Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1758

Clearly different.

It was unclear where they had been hiding, but the ones now blocking Bator’s path were definitely on a different level than those he had faced while climbing the mountain earlier.

Swoosh!

A razor-sharp sword, imbued with a vibrant blue aura, flew towards Bator.

However…

Clang, clang, clang!

Even the sharpest sword, capable of slicing through iron like tofu, couldn’t penetrate Bator’s flesh.

The blade merely scraped against his skin and slid off.

“Hah!”

The warriors, shocked that their sword, even with its aura, couldn’t pierce human skin, quickly retreated. But Bator wasn’t the kind of merciful man to let them go so easily.

Thud!

Bator, stomping his foot, clenched his teeth and threw a straight punch.

His massive body rotated like a spring, channeling incredible power into his fist.

Wham!

A human body was far too fragile to withstand his punch.

The fist, imbued with terrifying destructive force, instantly pulverized flesh. Fragments of bone and flesh exploded outwards with tremendous force.

It was like a human-sized claymore [a large two-handed sword].

However, the Chang Wang’s warriors charging towards Bator didn’t flinch at the sight.

Bang! Bang, bang, bang!

With sounds like a machine gun, swords flashed like lightning, deflecting all the flying bone fragments.

“Hold him down!”

“Yes!”

The Chang Wang’s warriors threw themselves at Bator without regard for their own safety. Bator, seeing this, also gritted his teeth.

‘Annoying!’

Turning opponents into mincemeat was nothing. The problem was that smashing them was subtly slowing him down.

Bator was well aware of his role.

His job was to lead the main force and reach Chang Wang as quickly as possible. Defeating a few more opponents wouldn’t change the overall situation.

A slight delay.

Those delays would accumulate, creating a significant difference in time. And that time difference would give the Chang Wang’s warriors gathering here more time to regroup.

More than six swords, glowing with blue energy, rained down on Bator.

“Get lost, you dogs of Chang Wang!”

Bator roared and threw a punch. But at that moment, the warriors who had been charging forward quickly retracted their swords and scattered in all directions.

Whoosh!

The punch, fueled by rage, struck empty air. Simultaneously, the scattered warriors charged at Bator again.

“Tch!”

Bator clicked his tongue.

It felt like being swarmed by mosquitoes. In reality, the damage they could inflict on Bator was no more than a mosquito bite, but the time wasted swatting at them was the problem.

“You bastards!”

Despite his angry face, Bator lowered his stance.

And, unlike his previous attacks, he began to strike with short, sharp blows.

Whack, whack, whack!

With a series of crisp strikes, those who had been charging were turned into bloody messes and sent flying.

However, a few who had dodged his punches threw their swords at Bator’s face and grabbed onto his legs.

Thud!

The one who was kicked went tumbling across the ground.

He was clearly dead before his body even stopped moving. But even seeing that, the expressions of those clinging to his legs didn’t change.

Bator’s expression subtly twisted.

They probably didn’t think they could stop Bator either. If they had eyes and a brain, they couldn’t not know that their abilities were insufficient.

Yet, they threw themselves at him without a moment’s hesitation.

As if they would be satisfied if they could just hold Bator back for even a single moment, even at the cost of their lives.

“You moronic fools.”

Wham!

Bator crushed the heads of those who had grabbed his legs.

He felt disgusted.

He couldn’t deny the determination to sacrifice their lives for a purpose. But the reason Bator felt disgusted was because their actions felt mechanical.

‘It’s not will.’

What drove them was fear.

They knew that if they tried to save their own lives, something worse than death awaited them. That’s why they couldn’t retreat, even if it meant dying.

It felt like facing someone with a gun pointed at their back.

Look.

The metal balls that had fallen in front were still emitting gas. But the Chang Wang’s warriors were charging forward to block him with their bare faces, without even wearing gas masks.

As if their own lives didn’t matter at all.

“Tch.”

Bator gritted his teeth.

‘No time for sentiment.’

First, charge forward…

“You seem to be having a bit of trouble.”

“Hmm?”

Just then, someone quickly caught up from behind.

“Shouldn’t you be holding your position?”

“I would like to, but…”

Wiggins slightly turned his head and pointed upwards.

“That person is doing all the work, so there’s nothing for me to do in the middle.”

“So, I need to find something to do. I’ll take care of the small fry, so you focus on your task.”

“Such bravado.”

Bator’s lips twitched.

“It’s not bravado, but…”

Wiggins waved his hand in the air.

Following his fingertips, pure white mana flowed out, creating strange patterns in the air.

Whoosh!

The patterns emitted a blinding light, and then the metal balls that had fallen on the ground were instantly sucked towards Wiggins’ hand.

Whoosh!

“This is my specialty!”

Thump!

Wiggins lightly tapped the gathered metal balls, and they were immediately launched like cannonballs in all directions.

“Aaaah!”

“Ugh!”

The launched balls rained down on the Chang Wang’s warriors. After repeating the same action a couple of times, Wiggins cleared all the metal balls in front of him and simultaneously incapacitated the warriors.

“It’s normal for infantry or armored vehicles to accompany tanks.”

“Are you even an armored vehicle?”

“Then infantry will suffice.”

At that moment.

Whoosh!

The forest ahead momentarily erupted in flames, and dozens of rockets flew towards them.

“Or…”

Whoosh!

Wiggins reached out his hand, and the incoming rockets stopped in mid-air, defying acceleration.

“A shield is good too.”

The rockets spun around, changed direction, and flew back towards where they had been launched.

Wham!

Wham!

Bator blinked as he watched the explosions.

“…What did you just do?”

“Would you understand if I explained it?”

“…Never mind.”

Bator and Wiggins quickly charged forward.

“This is my specialty. I’ve been in this situation countless times at the Round Table [a group of powerful knights].”

This was not just an empty boast.

Before meeting Kang Jin-ho and getting caught up in the East Asian martial world, Wiggins had been a knight in England, resolving conflicts in various countries and suppressing the martial world of other nations.

Naturally, fighting against modern weaponry was a frequent occurrence.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

The magic of the modern Round Table, unlike the past, focused on developing methods to efficiently block weapons that the human body couldn’t withstand. And now, they were achieving significant results.

“After all, shells and bullets are just types of metal. If you can control metal, this much is easily possible.”

“What are you talking about?”

But this was too difficult a concept for Bator to grasp.

“I’ll take care of the shells and cluster bombs. Don’t worry about it and clear the path. That’s something I can’t do.”

Bator frowned.

‘It’s ridiculous, but…’

Damn, it’s reassuring.

“Don’t trip while running, you fast bastard!”

“There’s no time to trip. I have to fix what I’ve done.”

Wiggins’ eyes flashed coldly.

The two of them gritted their teeth and ran forward.

“Run, you bastards!”

Bang Jin-hoon roared.

Unable to bear the frustration, he lifted the gas mask from his face and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Don’t scratch! If you scratch, your skin will peel, and the gas will seep in more! That’s common sense, you bastards! What kind of martial artists are you if you can’t even endure that!”

“D-Director, you need to wear your gas mask!”

“I know what I’m doing!”

Bang Jin-hoon roared and ran forward, grabbing the back of the neck of a staggering man and pulling him up.

“Can you run, or not?”

“Y-yes… I’m still… I’m still okay!”

“Then grit your teeth and run!”

“Yes!”

The staggering man seemed to gain strength and started running. Bang Jin-hoon’s eyes narrowed as he watched.

‘It’s too dangerous now.’

It felt like being in a chemical warfare chamber while wearing a faulty gas mask that was leaking gas. Of course, this gas mask was definitely not faulty, but the gas being fired here was incomparable to the CS gas [a type of tear gas] used for training.

If this situation continued, they would all be incapacitated without even being able to fight properly.

“Run faster! Faster!”

His gaze turned upwards.

‘China or whatever, they can’t keep pouring it on like this.’

Either the gas would run out, or the bombers would have to return. No matter how long the tunnel was, it would eventually reach its end.

His job was to make sure no one fell before that moment came.

“Change the filters! Right now! Pass it to the person in front and behind!”

Hearing his voice, the warriors of the main force quickly took out their filters from their backpacks and began to replace them.

There was no time to teach them the proper way to change them. Most of the methods they had learned in the military had been forgotten. The method was haphazard, but it was a hundred times better than not changing them at all.

‘Damn it, until when…’

“Master! Up! Look up!”

“Hmm?”

Bang Jin-hoon reflexively looked up.

‘Huh?’

Beyond the mana that was spread out like a tent, the sky was visible.

Yes, the sky!

There were no bombers following the bombers that had been attacking just a moment ago. For the first time since the bombing had started, he saw a clear sky without any impurities.

“Damn it, that’s more like it! They can’t keep pouring it on forever!”

“The bombing is over! Take off your gas masks and run at full speed!”

“Yes!”

There would definitely be a second wave. But they had to move as far as possible before that.

“A little further ahead…”

That was the moment.

Whoosh!

The mana that had been spreading in all directions suddenly gathered towards one point.

“Lord!”

Kang Jin-ho, having gathered all the mana, descended to the ground like a lightning strike, his eyes gleaming with a chilling light.

“What’s the situation?”

“I can’t say we’re unscathed, but the damage isn’t too severe yet!”

“I see.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded once and turned to look at Bang Jin-hoon.

“I’ll increase the speed, so do your best to keep up.”

“Yes!”

With those words, Kang Jin-ho flew towards the front like a beam of light.

Whoosh!

The flowing mana spread out like black wings.

It was the moment when the Demon King, who had descended to earth from the darkness, revealed himself.