The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 565

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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 565
Hummmmm. Huuuuummmmm!
The divine sword at my waist vibrated violently. I grasped it, my brow furrowing.
A sword cry suddenly erupted from it. Just as I wondered why—
[Why is that here?]
The Celestial Demon spoke. At those words, I turned my gaze to the sword Yoo Yeon held. An old, worn scabbard containing what appeared to be an equally unremarkable blade.
It looked so shabby that there seemed no reason to give it a second thought.
‘What is this?’
My eyes fixed upon it. Not merely looking—truly observing.
Wol-an. I focused my blue eyes and examined the sword carefully.
‘…That blade.’
Through Wol-an, I could see spiritual energy permeating it, and even without that—
‘Spirit essence is woven throughout it.’
A spirit sword infused with essence. It bore a similar resonance to the Celestial Demon’s divine sword or the Manwol that Yoo Cheon-gil wielded.
That blade.
‘It seems to be top-tier?’
Using the Dang Clan’s classification, it was a sword worthy of the highest rank. Yet somehow, inexplicably, it rested here.
“What? You’re choosing that one?”
The Master Craftsman asked, observing the sword in Yoo Yeon’s grasp.
“….”
Yoo Yeon nodded briefly. She too had clearly made her decision with this blade.
“That’s… not even something we need to sell. Where did you even find something like that? Did such a sword even exist here in the first place?”
“…You’re welcome to choose something else?”
Woo Yeongjin interjected hesitantly. I had come here trading on his name, yet when Yoo Yeon selected such a blade, he seemed genuinely flustered.
“No. If you’re satisfied with it, then that’s the one.”
“….”
Yoo Yeon had already made up her mind, gripping the sword firmly.
No matter how I looked at it, this was top-tier. The fact that this craftsman hadn’t recognized it was strange in itself.
‘Is it a matter of the metal?’
I hadn’t examined the blade itself, which gave me pause, but I didn’t think that was it. More importantly—
‘The divine sword is resonating.’
The Celestial Demon’s divine sword trembled in harmony. This had to be significant.
‘What is that sword?’
I asked the Celestial Demon. I remembered how it had reacted upon seeing it, as if it already knew.
The Celestial Demon answered my question with a hollow laugh.
[The Void Blade.]
‘The Void Blade?’
The Void Blade—a sword of nothingness. The name was peculiar.
[Since nothing was ever inscribed upon it, it should have vanished long ago. Yet how does it remain here? And more than that—]
Because I feared nothing, I would have simply disappeared. How did I remain in that place? Moreover.
The Celestial Demon possesses no physical form. With his soul bound to the blade and myself, there should be nothing to perceive—no gaze, no presence.
Yet somehow, I felt him watching Yoo Yeon.
[…Did she go there? How pointless.]
As he spoke of pointlessness, a peculiar fragrance lingered in the air. Longing? Remarkably, even this demon-like soul yearned for something.
[You seem to have forgotten that I hear everything.]
‘That couldn’t possibly be.’
A transparent deflection.
Setting aside this exchange with the Celestial Demon, Yoo Yeon appeared to have made her decision. She reached for the blade, preparing to depart.
“I shall pay for it. How much do I owe?”
I had brought some funds from the Sect, so I attempted to settle the blade’s price.
“…How much should I ask for this? Hmm.”
The Master Craftsman who had guided us fell into contemplation. The item seemed far too peculiar to price conventionally.
“Still, I ought to receive something—”
“Simply take it.”
“Pardon?”
A voice interjected. I had sensed no presence. A master? My eyes widened as I turned to look behind me.
“Oh! G-Grand Master Craftsman….”
The Master Craftsman dropped to his knees before the Old Man. His back was deeply bowed, and moreover—
‘…He possesses innate mastery.’
Now I understood why I hadn’t sensed his presence. There was almost nothing left to sense.
He felt as though already dead. The Old Man’s remaining years were few indeed.
“Oh, how did you come to this remote place….”
“The iron has been weeping so much that I came to see what sort of madman had arrived.”
“What do you mean—”
“Not a madman, but a woman. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
He spoke while observing Yoo Yeon. Then the Old Man’s gaze turned toward me.
“….”
“….”
What was he staring at? I held his gaze steadily.
“That fellow is quite handsome. It reminds me of myself in my youth.”
“You are too kind. I hear such things often.”
It was merely a compliment on appearance. Hearing it, I chuckled softly and shrugged my shoulders.
Then the Old Man approached me.
His hand moved naturally toward my waist—toward my Celestial Demon Divine Blade.
“….”
His hand stopped just short of touching it. Then he looked at me again.
“It’s been well maintained. Whose craftsmanship is this?”
“I know the person responsible.”
“Skilled work. It has a familiar quality to it.”
It was a blade repaired by the Dang Clan. Since the Celestial Demon Divine Blade no longer retained its original form, he had likely inquired about it.
Few people know of the Divine Blade in the first place.
‘He appears to be quite an exceptional craftsman.’
It’s because the Innate Qi is departing. The quality of his spirit is extraordinary.
Pouring one’s soul into one’s work.
It was a characteristic of those truly called Master Craftsmen, and he possessed it.
Truly, he is a Grand Master Craftsman of exceptional skill.
“And take that blade as a gift.”
“Grand Master Craftsman… how so?”
“You don’t seem to be from around here. Am I right?”
The Old Man ignored the Master Craftsman’s question and asked us instead.
“Yes.”
“Where are you from?”
“Hannam.”
“Hannam, you say… Ah, I see. So you’re those talkative Jeongpa folk.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk… The times have changed so much… To think Jeongpa members can walk about here freely.”
“Was that not possible before?”
The Old Man’s laughter pauses briefly at my words.
“It wasn’t. Had it been so, the Gyoju would have beheaded anyone he saw on sight back then.”
“I see.”
A terrifying fellow indeed.
[He’s not talking about me. He must mean the previous Gyoju.]
The Celestial Demon speaks with a hint of grievance.
The previous Gyoju?
[My father. I took his head with my own hands.]
‘… Ah, yes.’
Thank you for that rather chilling piece of information.
“This is a gift for showing me something so rare.”
“Rare?”
“Your face is quite rare, you see.”
“Thank you.”
My face does have its merits. It’s the only genetic trait worth salvaging from my family.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk… How refreshing. Take it with you.”
“Yes. I hope you remain in good health as well. Shall we go?”
“… Yes. Ah, ah, ah…”
Woo Yeongjin stammers, unable to adapt to this whirlwind of events.
I took him outside. Yoo Yeon followed carefully behind us.
“Ah, you there.”
“… ?”
The Old Man called out to Yoo Yeon.
“Use it well. It is a precious blade.”
“….”
Yoo Yeon bowed her head in gratitude.
Thus we departed from the blacksmith.

* * *
In the empty workshop, the Old Man known as the Grand Master Craftsman gazed toward the entrance where the young ones had exited.
“….”
His eyes held thoughts unfathomable. As he lingered in that gaze, the Master Craftsman spoke with curiosity.
“Why did you simply let them go?”
“Why? Should I have demanded a higher price?”
“Normally you would. You always say that any work must be paid for.”
If a craftsman forges and sells a blade.
No matter how little its worth, payment must be received. That is the value of one’s labor.
Such was the conviction held by the Old Man known as the Grand Master Craftsman.
“Yet you gave it away for nothing.”
“I did not give it away.”
“Pardon?”
At the Master Craftsman’s question, the Old Man recalled someone. It was the woman who had taken the blade.
“I returned it.”
“…You returned it?”
“Yes. It has merely returned to its original master.”
In the distant past, there was the master of the Celestial Demon, born as though a Deity had descended from the heavens.
And beside him stood a woman.
Unlike her husband, she desired a nameless blade, and I forged it for her.
Not long after, the blade returned stained with blood, yet I simply left it in some corner.
I thought that none but its master could ever claim it.
“She bears a striking resemblance.”
The woman who had just departed with the blade bore an uncanny resemblance to her predecessor. As if by miracle.
Moreover.
‘That one.’
The distinguished young man who stood beside her—I recall the blade at his waist.
“….”
The blade someone once carried came to mind. And.
‘Is it merely an illusion?’
As the young man departed, I sensed someone following behind him—a man clad in black robes.
As if.
‘The Gyoju.’
He resembled that figure once called the Deity of this place. Though they bore no resemblance whatsoever, so there should be no reason for such confusion.
And yet.
‘One more.’
Behind them, another figure seemed to follow, though far more faintly.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. It seems I must die now, after all.”
“Why would you say something so terrifying….”
It appeared my time had come.
The Old Man, once called the master craftsman of Singyeo, spoke thus and laughed.

* * *
“Will this black one do?”
“….”
I asked Yoo Yeon as we left the blacksmith’s forge. She seemed quite pleased with her new blade.
“The sword you received from Hwasan—it’s alright to just abandon it like that?”
“….”
Well, it did feel somewhat wrong to simply discard it. They said it was too damaged to repair properly.
Leaving it behind in the Demonic Sect did nag at me a bit, but I figured it couldn’t be helped.
Since Yoo Yeon said it was fine, then it truly must be fine.
‘That sword is problematic, though.’
A blade even the Celestial Demon knew of.
The Nameless Sword, was it called? I could tell from watching Yoo Yeon draw it.
‘It’s not mere iron, that’s for certain.’
The sharply honed blade made it clear it was not forged from ordinary steel.
‘…What exactly.’
What could its true nature be? Since even the Celestial Demon knew of it, it must be a remarkable weapon. Yet it had been wedged among junk—that struck me as odd.
“I have nothing more to say, so I’ll take my leave.”
Woo Yeongjin moved to vacate the space quickly, as though his work was done. Exhaustion was plainly written across his face.
“Thank you for your help.”
“….”
He offered no reply to my gratitude. The atmosphere clearly reeked of a desire to avoid further entanglement.
Still, that wouldn’t do.
‘I’ll need to make use of him.’
He had his own utility, so I intended to continue employing him.
After sending Woo Yeongjin off, it was time for me to depart as well.
‘Soon enough.’
There were matters I needed to properly investigate.
‘That old man from the Yoo family—and the one called Mentor.’
Yoo Cheon-gil’s Mentor. I needed to understand how such a person came to be here, and how he remained alive.
‘Where should I go to find out?’
It would be absurd to simply search for members of the Cheongwol Gate. As I reminded myself of the necessity to build my information network.
Tap.
“….”
I turn my gaze toward the sparse area where I sensed something.
The metallic ring of steel.
Yoo Yeon reaches for her sword.
That’s when it happens.
“Hold.”
With that voice.
A sharp twang—!
“…!!”
Yoo Yeon’s body is sent flying backward. Someone had wedged themselves between us. I turn to identify the figure.
A finger extends. The hand presses firmly against the pommel of my sword, stopping it mid-draw.
The overwhelming pressure prevents my blade from leaving its sheath.
“…Your greeting is rather forceful, isn’t it?”
I furrow my brow, studying the hand’s owner.
It is.
“I have words for you.”
Gyemun, the Black Iron Demon Sword.
The Demonic Cult’s current second-in-command, whom I’d met before.

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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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