Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1180

“Director Bang!” A loud voice cut through the air. The urgency in the tone immediately drew everyone’s attention to Bang Jin-hoon. He was kneeling on one knee, having stumbled backward. His hand was clamped tightly over his side, where blood gushed from a gaping wound.

“Director Bang…” someone started, but Bang Jin-hoon’s sharp shout silenced them. “Don’t make a fuss!” he barked.

‘Damn it,’ he thought, pushing himself to his feet. If he’d been any slower, that sword would have cleaved him in two. He’d managed to avoid a fatal blow, but the cost was high. The hand that had tried to deflect the sword was cut to the bone, and his side was deeply injured, the wound reaching down to the muscle.

Even Bang Jin-hoon, who prided himself on his toughness, had to grit his teeth against the pain. Still, he considered it a cheap price to pay for survival.

“You lack experience,” Kazuhito said, once again leveling his sword at Bang Jin-hoon’s neck. “For a Korean martial artist, you’re skilled. But the fundamental difference is unavoidable.”

“What’s that bastard saying? Ptoo!” Bang Jin-hoon spat a mixture of phlegm and blood onto the ground. ‘Damn it,’ he cursed inwardly. He’d been reckless, assuming his opponent would move as he expected, just because he knew his opponent was strong. This injury was the price of his arrogance.

Bang Jin-hoon straightened up, a terrible pain shooting through his side. But he couldn’t afford to fall now, not with so many eyes watching him. ‘This is a bit of a mess,’ he thought, his shoulders slumping slightly before he forced them back. He’d rarely suffered such a severe injury, and he’d never had to fight while so badly wounded.

He gritted his teeth. ‘It wasn’t right to blame others for their responsibilities.’ He hadn’t fully grasped what it meant to fight while supporting others. His defeat wouldn’t just be his own; it would shatter the morale of everyone who believed in him and could turn the tide of this battle.

No matter how agonizing the pain, he couldn’t show weakness. Even as his mind swam with pain, Bang Jin-hoon straightened his shoulders. People were relying on him. He had to show them the same kind of strength he had always admired in others. It might not be as reliable, but it couldn’t be pathetic.

“You’re getting up?” Kazuhito’s eyes widened, surprised. The sword had pierced his side cleanly. He shouldn’t even have the strength to stand, yet here he was. ‘Impressive willpower,’ Kazuhito thought, a grudging respect forming. If this weren’t a battlefield, he would have paid his respects to his opponent. But this was a battlefield, and his men were dying while he hesitated.

“This is the end!” Kazuhito charged at Bang Jin-hoon again. Bang Jin-hoon calmly took a stance, watching Kazuhito approach. Throb! Just taking a step sent a wave of pain through his brain, but he couldn’t afford to whine. ‘The most dangerous time?’ he thought, trying to clear his mind. ‘What is it?’

“Is when you’ve won. When you think you’ve completely got your opponent and are about to deliver the final blow, carelessness comes when you’re not aware of it. Especially on the battlefield…” Kang Jin-ho’s sly smile flashed in his mind. “I have no excuse if I die.”

“Haaah!” Bang Jin-hoon, gathering all his inner energy, channeled his power into his right hand. A force that turned his hand white surged into his palm. He swung his right hand towards the sword aimed at his neck.

Crack! With a chilling sound, the sword pierced straight through Bang Jin-hoon’s palm. Even his full-power strike couldn’t stop Kazuhito’s blade. But that was exactly what Bang Jin-hoon had intended. He twisted his hand, the sword embedded in it, to the side. The sword meant for his neck only grazed his skin, failing to pierce it properly.

Swoosh! His neck was sliced open, and blood spurted out. He had sacrificed his neck and right hand. His side was already horribly torn open, and his left hand was also cut to the bone while blocking the sword. And in return…

“Got you, you bastard,” Bang Jin-hoon said, finally close enough to Kazuhito’s chest.

“You!” Kazuhito exclaimed, trying to pull his sword from Bang Jin-hoon’s hand. Bang Jin-hoon gripped the blade tightly, then wrapped his remaining arm around Kazuhito’s waist and lifted him up. “You son of a bitch!” Kazuhito’s elbow struck Bang Jin-hoon’s head repeatedly, but Bang Jin-hoon, gritting his teeth, hugged Kazuhito and jumped to the ground.

Thud! Bang Jin-hoon slammed Kazuhito to the ground like a takedown in mixed martial arts, then lifted his waist and punched down, not at Kazuhito’s body, but at his own hand, which was pierced by the sword.

Clang! When he struck down with all his might on his hand, which had become harder than steel, the sword shattered. Of course, his hand was also horribly mangled, but he didn’t care. Kazuhito, having lost his sword, had lost his means of attack, but he still had other options.

For example… Thud! Bang Jin-hoon’s head slammed directly into Kazuhito’s face. “Ugh…” Taking advantage of the moment when Kazuhito couldn’t regain his senses, Bang Jin-hoon climbed onto Kazuhito’s waist. Then, using a technique similar to a thousand-pound drop, he pressed Kazuhito down.

“Ptoo,” Bang Jin-hoon spat out the blood filling his mouth, smirked, and raised his fist. “Seems like you’re not good at brawling, being so high and mighty. You have to pay the price, right?”

“You, you! You have no shame!” Kazuhito sputtered.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, but I can interpret it, you bastard. What’s dirty in a fight? Winning is all that matters.” Bang Jin-hoon raised his left fist, which was still relatively intact. “I’ll show you what it means to be beaten to death!” Kazuhito’s face turned pale. Thud! “Ugh!” Kazuhito struggled against the force of the fist slamming into his face. He was going to die. If this continued, he would really die. But there was no way to resist. If he had his beloved sword, he could have sliced Bang Jin-hoon in an instant and gotten up, but his sword was broken, leaving only the handle. With his bare hands, he couldn’t beat Bang Jin-hoon, a martial artist. ‘No, no!’

The fist came flying again. He desperately tried to block it with his hand, but at that moment, the fist slammed into his neck instead of his face. “Gasp!” His breath was cut off for a moment. With his face exposed, Bang Jin-hoon’s elbow flew in, charged with energy. Crack! His jawbone shattered. Then, his cheekbone collapsed from the following punch. “Ugh…” Bang Jin-hoon began to pulverize him with a blank expression. “S, save me…” Bang Jin-hoon stopped him from uttering words he should never have said with a punch. Wham! Bang Jin-hoon’s fist slammed into his mouth. The broken teeth pierced his palate and penetrated his brain. In his fading consciousness, Bang Jin-hoon’s voice sounded distant. “You’re nothing, you little shit. Acting up.” It was probably better that he didn’t understand Korean.

“Huff!” Bang Jin-hoon staggered as he stood up. Perhaps because he had lost too much blood, his vision was blurry, and his legs were trembling. ‘I’m going to die,’ he thought. If this were a sparring match, Bang Jin-hoon would have lost. But because it was a fight to the death, he was able to win. If he had used ordinary methods, he would have never been able to win, but who was Bang Jin-hoon? He was someone who had always watched Kang Jin-ho use all sorts of methods to take down enemies in real-time. So, he wasn’t bound by any particular method. The one who survives is the strong one, and Bang Jin-hoon had survived.

“I…” He felt like he was about to collapse, but he couldn’t yet. Bang Jin-hoon knew what he had to do. Just winning wasn’t enough. He had to make sure everyone knew about this victory. Some could lead everyone with just a victory and a straightened back, but not Bang Jin-hoon. So, he had to shout. Bang Jin-hoon tilted his head back and yelled, “Kill them all! You Jap bastards!” The morale of his side soared through the sky.

“Chief!” “The Chief has been defeated!” The Japanese martial artists momentarily fell into panic. Who was Kazuhito? The renowned chief of the Yamashiro-gumi [a yakuza clan]. If you excluded the boss who no longer appeared on the scene, he was practically the ruler of the Yamashiro-gumi. That Kazuhito had been defeated by an unknown Korean martial artist and turned into a gruesome corpse. Having witnessed that scene, how could they not be shaken? It was a different story from when an ordinary person was defeated. Kazuhito was the chief of the Yamashiro-gumi and the de facto commander here. Such a person had died. The one who should never have died had died. Anyone with a brain and the ability to think would know what situation they were in.

The front line of the General Assembly [a Korean martial arts organization] blocking them was incredibly solid, and Bator was rampaging like an angry giant even at this moment. The incomprehensible magic was holding them back, and knights clad in full armor were slaughtering everyone in sight like machines. Annihilation. The same word popped into everyone’s head. There was no hope in this battle anymore. Even if they gritted their teeth and held on, they would only be prolonging their death. Then? Someone opened their mouth. A word that everyone had thought in their heads but couldn’t bring themselves to say. The moment that word came out, the situation began to spiral out of control. “R, run away!” A groan-like voice. In a battlefield filled with loud noises, it was a voice that could only be heard very faintly, but strangely, that voice spread clearly throughout the entire battlefield. And that small voice ignited a fire. “Run away!” “Everyone will die! Retreat! Retreat!” “Run! Right now!” Panic was like that. It started very small, but it spread like wildfire in an instant, driving people into fear. Kazuhito’s death threw all the martial artists of Kanto [a region in Japan] into panic. “Run awaaaaay!” They had to run away. But where to? Where could they run to in this Korean land? They were already surrounded. Then, someone shouted, “The sea! Jump into the sea!” The calculation was quickly done. The sea. Of course, they couldn’t go back to Japan through that sea. But as long as their encirclement was limited to the land, if they jumped into the sea, it wouldn’t be difficult to escape this encirclement. Then, they could somehow survive. After that, they could find a way to return to Japan. “Uwaaaaaaa!” “Get out of my way!” The moment when the most casualties occur in a war is when one side collapses and starts to run away. Those gripped by the fear of death tend to find their own allies blocking their path more cumbersome than the blades behind them. The front line that had been barely maintained collapsed, and the Japanese martial artists began to tangle with each other. The bravest ones who had been at the forefront turned back and pushed their allies aside, running towards the sea. In an instant, chaos unfolded. “Where do you think you’re going, you trash!” Bator rampaged, and flames burst out everywhere. Tree roots shot up and wrapped around the ankles of those trying to escape. Pandemonium. The scene was so chaotic that even hell would have seemed peaceful. But even amidst that chaos, the agile ones quickly jumped into the sea. There were patrol boats on the coast, but those patrol boats could never catch them. If they could just get out of here, they would have a chance to live. It was at that moment. ‘Huh?’ The first ones to jump into the sea discovered red lights shining in the water. Red lights. The moment they saw those lights, which were so red that they felt like blood, a chill ran down their spines. Swoosh! Blades that had risen from the surface of the water pierced the bodies of those who had jumped into the sea. “Gurgle.” The one with a hole in his stomach slowly sank into the water with a sound of air escaping. At the same time, hundreds of martial artists appeared on the surface of the water. A white-haired old man at the front neatly swept back his wet hair with both hands and opened his mouth. “Kill them all. Don’t leave a single one alive. Stain the sea red with the blood of those who dared to step on the Demon Lord’s land!” The demonic followers of the Demonic Cult, who had been waiting for this moment, charged at the Japanese, letting out beast-like roars.