Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 307

As the car pulled out of the parking lot, Bang Jin-hoon slammed his foot on the accelerator.

“What’s going on?”

They hadn’t made any specific plans. He had simply mentioned he was there when Bang Jin-hoon called while he was having a meal with Cho Kyu-min. Then, Bang Jin-hoon had barged in.

“I think it’s about time we got a little more acquainted.”

“Tonight?”

“Well, martial artists are usually a bit like slackers.”

“Excuse me?”

Bang Jin-hoon grinned and said,

“They’re called martial artists, but… they have nothing to do, no schedules to keep, and they need their own time. They’re also people who are more comfortable at night than during the day. If you flip their days and nights, you can guess their lifestyle. They’re the kind of people who fall asleep when they see the sun.”

Come to think of it, the Demonic Cult was like that too…

He seemed to have heard similar things several times back in the Central Plains [a region in ancient China, often used in martial arts stories]. That’s why the country hated them, calling them idlers.

“Still, isn’t it a bit too late?”

“It’s not like something bad will happen to Kang Jin-ho if he doesn’t sleep for a day.”

“Hmm…”

That was true.

“Actually, the situation seems a bit urgent, so I thought it would be better to move quickly.”

“Urgent?”

“The Yeongnam Association is showing rapid movements. They’re being quite noisy.”

The moment the name Yeongnam Association was mentioned, Kang Jin-ho’s face turned cold.

‘The Yeongnam Association…’

When he thought about it, the only reason he had taken over the Assembly and entered this world was to deal with the Yeongnam Association.

In the past, Kang Jin-ho would have charged into the Yeongnam Association alone without looking back, resulting in either his death or the annihilation of the Yeongnam Association. But now, Kang Jin-ho was someone who could think things through.

No matter how strong he was, fighting against so many people was a risk he couldn’t ignore. And if something were to happen to him, his family would bear the brunt of the damage.

Considering the Yeongnam Association’s style,

if something happened to him, they would naturally target his family. The Assembly was like a breakwater he had built in front of his family to protect them from the Yeongnam Association’s clutches.

‘I’ve dragged this on too long.’

It was the first time in his life that Kang Jin-ho had let those who had bared their teeth at him for so long. Now, it was time for them to pay the price for their sins.

“What kind of movements?”

“I couldn’t pinpoint it exactly. Actually, both the Yeongnam Association and us…

we have spies planted within each other.”

“Even on our side?”

“Of course, there would be. There has to be. We just can’t catch them all. So, except for really critical information that only a few people share, we’re basically watching each other.”

“Hmm.”

What should he say?

It was like playing a game with map hacks on, wasn’t it?

They were watching each other’s movements and responding accordingly.

“Recently, there’s been talk that the higher-ups are being noisy. They say that no specific information is being passed down to the lower ranks. Judging from that, it seems like a small group is targeting something.”

Kang Jin-ho’s brow furrowed.

“So, I moved first without getting permission. I’ve placed guards around Kang Jin-ho’s family. They won’t even know they’re being protected. Please forgive me for acting on my own.”

“Make sure there are no issues with their privacy.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. It’s not close protection. Actually, we can’t help but recognize each other. It’ll be at a level where we respond immediately if we sense a martial artist approaching.”

“Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded quietly.

He felt a bit… satisfied.

Cho Kyu-min was enriching his daily life, but this was something he couldn’t expect from Cho Kyu-min. In that sense, Bang Jin-hoon was clearly demonstrating his value right now.

Even though it wouldn’t be difficult to make a phone call, report, and deploy personnel, he had moved people first and then reported to Kang Jin-ho. It was a way of showing that he was moving this quickly and decisively.

And Kang Jin-ho respected that kind of autonomous action.

“If they’re moving a small group… what’s their target?”

“That’s a bit ambiguous.”

Bang Jin-hoon cleared his throat and continued,

“Objectively speaking, I should be their target. But depending on how much they know about Kang Jin-ho’s existence, the target will change.”

“You’re saying I could be the target?”

“Yes. There’s a very high probability of that.”

The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth curled up.

“This is getting interesting.”

“It’s not certain yet.”

That wasn’t important to Kang Jin-ho.

“It’s a good thing if they come first.”

Kang Jin-ho was going to find them anyway. There was no reason to refuse if they were going to save him the trouble.

Bang Jin-hoon glanced at Kang Jin-ho’s smiling face and then turned his gaze away.

‘He seems to have some kind of trauma.’

Just seeing Kang Jin-ho smile like that made his hair stand on end. The image of Kang Jin-ho crushing people like ants with that face was too vivid in his mind.

“You need to be careful.”

“Yes.”

“No. You shouldn’t think about it so simply. The Yeongnam Association is different from us. If they know about Kang Jin-ho’s existence and what Kang Jin-ho means to the Assembly, they will try to eliminate Kang Jin-ho by any means necessary.”

“I know.”

Even before Kang Jin-ho got involved with the Assembly, they had kidnapped Kang Eun-young and tried to kill Kang Jin-ho. It was obvious how those people would react to Kang Jin-ho, who had even taken over the Assembly.

‘However, this time is completely different.’

There was a big difference between being prepared and not being prepared. Back then, he was caught off guard, but this time, Kang Jin-ho was aware that they would cross the line.

“How many people are assigned to the family?”

“Five per person.”

“Double it.”

“It’s difficult to pull out too many people because we don’t know where they’ll attack from.”

“If my family gets hurt, the Assembly is over.”

It was a calm voice.

A voice that didn’t carry any threat at all.

But that made it even scarier.

It wasn’t an emotional reaction, but rather like he was simply stating a predetermined outcome.

“Let’s triple it.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded, and Bang Jin-hoon sighed quietly.

‘Don’t say things that make people’s hearts stop so easily.’

He was also known as someone with a lot of guts in the Assembly. Wasn’t Bang Jin-hoon the one who had rebelled against the Assembly Head, who had wielded such immense power, even before he was a director?

But when he talked to this guy, he felt like he was becoming a coward.

‘It’s not that I’m not brave, it’s just that this guy is too reckless.’

As Bang Jin-hoon was comforting himself, Kang Jin-ho quietly opened his mouth.

“Is the car sturdy?”

“Excuse me?”

Bang Jin-hoon looked back at Kang Jin-ho, wondering what he was talking about, and then smiled.

“You noticed. This car is a G-Class, and it’s originally a military vehicle.”

“That’s good.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled faintly.

“A military vehicle should be able to withstand a bit.”

“Pardon?”

What was he talking about?

At that moment, Bang Jin-hoon’s face hardened. It had only been a little while since they had entered the national highway, but the cars in front were slowing down. It wasn’t just one car slowing down, but all the cars in front.

With the median strip in the center, the cars in front were slowing down, and the cars behind were speeding up.

“These bastards?”

Bang Jin-hoon’s eyes trembled.

They had only gotten information that the Yeongnam Association was moving today. But for them to move before any additional information came out meant that they had been watching them long before they had made their presence known.

‘I didn’t even sense them…’

The fact that he hadn’t noticed that he was being followed was crushing Bang Jin-hoon’s pride.

“I’m sorry.”

“No.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head leisurely.

“I was getting a little bored, so this is good.”

“It seems like they’re trying to slow us down and corner us…

Um?”

It was then that Bang Jin-hoon noticed something strange. The cars in front, which had been slowing down, sped up again as soon as they got close to Bang Jin-hoon’s car. And the cars behind started speeding up, as if they were about to hit the rear bumper.

“Are they trying to guide us?”

Bang Jin-hoon clicked his tongue.

‘Those guys don’t know who’s in here.’

If they were only trying to deal with him, surrounding him with this many people might be a good idea. But with Kang Jin-ho there, surrounding them with this many people was suicidal.

Unless they had chartered a bus, the number of people who could fit in five cars couldn’t possibly stand up to Kang Jin-ho.

Bang Jin-hoon, who had regained a bit of composure, joked,

“There are many ways to commit suicide. Don’t you think?”

But Kang Jin-ho just smiled meaningfully without answering. Bang Jin-hoon, thinking that his reaction was a bit strange, was about to ask when Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth.

“Do you remember what you said?”

“What I said?”

Was he talking about what I said?

What did I say?

“You said they would use any means necessary, right?”

“…Ah, yes. I did.”

“Dealing with people who really use any means necessary can be quite troublesome.”

“Well, I guess so.”

Bang Jin-hoon couldn’t understand what Kang Jin-ho was talking about.

In this situation, the only thing they could do was either ram the cars to flip them over, or slow down and stop the car in a secluded place and try to surround and kill them.

But their bodies weren’t soft enough to be fatally injured by a car rollover, and if they got out of the car, those guys would be the ones to be pitied.

So, what other methods were there?

“Maybe from now on…”

Kang Jin-ho smiled faintly.

“We’ll have to abandon everything we’ve taken for granted. People cornered are dangerous.”

He was about to say, ‘What are you talking about?’

But the words didn’t come out of his mouth.

The head he had turned towards Kang Jin-ho naturally turned towards the car running alongside them, and he saw the window of the car next to them rolling down.

‘Rolling down the window?’

They were going almost 100 miles per hour, and they were rolling down the window?

Were they going to say something?

They wouldn’t be able to hear anything without a megaphone…

A long, black metal rod protruded from the lowered window.

“What the hell!”

The moment he realized what that metal rod was, a curse burst from Bang Jin-hoon’s mouth.

Any man who had served in the South Korean military would know what that metal rod was. No, even if they hadn’t served in the military, anyone who had watched TV or movies would know what it was.

Bang Jin-hoon screamed as he saw gun barrels protruding from the windows.

“Get down!”

Tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu!

At that moment, a hail of bullets began to pour through the car windows like rain.