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SSS-Class Suicide Hunter (Web Novel) - Chapter 280: Final Vote (1)
Chapter 280: Final Vote (1)
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Translator/Editor: Ryuu
Inevitably, the Demonic Heavenly God Art is a demonic technique.
Clang!
Namgung Woon, Head of the Martial Alliance, mocked us as mere cultists. My master did not retort. Now, Viper, claiming to be a descendant of the Orthodox Faction, uttered the same mockery, but I too did not argue. I just smiled in response.
Clang!
We all know.
Those who blindly use the sword without knowing are mere novices who have just stepped into the world, those who wield the sword to know are intermediates, and those who hold the sword despite and because they know, are the masters.
We all know.
Clang!
That there are people in this world who, despite their difficult lives, manage to find small joys, enduring yesterday's pain and today's fatigue, surviving in their everyday life.
Clang!
They sometimes say they want to die or kill, but their murderous intent has not yet led to actual killing. They sometimes cry out in hardship, but their cries have not yet turned into screams.
Even if their happiness does not fully reach life, ending merely in an hour, half a day, a day’s worth of joy.
I know there are numerous such people enduring everyday life in this world.
Clang!
Demonic Heaven cannot soothe those small joys.
The small and pretty flowers, the people of Red Dust I want to love, comfort, and kiss, are too many for the busy sky of Demonic Heaven to embrace.
Still in this world.
Clang!
There are too many screaming in this world,
Clang!
Too many eyes looking up to the heavens in hatred, bleeding.
Clang!
Those who starved to death, those who died dried up without water, those who couldn't escape the deep sea and were buried in water, those who had no place to run and froze surrounded by snowstorms, those who were bitten by poison and fell to the ground without even a chance to utter their last words, those whose limbs were gnawed away by illness with no means to cope, those beaten to death, those who burned to death, those who took their own lives.
Clang!
There are many.
Clang!
"That's right! Too many! Still, still, there are still too many things!”
Clang!
"Look, Celestial Martial Guild Master! If you still have one eye left, look!”
Clang!
"Do you really think all these countless screams will be subdued by the happiness you bring?”
Demonic Heavenly God Art.
The Fourth Form.
Sword of Frostbitten Death.
I swung my sword, which Viper barely, narrowly blocked. But blocking it was not the end. I had not only [The Idol Sword] but also [The Pity Sword], [The Prayer Sword], [The Sacrifice Sword], [The Salvation Sword], casting shadows, flying around from all directions. Swish! Swoosh! The demon swords rushed in, turning their blades whenever Viper showed an opening.
“Damn, shit, foot!”
Clang!
Viper, with almost miraculous movements, knocked away [The Pity Sword] aiming for his neck. But it wasn’t perfect. The blade grazed his neck, and whoosh! A stream of blood spurted out.
“Heh, huff. Huh, haaaaaaa…… huff, huh, hoo, hooo…”
Viper staggered.
But even while staggering, he tightly gripped the swords in his hands.
"......."
He's already a wreck.
Though he kept talking nonstop as if nothing was wrong, there seemed to be no part of his body left unscathed. Viper was covered in wounds.
Without a superhuman will, he would have fallen twice over by now.
“Ha."
That’s why I smiled.
“Celestial Martial Guild Master. That's why you can't defeat me. Do you understand? Even if you continue to fight for a hundred, a thousand years, you can never defeat our Demonic Heaven.”
“That’s… probably true.”
“You had the audacity to recite the phrase from The Great Orthodox-Demonic War and call me the Heavenly Demon, a fight already concluded with the Demonic Cult’s victory. And yet you still claim it’s not over and challenge me to a duel. I secretly expected something that could captivate me, if not a heaven-tearing move, at least a martial art from someone who has committed such audacity and rudeness.”
“I am doing it…”
Viper breathed heavily.
His wounds and bleeding ate away half of his breath, making his words sound faint.
"What?"
“I am, already, doing it…”
“What do you mean?”
‘One.'
Click.
Holding the sword hilt tightly with both hands, Viper straightened up.
As he slightly lifted his stooped posture, Viper’s single eye became visible.
“Me, right now. I'm working. 2nd Heavenly Demon, you jerk.”
"......."
Viper’s eye was fiercely blazing.
“Working…”
“A job is also a karma. It’s fate. Weighing down on life, even though I wonder how I ended up here, it’s the karma clinging to me. There are so many jobs in this world, and each profession has its own fucking karma. Kim Gong-Ja.”
“Yes."
“What do you think my job is?”
I frowned.
“Your job is being the Celestial Martial Guild Master.”
“Right. But that’s more of a side job. You're nominally the Vice-Guild Master of the 5 great guilds, but your real job is being the Heavenly Demon, right? Or maybe the Family Head of that King of Death Family or something. Huh? Recently, I've got a new job. Do you know what it is?”
"......"
“It’s to endure you.”
For a moment, I couldn’t comprehend his words.
“…What?”
“Enduring you. Enduring the existence called the Heavenly Demon. That's the job I chose.”
Viper readied himself, holding the sword hilt.
There was not a single part of his body – ankles, thighs, waist, back, neck – that wasn’t wounded.
Yet, the way Viper stood on his two legs was firm, and the way he held the sword was orderly.
“How about that? Interesting, isn’t it?”
"What on earth..."
“As you say, Kim Gong-Ja. There are too many grievances in the world. Too many silent screams buried. As long as these sounds echo, the heavens will be a faded Demonic Heaven, and you, swinging your sword under it, will continue to be the Heavenly Demon. But, you see… However…”
Tat. Grains of soil shattered.
Stepping on the ground, Viper charged towards me.
“There are plenty of people who endure life’s hardships!!”
Clang!
I controlled [The Sacrifice Sword] to block Viper’s breakthrough. Even though [The Sacrifice Sword] was a shadow sword not made of steel, when the two swords crossed, a sharp metallic sound rang out.
Viper plunged in.
“There are people who starved to death! Yes! I know! There are so many unfairly dead people, I know! It’s sad. Sometimes it brings tears. But, Kim Gong-Ja! Regardless of whatever damned deaths occurred last night, we must carry our karma and head out again today! Do you understand!”
I summoned another demon sword.
Demonic Heavenly God Art.
The Fifth Form.
Sword of Noxious Death.
[The Prayer Sword] swiftly exploited Viper's vulnerability. Whoosh! Blood gushed from the back of his right hand. Gagging, Viper groaned. He cursed. But his hand gripping the sword didn’t even flinch.
“I can't just keep crying!”
Clang!
With a steady hand that did not flinch, Viper swung his sword.
“The weight of a day is heavy! So heavy that sometimes it feels suffocating! My heart pounds before starting the day, wondering if I can endure today, and even after finishing work, it gets crushed thinking about tomorrow's work! Do you understand! My heart is choked, beaten, and crushed every day, it’s tight even to spare a place in my heart to cry for you guys!”
Clang!
“I'm sorry!”
Clang!
“Sorry for being born in this world, for not being able to live a day without shouldering karma, for having to earn each day's living. Damn you, Demonic Cult! I'm sorry! I'm truly sorry!”
Clang!
“So, stop blaming us!”
Clang!
“How long should we keep apologizing?”
"......."
“Until there's no one left screaming out in hunger? Until that day comes? Shall we apologize until then? Shall I throw away the karma I'm bearing now, plunge into your Demonic Heaven, follow your doctrine, and strive until not a single person dies of hunger?”
"......."
“It's tough.”
"......."
“I don’t have the strength. I don’t have the courage. Right now, the only thing securing my daily bread is this hammer in my hand. I've just gotten used to hammering to make ends meet. All I know is this much thievery, barely surviving with it. I can't drop everything and run to the place where your screams are heard.”
“Every day is filthy, Heavenly Demon. It's unbearably hard.”
Viper swung his sword.
Clang!
“I once helped a farmer with his work. It was the season when the wheat fields rippled like gold in the distance, with golden grains on every ear of wheat. But then we heard a typhoon was coming.”
Clang!
“Preparations and responses were useless. We had to abandon the swept-away wheat and threw only a few saved stalks into the barn. Those few stalks rolling around in the barn were the entire fortune the family had to survive the year. But it’s a relief, right? At least we saved something. The farmer smiled awkwardly... Then we heard from the neighboring village. An old couple who couldn't evacuate in time were swept away by the typhoon, crushed to death under their own roof.”
Clang!
“It's sad."
Clang!
“How can it not be sad when people die unjustly? We help when we can. There are times when tears come. But......"
Clang!
“We still have to work.”
Clang!
“Go to the forge, to the fields, to the bank, to the mines, linking yesterday and today just like yesterday, and today like today, barely connecting to tomorrow, fearing when it will end, we immerse ourselves in this karma.”
Finally.
There was a gap.
Avoiding my swung sword, Viper stepped back, creating distance. I didn’t pursue him. Naturally, a small clearing formed between Viper and me.
"......."
"......."
Many people were watching our duel.
Black Dragon Witch, Sword Saint, Heretic Inquisitor, Countess, Paladin, and Vampires, Pure Humans, Mountain Calamity Tribe, Fairy Tribe, Gill Fish Tribe* who had followed their parents. The tribes enjoying the festival across the jungle had now quietly turned to watch the duel of the two warriors.
*The Gill Fish Tribe is being renamed to Gill Fish Tribe. Apparently the hanja in my version of the korean source text was a mistake and the author fixed it later on.
Ester and Uburka. A thousand followers of mine, too.
Their silence was denser than the quiet of the forest.
“Kim Gong-Ja......"
Viper's breath was terribly disordered.
He struggled several times with my name, mixing it with gasps and heavy breaths.
But he finally pronounced my name correctly.
"Heavenly Demon."
"......."
“Your existence threatens us.”
I…
Gripped the hilt of the Holy Sword tightly.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. We... we lack even the tears to shed for ourselves. It's tough. There are so many who've never cried for themselves. They don't die even when they want to, don't cry even when they want to. Just... because they need to survive. But... because of you, we have to shed tears even for strangers we don’t know.”
"......."
“Fine. Initially, it can be good. It’s a tragedy that could happen to us too... they are just like us. But, we can’t keep crying forever. It’s hard to continue crying. We, the people,”
Are.
“Busy with work.”
"......."
“We drink to catch our breath, play, dance, walk the streets, smile foolishly at the seasons turning red... That’s the happiness we're barely clinging to, not to die. How precious that happiness is.”
Viper pointed his sword at me.
“Don’t ruin that happiness.”
“When you come, the world becomes chaotic. Heavenly Demon.”
I remained silent.
‘That is true.’
And I understood.
‘That's how one falls into demonic obsession.’
When I see people ignoring the death of a person here, Demonic Heaven's blood boils.
When I see people just passing by where someone died here, Demonic Heaven's fangs sharpen.
When people ignore it, pretend they don't know, later claim they really didn't know, and finally show sympathy, saying, 'Was there really such an incident?' - when I see such people, Demonic Heaven's eyes turn red.
Even though I know they are all ordinary humans.
‘I want to kill them all.’
Murderous Intent arises.
There was a time when my master fell into demonic obsession. Then, with a bright smile, my master slaughtered all the humans in sight.
-Ho ho. Are these the Orthodox warriors who came to assassinate the master?
-Good. Come at me. Let's share our swords.
Because Demonic Heavenly God Art is demonic to the bone.
Ignoring screams makes one a bystander, not helping death makes one an abandoner, making no one in this world unrelated to the screams and deaths, slaughtering and killing every human.
That danger, that possibility, is always there.
“…Still.”
I opened my lips.
“I can't stop. No, I won’t stop. If there are forgotten screams out there, I will collect them. And I will tell those who didn't hear those screams.”
“To make them feel guilty?”
“To make them see the world.”
I said.
“This is the world.”
Four shadows encircled me as if guarding me.
[The Salvation], [The Sacrifice], [The Prayer], [The Pity] surrounded me.
“So, ascend the tower with me.”
Ester, the family Advisor, stood behind me.
Uburka, the Chief Warrior, crossed his arms, and Kim Yul, the Shadow, leaned against a tree.
A thousand followers also hid in the forest shadows, forming a formation.
"......."
Slowly.
Viper curled his lips.
“I'll be your spectator, Heavenly Demon.”
And he said.
“When your Demonic Heaven becomes too vast to caress the little petals, I'll block your path and point out that there's a blossom here.”
"......."
“When you draw your sword to scream in this world, I'll judge and advise whether the people living there can still bear those screams, whether they have the strength left, whether your screams in their oppressed lives will become an additional burden, whether you should wield the sword of Demonic Heaven now, what reasons there are not to. All of it.”
Viper.
“I'll always be by your side, working. As a representative of mortals. I may not become the protagonist or even a main character following the protagonist. But if the day comes when you fall into demonic obsession and dye the world red.”
Celestial Martial Guild Master.
“I will be right beside you to strike at your neck.”
Liǎofàn.
“That’s when I finally defeat you. Understand? No need to hurry. Until the day you lose... until you're devoured by the Demonic Heaven. It’s enough just to watch you from your side.”
Liǎofàn smiled.
“Kim Gong-Ja. I'll make you my karma.”
The last warrior of the Orthodox Path left by the snowfield pointed his sword.
“See if I'm qualified for that, test me all you want.”
