Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1171

Saphil Hap’s eyes narrowed.

‘Look at that bastard?’

He throws away the sword, which is like a lifeline to a swordsman.

It wasn’t a high-level master’s sword control technique, but merely a flying sword technique. Of course, its power was extraordinary, but in the end, the opponent was left empty-handed.

That’s why Saphil Hap recognized Gang Ryang as an even more dangerous person.

‘The framework of the fight has changed.’

Most martial artists on the continent, as well as most of the Three Sects warriors, do not easily discard their weapons. It was just the instinct of warriors.

But the Spirit Guis [a group of assassins] are different. They were ruthless individuals who would cut off their own arms without hesitation for their goals.

Gang Ryang’s tactic of breaking the ground with a palm strike, hiding himself on purpose, and then taking out two enemies with a flying sword technique was closer to the killing methods of the Spirit Guis than those of a traditional martial artist.

Clap!

Even without an order, one of the Spirit Guis picked up the iron sword that had killed his comrade.

At the same time, the remaining Spirit Guis unleashed their energy again.

Kwa kwa kwang!

The dust that soared with a roar concealed Gang Ryang’s body once more.

Saphil Hap’s eyes flashed.

‘He’s not hurt.’

In the thick dust, faint sword energies could be seen spinning like wheels.

‘The trick was good. But you need to know, we won’t be flustered by that one trick. Rather, since you’ve lost your sword, this match is over.’

Fwaaaak!

Saphil Hap, who had charged after the explosion of energy, jumped into the dust in an instant.

Saphil Hap, who was about to swing his dagger, felt a chill run down his spine.

‘He’s not there?!’

He had clearly sensed the guy’s presence, but there was no one in the dust.

All that existed were six sword energies spinning like wheels.

The sword energies were spinning with only internal energy, without a master to control them. Saphil Hap, who knew what kind of enlightenment this technique came from, couldn’t help but be shocked.

But now was not the time to be surprised.

Flash!

The six sword energies scattered in all directions in an instant.

“Fall back!”

Saphil Hap commanded his subordinates and leaped into the air at the same time.

The six sword energies, which had been moving like lightning, instantly changed direction and flew towards Saphil Hap.

It was a divine skill to control internal energy without using hands. Saphil Hap was more impressed than flustered by the opponent’s enlightenment and skill, but at the same time, he realized that the battle had become extremely dangerous.

Fwoop fwoop fwoong!

Several trees where Saphil Hap had hidden were cut down by the six sword energies. It was a tremendous power.

But.

‘It’s weakened.’

Evading itself was not difficult. Furthermore, he realized that the six sword energies were rapidly losing power over time.

Now he could break them. Saphil Hap’s dagger unleashed dozens of sword lights.

Fwa ba ba ba bak!

The six sword energies disappeared as easily as if they were nothing.

At that moment, Saphil Hap realized another fact.

Before being shattered by the crude sword energy of the dagger, the opponent had first withdrawn his internal energy and scattered them. This was because the impact would also affect the owner the moment they collided and broke.

The control of internal energy was extremely excellent. Furthermore, the fact that he removed the six sword energies at the exact moment meant that the opponent was focused on him.

An eye that could see through the opponent’s condition in just a few exchanges. Saphil Hap’s insight was more impressive than his martial arts.

Whoosh!

Saphil Hap, who had swept away all the dust with his widely spread energy, saw his subordinates in his sight.

‘Where did he go?!’

There was nothing caught in his sight or even his senses.

‘Amazing.’

The Spirit Guis were those who had mastered the best assassination martial arts. In front of such people, he had used the same stealth technique?

‘That can’t be. He’s an orthodox swordsman. He didn’t use stealth, but is just deceiving us with a strange trick.’

Fwaaang!

Saphil Hap, who had instantly approached his subordinates, spread his internal energy in all directions.

‘Where did you hide?’

Fwoop fwoop fwoong!

The Spirit Guis, sensing an unusual atmosphere, each detonated poison bombs.

The ability to instantly read the flow of battle without having to say anything. They were subordinates as quick-witted as Saphil Hap.

‘Where the hell did he go!’

Fwa ba ba bak!

As soon as the poison bombs exploded, they wrapped themselves in invisible silk threads in all directions. If anyone approached carelessly, their flesh and bones would be torn apart.

In that way, they waited for Gang Ryang’s attack, having created a perfect defense.

‘…….’

Even as a short or long time passed, Gang Ryang did not appear. There wasn’t even a trace of his presence.

‘This is strange.’

At first, it was absurd that the target they had surrounded and attacked was now targeting them instead.

But as time passed, he felt that something was wrong.

‘Even if they haven’t professionally learned stealth techniques, a supreme master would be able to hide their presence so that no one could recognize them. But…….’

They couldn’t deceive the eyes of those who had learned professional assassination techniques. Even if he could deceive his subordinates, he wouldn’t be able to deceive his own eyes, the leader’s.

‘Why can’t I feel his gaze?’

After countless life-and-death battles, one could sense that someone was targeting them even without a presence. Especially in a situation where they were so tense and fully prepared.

It was called a gaze, but in reality, it was a kind of murderous intent that made it possible.

‘Could it be……?’

After much thought, Saphil Hap suddenly expanded his senses towards the distant fortress.

Kugung. Pung!

It was a distance that should never be heard, but Saphil Hap’s tremendous senses could tell that the forces he had sent were in the middle of a fight.

Saphil Hap’s eyes widened.

‘This bastard?!’

Could it be that he had already escaped from here and was helping the fight over there?

‘Damn it!’

Kung!

Saphil Hap, who had spread his subtle internal energy with his footwork to scan the area once more, made a decision.

“Everyone, dismantle the Death Formation! It’s highly likely that he headed towards the fortress! We will follow immediately!”

Fwa ba bak!

They quickly retrieved the invisible silk threads and headed straight for the fortress.

The closer they got to the fortress, the louder the explosions became. Although they couldn’t feel the shockwaves, it seemed like a truly brutal battle was taking place.

‘It doesn’t matter if he’s not there. It means we can take them down one by one. But if he really did head to that battlefield, we’ll eliminate him as quickly as possible and join the commander-in-chief.’

Saphil Hap turned around and shouted.

“We’ll move with the Death Formation’s Heaven Opening Style. As soon as we join, that swordsman…!”

It was then.

In an instant, Saphil Hap felt an unknown sense of incongruity.

‘What is it? Why is the number……?’

It felt like one more had been added?

The moment he had that thought, Saphil Hap saw the guy running in the last row of his following subordinates.

His face was covered by the Spirit Gui uniform, but there was a lot of blood on his chest. It was the mark of being pierced by a projectile weapon.

Saphil Hap’s eyes widened.

“That…!”

At that moment, Gang Ryang, who had been following them wearing the blood-soaked uniform of the Spirit Gui he had killed, swung his arms.

Fwoop bo bo bo bok!

His arms were swords. The two swords that had turned into hand swords unleashed terrifying sword energies, instantly severing the bodies of about a dozen Spirit Guis.

Among them was the guy who was running with Gang Ryang’s sword. He immediately retrieved his sword.

“It’s him!”

Fwoop fwoop fwoong!

Several Spirit Guis who had not died fired their energy at Gang Ryang, but he was already charging forward in a low stance, swinging his iron sword.

It was too close to use the Spirit Gui’s unique killing techniques, and of course, they couldn’t dodge or block it.

Flash! Flash!

The remaining Spirit Guis lost their lives in vain to the black sword energy that curved like a hook.

“You bastard!”

Saphil Hap, who finally shouted, charged towards Gang Ryang.

Jjeo o o o ng!

Gang Ryang was helplessly pushed back.

Even in his rage, Saphil Hap was able to accurately read the opponent’s condition.

‘His internal energy consumption is extreme.’

He didn’t know how he had deceived their eyes, but just using six sword energies would have consumed a lot of internal energy. On top of that, he had used his internal energy-rich sword energy several times to kill his subordinates in a surprise attack, so it was natural for him to be exhausted.

Saphil Hap’s left hand was swung.

Flash!

A bundle of invisible silk threads that flew from his sleeve targeted Gang Ryang’s limbs.

Gang Ryang twisted his sleeve.

The iron sword drew a small circle, scattering black sword energy in a circular pattern.

Fwa ba bak!

All those silk threads were cut off and scattered in the air.

Saphil Hap was not disappointed. It would have been good if he had wrapped the limbs with the silk threads and cut them off, but it was enough that he had made the already exhausted guy use more internal energy.

Now was the time to pour out all his strength. Invisible internal energy drew concentric circles from under Saphil Hap’s feet.

Whoosh!

Saphil Hap, who flew silently but explosively and advanced to right in front of Gang Ryang, swung his dagger like crazy.

It was an attack that an exhausted opponent could never block. Saphil Hap was certain of this.

At that moment, Gang Ryang’s left hand moved strangely.

His left arm, which had been wriggling like a boneless snake, instantly wrapped around Saphil Hap’s right arm.

Chwaak!

Blood spurted from his forearm, which had been cut by the dagger, but Saphil Hap, whose right arm was suddenly blocked, could no longer swing his dagger.

‘……!’

It was not the time to analyze what kind of technique it was. Saphil Hap immediately kicked Gang Ryang’s abdomen.

Peo eok!

Blood gushed from Gang Ryang’s mouth.

In that instant, Saphil Hap cursed inwardly. This was because the blood that Gang Ryang spat out had completely covered his eyes and nose.

His vision was blocked in an instant. In the midst of that, he felt a murderous intent from the opponent’s sword. A quick sword that he could never block with his right arm tied up would be unleashed.

Saphil Hap’s judgment was cold, even ruthless.

Uduk!

He struck his right upper arm with his left hand, tearing it off completely, and then threw his body backward.

There was no pain. It was such an urgent situation.

It was then.

‘…….’

Saphil Hap realized. That he had made a mistake.

He should have evaded to the side, not backward. But when his vision was blocked, his body automatically moved backward. It took a very slight amount of time to grasp the surrounding environment with his senses, so his body had moved backward on its own.

‘I need to retreat further……!’

Peok!

His breath was cut off.

Saphil Hap, who had been retreating madly, eventually lost his strength and collapsed to the ground.

An iron sword was embedded in his chest.

“Cough!”

Saphil Hap, who had spat out a mouthful of blood, slowly opened his eyes.

Gang Ryang was panting and approaching from afar. It was the same posture he had when he threw the flying sword technique.

‘So that’s how it was.’

A bitter smile came out on its own.

‘He predicted that I would retreat backward as soon as I got blood on my face. Otherwise, he couldn’t have thrown the sword so quickly.’

It was a predictive ability that deserved admiration.

But behind the admiration, there was also resentment and anger.

“Cough! Uweeek!”

Saphil Hap, who had coughed up blood several times, said in a trembling voice.

“You despicable bastard… you threw blood in my eyes?!”

“Winning is everything. You guys were trained that way too, right?”

Of course, they were. But they had not learned such despicable methods as throwing blood or dirt at the enemy’s face.

Well, what does that matter now?

Saphil Hap’s eyes slowly closed.

“Dirty mainlanders.”

“In my opinion, you guys are ten times more disgusting. But well……”

Sreuk.

Gang Ryang, who had pulled out the iron sword, chuckled.

“I admit it. My method was dirty. I was born that way, so you should understand.”