The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 400
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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 400
“…This is absurd….”
The fallen Seo Seon speaks to me.
His eyes were already bloodshot.
“What sorcery did you use…!”
He bellows with his neck veins bulging. His appearance was quite fierce.
But.
“Sorcery?”
Such ferocity could never shake me.
“This man speaks nonsense. Sorcery?”
Rather, it gave me justification.
“Can you take responsibility for those words?”
“What?”
“You said I used sorcery. You just accused me of using sorcery. Can you take responsibility for that?”
The corners of my mouth rise. I couldn’t contain myself—the situation was perfect.
Seo Seon tries to say something in response to my words.
“Accusing me of using sorcery is no different from insulting my Mentor.”
“…!”
At the mention of the Sword Saint, Seo Seon’s pupils waver.
“My sword came from him, and your kneeling is proof of that. Sorcery? It seems you don’t know who you’re spouting nonsense to.”
The Sword Saint’s Predecessor.
The hero of Sacheon.
The savior of Hannam.
With all the renown I possess now, and you claim I used sorcery?
“Can you take responsibility for that?”
Can you bear the pressure that follows those words? That’s what I’m asking.
“…Don’t be ridiculous.”
Seo Seon’s face crumples.
“Then you’re saying you’re stronger than me?”
“If we’re being honest, that would be correct.”
“That’s absurd—!”
*Whoosh—!*
Seo Seon rises to his feet again. His knees, already bent, spring up lightly, and the tip of his sword trembles faintly.
‘Two lines.’
Two sword paths. Between the faint and the deep, I’ve identified the faint one.
The deep one is Heo Cho’s.
*Whoosh—!!*
I evade the strike aimed at my neck. As I step back, Seo Seon presses forward.
This far is his calculation.
“You bastard—!”
My sword soared skyward as the distance closed between us. The descending blade resembled the night itself.
Was it Night Slash?
My eyes grew dim at the shallow technique that fell before me.
‘For a night technique, it’s rather fragile.’
The night that Yoo Cheon-gil had demonstrated—the one meant to carry the moon—was far more profound than this shallow darkness.
Screech—!
My blade intercepted Night Slash. I swept it away as though brushing aside the very night itself.
Clang—!!
With a crystalline ring, Seo Seon’s sword was sent flying.
“…Huh!”
Seo Seon’s eyes widened at having his blade repelled. There was no time for him to appreciate the moment.
This time, my sword ascended toward the heavens.
“That’s not how you use it.”
The night.
“Watch carefully.”
It must be far deeper.
“This is the real thing—”
Whoooosh—!!!
“…!!!”
Night Slash, infused with sword force, rushed toward Seo Seon’s head. It approached with such speed, as though it would cleave him in two.
Thud—!!!
The blade stopped just before his forehead.
화아아아아아아아—-!!!!
As the attack ceased, wind erupted across the surroundings.
“…Ah…. Ah, ah….”
Thump.
The knee that had been on one side now bent on both.
Seo Seon’s pupils trembled wildly.
“This is… this is….”
Leaving him in his daze, I sheathed my sword at my waist.
Click.
After properly securing the blade, I glanced to the side. The disciple serving as referee stared at me with eyes wide in shock.
“Shall we continue?”
The match was already over. I asked if there was more to do.
“…Ah…! The, the match. Bangseong-yeon wins.”
The referee hastily announced the victor.
Even at those words.
“….”
The spectators remained silent. It was a victory without a single voice raised in celebration.
* * *
Wol-hyeop had claimed victory. And against Sowoldae’s foremost disciple, no less.
Everyone was shocked that Seo Seon, who had been spoken of as the future Sochul Daeju, had fallen to Bangseong-yeon, the youngest among them.
“…No matter… how strong Wol-hyeop is said to be, this doesn’t make sense, does it?”
“He’s barely come of age. What manner of talent is this?”
“Even if he is Geomseong’s Predecessor….”
Despite witnessing it with their own eyes, most could not believe what they had seen.
“Just a few exchanges of blows.”
“…Could it truly not be sorcery?”
Had credence been lent to Seo Seon’s earlier remarks? The moment one disciple mentioned sorcery.
“Did you not hear what was said earlier?”
A slender yet sharp voice cut through the murmur.
“Pardon? What…. Gasp…!”
The disciple faltered upon seeing the voice’s owner. It was none other than Cheonhye-in.
“When you speak of sorcery, can you take responsibility for it? Did you not hear what he said?”
“…No…. That… is.”
“If you cannot take responsibility, do not dare speak it. It is not a becoming sight.”
She spoke with a gentle smile, yet the air grew cold and heavy. The disciple bobbed his head, his throat trembling.
“I… I apologize.”
“There is no need to apologize to me.”
With that, Cheonhye-in moved forward.
Watching her go, the disciples whispered among themselves.
“…Was the Heavenly Supreme always like that?”
“She seems to have grown much colder.”
They spoke while rubbing their shoulders. The Cheonhye-in they knew had always been gentle and kind.
But the Cheonhye-in of just now was far too cold and sharp.
“Perhaps she is simply nervous about the tournament.”
“…The Heavenly Supreme, nervous? It seems unlikely, yet certainly….”
Nervousness.
There was reason behind their speculation, or perhaps their misunderstanding.
Cheonhye-in continued forward toward the arena.
Her turn was second, after all.
“….”
As Cheonhye-in stepped onto the arena, she suppressed a sigh within her heart.
‘…A strange person.’
Peculiar, one might say.
Or bizarre.
Or obstinate.
She recalled an existence difficult to describe in any other way.
When first encountered, merely Geomseong’s Predecessor.
I had initially regarded my younger brother’s unusually obsessive young man as nothing more than that.
‘Why is it.’
The more time passed, the more his impression seemed to shift.
The young man, who had appeared somewhat delicate in features, left an impression upon her through conversation that he resembled herself in certain ways.
And as they happened to travel together, her perception of him changed once more.
‘A figure concealing much.’
She realized it wasn’t that he resembled her—rather, he was hiding even that appearance itself.
‘He doesn’t belong.’
Just as she didn’t, he was a figure who didn’t belong in the Cheongwol Sect.
A gathering place of strange beings who lived and died by the sword and the moon.
Cheonhye-in didn’t particularly favor the Cheongwol Sect. She had chosen it only because her father was its Moonju and she possessed talent.
And.
‘Wasn’t he the same?’
Bangseong-yeon. She believed he was no different from herself.
A figure who appeared endlessly languid and showed no interest in others.
Yet there was something about the way he seemed to observe all directions at once, and when their eyes met, she often felt a sharpness that seemed to pierce through her chest.
Yes, as if.
‘Like Father or….’
The old man who fleetingly existed in Cheonhye-in’s memories.
‘Like the Sword Saint.’
The Sword Saint.
His eyes resembled the way he looked at her.
‘It makes no sense.’
It was absurd that a young man younger than herself possessed such eyes.
Sometimes it felt suffocating.
Bangseong-yeon was such an existence.
And Cheonhye-in did not favor such a Bangseong-yeon.
‘His face is rather to my taste, though.’
They said he underwent a complete transformation. The fact that he even obtained that impossible miracle irritated her.
‘…Why.’
Did he continue to change so.
If she didn’t see him for a brief time, he would return as an almost different person.
‘Is his talent in the martial way truly so exceptional?’
She thought it wasn’t.
Whenever Cheonhye-in’s judgment said otherwise, it was almost always correct.
Her eye for reading people was exceptional.
And she believed manipulating such individuals was her specialty.
Yet.
‘I don’t understand.’
Bangseong-yeon remains incomprehensible. What he thinks, what he sees—none of it.
Understanding nothing, I only grow more distant.
‘How irritating.’
Merely thinking about it made my emotions bristle.
He grated on my nerves, infuriating me.
Bangseong-yeon was such a presence to Cheonhye-in.
‘Why did he have to say something so unnecessary.’
The warning to be cautious of Seo Seon had become meaningless.
Bangseong-yeon had risen to a position far higher than what I had known.
Was this a change that occurred while I wasn’t watching? Or perhaps.
‘Had he been hiding his strength.’
Concealing it even from my own perception.
I couldn’t know that either.
“Sigh.”
Cheonhye-in exhaled a long breath. It was always like this when I thought of him.
Even though I didn’t particularly want to think about him, he would suddenly come to mind—it wasn’t easy to dismiss.
‘Enough.’
This wasn’t the time to be thinking of him. I deliberately cleared my mind.
‘There’s too much to think about.’
There was the matter of Bi-go, and the matter of Sa-baek as well.
Beyond that.
‘What stands before me now.’
The figure standing right in front of the arena would be the same.
“It’s been a while.”
As I greeted him with a refined voice, my opponent regarded me with a blunt gaze.
“…Yes.”
The young man nodded lightly.
Do-hyeong bowed respectfully to me. Do-hyeong was my opponent.
It was possible because Do-hyeong came later in the Sowoldae order.
“I believe it’s been quite some time since we last sparred. Isn’t that right?”
From what I remembered, it seemed to be several years ago.
“That’s correct.”
Back then, Do-hyeong hadn’t yet opened his Wol-an.
I had already opened mine.
The outcome was naturally my victory.
Shing.
I slowly drew my sword.
“Do you think the result will be different this time?”
Would it differ from back then.
At that time, I had judged him to be somewhat usable, but ultimately rather disappointing.
I wondered if Do-hyeong, after several years, might be something different.
‘It would be different.’
I had seen something from the side.
Do-hyeong was emanating a somewhat different atmosphere than before.
Shing.
Do-hyeong also drew his sword.
“I’m not certain.”
Drawing his blade and assuming his stance, Do-hyeong answered her question.
“I—”
His eyes shifted with intensity.
“I simply do my utmost, always.”
“Hmm….”
Upon hearing his answer, Cheonhye-in’s expression momentarily softened.
‘As I’ve continued to sense, this is an unpleasant type of person.’
Upright.
Upright and weighty in character.
Without flaw, and therefore possessing few openings.
This meant she disliked the second type of person most.
The first was naturally Bangseong-yeon.
“Very well. I look forward to it.”
After speaking, she glanced subtly around.
A particularly striking face caught her eye.
Bangseong-yeon. He was watching this way with his younger brother.
More precisely, toward Do-hyeong.
Cheon Euijin wore a tense expression, while Bangseong-yeon gazed at Do-hyeong with an unreadable look.
‘What is this.’
Even that seemed strange. It appeared as though he was looking at Do-hyeong, yet something….
‘Where exactly is he looking?’
Perhaps at the space around Do-hyeong? His gaze was peculiar.
‘How odd.’
Cheonhye-in turned her head away. Without realizing it, she had become preoccupied with Bangseong-yeon.
‘Focus.’
Bangseong-yeon was not the issue.
The opponent she needed to concentrate on was.
‘…the Eunwol Sword.’
The narrow-eyed man watching her from a distance away from Bangseong-yeon.
He was the one she needed to heed.
“Hah.”
End this quickly.
With that thought, the moment Cheonhye-in infused power into her blade.
“The match….”
The referee, confirming that both were ready, spoke.
“Begin.”
With those words.
Whoooosh—!!!
Cheonhye-in surged forward with explosive speed.
Reaching Do-hyeong’s front, she unleashed a brilliant flash of light.
An elegant, graceful dance of the blade.
In the instant her sword—seemingly light, targeting his weakness—seeped into Do-hyeong’s guard.
Scrape—
“…!”
Cheonhye-in gasped and halted her blade, creating distance.
After hastily withdrawing, she gently touched her cheek.
Blood came away on her fingers.
“My goodness.”
Her eyes widened at the sight of blood.
“…How unexpected.”
After wiping the blood away with the back of her hand, she looked at Do-hyeong.
Do-hyeong stood in the exact same position as before.
“I made a careless mistake.”
Cheonhye-in acknowledged her error while regarding him.
“You’ve changed considerably?”
“….”
There was no response.
Still, Cheonhye-in steadied her breathing.
It was different from years ago.
Was it not only Bangseong-yeon who had grown so dramatically stronger?
Do-hyeong’s eyes gleamed with an intense, burning blue light.
Along with a fighting spirit that made even Cheonhye-in tense.
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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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