Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 524

“Hmm?”

Hwang Seok-tae turned his head.

‘Is that Yeon Ho-jeong?’

There was a faint aura spreading from the distance.

It was Yeon Ho-jeong and Paeyul. It seemed they had just come from a battle, as their energy was much more intense than usual.

‘He came back alive.’

Hwang Seok-tae nodded inwardly, but then felt a moment of doubt.

‘Who did he bring with him?’

He felt the remnants of an unpleasant fiery energy. Within that fire, a somewhat precarious life force was dormant.

It was a master who had cultivated the Scorching Yang Art. He could tell just from the energy.

A moment later.

Chiriring! Chiririring!

“Is everyone resting well?”

Hwang Seok-tae couldn’t open his mouth at Yeon Ho-jeong’s greeting.

It wasn’t just him. The entire Ironclad Unit was staring at Yeon Ho-jeong with their mouths agape.

Paeyul smacked his lips.

“Are you going to rest here?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“Then I’ll rest first.”

“Please do.”

Paeyul trudged over and leaned against a large tree, closing his eyes. He seemed to have a lot on his mind.

Yeon Ho-jeong nodded inwardly.

‘He must have discovered quite a few weaknesses of the Piercing Sun Art.’

Paeyul’s Piercing Sun Art was at a level where it could be presented as the sect’s representative technique right now.

However, even well-crafted martial arts have various problems in practical application. Paeyul knew this, and now he would have to supplement it for true completion.

At that moment, Hwang Seok-tae opened his mouth.

“Is he a hostage?”

“Hmm?”

“I mean… the person you brought, all wrapped up in chains or whatever.”

“Ah, this guy?”

Yeon Ho-jeong held up the Azure Dragon Chain.

Then, Beonjak’s body, wrapped tightly in the Azure Dragon Chain, was lifted high. He had lost consciousness, his head drooping.

Hwang Seok-tae frowned.

“A Westerner?”

“He’s a warrior of the Divine Flame Church.”

“A warrior, you say…?”

“One of the Eighteen Commanders. They are the vanguard of the Divine Flame Church. This guy is the leader of the Eighteen Commanders. He was the one mobilizing troops to chase the White Blood Divine Army.”

“……!”

Only then did Hwang Seok-tae realize that this Westerner was the leader of the enemy who had driven the White Blood Divine Army to the brink.

‘Impressive.’

Hwang Seok-tae scanned Yeon Ho-jeong.

He looked a bit rough, but there were no signs of serious injury. Rather, his face was full of relief, as if he had just had a good time, which was quite different from the face of a warrior who had just been in a life-or-death battle.

‘He must have been a formidable opponent.’

Even now, in his unconscious state, the residual energy was considerable.

‘He made a supreme master, who was on the verge of the Limitless Realm, look like this….’

Of course, he couldn’t have avoided getting injured while chasing the White Blood Divine Army.

The outcome of a battle between masters is decided by a hair’s breadth. In that sense, it meant that Yeon Ho-jeong had the advantage from the start of the duel.

However, those who proclaim that a hair’s breadth is the truth do not consider the variables of a fight.

There are many cases of a general covered in blood escaping by stirring up an entire unit. High-level fights are decided by a hair’s breadth, but those high-level fights are only seen in sparring matches.

Whatever the case, the fact that Yeon Ho-jeong defeated him remains unchanged, as does the fact that the special aide of the Black Dragon Unit is an incredibly strong person.

‘What kind of guy is this?’

He had hoped he would return alive, but he never expected him to come back this unscathed. Hwang Seok-tae clicked his tongue inwardly.

“But why did you bring him? Is he a hostage?”

It was closer to asking why he didn’t just kill him. It was a statement befitting the leader of the Ironclad Unit, a unit focused on annihilation.

Yeon Ho-jeong shook his head.

“I made a deal.”

At that moment, Hwang Seok-tae’s eyes turned sharp.

“A deal?”

Making a deal with the enemy? It didn’t sound good at all.

On the other hand, Yeon Ho-jeong didn’t care at all about Hwang Seok-tae’s sharp reaction.

“It’s to get information about the other Thirteen Seats of the Sacred Heaven.”

“The other Thirteen Seats of the Sacred Heaven?”

“If you think about it a little, you’d know. Do you really think these guys made all this fuss just to take down the White Blood Divine Army?”

“……”

“Wars never break out easily. After weakening each other’s forces as much as possible, a full-scale war erupts when there is nothing left to destroy. That’s the basic principle.”

Hwang Seok-tae’s eyes flashed.

“So, you mean the Three Religions will start a war after eliminating all the Thirteen Seats of the Sacred Heaven?”

“Most likely. The masters of the Sacred Heaven are all powerful experts from beyond the heavens, each possessing the strength of a legion. Moreover, their utility is incomparable to that of ordinary troops. They are small in number, have a great advantage in logistics, and are especially mobile, acting as bombs that can appear anytime, anywhere.”

“Bombs…”

“At least, that’s how they would appear to the enemy. And it’s the same for us. We also need to weaken the Sacred Heaven forces they possess as much as possible. If we engage without such preliminary attacks, we will be in trouble from the start.”

“So, the reason you want to get information about the Thirteen Seats of the Sacred Heaven from this guy is…?”

“Whether they killed them or persuaded them, they did this before the White Blood Divine Army. It’s clear.”

Hwang Seok-tae’s eyes wavered.

“Currently, there are four neutral masters among the Sacred Heaven’s experts, not from the orthodox or unorthodox sects. If you include the Demonic Immortal who advocates the Demonic Path and the Blood Jade Demon Lord, that makes six.”

“Hmm.”

“If even half of them are swayed to their side, the situation will become uncontrollable.”

Yeon Ho-jeong sighed.

“We need to find the masters of the Sacred Heaven, especially those from the orthodox and unorthodox sects, as quickly as possible and persuade them.”

It was a bit sudden, but Hwang Seok-tae could now understand why the Vice Chief had given Yeon Ho-jeong the title of special aide, a position with such free and powerful authority.

The task Yeon Ho-jeong was assigned was something that could not be accomplished without freedom. It was a dangerous task that required the exercise of powerful authority in emergencies, which was why he was given such a title.

‘That old man.’

Hwang Seok-tae thought of Baek Seo.

Baek Seo had even coaxed him, saying that they couldn’t just put a valuable person sent by the Martial Alliance into any unit, which was unlike him.

But after knowing the truth, it was completely different.

Only the strongest unit of the Black Dragon Unit, the Dragon Fang Ironclad Unit, could protect Yeon Ho-jeong in an emergency.

The reason why Yeon Ho-jeong was given the authority to oversee training was also for that reason. In fact, Yeon Ho-jeong was an excellent leader and was knowledgeable in strategy and tactics, but he wanted to use the Ironclad Unit as much as possible to successfully complete this mission.

Was it an overinterpretation? No, it wasn’t.

The fact that he directly ordered the unit leader, himself, and the best unit, the Ironclad Unit, to be sent on this mission was proof of that.

It would have been more stable to send three or four more Ironclad Battalions instead of the unit leader, but the fact that he specifically pointed out the unit leader meant that he wanted him to directly realize how difficult and serious the upcoming mission was.

‘In the end.’

Hwang Seok-tae stared at Yeon Ho-jeong.

‘This guy is really in charge of a mission that could sway the tide of this war.’

Yeon Ho-jeong tilted his head.

“Is there something on my face?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“……”

“But, can we trust the information from that Westerner?”

The tone of his voice had subtly changed.

Yeon Ho-jeong finally realized that Hwang Seok-tae had genuinely accepted his position.

Of course, he didn’t show it. Hwang Seok-tae was a man with a strong pride.

“I told him to bring proof. We just have to wait a little.”

“You said you made a deal with this man. A deal is not one-sided, but two-sided. What did you promise him?”

“A day of life.”

“……?”

It was an incomprehensible statement.

Yeon Ho-jeong waved his hand.

“I’ll explain that separately to the intelligence unit. It’s going to take quite a bit of time anyway.”

“……I understand.”

Normally, he would have kept pushing until the end. But the current Hwang Seok-tae did not.

He was keeping his distance. He acknowledged that he had his own work, and Yeon Ho-jeong had his own.

Of course, it was entirely due to his trust in Yang Cheon. If he didn’t trust Yang Cheon, Yeon Ho-jeong and he would have remained in an uncomfortable relationship until the end.

“Let’s rest for now. Where is the White Blood Divine Army?”

“They wanted a quiet place, so they went into the forest over there. The members are standing guard.”

“I understand. You should rest too. It seems we’ll have to wait here for another three or four days.”

And so, three days passed.

Beonjak, who had regained consciousness two days ago, had not consumed any food except for water.

He was becoming increasingly emaciated. He had managed to stop the wounds from festering and somehow stitched them up with the help of the Golden Restraint Art, but he was still in serious condition.

It was around noon on the third day that Beonjak, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.

“They’ve come.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Yeon Ho-jeong rose from his seat.

“I heard a sound from over there, southeast. That must be the right direction, right?”

“That is correct.”

A moment later, someone with their face covered by a mask knelt before Beonjak.

Beonjak said in a subdued voice.

“Hand it over.”

The masked man handed the bundle he was carrying to Yeon Ho-jeong.

At the same time.

Chiriririring!

The Ironclad Unit members spread out in all directions, aiming their spears.

Beonjak’s eyes turned cold.

“How should I interpret this action?”

Yeon Ho-jeong said as he untied the bundle.

“It’s to prevent any rash movements. If I determine it’s credible, I’ll keep my promise, so don’t worry.”

Inside the bundle were dozens of documents.

Yeon Ho-jeong read each one carefully.

Beonjak said mockingly.

“These are documents that even information experts would find confusing. Are you sure you can verify them?”

“We’ll see.”

Yeon Ho-jeong continued to flip through the documents one by one.

A moment later.

“Where are the others?”

Beonjak’s eyes flashed.

Yeon Ho-jeong turned his head this way and that. A chilling cracking sound echoed from his neck.

“The Flying Enemy Point, and the Heavenly Song Master. Those are the code words your intelligence unit uses for the Flying King and the Yin Master. You’ve decided to target these two… I understand that. But the others aren’t mentioned.”

Beonjak felt a chill run down his spine.

He knew he would be caught. If someone was skilled in intelligence work, it wouldn’t be too difficult to decipher.

But the problem was that Yeon Ho-jeong knew it. Moreover, it didn’t even take him a moment to read all those documents. It meant he had finished deciphering them as soon as he saw them.

‘This guy is….’

He was truly a terrifying person.

Whether it was martial arts, strategy, negotiation, or codes, he was a true genius who deserved the title of all-rounder.

Beonjak shook his head.

“It’s insurance. If you break your promise, I’ll just be a fool who leaked information for nothing.”

“So, you used your head in your own way, huh?”

“It’s not just my life on the line.”

“Hmm.”

Yeon Ho-jeong gave a strange smile.

Beonjak felt his mood sour at his smile.

Yeon Ho-jeong nodded readily.

“Okay.”

He looked at Hwang Seok-tae.

Hwang Seok-tae raised his hand.

“Withdraw.”

Sasaasak!

The Ironclad Unit members, who had surrounded the area, scattered like ghosts.

Chiririririring!

The Azure Dragon Chain retracted, freeing Beonjak.

“Cough!”

His body was free, but he had been bound for two days. Beonjak had difficulty even standing up properly or moving his arms.

At that moment, Yeon Ho-jeong placed his hand on Beonjak’s life gate [a vital point on the body].

Beonjak was startled.

“What are you doing?!”

“Stay still. I’m just keeping my promise.”

Whirrrrr!

The Vermilion Bird Fire that emanated from Yeon Ho-jeong’s hand naturally flowed into Beonjak’s body.

Thump!

The Vermilion Bird energy was in charge of the heart. The intense fire stimulated the heart while quickly removing the impurities lurking in various acupoints.

Whoooosh.

The Vermilion Bird Fire, which had circulated through Beonjak’s body, gathered at his heart.

Yeon Ho-jeong removed his hand.

“With this, I’ve kept my promise. When will you give me the remaining information?”

Beonjak’s lips curled up.

“I’ll give it to you thirty li [approximately 15 kilometers] away. Follow me there.”

“……”

“Why? Don’t you want to receive it?”

Yeon Ho-jeong chuckled.

“Sure. Let’s go.”