Published at 28th of May 2026 1:37 pm

Chapter 436

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

My first meeting with the Death King wasn't all that pleasant.

At the time, I was desperately trying to clean up a mess in secret, and I couldn't even restore my spiritual ki properly, so I was stuck dealing with some damned incident.

As if things weren't aggravating enough, this random old man covered in age spots suddenly spoke to me.

"Kid. Would you care to become my disciple?"

He was asking me to become his disciple.

That way, he claimed, I could see the world differently through those precious eyes of mine.

What the hell was he talking about?

'What would I even see differently?'

These wretched eyes already made my life miserable—why in the world should I learn something just to see things another way?

I refused him flat-out. In fact,

'Learn, my ass.'

It wasn't for lack of things to learn that I considered his offer.

This was something I was forced to master in my previous life by rolling around like a madman.

And I was supposed to learn it again?

Sure, I suppose if I wanted to, I could. But.

'Why the hell should I learn it from you?'

From this old man?

There was nothing to learn from the Death King—at least, that's how I saw it.

'Stuffing gods into your body and calling that learning, what a load of crap.'

The Death King kept a god.

A minor deity, just below the higher gods.

Or maybe not?

Calling it a "minor deity" wasn't quite right—it was an ambiguous something in between.

That was the end of it for me.

'Once you start hosting a god, there's nothing left to say.'

That's something my grandmother used to say.

She once told me that if there were things she regretted in life, one was passing this power along to me, her grandchild.

And the second—

'Becoming a host for a god.'

The idea of hosting a god itself.

Sure, it seems natural for a shaman to host gods, but my grandmother called it a mistake.

She said it was closer to being bound than to hosting.

She'd had no choice but to walk this path herself, but she insisted I should avoid it.

Even if, in the throes of spiritual sickness, my whole body was wracked with pain, she told me never to host a god.

And I kept that promise.

Luckily, I never suffered from that kind of spiritual sickness.

Maybe because my ki was so strong that no god dared covet my body.

Someone once asked if a mere human could even manage something like that, but it turned out to be true.

'That's what's weird about it.'

That's what made Yu Chun-gil so unusual.

He could come and go as he pleased through this body—not even the higher gods could do that.

How the hell did he manage to inhabit the only body even higher gods couldn't trifle with?

'Well, whatever. That doesn't really matter now.'

This isn't important right now. Setting that aside—

"Are you really not going to talk?"

"... Kkkhhh..."

I squatted and asked the old man groaning in front of me.

The Death King.

The same old man I'd seen when I was a kid, now staggering and tottering before me.

I doubt he was sick.

'... Sword Emperor beat him, so it can't be that.'

He probably was in some pain, but whatever he was suffering from now wasn't purely physical.

"Just... Just how is something like this even possible?"

The Death King spoke as if he couldn't believe it.

It seemed he didn't trust what he was experiencing.

"How is it possible, you ask... Well, I wonder."

Isn't it just because I can do it?

"You're spouting nonsense...!"

Cough!

The Death King coughed dryly.

There was no blood, but the pain only intensified.

"... Let go...!"

He screamed.

For the record, all I did was place my hand on his forehead—I wasn't grabbing anything.

At least, not physically. What I was holding here was—

'Soul.'

His very soul. Along with the collar of the god hiding within.

"Exactly."

My irritation spiked.

"Why fire a death curse for no reason? Why go through all this just to mess with someone, even if it turns you into this wreck?"

He hadn't fired at me—he'd shot the death curse at Heavenly Insight. What was it all for?

"Talk. Now."

Time's running out.

"If you don't, your god dies here."

I was well and truly pissed off.

"... Killing a god?"

He clearly didn't believe me.

But right now, the god within him was probably screaming its head off.

Then again—

'A god is an undying thing.'

Immortal.

Once they become gods, they ascend to a higher level of existence, living forever.

Upon enlightenment, they become something quite different from humans—so you could say they're far from death.

But that didn't mean they were truly immortal.

"Gods are no different. Get rid of them the same way you'd exorcise an evil spirit. Do you think just reaching enlightenment would wash away all their karma?"

Banishing a god-or letting it pass on—depends on erasing its karma and lingering regrets.

Enlightenment is closer to oblivion.

It's about forgetting and leaving things behind, not truly losing them.

Even if you erase something from inside you, that doesn't mean it's truly gone.

Just because you forget, doesn't mean the memory has disappeared.

'That's why I hate gods.'

They forget what they've done and assume they're noble. How tragic and pitiful is that?

Skrrrrrk.

As I channeled ki through my fingertips, the Death King's body shuddered violently.

"Kuh... Uhh..."

"Touch their karma, and both humans and gods shrivel up. Isn't it simple? The god you worship is no exception."

"... How... can a mere human...?"

"I'm not 'mere'."

I laughed. His words were just ridiculous.

"It's because I'm human. We're the ones able to accumulate karma as we live."

I could sense the god. Its screams echoed through my fingertips. If I loosened the loop just a little more—

'I could burn it away.'

I could burn his god out. I'd never tried this in this life, but there was no reason it couldn't be done.

The fact that he'd fired a death curse at Heavenly Insight.

That irritated me so much I couldn't stand it.

Was I even that close to Heavenly Insight?

I don't think so.

I had no idea why it was bothering me so much.

Creak.

I started to undo the loop. Didn't the Death King deserve to be stepped on, at least once?

I was about to apply more pressure when—

Crack—!

"...!"

I felt it—a fracture. I halted the flow of ki.

『Get a hold of yourself.』

The Heavenly Demon's voice echoed in my head.

'... Heavenly Demon?'

『So you can finally hear this seat's voice, can you.』

'... Were you saying something?'

Had he been speaking this whole time? I hadn't heard a thing.

『Don't be seduced by the sword. Your emotions are flaring so much, you're starting to be swayed by the Divine Sword.』

Swayed by the Divine Sword?

That made me check my waistband.

The Divine Sword was just sitting there.

'What the—'

That's when I realized it.

The Divine Sword was giving off a subtle energy.

I opened my eyes wide.

'Shit.'

The energy flowing from the sword was affecting my spirit.

Was that why I'd been so harsh just now?

I immediately tried to take my hand off the Death King.

"... Young cult leader...!"

Suddenly, the Death King spoke to me.

"Young cult leader...?"

"... The Young cult leader ordered it."

My eyes narrowed.

He was saying it was the Demonic Cult's Young cult leader who ordered him to fire the death curse at Heavenly Insight?

"For you? The Young cult leader? Why?"

He'd fallen for my intimidation.

I'd already withdrawn my spiritual ki, but I pretended to still be threatening him.

"...."

He said nothing. Seeing that, I pulled up the corners of my mouth.

"If I have to rip up your god to make you talk—"

"... Normally, my master would have done this, but she can't act because of you. So I had to do it instead."

"Oh?"

The Bow Ghost had come in spirit form but was stopped, so the Death King took over?

And the Young cult leader ordered that?

'Is he telling the truth?'

I wasn't sure if it was a lie.

So I had to verify it.

'It's risky.'

The loop around his soul had a crack in it now.

Probably because I'd been overusing it lately.

Even so—

'I have to use it now.'

I had no choice.

I pushed the loop a little further.

Crackle.

With the faint sensation of a deepening fracture, I intruded into his spirit.

"... Erk!"

The Death King jerked, sensing something entering his soul. Watching him, I asked,

"Say it again. Is what you said true?"

"... Ye—yes, it's true."

There was no change in the feel of his spirit.

It was the truth.

The moment I felt that, I immediately withdrew my ki.

Thankfully, the loop didn't break.

However—

'Is that all I've got?'

If I use it one more time, the seal will snap. I could sense it.

"... The Young cult leader ordered you to fire the death curse, huh. Why?"

"I don't know the reason... This was just a transaction."

"A transaction? What did you exchange?"

"...."

"It's a geumje, isn't it."

He didn't answer—that meant it was a geumje. I wondered if unsealing it would get me a different answer, but...

'I don't have the leeway to undo a geumje.'

I had to let this go. My martial force alone couldn't break it, and it wasn't a moment to use something else.

'I'll have to do something different.'

Getting the reason can wait. There was something else to take care of first.

"I'll ask about the motive later. For now, I better seal your mouth."

"What?"

Creak.

"...!"

The Death King's eyes went wide as saucers.

My energy locked something inside his spirit.

I was able to do it because I'd already made contact.

"If you bring up anything that happened today, your whole spirit will explode. Or maybe saying 'crushed' is more accurate?"

I smiled sweetly.

"So."

As I spoke, I wiped the smile from my lips.

"Shut your mouth. Got it?"

The Death King's body trembled.

Even the forest swaying in the wind went silent for a moment.

* * *

After dealing with the Death King, I checked on Heavenly Insight.

Luckily, he didn't seem to have any problems.

He looked puzzled by my choices, but he didn't press it any further.

Maybe I sensed just a bit of subtle worry from him?

He already suffers from chronic headaches, but today he looked even worse.

So I told him we'd talk later, and left for now.

And then I returned to my quarters.

"... Young cult leader."

I never really believed in those talks about peace, treaties, or whatever drivel.

"That bastard."

So, he was up to something behind the scenes after all.

To think he'd fire a death curse at Heavenly Insight.

The alliance leader is a Heaven Beyond Heaven-class martial artist, so a death curse like that wouldn't get through to him.

But Heavenly Insight is old, and more like a regular person now, so it makes sense the curse would work on him.

'Son of a bitch.'

My gaze grew cold.

At the same time, I looked at the Divine Sword and suppressed my emotions.

I needed to be careful not to let what happened earlier happen again.

"So it wasn't your doing."

I asked the Heavenly Demon.

I wanted to know whether the Divine Sword's side effects were what had provoked my anger earlier.

『The Divine Sword responds to its master's emotions. It doesn't draw them out, but amplifies them—there's a difference.』

It doesn't pull them out, but magnifies them.

I'd heard this before.

『Don't be devoured by the sword. If you get bewitched by something so trivial, how could you ever reach Heaven?』

"... Heaven, my ass. Who would even want that?"

Ridiculous.

With the Young cult leader right there, what use was the Heavenly Demon?

Did this guy really expect me to lead the Demonic Cult? That's just absurd.

'I'd rather—'

Honestly, I want to screw them over if anything.

『Screw them over, you say...』

The Heavenly Demon responded to my thoughts.

『As it happens, this seat has a good idea.』

"... Hmm?"

The Heavenly Demon spoke.

『How about it, want to hear it?』

With a voice positively brimming with excitement.

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