The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 284

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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 284
-…Daeju…
-Yes. I understand your shock, but it is true.
Shocked, I was. Truly shocked.
‘How did he know?’
I was astonished by the fact that Yeo Hyeok had deduced Maehua Daeju to be the traitor—and that I knew he had done so.
How could he have known?
I could see it because my eyes are peculiar, but Yeo Hyeok is different. His suspicion of the Daeju was entirely separate from my perception.
Then.
-…You have grounds for suspicion?
Could there be sufficient cause for such suspicion? Without it, such a thing would be impossible.
To my question.
-There is.
-…!
Yeo Hyeok answered with conviction. Upon hearing those words, my brow furrowed.
‘He has grounds?’
What could those grounds be? Just as I was about to ask Yeo Hyeok about this.
-One moment—might I speak of this matter at a later time? It seems premature now. For now, I ask only that you understand that I harbor suspicions.
-Ah, yes. That is acceptable.
Yeo Hyeok held his tongue. The mere fact that he suspected the Daeju was enough to establish our understanding.
To probe further would burden him.
To reveal all cards.
‘Our bond is not yet so deep.’
Our relationship lacked that depth.
For now, it was right to respect Yeo Hyeok’s boundaries.
‘What mattered now.’
If Yeo Hyeok had revealed even that much.
-Then.
I too had to reveal at least one card of my own.
-I should share with you what I have investigated as well.
-…Investigated?
-Yes.
I spoke as I drew closer to him.
-Since arriving at Hwasan, I have begun investigations under orders from the Cheongwol Sect and the Martial Arts Alliance.
-…!
Yeo Hyeok’s eyes widened at my words.
-You were already conducting an investigation…?
-Yes. In that process, I discovered several suspicious individuals.
-…Already…?
-Whether you believe me or not is your choice. I myself am not certain.
-…You grasped the circumstances in such a brief moment?
Yeo Hyeok spoke as if he couldn’t believe it. Of course he couldn’t. I wouldn’t have believed it either had our positions been reversed.
But.
-Yes. Whether you believe this or not is the sect’s choice to make.
What circumstances I had grasped—I had no intention of elaborating on that.
Naturally, there were no such circumstances to begin with.
‘What could I have observed in a single day.’
I wasn’t a detective, and in that brief span of time, there was nothing to see or not see.
‘I simply saw what was visible.’
I merely remembered what my eyes could perceive.
I hadn’t even properly grasped their names.
The people I knew were pitifully few.
That’s why.
From this point forward, I would only speak to him of the names I knew.
-To reiterate.
This too is a method.
-The judgment is yours to make, sect leader.
To unleash a whirlwind upon Yeo Hyeok.
It would be the most powerful tempest of all.

* * *
After the conversation concluded with the meal.
“…”
Yeo Hyeok gripped his sword with a somewhat rigid expression.
Shiiiiing—!!!
The blade flowed ceaselessly, cutting through the air.
The flowing continuity of the trembling sword edge was utterly natural and beautiful.
The delicacy thus created resembled a dance.
Movements that embodied the plum blossom.
Expressing the flutter of petals through the sword.
This was what Hwasan pursued, and Yeo Hyeok’s blade aligned perfectly with that path.
Hwasan’s greatest masterpiece.
That’s what they called it until Yoo Yeon appeared.
And as if to prove it, Yeo Hyeok’s sword was incomparably beautiful.
Kiiing—!
“…”
Yeo Hyeok, who had been wielding his sword with full force, paused briefly.
“…”
Yeo Hyeok examined his sword’s tip with hardened eyes.
Sssssss.
The blade that should have remained unwavering trembled ever so slightly.
Whoosh—!
Seeing this, Yeo Hyeok immediately retrieved his sword and sheathed it.
There seemed little point in continuing further.
This was not a matter of physical exhaustion or anything of that nature.
‘I wavered.’
My mental resolve had been shaken.
That instability manifested through the blade itself.
“…Still far to go.”
While embodying the plum blossom, I must also maintain the steadfastness of the tree.
The roots and trunk must be firm to sway gracefully and true.
“Ha ha.”
Yeo Hyeok felt that very foundation tremble.
He laughed emptily, reminded that despite wielding the sword for so long, his enlightenment remained insufficient.
“…It is not easy.”
My swordsmanship.
The path I must walk.
Even this Hwasan where I stand.
“…Jang Moonin….”
What should I do?
As Yeo Hyeok recalled Hwasan’s greatest tree, his expression darkened considerably.
It had been a magnificent tree that shone brilliantly and sheltered all beneath its boughs.
Yet of late, he sensed that tree withering.
Was that why?
As its shade weakened, it seemed malevolent things were drawn to it.
Yeo Hyeok felt this.
‘He felt it too.’
I recall those blue eyes that gazed upon me.
Merely remembering them sends a chill down my spine.
‘Surely…’
I heard he had not yet reached his prime years.
When I first saw him, he appeared quite young, so I had judged the rumors spreading through the Central Plains to be mere gossip.
‘I was wrong.’
Yeo Hyeok was certain of it.
Wol-hyeop Bangseong-yeon.
The most renowned martial artist in Hanan at present.
The Martial Arts Alliance’s main headquarters in Hanan came under attack.
An incident where unknown entities called Patcheon-gung and the Demonic Cult, thought to have vanished, revealed themselves once more.
Countless disciples perished in the process, and faith in the Martial Arts Alliance itself was crumbling, or so he had heard.
A fracture had formed.
They said that peace came after Yoo Cheon-gil saved the world.
This was the first danger to arrive since then.
And yet, someone spoke of it.
That whenever danger arrives, a hero emerges to meet it.
Just as the Sword Saint had saved the world.
This time, that predecessor stepped forward.
The Sword Demon—a former supreme master of the Demonic Cult and once compared to the Celestial Demon.
The moment the Sword Demon appeared and everyone was seized by panic.
The Blue-Eyed Hero alone raised his sword with unwavering composure.
With a young body, he boldly severed the Sword Demon’s neck, and even saved the Martial Arts Alliance from crisis.
When Yeo Hyeok heard those words, he did not believe them.
‘It must be a false rumor.’
A Disciple not yet in his twenties killed the Sword Demon?
Moreover, this time he was being called a hero for saving the Four Heavens. I could somehow accept that much.
But killing the Sword Demon was something I could not believe as a martial artist.
How could one kill the Sword Demon? Something must have been misreported.
Yeo Hyeok did not believe it in his heart.
‘…It might not be a false rumor.’
The rumors surrounding him might not be false after all.
I would know after meeting him directly and conversing with him.
As for my sense as a martial artist.
‘I was nearly overwhelmed.’
I sensed that I had nearly been overwhelmed by Bangseong-yeon’s presence.
He was certainly much younger than me. If anything, we were nearly the same age, yet as I conversed with him, I felt as though I might be drawn into something.
It was probably those eyes.
‘Those blue eyes.’
Blue eyes that shone like stars.
Beautiful above all else, yet paradoxically darker than anything else.
Outwardly brighter than anyone, yet the atmosphere carried a shadow.
I felt it through our conversation as well.
‘Is he truly a young boy?’
Is he truly a young man of tender years?
For some reason, it felt like conversing with an elder of high standing.
Eyes that seemed to know everything.
And an air of such composure.
‘What is his true identity?’
Wol-hyeop Bangseong-yeon.
What could his true identity be?
And furthermore… truly.
‘Could he really be that strong?’
Is he as strong as the Sword Demon he killed?
Normally, I wouldn’t have thought so.
‘The more we converse, the more I believe otherwise.’
With each exchange of words, the recognition grew—perhaps this young man could indeed accomplish such things.
That was why.
“…I’ve spilled everything as if bewitched.”
I had revealed the very matter that had been troubling me for the past several months.
How could I have disclosed such secrets, knowing that Bangseong-yeon would learn of them?
A moment of regret did surface.
“Shhhhh….”
Yet strangely, my chest felt lighter. Perhaps it was from speaking what could not be spoken.
‘…Or perhaps from feeling a kinship.’
Perhaps it was from thinking I could resolve Hwasan’s problems with someone.
Of course.
‘Even so, the wavering cannot be helped.’
I could not deny that my entire composure had been shaken.
‘…Wol-hyeop.’
That conversation with him seemed to have struck me with considerable impact.
“It won’t be easy.”
It will take time to shake it off.
It was amid such thoughts.
“Senior Brother.”
“…!”
Someone approached Yeo Hyeok and spoke to him.
A figure dressed in the same robes as himself—one of the Maehua Sword Practitioners.
“…Yeo Jin.”
Yeo Hyeok called out the name of the man who had come to find him. At that call, Yeo Jin smiled.
“Were you training? I’ve been searching for you for quite some time.”
“What is the matter?”
“Ah, the Daeju seeks you. It appears to be regarding a mission.”
Upon hearing this, Yeo Hyeok nodded.
“Tell him I shall visit shortly.”
“Understood.”
Yeo Jin departed with a bright smile.
Watching his disciple’s back, Yeo Hyeok’s expression hardened.
-My disciple Yeo Jin. He too appears to be a spy of Patcheon-gung.
“….”
One of those Bangseong-yeon had mentioned.
Yeo Jin was among them.
‘…Is it truly so?’
Yeo Jin was a figure who exerted himself more diligently than anyone else at Hwasan.
Possessing talent as well, he had risen to the rank of Maehua Sword Master alongside others.
‘…Yeo Jin?’
Could that Yeo Jin truly be a member of Patcheon-gung? Yeo Hyeok could not easily believe it.
It was strange to trust the words of Bangseong-yeon, whom he had met for merely a few days, over those of martial brothers he had spent decades with.
Yet he knew this well.
“…Sigh.”
Unease had already filled the way he now regarded Yeo Jin.
Yeo Hyeok understood this clearly.

* * *
“By now, perhaps?”
I mused as I walked.
By now, surely…
‘A spark of doubt has kindled in Yeo Hyeok’s heart.’
The spark of suspicion. It seemed now was the time for it to ignite.
‘It must work out well.’
This was the foundation-laying phase.
I had fortunately created a connection with Yeo Hyeok and put it to use.
‘I do not know how far I can exploit this.’
The ones entangled in this were no simple fools, so I could not afford to leave traces.
‘There are far too many watching eyes.’
Someone had surely already seen that I had been with Yeo Hyeok.
Regardless of their intelligence capabilities, they likely knew the general picture.
‘Therefore, I must hide it as much as possible.’
That I could discern the Patcheon-gung thugs.
This must not be discovered by anyone.
Then.
“We have arrived.”
I responded to Taeyong’s words. Before us stood a familiar residence.
“I shall inform Jang Moonin and return.”
“Yes, I appreciate it.”
I had found Jang Moonin’s quarters.
There was something I needed to tell him.
“He says you may enter.”
Upon hearing Taeyong’s words, I proceeded to the chamber.
“Pardon my intrusion.”
“Come in.”
Jang Moonin, as always, sat before his desk.
This time, Yoo Yeon stood at his side.
“You wanted to see me?”
“Yes, I had something to tell you, so I came to visit.”
“Something to tell me… Do we need more conversation?”
Haven’t we already said everything that needed to be said?
That’s what Jang Moonin seemed to be saying.
“Ah, no, it’s not about that. This is something personal I wished to discuss.”
This time it had nothing to do with Physician Uiseon or Shin Chang.
“Personal?”
Only then did Jang Moonin show interest.
“The thing is.”
I scratched my cheek as I spoke to him.
“My mentor took a divine artifact by exchanging it… I was wondering if I could exchange it back.”
“Ho.”
A divine artifact.
The moment I mentioned it, Jang Moonin’s eyes widened slightly.
“I see. It seems you know about it too, child.”
“…Ah, yes.”
I didn’t want to know, but that fellow who swapped the item kept going on about it.
Since I was here anyway, I figured I might as well bring it up. That was my intention.
But then.
“Fine. I’ll return it. Yoo Yeon.”
Jang Moonin called out to Yoo Yeon.
She immediately rose to her feet.
What? Can I get it this easily? Just as I thought things were going smoothly.
Yoo Yeon’s hand moved.
“Huh?”
I narrowed my eyes at the sight.
[Ah.]
In that instant, Yoo Cheon-gil spoke.
[Dodge.]
Shiiing—!!
“…!!”
A blade grazes my cheek.
Yoo Yeon drew her sword and swung it at me.
It all happened in an instant.

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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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