Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1108

Tiger Fang Horse Soldiers (9)

‘This guy…’

In a flash, So Hyun-jong realized that the one flying towards him like lightning was the enemy commander.

‘It’s not the Sword Saint. It’s this guy.’

It was instinct.

He wasn’t as strong as the Sword Saint, nor did he have the same experience. Yet, So Hyun-jong knew that this swordsman, resembling lightning, was the supreme commander of the Shaanxi martial world.

It was a sensation that only a master with a sixth sense as developed as an animal could perceive, something that couldn’t be explained by reason.

“Uwaaaah!”

Moyong Gun swung the Tangma Divine Sword [a legendary sword].

It was a strike with all his might, the Falling Thunder Cross Strike of the Unfeeling Heavenly Thunder Style.

So Hyun-jong’s left hand momentarily conjured numerous illusions.

Kwaang!

Moyong Gun was sent flying, spitting blood.

Even a strike with all his might couldn’t kill him, and he was even sent flying. Moreover, So Hyun-jong was only able to use about thirty percent of his original skill.

It was the power of an absolute master who had reached the pinnacle. But So Hyun-jong wasn’t unscathed either.

Pajijijik!

The lightning energy that had spread from the sword cut on his hand was coursing through his entire body.

‘Damn it.’

He had exerted the power of the Black Diamond Demonic Art to the maximum, but the residual lightning energy still caused small explosions in various parts of his body.

Ulk!

Blood finally flowed from So Hyun-jong’s nose and mouth.

If he had been in perfect condition, he wouldn’t have been injured; he could have even put his opponent in a near-death state with a single counterattack.

But now, such thoughts were meaningless. In a life-or-death battle, there was nothing more pathetic than dwelling on ‘what ifs’.

Instead of making excuses, So Hyun-jong prepared for the next attack.

Hwaaaak!

Even if he had dropped his spear, even if he couldn’t use his right arm, he was still strong.

So Hyun-jong’s aura seemed to say so. Despite suffering severe internal injuries, his aura was still destructive.

Moyong Gun’s eyes wavered.

‘He’s a monster.’

He knew well how powerful a master of the Supreme Path was.

But he never imagined that he would be overwhelmed even in this situation. Even the Moyong family’s strongest martial art, the Thunderclap Dance, was no match. It seemed like the opponent couldn’t fully exert his skills, yet the difference was as vast as between a tiger and a cat.

‘Still.’

Thud!

Moyong Gun’s eyes, which had been wavering, were now firm as he powerfully kicked off the ground.

‘Still, I’ll go.’

Bbeonjjeok!

Once again, the lightning energy flared up.

Moyong Gun was also in a situation where his inner energy consumption was more severe than anyone else. In terms of simple damage, he couldn’t match So Hyun-jong, but he also couldn’t exert his full power.

In the end, there was only one thing a warrior could do in this situation.

To risk his life and try to kill the opponent.

Jiiiiiing!

As Moyong Gun charged, enveloped in blue lightning, So Hyun-jong once again swung his left hand.

His arm was like a short spear. The way he gathered his fingertips and thrust forward was no different from wielding an actual spear.

Tzeojeong! Peoeong!

He twisted his sword to block it, but this time as well, Moyong Gun had to retreat more than ten steps.

‘It’s tough.’

They had only clashed twice, but it was as exhausting as fighting all the cavalrymen combined.

The good thing was that So Hyun-jong was also in a state where he couldn’t launch a follow-up attack. The lightning energy that had penetrated the Black Diamond Demonic Art was constantly searing his wounds and attacking his dantian [energy center in the body].

“Haap!!”

Uuuuung!!

With a chilling shout, black demonic energy rose like smoke.

Moyong Gun felt his vision darken.

It was such an overwhelming demonic energy that it felt like the world was turning dark.

‘Can I win?’

He had fought many life-or-death battles. But this was the first time he had fought against a supreme master who wielded such an incomprehensible power.

A fight could only be established if attacks could connect. This was too one-sided to be called a fight; it was just violence.

Tzeojeong! Tzeoeong!

So Hyun-jong’s left hand didn’t have continuous attacks, but each strike was powerful.

Moyong Gun, having blocked two more attacks, finally knelt. A terrible pain surged as if all the bones in his body had been shattered.

‘No way.’

Rather, being pushed to such an extent made his mind sharpen.

‘I didn’t come here to die. I came here to kill.’

Pajik! Pajijik!

The unstable, flickering lightning energy pounded his shoulders and legs.

‘If I die, the morale of our army will plummet. Even if we win this battle, if the news spreads that the young master of the Martial Alliance has fallen, the morale of the martial world will hit rock bottom.’

The war with the Three Teachings had only just begun. He couldn’t do something crazy that would drag down the morale of his own side from the start.

Then what should he do?

‘Escape…’

He had to escape. That was the rational thing to do.

But.

‘It’s better to run. I need to get away first.’

Moyong Gun, who was more rational than anyone, found his legs strangely charging towards the enemy again.

So Hyun-jong’s face slightly distorted.

His expressionless face, like that of a bronze statue, became so terrifying that it was hard to look at.

‘Why am I not running away and instead facing him?’

Tzeojeojeong! Tzeoeong!

The sword and hand clashed, continuously making metallic sounds.

Moyong Gun vomited blood but still charged, and So Hyun-jong screamed and pushed Moyong Gun away.

‘Can I win? Against this monster?’

He couldn’t win.

He couldn’t win. The gap between his martial arts and the enemy commander’s was much greater than he had vaguely imagined. To ignore this difference and kill the enemy, he would need a stroke of luck.

‘In the first place, why did I rush at him? I wasn’t even sure I could win.’

He didn’t know. He couldn’t know, and he shouldn’t try to know.

The only thing he had to do now was to wield his sword straight.

‘Just with a single mind…’

It was then.

In a moment that split a moment, Moyong Gun recalled the words of his only sworn brother.

‘Would there be a reason? I did it because it was something I had to do.’

Once, when asked why he became a disciple of Yang Cheon, Yeon Ho-Jeong had answered like that.

And as time passed, when the Martial Alliance was turned upside down by the spy incident involving the Black Path faction.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who was trying to resolve the situation and return to the Black Path martial world, had said this:

‘I’m a human too, so I can’t be in a good mood. Honestly, with my temper, I feel like beating up all the people who were swayed. But… if I just lose my temper like that, there’s no way I can beat them, right?’

‘…’

‘Sometimes, to achieve my goal, I have to kill a part of myself. At least, that’s how it is for me. In the end, abandoning a part of myself is all for my own sake.’

Abandoning a part of myself.

For some reason, at this moment, those words heated his heart in a strange way.

Kwang! Kwaang!

So Hyun-jong’s attacks grew stronger.

While being pushed back like crazy, Moyong Gun thought.

‘Is it about sacrificing my life to kill the enemy?’

No.

If the moment came when he had to sacrifice his life, he could do it without hesitation, but at least not now.

What did he have to abandon now to kill this monster?

“You tiresome bastard!”

A sharp voice sent a chill down his spine.

Huuuuuung!

So Hyun-jong’s entire left arm was dyed black. He was planning to end it completely with this one move.

Moyong Gun smiled, revealing his blood-soaked teeth.

‘With just one left arm…’

It was then.

Kugung!

So Hyun-jong’s body stopped abruptly, as if bound by something invisible.

Huuuuuuung!

Beautiful purple true energy enveloped So Hyun-jong.

It was the Fire Sword Master. The Fire Sword Master, who had risen with a spear in his abdomen, was pouring out his Violet Haze energy at So Hyun-jong.

The power of opposing forces meant that one could easily destroy or control the other. However, depending on whose power was superior, the relationship of opposing forces could change.

The Fire Sword Master had not reached the Supreme Path. But his Violet Haze energy, completed stitch by stitch while pursuing the path of the sword, boasted a powerful purity that was comparable to any Supreme Path master.

For So Hyun-jong, who had lost more than half of his power due to the life-or-death duel with Namgoong Seung, he could not ignore the Fire Sword Master’s Violet Haze energy.

So Hyun-jong gritted his teeth.

“Uwaaaah!”

Kwaddeuk!

The sound of his bones dislocating could be heard from various parts of his body.

He was trying to break free from the Violet Haze energy with force. It was a terrifying poison.

Right then.

Moyong Gun charged.

Kwaang!

Moyong Gun, becoming a streak of lightning, charged forward. Once again, he recalled Yeon Ho-Jeong’s words.

‘To achieve my goal, I kill a part of myself.’

To kill the enemy commander, what part of myself should I kill?

A divine light flashed in Moyong Gun’s blurred eyes.

‘That guy, no follow-up attack is coming.’

It meant that So Hyun-jong was also suffering internal injuries with each clash. It also meant that his physical condition was so bad that it was difficult to continue with follow-up attacks.

Then?

Jiiiiiiing!

He held the Tangma Divine Sword with one hand, which he had been holding with both hands, and extended his left hand forward.

So Hyun-jong let out a scream.

“You bastards!”

In an instant, the Tangma Divine Sword drew dozens of lines.

It was as if looking at a net made of lightning, a lightning net more than half a jang [a traditional Korean unit of length, roughly 3 meters] wide rushed towards So Hyun-jong.

He had unfolded the Absolute Defense of the Unfeeling Heavenly Thunder Style, the Sword Lightning Swift Net, as an offensive move.

It was a moment of breaking through the limits of martial arts and the limits of techniques. And this realm was what Moyong Gun had shown during his duel with the Great Master Gong Gong in the past, a high-level martial principle that ‘that’ Moyong Gun had obtained in the process of risking his life to realize it.

In other words, at this moment, Moyong Gun had reached the level of Moyong Gun, who had once defeated the abbot of Shaolin in a duel.

The lightning sword energy of the Sword Lightning Swift Net swept over So Hyun-jong.

Kwakwakwang! Peopeong!

“Kuh-euk!”

The power contained in the Sword Lightning Swift Net was too strong to block with the illusory spear he was creating with his hand.

The sword energy was one thing, but the lightning energy was particularly troublesome. Now that his body had lost its freedom due to the Violet Haze energy, about a dozen sword energies from the Sword Lightning Swift Net penetrated So Hyun-jong’s body and caused indiscriminate explosions.

Peobeobeobeobeok!

“Ugh!”

Even from the inhuman So Hyun-jong, a scream mixed with pain finally burst out.

But Moyong Gun’s attack was not over.

To kill the enemy commander, what he had abandoned was his own preconceived notion that he had always taken for granted.

The Unfeeling Heavenly Thunder Style was a sword technique and divine art with strong single-strike power. No matter how quickly he launched follow-up attacks, he could not launch the next technique until he had finished one technique.

Moyong Gun didn’t like that fact, and in the end, he agreed to break his own preconceived notions, even if it meant pushing himself.

Bbeonjjeok!

Before the Sword Lightning Swift Net could even end, a left hand that brushed past So Hyun-jong unleashed a sky-blue slash.

The Thunderclap Dance and the Heaven and Earth Dance, which contained the history of bloody internecine strife.

Among them, what was unleashed from Moyong Gun’s left hand was one of the three secret techniques of the Heaven and Earth One Hundred and Eight Sword Solutions, the Heaven and Earth Severing Void.

Peobeobeok!

Blood vessels burst from various parts of Moyong Gun’s left arm. It was similar to how So Hyun-jong’s right arm had been shattered by the Fire Sword Master’s inner energy.

The difference was that So Hyun-jong had lost an arm to the power of opposing forces, while Moyong Gun had thrown himself into enlightenment, even sacrificing his left arm.

“……”

So Hyun-jong, who had been staring blankly at the sky, let out a bitter laugh.

“……This is why war is interesting.”

A red line was drawn from his right shoulder to his left side.

Sreureuk. Kung!

So Hyun-jong, whose upper body was split diagonally, died so futilely.