Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1082

“Hoo! Hoo!”

Cheon Hyo-Rak’s breathing was somewhat rough.

Hwa Hyang was not in perfect condition either, but she was much better than Cheon Hyo-Rak. After a short time, she was able to quickly regain her breath.

It was the difference in experience. Her combat ability, honed through countless life-and-death battles to protect Cheon Hyo-Rak, was bound to shine even in such a chaotic battle.

“Are you alright?”

At Mak Won’s question, Cheon Hyo-Rak gave a wry smile.

“I’m still far behind.”

Indeed, Cheon Hyo-Rak had many scratches from enemy swords all over his body.

No matter how talented one is, they cannot immediately demonstrate their full potential in actual combat. This is true even if the opponent’s level is much lower.

It was fortunate that there were no fatal wounds.

“Young Master, you should rest for now…”

“No. So many people have died, this is nothing.”

They were not allies, but enemies. Yet, he was saying such things.

It was natural, in a way. Cheon Hyo-Rak had experience with killing, but all of those instances were when he had plunged his sword into the hearts of enemies who were already weakened and facing death.

He had never experienced annihilating enemies with such overwhelming power. He was bound to be shocked by the strength of his own martial arts.

However, he was also someone who had survived by walking the line between life and death. He tried to ignore the shock he had received with a few breaths.

“Use your inner energy to stop the bleeding and seal the wounds. Fights between those with inner energy are all like this. It’s common sense to use your inner energy to stop the bleeding and seal the wounds from the inside as soon as you get injured.”

“… !”

“If you ignore small wounds, the shock will accumulate. If that happens, you won’t be able to exert your full potential at crucial moments.”

“I understand.”

Woo-oong.

A faint demonic energy rose from Cheon Hyo-Rak’s body.

While he was taking care of his body, Hwa Hyang scanned the surroundings.

“Are they all dead?”

“They’re all dead.”

Hwa Hyang shook her head.

“We fought with the determination to annihilate them, but how could this happen?”

It was a combined attack by a single martial arts master and two supreme masters, who were called a one-person army. If they had collided without thinking, they had the power to annihilate a decent combat unit.

However, this battle was somewhat unusual. Those who specialized in movement techniques had almost no offensive or defensive capabilities, but if they had tried to escape to the end, they would have been a headache for them.

“It’s fear.”

“Fear?”

Mak Won looked around at the left and right cliffs.

The sight of the blood-soaked cliffs was gruesome to behold.

“The timing was good. When people are in a situation they can’t handle, they try to escape to get out of it. At that time, the two of us pushed from the rear.”

“That’s right.”

“Those who felt strong pressure tried to escape by climbing the cliffs.”

“And your spear techniques intercepted each and every one of them.”

“That’s the important thing. The fact that they could die even if they climbed the cliffs, the fact that escape meant death was imprinted in the minds of those who experienced that reality.”

Mak Won smiled and looked at Cheon Hyo-Rak.

Cheon Hyo-Rak was healing his wounds with his eyes closed.

“Young Master Cheon has a really good sense. He immediately worked with me to secure the cliffs. That kind of sense is not something anyone can have.”

“Usually, wouldn’t they try to escape somehow even in that situation? They would be in a state of panic.”

“It’s one of two things. Either they panic and lose their reason and flee, or they fight back. These guys tried to fight, and that was beneficial to us. That’s all.”

Hwa Hyang nodded.

They lacked combat ability, but they were still people who had learned martial arts, so they tried to fight with their swords drawn. That was the only way to understand it.

As soon as this situation occurred, worry appeared on Hwa Hyang’s face.

“These guys, are they really from the Three Teachings? Their clothes and martial arts were all strange…”

“They are.”

“Do you have a reason to be so sure…?”

Mak Won searched the chest of one of the dead soldiers. Then, a small wooden statue came out.

The wooden statue had a peculiar shape. It had a fierce face like a Buddhist deity, and surprisingly, a woman’s breasts. Where the male genitalia should have been below the navel, two snakes climbed up the sides and stopped near the shoulders.

Hwa Hyang’s eyes flashed.

Mak Won frowned.

“Who else but the Three Teachings would carry around such a crazy wooden statue?”

Mak Won had seen several of these wooden statues pop out from the chests of the enemy soldiers who were dying and spitting blood during the first attack, and he was convinced and pushed forward.

Mak Won looked up at the sky.

“Anyway, this has made the situation urgent.”

“Yes?”

“If Young Master Cheon’s words are true, then these supply troops are divided and moving south all over Shanxi. I don’t know what that means, but I know there’s some kind of scheme.”

“… !”

“We need to inform the Central Plains side quickly.”

It was then.

“That’s right. We need to move quickly.”

The demonic energy flowing from Cheon Hyo-Rak’s body stabilized.

“Is it over?”

“Yes. And that wooden statue is likely from the Sado Cult.”

“Sado Cult?”

“The Sado Cult has a duty to spread the seeds of the gods to the world. They encourage procreation, limited to the bloodline of the gods. It has degenerated now, but a wooden statue that emphasizes the sexual parts of men and women can only be from the Sado Cult.”

Mak Won’s eyes deepened.

He recalled what the Sword Saint had said. The 10,000 cavalrymen pushing down from northern Shanxi all used simple yet lightning-fast spear techniques.

If these supply troops were from the Sado Cult, then the cavalrymen would also be from the Sado Cult.

If So Hyun-Rip had taught those cavalrymen, then So Hyun-Rip had some kind of relationship with the Sado Cult.

‘You said you didn’t join hands with the Three Teachings, you bastard, that wouldn’t be a lie, would it?’

Mak Won put the wooden statue in his pocket.

“Let’s head south for now. It seems we need to make contact with the Central Plains forces.”

“As you wish.”

The group gathered the corpses in one place as much as possible and set them on fire. This was to prevent epidemics, and also because if there was a follow-up unit, it would be a problem if they took the hay [a common metaphor for resources or spoils of war].

Thus, the three people who had annihilated 500 enemy supply troops headed south at a rapid pace.

Their destination was the Mount Hua Sect.

* * *

“…”

Tang Gwan’s eyes, as he looked around the Seven Color Mountain made of rock, were extremely sharp.

‘A difficult terrain to fight in… that’s right.’

It was a difficult terrain for both friend and foe. Unless they had set up camp and laid traps in advance, both sides would suffer great damage if they suddenly clashed and fought.

Nokpung Daeju [Nokpung Squad Leader] said in a low voice.

“The wind is blowing hard.”

“Indeed.”

When the Tang family’s poison techniques reach a certain level, they are not affected by the wind direction.

However, it takes a very long time to reach that level. At least, one must be at the level of a supreme master to be able to control the poison as one wishes.

It was not a problem for the Daeju-level, but most of the squad members had not reached that level. The poison techniques of the Noksu Squad were excellent, but it would be difficult to use poison if a chaotic battle broke out in this terrain.

Of course, the Tang family’s movement techniques were developed to properly utilize the power of poison and hidden weapons even in such an environment.

The problem was the level of the enemy.

Tang Gwan closed his eyes and used his divine skill.

Whirr.

As the wind blew, a semi-transparent energy that had flowed from Tang Gwan’s shoulder area spread out and fluttered like a shoulder guard.

The Nokpung and Noksu Squads were involuntarily impressed.

After reaching the Supreme Realm, Tang Gwan’s aura seemed to be inferior to that of the ordinary members of the Green Three Squads.

Of course, that would only be the case in the eyes of mediocre people. Even though his unique fierce aura had died down, Tang Gwan’s presence itself was still outstanding.

However, it was certain that Tang Gwan had become a softer person than before.

However, the moment he properly unleashed his divine skill, a terrifying majesty began to emanate from his body.

It was different from the aura of inner energy. It was a majesty that could not be felt unless one was close by, a mysteriousness that came from the existence of a half-immortal who had transcended humanity as Tang Gwan’s upper dantian [an energy center in the body] opened.

‘Two hours have passed, and they haven’t come… Even if they were attacked, they wouldn’t have died immediately after leaving. In other words, there’s a high probability that their death energy remains.’

Of course, it would be much faster to detect the enemy’s demonic energy before their death energy.

Tang Gwan’s upper dantian expanded rapidly.

How long had it been?

Shuk!

A bizarre sound of air being torn reached Tang Gwan’s ears.

It was the sound of something sharp cutting through the air. Tang Gwan focused on that sound.

‘Where is it? Where is it?’

It was far away. Very far away.

It was a distance that was difficult to perceive with the senses of someone who had not broken through the Supreme Realm, or even with the senses of someone who had broken through the Supreme Realm but did not use their upper dantian well.

‘West? Northwest…?’

The location was ambiguous. But there was definitely something there.

Tang Gwan, who had closed his divine skill again, raised his hand.

“Head northwest. Run while hiding your presence as much as possible.”

Paah!

Tang Gwan and the Green Squad quickly broke through the rocky area.

It took time to go up and down. Even though there was a peerless force like Tang Gwan on their side, it was best not to get caught by the enemy. They moved more cautiously than necessary.

How long had they been running?

‘…?!’

Tang Gwan’s five senses sharpened like blades.

‘The smell of blood!’

The smell of blood, and the faint death energy that had not yet faded.

The group, moving a little more cautiously, was momentarily startled.

Between the hills made of rock.

There were bloodstains that had not yet turned brown everywhere. But more gruesome than that were the several heads that could be seen around the bloodstains.

Several heads were rolling around among the torn clothes. But all of those heads were not normal.

Parts of their cheeks or necks were torn off, revealing the bones. It was as if they had been torn apart by a beast.

Even the members of the Noksu Squad, who had experienced their share of hardships, felt a chill run down their spines. It was the first time they had seen human heads with bones exposed in various places on their faces.

Tang Gwan’s face hardened as he quickly approached and examined the heads and torn clothes.

‘They’re scouts.’

The dark clothes that absorbed light, and a single sword that was rolling around, were identical to the swords of the Common Faction.

If seven heads were rolling around, it meant that at least seven people had been attacked. But the Sword Saint had said that he had sent twenty scouts.

‘It doesn’t matter if it’s twenty or two hundred.’

They had not found any traces of the scouts on their way here.

If the scouts had died here, the other scouts should have retreated and reported what they had seen and heard. But there was no one like that.

‘They’re all dead. That’s how it should be seen.’

Then where did the other scouts die?

Where is the enemy?

Tang Gwan sent a hand signal.

It meant to stop hiding and run as fast as possible. With Tang Gwan at the lead, the Green Squad broke through the hills at an incredible speed.

And a moment later.

Grrr.

Tang Gwan was speechless. The Green Squad was even more so.

Beyond the rocky area, they could see two thousand soldiers running across the endless plains.

They were all wearing black clothes, and even their exposed skin was black. They were growling like beasts, and no matter how you looked at them, they were not normal, yet they were somehow moving in formation.

Their speed was neither fast nor slow.

‘Two thousand? Didn’t they say there were five thousand soldiers? Then where are the other three thousand?’

Tang Gwan’s eyes flashed.

“Nokpung and Noksu, all of you, maintain this distance and move with the enemy.”

“Yes?!”

“There’s something I need to confirm. I’ll be back within two hours.”

Whoosh!

Tang Gwan ran north.