Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 166

“How far did this crazy bastard go?” Ryuchi grumbled, pushing his way through the mountain.

He already knew that finding traces of a person in the mountains was not an easy task.

That’s why it was fortunate he had bribed a local Jang tribe resident familiar with the terrain to track the trail.

However, after climbing the mountain for several days, the native started spouting nonsense, saying that this area was a forbidden zone and he couldn’t go any further.

Ryuchi threatened the Jang tribesman, who was trying to convince them that they didn’t need to pursue any further since anyone who entered the forbidden zone would die anyway, but the tribesman refused to go inside, saying he would rather die.

In the end, he had to give in to the tribesman’s demands, which meant Ryuchi had to track the person’s trail himself.

“Such uncivilized people.”

A forbidden zone?

Do people still believe in such things?

Ryuchi couldn’t believe that there were still people in the 21st century who spouted superstitions like the myth that everyone who enters a pyramid dies.

‘That damn foreigner.’

If it weren’t for that guy, he wouldn’t be in this situation, searching through the mountains like this.

Those who believe in superstitions and martial arts will only understand the power of modern science when a bullet is lodged in their forehead.

He had already shown the power of modern science to those who spouted superstitions. Now it was time to show it to those who had mastered martial arts.

“This way.”

“Hmm…”

There were signs of disturbed undergrowth.

Sure enough, the undergrowth was uniformly flattened in one direction, as if they had deliberately left a trail.

“…It hasn’t been long?”

If more time had passed, the undergrowth would have sprung back up. The fact that it was still flattened meant that they hadn’t passed by long ago.

It was difficult to discern in the darkness of the mountain without shining a light, but seeing as they had left such obvious traces, it would be a matter of moments before he caught them.

“Get ready.”

*Click!*

The sound of weapons being cocked came from the left and right.

They didn’t bring rifles, but there were over twenty men armed with pistols. Killing one person was nothing for them. If they wanted to, they could raid a police station and still have enough manpower left over.

“If you dare to set foot in China, you will pay the price.”

“That’s not quite right.”

Ryuchi felt a chill run down his spine.

The reply came from right behind his ear.

“This is my land, too, you know.”

A soft whisper.

But the sticky murderous intent emanating from that soft whisper was constricting his body.

When was it?

The feeling he had when he saw the tiger that the Triad executive kept, right in front of his eyes.

Even though the tiger was chained, he felt the terror that his neck could be torn off in a single second. But the tiger growling behind him now had no leash.

Cold sweat began to trickle down Ryuchi’s back.

“Not yet. You’re the last one.”

“…Uwaaaaaa!”

Ryuchi turned around and fired his gun wildly. *Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

“Ugh!”

“Vice President! What are you doing!”

“Brother!”

Those who were terrified when the gun was pointed at them flattened themselves on the ground.

The gun fired into the air several times.

“*Dage* [Big Brother]!”

“Hoo! Hoo!”

Ryuchi gasped for breath.

“Wh-where did he go?”

“Huh? Brother, what are you talking about?”

“I’m asking where the guy who just spoke to me went!”

“There was no one behind you, Brother?”

“…No one?”

“Yes.”

That couldn’t be right?

The voice he heard right behind his ear was so clear. It wasn’t something he could have hallucinated.

‘What’s going on?’

Was it a forbidden zone?

Does a ghost live here?

He regretted not listening carefully to what the Jang tribe guide had to say before putting a bullet in his forehead. But as always, regret was always too late, no matter how fast it came.

“Look around!”

“Yes.”

Just as Ryuchi was about to give another order, a terrible scream came from the corner.

“Kkyaaaaaaak!”

“Wh-what was that?”

Ryuchi was startled by the terrible scream coming from behind him and turned around.

“Wh-where is it! What is it? Turn on the lights, you bastards!”

The mountain, shrouded in darkness, was now completely invisible. It had only seemed to get a little darker, but in an instant, the entire mountain was engulfed in darkness. Those who were stumbling around, unable to see anything in front of them, found the man who had collapsed at the end of the group.

“…Is he dead?”

Seeing the man lying motionless sent a chill down their spines.

“H-he seems to be alive?”

There were no visible external injuries.

“Why did this bastard collapse?”

An indescribable sense of dread was slowly soaking into their ankles like a black tide.

“Brother, what do we do with this guy?”

“What do you mean, what do we do! Just throw him in the corner.”

“…He might die.”

“Then you can carry him down.”

Ryuchi was annoyed at his subordinate, who had suddenly become mute.

‘You useless bastards.’

But Ryuchi was just as terrified.

‘Did he have a heart attack? Why all of a sudden?’

But at that moment.

*Paaang!*

“Aaaaaaak!”

A strange tearing sound was heard, and one of the men in the corner rolled onto the ground.

“My leg! My leg!”

“Wh-what! What the hell!”

Ryuchi was startled and ran towards the fallen man.

“My leg! Uwaaa! My leg!”

“Just stay still, you bastard!”

At first, he thought he had been bitten by a snake, but the smell of blood wafting in the air was not something that could have been caused by an animal bite.

“Lights! Shine the lights!”

Ryuchi, suppressing the man’s struggles, shone a light on the area that seemed to be injured, and his eyes began to tremble.

“…What is this?”

The fallen man’s ankle was split open. The area where the Achilles tendon was located was precisely cut as if with a razor blade, and blood was gushing out.

“St-stop the bleeding!”

If they left it like this, he would die from excessive bleeding soon. He loosened his belt and tightened it around his thigh, but there was no hope in these mountains.

“Tighten it completely.”

“Then his leg will become necrotic?”

“Damn it! It’s better than dying!”

Ryuchi shouted, his eyes gleaming, and his subordinate nodded. It was certainly better to cut off a leg than to die. Although, he didn’t know if the man would think the same.

“Spread out! And find him!”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Hey, you idiot. Do you think this is an injury caused by stepping on a disease? It’s a cut made with something like a knife!”

Ryuchi, who had cut countless Achilles tendons, knew. This was a deliberate act.

“But there’s no one else around here besides us…”

The man who was speaking stopped talking.

They had just realized who they had been chasing.

‘We messed up.’

He thought they would be fine because they had guns. No matter how powerful a martial artist was, they thought that they could not withstand the barrage of bullets from so many people at a distance.

But that was his mistake.

‘Was a ranged attack possible?’

Moreover, if they could accurately attack the ankles from a distance in this darkness, it meant that they had completely lost the advantage in terms of visibility.

An enemy they couldn’t find.

And what if that enemy was watching them?

Ryuchi’s body trembled.

“It wasn’t a hunt.”

This wasn’t a hunt. They were the ones being hunted. The roles of prey and predator had instantly reversed.

*Paaang!*

Once again, a piercing tearing sound was heard, and another person fell to the ground.

“Agh! My leg! My leg!”

They didn’t need to see what had happened to know.

“Huddle together! Huddle in one place!”

*Bang! Bang!*

Ryuchi fired his gun into the air a couple of times and shouted.

“If we can just pinpoint this bastard’s location, we can catch him. So don’t spread out like that, come here and form a formation!”

Those who heard him rushed towards him. Then they surrounded him and pointed their guns in all directions.

“…What the hell is this?”

“Think of it as fighting someone with a gun! But he’s just one person! So!”

At that moment.

*Paaang! Paaang!*

It sounded like the tearing sound was coming not just once, but several times, and then Ryuchi saw several blue flashes flying towards them.

“Ah…”

The flashes were as fast as light.

The moment he thought he saw something, several people screamed and fell to the ground.

At the same time, a burning pain began to surge as if the right side of his face had disappeared.

He slowly raised his hand and felt around, and with the sticky blood…

‘It’s gone.’

His ear was gone. It had been cleanly cut off.

‘I’m going to die.’

The fear of death instantly took over his mind.

“Uwaaaaaaaaa!”

Ryuchi raised his pistol and began firing wildly in all directions. His subordinates, their faces filled with terror, also raised their guns and began firing indiscriminately.

The mountain, shrouded in darkness, was filled with gunfire.

*Click! Click!*

When the gun, its magazine empty, made a hollow sound, Ryuchi hurriedly replaced the magazine.

*Paaang!*

*Paaang!*

At the same time, blue flashes began to fly again.

As two more people fell, the fear reached its peak.

“…We’re all going to die! We’re all going to die like this!”

“Calm down! You bastards!”

“Uwaaaaaa!”

The subordinates began to run away in all directions.

Ryuchi cursed and shouted, trying to grab them, but it seemed that they couldn’t hear anything, as they were already consumed by fear.

Only the groans of those who were injured and unable to run away could be heard.

‘Where did it all go wrong?’

He didn’t follow that guy all the way to this mountain to end up like this.

Where did it all go wrong?

Ryuchi slowly raised his pistol and bit his lip tightly.

“I won’t die…”

He hadn’t struggled to survive until now just to die a dog’s death in a place like this. Ryuchi gritted his teeth.

Whoever the enemy was, whatever that foreigner was, if they dared to aim for his neck, he would put a bullet in their forehead.

“Come out! Come out, you bastard!”

Ryuchi’s blood-soaked scream echoed through the mountain. The echoes returning from the distance further fueled his fear.

“Come out!”

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Only after firing a few more shots into the air was Ryuchi able to calm his trembling heart to some extent.

But….

Black darkness slowly gathered in front of him.

Ryuchi stared at the scene with hazy eyes, as if he were dreaming.

The darkness gathered and slowly formed a human shape. When a red eye flashed in what seemed to be the head, Ryuchi collapsed on the spot.

“As you wish…”

When white teeth appeared from the shadow-like face, Ryuchi let out a hollow laugh.

‘He didn’t say it was a demon.’

The moment when the Heavenly Mountain turned into hell.