Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 577

Even Tang Gwan’s face, which had always been cool and impassive, couldn’t maintain its blank expression at this moment.

“Hah… hah…”

On the bed, there was a boy with his arms and legs tied.

The boy’s body was covered in blood. His abdomen had been cut open.

The boy’s eyes were hazy. He seemed to be drugged. It was as if he had been given just the right amount of drugs to keep him from dying immediately.

Tang Gwan turned his head to the side.

“Gasp!”

In the corner of the room, a squat man was slumped, holding a blood-stained dagger.

His white clothes were completely soaked in blood. His face, marked with pockmarks, was stained with terror.

Tang Gwan, who had been alternating his gaze between the dagger in the man’s hand and the boy’s body, opened his mouth.

“Were you curious?”

“……?!”

“Were you so curious about this child’s insides?”

Why had the man made the boy like this?

The reason was simple. He just wanted to.

It was unknown what kind of life he had lived. But what was clear was that the pockmarked man had reached a state where he could no longer feel pleasure from ordinary stimuli.

Since he couldn’t feel any stimulation from anything, he had made a person like this.

That could be seen just by looking at his eyes.

Tang Gwan reached out his hand.

Whoosh! Thwack!

“Cough!”

Tang Gwan’s hand grabbed the pockmarked man’s neck.

“You’re full of grease. Except for that, there’s nothing different between your insides and that child’s.”

Crack!

Tang Gwan snatched the dagger from the man’s hand. The man’s hand was crushed.

Thud!

The dagger was plunged into the man’s stomach.

“Cough! Cough!”

The man’s face turned pale. He even wet himself from the gruesome sensation in his stomach.

Tang Gwan drew the dagger upwards.

Sploosh!

The pockmarked man’s body trembled.

Tang Gwan, who had carelessly thrown the man aside, said in a cold voice.

“I’ve sprinkled a bit of paralysis powder, so you won’t die from the pain. Now, enjoy studying what’s inside your own stomach.”

“Eek!”

Tang Gwan glanced at the man and approached the boy.

Trickle.

Tears flowed from the boy’s eyes.

Tang Gwan, who had been quietly looking down at the boy, said in a calm voice.

“I will avenge you.”

“…….”

“That’s the only promise I can make.”

He never made promises he couldn’t keep.

That was Tang Gwan’s nature. Even if the child in front of him was dying, he wouldn’t lie and say he could live, that he would be fine after a good night’s sleep.

That was Tang Gwan’s morality. The boy himself must have felt that he was dying. To lie to such a child was, in Tang Gwan’s view, hypocrisy.

So, he made a promise that he could definitely keep.

“You will die. But, I will send all the bastards who made you like this to hell. That much, I promise you.”

The boy’s vacant eyes slowly turned towards Tang Gwan.

Tang Gwan’s expression was impassive. There was no pity or mourning for the dying boy in his voice.

However, his gaze was wavering, unlike that of the Tang Clan Head, who was called the worst terror of Sichuan [a province in China].

Plop.

A tear caught on the boy’s prominent cheekbone and fell onto the bed.

And so, the boy died.

Tang Gwan closed his eyes.

He didn’t know if the boy had believed his words. He even doubted if he had heard them at all. Even if he had heard them, he might have thought he was the same kind of bastard as those men.

He couldn’t be sure of the boy’s state and feelings, but still, Tang Gwan hoped. He hoped that his words had been a small comfort to the boy’s heart, which was filled with fear and injustice.

Tang Gwan took out a rolled-up transparent thread, the Soul Severing Thread, from his sleeve and connected it to a needle. Then, he sewed up the boy’s abdomen.

After a while, he picked up the boy and left the room.

His steps seemed heavy.

“You impudent bastards!”

The middle-aged man’s hysterical reaction was quite a sight.

“Do you know who I am! How dare you bring that hideous thing in here!”

He was shouting with great vigor, but the middle-aged man’s face was distorted with surprise and fear.

Hwang Seok-Tae swung his fist.

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

With a strange groan, the middle-aged man was slammed into the wall.

He had almost killed him because he had momentarily lost control of his strength. That was how great Hwang Seok-Tae’s anger was.

“Ughhh!”

The middle-aged man’s body trembled on the floor. He wasn’t dead, but his jaw was broken by a single punch. The sight of him drooling blood and saliva was quite miserable.

The terrified middle-aged man desperately crawled towards the door. Even he, who lacked awareness, now knew. That the person he was facing was someone who was not bound by status or power.

Hwang Seok-Tae slammed the Crimson Dragon Spear down.

Crack!

“Aaaah!”

The crimson spear pierced the middle-aged man’s thigh and stuck into the ground.

It had narrowly missed the bone and the main artery. He wouldn’t die from excessive bleeding or shock.

He really wanted to kill them a hundred, a thousand times, but even in that situation, Hwang Seok-Tae held back. Because he couldn’t kill these bastards now.

More precisely, he couldn’t give them an easy death.

Hwang Seok-Tae looked at the bed.

“Eek!”

“P-please, save me!”

There were three women on the large bed.

One looked to be over thirty, and the other two looked to be under twenty.

The woman over thirty seemed to be drugged and couldn’t hold her head up. The other two also had hazy eyes.

Hwang Seok-Tae, seeing the naked women, spread a blanket to cover their bodies.

“I’m sorry.”

Hwang Seok-Tae said that.

He didn’t know what he was sorry for. But those words came out on their own.

Looking at their terrified faces, Hwang Seok-Tae suddenly recalled a conversation he had with Yeon Ho-Jeong when they were watching the Iron Brigade’s training together.

‘You guys, if a command to annihilate is given, do you kill civilians too?’

‘If that is the command.’

‘Don’t do that.’

‘We live and die by command. When a battle breaks out, we are merely tools.’

‘Still, don’t do that. If such a command is given, either beat up your superior or leave the Black Dragon Unit.’

‘That’s nonsense. It might work in your world, but not in the Black Path [a term referring to the martial world].’

‘Isn’t the Black Path not a place where people live?’

‘…….’

‘I think the distinction between the Black Path and the White Path is a difference in values and direction in life. But the lives of civilians should not be involved in that difference. The world of civilians is an absolute neutral zone that neither black nor white should touch.’

‘…….’

‘I’m not telling you to become a great hero. But you have to be human.’

Be human.

What is a human? Is this world, where the strong can treat the weak as they please, the world of humans?

Hwang Seok-Tae realized. The power he possessed.

No, he realized the power of the martial world. They themselves were struggling to reach a higher world, to obtain stronger martial arts, but if the direction of this power was slightly off, it could become a disaster for civilians.

He already knew it in his head. But this was the first time he had truly felt it.

And that realization brought Hwang Seok-Tae a strong sense of doubt and a strange anger.

That was why Hwang Seok-Tae could only say these words.

“I’m sorry.”

It took quite a long time to bring all the people trapped in the basement outside.

It couldn’t be helped. In the case of the women and boys whose bodies were ruined, they could at least walk on their own, but there were many people who were forcibly drugged or on the verge of death.

It took quite a lot of time to carefully move them one by one and take emergency measures.

Half an hour later.

They prepared a space for the victims in the building, which had been completely cleared of the Ecstasy Incense’s poison, and made all the self-proclaimed members kneel in the yard.

What was surprising was that there were still some who were putting on airs even in the midst of all this.

“You bastards! Who are you? Are you martial artists? How dare you make officials who enforce the national law like this! Do you really want to die!”

Jang Han, who was shouting vehemently, was a high-ranking official belonging to the Provincial Inspectorate.

“Reveal your identities! I will report to my superiors and have all you martial artists arrested and killed… !”

Crack!

“Kuaaaah!”

Jang Han rolled on the ground with a rough scream. Gang Ryang had crushed his right shoulder.

Gang Ryang tilted his head.

“I wonder if he’s left-handed?”

“Kyak! Aaaah!”

“Well, I guess he could be.”

Gang Ryang’s foot stepped on Jang Han’s left shoulder.

Crunch!

Jang Han’s mouth fell open. He couldn’t even scream from the severe pain.

Gang Ryang turned his body.

“Superiors? Don’t worry. I plan to catch and kill all the related bastards, regardless of their rank. You don’t have to bother reporting.”

A terrifying rage was embedded in his calm voice.

The murderous intent that flared up from that rage was horrific. Most of those who were kneeling, bound by ropes, swallowed hard.

It was then.

“Have you forgotten the non-aggression treaty between the government and the martial world!”

An old man, who looked to be over sixty, shouted angrily.

His wrinkled face showed his advanced age, but he looked very robust. It would have been good if he had devoted that robustness to national affairs, but he was a fool who liked to prey on boys and girls.

“The government and the martial world are not supposed to infringe on each other’s territory! If you are martial artists, release us immediately! Otherwise, a war will break out!”

At that moment, Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had been standing quietly, spoke.

“The war has already begun.”

“What?!”

“The government and martial artists colluded to kidnap civilians and trample on their lives. At that point, you have already started a war.”

“You crazy bastard! Can’t you understand what I’m saying?! If you touch us, the government will never… !”

Flash!

Yeon Ho-Jeong had already appeared in front of the old man.

The old man, startled for a moment, fell backward.

Yeon Ho-Jeong calmly drew the White Dragon Axe.

Thud!

The White Dragon Axe split the old man’s collarbone and ribs.

“Kuaaak!”

The old man screamed.

Yeon Ho-Jeong continued to strike with the White Dragon Axe coldly.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

He didn’t load it with internal energy [a concept in martial arts referring to the energy within the body]. He didn’t apply too much force either.

He was chopping the old man’s body like he was chopping firewood.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The blood that splattered in all directions soaked Yeon Ho-Jeong’s face and upper body.

Fear finally settled on the old man’s trembling face.

Even with his high status, he couldn’t stop the ax blows that were being inflicted on his body. There was no room for dialogue. His body was being destroyed just for shouting a few times.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s ax blows were consistent.

The old man’s life had already been cut short. But still, he didn’t stop the ax blows.

He went from the upper body to the lower body, then back from the lower body to the upper body, and finely minced his head.

Swoosh.

Yeon Ho-Jeong wiped the blood off the ax blade and turned his body.

“……!!”

The members who witnessed that gruesome scene were completely terrified and trembled.

There was a limit to killing or torturing people.

That bastard had minced a person alive. Even though he was already dead, he minced him until his whole body was crushed. It wasn’t a metaphor, he had really turned him into minced meat.

It would be better to have your neck cleanly cut off and die. If you died like that, it seemed like you wouldn’t even be able to become a ghost.

Yeon Ho-Jeong wiped the blood that had splattered on his face and asked.

“Where is the Tang Clan Head?”

“He is inside the building, checking the victims’ conditions. The Iron Brigade Commander and Songha Shaman are helping.”

“I see.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong closed his eyes.

“Ryang-ah.”

“Yes, Brother.”

“I was only planning to destroy one place, but it seems like we can’t go on like this.”

“I agree.”

The Tang Clan’s handling was also urgent. But it didn’t seem like the madness of these crazy bastards would lessen just by destroying one branch of Paradise.

“Contact the Gichung Branch Head. Tell him to inform the entire Sichuan region about the existence of Paradise. Tell him to come quickly and preserve this scene.”

“Yes.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong looked up at the sky.

His eyes, looking at the damn clear sky, seemed somehow tired.