Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 959

Thud, thud, thud.

The allied forces of the Righteous Path, riding the finest horses, advanced with incredible speed.

Peng Mu-Gang’s eyes flashed.

“There!”

At the spot he indicated, numerous members of the Beggars’ Union were gathered.

They weren’t dressed as typical beggars. They looked much neater, like ordinary laborers.

Neigh!

The group gradually slowed and quickly dismounted.

One of the Beggars’ Union members spoke.

“Given the urgency, we’ll skip the formalities.”

“What about the Imperial Palace?”

“To prepare for any eventuality, everyone except essential personnel has retreated. Since they don’t act without high-level information, we haven’t received any updates yet.”

That meant the situation wasn’t yet critical.

Yeon-Wi looked at Yang Cheon.

Yang Cheon nodded.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Whoosh!

With Yang Cheon, Yeon-Wi, and Peng Mu-Gang leading, over a thousand troops simultaneously used their movement techniques.

From this point, they couldn’t conserve their stamina. For long distances, horses were superior, but now that they were close to the Imperial Palace, it was more advantageous to close the distance quickly using extreme speed techniques.

As the group’s vision reached the distant, massive walls of the Imperial Palace.

Boom!

Beyond the echoing explosion, debris from the shattered wall flew into the sky.

Yeon-Wi’s eyes blazed.

‘Your Majesty.’

His hand, gripping the Imperial Sword, pulsed with fierce inner energy.

* * *

Because the Imperial Palace was so vast, it would take a long time to walk to the North Gate.

However, the Emperor was relaxed. He didn’t walk slowly, but he wasn’t rushing either.

Gok Gyeong, walking in step with him, spread his formless energy in all directions, creating a net-like energy web to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.

The Emperor looked around with a leisurely expression.

His appearance, walking along the well-paved path without a word, evoked the image of an absolute ruler, even though he had not practiced martial arts.

Was he born to be a ruler above all men?

Following behind the Emperor, Gok Gyeong was once again reminded that martial arts were not everything in this world.

How long had they walked?

An hour, or perhaps even longer?

Finally, the North Gate came into view in the distance.

Clang! Clang!

The elite warriors of the Imperial Palace, clad in armor, rushed to line up to the left and right of the Emperor and knelt.

“The Emperor is here!”

The warriors’ thunderous voices cleared the clouds and caused tremors in the chaotic ground.

The warriors were already incredibly brave, but when the Emperor himself appeared, their morale soared to unprecedented heights.

It wasn’t just the warriors and soldiers.

Geum Heon-Tae, standing on the wall, glaring at the enemy forces that had approached within fifty yards and were now forming their lines, also became increasingly flushed.

‘He has truly come.’

The intense morale felt from behind.

The military spirit, like boiling hot water, spread throughout the North Gate in an instant, igniting the eyes of the elite guards like lava.

Gok Gyeong’s face also showed agitation.

‘Amazing.’

Just by showing himself, he had raised the morale of the warriors, who had been tense, to the sky.

It wasn’t because of his position or authority as the Emperor. The very presence the Emperor exuded, his steadfastness as an absolute ruler, was being conveyed to all the warriors.

How could someone who had never learned martial arts possess such power? Even a master of sorcery at the peak wouldn’t be able to raise morale to this extent.

‘This is the Son of Heaven [Tianzi, the Emperor].’

The one and only being under the heavens.

The pinnacle of the human world, a bridge connecting the people to the heavens, and a divine being from beyond the heavens who symbolized the empire itself.

Even for Gok Gyeong, who had seen the Emperor’s extraordinary nature up close and for longer than anyone else, this sight was a first.

“There are many stairs.”

The Emperor didn’t say the usual things to the warriors, like ‘thank you for your hard work’ or ‘I trust in you.’ He hadn’t come to give them a pep talk in the first place.

The Emperor, looking at the stairs leading up to the wall, turned his gaze to the wide-open gate.

The debris of the broken gate was gone, having been cleared away. The second-in-command of the Imperial Palace guards and hundreds of soldiers were blocking the open gate, forming a line.

The Emperor nodded, looking at the blackened wall.

“It’s just as I was told.”

He walked up the wall stairs with his hands behind his back.

Surprisingly, despite his body being worn out from years of indulgence in wine and women, he showed no signs of fatigue even after walking for a little less than half a day.

Furthermore, he didn’t even pant once while climbing the stairs. Considering the height of the wall, this was remarkable.

As the Emperor finally reached the top of the wall, Geum Heon-Tae turned and knelt.

“I greet Your Majesty.”

Due to the state of war, the formalities were extremely simple.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“It is my honor.”

“Rise. The enemy is before us.”

Geum Heon-Tae rose and looked at the enemy again.

One thousand troops were forming their lines just fifty yards away.

In fact, trying to take over the Imperial Palace with that many troops was almost an insult to the palace.

However, none of the warriors, not even the Emperor, laughed at them.

There was someone who had shattered the gate with a single blast of a giant fireball. With that kind of power, even a thousand troops were something to be wary of, not to be ignored.

This was because the Imperial Army’s military tactics were designed for man-to-man combat, not for fighting a fire-breathing monster.

“Guard Gok.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Do you see it?”

Gok Gyeong’s eyes turned to the rear of the enemy lines, towards a large golden palanquin.

The palanquin was quite large. It was wide enough for at least ten people to ride comfortably, and it was covered in soft, luxurious silk, making one feel languid just by looking at it.

Looking down a little, thirty bare-chested men were carrying the palanquin. They were all muscular and robust, but strangely, they had iron chains around their wrists and ankles.

To the left, right, and rear, about twenty warriors wearing bizarre helmets were holding large flags. The flagpoles were golden, and the unfolded flags had a black pattern on a red background.

It was subtle yet exuded overwhelming pressure.

And the peak of that pressure came from the person sitting, half-reclined, in the palanquin.

“Yes. I see it.”

Gok Gyeong’s eyes wavered.

‘Is that the leader of the Divine Flame Church?!’

He had an astonishingly mystical appearance.

The man sitting on the red silk was a Westerner. His golden hair, unusually pale skin, and blue eyes were striking.

Because his appearance was so different, it was difficult to guess his age, but he looked to be no older than a young man in his late twenties.

Truly the prime of his life. But Gok Gyeong could tell that the man’s age was several times older than it appeared.

‘He’s strong!’

He didn’t exude any aura. His vitality as a human was abundant, but there was no dangerous aura or the unique fire energy of the Heat Yang Art [a martial art focused on fire energy].

However, his presence was truly formidable. Like another emperor of a nation, he exuded an atmosphere of being alone and noble in the vast world, calmly yet clearly.

He was wearing clothes whiter than his skin, which were loose and revealed his chest.

His arms and legs were longer than those of the Central Plains people, and his frame was larger. However, he was perfectly trained, giving off a feeling of being agile and solid rather than dull.

He was holding a transparent wine glass in one hand, and a translucent blue flame flickered in the glass, swaying with the wind.

Gok Gyeong’s fist clenched.

‘He’s dangerous.’

He didn’t feel any aura, but his instincts were sounding an alarm.

That man was dangerous.

It wasn’t because of his personality or character, which could be inferred from his eyes, or because of the unexpectedness of his sudden advance on the Imperial Palace.

It was because the power he possessed was invisible even to Gok Gyeong’s eyes, which made the danger of the Divine Flame Church leader all the more certain.

‘Returning to Simplicity [a state of martial arts mastery where one’s power is so refined it appears ordinary].’

That’s right.

The leader of the Divine Flame Church had reached the realm of Returning to Simplicity.

It wasn’t that he had forcibly concealed his energy to appear ordinary, but that the realm he had reached was so high and the density of his inner energy was so deep that even someone of Gok Gyeong’s level couldn’t read it.

If so, could it be called true Returning to Simplicity? It was impossible to even imagine how terrifying his power was.

‘A fight is possible.’

In a short time, Gok Gyeong coldly compared the young man in the palanquin and his own power.

The answer came quickly.

A fight was possible, but it seemed impossible to win no matter what he did.

When he had met Yang Cheon again due to the marriage with Princess Cheonghwa, he had been inwardly surprised to see how much deeper Yang Cheon’s realm had become.

This man was even more so than Yang Cheon.

He seemed stronger than two of the three masters he had met in the Martial Alliance, the Sword Master and the Saber Master. It was difficult to compare because the enlightenment they had achieved was different, but if they fought alone, even the kings of swords and sabers who had attained the essence of all martial arts would likely be pushed back.

‘Unless it’s someone at the level of One Body Immortal [a legendary martial arts realm], there would be no one who could gain the upper hand in a one-on-one battle.’

Gok Gyeong was certain of that.

“What do you think?”

Unlike Gok Gyeong, whose face had hardened, the Emperor’s expression remained unchanged.

“What is the leader of the enemy you see?”

Gok Gyeong answered without exaggeration.

“Currently, there is no one in the Imperial Palace who can face him one-on-one.”

“Not even you?”

“That is correct.”

Geum Heon-Tae, as well as all the warriors, were startled and looked at Gok Gyeong.

The Emperor chuckled.

“If even you, with your strong pride, say that, then he must truly be a strongman of a different dimension.”

“A fight can be established. Unless I actually see his martial arts, I cannot be certain of anything. However… I will probably be defeated.”

Leaving aside his pride, the Emperor’s life was at stake. He couldn’t afford not to be cold-headed.

Geum Heon-Tae said in a low voice.

“Do not worry. The Imperial Palace has many means to defeat any enemy.”

“Hmm.”

“Guard Gok, please protect His Majesty to the end.”

“Of course, I will.”

It was then.

“Has the conversation ended?”

It was a languid yet incredibly resonant voice.

It was young and clear, yet low and intense. The words he spoke calmly from that distance were so loud that they echoed throughout the entire wall.

“The air in the Central Plains is very clear. The reason why the wait wasn’t boring was because I was taking in the air you all breathe. To me, this itself is new and enjoyable.”

It was a strange voice.

The more one listened, the more one’s body lost strength.

It wasn’t some kind of sorcery like soul-capturing techniques. It was his natural voice. A sound that forcibly relieved tension just by listening to it, it could be considered a type of sound technique (音功) [a martial art using sound], even though it wasn’t martial arts.

“However, I didn’t come all this way just to smell the air.”

The young man smiled.

A beautiful young man from a foreign land, it was a fatal smile.

He pointed at the Emperor with the wine glass that was emitting a translucent blue flame.

“Are you the owner of this mud-like house?”

The eyes of Geum Heon-Tae and all the warriors turned cold.

It was a terrifying voice, a bizarre voice that caused a sense of unease, but no one was filled with fear.

The young man tilted his head.

“With a splendid dragon robe and a majestic dragon face (龍眼) [a term referring to the Emperor’s dignified appearance], you must be the Emperor, but why is there no answer?”

“What a strange fellow.”

“……?”

“If you wanted the honor of conversing with me, you could have sent a letter. Why bother bringing all these people and causing me trouble?”