The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 448

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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 448
Days had passed. Four days since we departed, and our journey toward Yeolyeong was proceeding without particular incident.
“We should rest here for a day.”
I set up camp. The horses needed rest after days of relentless travel.
My companions also needed proper respite.
After calculating that, I chose the location and established our encampment. Since everyone was a martial artist, we could set it up quickly.
“It’s a valley.”
Yoo Yul spoke while observing the lake and valley surrounding us.
“It’s Ayen Valley.”
I provided the explanation in response.
“Ayen? The valley has a name?”
“That’s what people call it.”
I didn’t come here often. It was far from Yeolyeong, and I only knew it by name.
There were supposedly some legends about a celestial maiden within it, but I had little interest.
‘For a place with legends,’
the spiritual presence was so faint that it was safe to call it mere rumor.
‘The existence of legends in the first place’
usually meant there was a high probability of something significant.
‘But this valley seems to have nothing.’
I sensed nothing in particular.
“Will we rest here?”
“Yes. We’ll depart at dawn.”
“Night watch?”
“You take first. I’ll take the middle shift.”
I yielded the order appropriately. My need for sleep had diminished anyway.
“I’m going to scout the surroundings for a bit.”
“Want company?”
“No. Please just stay here.”
“Haha. How bashful.”
I ignored Yoo Yul’s nonsense and moved forward. I leaped slightly, my body rising above the forest feeling light.
‘Let me see.’
I climbed a tall tree and surveyed the surroundings.
‘Evil spirits are sparse… and there don’t seem to be many other ghosts either.’
Perhaps because the terrain was safe, I sensed few troublesome presences. It seemed we could continue as planned. If only heavy rain didn’t fall on the way. That’s all I could ask for.
‘The sky looks clear, so it should be fine.’
It truly needed to be without problems. I had no desire for unnecessary complications along the way.
‘Hmm.’
At this rate, we seemed likely to arrive faster than anticipated.
‘Once we arrive,’
I would first resolve the matter of the soul ring. Then after that.
‘I need to find my brother.’
I would have to track down that nobleman who was probably getting drunk somewhere in the prefecture. Was my father in Yeolyeong as well? It seemed likely.
‘…I’m already dreading this?’
Having to face both men from the Bangga household at once—there was nothing more exhausting and detestable than that.
‘…Tsk.’
Because of what had happened, I had to confront them at least once.
“Sigh.”
I exhaled deeply. As I steadied my breathing in the quiet atmosphere, my mind gradually grew calm.
Chirp, chirp, chirp. Chirp.
I heard the sounds of grass insects and wind rustling through the vegetation. Listening to them, my expression hardened for a moment.
‘Old Man.’
I called out to someone within my mind. That old man who had been silent for months now.
‘Old Man.’
I called again, but still there was no answer. As expected.
‘Where could he have gone?’
He couldn’t have simply vanished. Given his nature, he wouldn’t have achieved enlightenment in such a manner.
‘What is he doing?’
I hadn’t seen him since what happened in Yeongmong, which left me frustrated. Was he hiding somewhere preparing for something? If so, why was it taking this long?
‘…Tsk.’
Whatever he was planning made me uneasy. Would it hurt to just tell me?
‘I have so many questions, but he won’t even show himself.’
When he was around, he was bothersome, but now that he was gone, that was its own problem. It felt as though I had lost my way without realizing it.
‘Was I unknowingly being carried along?’
I thought I wasn’t, but could it be that I was being carried by Yoo Cheon-gil?
Such a thought occurred to me.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue briefly. I shook my head. It seemed that idle thoughts were creeping in now that I was going back home after so long.
I climbed down from the tree. At that moment, someone was waiting in front of me. It was Gwima.
“Heavenly One.”
“…You startled me.”
I hadn’t sensed his presence. I wondered if this man was truly not a ghost.
“I apologize for the fright.”
“I’m sorry. I had no intention of startling you.”
Gwima smiled awkwardly. Looking at him, I asked.
“What brings you here?”
“Well, it’s like this.”
Gwima, who should have been at the camp, had come seeking me out for a reason. In response to my question, he answered carefully.
“I sense human presence not far from here.”
“Human presence?”
I narrowed my eyes. What was there? I hadn’t sensed anything.
“What’s that presence?”
People could certainly be around. Even though the streams were somewhat distant in the vicinity, they existed nonetheless. Yet the Gwima had come to speak of it.
‘It must be something different.’
It wasn’t just an ordinary presence.
“From what I can discern.”
As expected.
“It appears to be Sapa Followers, sir.”
“…Sapa?”
They didn’t seem like ordinary men.

* * *
The sudden appearance of Sapa. After hearing the Gwima’s words, I tilted my head in confusion.
Sapa suddenly in this region?
‘It’s hardly a dangerous area.’
I wondered if there was any reason for those Sapa dogs to appear. Much less.
‘Why would the Gwima be so certain they’re Sapa?’
The presence that appeared from a distance. I was curious about the reason the Gwima had declared them Sapa based on that alone.
“We’re approaching soon.”
Because of that, the Gwima and I moved together. A location drawing near to Yeolyeong. Still distant, but the presence of Sapa dogs in this land struck me as odd.
I approached gradually, suppressing my aura. I could feel the presence as well.
‘The numbers are….’
More than ten, it seemed.
‘What is this?’
What were those men doing? Unlike my bewilderment.
‘Ah.’
I began to understand why the Gwima had designated them as Sapa.
‘Their aura is different.’
The very momentum they emanated was different. Sharp and rough. A crude, unmistakable energy pervaded.
‘The scent of blood.’
The stench of blood clung heavily to them.
Creak. They seemed to be pulling a carriage. The problem was.
‘…This.’
Upon seeing the carriage, I furrowed my brow. I felt spiritual energy. Malice churned within it like a tidal wave.
‘What is this?’
What could that possibly be?
I focused my gaze.
“Brother. Is it alright to take this as is?”
Their voices brushed past my ears.
“What else would we do with it?”
“Even in a sparsely populated area, this seems too brazen. I was wondering if we should really be moving it so openly.”
“It’s ridiculous to hide something like this, and we don’t have the leisure to move while concealing it.”
“That’s true, but… tsk.”
One of the men clicked his tongue.
“At least if we had some time to rest, it would be nice. We’ve managed to obtain something precious, but we can’t stop by the county town.”
“If you stop by the county town, everyone will know you’re just going to grab some courtesan’s skirts.”
“That’s the charm of it.”
“I’m starting to get hungry too, so it’s not bad, but hold on. The Leader’s business comes first.”
“So… we’re carrying this all the way to Yeolyeong?”
“Stop whining. Use that time to gather a bit more instead.”
The conversation was peculiar. Something precious obtained… and they deliberately came to a desolate place.
‘They don’t have the leisure to hide and move?’
It was strange. Especially the spiritual energy emanating from that carriage kept scratching at my insides.
“Not much left. Just get to the abandoned mountain, and that’s it. The Leader will be waiting there.”
“…Once this is done, we can rest, right?”
“I suppose so. The Leader promised.”
Tap. Tap. I drummed my fingers against my wrist. My mind was still sorting through the details. But then—
“If we just conduct this offering properly, he’ll reward us generously. So if we just catch a few more young girls…”
The man’s words reached my ears, and in that moment, my body sank silently into the ground.
-Heavenly One?
The Gwima spoke with confusion, but I had already landed on the earth.
“Huh?”
“Who is it?”
“Who’s there!”
Shing! They drew their blades and pointed them at me.
“A traveler at this hour? Then your luck is poor.”
The man who had been speaking earlier added with gleaming eyes.
“You should have just passed through quietly…”
“I have one question.”
I cut off his words and spoke.
“What’s inside that carriage?”
“What’s inside?”
At those words, the man’s expression hardened.
“Why should I tell you that? Who are you?”
“…”
A sensation surged from my feet to the crown of my head. The feeling of blood running cold was always unpleasant.
“Identity. Hmm.”
I paused briefly, wondering what to say. There was no proper introduction to give.
I simply gripped the sword at my waist carefully.
“I’m not sure. It doesn’t seem like a name worth telling.”
“You bastard…? Could you be from the Alliance?”
“You’re half right.”
“…!”
Their eyes widened at my affirmative response.
“Damn it. How did you figure it out?”
“Battle stance!”
Swords were drawn simultaneously. I took a step forward at the sight.
“Kill that bas-!”
Squelch.
The neck of the man speaking before me was severed clean.
“Gasp!?”
Immediately after, I cut down the men around me one by one.
The divine blade cutting through human flesh felt like slicing through tofu.
Blood soaked the ground in an instant.
“You, you monster!”
“A demon…!”
Their cultivation seemed unremarkable. The strongest among them was merely a first-rate Martial Artist.
‘First-rate, is it.’
I found it amusing that I would evaluate a first-rate Martial Artist as unremarkable.
Squelch—! Another one. Then another. I cut them down slowly. Among them, I saw two turn and flee.
“R, run!”
Judging they had no chance of victory, they chose to escape.
Crack!
“Ugh!”
The Gwima in feminine disguise appeared from behind and twisted their necks, ending their lives.
Before I could count to ten, the lives of ten men had simply vanished.
“….”
Drip. Drip.
I moved forward, watching the blood fall from the divine blade.
“Heavenly Lord.”
The Gwima called out to me. He spoke carefully as he knelt down.
“…My apologies.”
What was he apologizing for? I didn’t ask. I walked toward the carriage in silence and opened the interior.
Thud.
As soon as I opened the door, a pale white hand hung limply from inside.
“….”
The interior was filled with corpses. The bodies of young girls who appeared to be around a dozen years old. They seemed to be no more than in their early twenties at most.
The space was packed with such bodies.
And above them.
‘Evil Spirits.’
The souls of young girls, left with lingering attachments and transformed into malevolent spirits, were densely concentrated.
The spiritual energy I had been sensing must have been this.
-Ah…. Ahhh.
Perhaps because those who killed them were now dead, several Evil Spirits achieved enlightenment.
I did not direct my gaze toward them.
Lives that had died without even closing their eyes.
Seeing this, I spoke.
“…Gwima.”
“Yes, Heavenly One.”
“Would you grant me one request?”
It seemed there was something I needed to handle on the way to Yeolyeong.
“I shall obey your command. Whatever it may be.”
It appeared I needed to take care of one matter before departing.

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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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