Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 127

That night.

“Hehe.”

Moyong Gun was thoroughly drunk.

It was the first time he had been this drunk since his drinking session with Yeon Ho-Jeong. No, he hadn’t even drunk this much during his drinking session with Yeon Ho-Jeong.

“It’s an era of peace, but beneath the surface, blood and death are licking their lips. That’s why the martial world is always an era of warring factions.”

Moyong Gun burst into a cheerful laugh.

“That’s what makes the world interesting. It even brings back connections that were about to be severed by the flow of time.”

At that moment, a heavy voice was heard.

“Are you sure about this?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about Moyong Woo.”

“Hehe, you don’t know that kid.”

Moyong Gun’s eyes gleamed.

Even drunk, his eyes were clear. As time passed, his Thunder Qi [a type of internal energy] was actively growing stronger.

“There’s a reason why I kept the youngest alive even in that fierce power struggle. The youngest is pure. He’s so pure that he can’t betray.”

“People can change at any time.”

“Personalities may change, but one’s nature doesn’t. I’ve seen the roots of the youngest. Whether it was before or now, those roots haven’t changed.”

Moyong Gun’s eyes deepened.

“But…”

Zzzzzzz.

A threatening blue electric light covered his entire body.

Pshhhhh.

In an instant, the room was filled with the smell of alcohol. He had released his energy in one go.

“At the same time, I also know my own roots.”

“……”

“A distrust that doesn’t even trust blood relatives. No, rather, I suspect them even more because they are blood relatives. The reason is that I know that betrayal from someone close hurts much more.”

“Are you saying you don’t trust Moyong Woo? If you don’t trust him, why did you accept him?”

“You wouldn’t know how grateful I am to the youngest. I trust the youngest.”

“……”

“However, I don’t trust the youngest’s environment. I don’t know what he’s seen, or who he’s been associating with, so I’m not so easy as to suddenly promote him.”

“Then what?”

“Because I know his abilities.”

Moyong Gun smiled.

“People who are easily obtained tend to disappear easily. A prime example is Mong-Ui, whom I sent out a couple of months ago.”

“……”

“Surprisingly, even people who are hard to obtain can disappear easily. I obtained the youngest after twenty years. I can’t easily lose such a valuable card that I obtained with such difficulty.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“He’s weak to affection. Then, I have no choice but to tie him down with another bond of affection.”

A cold shadow fell over Moyong Gun’s face.

‘I will follow any harsh task you give me without complaint.’

Moyong Gun, recalling Moyong Woo’s resolute eyes, smacked his lips.

“This is also a task, but it’s a bit lacking in affection…”

“……?”

“Didn’t they say that the eldest daughter of the head of the Central Plains Bank hasn’t married yet?”

The man’s eyes widened.

The Central Plains Bank was one of the three largest banks in the martial world.

It had the longest history among the banks, so its connections were beyond imagination. They even hired countless experts to protect their money, so their sheer martial power could be considered greater than that of a major sect.

And the head of the Central Plains Bank was quite close to Moyong Gun.

“He’s already thirty years old. Even if he’s in the martial world, not being married at that age is a big problem, isn’t it?”

“But… the head’s eldest daughter is only eighteen years old.”

“Oh, what does age matter in marriage? Woo is one of the most talented people I know. He’s going to be the head of the Moyong family in the future, so they should be happy about it.”

Moyong Gun gave a mischievous smile.

“Send word to the head of the Central Plains Bank. Tell him to come visit the Martial Alliance.”

* * *

“You’ve arrived.”

“Yes.”

The Martial Alliance had four massive gates. People called them the Four Beast Gates.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s expression became strange.

“Four Beasts, Four Gods…”

The gate they were about to enter was the Azure Dragon Gate, one of the Four Gods’ gates.

The incredibly massive gate had a vivid relief of an Azure Dragon. And the walls surrounding the gate were four times higher than the gate itself.

‘It’s enormous.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong inwardly clicked his tongue.

He had seen the Martial Alliance in the past as well. But at that time, the outer walls of the Martial Alliance were half-destroyed due to the war with the Demonic Cult.

‘Those crazy bastards. They smashed through walls like this.’

It would be difficult to even make a scratch without pouring in an enormous amount of resources. He realized once again how absurd the Demonic Cult’s mad power was.

“Let’s go in.”

The Yeon family’s warriors headed towards the Azure Dragon Gate.

“Please state your identity.”

“We are from the Byeoksan Yeon family of Gangso Province.”

After a simple verification process, the Azure Dragon Gate opened.

Kugugugung!

The majesty of the Azure Dragon Gate slowly opening to the left and right was breathtaking.

Yeon Ho-Jeong smacked his lips.

‘The Black Emperor Castle didn’t have this kind of feel.’

The Black Emperor Castle was much smaller than this. Instead, they poured a fortune into internal construction to increase the concentration of troops.

“Wow…”

“Huh?”

Muk Bi stared at the gate as if he were possessed.

“I, I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“……Me neither.”

Yeah, it’s the first time you’ve seen it.

But for some reason, he felt annoyed.

‘You were the one who said we should reduce the scale of the fortress, you bastard.’

At the time, Muk Bi had insisted that the scale of the Black Emperor Castle should not be increased. Although there was plenty of funding, he argued that it was necessary to save military funds for future battles.

So, the Black Emperor Castle was built with minimal cost and maximum efficiency. Of course, Yeon Ho-Jeong had also agreed with that.

Still, it bothered him a bit that the person involved was acting like this.

Yeon Ho-Jeong ruffled Muk Bi’s hair.

“Ugh! Why are you doing this!”

“I don’t know, you punk.”

“Oh, really. You’ve just been getting more and more grumpy lately.”

“What was that?”

“Earlier, you could have just stayed quiet, but you had to go and make trouble.”

“When did I ever!”

“With the Namgoong family.”

“Hey, am I supposed to just take that? It was an obviously forced apology!”

“Then you could have just ignored it, why did you have to provoke them more?”

“You’re saying scary things. Being ignored is more insulting than being cursed at.”

“Anyway, you could have avoided it. You always have a knack for causing trouble.”

“I’m going to shut that mouth of yours…”

At that moment, Yeon-Wi spoke.

“Bia’s words also make sense.”

“……Ugh.”

“As it is anywhere in the martial world, we must be especially careful in our behavior since we are here to discuss important matters.”

“Don’t worry.”

Muk Bi looked at Yeon Ho-Jeong with distrustful eyes.

Yeon Ho-Jeong glared fiercely. Muk Bi turned his head as if he were scared.

Thud!

Finally, the Azure Dragon Gate was fully opened.

Yeon-Wi’s eyes flashed.

“This is finally the Martial Alliance.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes also changed.

He knew that Moyong Woo had already arrived here. Considering the distance and travel speed, he would have arrived at least a day ago.

‘I trust he asked properly.’

Clack, clack.

The Yeon family group entered the Martial Alliance.

The interior of the Martial Alliance was like another Central Plains [the central region of China]. There were winding paths and many flat roads.

‘Hmm.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.

‘They certainly built it properly.’

Even though the area was incredibly vast, the layout of the buildings and watchtowers was very well-organized.

‘A structure extremely specialized for siege warfare. Even just the outer walls are this much…’

Yeon Ho-Jeong inwardly clicked his tongue.

‘It’s no joke. It’s like the Black Emperor Castle expanded several times over.’

The Martial Alliance in its proper state was like that. It showed the majesty of an impregnable fortress that could never be destroyed.

Yeon-Wi asked.

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“Yes, it is.”

“The architectural structure of our main family is completely different. Our main family is arranged to facilitate the gathering and counterattack of warriors.”

“On the other hand, the Martial Alliance is designed to be extremely suitable for siege warfare.”

“You see well.”

“It’s probably because of the symbolism of the Martial Alliance. Even if everything else is fine, if the Martial Alliance falls, the White Path [the righteous martial factions] will lose its power. An impregnable fortress that no one can conquer. Just by looking at the Martial Alliance, you can see the history of the White Path martial world.”

Yeon-Wi looked at Yeon Ho-Jeong.

Yeon Ho-Jeong blinked. His expression was quite innocent.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

He had been surprised by his eldest son many times.

He thought there was nothing more to be surprised about, but he was surprised again like this.

‘He’s really scary.’

His son’s words were hitting the nail on the head.

The White Path is different from the Black Path [the evil martial factions]. The Black Path uses all sorts of despicable means to survive, but the White Path burns with righteousness through death.

That’s why the Black Path is scattered and unable to exert its full power. If they were to join forces, they would not be as weak as they are now.

On the other hand, the power of the White Path is thoroughly united.

The sects in each region of the Central Plains, the Nine Great Sects, and the Six Great Families, are mostly allied with them. And all of them fight against foreign forces with the Martial Alliance as their center.

The White Path has been on the verge of destruction, but it has never completely collapsed even once.

The name of the Martial Alliance, its existence, and the power that this fortress possessed were that great.

“There’s truly nothing you can’t do. Where did you learn such things?”

Yeon Ho-Jeong scratched his head.

“From books. I’m just very interested in this kind of thing…”

Yeon-Wi believed his son. But he didn’t believe this statement.

This was not something you could learn from books. You couldn’t even learn it from pictures.

You had to see it directly, observe it, and live in such a place to know it.

Whether it was martial arts or academics, there were geniuses, but in the case of tactical fortress construction or strategic deployment, it was a study based entirely on experience.

“Your words…”

That was when it happened.

“Yooooooo!!”

It was a truly thunderous voice.

It was a volume that anyone would have to turn around to look at. An overwhelming sense of liberation was felt.

“Shibaal! Young Master Yeon!”

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes twitched slightly.

He glanced at Yeon-Wi.

Of course, Yeon-Wi’s expression was not good. Judging by his expression, he seemed like he was about to click his tongue, wondering where he had made such a vulgar friend.

But Yeon-Wi knew the identity of the person. That’s why he didn’t say anything.

“It’s been a loooong time…!!”

“Ah, you’re too loud, you crazy beggar!”

Ga Deuk-Sang, who was running at an incredible speed, stopped abruptly.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who was about to spit out another fierce curse, hesitated for a moment. It was because he saw Ga Deuk-Sang’s eyes turning red.

Sluuurp.

A single tear trickled down, and then he collapsed and wailed.

“Waaah! Keeeooong!”

It was a sight to behold.

It wasn’t acting, it was real. He was crying so sorrowfully that it even made the onlookers’ eyes water. Muk Bi was sniffling, even though he didn’t know who the person was.

“Waaah! Freeeeedom!!”

At this point, Yeon-Wi couldn’t help but open his mouth.

“It seems something… bad happened to Hugae [Ga Deuk-Sang’s nickname].”

He tried to speak calmly. Yeon-Wi was also flustered.

Yeon Ho-Jeong grumbled.

“What bad thing could have happened to that beggar? He probably ran away because he didn’t want to train in martial arts.”

“Watch your words.”

“It’s okay to talk like that to him.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong chuckled.

Still, it was nice to see him after a long time.

“Stop faking it and get up.”

“Sniff.”