The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 326
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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 326
It was night.
What met my eyes was unmistakably darkness.
Black. Utterly black.
A suffocating darkness so complete that nothing could be seen.
Even the moon beyond could not pierce through it—light did not exist here.
“….”
I surveyed my surroundings.
I stood in a forest.
Or could this even be called a forest? Everything had withered and twisted, dead for a long time.
Crackle.
As I took a step, sound reached my ears. I looked down at the ground. Dried leaves blanketed the earth completely.
Each footfall produced a sound.
“….”
Where am I…? And.
‘Why am I here?’
Why was I in this place? My mind felt hazy.
I remembered nothing. I stumbled forward, my legs moving as if driven by instinct alone.
As though they knew where I needed to go.
Crackle. Crackle.
I pressed onward, treading upon the dried leaves.
Where this place was, how I came to be here—
I gave it no thought, simply walking.
And as I walked for some time.
Squelch.
“…?”
Something felt wrong beneath my feet. Not the sensation of leaves. What was this?
I lowered my gaze. Where the sensation came from, leaves no longer existed.
All I saw was.
“…Blood?”
Thick, viscous blood.
The moment I recognized it, the acrid stench of blood assaulted my nostrils.
“Ugh!”
I covered my mouth and tried to step back, but—
Snap—!
“…What!?”
Something erupted from the blood and seized my ankle. It resembled a hand.
Whatever it was, its grip was too strong—my foot would not come free.
The force pulled me off balance. I fell directly into the blood.
Splash—! Blood sprayed in all directions.
The problem was that the hands gripping that location began to wrap around my body, just as they had seized my ankle moments before.
“Ugh…!”
What kind of absurd situation was this? I thrashed desperately to break free, but I couldn’t escape.
In an instant, my entire body was bound.
No matter how much strength I exerted, I couldn’t move. My clothes and skin began to soak gradually in the blood pooling around me.
“…Damn it…”
What kind of cursed predicament was this? I was desperately searching for a way out, rolling my eyes, when—
Whoosh.
“…!”
My gaze froze in place. Directly ahead. Where there should have been nothing, something existed.
‘That is…’
What is it?
A hill? No, perhaps I should call it a mountain.
In the space filled with blood, something towering and immense came into view.
I examined it carefully. My eyes narrowed naturally, and what I saw became somewhat clearer.
That was the moment.
“…Ah…”
Upon confirming the identity of what composed the mountain, I gasped in shock.
Corpses.
A festival of traces left behind by the dead and departed souls. Human corpses had accumulated and accumulated to form a mountain.
Upon seeing that, my insides trembled. The scent of death pierced through the blood and invaded my senses.
Nausea rose in my throat.
What on earth was that?
As I trembled, my eyes quivering with a chilling sensation—
[Be still.]
Whoooosh—!!
A distant voice pierced through the crown of my head. My neck stiffened rigidly.
[Remain perfectly still.]
The moment the voice was heard, my mouth was sealed shut.
My lowered gaze fell to the ground.
Blood-stained crimson liquid. What filled the floor was undoubtedly blood, yet strangely, the water around that mountain was clear.
Normally it should have been the opposite, and the incongruity of it not being so was certainly strange.
‘…Eyes.’
My heart lurched at what was reflected in that clear water’s edge.
Two lights reflected upon the water’s surface.
They were eyes.
Eyes that gleamed redder than blood and brighter than the moon.
I could sense that they were glaring down at me.
Not long after observing them, those eyes curved like a crescent moon.
[Since you’ve managed to raise that heavy body, surely you should demonstrate your agility, no?]
Crunch.
The blood surrounding me pressed down with greater force.
[So remain still for now.]
For some reason, laughter seemed to seep into the voice.
[It won’t take long.]
Was it a misunderstanding?
Death resonated from that voice.
* * *
“…Ha.”
Hwangso-gong exhaled sharply. He couldn’t help but laugh at the sight before him.
“Amusing.”
His lips curled upward into the void.
“There are certainly levels to technique. Woman. Your momentum is admirable, but whether it’s a wise choice remains to be seen.”
Boom—! Bang bang—!
Amid the successive explosions of sound, Hwangso-gong gazed at the figure before him.
A woman with striking beauty.
The plum blossoms embroidered upon her martial robes revealed her allegiance.
The raised sword and the faintly visible stance indicated a level of skill that was far from negligible.
‘What was her name again?’
He recalled the woman’s epithet.
“Geombong.”
Yes, that was it.
One of the Seven Disciples, they called them—the future of the Central Plains in this age.
‘What nonsense.’
It wasn’t even amusing. As always, the word games of the righteous sects were nauseating to hear.
What made them the future of the Central Plains? Were the righteous sects the future of the Central Plains?
‘Meaningless drivel.’
Hwangso-gong simply laughed.
He laughed because they were so foolish, knowing nothing.
It was no different now.
“Do you truly believe you can stop me?”
He laughed because she was absurd.
Hwangso-gong always laughed. Life was ridiculous, the world was ridiculous—what else could he do but laugh?
“….”
Geombong.
Yoo Yeon raised her sword toward Hwangso-gong.
Could she stop him?
She didn’t know, and couldn’t answer such a question.
She simply tightened her grip and held her blade.
“…Hmm.”
Hwangso-gong’s expression went blank as he observed Yoo Yeon.
That’s right. He’d mentioned she couldn’t speak.
Recalling that, I nodded.
“How dull.”
My interest evaporated entirely. I turned my head to look behind me.
Crash-crack-crack-!!
Boom-!!
A tremendous tremor erupted from within the dungeon.
Azure flashes and petals scattered in all directions.
Sochul Daeju and Maehua Daeju.
The absolute masters were clashing.
Sochul Daeju, who had been fiercely engaged, drove Maehua Daeju back.
Crash-boom-crack-!!!
Maehua Daeju was pushed toward the dungeon entrance. Seeing this, Sochul Daeju pursued him.
Watching that, my blood vessels surged with excitement.
‘I need to join in soon.’
That place would be entertaining.
My original purpose was that, and more importantly than that….
‘It seems already finished.’
Something embedded in the wall.
A man hung limply, apparently unconscious.
‘…Below expectations.’
They called him Wol-hyeop. The Demonic Cult’s ancient nemesis who once blocked the previous Heavenly Supreme.
The predecessor of Sword Saint Yoo Cheon-gil.
The hero of Hanam and the Disciples who supposedly killed the Sword Demon.
‘Wol-hyeop.’
Wol-hyeop Bangseong-yeon. I had appeared targeting this man.
‘He’s pathetic. Why would the Young Master concern himself with such a wretch.’
To think he’d collapse from a single blow.
I had harbored great expectations hearing he’d killed the Sword Demon, but all hope crumbled in that moment.
‘Foolish old man.’
He must have let his guard down, mistaking this body for his past Sword Demon.
There’s no greater idiot.
‘What could he possibly accomplish with that body.’
I recognized his fatal flaw from the moment he lay sprawled out—the inability to kill people.
Even when the Young Master brought such a man to Hanam, Hwangso-gong harbored resentment.
‘Now the Young Master will understand as well.’
That I am far superior to an old man like the Sword Demon.
‘Whether it’s the Sword Demon or Gwima. Why does he insist on keeping them nearby….’
What could the Marin of the past possibly possess?
The Young Master was particularly attentive to the Marin who had served under the previous Celestial Demon.
The Sword Demon and Gwima were proof of that.
Even more so.
‘Gwima does not follow the Young Master, and yet.’
Gwima. That insufferable man had even boldly declared he would not follow the Young Master.
Yet the Young Master did not cast him out.
He merely demoted him.
Why not eliminate him? Hwangso-gong could not comprehend it.
A man whose thoughts were unfathomable. That was why Hwangso-gong despised Gwima.
But then.
‘…Something feels wrong.’
The man declared he would follow the Young Master.
And he even invoked the previous Celestial Demon while doing so?
‘This should be impossible.’
What change could have occurred in this brief span to cause such a thing?
‘…Hmm.’
Suspicion gnawed at him, but the problem was that he had invoked the Celestial Demon.
When a Marin speaks while invoking the Celestial Demon, they cannot utter falsehoods.
To say he would follow the Young Master under such circumstances?
‘…Gwima.’
Was he scheming something, or was it genuine?
Unease settled in his chest. Precisely because it was Gwima, not some other Marin.
‘Tsk.’
Thump.
Hwangso-gong’s posture hardened with tension.
‘There is something.’
Normally he should have believed, but because it was Gwima, he could not.
There was definitely something. Hwangso-gong was certain of it.
‘…I must finish this quickly and investigate further.’
He needed to uncover what Gwima was truly thinking.
If he truly was plotting something treacherous.
‘He must die.’
The justification was clear.
Hwangso-gong smiled.
Krrrrrgh–!!!
“…!”
Yeo Jin’s eyes widened at the murderous intent that erupted from him.
In that moment.
“Let’s go.”
Hwangso-gong’s divine form vanished.
Yoo Yeon moved her blade.
Clang clang clang—!!
Hwangso-gong appeared from the left. She deflected the assault that erupted from that position, but.
Crash crash crash—!!!
She couldn’t block it all. This wasn’t a force that could be blocked in the first place.
So she tried to redirect it, but even that proved difficult.
Boom—!!!
She barely redirected it, but her body shook.
“Hup.”
A kiai. Yoo Yeon’s body recoiled.
Boom—!!
The blade embedded itself in the ground.
“Haha.”
Hwangso-gong laughed.
“Fast, aren’t you?”
So the rumors about her being the foremost disciple were true.
This wasn’t the movement of an ordinary disciple.
“You’ll become something great later.”
A monster.
That’s what the disciples called her, wasn’t it?
The epithet fit her perfectly.
Boom—! Boom boom—!!
The sounds were too dull and heavy to be called the ring of a blade.
Yoo Yeon redirected each one. Struggling, yet deflecting them all.
Watching this, Hwangso-gong realized something.
“You. You can see it.”
“….”
This woman clearly saw his blade.
She was born with such eyes.
Just like.
‘A small heaven.’
Like his own heaven.
This wouldn’t do at all.
‘I must kill her.’
I’ll dispose of her here. She was worth that much.
It’s a shame. If I let her live like this, it would be quite entertaining later.
But she’s far too exceptional.
She looks far superior even to Wol-hyeop, who’s been buried back there.
후우우우욱—!!!
A murderous aura erupted forth.
“….”
Yoo Yeon trembled at the sight.
“Time is short. I’m too busy to waste it on entertainment.”
Hwangso-gong closed in with blinding speed.
He unleashed his colossal blade directly at Yoo Yeon.
No matter how keen one’s perception, there were limits, and even the most fluid evasion had its boundaries.
A single strike.
One blow infused with genuine intent. That would suffice.
Taecheon Muwak Sword.
Hwangso-gong’s ultimate technique poured forth upon Yoo Yeon.
Yoo Yeon stood motionless, her body rigid from the killing intent.
‘Has she been seized by fear?’
It was possible. After all, she was merely a Disciple, no matter how talented.
‘Then she must perish.’
The blade cascaded down to grant her a merciful end.
Then.
Shhhhh—!
Yoo Yeon’s pupils flickered with sudden change.
‘Huh?’
Hwangso-gong’s brow furrowed.
Just before the blade made contact, he had glimpsed her eyes.
‘Red….’
Crimson eyes?
The moment Hwangso-gong’s eyes widened in realization.
Shhhhhhh—!
“What…?”
“…!!”
Thud—!!
Hwangso-gong’s body froze.
The blade halted mere inches from Yoo Yeon’s head.
Yoo Yeon was equally paralyzed. Her expressionless face crumbled, replaced by rigid shock.
“…What is this….”
Hwangso-gong stared at something with frozen eyes.
“…What is that.”
The exhilaration from moments before had vanished without a trace.
Only bewilderment lingered in Hwangso-gong’s gaze.
It was an aura.
A black aura.
Like ink staining a wall, a murky energy seeped forth and coiled through the air.
Drip.
Sweat trickled down Hwangso-gong’s forehead.
This is…
“…Magi…?”
Magi—the aura that only Marin could possess.
And among them…
‘Such profound concentration…?’
It was an aura nearly identical to the original. The original. Which meant…
‘…The sky…?’
The sky of the Marin.
The Celestial Demon.
The very source of Magi.
Or perhaps a magnificent aura that only the current Young Master could possess.
“…What is this.”
Where was this aura emanating from?
Hwangso-gong hastily retrieved his sword and created distance.
His instincts screamed at him. Danger.
Maintaining that distance, he gazed toward the source of the aura.
Black energy began filling the wall.
From its center, someone was rising to their feet.
“…Wol-hyeop…?”
It was Wol-hyeop. The one he had crushed and disposed of.
That man was slowly rising.
Whoosh.
He lifted his small frame and brushed back his hair.
“…!”
Hwangso-gong’s heart sank violently upon seeing Bangseong-yeon.
Red.
The bright blue eyes that Yoo Cheon-gil originally possessed—those revolting eyes—had vanished, and Bangseong-yeon now bore crimson eyes.
How could he have those eyes? That is…
‘The Young Master’s…’
The qualification to become the sky of the Demonic Cult.
The Crimson Eyes.
He possessed them.
How was that possible?
Hwangso-gong’s mind flooded with questions.
“…Hmm.”
Bangseong-yeon gazed at Hwangso-gong with those crimson eyes, then opened his mouth.
“Vermin…”
At those words.
“Your head held quite high, isn’t it?”
“…!”
A chill ran down Hwangso-gong’s spine.
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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
—————