The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 470
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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 470
The air shifts. It should merely be the cold of the season, yet something feels different.
‘Heh.’
He simply wiped away his smile. The man who always laughed so freely had turned expressionless, and I felt the fine hairs on my back stand on end.
‘Indeed.’
Whether it was Father or this man, there was a tendency for the entire household to appear chilling when expressionless.
For just a moment while our eyes met.
“Aha ha.”
My brother’s expression returned. He shifted back to his smiling face, but having already witnessed the situation, I couldn’t pretend not to notice.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t ask directly?”
“This is already quite restrained. You sent a letter in the first place anyway.”
“That’s right. You’re correct.”
Click. He opens the bottle he was holding. He gulps it down without hesitation.
The man was already thoroughly drunk—what more was he trying to achieve?
“Ahhh… excellent… Indeed, there’s no need for side dishes. Alcohol should be enjoyed for its taste alone. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“…I suppose.”
It’s not something I would know. I don’t even enjoy drinking.
“So. What about Amjeon?”
“Didn’t you notice I was changing the subject?”
“There’s no way I didn’t. I simply have no intention of letting it slide.”
“Exactly. Our youngest has always been like that from the start.”
I sighed at his grinning expression.
“I’m returning from meeting Amjeon.”
“Huh?”
Bang Yoo-seong’s eyes narrow at my words.
“You met him?”
“Yes. He appeared.”
“…How did that happen?”
His expression turned serious. I shrugged at that face.
“I don’t know. He just appeared suddenly.”
“Geez… That old man really…”
He scratches the back of his head.
“The old man has such a terrible personality. Doesn’t he realize that being so suspicious only harms himself?”
“…Never mind that. What exactly is he?”
“Hmm.”
Bang Yoo-seong purses his lips as if pondering. It’s not easy for someone his age to make such an expression…
“Just a friend?”
“There’s too much of an age difference to call him a friend.”
“What does age matter in friendship? If hearts align, they are true friends!”
“Don’t you think it’s strange that Amjeon and you would have aligned hearts?”
“It just happened to turn out that way.”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard.”
I was at a loss for words.
“You sent a letter saying you’d come find me yourself, and then you actually came.”
“Ah, I’m sorry about that. I’ve been swamped with work, you know.”
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Swamped with work? That was nonsense.
“You’ve just been drinking every day.”
“Ah, you caught me.”
“…Never mind that. What exactly are you doing? Do you have any idea how shocked I was when Amjeon appeared at Hwasan?”
“It was quite the surprise gift, wasn’t it?”
“That’s not a gift—that’s a nightmare.”
What kind of gift was that?
“You even had Amjeon deliver a letter. What are you really doing?”
“A Younger Master of the Bang Clan should have that kind of audacity.”
“…Stop talking about audacity. Just explain the situation.”
“Ahahaha.”
Bang Yoo-seong laughed softly at my question. His eyes narrowed with that laugh. The feeling was different.
“Do you really need to know?”
“Then, were you planning not to tell me?”
“There are plenty of things in this world that don’t need to be known. This is no different.”
“If you were going to keep it hidden, you shouldn’t have shown any signs of it.”
If you wanted to keep me in the dark, you shouldn’t have made me curious. But this was the opposite.
“The moment Amjeon directly involved himself with me, I gained the right to know.”
If he hadn’t appeared directly, it would be different.
Since Amjeon came to me and showed his face, and even had him deliver your letter to me, I had earned the justification to know.
“What is it? What are you doing?”
“…”
I pressed Bang Yoo-seong for answers. At my words, he stared at me intently. Then.
“Then let me ask you one thing.”
“What?”
Bang Yoo-seong asked me.
“Little brother. Can you explain your current situation to me?”
“…”
His serious tone made me pause for a moment.
“Becoming the disciple of that great Sword Saint, your current state, and moreover, all the things we haven’t said to each other—can we lay it all bare now?”
“That’s a cowardly killing move.”
“There should always be an escape route.”
“If I speak, will you explain things?”
“No, it’s not like that.”
“Then—?”
At my words, Bang Yoo-seong points at me with his finger.
“Even family has secrets that should remain hidden.”
“I see.”
So he won’t tell me. I understand.
“You’re saying I should figure it out on my own.”
“It’d be better if you didn’t.”
“…That doesn’t seem possible.”
In the past, I would have ignored it or deliberately tried not to care.
“There’s just too much strange about this household.”
“….”
It would have been simpler if it were just a gathering place for ruffians. Nothing more.
‘Why does something keep surfacing?’
Amjeon was the same.
Everything else was too.
“If you won’t explain, then never mind. I’ll figure it out myself.”
“Little brother.”
“Yes.”
As I turn to leave, Bang Yoo-seong grabs me.
“You know your brother loves you, right?”
“…Why are you like this?”
I fled in disgust. It was something to be startled by.
* * *
Right after Bangseong-yeon fled from Bang Yoo-seong’s confession of love, Bang Yoo-seong watched his youngest brother disappear into the distance and let out a soft chuckle.
“You’ve grown quite a bit in the time we haven’t seen each other.”
It had only been a year, maybe two at most.
The time we hadn’t spent together was brief, yet the speed of his growth was remarkable.
“I regret it.”
I regret it deeply. How I wish I could observe his growth more carefully. The inability to do so had quietly nurtured this regret within me over time.
Of course, such feelings weren’t unique to my father alone.
Bang Yoo-seong harbored only one wish.
‘Don’t go seeking answers.’
If he chose to uncover the truth, I wouldn’t stop him. There was nothing I could do to prevent it anyway, and I made no effort to hide it deliberately.
But.
“I never intended to reveal it—”
Was it a mistake? Discovering that my brother was gradually becoming entangled in increasingly absurd circumstances.
A mistake in attempting to slow his footsteps even slightly.
That was the nature of Bang Yoo-seong’s regret.
“You should not have involved yourself.”
Bang Yoo-seong spoke with a noticeably chilled expression. At those words, a figure appeared behind him.
A being clad in a black mask and martial robes—it was Amjeon.
“Do you intend to break your promise?”
Bang Yoo-seong asked with an expressionless face.
“It is not I who breaks it.”
Amjeon spoke to Bang Yoo-seong thus. Though nothing was held in his hands, Bang Yoo-seong instinctively sensed something pressing against his throat in the sharpened air.
“Younger Master Bang. The reason your brother’s head remains attached despite seeing me is solely because he carries the blood of the Bang Clan.”
Amjeon spoke matter-of-factly.
“Had he not borne that cursed surname, his head would have long since fallen. And furthermore.”
Ssshhhhh—!!! Amjeon’s shadow rippled ominously.
“If he were a disciple of Yoo Cheon-gil, that wretched beast, his limbs would have already been torn from his body by my hands.”
“Frightening words indeed.”
Bang Yoo-seong remained entirely unmoved by Amjeon’s harsh words.
“Yet you cannot do it.”
Because I was certain that Amjeon could not.
“You cannot. Because only we can resolve your karmic debt.”
“…Arrogant.”
“We are good friends. The fact that you chose me over my father means you understand that as well.”
“You are wrong.”
Amjeon denied those words.
“The Lord of the Bang Clan is an inscrutable creature. You are no different, Younger Master, but since you have not yet touched the abyss, I judged you to be preferable.”
“Ah, so you kept me as a friend because I am easier to exploit.”
“Do not call it friendship.”
Amjeon remained resolute.
“It is merely a transactional relationship.”
“You’re truly as barren as they come. No wonder you keep getting beaten down like that.”
He spoke with a smile.
Slash—!
A gash appeared on Bang Yoo-seong’s neck. Blood trickled down in rivulets.
“Ah, that stings.”
“Do not toy with your words so carelessly.”
“Yet you won’t even kill me. What’s the point of the threats?”
Drip, drip. He grabbed the wine bottle and wiped his neck clean with the spilling liquid.
“…And, if you’re going to threaten me.”
Bang Yoo-seong fixed Amjeon with a sharp gaze.
“Do it properly. Isn’t that right? Amjeon.”
Grrrrk. Bang Yoo-seong reached out his hand. What should have been beyond Amjeon’s reach instead found itself gripping his collar effortlessly.
“Don’t approach my younger sibling. You. If you do that even once more, there will be no deal or anything else.”
“Surprisingly sentimental about blood ties. I didn’t think you would be.”
“Family is inherently precious. You wouldn’t understand. So answer me. Don’t touch them from now on.”
“Fine. I apologize for this matter. There was something troubling me, so I sought to verify it.”
“Something troubling you?”
“It is a matter of the past, so I shall not explain.”
Thud. Bang Yoo-seong released Amjeon’s collar. The master of the night. Perhaps Bang Yoo-seong was the only one who had ever lived after seizing him by the collar.
“Tell the Clan Leader. Patcheon Gung has begun to move.”
“….”
After uttering those words, Amjeon vanished before his eyes.
“…What message am I supposed to deliver.”
Bang Yoo-seong repeated the words and let out a quiet laugh. There was no need to deliver anything. His father already knew everything.
But.
‘He merely knows.’
He would have no intention to act or interfere.
The Bang Clan existed precisely for this reason.
A place that must seem to exist yet not exist.
Hani.
‘I hope you do not follow the same path.’
Since he alone was sufficient for such a role, he wished his younger siblings to live differently.
He brought the wine bottle to his lips and drank deeply, savoring every drop.
Gulp after gulp filled the void, yet intoxication would never truly claim him.
“Ahhh. This is good.”
There was not a single day he did not drink.
It was the only way he could endure each day.
Such was the existence of Bang Yoo-seong.
* * *
Night gave way to morning. I had matters that demanded resolution, so I intended to venture back to Hyeon first.
It seemed I would need to seek out Haowen again, and there were other things I needed to investigate as well.
“…That….”
I could not. An early morning visitor had arrived—and not one I could possibly ignore.
Two cups of tea sat abandoned on the table.
Even Chongwan, who was usually present, had fled, leaving the air thick with discomfort as I asked.
“…What brings you here?”
“….”
A noble middle-aged figure utterly out of place in this humble dwelling.
An absolute master whose refined features inevitably reminded one of someone else.
Seeing him offer no response, I called out again.
“…Lord of the Clan Moyong.”
One of the Four Evils of the realm and master of the Moyong Clan, one of the Five Great Houses.
Baekwang.
He sat before me, sipping his tea.
From the break of dawn, no less.
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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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