Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1935

Kong Ling touched his face with a frustrated hand.

Unidentifiable acidic liquids were sliding down his body, riding the qi [life force or energy] that surrounded him.

No, he couldn’t even tell if it was acidic or what. What was certain was that any ordinary human who touched this liquid would melt away, not even leaving bones behind.

No matter how much they had transcended human limits as martial artists, they couldn’t be completely immune to poison or acid. If that were possible, sects like the Sichuan Tang Clan or the Five Poisons Sect would never have existed.

Besides…

‘This can’t even be compared to the acids of the past.’

Their poisons and acids were closer to science than martial arts in the first place.

So, it was only natural that things made with today’s technology would be several times, even dozens of times, more potent than those made with the technology of the past.

Kong Ling’s brow furrowed slightly.

He had only inhaled a tiny bit of the gas that had first appeared, but his body was already sending out strange signals.

His bronchial tubes and lungs felt like they were burning. If he was feeling this way, an ordinary person would die instantly with just one breath.

“I can’t hold out for long.”

Sizzle!

The reinforced concrete melted like snow hit by rain. A tar-colored liquid was filling the bluish metal underneath.

Kong Ling glanced at Guai Bu. Then, he drew out the minimum amount of air left in his lungs and muttered softly, like a mosquito buzzing.

“Do something about it.”

“…Benefactor.”

Guai Bu smiled and looked at him.

“Don’t you have something to say before that?”

“…Are you going to haggle over everything even in this situation?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

Kong Ling gritted his teeth.

“…I’m sorry. I’m sorry, you bastard! Is that enough?”

“That’s adding insult to injury. Even Buddha would turn away.”

Guai Bu shook his head and looked down. The metal floor, which looked unusual at a glance, was one thing, but the strong acids that he didn’t even want to touch were sloshing and pooling on top of it.

Their ankles were already completely submerged in the acid. If they released their protective qi [life force or energy] even for a moment, their ankles, and indeed their entire bodies, would melt as if they had fallen into lava.

“It’s vicious.”

Imagining this strong acid pouring down on the heads of ordinary soldiers, even Guai Bu, who wouldn’t bat an eye at most gruesome sights, frowned.

“First, the path.”

Guai Bu pulled his arm out, pushing his monk’s robe off his shoulder.

Beautiful muscles, like a Greek statue, were revealed.

Crunch.

He had only slightly clenched his fist, but it sounded like leather rubbing against leather. Guai Bu lowered his body slightly, then raised his clenched fist high above his head.

Gooooooo!

Even without trying to sense the energy, one could intuitively feel that something enormous was happening.

The formidable inner strength unique to Buddhist martial arts.

Combined with a ferocity similar to demonic arts, that was Guai Bu’s martial art.

“Hap!”

With a short shout, Guai Bu’s fist, tinged with a red glow, struck down like lightning.

Kwaaaaaaang!

The liquid that touched his fist instantly vaporized into steam and sprayed in all directions, and the blue-tinged metal dented and caved in as if struck by a giant hammer.

Bang!

Again!

Kwaaaang!

Once more.

Each time his fist struck, the metal sank deeper. The twisted and stretched center turned white.

Finally!

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!

The metal that had been struck by his fist tore away, creating a large hole below. The acids that had been filling the floor poured down like a waterfall to the lower level.

“Hmm.”

Guai Bu raised his fist. Seeing the tip of his fist stained red with blood, a red light flickered in his eyes.

“That’s some tremendous strength.”

“Is that the metal, or your fist?”

“Both, I suppose, Benefactor.”

Kong Ling clicked his tongue.

He understood why the Black King had sent him and Guai Bu together. He wouldn’t have been able to break through here alone. Even if he could, it would have taken at least a few days.

His martial art was not about cutting or breaking, but about severing. He was confident that he could display more destructive power than Guai Bu when it came to secretly assassinating or dealing with multiple enemies, but it wasn’t very effective against an object that had no weak points.

“Let’s go down. It should be over soon.”

“Judging by the lack of any sign of life, it seems like there’s still a long way to go, don’t you think?”

“Well, who knows?”

The two men jumped down and broke through a couple more floors.

Thud!

Guai Bu tapped the floor lightly and frowned.

“This is the bottom.”

“…There’s nothing here?”

Kong Ling, who had just cut the throat of the last person on that floor, frowned.

“I don’t know what the structure is, but there’s no space below this.”

“…It’s not like they’re trying to make us solve a puzzle.”

If this were a dungeon, there might be some trickery, but this was a bunker that existed in reality. There was no way they could trick people with the structure.

Then…

Kong Ling looked around quietly and then gestured with his chin.

“It’s over there.”

“Hmm.”

Guai Bu walked to where Kong Ling was pointing and knocked on the wall.

Thump, thump.

“Hmm!”

Kwaaaaaaang!

His fist broke through the wall. What appeared behind the broken wall was an elevator that had been wrecked by the debris from the wall he had just smashed.

Kong Ling frowned and looked at him, and Guai Bu waved his hand.

“Amitabha, this is unfair. Look. The power was already cut off.”

“…How can we know if the power went out because of what you did, or if it wasn’t on in the first place?”

“Unless they’re idiots, they wouldn’t kindly turn on the power so we could ride this down, would they? Amitabha, Benefactor, you are too suspicious.”

“Your mouth is still alive.”

Kong Ling strode over and examined the elevator.

“To come all the way here and then go deeper again… they’ve done something crazy.”

Kong Ling gestured with his chin.

“Let’s tear it out.”

“Understood.”

Guai Bu reached out and grabbed the elevator.

Crack!

Then, he pulled the entire elevator. The broken door side broke even more, and the large elevator was pulled out whole.

Guai Bu threw the elevator he had pulled out behind him.

Thud! Thump!

The specially made elevator rolled like a toy thrown by a child and crashed into the wall. Kong Ling, as if he had no interest in what was happening behind him, craned his neck and looked at the rectangular hole that had been opened below.

“…How deep is this?”

If the special ops team had broken through this far, would they really be able to go any further?

Into a hole of unknown depth?

‘It’s impossible.’

There wasn’t even a wire visible, no matter how it was made. That meant they had to go down the smooth wall, which was more slippery than a cliff, into a hole where the end couldn’t be seen.

They couldn’t do anything until they went back and got a rope. Getting a rope to install in a space of this depth wouldn’t be an easy task, so ordinary people would have to stop their operation here.

Yes, ordinary people would.

“Let’s go.”

“Understood.”

“If we’ve come this far, it’s almost over. I wonder what kind of expression they’ll have down there…”

It was at that moment.

Kong Ling snapped his head upwards.

Almost at the same time, Guai Bu’s head also turned upwards.

“They’re coming.”

“It seems so.”

“That useless bastard.”

“It was impossible for Black Rain to stop them all alone in the first place. No matter what, the Demon Lord is the Demon Lord.”

At that, Kong Ling nodded.

While the others were just nobodies, the Demon Lord was different. Even if Black Rain gave it her all, there was no guarantee that she could stop the Demon Lord.

“At least he should have bought us some time.”

Kong Ling gestured with his chin towards the hole they had made.

“Let’s go. The mission comes first. We need to delay them.”

“Will you stay behind, Benefactor?”

“Stay behind?”

Kong Ling chuckled.

“The place is advantageous for me, but I’m not that brave. I don’t have the guts to face the Demon Lord alone.”

“Then?”

“I’ll just destroy it.”

“Hmm, not a bad idea.”

“Take care of things as you go down.”

“Understood, Benefactor.”

Guai Bu jumped down without hesitation.

Kwaaang! Kwaaang! Kwaaang!

At the same time, a series of loud explosions erupted from the dark pit. The explosions grew fainter and fainter as they moved further and further down.

“Hmm.”

Kong Ling didn’t move immediately, but turned his head and stared at the hole in the ceiling.

Not long after…

Kwaaaaaaang!

The hole in the ceiling broke open twice as large, and a large, bald giant fell from within.

Thud!

Bator, who had landed on the floor, had a ferocious look in his eyes.

“You, you bastard!”

“…Maybe I shouldn’t have sent Guai Bu down. I should have lined them up side by side.”

Who knew there would be another bald giant with that kind of build besides Guai Bu?

Soon, a man fell from above.

Kong Ling’s entire body tensed up.

He had never faced him before, but he knew. He knew who the man who had just jumped down in front of him was.

“Demon Lord?”

Kang Jin-ho raised his head and stared at Kong Ling.

“…That’s right.”

It was chilling.

It felt like electricity was running down his spine. Kong Ling, biting his lip, looked at Kang Jin-ho and said,

“The Black King really… seems to know you well. I never thought you would actually come here, just as he said.”

“I should greet you properly, but… I’m a bit busy right now.”

Kong Ling’s body flew back like a phantom.

At that moment, Kang Jin-ho’s hand shot forward and grabbed Kong Ling’s neck. Or rather, tried to grab it.

At that moment.

Clang!

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes twitched slightly.

Something caught his hand right in front of his neck. Something incredibly sharp and incredibly thin.

‘Silver thread.’

Silver threads, layered dozens of times, blocked Kang Jin-ho’s hand like a taut piano string.

But…

Snap!

The silver threads, which could cut through anything they touched and even support hundreds of tons of rock, snapped like weak hair.

Kang Jin-ho had succeeded in tearing through dozens of layers of silver thread in an instant, but that slight delay was enough to give Kong Ling time to pull away.

“I’ll see you in a bit, Demon Lord.”

Kong Ling disappeared into the elevator shaft.

At the same time…

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

The perfectly smooth shaft began to collapse from all sides. The floor right in front of where Kang Jin-ho was standing caved in, beginning to fill the shaft.

“That crazy bastard…”

Bator’s eyes trembled.

If he were buried under that much weight, even he wouldn’t be able to withstand it. And yet, he had destroyed the path with his own hands.

It was a certainty that he could get out before the rocks hit the floor. Even if he accidentally destroyed the entire bunker, it was a calculation that he could at least achieve his goal of killing Joo Seok.

Bator gritted his teeth at that mad act.

Rumble!

The floor collapsed, completely filling the shaft. A shaft that was at least several hundred meters long was completely blocked with earth and rocks.

“What do we do, Master?”

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho twisted the corner of his mouth.

“In a bit…”

Black demonic energy swirled and rose from his feet. Kang Jin-ho’s lips, covered in demonic energy, flickered as if they were burning.

“Who said so?”

His body plunged into the concrete pit like an osprey diving into the sea.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!