The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman
Chapter 877:

‘What…?’

Raon hurriedly turned to Wrath.

‘You know those monsters?’

A moment ago, Wrath had muttered that he seemed to know the monsters wielding flaming swords and whips.

He wasn’t one to speak nonsense, so if that was true, it likely meant the monsters that attacked the Gray Hammer Guild were demons.

– That’s right.

Wrath nodded, narrowing his eyes.

– But there’s still not enough information. Listen a bit more.

He gestured with his round hand for Raon to get the dwarf to talk.

After telling him to wait, Raon turned to the dwarf.

“What is your name?”

He asked for the dwarf’s name to help him relax.

“My name is… huh?”

The dwarf’s eyes widened, as if recognizing Raon.

“Raon Zieghart?”

“You know me?”

“Didn’t you speak with our chief here?”

He stroked his soot-blackened beard, saying there was a time when he dealt with Borgos.

“Ah, sorry for not recognizing you sooner. My memory…”

Raon bowed apologetically. Thinking back, he recalled seeing a dwarf with a beard curled up like that.

“No, it’s only natural since we never introduced ourselves. My name is Pallentun.”

The dwarf introduced himself as Pallentun and nodded.

“I only remember you because the chief would always ramble about you when bored.”

From the way he spoke, it seemed Pallentun didn’t know Borgos had asked Raon for help.

“But why are you here…?”

“Lord Borgos sent me a letter.”

“The chief?”

“Yes.”

Raon nodded and showed Borgos’s letter.

“T-that letter…”

Pallentun’s beard trembled with emotion just from seeing the envelope.

“Do you recognize it?”

“T-the chief agonized over that letter before sending it! So it went to you…”

He squeezed his eyes shut, overcome by emotion at the sight of the letter.

“What does it say…?”

Raon exhaled and showed him the contents.

“Help us…”

Pallentun read the letter, then closed his eyes tightly.

“The chief is someone who believes everything must be handled by our own hands. When he got that letter from Seiphia, he mumbled something about destiny, but I didn’t think he’d actually send it to you…” (T/N: The letter Stehrin sent for the dragon material forging request.)

Feeling the emotion in those words, Pallentun fell to his knees and wept.

“Please tell us in detail what happened.”

Raon said he could only help if he understood the situation, meeting Pallentun’s gaze.

“…Alright.”

Pallentun nodded and struggled to his feet. From his movements, it looked like he had a serious injury to his abdomen.

“Our Gray Hammer Guild’s workshop is in a tunnel beneath Blazing Furnace Mountain Mountain. We built it there to use the heat of the earth, but at some point, that heat started acting up. So we…”

—

As usual, we lost track of time while working, but strangely, the flames of the furnace began to rage out of control.

“What’s this?”

Pallentun set down his hammer, frowning.

When forging, having consistent flames was just as important as intense heat.

The flames fluctuated so wildly that it was impossible to keep working.

“Did something happen outside?”

Pallentun threw off his bandana and went outside.

The other artisans, sensing the same thing, were standing around with their scorched hammers.

“Pallentun, your furnace is acting up too?”

The chief’s apprentice approached with a short sigh.

“Yes. I can’t control the flames.”

“Same for us. The fire surges and dies down, so we can’t control the thickness of the metal.”

He frowned, saying everyone was having the same issue.

“That’s odd…”

Pallentun looked toward the tunnel they’d dug to channel the mountain’s heat. Something different seemed to be rising from below.

“Hmm…”

“Are monsters coming again?”

“This is starting to get scary.”

“What’s all the noise!”

As everyone anxiously stared into the tunnel, Borgos stomped over.

“Chief, the flames are getting wilder. Something’s wrong.”

Pallentun approached Borgos and pointed to the tunnel.

“Looks like the monsters living off the heat of this burning mountain are acting up again.”

Borgos frowned, saying it was probably those monsters.

“Probably. But it’s never been this bad before…”

“Reinforce the wall and prepare for battle.”

He ordered them to fortify the wall by the tunnel and ready their weapons.

“Yes, sir!”

“Understood!”

The dwarves and guild artisans raised their shining hammers, letting out a shout so loud the mountain shook.

After two days of repairs and preparations, just as Borgos predicted, monsters began crawling out from the tunnel.

It was a familiar sight, but something happened that no one expected.

Giant lava worms known as the Volcano’s Nightmare, massive red dragon turtles that melt steel with their heat, enormous army ants impervious to sword slashes, and mid-sized monsters like ruby flies that suck human flesh—all kinds of monsters poured out in a flood.

It was as if red lava was surging up.

“Crazy…”

“Why are there so many!”

“It’s not just a lot! There’s a ton of huge monsters, too!”

“How are we supposed to handle all that…?”

The dwarves and artisans gripped their hammers and axes, hands shaking in fear.

KUUUUNG!

As panic spread, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the top of the wall.

“Don’t be afraid! Trust in the wall and hammers forged by our own hands!”

It was Borgos. With unwavering eyes, he roared at everyone to fight.

“I’ll stand in front!”

He swung his thunderous hammer, and golden lightning fell, ripping apart the body of a giant lava worm charging at the front.

KUGUGUGUGU!

Emboldened by Borgos’s display, the dwarves set up their gleaming gray cannons.

The iron cannons, said to be more powerful than magic cannons, were the dwarves’ strongest weapons.

KWAANG!

The cannons fired in unison, blasting apart the monsters swarming below the wall, leaving not a scrap of flesh.

But there were so many monsters that some still made it over the wall.

“Trust the chief and fight!”

Pallentun swung his hammer fiercely, smashing the body of a giant army ant climbing up the wall.

“How dare you come here!”

“Don’t let a single one get through!”

“Believe! Our wall won’t break!”

Other dwarves and guild warriors fought beside Pallentun and Borgos in a battle of blood and steel.

The brutal fight raged for two days. The wall broke down, cannon barrels twisted in the heat, but fortunately, not a single person died thanks to the walls and weapons, despite everyone being injured.

“Nothing can stop true artisans.”

Pallentun clutched the hole in his abdomen, grinning.

He was seriously wounded, but he smiled because he was glad no one had died.

“Enough with the nonsense, start cleaning up.”

Borgos, who was even more injured and couldn’t move his right arm, looked after everyone like a true chief.

“Go rest.”

Pallentun snorted and kicked Borgos on the rear.

“You think I’m as weak as you? I could fight for another month!”

Borgos clicked his tongue and poked Pallentun’s wound.

“Gah!”

Pallentun screamed, unable to hold back, and the other dwarves and artisans laughed at the sight.

Everyone was injured, but their faces were bright. The war with the monsters was over, and they could finally return to forging steel.

But safety did not return.

UOOOOOO!

The furnace flames grew even more uncontrollable, and a chilling sound echoed from deep within the tunnel.

“It seems the monsters didn’t attack us…”

Borgos shook his head in the meeting room.

“They were fleeing from something below.”

He bit his lip, saying something unknown was down there.

“We need to rebuild the wall before anything else.”

Borgos sighed, saying they had to repair the destroyed wall first.

“Understood. I’ll make sure it won’t break this time.”

Pallentun shouted to trust him, pounding his chest.

“You plan to work with a hole in your belly?”

“You’re no better, chief! You can’t use your right arm!”

“I still have my left!”

Borgos hit Pallentun on the head, telling him to get it together.

“Go out and fetch some materials.”

He jerked his chin, telling him to gather repair materials from outside.

“But…”

Pallentun narrowed his eyes at the letter Borgos was holding.

“What are you looking at?”

“A letter from that damned pointy-eared guy.”

“Stehrin, huh.”

Borgos only used that term for Stehrin, the guardian of Seiphia.

“…I guess this is fate too.”

As if making a decision, he wrote a short note and tied it to the leg of the bird that had come from Seiphia, sending it off again.

“No time to waste! Move as fast as you can! Pallentun, take the youngsters and gather materials. No arguments!”

“Fine, I’ll be quick.”

Despite his serious injury, Pallentun hurried to gather materials for the wall and returned underground.

But by then, it was already too late.

Lava, as if oozing from the abyss, was burning the workshop, and hellish flames of swords and whips rained down on the artisans.

Human skin was flayed, flesh sliced cruelly, and screams echoed through the underground.

“Run! Don’t ever come back here!”

Borgos turned back. With his thunderous hammer, he struck the ground, collapsing the stairs to the underground workshop and submerging the lava that threatened Pallentun.

“Kh…!”

Pallentun bit his lip until it bled. He wanted to fight alongside Borgos, but he was worried about the young ones behind him.

“Go! Hurry, get out!”

Pallentun gestured for the weeping artisans to escape.

Just as he was about to leave the tunnel, a red whip lashed out.

CHIAAA!

If he’d been even a second slower, he would have been dragged down by the whip, but fortunately, he managed to escape.

KUUUUNG!

The entrance to the tunnel was completely destroyed, sealing off the Gray Hammer Guild’s base.

The wails continued underground, but Blazing Furnace Mountain Mountain was silent as if nothing had happened.

“Ahh…”

As Pallentun and the young artisans trembled in fear, Dialun climbed up the mountain.

—

“That’s what happened.”

Pallentun finished recounting everything and bowed his head.

His face showed guilt for not being with his comrades and fear of the monsters.

“Hm…”

Raon frowned, looking at Pallentun’s trembling shoulders and the blood seeping from his leather armor.

‘You really know these things?’

– I can’t be sure yet, but their viciousness matches.

Wrath nodded, saying their behavior seemed familiar.

‘So, demons then.’

– That’s right. And among the demons, they’re quite renowned.

‘Who are they?’

– Balrog.

Wrath uttered the name “Balrog” with a short sigh.

– They’re among the top ten in strength and ability among the demons.

‘That strong?’

Raon narrowed his eyes. If Wrath spoke of them that way, they must be truly formidable.

‘Do they have any weaknesses?’

– Me.

Wrath raised his nose high.

– As long as this king exists, that’s a weakness for them.

He nodded, saying it was simple.

‘You’ve started talking a lot these days.’

– What! How dare you say that to this king, Monarch of Devildom…!

‘Anyway…’

Raon narrowed his eyes, looking at Pallentun.

‘Doesn’t seem like a trap.’

Based on Pallentun’s account, everything was sudden.

Especially with Stehrin sending Borgos a letter and Borgos reaching out to Raon for help, there was zero chance of this being a trap.

‘Of course, it could still be some plot by those Five Demon bastards.’

Since there could be Black Tower involvement with the Demonic World, he couldn’t let down his guard.

“What do we do now…?”

Pallentun gripped his head, feeling helpless.

“Let’s go.”

Raon calmly stood up.

“Whether we can save them or not, we won’t know until we try.”

“Hm…”

Pallentun looked up at Raon, his chin trembling.

“You’re going after hearing all that? Even knowing how dangerous they are?”

“If I didn’t move after hearing that, my mother and the family head would smack me in the back.”

Raon nodded, saying it was only right to go.

“Well said.”

Sheryl chuckled, stepping up beside him.

“Demon or whatever, they’re not immune to blades.”

She flexed her fingers, as if ready to give it a try.

“Ah…”

A small spark of hope lit up in Pallentun’s eyes, which had been filled only with despair.

—

Raon followed Pallentun toward the Gray Hammer Guild’s workshop on Blazing Furnace Mountain Mountain.

“Whew, it’s hot.”

Martha fanned herself, frowning.

“The geothermal heat is strong here. If it’s this bad here, just how hot is it up the mountain…”

Burren frowned, sounding worried.

“Ugh…”

Runaan, already worn out from the heat, let out a weak groan, shoulders slumped.

“It’s not usually like this. The geothermal heat keeps rising.”

Pallentun shook his head with a deep sigh.

“It might be because those things are controlling the heat…”

He bit his lip in frustration at the thought.

Raon looked at the rocky mountain in the distance and jerked his chin at Wrath.

‘So, Balrog is a kind of species?’

-That’s right. They’re not just strong—they’re ferociously wild. Some could have become Demon Kings but chose not to.

Wrath shook his head, saying they were battle maniacs.

‘They could be Demon Kings but didn’t?’

-One even gave up the throne just to fight as he pleased.

Wrath snorted, saying they were arrogant.

‘Then…’

Raon clicked his tongue briefly.

‘All the dwarves must have died.’

-Not necessarily.

‘What?’

-If it had been those pointy-ears that were attacked, they’d all be dead, but since they’re dwarves, some probably survived.

Wrath raised his hand, telling Raon to wait.

‘What do you mean?’

-Like that dwarf said at first, Balrogs wield flaming swords and whips. They’re born with those weapons, but they can also be enhanced.

‘So…’

-They might be keeping the dwarves alive to enhance their weapons.

He nodded, saying that was a strong possibility.

‘Let’s hope so.’

Raon nodded gravely and looked at Pallentun.

“Let’s pick up the pace.”

“Of course.”

Despite his injuries, Pallentun nodded as if it was nothing.

“Let’s go.”

Raon took the lead, guiding everyone up Blazing Furnace Mountain Mountain with Garunua’s wind.

“H-here it is.”

Pallentun pointed at ground twisted and blackened as if lava had solidified, his eyebrows trembling.

“This was originally the entrance to the Gray Hammer Guild.”

He bit his lip, looking at the collapsed ground.

“This is the entrance?”

Burren exhaled in disbelief.

“It’s completely sealed. We’ll have a hard time getting in.”

Martha ground her teeth in frustration.

“I hate this place…”

Runaan scattered shards of frost to keep the others from getting overheated.

“I… I only came for supplies…”

Dorian trembled, not understanding the situation.

“You remember that sword? The one Lord Borgos’s apprentice made for you, right?”

Raon jerked his chin at Dorian’s sword.

Dorian could have gotten other swords, but he always stuck with this one.

“Yes, I remember.”

Dorian gripped his sword tightly and nodded heavily.

Phew.

Raon twisted his lips, staring at the ground below.

‘There really are monsters frighteningly strong down there.’

Below this ground, there were monsters swirling around lava like it was water.

Their presence and heat were so intense that he couldn’t sense any other life.

“Your top priority is to rescue people.”

He jerked his chin at the squad leaders and Dorian as they readied for battle, then laid his hand on the Heavenly Drive.

“Let’s begin.”

Raon stomped his foot, chin raised.

KUUUUNG!

A shockwave shook all of Blazing Furnace Mountain Mountain, and crimson flames erupted from below.

“F-fire!”

“Get back!”

The warriors Dialun and Adis sent panicked, retreating from the surging flames.

But Raon instead reached out toward the searing flames.

FWAAA!

Silver frost burst from his hand, freezing all the flames and heat. It was the miracle of a transcendent who commanded the mana of nature.

KWADEUDEUK!

Raon shattered the frozen flames, then opened the gate to hell with a blue hand.

As white steam rose, the stifling heat began to subside.

“Stay behind me.”

With cold eyes, Raon drew the Heavenly Drive. The voice of an absolute being who had reached transcendence subdued everyone’s anxiety.

“No one will die.”