Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 746

“……!!” A moment of silence fell. Before becoming the leader of the Red Orchid Unit of the Eastern Depot, Jin Sa was a warrior of the Divine Flame Cult. Although he had abandoned his position as a warrior and entered the palace several years ago due to urgent matters in the imperial court, his martial arts were undoubtedly those of the Eighteen Warriors. Even though he was at the bottom of the ranks, he was clearly a master who had broken through the wall of martial arts and transcended human limitations, yet his head was severed with a single sword strike. “I see.” Yeon-wi, reading the wavering gazes of the Eastern Depot, no, the Divine Flame Cult members, nodded. “This is a battlefield, so there’s no need for words. It’s been a long time since I’ve experienced such a chaotic battle, so I was trying to fight too fairly.” Flash! Sword energy surged through his entire body. If the Azure Serenity Formation was the color of a cloudless sky, Yeon-wi’s sword energy was like a flawless true blue. A cold and stern color. That color, which suited Yeon-wi so well, boasted the might of an unyielding iron wall. Ziiiiing! A blue aura flickered on Yeon-wi’s iron sword. The Divine Flame Cult members’ fiery red Fire Dragon Demon Blades, and Yeon-wi’s true blue sword energy. The Divine Flame Cult members moved first. Whack! While the Imperial Guards were stunned and merely watching, the cult members’ blades, which had instantly entered Yeon-wi’s range, aimed for various parts of his body. They called it the Fire Dragon Demon Blade, and the flames of the blades that pierced in were truly like the jaws of a dragon. The feeling of skin burning hot even before touching the body. Regardless of the level achieved, the Divine Flame Cult’s Fiery Yang Art was truly worthy of being called a peerless divine art. However. Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! All eight Fire Dragon Blades were deflected by Yeon-wi’s single sword. Since the blades were wielded by the cult members’ arms, their upper bodies naturally bent far backward. Yeon-wi’s eyes blazed. Swoosh! With a chilling sound, Yeon-wi’s sword pierced the heart of one of the retreating cult members. It was a controlled and swift movement. Before the enemy could react, he moved one step and plunged his sword into the chest of the cult member in the center. There was no unique, powerful energy release or flashy sword techniques typical of a supreme master. He simply deflected, retreated, and then struck first, piercing the heart with his sword. A simple and clean movement. “Cough!” The heart, stomach, and esophagus were torn apart. The cult member collapsed, spitting blood. “You bastard!” “Kill him!” Even if they were not as skilled as their leader, the combined close-range attack of seven top-tier masters was a threat in itself. Yeon-wi lightly took a step forward. Whoosh! Cling! Where Yeon-wi had disappeared, the Fire Dragon Blades collided, creating a terrifying blaze. The cult members’ eyes widened as if they would tear apart. The fact that their insides felt stuffy due to the collision of similar forces was not a problem. The real problem was that Yeon-wi, who had been right in front of them, had vanished. Where did he go? Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! It was the moment they all turned their heads to check their surroundings that three of the cult members’ heads flew high into the sky. Yeon-wi was already standing on the outer edge, his sword raised. Not a single drop of blood was on the raised sword. “This!” Flash! Flash! In the dark night, blades of true energy containing fierce flames slashed through the air like lightning. However, Yeon-wi was dodging their attacks by a hair’s breadth. Not the blades themselves, but by a hair’s breadth from the range of the fire energy emanating from the blades. How far does the emanating energy cause damage, and how should one move to occupy the most advantageous position without taking any damage? If one could know that, even with a simple footwork, one could penetrate the enemies’ blind spots. There was no need to move too quickly or to restrict the enemy’s movements with a fierce momentum. Just naturally. As concisely as possible to escape the enemy’s sight with a handful of power. The basic footwork of the Byeoksan Yeon family, the Autumn Wind Step, earned its qualification as an absolute martial art under the feet of the peerless master Yeon-wi. Swoosh! Two cult members fell, spitting blood, from the swung blue sword light. They were struck by sword energy, not a physical sword. The penetrating sword energy pierced their skin and bones, tearing apart their heart meridians. Two cult members remained. Yeon-wi was not even looking at them. He was simply looking at the distant sky, towards the imperial palace, and quietly lowering his sword. Gulp. Under a strange silence, one of the cult members swallowed hard. ‘This can’t be!’ The fact that their leader, Jin Sa, had his head severed with a single sword strike was enough to tell them that the opponent’s martial prowess had reached the highest level. However, their role was to hold Yeon-wi until the Imperial Guards intervened in the battle. They thought that if they didn’t kill him and formed a formation to resist persistently, even if two or three of them were defeated, the opponent would not be able to easily escape from this place. That’s what they thought. They were wrong. Yeon-wi had taken down six of the eight top-tier masters with just four steps and three sword strikes. He hadn’t even expended any stamina. His movements were so controlled, and he hadn’t lavishly poured out his inner energy, so his complexion was as calm as when they first met. He was much stronger than they had anticipated. He was a peerless powerhouse beyond the level of comparison of strength. ‘But.’ The two cult members exchanged glances for a moment. At the same time. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! From the bodies of the three fallen cult members, brilliant flames erupted. Except for the three whose heads were severed, the bodies of the three whose heart meridians were ruptured had a fire essence sleeping within them. Unlike the Soul Transfer Technique of the Blood Fiend Cult or the Soul Summoning Technique of the Evil Sound Cult, this fire essence was a mysterious power that could quickly restore the body as long as the head was not severed. It was not a technique like the Blood Fiend Cult’s, which placed the soul of a dead person into the corpse, or like the Evil Sound Cult’s, which summoned a soul into the body of a master to achieve an explosive increase in martial power. However, it was much more versatile and could create an invincible army that would not easily die. That was the difference between the Divine Flame Cult and the other two cults. Moreover, the fire essence did not require conditions such as timing, energy, practitioner, or vessel, unlike the Soul Transfer and Soul Summoning techniques. Although it had not been long since its completion, anyone who had mastered the Divine Flame Cult’s ultimate techniques to a certain level could create a fire essence. The degree of recovery varied depending on the level achieved, but that alone allowed them to interfere in continental affairs more actively than the Blood Fiend and Evil Sound Cults. ‘Flames always revive, no matter how many times they are cut down.’ Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!! The flames grew fiercer. Yeon-wi turned his gaze to the cult members. The two cult members gave a sinister smile. “You won’t be able to leave this place easily.” Yeon-wi shook his head. “I think differently.” “You’ll see.” It was then. Fwoosh! The three flames that had been burning brilliantly went out with a weak sound. “……?!” Shock spread across the cult members’ faces. The iron sword that Yeon-wi held scraped the ground. Scrape. The ground scraped by the sword tip screamed. “The real fire was sleeping in my son’s heart.” “……?” “A fire of resentment that cannot be extinguished by any water or wind. That fire would explode whenever that fellow faced the lackeys of the three cults. Even though he was my son, I could not accept the way he treated the corpses so cruelly, and I thought it shouldn’t be that way.” An ominous atmosphere. The cult members swallowed hard. “However, it seems that my son’s method is necessary for you. Of course, there is no need to be excessively cruel, but I realized that this immoral battle would never end if I cut down enemies in an elegant way like the orthodox martial arts of the righteous sects.” It was then. ‘Huh?’ A sense of bewilderment appeared on the cult members’ faces. Little by little, their vision was descending diagonally. “So, I also had to abandon my role as a father who should be a role model for his children and become a soldier on the battlefield who decisively finishes off the enemy. At least when fighting you.” Swoosh! The upper bodies of the two cult members, cut diagonally, fell to the ground. Their lower bodies, which were only half left, seemed to falter for a moment before collapsing side by side. Thud. They could not revive. No matter how great the power of the fire essence was, how could it reattach a body that had been cut in two? Not only that. None of the cult members whose heart meridians were torn apart, not their heads severed, could revive either. The reason was clear. Yeon-wi’s sword energy had penetrated their bodies, tearing apart all the blood points and nerves. Yeon-wi sighed and looked down at his sword. ‘Thanks to this, I was able to avoid using too much power, but.’ Yeon-wi was not someone skilled in this kind of penetration technique. Yet, the reason he was able to kill them so easily was none other than Tang Gwan. Yeon-wi had helped Tang Gwan complete the Myriad Heavenly Fire Rain, and Tang Gwan had helped Yeon-wi complete the Absolute Three Swords. Furthermore, while learning the principles of the Tang family’s martial arts, Yeon-wi was able to learn the penetration technique that Tang Gwan was good at. He didn’t intentionally try to learn it; he just naturally acquired it. As long as the martial principle of the world’s best poison technique, with its penetrating power, was with Yeon-wi. At least when facing the Divine Flame Cult’s warrior-level opponents, he would not be backstabbed. Flash! Yeon-wi’s eyes turned to the Imperial Guards. Although they were quite far away, the Imperial Guards, upon seeing Yeon-wi’s gaze, froze momentarily and could not move easily. It wasn’t just because of his gaze. They were also people who had learned the imperial palace’s martial arts, but the battle between the real masters they had witnessed was so brutal that they could not follow it even with all five senses. That contest, the flow of power, planted a sense of awe in their hearts. “The real rebels are elsewhere. However, it would be unreasonable to expect autonomous action from those of you who are moving according to orders.” Yeon-wi sighed. And then. Whoosh! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! About twenty soldiers in front of the Imperial Guards, who had been momentarily stunned, collapsed on the spot. They had been struck in the abdomen with the scabbard, not the sword. They would not be able to get up for half a day. “T-This!” “The rebel is attacking the Imperial Guards!” “Attack! Capture him!” Yeon-wi, with his scabbard on his waist, smiled and turned his body. Thud! Yeon-wi, who had run out powerfully, reached the second palace gate in an instant. Thirty percent of the Imperial Guard forces chased after Yeon-wi. Even in a situation where he had to move urgently, he tried to minimize the damage to his allies. That was Yeon-wi. He was the figure of a giant who never lost his composure even in urgent situations and always knew how to see the forest, one of the pillars of the six great families of the Jianghu [a term referring to the martial arts world]. ‘This much is enough.’ Yeon-wi, having grasped that the Imperial Guards were following to some extent, changed his gaze. ‘Now I can spread out.’ Whoosh! He lightly kicked off the ground, and his speed became three times faster than before. In an instant, Yeon-wi, who had passed through the first palace gate, finally saw a splendid and antique palace towering in the distance. ‘That’s it.’ It was the Emperor’s audience hall. And around the audience hall, there were quite a few masters scattered, whom even Yeon-wi’s senses had difficulty detecting. Yeon-wi’s eyes deepened. ‘They are not people from the Empress’s side. And these energies… there’s quite a lot of hot fire mixed in…’ It was then. Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! A metallic collision sound caused a terrifying resonance. Yeon-wi’s body, which had been rushing forward, was pushed back five yards to the side. A force that could only be described as monstrous, as if he had blocked a rock that had flown at high speed. “You blocked that? Impressive.” Yeon-wi turned his head towards the attacker. There was a middle-aged man holding a red longsword. His stylish official robe and the fiery glint in his eyes did not match at all. “There’s no need for words with a rebel.” Whoosh! The two swordsmen rushed towards each other.