Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 620

Fsssh!

Like embers rising from a wildfire extinguished by a downpour.

The amount of vapor rising from Yeon Ho-Jeong’s body was immense.

It was so thick that it looked like clouds covering the mountainside. Soon, dense, misty clouds tinged with a subtle four colors left his entire body and soared high into the sky. It was a truly mystical sight.

Thump!

With one step, the entire inner courtyard of the Tang Clan shook.

It was as if a giant, as large as a mountain, had moved, not a person. White smoke rose from his slowly opening mouth, making it difficult to see him as a human figure.

A mystical yet bizarre sight.

It was as if the very wrath of nature, not a living being, had taken form.

‘It’s not complete.’

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief sensed it instinctively.

He didn’t know what kind of enlightenment had opened that realm of infinity. But Yeon Ho-Jeong was in the process of ascending, not having fully ascended yet.

‘The state of ‘Limitless’ is the chaos of the beginning, and the process of those who enter it is all different.’

There were those who ascended at once, like himself in the past, and there were those who took time to ascend, like Yeon Ho-Jeong now.

‘If I’m going to strike, it’s now!’

The rapid consumption of demonic energy was causing his lifespan to decrease at an alarming rate.

He didn’t care about his life at all. If he didn’t capture Yeon Ho-Jeong now, the great cult would face another formidable enemy.

Bang!

Only after moving right in front of Yeon Ho-Jeong did the sound of the earth being kicked come.

The speed of sound, it had broken the sound barrier. Even the strain on his body was blocked by demonic energy. For a moment, his vision blurred, and a strong dizziness arose. He was on the verge of depletion.

Even so, the Sixth Sacrificial Chief’s right-hand blade accurately aimed for Yeon Ho-Jeong’s neck. He had spent a lifetime without a physical body, but the combat abilities engraved in his soul remained intact.

Clang!

The strike, aimed with extreme demonic energy consumption, was deflected so futilely.

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief’s eyes widened as if they would tear.

Trickle.

Blood seeped out from the right hand blade, hardened by the Iron Horse God [a type of weapon or artifact].

Yeon Ho-Jeong still stood there with a blank expression.

‘What is this?’

How did he block that attack?

Clearly, the axes hadn’t moved. His true energy hadn’t automatically created a barrier. No, he hadn’t even felt the air ripple.

And the Iron Horse God was pierced? It seemed completely unaffected by the shockwave that had erupted from the movement beyond the speed of sound.

Swoosh!

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief didn’t hesitate.

Hesitation in the face of an incomprehensible phenomenon was the domain of the unskilled. He was an experienced demon, and before that, a warrior.

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief’s hand blades moved like lightning.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The destructive slashes of the Divine Demon Slaughtering Blades shattered in the air, sparking.

Crack! Crack!

The shockwaves spreading in the air crushed and pressed down on the groaning earth.

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief’s face contorted.

His already half-rotten face contorted, making him look like a demon from hell.

“You!”

He saw it. Yeon Ho-Jeong’s movement.

He could clearly see the two axes’ radiance, swung a step ahead in the opposite direction of the Divine Demon Slaughtering Blades’ movements.

“You blocked that!”

Rumble!

A dark red energy gathered in the Sixth Sacrificial Chief’s right hand, forming a massive blade.

Rustle.

The fluttering leaves withered under the influence of the demonic energy.

Sizzle!

In contrast to the demonic energy concentrated in his right hand, his left hand began to rot little by little. As the concentration of demonic energy maintaining his body shifted to one side, the vitality of the remaining parts was draining away.

Rumble! Rumble!

The air screamed from the aftereffects of the demonic energy spreading in all directions.

“Can you block this too!”

He had been serious until now, but this attack was different.

Among the few martial arts of the Blood Cult that had survived the loss of most of their teachings, the Divine Demon Slaughtering Blades was one of the few unique techniques.

Even if he wasn’t in a state to unleash its full power, the ultimate technique was a different story.

Black Night Demon Shadow Slash.

A deathly martial art unique to demonic techniques, capable of pouring out even the user’s life force if desired, with no limits.

“Die!”

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief swung the massive black demonic blade.

Flash!

The black demonic blade, unable to hold light, drew in light and became complete.

The slash, burning the air as it poured down, made the sky groan. It was an absolute strike that no one could block, an attack so powerful that even a master of the Saintly Heavens [a high level of martial arts] would have to worry about survival if it landed properly.

KWA-A-A-ANG!

With a tremendous roar, the Sixth Sacrificial Chief was thrown backward.

KWA-KWA-BANG!

Just like Yeon Ho-Jeong had been pushed back, plowing the ground a moment ago.

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief was the same. The high-density shockwave generated by the collision of the Black Night Demon Shadow Slash and an unknown slash had blown his body away.

Fsssh!

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief’s left arm shriveled, emitting smoke.

“Cough!”

Dark blood gushed from his nose and mouth. His spirit and body were misaligned, causing his normal bodily reactions to be dulled, but he couldn’t help but feel pain in the face of such a shockwave.

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief shook his head a few times and looked at Yeon Ho-Jeong as he rose.

“……!!”

His pupils shook violently.

Thump!

He lifted his foot, buried up to his ankle, and stepped on the ground again, the sound incredibly loud.

Whoosh!

He straightened his bent back and slowly raised his head.

Fsssh!

The smoke rising from various parts of his body had noticeably decreased. Instead, dark red smoke seeped from his nose and mouth.

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief involuntarily opened his mouth wide.

‘Super recovery?!’

The injuries inside his body, the internal wounds, were healing at an alarming rate.

He had been overcoming the damage with his willpower, but the actual damage Yeon Ho-Jeong had sustained was enough to kill him.

All that damage was being recovered at an unimaginable speed as he entered the realm of infinity. It was faster than any healing technique of any divine art, faster than any super recovery of any demonic art.

‘How!!’

Swoosh!

The smoke that had been flowing out disappeared as if it were a lie.

Flash!

When he looked up, a divine light that was truly difficult to face filled his vision.

But that was only for a moment. The two eyes that had shone like the sun had returned to their clear and deep original gaze.

“…….”

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had been looking at the Sixth Sacrificial Chief, suddenly looked down at his own hands.

Thump! Thump!

The Black Dragon Axe and the White Dragon Axe fell to the ground.

Yeon Ho-Jeong repeatedly clenched and opened his hands.

Crack. Crack.

It was as if misaligned bones were being realigned.

“……Hmm.”

It wasn’t flashy.

It was a reaction hard to believe from a martial artist who had reached a realm, a supreme realm that all martial artists longed for.

He clenched his fists a few times, tapped the ground with his toes, turned his neck from side to side, and bent and straightened his back.

It was not the kind of behavior one would expect to see during a life-or-death battle.

Whoosh!

A fiery killing intent rose from the Sixth Sacrificial Chief’s body.

Sizzle!

His left arm was now completely shriveled. Half of his face was still rotten, but the skin hidden under his clothes was also rotting little by little.

Even so, the Sixth Sacrificial Chief couldn’t feel the pain.

“I see you have guts.”

Thump! Thump!

His body was collapsing, but the aura he emitted didn’t diminish. Rather, the burning killing intent fueled his demonic energy even more.

His lifespan had decreased drastically from the beginning. He didn’t care about it, as before. But now, he was even less regretful of death.

“However.”

Thump!

He took a step as if to show off, and a shock similar to Yeon Ho-Jeong’s true step came up.

“For a brat who has just reached that realm to be so relaxed in the face of a life-or-death battle.”

It was anger.

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief was a man who had lived in a different world from the current generation of mad Blood Cultists. Unlike the current mad blood who sought to obtain the power of the ancient Blood Cult, he was a man with his own pride as a warrior.

To be so relaxed in front of such a man? There was no greater insult.

He shouted.

“You arrogant fool! I will show you just how shallow your realm is before I go to the underworld!”

That was when it happened.

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-BANG!!

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief’s body stiffened.

“Hmm.”

The embodiment of power that had plowed the earth.

White smoke rose from beneath his feet.

“So, this is all it is for now.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong released the power in his hand.

Thud.

What fell to the ground was the Sixth Sacrificial Chief’s shriveled left arm.

There was hardly any blood. It was already dead flesh, and a few drops of sticky, dark red blood gave off a rather pungent smell.

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief turned around.

Yeon Ho-Jeong had already passed him and was standing in front of a large tree.

“……How?!”

Explosive speed.

He had moved at a speed that was invisible to the eye and torn off his arm.

If his body hadn’t moved instinctively, it wouldn’t have been his left arm but his heart that would have been torn out. From the start, Yeon Ho-Jeong had aimed for his heart.

“Even with your spirit and body misaligned, if your reaction speed is that good, you must have been truly amazing in your prime.”

Turning his back, Yeon Ho-Jeong looked down at his hand again and muttered, a strange sense of intimidation emanating from his back.

Even though he had moved at such speed, there was no shockwave. He had suppressed the exploding air with instantaneous pressure.

“But.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong turned around.

In that instant, the Sixth Sacrificial Chief felt his vision go dark.

Whoosh!

He didn’t contort his face like before, nor did he release his true energy as much as he could.

Yet, it felt as if the world was darkening. He was giving off a much more terrifying sense of intimidation than he, who was emitting extreme demonic energy.

Rustle! Rustle!

The ground the Sixth Sacrificial Chief was standing on turned pale and lost its strength.

Ssssh.

The giant tree that had taken root behind Yeon Ho-Jeong was shrinking minutely, but surely.

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief’s eyes widened.

‘This can’t be?!’

Demonic energy was the energy of defying the heavens, and when the density of energy increased, it had a negative impact on the vitality of the life-filled earth. The reason why the fluttering leaves crumbled just by touching the demonic energy was because of that.

But Yeon Ho-Jeong’s energy had surpassed even that.

‘With killing intent!!’

Killing intent that surpassed the density of demonic energy.

With a calm expression, he was emitting a concentration of killing intent that could not exist in this world. The killing intent was so intense that it was having a more brutal impact than the Sixth Sacrificial Chief’s demonic energy.

Yeon Ho-Jeong opened his mouth.

“It’s not the first time.”

Woo-oo-oo-oo-oong!

A voice that sounded distant, as if blocked by something.

The Sixth Sacrificial Chief felt his mind go blank at the echoing voice, as if speaking from inside a cave.

“It’s not the first time. It’s just been a while.”

“……?!”

“I don’t know how much effort you put into reaching this realm, but if you’re only at this level with an incomplete body, I can tell what your level was in your prime.”

Rumble!

Thunder roared.

Flash!

The falling lightning momentarily made Yeon Ho-Jeong’s face look like an indescribable evil god.

“Now.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong raised his right fist.

Thump! Thump!!

The body the Sixth Sacrificial Chief was inhabiting, the heart that had died long ago, was beating madly.

“I’ll let you see for yourself what true Limitless is, with that rotten body of yours.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s fist moved.

Flash!

In that instant, the Sixth Sacrificial Chief felt the dark world fill with pure white light.

And with that, his consciousness disappeared.