The God of Death and the God of War - Chapter 3

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Evil Hegemon Martial God

Chapter 3

“Ugh…!”

Jegal Wiyeon realized he had been collapsed on the ground and shot up like lightning.

‘Wh-where am I…?’

Rumble-!

As if celebrating Jegal Wiyeon’s awakening, the earth shook and the walls began to restructure themselves.

‘…Soseng Paljindo.’

Only after seeing the shaking earth and changing structure could Jegal Wiyeon finally recognize what situation he was in.

But recognizing the situation didn’t mean he understood everything about it.

‘But why was I on the ground…?’

As he searched his memory to recall the last situation.

“Ugh!”

He let out a groan from sudden pain.

Throb, throb – the back of his head ached.

No, it was more than that.

It felt as if he’d been struck by an iron hammer, his skull rattling.

When he touched it, it seemed his skull might be cracked, feeling like it had caved inward.

‘…An ambush?’

That was the first thing that came to mind.

But it didn’t make sense.

Who would dare lay a hand on him, the third son of the great Jegal Sega?

-Now I can see it clearly.

-…What?

“Ah.”

Just then, his conversation with Jegal Jeokun suddenly came to mind.

His memory had been cut off after that conversation with him.

Jegal Wiyeon hurriedly looked around, but there was no trace of Jeok-un anywhere.

‘…That bastard, could he have?’

Thick killing intent rose in Jegal Wiyeon’s eyes.

From the circumstances, Jeok-un had clearly ambushed him and fled.

He felt his blood boiling in reverse.

Jegal Wiyeon despised Jeok-un.

His personality, talent, bloodline.

No matter where he looked, he wasn’t worthy of comparison, and it was shameful that they shared the same Jegal family name.

Born with such pathetic bones that he couldn’t even properly learn martial arts, yet always trying to act like an older brother just because he was a bit older – it was always absurd.

‘A mere commoner’s bloodline with no backing whatsoever.’

But the only reason Jegal Wiyeon still called Jegal Jeokun “hyung” and followed him was one thing.

It was because of his birth mother Lady Oh’s orders.

[Jegal Jun is the family head’s legitimate son and eldest child. His talent is also outstanding. You must defeat such a Jegal Jun to become the next family head. Do you understand?

[Yes, Mother.]

[Then what must you do?]

[Of course, with overwhelming martial power…]

[Wrong.]

[What?]

[You are a tiger and wolf, but you must wear a sheep’s mask.]

A sheep’s mask – meaning a gentle appearance.

Following Lady Oh’s orders, Jegal Wiyeon outwardly appeared gentle and obedient to his brothers.

To ultimately put a blade to Jegal Jun’s throat, he was calling someone like Jeok-un “hyung.”

Though Jegal Wiyeon had been seething for a while.

As his contemplation lengthened, the intensity of his anger gradually faded.

His heated head was also slowly cooling down.

“Phew.”

Finally exhaling deeply, Jegal Wiyeon’s eyes had returned to their normal light.

‘…Tch, I got too excited. That idiot absolutely doesn’t have the guts for this.’

Thinking it through slowly again, the assumption itself was absurd.

Why would that fool, who was completely fooled by his act of being a loving younger brother, attack him?

‘Besides, there’s no way I’d be ambushed by someone who could only learn basic techniques in the main hall.’

He must have unluckily been hit by energy waves generated during the formation’s restructuring process.

Well, if not that, it could have been an accident that occurred while someone else was exploiting the formation’s weaknesses.

A damn unlucky incident.

Jegal Wiyeon reached that final conclusion.

‘Damn it, but that bastard left me behind? He should have woken me up! Or at least carried me on his back!’

Jegal Wiyeon ground his teeth at Jegal Jeokun.

‘I hope not too much time has passed.’

Fainting in the middle was painful.

Since he was completely cut off from the outside within the formation, there was no way to check how much time had passed.

‘Tch, can’t be helped.’

If he had time to spare, he wouldn’t take such risks, but if he fell to mid-tier or below, his mother’s wrath would fall upon him.

Swish.

Jegal Wiyeon soon pulled something from his chest.

A monocular lens.

It was something Lady Oh had given him – a device that would find nearby Life Gates.

-If you think you’re running too late, use this. It will read the vital energy and illuminate the Life Gate.

-However, if someone sees you using this, you’ll be disqualified for cheating, so you must never use it.

When you think you’re running too late.

When no one is around.

It was exactly describing now, and Jegal Wiyeon checked once more that no one was around before putting on the lens.

“Ooh…!”

With one eye he could see the formation’s structure, and through the lens he could see the formation’s flow.

Red, yellow, blue, green – four different flows mixed and scattered repeatedly, indicating paths.

‘She said to follow the green.’

The path led by green was the Life Gate, so he just needed to follow that path straight.

Tap tap-!

Having read the flow of vital energy leading to the Life Gate, there was nothing to hesitate about now.

Jegal Wiyeon deployed his lightness skill, Heavenly Mechanism Divine Movement, to its fullest and ran toward the Life Gate.

‘I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but at least mid-tier should be manageable!’

As Jegal Wiyeon ran with inner delight, he saw heat haze gathering not far away.

That place where vital energy gathered was the Life Gate, the exit to escape.

As soon as Jegal Wiyeon confirmed the Life Gate, he launched his body without hesitation.

Whoosh-!

Feeling as if heaven and earth were flipping upside down.

Crash!

Jegal Wiyeon rolled on the ground in an utterly disgraceful manner.

Rather than be disqualified immediately by showing the lens, it was better to lose some face by rolling on the ground.

“Cough, cough!”

Jegal Wiyeon, who had deliberately performed the Lazy Donkey Rolling technique and tumbled across the ground, coughed and hunched his body.

At the same time, he quickly removed the lens and tucked it into his chest, continuing his act.

“Ugh…!”

It was really difficult.

Many things had happened.

Only after letting out this silent cry did Jegal Wiyeon stagger to his feet and dust off his body.

But….

‘…Huh?’

Something was strange about the gazes.

The countless stares focused on him.

‘Could it be that I came in first…?’

Jegal Wiyeon momentarily harbored such hope, but soon felt a chilling sense of foreboding from the implications in those gazes and expressions.

‘Oh, Mother!’

The peak of this was none other than his birth mother, Lady Oh.

Lady Oh was glaring at him venomously with an expression like that of a malevolent spirit.

‘Damn, what the hell is going on?’

Did they find out about the body swap?

I rolled around right after coming out, so they shouldn’t have noticed, right?

Even if they did find out, would such gazes make sense?

Just as Jegal Wiyeon’s mind was becoming clouded with confusion.

“Tsk, pathetic.”

A cold voice echoed through the air.

‘Ah, Father…?’

When he turned his gaze toward the voice, his father Jegal Mun clicked his tongue with a cold expression, then turned his head toward the Daeju beside him.

He had completely turned away.

“Cheongang Daeju, finish this.”

“Understood. The final challenger of the Waryong Examination, Jegal Wiyeon, has emerged, so we hereby conclude the test!”

“…!?”

At Cheongang Daeju Jegal Tan’s declaration, Jegal Wiyeon was so shocked he couldn’t close his mouth.

The final challenger.

The meaning of this was clear.

‘I came in last?! That’s impossible!’

Jegal Wiyeon denied reality.

He was that flustered.

But whether Jegal Wiyeon accepted the current situation or not, the result wouldn’t change.

But what was even more shocking was.

“The top scorer of this Waryong Examination, Jegal Jeokun, step forward!”

The top scorer of this test.

In other words, the fact that the person who had escaped the Soseng Paljindo first was none other than Jegal Jeokun.

* * *

Jegal Sega’s Gajujeon.

The Gajujeon was usually a place protected by strict guards and ironclad formations.

But now, at this moment, even the minimal guards had been dismissed, and only two people faced each other inside the hall.

The owner of the hall, Jegal Mun.

And his son, Jegal Jeokun.

-I will have a private meeting with Jeokun, the top scorer.

This was why, immediately after the Waryong Examination ended, Jegal Mun had skipped the award ceremony and celebration banquet that should have followed, taking only Jeokun to the Gajujeon.

With just the two of them seated facing each other in the Gajujeon.

Swoooosh….

The interior was so quiet that the sound of leaves rustling in the wind could be heard.

No, it would be more accurate to call it a cold silence.

The two had been in the Gajujeon for quite some time, yet they remained wordless for a long while.

Rather than a father-son relationship, the atmosphere was like the preliminary skirmishing before battle, as they gauged each other’s momentum.

“….”

“….”

Just when it seemed the eternal silence would preserve the two like specimens.

Glug-

The silence ended as Jegal Mun poured precious tea into Jeokun’s cup.

“You must have worked hard, have a drink.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Jeokun accepted the tea without refusing, and after taking a sip, he slightly frowned.

“This is Baekho Silver Needle from Jeonghwa Daebaek, specially received from the Alliance Leader. Does it not suit you?”

Seeing this, the family head chuckled and said.

“Yes. I prefer alcohol to tea.”

“I didn’t know you liked alcohol.”

“Well. I only recently developed a taste for it.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

And silence resumed again.

In an atmosphere as distant as strangers, Jegal Mun also poured tea into his own cup, took a sip, and said.

“How did you dismantle the formation?”

A straightforward question that came without caring about the awkward silence.

‘Here we go.’

Jeokun steeled his mind and met Jegal Mun’s eyes.

Jegal Mun’s gaze was unique.

It was a mysterious look that seemed to pierce through everything about his opponent and dig into their inner thoughts, making Jegal Jeokun feel as if he were standing naked before him.

‘Is this the gaze of a divine strategist?’

Divine strategist, Three-Stroke Divine Brain—Jegal Mun had various titles, but none of them were empty names.

He was the backbone of the current Martial Arts Alliance, the core of decision-making, and essentially a leader of the martial world who controlled the entire network.

One moment of carelessness and he’d be devoured.

However.

‘Interesting.’

Jeokun smiled inwardly.

He too had been the hegemon of Sapa before his regression, the being called Heukcheon Paegyeon.

The solid mental strength gained from the path he had walked and the character he had built up offset all of that pressure.

“Whew….”

When Jegal Jeokun dispelled the sense of intimidation with a light breath, a slight gleam appeared in Jegal Mun’s eyes.

“You asked how I dismantled it.”

“That’s right.”

Jeokun nodded lightly, then answered calmly.

“There were holes. So I broke through them.”

“…There were holes?”

“It’s such an old formation, isn’t it? I could see not just one but several weak points scattered throughout.”

“!!”

Jeokun boldly stated that there were holes in the Paljindo, and Jegal Mun’s displeasure was palpable as he listened.

“…There were holes so you broke through, you say. Are you now daring to discuss flaws in the formation created by our ancestors?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

When Jeokun answered nonchalantly, a brief gleam flashed and disappeared in Jegal Mun’s eyes.

Bang!

Jegal Mun suddenly struck the table forcefully, venting his anger.

“Your words are truly insolent! Do you not know that you are committing the grave sin of destroying your foundation?”

“Did I slander our ancestors? I evaluated a work created by our ancestors. How can that be a crime?”

“The work you speak of is the history and tradition of our Main Family!”

“Then the fault lies with the ancestor who made it poorly in the first place, not with me.”

Jeok-un didn’t back down even a little, and the two men’s imposing auras clashed head-on in perfect tension.

“These flaws you claim to have discovered. Go ahead and tell me every single one without exception. If there’s even the slightest lie, I’ll punish you with the harshest penalty!”

The worst possible situation where he could fall from taking first place in the Waryong Examination to becoming a sinner of the family.

However.

Jeok-un knew.

“Hmm, then how about we do it this way?”

“…What?”

That this was yet another opportunity that had come to him.

Jeok-un began to wag his silver tongue.

“I merely spoke what was appropriate, yet the family head berates me so harshly that my heart feels nothing but wronged and devastated.”

“How truly absurd.”

“Therefore…”

Jegal Mun wore an expression of disbelief, yet quietly waited for Jeok-un’s next words.

Then Jeok-un, so subtly that no one could notice, curled up one corner of his mouth slightly and spoke.

“I would like to make a wager with the family head to proudly prove that there isn’t an ounce of falsehood in my words.”

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