Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1121

“I see.”

In the dimly lit room.

The flames of several large tallow candles cast deep shadows across the Emperor’s face.

Yet, Tak Mu-ja, sitting upright before the Emperor, perceived no gloom in the shadowed countenance of the Son of Heaven.

‘Clear and bright.’

A smile touched Tak Mu-ja’s lips.

‘Even if the sky were to collapse and the earth were to split, that face would never be clouded again.’

He regarded the Emperor not as the highest-ranking elder of the Wudang Sect, nor as a martial artist who had reached the realm of a demigod, but simply as a human being.

‘In this world, where stagnation and change, peace and chaos, have endlessly repeated, was there ever an Emperor as magnificent as a dragon?’

Tak Mu-ja recalled an old tale his master had told him, one that was no longer remembered or studied.

In the distant past, during an era when all laws had crumbled and strange, powerful beings roamed the earth.

A nameless general, lamenting the loss of his homeland, secluded himself. He returned as an old man, leading hundreds of thousands of soldiers to eradicate those strange, powerful beings.

Afterward, the world began to develop again, and hundreds of nations were established. Then, Buddhism and Taoism arose, fostering the development of martial arts.

The distant past did not disappear but spread throughout the world, and the hundreds of nations were soon unified into another empire.

Along with the empire, the martial world also prospered, and time flowed on.

An era where countless people were born and just as many died.

Yet, the world did not develop significantly. Even after a thousand or two thousand years, the sky watched over the world, and the earth embraced all.

It was as if time had become fixed.

However, that seemingly fixed time eventually created a flow, and the peaceful empire and the indifferent martial world faced a period of change.

The empire repeatedly collapsed and was resurrected. Only the name changed; the empire still existed.

The martial world did not collapse, so it did not need to be resurrected, but within it, countless battles and deaths repeated, developing martial arts and techniques.

Everyone lived, and then lived and died, so the thousands of years without any significant events left no lasting memories in people’s minds.

However, the era began to leave its mark hundreds of years ago, and the empire, which had collapsed and been reborn under a different name, produced emperors of extremes.

And so, as this empire was slowly collapsing, a dragon, rarely seen in fixed history, was born.

That was the current Emperor.

‘Now I see.’

The past few months, spent walking the earth and running alongside the monk, had taught him far more than the long years he had spent on the peaks of Wudang, meditating on the upper dantian [an energy center in traditional Chinese medicine] and looking down on the world.

In Tak Mu-ja’s eyes, this Emperor was born with the qualities of a wise ruler.

If he had been born in a time of peace, he would have raised the empire’s power to unprecedented levels. If he had been born in a time of chaos, he would have unified the world and restored order.

However, the time when this dragon-like Emperor was born was too ambiguous.

To make that ambiguous world better, the Emperor listened to the people, absorbed more knowledge than any scholar, and implemented policies cautiously and boldly.

However, after the fanatical Three Teachings [a reference to a syncretic religious movement] secretly gained power and seized control of the Imperial Palace, the Emperor’s efforts were in vain.

Fortunately, the Emperor did not forget his goals and dreams, and he realized that what he was trying to do was impossible for future generations.

Eventually, the Emperor, who had lived as a fool for decades, began to spread his wings again thanks to the martial world’s will to drive out the Three Teachings.

And now.

Not for himself, but for the world after the war.

The Emperor, who was training in Hwajeong [a specific location or training ground] with the intention of using the lost decades entirely for the people, had no shadows on his face, and the darkness was ablaze.

“So, the Black Emperor of the Star said that.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor smiled.

“He is truly a remarkable man. Do you think so as well?”

Tak Mu-ja bowed his head.

“Yeon Ho-jeong, the Black Emperor of the Star and the eldest son of the Yeon family, is a more outstanding talent than anyone this insignificant old Taoist has ever seen. Once, I was concerned about his recklessness and strong scent of blood, but now, I believe he can be trusted as a vanguard for the world.”

“I do not think so.”

“Your Majesty?”

The Emperor shook his head.

“I am speaking of the assessment that he is reckless. I think differently on that point.”

“I am humbled, Your Majesty.”

“The Black Emperor of the Star I have seen is the kindest person in this world.”

Tak Mu-ja’s eyes widened.

“Is that so?”

“I, too, thought that the Black Emperor of the Star’s potential was less than his father, Yeon Ga-ju, right after I began to see the light again in my eyes filled with pus.”

“……”

“But now I retract that thought. I do not think the Black Emperor of the Star’s potential is greater than Yeon Ga-ju’s, but I do not think it is less either.”

“Haha.”

“The Black Emperor of the Star has never been reckless. He has only been sad.”

This was another unexpected statement. Tak Mu-ja asked without realizing it.

“Sad, you say?”

“Yes. The Black Emperor of the Star does not want this world to be stained with blood. It is inevitable that human conflict, war, sacrifice, and greed will not disappear. He knows that too. But he also knows that it is ultimately people who resist such a world and try to achieve peace.”

“……!”

“The Black Emperor of the Star is struggling for my people, and for my world. It is not simply about protecting my homeland. He says it is for my people, but ultimately, what the Black Emperor of the Star wants is peace, not war.”

The Emperor’s eyes shone with a soft light.

“That is why he has never been reckless. He has only been desperately sad.”

“……”

“Now I can see that.”

Whatever the case, Yeon Ho-jeong’s actions were reckless. That was the very meaning of the word.

However, the Emperor did not see it that way. Surprisingly, Tak Mu-ja could not see what was reflected in the Emperor’s eyes, but somehow, he felt he could understand his words.

“It is said that there is darkness behind light. Then, there must always be light behind darkness. I believe the Black Emperor of the Star is a person who embraces both light and darkness.”

The Emperor smiled faintly.

“Whoever gave him that title, they chose it well.”

“Haha.”

He gently waved his hand.

Whirr!

As the dragon waved his hand, dozens of extinguished candles lit up.

Surprise flickered in Tak Mu-ja’s eyes.

“Your Majesty. Have you already reached the level of manipulating the wind?”

“Does it look like that to you? I have simply shared my fire with the empty spaces.”

The Emperor gave a faint smile.

“Fire can be infinitely shared as long as there is fuel, can it not?”

“……!”

Tak Mu-ja’s eyes trembled.

Why? The Emperor’s simple words strangely shook his heart.

It was similar to the feeling before confirming the reality of enlightenment. His heart was pounding, and a strangely stifling yet strong anticipation shook his head.

“In any case, that means we must move after this battle is over.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I believe the Black Emperor of the Star has already informed you.”

“He did. However, the time has come sooner than expected.”

“……”

“Since that is the case, I must prepare as well. However, I need to know the current war situation. What is the current state of the war?”

Tak Mu-ja’s eyes gleamed.

“It is in a lull, but a battle seems imminent.”

* * *

After collapsing a mountain, Yeon-wi retreated his four thousand troops five li [approximately two kilometers] back to form a wide battle formation.

The formation was in two layers, with five hundred artillerymen still positioned in front, ready to fire.

“Even now, I can’t believe it.”

Hong-un clicked his tongue.

“I never thought a mountain would collapse even if we fired the heavy cannons. What kind of magic did the Martial Alliance Leader use?”

Yeon-wi smiled wryly.

“It’s not really magic. Everything in this world has a structure, and I simply looked into the structure of the mountain and used it.”

It was a difficult statement for Hong-un to understand.

However, he was not a fool, so instead of trying to understand what he did not know, he decided to analyze the current situation.

“Did the enemy forces decrease much when that mountain collapsed?”

“No.”

“……?!”

“There were some who were buried and killed by the collapsed earth, but the number is extremely small. Maybe two hundred at most.”

If two hundred people had died on the spot, it would be a massacre, but two hundred was a tiny number compared to the force of over twenty thousand.

“Then they will reorganize their ranks and attack.”

“Probably.”

Hong-un felt the tension rising again.

Yeon-wi had achieved an unbelievable feat, but the enemy’s numbers had hardly decreased. That meant a full-scale battle was imminent, and no matter how he looked at it, four thousand against twenty thousand was a disadvantageous fight.

It did not seem like Yeon-wi’s command skills were exceptionally great either. Aside from his respect for Yeon-wi as a martial artist, Hong-un judged that the martial artists’ ability to conduct group battles would be inferior to that of the Imperial Palace’s army.

‘However.’

The commander of this unit was Yeon-wi, and Hong-un was only to follow his orders.

He must have provoked the enemy first because he was confident in winning the fight. Hong-un decided to believe that.

Sss.

How much time had passed?

A full shichen [two hours] had passed since the mountain had collapsed.

It was a long time if it was long, and a short time if it was short. However, for the soldiers fighting, that time was not short at all.

Yeon-wi stared at the collapsed mountain without the slightest wavering, and in that state, he had several conversations with Hong-un.

During that time, Hong-un was once again impressed by Yeon-wi. In terms of knowledge about the military, he was superior, but Yeon-wi’s ability to absorb knowledge through questions and answers was truly remarkable.

The Yeon-wi who had talked about tactics for the first time was completely different from the Yeon-wi now. In that short time, he had absorbed countless pieces of knowledge about the military, formations, and battle arrays.

‘But learning and understanding is completely different from applying it in practice.’

Hong-un fiddled with the spear in his hand.

‘I wonder how it will turn out.’

It was then.

Yeon-wi’s gaze went up to the sky for the first time.

Several black dots were flying towards the enemy from the far left.

And their speed was surprisingly fast. It was difficult to feel the speed because of the distance, but the flying speed of those strange flying beasts was beyond imagination.

And the moment those few dots disappeared behind the collapsed mountain, Yeon-wi intuitively realized.

“General Hong. The enemies will begin their charge soon.”

“Yes?!”

“Prepare for battle.”

Swoosh.

As Yeon-wi drew his general’s sword, a frosty aura emanated from his body.

As Hong-un encouraged the soldiers, the four thousand troops formed a powerful military spirit.

And then, another moment.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The debris of the collapsed mountain exploded in various places, and standard-bearers with red flags began to appear.

The offensive of the twenty-five thousand troops of the Shin Hwa Cult [a fictional religious group].

Yeon-wi shouted.

“Load the fire bombs! Martial Alliance troops, prepare the capture formation!”

Whoosh!

The sword energy blazed.

The blue energy flared like flames, and then flowed into Yeon-wi’s forehead, emitting a brilliant light. Then, Yeon-wi’s eyes burned like the sun.

Roar!

The Northern Army, shouting war cries, and the Shin Hwa Army, singing hymns to the Fire God, prepared for battle, each emitting a different military spirit.

The beginning of the Imperial Palace battle, the Great Three Demonic Blood Battle.