The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 9

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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 009
My vision blurs at the edges. Yet within that haze, one thing stands unnaturally vivid.
The Old Man’s piercing blue gaze, fixed upon me as he crouches motionless.
‘…Why is this old man here?’
Even as shock threatens to overwhelm me at this unexpected encounter.
The Old Man opens his mouth to speak.
[Do you remember what I said last time?]
‘Last time?’
Last time would mean…?
‘Ah.’
It comes back to me.
Our final conversation with the Old Man.
Just before we parted ways, he had asked me something.
[What if the positions were reversed?]
‘Reversed, sir?’
[You could ask something of me as well, could you not?]
The Old Man had certainly said that.
And I had responded with a scoff, speaking without hesitation.
‘If that were to happen, I would grant you whatever you desire, sir.’
…What had the Old Man said in response?
[Understood. Then I shall see you next time.]
“….”
I dredge up the Old Man’s words from memory.
As the recollection surfaces, I swallow hard, my eyes meeting his.
The Old Man’s expression shifts, as if he perceives that I have remembered.
[Now then. Let me ask you again.]
A smile spreads wide across his face. At that smile, even my pain dissolves—my body turns rigid.
It was a smile that terrifying.
With that expression, the Old Man poses his question to me.
[Will you help me?]
A specter’s temptation.

* * *
Crack-crack-crack-!
“Ugh!”
Yeon Socheon’s arm trembled under the relentless assault.
I struggled to lift my blade, deflecting the strikes, but ultimately gave ground.
Beyond my narrowed gaze, the giant continued his onslaught without mercy.
Despite his massive frame and weight, his speed was equally devastating.
The gap stemmed from a difference in realm.
I grew increasingly exhausted under the overwhelming pressure.
I already knew the truth.
Sanchen Gwiin was toying with me.
He could have ended this whenever he wished.
But he chose not to.
Was he playing with me?
Recognizing the situation, I furrowed my brow.
I was exhausted.
Already drained beyond measure, my breathing had become ragged and shallow.
Yet still, I swung my blade.
I could not die here.
‘I have no choice.’
I narrowed my focus and drew upon deeper reserves of strength.
‘I must use it.’
I was about to unleash the power I had been suppressing.
Normally, this technique was forbidden in actual combat, but I had no other option.
To break through this deadlock, I would do whatever it took.
Thud-! I planted my foot firmly and established my center.
“Hmm?”
A flicker of interest crossed Sanchen Gwiin’s eyes.
He sensed something unusual in my presence.
I wrapped the qi flowing from my dantian around my body.
In an instant, the qi infused my blade.
Sword qi activated.
I twisted my waist slightly, eyes fixed forward.
I assumed a specific stance to execute a wide, sweeping strike.
As I took the stance, the sword qi began to transform.
“Haaaa…!”
With my deep exhale, a sudden clarity flooded through my body.
Shiiing-!!
A subtle, intricate energy began to coalesce upon my blade.
“This bastard…?”
Sanchen Gwiin’s face darkened at the sight.
What is this? His instincts screamed at him—something about this was dangerous.
At best, he’d assessed Yeon Socheon as barely first-rate.
That was the extent of the cultivation level I had determined.
To feel threatened by such a man?
It made no sense.
Crack! Sanchen Gwiin gripped the hilt and drove forward with brutal speed.
Just as he was about to cleave Yeon Socheon in two—
“Stop.”
His movements froze at the voice that rang out.
Thwack!
“Gasp!”
In the moment Sanchen Gwiin halted, Pung Yeon appeared and drove a vicious kick into Yeon Socheon’s abdomen, sending him flying backward.
The gathered qi scattered, his stance collapsed, and Yeon Socheon crumpled to the ground.
“Cough! Hack…! Ugh!”
Having taken the full force of the blow, Yeon Socheon retched violently on the ground.
“Hmph.”
Sanchen Gwiin drove his blade into the earth with a grunt.
Then, eyeing Pung Yeon with a frown, he spoke.
“I thought you were merely observing—that you’d handle it yourself?”
At Sanchen Gwiin’s words, Pung Yeon laughed.
“How could that be? We’re business partners, after all. I was simply letting you get a taste of it while I watched.”
With that, Pung Yeon walked forward and approached the fallen Yeon Socheon.
Snap.
“Ugh…”
He seized Yeon Socheon’s throat and lifted him up.
“Young Master. Are you alright?”
His words dripped with mockery, and Yeon Socheon stared at him with eyes full of pain.
“Why…? How…?”
I couldn’t comprehend it. I couldn’t believe it either.
Not Pung Yeon standing before me, nor this situation itself.
What was happening? Why was my own guard committing such treachery?
To Yeon Socheon’s reaction, Pung Yeon spoke.
“Surprised? If so, I apologize.”
“Pung Yeon… what is the meaning of this?”
“You’ve become quite pathetic, Young Master.”
Pung Yeon raised a hand and wiped the blood from Yeon Socheon’s cheek.
“What… what are you doing… Pung Yeon…?”
Five years since we’d met.
The betrayal of the guard I’d come to think of as family—Yeon Socheon could not accept it.
But.
Crack—!
“Ugh—!”
The hand gripping Yeon Socheon’s throat tightens with force.
“That’s what I’m saying.”
As the grip strengthens, a smile gradually spreads across Pung Yeon’s eyes.
“Young Master. Why do you needlessly provoke the Heavenly Supreme and drag yourself into such a state?”
“…!!”
The Heavenly Supreme—the name that came from Pung Yeon’s mouth.
At the mention of his sister’s name, Yeon Socheon’s lips tremble violently.
“Pung Yeon… Could it be… that this situation… was ordered by my sister?”
Yeon Socheon speaks in shock, trembling.
Seeing this, Pung Yeon bursts into loud laughter.
“Hahahaha!”
What could be so amusing? Pung Yeon continues to laugh.
“Young Master. Our innocent Young Master….”
Pung Yeon, who had been laughing heartily, stops and speaks to Yeon Socheon.
“Did you truly believe this situation arose solely from your luck and my skill? How do you manage to survive in such a harsh world with such naivety? Have I not told you repeatedly?”
Words that Pung Yeon had always spoken to Yeon Socheon.
“There is no one in this world to trust. Only you can protect yourself. Yet it seems you still have much to learn, Young Master.”
“…Ugh… Argh….”
Despair settles over Yeon Socheon’s face.
“The Heavenly Supreme provided information and made a promise….”
Crunch—! The grip tightens gradually.
“If I complete this task properly, she said she would grant me the position of Guard Commander that I desired….”
“Ugh….”
“Do not feel too betrayed. After all, with your abilities, you could never grant me such a position.”
Yeon Socheon tries to break free, but his suppressed body refuses to obey.
“If you must blame someone, blame your own incompetence.”
“Ugh—!”
“Considering the care I have shown you thus far, I shall grant you a painless end.”
“This… Let go… Let go, I said!!”
Yeon Socheon struggles to muster what strength remains.
Thud—!
“Gack—!!”
Pung Yeon’s fist strikes his abdomen directly, and Yeon Socheon gasps harshly.
“Needless resistance is tedious. If you persist, I’ll have no choice but to make this painful.”
As Pung Yeon responds with annoyance, Sanchen Gwiin, standing behind him, poses a question.
“Say, you haven’t forgotten our agreement, have you?”
“Ah, no need to worry. I haven’t forgotten.”
At his words, Pung Yeon chuckled and replied.
“As promised, I’ll ensure the Namgung Clan Martial Artists continue to come here. I leaked information for that very purpose. However….”
“Ugh! Ugh!”
“Since I have matters to attend to, would you mind disposing of those insects over there first?”
The Martial Alliance dogs still clinging to life.
Given the possibility that reinforcements might arrive, I needed to finish this task cleanly first.
At the command wrapped in courtesy, Sanchen Gwiin shook his head with an expressionless face.
I cared not what that wretch did.
So long as he honored the agreement as Pung Yeon said, nothing else mattered.
With that thought, Sanchen Gwiin moved to dispose of the remaining ones.
Yeon Socheon, who had been coughing incessantly, narrowed his eyes and glared at Pung Yeon once more.
“You filthy bastard…!”
To think I trusted and followed such a man for years.
Extreme betrayal made the corners of my eyes tremble.
A life with nowhere to stand in this text.
In that life, he was like my only companion.
I clung to survival, clawing my way forward.
Thus I vowed to overcome my sister.
I believed Pung Yeon was a true older brother figure who looked after me even then.
‘Fool that I am….’
Yeon Socheon cursed myself.
As Pung Yeon said, I should have trusted no one.
I failed to observe my surroundings properly despite dreaming of revenge.
Because of my mistake, things have come to this.
‘In the end… was everything within my sister’s palm all along?’
I thought I had found hope, if only for a moment.
Everything was false.
I had accomplished nothing in the end.
“Young Master, have you given up?”
At the sight of Yeon Socheon, Pung Yeon wore a sneer.
“It seems there’s no need to waste strength needlessly, so things have worked out well.”
As he spoke, he raised his other hand, and in it gleamed a hidden blade.
Seeing it, resignation slowly bloomed in Yeon Socheon’s eyes.
Just as Yeon Socheon was slowly closing his eyes.
Thud.
Something rolled in from beside him.
What is this?
Yeon Socheon confirmed it with dimming eyes.
“…!!”
Yeon Socheon’s eyes widened as large as lanterns.
What rolled across the ground was a head.
Sanchen Gwiin’s head, to be precise.
Still bearing that expressionless face from moments before.
The face of Sanchen Gwiin, cleanly severed at the neck.
“What…?”
It wasn’t just Yeon Socheon who witnessed this—Pung Yeon saw it too.
He turned his head to look behind him.
“What…?”
Upon seeing what unfolded next, Pung Yeon’s body went rigid.
Not far away, Sanchen Gwiin’s body was collapsing, his head cleanly severed from his shoulders.
Thud—!!
The massive frame fell lifelessly to the ground.
“Hah…”
A faint sigh echoed from somewhere.
The lantern had gone out, and darkness enveloped everything.
Within that darkness, Pung Yeon detected something.
Eyes.
Brilliant, piercing blue eyes.
Someone was watching from beyond the darkness.
Chill—!
The moment Pung Yeon met those eyes, his skin crawled and every hair on his body stood on end.
“Who are you…!”
Pung Yeon demanded, his voice rising with intensity.
Footstep.
A sound came from the darkness. As it did, those eyes drew closer.
Yeon Socheon observed this unfold.
Especially that shimmering blue light dancing through the darkness.
‘That is…’
Yeon Socheon couldn’t tear his gaze from that light.
Footstep.
Slow, deliberate footsteps approaching.
Before long, the source of the sound revealed itself.
“Ah… ah…?”
Yeon Socheon let out an involuntary sound upon recognizing the figure.
Long hair with a brownish hue.
The hair that had been tied back was now loose and disheveled—a young man about Yeon Socheon’s age.
It was Bangseong-yeon.
He approached with his sword resting against his shoulder, limping forward.
Blood dripping from his thigh.
“Bang Disciple…?”
Pung Yeon was equally taken aback by the sight.
What in the world had happened to him?
‘How is this possible?’
What had become of Sanchen Gwiin, and how was that bastard walking toward me unscathed?
An incomprehensible situation.
As Pung Yeon took a defensive stance and fixed his gaze forward, Bangseong-yeon suddenly opened his mouth.
“Choose one for yourself.”
“What?”
At the abrupt words, Pung Yeon voiced his confusion.
Bangseong-yeon continued as if indifferent.
“Will you be sliced to ribbons and die? Or.”
The pupils of Bangseong-yeon’s eyes as he spoke were.
“Will you be beaten like a dog and die?”
For some reason, they were a vivid blue.

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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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