The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 332
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
The Heavenly Supreme Has Died – Episode 332
“Stop laughing.”
The atmosphere shifted instantly at my words. Maehua Daeju’s laughter died on his lips.
“…What did you say?”
“Are your ears broken too? I’m asking what you’re splitting hairs about.”
“…You insolent bastard…!”
He gritted his teeth, apparently offended by my rudeness.
Yet I didn’t change my expression watching him.
Was I afraid? Under normal circumstances, I would have been. But not now.
It was simply amusing.
“Did you expect me to show you courtesy, then?”
What was it he hoped I would do in this situation?
“I’m sorry.”
I lowered my gaze slowly, bending my body to match his fallen form.
“I only show courtesy to people.”
“…What?”
“But you’re not a person.”
In my eyes, a person was someone who could restrain their emotions.
If you simply drifted along with your desires and moved as your emotions dictated, how could that possibly be human?
“That’s a beast. Isn’t it?”
“Ha…”
Maehua Daeju exhaled a hollow sigh at my words.
“Now I understand.”
Clink.
He forcefully pulled at the chains binding him, drawing closer to me.
“I sensed something was different about you.”
His gaze fixed upon me, as if trying to confirm something.
“I thought you were weaker than the rumors suggested. Yet you were also so hazy that I wondered if you were simply lacking something. But then…”
Maehua Daeju’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re not lacking—you’re twisted.”
I didn’t answer. Twisted? It was a word I hadn’t heard in a long time.
‘You, specifically.’
It was what Baek Manager used to say to me in my past life.
‘Aren’t you a bit broken?’
‘…What do you mean by broken, sir?’
Broken, malfunctioning—I had heard such words countless times throughout my life.
“So the Sword Saint’s Predecessor has passed his legacy to one who should never have inherited it.”
“What are you saying? Was the Sword Saint normal, then?”
“Have you ever seen the Sword Saint?”
Yes. Many times. I saw him just yesterday.
“The Sword Saint is vast. A hero with a vessel so immense and boundless that anyone could fit within it.”
“….”
What is he talking about right now?
“Are you confusing me with someone else?”
The old man I know seems quite different from this description.
“I never expected the successor of such a man to be like this.”
“What’s wrong with me?”
I’m impressive enough. At least compared to that old man, I’m far superior in terms of humanity.
“How can one who deceives people and stabs them in the back compare to him?”
“What? Are you spitting in my face right now? If so, you’ve got some talent for it.”
“….”
Maehua Daeju closed his mouth. He seemed to know he had nothing to say.
“Just out of courtesy, I’ll ask. Why did you do it?”
“Hehe….”
Maehua Daeju laughs softly.
“You don’t seem curious.”
“You caught me.”
That’s right. I’m not particularly curious.
It wouldn’t change anything even if I knew.
“It’s obvious the reason is trivial.”
A pointless reason. Naturally, that’s what it would be.
“Don’t judge so carelessly.”
His expression hardened at those words. Even that was amusing.
“You’re being pathetic. Why? Does even a traitor deserve some grand narrative?”
“You won’t understand.”
“I don’t want to understand.”
What good would understanding such things do?
“It was jealousy, wasn’t it?”
“….”
“You wanted to become the Jang Moonin?”
“It’s not so simple.”
“Does simplicity matter? Old man. Don’t be mistaken.”
It seems he still doesn’t understand where his age went.
“No matter what justification you attach to your actions, nothing changes. You are garbage. Will adding some narrative make you clean?”
There’s no way.
“What difference does pouring clear water into muddy water make?”
How could he not know that? Or rather, he does.
‘He knows.’
He knows it all but chooses to ignore it. Most men like him were the same.
“Just live as garbage. That’s what suits you perfectly.”
“….”
“Now I’d like to ask you something about Patcheon Gung. How did you make contact with them?”
“You thought I’d answer?”
“No, you won’t. It doesn’t matter.”
“…I would have asked back if you did.”
Maehua Daeju looks at me and asks.
“How did you know?”
“Know what? That you’re a mole?”
“Yes. Did that great double agent tell you that as well?”
“Ah. Well, something like that.”
“I cannot comprehend this. A mole should not be able to exist. How was such a thing possible?”
A mole shouldn’t exist? Hearing those words, I forced myself to remain calm.
“There’s always a way. Nothing in this world is perfect, after all.”
“That cannot be. The restrictions placed there are not something that can be undone so easily.”
Restrictions.
Restrictions, he says.
In other words.
‘Those belonging to Patcheon Gung are bound by restrictions. Even if they wished to betray, they cannot.’
Is that what he means?
“Just because you don’t know a method doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist. Why do you view the world so narrowly?”
“…You jest….”
“If you won’t explain, then forget it.”
I rise to my feet. I never expected him to tell me anyway.
And.
‘Besides, I’ve already achieved my purpose.’
My eyes focus on what lies behind Maehua Daeju—his aura. The rippling malevolent qi.
I direct my gaze there and make my move.
Ssshhh.
Something seeps into the rippling aura.
It is a technique I have planted. Feeling this, I speak to him.
“Do you not feel sorry for your disciples?”
“What?”
“Those who followed you.”
Some had fallen, but others had not.
“Do you not feel sorry for them?”
“….”
Maehua Daeju’s eyes flicker for a moment.
But it was only for a moment.
“Sacrifice is necessary for an ideal world.”
Hearing those words, my heart sinks.
It was fortunate.
That he was such a man. Yes, if he was going to fall, this was the right way to fall.
“Someday.”
I spoke these words to Maehua Daeju as I watched him.
“You will surely come to regret this.”
It would come to pass. Perhaps the moment he saw me again.
And that would likely be when you were dead.
“…Hehehehe…. Regret?”
Maehua Daeju, oblivious to such things, laughed once more.
“If I were capable of such feelings, I would have simply remained weak in my position.”
“Then you should have remained weak instead.”
Why had he done something so pointless?
I could not comprehend it.
“…You yourself must think clearly.”
“About what?”
“The world has already begun to change. Having inherited the name of Sword Saint, your end will not be peaceful either.”
“….”
“Sword Saint. That name will become a curse. Hehehehe…. Cough.”
Maehua Daeju laughed and then coughed up blood.
Seeing this, I turned away.
The name of Sword Saint would become a curse?
‘That’s ridiculous.’
Meaningless words. If something so trivial were a curse.
‘Then everything else would be a calamity.’
It wouldn’t even qualify as a curse.
Having lived within true curses, I would not tremble in fear at the name of Sword Saint.
* * *
I moved forward, circling around the Hwasan Sect while shaking my head back and forth.
‘Where could he have gone?’
There was someone I was looking for. Yoo Cheon-gil. I was trying to find that old man.
If he had woken up, he should have shown himself, but Yoo Cheon-gil was nowhere to be seen.
‘I have so many questions to ask, and of all times, it has to be now.’
This old man was never around when I needed him.
‘I need to ask him about the Celestial Demon.’
The spirit dream. What I saw there. And.
‘What happened.’
I wanted to hear from him what had occurred while I lost consciousness.
‘Seongheon is gone, and Yoo Cheon-gil is gone too.’
Where could these two old men have disappeared to together? It made no sense.
“Ugh.”
I scratched my head vigorously.
‘Did he go far?’
If he went this far, I had no idea when he’d return. He’d even disappeared for days before. I was troubled at the thought it might happen again.
‘Is there nothing I can do?’
It seemed I’d have to wait until he showed up. If searching for him would help, that would be one thing, but it wouldn’t.
“…Sigh.”
Should I give up searching for Yoo Cheon-gil? It seemed better to do that for now.
I nodded and turned my back.
Since searching like this wouldn’t yield anything, I simply turned away.
“Now that I think about it.”
“Yes, Master.”
“…Hmm.”
Sochul Daeju, who was with me, spoke. Hearing that, I paused.
It wasn’t the honorific he used to despise, but rather a tone imbued with sincerity and respect.
“…Why are you really doing this?”
Unable to understand, I asked. Without Yeo Hyeok present, I found myself speaking formally without realizing it.
“Why do you speak so formally? Please don’t do that.”
“…No.”
The reversed situation made a sigh well up in my chest. I spoke while enduring it.
“Did you hit your head or something? Daeju, why are you really like this? You used to hate doing that so much.”
“…You say I hated it. I simply hadn’t noticed before.”
“Noticed what?”
“Your greatness, Master.”
“This is driving me crazy.”
What kind of ridiculous nonsense is this?
I started this as a joke, but now it had become difficult to handle. It felt even more awkward.
“…Why are you doing this? There must be a reason. I’d rather you hate me.”
“I simply came to understand something….”
“Understand what, exactly?”
I asked with frustration, my irritation bleeding through. In that moment.
Shing—!
“…!”
Sochul Daeju drew his blade. Seeing that, I flinched. Had I gone too far? Was he about to cut me down?
Just as that thought crossed my mind.
Whoooosh—!!
Sword energy surged from Sochul Daeju’s blade.
The distinctive blue-tinged sword energy of the Cheongwol Sect—a unique technique used only by them, as far as I knew.
Why was he suddenly displaying it?
For a moment, I was taken aback.
Shhhhh—!
“Huh?”
My eyes widened as I observed the sword energy. At the blade’s tip—there alone, the light flickered subtly different.
Could it be…
‘Gwangwol Seomgyeong?’
The new sword technique that Yoo Cheon-gil had created.
It was the radiance of Gwangwol Seomgyeong.
“…How are you…?”
How was Sochul Daeju using this?
‘Yoo Cheon-gil said Sochul Daeju wouldn’t be able to use it…?’
No, wait. He could use it, but it would take an extraordinarily long time, he’d said.
That’s why he’d been putting him through that strange training regimen.
But.
‘Did it actually help?’
Really?
That subtle sword energy was unmistakably Gwangwol Seomgyeong.
“…That….”
“All of this is thanks to your teachings. I am grateful.”
“….”
Sochul Daeju bowed respectfully to me.
“From now on, I will follow your teachings without a shred of doubt….”
“…Uh, ah…. Um….”
It actually worked.
It really actually worked?
I held my breath. I honestly hadn’t expected it to succeed.
“…Continue your training… No, do continue your training.”
“Yes.”
I gave a vague response, sensing he was hoping I’d do something for him.
I’d been wondering why Sochul Daeju kept doing such strange things to me….
‘…So that’s why.’
I thought I understood the reason.
Then.
“Ah. And.”
Sochul Daeju finished his formal courtesy and pulled something out to hand to me.
“What is this?”
It was a letter. What was this suddenly about?
I narrowed my eyes at the letter he’d unexpectedly produced.
“It is a message sent by Moonju.”
“…Huh?”
A message from Wol Seon-geom?
“He entrusted it to me before departure.”
“What do you mean?”
“He instructed me to deliver it once everything was finished.”
“…?”
Once everything was finished?
So it was a letter prepared in advance.
Whoosh.
I accepted the letter and unfolded it.
What could it possibly say?
Puzzled, I read the first line.
“…Eh?”
The moment I read the words, I froze completely.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————