Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1182

“Hah… hah… hah!”

Kukubo Shigeru gasped, clutching his shoulder where his arm had been severed, blood gushing out.

Nothing.

There was nothing left standing.

‘This is hell.’

Fifteen hundred men had come here.

They were the elite, handpicked from the Yamashiro-gumi, the largest force in Kanto. And they were joined by elites gathered from other Kanto gangs.

With this kind of power, they thought they could easily conquer any country. Japan was divided into so many factions, constantly at odds, preventing them from wielding their full strength. But they believed that if they could unite, they could stand against even China.

But today, that belief was shattered.

And not by China, but by Korea.

They had been annihilated by Korea, a country they had looked down on and thought they could conquer at any time, without even putting up a fight.

“Hah! Hah!”

His breath hitched at the end of his throat.

The pain from his severed arm was excruciating. But it was nothing compared to the mental anguish he was feeling.

He’d rather gouge out his own eyes.

‘It’s over.’

The Yamashiro-gumi was finished.

Even if this war ended in Japan’s victory, the Yamashiro-gumi would not survive. With all the gang’s power gone, how could they possibly survive?

The remaining members would become prey for the Shinichi-kai. The unification of Japan that everyone had longed for would be achieved, but in the worst possible way for the Yamashiro-gumi.

“Kuhuhuhuhu.”

A laugh, like a sob, escaped his lips.

He raised his head and looked at the people standing before him.

“Ah, go easy on me, will ya?”

“Just bear with it. Why are you such a drama queen?”

“A drama queen? A drama queen? Hey, can you still call me a drama queen after seeing my side like this? You could fit a kid in there! Aaaah!”

Weigins silently pressed on Bang Jin-hoon’s side. Bang Jin-hoon shrieked and twisted his body.

“Aren’t you ashamed in front of the kids? Be quiet.”

“Does pride feed you? It hurts like hell.”

Bang Jin-hoon grimaced, clutching his side.

Shigeru gritted his teeth.

He couldn’t believe that the frivolous guy had defeated Chief Kazuhito. If only he had survived, the situation would have been different.

His gaze shifted from Bang Jin-hoon and Weigins to Jang Min and Bator.

‘Monsters.’

A shiver ran down his spine.

The two in front still felt human, but these two were nothing like humans.

Even though they no longer exuded bloodlust and demonic energy, the fear remained.

And…

Click.

The man in the middle lit a cigarette.

Then, he took the cigarette from his mouth and looked at Shigeru.

“Want a puff?”

Shigeru looked up at the man who spoke in fluent Japanese.

“Kuh.”

He didn’t feel any power from him.

There was a subtle hint of a warrior’s presence, but he was far from strong.

‘This must be the power of Korea.’

It was incomprehensible.

The fact that the Yamashiro-gumi had been unilaterally massacred at the general meeting. The reason for the massacre was that monsters were rampaging, Westerners were charging, and demons that came out of nowhere were attacking.

But looking at this man, everything made sense.

They were different.

If this were Japan, this man would never have been able to stand here. Japan was not so lenient as to allow such a weak person to speak.

No matter how talented they were, if they were with such strong people, they would only be able to observe the situation from the sidelines.

But this man was standing in front of the strongmen behind him, talking to him. He was calmly smoking a cigarette.

Japan didn’t have this kind of flexibility.

“Kill him.”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled at Shigeru’s solemn voice.

“Looks like you’re gonna die even if I don’t kill you.”

“You…”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled and approached, placing a cigarette in Shigeru’s mouth.

“Spit it out if you don’t want it.”

Shigeru silently puffed on the cigarette. White smoke slowly billowed from his mouth and nose.

Shigeru, who had been closing his eyes while smoking, opened his mouth.

“You bastards.”

“I don’t want to hear that from the guys who invaded us.”

“Do you think you can die peacefully after killing so many of us?”

“That’s not your concern.”

Shigeru bared his blood-soaked teeth.

He was filled with hatred.

They were the ones who had slaughtered his comrades. How could he not hate them?

But everything is relative.

No matter how much you hate someone, if there is someone you hate more, the priority will be pushed back. The one who made Kukubo Shigeru tremble with hatred was not them, but the Shinichi-kai.

They had offered to join forces to conquer Joseon [Korea], but they leaked their information to the other side, causing them to fall into a trap.

Traitors are more hateful than enemies.

These men had only stood against the Yamashiro-gumi who had invaded. If Shigeru were in the same situation, wouldn’t he have resisted and fought back?

But the Shinichi-kai was different.

No matter how much they were at odds with each other, pushing their own allies into the enemy’s trap during a war was unforgivable.

It was something that no one with a human face should ever do.

Never!

Therefore, they had to pay the price.

His fading consciousness and increasingly cold body clouded Kukubo Shigeru’s judgment.

“That’s right. It’s not my concern.”

Shigeru, with trembling hands, raised the cigarette to his mouth and took a deep drag. He could barely feel the smoke entering his lungs.

He was definitely dying.

“Hoo…”

Shigeru smiled bitterly as he felt death approaching.

“Fine. I’ll tell you what you want. It’s my way to the afterlife, but I have to pay for the cigarette.”

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes lit up.

“Those bastards who came in first… cough!”

Shigeru spat out blood. Seeing the thick blood dripping, he knew he didn’t have much time left.

“…They’re probably going to take your chairman’s head by now.”

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes widened for a moment.

‘What?’

This was completely unexpected.

It was true that he wanted to get information from Shigeru, but the information Lee Hyun-soo wanted was about additional landings.

But unexpected information had popped out.

“What are you talking about? Tell me in detail!” Even those who didn’t understand Japanese stiffened their faces at Lee Hyun-soo’s reaction.

“Hoo…”

Shigeru picked up the cigarette that had fallen on the floor, took a deep drag, and smiled bitterly with his blood-soaked face.

“It was in the plan… if the advance team didn’t encounter the enemy, they would push into the general meeting… I just thought it was one of the plans… cough, but now that I think about it, it seems like these bastards planned it in advance. Kuh, they’re going to use us as a sacrifice to draw attention and go to the general meeting.”

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes trembled.

‘No, it’s impossible.’

Considering the distance from here to the general meeting, it was impossible to reach the general meeting in a short time. Unless the battle here had dragged on.

‘What about contact?’

There was none.

Currently, the police force is strengthening inspections around Gunsan. Even the military has been secretly mobilized to monitor roads where people don’t usually travel.

If this were China, it would be different, but in South Korea, it was impossible to avoid all the CCTV cameras scattered everywhere and go to the general meeting without being detected.

“You look like you don’t believe me.”

“That’s why… you’re all fools.”

Shigeru smiled bitterly.

He had lost the battle, but he seemed happy that he could at least mock Lee Hyun-soo at the end.

“There’s a traitor on our side… so there’s no way there wouldn’t be a traitor on your side…”

“There are no traitors at the general meeting.”

“There will be in Korea.”

“That…”

Lee Hyun-soo closed his mouth.

Korea?

Not the general meeting, but Korea?

‘There must be.’

Lee Hyun-soo’s face turned pale. He hadn’t thought that far.

This war was no longer a war between the general meeting and the Japanese gangs. Implicitly, the Japanese government and the Korean government were also supporting their respective martial arts circles.

If so?

‘It’s not strange that there would be people from the government or other places cooperating with Japan.’

No. Rather, it was common sense that they would definitely appear.

Even in the past, when the country guaranteed the survival of human beings, there were traitors and collaborators. Moreover, in modern times, when national borders are blurred and patriotism is regarded as a refuge for thugs, it would be stranger if there were no people who would sell their country for their own gain.

‘But in what way?’

Even if they tried to support those who had entered the country, there was no way to support them unless they were martial artists.

They didn’t need money, and they didn’t need food. If they were ordinary soldiers, those two things would be helpful, but they were not significant support for martial artists.

Then a hideout?

No, that’s not it.

A hideout would only delay the time of encounter. It wouldn’t help them push into the general meeting.

Then…

Lee Hyun-soo shouted.

“Contact the police right now and check if any large vehicles have passed through the checkpoints! Right now! Buses or trucks! There must have been dozens of them moving together!”

“Director Lee?”

Weigins asked in surprise, and Lee Hyun-soo replied in a trembling voice.

“The advance team seems to have gone to the general meeting, the general meeting.”

“The general meeting? There’s no one at the general meeting right now…”

Weigins closed his mouth.

There was no one at the general meeting.

There was only one person.

“Master…”

A groan escaped Bator’s lips.

The only one guarding the general meeting was one person.

Kang Jin-ho. He was alone at the general meeting.

And if he was targeted by a thousand elites of the Shinichi-kai?

“No!”

Bator shouted.

Kang Jin-ho was not a god.

The reason he had shown the appearance of a one-man army so far was because the general meeting was supporting him and a specific environment had been created.

To face a thousand men head-on?

And those were the elites of the Shinichi-kai, the strongest gang in Japan?

‘He’ll die.’

No one could do that.

Even Hong Wang would not be able to survive.

The faces of the martial artists, who had been intoxicated with victory, were filled with urgency. They understood that the situation was not going well.

Seeing that, Shigeru chuckled.

‘Not bad.’

It felt like he had landed one last blow.

“Hey, you.”

Shigeru squeezed out the last of his life force as he looked at Lee Hyun-soo, who was turning his head with a flustered face.

“Don’t forget that… the Yamashiro-gumi helped you once… You have to repay kindness.”

Sluuurp.

Kukubo Shigeru’s body fell to the floor. Lee Hyun-soo’s face hardened as he looked at the man who had stopped breathing.

“Move to the general meeting right now! Right now! Move, you bastards!”

Lee Hyun-soo screamed like a madman.

And the directors, who should have stopped him, also started shouting and running around.

‘Chairman, please!’