The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 426

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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 426
[How amusing.]
The Celestial Demon’s voice reached me. The emotion contained within it was extraordinarily intense. Whether it was anger or contempt, one thing remained certain—it was saturated with negativity.
[One without qualification speaks of position. How could this not be repugnant?]
Without qualification. At those words, I glanced toward the Young Master. His eyes gleamed with a crimson hue, slanted and piercing. There it was—the mark of the Heavenly Killing Star, said to be the symbol of the Celestial Demon. Behind him stood the Demonic Sect members, their auras thick with malevolence. By their presence alone, the Young Master’s standing seemed quite solid.
‘Without qualification, he says.’
I recalled what I’d once heard from the Celestial Demon. He had said that the qualification to become Heaven was not something like the Heavenly Killing Star.
‘What the Celestial Demon truly values—’
It was none other than divine sight, or perhaps celestial eyes. The ability to see what cannot be seen. That, he had said, was what mattered.
‘So that’s why.’
He had told me to go to the Celestial Demon’s Sect and inherit the position?
‘That’s absolutely insane.’
A hero of the Orthodox Sect. The symbol of peace—the successor of Sword Saint Yoo Cheon-gil. And now, at a point where I had become the representative of the Orthodox Sect’s disciples, he wanted me to become the Celestial Demon? It was nonsensical.
[Why is it nonsensical?]
“….”
I closed my mouth at the Celestial Demon’s words. Did this man also read minds? Now everyone was reading me. How embarrassing.
[I do not read. I merely sense.]
‘That’s the same thing, isn’t it?’
[Answer me. Why do you think it cannot be?]
‘I just explained the reasons to you.’
The matter regarding Yoo Cheon-gil and everything else aside.
‘I have no intention of becoming the Celestial Demon.’
Why would I ascend to such a dangerous position, one that looks like villainy to anyone?
[Haha.]
The Celestial Demon laughed. Was my response somehow amusing to him?
[If that is your reason… then it matters not.]
‘What do you mean?’
[Do as you wish. The axis of destiny will eventually turn toward it regardless.]
‘….’
This man also had a talent for speaking in the most infuriating way.
‘Nonsense.’
An axis? If such a thing were my fate, I would escape it by any means necessary. By whatever method it took.

* * *
The Young Master and Shin Chang moved forward. Their destination was a conference hall prepared in advance. Inside, the space overflowed with meticulously arranged food, tea, and attendants gathered with tense expressions.
“You’ve prepared quite generously, I must say.”
Rather than respond to the Young Master’s words, Shin Chang took his seat. Cheon Rijin-an sat to his left, and to his right was—
‘Me.’
Shin Chang’s gaze turned toward me. Seeing that, I carefully took my seat.
“Thank you for accepting this conference. It must have been a difficult decision.”
At the Young Master’s words, Cheon Rijin-an’s expression hardened. He made his displeasure abundantly clear.
“What is it you wish to say?”
Shin Chang asked. It was straight to the point. At those words, the Young Master smiled.
“How refreshing. Since I also appreciate such directness—allow me to speak plainly as well.”
The Young Master withdrew something from his robes. It was a letter.
“The Demonic Sect, which I shall lead, wishes to eliminate unnecessary conflicts with the righteous sects and live in peace. Therefore—”
Crash.
A harsh sound erupted. It came from Cheon Rijin-an’s direction. He had violently struck the table.
“What nonsense is this?”
At that reaction, the air froze cold.
“How dare you speak such words? Have you forgotten what you’ve done?”
The emergence of the Demonic Sect and Patcheon Gung. Because of them, Hannam was overturned once, and the League Leader Shin Chang suffered a mortal wound, nearly dying.
“And peace? I’m restraining myself from wanting to tear out your tongue this very moment. Peace is a word far too shameless to utter.”
“My, you are quite angry. We apologize for what happened then.”
“You—!”
“Our side also had circumstances… It’s not exactly compensation, but…”
His eyes gleamed sharply.
“Would you not consider it if we were to offer information regarding Patcheon Gung’s affairs?”
“You madman—!”
Just as Cheon Rijin-an was about to explode beyond restraint—
“Listen.”
“League Leader!”
Shin Chang interjected. At those words, Cheon Rijin-an glared at him, but Shin Chang’s gaze remained resolute.
“This conference itself is already fraught with problems. How could—!”
“Sit.”
“—!”
As Shin Chang spoke with a composed gaze, Cheon Rijin-an clenched his teeth. He sat back down.
He had chosen to hear Shin Chang out.
“Speak.”
“Ah, then I shall continue.”
I glanced at the man with a twitch. That smug, grinning expression irritated me. Unpleasant, one might say.
“Patcheon Gung approached the Demonic Sect because they require something from us.” “Require something?”
“Yes. Something they require.”
“What is that?”
“The corpse of the previous Celestial Demon. Our father’s remains.”
“…What?”
‘Hm?’
I faltered at the words that followed. What had he just said…?
‘Whose corpse?’
The Celestial Demon’s corpse? My eyes widened. Without thinking, I glanced at Shin Chang. The Celestial Demon showed no particular reaction.
“…The sect leader’s remains were still intact?”
“They were. We had been preserving them.”
Cheon Rijin-an’s expression crumpled.
“That cannot be. The sect leader’s corpse….”
“Disappeared at the hands of the Sword Saint. That is what the righteous sects believe.”
“What is believed?”
“I do not know the details, but my father’s remains were preserved within the Demonic Sect. In pristine condition, no less.”
Pristine. The words the Celestial Demon used to describe his own father felt unsettling. As though he were describing something entirely different.
“This cannot be.”
It differed from what Yoo Cheon-gil had said. The surroundings stirred at those words.
‘Is what he says true?’
I quietly asked the Celestial Demon.
[Who knows.]
The Celestial Demon offered another ambiguous response. Birds of a feather, they say—why must these people be like this?
“…So Patcheon Gung wanted the Celestial Demon’s corpse?”
“Yes.”
“And you handed it over?”
“Ahahaha…. We did not hand it over so easily. It was not something we could simply give away.”
“Not easily means you gave it away with difficulty?”
I interjected. All eyes turned toward me. The Young Master’s gaze also shifted in my direction.
“Correct. We gave it away with difficulty.”
“…In exchange for what?”
“The Celestial Demon Divine Art.”
“What?”
With a metallic sound, the divine sword at my waist stirred.
“From Patcheon Gung, the Demonic Sect received a divine art that had been lost.”
“….”
The Celestial Demon Divine Art. A renowned martial technique. A divine art said to have been wielded by the previous Celestial Demon.
‘They said it could transform heaven and earth.’
Its power was so formidable that those who witnessed it would bear a lifetime of terror. Yet they…
‘Not only had they lost it.’
Patcheon Gung handed it over? The story made no sense. Why would Patcheon Gung give it away? It was strange that they even possessed it. And they exchanged the corpse and the Celestial Demon Divine Art?
‘What do they intend to do with the corpse?’
The reason the Celestial Demon’s corpse was taken feels unsettling.
‘It’s catching up to me.’
Now that I knew Patcheon Gung was connected to the Heretics, various thoughts rushed through my mind. They took the corpse. The ones who took it are Heretics. If I think about it that way.
‘…These bastards.’
What kind of nonsense are they plotting now? At least in my previous life, I don’t think they ever did anything with corpses.
“The Celestial Demon’s Divine Art from Patcheon Gung? You’re saying they received it and handed over the corpse?”
“Yes. It is none other than the Celestial Demon’s Divine Art. It is the most necessary thing to ascend to the position of Sect Leader.”
[Haha.]
The Celestial Demon laughed at the Young Master’s words.
[The most necessary thing? That wretch doesn’t understand the meaning.]
‘….’
A wretch, he said. It was a peculiar way to refer to his own successor.
[Do not call me successor. I have never had such a thing. You received the Celestial Demon’s Divine Art? How absurd.]
‘Why not? If it was lost, couldn’t it be obtained again?’
[Yes, it was lost. Because no one could use it, it ended with my generation. But then, what does that wretch possess?]
‘Ah.’
Now that I think about it, that’s right. If it was lost, what did Patcheon Gung bring?
[Moreover, the Divine Art is not something that wretch could use. It can only be used if one ‘can see’.]
‘…That means.’
The condition for using the Celestial Demon’s Divine Art is the possession of celestial eyes? Not something like the Heavenly Killing Star?
[How many times must I say it? The Heavenly Killing Star is a trivial karma that means nothing.]
‘…Hmm.’
As I was listening and narrowing my eyes.
“So then. Assuming you received that martial art—how do you expect to get past the matter of your assault on Hannam?”
“There is little to explain regarding that matter. It is true that we received cooperation from Patcheon Gung, and it is also true that we harbored vengeful feelings.”
“What did you just…?”
“I offer my apologies.”
At the Young Master’s words, Cheon Rijin-an’s face wrinkles completely. I wonder if his face will burst at this rate.
“Apologies…? Do you know how many died from the atrocities you committed?”
“I offer my apologies for that as well.”
“You!”
Cheon Rijin-an rises with a shout.
“Do you know how many more died in the war you ignited!”
“It was an act committed by the previous Sect Leader, but if you wish, I shall apologize for that as well.”
Boom!!
“I cannot listen to this any longer.”
Cheon Rijin-an’s eyes gleam sharply.
“League Leader. Seeing his attitude just now, do you believe this negotiation can continue?”
“….”
Shin Chang does not respond. Or rather, he seems to. The muscles of his back shift slightly.
“At the very least, I cannot permit it.”
“This is…”
The Young Master let out a sigh at those words.
“It happened long ago. It seems an apology alone won’t resolve this matter.”
The Young Master’s crimson eyes gleamed. He scratched his cheek. In truth, it wasn’t just Shin Chang and Cheon Rijin-an.
‘Ah, I’m reaching my limit.’
Watching like this, pretending everything was fine—I’d reached the end of my patience. My heart remained cold. It always had been. I needed to think rationally. That was always the way. No, but somehow…
‘Is this how I must live?’
Even now, in this very moment? In that blank instant, a thought I’d always harbored surfaced.
‘If it were Yoo Cheon-gil…’
What would the Old Man have done in this situation? Such a thought brushed past me.
‘What can I do about it.’
In the profound silence, I heard the Old Man’s voice echo in my mind.
‘Just strike first and see what happens.’
“….”
“If I were to… it wouldn’t just be an apology. What I propose to the Martial Arts Alliance this time is—”
My body launched forward.
“Hey.”
“Wh—what?”
The Young Master’s eyes widened as he looked at me. Our gazes didn’t meet for long.
Crack! I vaulted over the table and drove my knee straight into the Young Master’s face.
“Gack!”
Blood erupted as his head snapped back. Watching him reel, I spoke.
“You sure know how to work someone’s nerves. Infuriating.”
Shing!!!
In an instant, soldiers from Marin’s side drew their weapons in unison.

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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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