Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1457

“Fire!”

Now, there was no real need for a firing order.

How else could they more clearly recognize the enemy’s presence?

If the one charging forward and kicking tanks away wasn’t the enemy,

then what else could he be?

Even without an order, triggers were pulled instinctively.

It wasn’t that there were no orders. There was an order more certain than any spoken command.

It was fear.

Faced with a situation beyond common sense, a terrifying dread washed over them.

KWA-AA-AA-AA-ANG!

Look.

A massive tank, its weight rendered meaningless, soared into the sky.

Of course, when you think about it, it wasn’t that strange of a sight. After all, this was a world where airplanes, many times heavier than tanks, flew through the sky.

But that was just theory.

The sight of something that was never supposed to fly, being kicked up like a soccer ball, evoked an indescribable, bizarre feeling in those who watched.

Not only that…

KOO-OO-OO-OONG!

The way that tank tumbled like a miniature toy thrown by a child as it hit the ground was something no one could ever get used to.

And in that moment, most of them realized.

Perhaps this Kang Jin-ho was just a child playing with small toy models. The terrible truth was… if that was the case, then those here were nothing more than plastic human-shaped toys.

‘Damn it!’

No one would want to be treated like that.

“Fire! Damn it, fire!”

“Kill him!”

Voices filled with rage erupted from everywhere. They were more like screams than shouts.

KWA-AA-AA-ANG!

With a massive explosion, the area where Kang Jin-ho had been standing was engulfed in flames.

Even though they had suffered terrible damage from the earthquake, they were the US 15th Armored Division. They quickly reformed their lines and began to engage the enemy as if it were second nature.

“Push the recovered tanks forward! Armored vehicles! Armored vehicles! Create a barricade in front of the tanks!”

Armored vehicles, which would normally only be useful in an occupation, had now become an essential force, with every single one being precious.

As the enemy changed, the concept of tactics also began to change rapidly. Tanks, which were supposed to protect the infantry and lead the charge, were now in a position where they needed to be protected by armored vehicles.

Even as he gave the orders, Reggie couldn’t shake off his bewilderment.

‘Damn it, meat shields!’

He questioned whether it was right to use the term ‘meat shield’ for such massive machines, but in this situation, there was no more appropriate word.

After all, armored vehicles couldn’t do anything to Kang Jin-ho.

They were equipped with weapons that could exert tremendous power against ordinary infantry, but the idea that machine guns would work against a madman who could kick tanks away was absurd.

In the end, all the armored vehicles could do was be kicked away instead of the tanks, and in the process, buy the tanks one more chance to fire.

‘Damn it, I let him get too close.’

He wanted to tear his own mouth to shreds with a razor blade for saying things like he couldn’t shoot civilians, or that attacking one person was ridiculous.

He had heard countless times that the person he was facing was not an ordinary human. Yet, he had dismissed those words as mere warnings, and that was why they had come this far.

‘I should have blown him away with self-propelled artillery when he was at a distance.’

But it wasn’t too late yet.

“We’ve recovered five self-propelled artillery units! What do we do, Commander?”

Reggie bit his lip.

The shells loaded in the tanks were armor-piercing rounds for anti-tank attacks. They had a narrow impact range but guaranteed significant power when they hit.

However, the shells loaded in the self-propelled artillery were high-explosive rounds for killing personnel.

One strike could devastate an area with a 30-meter diameter. There was no more efficient way to attack people.

The problem was one thing.

‘Damn it, that bastard!’

Kang Jin-ho was fighting with swords. Naturally, the distance between him and their forces would never be more than 15 meters. If they attacked, their own forces would bear the brunt of the impact.

And that wasn’t the end of the problem.

Basically, modern self-propelled artillery had various functions added to increase their range. They were optimized for firing in a curved trajectory from a distance, meaning that direct fire at close range was not easy.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible to fire directly, but in Reggie’s long military career, he had never actually fired a self-propelled artillery unit directly even once.

It meant that he couldn’t calculate what would happen.

“…Fire. Use high-explosive rounds. Direct fire. The target is not the target itself, but the area where the target is located. Execute TOT [Time on Target] according to the fire control officer’s orders.”

“Our tanks and armored vehicles will be within the range.”

“That’s why we’re using high-explosive rounds!”

“Understood!”

Reggie’s face flushed red.

Firing on their own forces was one of the greatest shames for artillerymen.

Artillerymen were basically a unit whose purpose was to discover the enemy first through reconnaissance and observation, and to kill them before they approached their own infantry. Reggie’s heart was filled with despair at having to fire on his own forces due to his own misjudgment.

KWA-AA-AA-ANG!

KWA-AA-AA-AA-ANG!

Even as Reggie gave the orders, the shelling continued. Armored vehicles moved forward, firing their machine guns. If they could just get a clear lock, the firepower that could turn a human into dust in a second was concentrated in one place.

Reggie bit his lip.

‘It’s not enough!’

He had already experienced enough to know how far the enemy was beyond common sense.

Was this enough?

That was ridiculous!

Reggie wasn’t a fool who would give the enemy a chance to reduce the consumption of shells. He would never say something like, ‘Did we get him?’

Even if all the shells they had loaded today were used up, he would pour them all out to achieve only one result.

“Fire! Keep firing!”

“The reserve division’s forces that were waiting in the rear are moving to support us. They report that they will arrive on the battlefield and complete deployment within one minute.”

“As soon as they form their lines, have them fire autonomously, disregarding the fire control officer’s orders. Tell them to ignore the coordinates and fire based on visual information!”

“Yes!”

Reggie’s eyes were bloodshot.

The series of orders he was giving completely disregarded military manuals. If a report about this battle went up, he could be executed immediately.

But Reggie thought this was the best course of action.

What was important to him was the result, not the process. If he followed the outdated military manuals, they wouldn’t be able to unleash even half of their firepower, and the damage would increase exponentially.

Of course, Reggie’s judgment was wise. If he had tried to follow every procedure, the firepower would have been halved, and the damage would have increased exponentially.

But that didn’t mean…

That he had stopped Kang Jin-ho.

PA-AA-AA-ANG!

Amidst the pouring roar, an alien sound was heard.

KA-GA-GA-GA-GAK!

KA-GA-GAK!

A sharp sound, like metal scraping against metal, was heard, and two tanks that had been firing from the front were split in half.

Then…

KWA-AA-AA-ANG!

This time, the internal combustion engine was cut off, causing a massive explosion in an instant.

“W-what is it!”

“It’s above us!”

Reggie’s head snapped up.

A figure descending against the blazing desert sun came into his clear view.

‘When?’

When did he even soar up there?

That a person had jumped to such an absurd height was no longer surprising. What bewildered Reggie was not the existence of the person who had jumped to that height, but the fact that no one here had seen him move to that location.

Was that even possible?

Even though they were covered in dust, all the soldiers in the division were watching that man. Yet, he had moved without anyone noticing. Was that even possible?

“Fire! Fire! He’s in the air! He can’t dodge! Mow him down with machine guns!”

Before his mind could even process it, Reggie’s shout burst out.

It didn’t matter.

The man was floating in the air. Since he was a human and not a bird, he would start free-falling from now on. If they concentrated their fire on that spot, there was no way a human could withstand it!

“We got hi….”

But that thought didn’t last long.

Kang Jin-ho, who had been falling in the air, suddenly began to accelerate.

“What!”

Reggie’s eyes widened as if they would tear.

Accelerate in the air?

In the air?

“Crazy!”

There was something called physics in the world. Nothing in the world could escape the laws of physics.

Unless they had fuel and were using it to propel themselves, it was impossible to accelerate in the air.

How could someone who didn’t even have wings increase their speed in the air?

The surprise was great, and the understanding was difficult, but the result was simple.

The bullets fired before Reggie’s order could even be given passed harmlessly through the air where Kang Jin-ho had been.

KOONG!

And then, the place where Kang Jin-ho’s body fell was…

“…N-no, no!”

Behind the armored vehicles and tanks.

It was where the multiple rocket launchers and self-propelled artillery were located.

In that moment, Reggie saw it.

He saw the corners of Kang Jin-ho’s lips curl up as he landed in the most vulnerable part of their formation, the position of the self-propelled artillery that had no way to defend against close-range enemies.

His head turned slightly.

Twitch.

Reggie, who had made eye contact with Kang Jin-ho, took a step back without realizing it.

A distance that posed no threat.

But that distance gave Reggie no sense of relief. Kang Jin-ho, who smiled whitely at Reggie, began to swing the swords in his hands from side to side.

“S-stop him!”

CHWAAAA-AA-AA-AA-AAK!

The dark energy swirling at the tips of his swords drew beautiful black lines, as if wielding a large brush in the air. From afar, it would look like a beautiful ink painting being drawn on the white desert.

But that painting could never be beautiful.

PA-AA-AA-ANG!

With an ear-splitting noise, the barrels of the self-propelled artillery units around Kang Jin-ho simultaneously shot into the air.

“Ah…”

Reggie’s eyes went blank.

The sense of reality disappeared. This was more like a scene from a musical than a battle.

But…

In that moment, Reggie saw it.

He saw the missiles mounted on the multiple rocket launcher at one end of the self-propelled artillery formation being cut in half, and the cut missiles beginning to burn.

“N-no…”

His mind clearly recognized the scene that would follow.

But he was too powerless to stop the catastrophe that was about to unfold.

KWAKWAKWAKWA!

The multiple rocket launcher began to spew fire. The missiles, ignited haphazardly, burst through the barrels. The missiles that had not been fired properly drew chaotic lines in the air before falling to the ground.

KWA-AA-AA-ANG!

KWA-AA-AA-AA-ANG!

Explosions erupted.

Like fireworks that had been misfired, the ignited multiple rocket launcher poured down on the heads of their own forces, not the enemy.

KWA-AA-AA-ANG!

Amidst the chaos of fire, smoke, explosions, and screams…

Kang Jin-ho’s smirk, with a hint of malice, was etched into Reggie’s eyes.