The World's Greatest is Dead

Immediately after undoing the formation.

I barely made my way back to the entrance and reached out with tense eyes.

HSSSS—

“Oh.”

Thankfully, there was no problem this time.

The entrance had changed in that brief moment. The others looked puzzled when they saw it.

“What was that earlier?”

“It’s different now? Can you enter?”

“Yes. It’s been resolved.”

Damn it. I’d nearly panicked, thinking I couldn’t even get in past the entrance, but thankfully, I’d solved it.

These insane beings beyond heaven.

Why were the humans who supposedly touched the heavens all like this?

What was the point of setting up something like that in the first place?

A sigh came out on its own. Well, whatever. As long as it was fixed.

I forced myself to think positively.

“Your entry is permitted...”

At the Demonic Cultist’s words, we finally entered Demon Dragon Cave.

Not a single thing in my life was easy. What was this nonsense, struggling even to get inside?

“Haa.”

I sighed and went in.

We had to get down from the carriage, and at the same time—

“We will collect your swords.”

They said they had to take our beloved weapons.

Everyone frowned at that, but—

What choice do we have?

We had already agreed to this much.

This was the moment we stepped into enemy territory. Things were currently suspended for the time being, closer to a ceasefire, but they were still an opposing force all the same.

I wrapped my sword in cloth and handed it over.

I hesitated for a moment over handing them the Divine Sword, but I knew hesitating here would cause an even bigger problem, so I pretended nothing was wrong.

Poison Dragon was the slight problem here.

“...Why is there no end to this...?”

He wore so many hidden weapons that he had a lot to hand over. So much that the person receiving them was horrified.

“That’s all.”

When Poison Dragon said there were no more, the relief on the man’s face was honestly funny.

We officially entered Demon Dragon Cave.

The inside was cleaner and more orderly than I had expected.

This is the Demonic Cult?

Strictly speaking, this was not the Demonic Cult itself, but for a village managed by the Demonic Cult, it was strangely peaceful.

That meant Freak Demon had not been exaggerating when he said it was roughly similar to managed Henan.

“Ahahaha!”

“Hey! Don’t run!”

A child ran around laughing, and street stalls were lined up here and there.

In what looked like an inn, people were drinking and chatting in broad daylight.

If I looked at the place without considering its location and region, I would not have thought it belonged to the Demonic Cult at all.

It really is...

Peaceful.

The thought came naturally.

“We need to send a report up, so you will have to stay here for a day.”

Hearing the explanation made me think of somewhere else.

I felt like something like this had happened at the branch before we came up to Xinjiang.

Were we being treated the same way here too?

[Is a report necessary? I personally came forward.]

Severing Demon, Mi Yeonhwa, was a high-ranking Demonic Cultist known as one of the Eight Demons. I did not know the details, but considering the Young Cult Leader had her with him, her position had to be high.

And yet they still needed to send a separate report even though Mi Yeonhwa had come?

The situation was flowing in a strange direction.

Mi Yeonhwa showed her displeasure when she heard it too, but—

“I-I apologize. It is the elder’s order...”

[...Tsk.]

An elder’s order.

At those words, Mi Yeonhwa clicked her tongue as if she had no choice. That meant the word “elder” was enough to make the matter understandable.

An elder.

I recalled the hint I had been given in advance.

The person I had to meet was one of the elders as well.

“So in the end, we have to stay here for a day.”

[Correct.]

“Can’t be helped. I just hope the inn’s halfway decent.”

Being able to rest was good.

Now that we had already entered Demon Dragon Cave, I figured entering the Demonic Cult proper would not take long.

We moved like that and arrived at the inn we had been introduced to.

Perhaps they were treating us as honored guests after all, because the inn was extremely clean and decent.

We placed our luggage in our rooms, then left the carriage and horses in the stable.

After that, we took time to rest. We had been continuing a fairly long mountain journey, so everyone must have built up some fatigue.

I rested as well.

“One day...”

We even had separate rooms, so I could rest comfortably.

I stared at the ceiling and muttered the words.

If we stayed just one more day, we would enter the Demonic Cult.

Remembering that made it feel slightly unreal.

How did I—

How had I ended up coming all the way to the Demonic Cult?

My life was truly like the wind. It felt like I was just moving wherever the current took me.

And not just any wind, either.

More like a typhoon, honestly.

The level of force behind it was something else.

It would have been nice if it at least let me endure it properly.

But I was staggering even when it only blew a little.

Good grief.

I shook my head slightly.

“Ah, whatever. I should just handle the work quickly.”

I had a lot to do too.

For now, I should just focus on resting.

What could possibly happen in one day?

All I was going to do was rest. There should be no reason for anything to happen.

I believed that.

...

But I could not help the faint unease creeping in.

Because I was born with a life that had not a speck of luck.

...No way. Surely not.

I secretly swallowed down my anxiety.

But I knew very well that nothing in my life ever went the way it should.

*****

A massive residence located in the western part of Demon Dragon Cave.

It was the building of the Woo Young Family, a family directly under the Demonic Cult, and the place where its direct bloodline lived.

Inside that place, a man in an ink-black martial robe knelt on one knee and delivered his report.

The young man listening to the report tilted his head.

“What did you say?”

Woo Young Jin.

A direct descendant of the family and the one who would ascend to the position of future Family Head.

His father, moreover, held the heavy post of elder in the Demonic Cult.

In other words, his was one of the bloodlines called the Five Noble Houses of Demon Dragon Cave.

That Woo Young Jin frowned after hearing the report.

“Who came?”

“...Members of the orthodox faction have entered Demon Dragon Cave.”

“Orthodox faction? Why would those bastards come here?”

What kind of sudden nonsense was this?

Orthodox faction people had set foot on the noble soil of Demon Dragon Cave?

He had never heard such absurd bullshit.

When Woo Young Jin revealed his displeasure to the fullest, the report continued.

“They say it was the Young Cult Leader’s order. I heard that Severing Demon, one of the Eight Demons, personally escorted the guests here.”

“Hah?”

The Young Cult Leader’s order?

Then did that mean the Young Cult Leader had brought orthodox faction people in?

I thought it was an insane rumor.

Even when he had heard that the Young Cult Leader had gone to Henan for a meeting with the orthodox faction, Woo Young Jin had not particularly believed it.

What kind of Demonic Cultist in the world would make that choice?

And not just anyone, but the one called the next Heavenly Demon.

The Young Cult Leader, who had not yet learned the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts and therefore had not ascended to the seat of Heavenly Demon.

He had made such a choice?

In this situation?

His position had not even properly settled yet.

He had not firmly secured his throne.

Some of the elders did not support the Young Cult Leader, and the Woo Young Family belonged to that side as well.

One who had not obtained complete qualification.

Even the Heavenly Demon had left without choosing the next generation, so how could his child ascend to the position of Young Cult Leader simply because of blood?

In a place where such opposition still existed—

The Young Cult Leader made that choice?

It was absurd.

“Interesting. Young Cult Leader... just what are you thinking?”

As he pondered the words, Woo Young Jin rose.

“...Young master?”

“Where are those bastards?”

“Pardon? Why do you—”

“What do you mean, why? I’m going to see them.”

Woo Young Jin smiled.

If honored guests had come all the way to this distant land, should he not meet them?

To be honest, he was curious too.

For Woo Young Jin, this would be his first time meeting proper orthodox faction members.

“They said they were no ordinary bastards, didn’t they?”

“That is correct. He is an existence called Moon Hero, currently said to be a symbol of the Alliance.”

“Moon Hero?”

His epithet had “Hero” in it from the start.

It was the word Woo Young Jin hated most.

Hypocrites hiding behind masks.

Chivalry and justice?

The people who lived while putting that kind of thing first disgusted him the most.

And orthodox faction bastards were not even sincere about it, so he hated them all the more.

But Moon Hero?

He had heard of him before.

“The one who killed the Sword Demon...”

A Demonic Cultist of the beings-beyond-heaven class.

Was that not the younger-generation prodigy who had killed the absolute master the former Heavenly Demon had kept with him?

Bullshit.

Woo Young Jin did not believe it.

He judged it to be another inflated rumor spread by the filthy Alliance bastards.

“Shall we go see his face?”

This time, he would confirm it directly and make sure they remembered his face.

Woo Young Jin smiled.

He changed his clothes and went out.

Because there was some distance, it took about half a double-hour to arrive. Demon Dragon Cave was fairly large, after all.

“This is the place?”

“Yes, that is correct... But, young master...”

“Shut up. I will hear no more from you.”

He ignored his guard’s worried advice.

From the guard’s position, meeting orthodox faction people without the elders’ permission was worrying.

Especially when one considered Woo Young Jin’s personality.

His talent was exceptional enough to be counted among the finest geniuses in the Demonic Cult, including the Young Cult Leader.

Before the Young Cult Leader appeared, Woo Young Jin had been discussed as one of the candidates for the next Heavenly Demon.

He had proudly stood among those candidates.

That plan to cultivate a Heavenly Demon had vanished because the Young Cult Leader had proven his bloodline and shown at least half of the necessary qualifications.

But the traces of it had not disappeared.

Woo Young Jin despised and hated the orthodox faction, and he possessed both the talent and power to continue acting on that hatred.

...The elders of the Demonic Cult might overlook it to some extent.

Even if he ran wild because he disliked the orthodox faction, there was a possibility the elders would remain silent.

Especially those among the Young Cult Leader’s opposition.

How will this go?

The guard felt half anticipation and half worry.

His master hated the Young Cult Leader.

That was why, on the day the Young Cult Leader appeared, Woo Young Jin had requested a spar and intended to defeat him.

He failed.

Woo Young Jin lost to the Young Cult Leader.

The Young Cult Leader’s overwhelming martial power had already surpassed him.

Woo Young Jin remembered that despair, but he had not knelt and given up.

He was refining his strength and building his influence.

He had already been in talks with other forces that would support him.

This current action, perhaps, had political calculations behind it as well.

Woo Young Jin was not an idiot who had only strength.

“Now, let’s take a look at our honored guests from the orthodox faction.”

He approached the inn and opened the door.

The corners of Woo Young Jin’s mouth rose.

Was he looking forward to what he himself was about to do?

CREEEAK!

The inn door opened, revealing the interior.

“Listen well. I, Woo Young Jin of the Woo Young Family, have come to welcome the Demonic Cult’s guests! Show your faces—”

Woo Young Jin, who had entered while speaking, suddenly stopped.

What was this?

Why had he suddenly stopped?

The guard looked ahead in confusion.

“This bastard hasn’t been beaten enough lately, has he? Look at that posture. Are you not going to do it properly?”

“...Urk... Kgh...!”

Someone came into view.

White hair and blue eyes.

On top of that, a blue martial uniform.

It was a young man with an absurdly beautiful face.

Every gaze was drawn to him in an instant.

His appearance was extraordinary at a glance.

So a person could really be that handsome?

That admiration passed through the guard, but at the same time—

“Huh? Your calf is shaking? Should I pull the bones out and set them back in again?”

“N-No...!”

“Put your arms behind you. You’re supposed to support yourself with your head.”

“Kghhh!”

“...”

That ridiculously handsome young man was putting another young man of similar age through a brutal punishment drill.

The way he tapped him and spoke was strange.

...No way, right?

The guard thought.

That probably was not him.

For starters, he did not feel like someone from the orthodox faction.

Definitely not.

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