The World's Greatest is Dead

Wudang’s Cloud Dragon, Seo Pyeong.

One of the Seven Prodigies, and a younger-generation member of Wudang Sect.

A genius who was all but certain to become the future Sect Leader.

I had faced him back at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, and this was the first time seeing him since. It had been quite a while.

We were not particularly close. If anything, calling it an ill-fated connection would be fair, but that was not important right now.

“Why am I...?”

Seo Pyeong seemed to have no idea why he had been called here. On top of that, he seemed to be hearing about the Demonic Cult for the first time, because I could see his eyes trembling like mad.

“The Demonic Cult?”

“As you heard.”

Thousand-Mile Divine Eye spoke while looking at Seo Pyeong.

“The meeting will not be held only at the Alliance itself. A venue is also being prepared within the Demonic Cult, and we are gathering people to attend it.”

“...And I am included among those people?”

“That remains unknown.”

Thousand-Mile Divine Eye stared straight at Seo Pyeong.

“If you say you do not wish to go, we will not send you. We will assign someone else instead. Young Master Peng, the same goes for you.”

“......”

If they disliked it, they would not be sent.

It was a very simple, easy statement. The issue was how Seo Pyeong would take it.

“...The Demonic Cult.”

It was none other than the Demonic Cult.

In an era that had gone quiet after the war, the Demonic Cult had appeared again, and from the perspective of the younger generation, having to go there was surely no easy matter.

They would be going as representatives, so to speak, meant to show the face of the orthodox faction. No one knew what might happen there.

It could be a trap. No one knew what the Demonic Cult might do.

And they had to head to such a place.

Seo Pyeong’s conflict was clear in his eyes.

Still.

He is not refusing immediately?

I had thought he would obviously say he was not going.

The fact that he was hesitating at all was a little unexpected.

I thought he would either refuse or immediately say he would go, one of the two. But he was actually thinking it over.

“May I have time to consider?”

Seo Pyeong asked carefully. Thousand-Mile Divine Eye nodded at the question.

“You may. I will give you one day.”

“One day?”

“We cannot wait any longer.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

Seo Pyeong showed proper courtesy.

Black Greatblade did the same. Everyone gathered there bowed their heads like that.

And the schedule came to an end.

*****

“Regrettable.”

That was what Black Greatblade muttered as soon as we came outside.

His eyes really did show regret.

“Then why not go?”

“I cannot. I have my younger sister. How could I go anywhere?”

“Hmm.”

His younger sister.

She must be rather important to him.

“If she’s that important, why did you bring her all the way here? That’s dangerous.”

“I had business. It was a family matter, but—yes, that was why.”

“...Business.”

What business?

I wondered if there was anything in Henan worth handling for him, but I did not dig that far.

If Black Greatblade could not go, then it could not be helped, but it was not as if there were no options at all.

I just need to find someone to substitute for Black Greatblade.

Who I took was the problem, not the fact that there was no one. I would simply have to bring someone who had been lower on the priority list.

One person.

I had intended to bring people whose actions I could at least predict. This was unfortunate.

Not that Black Greatblade is exactly easy to predict.

Rather, he was clean-cut and had no hidden twists, so I trusted that he would move as told.

That is why this lineup fit best.

If he really could not go, then—

...Two people.

There were two more possible substitutes.

Thinking that, I looked elsewhere. Seo Pyeong had been wearing a poor expression since earlier.

“You look like you have a lot on your mind.”

“...!”

Seo Pyeong flinched at my words.

Then he looked at me, and doubt sprouted in his wavering eyes.

“I heard Young Master Bang was the one who named me.”

“I did.”

“...What is the reason?”

“Who knows.”

The reason.

There were quite a few, if I were to list them, but—

“First, I needed one of the Seven Prodigies. Everyone departing with me, excluding myself, had to be one of the Seven Prodigies.”

Appearances mattered.

I needed people who were not nobodies, but figures with famous names throughout the Central Plains.

“And among them, I wanted to bring someone whose skill was not poor.”

“...You mean that is me?”

After hearing me, Seo Pyeong looked even more as if he could not understand.

“That is strange. In that case, I should not have been the one you chose.”

I understood what Seo Pyeong meant.

He was saying I should have chosen someone else instead of him.

This was purely based on “skill.”

The Seven Prodigies were the Central Plains’ greatest geniuses, but even among them, differences in ability clearly existed.

Seo Pyeong was among the lower end of the Seven Prodigies, at least as far as I understood.

In that situation, it must have seemed strange from his perspective that I said I would take Seo Pyeong.

“Skill is important, but there is also the symbolism one can show after going.”

“What do you mean?”

“To be precise, I needed the existence known as Wudang.”

“...Wudang?”

“Since you have already declared that you will not go, there is not much more for me to say.”

“......”

“I’ll see you next time.”

I tried to leave without lingering.

More precisely, I pretended to.

Based on what I had grasped about Seo Pyeong, I believed he would react at this point instead.

“Wait—”

Sure enough.

As expected.

Seo Pyeong reacted.

At his words, a smile settled on my lips as I walked.

Just take the bait.

As far as I knew, no matter how solid Seo Pyeong’s position within Wudang was, he was still part of the younger generation. He needed an undeniable justification to fully rise to the position of Sect Leader.

And in that process, if this trip to the Demonic Cult succeeded, it was also a chance to gain an overwhelming justification.

“I am still... still considering it.”

“You may consider as much as you like, but there will not be much time. There are many candidates.”

“...Kh.”

Leaving those words behind, I moved on.

There was nothing more to say. If he had come this far—

He’ll come around.

He would come forward.

That was my judgment.

If not—

There are other moves.

There were several methods. Seo Pyeong’s existence was necessary for my plan, so I had already prepared bait to lure him in.

He absolutely would not escape.

No matter what happened, Seo Pyeong was scheduled to be dragged along on the Demonic Cult trip.

Heh heh heh.

While I was laughing internally at that thought—

“......”

The Poison Dragon bastard from the Tang Family was staring at me with a bizarre expression.

“What? What is it?”

“...Nothing...”

Poison Dragon answered, then looked somewhere else.

It was where Seo Pyeong was.

His face looked full of pity.

It was also the face of someone looking at his own kind.

*****

I continued preparing for the next step.

If Black Greatblade could not go, then I had to find someone else.

That was what the plan was for.

Who should I put in as the next person?

I had to choose a candidate from the Seven Prodigies, but—

Cheon Hyein is out.

She had said she would not participate in this meeting either, so she was excluded.

The Beggars’ Union or Mount Hua... and then Namgung.

Three candidates came to mind, but there were clear problems on that side too.

First, Mount Hua was no good.

Yu Yeon is dangerous.

She was the Heaven-Slaying Star. It was unclear whether it was appropriate to take her.

As for the Beggars’ Union—

Maybe if this were about information.

It was a meaningless choice ahead of the meeting itself.

Then what remained was—

The Namgung Family, but—

The Namgung side was also ambiguous. They had not even arrived yet.

I don’t know where they’ll jump.

Right now, they were maintaining a silence on the level of closing their gates due to suspicion that they were connected to Sky-Crushing Palace and the Demonic Cult.

I could not carelessly summon them or make them go.

Then—

Did I have to take Black Greatblade after all?

Hmm.

While I was piling doubt upon doubt, I had to decide by the end of today.

I rolled my eyes.

Which option should I choose?

While I was trying to think of a proper move, the sunset had already fallen outside the window. That meant I somehow had to hurry and settle on a direction.

What should I do?

No matter how I looked at it, the best move was Black Greatblade. If he was unavailable, then it was Yu Yeon.

Assume I took Yu Yeon.

Can I control it?

Whether I could suppress the instinct called the Heaven-Slaying Star or not.

That was the key.

It had gone well so far, so it should be fine, but it was not something I could know for certain.

What should I do?

While I continued agonizing—

Crack.

Hm?

I heard a human presence.

I looked outside the window. Someone had come.

Knock, knock.

At the sound from the door, I told them to enter.

The door opened, and I sensed the fragrance of flowers.

The other person was Yu Yeon.

What was this?

Just as I felt puzzled by Yu Yeon’s sudden visit, she sat down in front of me and handed me a sheet of paper.

There were a few simple characters written on it.

[I want to go.]

“...Where?”

Where was she suddenly saying she wanted to go?

When I looked at her strangely, Yu Yeon did not write anything. Instead, she handed me a paper she had prepared in advance.

She had already prepared the answer.

[The Demonic Cult.]

“......”

Seeing that, my body stiffened.

“What the hell? How did you know?”

Where had she suddenly found out about this?

Flustered, I stammered. In response, Yu Yeon showed me the paper that said [I want to go] again.

“...You want to go? To the Demonic Cult?”

She nodded.

What should I do about this? What was with her?

How did she really know?

The fact that we were going to the Demonic Cult was known only to a tiny number of people. Yu Yeon already knew something I had not told anyone.

What was this?

What was this, really?

I tried to ask whom she had heard it from, but—

“You really want to go?”

What came out of my mouth was something else.

Yu Yeon said she was going to the Demonic Cult.

That mattered more right now.

At my words, she nodded again. It seemed she had firmly made up her mind.

“......”

Could I take her?

Honestly, the best card really was Yu Yeon. In terms of skill and justification both.

The only things bothering me were that she was the Heaven-Slaying Star—

And that she is of the Heavenly Demon’s bloodline.

That was the problem.

But if I assumed I could press that down and move past it—

“......”

Yu Yeon would be fine, wouldn’t she?

The thought flashed through my mind. Ridiculously enough.

Since she personally said she wanted to go, there was nothing for me to say.

“...Don’t regret it. It will be hard.”

I spat out words I did not mean.

Regret, my ass. If anyone had to regret anything, it would be me.

If Yu Yeon came along, that would be a good thing.

Yu Yeon nodded to me again.

I understood her resolve.

Internally, I reorganized the personnel.

“Fine. Come back tomorrow for now. I think I need to sort things out too.”

After hearing my answer, Yu Yeon rose and left.

Then I scratched my head.

Could I really take her?

As that question rose again—

Knock, knock.

I sensed a presence again.

Was it Yu Yeon?

“What? Did you leave something beh—”

“...Young Master Bang...!”

The one who appeared was Black Greatblade.

His expression looked extremely urgent.

Someone was on his back behind him.

The Peng Family sister.

The child Peng Dojun cherished so deeply.

“Help her...!”

“Pardon?”

Something unexpected had happened again.

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