The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 522

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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 522
I open my eyes and survey my surroundings. The atmosphere inside the boat is desolate. Since there are no separate rooms to speak of, everyone sleeps in the same space.
Relying on a single lamp, only shallow breathing fills the air.
It is the hour when everyone has fallen asleep. Then, Paeng Dojin and I rise to our feet.
“….”
I brush away the creeping fatigue with a light application of inner energy, awakening my body fully.
I gather my sword. Securing the divine blade at my waist, I stand.
“Shall we go?”
“We should.”
I need to see what is happening. I’ve been uneasy about this for some time.
Something is clearly unfolding. I must verify it.
Paeng Dojin exits first. Just as I’m about to follow.
Someone grasps my arm. Turning, it is Yoo Yeon. When did she wake?
Her gaze asks where I’m going.
“Go back to sleep. I’m only going to check on something and return.”
“….”
Unwilling to listen, Yoo Yeon slowly rises to her feet. It seems she intends to follow.
Would she listen if I tried to stop her? No, never mind. I decide not to insist.
We emerge outside. Climbing onto the boat’s deck, night has already fallen. The boat moves slowly. The river continues its crossing.
‘What is this yin energy.’
Yin energy permeates everything. Mixed with the cold emanating from the river, it feels distinctly unsettling.
I gaze down at the river below the railing.
“….”
My brow furrows immediately. The river glows unnaturally. Spirits huddled within emit light. These are all water ghosts.
‘This is repugnant.’
Malice creeps along the river, rising upward.
“Something feels wrong about this.”
Cheonmu Jiche. Even Paeng Dojin, whose five senses are extraordinarily developed, senses this and contorts his face.
“I think we should leave this place. That area in particular is especially bad.”
“Yes. I see it too.”
Truly remarkable. He pinpointed the worst area without hesitation. This confirms my suspicion.
‘Something is definitely happening.’
The gathering of such malice and water ghosts is not a naturally occurring situation.
This is clearly the work of intent, the work of malice.
‘Well then.’
Shall I see what they’re attempting?
I move gradually. Where to head is obvious. As we move cautiously, a figure appears in the distance.
“You there! What is the meaning of this!”
A man emerges holding a lamp. He discovers us moving about in the dead of night and approaches.
“The hour grows late, yet why have you come out? We are still quite far from our destination.”
“I wanted to take a night stroll. It’s my first time seeing such a vast river.”
“…Still, it’s dangerous. If an accident happens, people vanish without a trace. It would be better to rest safely inside.”
“Vanish without a trace, you say. It certainly looks that way.”
“Accidents happen here quite often.”
“Accidents? Do they really occur here?”
“From time to time. When travelers fall into the river, we can’t find them from within, and if the river deity becomes angered, that would be troublesome.”
“…A river deity?”
I reacted to the word deity. Narrowing my eyes, I asked. The man flinched slightly.
“There seems to be some legend about this river.”
“…Well, it’s nothing grand. Yes, just an old tale.”
“An old tale?”
“If you don’t regularly offer tribute to the deity dwelling in the river… it becomes angered and brings calamity. Something like that.”
“Ah.”
I nodded. Simultaneously, I gazed into the river. Observing the writhing energies within, I muttered.
“So you’ve been throwing humans as offerings. Trying to appease it?”
“…What?”
The man’s eyes widened at my words.
“That’s not how you appease a deity, though.”
My eyes were fixed on the clustered souls within the river. On something that existed even deeper, far deeper within.
It seemed ready to writhe at any moment, yet it barely moved. It seemed to be waiting for something. Or perhaps simply sleeping.
Either way, it didn’t matter. That creature’s state wasn’t that important. What mattered was.
“You’ve fed it quite a lot. It looks so full it might burst.”
That I was beginning to understand what was happening on this boat.
“Human sacrifice in this day and age? Or perhaps because times are like this, they resort to it? Well, that doesn’t matter.”
I looked at the man.
“But wrong is still wrong.”
Whoosh—! Before my words even finished, something flew at me. The man had drawn his sword and was swinging it at me. Paeng Dojin and Yoo Yeon simply remained still watching.
It was far too slow.
Clack—
“Gasp!?”
I caught the blade between my index and thumb.
Clang—! I applied force to snap the blade, then drove forward to seal his mouth shut with my hand.
I subdued him completely.
“I don’t intend to torture you or anything. In fact, I could simply overlook this… but unfortunately, I despise such things intensely.”
Human sacrifice. I already hated deities, and I abhorred those who sold other souls to appease them.
“I need to see who’s orchestrating this.”
“Ugh… Mmph….”
“Won’t you help me out?”
I spoke with a smile. In that moment, I released killing intent outward.
“Crack… Gahhh….”
The man under my killing intent trembled, then finally gave a slight nod.
After all, the choice had already been made.

* * *
I followed the man deeper into the ship’s lower levels—not where the passengers slept, but to a different chamber beyond that.
The lights were dim, the air unnaturally humid and oppressive. By the time we pushed through and arrived,
“…H-here it is.”
An iron door came into view.
“Open it.”
The man grasped the door with trembling hands and pulled it open. The iron door slowly swung wide, revealing what lay within.
“Hm? What’s this? It shouldn’t be shift change yet?”
“Chungpung. Why are you back so soon….”
The men inside froze upon seeing Chungpung and us.
“…What’s this? Why are the passengers here?”
“Who are you people…!”
Ignoring their reactions, I stepped inside to assess the situation.
“Mmph… mmmph….”
There were people huddled in the corner. Women. Now I understood. I recognized some of the women who had boarded with us.
Their hands and feet were bound as they cowered together. Fear was written plainly across their faces.
“Chungpung! What is the meaning of this!”
“…I-I apologize, but….”
“Damn it. I tried to avoid touching you since you seemed to be a martial artist.”
Shing. The men inside drew their blades.
In that moment, the one who appeared to be the captain glanced aside and spoke.
“Chung Daekyeop…! I ask for your aid.”
“Hmph.”
There was one whose presence stood apart. He held a spear—unmistakably a martial artist.
“You seem like mere youths out for a stroll, but you’ve picked the wrong time. I’ll commend your sharp senses, but you should know where you belong and where you don’t.”
“….”
A man past forty. His realm appeared to be first-rate? Or perhaps peak. It was one or the other.
Likely just the threshold of peak realm.
“It’s regrettable. That I must kill insignificant things like you with my own hands. Don’t resent me. This too is merely my work.”
“What’s this idiot going on about.”
Paeng Dojin chuckled and grasped his blade.
“How about I crush him?”
He asked. A bloodline of the orthodox sect asking if he should crush someone—what arrogance.
“No. I’ll handle this.”
I walked forward and removed my outer robe. The martial robes beneath were revealed.
“…Huh?”
The spearman froze upon seeing me. The room still had its lamps lit, and in that light, the emblem and insignia on my martial robes were clearly visible.
“…That outfit…. You… what are you. How do you possess that?”
He seems to recognize what this is.
Of course he would. What I’m wearing right now is the martial robe of Sowoldae.
“Chung Daekyeop. Why do you react so? What is wrong with this garment?”
“…Sowoldae. You. Are you of the Cheongwol Sect?”
“W-what? The Cheongwol Sect?”
At those words, the Captain’s eyes widened as he stared at me. My azure martial robe gleamed with a subtle luminescence.
“H-how could someone from such a place have come all the way here? It must be a forgery.”
“….”
The Spearman offered no response to the accusation of forgery.
The robe alone could be counterfeit. But my eyes—that’s the real issue.
“…Wol-an…. Not a foreigner, but Wol-an?”
“You know well.”
Eyes transformed to azure blue—the mark of Wol-an.
The martial robe of Sowoldae was the credential pertaining to it.
One who embraces the moon.
An elite martial artist of the Cheongwol Sect. It also signified a formidable warrior recognized throughout the Central Plains.
Clang.
I grasp the sword at my waist.
“I wanted to travel in peace. But since this situation has arisen, I suppose I need to meddle a bit. You mentioned business, yes? A fitting word.”
Shring. I draw my blade as I continue.
“I have business too. So let’s handle this amicably.”
Scrape. I wrap the scabbard and regard him. A flicker of strangeness crosses the Spearman’s eyes.
“Will you come?”
“….”
I’ve given him his chance.
Grit. The Spearman grinds his teeth.
“…A mere brat who hasn’t even reached adulthood, yet bears the mark of Sowoldae…. I’ve heard tales. White hair and azure eyes. Could you be Wol-hyeop?”
“I appreciate the recognition. Yes, I’m that man.”
“…This is absurd…!”
The Captain recoils in shock.
“Y-you are Geomseong’s Predecessor? How can such a being be here!”
“I’m traveling on business, but an interesting situation has unfolded.”
I glance sideways at the women bound here.
“This sort of thing happens everywhere. Pathetic as it is.”
“…The divine being who slew the Sword Demon and rescued Shin Chang in Hanan—that’s you?”
“The tales are somewhat exaggerated, but yes, I’ve done such things.”
“Ha.”
The Spearman tightens his grip on his spear with greater force.
“This wasn’t part of the plan. To encounter Sowoldae here of all places.”
Was he trying to fight? I sensed killing intent radiating from the Spearman’s body. Seeing that, I loosened my stance slightly.
Two steps should be enough. Should I charge now?
While I was measuring the distance and deliberating.
Whoosh—!!!
The Spearman moved. However, he wasn’t charging at me. The opposite. He was rushing straight toward where the women were.
“Ugh!”
He grabbed one of the women and pressed his spear against her throat.
“You’d better not move.”
“….”
“Move even a little more and this woman’s throat gets pierced.”
He laughed coldly. So this was just a hostage situation?
“I don’t know why Sowoldae is in a place like this, but don’t move an inch. Just stay still.”
“Stay still, what—”
“…What?”
The Spearman stopped mid-sentence. My body had already reached his side.
“You bastard…!”
He tried to move his hand urgently, but—
Thud. Thump.
Something fell to the ground. It was the arm that had been holding the spear.
“What…!”
He reacted belatedly to his severed arm, but that too was too late.
Slice.
My blade passed through his neck.
Thud.
His head fell beside the severed arm.
“….”
Looking at the man who had died without even closing his eyes, I turned my gaze toward the Captain.
“Anything else?”
Boom—!
The Captain dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead to the ground.
He was a man with quick reflexes.

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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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