The World’s Greatest is Dead

I ran through the rough forest path, pushing through the thick trees. The weather was so overcast that I couldn’t see an inch ahead of me, but I continued running without rest.

I didn’t even close my eyes. It had been a long time since I ran at full speed, and it was consuming a lot of my energy.

My thighs hurt.

It had been a while since I ran on such a rough path, and my ankles were feeling the strain.

“Ah, I should have focused more on my training.”

Regret briefly crossed my mind.

‘Where is it?’

Even while thinking that, my legs kept moving.

My eyes looked down at the ground, not ahead.

‘Where is it.’

I wasn’t looking for a path.

I was looking for a singular phenomenon drawn on the ground.

Soul remnants.

I was following the remnants left behind by spirits. The sky was filled with dark clouds, making it a day full of yin energy. The remnants were much clearer than usual.

‘It’s strange.’

Even taking that into account, the remnants were exceptionally clear.

‘There are also many of them.’

There were an unusually high number of Soul remnants.

Moreover, not just Soul remnants but there were also many wandering spirits.

Considering the current weather, it was excessively unusual.

‘Damn it.’

I gritted my teeth.

It wasn’t good. No, it wasn’t just not good; it was very bad. Terribly bad.

Following this would lead to troublesome situations.

I was sure of it. This was not just a guess or an illusion, but a certainty.

Knowing this clearly, I asked myself.

‘Nonetheless, do I have to go?’

I questioned myself.

Even knowing everything, did I really have to go?

To think rationally.

Wouldn’t the answer be different then?

I was not to get involved in the affairs of spirits no matter what. That was the first resolution I made in this life.

It was a promise I made to myself to live a life different from my past life.

‘Crazy bastard.’

Knowing this, I kept running.

I intended to live a life indifferent to others’ deaths. Yet, dreaming of a life far removed from others’ death, I moved my body foolishly like this.

No idiot in the world was as idiotic as I was.

『Aye, young one.』

I heard Yu Chun-gil’s voice. He floated leisurely in the air, following me.

『What are you planning to do?』

I didn’t answer the question.

If I opened my mouth to answer, I felt like my breath would falter.

『I don’t understand. The you I knew wouldn’t have cared about this.』

It was a questioning voice.

I agreed. It was quite strange, even to himself.

I abruptly stopped running, crushing branches underfoot.

The Soul remnants ended here.

At the same time.

‘……A bloody smell.’

A peculiar bloody scent reached my nose.

It was an unpleasant smell that brought discomfort, but it was also a smell I had experienced somewhere before.

Where could it be?

Where had I smelled such a repulsive scent?

“……Ah.”

After thinking for a bit, I remembered.

That cave.

It was that cave where I encountered the creature called Mountain Sky Demon.

The same smell had wafted through that cave.

‘That smell definitely was…….’

The smell of blood.

It was the smell of blood that had pooled from people dying.

‘The fact that it’s coming from here again means…’

I slowly raised my head and looked ahead.

“…….”

There was a village.

A small village we had planned to pass by in a carriage but didn’t stop at because it was unsuitable for our mission.

In that tiny village.

Disaster had struck.

* * *

“Young master Bang……!”

Chun Uijin and Do Hyung belatedly caught up. They were quite surprised when I suddenly ran off.

To think I would stop the carriage and just start running.

Faced with this unexpected situation, Chun Uijin and Do Hyung furrowed their brows.

Especially Do Hyung. It was not enough that the carriage had been stopped without the permission of Do Hyung, who was in charge during the mission.

Acting alone without explaining the circumstances was crossing the line.

No matter how one looked at it, this was unacceptable.

Just as Do Hyung was about to say something to me about it, “Bang Sung…”

Do Hyung, who had just started to speak, closed his mouth. Chun Uijin did the same. Both looked ahead with tense expressions.

“What is this…”

“This is…”

Chun Uijin and Do Hyung reacted simultaneously. The village had been turned into a wasteland. Though it wasn’t large, it originally seemed to be a neatly and beautifully arranged village, now tainted by the stench of blood and remnants of an assault.

Everywhere in the village, mutilated corpses lay scattered. Judging by their condition, it was clear these deaths were far from peaceful.

“How could this have…”

Chun Uijin muttered, surveying the situation in shock.

“Hey, what…”

Someone spoke as they walked out from a house.

“Oh my. This…”

A rather bulky man appeared. He looked at the three with a troubled expression.

“This is strange. I thought I took care to ensure there were no witnesses…?”

The man spoke incomprehensibly. Chun Uijin frowned as he looked at him. It was because the man was holding something strange in his hand. It was the severed head of someone, with a despairing expression frozen on its face, hinting at the dreadful event that occurred.

“Who are you?”

Even though Do Hyung asked, the man didn’t answer properly and continued with his own words.

“Hmm… Looking at you all, you don’t seem like much. I should handle this first and then report… Hmm?”

At the moment the man started to move as if it was bothersome, he focused on the clothing of the three.

“Wait… That is…?”

The attire seemed ordinary, but the specific embroidery and the pattern on the chest were rather famous in the Central Plains. There was no other place in the vast Central Plains that used the crescent moon pattern as its symbol except one.

“Blue Moon Sect?”

The Blue Moon Sect of Henan. It was the attire only they wore, and the peculiar embroidery on two of the three indicated…

“Small Moon Division…?”

It was the attire said to be worn only by the masters of the Blue Moon Sect.

“Damn it.”

The man’s face twisted as soon as he realized.

“Why is the Small Moon Division…!!”

The flustered man was about to shout, but Do Hyung drew his sword and charged. Clang-!

The man hastily blocked Do Hyung’s attack with his weapon. Although he barely parried the initial slash, shrrk-!

“Wha…?”

Suddenly, his vision grew blurry. By the time he realized something was amiss, his head had already fallen to the ground. Thunk-!

The bulky body collapsed to the ground, and Do Hyung turned and spoke, “There are more.”

“…”

Hearing this, Chun Uijin warily spread his senses. As Do Hyung mentioned, he detected strange presences hidden throughout the village.

‘…An ambush?’

It didn’t seem like a simple bandit raid. Judging by their fight with Do Hyung earlier, it was clear they were martial artists.

‘Why?’

Why would martial artists need to attack this small village?

Such thoughts filled Chun Uijin’s mind but more importantly, ‘How did he…’

How did Bang Sung-Yun perceive and come running into this situation? Especially from that far of a distance.

‘I couldn’t even notice.’

Could someone really recognize such a distant event from a moving carriage?

‘…’

Such a task would be impossible for anyone short of a top-tier martial artist, yet he did it.

“Uijin.”

“Yes…!”

Chun Uijin, who had been deep in thought, hurriedly drew his sword at Do Hyung’s call. First, they had to deal with this bizarre situation. With that judgment, Chun Uijin focused his mind.

‘Wait…’

Chun Uijin noticed something and widened his eyes.

‘Where is he…?’

He, who had been in front until just a moment ago, had vanished.

A creaking sound echoed as I tore down the wooden wall in front of me. Removing it wasn’t hard, as it had already been cracked for some time.

“Hoo.”

I wiped off the sweat and threw the torn door outside.

Only then did the inside catch my attention.

“……”

Two corpses lay there.

One belonged to a woman whose body was mangled from multiple injuries.

The other was a man whose upper and lower body had been severed.

They seemed to be a couple.

I frowned at the sight of them.

It was not the gruesome scene that disturbed me the most.

– There, there… over there… please, please listen…

The desperate voice of a woman pleading was too grating on my ears.

– Please… please listen… God, please…

It was ridiculous for someone already dead to seek divine intervention.

Though it was absurd, I did not feel like laughing.

Where could it be? I walked cautiously, discreetly setting my destination.

That closet, perhaps.

The woman was frantically signaling towards that closet.

– Please… if there is a God…

“……”

I turned my steps towards the closet.

– Aaah…!!

The woman sobbed and sighed heavily as I approached.

I tore open the closet door.

Inside, a child was curled up.

“……”

Was the child asleep? It couldn’t be.

I touched the child’s neck. There was no pulse.

The child had died. Just before I arrived.

I lowered my gaze.

‘The wound.’

The child appeared to have fallen asleep clutching their stomach.

Blood trickled from their hands.

I gently lifted the child.

There was still some warmth, but it would soon cool.

Holding the child, I stood silently.

At that moment.

『Duck.』

Yu Chun-gil’s voice echoed.

Without hesitation, I ducked.

CRASH—!!

A deafening sound echoed above my head.

I looked back.

A bald man, clutching a massive stone, stood there.

The man appeared momentarily flustered upon seeing me dodge his attack.

“How did you know?”

The man seemed quite surprised that I had evaded his attack.

“I was sure I had concealed my presence… strange.”

Ignoring the man’s words, I gently placed the child on the least blood-stained straw I could find and slowly stood up.

“Hoo…”

I steadied my breathing.

I had to stay as calm as possible.

Then I spoke to the man.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“Huh?”

The man bared his fangs in disbelief at my words.

“What do you want to ask? Are you crazy? Or can’t you see the situation you’re in?”

“Why didn’t you kill the child?”

“What?”

“You already knew the child was in the closet. Why didn’t you kill the child and left the child to die a slow death?”

The man already knew the child was hiding in the closet.

Even though he knew everything, he deliberately refrained from killing the child immediately.

The child had died just before I arrived.

Why was that?

When asked, the man chuckled.

As if to say, why ask such a thing?

“It’s fun.”

“Fun?”

“Yes, it’s amusing to see a child trembling in fear while watching its parents die. That was very entertaining.”

“……”

“So, I stabbed the child just enough to make sure the child wouldn’t run away, making him tremble in terror. I planned to slice the child up at the last moment. But who are you? Why are you interfering?”

The man’s face slowly turned red with rage.

“Why are you ruining a perfectly fun setup…”

As he glanced at my clothes, his eyes narrowed.

“… Wait, that outfit… Small Moon…?”

“I promise you only one thing.”

Before the man could finish my sentence, I drew my sword.

I looked at the man and said, “You will not find peace even in death.”

As I summoned my strength, sword ki gathered around my weapon.