Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 517

Thud, thud, thud!

Over a hundred mounted soldiers galloped across the plains at a terrifying speed.

Though it was a plain, these riders were also capable of dashing through rough forest paths with incredible skill. They were thoroughly trained to execute man-and-horse-as-one tactics, not only on sand but also in mountainous terrain.

‘That’s a relief.’

The Guizhou Province was mostly mountainous. A master confident in their movement techniques might find it better to dismount and run directly.

The Ironclad Cavalry’s horses were different.

They were large yet incredibly flexible, and despite their weight, their stamina was better than the Righteous Army’s horses.

This was because Yang Cheon had thoroughly supported the Dragon Fang Ironclad Cavalry. They were an Ironclad Cavalry raised by feeding even the horses precious elixirs that were scarce even for humans. Now, the Ironclad Cavalry’s horses were so powerful that they could be considered weapons, capable of fighting even martial artists.

Whoosh!

The group, having crossed several mountains, took a brief rest.

“It’s here.”

Hwang Seok-tae, looking around, spoke.

“Do you see that dark building over there?”

Yeon Ho-jeong focused his eyesight by drawing on his inner energy.

In the distance, there was a small building in the forest. It was so small that it was hardly a building, and it was so well-blended with the forest that even a decent martial artist might pass it by.

“Yes.”

“That’s one of the few information hubs of the Black Dragon Unit rooted in Guizhou. The informants there will tell us about the situation here.”

“Good.”

Hwang Seok-tae ordered the First Unit Leader.

“They already know we’re here. Go and bring back all the information on Baekbyeong Shingun [White-Clad Divine General], Makwon.”

“Understood.”

Whoosh!

The First Unit Leader and a few members dismounted and quickly descended the mountain.

Paeyul dismounted.

“Let’s rest a bit.”

“As you wish.”

The two dismounted and sat on a flat rock.

Hwang Seok-tae frowned.

“We might have to move immediately. It would be best not to let your guard down.”

“It’s good to rest when you can.”

“You’ll regret it if you get caught off guard.”

“Don’t see being tense and physical recovery as separate things. Keep your senses sharp, but your body relaxed. The Ironclad Cavalry is a combat unit, so discipline and military spirit are important, but we don’t know what kind of fight we’ll face from now on.”

Hwang Seok-tae, who had been quietly watching Yeon Ho-jeong, spoke to the members.

“Everyone, take a rest.”

“Yes!”

Yeon Ho-jeong smiled.

Whatever else, Hwang Seok-tae was good in this aspect. He was a proud man, but he was open to listening and learning.

Hwang Seok-tae approached Yeon Ho-jeong.

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“The air here.”

Yeon Ho-jeong asked Paeyul.

“What do you think, Senior?”

“What do you mean, what do I think?”

Paeyul, who was cleaning his spear, said casually.

“It’s incredibly filthy.”

“Filthy…”

“A foul killing intent is flowing through the air. The air is good, but it feels like there’s gold dust mixed in it.”

Paeyul spat.

“It’s not a clean taste. It’s kind of messy.”

“I agree.”

Hwang Seok-tae looked at Paeyul with surprise.

He had often heard Yeon Ho-jeong call Paeyul ‘Senior.’ He also knew that Paeyul was an elder of the Jeomchang Sect [a fictional martial arts sect] and that his martial prowess was no less than his own.

However, Yeon Ho-jeong’s presence was so strong that he hadn’t paid much attention to him. In fact, Paeyul alone was skilled enough to be the founder of any decent sect.

Hwang Seok-tae looked at Paeyul’s spear and asked.

“I heard Jeomchang is famous for the Sun-Shooting Sword.”

Paeyul frowned.

“Don’t say unpleasant things.”

Hwang Seok-tae tilted his head.

“Wasn’t it? I know that Jeomchang is known for the Sun-Shooting Sword, and the Sun-Shooting Sword is famous as the best piercing technique of the righteous sects.”

“There’s no such sword now.”

“There’s no such sword?”

Hwang Seok-tae secretly drew on his true energy to sharpen his senses.

Whoosh.

Only now could he properly see Paeyul’s power.

A perfectly refined power. He had completely contained his powerful inner energy without wasting a single bit.

Even if one had surpassed the wall of the Martial Ancestor [a high level in martial arts], their levels and strengths would vary. But in Hwang Seok-tae’s eyes, Paeyul’s energy was flawless.

‘And on top of that, a sword and a spear…’

Moreover, the Jeomchang sword was a quick sword focused on piercing, so they used swords with narrow blades, dull edges, and extremely sharp tips.

‘That’s not it either.’

Paeyul’s sword was only slightly longer than a short sword. Moreover, the blade was wide. No matter how short the blade was, it didn’t seem like he could unleash a quick sword focused on piercing with such a sword.

‘An elder of Jeomchang who uses a deformed sword and a spear as his main weapons…’

Hwang Seok-tae now looked at Yeon Ho-jeong.

‘They really do stick together.’

The elder of the Jeomchang Sect, famous for the Sun-Shooting Sword, was wielding an ill-fitting weapon.

Yeon Ho-jeong was even worse.

The Byeoksan Yeon Family was a sword family that carried on the orthodox sword lineage of the Central Plains. Yeon Ho-jeong, the eldest son of that family, used a massive axe as his main weapon, and now he was carrying a spear and had a strange iron chain wrapped around his body.

It was a strange combination when you thought about it. Among this group, wasn’t Gang Ryang the most normal one?

Well, that guy, who had joined a group led by his enemy and was laughing without a care, was also peculiar.

“By the way.”

Paeyul asked Yeon Ho-jeong.

“You said you were being chased by the government’s masters?”

“Yes.”

Paeyul’s eyes deepened.

Yeon Ho-jeong had said it was the government’s masters, not the imperial palace. To a martial artist, the imperial palace and the government might sound the same, but Yeon Ho-jeong clearly seemed to separate the two.

And Paeyul knew why Yeon Ho-jeong was making that distinction.

“Even if it’s rotten, it’s still a crucian carp. I heard the imperial palace is another den of demons. I heard there are many incredible masters hidden there.”

“That’s probably true. Especially among the masters who protect the emperor’s bloodline, there might be absolute masters who are jaw-droppingly powerful.”

“But the government doesn’t have such masters, right? Even if the government’s tactics and strategies are excellent, the opponent is Baekbyeong Shingun, Makwon. Even if they mobilize cannons, they won’t be able to catch him, and they might even be annihilated instead.”

In fact, Yeon Ho-jeong had broken through cannons and charged forward when he rescued Gi Woo-hee.

Cannons were useless against a supreme master with martial arts that could break steel and excellent strategic tactics. If hit directly, even a supreme master would have a hard time surviving, but they wouldn’t just stand there and get hit.

Moreover, it was Baekbyeong Shingun. Baekbyeong Shingun was an absolute master who had reached the realm of the Supreme and created his own style.

Unless they trapped him in a place with no escape and fired hundreds of cannons, they would never catch him.

“Of course, that’s probably true. The problem is that Makwon is currently being chased for some reason.”

“Hmm.”

“If someone with that level of martial arts didn’t want to fight, they could just run away. But since he’s clearly being chased, it must be one of two things.”

Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes deepened.

“Either the government has dispatched an enormous force capable of catching Makwon, or Makwon’s condition is not normal.”

“…”

“Or, it could be both.”

Paeyul, who had been quietly watching Yeon Ho-jeong, chuckled.

“You’ve really followed well.”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t I tell you? Following you will lead to interesting things.”

Yeon Ho-jeong smiled wryly.

“It’s a rescue operation. Not a battle of annihilation. And whether it’s a rescue or annihilation, isn’t it all about bloodshed? I’m not interested.”

“I’m interested. I plan to follow you around from now on.”

“Do as you please.”

Yeon Ho-jeong, with a nonchalant face, waved his hand and looked around again.

‘Indeed.’

Just as Paeyul had said, the air was truly filthy.

He fully agreed with the statement that it was full of messy killing intent. The air of the mountain itself was good, but the killing intent mixed in it was so uncomfortable that it was hard to breathe properly.

Yeon Ho-jeong was lost in thought.

‘Who could it be?’

Whether he was ambushed or not, Makwon would be strong even if he wasn’t in normal condition.

In the first place, a master who had reached the Supreme realm was beyond common sense. Even if they had lost limbs or suffered serious internal injuries, the masters of the Saintly Heaven [a high realm in martial arts] were beings who could still display a level of power that would be difficult for even the current Yeon Ho-jeong to face.

The government was chasing such a master.

Regardless of cannons or anything else, there must be a master who could match Makwon. It could be one, or it could be countless.

‘Did the imperial palace secretly dispatch masters? Or did the government secretly train masters without anyone knowing? But the government is ultimately a tool of the imperial palace. So, it would be better to think of the imperial palace and the government as one group.’

A thought suddenly occurred to Yeon Ho-jeong, and he frowned.

‘Could it be that the Three Teachings [a group of powerful sects] are involved in this?’

At first, he had strongly thought so. But as he came here, he had dismissed that assumption.

If the Three Teachings were involved, it was likely to be the Divine Flower Sect. And many of the Divine Flower Sect’s masters who had entered the Central Plains had died at the hands of masters led by Yeon Ho-jeong.

The Divine Flower Sect was trying to seize the imperial palace, and they had actually achieved some success. In that situation, even if they were a strong force from the Saintly Heaven, it would be difficult to deploy high-level forces just to bring in one person.

‘Of course, it’s all just assumptions. I still don’t know much about the Divine Flower Sect or the situation in the imperial palace.’

A problem interpreted with only fragmented information.

In other words, there was a possibility that the Three Teachings were involved in this incident.

‘I don’t know yet.’

The reason he tried to think it wasn’t the Three Teachings was because he was afraid of losing his cold reason by being swayed by emotions.

But what if the Three Teachings were really involved?

“Hoo.”

Yeon Ho-jeong took a light breath and smiled.

‘Then we fight.’

Let’s not think too seriously. Whether it’s the Three Teachings or anything else, his mission was to bring Makwon into the Righteous-Evil Alliance.

That’s all he needed to think about right now.

Only that.

Boom!

Suddenly, Yeon Ho-jeong looked to the west.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

Paeyul tilted his head. Hwang Seok-tae did the same.

Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes deepened.

“Didn’t you hear a strange sound just now?”

“I didn’t hear anything?”

“…”

“Why? Did you sense something?”

Paeyul’s face also became serious.

Yeon Ho-jeong’s senses were more sensitive and superior than anyone else here. If there was a sound that they all couldn’t catch, Yeon Ho-jeong would be able to catch it.

“Something…”

“Tell me.”

“It was an exploding sound. It sounded similar to a cannon, but it’s hard to tell because of the echoes…”

That was when it happened.

Flash!

In an instant, Yeon Ho-jeong sensed a faint streak of light rising. It was the place where the sound had echoed.

A place so far away that even a martial artist would have difficulty seeing it properly.

Right there.

He witnessed the tail of a golden flame rising.

Yeon Ho-jeong jumped up.

“Senior Paeyul! Let’s move first!”

Hwang Seok-tae’s eyes widened.

“What?!”

“You contact the intelligence unit and come later! It’s urgent, so I’ll go first!”

“H-hey!”

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, Yeon Ho-jeong and Paeyul disappeared.

Hwang Seok-tae felt dumbfounded.

“He’s doing everything by himself. What the heck is he doing?!”