The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 197

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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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The Heavenly Supreme Has Died – Episode 197
A face far too handsome for its own good.
Despite the night’s arrival, he possessed a presence so vivid it seemed as though a light burned behind him.
Bang Cheon-ho, whose very appearance suggested he walked through the world alone, approached the Sword Emperor with a smile.
“It has been some time since we last met, and I hope you have been well-”
Slash.
A line was drawn beneath Bang Cheon-ho’s feet. Seeing this, Bang Cheon-ho laughed with an awkward smile.
“Ah, I see. It appears your mood is not particularly pleasant.”
“Do not approach me.”
At the cold tone, Bang Cheon-ho raised both hands.
“Of course, of course.”
Bang Cheon-ho stepped back respectfully.
As the distance widened, the Sword Emperor’s hand moved ever so slightly.
Just barely away from the sword’s hilt. Even this was enough for Bang Cheon-ho to nod in understanding.
“It has been a long time, yet you remain unchanged.”
“Only you would say such a thing.”
“Well, I am always the same. It is necessary that I remain so, after all.”
His laughter deepened. The Sword Emperor, watching that smile, had to stiffen his movements. He felt as though irritation might drive him to cut the man down.
“Restrain yourself.”
Gripping his hand tightly, Bang Cheon-ho spoke to the Sword Emperor.
“What business do you have summoning me? You, who are always so occupied.”
Bang Cheon-ho had come to Hannam because of the Sword Emperor.
A single letter he had sent. That alone had brought him this far.
“There is something I wish to ask.”
The Sword Emperor gazed at Bang Cheon-ho with cold eyes.
Behind Bang Cheon-ho stretched the black night sky, and at its center, the moon hung suspended.
All those rays of light poured down upon Bang Cheon-ho, creating an otherworldly impression.
Seeing the moon, I wanted to cut him down.
The Sword Emperor suppressed the impulse he had felt his entire life and spoke to Bang Cheon-ho.
“Do you know anything of Pacheongung?”
“….”
Pacheongung.
At those words, the corner of Bang Cheon-ho’s eye twitched. Though infinitesimally subtle, it was not something the Sword Emperor could miss.
“To what degree must one’s knowledge extend before it qualifies as knowing?”
At Bang Cheon-ho’s words, the Sword Emperor’s hand moved once more.
He gripped the hilt.
“Tell me everything you know.”
“Ha. Why do you speak this way?”
At those words, Bang Cheon-ho’s smile faded slightly.
“You of all people should know-”
Slice.
A leaf falling beside Bang Cheon-ho split cleanly in half.
A thin crimson line of blood appeared on his skin.
Drip.
Blood droplets trickled down.
“Bang Cheon-ho.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think I’m toying with you right now?”
“No, sir. If I thought that, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Then fix your attitude.”
The Sword Emperor spoke as a warning, but Bang Cheon-ho’s expression didn’t change.
“Attitude… you mean my attitude?”
Step.
Bang Cheon-ho took a step forward—directly over the line the Sword Emperor had just drawn.
He crossed it without hesitation.
“Sir, I’m not sure what attitude you’d like me to correct.”
His voice remained steady.
His expression unchanged.
Yet the Sword Emperor sensed something had shifted.
“I’ve come all this way. Surely you should at least treat me as someone worth negotiating with.”
.
“Otherwise, will you take my head?”
He offered his neck as if to say: do as you wish.
The Sword Emperor’s expression twisted at the sight of such fair, delicate skin on a man.
He wanted to cut.
The Sword Emperor had severed everything he’d ever wanted to sever in his lifetime, yet there remained a few things he could not. In his twilight years, this frustrated him.
Chief among them was that moon hanging in the sky above,
and this stubborn man before him.
Should he cut? The thought drove him to madness, but—
“What do you mean by negotiation?”
The Sword Emperor chose not to fight.
He couldn’t fight this man. It wasn’t a matter of combat prowess, but the very nature of Bang Cheon-ho’s existence itself.
As the Sword Emperor took a step back, a smile bloomed across Bang Cheon-ho’s face once more.
“Nothing grand… I simply thought that if you found what I have to say worthwhile, you might grant me one small favor in return.”
.
An unsettling proposal, yet not entirely disagreeable.
The condition “if you find it worthwhile” was attached to it, after all.
The Sword Emperor stared at Bang Cheon-ho intently before asking,
“Bang Cheon-ho.”
“Speak, sir.”
“Your son has become the Sword Saint’s Predecessor.”
“….”
The moment his son was mentioned, Bang Cheon-ho’s expression shifted dramatically.
I felt his refined eyes contort.
“Did you do this knowing something?”
Bang Cheon-ho’s son.
The Sword Emperor knew him well too. The reason I was by his side as a stable hand was because of that man, at Wol Seon-geom’s request.
‘Unlike his father, a decent man.’
That was my assessment of Bang Cheon-ho’s son, Bangseong-yeon.
A decent man, unlike that cunning, worthless father.
He respected the Old Man, and his conduct was flawless in every way.
He was sharp-witted and didn’t conduct himself by relying on his handsome face like that man did.
It was bewildering how such a child could be born to such a wretch.
And I couldn’t fathom how such a man had become the Predecessor of Geomseong—Yoo Ga’s violent one.
That’s why.
“Was this your doing?”
Could this also be something that man orchestrated?
I knew it.
If that man desired such a thing, he was capable of anything.
When one thinks of the Demon of the Central Plains, ninety-nine out of a hundred would think of the Celestial Demon.
But those who truly understood Bang Cheon-ho would not fail to recognize that he was no less formidable.
“Haha.”
Bang Cheon-ho laughed at my words.
“That couldn’t be.”
He shook his head in denial. I didn’t easily believe even that.
“…Wouldn’t a worthless father be enough to get entangled in such matters?”
“….”
I said nothing more in response.
The expression that had momentarily twisted soon returned to normal once again.
“So, I do hope you’ll look after our son well.”
“….”
At Bang Cheon-ho’s words, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
He seemed to already know that I was serving as his son’s stable hand.
‘And yet he maintains this attitude.’
When I’m in a position to kill his son at any moment.
To maintain such brazen composure while knowing this plainly.
This wasn’t because his son was unimportant to him.
He was confident that I would never do such a thing.
‘An infuriating man.’
I considered killing that man just to overturn his brazen and despicable attitude, but this too was a meaningless deliberation.
It was something I could not refuse.
“Sigh….”
The Sword Emperor exhaled deeply, then spoke to Bang Cheon-ho.
“Speak. Tell me everything you know.”
Whether I grant your request depends on what I hear.
At those words, Bang Cheon-ho’s smile deepened considerably.
He began to speak to the Sword Emperor.

* * *
After the conversation ended, the Sword Emperor’s face twisted as he looked at Bang Cheon-ho.
It wasn’t just that the man displeased me, but the information he had revealed was the real problem.
“…Is that truth?”
“Whether you believe it or not, that choice is yours, Elder.”
The possibility that the information was false.
It existed. Nearly ninety percent of what came from that man’s mouth was lies anyway.
Even knowing this, I could not judge hastily on this matter, because the remaining ten percent was the issue.
That ten percent of truth spilling from that man’s lips.
I knew better than anyone how powerful the ripples it carried could be.
Having thought that far, the Sword Emperor closed his eyes and spoke.
“What is your request?”
The request I had said I would grant if the information pleased me.
I had consented to it.
Because it was indeed valuable information.
“Oh, it seems you are pleased?”
“I will not grant any frivolous requests.”
“Ah, worry not. When have I ever made such a request? Hahahaha.”
“Do you truly believe you never have?”
“So then, the request I wish to make is this.”
“….”
My silence was a refusal to respond.
I did not know how to deal with that rotten serpent of a man. If I had known, Bang Cheon-ho would not be walking alive before me.
That was the truth of it.
“It concerns my son, you see?”
“The first. The second.”
“The second son. I have one request regarding that child.”
“Speak.”
“It is not a difficult matter….”
Just as Bang Cheon-ho was about to say something.
“….”
“….”
Both the Sword Emperor and Bang Cheon-ho suddenly fell silent. It was as if they had arranged it beforehand.
In that moment of subtle silence.
“Shall I go?”
“No. I should be the one to go, being younger.”
They exchanged words as if sharing some unspoken understanding.
“Let’s discuss this tomorrow. I will come visit you.”
….
The Sword Emperor did not answer and simply moved his body. Then, the Sword Emperor’s form scattered like mist.
Immediately after the Sword Emperor vanished.
“Hmm.”
Bang Cheon-ho, now alone, gazed beyond the moonlight.
“Is it time for a walk?”
He was still smiling.
But the smile had long since faded from the corners of his mouth.

* * *
Tap—! Tap tap!
The man moved swiftly, racing through the forest.
His footwork was nimble. Judging by the arrow-like speed at which he passed, it seemed he would escape the forest before long.
‘Faster.’
Despite his rapid pace, the man’s expression was filled with urgency.
‘How is this possible?’
His mind was equally burdened with questions.
What on earth had happened?
‘It was the Sword Emperor.’
That old man.
The old man he had just seen was none other than the Sword Emperor.
How could he be here when he had long since vanished and disappeared from the world?
‘…If I hadn’t seen the sword, I wouldn’t have noticed.’
The sword the old man carried.
It was the divine weapon that the Sword Emperor possessed.
Though its appearance was somewhat ordinary, any martial artist of sufficient level could recognize it.
Could that one-armed man truly be the Sword Emperor?
Such a thought flickered through his mind.
‘I must hurry and deliver this information.’
Whether true or not, information should be shared. He needed to reach his master as quickly as possible and relay what he had witnessed.
The man tore through the forest with utmost speed.
As he stepped on branches and accelerated, a figure surfaced in his mind.
‘…But then, who was that man beside him?’
The Sword Emperor was one thing, but who was the man standing next to him?
He was an extraordinarily handsome man.
Judging from how he conversed with the Sword Emperor, he was clearly someone of significance.
‘I’ll report this as well.’
Once I conveyed the information and had it investigated, that would be the end of it.
The man gritted his teeth and bolted forward.
Just as he moved swiftly, believing he hadn’t been discovered.
“The night is quite pleasant, isn’t it?”
“…!!”
A voice came from right beside him.
The moment the man turned his startled gaze to the side.
Crack—!
“Gahhk!”
A hand shot out and seized the man’s throat.
Caught by that rough grip, the man’s body froze in place.
And worse still.
‘I can’t move…?’
Though only his throat was held, his entire body refused to obey.
‘What is this.’
The man was utterly bewildered by the sudden turn of events.
“While the weather is indeed perfect for a stroll, one must exercise caution during night walks, you understand.”
The one gripping his throat merely smiled.
‘Who is this man…?’
Shock flooded through him. The attacker was none other than that handsome figure who had been with the Sword Emperor.
‘How could this be.’
I had sensed nothing. Since no inner energy emanated from him, I had taken him for an ordinary person.
Then.
Squelch—!
“Gaaahhh….”
Something pierced through his chest.
A hand.
The hand tore through his chest as easily as piercing tofu.
“You’ve seen what you shouldn’t see, heard what you shouldn’t hear.”
He seized the heart within and tore it out.
Splash——!!
Blood vessels severed through the air.
The corpse, now heartless, fell to the ground.
Thud—!
“….”
Bang Cheon-ho, observing the fallen body, discarded the heart he held.
Splat——!!
A heart rolling across the floor.
Bang Cheon-ho casually wiped the blood from his hands.
Even then, that smile never left his face.
“Well then… shall I go see my son after all this time?”
A smile that could never be erased.

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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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