The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 311

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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 311
The stench of blood permeates the space. Corpses lay scattered in all directions, each felled by a single strike.
Blood seeps slowly into the wooden floor.
A grotesque and twisted scene. Amid it all, Yeo Hyeok’s expression is utterly darkened.
“…This…”
Is he displeased by this feast of corpses? Unlikely. He too is a martial artist, already among those who soar and crawl through the Central Plains.
There was no chance he had failed to adapt to such sights.
This was purely—
‘Displeasure at how thoroughly Shanxi has been corrupted.’
He must be questioning how deeply Patcheon Gung’s agents had infiltrated.
Moreover.
“Speak—!”
His belated fury would also play a part.
Yeo Hyeok suddenly seizes the surviving man by the collar.
“Where did you take my sworn brothers?”
“Ugh…”
Burning rage flares in his eyes.
“Speak—!”
“Gack…!”
The man writhes in agony under the crushing force of his grip.
“…Master. If you squeeze like that, he won’t be able to answer.”
“…Ugh…”
I understand his fury, but this way he won’t hear anything at all.
At my point, Yeo Hyeok finally loosens his grip.
“Cough… cough!”
Apparently it had been quite painful. The man spits out dry heaves.
But then.
“…Damn these orthodox sect bastards… hehehehe.”
His mouth opens with eyes gleaming with madness, and the sound is utterly repulsive.
“How you found out, I don’t know—”
Crack—!
So instead of listening, I strike his cheek first.
“Gack!?”
“…Wol-hyeop…!?”
Yeo Hyeok’s eyes widen at my action. Watching the man’s head snap to the side, I speak.
“You only speak when answering. Don’t make noise with your mouth.”
Then I approach him and meet his gaze.
“What were you doing here?”
At my calm question, the man with his reddened cheek speaks.
“…As I said before. I don’t feel like speaking…”
“What is Patcheon Gung’s objective?”
“That too, I won’t…”
“You kidnapped the Plum Blossom Sword Masters. Where did you take them?”
“…”
I don’t wait for answers, yet I repeat my questions. The man who swore he would never speak seemed puzzled by my behavior.
“Wol-hyeop…?”
Yeo Hyeok was the same. His reaction suggested he couldn’t comprehend what I was doing.
It didn’t matter.
“What are you doing right now…?”
The man asked what I was doing. Hearing that, I laughed.
“Ah. Don’t worry about it. I’m not asking you to answer.”
“What…?”
“Just remember it.”
Yes. Just remember it.
“Remember what I asked you. You don’t need to answer now, but someday you will have to.”
“…What are you saying right now? No matter what you try, I will not answer…!”
“Do as you please.”
He won’t answer? Let him be.
It didn’t matter anyway.
“Master. Do as you wish with what remains.”
“…”
As I stepped aside, Yeo Hyeok moved. He approached the man again, seeming intent on inflicting something akin to torture.
“Kkhehehehe!!”
Seeing Yeo Hyeok approaching abruptly, the man laughed.
“Wretched vermin… You believe yourselves to be righteous, don’t you…”
His gleaming eyes writhed with repugnant desire. A desire so vile it was sickening to behold.
“…Don’t be so arrogant. You are not righteous. You are merely contemptible things who happened to be fortunate enough to seize the era-!”
His voice trembled with fury as he shouted.
Then.
“You will accomplish nothing. You will obtain nothing.”
Ssshhhhh-!!
Smoke rose from the man as he spoke.
Black smoke. Seeing it, Yeo Hyeok’s brow furrowed.
He seemed to sense something amiss.
“What are you doing!”
“Everything is… for the heavens.”
Seeing this, Yeo Hyeok tried to rush forward, but.
“Ggguurgh…!!”
From the man’s body, a foul stench emanated along with his energy.
Thud.
His head simply fell away. It was around that time that Yeo Hyeok reached the man’s body.
Yeo Hyeok hastily brought his hand to the man’s neck.
“…He’s dead.”
The man’s life had long since been severed.
“…Did he bite down on poison?”
Yeo Hyeok opened the dead man’s mouth to check.
“….”
From the reaction, it didn’t seem to be poison.
While Yeo Hyeok was examining the man’s body this way and that, I was staring at the top of his head with rigid eyes.
‘The innate vital force itself has been severed.’
Life essence.
It had been artificially cut off, leading to death.
‘…It’s similar to the ten-thousand-mile path that ignored divine illness.’
A case where one endures without receiving the divine and reaches death.
It resembled that.
Only.
‘It feels artificial.’
An inexplicable unnaturalness permeated that entire sequence of events.
This death was not caused by poison.
Self-determination? Was it truly his own choice?
I couldn’t tell. At least not from what I could see right now.
So then.
‘I should ask.’
When in doubt, ask.
That was my intention.
[What exactly are you trying to do?]
Yoo Cheon-gil questioned me, unable to understand. I paid no mind.
In that moment.
Ssshhhhh—!!
[Ggguuuh…Huuuuh—!!]
Spectral energy flowed from the dead man’s body just as before.
It appeared to take the form of a demon.
Moreover, it seemed it would soon dissipate, but.
Thwack—!
[Krrgh—!?]
I simply grabbed the dissipating spirit with my hand.
[…Huh?]
Yoo Cheon-gil’s eyes widened at the sight.
He was startled to see me grasp a ghost with my bare hand.
[Ah, I see. You…?]
I turn away from the Old Man’s disbelieving gaze. Now was not the time to address his doubts.
Click.
A sound emanates from within.
Whirrrrr—!
As I release the bound lock, the gears begin to turn.
Ever so slightly.
[W-wh… th… th-this…]
The Demonic Man reacts with apparent confusion. I don’t spare him a glance.
Moments later.
[끄어아아아—!!]
The man is suddenly drawn into me.
I suppress the urge to retch at the acrid sensation. Ugh, it’s been so long—I really can’t get used to this.
‘Ugh.’
I hold back the filth rising in my throat.
“…Damn it… this… wait? Wol-hyeop. Are you alright?”
Yeo Hyeok, who had been standing dazed before the dead man, looks at me with concern. It must be because my expression is quite grim.
“…I’m fine.”
“…I apologize. I should have prevented him from taking his own life.”
He seems to have misunderstood, thinking my expression is because of him.
“It’s not your fault. The dojo bears no responsibility.”
How could I have captured someone whose life force has been severed like that?
In truth, it wasn’t Yeo Hyeok’s fault at all.
And.
‘I’ve already secured what I needed to secure anyway.’
A sense of displeasure settles in one corner of my being. I furrow my brow as I sense it fully taking root.
Thud—!!
A sound comes from behind. I turn my head to see Sochul Daeju.
He has returned.
Carrying two severed heads of the already dead.
“The capture failed.”
His tone is tinged with irritation. From the state of things, it seems he fared no better than we did.
‘We lost them.’
I frown upon seeing the heads Sochul Daeju brought back.
These ones dissipated immediately upon death, their spiritual essence completely extinguished.
“You’ve worked hard.”
It can’t be helped. We lost two of them, but it doesn’t matter.
‘I’ve already secured one anyway.’
Since I’ve taken what I needed, it’s of no consequence.
With that thought, I turn away.
‘It’s about time they arrived.’
Having witnessed this chaos, it wouldn’t be long before Maehua Daeju arrived as well.
Scarcely had I formed such an expectation when—
“…What in blazes is happening here!”
Maehua Daeju descended before the inn.
As though he had been waiting all along.

* * *
Chaos erupted over what had transpired at the inn. How could it be otherwise?
A tempest of blood had swept through the inn, and dozens lay dead.
Moreover, word spread that members of the heterodox sects had infiltrated the inn under concealment.
And alongside it came news that the Hwasan Sect’s Plum Blossom Sword Master and Wol-hyeop had dealt with them.
The fact that such an incident had occurred in Shaanxi, where the Hwasan Sect maintained peace.
Combined with tales of an ambush attempt in broad daylight, the harmonious atmosphere of the county rapidly froze over.
By nightfall, within the Hwasan Sect’s quarters—
“…I… I know nothing of this…!”
The man confined in the prepared prison screamed—the father of the child who had launched the midday ambush.
“You orchestrate an ambush and claim ignorance? Does such a thing make sense?”
“…But… but truly…!”
The man protested his innocence.
“My memory is gone…! How could I possibly commit such acts against you wandering knights…!”
His tone was desperate, and his words even appeared sincere.
We had brought him here unconscious at midday and begun interrogation, yet this continued to be his refrain.
No one believed him. Why would we so readily accept the words of a conspirator?
And yet—
‘What is this?’
I found myself furrowing my brow as I observed him.
‘…His aura is absent?’
The Patcheon Gung energy that had enveloped him had vanished entirely.
As though erased by a specter.

* * *
In the darkness of an enclosed space, a figure knelt on one knee, reporting to his superior.
“The inn has been attacked.”
At the monotone report, the superior’s pupils rolled slowly.
Though the space held no flickering light, somehow only his eyes remained vivid and clear.
“Hmm.”
A low voice filled the small room.
“The inn. Where.”
“…In Shanxi, sir.”
“Shanxi, you say… Shanxi, then.”
The figure who had been nodding spoke.
“That would be under Gwima’s jurisdiction, wouldn’t it?”
The figure, recalling that grotesque face, furrowed his brow.
“Yes, sir.”
“An incident occurred in that man’s territory?”
Ssshhh.
Laughter echoed. Yellow teeth gleamed in a neat row.
“That’s absurd. Did Jegal Jin himself take action?”
No matter how much I dislike the man, I acknowledge his intellect.
An incident in the territory of such a man?
It was laughable.
“Then there are only two possibilities….”
Screeeech.
The man rose from his crouched position.
His massive frame made the small room feel cramped.
“Either a formidable figure has appeared, one capable of alarming Gwima.”
Or otherwise.
“Gwima has betrayed me.”
The man chuckled darkly, considering the possibilities.
Whatever the case.
“I should investigate myself.”
It seemed this was a matter requiring my personal attention.
Boom-!
A heavy sound echoed as he took a step.
The subordinate who heard it spoke.
“…Master… what shall we do with the Plum Blossom we captured?”
“Ah, that.”
The man who heard the question replied.
“Dispose of her. She’s no longer needed.”
I had already extracted all her usefulness. There was no reason to keep her any longer.
“Understood.”
The subordinate bowed his head at the command. The man resumed his stride.
As he stepped outside, the man grasped something placed beyond the threshold.
Screeeech—!
A massive saber, as enormous as the man’s own frame, was slung across his back.
“It has been quite some time since I ventured out.”
With a pleased expression, the man spoke in a murmur.
“All things are for the sake of heaven.”
It was a phrase uttered as though by habit.
Thus the man.
Taema, one of the Eight Demons, began his journey toward Shanxi with purpose in his heart.

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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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