Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Sword Demon's Resolve
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136
Yong-un's power and speed were undoubtedly unparalleled.
But what about the Sword Demon, who had obtained the Demon-Slaying Sword and returned as a killer spirit?
It truly happened in the blink of an eye.
The moment he kicked off the ground and blinked once, jet-black red smoke appeared before Myung-un without so much as an afterimage.
And then he swung the Demon-Slaying Sword—the same blade that had sliced through the demons—at his own younger brother, Myung-un.
Swish.
Thud!
Barum arrived in a flash and rammed the Sword Demon with his shoulder, putting every ounce of strength into it.
The jet-black red smoke was shoved back hard.
Siiiizzle.
"Myung-un!"
Step. Step step step.
Yong-un's subordinates gathered one by one behind Barum, who had pushed back the Sword Demon.
At the forefront stood Myung-su and Sword Tiger.
Behind them were the Dragon Demon Corps, the Shadow Ghost Assassin Corps, and finally the Soul-Exterminating Ghosts, emanating demonic energy as they took position.
In their trembling gazes, the jet-black red smoke shimmered.
"Check the young master's condition!"
At Myung-su's command, the Poison Demoness whirled around and grabbed both of Myung-un's shoulders.
"Are you okay?!"
The Poison Demoness shook Myung-un's shoulders.
She desperately hoped he was fine, but in one corner of her heart, the afterimage of the Sword Demon swinging his sword refused to fade from her eyes.
It was the Sword Demon's blade that had slain even viscount-level demons with a single stroke.
The ultimate strike that allowed no mistakes.
Seeing Myung-un's dazed, silent expression, the Poison Demoness bit her lip.
"Poison Demoness!"
"Sister Mu-hee..."
The Poison Demoness's voice trembled.
As if convinced he was already dead, she squeezed her eyes shut.
"Get a grip."
But Mu-hee's words followed.
"The young master is unharmed."
"...!?"
The Poison Demoness's eyes went wide.
Thud.
Myung-un collapsed to the ground right there.
The Poison Demoness inspected him meticulously from his legs all the way to the top of his head.
Then she let out a deep sigh of relief, patting her chest.
"Haa... Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness."
Mu-hee had been right.
Myung-un wasn't hurt anywhere.
'But...'
It was strange.
The Poison Demoness had clearly seen it.
Her revered Supreme One had swung that chilling sword with eyes overflowing with killing intent—the same blade that felled demons in an instant.
A perfect strike that tolerated no errors.
'Did I see it wrong?'
The Supreme One never made mistakes.
Even if he did, he would notice it immediately and correct it in a flash.
The sole existence that turned the impossible into possible.
The strongest being beyond all common sense.
That was what the Supreme One meant to the Poison Demoness.
But for that Supreme One to err?
The Poison Demoness grabbed Myung-un's shoulders once more, intent on checking his body again.
It was right then.
"I'm fine."
The family all the subordinates had been ready to protect with their lives—Yong-un's family.
Myung-un stood, his dazed gaze now sharp and clear.
"What the hell! Why didn't you say anything! Are you really okay?"
Myung-su's shout reached the Poison Demoness, who was distracted by Myung-un rising.
Snapping to her senses belatedly, she replied to Myung-su.
"Yes, he says he's fine."
"Thank goodness. Whew..."
Myung-su let out a heavy sigh of relief.
Only then could the rigidly tense Myung-su and Sword Tiger finally relax.
But separate from any relief or gratitude, Sword Tiger and Myung-su's eyes never wavered once.
The jet-black red smoke undulating like a heat haze right before them.
Their gazes remained locked on the Sword Demon.
'It's not over yet.'
They had just cleared one major hurdle. This was only the beginning.
The Supreme One, whom not even demons could lay a finger on.
The realization that the moment to withstand his onslaught was approaching naturally soured their expressions.
'It's terrifying.'
For subordinates who served only the Supreme One, Yong-un was their shield and the compass guiding their path in life.
An existence they could never face as foes, must not face, and had no desire to face.
That was Supreme One Lee Yong-un.
"Argh..."
Sword Tiger's face twisted in a fierce grimace.
Wrinkles creased his brow, and his eyes squeezed shut.
"Dragon Demon Captain, don't give up."
"I know, I get it!"
The sword in Sword Tiger's hand thrashed wildly.
It was his futile struggle against the rage boiling up from the situation.
Grind. Grind.
Teeth-gnashing echoed from Sword Tiger's mouth as his body shuddered violently.
Then Sword Tiger lifted his head to glare at the jet-black red smoke.
Drip.
"It's the Supreme One! Not just anyone—it's the Supreme One!"
Two warring thoughts ravaged Sword Tiger from within, devouring him.
The blood trickling from his clenched jaws was proof.
His teeth, bitten with full force, ground not just against each other but tore into his gums.
As if the clash of opposing ideas was jolting his very flesh.
Thump. Yank.
It happened in that instant.
Myung-su grabbed Sword Tiger's shoulder from the side and yanked him back with all his strength.
Sword Tiger stumbled three steps rearward from the forceful pull.
Myung-su's back came into view.
"If you're going to spout weak nonsense, fall back."
"........."
"You know full well what needs to be done right now, don't you, Dragon Demon Captain?"
Sword Tiger shuddered once more.
As Myung-su said, he already knew exactly what to do in this moment.
And it wasn't just Sword Tiger—all of Yong-un's nearby subordinates knew as well.
"Even agonizing over what to do is an act of defying the Supreme One's command."
A short sword materialized in Myung-su's right hand, as if a transparent object had been painted with color.
The dagger spun once in his grip before shifting to a reverse hold.
And the blade of the slowly raised dagger gleamed toward no one other than the Supreme One he served—the Sword Demon shrouded in jet-black red smoke.
"I am... First Ghost Soul of the Soul-Exterminating Ghosts. Per the Supreme One's command, I will protect the family from the Supreme One himself."
The gleaming dagger twisted.
The light faded from the dagger that had been reflecting the sunlight now peeking through as the haze lifted.
And instead of the green aura reserved for the Night Killing Society's elite assassins, pitch-black demonic energy cloaked the dagger.
"That is the reason I exist."
Starting with Myung-su's dagger, demonic energy began frosting over his entire body.
He was summoning hostility against none other than the Supreme One.
"Damn it."
Tap.
Sword Tiger bumped his shoulder against Myung-su's as the latter completed his battle preparations.
"You the only subordinate of the Supreme One?"
"Pardon?"
Myung-su whipped his head around, face set in grim resolve.
Whoosh.
And then Myung-su saw it.
Sword Tiger, with a pitch-black dragon rising across his entire body.
"Thanks. You snapped me out of that heart demon."
Click.
Sword Tiger's low-held sword rose to rest on his shoulder.
Simultaneously, the black dragon uncoiled from its huddled form, rearing high and baring its jaws wide above him.
The Dragon Demon Corps' all-out battle preparation was complete.
"Let's obey the Supreme One's command."
Sword Tiger's order was relayed straight to the Dragon Demon Corps.
Jung-won, now snapped out of it, and Jong-hyun standing behind nodded once and summoned identical black dragons.
Faint but present, Jin-mo too drew forth demonic energy and positioned himself beside the Dragon Demon Corps.
Then, in unison, the entire Dragon Demon Corps roared.
"Yes!"
"Deploy Blood Asura."
Jin-cheol issued the command even to the Shadow Ghost Assassin Corps' veteran ghosts.
Crimson demonic energy enshrouded Jin-cheol and the veteran ghosts alike.
And every subordinate's sharpened gaze locked onto a single target.
The benefactor who had elevated them from nothing to this very moment.
The Supreme One they had vowed deep in their hearts to serve for life.
Yong-un—the Sword Demon.
Not knowing what he had to relinquish, Yong-un had been uneasy.
But only upon that moment's arrival did he fully grasp the meaning of Man-i's words.
'The one thing I had to give up was this.'
The vow to discard the Demon-Slaying Sword and never return as killer spirit Sword Demon.
That was the precious thing Yong-un had to sacrifice.
In other words, it meant reverting to the Sword Demon.
Meaning he would become a vengeful killer spirit obsessed with revenge, forever unable to conceal his murderous intent.
'It's too big—way too big.'
Why had he been willing to abandon even the Demon-Slaying Sword he cherished so dearly?
Because its killing aura was so vicious it was dubbed a demonic sword.
The Demon-Slaying Sword was one even the Sword Demon couldn't fully control.
In the hands of anyone but Yong-un, it would transform them into a rampaging lunatic—a true horror of a demonic blade.
'No regrets now. It couldn't be helped.'
Yet Yong-un, gripping the Demon-Slaying Sword to become the Sword Demon once more, merely clicked his tongue low and harbored no regrets about the situation.
Had he not seized it again, he couldn't have cleaved that mysterious steel-gray orb in the sky in one stroke.
And had that happened, he would have lost not just his subordinates here, but his precious youngest brother Myung-un as well.
Shrouded in jet-black red smoke, concealed within the all-too-familiar crimson heavenly demonic energy.
The surging killing intent was as hard to rein in as it had been back then as the Sword Demon.
He yearned to sever the throats of everyone hostile to him and drain every last drop of blood.
Smirk.
But even in this state, Yong-un smiled.
Despite returning to the killer spirit Sword Demon he had fought so hard to avoid, the smile on Yong-un's lips only deepened.
'I've been blessed.'
He didn't regret gripping the Demon-Slaying Sword and becoming killer spirit Sword Demon again.
On the contrary, he felt he had done exactly right in heeding Man-i's words.
Yong-un's eyes pierced through the jet-black red smoke toward Sixth Ghost Soul, who stared at him from amid the Soul-Exterminating Ghosts.
Their eyes met, and Sixth Ghost Soul's lips mumbled wordlessly.
Then Sixth Ghost Soul's voice echoed through Yong-un's mind.
He had become killer spirit Sword Demon.
A monster among monsters—one who drenched the martial world in terror and claimed thousands, tens of thousands of lives.
Even having orchestrated this scenario, Yong-un gave a small nod to the man's unflinching voice.
'Perfect.'
An baffling declaration that the current situation was flawless.
Man-i, possessing Sixth Ghost Soul's body, smiled and bowed his head at those words.
Clang.
Sixth Ghost Soul's body toppled sideways with a thud.
At the same instant, the snowflakes drifting down from the sky melted away.
Just as Man-i was about to depart from Sixth Ghost Soul's body.
Man-i's final voice rang out in Yong-un's mind.
"Sixth Ghost Soul!"
"Seong-min!"
The Soul-Exterminating Ghosts assassins bellowed at the sight of the unconscious Seong-min.
Poof.
But soon, as the jet-black red smoke dissipated to reveal Yong-un, every subordinate froze in place.
"Su... Supreme One?"
The crimson heavenly demonic energy had vanished.
Faced with Yong-un looking no different from usual, the subordinates were at a loss.
Yet Yong-un's next words provided the judgment on how they should proceed.
"Tend to Sixth Ghost Soul at once. What are you waiting for?"
"Supreme One!!"
Not a trace of madness in his smile, but the usual benevolent, bright one graced Yong-un's lips.
The only change from the norm was the Demon-Slaying Sword in Yong-un's hand, pulsing with jet-black red light.