Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 558

It was past midnight, the midpoint of the Ox hour [roughly between 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM].

The lively streets had lost their vigor. Though still brightly lit, the number of people passing by had dwindled to a tenth.

Standing atop the highest building, Pae-yul’s eyes were endlessly deep as he looked down.

‘If they’re coming, they’ll likely pass through here.’

He idly touched the single-edged spear on his back.

The cool feel of the shaft calmed his mind.

“Are you troubled?”

Pae-yul turned his head.

Gang Ryang was cutting jerky with a dagger, taking bites.

“Even though we’re from different regions, it’s troubling that someone like that has emerged from a sect tied to the Nine Great Sects. It must be complicated for you, Senior.”

“Shut up.”

“Ah, don’t misunderstand. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Gang Ryang gave a wry smile.

“It’s always unsettling when a traitor emerges from a sect, no matter the form.”

“……”

“At least Emei [one of the Nine Great Sects] is fortunate. They found out about the traitor before they collapsed.”

Pae-yul asked casually,

“Are you still looking for the traitor?”

“I have to. But not now.”

“Wasn’t it Yang Cheon who destroyed the Guicheol Sword Sect?”

“To be precise, it was the power of the Mukryong Unit [Yang Cheon’s personal guard] under Yang Cheon’s command.”

“It’s the same thing.”

“You’re right. It’s the same thing. That’s why I’m conflicted. How far should I extend my revenge?”

Pae-yul suddenly thought Gang Ryang was quite remarkable.

Contrary to his usual behavior, he was a thoughtful guy. Gang Ryang had lost his parents and all his sword brothers when his sect was destroyed.

Pae-yul had never experienced such a bloody and painful event.

‘What if it were me?’

What if Jeomchang had been destroyed by Yang Cheon? And what if he alone had survived?

There was no question. He would have charged straight into the Mukryong Unit without caring for his life, beheading every black-clad person he saw.

Revenge was an act that was hard to consider in terms of efficiency. How could one maintain composure when someone like family had been killed by villains?

He wouldn’t have even thought about gaining strength. He would have charged straight in and died before even seeing Yang Cheon’s face.

In that respect, Gang Ryang was truly remarkable.

‘Considering his personality, he wouldn’t have held back this long just because he valued his life.’

He always scolded him, but this guy was the real deal.

It was impressive that he suppressed his extreme emotions every moment, but what was even more impressive was that he didn’t act rashly even after entering the enemy’s camp, Yang Cheon’s.

He didn’t act like a hot-blooded young man who hadn’t even reached his mid-twenties. Considering his personality, it wasn’t something he was born with, so he must have constantly reflected on himself, suppressing and suppressing again.

“The traitor of the Guicheol Sword Sect must have clung to Yang Cheon. You can’t take Yang Cheon’s head right now, but you can at least take the traitor’s head, right?”

“I can’t.”

“Why? Yang Cheon would understand that much, wouldn’t he?”

“I don’t think he would. Even if he did, the traitor is no longer in Hunan.”

“How do you know?”

“Yang Cheon told me.”

Pae-yul shook his head.

“Honestly, your relationship with that man is hard to understand.”

“There’s nothing complicated. We’re just enemies. I’m just trying to stab a knife into my enemy’s heart, and he’s just pretending to be indifferent to protect his high pride.”

“How did the traitor disappear? Wasn’t there a price for betraying your sect?”

“That’s a naive thought.”

“Hmm?”

“Before receiving any reward, he was in a life-threatening situation. He didn’t betray for gain, but to save his own life.”

“……”

For a moment, Pae-yul was speechless.

He was quite experienced in the martial world, but there were areas he found hard to understand, no matter how often he saw or heard about them.

One of them was the guys who betrayed their sects because they were afraid of death.

If there was some gain, it would be just as infuriating, but he would have understood it rationally. Human greed was endless.

But simply betraying the sect because they didn’t want to die?

‘How terrible.’

Even if they continued to live like that, what value would their lives have?

Could that traitor ever be free from the heavy burden of betrayal?

“They abandoned a human life and chose the life of a beast.”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t think so?”

Gang Ryang chuckled.

“Everyone has their own way of living. Some noble people might think such an act is chillingly despicable, while others might think it’s a natural measure for survival.”

Pae-yul’s eyes deepened.

“What about you?”

“That’s a meaningless question.”

“Why?”

“Regardless of how I view such actions, that guy is someone I have to kill. I’m not a noble person, nor do I consider the life of a beast natural. I’m just a swordsman who lost his family and sect at the hands of enemies.”

“……”

“I don’t want to put any noble values or unnecessary hatred on it. It’s just impurities.”

Gang Ryang put the dagger in his pocket.

“I will take my revenge. That’s all there is to it.”

Pae-yul thought. This guy was already an adult.

In this aspect, he seemed more mature than himself, who had lived for over forty years. Well, he had never experienced such a thing, and he shouldn’t have either.

Pae-yul, who had been quietly watching Gang Ryang, turned his head and said,

“Make sure you succeed.”

“Of course. I won’t die until then.”

Gang Ryang looked at Pae-yul’s single-edged spear.

“By the way, that spear seems to be turning into a demon.”

“Hmm?”

“The smell of blood is just pouring out of the spear itself. It doesn’t seem like an appropriate item for someone from the Nine Great Sects, the pinnacle of the righteous martial world.”

Pae-yul tilted his head.

“It smells like blood?”

“It just feels that way. Don’t you feel it, Senior?”

“I don’t know. I’m a dull person.”

Gang Ryang smiled.

Pae-yul was a rough but honest man. And he wasn’t someone who had unnecessary pride in his position or lied because of his ego.

Even in front of a junior, he would say he didn’t know if he didn’t. Because that was the truth.

He had thought before, but now he understood why Yeon Ho-jeong, who was so picky about people, treated Pae-yul as a senior.

“Let’s stop the chatter. The time that Yeon Ho-jeong mentioned is approaching.”

“Tch, even if he’s a brother, it’s hard to predict when the enemy will move, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. It’s hard. But isn’t he the one who has been doing the difficult things?”

“It’s even scarier because it’s true.”

“He’s the one who directly defeated those masters. He probably even controlled the time they woke up.”

Pae-yul looked up at the sky.

Clouds were gathering not far away.

“Soon, unusual movements will be detected.”

Pae-yul’s words were true.

An hour later.

“……?!”

Gang Ryang’s eyes sharpened as he scanned the left and right sides of the street.

“Senior.”

“I felt it.”

“……Damn, these bastards seem to have made up their minds.”

“The elders of the Sichuan Three Strong were attacked. They wouldn’t send a half-hearted force.”

Pae-yul frowned.

“However, even considering that, it’s too much.”

In the distance, there were people secretly approaching from the left and right sides of a large building, enveloping the street.

They were suppressing their presence as they crossed the street, but to Pae-yul and Gang Ryang, who knew they were coming, it was clear how many there were and how powerful they were.

“About 150… It seems like about 100 of them are assassins…”

Disbelief appeared on Gang Ryang’s face.

“This is crazy. Is this even possible? The remaining fifty, their power is incredible! There are more than ten with power comparable to yours, Senior. The rest are also at the elder level.”

The power varied, but if they were called elders of the Nine Great Sects, they had to be close to the level of the Wall of Martial Arts [a very high level of martial arts mastery].

Among the fifty masters excluding the hundred assassins, nearly forty were at that level. The rest were at least at Pae-yul’s level.

At least, that was the feeling of their presence and aura.

Gang Ryang’s eyes were bloodshot.

“These bastards, have they rotted this much? They were so arrogant as the leading sects of Sichuan, but they’re completely…”

“No, it’s not that bad.”

“Huh?”

Pae-yul scanned the masters slowly crossing the street behind the assassins.

“All fifty of those masters have mastered the martial arts of Qingcheng, Emei, and Tang [three of the major martial arts sects in Sichuan].”

“Exactly. If that many are traitors…”

“But there aren’t many who belong to those three sects.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“……”

“……Could it be?”

“I can’t be sure. It’s too far. But…”

Pae-yul’s face contorted.

“The unique colors of the sects are faint. It seems like most of them are not affiliated with the sects, but have learned their martial arts.”

The meaning of those words was clear.

The traitors had been leaking the sects’ martial arts and raising masters for a long time.

“Crazy! Is that even possible?”

“I don’t know.”

“It takes a long time to create even one top master. Even if you select talented guys and pour all sorts of support into them, it takes at least ten years.”

“If their identities are not from the sects, it means the traitors have been dreaming of rebellion for at least ten years.”

“……!!”

Pae-yul turned his body.

“Now is not the time to speculate about their past. Let’s go.”

“So that’s what happened.”

Yeon Ho-jeong’s face was unusually serious after hearing Pae-yul and Gang Ryang’s report.

Hwang Seok-tae said casually,

“If that’s true, Sichuan has already rotted to the core.”

It had festered this much without anyone knowing.

Yeon Ho-jeong nodded.

“What kind of past they have is not important. What’s important now is the scale of the forces they’ve dispatched.”

“……”

“And the fact that such a force is targeting us.”

Yeon Ho-jeong sighed.

“Paradise Hideout… These guys are really something else.”

Gang Ryang asked,

“I’ve been wanting to ask, what exactly is Paradise Hideout?”

Hwang Seok-tae sighed.

Yeon Ho-jeong shook his head.

“Let’s talk about the details later. We need to stop them first.”

“Stop them? That many forces? Wouldn’t it be better to just retreat?”

“We have to uproot Paradise Hideout anyway. It’s better to weaken them now than to face them all later.”

“That sounds good. But there are more than ten super masters, right? There are forty more at that level. And there are a hundred assassins. Even if we win, we’ll have casualties.”

“That’s why we’ve set up here.”

Yeon Ho-jeong looked around.

It was like a trench on the mountainside, with a steep slope. It was perfect for a temporary siege.

Yeon Ho-jeong took out the Twin Dragon Chain.

Chiririring!

A chilling aura flowed from the Twin Dragon Chain held firmly in both hands.

“Have confidence. Let’s bury them all and go.”