The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 66

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Heavenly Supreme Has Died – Episode 066
Whoooosh-!
My muscles stiffen rigid under the relentless cold that pours down upon me.
The already frigid room has become unbearably frozen.
I’m on the verge of seeing my breath mist before my eyes.
And it wasn’t merely the cold.
‘At this rate, I’m going to die…?’
Shudder-shudder-shudder-!
The entire room trembles from the pressure erupting before me.
His gaze has grown noticeably colder than before.
An overwhelming presence emanates from within those eyes.
The pressure Dang Gyeong-ak exudes is so intense and sinister that I cannot even swallow my dry saliva.
“Those were not mere words carelessly spoken.”
Dang Gyeong-ak speaks and places something upon the table.
It was a hidden blade.
“If it were merely a probe, I could let it pass as idle talk, but it seems that is not the case, so I shall have many questions for Bang Disciple.”
“….”
Is it an illusion? The hidden blade clearly sits upon the table, yet it feels as though it has been driven to my throat.
How sinister. I am reminded once more.
‘This is the Dang Clan, and before me stands Dokuou.’
None other than Dokuou, one of the Five Sovereigns of the realm.
He is issuing a warning directly at me.
Many questions to ask?
That gesture of producing and offering the hidden blade also means he would extract answers through torture if necessary.
‘…Ah, Father. You were right.’
Sichuan is a dangerous land, and you said never to associate with them.
Rarely has Father’s words proven so accurate.
‘Sigh.’
I exhale silently. Ah, I should have just kept my mouth shut.
I’ve brought this trouble upon myself for no reason.
But what could I have done?
‘Half of this is their fault.’
They scatter information everywhere and then expect me to feign ignorance—there’s nothing more troublesome than that.
I blame these people for making me aware in the first place.
Creak-creak-creak-!
The pressure intensifies. I feel as though I might vomit soon.
Then.
“It was certainty.”
Dang Gyeong-ak speaks to me.
“Bang Disciple was certain. That the Dang Clan would have need of Manwol. I cannot fathom this. How did you come to such a conclusion?”
My eyes had grown completely dry.
It felt as though that dagger on the table could pierce my brow at any moment.
If I kept my mouth shut any longer, the pressure would only intensify. It might even reach a point where I couldn’t speak at all, so I had to open my mouth slowly before that happened.
“There’s nothing to ask or hide.”
“….”
“The clues were already sufficient with the information I’ve gathered so far.”
Dang Gyeong-ak said nothing. I could feel his gaze urging me to continue.
“The information obtained along the way, the actions shown by the Lord of the Clan, and even the contents of the letter that came to Cheonwol Gate. That much was enough to figure it out.”
“…Just that?”
“Just that, you say?”
Information of this magnitude being merely “just that”? It was laughable.
“The Lord of the Dang Clan must already know.”
I spoke toward Dang Gyeong-ak, who was glaring at me.
“That we encountered an incident in a village before coming to Sichuan.”
“….”
Dang Gyeong-ak’s eyes widened upon hearing my words.
“I believe you already know, but am I wrong?”
“What matters is why you think that way.”
“Because we experienced the incident and reported it to the nearby Martial Arts Alliance Branch, and at that distance, information would naturally have reached the Dang Clan as well.”
This was the Sachen Danggwa, after all.
The Five Great Clans weren’t some nobody’s household, and given their influence, it would be no surprise if they had known long ago.
“And I thought the Dang Clan would be paying close attention to that incident itself.”
“…Why?”
“Because it would be directly connected to the Dang Clan.”
“….”
The more I spoke, the colder the atmosphere became.
However, the gaze of the ghost watching me was burning—hot enough to feel scorching.
At this rate, I felt like my face would be pierced through.
“Do you happen to know the identities of those who attacked the village?”
“Well, I’m not sure. Does Bang Disciple know?”
Upon hearing Dang Gyeong-ak’s response, I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
“So by saying that, you’re admitting you knew we experienced the incident, aren’t you?”
“….”
That much was sufficient.
The clumsy excuse he made afterward didn’t really matter.
“I don’t know the details, but they called themselves Pacheongung.”
“…!”
Dang Gyeong-ak’s reaction was rougher than before.
“It’s a group I’ve never heard of before… but setting that aside.”
This was where it got critical.
“They said they were searching for something. A secret manual.”
That name was Dokjon.
“The secret manual of Dokjon.”
The moment the words left my lips, the air trembled.
Damn, so the air can actually quake from sheer force. It was genuinely terrifying.
In that instant.
Thud-!
My knees buckled and I staggered.
Simultaneously, my vision blurred. What is this now?
A bewildering situation. Just as I was confused about what had suddenly happened, Dang Gyeong-ak spoke to me.
“It’s the poison of the Yeonryong Grass.”
Yeonryong Grass?
“Its fragrance spreads easily through the body, and when stimulated by force, it causes rapid paralysis.”
“…Ah….”
As he explained, it came back to me.
Now that I think about it, there was an odd floral scent lingering in the corridor.
Sensing my condition, I let out a faint laugh and spoke.
“Am I dying right now?”
Speaking calmly, Dang Gyeong-ak—no, Dokuou—replied in a heavy tone.
“That depends on your answers going forward.”
A warning that he could kill me if necessary.
I could feel that threat clearly.
“Did those men truly speak of Dokjon’s secret manual?”
“I’m not sure.”
“…You bastard.”
“Please stop. You cannot kill me, Lord of the Clan.”
“…What?”
Speaking with such certainty, my vision grew even more blurred. Now I couldn’t even see Dang Gyeong-ak’s face.
“Are you trying to insult me?”
“…Surely not. How could I possibly disrespect the Lord of the Dang Clan?”
“Then….”
“I simply became certain based on the actions you just displayed, Lord of the Clan.”
“…What?”
Certain from his own actions. At those words, Dokuou’s face twisted.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve always wondered. Why did the successor need to come in person? Couldn’t you have just taken Manwol and left? That’s what I thought.”
As I spoke, I pointed at something. It was the wooden coffin on the table.
“During our conversation just now. Before we even exchanged the documents, you grabbed the coffin first, didn’t you?”
“…What’s wrong with that?”
“It was very strange. The Lord of the Dang Clan, of all people, wouldn’t forget something so fundamental.”
It was a matter between sects and clans.
We hadn’t even finished negotiating with the representative, yet he was already seizing the goods? It was unthinkable.
But Dokuou nearly prevented that.
I focused on that fact.
“It was merely a mistake.”
Perhaps it was.
Any human could make a mistake.
But.
“That’s right. Anyone can make mistakes. However, the probability of the Lord of the Clan doing so is not very high. So then.”
I assumed Dokuou was not that kind of person.
He was the patriarch of one of the Five Great Houses, no less. Would such a man commit such a basic error? And the master of this terrifying Dang Clan at that?
I found it highly unlikely, yet if he still made a mistake, there were only two possibilities.
“Either he deliberately made the mistake before me with intent….”
Or.
“The matter was urgent and important enough to warrant such a mistake.”
“….”
“If it’s the former, then I’m wrong. If it’s the latter.”
Ugh.
I forced my collapsed body to rise. My strength had truly drained away and I was exhausted, but standing was still possible through sheer willpower.
“Then Manwol is needed that desperately.”
Tap! I barely managed to grip the table. Without it, I would have fallen.
What was strange was that despite this state, my voice didn’t waver.
At first I was afraid, but now even that fear had vanished.
Perhaps it was because I had become certain.
“But the fact that he specifically called for me, not just Manwol….”
I narrowed my eyes. It was because Dang Gyeong-ak’s expression had been difficult to read.
“Perhaps, along with Manwol, he needed what is called the Sword Saint’s successor. And if I consider where that necessity lies….”
I weave the information together.
Even information that shouldn’t connect, if forced together, yields something.
And what transforms that forcing into something genuine is.
‘Information only I know, which the other party doesn’t.’
Dokjon, the previous patriarch.
And the food warehouse that Yoo Cheon-gil secretly created along with Manwol.
The connection that emerges from that place.
This was information only I knew, which Dokuou did not.
“Dokjon’s secret, Manwol, and the Sword Saint’s successor. These three are connected. That is my assessment, but what do you think, Lord of the Clan?”
“….”
Dokuou said nothing in response to my words.
Silence stretched between us.
I waited for some time, expecting Dokuou to respond.
스으으으으으—…….
I heard something slowly dispersing, and strength gradually began returning to my body.
My blood circulated anew, and my breathing started to stabilize.
Wow…. Now I felt like I might actually live.
Just as I was catching my breath and steadying my respiration.
“…How troublesome.”
Dang Gyeong-ak spoke.
“I’ve brought a snake into the Dang Clan.”
It didn’t seem like an entirely unfavorable reaction.
[This bastard…. He’s definitely that mad fool’s disciple. No, he’s even more insane than that.]
Though there was a concerning remark added from behind.

* * *
Clang-! Clang clang-!
A place filled with the rough sound of tempering steel and scorching heat.
Clang—!!!
Sparks flew with the noise, and the scent of iron saturated the space.
And there, someone with cloth bound tightly around their head swung a hammer with all their strength.
Clang-! Clang clang-!!
The movements were clean and the rhythm steady.
Each time the hammer struck the cross-section, heat surged intensely, and hot sparks flew up continuously, yet the figure seemed unbothered.
Rather, only fervor filled their eyes.
As if joyful and delighted, the figure soon began tempering the steel.
While working like this, sweating profusely for quite some time.
“Daughter.”
At the gentle voice heard from behind, the figure stopped their hands.
And turned around.
The owner of the voice was a middle-aged woman who seemed beautiful for her age.
And she was the figure’s mother.
Piyeonjin, the mistress of the Dang Clan.
The wife of Dokuou and mother of Dang Jun, the young lord.
And furthermore.
“Mother.”
Also the mother of the woman holding steel before her.
Piyeonjin frowned as she looked at her daughter who had turned around.
She had raised her so beautifully, yet her face was covered in ash and dust.
Disliking that sight, she avoided coming to this forge, Cheogang.
“…Why won’t you come even when I call you.”
Since her daughter wouldn’t listen, she had to come find her herself.
“Ah.”
Piyeonjin spoke, and the woman responded.
“Were you calling for me?”
“I must have called you over ten times already.”
“I’m sorry. I was just getting to the interesting part.”
“….”
She casually tossed aside the hammer she’d been holding, then unwound the headscarf binding her hair.
Her long, unbound hair cascaded down softly.
As she tidied her hair, the woman asked, “What is it?”
“Someone came from Cheonwol Gate today.”
“Ah.”
I’d heard about this before. They’d mentioned that a guest would arrive in the not-too-distant future.
“I see.”
Just that much interest.
The woman responded as though she couldn’t care less, and at her indifference, Piyeonjin sighed.
“Your father will likely call for you this evening.”
“Probably.”
It was something that always happened, so I didn’t pay it much mind.
“I’m mentioning this just in case….”
“Yes, I know.”
The woman answered with a smile before even hearing the rest.
“Don’t mention anything about this matter. Keep your mouth shut as much as possible, and furthermore….”
What was the other thing? Ah, that’s right.
“If there’s anyone with the surname Bang, absolutely don’t get involved with them. That was it, wasn’t it?”
“Correct. Especially that last matter—you must always remember it.”
Piyeonjin warned the woman with urgency, as though she must never forget.
“Don’t worry.”
The woman found her earnest tone endearing and answered with a slight smile.
Though she wasn’t exactly listening carefully.
While not listening particularly carefully.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————