Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 50

Where the Wind Blows (1)

‘Did he get out?’

He knocked on the wall several times, but there was no response. It seemed he had successfully escaped.

Nail moved quickly and naturally.

“Who’s there!”

“It’s me.”

“Oh! You scared me half to death!”

“I apologize.”

“Anyway, why are you here? You’re in charge of the east wall, aren’t you?”

“My shift is over. I’m going to change shifts.”

“Tsk, as if you’d come on your own.”

“I haven’t eaten anything all day. My stomach is sticking to my back.”

“Sometimes I wonder how big your heart is. Even with the head guard caught as a spy, you’re not nervous?”

“He’s already caught, isn’t he? What’s there to be nervous about?”

“Ugh, you. Have you ever seen a spy infiltrate alone? There must be backup.”

“I don’t know about backup, I just need to eat.”

“You’re something else. Give me your shoulder patch.”

“Here it is.”

“Be careful. On days like this, your easygoing nature could be a poison. Eat quietly and go rest.”

“Is it that serious?”

“You’re so clueless. It’s the head guard, the head guard! Didn’t you see the Law Enforcement Chief earlier? His eyes were full of murderous intent.”

“Hmm… I should probably be careful today.”

“You’re really something else at times like this.”

“Anyway, thank you. I’ll be going now.”

“Okay, go get some rest.”

Nail clutched his stomach and jogged away.

The warrior who watched him shook his head.

“That guy is strange. How can someone be so lacking in presence? Is it because he’s so easygoing?”

Shortly after, Nail entered the dining hall and filled his bowl with cold rice and a couple of side dishes. Then, he hurried to his quarters.

Clunk.

Nail opened the door to his quarters.

At the same time, his body froze.

‘……?!’

The quarters were a shared space for ten people.

But the quarters were empty. Even though it was the time when four of the ten should have been sound asleep.

An unknown anxiety made his hair stand on end.

That’s when it happened.

“The food is cold?”

Nail felt goosebumps all over his body.

“I know a place with good food, want to go together? You look like you can pay for it.”

“…….”

“If you don’t want to, it can’t be helped.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong emerged from the shadows, smiling coldly.

“They say a well-fed ghost looks good. Since there’s no one to hold a memorial service for you, eat that and die.”

Smack!

A large bowl of rice flew towards Yeon Ho-Jeong’s face. At the same time, Nail’s figure shot up to the roof of the quarters like lightning.

“……!!”

Nail’s eyes widened.

Rustle. Rustle, rustle.

Beyond the roof of the quarters.

Numerous warriors appeared from all over the inner compound buildings.

What was surprising was the places they were standing. Each of those places was a fallback route that had been marked in case of an emergency.

Nail’s eyes wavered.

‘H-how?!’

These were routes that only spies or assassins would know, routes that were easy for retreat. Even veteran warriors with excellent combat experience wouldn’t know these routes unless they were specifically taught.

All of those routes were blocked. Nail felt his vision darken.

“I don’t want to argue with a rat in the middle of the night. So, I’ll tell you in advance.”

Nail looked down.

Yeon Ho-Jeong was standing there with an axe slung over his shoulder. The bowl of rice and its contents were scattered on the ground.

“Your contact in the outer stables had his head cut off by the Chang-Eung Commander’s sword.”

“……!!”

“Come down.”

They even knew about the contact.

Nail was dumbfounded. Even in most organizations, they wouldn’t use two spies and a contact.

Not only was it difficult to cultivate a contact, but there were countless cases of them being caught if they were infiltrated carelessly.

However, the contact planted in the Yeon family was different.

He was a top-tier expert in this field. Since the role of a contact itself rarely involved taking risks, they were even harder to catch than spies.

It was already surprising that they knew about the contact, but how did they know he was working in the stables?

Swoosh. Whoosh.

Nail came down to the ground.

Light footsteps, no sound even when his feet touched the ground. It was an amazing movement technique.

“Who are you?”

“Yeon Ho-Jeong.”

Nail’s eyes flashed with murderous intent. He realized there was no way out.

But there was one thing he wanted to know.

“Who told you about the contact?”

“I did.”

“You?”

“Is that such a big deal?”

“How could you, who grew up like a flower in a greenhouse, know about spy infiltration and assassination?”

Yeon Ho-Jeong chuckled.

“If you saw the greenhouse I grew up in, you wouldn’t say that.”

Spy infiltration? Assassination? Contacts? Those were everyday occurrences in the underworld.

The underworld, which favored treachery over justice and lies over truth, was a place where deception was instantaneous and killing was commonplace. Even if their martial arts were inferior to Nail’s, there were countless individuals with skills several times greater than his.

It was Yeon Ho-Jeong who had taken control of and unified that chaotic battlefield of deceit.

Once you knew their existence, catching spies or contacts was as easy as swatting flies.

Nail’s eyes wavered.

“I can’t believe it. Are you saying you’ve become some kind of dark god?!”

“Is that a new way to insult someone these days? Why are you comparing me to that gloomy guy?”

Thud!

The end of the spear struck the ground. It was a powerful tremor that shook the area.

“Kneel.”

Tzzzz.

A strange aura emanated from Nail’s body.

Yeon Ho-Jeong nodded.

“I guess that won’t work, will it?”

Thud!

Nail charged forward.

Due to the nature of their profession, most spies and assassins were masters of agility. They trained in martial arts in a completely different way from ordinary martial artists.

That’s why Nail’s movements were fast. Faster than any master he had seen since his regression.

Thwack!

A half-fist aimed at his chin missed.

He didn’t block it, he deflected it. Nail was finally certain of his opponent’s capabilities.

‘This guy is an expert!’

You should never just block an attack from a spy who has trained in body techniques. They always have poison on their fingertips that doesn’t emanate externally.

Whap, whap, whap!

Nail’s attacks continued.

It wasn’t a one-hit-kill martial art like Yeon Ho-Jeong’s. Since he would be incapacitated if he was scratched even once, there was no reason to waste his stamina.

Nail’s attacks were relentless. It was a continuous attack that required extreme endurance. Once he launched an assault, it was a top-tier assassination technique that was difficult to reverse.

Yeon Ho-Jeong was easily breaking down that top-tier assassination technique.

Whap, whap, whap!

‘This can’t be happening.’

The fast, sharp, and continuous hidden fist assassination techniques all missed.

‘How?!’

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s responses were so simple that they seemed almost careless.

All of the sinister assassination techniques were deflected by his careless gestures.

Since he was so well-versed in this type of martial art, he knew exactly how they would attack. If he didn’t know, he wouldn’t be the Dark Emperor, but since he did, he couldn’t be stopped.

‘Damn it.’

Nail felt despair creeping in.

He had planned to take his opponent down, take him hostage, and escape from this place. But he couldn’t even land a single blow, let alone take him down.

‘I can’t win…’

A hopeless situation. He had attacked a master who couldn’t be taken hostage, making it the worst possible choice.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes flashed.

When one’s spirit is broken, their martial arts falter. Nail’s hidden fist was gradually losing its unique sharpness.

Whoosh!

Yeon Ho-Jeong aimed for Nail’s lower body with his long leg. It was a leg technique that was difficult to block, whether one’s spirit was broken or not.

Crack!

“Kuh!”

Nail’s face turned pale. His right knee had caved inward. It was broken.

“You’re still clumsy.”

Nail looked up at Yeon Ho-Jeong.

Yeon Ho-Jeong raised his axe high with both hands.

“You’re sending him without even poisoning him? What kind of confidence is that?”

Wham!

“Kuaaak!”

With one brutal axe strike, his leg was severed. Nail screamed and trembled several times before losing consciousness.

Yeon Ho-Jeong looked up at the sky with cold eyes.

The moonlight was clear.

“This side is finished, Father.”

* * *

“Hah, hah!”

Tae-Gyeong’s body, running through the rough forest, was drenched in sweat.

He had learned internal energy, but he hadn’t practiced martial arts much. Yet, his running was fast.

‘Faster, faster!’

Once he was locked in a solitary cell, it would take time for it to be opened again.

But you never knew. His past life had been too rough to gamble on uncertainty. He couldn’t relax until he was at least out of Gangso Province.

‘I have to at least stop by the first safe house!’

Fortunately, he knew the terrain well. There was no spy who was dispatched without memorizing the terrain.

How long had he been running?

The top of a low mountain was right in front of him. Once he crossed this mountain, he would reach the grove next to the main road. In the grove, there was a safe house that the Moyong family had built with great care.

“Hah, hah!”

From now on, it was downhill. He would be able to pick up speed much faster than on the uphill.

Tae-Gyeong, who had been catching his breath, was about to start running again when it happened.

“Is that all you’ve got?”

Snap!

The sound of a twig breaking was unusually loud. It was the twig that Tae-Gyeong had stepped on.

Tae-Gyeong’s sweat-soaked face gradually turned pale.

“Is that all you’ve got to show for nearly ten years of working in the shadows while deceiving me?”

Tae-Gyeong’s hands trembled.

He slowly turned his head.

Thud.

A middle-aged man appeared from beside a large tree.

A tall, slender figure. On the left side of his belt, he wore an ordinary longsword without any special embellishments.

But while the sword was ordinary, his gaze was anything but.

The epitome of indifference. The pinnacle of ruthlessness.

“…Clan Leader.”

“So, you still call me Clan Leader?”

Tae-Gyeong closed his eyes.

‘It’s over.’

Yeon-Wi was one of the top martial artists among the clan leaders of the Seven Great Clans. There was no way for Tae-Gyeong to escape from the hands of a transcendent master, who was rare in the martial world.

Tae-Gyeong looked at Yeon-Wi.

Yeon-Wi’s eyes, shining in the cold moonlight, were the embodiment of terror. Even the eyes of a wild beast wouldn’t be this terrifying.

“I… I just…”

“Just?”

“I just wanted to reach the top of the world.”

“With such despicable actions?”

Tae-Gyeong shouted without realizing it.

“What does the method matter in reaching the top of the world! Not everyone is like you! You, who were born and raised within the confines of the Yeon family, can never understand me!”

“I don’t think I need to understand you.”

Tae-Gyeong bit his lip.

“Let me go.”

“I can’t do that.”

“I, I’m not the only one who infiltrated as a spy! There are others in the Yeon family besides me…!”

“Nail, the prison guard, and Jang-Hak in the stables.”

“…!!”

“Are there any others?”

“How did you know that?!”

Yeon-Wi’s eyes deepened.

“You underestimated my son too much.”

Only then did Tae-Gyeong realize. That Yeon Ho-Jeong had lied to him until the very end.

He realized that he had been deceived until the last moment before heading to the prison.

“Do you have any last words?”

“That… that damn bastard!!”

Swish!

Tae-Gyeong’s head fell to the ground.

Yeon-Wi stared at Tae-Gyeong’s fallen head with cold eyes.

“I asked if you had any last words, not to insult my son.”