Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1632

“The front lines are still being pushed back!”

“Strategist, at this rate, we’ll lose Wuhan. If we’re pushed past Wuhan to Jian, there’s no future for us.”

Do Chaikercang, hearing the urgent voices, merely stared at the map with cold eyes.

“What about Chongqing?”

“There’s no news from the troops in Chongqing yet. It seems the Chang King’s forces haven’t reached there yet.”

“I see.”

Chaikercang leaned back in his chair.

‘If Chongqing isn’t falling, then the Black King’s faction hasn’t moved yet.’

He felt like his shoulders were being crushed.

It felt like he was facing the Chang King’s forces, charging with blades sharpened like razors, and the Black King’s forces behind them, coldly glaring with their bows drawn.

“The orders remain unchanged. Delay them as much as possible and preserve our forces. Give them everything we can.”

“But!”

“They’re having a hard time too.”

Chaikercang retorted in a chilling voice.

“The Black King’s arrows might be aimed at us. But from the Black King’s perspective, the Chang King’s back is much more appetizing than ours. They’re also risking everything, leaving their main base to move south. If the Black King moves, their base will be completely exposed.”

Chaikercang bit his lower lip.

Blood trickled from his torn lip.

“Either way, we’re all gambling everything. The burden is several times heavier on them. So, hold on. The longer we hold out, the more advantageous it becomes for us!”

“Understood!”

The adjutant, who had been reporting, nodded with gritted teeth.

What Chaikercang had just said would likely spread to every warrior in the Red King’s faction before the day was over, word for word.

Whether it was true or not was another matter.

‘There’s no way it’s advantageous.’

Chaikercang clenched his fist so hard that his nails dug into his palm.

Starting from equal footing, they had already lost half their territory. Meanwhile, morale was plummeting endlessly.

To talk about being advantageous in this situation?

That’s a joke.

Yet, the adjutant accepted it because what they needed now wasn’t perfect logic but a straw they could cling to.

A shallow charade where they deceived each other, knowing full well.

The Red King’s faction was in such a dire situation that they had to believe even that charade.

‘It’s not entirely wrong, but….’

It was true that if the Black King’s faction attacked from behind, the Chang King’s faction would be in trouble. The fact that he intentionally ignored was that the Chang King wasn’t the type to gamble without considering such things.

‘They must have made some kind of non-aggression pact.’

After all, the Black King had no reason to rush.

Attacking from behind during a war wasn’t a bad option, but if it was certain that the Chang King’s and Red King’s factions would go to a point of no return, it wasn’t bad to wait leisurely for them to exhaust their strength and then bite the tired prey.

Either way, it wasn’t good news for the Red King’s faction.

“What about the Red King?”

“Still…”

“Still, huh.”

Chaikercang’s voice sank weakly.

‘How long do I have to wait?’

They needed to buy time.

The Red King was by no means foolish. He was so wise and great that someone like Chaikercang couldn’t even fathom his deep intentions.

There was no way he didn’t know the current situation. If his seclusion was detrimental to the entire Red King’s faction, he would have left his place immediately.

The fact that he was still secluded meant that the moment he ended his seclusion, he was confident he could end this war.

‘Red King, please…’

Chaikercang hoped that time wouldn’t be too late.

“Chaikercang, it’s dangerous here now.”

“Ugh…”

Chaikercang’s eyes were fixed on the map.

The speed at which they were pushing down was faster than he had thought. The place where they had set up camp would soon fall into their territory.

“We have to retreat.”

This was already the third time they had retreated.

Considering their speed and the situation, they could only retreat twice more, including this time. There was no next time.

The Red King had to break his seclusion before then.

“Hurry. The enemy hasn’t reached here yet, but it’ll be soon…”

“I know!”

Chaikercang cut off the adjutant.

Chaikercang wasn’t a fool who would miss the timing of a retreat because of some useless stubbornness. The most important person in the Red King’s faction right now was, without a doubt, Chaikercang.

If even the slightest problem happened to him, the Red King’s faction would collapse in an instant. He absolutely couldn’t let that happen.

“We’ll go to Nanchang as planned.”

“Their speed is too fast. How about modifying the plan and going to Jian?”

“Don’t be stupid!”

Chaikercang retorted coldly.

“Distance isn’t important. It’s a retreat route made considering the terrain that can stop the enemy. If we ignore the terrain and only focus on distance because we’re scared of the enemy’s momentum, we’ll be caught in an instant.”

“Yes! I was foolish.”

“Hurry! We need to get there first and meet the incoming enemy.”

“Yes!”

Click.

Watching the adjutant rush out, Chaikercang lit a cigarette with a Zippo lighter.

‘Damn it.’

His mind wouldn’t calm down.

He was desperately acting calm, but his mind had long been a mess.

The pressure was crushing his heart.

Even though he hadn’t moved, he was short of breath, and his whole body felt constricted.

‘Is this what they mean when they say stress can kill you?’

If Chaikercang, a warrior, was in this state, an ordinary person would have collapsed dozens of times over.

His body was strongly demanding rest, but he couldn’t grant that request now. If he rested for a moment, he might rest forever.

Chaikercang, who hadn’t even finished his cigarette, stubbed it out in the ashtray and grabbed the laptop on his desk.

Now, he needed to move to Nanchang and set up a new camp there….

KWA-AA-AA-AA-ANG!

In an instant, the world went dark.

Silence.

His vision, which had been shaking erratically, blurred into black, and the buzzing in his ears disappeared. He couldn’t make sense of the sudden phenomenon.

Then, his sight and hearing slowly returned, accompanied by a strange guest called excruciating pain.

“Kuh-euk!”

Chaikercang grabbed the floor.

‘What happened… what happened?’

The sensation on his fingertips was cold. Soon, Chaikercang realized that the sensation was from his hand touching the floor and pushed himself up.

‘An explosion?’

His head was spinning.

The world was all red, and his eyes hurt as if they were about to pop out.

Having completely lost his sense of balance, Chaikercang fell back to the floor several times as he tried to get up.

“Hoo! Hoo!”

Chaikercang took a deep breath and raised his head with bloodshot eyes.

The entire building had been blown apart.

‘An attack.’

Unless a gas explosion suddenly occurred in a perfectly fine building, this wouldn’t happen. Someone must have attacked this place.

If so?

“So, this rat is Chaikercang?”

“The little rat is still alive.”

As expected.

Chaikercang gave up on getting up completely and sat down on the spot. Then, with trembling hands, he reached into his pocket and took out a cigarette.

The cigarette was half-crushed, but thankfully, it didn’t seem to be broken.

Click! Click!

The lighter was wet with blood and wouldn’t light properly. Chaikercang raised his head and opened his mouth.

“Fire.”

“…Huh?”

Chaikercang, leaning against a half-collapsed wall, spoke as if giving an order, and those who were approaching him looked dumbfounded.

“Can’t you grasp the situation?”

“Give it to me.”

“But, Lord!”

“He knows he’s going to die. Give it to him. It’s not a difficult thing.”

The one who received the order made a dissatisfied expression but flicked a spark he had made by scraping the ground toward Chaikercang.

Tap, tap.

The sparks landed on Chaikercang’s face. Fortunately, some of them stuck to the end of the cigarette, and faint smoke began to rise from the end of the cigarette.

“…Is it the Chang King’s faction?”

“What else? An alien?”

“Fast.”

Chaikercang took the cigarette out of his mouth and exhaled a long puff of smoke.

He didn’t want to ask a stupid question like how they found this place. There were countless ways to find out.

The important thing was that they had broken through the defense lines set up by the Red King’s faction and reached this place.

“I wouldn’t have thought I was worth it?”

“Ah, I agree with that thought. But… we’re not the ones who think.”

“I guess not. Thinking would be meaningless with heads like yours.”

“You little bastard?”

Chaikercang chuckled.

‘Chang King.’

The one who gave the order to eliminate Chaikercang must have been the Chang King.

Chaikercang was feeling quite strange.

Since the Chang King was targeting him and they had reached this place, there was no way out. The Chang King was that kind of person.

He felt despair at the thought of dying, but at the same time, he felt pride that he was a dangerous figure to the Chang King.

“This is a bad move.”

Chaikercang smiled, revealing his blood-stained teeth.

“Considering the Chang King’s style, there must be troops all around this area, right?”

“You know well. There’s no way to escape.”

“I don’t intend to escape, you idiot. You wasted time to catch someone like me. And this wasted time will become a dagger and pierce your throats.”

The one called Lord clicked his tongue.

“Anyway, desk jockeys always try to give meaning to things even when they’re dying. They’re just corpses when they die. No need to waste time. Kill him! We’ll take his head back to the Chang King.”

“Yes!”

As soon as those words were spoken, those who were guarding his side rushed toward Chaikercang.

‘Damn it, I haven’t finished it yet.’

Chaikercang threw the cigarette in his hand to the floor and stared intently at those rushing toward him.

Close his eyes?

Absolutely not.

He had to see clearly. How he was going to die. That way, he could report it even if he met the Red King again in the afterlife.

The blade wielded by a warrior of the Chang King’s faction flew toward Chaikercang’s neck.

Time slowed down.

His life didn’t flash before his eyes as he had thought. It was just his over-rotating brain that slowed down the flow of time.

And, unfortunately for Chaikercang, that slowed time only allowed him to see the sword flying toward his neck clearly.

As the sword, moving as slowly as a fly landing, cut through his skin and dug into his muscles, Chaikercang gritted his teeth.

‘Red King, please, obtain the world.’

His bloodshot eyes stared intently at the warrior wielding the sword.

Intently.

In a time that seemed to have stopped.

Clearly….

‘Huh?’

In an instant, Chaikercang’s eyes took on a different hue.

The sword that had pierced his neck had clearly stopped. He thought that his brain, which had been excessively overclocked to face death, had slowed down time.

But something was strange.

He could see the face of the warrior wielding the sword trembling.

‘Is he moving?’

At that speed?

That couldn’t be….

“I’m a little late.”

At that moment, a booming voice came from behind Chaikercang.

The moment he heard that voice, all the strength drained from Chaikercang’s body.