Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1456

Roaaaaar!

The 120mm shells fired from modern tanks are too fast for the human eye to track.

Most people only see the smoke plume erupting at the moment of firing. In the case of self-propelled artillery striking distant targets, they can barely catch a glimpse of the shell as a tiny dot flying through the sky.

But that’s for ordinary people.

Kang Jin-ho was clearly seeing the shells flying towards him.

The corners of his lips curled up slightly.

‘Interesting.’

He had wanted to experience this again.

When he was bombarded by artillery fire in North Korea, he was too disoriented to respond properly.

It was inevitable.

Even for Kang Jin-ho, being attacked by shells falling from above at such incredible speeds was a completely new type of assault. No matter how skilled he was, he couldn’t always have the best response to an attack he had never experienced before.

Especially when his body was severely damaged from a long chase and battle.

But now, having fully recovered, the incoming shells looked different.

Kang Jin-ho reached down and retrieved the Red and Blue Blades he had planted in the ground. Then, he leisurely walked forward.

Whoosh!

A shell whizzed past right next to him.

For an ordinary person, the shockwave alone would have shattered bones and torn flesh, but that was not the case for Kang Jin-ho.

Modern weapons are incredibly powerful.

But they are not without their flaws.

The first flaw Kang Jin-ho identified was this:

Once fired, shells do not change direction.

Of course, this isn’t exactly a flaw. There would be no need to adjust the trajectory of a shell. In wars between ordinary people, the key is how fast and powerfully the shells can be fired. The fact that they travel in a straight line is not a problem.

But it’s different when facing a superhuman.

For a superhuman who can see and dodge incoming shells, they are nothing more than fast, linear attacks. By simply moving a couple of steps, one can easily escape the range of the attack.

Especially with such a small number of shells.

Roaaaaar!

The ground exploded where Kang Jin-ho had just been, and the sound of the blast reverberated. The desert floor shattered, sending rocks and sand flying in all directions.

But Kang Jin-ho simply continued to walk leisurely, without any particular hurry.

The cigarette smoke he exhaled began to mix with the smoke from the explosions.

“Misfire?”

Reggie’s eyes widened.

That couldn’t be.

One misfire might be possible. After all, they were not in a normal situation due to the aftereffects of the earthquake. But three shells misfiring simultaneously was impossible.

Especially when all those misfires landed in the same spot.

‘Then he dodged them?’

Dodged tank fire?

“That’s absurd!”

Reggie gritted his teeth.

But he soon had to admit that his assumption was wrong.

His demeanor was too calm.

Despite the tank fire landing right behind him, Kang Jin-ho was walking towards them leisurely. This made it clear that none of this was a coincidence.

Only then did Reggie understand Phil’s words about not thinking of the opponent as human.

‘I don’t know what’s going on, but!’

Reggie’s eyes filled with murderous intent.

‘I’ll turn you into mush!’

“Second barrage! Keep firing! Don’t check if the target is dead, just keep pouring on the firepower!”

“Yes, sir!”

“And get the other guns firing as soon as they’re repaired! Turn him to dust!”

“Yes, sir!”

The lieutenant’s booming reply was drowned out by the roar of the subsequent barrage.

Roaaaaar!

The desert began to shake.

But this tremor was different from the earthquake earlier.

It was the vibration of the battlefield created by the continuous shelling. Each time he felt this vibration, Reggie was reminded that he was alive.

Overwhelming firepower to crush the enemy.

‘The flower of modern warfare is still artillery.’ Other division commanders would try to argue, but modern warfare is just about infantry occupying the areas that artillery and air force have destroyed.

If you didn’t have to worry about international scrutiny or the possibility of civilian casualties, the value of artillery would be several times higher.

Roaaaaar!

And he would be feeling that value right now.

No.

Maybe he wouldn’t feel it. The moment he felt that value, he wouldn’t be alive.

Reggie put his hand in his pocket.

He gripped the cigarette in his pocket tightly, then let go with a regretful look. Smoking during combat was forbidden. It might be romantic in movies, but in reality, it was just breaking military law.

‘He had to go and show off smoking, making me suffer.’

Reggie had completely regained his composure.

Roaaaaar!

Bang! Bang! Roaaaaar!

The entire view in front of him was covered in dust and dirt. The dust was so thick that it looked like a sandstorm in the desert.

Survive in there?

Well.

If he had the luck to survive being struck by lightning a dozen times, he might survive in the gaps between the shelling. But even then, he would have completely lost the will to fight back.

“Cease fire!”

Reggie’s order was followed by a loud chorus.

The tanks that had been firing continuously stopped. White smoke rose from the barrels like cigarette smoke.

Reggie smiled wryly at the thought that the tanks were smoking instead of him.

“Wait for the smoke to clear, then check the enemy’s status.”

“Will we be able to find anything? It looks like there won’t be a speck of dust left.”

“We have to try.”

If possible, he wanted to find even a piece of flesh. He wanted to create a grave for the person who tried to fight a mechanized division alone, and make every new recruit visit it.

“Damn it, why did I have to come here?”

The damage caused by this ridiculous situation was too great. Who would have known that an earthquake would happen here? It would take a long time to repair the tanks and self-propelled artillery that had their tracks broken and were overturned…

“…Commander?”

“What is it?”

“Th-there, over there…”

“Hmm?”

The lieutenant’s face turned pale. Seeing his face, Reggie turned his head with a puzzled look.

And then he saw it.

A huge cloud of dust rising as if to cover the sky.

Something black could be seen through the dust cloud, which was more like a sandstorm.

After staring for a while, Reggie realized that it was the shape of a person.

Thud, thud.

It sounded like footsteps.

In this noisy environment, it was impossible to hear footsteps from this distance. But Reggie could clearly hear the sound of footsteps.

And then…

A person walked out through the dust cloud.

Hair disheveled.

Body covered in dust.

But…

There wasn’t a single scratch on his body.

The person, who had a slight frown on his face, brushed the dust off his head, put the cigarette he was holding in his mouth, and slowly took a drag.

“Hoo…”

Then, after exhaling deeply, he threw the cigarette on the ground.

Thud. Thud.

His hands gripped the abnormally long swords.

“I received your greetings well.”

A clear voice.

It was a language he didn’t recognize, but somehow he understood what it meant.

Reggie could see the corners of the man’s lips curling up.

The enemy.

He was definitely the enemy.

Even though this enemy was approaching, Reggie couldn’t even think about responding. This surreal situation was robbing him of his composure.

But it wasn’t exactly a mistake.

Whether he responded or not, the result would be the same.

“Now it’s my turn to greet you.”

Kang Jin-ho, holding the Red and Blue Blades in his hands, curled up the corners of his lips and charged forward.

“Fire, fire!”

His mind returned in an instant.

But Kang Jin-ho’s charging speed was faster than Reggie’s ability to regain his senses.

Before the order to fire could even leave his mouth, Kang Jin-ho charged and slashed the tank at the front of the line.

Swoosh!

‘What?’

Reggie’s eyes were filled with bewilderment for a moment.

‘He cut it?’

With a sword? A tank?

Was that even a plausible attempt?

After the anti-tank bayonet tactics that the Japanese army created during World War II, which were ridiculed around the world, the idea of fighting tanks with melee weapons was completely abandoned.

No, in the first place, melee weapons themselves were not used on the battlefield unless in special cases. But he was charging to cut a tank with that sword?

Unless he was crazy…

That was the moment.

Clang!

With a strange, indescribable metallic sound, the top of the tank shot into the air.

Reggie stared blankly at the scene.

It was like watching a scene from a movie.

‘This isn’t a sci-fi movie!’

In movies, they cut through machines with lightsabers, but in reality, no one would even attempt such a thing unless they were an immature child.

But right now, that movie-like event was actually happening before Reggie’s eyes.

He could clearly see Kang Jin-ho retrieving his sword. Kang Jin-ho, with a nonchalant expression as if he had done nothing special, slowly lifted his leg.

And then…

Roaaaaar!

He kicked the tank, sending it flying backward.

“What?”

Flying?

He kicked a tank and sent it flying?

Reggie’s eyes widened in shock, his heart leaping into his throat.

“This is insane!”

The M1A2 weighs over 60 tons. Even considering that the top was blown off, it would still easily weigh over 50 tons. And he kicked that 50-ton thing and sent it flying?

An ordinary human couldn’t kick and send flying even 50 kg, let alone 50 tons.

‘What the hell is going on right now!’

But there was no time to wonder.

Reality was unfolding more urgently than his thoughts.

“Dodge, dodge!”

“Aaaah!”

The soaring tank crashed to the ground. Those who saw the 60-ton hunk of metal flying towards them panicked and ran in all directions.

People could dodge, but equipment couldn’t move.

The tank fell on top of the self-propelled artillery that had its tracks broken due to the earthquake.

Roaaaaar!

With a force that seemed impossible in reality, the self-propelled artillery bounced off the ground. The tank and self-propelled artillery that bounced left and right collided with and pushed away the surrounding self-propelled artillery.

Of course, Kang Jin-ho didn’t stop there.

Swoosh!

Another tank was cut in half vertically.

“Ah…”

“Aah…”

The people inside the tank trembled like aspen leaves as they looked at Kang Jin-ho through the gap.

He was a man who could cut a tank with a sword.

How would they feel facing such a person?

Kang Jin-ho looked at them with cold eyes and gestured with his chin.

“Get out.”

“Now!”

The moment the words reached their brains, their bodies moved on their own. Those who were in the tank screamed and crawled out through the gap in the split tank.

As soon as they got out, Kang Jin-ho kicked the vertically split tank.

Clang!

The halved tank flew like a soccer ball towards the tanks that were lined up.

Explosions.

Screams.

And the fear that instantly engulfed the desert.

Scrape, scrape, scrape.

Kang Jin-ho, with the Red and Blue Blades dangling, scraped the ground with his sword as he slowly walked towards the center.

“The greetings are over.”

Now, it’s time to start for real.