Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1196

The man, who had been dozing with a languid expression, snapped his eyes open.

“Blood Lord?”

Shudder.

The man’s left hand trembled slightly.

The hand, adorned with luxurious rings and jewels, was shaking as if afflicted by malaria.

A clear displeasure surfaced on the man’s face.

He called himself a god, but he was not a god. He was merely a human who was unimaginably strong.

In his own space, where no one could see, he freely displayed his humanity as he muttered,

“What a troublesome man.”

Whoooosh!

Gray smoke emanating from his left hand floated before the man’s eyes, slowly rotating.

Whirr!

The gray smoke, which had been rotating at an increasingly rapid speed, soon formed something akin to a dark bead.

The man asked the bead,

“What is it?”

The bead did not utter any words or sounds.

However, the man’s eyes, which had been filled with displeasure, widened slightly as if he had heard something unexpected.

“…Yucheonju?”

The bead vibrated faintly, just like the man’s left hand had trembled.

The man’s face grew increasingly serious. Even then, he did not show much surprise.

“There are only two people in the current martial world who can deal with Yucheonju. One of them is just a half-baked immortal who can’t even properly support his own body. The other is a guy who is closer to the demonic path than the Buddhist path.”

The bead trembled once more.

It was a silent conversation, conveyed through the waves of true energy and thoughts, inaudible to humans.

The man’s eyes deepened.

“Yucheonju might die… Although no one can see a definite future, if you say so, it seems like something big is about to happen.”

The greatest master of his time, who could read the heavens and foresee the future, had become the legitimate high priest of the Blood God.

Unlike the priest of the Mad Blood, this was a true high priest, a position of utmost importance since the days of the Blood Cult, who divined the cult’s fortunes and also served as a military leader, a position above all others.

The people of the Blood Cult called him the Great Blood Lord with respect and fear.

Although the Blood Cult had not yet been revived, the high priest had been secured. Of course, there were candidates, but they were useless as long as the current high priest was alive.

In other words, the very existence of the Great Blood Lord could be a signal for the revival of the Blood Cult. In fact, the Three Sects had begun internal reorganization in earnest after the appearance of the Great Blood Lord.

If something had not happened within the Central Plains, they would have finished reorganizing the Three Sects internally before starting a war.

And the man was the one who had been preparing for the unification of the Three Sects, which the others had only vaguely considered, for a very long time.

For such a man, the words that Yucheonju might die, which he would have scoffed at if anyone else had said, were quite shocking. If there was a possibility even though he could not fully exert the power of the ominous star because he was on the verge of death, it meant that Yucheonju was truly in danger.

“I understand. Try to hold on a little longer. I’ve sent you something that will extend your life.”

The bead’s trembling faded.

The corners of the man’s mouth curled up.

“By the way, you seem to be in a different place than before. Is it just my imagination?”

Whoooosh.

The bead gradually lost its form. It meant that the power of someone beyond the bead, not the man, had run out.

Swoosh!

The scattered gray mist was sucked back into the man’s left hand.

“…Cheon Wi-Ryong.”

A strange light flickered across the man’s face.

“That guy might die?”

He already knew that Cheon Wi-Ryong had led the Blood Emperor Corps to the continent.

For one of the leaders of the Three Sects to show himself directly at the moment when the first battle was over and a full-scale war was about to begin was no small matter. Not only for the Three Sects, but also for the continent.

“You’re still the same, Cheon Wi-Ryong. This war is nothing to you. It’s just a means to reach the top.”

And that was the same for the man.

The Divine Flame Cult guys were all stupid. They had been like that since the days of the Three Dukes. They were just focused on burning everything that stood in their way as a symbol of fire, and they had never once pondered what the true essence was.

That’s why they were being swayed like this. Thanks to them, it had become quite convenient, but on the other hand, it was also pitiful.

However, Cheon Wi-Ryong, and the Mad Blood Cult he led, were different.

‘He hasn’t even ignited the power of the Blood God, yet he’s raised an army and headed to the continent… You must have been in quite a hurry.’

However, he was curious how he knew that he was secretly contacting the Great Blood Lord in Yeong-Eum Mountain.

Putting that aside, even if he could know that much, the fact that he had led the army before sending the Gu meant that information from inside Yeong-Eum Mountain had been passed to Cheon Wi-Ryong.

The man closed his eyes again.

‘It’s not that guy, Sa-Woo.’

He had suspected him at first, but the suspicion disappeared as soon as it arose.

Sa-Woo was a hunter. He was trying to hunt the master of Yeong-Eum Mountain, which was beyond his capabilities, and he was capable of anything in the process.

In other words, Sa-Woo acting as a spy for the Mad Blood Cult had nothing to do with his role as a hunter. Rather, Sa-Woo’s method was to gain a great achievement, request a private audience, or become the cult leader’s personal guard and bide his time.

Then, the answer was only one.

“Hey, Blood Lord.”

The man smiled.

That gentle smile was more terrifying than the face of a vicious god and as eerie as a graveyard under the dim moonlight.

“You are merely a servant who assists the Blood God, not one who chooses the Blood God. You cannot see yourself with the eyes that read the heavens, so I think you are not fit for the position of high priest.”

Swoosh.

The man buried himself deeper into the grand chair.

Then, his face seemed to sink into the darkness.

“The world is still interesting. From a very long time ago until now.”

* * *

Clang!

Dong-Ryeong’s body, the former Third Commander, was violently pushed back by the strike of the Mad Dragon Axe, which was swung as if bending.

Surprise flickered in Dong-Ryeong’s strange eyes.

“You, you’re really amazing!”

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s left hand thrust out beneath his right hand, which was holding the Mad Dragon Axe.

Boom!

It was the Golden Dragon Sky-Turning Palm, which had been unleashed after a long time. More than a dozen demons were swept away by the powerful palm technique that seemed to shake the entire mountain peak.

Dong-Ryeong was truly impressed.

It wasn’t just the martial arts that his opponent was using, but the level of mastery he had achieved was too great. He thought that he wouldn’t have been able to win even if he had a complete body.

‘But you will never be able to stop us.’

He didn’t know how he knew the characteristics of the Blood Emperor Corps. If he had seen such a case somewhere, it must have been those shameless guys from the Evil Sound Cult.

However, the Evil Sound Cult and the Mad Blood Cult were different from the roots.

Advancing with his flagpole, Dong-Ryeong shouted,

“It’s time to open your eyes!”

Flash!

At that shout, the eyes of the two people who were in charge of the Blood Emperor Corps flashed.

Whoosh!

At that moment, Yeon Ho-Jeong’s Divine King Eyes captured two unusual streams of demonic energy.

In the midst of the relentless waves of demons, two unusually dark energies were ominously stretching.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s smile deepened.

“They are different indeed.”

“This is not the time to be so relaxed!”

Clang!

The Black Blood Demon staggered backward.

Dong-Ryeong, who had struck Yeon Ho-Jeong’s Mad Dragon Axe with his flagpole, charged again and thrust the flagpole. It was as if he was wielding a huge spear.

Swoosh!

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had instantly leaped over the Black Blood Demon’s head, swung his left fist.

It was an ordinary punch, but it contained the breath of a mad dragon wrapped in golden silk. It was the Golden Dragon Mountain-Suppressing Fist, a fist technique he had created along with the Golden Dragon Sky-Turning Palm.

Bang!

With a loud explosion, Dong-Ryeong’s body was pushed back more than ten steps.

Flash!

It wasn’t the Heavenly Movement Step. [A high-level movement technique]

It resembled the Blood Wing Sky Dance, but it was much more flexible. It was a movement similar to the Azure Dragon’s Cloud-Treading Step of the Azure Dragon Art. [A martial art focused on agility and speed]

However, the pressure carried in his sprinting footsteps resembled the White Tiger’s Army-Ruling Step, and the semi-transparent golden energy that would not break even if fired upon by a cannon resembled the true energy shield created by the Black Tortoise Art’s Immovable Fortress. [Defensive martial art]

It was the Yellow Dragon Footwork, which he had not yet even named. It was a creation that incorporated the characteristics of the Four Divine Beasts, and it was a footwork that was just beginning, let alone reaching its peak.

Dong-Ryeong’s eyes widened.

‘The axe?’

The Mad Dragon Axe was already floating beside the Black Blood Demon. Yeon Ho-Jeong was running with only the Black and White Twin Dragon Axes strapped to his back.

Bang! Bang!

The flagpole, which seemed as heavy as the Mad Dragon Axe, moved erratically and blocked his advance, but Yeon Ho-Jeong’s fist and palm were too easily deflecting the patterns drawn by the flagpole.

Even if it wasn’t perfect, his ability to manifest martial arts was the same as it was in the past. Yet, Yeon Ho-Jeong’s fist and palm were easily breaking through the weapon patterns of the former commander.

Dong-Ryeong’s face hardened terribly.

‘How!’

He understood being pushed back in terms of strength. His mastery was also on a higher level, so it would be difficult to win in his current state where his essence, energy, and spirit were not unified.

However, breaking through the patterns so easily was a completely different realm. The martial arts of the Mad Blood Cult, his own patterns that had been honed and refined for a long time, were being shaken from the roots.

Whoosh!

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had lifted the flagpole and entered the lower gap, unleashed the Golden Dragon Sky-Turning Palm.

Bang!

“Cough!”

It was a direct hit. The palm technique, which was imbued with tremendous battle energy, unleashed a merciless shockwave throughout Dong-Ryeong’s body, starting from his abdomen.

In an instant, Dong-Ryeong’s body was covered in blood. Not only were his seven orifices bleeding, but his skin was torn by the force, causing a large amount of fresh blood to gush out.

Swoosh!

Yeon Ho-Jeong did not finish off Dong-Ryeong. He instantly grabbed the Black Dragon Axe and the White Dragon Axe with both hands and swung them in a scissor-like motion, and the golden axe energy, which transcended the distance of a hand axe, instantly severed the necks of the demons that passed through it.

Swoosh!

As those demons died, the two owners of the ominously rising demonic energy instantly moved next to Dong-Ryeong.

Dong-Ryeong, who had vomited blood, glared at Yeon Ho-Jeong with bloodshot eyes.

“Even for you, three will be difficult.”

The one standing to Dong-Ryeong’s right was holding a huge bow, and the one standing to his left had a greatsword similar in size to the one that Ji Ma-Hu had wielded, slung over his shoulder.

The archer was the former Fourth Commander, Gwe-Geuk, and the swordsman was the former Second Commander, Ham-Cheon.

Gwe-Geuk frowned.

“I didn’t want to return in this wretched body.”

Compared to Gwe-Geuk’s somewhat irritable voice, Ham-Cheon’s voice was low and deep.

“No matter who the enemy is, I will burn my remaining life.”

Dong-Ryeong grinned. Seeing that he hadn’t died even after taking a fatal blow, his vitality was truly extraordinary.

“You will never be able to stop us…!”

Boom!

Before Ham-Cheon and Gwe-Geuk could even raise their swords and arrows to block, the Twin Dragon Chain, which had already spun and flown, pierced Dong-Ryeong’s chest.

Yeon Ho-Jeong tilted his head.

“Are you all going to come out?”

“……!!

“If there are more, call them all out now. It’s better for me to eradicate them in advance.”