Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1764

The sky seemed to turn upside down, and the earth crumbled.

Lee Hyun-soo’s body was far too fragile to withstand the continuous aftershocks and massive tremors.

Moreover, Chai Ke-chang, disoriented by the explosion’s impact, couldn’t properly protect Lee Hyun-soo as he was thrown through the air.

Thud!

‘Ugh!’

A hollow gasp escaped Lee Hyun-soo’s lips as he slammed into the ground.

Despite the shock that felt like his back was breaking, Lee Hyun-soo’s first thought was for the state of his troops, not his own.

‘Did we get hit?’

No, that’s not it!

The order came slightly before the bombardment. Considering the transmission speed of the order and the reaction time of the unmanned vehicles, the damage wouldn’t be as severe as he initially thought.

Meanwhile, goosebumps rose on his arm.

What if he had realized it just a little later?

And what if Kang Jin-ho hadn’t taken the lead, and Bator had continued to break the path, slowing them down?

The rear, moving faster than the front, would have pushed the troops forward, closing the gap, and the bombardment would have rained down on them.

Those with some martial prowess might have survived, but at least thirty percent would have been instantly killed without even a chance to resist.

‘Do you think we’ll fall for the same trick twice, you moron!’

Lee Hyun-soo cursed and pushed himself up. Then, he quickly fumbled at his waist, searching for his radio.

‘It’s gone?’

He must have dropped it while being thrown around.

‘No, no! Aaaargh!’

‘Don’t get worked up, you turtle-head!’

At that moment, Chai Ke-chang, who had rushed to him, threw the radio in his hand towards Lee Hyun-soo. Lee Hyun-soo reflexively caught the radio and, without saying a word, immediately turned it on and shouted.

‘The Ipha [a term for the enemy forces] are coming! Maintain your distance! They’ll be firing indiscriminately! Fight back as we initially planned!’

Lee Hyun-soo took his hand off the transmit button and shouted again.

‘Stick close to me and protect me! Don’t let me die, no matter what!’

‘I know!’

Chai Ke-chang led the surrounding experts and formed a protective circle around Lee Hyun-soo. Even in the midst of this, Lee Hyun-soo quickly calculated the situation.

The bombardment works.

Before, even with missiles, they couldn’t catch Kang Jin-ho and the others, but that was because their numbers were small. Within the range that Kang Jin-ho could cover, he could almost perfectly block the firepower.

However, with Kang Jin-ho leading the way, it was impossible to block all of that range.

No, even if they were all gathered together, Kang Jin-ho alone couldn’t block it.

‘Is he trying to play chess with me!’

Perfection doesn’t exist.

If there’s movement, there will always be a weakness.

Right now, Lee Hyun-soo and Changwang were in a situation similar to playing chess remotely without facing each other.

The moment Changwang fled, they chased him… and then he poisoned those chasing him with toxic gas…

When they blocked that, he moved his troops to block their path.

The moment their movements became simple as they broke through the blocking troops, the bombardment came without delay.

If they had started with the bombardment, they might have been able to block or avoid it without much difficulty.

But those who were exhausted from running at full speed were bound to become lax.

Changwang had accurately targeted that moment to attack.

[Report the situation at the rear!]

Wiggins’s voice came from the radio. Lee Hyun-soo snatched the radio and yelled.

‘Don’t worry about it, just go!’

[The damage…]

‘I said go!’

Lee Hyun-soo didn’t wait for a reply and pressed the radio’s alert button hard.

Beeeep! Beeeep! Beeeep!

The radio emitted a loud warning sound.

At this point, Wiggins would have understood Lee Hyun-soo’s intentions.

‘If the vanguard is blocked, everyone dies.’

The difference in the power they could pour out was significant. The only way they could survive was to break through at one point. Even if everyone left behind was completely annihilated, Kang Jin-ho had to advance.

‘The Guild Leader must know!’

He wasn’t someone who thought with his head but felt with his instincts.

He would understand that the only way to resolve this situation was to catch Changwang.

‘The Guild Leader should do what he has to do! And I’ll do what I have to do!’

If Kang Jin-ho breaks through, he will protect them!

‘Get into position as we prepared! Those who can block, block! Those who can’t, stick close!’

They wouldn’t have failed to prepare for the bombardment they had already experienced once. Although the overall martial prowess of the General Assembly wasn’t outstanding, it wasn’t as if there were no martial artists capable of blocking the shells.

If they could just block them…

‘They’re coming!’

Lee Hyun-soo snapped his head up and looked above. The sight of the shells flying through the dense trees was all too clear.

‘Block them!’

Those who had practiced blocking shells raised their energy and leaped towards the incoming shells. And the others quickly moved behind those who had jumped.

‘Haaah!’

Those who had raised their energy struck the shells with all their might, as if they were going to deflect them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The shells that collided with their fists exploded in succession.

Amidst the explosions, black and red flames rose like clouds.

‘Flames?’

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes widened.

That wasn’t the smoke from a high-explosive shell.

It wasn’t the smoke that accompanied an explosion meant to cause impact, but literally, red flames were rising like crazy.

‘Incendiary shells? That crazy bastard!’

Clusters of flames rained down into the forest.

Those who had struck the shells landed on the ground with slightly bewildered faces. It was because they hadn’t felt the impact they had expected.

But soon, they couldn’t help but realize what was happening here.

Kwaaaaaaah!

The flames created by hundreds of incendiary shells exploding simultaneously engulfed the surroundings in an instant, creating a massive fire demon. Flames of a size they had never seen in their lives burned so fiercely that even trained martial artists were terrified.

‘Th-this insane bastard!’

The intention was clear.

He was trying to burn them alive.

Even martial artists couldn’t last long in a fire. They could withstand a momentary explosion using their energy, but they couldn’t withstand a continuous fire.

Moreover, what was tormenting them now wasn’t just the flames.

The fiercely burning flames were rapidly consuming oxygen. The heat and lack of oxygen made their breathing rapid, and their heads were spinning.

‘Is he saying that he can’t justify the bombardment, but he can cover up a forest fire?’

Lee Hyun-soo gritted his teeth.

‘That damn bastard. I will cut your throat myself!’

Lee Hyun-soo looked around with bloodshot eyes.

‘Aaaaargh!’

‘Damn it! This fire won’t go out!’

‘Cover it with dirt! Cut off the oxygen, you morons!’

Those who had been directly hit by the incendiary shells rolled on the ground, unable to control their burning bodies.

The searing pain of a burning body was one of the most extreme pains a human could experience. An ordinary person would die of shock before their body was completely burned, but the damn martial artists had strong mental fortitude and physical durability, so they didn’t die easily.

‘Water! Water! Damn water!’

‘Where is there water here, you idiot! Bury it in the ground and cover it with dirt!’

Pandemonium.

The martial artists of the General Assembly, who would have fought to the death if an enemy had attacked, couldn’t properly cope with the sudden fire.

Even Lee Hyun-soo had momentarily panicked.

‘Get out of here! Run, you bastards!’

‘B-but the others are injured…’

‘Everyone will die if we stay here! Put out the fire as best you can, then carry them and run! Quickly!’

As soon as the order was given, the martial artists of the General Assembly nodded fiercely. Then, they picked up those who had fallen to the ground and looked left and right.

‘Wh-where are we?’

‘I don’t know! The direction…’

The raging fire had even stolen their sense of direction.

The heat alone felt like it was cooking their skin. In the midst of that, the flames swirled through the trees, making it impossible to even figure out their surroundings.

‘This way!’

Kwaaaang!

Chai Ke-chang kicked a burning tree, breaking it, and shouted.

‘Lee Hyun-soo!’

‘I’m going!’

Lee Hyun-soo gripped his radio and ran towards Chai Ke-chang. Lee Hyun-soo ran with all his might and caught up with Chai Ke-chang.

‘After the poison hell, it’s fire hell, huh!’

Looking back, it was quite logical.

If they burned this entire mountain, they could blow away all the unexploded cluster bombs and residual toxins. And the iron balls scattered on the ground could be neatly collected under the guise of cleaning up the forest fire.

And…

‘Aaaargh! My leg is on fire! Aaaaargh!’

‘Get down! You bastard, get down!’

‘It won’t go out! It won’t go out!’

People nearby rushed towards the screaming person. They pressed down on the struggling person and covered them with dirt to cut off the oxygen. But even that wasn’t enough to easily put out the fire, and the person being pressed down rolled their eyes and continued to convulse.

‘Uwaaaaargh! My leg! My leg!’

‘Stay still, you bastard! You’ll die if you keep moving! Uwaaaaargh!’

In the end, someone who couldn’t stand it anymore swung their fist and knocked out the convulsing person.

Fshhhhh!

White smoke billowed from the leg covered in dirt.

‘F…ck.’

A curse escaped Lee Hyun-soo’s lips.

If it was like this where he was, he didn’t even need to see what it was like elsewhere.

The martial artists were used to fighting powerful enemies, but they were no different from ordinary people when fighting against such disasters. They were just a little faster and a little stronger.

‘That bastard.’

The surroundings were a sea of fire.

The air pushed up by the flames was rushing upwards in large quantities, causing wind to blow from all directions. The heat storm carrying the flames felt like it was going to cook their skin.

‘C-Chief, it won’t go out! The fire won’t go out!’

‘Hey, don’t run! Stop there, you bastard!’

A person engulfed in flames ran out screaming. The person who had been running and convulsing like they were having a seizure soon collapsed to the ground.

‘Th…’

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes turned bloodshot.

He couldn’t express in words how he felt seeing his comrades, who had shared joys and sorrows with him, dying in the fire, not in battle.

That fire wouldn’t go out easily.

It wasn’t just a simple flame. It was a devil’s flame, soaked in all sorts of chemicals to burn people to death, clinging to their bodies.

That devil’s flame relentlessly burned everything it touched. At the same time, it was constantly emitting toxic gas.

‘Put on your gas masks! Now! Damn gas masks!’

Those who had frantically taken out their gas masks began to put them on the faces of those who had lost consciousness, not themselves.

‘You morons…’

Lee Hyun-soo, seeing the members doing such things even in this desperate situation, closed his mouth, unable to express his feelings.

‘Move…’

Lee Hyun-soo, who opened and closed his mouth several times as if his throat wouldn’t loosen, shouted at the top of his lungs.

‘Move, you bastards! Everyone will die if we stay here! Follow me now!’

‘Yes!’

The members of the General Assembly, who had seen their comrades burning to death, immediately responded to Lee Hyun-soo’s order, even as they shed tears of blood.

‘Run!’

Without waiting for a reply, Lee Hyun-soo ran out, howling.

‘Changwang! Chaaaaaangwaaaaang! You damn bastard!’

He would kill him.

He would kill him no matter what.

Tears of blood flowed from Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes.