Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 182

Weapon-Devouring Bastard – Episode 182

“Give up your achievements, and I’ll give you a reward.”

There’s no way I’d fall for such sweet talk.

Of course, it must be somewhat disconcerting for the Elder Council Head.

A mere stripling [a young, inexperienced person] daring to defy him.

How many such upstarts has the great elder of the Soongmoo Lee Clan seen?

Even when I thoroughly defeated him after the fight with the sixth son, he probably just thought it was because he underestimated me too much.

‘That’s why you keep getting beaten by me.’

Silence descended upon the assembly once more.

Lee Cheol-joong’s eyes twitched.

I continued speaking before he could say anything.

“These actions were done by ‘Lee Cheol’ as an individual, not as Lee Cheol of the Soongmoo Lee Clan.”

I looked Lee Cheol-joong directly in the eye.

“Naturally, I have no intention of handing over even a speck of what I’ve accomplished.”

“How foolish. Are you not thinking of the clan and only thinking of yourself?”

“Yes, is there a problem with that?”

I said confidently.

Everyone seemed taken aback by my words, and they began to murmur.

“Why should I think of the clan?”

“It is where you were born and raised.”

“The clan… No, let’s be honest. What has the Elder Council ever done for me? Weren’t you always busy hindering me?”

“……”

“Yet, you suddenly want to swallow what I’ve done without any effort and mention the clan. Always calling me a bastard, a bastard….”

I sneered and continued.

“It seems what I’ve brought is quite appetizing, isn’t it? Elder Council Head?”

“Your impudence reaches the heavens!”

Whoosh!

In an instant, dense mana spread throughout the conference room.

It was the Elder Council Head’s mana.

The sticky energy consumed the space, attacking me.

Despite being a figure who lived through the Great War era, he was still alive and trying to control the clan from the Soongmoo Lee Clan’s Elder Council.

It was a presence befitting him.

However.

Thud!

I scattered that presence entirely.

I didn’t just play around during my martial arts journey.

Such trivial pressure is nothing compared to what I’ve experienced.

‘He scattered it?’

The Elder Council Head’s eyes twitched.

It was because I had scattered his mana too easily.

Even if I possessed martial prowess equivalent to a Grade 3 Warrior, it was an incomprehensible level of mana manipulation.

‘Even so….’

The moment Lee Cheol-joong relaxed and tried to sneer.

Lee Cheol’s chilling voice echoed in the silence.

“I’ve had enough of holding back.”

Elder Council Head Lee Cheol-joong’s eyes twitched.

And the next moment, the Elder Council Head felt a chill run down his spine.

Thump!

A heavy energy descended.

The aura of a warrior filled with murderous intent is a weapon in itself.

But what dominated the air now was not mere murderous intent.

Kanggi Art, Crushing Pressure.

The aura heavily pressed down on the elders.

It wasn’t just a presence with physical force.

The mana of the Crushing Pressure that dominated the space even penetrated the opponent’s mana pathways, causing internal injuries.

“Cough! Ugh!”

Some of the elders with weaker martial power were coughing roughly and groaning.

‘H, how could he….’

‘Unbelievable. At the mere age of twenty….’

‘I didn’t even sense the moment he converted mana into Kanggi [a refined form of internal energy]!’

The elders were greatly shocked.

They had already seen and knew about his monstrous martial power, comparable to Lee Myung-jung, the first son, but experiencing it directly was beyond measure.

They tried to forcibly raise their mana to release the descending pressure, but they couldn’t easily release it.

An absurd amount of mana, coupled with mana manipulation.

“……”

Not all the elders were subdued by Lee Cheol’s presence.

Notably, there was Lee Baek-cheol, the Training Commander praised as the Royal Bow.

However, Lee Baek-cheol, including the elders who were strong enough not to be subdued by Lee Cheol’s presence in the first place, knew that there was nothing wrong with Lee Cheol’s words.

And that these actions of Lee Cheol were most suitable for the Soongmoo Lee Clan.

Thud! Thud!

At that moment, the bodyguards protecting the Central Council Head entered.

I didn’t turn my gaze to them and said.

“Do not cross that threshold. This is an order from a direct descendant who has completed the martial arts journey.”

Flinch!

The bodyguards flinched and froze as soon as they received Lee Cheol’s presence.

“This is a matter between the elders and me, a direct descendant of the Soongmoo Lee Clan. If you enter, I will not stand idly by.”

At my command, the bodyguards hesitated, confused.

I slowly turned my head and looked at the elders.

“I have shown the elders respect as elders until now. But the elders are not showing me the behavior of elders.”

Lee Cheol-joong glared at me with distorted eyes.

I didn’t avoid his gaze.

“If the elders are greedy for what I have accomplished and want to take it….”

The elders who couldn’t withstand the pressure, the elders who resisted the pressure, the elders who didn’t even change in my presence.

I took all those elders into my eyes one by one, and finally, I met the eyes of Lee Cheol-joong, whose face was distorted.

“…Use every means you can mobilize, as befitting the Soongmoo Lee Clan, to take it away. However, at that time, I, as a member of the Lee Clan, will abandon all respect for the elders of the clan and consider you as enemies.”

It was practically a declaration of war.

Even so, I was confident.

The elders of the clan? The Elder Council?

I will respect them.

But only up to that point.

I have been living in a crouched position until now.

Now I have power and influence.

There’s no way I would act while measuring everything here.

Before the martial arts journey, I lacked strength and influence, but now I have filled that deficiency.

Now, there’s no need to go into the laid-out game and overturn it with strategy.

I will crush them with force.

And if they attack, they will have to risk their lives.

That is what I declared.

After finishing my words, I slowly withdrew the Crushing Pressure.

“Hah!”

Only after the aura that penetrated their bodies dissipated did the elders regain their senses and begin to catch their breath.

‘A, at that age… Is that even possible….’

‘Unbelievable. Unbelievable….’

The elders trembled, meeting Lee Cheol’s coldly hardened eyes.

And.

“Gasp!”

“Hiss!”

Like prey in front of a predator.

The elders began to lower their heads one by one.

‘There’s something about that child.’

‘I, I might die.’

‘He’s a child we can’t handle. We have to yield….’

The Crushing Pressure had already been withdrawn.

Even so, the elders were overwhelmed by the presence the moment they met Lee Cheol’s gaze.

They couldn’t even recall Lee Cheol’s arrogance, the disregard for his being a bastard, or the anger at the current situation.

Unable to think of anything, they simply lowered their heads according to their instincts.

It was then.

“Hahaha!”

Laughter erupted from one side.

It was Royal Bow, Uncle Lee Baek-cheol.

“An impudent fellow. I like him. I’ve been hearing stories about him, so I was interested, but this is more interesting than I imagined?”

Uncle Lee Baek-cheol burst into laughter and stared intently at me.

“He’s a bit impudent, but that’s what makes him a Soongmoo Lee. If he were to hand over what he risked his life to accomplish when asked to hand it over, he wouldn’t deserve to have the Lee surname! Isn’t that right? Elder Council Head?”

“……”

The Elder Council Head frowned without saying a word, and Uncle Lee Baek-cheol gave me an intense look.

‘Why is that person suddenly like that again?’

I wore a sullen expression.

In any case, my uncle’s laughter appropriately broke the atmosphere.

An ambiguous silence lingered in the assembly.

It was then.

Whoosh!

Someone appeared from the darkness.

It was the Sword Shadow Unit, the special forces directly under the Clan Head, dressed in all black.

The Sword Shadow Unit member whispered something to the Elder Council Head.

The Elder Council Head’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, and he clicked his tongue, looking at me.

“…Lee Cheol.”

“I’m listening.”

“The Clan Head summons you. Go to the closed training ground immediately.”

I nodded.

“Yes, I will.”

And before turning around, I looked at the elders once more, opened my mouth with a sneer.

“I will leave the documents I brought behind, but I will take all the other evidence with me.”

“……!”

“And if you want to hear more details, come and find me directly next time instead of summoning me.”

Only then did I turn around and walk out.

The elders’ expressions were distorted.

But I didn’t care and didn’t pay attention.

I left the assembly hall with a confident gait.

* * *

As I walked out of the Central Council Hall, I felt a presence following me.

I sensed it rushing towards me, but I deliberately didn’t avoid it.

“Hey, you rascal!”

“Uncle.”

I smiled and looked at the man who put his arm around my shoulder.

It was Uncle Lee Tae-hong.

My uncle didn’t care about his dignity and burst into loud laughter.

“Hahaha! Good to see you! Good to see you! Ugh! Ten years of indigestion… no, what am I saying, all the indigestion accumulated in my life is going down!”

“It’s been a while. I missed you, Uncle.”

“Me too. You’ve grown up so well, really!”

My uncle ruffled my hair.

Then, as if unable to contain his overflowing emotions, he patted my back hard.

“I didn’t particularly want to sit in that seat, but I was worried about you, so I sat there. Haha! All that worry was completely useless.”

My uncle smiled broadly.

Then he looked at Lee Cheol, who had now become a fine young man.

Now taller than himself, standing at nearly 190 centimeters [approximately 6’3″], with a solidly trained body, and even a straight and confident gaze.

“Have you been well, Uncle?”

“Well, what else would I be? Always living by working overtime, as always.”

“Kyung-cheol will want to see you, Uncle.”

He was referring to Lee Kyung-cheol, my uncle’s youngest son, born late in life.

“Haha, this rascal is all grown up now and cares about his cousin. I’ll take care of my family, so don’t worry.”

My uncle soon coughed softly and continued in a subtle tone.

“More than that… you must have felt relieved, but will you be okay? They’re still elders, after all. I know you’ve become much stronger, but weren’t you a bit too reckless? Those old men will never forget this.”

The Elder Council, a massive vested interest group.

“I’m fine. I know that not all of them are rejecting me.”

“That’s true. Rather, now that you’ve proven your martial power and demonstrated your strength with the Black Turtle Association and corporations, they will see you differently. Even if you are a bastard.”

The older elders would reject him simply because he was a bastard, but the relatively younger elders seemed to look more at his abilities.

However, they were not high-ranking elders in the first place, and their voices in the Elder Council were not very loud.

“But the Elder Council Head’s people won’t be. Those stubborn guys will only see you in a bad light.”

“I’m fine. I’d rather they did. It would give me a reason.”

Lee Tae-hong stopped breathing for a moment.

“…What are you thinking?”

“I learned that the Lee Clan’s bloodline takes blood from its enemies.”

They are the ones who ignore me because I am a bastard and try to intimidate me.

In other words, they are enemies.

It’s not my way to just wait for the enemies to do something, block it, and then prepare for retaliation.

“And I’ve made some preparations of my own, so don’t worry.”

“Preparations?”

“I’ve done some research on the elders.”

I smiled.

“There are quite a few people with shady backgrounds. It won’t be enough to put a leash on them, but it will be enough to put pressure on them, at least.”

Even though I was active outside the clan, there’s no way I wouldn’t have made any preparations for clan affairs.

I had already asked the Black Turtle Association to do a few things over a long period.

Since it was information related to the elders, it was quite difficult to gather, but there was someone among my ‘allies’ who was already gathering such information, so I targeted that person.

‘I need to talk to my little brother too… Well, I’ll have time someday.’

Of course, that ally is Gold Sword, Brother Lee Jae-hak.

I obtained the information by giving up shares in the Mirenae Village’s goods and some of the businesses under his command that were recently making a lot of money.

“…Really?”

“Yes, and since the value of what I brought during the martial arts journey is certain, they won’t think of doing anything to me right away.”

My uncle’s eyes were full of worry.

A look as if he wanted to stop me.

But my uncle soon shone his eyes strongly and said.

“I won’t stop you. I won’t even worry. Because you will walk a different path from me. Do well as you intend.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“But don’t forget that I’m always on your side. Do you understand?”

My uncle grabbed my shoulder tightly and said.

I could tell how much determination my uncle had when he said these words.

“Don’t worry, I’ll destroy the dirt on you, Uncle. We’re family, after all, would I use that?”

My uncle’s eyes widened at my words.

“You rascal! That’s not what I meant! Besides, I’m someone who wouldn’t have any dust even if you shook me! What dirt!”

“Hahaha!”

Of course, it was a joke.

In the first place, I didn’t ask the Black Turtle Association, and I knew that my uncle wasn’t that kind of person.

“Ahem! By the way, Cheol… you wouldn’t have already made a hit list or anything like that….”

I just smiled at my uncle.

Lee Tae-hong felt a chill run down his spine and shut his mouth tightly.

“Um….”

I wanted to talk a little more, but I soon felt a presence around me.

It was the presence of a Sword Shadow Unit member.

He was deliberately revealing his presence to me, urging me to hurry.

“I’d like to talk to you a little more, Uncle….”

“Ah, that’s right. Go quickly. The Clan Head specifically called you while he was in closed-door training. There must be something important to talk about.”

“Yes, I understand. Then I’ll see you next time.”

I said goodbye to my uncle and headed to my father.

‘I’m being called around a lot.’

I have to meet my nanny, aunt, and the cadets of the training corps.

Anyway.

“Hoo.”

I took a short breath and shook off the somewhat heightened emotions.

Meeting the elders was not a big deal.

Meeting my father will be the biggest mountain I have to face after returning to the clan.