Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 414

The Mixed Battle (1)

Half a day earlier.

“In the end, they didn’t send them.”

Yayul Jeok’s eyes, observing the wilderness, gleamed fiercely.

Basically, martial artists tend to look down on assassins. Yet, they also feared their existence. Because they never knew when their necks might be cut in their sleep.

‘He’s a cautious one.’

Instead of hiding and launching a surprise attack, they openly revealed their presence, yet they didn’t send troops.

This wasn’t timidity, but caution. If they had seized the enemy’s main camp, they might have been careless, but they showed no such signs.

‘Well.’

If they had actually sent troops, they would have been suspicious countless times before engaging them.

‘Putting aside everything else, he’s a subordinate of Yeon Ho-Jeong. With his insight, he wouldn’t have arrogant men under him.’

It was rather fortunate that they didn’t send troops. It meant there was no need to engage in a battle of wits.

Yayul Jeok looked around at the assassins.

The thousand members of the Dark Emperor Corps were elite assassins, handpicked and trained by Yayul Jeok for ten years.

Except for the hundred left at the main camp, nine hundred subordinates were looking at him.

“We will launch a full-scale attack.”

The assassins didn’t answer. They merely flickered their beast-like eyes, unique to assassins.

Yayul Jeok continued calmly.

“I thank you for enduring the hellish training for the past ten years. You followed me as the Yin God, but now you have become my personal elite soldiers, working for me.”

“……”

“I will no longer live as the Yin God. And you are no longer the strongest elites under the Yin God.”

Yayul Jeok looked up at the sky.

The sky just before dawn was darker than ever. Even with the moon and stars shining, the world was filled with darkness.

Yayul Jeok shouted.

“You are proud warriors who can burn even your lives for the Yin God! From this moment on, your lives will be entrusted to the Yin God! Even if you lose your lives, your souls will live eternally in the embrace of the god!”

Surprisingly, even in front of Yayul Jeok, who spoke of the Yin, the assassins did not question him.

Rather, knowing that the time for the final battle had come, they only burned with fighting spirit. To them, Yayul Jeok was already an absolute ruler they had to follow, no matter what he was.

Yayul Jeok turned his body.

“Shake the fortress. The first squad leader and I will infiltrate through passages twenty-two and twenty-five to set off the Volcanic Great Smoke!”

Whoosh!

Starting with Yayul Jeok’s sprint, nine hundred assassins moved simultaneously.

It was a chilling sight.

Nearly a thousand people moving towards a single goal. Regardless of the purpose, it should have been a magnificent sight, but strangely, it felt eerie.

It was because of the silence.

Nine hundred people, moving at tremendous speed, yet there was no sound of wind. No sound of footsteps. No sound of clothes rustling.

Only assassins in the world could move at this speed without making a sound.

They were beings who silently approached, changed life into death, and disappeared.

That’s why people feared and despised assassins, hated them, yet tried to study them.

Flash!

Yayul Jeok’s gaze, piercing through the darkness, reached the wilderness.

‘They’re on guard.’

Even Yayul Jeok couldn’t check every single watchtower of the wilderness from this far away.

However, the wilderness was a terrifying fortress created by the best architects and masters of mechanical formations in the world. If this fortress was properly utilized, it could easily withstand a siege by forces more than twenty times larger.

‘That’s a relief.’

On the surface, the wilderness might seem like a somewhat difficult fortress to attack. But for those who knew the fortress well, it transformed into an absolute stronghold.

Fortunately, the Yugun unit of the Martial Alliance that occupied the wilderness had no knowledge of the fortress. If so, those who knew the secret passages and characteristics of the wilderness well could break through with less than twice the forces.

Of course, Yayul Jeok had no intention of breaking through head-on.

‘It’s enough to induce chaos.’

Even if all the members of the Dark Emperor Corps were to lose their lives, it would be enough if either he or one of the squad leaders infiltrated, set off the Volcanic Great Smoke, and reported the current situation to the Yin God Sect. [Yin God Sect is a fictional cult]

After all, they were men he had raised as warriors who could throw away their lives like trash for the sake of the Yin. The time of their death had come sooner than expected, but they were lives that could be burned at any time.

And that was the same for him.

Whoosh!

Yayul Jeok and the Dark Emperor Corps quickly closed the distance.

When the distance to the wilderness was about seven li [approximately 2.1 miles], Yayul Jeok raised his hand.

Swoosh!

Yayul Jeok and the first squad leader broke away to the left at the front.

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

From that moment, the Dark Emperor Corps openly revealed their presence.

Rumble! Rumble!

Even releasing their stealth techniques and running lightly, their feet felt heavy, and their whole bodies were full of power. As they weren’t wasting their energy unnecessarily, the eyes of the Dark Emperor Corps members, which had been full of murderous intent, now glowed with a strong vitality.

They charged not as assassins, but as soldiers running for a siege. The mountains were shaking.

It was then.

‘……?!’

Yayul Jeok, who was about to enter the narrow gap between the rocks, passage twenty-two, suddenly flinched.

Whoosh!

From the walls of the wilderness, tremendous flames soared.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t just the front. Huge flames were rising from all the walls surrounding the wilderness.

Yayul Jeok’s eyes wavered.

‘What is this?’

Why suddenly set fire?

Of course, it wasn’t impossible to set fire. There were hundreds of oil barrels inside the wilderness, and plenty of well-dried wood was piled up.

However, the question was why they had set fire. Seeing that the flames rose at the same time as they revealed their presence, it seemed they had been on high alert. But why set fire?

‘It would have been understandable if they had shot fire arrows, but they set fire to prevent even themselves from approaching? Why?’

Yayul Jeok, who had been staring at the walls, soon dismissed the thought.

‘Whatever it is, the battle will happen. I just need to do my job.’

However, after a while, he realized that the situation was not going as smoothly as he had thought.

Thud!

When they had broken through a third of the secret passage, an unusual roar and tremor occurred on the ground.

The roar and impact were so terrifying that even the ceiling of the passage, which he was sure wouldn’t collapse even in an earthquake, was showering down with stone dust.

“Wh-what is it?”

Yayul Jeok was a master. However, in an underground passage blocked on all sides, he couldn’t figure out what was happening on the ground.

‘What on earth is going on?’

Were the Dark Emperor Corps breaking down the walls of the wilderness?

That couldn’t be. The Dark Emperor Corps knew well how strong the walls and gates of the wilderness were.

Of course, they could break them if they wanted to, but it wasn’t a rational tactic. All the members of the Dark Emperor Corps would try to climb the walls using their claw hands, etc., and wouldn’t think of breaking them down and charging in.

Then what was it?

Kugugugugung!

This impact was much stronger.

For a moment, Yayul Jeok felt fear. He was worried that the entire passage might collapse.

No matter how skilled a master was, they would be helpless if the underground foundation collapsed.

‘Something’s not right.’

Yayul Jeok felt uneasy.

If the source of this shockwave was from the wall, he would have been less anxious. Since he was moving with the assumption that most of the Dark Emperor Corps members would die anyway, there was nothing to be surprised about, no matter what happened.

But if the source of this shockwave was inside the fortress, the situation was different.

‘It’s subtle… but judging from the flow of air and the distance, it’s clear that the shockwave originated from inside the fortress, not the walls.’

In an instant, Yayul Jeok’s eyes flashed.

‘Could it be that these guys!!’

Whoosh!

Yayul Jeok, who had crossed the passage at tremendous speed, opened a door and went up. It was a door installed in the middle of the passage that led to the outside of the fortress.

Clunk!

When Yayul Jeok opened the door and came out to the ground, he instantly felt his entire face burning.

Whoosh!

The entire fortress was on fire.

Those crazy bastards were pouring oil not only on the walls but also on the outer surface of the walls. They were planning to turn the fortress itself into a fortress of fire, trying to prevent the Dark Emperor Corps from even climbing the fortress in the first place.

But Yayul Jeok thought that wasn’t their real purpose.

It had to be. Setting fire to the outer walls of the fortress was a seemingly brutal tactic, but there was no unlimited supply of oil barrels. Moreover, considering the width of the walls, it would be difficult to last even half a day, let alone a full day.

Then why?!

Thud! Thud! Rumble!

At that moment, a tremendous impact occurred inside the wilderness.

It wasn’t a fire bomb exploding. It was the sound of something being destroyed with tremendous internal energy.

Crash! Rumble! Crrrruuuumble!

As if they had planned it, the entire wilderness was shaking.

“These guys… these crazy bastards, could it be!!”

The wilderness was being destroyed.

Not by an external attack, but by an internal one.

‘They’re launching an indiscriminate attack!!’

That’s right.

The Yugun unit of the Martial Alliance that had occupied the wilderness was turning the inside of the fortress into a wasteland.

This changed the situation. Yayul Jeok had planned to detonate the Volcanic Great Smoke inside the wilderness and send a spirit messenger bird directly to the Yin God Sect’s main camp.

But what if they destroyed the entire inside of the wilderness?

The trigger of the Volcanic Great Smoke wouldn’t break with just any impact. But there were supreme masters there. Not only Moyong Gun, who was considered one of the best late-stage masters in the world along with the Myeolsa General Yeon Ho-Jeong, but also a Shaolin monk.

What if they accidentally broke the trigger of the Volcanic Great Smoke? What if they harmed the spirit messenger bird?

“No!”

Whoosh!

Yayul Jeok, who had planned to infiltrate secretly by inducing chaos, achieve his goal, and then escape, had to completely revise his plan. As things had turned out this way, he had to succeed in his mission, even if it meant death.

Tap tap tap!

Yayul Jeok, who had quickly re-entered the passage and ran, finally reached the door that led to the armory inside the wilderness.

Clunk!

As he opened the door, the shockwave that rushed in made his senses dizzy for a moment.

Soon, Yayul Jeok’s eyes gleamed.

He could see the vermin who were destroying the building, having gathered all his strength in his eyes.

Whoosh!

Yayul Jeok’s hand blade, which had charged in at a terrifying speed, instantly severed the necks of about ten Tangma soldiers. [Tangma is a fictional martial arts clan]

Splatter!

The building’s collapse was delayed as blood splattered.

It was then.

Thud!

If he hadn’t instinctively dodged, one of his arms would have been blown away.

It was a palm technique of truly tremendous power. Beyond the level of enlightenment, the power of the martial art itself was supreme.

Yayul Jeok turned his head.

There, a middle-aged monk, emitting golden subjugation energy like flames, was rushing towards him with the Vajra Immovable Body technique. [Vajra Immovable Body is a fictional martial arts technique]

It was Beomoh.

“Amitabha!”

Uuuuuuuuuung!

‘Tch!’

Yayul Jeok’s face contorted.

A voice that shook his head along with the sound of a bell, it was the Buddhist Lion’s Roar. [Buddhist Lion’s Roar is a fictional martial arts technique] The best sound technique of Buddhism, which was said to eliminate all evil, delayed Yayul Jeok’s reaction by a beat.

Thud!

And there, Moyong Gun, wielding the Tangma Greatsword, appeared.

“You’ve come at the right time, you lackey of the Yin God Sect.”