Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 246

“……Krrrk.”

Blood foam bubbled from Cheongho’s mouth.

His entire body was a gruesome tapestry of bruises, cuts, lacerations, and even burns. It was a miracle he was still standing.

His fighting spirit was remarkable, but his opponent had no appreciation for such tenacity.

“Just die already.”

Moyong Gun casually flicked his sleeve.

Whoooosh!

Cheongho coughed up more blood and rolled on the ground.

It was a strike of formless force, a ‘Gyeokgongjang’ [a technique that uses internal energy to strike]. The blow had undoubtedly caused irreparable damage to Cheongho’s insides.

“That’s one persistent bastard.”

Moyong Gun turned his head.

There, he saw the Mad Dog kneeling, glaring up at Moyong Gun with gritted teeth. It seemed impossible for him to rise.

“You, you son of a…”

Swish.

The Mad Dog’s head was cleanly severed.

Moyong Gun’s cheek twitched.

“You vermin.”

They were impressive martial artists, truly exceptional within the Black Path.

But in the end, they were just trash from the Black Path. Wasting so much time on such scum was an insult to his pride.

‘I still have a long way to go.’

This was the first real battle he had fought since mastering the Thunderclap Art and the Unfeeling Heavenly Thunder Style.

The Thunderclap Learning was indeed powerful. His understanding of how to manifest such destructive martial arts seemed flawless.

However, there was a difference between understanding and actually manifesting martial arts.

Having a lot of knowledge was useless if you couldn’t apply it. The same was true for martial arts.

‘It’s probably for the best. I’ve found areas to improve.’

At that moment, Cheongho twitched again.

Annoyance flickered across Moyong Gun’s face.

“Just fall already.”

“Cough! Ugh, ugh!”

“The blades of my sword were not forged to cut the bodies of mongrels like you. I would prefer not to stain my precious sword with any more filthy blood.”

Thwack!

Cheongho slammed his fist into the ground and roared fiercely.

“Moyong Gun!!”

Whoosh!

Cheongho’s eyes widened as if they would tear apart.

Moyong Gun, who had approached as if folding space, had already plunged his sword into his neck.

“Who do you think you are, calling my name with that lowly mouth?”

“Gack!”

Cheongho, who had been trembling, slumped over. He was finally dead.

However, Moyong Gun’s anger remained. As the blood flowing down the blade stained his hand, his ferocity increased exponentially.

“Filthy.”

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

A terrifyingly fast sword sliced Cheongho’s body dozens of times.

Shhhhk.

Cheongho’s finely chopped corpse scattered across the ground.

“Hmph!”

Moyong Gun shook off his sword and snorted.

“Consider it an honor. Not just anyone gets the privilege of being shredded by my sword.”

It was an incredibly arrogant statement.

Moyong Gun, having sheathed his sword, looked to the west.

Whoooosh.

The battle over there was still not over. Moreover, they seemed to be fighting further and further west, as the sounds were much more distant than before.

“…Useless bastards.”

They couldn’t even finish off a few combat units of an organization that had only been established recently.

They were all truly displeasing. Even the main family’s forces stationed in the west were carefully selected warriors to block the retreat. They were supposed to be skilled.

“Once this is over, I will turn the entire family upside down.”

However, he couldn’t just leave the remaining forces as they were.

Moyong Gun clicked his tongue and kicked off the ground. Or rather, he tried to.

‘……?!’

Moyong Gun’s expression changed drastically.

‘……What is this?’

Crackle.

The thunder energy that rose from his dantian [energy center in the body] surged to his head in an instant.

Whoooom! Whoooom!

His energy was flowing out uncontrollably, even though he hadn’t intentionally released it.

It was as if the Thunderclap Art itself was terrified. At the same time, it seemed to be trying to envelop his entire body to protect its master.

‘What the hell……?’

A very ominous energy was approaching from the far south.

The problem was the size of that energy.

‘This can’t be.’

Moyong Gun’s eyes widened.

‘Such power?!’

Whoooosh.

There was a hot wind that pushed away the cold air of late autumn.

It was like lava itself. Even though it was so far away that it was out of sight, the pressure it exuded was truly immense.

Furthermore, it wasn’t like countless masters were moving together. The energy wasn’t scattered haphazardly, nor was it gathered into a unified military force.

It was one person.

This absolute energy, so overwhelming that even Moyong Gun couldn’t bring himself to move, was emanating from a single person.

And in Honam, there was only one person who could emit such a massive force in all directions.

“……Yang Cheon?”

Whoosh!

The heated wind that had been raging cooled down.

‘…….’

A cold sweat trickled down Moyong Gun’s neck.

Shortly after.

Whoooosh!

The air seemed to tear apart.

Finally, that massive energy was moving.

And its speed was like lightning. It was moving so fast that even from this distance, the air could be heard screaming.

It was the sprint of an absolute being who had finally set foot in the world.

Escape? That was meaningless. If they were a hundred miles away, it might be different, but since the opponent had already sensed their energy, running away at this distance was pointless.

That was the kind of person he was.

The power of the masters called the absolute beings of the martial world, the power of the experts belonging to the Seongcheon Thirteen Seats [a group of top martial artists], was that great.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

What kind of divine movement technique, with what kind of power, and how was he using it?

The dilapidated houses that were nothing more than boards were being destroyed. The monster’s sprint, which had even broken the speed of sound, was shaking the heavens and the earth with an invisible shockwave.

And finally.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The thunder energy that had been protecting Moyong Gun was pushed back as if crumbling due to the intense shockwave.

Crack.

Moyong Gun was the same. His two feet created a furrow in the ground that was more than a ‘jang’ [a traditional Korean unit of length, approximately 3 meters] long.

‘Damn it!’

His joints ached.

If he hadn’t pulled up the Thunderclap Art with all his might, something would have definitely broken.

‘He didn’t even attack, and just moving with all his might creates this much power…….’

Moyong Gun, having calmed his nerves with a deep breath, stared ahead.

There, ‘he’ was.

“Are you the head of the Moyong family?”

Listening to the low-pitched voice, it felt like his auditory nerves were twisting.

Just hearing the voice made it difficult to maintain his balance. Faced with the power of an absolute being burning with rage, the power of the strongest invincible person in the Black Path, Moyong Gun desperately pulled up his inner energy.

“Indeed.”

Yang Cheon looked around with a blank face.

His gaze lingered on Cheongho’s corpse, scattered in dozens of pieces, the Mad Dog’s headless corpse, and the Water Dragon’s corpse, whose upper body had been completely blown away.

A faint smile appeared on Yang Cheon’s lips.

“I didn’t think you would have obtained that much power. You are indeed impressive. It would have been better to send one of the two, the Rat or the Ox, instead of sending three of the Twelve Zodiacs [a group of skilled fighters].”

That meant that the martial arts of those two were on a different level even among the Twelve Zodiacs.

This was also high-level information. He was willingly giving away such information, which was truly appreciated by the other party.

However, Moyong Gun couldn’t hear Yang Cheon’s words.

‘Really.’

He felt like laughing.

‘They say that each of the Seongcheon masters is no different from a god, but this is more like a monster.’

Moyong Gun smiled.

Yang Cheon’s eyes flashed.

“……Well, I see you have a lot of guts. I’ve never seen anyone laugh in front of me like that.”

Moyong Gun, who had been looking at Yang Cheon with a smile, clasped his hands respectfully.

“I am Moyong Gun, the head of the Moyong family. I greet Senior Touwang Yang [a title of respect].”

It wasn’t just the smile.

Shudder.

Moyong Gun’s body was trembling slightly.

It wasn’t out of fear. He was genuinely impressed by the opponent’s power, the power of the Seongcheon Thirteen Seats.

‘Hmm.’

The corners of Yang Cheon’s mouth lifted.

‘This guy is more interesting than I thought.’

Moyong Gun raised his head.

His face still held a smile.

Yang Cheon shook his head.

“I know you’re not an ordinary person, but stop smiling. I’m not in a good mood.”

“Is that so?”

“The reason I’m not attacking you without question is because my reason is still calming my anger. But it wouldn’t be a loss for me to start by peeling off your face.”

His calm voice was filled with unbearable violence.

He was serious. If he made a wrong move, Yang Cheon would genuinely try to peel off Moyong Gun’s face.

Of course, that task would be done in an instant. Moyong Gun would not be able to stop or avoid that touch.

Moyong Gun’s smile disappeared.

“I apologize. I didn’t mean to anger you, Senior.”

“You’re being quite humble.”

“I’m not foolish enough to show pride in front of Touwang.”

Yang Cheon’s eyes gleamed.

‘He’s a strange one.’

He was confident.

In a way, that confidence was similar to that of the head of the intelligence department.

However, the head of the intelligence department would scold him and teach him, while Moyong Gun confidently bowed his head.

‘The head of the intelligence department.’

Yang Cheon raised his head.

The dark night sky, the bright full moon, made his eyes sting.

Yang Cheon closed his eyes.

“Explain.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you blow up the entrance to the headquarters? Is it to start a war, or is it the mistake of a childish fool who just wants attention? And…….”

Flash!

Yang Cheon’s eyes opened again.

Even though he wasn’t facing him, Moyong Gun felt a chill run down his spine. Yang Cheon’s eyes, looking up at the sky, were fiercer and more menacing than the eyes of any beast in the world.

“Why did you kill the head of the intelligence department?”

The boundless rage seemed to swallow even the darkness.

Fwoosh.

The pieces of Cheongho’s flesh that were not far from Yang Cheon turned to dust and scattered. The same was true for the Mad Dog’s corpse and the Water Dragon’s corpse.

He hadn’t intentionally released his inner energy, but just by revealing his ferocity, he was turning external objects into dust.

‘He’s a real monster.’

Moyong Gun inwardly clicked his tongue at Yang Cheon’s disastrous power.

‘Is this really a power that a human can wield?’

While training in the Thunderclap Art and the Unfeeling Heavenly Thunder Style, he had been confident that he would soon reach the level of the Seongcheon Thirteen Seats.

He was wrong. He was completely wrong.

The Seongcheon Thirteen Seats were not a level that could be reached just by learning stronger and more mysterious martial arts. They were fundamentally different from other martial artists.

‘That’s why I want to reach it even more.’

At that moment, Yang Cheon spoke again.

“I’m telling you clearly, it’s best to give up any thoughts of lying or trickery. Although my chest feels like it’s about to burst with anger, I’m not so foolish that I can’t distinguish between lies and truth.”

Yang Cheon lowered his head and met Moyong Gun’s gaze.

Flash! Flash!

An aura that was several times more threatening than the thunder energy of Moyong Gun, who had mastered the Thunderclap Art, poured down like a waterfall.

“Tell me. Why did you kill my subordinate?”

“Before that, let me ask you one thing.”

“……?”

“Why did the Touwang of the world want to see me? Tell me that first.”