Monochrome Sovereign (Novel) - Chapter 121 - The Moment of Decision (3)
Chapter 121 – The Moment of Decision (3)
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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“Uh?!”
“Hmm? What’s wrong?”
“Hehe, it’s nothing, Elder. My back stung for a moment.”
“Haha, did a bug bite you?”
“It seems so.”
Yeon Ji-pyeong massaged his back, exactly below the nape of his neck.
‘What is it? Is it really a bug?’
It felt like something sharp suddenly poked and came in.
It bothered him, but he decided to ignore it. Now was not the time to care about a bug bite.
“Hmm, shall I slowly take it out.”
Chiiiik!
Receiving the cold mountain wind, the surface of the redly heated sword gradually darkened.
Yeon Ji-pyeong opened his mouth wide.
“Th-That’s amazing.”
The old man burst into laughter.
“Haven’t you seen it several times already.”
“Still! Ugh, it’s hot.”
“Step back.”
The old man put the heated sword into a giant water jar.
Chiiiiiiiiik!
In an instant, grayish-white smoke spread throughout the surroundings.
It was an immense heat and humidity. The water that filled the jar boiled up in an instant.
“Haha, I just need to pound it one more time.”
“Wow.”
“Is it that fascinating?”
“Yes! It’s incredibly fascinating. I want to try making one too.”
It was a quite presumptuous remark, but the old man burst into hearty laughter. Yeon Ji-pyeong’s bold voice was full of purity. That was what captivated the old man’s heart.
“If you plan to earnestly enter the path of an artisan, come find me anytime. I will polish your basics.”
“Hehe, that would probably be too much for me.”
“Hahaha!”
“Anyway, it’s really amazing. I didn’t know so much effort had to be put in to make a single sword.”
The old man spoke in a cheerful tone.
“For any work in the world, it is difficult to produce good results if you do not pour your sincerity into it. Isn’t martial arts the same?”
“That’s right.”
“So treat it well. It will be a friend that will overcome the rough waves of the world with you from now on.”
“Of course! I still can’t believe it, whether it is really okay for me to receive your sword, Elder. I am even young in age.”
“Tsk! You rascal, just as it is for artisans, martial artists as well should not calculate age. If you have the qualification to hold a sword, you hold it. You are sufficiently qualified to receive my sword.”
“Hehe.”
“It is a sword made of good iron mixed with not a single speck of impurity. Depending on how much you cherish it, the sword’s might will also vary.”
“…”
“Hmm? What’s wrong?”
“…”
“Pyeong?”
Yeon Ji-pyeong’s eyes, which turned his head and looked at the mountain peak across the way, deepened.
The old man was inwardly surprised.
A subtle sharpness lingered in the clear and deep eyes. It was a gaze Yeon Ji-pyeong had never shown so far.
‘It is truly the eyes of a swordsman.’
A moment later, Yeon Ji-pyeong turned his head again.
“I’m sorry. I must have felt it wrong.”
“Hahaha.”
“What is next? I want to hurry and see the next work!”
“I have to pound it one more time. I suppose it will end with this.”
Clang! Claaang!
The sound of the hammer pounding the iron rang out clearly.
That sound was magnificent enough to momentarily sound like the drumbeats of a battlefield.
* * *
Puuuuk!
With a swinging strike of the Crazy Dragon Axe, the torsos of two assassins were torn in half and flew away.
Bang!
He did not recover the Crazy Dragon Axe again. Leaving it as it was swung, he smashed the head of an assassin who was far away with a single fist from his left side.
With one swing of the axe and one punch, three assassins lost their lives.
Tuoong!
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes shone.
As soon as they lost three assassins, the assassins in the front line retreated backwards. They were reorganizing their system.
‘Not bad.’
Assassins deploying a formation?
It was a story that anyone who knew the Murim would snort at, but the formation attack of assassins was threatening in a different sense from that of a combat unit.
It was precisely because of their disposition.
Pabababak!
It seemed as if sparks were flying in the empty air.
‘This is…’
The assassins advancing in a Horizontal Formation.
The speed was nothing great, but the problem was the military force behind them.
What assassins are skilled at as much as killing their murderous intent is emitting it exaggeratedly. It meant that amplification and convergence, condensation and emission were completely free and unrestrained.
With two hundred such professional assassins each emitting chaotic murderous intent, it was to the point where his vision became completely dizzy.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s expression became as cold as ice.
‘At this level, it’d be fine to consider them the highest elites.’
In the past, he had fought guys called Blue Wolf Ghosts sent by the Myeong Clan.
However, they were nothing but half-baked. They were exalted as experts of murder, but their strength started from shaking the opponent’s psychology.
That too was a great power, but their strength was not concentrated in one place. Because they were so disorganized, they could be easily dealt with if one prepared an unshakable steadfast heart and an efficient strategy.
These guys were different.
Papapapang!
The hidden weapons shot by the assassins lined up in the rear fell down drawing a parabola.
Without exception, they were the size of a fingernail. However, their number exceeded several hundreds.
Yeon Ho-jeong stepped a strong single step.
Boom!
The fallen leaves piled on the ground floated into the air. The formation of the front horizontal line faintly became disorderly.
Paaaak!
Yeon Ho-jeong, who charged with the White Tiger’s Sovereign Step, immediately deployed the Sovereign Tiger’s Nine Thunderclaps.
Huuung! Puuuk!
Two dodged, but three could not dodge. Blood-red blood spray embroidered the empty air.
At that time, Yeon Ho-jeong saw the front assassins bringing elongated tubes to their mouths.
Pababababak!
Dozens of poison needles were shot at Yeon Ho-jeong.
Paang!
Having trained his lightness arts, his evasion was leisurely. Yeon Ho-jeong, who soared high into the sky, captured the assassins lined up in the rear.
‘There are many.’
The difference between seeing from far away and seeing from up close is considerable.
The swarming assassins were glaring at him and each drawing their weapons. It was a sight that chilled one’s liver and gallbladder entirely.
‘Good grief…’
Who in the world was the guy who sent the assassins? Where did these assassins come from?
He discarded all such questions.
Facing the assassins’ group attack technique, the Siege Killing Formation, Yeon Ho-jeong felt his instinct as the Dark Emperor, hidden deep in his chest, squirming.
Paaaang!
Yeon Ho-jeong’s body descended at a tremendous speed.
It was the technique of the Thousand-Pound Fall. It was a high-dimensional Qigong attainment of using internal energy to increase weight.
Surprisingly, the place where Yeon Ho-jeong landed was behind the front horizontal formation.
In the middle of the assassins.
Boom!
The fierce general who descended to the ground holding a giant axe swung a storm-like fierce attack.
Pupupupuk!
Dozens of assassins standing around Yeon Ho-jeong were torn to shreds and flew away.
It was a tremendous might.
In addition to Yeon Ho-jeong’s unique martial arts trained all this while, he even awakened the murderous intent of the Dark Emperor. Whether it was a one-on-one decisive battle or a one-versus-many melee, now no one could stop him.
“Euaaap!”
Puuuk! Puuuk!
The Crazy Dragon Axe, weighing over eighty geun, moved vertically and horizontally and tore the assassins’ bodies like rags.
Woooooong!
The blue Jade Gauze True Qi made his body robust, and the arts of the Great Emperor of the West, the White Tiger, swept away the assassins.
It was a series of extremely fast and powerful attacks. The bodies of the assassins who were caught off guard were being indiscriminately smashed. In a brief moment, as many as forty deaths had occurred.
Pabababak!
Of course, just because they were assassins, they did not stay still.
Although the skill of the target named Yeon Ho-jeong was great enough to transcend imagination, in the end, he was only a beast trapped in a cage.
The assassins each swung their weapons.
Sshhhhk!
It was an attack flying from all directions, front, back, left, and right.
There was not a single place of space to dodge. If he dodged into the empty air, the assassins who were preparing would shoot hidden weapons the moment he leaped up.
‘This is fun.’
The White Tiger Qi was heavily integrated into both the Crazy Dragon Axe held in his right hand and his clenched left fist.
Buuuung! Jjeojeojeojeojeong!
In the aftermath of the Force Emission that whirled as it rotated, most of the assassins’ attacks went astray.
Pishook! Seogeok!
Three or four sword wounds were also engraved on Yeon Ho-jeong’s body.
They were not deep, but the problem was the poison smeared on the blades. Assassins smear poison on any weapon. Expensive lethal poisons are impossible, but paralyzing poisons are necessarily smeared on them.
The assassins’ eyes spewed murderous light.
They caught him.
They only needed to inflict one wound and it would be the end. A powerful paralyzing poison would make the opponent’s movements dull.
They did not doubt believing so.
Boom!
A red fire energy created a terrifying energy wave.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s figure, wrapped in red energy, became as fast as lightning in an instant.
Pububok! Kwaaang!
It was a sprint of Heavenly Murder that made explosion sounds. The Blood Wing Sweeping Heavens at extreme speed on the blazing Vermilion Bird Qi blew away an entire axis of the formation just like that.
Chwaaaak!
The continuously exploding pieces of flesh and the net of blood embroidering the sky looked unrealistic.
The assassins’ attacks inflicted wounds on Yeon Ho-jeong’s body several times, but he never got tired. No, as time passed, his movements gained momentum.
At that time, an assassin standing in the rear shouted.
“Scatter!”
Paaaak!
The assassins scattered at a fearsome speed.
They gave up on the Siege Killing Formation and retreated for now. The opponent’s skill was excessively outstanding to kill and eliminate in a melee.
“Huuuk!”
The figure of Yeon Ho-jeong, heaving rough breaths, was like a general who had survived breaking through a large army alone on a single horse. Hidden weapons were embedded everywhere on his body, and he had also suffered a dozen sword wounds.
Hwaaaak!
The energy wave of Yeon Ho-jeong, spewing murderous intent while wiping the blood from his mouth, was like a giant tornado.
The leader of the assassins, Sa Geuk, clicked his tongue.
‘Why is he so strong?!’
It wasn’t particularly advantageous terrain either; rather, he had jumped into the middle of the assassins and risked a head-on match, yet in that brief moment they had lost as many as seventy assassins.
It was such an astonishing sight that, uncharacteristically of him, he was also late in giving the order to scatter. It meant Yeon Ho-jeong’s martial arts were that impressive.
‘Did they tell us to deploy the Siege Killing Formation against such a monster-like guy? They are completely crazy.’
When Sa Geuk inwardly ground his teeth, Yeon Ho-jeong’s mouth opened.
“I don’t think you will obediently tell me, but I should still ask. Ptooey!”
Yeon Ho-jeong, who spat out blood-mixed saliva, glared at Sa Geuk with murderous eyes.
Sa Geuk flinched.
“Who instigated this?”
It was an astonishing remark.
He had heard things like “Who are you,” “Where did you come from,” “Why are you trying to kill me,” etc., but it was the first time he had heard the question “Who instigated this.”
It probably meant that this level of matter was common for Yeon Ho-jeong. So to speak, he could be called a master of anti-assassin warfare who had experienced this kind of situation countless times.
Sa Geuk opened his mouth.
“Where did the girl who was with you go?”
“What are you going to do by knowing.”
“…True, it wouldn’t matter.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes sparkled.
‘As expected, it was me.’
These guys only needed to catch him. He thought that would be the case, but it was the moment he became certain that he was the target.
‘Wait, Muk Bi.’
Muk Bi was not far away like Sa Geuk thought.
‘You must wait until I give the signal. You must stay thoroughly hidden.’
When facing the Siege Killing Formation, a frontal breakthrough was a reckless act.
However, he chose that recklessness. It was because of a sense of incongruity stimulating a corner of his mind.
At that time, Sa Geuk’s eyes sparkled.
At the same time, Yeon Ho-jeong’s fist swung backwards.
Puuuk!
A white fist strike shot like a gust of wind blew away the head of an assassin just like that. It was an assassin who had tried to shoot a poison needle into Yeon Ho-jeong’s back, which had shown an opening.
Sa Geuk groaned.
‘Damn it, they didn’t say he was this strong!’
He was a monster-like guy outstanding in all categories including martial arts, senses, combat techniques, etc.
‘It won’t do. I should retreat for now, observe the situation, and then attack with a night assassination.’
Anyway, didn’t they just need to kill him. Even though they specifically requested the Siege Killing Formation, with things having come to this state, it couldn’t be helped.
Sa Geuk raised his hand and shouted.
“Go down to the bottom of the mountain! We’ll attack again at night…”
Puuuk!
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes flashed.
Sa Geuk’s eyes seemed to blur, and then he just collapsed. A single round hole was pierced through his fallen chest.
“If you heard the request details, you should duly follow them. The money was paid in full too.”
Behind the rear assassins.
A single blurred shadow was leisurely walking over.
‘Yes, it was that guy.’
There was no time to form a tactic, but the reason he had used himself as bait and risked a head-on match was right there.
“But… well, it would be too much to go any further.”
Yeon Ho-jeong asked.
“Is it you?”
The middle-aged man, Mong Ui, nodded.
“Yes, it is me.”