Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1268

“Damn it!”

Clang!

His physical condition was still terrible, but the destructive power of his swordsmanship was more than sufficient. Even if he couldn’t make precise cuts, the force with which he could shatter and send three mounted soldiers flying with a single blow was truly worthy of the title ‘Overpowering Force.’ But that was the problem. He couldn’t easily stop the enemy without unleashing that much power.

“What are these things again!?”

He growled as if he were about to curse, but Jongli Baek’s eyes were frantically scanning his surroundings.

“Fall back!”

Flash!

Namgoong Seung, wielding the Azure Sky Sword, blocked Jongli Baek’s path like lightning, his face filled with sternness.

“First unit, form a defensive formation! Second unit, push from the flanks! The enemy numbers are considerable!”

The shocking thing was that each and every one of the numerous enemy soldiers was a mounted soldier.

It was said that one mounted soldier was equivalent to the fighting power of ten infantrymen. And as their numbers increased, the difference in power rose exponentially. If a thousand cavalrymen had similar combat power to ten thousand infantrymen, then two thousand cavalrymen could be equal to more than twenty thousand infantrymen, and in some cases, even thirty thousand infantrymen.

Of course, depending on the situation, their power could drop to less than ten times. The important thing was that the power of the mounted soldiers could not be easily ignored even by martial artists, and if their numbers exceeded ten thousand, it would be a huge burden for the Murim Alliance forces [a coalition of martial arts clans], whose inner energy and stamina had been greatly depleted from the previous battles.

“Are these guys crazy!”

Even from the mouth of Oh Gu-Mun, who was wielding his greatsword, a similar curse to his master’s came out.

“Why do they keep pushing! Don’t they know the value of their lives!”

His voice was too urgent to be seen as mockery towards the enemy.

Indeed, the mounted soldiers were charging recklessly, yelling strange cries. They were using the unique cavalry tactics of the grasslands, but they were not very effective against the martial artists.

It was like moths flying into a flame. In that short time, already more than three hundred mounted soldiers had lost their lives.

Namgoong Seung raised his sword and shouted,

“First unit, left flank, three directions! First unit, right flank, five rotations!”

The left flank of the first unit, which had already blocked the front of the mounted soldiers, began to use hit-and-run tactics, dividing into three groups.

It was a tactic only possible for martial artists. Although they were infantry, their strong inner energy and organization allowed them to blow away even mounted soldiers, and their response, with formations, achieved amazing results.

The right flank was the same. They divided into five circular formations, then formed a triangular pyramid, and even when pushing forward, they scattered, becoming a pocket that easily received the mounted soldiers pushing from the left flank.

In that way, they quickly bound and crushed the mounted soldiers.

It was a much more systematic and efficient response than the Shaanxi Murim forces. Namgoong Seung’s command was effective, but what was truly amazing was the thoroughly trained movements of the Murim Alliance members.

‘Impressive.’

Oh Gu-Mun’s eyes widened.

‘Were they this organized?’

Because the Divine Flame Church used hit-and-run tactics, he hadn’t fully realized how great the Murim Alliance forces were. In the past, when they went to fight the Xizang Murim forces, he had just thought they were good, but he didn’t know how truly great they were.

But seeing it like this, he finally understood. The Murim Alliance members were truly well-trained.

‘Even with such severe stamina depletion, they’re still like this… truly amazing.’

It was then.

“Be careful!”

Jongli Baek’s shout was filled with an unusual sense of crisis.

“Fire bombs!”

In the distance, something small like beans was flying towards them.

It was heading towards the place where the mounted soldiers and Murim Alliance forces were mixed together. As if they had been waiting for this moment, the Divine Flame Church members, who had been missing, now came forward and were throwing fire bombs again.

How they had made so many fire bombs, and how many more they had prepared, was beyond comprehension.

Flash!

Namgoong Seung flew into the sky.

He leaped with amazing footwork, as if a blue dragon was soaring, and swung his nameless sword.

Whoooosh!!

It wasn’t the heavy and powerful Emperor Sword Style. [a powerful sword technique]

His sword, filled with the Azure Sky Limitless True Energy [a type of martial energy], was creating a huge flow, drawing circles as if watching a Wudang Tai Chi sword [a slow, flowing sword style].

Swoosh!!

The fire bombs that were flying menacingly rotated and flew towards the rear of the mounted soldiers.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With the explosions, countless mounted soldiers lost their lives.

Admiration filled Jongli Baek’s face.

‘The master of heavy swords is using such a soft sword…’

The saying that when things reach their extreme, they reverse is also true in the realm of martial arts. When one’s skill reaches its peak, one becomes proficient in opposing qualities.

Namgoong Seung’s sword was like that. The Emperor Sword Style was a heavy sword style no less than the True Demon Cult [a martial arts sect], yet he was using such a soft sword technique.

It was impossible for Jongli Baek. No, he hadn’t even thought of such an operation in the first place. The path of the True Demon Cult was simply endless destruction and severing.

‘However.’

Namgoong Seung’s move was amazing in itself, but the situation had not improved. It was because the Divine Flame Church members had begun their full-scale offensive from the left flank.

Clang!

They were carrying small cannons on their shoulders and firing them, not distinguishing between friend and foe.

The Murim Alliance members and mounted soldiers were hit by the cannons and fell together. They didn’t explode like shrapnel, but against the power that shattered human bodies, even inner energy shields were useless.

Flames sparked in Jongli Baek’s eyes.

“Those bastards!”

Flash!

He squeezed his inner energy and swung his sword horizontally, and the sword wind that flew, instantly erasing the distance, cut five Divine Flame Church members in half.

How could he create such a sight when the distance was so far? Namgoong Seung felt respect for Jongli Baek’s martial principles and mental strength, which allowed him to unleash explosive sword techniques even in this critical situation.

Clang! Clang!

Where Jongli Baek’s sword had passed, Oh Gu-Mun had already charged in. Master and disciple were in perfect harmony without words. Oh Gu-Mun, who had penetrated the momentarily flustered cult members, danced a merciless sword dance.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Under the greatsword that his master had held and wielded his entire life, more than ten cult members lost their lives.

The small cannons, small enough to be carried on the shoulder, rolled on the ground. Oh Gu-Mun didn’t even glance at the cannons. He didn’t know how to fire them, and even if he did, he didn’t want to kill those bastards with such weapons.

The only means to annihilate the enemy was the martial art he had received from his master.

Oh Gu-Mun’s True Demon Cult sword technique spewed fire.

It was then.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The mounted soldiers were approaching, filling the wide open space.

The development was different from the battle in Shaanxi. The mounted soldiers in Shaanxi had used tactics close to suicide attacks, but these were forming a wide formation and gradually applying pressure.

Fwip! Fwip! Fwip! Fwip!

They were even shooting arrows.

In an instant, countless arrows covered the sky, enough to block out the sun.

Namgoong Seung shouted,

“Use the corpses as shields!”

Whoooosh! Boom! Boom!

Before the arrows could fly, he shot out the Emperor Sword Energy, destroying a corner, and the debris of the destroyed arrows gradually scattered the volley of arrows.

Still, there were so many arrows that had been shot. The Murim Alliance’s left flank soldiers quickly hid behind the corpses of the horses.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Even for a first-rate master, it was impossible to deflect all those arrows.

Hundreds of those who could not use the dead horses or corpses as shields fell on the spot. Some had avoided fatal injuries, but they could not get up because they had been hit by too many arrows.

‘Damn!’

Anger flickered in Namgoong Seung’s eyes.

Fwip! Fwip! Fwip! Fwip! Fwip!

Another volley of arrows flew in.

They seemed to have a much longer range than the arrows of the Central Plains. The arrows that blackened the sky in an instant were like a swarm of giant locusts.

“Evade!”

He could no longer tell them to block.

Namgoong Seung, who had told them to evade, was actually sprinting forward with Oh Gu-Mun.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Arrows and javelins poured towards the two who were running, but not a single arrow grazed their bodies as they quickly closed the distance, moving left and right.

Horror filled the faces of the mounted soldiers.

Clang!

Five mounted soldiers were torn to pieces and sent flying into the sky by the enraged Emperor Sword.

Flash!

A corner of the cavalry collapsed with three strikes of the True Demon Cult sword technique.

Namgoong Seung, the Sword Emperor of Limitless [a title for a powerful swordsman], and Oh Gu-Mun, who was faithfully following his master.

The cavalry was thrown into chaos in an instant by the two masters’ courageous advance and attack. They couldn’t just focus on the offensive because the damage to their own side was too great.

It was then.

Namgoong Seung, who was slaughtering the mounted soldiers in anger, felt a chill run down his neck.

Swoosh!

He immediately rotated his body and swung his sword vertically.

Clang!

The dagger that flew in a straight line was imbued with an undeniable inner force.

It was split in two by the sword, but the dagger, thrown through the gaps between the mounted soldiers, flew directly towards Namgoong Seung. The level of the assassination technique had reached the heavens.

And at that moment, Namgoong Seung realized.

‘Limitless!’

The Limitless of the Central Plains, called Heavenly Fire in the Divine Flame Church.

Bang! Boom! Boom!

There was a master breaking through the center of the mounted soldiers and approaching this way. Surprisingly, he was pushing the horses to the left and right with his bare hands, and even though he was an ally, he was scattering the ranks and sprinting in a straight line.

Namgoong Seung shouted,

“Oh Gu-Mun! Fall back!”

Whoosh! Clang!

Namgoong Seung’s body was pushed back with a full-force punch.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

A rain of arrows poured down on Namgoong Seung, who had been pushed back.

The impact was so severe that a momentary evasive maneuver was impossible. Namgoong Seung’s sword automatically rose and created a soft sword shield.

Whoooosh! Ting!

With a single soft sword technique, all the arrows that had been shot were deflected into the air.

And taking advantage of that gap, a huge pillar of fire flew in.

Namgoong Seung’s eyes flashed.

‘It’s not fire energy. It’s the Scorching Yang Art!’ [a martial art focused on fire energy]

It was the Scorching Yang Art that was shooting out the pillar of fire. And with this level of density, the opponent was definitely a Limitless master as well.

Thud!

Namgoong Seung, advancing with a firm stance, unleashed the Sega Secret Heavenly Wind Sword and Heavenly Thunder Sword in succession. [two powerful sword techniques]

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Bang!

With five consecutive sword strikes, he shattered and scattered all the power of the force.

Fwip! Fwip! Fwip!

Regardless, the mounted soldiers were again shooting arrows at the Murim Alliance forces.

As a Limitless master had emerged from this side, a Heavenly Fire master had emerged from the other side. Unlike in Shaanxi, it was an offensive with a clear intention to push in with force.

Namgoong Seung shouted,

“Everyone retreat! We need to reorganize our ranks!”

To think that they would have to retreat because of a mounted army that had barely learned any martial arts.

This was the battlefield. Namgoong Seung was a peerless master who could change the tide of the war alone, but he did not want his allies to die meaninglessly.

In this kind of all-out war, tactics and weapons determined victory or defeat rather than the level of martial arts. And for the Murim Alliance forces, who were even exhausted from the long battle, it was natural that they were being pushed back.

‘Damn it! So they were!’

It was strange that not a single Limitless master had appeared until now, but now they were finally showing themselves.

And it wasn’t just one.

Whoosh!

In this urgent situation, his Mind’s Eye [a heightened sense of perception], which had not been functioning properly, opened wide, and the Azure Sky Limitless True Energy surged, supporting his sixth sense beyond his five senses.

Flash!

Great confusion settled in Namgoong Seung’s shining eyes.

‘This is…’

The Heavenly Fire masters caught by his Mind’s Eye.

There were as many as five, and one of them was surprisingly…

‘Tremendous firepower! The density of his energy is higher than mine!’

The new leader of the Divine Flame Church, who had not shown himself until now.

Like fire that consumes fire and becomes bigger and fiercer, the incarnation of rebellion (Fire God) who had seized the throne by taking countless lives had finally appeared on the battlefield.