Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 927

“S-Sifu!”

It seemed he had somehow survived within the half-destroyed main hall.

Bang Won-hu, Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s last disciple, staggered out.

His appearance, covered in stone dust, was truly pitiful. His left arm was bloodied, and he was limping as if he had twisted his ankle, enough to evoke sympathy from anyone who saw him.

“……”

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s eyes, which had been glowing with five colors, gradually returned to normal.

As if Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s soul had materialized, the giant hell beast that had been towering behind him slowly disappeared.

Bang Won-hu’s face, which had been filled with fear, gradually turned into a weeping expression.

“Sifu!”

“Won-hu.”

“Hic!”

Bang Won-hu, bursting into tears, ran towards Hyeok Ryeon-hwi.

His dash was exactly like that of a young child who had not learned even a bit of martial arts. Seeing his breath heaving as if he were truly terrified, he was no different from a common ten-year-old.

It was then.

“Gasp!”

Bang Won-hu, who had been running, was startled and fell on his backside.

“……Sifu?!”

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi, who was pointing the Heaven Piercing Moon Blade at Bang Won-hu, even had a look of self-reproach on his face.

Bang Won-hu’s face turned pale.

“S-S-…!”

He couldn’t even speak properly.

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi, who had been quietly looking at Bang Won-hu, shook his head.

“Stop it now.”

“Y-Yes?!”

“Stop with that pathetic acting.”

“……Sifu?”

Shudder.

The Heaven Piercing Moon Blade trembled faintly.

Somewhere, the cry of a beast was heard.

It was not the cry of a beast living in this mountain. In the first place, there were no wild animals living around here.

The cry was a roar erupting from within Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s body.

Just like the hell beast created by the fragments of true energy that had been spewing out, a giant beast that would not disappear even in death was alive and breathing inside his body, which had opened the Five-Colored Hell Art [a powerful demonic technique] for the first and last time.

Ignoring the sound of the beast, Hyeok Ryeon-hwi spoke.

“Celestial Master Cheon Yo-myeong said. The ultimate goal of the Blood Demon Church is to reach the heavens through demonic power, but that is impossible unless one escapes the human body, so in the end, what the Blood Demon Church dreams of is nothing but an illusion… he said.”

It was an incomprehensible statement. Bang Won-hu gasped and trembled.

Although he didn’t feel any killing intent, the person he had served as his master for three years was pointing a sword at him. Since his master had always been a man of few words, his fear could only be doubled.

“S-Sifu. Please, spare me!”

The human survival instinct was a powerful thing.

Even in a situation where it was difficult to even open his mouth, Bang Won-hu was asking to be spared. And that was in front of Hyeok Ryeon-hwi, a great master of the demonic martial world.

“Please, spare me! I-I was wrong! Please, spare me!”

At that moment, a hurried voice was heard from afar.

“Stop!”

The owner of the voice was Tang Gwan.

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi slowly turned to look at them.

Thud!

The first to arrive were Yeon Ho-jeong and Ok Cheong. Even during this brief movement, they had taken measures to ensure that Tang Gwan and Muk Bi, who were skilled in long-range attacks, could follow from the rear.

Tang Gwan shouted.

“What are you doing to a child! Can’t you put down your sword right now!”

Although the head of the Tang family was said to be without blood or tears, the exception was children.

Moreover, a master emitting bizarre demonic energy in the heart of the demonic martial world was pointing a sword at a trembling child, so anyone would have to stop him.

It was then.

“……?!”

Yeon Ho-jeong raised his hand, stopping everyone’s movements.

Muk Bi’s eyes wavered.

“Young Master Yeon?!”

Yeon Ho-jeong silently stared at Hyeok Ryeon-hwi.

Thump.

His heart beat strongly.

He could feel the Yellow Dragon [a manifestation of his inner energy] inside his body rampaging wildly. He was glaring at Hyeok Ryeon-hwi with a ferocious look he had never shown before, and he was raising the density of his true energy to the point that even Yeon Ho-jeong was taken aback.

Fwoosh.

White haze rose from Yeon Ho-jeong’s body.

It was an independent movement of true energy with a spirit, contrary to its owner’s will. Just stopping it was consuming a great deal of mental energy.

Krrr.

The situation was no different for Hyeok Ryeon-hwi.

The hell beast hidden inside his body was emitting a thick killing intent and glaring at Yeon Ho-jeong.

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi was also surprised by the unintentional amplification of demonic energy and hurriedly suppressed his true energy. However, it was a powerful pulsation that could not be easily suppressed even when he tried to suppress it.

However, he could control his true energy much more easily than Yeon Ho-jeong. Yeon Ho-jeong’s Yellow Dragon Energy was an energy that had grown with his spirit, but Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s hell beast was only a half-finished product made of crude demonic energy.

Fwoosh.

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi temporarily sealed the hell beast completely.

He pulled a large amount of energy from his upper dantian [an energy center in the body] and suppressed it with force. For a moment, he felt like his reason was darkening, but rather, his body became more free.

Shudder.

Surprisingly, as the energy of the hell beast was completely sealed, the Yellow Dragon Energy, which had been growling fiercely, gradually subsided.

Even though it was true energy with a spirit, at times like this, it felt like he was raising a living being with a clear will.

“Hoo.”

Yeon Ho-jeong, who had taken a long breath, looked at Hyeok Ryeon-hwi with eyes full of caution.

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s mouth opened.

“Are you the people from the Martial Alliance that my third son brought?”

Yeon Ho-jeong, who had been quietly observing Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s face, put down the Dragon Slaying Axe and respectfully clasped his hands.

“I am Yeon Ho-jeong, the eldest son of the Byeoksan Yeon family of Gangdong and the vice-leader of the Black Dragon Division of the Black Alliance, and I greet Senior Hyeok Ryeon-hwi, the Demonic Immortal.”

In an instant, the group was startled. They had never imagined that the old man in such a bizarre attire would be Hyeok Ryeon-hwi.

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi was also a little surprised. He had heard about the eldest son of the Byeoksan Yeon family of Gangdong, but he had never imagined that he would be such a master.

Moreover, the vice-leader of the Black Dragon Division? How could the eldest son from a prestigious family of the righteous martial world become a minor leader of the Black Alliance [a group of martial artists considered evil]?

‘Well.’

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s face was tinged with bitterness as he looked around.

‘It’s not a world where anything would be strange to happen.’

He nodded.

“I am Hyeok Ryeon-hwi.”

“It is an honor.”

“An honor……”

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi chuckled. It was a self-deprecating laugh.

“Do you see someone who was the head of the demonic martial world as a martial artist, not a demon?”

“That is correct.”

“You are naive. Unlike the martial arts you possess.”

Yeon Ho-jeong nodded.

“That’s something I hear sometimes.”

Tang Gwan and Muk Bi glanced at Yeon Ho-jeong. ‘Something I hear sometimes,’ they were dumbfounded.

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi, who had been staring at Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes and chest, shook his head.

“Let’s talk about the things hidden inside your body after this is over.”

“Very well. But……”

Yeon Ho-jeong looked at Bang Won-hu.

Bang Won-hu flinched and shed tears and snot. Even a master wielding an axe as big as a person had appeared. It was a scene that would make a child’s eyes roll with fear.

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s eyes changed.

“Hah(喝)!!”

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

It was a tremendous shout that seemed to make all the air within a radius of several tens of feet explode.

It was a voice so powerful that even Tang Gwan, Muk Bi, Ok Cheong, and even Yeon Ho-jeong flinched.

Bang Won-hu was truly terrified. His pale face was covered by his trembling arms, and it was a truly pitiful sight.

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi spoke with a stern face.

“It is impossible for a human body to reach the heavens while containing demonic power… then the choice of the Blood Demon Church is one of two. Either give up, or continue to challenge it despite that.”

“S-Sifu.”

“But if they have brought in an inhuman method for that challenge, then that is a problem. That is not the demonic path. It is merely the evil path of one who does not know the line.”

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi mentioned the line. The line that Yeon Ho-jeong and Yeon Wi emphasized so much.

“It was only about ten years ago that I learned that the Blood Demon Church was walking the path of inhumanity. I was furious at the mad acts of the fanatics, but unfortunately, I did not have the power to catch you. It wasn’t even the situation. I had to spend my true energy every day to save my children.”

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s past.

It could be said to be a secret history known only to him. He was talking about it.

“The spirits that have left this world should go to the universe called the underworld. That is an absolute law, not to mention the way of heaven. But you did not.”

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi looked at Bang Won-hu and said ‘you’.

What did that mean? Could it be that this little kid, who was only ten years old, was a member of the Blood Demon Church?

“The souls of the dead ascend to the heavens, and the bones turn to earth. The two are different yet the same. It is not possible to pick out only one and move it as you please.”

“……”

“But you did.”

Sparks flew from Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s eyes.

“You have dragged the spirits of the former sect leaders who have died and put them into the bodies of rotting corpses, allowing them to live a second life that is not permitted to humans, how can this be considered normal!”

A second life.

Upon hearing those words, Yeon Ho-jeong felt a chilling sensation for a moment.

A second life, if there was anyone who deserved that title, it was Yeon Ho-jeong. Moreover, he had even returned to the past, transcending time and space, so it could be said to be a second life in the truest sense.

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s voice gained strength.

“Let them go now.”

Yeon Ho-jeong nodded without realizing it.

He was the only one among the people here, except for Hyeok Ryeon-hwi, who felt a sense of incongruity from Bang Won-hu.

“It is also absurd to summon the former masters of the Blood Demon Church! But under the pretext of achieving immortality, you are even taking the souls of young children who should go to the universe and forcing them to walk the wrong path! Can you really be called human!”

As Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s stern voice grew, a rough demonic energy began to settle in.

Whoosh!

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi, who had put away the Heaven Piercing Moon Blade, stretched out his left hand.

A demonic hand with black fingernails, twisted grotesquely like the forepaw of a beast.

“Let them go now! I knew your identity from the beginning! Even so, the reason I pretended not to know was because I didn’t know what you would do with that child’s soul!”

“……!”

“Let him go! Don’t you feel sorry for the child! No matter how hard you try to dream of immortality through such inhuman ways, true immortality is an absolutely impossible realm! In which realm of immortality can you find the magnificence of a brilliant life!”

It was then.

Chiiiiiiiiik!

As if touched by Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s extremely agitated emotions, black flames began to rise from the Heaven Piercing Moon Blade.

The flames instantly burrowed into Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s blood vessels and were transmitted to the tip of his left hand.

Whoooosh!

A terrifying pressure.

He pulled out the power of the holy demon bound to the Heaven Piercing Moon Blade and shot it out with ultimate enlightenment, and even the puppet of the Blood Demon Church, which had reached the extreme of inhumanity, could no longer withstand it.

Crack!

Bang Won-hu was looking at Hyeok Ryeon-hwi with a blank face.

The sound of bones breaking was heard from somewhere in his body.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The sound of dislocation, once started, spread throughout the body in an instant and began to change Bang Won-hu’s skeleton.

Crunch! Snap! Squeak!

As the skeleton grew, the skin tore.

Chiiiiik!

Surprisingly, the torn skin was instantly sealed thanks to an unknown energy.

In that way, Bang Won-hu grew bigger and bigger.

A puppet that was transforming into a body that could no longer be called a child.

Hyeok Ryeon-hwi’s eyes began to turn five colors again.

“Come out, you lackey of the Blood Demon Church.”