Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 971

Thump!

His heart began to beat strongly. A rush of heat surged from his neck, spreading across his entire face.

Yahareuk glared at Yeon-wi.

Yeon-wi’s face remained calm. However, his gaze was so cold that it instantly extinguished the burning emotions of a guardian deity.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Do you think there was some great meaning in what I’ve said to you so far?”

“……”

“It’s a straightforward question. I’m curious whether you are a follower of the Cult Lord or the Young Cult Lord.”

Yahareuk’s eyelids fluttered.

“You……”

“I’ve always thought I knew the darkness of the martial world quite well, and I’ve tried to live righteously my whole life. I thought that like ‘one who stays near ink gets stained black,’ if I started reaching into that darkness, I too would become tainted.”

“……”

“But that wasn’t it. I was just clumsy. I simply didn’t have the confidence or the backbone to handle that darkness.”

“……”

“The real ones are different. Those with convictions akin to faith throw themselves into the darkness without hesitation, leaving behind seeds of brilliance.”

The person Yeon-wi was thinking of was his own son, Yeon Ho-Jeong.

Sometime in the past, when he saw his son brutally mutilating the warriors of the Divine Cult, he felt an indescribable sense of unease.

It felt like his son was no longer the son he knew.

He worried that if he continued to act like that, his son’s mind might become devastated in the distant future.

In fact, Yeon Ho-Jeong at that time was lost. He knew clearly what he had to do, but he wandered, unable to gauge the extent of his own anger.

But now it was different.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had achieved both immense martial prowess and mental growth, was now qualified to throw himself into blood and darkness and return cleansed.

It was Yeon-wi himself who had not acquired that qualification.

In truth, regardless of martial arts level, it would be rare to find someone in the entire world who could remain sane after doing such a thing.

“You are the same. You are even less suited to the darkness than I am.”

“……”

“That’s why you are so flustered by even a slightly sharp question, and your face gives everything away.”

Yahareuk almost unconsciously brought his hand to his face.

Yeon-wi, who had been quietly watching him, then smiled.

“Let’s go inside and have a drink.”

Yahareuk was taken aback by Yeon-wi’s words.

Clearly, this man knew something. If so, he should strike immediately, yet he was suggesting a drink.

Unable to grasp the situation, Yahareuk’s expression hardened.

“Did you know?”

“Know what?”

“Don’t play games. Did you know?”

“I honestly don’t know. However, I knew the moment I saw you that something was off.”

“If you knew the moment you saw me, that means there was something suspicious even before you saw me.”

Was it because he had emptied his mind?

Yahareuk’s voice no longer wavered. It was calm and heavy.

However, Yeon-wi did not miss the subtle tension that lurked within that voice.

“Before entering the palace for the first time, I could feel your energy, though it was obscured by the Divine Cult Lord’s immense power.”

Yahareuk’s eyes flickered slightly.

Not after entering the palace, but before entering, he had felt it.

It was a statement that could not be ignored. Yahareuk had only been able to sense Yeon-wi’s sharp sword energy long after he had entered the palace.

‘Is it a lie?’

It was not a lie.

Yahareuk could sense it intuitively. Yeon-wi was not the kind of person to lie about such things.

“At that time, I didn’t know. But the closer I got to the royal court, the more the Divine Cult Lord’s energy wavered, the more I focused on your energy.”

“……”

“It felt somehow unstable.”

“Unstable?”

“Energy is a thought, and the power that evokes thought is the human mind. That is an absolute truth that no master can avoid.”

“……!”

“It hasn’t been long since I reached this level, but I’ve never seen anyone whose energy wavers as much as yours, even among those who have reached a high level. Moreover, you’re not even injured, yet it’s shaking like a lamp in the wind.”

Yahareuk didn’t even realize his condition was like that.

“And.”

Yeon-wi’s eyes deepened.

“I could feel the strange fire energy rising from your residence.”

“……?!”

“It was a bizarre fire energy that neither you nor the Divine Cult Lord possessed. It wasn’t an energy that could be contained in a human body in the first place. The concentration was low, but there was something that stimulated the mind.”

Yahareuk was in utter shock.

“You… felt that?”

The fire energy that Yeon-wi felt was clearly the Fire Transformation Technique [a powerful technique that manipulates fire energy].

It was impossible to sense the presence of the Fire Transformation Technique from such a distance. Even if Gi Cheon-ung’s upper dantian [an energy center in the body] was intact, it would be difficult to know even that without completing the Divine Eye [a technique to enhance perception].

It was not a simple guess but a belief close to certainty. Yet, a swordsman from the mainland had felt it.

“Lies!”

“Whether you believe it or not doesn’t matter. In fact, that’s not even important.”

Contrary to Yeon-wi’s words, that matter was very important to Yahareuk.

If Yeon-wi could do it, then someone else could too. If there was a unique martial art of the martial world that the Divine Cult’s martial principles could not understand, then it would be difficult to properly use the Fire Transformation Technique in the future.

However, with Yeon-wi’s next words, Yahareuk was able to face reality.

“You were prepared to die, weren’t you?”

“……!”

“I could feel it. That you had made some great resolve. A master of the Supreme Realm who has a resolve that makes even their true energy waver due to their shaking mind……”

Woo-oong.

A small resonance sound echoed from Yahareuk’s body.

Although he hadn’t released it, Yeon-wi could already feel his face burning from the hot fire energy.

It was truly an incredible inner force. If he were to deliberately release his energy, the land within a radius of ten or so yards would immediately groan under the merciless fire energy.

Yeon-wi spoke calmly.

“I don’t know what you’re planning, but let’s calm down and have a drink.”

There was no way Yeon-wi didn’t know what he was planning.

Right now, Yeon-wi was giving Yahareuk a chance. He was saying, let’s have a drink since no one knows yet. He was telling him to calm down while having a drink.

‘……’

Although he had forgotten himself in the confusion, Yahareuk was not a fool.

How could he not know that the other party was giving him a chance, advising him not to go down a path of no return?

Yahareuk, who had been quietly looking at Yeon-wi, gave a bitter smile.

Seeing that smile, Yeon-wi sighed inwardly.

“Lord Yeon.”

“Speak.”

“You are quite a decent person.”

“……”

“At the same time, you are a very foolish person. If it were me, I would have attacked the moment I noticed something was amiss.”

“Can’t you change your mind?”

“Thank you for considering it. I can tell that you have some goodwill towards me, if nothing else. If that weren’t the case, you wouldn’t have tried to treat me so comfortably.”

“……”

“Of course, that goodwill was also for the sake of the future of the Central Plains [the main region of the martial world].”

Yahareuk’s eyes turned towards the royal court.

Yeon-wi’s face turned cold.

“Don’t do that.”

“The Cult Lord is retreating.”

“……”

“The Cult Lord also has a presence. I can feel that he is leaving the royal court and heading to his residence.”

“……”

“Of course, he can also feel me. But he won’t feel any unease from me.”

This meant that even if he ran with all his might from here to kill the Emperor, the Cult Lord would not be able to stop him.

“Thank you for bringing me here.”

“……”

“And I’m sorry. I won’t say it’s for the greater good or ask for your understanding.”

Yahareuk suddenly examined Yeon-wi’s body.

“It’s strange. Your ability is clearly at the level of a half-immortal, but your martial power does not match it.”

Yeon-wi silently looked at Yahareuk.

Yahareuk also stopped speaking and glared at Yeon-wi.

How much time had passed?

Boom!

The force that erupted in an instant sent Yeon-wi flying more than five yards away.

Whoosh!

Yahareuk, who had sent Yeon-wi flying, unleashed the Fire God Flight Technique [a high-speed movement technique using fire energy].

‘It’s been a while.’

The moment he kicked off the ground, he had already passed several buildings and could see the royal court in the distance.

It was truly an incredible technique.

However, even though he had closed the distance in an instant with that great technique, Yahareuk felt like time was flowing slowly.

‘This is the first time.’

The Fire God Flight Technique was a supreme technique that only three people in the Divine Cult had mastered.

And this technique was the martial art that the Divine Cult Lord, Gi Cheon-ung, had directly taught him.

‘This is the first time I’ve used this technique with all my might like this.’

And it would be the last.

Because his life would be gone with this one mission.

The moment Yahareuk reached the front of the royal court, he suddenly saw the palace gate.

‘……’

There was no one there.

Not only were there no guards guarding the palace gate, but there was no sign of the maids either.

He felt something was wrong, but now was the time to act. He crossed the palace wall in an instant.

It was then.

‘……?’

Yahareuk, who had soared high into the sky, felt his body suddenly stop.

He looked down.

‘……!!’

Yahareuk’s eyes trembled.

Whoooosh.

He was bound by an unknown force, but it wasn’t something he couldn’t break with his power. Nevertheless, he could not advance into the royal court.

Swoosh.

Having broken free from the shackles with his intense inner force, he descended into the middle of the royal road.

And in front of him.

Gi Cheon-ung was sitting alone on the steps leading up to the royal court, drinking alcohol.

Seeing Gi Cheon-ung, Yahareuk closed his eyes.

“Hoo.”

Gi Cheon-ung, having put down the bottle, wiped the alcohol from his lips.

“The taste of alcohol is good.”

“……”

“It’s a good night, good weather. Perhaps it’s because it’s the Emperor’s alcohol, but it’s not an ordinary vintage. If I could, I’d like to bring several casks and pile them up.”

Gi Cheon-ung smiled bitterly.

“Well, even if I wanted to pile them up, there’s nowhere to pile them right now.”

“……”

“Hey, Guardian.”

“……Cult Lord.”

“Why are you standing there so blankly?”

Yahareuk slowly opened his eyes.

Gi Cheon-ung, sitting in the middle of the high steps and looking down at him, was full of dignity and majesty, as he always had been.

Gi Cheon-ung spoke calmly.

“Will you come up and have a drink with me?”

“……”

“Why are you silent?”

“Cult Lord.”

“Come to think of it, you haven’t even paid your respects to me.”

Gi Cheon-ung looked at Yahareuk with an inscrutable gaze.

Yahareuk couldn’t say anything. He just looked at Gi Cheon-ung with powerless eyes, with eyes that were nothing but complicated.

How much time had passed?

“Since when did you know?”

Gi Cheon-ung’s calm face gradually became colder.

It was a ferocious expression that he had never shown Yahareuk before. Yahareuk had never imagined that he would see such a face from the Cult Lord.

It was then.

Creak.

The palace gate opened.

A refreshing yet heavy footstep.

Yahareuk turned his head.

Yeon-wi, who had his Imperial Sword in his arms, was walking in with a calm demeanor.

He seemed to be completely fine despite being hit by the force of the surprise attack. Although it was a hasty attack, it was powerful enough to make even a supreme master vomit blood, yet he seemed fine except for a slightly scorched sleeve.

Yeon-wi sighed and said,

“I will pour the alcohol you could drink in this life, at the edge of the River of Three Crossings [a river in Buddhist mythology that souls must cross after death] on your way to the afterlife.”