Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1985

“Damn it.”

Chai Ke-chang cursed, his teeth grinding as he took in the scene before him.

“Why the hell are those lunatics doing that there!”

“…I apologize.”

The wall of tanks.

Tanks mobilized by the People’s Liberation Army were lined up endlessly, as if they were trains. In front of the tanks, all with their barrels pointed in the same direction, was a wide field, and that field was filled with people.

‘All of them are…’

Warriors.

They were people who had seen the Black King’s broadcast and gathered there, agreeing with his opinion. The People’s Liberation Army wouldn’t let them in, but they were warriors. In a flash, over a hundred of them had already entered and begun to set up their positions.

And their numbers were only growing.

‘They easily surpass a thousand.’

Considering the number of warriors in the world, a thousand wasn’t a significant number. Nevertheless, there were two reasons why Chai Ke-chang couldn’t help but grind his teeth.

One was that this place was more than enough of a barricade with just a thousand people. A thousand was excessive to block a single entrance.

Moreover, those damn bastards were all warriors. In terms of regular troops, it was no exaggeration to say that more than ten thousand had gathered.

And the second reason was…

“These…

The majority of those damn warriors were from the Red King faction.”

Chai Ke-chang gnashed his teeth.

If they had been the remnants of the Azure King faction, he wouldn’t have been so angry. For those with nowhere to turn, the Black King might have been a new escape route.

But that wasn’t the case.

It wasn’t the warriors of the Azure King faction with nowhere to turn, but the warriors of the Red King faction, who had received the Red King’s grace, abandoning their posts and joining that place.

“These bug-like bastards!”

Crack!

Chai Ke-chang’s fist made a rough cracking sound.

Joining that place meant showing distrust in the Red King, who would lead China from now on. To put it more bluntly, it was no different from rebelling against the Red King.

That fact made Chai Ke-chang unable to bear it.

“Chai Ke-chang, sir.”

“I know.”

Chai Ke-chang took a low breath.

His anger didn’t subside, but now wasn’t the time to waste time being angry. What he had to do was to carefully assess the situation here.

But…

‘There’s no opening.’

It wasn’t a particularly tactical arrangement or anything like that.

It was just that an insurmountable number of people had gathered in a place that couldn’t be breached.

But Chai Ke-chang knew. That it was several times more difficult to occupy a place that no one could breach and make them defend it than to block a place that should be breached with bizarre strategies and arrangements.

‘A terrifying enemy.’

Without overdoing it, he was steadily taking the best path.

Such an opponent was the most difficult to deal with.

“How many more are gathering?”

“They are increasing exponentially.”

“…Damn it.”

Chai Ke-chang rubbed his face, looking anxious.

Capture?

It wasn’t difficult. They had several times more high-quality troops than those here. No, these riffraff could be crushed in an instant just by deploying the Red King faction’s elite, without having to bring a large force.

But the moment they tried that, the world of warriors would end.

“This is what they mean by being unable to do anything.”

Chai Ke-chang bit his fingernails.

It felt like watching a path that led to defeat.

The outcome was already decided. His words could only follow the enemy’s movements in one direction. Yet, the reason he couldn’t surrender was that everything would end if he did.

‘If we were going to face this kind of ending, why did we fight and bleed for so long?’

It was utterly futile.

Ants cannot know.

Ants only fight the other ants in front of them to protect their kingdom. Even while watching countless comrades get their heads cut off, they just charge and fight.

Even if the kingdom they are trying to protect through that fierce battle is scheduled to be completely destroyed by the brutal invasion of excavators the next day and covered with concrete, the ants have no choice but to fight.

Chai Ke-chang felt like such an ant.

Thinking about how that Black King had watched their fight with the Azure King faction made his stomach burn as if he had swallowed hot coals.

That the situation had gone this far.

And the fact that he couldn’t do anything while watching this situation was tearing Chai Ke-chang apart.

“…Is there no response from the government side either?”

“It seems they don’t have a solution either.”

“So, they’re completely giving up?”

“It seems several methods have been discussed. First, a method to blow away the terrain itself with a bunker buster [a bomb designed to penetrate hardened targets], a method to neutralize them by injecting nerve gas inside, and even a method to use an undisclosed new weapon…”

The adjutant bit his lip and said.

“It seems that they couldn’t ignore the risks of any of those methods. The pro-war and skeptical factions are fiercely arguing, but…”

“No one has the courage to bell the cat [take on a dangerous task].”

“…It seems so.”

Chai Ke-chang shook his head.

This was something he couldn’t blame them for. Even if he were in their position, he wouldn’t dare to say ‘I’ll take responsibility’.

Responsibility?

In the worst-case scenario that he didn’t want to imagine, who could take responsibility for that situation? This was beyond the scope that an individual or a country could cover.

Even the United States, which would go crazy over a war, wasn’t moving. It meant that even the military-industrial companies that were putting enormous pressure on the US government couldn’t bring themselves to speak up about this.

The more he looked, the more he realized his own powerlessness.

“…There’s no answer to this.”

At least if that damn wall of people wasn’t there, he could have tried to enter somehow. The biggest mistake was that those who should have been their most loyal comrades had turned into enemies with just a few words.

It was just as Chai Ke-chang was about to kick the floor.

RRRR.

His phone started ringing.

Chai Ke-chang quickly took out his phone and checked the screen. Then, without hesitation, he pressed the call button.

“Lee Hyun-soo!”

Lee Hyun-soo’s voice came from the other end of the line.

“[How is it?]”

“It’s the worst. We can’t break through here.”

“[It looked like that from a rough glance. It’s the same even when you see it on the ground?]”

“If the Red King or the Demon King personally stepped up, entry itself would be possible. But…”

“[Even those two wouldn’t be able to deceive the Twelve Zodiacs and the Black King’s eyes inside. The path from the entrance to the control room is a one-way street.]”

“That’s right.”

“[Okay. Don’t do anything unnecessary and withdraw.]”

“…Do you have something in mind?”

“[The idea isn’t mine, it seems the Chairman came up with it.]”

“What?”

“[You’ll all find out soon anyway, so I’ll give you a rough explanation. What we’re going to do is…]”

Chai Ke-chang’s face twisted strangely as he listened to the words coming from the other end of the line. After listening to Lee Hyun-soo’s explanation in silence for a long time, Chai Ke-chang gripped the phone as if he would break it.

“Are you saying that’s a reasonable thing to say?”

“[Well? Do you have another way?]”

Chai Ke-chang closed his mouth.

It didn’t make sense.

There was no way the Black King would fall for such a shallow trick.

But…

‘It’s also true that there’s no other way.’

It was unlikely, but it was better than nothing. It meant that they had no choice but to push forward, whether it worked or not.

“Is this really the Demon King’s idea?”

“[Yes. It’s something I can’t even imagine, right?]”

“I guess so.”

Chai Ke-chang’s mind was racing.

Certainly, this was an idea that only Kang Jin-ho could come up with. And even if it was the same idea, if it came from Kang Jin-ho’s mind, the success rate itself would double.

It couldn’t be helped.

Kang Jin-ho was the only person in this world who could even slightly guess what logic that Black King was operating on and what thoughts he had in his mind.

‘It’s impossible for it to work.’

Logically, it was absurd.

But…

‘No. There’s no guarantee that it won’t work either.’

This wasn’t in the realm of logic.

‘Besides, even if it fails, we have nothing to lose. If we succeed, we get a chance, and if we fail, we’re back to square one.’

Then, not trying it was more of a mistake.

However, one thing was definitely bothering him.

“Hey, Lee Hyun-soo.”

“[Speak.]”

“Is the Demon King really going to try this method? The Demon King I know…”

“[I know what you’re saying. I asked the same thing.]”

“[The Chairman said this. The world is twisted, and everyone is fighting with everything they have, so he can’t do what he wants. To face an enemy like that, he has to give up an arm or so.]”

‘An arm…’

That wasn’t wrong.

“When are you planning to implement it?”

“[Right away today.]”

“…Is the agreement done? Already?”

“[No. They’re coordinating now. It’ll take some time since we have to gather the positions of each country.]”

Chai Ke-chang nodded.

Certainly, this wasn’t something that could be decided and acted upon alone.

‘This is an enormous scale in a different sense.’

This was something that each country had no choice but to accept.

They wouldn’t want to show that they were bowing their heads to them without trying anything. If being hit by a nuclear weapon was the worst, this was a political death sentence.

“I understand.”

Chai Ke-chang nodded.

It felt like he was grasping something.

It was like seeing a ray of light in the darkness that seemed endless. Although the light was very faint, it was like a beacon in this deep darkness.

“Then what should we do?”

“[You have to match the personnel.]”

“Okay!”

Chai Ke-chang nodded firmly.

“The Red King will step up personally. If there are more personnel needed, I will support you as much as possible.”

“[The selection will be done by the Chairman. Be prepared to move immediately when a request comes.]”

“I understand.”

“[Then watch.]”

The call ends.

Chai Ke-chang stared at the phone with a complicated expression.

‘That Kang Jin-ho…’

The veins on Chai Ke-chang’s hand holding the phone bulged.

‘Yes. The enemy is too strong.’

Then, they had no choice but to fight with the determination to throw everything away. This wasn’t the time to think about the aftermath. They had no choice but to believe that if they could just win, the aftermath would somehow work out.

‘We have to be that determined too.’

Chai Ke-chang, grinding his teeth, turned his head and took in the view of the missile launch base.

“I don’t know if it will help, but secure as many photos as possible.”

“Yes!”

“Return as soon as the work is finished. I’ll go see the Red King first.”

“Yes, I understand!”

Chai Ke-chang nodded and turned his body.

After taking a few steps, he laughed in vain.

‘This is really a fight between two people.’

It was one person who was making the moves, and one person who was receiving them. And the whole world was twisted and shaken by their choices.

“The Red King might get angry if he knew.”

It was quite unpleasant for Chai Ke-chang that the Red King couldn’t participate in the fight between those giants.

But…

‘It can’t be helped.’

That was a terribly big fight, and at the same time, a terribly small fight.

A fight that determined the fate of the world, and yet, it was just a conclusion between two people.

Yes, just two people.