Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 407

“Hah… Hah…”

How long had he been running?

He had run mindlessly, losing track of distance and time. He had memorized almost all of Guangdong’s geography, but in his haste, he couldn’t even figure out where he was.

“Cough!”

Now, he had no strength left.

Ya Yul-jeok, collapsing by a stream, coughed up blood onto the ground.

The blood was dark and crimson. A foul odor mixed with the thick stench of blood rose up.

‘This…!’

Ya Yul-jeok’s eyes wavered.

Sizzle!

Faint smoke rose from the blood-soaked ground. The blood was mixed with poison.

It was fortunate that he had protected his blood vessels with the Water King Energy; if he had been even slightly careless, the poison would have spread throughout his body and killed him.

Especially this poison!

‘Death Flower Pattern!!’

The Death Flower Pattern, made from a rare poisonous plant found only in western Guangdong, was truly a deadly poison.

Even Ya Yul-jeok, who had a tolerance to most poisons, couldn’t handle it easily. The dagger that had pierced his chest was coated with that very Death Flower Pattern.

‘That bastard…!’

Fortunately, it wasn’t perfectly made. There were a few secret techniques that he, as an Yin God [a practitioner of a dark martial art], hadn’t passed down to his disciples, and one of them was the Death Flower Pattern.

To create and use a poison he hadn’t even taught, that guy was certainly something.

Whoosh!

He withdrew the Water King Energy and immediately drew up the Yin God Energy. The Yin God’s energy was much safer than the Water King’s true energy when it came to poison.

“Ugh!”

Sharp pains shot through his blood vessels. It meant that the Yin God Energy was driving out the Death Flower Pattern.

Sizzle!

Dark green smoke rose from Ya Yul-jeok’s body.

How long had it been?

“Hoo!”

Ya Yul-jeok finally let out a sigh of relief. He had completely extracted the Death Flower Pattern.

But the sacrifice was too great. He had lost thirty percent of his existing Yin God Energy in the process of extracting it along with the Death Flower Pattern.

It was a shame, but there was no other way. If he hadn’t extracted it along with his inner energy, he would have died without being able to detoxify it.

“Damn it!”

Bang!

Ya Yul-jeok’s fist smashed into the ground.

‘To not be able to kill them.’

Not being able to kill them was infuriating, but it was also the first time in a long time that he had almost died.

If he hadn’t fled, he would have died with a hundred percent certainty. He had read a terrifying determination in Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes, a determination that he would never let him go.

Ya Yul-jeok’s eyes deepened.

Was it because he had buried the Water King Energy and drawn up the Yin God Energy? His head felt much colder.

‘That guy knew us well.’

In fact, when he heard from So-bang that the guy had completely broken through the Blood Sound Palm, he was only half-convinced.

But not anymore. The guy had recognized his true energy as the Water King Energy just by seeing it, and he had even blocked all of the Water King’s Hundred Strikes with a defense technique that was half a beat faster.

It was amazing that his cultivation had improved in the life-and-death struggle, but it was even more amazing that he knew their martial arts so thoroughly.

‘Could it be… is there a spy in our sect?!’

Ya Yul-jeok shook his head without realizing it.

The probability of that was practically zero. If there was a spy, they would have known that the Evil Sound Sect had been targeting the Central Plains for a long time, but judging by the Martial Alliance’s response, that was definitely not the case.

‘Then what is it? What the hell is that guy’s identity? How does he know so much about us?’

His head was spinning.

After pondering for a while, Ya Yul-jeok shook his head.

“No. Now is not the time to worry about that.”

The important thing was that he had been defeated, and that there was a possibility that the main base had also been attacked.

He had to find that out first. If the main base had really fallen into the enemy’s hands, things would become very complicated.

‘It could just be a lie to shake me up. Even if it’s not, there’s a high probability that they were annihilated by the traps I set up.’

Ya Yul-jeok took out a small pill from his pocket.

It would have been great if it was a spirit pill like the Yin Essence Pill, but it wasn’t that good. However, it was a medicine that was especially effective in quickly healing internal injuries and restoring inner energy.

Ya Yul-jeok ate the spirit pill and meditated for half a day. He knew that it was better to heal his body first than to move hastily without proper treatment.

The next day.

Ya Yul-jeok, who had entered a city near the Guangdong Dragon Gate, immediately summoned an informant.

Swoosh.

In a dark alley, a young man wearing a hood knelt before Ya Yul-jeok.

“I greet the Night Lord.”

Ya Yul-jeok’s eyes deepened.

He had noticed that the guy’s voice was trembling slightly. Even though he was an assassin who had been thoroughly trained not to let his emotions waver, this kind of reaction meant that things were not going well.

“Tell me everything you know about what happened in the last two days.”

“Yes.”

A moment later.

Ya Yul-jeok’s face contorted after hearing the young man’s explanation.

“…The Night Fortress has fallen into their hands?”

“Yes, it has.”

“How? There are a thousand troops stationed there. They were the best of the best, so are you saying they’re all dead?”

“That is not the case.”

“Then?”

“Nine-tenths of the troops came down from the mountain to look for you, Night Lord.”

Ya Yul-jeok was dumbfounded.

“They came down to look for me? Who the hell gave that order?!”

“…It was you, Night Lord.”

“What, what did you say?”

“There was a request for support from you, Night Lord, in the intelligence network. The exact location is unknown, but it was a request from the northwest, so all the assassins except for the minimum force were dispatched.”

“That’s nonsense! I never requested any support… !”

Ya Yul-jeok stopped speaking.

‘Information disruption!!’

If the Martial Alliance’s mobile unit had entered Guangdong, then an intelligence unit to support them would have been dispatched as well.

‘It’s the Beggars’ Sect!’

Information disruption that could fool his assassins was impossible without the Beggars’ Sect.

The young man continued.

“However, contact was lost in the middle, so currently nine hundred assassins are waiting three hundred miles away.”

They wouldn’t be able to fool their intelligence network twice.

But whether it was the Beggars’ Sect or not, they only needed one instance of information disruption.

‘Bloodless entry. They lured most of the main base’s forces out and easily recaptured the main base…’

Ya Yul-jeok let out a hollow laugh.

‘I’ve been completely outmaneuvered.’

To think that the main base would fall into the enemy’s hands so easily.

It had been over ten years since he had reigned as the king of Guangdong. During that time, he had solidified his power and weakened the forces of the righteous martial world, but he never thought that such a day would come.

‘If the main base is in their hands… it means they didn’t fall into the trap either.’

They knew everything.

They had completely seen through how they would move. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to execute such a perfectly coordinated operation.

‘It’s that guy.’

The person Ya Yul-jeok thought of was Yeon Ho-jeong.

‘The culprit of this whole thing isn’t the Martial Alliance’s officials or the military. It’s the guy who’s directly commanding the operation on the ground who was watching everything.’

Ya Yul-jeok suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

“This monster…!!”

“Yes?”

The young man asked back, but Ya Yul-jeok couldn’t pay attention to him.

‘He’s completely insane! It’s already unbelievable that he gained that much martial arts at that age, but he’s also completely reading the enemy’s movements?’

It was terrifying.

At this point, his wit and intuition were more terrifying than his martial arts.

No matter how strong martial arts are, they end at the position of the vanguard. But those who have good intuition, are skilled in strategy, and can read the flow of the situation can aim for more than that.

Ya Yul-jeok suddenly felt his vision go dark.

‘If he really saw through all of this and responded accordingly, then he deserves to be called a god of war.’

He had heard that geniuses who defied imagination occasionally appeared in the world.

But wasn’t this too much? How could a young man who wasn’t even thirty have this much ability?

‘What should I do?’

If the main base had been occupied, then all the various spirit medicines and information documents stored there would have been seized.

Moreover, at the main base, the Night Fortress, they were raising special messenger eagles that could communicate with the Evil Sound Sect on a regular basis. Even if it wasn’t those messenger eagles, there were many ways to contact the Evil Sound Sect, but the speed of information transfer was too slow.

Ya Yul-jeok bit his lip.

‘There’s no other way. I have to infiltrate no matter what. I have to report the current situation to the main sect.’

It would be difficult to avoid responsibility for bringing things to this point. He might even be executed.

But his death was nothing. If things continued like this, he would be shitting on the history of the Evil Sound Sect.

‘One day… they’ll be searching every corner of the Night Fortress, but they won’t be able to figure out all the secret passages in just one day.’

Suddenly, Sama Hyeon came to Ya Yul-jeok’s mind.

‘If that guy joined hands with the Martial Alliance, he might have revealed the existence of the secret passages. But he also suffered a fatal injury. It would be difficult for him to regain his senses in a day or two.’

In other words, it was a race against time. He had to infiltrate the Night Fortress as soon as possible and inform the Evil Sound Sect of the situation.

Ya Yul-jeok said to the young man.

“Is there anything else noteworthy?”

“There is.”

He had expected the answer to be no. Ya Yul-jeok felt his heart drop.

“What is it? What else has happened?”

“It’s not that something has happened, but some unusual people have entered Guangdong.”

“Who?”

“People from the Shaolin side.”

“…!!”

Ya Yul-jeok’s eyes lit up.

Since the Martial Alliance had sent a mobile unit, it wasn’t strange that Shaolin monks had come as well.

Nevertheless, this matter could not be taken lightly. The name of Shaolin was that heavy.

“Among them, the Shaolin monks headed to the Night Fortress. They seemed to be acting with the mobile unit.”

“I see.”

“And the other person headed to Foshan. And we were able to confirm that person’s identity.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s Lee Cheol-gyeong, the head of the Vajra Fist Sect.”

Lee Cheol-gyeong was a rare genius fist fighter among the secular disciples of Shaolin who had been taught the secret techniques of the main temple.

Of course, he wasn’t someone who would catch Ya Yul-jeok’s eye. Even if he was a genius, he wasn’t a monster like Yeon Ho-jeong.

The important thing wasn’t Lee Cheol-gyeong, but Foshan.

‘Foshan… could it be?’

Ya Yul-jeok’s eyes trembled slightly.

‘Are they trying to summon unidentified masters?!’

It had only been less than half a year since he had learned that Buddhist monks were gathered in Foshan.

He had also informed the Evil Sound Sect of that fact. However, because there were also Shaolin members there, they hadn’t been able to approach properly. If they made a mistake, a major incident could occur.

The name of Shaolin was that terrifying. Even Ya Yul-jeok, who was a fanatic of the Evil Sound Sect’s power, couldn’t easily touch them.

However, if the situation was like this, things were different.

“My elite troops are waiting three hundred miles away from here?”

“Yes, they are.”

“Summon them all. Don’t leave a single one behind!”

“Where should I summon them to?”

“Call them to the Night Fortress. We will reclaim the stolen land of the king.”

The young man’s eyes lit up.

“I obey the Night Lord’s command.”

“Tell them to move as secretly as possible. They must never be discovered by the enemy. Also, contact the Dark Shadow Unit separately and order them to find and completely paralyze the enemy’s intelligence network.”

“Understood.”

Swoosh.

The young man disappeared like mist.

Ya Yul-jeok growled softly.

“We were defeated once, but there won’t be a second time. Since it has come to this, I will start a war.”