The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 338

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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 338
The air was crisp. I’d never found it particularly warm, but it shouldn’t have felt cold either.
Yet now it had grown unnaturally frigid.
Had my hands been bare, I would have unconsciously rubbed my arms.
That’s how palpable the temperature shift had become.
‘Damn it…’
Witnessing the cause of this, I had to suppress a grimace.
‘Did I overdo it?’
The killing intent radiating from Yoo Yeon was what made the surrounding air so cold.
Or perhaps not the air around me, but rather my own body perceiving the chill.
Goosebumps rising on my forearms and a creeping sensation down my spine.
A metallic, suffocating feeling as if my throat were being constricted, piercing through my skin from within.
I trembled.
Never before had I experienced such a sharp, biting killing intent.
‘Heavenly Slayer Aura.’
Those born into the karma of taking lives and thirsting for death.
This was the first time I truly witnessed what I’d only heard spoken of in whispers.
사아아아아아—!!!
The killing intent flowing from Yoo Yeon’s body.
Watching it, my lips twisted into a wry smile.
‘Brutal.’
Regret washed over me. Did I really need to provoke her this far? It seemed I’d done something I shouldn’t have.
“Sigh.”
I exhaled deeply.
The ship had already sailed.
Fear or whatever else—I simply had to proceed as planned.
“Right. Even if it means—”
The moment I opened my mouth.
Whoosh.
“…!”
I turned my head. Yoo Yeon’s blade grazed my cheek.
Splurt!
Blood trickled from my skin. I hadn’t evaded completely.
‘Fast.’
Incredibly fast. Even with my Wol-an perception, I’d reacted a fraction too slowly.
I channeled more power into my body. Yoo Yeon continued her relentless assault.
Was it the Plum Blossom Sword Technique she’d mentioned? It wasn’t drastically different from what she’d used before.
Clang-clang-clang-!!
‘What is this.’
Something was different. Far faster, overwhelmingly more vicious.
There was no hesitation, only overwhelming strength rather than beauty.
A sharp tingle.
My eyes sharpened with focus.
I poured more force into Wol-an. The path of the Wol Seon-geom technique became clearer.
Slash—! A piercing whine—!!!
The blade cuts sharply. I evade the path and find an opening for a counterattack.
A heavy thud.
I drove force through my heels, grinding the earth beneath me. The soil crumbles as power surges up to my waist.
I release the force from my waist and distribute the rising momentum through my upper body.
My freed waist rotates halfway, and I channel my inner force into the recoil.
Wolrang.
A crescent moon hanging in broad daylight drives straight toward Yoo Yeon.
A sharp whistle.
“Heh.”
Yoo Yeon evaded it effortlessly.
Barely two steps.
With just that distance, she dodged the Wolrang.
A slash.
She thrust her blade through the opening I’d created.
A heavy impact.
“Ugh.”
Feeling the pain bloom across my chest, I too widened the distance between us.
A trickle of blood.
A shallow wound bloomed across my chest.
My waist throbbed with numbness.
My body still hadn’t fully healed, and my chest bore a fresh wound.
The fortunate thing was.
‘…The blade’s dullness limited the damage.’
Merely a surface wound.
Despite being struck by a sword, it was only a blunt impact, not a cutting wound.
The problem was.
‘A vital point.’
She’d targeted a vital point that could have killed me.
I patted my chest and swallowed the chill.
The moment I raised my sword again to face Yoo Yeon.
A heavy crash—!
Yoo Yeon’s blade was descending toward my face.
I quickly turned my head to evade. Flashes of light rain down. Countless crimson lines of sword energy pour forth.
As I dodged each one, rolling my eyes to track them.
[What are you trying to do…!]
Seongheon spoke to me with anger. It was the first time I’d seen him raise his voice.
[The Heavenly Killing Nature must not be awakened! Why did you provoke the child!]
Killing intent bloomed from Yoo Yeon. Seeing her, Seongheon expressed his anxiety.
I had awakened the instinct she had barely managed to suppress.
What if she became consumed by the Heavenly Killing Nature?
‘What does it matter.’
I was actually encouraging it.
Yoo Yeon’s sword grew faster and faster. My realm had advanced enough to keep pace, but.
‘…This is driving me mad.’
Separate from that.
‘Why is this so difficult?’
How could the incoming sword be so chaotic?
Chaotic? I misspoke. This was.
‘Bizarre.’
A bizarre sword. It moved beyond law, driven only by instinct, yet it appeared impossibly difficult to counter.
‘The Wol Seon-geom Path isn’t responding.’
It should reveal the path I must take and the opponent’s sword path.
Grasping Yoo Yeon’s sword was strangely burdensome.
‘…No wonder the Old Man was astonished.’
I recalled how Yoo Cheon-gil had poured out admiration upon admiration watching Yoo Yeon.
I hadn’t truly grasped how extraordinary it was.
‘Perhaps because my realm has risen, I can feel this now.’
Now I understood.
‘It’s burdensome.’
My realm is higher.
I suspect my strength and speed are too.
Yet it feels burdensome.
That’s what Yoo Yeon’s sword did to me.
Screech—!
I twisted and wrenched my blade upward.
Yoo Yeon’s sword collided and bounced away.
At the twisted angle, her sword wavered in empty space, but.
Screech!
“Damn it.”
Yoo Yeon recovered even from that. She forcibly corrected the twisted blade and returned it to its original position.
That took an instant. Truly a split second.
‘How does she manage with such a delicate frame?’
That was pure strength.
Not some special technique, but raw force holding it in place.
Her bones and muscles should be screaming in pain, yet she pulled it off.
Moreover.
Whiiiissshhh—!!!
“Ugh.”
The sword grows increasingly terrifying. Its speed accelerates, and above all else.
‘The killing intent is intensifying.’
The murderous aura she radiates and the blade’s ferocity strengthen with each passing moment.
Furthermore.
‘Look at her eyes.’
Yoo Yeon’s pupils were transforming as she gazed at me.
Emotion gradually fades away.
Her eyes shifting bit by bit….
‘They seem to be turning red?’
The color appears to be changing.
[…This cannot happen.]
Seongheon’s voice cut through the gap.
[If it continues like this, there will be no turning back.]
The Heavenly Killing Intent deepens and deepens. Should she fully awaken.
That is what he perceives as the problem.
‘I’m sorry, but.’
I had to aim for exactly that.
There was something I needed to confirm.
And I wanted to be certain in my own way.
Even if it were not just this.
‘This is how it must be.’
I knew that your lingering attachment would fade somewhat.
Splurt!
Blood spatters across my cheek once more. Despite the blade being dull, the sword energy seeping through it—now I can feel the edge.
‘This won’t do.’
Is it gradually becoming impossible?
‘…In this state, it’s beyond my reach.’
Regardless of anything else, one thing is clear.
‘If this were the past, I could never have won.’
My previous realm. Had I been at that pinnacle, I would have lost to Yoo Yeon even unto death.
‘If I had corrected what the old men said was my weakness….’
Would it have been different then? If I lacked that tendency to overthink during combat?
‘Who knows.’
I cannot say. I cannot gauge it. Look at me even now. My mind is far from clear.
‘Ah. My head’s spinning.’
Correcting it will take time.
It seemed impossible to fix in mere days.
“Shhhhh.”
I released all my tension.
Kwaaaaaaa-!!!
Murderous intent erupted from Yoo Yeon’s body like an explosion.
Her eyes had turned not just red, but a crimson blood-hue.
So that’s it.
‘That’s exactly it.’
The mark of the Heavenly Killing Nature.
The crimson eyes known throughout history.
The symbol that the Celestial Demons bearing the Heavenly Killing Nature possessed.
Wasn’t it said that one must possess that to become a Celestial Demon? That’s what the records claim.
‘…But the Celestial Demon’s words were different.’
His words stuck with me.
That the Heavenly Killing Nature wasn’t a condition for being a Celestial Demon.
That such trivial karma meant nothing whatsoever.
What truly mattered.
‘…The Eyes of Taboo.’
Eyes that see what must not be seen.
He said possessing that was the condition for being a Celestial Demon.
‘How irritating.’
An ominous heaviness settles over me. The Celestial Demon saw the same things I did.
I never expected that man would be the same.
‘But it’s not strange.’
Whether Eyes of Taboo or Divine Eyes.
There are more than a few who possess such sight. Looking at the many genuine shamans beyond the fakes, it was clear.
It’s special, certainly, but not extraordinary.
I had to think that way.
‘Right now.’
I had to focus on the karma before me.
Crack.
Yoo Yeon takes a step forward, spewing murderous intent.
The ground caves in as her body pierces through like an arrow.
A speed opposite to before.
Could the backlash of the Heavenly Killing Nature be connected to such power?
As curiosity bloomed.
Shiiiiine–!!!
Light spiraled from my eyes and blade.
As brilliant light erupted, Yoo Yeon charging forward froze for an instant.
My body lifted within a vision about to burst.
Euphoria clawed through my mind. My head cooled sharply, contrasting with my body that seemed ready to scatter on the wind.
Even a careless swing would carry the blade forward.
Wol Cheon.
A divine technique created by Yoo Cheon-gil.
I had embodied it within myself.
‘Ah.’
Excellent. Better than last time. My body twisted of its own accord, as though intoxicated by medicine.
Cut.
Ten thousand thoughts vanished, leaving only that singular purpose.
Cut it down.
Whatever stands before me.
Cut it down.
Countless thoughts erased and stripped away.
What remained was only that.
My arm moved according to intent and will.
The blade infused with purpose advanced forward.
Tsk tsk.
A familiar sound of disapproval reached my ears.
[Whenever I turn my back for a moment, you’re always doing something.]
A rough, dull voice.
[What is this nonsense now? That’s not what I taught you.]
The blade continued its advance, but time seemed to slow. Yoo Cheon-gil’s words reached me regardless.
[Come to your senses.]
[Isn’t it pathetic to be consumed by something so trivial?]
His tone was laden with contempt.
[If you’re going to invoke my name elsewhere, don’t get caught up in such things. Understood?]
A truly terrible name. Just inheriting that one name had thrust me into all manner of situations, yet even now he regarded the Sword Saint’s name as paramount.
That old man was truly infuriating.
He was perfectly optimized for ruining one’s mood.
It was absurd. And yet.
‘…Ah.’
Contrary to his words, my slightly scattered mind snapped into focus.
The euphoria in my body remained, but the dulled senses returned.
What is this?
I tensed the loosening grip in my hand.
[Control your strength. Unless you intend to kill the child.]
Hearing his words, I focused my vision. Yoo Yeon appeared before me.
The moment I saw her, I adjusted the angle of the blade.
Crack—!
“…!”
From the blade’s edge to its spine.
The deflected sword struck Yoo Yeon’s chest directly.
It happened just before her blade could reach me.
The impact sent Yoo Yeon’s body flying, and she tumbled across the ground.
Cough.
Blood spilled from her lips in a violent gush.
That was close. If things had continued, her sword would have cut me down.
“Haaah….”
I exhaled heavily. What was I just about to do? It felt like I wasn’t myself.
As I barely regained my senses and began to release Wol Cheon.
Ssshhhhh-!!
Yoo Yeon unleashed a tremendous killing intent once more.
[…This…. It’s too late….]
Seongheon despaired as he watched Yoo Yeon. An incomparable killing intent continued to erupt from her.
[Hmm.]
Yoo Cheon-gil spoke upon witnessing it.
[If you leave her like that, the men from Hwasan Sect will notice soon. Is that acceptable?]
“It’s not acceptable.”
I wiped the sweat from my brow as I spoke. Of course it wasn’t.
[Then what will you do?]
If the disciples sensed this killing intent and appeared, the situation would look extremely strange with Seongheon collapsed as he was.
So what should I do?
“What can I do?”
There was only one method.
“I’ll stop her.”
All I needed to do was sever that killing intent.
[But how exactly are you going to….]
Seongheon spoke with frustration. Before his words even finished, I moved toward Yoo Yeon.
“Phew.”
I exhaled and took a step forward.
Click-click-click.
I heard the sound of gears turning within my heart.
It was hot.
Not a rise in temperature, but the sensation of my soul being forged.
Feeling it for the first time in ages, I furrowed my brow.
The next instant, just as Yoo Yeon, already consumed by killing intent, was about to rush at me.
“Disappear.”
I spoke a single word curtly.
Whoooosh-!!
“….”
The killing intent vanished from Yoo Yeon’s body.
Thud.
Yoo Yeon, who had been rushing forward, collapsed to the ground.
[Huh?]
Seongheon let out a bewildered sound at the sight.
Leaving Seongheon behind, I swept my hair back.
“Ah.”
It was certain. I had felt it before as well.
Somehow.
“This works.”
It appeared I could suppress the killing intent of the Heavenly Supreme.

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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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