My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 146

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 146. So You’re Heukaami
A blood-soaked man appeared in the Banquet Hall.
But the blood was not his own—it belonged to the others he had slain.
“That form…….”
A frame twice the size of an ordinary person, with arms and legs grotesquely elongated.
The man’s body had darkened to a sickly hue, twisted into something hideously deformed.
The faces of everyone in the Banquet Hall turned cold and rigid.
They too already knew.
What that appearance meant.
With the Demonized Being’s entrance, the Banquet Hall froze solid.
“Ggh—agh. Save—save me.”
In the Demonized Being’s hands, two warriors hung by the throat, their necks cracking and groaning.
Unable to simply watch, the Sa-do Alliance’s warriors drew their blades to save their comrades.
But—
Crack. Crack. Crack.
In an instant, the two warriors in the Demonized Being’s grip shriveled, their life force drained away, and collapsed lifeless.
Confronted with such a grotesque spectacle, many bit down on their lips.
“Hhhh—yes, yes. Delicious. Tsk tsk.”
Pleased with the sight, the Demonized Being’s lips curled upward.
That smile looked utterly unnatural, grotesque beyond measure.
In the brief span of time before this Demonized Being appeared in the Banquet Hall, far too many had died.
The corpses of those he’d killed lay scattered along the path he had walked.
Yet he felt no shred of guilt.
Rather, with each murder, his body trembled with a vast, overwhelming pleasure and satisfaction.
Everyone around him twisted their faces in revulsion, as though they were gazing upon something abhorrent.
‘Ignorant fools. How could creatures like you ever comprehend the sensation of being chosen?’
The Demonized Being sneered inwardly with contempt.
The man he had been before Demonization was long gone.
He was merely a murderer, a lunatic thirsting for blood and carnage.
But there was one thing more important than anything else to him.
The Baeklang Dae. Those heretics of that Orthodox Sect—he would slaughter every last one of them.
And make it as agonizing as possible.
Soon he began rolling his eyes, searching for the Baeklang Dae.
His gaze fell upon the twin brothers of the Baeklang Dae—the ones who had shattered his shoulders.
“Krhh. Found you.”
Gi-su and Gi-sang exchanged uneasy glances at his appearance.
“W-wait. That thing—isn’t it looking directly at us?”
“N-no way. That can’t be.”
“But it really seems like it is, doesn’t it? He’s smiling at us. It’s so unsettling. And now that I think about it, his face seems somehow familiar.”
Gi-su and Gi-sang could not recognize the Demonized Being at all.
There was no reason they could have.
They had only laid eyes on him once before, and his appearance had transformed so completely that he bore no resemblance to what he had been then.
“Krhh hrhh. I’ll tear you apart and watch you die, you worms.”
The Demonized Being began walking slowly toward Gi-su and Gi-sang.
It was unmistakably a direct assault on the Baeklang Dae.
The Sa-do Alliance’s warriors hesitated, uncertain what to do.
Then—
“What are you all doing!”
Someone barked a command.
Gui An-ma-gun stepped forward at the sight of the wavering warriors.
His sharp rebuke fell upon the Sa-do Alliance’s men.
“Do you not know that if any guest visiting the Sa-do Alliance comes to harm, it will make a mockery of us all? You absolute fools!”
At his words, the warriors who had been frozen with indecision finally snapped to attention and moved to block the Demonized Being.
The Sa-do Alliance’s elite warriors immediately rushed forward, wielding their blades with savage fury.
The Demonized Being was no longer one of their own.
He was an enemy who must be destroyed at all costs, and so none of them showed even a hint of mercy.
But—
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Not a single attack left even the smallest wound upon his body.
“Tsk tsk. Pathetic.”
As the Demonized Being swept his hand forward, the warriors charging at him tumbled backward like leaves scattered by wind.
It was nothing short of terrible, boundless strength.
Gui An-ma-gun’s teeth ground audibly at the sight, and he stepped forward to engage directly.
It was then.
“Myeonghon Dae to the fore.”
Jo Il-ha, who had been quietly observing the situation from somewhere in the crowd, stepped out.
And in the same moment, the Myeonghon Dae—the elite vanguard that the Sa-do Alliance took pride in—revealed itself.
They swiftly encircled the Demonized Being and formed their formations.
Soon a bloody clash between the Myeonghon Dae and the creature would commence.
But then,
“Everyone, fall back.”
Huk Mu-je stepped forward.
At some point, a sword—the kind wielded by elite swordsmen—had come to rest in his hand.
“If you engage it, you will only multiply the casualties. Haven’t you suffered enough already?”
“But Alliance Master—”
Jo Il-ha tried to dissuade him.
Before, too, it was only after tremendous sacrifice that Huk Mu-je himself had been able to suppress the creature.
Yet they could not forever lean upon him alone.
He was the master of this place, the master of them all.
But Huk Mu-je spoke with unyielding resolve.
“Don’t make me say it twice.”
“…Yes. Understood.”
Jo Il-ha had no choice but to pull back the Myeonghon Dae.
He could feel such immense fury radiating from Huk Mu-je that he dared not object further.
“Ah. So the Huk Mu-je himself deigns to step forward?”
The man who had become the Demonized Being trembled with excitement at this fact alone.
“What an honor—something I could never have imagined in my entire life. But are you certain this is wise? What if you end up being consumed by me instead? Tsk tsk.”
His eyes gleamed with madness and hunger, fixed upon Huk Mu-je.
At this, Huk Mu-je exhaled a short sigh.
“Your insolence has exceeded all bounds.”
In the next instant, the Huk Mu-je’s eyes blazed with blue light.
And then,
A deep, resonant hum descended.
An overwhelming presence swallowed the space in a heartbeat.
A force so vast it suffocated; a crushing, oppressive weight.
Under that tremendous power, the Demonized Being released a cry of agony.
“Hnnnngh.”
The creature, who had been dreaming in a daze of intoxicating ecstasy, found his mind shaken awake by this force, and he spat out a curse against his will.
“Damn it.”
His teeth clenched.
He was deeply displeased at being awakened to his own hubris by Huk Mu-je’s power.
But that displeasure soon gave way to hunger—the Demonized Being began to covet the Huk Mu-je’s tremendous strength.
He had gained the power he now possessed merely by absorbing a handful of warriors.
Should he manage to absorb the Huk Mu-je himself, there might be nothing in this world capable of standing against him.
He might become Number One Under Heaven in a single stroke.
As the thought took root, the Demonized Being surged with overwhelming ambition.
At once, he too released every ounce of his power.
A piercing howl tore through the air.
It was as though a ghostly wail echoed from somewhere unseen.
The Demonized Being laughed darkly at the strength he had become—power beyond anything he could have imagined before.
“Today I shall devour everyone in this place! Ahahaha!”
It was as the creature began his wild rampage.
“No. You cannot.”
With those cold words from Huk Mu-je, a vision suddenly bloomed before the Demonized Being’s eyes.
It was the image of a massive black eagle, soaring high across the sky, descending savagely toward him.
“Aahhh!”
The creature shuddered at the illusion, instinctively shrinking back and retreating.
But,
“What—?”
All the Demonized Being could see was Huk Mu-je sliding his sword back into its scabbard—he had no idea when it had been drawn—and nothing at all had actually befallen him.
Huk Mu-je regarded him with an unreadable expression, his gaze steady and calm.
“Ha, can it be that even you cannot cut me down? Kra-ha-ha-ha! Yes, I am truly invincible now!”
The Demonized Being burst into manic laughter.
“How foolish.”
Huk Mu-je turned away as if the man were no longer worth his attention.
“Not a Demonized Being at all—merely a Demon Thrall. Tsk.”
“What? No, that can’t… Gah!”
The man’s face contorted as he lurched toward Huk Mu-je.
But his body would not obey.
In the next moment, countless fissures began to spread across the Demonized Being’s flesh.
Only then did he understand—his defeat. His death.
His voice turned desperate.
“No, I can’t die like this! No, no, no—!”
But it was already too late.
His body was carved into thousands of pieces.
The man who had become a Demonized Being fell without landing a single blow against Huk Mu-je, meeting his end in silence.
In that instant, the Banquet Hall fell utterly quiet.
‘So that is Huk Mu-je….’
Everyone present widened their eyes in awe at his power.
It was far more than mere swordsmanship.
“Extraordinary.”
Perhaps it was because they had shared meals together for several days, received his gracious hospitality, and grown close without formality.
For a moment, they had forgotten.
They had forgotten that this old man who seemed so at ease among them was the leader of the Sa-do Alliance and one of the twelve Absolute Masters whose names were never absent when the Number One Under Heaven was discussed.
Now the Baeklang Dae felt that truth crash down upon them anew with overwhelming force.
Of course, they already knew well that Huk Mu-je’s swordsmanship rivaled the Sword Emperor’s in the contest for the Number One Under Heaven.
Moreover, Huk Mu-je himself had said that his true power could only be glimpsed when wielding the Huksalgeom, his divine blade left behind at the Peng Estate in Hebei—and so none could truly gauge just how formidable he truly was.
Yet because the Baeklang Dae had grown incomparably stronger through recent intensive training, they could perceive his strength more acutely than most.
In the past, they would have merely thought him tremendously powerful and left it at vague admiration.
But the more one understands, the more one sees.
Now they felt the depth and weight of his power so vividly that gooseflesh rose across their skin.
“He’s formidable, as expected. Impossibly so.”
“Yes. Truly.”
O Chae-mu nodded at Peng Do-hwan’s words.
In fact, all of the Baeklang Dae nodded in unison.
Yet still, they thought it.
For some reason, they could not shake the conviction that Yeo Un-hwi would not lose to such a man as Huk Mu-je.
Of course, had anyone else heard such a thing, they would have laughed it to scorn as the height of absurdity—yet somehow, that was the feeling they carried.
“By the way, where has the lord gone?”
At Gu Tae-san’s question, all of the Baeklang Dae turned their heads, searching.
And it was Do-gyeong who spotted Yeo Un-hwi first, pointing toward where he stood.
But why was he over there?
Confusion crossed every face.
Meanwhile,
Hmm.
Though Huk Mu-je had defeated the Demonized Being, his expression was far from pleased.
How many times was this now?
This was not good.
Incidents of Demonization were occurring with increasing frequency within the Sa-do Alliance.
The casualties were mounting accordingly.
This could not continue.
Huk Mu-je’s face grew profoundly grave.
***
And watching that darkness settle over Huk Mu-je’s countenance,
‘Keke-kekeke. You must be exasperated, yes? Huk Mu-je? But there is nothing you can do to stop it. No matter what measures you take.’
Someone was chuckling quietly to themselves.
This was the man who had sown the seed of destruction in the one who had just become a Demonized Being and fallen.
Nor was this the only time.
Every recent calamity had borne his hand.
Though it was true that Huk Mu-je caused Demonized Beings to be captured far more swiftly than before, today’s events would only deepen the unease festering within the Sa-do Alliance.
So this attempt wasn’t a failure after all.
If Demonized Beings continue to emerge going forward, the Sa-do Alliance will inevitably begin to fracture on its own.
Who could live in peace within the Sa-do Alliance under such conditions?
Never knowing when the person beside you might transform into a Demonized Being.
That extreme paranoia would erode the Sa-do Alliance rapidly from within.
And when that happens, the Sa-do Alliance that Huk Mu-je once ruled with an iron fist will crumble to dust.
And when ‘that day’ comes, I will gladly offer both Huk Mu-je’s head and the Sa-do Alliance to ‘that one’ as a gift.
That is precisely why I have hidden my identity and remained in this place all these long years—for that day, that moment.
‘Kekeke. Excellent. Truly excellent.’
Beneath his outward appearance, he wore a sinister smile.
He had confidence.
Absolute confidence that he would not be exposed before that day arrived.
Soon he approached Huk Mu-je with a worried expression on his face.
It was time to resume the performance.
But then—
“You there.”
Someone had suddenly called out to him.
When he turned, a strikingly handsome man was looking directly at him.
It was Yeo Un-hwi, the master of Baeklang Dae.
He had never spoken to him before.
For some reason, he had instinctively avoided contact with Baeklang Dae, again and again, seized by an ominous premonition.
But why now?
What Yeo Un-hwi said next was—
“You. What’s your true identity?”
What is this?
For a moment he was quite startled, but he recovered and replied calmly.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand. My true identity?”
The unexpected confrontation nearly made him laugh out loud.
“What is this about?”
Huk Mu-je too approached with a puzzled expression.
But Yeo Un-hwi paid no attention whatsoever, his gaze still fixed on the man wearing the false face.
He studied the man’s features for a long moment, then let out a low chuckle.
“So it was you orchestrating all of this.”
The one Yeo Un-hwi was now looking at was none other than Sama-ryang, the Sa-do Alliance’s supreme military strategist.
“Wait, what do you mean—”
“You.”
Yeo Un-hwi’s eyes began to glow with a golden light.
Like a predator that had found its prey.
“You’re Heukaami, aren’t you?”
At Yeo Un-hwi’s words, Sama-ryang’s face drained of all color.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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