Chapter 614
Ding.
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Even before the familiar system notifications finished ringing out, the rough texture and the damp scent of dewy grass brushed against my skin and nose.
I spat out the piece of straw stuck to my lips and muttered to myself.
‘I’m back.’
I’ve return to the Murim.
I had only spent a little over a month in the modern world, yet it felt like something from a distant past. That wasn’t just a feeling—it was the truth.
‘So much happened.’
The Murim. And the modern world.
Everything surrounding me across both worlds was rapidly changing. The incidents kept piling up so fast, I barely had enough of a body to handle them all.
Then again, I ‘do- have two bodies. It’s just that I have to switch between them, and ‘that’s- what’s so damn exhausting.
Anyway…
‘Ugh. I don’t want to get up.’
The straw covering my entire body was warmer and softer than I expected. I seriously considered just falling asleep right there.
After all, I hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in the past week while developing a standardized martial art.
If it weren’t for the voices I started to hear nearby, I might’ve actually dozed off.
“So, what kind of person is the Captain?”
“I was always curious. The others aren’t here yet, and I’m bored. You’re curious too, right, Escort Song?”
It was a familiar voice. The conversation between Hyuk Mujin and Ju Hwaran continued, as Death-Chaser Song Ilseom responded bluntly.
“Not really.”
“You heard that? Escort Song ‘is- curious.”
“I said I’m ‘not’.”
“I’ll give you two nyang of silver.”
“…Now I’m a little curious.”
This silver-obsessed bastard.
Even Song Ilseom had buckled under the bribe from Big Boss Hwaran.
Then came Hyuk Mujin’s hesitant voice.
“Umm, this is hard to answer. Are we sure the Captain is asleep?”
“Yes, definitely.”
“He’s sound asleep. His breathing is steady.”
“Well, that makes sense. Once he’s out, not even a ghost carrying him away would wake him.”
Steady breathing, my ass.
I was controlling it on purpose.
Personally, I was also curious about what they were going to say.
And then, as expected, my faithful right pinky toe did not disappoint.
“Our Captain is… the, um… the incredibly famous…”
“Handsome and graceful late-blooming prodigy?”
Ju Hwaran’s voice rang clear like a pretty piano melody, but Hyuk Mujin answered with a dead-serious tone.
“A bastard.”
“…Ah.”
“…Oh.”
“These days, sure, he’s the Blazing Fire Dragon or whatever. But just a year or two ago, it was hard to find a bigger bastard than him.”
He continued, with the tone of a man wronged by fate.
“He used to go to brothels and get hammered every night, embezzled public funds, blew it at gambling dens… Back then, his nickname was…”
“Hey.”
“That’s right. He was called the Night King. Even if the Ten Kings of Hell attacked at once, they couldn’t handle him in that field.”
“Every night, he’d strut out with his coin pouch swinging at his hip, marching to the brothel. We gate guards would say, ‘There goes that bastard, using Phantom Ghost Killing Steps again.’ But I’m impressed, Escort Song. You knew about that. As expected.”
At Hyuk Mujin’s joking tone, Song Ilseom responded with a sour voice.
“What are you talking about? I never said a word.”
“…Huh?”
“I said nothing.”
“Come on, you just said ‘Hey’ earlier.”
“I did not.”
“It was definitely a man’s voice. No joke. Then who…”
The dragging tone cut off abruptly.
A short, heavy silence followed—then someone carefully brushed the straw from my face.
Rustle. Slide.
The straw covering my vision was removed, and under the faint moonlight, my eyes met another’s.
With a warm smile, I greeted Hyuk Mujin, whom I hadn’t seen in a while.
“Yo.”
Hyuk Mujin, who had been looking down at me with a serious gaze, quietly placed the straw back over my face.
Like nothing had happened. Very carefully.
“Put it back.”
“Must be the moonlight. I thought I heard—”
“If you don’t remove it, your life’s gonna get dark. Remove it.”
“Yes, sir.”
The warmth I’d felt from the straw was long gone.
Like a vampire sealed for centuries, I sluggishly sat up from the cart bed.
The chill wind swept the straw clinging to my robe.
Ju Hwaran, who had met my gaze, quickly turned her head, and Song Ilseom—who had been warming himself near the campfire—suddenly declared he needed to feed the horses and scurried off.
Then, under the flickering firelight, my shadow fell long and dark over one person.
“Last words?”
At my quiet question, Hyuk Mujin answered calmly.
“Captain, please hear me out—”
“That’s why I’m asking.”
“But you said ‘last words.’ That sounds like a will.”
“It ‘is- a will.”
“…Ah.”
“You looked thrilled. As your Captain, I felt unbearable joy seeing my subordinate like that.”
It’s half true. I really ‘couldn’t- bear it.
After suffering through hell in the Murim and again in the modern world, sleep-deprived and exhausted, I come back only to find my direct subordinate badmouthing me?
And the emotion that followed this light novel-worthy sequence was rage.
“Face, arm, leg, stomach, back. Pick one.”
“…Is that how I’ll die?”
“I won’t kill you. I’ll just beat you half to death.”
After thinking for a moment, Hyuk Mujin answered.
“Stomach.”
“Reason?”
“Because wounds on the back are a disgrace to a martial artist.”
I admired his spirit.
“What a load of crap.”
“I did wrong. I accept the punishment. Please, go ahead.”
“Since you picked your spot, I’ll pick mine too.”
“…Sorry, what?”
“What do you mean sorry? It’d be unfair if only you got to pick. I get to choose too.”
“Wait, how is that fair—”
SMACK!
A heavy hit.
Above the slowly dying campfire, a shadow soared into the air, nosebleed spraying wide.
‘Didn’t think I’d throw a punch as soon as I got here.’
This was the Dabae Mountain Range—on the border between Anhui, Hubei, and Henan.
Hearing Hyuk Mujin’s scream fade like background music, two more shadows approached from the distance.
The final members of the Fire Dragon Pavilion’s expedition—roguish wanderers of the Murim.
“…Why is he getting beat up?”
“Taesan’s here!”
Now gathered in one place, the Fire Dragon Pavilion’s Southern Expedition Team stood ready.
I left a brief but firm order before turning around.
“Alright, let’s finish beating this guy and head out.”
No one objected.
Because right now, I wasn’t S-Rank Hunter Jin Taekyung.
I was the Blazing Fire Dragon, the greatest late-blooming prodigy of the righteous Murim—
Direct superior and Pavilion Master of the Fire Dragon Pavilion, Jin Taekyung.
CRACK!
“Ugh! U-Uwaaargh!”
God, I love the Murim.
Well… except for the damned Dark Heaven.
—
That place was pitch-black—no light at all.
No sound, no life.
Only shadowy figures trembled as they lay in the darkness like the dead.
And then—
“Heaven Above, Heaven Below!”
“All Demons Bow and Submit!”
The thunderous chant erupted from one voice, and from the darkness, a crimson flame burst forth.
FWOOOSH!
A roaring ring of fire.
Despite being unmistakably flame, it emanated a chill that pierced bone.
Beyond the frigid fire stood a wavering shadow.
– It’s been a while.
The voice defied classification—neither man nor woman, neither young nor old.
Even its pitch was unknowable.
It was a bizarre voice, echoing in all directions with a weight that pressed down upon the prostrated figures.
– My servants.
At that single line, heavy with unparalleled power, everyone trembled.
Whether in fear of an absolute being—
or in joy and reverence at facing the one they served.
They cried out in unison:
“We, your foolish and lowly servants, offer our reverence to the great Lord of Heaven!”
The Lord of Heaven.
There was no other name that could describe the one who reigned above all.
A sovereign being beyond dignity.
Above the clouds lay His palace.
All who lived beneath the sky were His servants and subjects.
No—He would make them so.
– How much time has passed?
None failed to understand the question of this living god.
Everyone prostrated here was unfathomably loyal and devoted to the Lord of Heaven.
A young man bowed deeply and answered:
“One hundred and thirty-six days have passed since Your Greatness last awakened!”
At the youth’s firm response, the raging flames flickered.
– Yes. I remember. The Western Sky. The day that child fell.
“We are unworthy!”
Another roar erupted, filled this time with shame and remorse.
When the Dark Heaven’s forces led by the Western Sky Demon Lord were annihilated by the Sichuan Tang Clan, they were so shaken by the unexpected result that they had to awaken their dormant master.
“Great Lord of Heaven, never again…Never again will such a thing happen.”
As the young man—Blood Lord—forced the words through clenched teeth,
the flames flickered again.
– No. It was my fault… for believing in you.
– Blood Lord. You are no exception.
Those words—more painful than anything—made Blood Lord’s eyes tremble.
He understood exactly what his master was referring to.
‘Henan.’
The day of the Shaolin Blood Massacre, as named by the righteous Murim.
It was one of the most humiliating memories of his life.
Not only had he achieved far less than planned—he had suffered the disgrace of losing an arm.
Had he failed to retrieve the sacred artifact, the Jade Green Buddha Palm, from Shaolin…
he didn’t want to even imagine.
‘Sword Saint. Jin Taekyung…’
Just thinking of those two made murderous rage swell within him.
But loyal servants must not show such emotions before their master.
Suppressing his killing intent, Blood Lord forced out a reply.
“Please… forgive us.”
Wooooosh—
Instead of a reply, a chilling wind swept through.
As everyone cowered,a quiet voice entered their ears.
– What is lacking… can be filled.
The air grew dense.
The wind stopped.
All life held its breath.
Within the stillness, the Lord of Heaven spoke again.
– I will fill what you lack.
It was a command—one no one could defy.
FWOOOOOSH—
The darkness stirred.
Shadows writhed.
Blood Lord felt a massive energy seep into his body from an unseen source.
His eyes widened in ecstasy.
“L-Lord of Heaven!”
Once more, they realized—
Their master was a living god, a sovereign who ruled over the heavens and the earth.
And that the power He had granted them—carried a divine purpose.
– Deliver this to the Southern and Northern Heavens.
RUMBLE—
The ground—no, the world—shook violently.
Through that unprecedented power, a thunderous proclamation resounded.
– We begin… the Great War.
Heaven above, all demons bow.
Amid the cries of joy and madness,
a formless shadow raised its hand.
The crimson flames that had filled the black space vanished—
and darkness returned once more.