Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 479

Whirr! Whirr!

The Coiling Dragon Chain sliced through the air with incredible smoothness and majesty.

Even the sound of the connected chains clashing together was exceptionally clear, like the clashing of hard dragon scales to some.

And the White Dragon Blade at the end of it flashed like a dragon’s tooth, tearing through the air.

Yeon Ho-Jeong flicked his wrist this way and that.

Whirr! Whirr! Whirr!

The Coiling Dragon Chain, connected to the White Dragon Blade, writhed and moved left and right according to its master’s will, as if it had a life of its own. The sight of the White Dragon Chain, prowling like a living dragon and letting out roars, was magnificent.

After watching the White Dragon Chain’s movements for a while, Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes gleamed.

Swoosh.

With a light pull of his arm, the length of the Coiling Dragon Chain shortened, and the White Dragon Blade was in his hand.

Yeon Ho-Jeong said calmly,

“It’s been a while.”

A smile appeared on Yeon Ho-Jeong’s face as he spoke without turning around.

“I’ve been busy handling this and that. I was going to visit you today anyway…”

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

Yeon Ho-Jeong groaned at the unexpected blow.

“Anyway? What a load of crap, you bastard.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong rubbed the back of his head and turned around, looking bewildered.

There stood Jeagal Ayeon.

“Are you crazy? Did you just hit me in the back of the head?”

“Is there a problem with that?”

“Look at this?”

“This? Did you sell your polite manners at the market? You wanna die at the hands of your older sister?”

It seemed her way of speaking had become quite rough while they were apart.

Yeon Ho-Jeong frowned.

“Still, I’m your superior.”

“So what? Should I treat you like a superior?”

“You should.”

“Very well. I’ll treat you as such, Great Commander.”

“……”

“What are you so dissatisfied with that you’re staring at me with those eyes?”

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s expression became awkward.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Oh, you don’t know? But do I have a reason to explain it to you?”

“……”

“Why?”

“You’ve lost some weight?”

“You little…”

Jeagal Ayeon began hitting Yeon Ho-Jeong’s head repeatedly.

He didn’t want to just take the hits, but if he dodged, she would really sulk, so Yeon Ho-Jeong bent his arm to block his head.

A dull sound echoed through the training grounds.

Thud! Thwack! Thwack!

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes were filled with shock.

A heavy force began to gather in her swinging hand. She was using internal energy [qi or life force].

“Hey! Stop it! Enough is enough!”

“I’m being moderate, you bastard!”

“Ah, damn it! What’s the problem!”

“I just said I don’t have a reason to explain it!”

“Ugh, seriously!”

Bang!

Yeon Ho-Jeong quickly created some distance.

Jeagal Ayeon’s eyes widened.

“Oh? Now you’re using martial arts in front of a weak soldier?”

“Weak my foot.”

Jeagal Ayeon was skilled in palm techniques. It was too painful to just take the hits.

Besides, although there were many geniuses around, her martial arts were also top-tier among the younger generation. Just now, if she had put a little more internal energy into it, he could have gotten a concussion.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s face hardened.

“Assaulting a superior is a serious crime.”

“Oh? Now you’re going to try to take me down with the law? You’re so smart, huh?”

“Hey, you idiot. It’s not that…”

“A serious crime… A serious crime is good. Since I’m going to be locked up in prison anyway, it wouldn’t be bad to go in for murder instead of assault.”

“Calm down. Calm down, let’s talk it out. What’s the problem?”

In an instant, a murderous aura flashed in Jeagal Ayeon’s eyes.

Yeon Ho-Jeong flinched without realizing it.

He had been in battlefields where a murderous aura ten times more intense was rampant, but the murderous aura from someone he was close to was terrifying regardless of its intensity.

Feeling unnecessarily self-conscious, Yeon Ho-Jeong decided to be a little more flexible.

“Hey, hey, I really don’t know.”

“I know, you don’t know. So you should get hit some more, right?”

“I’ll pass on that. By the way, your martial arts have improved a lot? It seems you’ve been training hard even while busy.”

“You’ve been oiling your tongue a lot? Huh? Unlike you.”

“It’s an honest assessment.”

“The problem is that this isn’t the time to be assessing my martial arts, right?”

“No, but what…”

“You said I’ve been training hard even while busy? So you knew I was busy?”

Why was she acting like this?

Yeon Ho-Jeong decided to think seriously about it. The Jeagal Ayeon he knew was a bit mischievous, but she wasn’t someone who would play such rude pranks.

Seeing him deep in thought, Jeagal Ayeon said curtly,

“Why are you even thinking about it? Just put that round head of yours out. You might remember after getting hit?”

“I told you I’ll pass on that. In the first place, there’s no reason for you to be so angry…”

In that moment, Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes wavered.

“To be so angry…”

Wait, now that he thought about it.

“…Hmm, it seems there is a reason.”

Jeagal Ayeon’s face, which had been full of sarcasm, became expressionless in an instant.

It was a truly terrifying face. He wouldn’t have minded if she had glared at him and cursed, but this face was like that of a ghost.

Yeon Ho-Jeong scratched his head.

“Could it be that you’re still working on the formation…?”

“Die!”

Fwoooosh!

From her hand, the Jeagal Clan’s secret technique, the Great Heavenly Star Palm Technique, exploded.

Yeon Ho-Jeong dodged her palm technique with a look of shock.

“Hey! Calm down first!”

“Calm down? How can I calm down right now!”

Bang! Ba-bang!

The sound of drums bursting echoed continuously in the air.

The sound was like drums bursting, but the power was enough to topple a large tree.

Even Yeon Ho-Jeong wouldn’t be unscathed if he were hit by it with his bare body. But he couldn’t open his divine gate and take out his demonic energy either.

If he did, Jeagal Ayeon’s eyes would really go crazy.

“Wait!”

Thwack!

Yeon Ho-Jeong grabbed both of Jeagal Ayeon’s wrists.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who was about to apologize, had a look of horror on his face. Jeagal Ayeon’s eyes, which were right in front of him, were filled with madness.

Come to think of it, her eyes were bloodshot from how much she had been suffering. It wasn’t because she was angry. It was because she hadn’t been sleeping and had been working hard on the formation research, which had strained her eyes.

But that was that, and this was this.

‘This is crazy!’

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s hands, which were holding Jeagal Ayeon’s wrists, were trembling.

It was monstrous strength.

She was exerting a power that was unimaginable with Jeagal Ayeon’s martial arts. Jeagal Ayeon was proving how terrifying the power of the human mind could be when pushed to its limits, whether it was from murderous intent, hatred, or anger.

In the end, Yeon Ho-Jeong made a decision.

‘D, damn it.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong said quickly in a small voice,

“Forgive me!”

“Forgive what…”

Thwack!

Jeagal Ayeon’s eyes rolled back. She lost her strength and collapsed on the spot.

Yeon Ho-Jeong gasped for breath.

“This is…”

He had tried to quickly strike a pressure point, but the moment he took his hand away, Jeagal Ayeon’s hand, which had struck the air, showed signs of releasing explosive energy.

In the end, he had no choice but to knock her out by hitting the back of her neck. It was a kind of instinct.

Yeon Ho-Jeong looked down at Jeagal Ayeon.

Jeagal Ayeon’s face, which was lying on the ground with her eyes rolled back, looked so terrifying that even a ghost would be scared.

“…Will her head cool down a bit?”

Or will she think of him as her enemy?

* * *

“Hoo, it seems like the heat has cooled down a bit now.”

After lying on the floor for about half an hour, Jeagal Ayeon opened her eyes and stretched, getting up.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who was standing with his arms crossed against one wall, cleared his throat and turned his head away.

Jeagal Ayeon frowned and glared at him. Still, after taking a good nap, the madness from before was gone.

“……”

A little time passed.

The one who spoke first was Jeagal Ayeon.

“Aren’t you going to apologize?”

“I’m sorry.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong opened his mouth as if he had been waiting for it.

“I should have sent a letter first, but things on the ground were so hectic that I couldn’t find the time. Of course, I received the letters you sent too. I should have replied right away, but every time I tried, all sorts of damn bastards caused all sorts of accidents, so I just couldn’t…”

Jeagal Ayeon couldn’t help but chuckle.

Seeing him let go of his crossed arms and make excuses, the anger that had been rising subsided.

“Okay, stop it.”

“…Anyway, that Man-Ho bastard should have moved a little faster… Huh?”

“I said stop it. And why are you bringing up Man-Ho? He didn’t do anything wrong.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong smiled awkwardly.

“It’s just that he’s the first person that comes to mind when I think of someone easy to pick on…”

“You’re disqualified as a Great Commander. How can you pass your responsibility to your subordinate?”

“I thought he would understand that much.”

“Shut up and follow me.”

“Where are we going?”

“……”

“Ah, of course, we should. We should go. We should see.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong made a fuss, unlike his usual self, and put his arm around Jeagal Ayeon’s shoulder.

Jeagal Ayeon frowned.

“Get off. You’re heavy.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong smacked his lips and lowered his hand. He thought she had calmed down, but she was still quite sharp.

Jeagal Ayeon sighed deeply.

“Anyway, if you give someone a task, you should tell them how much progress has been made and where they should stop. No matter how busy you were, really…”

She kept grumbling.

And Yeon Ho-Jeong had no choice but to listen to her grumbling silently.

Before the departure of the Righteous Army, Yeon Ho-Jeong had asked Jeagal Ayeon to improve several formations as much as possible.

From the formations of the Extermination Army and the Tangma Army to the mechanical formations that could be set up throughout the entire Murim Alliance [martial arts alliance].

It was an excessively daunting request for one person. But Jeagal Ayeon had been digging into them and creating them until now.

The problem was the lack of communication.

Yeon Ho-Jeong had left without even showing his face to Jeagal Ayeon when the Righteous Army departed. In addition to their personal relationship, he had left without giving clear orders as a superior.

It was an excessively harsh treatment. Especially given Jeagal Ayeon’s personality, it was impossible for her to stop a task she had taken on halfway.

The lack of communication, combined with her personality of trying to see everything through to the end, had caused Jeagal Ayeon’s anger to soar to the sky.

She had been running a race without knowing where the finish line was. Most people would have given up halfway or become mentally exhausted and gone crazy.

It was a testament to Jeagal Ayeon’s mental strength.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason she was angry.

“Next time, say something.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t know how you think of me, but I’m a soldier of the Extermination Army before I’m the daughter of the Murim Alliance’s Supreme Commander. I’m also fighting for the Extermination Army in my own way.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong was truly ashamed.

“I’m sorry.”

Jeagal Ayeon was not just angry because she was tired.

It was because she felt left out.

And Yeon Ho-Jeong could fully understand her feelings.

“I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again. That’s a promise.”

Being busy was no excuse.

The busier you are, the more chaotic things are, the more you need to make sure to take care of the things you need to take care of. There are many cases where countless capable people have been destroyed by such mistakes.

Yeon Ho-Jeong had learned a great lesson from this mistake.

‘I’ve already risen to that level.’

Yang Cheon had even described him as the core of the Murim Alliance’s politics.

That was by no means an exaggeration. Although Yeon Ho-Jeong himself denied it, the Murim Alliance was actually in turmoil with just his words and will.

That’s why he had to take even better care of his people.

Seeing Yeon Ho-Jeong’s somewhat solemn face, Jeagal Ayeon’s expression softened.

“Okay. I’ll let go of my pent-up frustration now.”

She was still a person with a cool and collected personality. Jeagal Ayeon had neatly resolved the anger that had risen to the point of madness.

“So, what’s the first thing you’re going to show me? Is it the improvement of the Extermination Army’s formation? Or the Tangma Army’s? Or the mechanical formations to be installed throughout the Murim Alliance?”

“No, those things can be looked at later.”

Jeagal Ayeon’s face hardened.

“Do you remember when we fought the Shin Hwa Cult’s warriors?”

“I remember.”

“We were going to set up a formation there, and also check the terrain.”

“We were.”

“I found out about it while investigating that area. You could say it’s the basic framework of the Shin Hwa Cult’s formations.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes flashed.

“That’s the first thing we need to see.”