The World’s Greatest is Dead

The World’s Greatest is Dead – Chapter 128

*Clang-!!*

Sparks flew off the sword blade. The impact pushed my body backward. It was a fierce force.

However, as I took half a step and twisted my upper body, I merely staggered slightly backward.

Thanks to that, my body naturally rotated, allowing me to deflect the blow smoothly.

Following the tilted back of my sword, the enemy’s attack was pushed aside.

*Screech-!*

The attacker who had missed his mark moved to the side, not wanting to miss another chance. I, too, didn’t intend to lose this opportunity and infused my sword with qi.

Just as I was about to execute a sword technique, “… Hmm?”

I had to stop in my tracks upon seeing the assailant’s face.

“… Mujung-ajussi?!”

I said.

The middle-aged man who attacked me fell to one knee with a loud thud.

“Forgive my rudeness,” he said.

He lowered his head deeply, laying his sword on the ground.

I frowned at him, recognizing him as someone I had met a few times in Liaodong.

He was a bodyguard of Murong Yeongsun.

Why would someone like him ambush me? The reason was as clear as day. I frowned and looked somewhere.

It was the entrance to the training ground, and there, leaning against the gate, a woman watched me.

“What the heck is this?!”

I asked, sheathing my drawn sword.

“… You really blocked it?”

Murong Yeongsun, looking somewhat surprised, said that to me. I couldn’t help but laugh at her words.

Then, “Hey!”

I said to her, maintaining a stern expression.

“Are you out of your mind?”

“I’m sorry. There was something I wanted to confirm,” she said.

“Confirm my foot!”

I said.

I marched toward Murong Yeongsun.

“Are you treating me like some toy? I’m already fed up with everything!”

I continued.

I couldn’t let this slide, especially when it involved her. Lately, frustration had been building up.

Murong Yeongsun just looked at me with calm eyes.

Normally, I would have held back, but not this time.

“Hey!”

I said.

“Yes?”

“Didn’t I tell you clearly before I left Liaodong?”

It was winter when Murong Yeongsun, who visited periodically, had come to see me again.

“Don’t cling to me. No matter what you do, I’ll never look at you!”

I had said to her.

Upon hearing my words, Murong Yeongsun’s eyes shifted slightly.

At that time, with tear-brimmed eyes, she had said to me, ‘Can’t you just give me a little bit of attention…?’

Her pitiful expression had convinced me back then.

“I also told you not to cross the line. What is this, then?”

But now, it was different.

“Why did you come all the way to Sichuan to annoy me?”

I had so many tasks and too many things demanding my attention.

Luckily, I had been able to endure everything so far, but I didn’t have the luxury of dealing with this as well.

“Why did you do this?”

I tried to keep my voice calm as I asked for the reason.

“I wanted to verify if the rumors were true!”

Yeongsun said.

“Verify? Whether I’ve really gotten stronger?!”

I questioned.

The rumors in the Sichuan area were about the Little Sword Saint. They said that despite the Poison King’s attempt, he hadn’t been able to kill a supreme master, but that I had managed to do so. They also said I had saved the Tang family with the Poison King.

To me, these exaggerated rumors were laughable.

A supreme master? Someone even the Poison King couldn’t kill?

No way. That person wasn’t that much of a monster.

Or was he?

‘Well, he was a monster…’

Since I didn’t kill him myself, it wasn’t that impactful.

What did matter was, ‘That I could take down someone like that with my own body.’

I realized that mastering my body determined the outcome.

It was something I had painfully experienced even in my dreams.

‘… I thought I’d lose my mind.’

I died countless times until I mastered sword qi.

Even after mastering it, I died several more times.

There were so many times that I gave up counting.

‘Even though blocking a single blow was the only condition.’

I ignited my sword aura to block his sword aura.

I had clung on just to fulfill those conditions, but I had glimpsed hell several times because I couldn’t do it.

In the end, I did manage to do it, but what I gained from it was nothing significant.

‘Just being able to move a bit faster.’

Even at the same level, with the same body, the power and speed that can be displayed were different.

I had to recognize that.

I had to extract the maximum power and speed from my body.

That training was a matter of whether I could recognize that or not.

Thus, Yu Chun-gil wanted to teach that not only could a body that hadn’t reached the pinnacle use a sword aura, but more importantly, ‘How to utilize the body to its fullest potential.’

Perhaps that was what he wanted to convey.

‘In any case.’

This wasn’t important right now, so I decided to move on.

“Have you confirmed it? Are you satisfied now?”

“…….”

I snapped at Murong Yeongsun.

“Because it’s partly my fault for avoiding the conversation, I’ll give you some slack.”

I spoke with my brows furrowed.

“At the very least, you shouldn’t have used such a method-”

“Who is it?”

“What?”

Murong Yeongsun interrupted my words.

Who? What was she talking about all of a sudden?

“What do you mean?”

I asked her again, but Yeongsun didn’t answer and instead busied herself looking around.

After a moment of looking around, Yeongsun looked at me with cold eyes and said, “What do you see this time?”

“…….”

“Who did this to you?”

『Uh-uh?』

Yu Chun-gil was surprised by Yungsun’s words.

『What’s this? Does she also see things?』

Yu Chun-gil seemed worried because her words were too ominous. If she could see, there would be numerous problems-『Then we should go to her immediately! She’s a better option than that hairy man!』

“…….”

Crazy old man. What in the world should I do with him?

I barely restrained a sigh that was about to escape.

If I let it out, it would be obvious, so I held it back for a moment and exhaled a shallow breath.

“Hoo….”

I exhaled softly and brushed my hair back, calling to Yeongsun.

“Yeongsun-ah.”

“…….”

Upon hearing her name, the veins on Murong Yeongsun’s brow bulged, but unlike before, she didn’t lose her temper.

I could sense her holding back.

“I told you before, it’s not like that.”

“Lies.”

Yeongsun cut off my words firmly.

“You’re entangled in something. Otherwise, there’s no way you’d be acting like this.”

“…… What makes you so sure?”

“You’re not this kind of person.”

“Don’t make assumptions. What do you know about me?”

“I know. Having observed you for years, how could I not?”

At those words, I found myself chuckling involuntarily.

“A few years are not enough to know anything.”

At most, it was just a few years.

And it wasn’t as if we saw each other every day without fail. Brief moments under the pretext of an engagement.

A fleeting moment under the shadow of a broken engagement.

After that…

“Through eyes veiled by your lingering attachments and obsessions, what could you have seen? You know nothing.”

“…….”

“No matter what you think, it’s all meaningless and futile. So just let it go.”

“…… Let it go?”

Murong Yeongsun’s petal-like lips tightened.

Her emotions were rarely so starkly visible.

At that moment, *Whoosh!*

“….!”

Suddenly, Murong Yeongsun loosened her clothing, revealing her collarbone.

“What the hell.!”

Just as I tried to grasp what she was doing, she grabbed her clothes.

“Then why did you save me?”

“…….”

I paused for a moment, staring at the deep scar on her collarbone.

I knew well why that scar was there.

“If you saved me, shouldn’t you take responsibility?”

“What sort of nonsense is that?”

I was taken aback.

“What, are you saying I should take responsibility because you’ve got a scar on your body and now you think you can’t get married?”

“No.”

Shaking her head, Yeongsun indicated that those were not the words she intended to say.

“Just because of this little scar, do you think I can’t get married? I’m pretty. Really pretty. So much that this isn’t even a flaw.”

“……”

She was right, but it was quite irritating.

Moreover, it sounded even more annoying because I had heard it somewhere before.

‘But I’m pretty, you know.’

That was how the crazy woman from the Blue Moon Sect used to describe herself.

‘…… Is it their trait?’

Both had a similar air about them, and even what they said was alike.

Even more frustrating was their inherent confidence.

“Who are you thinking about right now?”

“…… What thoughts? I was just speechless.”

“Your eyes seemed to be thinking about another woman.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Their perceptiveness was annoyingly sharp.

“And really, even if I was, what’s the big deal? Our relationship had ended long ago after all.”

“Right. It ended.”

It had been almost ten years since the breakup.

Now, one could say we were nothing but strangers. We truly were.

“So stop it and go your way. You said you wouldn’t hold me responsible for a scar, so why are you still doing this?”

That scar had appeared right after the breakup.

Due to the wretched incident, it had occurred during the process of resolving the situation.

It was the main reason why Murong Yeongsun had become obsessed with me.

“Whatever you want from me, I can’t give it to you, and I don’t intend to. Have you forgotten why I ran away?”

“Seriously, why did you run off so cowardly? If you were going to face it, you should have done it properly.”

“Properly my foot. Isn’t that just hilarious?”

After wrinkling my nose, I turned to Yeongsun.

“You were caught conspiring with my family servant to have me watched, right? And trying to bribe my brother to manipulate the situation, right? How many other things are there?”

I was utterly fed up.

Even my family helped, hoping I might re-engage with the Murong family.

Unable to stand it, I had to run away.

That’s why I left for Anhui.

‘How much effort did I put in to not be discovered in the end.’

I had made an agreement with my father and secretly coordinated with the head of the Murong family.

However, ‘They betrayed me in unison?’

Had they lost their minds?

I had given them quite a few things when I left.

Grinding my teeth was automatic.

“Even thinking about that time makes me shiver. What do you expect me to do with you?”

“Isn’t it something you could accept under the circumstances?”

“What kind of shameless statement is this?”

I had no idea how many layers of steel her face was lined with.

“I absolutely have no intention of doing that. It will always be the same. So, stop bothering me and leave before I send a letter to your father.”

I shouted with as much emotion as I could muster.

Yeongsun shut her mouth tight at my words.

I could see her quivering eyes under her slightly drooping gaze.

With a short click of my tongue, I started to move.

Then, suddenly, I turned to Yungsun and spoke.

“Don’t expect anything from me. Because what you have isn’t love or affection.”

She didn’t like Yeongsun’s actions.

Not because I didn’t respect her, but because I had no reason to accept her.

“You shouldn’t try to find your deceased mother in me.”

Because I knew the basis of her feelings was longing.

Mentioning her mother made Yeongsun’s shoulders twitch.

I glanced at her one last time and spoke my final words.

“Then, Young lady Murong, I will take my leave. Considering your rude behavior, I’m sure you will be more careful in the future.”

I returned to a polite form of address. It meant I wouldn’t entertain further conversation.

I exited the training area.

As soon as I stepped out, Yu Chun-Gil, waiting outside, spoke up.

『Couldn’t you see that kid?』

Seemed like Yeongsun’s words had bothered him.

“I couldn’t see her. Don’t worry.”

『…… It’s a pity.』

“…… Was it regret rather than worry?”

『It was a joke. Half of it.』

So half of it was sincere.

『So, what happened?』

“…… Nothing much. It was just something that happened due to my mistake.”

『Mistake?』

“Yes.”

Indeed, it was a mistake.

Seeing her mother’s spirit when I was young.

Being unable to resist her desperate plea to save her daughter.

Helping Yeongsun out with unnecessary meddling.

Thus.

‘The fact that she tries to see her mother through me.’

All of it began with my mistake.

TL’s Corner:
Time for Yeongsun’s backstory?