Chapter 587: There is no next time.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 587: There is no next time.
Tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble.
His entire body began to shake.
Drip.
Simultaneously, cold sweat began to pour down incessantly.
'I’m... shaking? Me?'
Lee Jae-won could feel it now.
The fact that he was utterly terrified.
'What... what is this... what the hell is happening?!'
Lee Jae-won felt a surge of bewilderment. He couldn't adapt to this sudden change in his state of mind.
Who was he?
Was he not the Martial God who had inherited the Great Void One-Qi Art, a technique whispered to belong to the immortals?
How could someone like him be trembling in fear?
It made no sense.
'Stop! Stop it!'
Lee Jae-won struggled with all his might to calm his shaking body. He was practically begging himself to stop.
Tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble.
But despite his efforts, the shaking showed no sign of stopping. If anything, as time passed, the tremors became even more violent.
'Damn it! Damn it!'
Grimacing, Lee Jae-won began to circulate his Great Void One-Qi Art. He felt that if he didn't do at least this much, the shaking would never cease.
Wuuuuuuuuuung.
Soon, the Great Void One-Qi gathered in his Dantian began a Full Circulation through his body. Again and again.
Tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble.
Yet, the shaking showed no sign of subsiding, even though he had used his internal energy to calm his mind.
'Why... why?'
Lee Jae-won was baffled. Why wouldn't this trembling stop?
It was then, as Lee Jae-won stood there shuddering with his whole body.
Step. Step.
The sound of light footsteps began to pierce his ears.
Flinch.
His trembling body jerked even more violently.
Step. Step.
Twitch. Twitch.
His body reacted in sync with those light footsteps.
'My body... is reacting... to the footsteps?'
Lee Jae-won realized it then. His body was responding to the sound of those steps.
'Wh... why?!'
The questions continued to pile up. Why was his body shaking at the sound of such trivial footsteps? Why was he breaking out in a cold sweat? Why was his heart racing so fast?
He couldn't understand it.
'This... is strange...'
It was strange. It was far too strange.
Step. Step. Step.
Stop.
The footsteps grew louder and then came to a complete halt.
Gulp.
Lee Jae-won swallowed hard. Then, he slowly raised his head to look toward the source of the sound.
Shiver.
In that instant, Lee Jae-won felt goosebumps break out over his entire body. A man had entered his field of vision—a man whose mere presence inspired instinctive dread.
Thick, sword-like eyebrows.
A sharp bridge of the nose.
Piercing eyes.
A handsome man with firm lips.
How could he ever forget this man? The very person who had severed his left arm.
"Ah... ah..."
Lee Jae-won’s pupils began to shake violently, as if an earthquake were occurring within them. And then, he finally understood.
He understood why he couldn't stop his body from trembling.
It wasn't a matter of the mind. It was a matter of instinct. The instinct of prey that has no choice but to fear its predator was making his body shake uncontrollably.
Before this man, he was the prey. He was a weakling born with the fate of being devoured.
"Alliance Leader."
Sun-woo slowly opened his mouth and called out to him.
Flinch.
Lee Jae-won jerked at the words. An indescribable terror surged within him.
"Did you do this?"
Sun-woo spoke, pointing toward Joo So-yang, whose cheeks were swollen red.
"And what if I did!"
Lee Jae-won snapped back. He didn't want to be caught trembling in fear.
Step. Step. Step.
Sun-woo took a few light steps forward. His gait was incredibly casual.
Stop.
He came to a halt right in front of Lee Jae-won. They were so close that he could reach out and touch him.
"This is excessive," Sun-woo said, looking down at Lee Jae-won with cold eyes.
His gaze was filled with frigid fury. He was well aware that Joo So-yang had ended up in that state while trying to protect him.
"I’m hitting my own wife! What business is it of yours?!"
Lee Jae-won looked up slightly at the taller Sun-woo and shouted shamelessly.
Of course, harming Joo So-yang was wrong. Even in a marriage, a wife was not an object to be handled at will. But this was strictly a family matter. A problem of the Lee family.
There was no justification for an outsider like Jang Sun-woo to intervene. How could a mere outsider presume to defend her?
"You're right. It's none of my business. It's not something I should interfere in."
Sun-woo nodded as if in agreement. Indeed, if it were a family matter, he had no grounds to step in.
"This is just a personal matter," Sun-woo continued, glaring at him with icy eyes.
"What do you mean by—!"
Slap!
Crack!
Unfortunately, Lee Jae-won couldn't finish his sentence. Before he could, his head was whipped to the side. It was a blow so powerful that the sound of his joints snapping rang out.
"Ah... ah..."
Lee Jae-won, his head turned to the side, wore a dazed expression. He couldn't believe he had been hit.
'I... I was hit? Slapped?'
He stood there in a daze for a moment before his brow furrowed deeply. Rage surged within him at the fact that he had been struck.
"You son of a bi—"
Lee Jae-won snapped his head back and tried to scream.
Slap!
Crunch!
But again, he couldn't finish. This time, his head was whipped in the opposite direction.
"You bastard!!!!!"
Lee Jae-won erupted in a voice full of rage. An uncontrollable, massive fury boiled over. It was a humiliation he had never experienced since falling into the Murim. To be slapped by a brat who hadn't even reached the Age of Thirty—how could he not be enraged?
Wuuuuuuuuuung.
Lee Jae-won began to muster his will. He intended to manifest his Formless Sword and cut the man down.
"If you draw your Heart Sword, I will kill you."
Sun-woo’s chilling threat pierced his ears.
Flinch.
Lee Jae-won jerked instinctively. His survival instincts were screaming at him. They warned him that if he ignored that threat, he truly might die.
'Shit... screw that! You think I'll submit?!'
Lee Jae-won glared at him with murderous eyes. He felt he couldn't back down here.
Frizzle.
However, contrary to his thoughts, his will began to scatter.
'What?! Why is this happening?!'
Lee Jae-won was panicked. He had resolved to resist, so what was going on?
Frizzle.
Soon, the will he had summoned vanished completely, as if it had never existed in the first place.
'Lie!... It's a lie!'
Lee Jae-won fiercely denied the fact that his will had evaporated. He tried desperately to muster it again. But it was useless. A will that had been broken once showed no sign of being rebuilt.
Despair began to cloud Lee Jae-won’s eyes. He realized that without his Heart Sword, without his Formless Sword, he wasn't even a match for this man.
"Good boy."
Pat, pat, pat.
Seeing that Lee Jae-won’s will had vanished, Sun-woo reached out and gently patted his head. It was as if he were praising a dog that had successfully been house-trained.
Tremble, tremble, tremble.
Feeling the touch, Lee Jae-won began to shake with shame and humiliation.
The man hailed as the strongest under heaven.
The hero who saved the Murim from the invasion of the Demonic Cult and the Heavenly Demon.
The leader of the massive organization known as the Cheonmu Alliance.
He was being praised like a dog. And by a mere fledgling much younger than himself—by the very enemy who had cut off his arm.
How could he not feel humiliated? How could he not feel ashamed?
Lee Jae-won tried to raise his remaining right arm to brush the hand away. But his right arm wouldn't move, as if it were glued in place. He just stood there, submissively accepting the touch.
'......Ah.'
Lee Jae-won realized it then. He had been completely dominated.
In his school days, Lee Jae-won had been severely bullied. There were always "designated bullies" at school who would beat him over and over under the guise of friendship. Even when he moved up a grade and changed classes, it didn't matter. A new bully would always take charge of him.
Having spent his school years surrounded by such violence, Lee Jae-won knew. This situation was no different from standing before his designated bully.
Before those bullies, he couldn't even dream of resisting; his whole body would shake, and he would simply endure whatever humiliation or disgrace came his way. Just like now.
Even as the man patted his head like a house-trained dog, he could do nothing. The fear engraved in his very DNA made him forget even the desire to rebel.
He understood now why his will wouldn't manifest. How could one manifest a sword when their heart was completely broken?
"Ugh... ugh... ugh..."
Lee Jae-won began to tremble even more finely from the humiliation, shame, and fear. He felt like he was going to cry. To experience the same humiliation he had suffered decades ago in school...
But he didn't dare resist. The fear of a superior predator dominated his entire being.
"Now then, shall we continue?"
Sun-woo, watching him, spoke with a calm expression.
"Wh... what..."
"The personal matter."
"Personal matter?!" Lee Jae-won asked, looking bewildered.
"Venting my frustration. Come to think of it, taking just one arm seems like too lenient a punishment for someone who tried to kill me."
Sun-woo glared at Lee Jae-won with chilling eyes and continued.
"So, I’m going to vent the rest of my frustration."
Having said that, Sun-woo raised his hand.
"Wh... what do you mean by—!"
Lee Jae-won asked back, his face full of confusion. What kind of nonsense was this?
Slap!
Snap.
But again, Lee Jae-won couldn't finish his sentence. Sun-woo’s palm struck his left cheek.
"Wa... wait!"
Struck, Lee Jae-won hurriedly tried to stop him.
Slap!
But it was no use.
Slap!
As if he had no intention of listening, Sun-woo simply began to rain slaps down on his face. Like a machine devoid of emotion.
Slap!
Slap!
Sun-woo’s hand began to move even faster.
"St... stop! Please... stop."
Lee Jae-won began to beg. The humiliation of being slapped at the Age of Forty, combined with the significant pain radiating from his cheeks, was becoming unbearable.
Slap!
Despite Lee Jae-won’s pleas, Sun-woo did not stop.
Slap!
"Aaaagh!"
Slap!
"Aaargh!"
He just kept hitting him. As if he were truly venting his frustration.
Slap!
Soon, the rhythmic sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed in front of the quarters.
.
.
.
.
.
.
How much time had passed?
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Blood began to drip from Sun-woo’s palm. It was blood from Lee Jae-won’s cheeks, which had split open under the barrage.
"Filthy."
Sun-woo muttered briefly, looking at his blood-stained hand.
Rub. Rub.
He then reached out and casually wiped his hand on Lee Jae-won’s clothes.
"................"
Lee Jae-won just watched Sun-woo’s movements submissively, without saying a word. He didn't even have the heart to resist anymore.
"Alliance Leader."
Having finished cleaning his hand, Sun-woo looked at Lee Jae-won and spoke.
"......Speak."
Lee Jae-won replied in a weak voice.
"This is a strictly personal matter," Sun-woo said in a calm tone. "So, I hope there are no misunderstandings."
Lee Jae-won’s brow furrowed at those words. He hated Sun-woo’s behavior—using "personal matter" as an excuse to take revenge for Joo So-yang.
"................Understood."
But contrary to his inner thoughts, Lee Jae-won had no choice but to agree. He didn't have the courage to contradict him.
"Then you may leave now. I don't wish to see you any longer."
Sun-woo waved his hand dismissively, issuing an Expulsion Order as if shooing away a bothersome fly.
'That son of a bitch!'
Sparks flew in Lee Jae-won’s eyes. An indescribable, monumental rage surged within him.
"................Understood."
But in the end, he could only swallow his rage and answer submissively. As shameful and humiliating as it was, he couldn't refuse the attractive offer of being allowed to leave alive by someone who harbored such murderous intent.
Lee Jae-won turned around immediately. He began to walk away quickly, wanting to escape this place as soon as possible.
"Alliance Leader."
Sun-woo called out to him as he watched him leave.
"..........What is it."
Lee Jae-won glanced back slightly at the call.
"I’m letting you off easy this once," Sun-woo said, his voice a warning.
"There is no next time."
His eyes were glowing with a terrifying, ominous light.