Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1178

Yeon Ho-Jeong, having left the warehouse, quickly sought out the branch manager.

“You summoned me, Lord?”

“Immediately send word to the main castle, the Murim Alliance [a martial arts alliance], the Imperial Palace, the Beggars’ Union, and the representative sects of each region.”

The branch manager’s eyes widened as he read the contents of the letter Yeon Ho-Jeong had personally written.

But it was only for a moment.

“I will move at once.”

He didn’t ask unnecessary questions. Yeon Ho-Jeong once again confirmed that the branch manager was truly a capable individual from his attitude.

Having sent the branch manager away, Yeon Ho-Jeong was lost in thought.

‘What would be the best course of action?’

Yeon Ho-Jeong coldly analyzed the situation.

‘I expected a lull for a while. But that expectation was completely off. It’s because my judgment was purely focused on strategy.’

He never imagined that the Demonic Cult Leader would send the brainwashed Ha Eun-Gyo to the Central Plains and kidnap Ji So-Hyun.

‘The fact that the Blood Demon Cult appeared in Sichuan must also be due to the Demonic Cult Leader’s influence.’

It was the Demonic Cult Leader who helped make the vice-leader of the Divine Flame Cult a puppet and drive out the cult leader, Gi Cheon-Woong.

It was unlikely that he hadn’t touched the Blood Demon Cult, and in fact, the fact that the Blood Demon Cult forces had entered Sichuan in this situation was hard to see as a mere coincidence.

‘He wouldn’t be controlling the Blood Demon Cult, would he? If that were the case, the entire war would have been different. Still, the Demonic Cult Leader must have some influence over the Blood Demon Cult.’

It was a reasonable judgment. Even if it wasn’t true, he had to think that way now.

‘Strange.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes deepened.

‘Even so…’

His mind was a mess.

It was because the opponent had thrown a move that was impossible to understand. He was someone who enjoyed unconventional tactics as much as anyone, but this attack on Sichuan, even with the Demonic Cult Leader’s influence, felt excessive.

The attack itself was understandable, but the identity of the one who led the attack was confusing.

‘Damn it. If only I were in Sichuan.’

The pride of the Sichuan Murim was second to none. From the start, a direct intervention would have been impossible.

Still, he could have swept away a certain number of troops single-handedly, and especially, he could have quickly received on-site information and provided thorough rear support.

‘There must be strategists in the Sichuan Murim as well. Strategists who are even better than me. The problem is whether they have actually experienced war.’

There was another problem. Even if they had experienced war, the invasion was so sudden that it would be difficult to respond.

Moreover, although the Tang family was practically the ruler of Sichuan, the power of Qingcheng and Emei was not much less than that of the Tang family. The Tang family had a huge advantage in group battles with poison, hidden weapons, and gunpowder weapons, but Qingcheng and Emei were prestigious sects that had defended the Sichuan front for hundreds of years just by their names.

If they could properly unite and fight the enemy, it would be fine, but if they were divided into three and fought, the damage could increase exponentially.

Decisively.

‘I don’t know how strong that guy’s martial arts are.’

Even among those who have reached the Supreme Extremes [the highest level of martial arts], some fully demonstrate their skills in war, while others die without even showing half of their abilities.

If the opponent had the martial arts and insight to fully display his skills, even Tang Hyeong, known as the Dark King, and Tang Gwan, who recently reached the Supreme Extremes, might have a hard time.

‘It’s fortunate that Hu-Gae dispatched the old guard and the Togu-dang members to Sichuan. They were sent to block the front lines, but if they start to be pushed back, they will relentlessly deploy their forces.’

That was really fortunate. It was true that numbers didn’t mean much in front of a Supreme Extremes master, but in reality, it was just something that enthusiasts who revered the abilities of Supreme Extremes masters talked about. In reality, a well-organized elite unit could somewhat contend with a Supreme Extremes master.

Just as Yeon Ho-Jeong was deep in thought.

“Did you call for us?”

Ha Eun-Gyo and Ji So-Hyun entered, opening the door.

Following them, Gang Ryang and Jin Yang, and even Heo Baek, the head of the Dark Guard who had gone to deliver information, entered.

Yeon Ho-Jeong silently handed the letter to the group.

The group was shocked.

“The Blood Demon Cult Leader came to Sichuan himself?!”

“That is correct.”

The leader of the Blood Demon Cult.

It was a vague guess, but a formidable enemy, perhaps even stronger than the Demonic Cult Leader, had appeared.

Gang Ryang was greatly flustered.

In this situation, the Blood Demon Cult Leader had appeared in person? This was unexpected beyond expectations.

He thought that they would continue a war of attrition, and only in the final all-out war would they appear with all their forces. This was not only true for the Blood Demon Cult Leader, but also for the Demonic Cult Leader and the vice-leader of the Divine Flame Cult who had betrayed his father.

But he had entered Sichuan with only a thousand troops and one disciple leader?

“Is the Blood Demon Cult Leader crazy?”

Yeon Ho-Jeong shook his head.

“By our standards, he is crazy, but it would be difficult for a truly crazy person to become the leader of such a large cult.”

“Then why?!”

“There is one thing that is certain.”

Jin Yang took over Yeon Ho-Jeong’s words.

“That he is confident.”

“Correct.”

Ha Eun-Gyo’s eyes wavered.

“He came in person because he is confident?”

“That is correct.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong pointed his chin at Jin Yang.

Jin Yang scratched his head and said,

“There are times when a tiger, known as the king of the mountains, appears while prowling around. Unlike what people vaguely know, this tiger also hides until the decisive moment to ambush its prey, but there are times when it deliberately reveals itself.”

“But the Blood Demon Cult Leader is…”

“My point is, even animals look at where they will lie down before stretching their legs. Even animals, whose lives are directly at stake if they are seriously injured, do so. Would the Blood Demon Cult Leader, of all people, have entered Sichuan relying only on himself?”

Ha Eun-Gyo nodded. She wasn’t completely convinced, but she thought Jin Yang’s words made sense.

Yeon Ho-Jeong took over Jin Yang’s words.

“Currently, among the three cults, the one that has suffered the least troop losses in the fight against the Central Plains is the Demonic Cult. The one that has suffered the most damage is the Divine Flame Cult. Their main military leaders were defeated by the Murim Alliance experts, and they were also defeated in this war, so the people of the Divine Flame Cult’s main headquarters must be suffering.”

“That must be the case.”

“On the other hand, the Demonic Cult has suffered almost no losses except for the Silver Ghost Cavalry. Of course, they also captured their Four Kings and fought with some of their experts, but compared to the Divine Flame Cult, it’s a drop in the bucket.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong frowned.

“The Blood Demon Cult is different. They were more damaged than the Demonic Cult, but less than the Divine Flame Cult. The leader of such an organization has appeared in person.”

“Then?”

“As Jin Yang said, he is confident. The problem is that there is no reason to enter Sichuan just because he is confident. I would have understood if he had deployed all of the Blood Demon Cult’s forces to Sichuan.”

Everyone’s faces hardened seriously.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s words were reasonable. Even though they were a group of fanatics, it was rare for a leader to appear in person during a war. Even if the leader’s martial arts were the strongest.

In any battle, the moment the leader dies, the outcome is usually decided. There was no way the Blood Demon Cult Leader wouldn’t know that.

“Maybe…”

Ji So-Hyun’s lips moved.

“Maybe, Sichuan might not be the target?”

Jin Yang shook his head.

“That’s not likely. If Sichuan wasn’t the target, it would have been better to deploy troops to hold their attention and then sneak into another place alone.”

“But people’s thoughts are…”

“Of course. The Blood Demon Cult Leader might have made that decision. However, unless we have definite information about the enemy, we must make the most reasonable judgment.”

“Y-yes, I see.”

However, Ji So-Hyun’s claim seemed to have impressed Yeon Ho-Jeong quite a bit.

“Sichuan is not the main target?”

Gang Ryang cautiously said.

“Are you keeping the possibility open?”

“You have to keep the possibility open for anything. Until right before you make the decision to move.”

It was then.

“I have never thought about it.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Heo Baek.

Heo Baek, who had never spoken first before, opened his mouth for the first time without being asked.

“The Lord may have thought about it, but at least our intelligence unit has never seriously delved into what the common goal of the three cults is. We were too busy preventing immediate problems or analyzing and interpreting past events to prepare for the future.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong looked at Heo Baek and asked.

“The common goal of the three cults?”

“That is correct. It is something I have vaguely thought about before, but I also took it lightly to some extent under the excuse of being busy. I apologize for that now.”

Heo Baek knelt down on the spot and bowed his head.

Yeon Ho-Jeong said with an awkward expression.

“Dark Guard Leader, please get up. It’s inevitable when you’re busy, why are you making such a big deal out of it?”

In this serious situation, Heo Baek’s words and actions were so serious that Yeon Ho-Jeong was flustered.

Heo Baek, who carefully raised his body, continued.

“There is one thing I have been thinking about for a long time.”

“Tell me.”

“Why didn’t the three cults become one?”

“…Hmm.”

“They were said to be religions that split from the brutal cult called the Blood Cult in the past.”

“That’s right.”

“That’s where the question began. If it were me, I would have started an internal rebellion to regain the legitimacy of the Blood Cult before the three religions fought together, and once the winner was decided, I would have integrated all the forces into one and then launched an attack on the Central Plains.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes wavered.

Jin Yang tilted his head and asked.

“Hey, Leader Heo. What you’re saying makes sense, but wouldn’t that take too long? There would be many casualties among themselves.”

“They have invaded the Central Plains again since the Blood Cult incident three hundred years ago. They have also secretly planted spies to rot it from the roots, but even if you exclude that time, it has been well over two hundred years.”

“…!”

“Whether it’s two hundred years or three hundred years, it’s a long time. If they had been determined to endure, waiting a few more decades for the future would not have been difficult.”

Thinking about it, it wasn’t wrong. Of course, there would have been resistance from each cult, but weren’t the three cults the ones who had endured and endured such resistance for generations?

For the sake of victory, it would have been more reasonable to start a war after completing a single religion, not three factions.

“No matter how much I think about it, I couldn’t understand that part. It’s the same now. In the end, I could only come up with one possibility.”

“What is it?”

Heo Baek’s eyes deepened.

“That this war itself is a process of vying for legitimacy.”

“…!”

“For the three cults, the war with the Central Plains might not be a simple war, but a means to rectify everything.”

“That is…”

“If that’s the case.”

Heo Baek uttered a truly dangerous statement.

“There is no way that the former Divine Flame Cult Leader, Gi Cheon-Woong, wouldn’t have known that.”