Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1352

“Let’s go!” Lee Hyun-soo yelled, darting forward. But he had to stop. Realizing no one was following, he turned back, exasperated. “What are you doing!” “Uh… uh, uh?” Jang Pil-jae mumbled, looking completely lost. Normally, Lee Hyun-soo would have calmed him down, but there was no time. He rushed at Jang Pil-jae and punched him hard on the head. Thud! “You son of a bitch!” He grabbed Jang Pil-jae by the collar, who was staggering, and yanked him forward. Lee Hyun-soo started running without looking back, dragging Jang Pil-jae along. Jang Pil-jae still seemed out of it, but he couldn’t resist Lee Hyun-soo’s strength. ‘Damn it, we’ll die in one shot.’ Although the immediate battlefield was mostly clear, it wasn’t safe. Some of the fallen might still be alive, and snipers in the distance were still a threat. Kang Jin-ho was practically invincible to bullets, but Lee Hyun-soo and Jang Pil-jae weren’t. A single stray bullet could end them. They had to run. Lee Hyun-soo spotted Kang Jin-ho, who had secured the jeep. Kang Jin-ho, having dispelled his demonic energy, waited calmly. ‘Up to there…’ At that moment, Kang Jin-ho moved. “Huh?” Clang! Kang Jin-ho, who was far away, suddenly appeared right in front of Lee Hyun-soo. The extended Red Tear [a sword] and the sharp metallic sound told him what was happening. “Is it a sniper?” “One more.” Clang! Kang Jin-ho deflected another bullet with a swing of the Red Tear, frowning slightly. “Slow.” “This is the best I can do! This is!” Kang Jin-ho escorted Lee Hyun-soo towards the jeep. Fortunately, no more sniper fire came. “Ugh! Damn it!” Lee Hyun-soo, having dragged Jang Pil-jae to the jeep, threw him down like a rag doll. Bang! Jang Pil-jae crashed into the jeep door, bounced off, rolled on the ground, and then lifted his head, looking dazed. “Drive, you bastard!” Jang Pil-jae looked back and forth between the jeep and Lee Hyun-soo. “Haa…” Lee Hyun-soo grabbed Jang Pil-jae by the collar and punched him in the jaw. “Can’t get your head straight, you bastard!” After hitting Jang Pil-jae a couple more times, Lee Hyun-soo yanked his neck and gritted his teeth. “Think carefully. If you act like a fool again, I’m leaving you behind. I can barely protect myself. I don’t have the energy to worry about you. Do you understand?” Jang Pil-jae nodded frantically, so hard that Lee Hyun-soo worried his neck might break. “Move it!” Jang Pil-jae hurriedly got into the car and started the engine. As Lee Hyun-soo got into the passenger seat, Kang Jin-ho turned his gaze to the back. “Lord!” “Haa!” Kang Jin-ho leaped into the back seat. Jang Pil-jae stepped on the accelerator without looking back. Grrrrr! The jeep’s wheels spun wildly, then shot forward like an arrow. The car shook violently, but no one cared. “Hold on tight! I’m going to dri… Damn it! The door is closed!” “Just go! Just go!” “The door is closed! Over there, that military tru…” Boom! At that moment, the military truck that had startled Jang Pil-jae was split in half and flung to the sides. Jang Pil-jae, seeing the gaping entrance, was speechless. “What’s there?” “No, it’s nothing.” Jang Pil-jae gritted his teeth and floored the accelerator. The jeep lurched forward as if it would flip over. ‘Damn it! If I die once, I die twice!’ The jeep carrying Kang Jin-ho and the others sped away from the slums and onto the road. “Fire!” Only then did the others regain their senses and start shooting, but the jeep quickly disappeared. “You bastards! Catch them! Catch them right now!” Luo Zhao shouted, veins bulging in his neck. ‘No. I absolutely cannot let them get away!’ Cold sweat trickled down his back. He had promised Wang Rong that he would capture Kang Jin-ho. And he had also said that if he failed, he would offer his own head. Words spoken in front of Wang Rong were not to be taken lightly. If he let Kang Jin-ho escape, he had two choices left. One was to end his own life, and the other was to be captured by Wang Rong and die miserably after experiencing every imaginable torment. Neither option was acceptable. To escape that hellish dilemma, he had to capture Kang Jin-ho here. But… ‘Damn it, what more can I do here!’ It was impossible to capture Kang Jin-ho in the forest. That’s why he had brought his troops into the residential area. Yet, he hadn’t even managed to inflict a small blow. ‘No. I expected this much anyway!’ He hadn’t even hoped to inflict significant damage. What he wanted was to slow Kang Jin-ho down. The fact that he had failed even that was painful, but at least he had reached the scenario he wanted. “You failed.” At that moment, Luo Zhao’s body stiffened at the voice behind him. He slowly turned his head back, eyes wide as if he had seen a ghost. A man with an innocent-looking face was smiling gently. “You… you?” “The Deputy Chief of Staff wants results. But it seems that you, Commander, have failed to produce any results.” Luo Zhao’s eyes trembled. “Who are you?” “Oh, dear.” The man sighed deeply. “If I were you, Commander, I would rather quickly blow my brains out instead of saying such useless things. Wouldn’t that be a more comfortable way to die?” Luo Zhao swallowed hard. He wasn’t a fool. He knew this man was an assassin sent by Wang Rong. “Ah, not yet!” “Not yet? What else is there?” “That’s right! My plan isn’t over yet. This was just a part of my plan.” “That’s a poor excuse…” “It’s not an excuse! Kang Jin-ho can’t be captured with personal weapons. So, I have to lure Kang Jin-ho into an open area! Only then can I mobilize proper firepower!” “Keep going. Surely the open area you’re talking about isn’t the middle of the road?” “That’s right.” “…Well, now.” The man chuckled. “So, what are you going to do by luring him onto the road? You’re not thinking of bombing him, are you?” “I’m mobilizing helicopters.” “…Helicopters?” Luo Zhao nodded vigorously. “No matter how strong Kang Jin-ho is, he can’t survive being hit by an anti-tank missile! If I can lure him into an open area, it’s possible. I can keep hitting him until he dies!” “So…” The man chuckled and said, “You’re going to shower anti-tank missiles on an uncontrolled road, a road where people are still walking?” “Some sacrifices are necessary. It can’t be helped! To capture Kang Jin-ho, this much sacrifice is…” Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. Luo Zhao closed his mouth at the sound of rhythmic clapping. The man was clapping with genuine admiration. “That’s a good plan. It’s very creative for something you came up with, Commander. I never would have imagined it.” Sarcasm and ridicule. Luo Zhao knew what those claps and words meant, but buying time was important. “So, watch my next plan. If I still can’t kill Kang Jin-ho, then you can do whatever you want! I’m still in the field. Even the chairman can’t touch the head of a commander in the middle of an operation.” “Ah, that’s right. Of course, it is.” The man smiled gently. Luo Zhao’s stiff expression relaxed slightly. If he could just carry out this plan… “Are the helicopters coming?” “Of course. I’ve already called them! And they’ll chase after Kang Jin-ho on their own.” “Ah, that’s right. The target is already set, and they’ll just pour on the firepower?” “That’s right!” “Commander, I’m asking this because I don’t understand something…” “…What is it?” The man tilted his head. “Then why do you need the Commander?” “…What?” Whoosh! At that moment, the man swung his hand. When the man’s hand, which had been swung like lightning, stopped, it was holding Luo Zhao’s head, which had been talking to him just a moment ago. Thud. The headless body fell to the floor. The man stared silently at Luo Zhao’s head, which was staring with wide eyes as if in disbelief, before tossing it to the floor. The man, watching the head roll away, shook the blood off his hand and clicked his tongue. “That’s why I hate people who can’t understand what I’m saying.” Helicopters? Anti-tank missiles? Catching Kang Jin-ho with missiles that were so slow that even an ordinary person could see the warhead if they looked closely? It would be more likely to succeed if he prayed for lightning to strike and kill Kang Jin-ho. “How did this head even manage to crawl up to this position?” The man shook his head and turned around. With this, the Special Forces Brigade would no longer be able to prove its worth. The man took out his phone and made a call. “Yes, Deputy Chief of Staff. Yes, of course, he got away. That moron? He’s rolling around on the floor right now… Just a moment. His head is too far away to put him on the phone… Yes, yes, that’s right. There’s no need…” The man chuckled and continued. “The Commander said he requested helicopters. I think it would be better to turn them around. It’ll just make things bigger for no reason. I would like to see the Demon King slicing up helicopters in the middle of the road… That’s something you can’t even see in movies… Yes, I understand. I’ll pursue him.” The man hung up the phone and shrugged. “I guess it’s because he’s old, he doesn’t get jokes.” People should have wit. If he had known this would happen, he would have kept the Commander alive a little longer. His sense of humor, which made people clutch their stomachs laughing, was not something you could easily find. “Well, now I have to earn my keep…” The man’s gaze turned towards the direction Kang Jin-ho’s jeep had gone. “It’s a bit scary.” It wasn’t a joke; he was genuinely afraid of Kang Jin-ho. Kang Jin-ho, as he had seen him, was truly the incarnation of a demon. A being worthy of being called the manifestation of evil. If he faced him head-on, he wouldn’t even be able to collect his bones. But there was no need to face him head-on. He was a soldier, not a martial artist. A martial artist’s goal was to defeat their opponent, but a soldier’s goal was to carry out orders. He could do anything as long as he could achieve the desired result. “Pursue him.” As soon as the man finished speaking, two black shadows rose from the ground and shot forward with terrifying speed. The man stared silently at the direction the shadows had flown, then slowly began to walk.