“Guh-hah!”

Ogram coughed up dark, thick blood, his body spasming. Blood poured like a fountain from the stump where his left arm had been, soaking the ground red.

“What the….”

He still couldn’t grasp what had just happened.

“You were too slow. For the *King of Beasts*, that was disappointingly sluggish.”

Out of the darkness, a man stepped forward. He was tall, with an air of lazy confidence, and the aura of someone who didn’t take anything too seriously.

But it was his face—or rather, his helmet—that caught Ogram’s eye. The man wore a helmet shaped like a blue dragon, glittering under the faint light.

“Wh-Who are you…?”

Ogram gritted his teeth, clutching his wounded shoulder. Despite standing right in front of him, this man had given off no presence at all. Ogram had only sensed him the moment his arm was cut off—a devastating surprise attack.

“No need to introduce myself to a dying man.”

The dragon-helmeted man sneered, a mocking laugh escaping his lips.

“Besides, I don’t have a name yet.”

“…”

Ogram stared into the man’s eyes, hidden beneath the dragon helm, as he tried to understand what had just happened.

‘He’s not one of the Heavenly Demons.’

The *Heavenly Demon* also wore a dragon helmet, but the colors were different. This man was not part of that faction; he was something else entirely.

‘And he’s not from Eden, either.’

From the way he talked, it was clear he didn’t belong to Eden. If a person like him had been part of Eden, the organization wouldn’t have split into just two factions—it would have fractured into three.

“So, are you after my life to make a name for yourself?”

“No.”

The dragon-helmeted man waved his hand dismissively.

“I’ll get my name by taking down a much bigger fish.”

He smiled, adding, “You’re not even close to being enough.”

“Damn you…”

“You know why I targeted you?”

Ogram growled, trying to buy time as he worked to push out the malevolent energy still lodged in his shoulder. But the man’s energy clung to him like a thick shadow, almost impossible to shake off. It carried the stench of death itself.

“The Sran Tribe. The Carl Kingdom.”

The dragon-helmeted man raised a finger for each location he named.

“When both places were in danger, you rushed in alone. That confidence in your own strength—it was your downfall. That’s why I chose you first.”

His eyes gleamed as he spoke.

“Catching an angry boar is easier than hunting a rabbit.”

“You have the strength to attack head-on, yet you rely on ambushes like a coward! Don’t you feel ashamed?”

Ogram glared at both the dragon-helmeted man and the White Blood Religion leader, his teeth grinding together in frustration.

“…”

The White Blood Religion leader averted her eyes slightly, as though embarrassed by the ambush. But the dragon-helmeted man was different.

“What is shame?”

He chuckled, his laughter carrying a disturbing air of carelessness.

“Hm…”

Listening to the man’s derisive laughter sent shivers down Ogram’s spine.

‘What is this…?’

Transcendents prided themselves on their power and skills. They lived by a code, even in combat. But this man—despite clearly being stronger than even the White Blood Religion leader—lacked any pride or honor. He treated everything as if it was a game.

He didn’t care about boasting or appearances, unlike others of his kind. And that made him all the more terrifying.

“How much more time do you need?” the dragon-helmeted man asked, tilting his head casually.

He had known all along that Ogram was trying to buy time to purge the energy from his body. He had given him that time, seemingly out of sheer amusement.

“I’ve given you enough time, haven’t I?”

Ogram slowly let go of his shoulder. Flames of burning will rose from his entire body, like heat waves rising from molten lava. He had resolved to fight to the death.

“Why didn’t you just kill me right away?” the White Blood Religion leader asked, her brows furrowing in frustration.

“When a great star is about to fall, a little patience is a small courtesy.”

The dragon-helmeted man lazily rotated the sword in his hand, as though it were all meaningless to him.

“Argh, how annoying!”

The White Blood Religion leader clasped her hands together, and the *Mara of Blood and Mercy* behind her unleashed a tidal wave of blood.

“Hmmm.”

The dragon-helmeted man merely shrugged, gripping his pitch-black sword with a loose, casual hold.

Ogram bit down on his lip as he faced both the dragon-helmeted man and the White Blood Religion leader.

‘I can do this.’

Glenn Zieghart had once pushed back both the White Blood Religion leader and the dark angel at the same time. With his *Bursting Lotus Fist* pushed to its limit, Ogram was sure he could do the same—maybe even more.

*Rooooar!*

The *Mara of Blood and Mercy* summoned a massive wave of blood aura, while the dragon-helmeted man’s deathly aura rippled forward, slicing through space.

It was like a tidal wave of black and white was crashing toward Ogram.

*Boom!*

Ogram slammed his left foot into the ground, surging forward to meet the oncoming waves. His fist blazed with the power of the *Bursting Lotus Fist*, tearing open the earth and shaking the heavens.

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*