The World's Greatest is Dead

It took only an instant to put the situation in order.

After that so-called Master Cheong or whatever his name was died, the captain and the men inside showed an utterly pathetic reaction.

“P-please spare us......!”

“We were wrong......!!”

The way they groveled in terror was almost pitiful.

“Explain.”

I approached the captain and asked.

When I met his eyes and spoke, the fear in the captain’s gaze shot to an extreme.

“What exactly are you doing here?”

“......Th-that...... that is......”

The captain trembled for a while before finally managing to begin his explanation.

“......We...... we were offering sacrifices so the god would not be angered. If we do not, our village will be in danger......”

“A god. What god?”

“......The sea god...... They are sacrifices for the sea god.”

“Those people?”

I said it while looking at the women bound inside the room.

They were still shaking, so I looked at Peng Dojun.

I did not say anything in particular, but Peng Dojun naturally moved toward the women.

Tap, tap-tap.

He gathered energy in his hand and loosened the cloth and ropes binding them.

“Hk...... hngh.”

The women held back their sobs.

Watching them, I asked the captain.

“What changes if you make human offerings? What exactly is this sea god?”

“......It is a god that has lived in this river for a very long time. If that one is angered...... if that one is angered, calamity falls upon us.”

“Then why gather only women?”

“......The sea god does not accept sacrifices unless they are women.”

A river god that only accepted women.

I turned that over in my head.

Something about it felt unpleasant.

“So you kidnapped women and scattered them as sacrifices? This time too?”

“......Th-that...... if we do not, the village......”

“What a load of bullshit. Honestly......”

I swept my hair back.

Offering sacrifices.

It was a ridiculous story.

It always had been.

“Are you done talking?”

Peng Dojun asked me.

His voice was calmer than usual.

But that did not mean he was calm underneath.

I could tell he was furiously angry.

His eyes were visibly savage.

“I can smash them now, right?”

“Wait a moment......”

What was he going to smash?

That was a more brutal thing to say than killing them.

“It makes me sick that bastards like this are still breathing. Are there more?”

“Yes. There are. So wait.”

As expected of a wild boar, he planned to act first and think later.

No.

Maybe this was him holding back a lot.

“Is there a cycle or anything?”

“......A cy...... cycle, you mean?”

“The cycle for handing over sacrifices.”

“Usually once every two months......”

“And the number. How many do you have to throw in?”

“......Th-three.”

Three people once every two months.

Seeing that many water ghosts, just how much time had passed?

“Disgusting bastards.”

I rose.

Then I grabbed the captain by the neck.

“Ghk!”

“I feel like just killing you, but there’s something I need to see first.”

I lifted him as he was and moved.

I headed out of the boat.

“Hey.”

Peng Dojun called me, so I turned back and spoke.

“Do whatever you want with the rest. I’ll just use this one for a bit.”

“......”

After saying that, I moved toward the iron door.

Then I spoke to Yu Yeon.

“You take care of the women.”

“......”

Yu Yeon nodded.

I closed the door behind me and headed back up.

“Hah...... haaah, hah.”

The captain’s body kept trembling in fear.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to smash you like that man. I won’t kill you myself either.”

“......”

A tiny trace of relief crossed his eyes.

Did he think he could survive?

No.

That was not what I meant.

It meant there was no need.

Even if I did not step in—

He won’t live long anyway.

He probably had no idea how much malice and how many evil ghosts were clinging to him.

On top of that, after piling up this much karma on the boat, he had continued passing through this space?

It’s impressive he’s still alive.

It would not have been strange if he had died in an accident long ago, so how had he survived until now?

The question did not last long.

That’s it.

The one they called the sea god.

That thing had been protecting this man.

Of course it had.

That way, he would keep feeding it.

“Should I call you lucky?”

I did not know exactly what this sea god was, but I could guess.

Having caught the eye of something like that, it was hard to call this luck.

I climbed to the end of the boat.

“Captain.”

“Ghk...... yes.”

“Can you see this?”

I grabbed his neck and hung him over the railing so he could see the river clearly.

“Hah...... haaah.”

“I asked what you see.”

“N-nothing...... I see nothing.”

To him, it was probably only a dark expanse.

With his eyes, that would be all.

But my eyes saw something different.

The hideous water ghosts visible inside.

They had their eyes wide open and were staring at the captain.

—Kyaaaaaaaah.

—Aaaaaaaaah—!!

Pale white hands stretched out and rose, trying to grab the captain.

They looked as if they would reach his nose at any moment, yet in the end, they could not touch him.

That confirms it.

Something was blocking them.

A force was activating to keep the captain from being harmed by ghosts.

Wooooong.

My soul trembled.

A higher god.

Among them, one of high rank.

It seemed to be an even higher god than the one attached to Peng Dojun’s sister.

Of course it was.

That must be how it had stayed here for such a long time.

And by now, it must have accumulated a great deal of power.

“......If you’ve gotten that old, you should have at least learned some sense.”

Did it want to live like this?

A dry laugh escaped me before I realized it.

“Should I say hello?”

I had wanted to avoid getting involved if possible, but after things had gone this far, I could not do that either.

Even if nothing else, I was too angry to let that happen.

Whoosh—!

I put strength into the arm holding him.

“Ghk!? Hah!?”

The captain was thrown straight into the river.

“N-no!”

Splash—!

The captain fell into the river.

“Hah. Ghh!”

I saw him swimming as if thrashing.

I watched him closely.

The things gathered in the river kept rushing at the captain, trying to grab him.

They surged at him with furious faces, as if they wanted to drag him down.

Down there.

Somewhere deeper and deeper.

But it was the same as before.

Their hands could not reach him.

Because something was protecting him.

“Hah...... ghhk.”

While I watched the sight, I sensed it.

It’s coming.

A shadow appeared below.

It was the thing I had been watching since earlier.

It gradually grew in size, forming a shadow in the dark river.

Swaaaaaash.

Then something burst through the water and appeared.

“Hi...... hiiiik...... S-sea god......”

The captain spoke in terror.

Behind him, something enormous rose up.

It looked to be about half the size of the boat.

If I looked closely, it resembled a snake.

I could see scales growing across it as well.

“I’ve heard of these, but I didn’t think I’d see one like this.”

Interesting.

“Was it called a spirit beast?”

A spirit beast.

What appeared was a giant blue snake.

Was something like this called a spirit beast?

A mysterious existence said to exist in a few parts of the Central Plains.

They said it was born an animal, held inner qi, and evolved into something else.

They were so sacred and secretive that no one knew where they were, and only rare reports of one barely being found ever spread.

It looks like a dragon.

I had not expected to come face-to-face with one.

Now that I knew what it was, I could see things I had not seen before.

I had thought of spirit beasts only as strange beings, but—

It was not simply that it carried inner qi.

“Is it not embarrassing for a god to be inside a lowly creature?”

[Sssssssss.]

A god inside a beast.

It seemed this one had chosen that thing of all things to possess.

Was that why it had been altered into a spirit beast?

At least, that was how it looked right now.

Its flashing gaze glared at me.

[Human.]

A low, scraping voice.

The moment I heard it, goosebumps seemed to rise over me.

[Human.]

“Yes. I’m human.”

[What are you doing?]

The spirit beast spoke.

Or perhaps the god inside it was speaking.

[Hand over the sacrifices. Do not interfere.]

“......You’re dressing up ‘I’m hungry, so give me food’ in one hell of a fancy package.”

I sighed.

“You could have just swum around peacefully. Why go to all this effort inside something like that?”

[Ascension is noble. You cannot understand.]

[You possess a noble vessel. If you can hear my voice, then yours is a remarkable soul.]

“I hear that often.”

Normally, that voice probably could not be heard.

“When you say ascension, do you mean you’ve been devouring young girls, one after another, to build a bridge with their bones?”

[It is a noble sacrifice.]

“Haha. Shit. There should be a limit to bullshit. What, do you think you’ll become something impressive if you climb up that way?”

[Do not interfere. You cannot understand.]

“I don’t want to understand.”

It was remarkable that it was trying to accomplish something even after becoming such a crude thing.

But the fact that it was devouring humans to obtain it was disgusting.

That shabby body, unable even to recognize what was wrong, was no different.

“Still, this is good.”

There was one fortunate thing.

“If you have a body, that means I don’t need to do anything troublesome.”

When dealing with a god, I had to match it and grapple with it as a soul.

But if it had fallen by assimilating like that, then it was a different story.

“It means I can just beat you.”

I drew my sword.

When I drew the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword, I heard laughter from within.

[Kkll, kkll, kkll...... It has been a long time since I saw a spirit beast.]

I narrowed my eyes at the Heavenly Demon’s words.

You’ve seen one before, then.

[I have. There was one in the Holy Cult as well. It did not have much promise, though.]

There had been a spirit beast in the Demonic Cult too?

That was rather interesting, but now was not the time to dig into it.

[Will you cut it?]

For now.

If I could cut it, I should try.

I gripped my sword and put strength into my body.

Pajijijik—!!!

White energy erupted as I used Moonbolt.

At the same time, I immediately entered body-and-sword unity.

[Kyaaaaaa—!!]

The snake opened its mouth wide.

It charged at me violently.

It seemed it had noticed I intended to fight.

Well, there was no way it would miss that.

I put strength into my sword.

I erupted hard aura and crouched.

Time slowed.

I entered body-and-sword unity completely.

Just as its sharp fangs rushed toward me—

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-gak—!!!!

Radiant Moon Flash Aura burst with light and struck it away.

Boom!!!

[Kyaaaaaa—!!]

Its jaw was flung upward.

Blood sprayed.

The massive body shook violently.

I shot forward at once.

I added force to my body as it burst through the air.

I think this is the first time I’ve fought something that isn’t human.

At least in this life, it was.

[Krurrrrr!]

The wound was not large.

It seemed disgustingly tough.

I tightened my hand around the sword.

Could I hunt it?

Why was I even trying to fight this in the first place?

I should have at least made something like a plan.

All of that was questionable, but—

“Hoo—”

Woooooong—!!

Contrary to my thoughts, my body moved.

At the same time—

Fwoooosh—!!!

I felt heat in one corner of my heart.

It was the same sensation that had been tickling my chest all this time.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!