The World’s Greatest is Dead

“……”

“……”

They remained silent, staring into each other’s eyes.

Tang Yelan’s gaze sparkled like a jewel as she looked at me.

I met her stare but eventually, I had to look away.

Silence persisted.

Time felt excruciatingly long as neither of us spoke.

It was an unbearably uncomfortable moment for me.

Then, after a brief moment had passed.

A smile appeared on Tang Yelan’s face as she looked at me.

“How did you know?”

“……”

She finally spoke. I had hoped she would just let it slide, but it was a futile hope.

“…… Know what?”

Feigning ignorance seemed the best option.

“Oh, come on, you know.”

She didn’t fall for it, as expected.

What should I do? Just run for it?

As the thought crossed my mind and I tried to move my legs.

Squeeze-!

“……!”

Tang Yelan grabbed my forearm firmly.

Damn it. The strength was considerable.

There was no way I could break free with my own strength.

“How did you know?”

As she spoke, her grip on my arm tightened.

It was starting to hurt.

I barely managed to hold back the pain and spoke to Tang Yelan.

“…… Is it really that important?”

Her smile deepened at my question, asking if it was so crucial that I had found out.

“Of course, it’s important. It’s something only members of my family should know.”

“Oh……. Is it a secret that shouldn’t be revealed?”

“If possible, yes.”

“Haha. I see.”

Damn it. So I really should not have known about this.

I forced a smile and wiped away the cold sweat.

‘Ts-k.’

Couldn’t I just pass this off somehow? I pondered briefly, but the sight of Tang Yelan’s eyes and the grip on my arm made it clear.

‘She definitely won’t let me go easily.’

She had no intention of letting me off the hook.

Where did she get such strength from?

I glanced down at Tang Yelan’s hand.

“Ha…….”

Then, with a low sigh, I began to speak slowly.

“You have calluses on your palms.”

“Yes, I’m a warrior too.”

Being from the Tang family, it was natural that she was a warrior.

Naturally, it was expected for her hands to have some calluses.

“So, you guessed it from that? That’s like just taking a wild shot.”

A hint of disappointment flashed in Tang Yelan’s eyes.

Why was she disappointed if it was just a guess?

I ignored it and continued.

“Right. As a warrior, you’d have calluses, but.”

I recalled the shape of her calluses as I spoke.

“I heard that the Tang family doesn’t use swords, but the calluses on your hands looked like those formed from grasping a rod strongly.”

Tang Yelan flinched at my words.

“And.”

I moved my fingers to point to the back of her hand and her arm.

“Setting the calluses aside, it’s unusual to have burn marks, isn’t it?”

“……!”

Tang Yelan widened her eyes and looked at her own arm.

Although mostly hidden by long sleeves, the burn marks on the back of her hand were not covered.

And, “It also smells.”

“…… What?”

Tang Yelan seemed taken aback by my words and sniffed at herself.

The sniffing noise was particularly audible.

“Do I smell? I wash regularly……?”

“No, not a bad smell. It’s a metallic scent.”

The unique scent of metal.

Or perhaps I should call it the stench of heat.

Upon arriving at the Tang family residence, that smell distinctively lingered from her.

“And there’s also the oddly tanned skin.”

Most of the warriors of the Tang family had fair skin.

Tang Gyung-Ak and Tang Jun were like that, and the warriors I had seen along the way were similar.

Possibly due to practicing their hidden weapon techniques or other factors, they were fair-skinned unlike Tang Yelan.

But among them, a few.

Those who didn’t seem to be warriors but were standing far away watching us.

From a glance, they appeared to be blacksmiths with noticeably well-tanned skin.

Tang Yelan bore a striking resemblance to them.

‘Unusual calluses, shallow burn marks, a metallic scent, and tanned skin.’

And finally.

“Typically, you wouldn’t make a move seeing someone wielding a sword, but from your reaction, it seemed likely.”

“……”

“Am I wrong?”

“Wow….”

After I finished speaking, she finally relaxed her grip on my arm.

Crunch.

A branch snapped under the retreating footsteps.

“Haha.”

Tang Yelan laughed out loud.

“… Impressive. I didn’t expect this, considering you are the Sword Saint’s successor.”

“Do you know that old man… I mean, my master?”

“Is there any warrior in the world who doesn’t know the Sword Saint?”

“No. It’s just that you sound as if you’ve seen him in person.”

“Hmm…”

Tang Yelan thought for a moment and then spoke.

“When I was very young, briefly.”

Her gaze was steeped in reminiscence.

Seeing this, I nodded.

“I see.”

Considering her age, it must have been when she was really young.

“I saw Elder Yu when he visited my grandfather. The feeling I got from him and the feeling I get from you are quite different.”

“What do you mean?”

“… The Elder was passionate and intense. Very much so.”

“Ah…”

It was a point that struck home unmistakably.

It needed no further explanation.

“And what about me?”

If Yu Chun-gil was passionate, what about me?

I suddenly grew curious and asked. Tang Yelan spoke to me.

“You’re cold.”

Her eyes met mine.

“And sharp.”

It sounded like a completely opposite assessment. Smirking, I asked, “Is that a compliment?”

“Who knows? It’s neither a compliment nor an insult. It’s just surprising.”

“Hmm.”

It really seemed to be in the literal sense.

Then.

“Speaking of which.”

Tang Yelan suddenly wore a subtle expression and spoke up. It reminded me of something I had forgotten.

‘Ah, right.’

She had come to me with a request.

‘She asked to see the Full Moon, didn’t she?’

Please, just once. It was her lifelong wish; she promised to do anything just to see it.

She had been that desperate.

‘… Hmm.’

The Full Moon, huh.

Is that something I could show her even if I wanted to?

‘I left it with the Poison King.’

It wasn’t something I could just retrieve easily.

Moreover, ‘The very fact she came to me means…’

The Poison King wouldn’t allow it.

Or, it might mean she’d already failed to get his permission.

Which is why she came to me, the owner.

‘Well, I can’t do anything about it.’

Going against the Poison King’s wishes was out of the question.

‘How should I refuse?’

In what manner should I turn her down?

After a short deliberation, I decided.

‘Why complicate it? Just refuse.’

I could simply say no. There was nothing more to it.

As I prepared to give my response,

Tang Yelan spoke out.

At that moment, she said, “Will you marry me?”

“No.”

“What?”

“… Pardon?”

“Why not?”

“No… What?”

What did she just say…?

Furrowing my eyebrows in confusion, I reacted to her unexpected statement.

—

Clatter-

Rumble-!

Unidentifiable noises echoed through the dimly lit space.

The area was filled with a damp, unpleasant, and uncomfortable atmosphere.

After a long, winding path, a room appeared.

Escaping the darkness, a single lantern brightly illuminated the inside.

On the rough walls, a long centipede crawled.

Wriggling and traversing the wall, the centipede soon descended to the floor and climbed onto a chair.

As the centipede wriggled its way up and reached its destination,

Crunch-!

A rough hand crushed the centipede to death.

Shards flew to the floor, but the hand’s owner seemed uninterested in the centipede that had sullied his hand.

“So.”

Holding back his boiling emotions, the man spoke.

“You ran away from the righteous faction?”

At the man’s words, the person kneeling before him trembled greatly.

“Th-that’s because… all that was left was the search team… Ugh!”

Struggling to make excuses, he soon clamped his mouth shut.

The pressure emanating from the man silenced him completely.

“Is that the end of your excuses?”

“D-Division Leader…”

“You couldn’t even handle it properly, nor did you bring back any information. You even turned your back and fled from those Righteous Faction scum?”

Crack-!!

The man grabbed the armrest of his chair and crushed it with his hand, standing up.

Thud-!

As he straightened his legs, his enormous frame was revealed.

He was almost eight feet tall.

The man curled his lips in the darkness.

His yellowed teeth shone in the dim light.

“Grooo…”

The frightened person trembled and spoke.

“B-But, division Leader…”

He added with a shaking voice.

“As long as the seal is in place, they can’t speak until they die. There’s no way information could reach their ears…”

“Ahsong…”

The man grabbed Ahsong, who was kneeling, by the head.

“Do you think I’m angry at you because I don’t know that?”

“D-Division Leader…”

“How can I face the Lord like this?”

They still hadn’t gathered proper information.

Fortunately, the Tang side seemed to be in a similar situation, but that was just about it.

They were in a situation where they had to find out faster than those scoundrels, but they were still in the dark, which wasn’t good.

“Moreover, I’ve been told that there’s no contact from the guy the Alliance coaxed.”

The one known as the Guard Division Leader.

Even the Lord had high expectations from him, considering him quite remarkable.

Lately, there had been no news from him. That must have been it.

“His tail must have been caught.”

In none other than the Murim Alliance.

And in Henan, where that monster resided.

It was the location of the guardian of the current Henan, the Sect Leader of the Blue Moon Sect.

He never expected the agent to last long.

‘To think he’d be caught so soon.’

That monster, indeed, was a true monster.

In such a situation.

“Of all people, it had to be the ones from the Blue Moon Sect?”

“…”

“Answer me.”

“… Yes, it…was.”

“What a coincidence. Don’t you think?”

“Y-Yes…”

Crack-!

Before Ahsong could respond further, the man crushed his skull.

Blood splattered onto the floor. The man stepped through it and proceeded.

The lifeless body, with its head destroyed, fell to the ground.

“Blue Moon Sect…”

The man still did not cast a glance at the body.

‘It was said that they went to the Tang to meet with them.’

An unexpected turn in their grand scheme.

It was said that those who clashed with them had moved to meet with the Tang.

Shuffle.

The man moved, stepping on the blood, and picked up a letter from the desk.

It detailed recent events happening within the Tang family.

“Hmm.”

He hummed deeply as he perused the letter.

‘What are they plotting?’

For what reason did the Blue Moon Sect and the Tang meet?

He focused on that part.

Especially…

‘They say there’s the Sword Saint’s successor.’

The successor and disciple of Sword Saint Yu Chun-gil.

It was said that he was there.

He had reportedly killed the Mountain Sky Demon in Anhui and had suddenly emerged after defeating the Young Azure Sword.

The Mountain Sky Demon’s death was quite regrettable.

He had thought the guy would be useful if handled well.

‘Killed by a mere whelp who hasn’t even reached twenty?’

He was nothing but a bug.

Additionally, his Lord had expressed doubts upon hearing this.

How could a successor exist?

‘It shouldn’t be possible.’

The reason being.

‘The Sword Saint was definitely handled by the Lord.’

Ensuring nothing of him remained.

The Lord would have erased the Sword Saint’s existence without leaving a trace.

So how could that scoundrel leave behind a successor?

The man couldn’t understand.

“Hmm.”

Snorting, he resumed walking, a smile still on his face.

“Perhaps it’s for the best.”

If the Sword Saint’s successor was there, it would be advantageous.

Whether he was a successor or not, if he had the potential to disrupt their plans, “At this opportunity, better nip it in the bud.”

He whispered quietly.

“All for the sake of the Broken Heaven Palace.”

With those words, the man disappeared into the corridor.

And then.

『Well, well.』

A ghost with blue eyes, who had been watching from the ceiling, murmured.

『Things are getting interesting. Hee hee hee.』

The ghost let out a low chuckle, clearly finding something amusing.