The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 402
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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 402
“What are you doing…!”
Cheonhye-in’s voice rose sharply. The mask she’d barely been maintaining shattered into pieces as she cried out.
“Draw your sword at once. What is this nonsense?”
Her voice carried frost. The air itself grew cold enough to feel the density of her tone.
Swept up in emotion, her voice seemed to carry an undertone that made it sound even louder.
Yet despite Cheonhye-in’s reaction, Do-hyeong merely lowered the sword he’d been holding.
“Hey-!”
At this, Cheonhye-in grew heated again, but.
“I concede.”
Do-hyeong’s answer remained unchanged. There was no wavering in his quiet declaration.
Everyone was bewildered.
“What? Why?”
“…It seemed like she was being pushed back just moments ago. Why would he?”
Even to those of lower cultivation, it appeared Cheonhye-in was losing ground.
In such a situation, why would Do-hyeong need to surrender?
No one could understand it, but.
“…Are you truly conceding?”
He had already made his decision. Do-hyeong nodded at the Referee’s words.
Then, there was only one thing the Referee could do.
“Match… Cheonhye-in wins.”
He raised his hand and announced the result. At those words, Cheonhye-in’s face twisted horribly.
“What nonsense is this…!”
Whoosh-! A blue sword aura whirled forth. Just as Cheonhye-in gritted her teeth and was about to thrust her blade forward.
[Enough-]
“…!”
Wol Seon-geom subdued Cheonhye-in with languid eyes. Rather, subdued wasn’t even the right word. He simply spoke one sentence. That alone was enough to make Cheonhye-in’s body stiffen rigidly.
[That’s enough. The match is over. Step down.]
“….”
Crunch.
Cheonhye-in clenched her teeth hard and turned away sharply.
‘Hmm.’
Watching this, I tilted my head. Why had he really stopped the match?
‘Why go out of his way?’
Had his energy run out? Or was there some other problem?
I couldn’t understand why Do-hyeong would deliberately stop.
‘Hmm.’
I looked at Do-hyeong, who was breathing heavily. His breathing was rapid, but not severe.
It meant he could have continued. So why did he acknowledge defeat? As I watched Do-hyeong in confusion.
Thump.
“Hm?”
Someone tugs at my sleeve.
I glance to the side.
“…What?”
A beautiful woman with delicate features, though she looked somewhat weary.
Hwasan’s Geombong. Yoo Yeon was standing beside me.
“…How are you here?”
Could outsiders even enter the Cheongrang Society? The moment I furrowed my brow at Yoo Yeon’s presence here.
She gestures silently.
Yoo Yeon points her finger at someone. It was Wol Seon-geom.
“What is it. What did Moonju…Wait, did you get permission from Moonju?”
Yoo Yeon nods at my words.
Huh.
‘Wasn’t it supposed to be off-limits to outsiders?’
Just because she was inside didn’t mean she could simply come to the Cheongrang Society.
‘…So Wol Seon-geom allowed this.’
That was surprising. Well, it could happen, I suppose.
It wasn’t particularly important anyway.
So.
“Why.”
Why did you grab me? At my question, Yoo Yeon points her finger at Do-hyeong again.
“What about it.”
Did Do-hyeong do something? I don’t understand what she means.
“….”
Frustrated that I don’t understand, Yoo Yeon suddenly pulls something out. Surprisingly, what emerged from her bosom was a stick.
Just a clean-looking wooden branch, at that.
I wonder what she intends to do with it.
Whoosh, whoosh—!
Yoo Yeon suddenly swings the stick through the air. What is she doing?
‘…What is this suddenly.’
I stare at her in confusion.
‘Wait.’
It wasn’t just random flourishing. This was.
‘A sword path.’
A sword path. Yoo Yeon was demonstrating a sword path. Wondering why she’s doing this, I watch silently.
Thud—!
Mid-motion, Yoo Yeon stops her movement in the air.
“What? Why did you stop?”
Why stop when you were doing well? At my question, Yoo Yeon writes characters on the ground.
The characters read ‘failure’.
‘A failure?’
I pondered what that meant for a moment before it suddenly clicked.
“Ah.”
Could it be.
“…Are you saying Senior failed to maintain the Sword Path?”
Yoo Yeon nodded at my words.
‘Failed to maintain the Sword Path?’
She seemed to be doing fine, yet she failed to maintain the Sword Path?
‘Is that why she admitted defeat in the match?’
On the surface, it looked like she was completely overwhelming Cheonhye-in.
‘…Where did she see that?’
How did Yoo Yeon discern this detail?
Neither I nor anyone else present had noticed it.
‘Is it a difference in perception?’
The difference in talent that Yoo Cheon-gil had mentioned.
The eye of perception—whether it’s called Sword Eye or Martial Eye—that the Young Master and Yoo Yeon possessed.
Even after opening the Moon Eye, was there still a gap in this aspect?
Or perhaps.
‘Is it a difference in Heavenly Fate?’
Both Yoo Yeon and that man possessed Heavenly Fate. The difference might stem from there, but regardless.
‘She saw it and I didn’t.’
If that mattered, then that was what mattered.
‘Hmm.’
In any case.
The match eventually ended. Both Cheonhye-in and Do-hyeong sustained wounds, though not deep, so they left to receive treatment.
In the end, the match concluded with Cheonhye-in’s victory.
Though she hardly seemed satisfied with it.
“I’ve never seen the Heavenly Supreme get angry like that before.”
“The match must have displeased her greatly.”
“Does she really shout like that just because she’s displeased? That’s not like the Heavenly Supreme.”
With Cheonhye-in’s mask shattered, the martial artists whispered among themselves. They seemed quite shocked.
‘That’s actually quite mild.’
Since I already knew Cheonhye-in’s true nature, her display wasn’t particularly surprising to me.
Moreover.
“I didn’t expect Do-hyeong to push so hard. Is he really that strong?”
“I heard he received a title, but to this extent….”
“He seems to far exceed the lower ranks.”
“And Wol-hyeop too… Sowoldae disciples are all….”
The martial artists seemed equally shocked by Do-hyeong’s new display. It appeared more surprising to them than Cheonhye-in’s outburst.
‘…Hmm.’
Do-hyeong has grown stronger, certainly. It was a day’s worth of progress that had to happen.
‘What’s peculiar is.’
Do-hyeong doesn’t seem particularly interested in the martial competition.
‘No interest. No curiosity.’
Neither in the match against Cheonhye-in nor in the Cheongrang Society’s competition itself.
‘What could it be.’
Do-hyeong seems indifferent. His entire existence appeared to be nothing more than swinging a sword.
‘If anything, he’s the least suited person for the Cheongwol Sect.’
Excluding myself, that is.
‘In a place where everyone is a battle fanatic, how could such a wooden, emotionless person possibly fit.’
I wondered how Do-hyeong ever ended up joining the Cheongwol Sect. And.
‘That Guardian Spirit.’
The Guardian Spirit that spun wildly around Do-hyeong.
I couldn’t understand why it was so agitated.
‘It was always so docile.’
Even when crises arose, the Guardian Spirit remained calm.
‘Why?’
It was strange that it suddenly became turbulent during the competition.
‘…And at that level, from General-rank to Mountain Deity-rank.’
Honestly, it bothers me.
‘A Guardian Spirit of that caliber causing a disturbance would—’
Something very unpleasant could happen.
Moreover, occasionally. Very occasionally, but.
‘Guardian Spirits can fall into corruption.’
There are cases where Guardian Spirits degenerate into Demon Gods.
In such cases, typically.
‘It happens when the one they protect dies.’
Guardian Spirits ultimately chose to exist in this realm to protect their charges.
That’s how precious those they protect are to them.
But if the one they protect suffers a calamity they cannot bear—
‘They become Demon Gods.’
There were cases where they fell into corruption and wreaked havoc.
‘…That would be even more troublesome.’
The rampage of those who fell after losing what they protected is far more violent than other Demon Gods.
I knew this well from direct experience.
‘Ugh, just thinking about it makes me want to vomit.’
Cold sweat threatened to break out. It was such a bitter memory.
‘…Guardian Spirits are truly wonderful, though.’
In many ways, they were a double-edged sword.
‘Especially the Senior’s Guardian Spirit—something about it feels off.’
I found it puzzling.
It was a Guardian Spirit of a nature I’d never encountered before, which made me all the more attentive.
“I have no idea.”
I stopped mid-thought. Do-hyeong seemed like a man with his own circumstances as well.
‘Digging into that matter…’
I had far too many pressing concerns at the moment.
Clang!!!
The sound of blades clashing echoed through the air. The Cheongrang Society’s third match had begun.
Once again, a blue line lazily traced its path across the arena.
Then.
“….”
Sensing a gaze upon me, I looked forward.
The narrow-eyed man.
Eunwol Sword was waving at me with his hand.
“….”
Behind his back, I felt a sharp, metallic energy.
Witnessing another’s spiritual aura, I hesitated for a moment.
Still.
‘There’s something uncomfortable about him.’
He was somehow an uncomfortable person to me.
* * *
Clang!!! Crash!
The blade clattered to the ground as it fell from impact.
“Ugh….”
The sword’s owner coughed up blood, and the referee immediately halted the match upon witnessing this.
“Biyeon wins!”
Biyeon, the fourth contestant from Sowoldae, emerged victorious from the match. He wiped away his sweat and exhaled deeply.
With the match concluded, the time for the final bout had finally arrived.
“…Eunwol Sword.”
“He’s returned from his mission after three years, hasn’t he? I wonder how much he’s changed.”
“I heard there was friction between him and Wol-hyeop?”
“Ah, I’ve heard about that too.”
Mid-conversation, they suddenly glanced in my direction. They seemed to be gauging my reaction.
I deliberately pretended not to hear and kept my gaze fixed forward.
“Senior brother… I apologize for my ignorance, but is Yoo Yul quite strong?”
One of the Three Disciples asked his senior brother. The young man nodded slightly.
“…He is strong.”
It came out as somewhat uncertain.
“He must certainly be strong. If he’s a disciple of Moonju, then he surely would be. It’s just that I haven’t seen him fight before.”
“Pardon?”
“Yoo Yul has never engaged in a proper martial duel.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
I perked up my ears at the conversation.
‘Never engaged in a proper martial duel?’
Not even once while at the Cheongwol Sect?
But that couldn’t be right.
‘I’m already part of Sowoldae.’
The selection process for Sowoldae required dueling with martial artists already belonging to the organization and earning their recognition.
Since Eunwol Sword was confirmed as a member of Sowoldae, his skills were undoubtedly acknowledged.
‘But he’s never fought anyone besides that?’
How was that even possible?
I wondered if he simply lacked competitive spirit.
‘Then why did he challenge me?’
I recalled the anecdote of him picking a fight with me.
‘What is this.’
What kind of person was this man, really?
I already disliked him from first sight, and not knowing his true nature only deepened that dislike.
‘What’s his purpose?’
Cheonhye-in claimed he was a spy for Gungwi and the Death King.
The unpleasant spiritual energy clinging to his body lent some credibility to her words.
“Prepare for the duel.”
At the referee’s announcement, both fighters gripped their blades. My opponent was—
‘The second-ranked member of Sowoldae.’
The man positioned directly after the one I had faced.
A figure with a large frame and masculine features.
His name was, if I recalled correctly—
‘Jeon Sou.’
Yes, that seemed right.
“Huu—!”
Murderous intent erupted. Jeon Sou’s breathing carried the weight of his inner energy.
‘He’s strong.’
Strong. I could tell just from the pressure of his aura alone.
Meanwhile.
‘I feel nothing.’
Eunwol Sword merely smiled at Jeon Sou, emanating no killing intent whatsoever.
As I observed this.
Whoosh.
‘Huh?’
Suddenly, spiritual energy reacted from behind Eunwol Sword’s back.
It crept upward like a shadow.
Whoosh—!
“…!”
An eye materialized.
A single eye opened and began surveying its surroundings.
‘Insane.’
I gasped inwardly at the sight.
As I stared at the eye in shock.
Whoosh—!
The pupil turned toward me, and our eyes met.
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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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