Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 753

“……?!”

Peng Mu-gang’s eyes changed.

It wasn’t just him. Hwangbo-jeok, who was captured by Peng Mu-gang, as well as Jeagal Ayeon, who was guarding the surroundings with two daggers, also changed their expressions.

‘What is this?’

The three people’s eyes simultaneously turned towards the direction of the royal court.

Hwaaaah.

Was it real, or an illusion?

It felt like a crimson cloud was gathering over the roof of the towering palace.

The world turned red as if a huge wildfire had broken out somewhere.

It wasn’t real. It was a color and sight that did not exist in reality.

However, it was clearly visible to the three masters who were proficient in Central Plains’ [the central region of China, often used in martial arts stories] internal energy techniques. Especially to Jeagal Ayeon, who had recently cultivated deep knowledge and wisdom to greatly expand the size of her upper dantian [an energy center in the body, according to traditional Chinese medicine], the red-tinged sky looked like the face of a demon.

An extremely hot, fierce, and incredibly wicked and sinister flame.

It was as if a fire demon that devoured everything had descended with extreme malice.

“Clan Leader Peng!”

“I know it too!”

Peng Mu-gang looked down at Hwangbo-jeok.

“You felt it too, didn’t you?”

“…Could it be Clan Leader Yeon?!”

Peng Mu-gang shouted angrily.

“Get a grip, you blockhead! How could that wicked energy be Clan Leader Yeon’s internal energy!”

“……!”

“It’s Woo-heon! Those who are trying to manipulate the martial world and the imperial palace, and take control of the entire continent! Among them, the eunuch Woo-heon, who belongs to a religion called the Divine Flame Church, has revealed his true colors!”

Hwangbo-jeok’s eyes wavered.

Peng Mu-gang looked at the Thousand Commander.

“Everyone, lower your weapons! We must head to the royal court right now!”

The Thousand Commander’s eyes wavered. Even he, who was full of courage, couldn’t help but be flustered by the unusual reactions of the masters.

Peng Mu-gang shouted again.

“Hwangbo-jeok!!”

Hwangbo-jeok tightly closed his eyes.

“From this moment on, all the Imperial Guards will go to the royal court! We must protect His Majesty the Emperor’s safety at all costs!”

The entire Imperial Guard bowed their heads.

“We obey the General’s command!”

Thud!

Peng Mu-gang pushed Hwangbo-jeok away.

Hwangbo-jeok shouted.

“My internal energy… !”

In an instant, surprise appeared on Hwangbo-jeok’s face. The sealed internal energy had somehow found complete freedom.

Whether Hwangbo-jeok was surprised or not, Peng Mu-gang immediately reached the gatekeeper.

“Something unusual is happening in the royal court! Her Majesty the Empress may also be in danger! Come to the royal court with the Imperial Guards!”

Although his tone had changed drastically, Mun-seok knew that this was not the time to worry about such things.

“Everyone, to the royal court!”

Peng Mu-gang said to Jeagal Ayeon.

“Just follow behind me!”

“Yes!”

Paah!

The two people ran towards the royal court faster than anyone else.

Anxiety was evident on Peng Mu-gang’s face.

‘Clan Leader Yeon!’

* * *

Pshhhhh!

Strange heat haze spread in all directions.

The heat haze wasn’t particularly problematic, but the heat emanating from Gi Woo-heon’s body was definitely dangerous.

Whoosh!

Yeon-wi, who quickly approached the Empress, slightly lowered his head.

“Please forgive my rudeness.”

Woo-woong!

“Kyaaaa!”

The Empress screamed involuntarily.

However, Yeon-wi did not do anything that would make the mother of the nation feel humiliated. Controlling his internal energy with both hands, Yeon-wi levitated the Empress into the air without touching her and sent her next to the Emperor in an instant.

Swoosh.

The Empress, who was gently seated next to the dragon throne, looked utterly dumbfounded.

‘Hmm.’

Yeon-wi frowned.

Hwaaaah!

From Gi Woo-heon’s body, which was wrapped in a strange heat haze, an overwhelming fire energy that had been suppressed for a long time was emanating.

The heat was so excessive that it was difficult to even breathe properly. If this continued, the entire royal court could be set ablaze just by the release of internal energy.

Before that, there was a high possibility that the Emperor and Empress’s bodies would be harmed.

Yeon-wi’s sword tip was aimed at Gi Woo-heon.

Puh-uh-uh-uh-ung!!

A terrifying sword force that burst out in an instant was shot like a cannonball, blowing Gi Woo-heon’s body away.

It was a sword strike that was launched with the intention of not caring if he died, but Yeon-wi was certain. Gi Woo-heon was not dead.

This was evident from the fact that Gi Woo-heon’s body, which had been flying away, stopped in mid-air near the royal road outside the royal court.

Yeon-wi turned his body and bowed his head. It was towards the Emperor and Empress.

“I will go and deal with the villain.”

Before dealing with the villain, it was a priority to ensure the safety of the Emperor and Empress.

However, Yeon-wi did not do that. He was saying that he would catch Gi Woo-heon first.

Just as the Empress was about to speak urgently.

“If the Emperor’s seat is the dragon throne, then shouldn’t the place where I should be be here?”

Somehow, the Emperor’s voice seemed to have a hint of laughter.

“I have lived like a dead man for decades, so waiting until dawn is nothing. You should use your sword to wash away the disrespect you have shown to the owner of the throne.”

Yeon-wi turned his body without a word.

Swoosh.

Outside the split royal court gate.

There were fire demons gathering one by one.

The unparalleled villain, still emitting heat haze in the middle of the royal road. And the fiends of fire demons, like beasts, gathering towards him.

Yeon-wi, who had been quietly looking at them, shouted.

“I will punish the great sinner who has hidden his evil intentions and sneaked into the place where the ruler of the nation resides, and has disturbed the laws of the world!”

Jjeooooooong!

It was Yeon-wi’s terrifying lion’s roar that had never been heard before.

Even though he had not cultivated the divine skills of Buddhism, Yeon-wi’s shout was displaying fierce power. The sincerity and righteousness contained within it were more immense than the internal energy contained in the shout.

The Divine Flame Church followers who were approaching the royal road flinched and took a couple of steps back.

Flash!

The sword energy surged.

Among the warriors of the Yeon family throughout history, no one had ever cultivated sword energy to this level.

The deep blue sword energy emanating from Yeon-wi’s body not only enveloped his entire body but also reached the tip of the palace, beyond the roof of the royal court.

Hwaaaaaaaak!

It was a dazzling and overwhelming sight.

Even if his martial power had not reached the ultimate level, the orthodox martial arts he had refined throughout his life and the steadfast heart that was harder than diamond were here.

That incomparable strong heart was making the true energy possessed by its owner extremely intense. It was the moment when the judge’s sword, the best in the martial world, which had come to the imperial palace with the conviction to protect the world and had even risked his life to speak his mind, was perfectly blooming.

Whoosh!

In front of the pure blue energy wave that was fiercer than the blazing flames.

As if they were standing at opposite ends of fate, Gi Woo-heon, who had shed all the heat haze and revealed his true form, was completely different from before.

Whirr!

If Yeon-wi’s deep blue energy wave was mysterious like a reversing current, the golden energy wave emitted by Gi Woo-heon was like a blazing fire itself.

His hunched back straightened, and all his clothes except for his lower garments were burned away, revealing his original body.

Skin that was extremely white. However, the body revealed beneath it was perfectly refined.

The shoes that had been burned away by the fierce fire were scattered as ashes, and next to his bare feet, four golden fire energies were rotating in the shape of a wheel.

It was as if one was seeing the legendary treasure of the gods, the divine general Nata Samtaeja [a deity in Chinese mythology], who was revered as the greatest hero god among the people.

No, it wasn’t like seeing him, it was exactly Nata.

Kiiiiiiing!

Under Gi Woo-heon’s right hand, another wheel-shaped giant golden blade appeared.

It was unknown where or how he had taken it out. It was not a creation made by shaping energy, but a clearly existing weapon.

It had a shape similar to the Qiankun Ring [a mythical ring-shaped weapon]. Inside the circular blade, Gi Woo-heon’s eyes, which were holding the handle, were burning red.

“You are the one who is ruining things.”

Gi Woo-heon’s appearance was very different from the beginning.

When he was an eunuch, his appearance was that of an old man who was clearly over fifty, but now his face was as young as a man who had not even reached middle age.

“The grand plan was already completed. However, there was an easier path, but because of you, the followers of this church have suffered even more.”

Gi Woo-heon smiled.

The teeth that were revealed were white, and his canines were particularly long and sharp, like the teeth of a beast rather than a human’s.

“If it weren’t for you, I would have lived out my humble life, so it is entirely your fault that your nation’s ruler and mother will be burned and disappear today!”

“Shut your rotten mouth.”

Gi Woo-heon’s energy wave was not lacking compared to Yeon-wi’s. No, judging by the vast overflowing internal energy and the fiercely surging murderous intent, it seemed that even the world’s Yeon-wi would have difficulty lasting more than ten moves.

However, Yeon-wi was not shaken at all in front of Gi Woo-heon.

The energy wave was fierce, but that alone did not determine victory or defeat. Even if he was inferior in the ferocity of internal energy and true energy, the supreme martial arts and enlightenment he had accumulated over time were whispering in Yeon-wi’s ear that he would never lose.

Confidence that was as full as it could be, faith in victory.

At this moment, Yeon-wi, who had become the embodiment of justice and righteousness, would not even blink an eye if the owner of the Other-Worldly Heaven, who had hindered the Buddha’s practice, were to come.

Yeon-wi’s pupils turned completely blue.

“None of you will leave the imperial palace alive.”

“You fool!”

Flash! Tiiiiiiing!

The Qiankun Ring, which flew like lightning, was blocked by Yeon-wi’s sword and soared high into the sky.

It was an immense power. If it hadn’t been a sword filled with sword energy, the sword would have broken.

However, Yeon-wi was not flustered in the slightest.

His left hand behind his back, his two feet naturally planted on the ground.

Around the quietly lowered iron sword, a deep blue sword energy created an unusual aura.

Gi Woo-heon’s eyes flashed.

“Fall back!”

“Sever.”

Pa-ba-ba-ba-bak!!

With the single word ‘sever,’ there were eight giant sword energies that broke through a distance of ten yards.

Gi Woo-heon’s face contorted.

Chwaaaak!

Eight of the followers who were approaching him were split vertically.

The large amount of blood that poured out was completely evaporated by the fire energy they had created.

It was truly something that happened in the blink of an eye. Even Gi Woo-heon missed the timing to respond because Yeon-wi’s eight sword energies were too fast and numerous.

That was the result.

Eight of the twelve most useful followers who were approaching had died.

This was one of the three great sword techniques of the Yeon family, the Gentleman’s Eight Sword Stance. It was a gentleman’s sword technique that neutralized all incoming hostility by making oneself the pillar of the world.

However, Yeon-wi’s attack this time was too brutal to be called a gentleman’s sword.

“Are the traitors ready to offer their necks?”

“Not bad. I thought I could crush you in a few moves, but this is going to be quite a long fight.”

“Don’t be mistaken. This is not a fight.”

The three great sword techniques of the Yeon family were all worthy of being called unparalleled techniques.

The Thirty-Six Styles of the Great Iron Sword was ordinary in its power, but it was a martial art that contained the principles of all swords in the world, and the Gentleman’s Eight Sword Stance was a sword art that was impressive for its ability to make enemies retreat with its powerful sword energy.

And the last sword technique.

Yeon-wi’s grandfather, the previous head of the Yeon family, despaired that evil could not be reformed with righteousness alone, and created the Yeon family’s worst killing sword based on the Gentleman’s Eight Sword Stance.

“It’s a hunt.”

Hwaaaak!

The deep blue sword energy seemed to be darkening for some reason.

Yeon-wi’s expression, which had been righteous and stern, also seemed to have changed to be sharp and fierce.

“Today, I will welcome the traitors and return to being a beast for the first time in a long time.”

Throb!

Thick veins throbbed on the back of Yeon-wi’s hand holding the sword.

The last of the three great sword techniques of the Yeon family was finally revealing itself.

The manifestation of the Asura Eight Swords.