Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 518

Wham!

The iron staff slammed into the earth, carrying immense power.

A wave of golden flames, capable of melting even steel, scattered in all directions.

It wasn’t scattered by force. The massive power, drawn from the earth’s vibrations, had erased the air passages that were the source of the fire.

It was a method of nullification that defied imagination. The man was inwardly surprised by Makwon’s move.

Whoosh!

As they say, even a rotten fish is still a fish. [Meaning: Even someone in a weakened state can still be dangerous.]

Makwon’s iron staff, emitting light, moved in an instant, erasing space itself.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

It wasn’t staff technique, but spear technique. Though there was no blade, a single hit would pierce the body.

The man’s movements, evading the destructive chain attacks, were truly remarkable.

Makwon’s eyes gleamed.

‘Fast.’

Regardless of whether he was a master of the Supreme or Saintly Heavens [Cultivation levels in martial arts], his movement technique was truly admirable.

He moved like a weightless flame. If they were to compete solely on movement technique, he wouldn’t be far behind a strongman of the Saintly Heavens.

Of course, a fight wasn’t decided by movement speed alone.

Makwon reached out.

Wham!

The man’s body shook, and he retreated madly.

‘I read him.’

The shockwave, shaking from his forearm to his entire upper body, was immense.

It wasn’t full power, just a palm strike, and even that was from a master with severe internal and external injuries. Yet, this single blow sent a shock through his upper body, as if it were bending backward.

‘Is this the power of the Three Armies?’ [A powerful military force]

The individual martial prowess of a Saintly Heavens master was comparable to the power of an entire great sect [A martial arts organization].

He now felt like he could truly understand that statement. The man was essentially facing a single sect from the Nine Great Sects, which were now somewhat weakened.

Swish, swish, swish!

Makwon approached the man.

He had barely taken a few steps, yet he was already right in front of him. Despite his severe internal and external injuries, he could still show this much speed.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

The movements of the iron staff were truly divine.

The attacks, approaching from all directions, were each a fatal blow. The best attacks the man could muster were coming in a continuous barrage.

‘This is bad!’

Whoosh!

The man retreated using his extreme speed movement technique.

The staff’s shadow, sweeping through the space where the man had been, destroyed everything.

Swish!

Trees, rocks, grass, everything was shattered and scattered into dust.

Shudder!

The man’s eyes wavered.

‘Incredible power!’

There were no shouts, no preliminary movements before using a fatal martial art, no qi [Internal energy] circulation.

Each strike was simply unleashed with ultimate destructive power.

He could evade, but he couldn’t block. Even a graze would shatter his qi barrier and destroy his body.

The man shouted.

“What are you all doing!”

Wham!

No sooner had his shout ended than several cannons fired.

He didn’t know where or how they were watching. Cannons fired from all directions, indiscriminately invading the space where the two men stood.

Boom! Boom!

The explosions turned the forest into a hellscape.

Makwon’s eyes wavered.

‘This is bad.’

Even in this state, he wouldn’t be hit by the cannons. The distance was too great, and if he read the moment the fire was unleashed, evasion wouldn’t be difficult.

The problem was the man.

Whoosh!

The golden flames emanating from the man’s body were absorbing the fire from the cannons.

The man’s eyes flashed.

Swoosh! Wham!

Makwon moved back a step.

‘Was that the Fiery Divine Palm?’

It was a fierce power.

The craftsmanship, the forms, the routines, the power, nothing was lacking in this high-level martial art.

But the truly remarkable thing about this martial art, or rather, their martial arts, was that they could unleash even more powerful attacks when fire was added to their surroundings.

Bang, bang, bang!

He deflected the continuous Fiery Divine Palm strikes with the spinning strikes of his iron staff.

The power he felt was different from before. The hand holding the iron staff was trembling faintly. It couldn’t handle the force of the Fiery Divine Palm.

Bang! Wham! Wham!

The power of the Fiery Divine Palm grew stronger.

Makwon frowned.

‘A martial art that absorbs fire to increase its power. That in itself is impressive, but…’

The name of the Saintly Heavens wasn’t so weak that he would be defeated by a little more power.

The problem was his own physical condition.

He could clearly see the gaps and weaknesses in the swirling Fiery Divine Palm strikes, but he couldn’t break through them. Normally, he could shatter the power with a fraction of his strength, quickly close the distance, and deliver a fatal blow, but he couldn’t do that now.

‘No choice.’

If he continued like this, it would never end.

A look of determination crossed Makwon’s face.

‘I have no choice but to push through with force.’

Flash!

The man, who had been deflecting the Fiery Divine Palm strikes, saw a streak of white light explode from the fiery front.

‘……!!’

In a split second, the man withdrew the Fiery Divine Palm strikes and quickly retreated to the rear.

At that moment, Makwon’s sprint began.

Whirr!

Makwon’s figure, shooting through the sea of fire, reached the man’s face in an instant.

The man’s eyes wavered.

‘This is bad!’

It was incredible speed. It was a speed technique that Makwon had never shown before.

Makwon’s left fist was thrust towards the man’s abdomen.

Wham!

“Cough!”

With a dull groan, the man’s body was sent flying a dozen yards away.

The power was so great that he almost lost consciousness for a moment. It was a simple punch, but the speed and destructive power were on a different level than before.

Flash!

Sensing something was amiss, the man immediately soared into the sky.

‘He must have squeezed out his last bit of strength. The reason he hasn’t shown such power before is because of the poison and internal and external injuries. If that’s the case, I just need to buy time…’

At that moment, the man felt as if the world was darkening.

He raised his head, and his face was filled with shock. Makwon had already risen into the air before him and was forcefully swinging his iron staff with both hands.

‘……!!’

This was unavoidable.

A terrifying shout erupted from Makwon’s mouth.

“Uwaaaah!”

Whoosh!

A chilling sound of tearing through the air erupted from the iron staff.

Wham!

The man couldn’t scream or groan.

His vision flickered, and his limbs lost strength. He had drawn out all his inner power to create a Golden Emperor Wall to block it, but even the ultra-high-temperature fire barrier couldn’t offset the shockwave.

Thud!

He only regained consciousness after crashing to the ground.

‘Ugh!’

The man, staggering to his feet, felt excruciating pain in both arms.

‘Are they broken?’

His right arm was broken, and his left arm was fractured.

Three ribs were broken, and the blow had caused severe internal injuries.

It was a truly terrifying blow. If his opponent’s body had been normal, this blow would have killed him.

‘No, I might have been defeated before he could even unleash such power.’

It was fortunate that it was only this much. It was an amazing power, but it seemed like he had run out of strength at the end.

The man raised his head.

Whoosh!

Makwon was already running east.

The pure white light that enveloped his entire body flickered repeatedly. At the same time, his movement speed had noticeably slowed down.

The man’s guess was correct. In that brief moment, Makwon had overexerted himself.

The man shouted.

“The target has moved east! Everyone, chase him! Abandon the cannons!”

“Hah! Hah!”

The breath he had barely managed to control was once again in disarray.

Makwon couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

‘I was too overconfident. I didn’t think he wouldn’t be able to withstand even that much.’

The Heavenly Martial General Art was a secret technique that exploded all available inner power to temporarily enhance the body, inner power, and nerves.

Of course, that was all it did. If the opponent was a Saintly Heavens-level master who had mastered the principles of martial arts, they wouldn’t be easily defeated. It was a martial art that could only be used as a final, fatal technique when both were exhausted, or to deliver a final blow.

But it had worked on the man. It was because he had not yet reached the realm of the Supreme.

At the same time, it had become poison to himself.

‘My calculations were wrong. I shouldn’t have just considered my remaining inner power, but also the stamina that the poison had eaten away.’

He never imagined that the Heavenly Martial General Art would be undone by a mere second of attack.

‘A moment’s mistake can determine life or death. With a wrong judgment, I have driven myself into a death trap.’

The distance between him and his pursuers had widened, but it was only a temporary measure. In half a quarter of an hour, they would catch up to him, and then he wouldn’t even be able to react properly.

Makwon gritted his teeth.

‘But I won’t give up.’

He would struggle to survive by any means possible. He had to survive, even if it was just like that.

Then it happened.

‘……?!’

Tap, tap.

Makwon stopped running.

“Hah. Hah.”

His ragged breathing was mixed with a metallic sound.

Makwon, who was panting heavily, closed his eyes.

‘Is this the end?’

He opened his eyes again and looked up at the sky.

‘Fate is something that cannot be controlled by human power. It seems that the heavens have decided that this is the end of Makwon’s life.’

Makwon’s eyes blurred.

He struggled to catch his breath and said,

“Come out.”

No sooner had he spoken than a young man appeared.

‘Impressive.’

He was an amazing powerhouse. He looked young, which made it even more impressive.

His martial prowess was comparable to the man from the Divine Flame Church he had just fought. Moreover, beyond his simple aura, he exuded the scent of a true powerhouse who had survived the chaos.

He held a high-quality spear in one hand, and two unknown weapons were strapped to his waist.

Chirring!

A light metallic sound rang out with every movement. It seemed he was wearing a light armor made of chainmail under his clothes.

Makwon opened his mouth.

“A spear?”

The young man was silent.

Makwon nodded.

“My last opponent is a spearman… the heavens are truly cruel.”

“…….”

“Come. I will burn my last moments brightly by facing an unknown spearman.”

Then, the young man’s spear burst into flames.

Flash!

It was an incredibly fast spear thrust. In an instant, he grabbed the spear shaft with both hands and thrust it towards a point in the air. The speed and posture were truly flawless.

Makwon, who was inwardly admiring him, suddenly realized that the young man’s spear tip wasn’t aimed at him.

‘Behind?!’

Thwack!

In an instant, a gruesome sound of flesh tearing was heard, and blood splattered in all directions.

It was a spear wind. It was a brutal technique that killed a person by firing the power on the spear through the air.

Makwon’s face was bewildered. He didn’t even know that an assassin was behind him. But the young master in front of him had killed the assassin, not him.

Why?

“One of the Thirteen Seats of the Saintly Heavens, the White-Clad Divine General of the Three Armies, Makwon.”

“……?!”

“Is that correct?”

It was a strange feeling.

Perhaps, the lifespan that the heavens had determined might not be today after all.

“That’s right. I am Makwon. Who are you?”

The young man, Yeon Ho-jeong, smiled and held his spear diagonally.

“I am the Deputy Commander of the Righteous Army of the Martial Alliance and the Special Aide of the Black Dragon Ironclad Cavalry.”

“……What?”

“I am Yeon Ho-jeong, the eldest son of the Byeoksan Yeon family.”

At that moment, a rustling sound came from afar. It was the sound of assassins moving and touching the leaves.

Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes turned cold.

“The details can wait! Run behind me!”

Wham!

With a powerful step, Yeon Ho-jeong charged forward and unleashed a merciless spear technique. It was the White Tiger Spear Technique.

The white beast’s fangs were tearing apart the bodies of the assassins.

Makwon, who had been staring blankly at Yeon Ho-jeong, felt a chill run down his spine when he saw Yeon Ho-jeong’s murderous gaze.

“Hurry and go!”

“Huh? Ah, okay!”

Makwon, without realizing it, hurried away.

Yeon Ho-jeong chuckled and turned to look at the assassins.

Red flames were already rising from his body.

“Stop bothering the half-crippled man and play with me.”