Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1896

‘Something’s a bit noisy,’ Guo Zhedong muttered, frowning as he turned his head. How should he explain this? It wasn’t like there was a loud noise assaulting his ears, but it felt like some kind of irritating sound was constantly, faintly, reaching him. ‘Where is it?’ Guo Zhedong’s gaze shifted behind him. He could see the towering buildings in his sight. It was only natural to hear noise in a bustling city, but today felt different. Guo Zhedong, not even understanding what he was finding strange, was about to tilt his head when— Keeeeeeeeeeeee! ‘Huh?’ The bizarre sound piercing his ears made Guo Zhedong freeze in place. ‘What is that?’ It was a sound that defied description. It was like the sound of a cold wind piercing through a forest of buildings, or, if one were to listen closely, it sounded like a giant beast howling. But regardless of what the sound was, it was definitely a chilling sound that made the hair on his entire body stand on end just by hearing it. ‘What is this…’ Keeeeeeeeeeeee! The bizarre sound echoed once more. This time, Guo Zhedong, having clearly identified where the sound was coming from, narrowed his eyes. ‘Buildings.’ It seemed to be coming from between those tall buildings… And at that very moment. Guo Zhedong’s eyes widened as if they would tear. ‘Smoke?’ Acrid smoke was billowing from the upper floors of the building in the center. ‘No. Is it dust?’ Whatever it was. Whatever the identity of that hazy dust was, it was clear that something big had happened. ‘Did a fire break out?’ It wasn’t just him who had noticed the anomaly; people began to murmur. ‘What’s that over there?’ ‘Isn’t that a fire? We need to report it quickly!’ ‘It’s a bit strange for a fire though…’ ‘Does a fire rise like that all at once?’ ‘No, then what is that…’ It was just then, as people were staring blankly at the building. Krrrrrrrrrrung! ‘Huh…?’ A sound like thunder spread in all directions. A low silence fell. Everyone pictured the scene that would follow in their minds. ‘It can’t be.’ ‘No way…’ They thought it, but no one accepted it as something that could happen in reality. This was a firm and absolute trust for those living in modern society. But soon, that firm trust began to waver. Krrrrrrrrrrrrung! With a heavy and enormous roar that seemed to burst their eardrums, several times more dust began to billow out. Those watching all gaped blankly. ‘It’s, it’s collap…’ It was a moment. Kwarurururururung! The upper floors of the building where the dust was rising began to collapse downwards as if pouring down. The roar buried everything. But even if such a noise hadn’t been heard, not even a breath would have been heard here right now. It’s collapsing. The remains of the collapsed building covered the lower part, and the building began to collapse as if it were burning. Kwarurururururung! A cloud of black dust, like a scorching heat, covered the building. The tower that should never have collapsed, that they thought would never collapse, a tower made by humans, was collapsing helplessly. ‘Ugh, uwaaaaaaaah!’ ‘Kyaaaaaaaaah!’ Recognition came a little late. Only after more than half of the building had collapsed did sharp screams and terrible shouts erupt in competition. The explosion of the collapsing building and the screams of people combined to create a terrible harmony that sounded like it was coming from hell. ‘Th, this is… Oh my god…’ Guo Zhedong stared blankly at the scene. The world was twisting, and everything he knew was collapsing. Kwarururururung! Fragments of concrete that had been flung up poured down onto the ground like hail. Severed rebars [steel reinforcing bars], which seemed to have been ejected rather than pulled out, were driven into the ground like spears, and fragments of shattered glass swirled like a blizzard. But even more terrifying were the gray dust clouds that filled the view and rushed downwards, downwards. ‘Get out of the wayyyyyyyy!’ ‘You bastard! You!’ The martial artists of the Hongwang faction, who had been filling the lower part of the building, threw themselves out as if having a seizure as they watched the building collapse. No matter how skilled they were as martial artists, there was no way they could withstand tens of tons of debris pouring down from a height of 100 meters. But even as they turned and ran to avoid the falling debris, their eyes were constantly looking back. A sight they couldn’t believe even after seeing it. It was they who had decided to enter the building, knowing that a master of the Black King faction was inside. But none of them had imagined that the result of that entry would lead to this kind of outcome. ‘That crazy bastard!’ They could tell. They had no choice but to know. This wasn’t a collapse caused by the aftermath of a battle. ‘He’s insane! He’s insane! He couldn’t have done this unless he was crazy!’ This was beyond the limits they could handle. They had taken many risks by surrounding this place. They had prepared for the possibility of exposure to the outside world and for rumors to spread. With the determination to deal with the person caught here, no matter what! But wasn’t this going too far? Kwarururururung! ‘Aaaaaaaah!’ Those who had failed to escape from the rapidly collapsing building and the hail of debris were thrown to the ground, screaming. But no one turned back to help them. The moment they got swept up, they would die too. The sense of belonging to the Hongwang faction, the camaraderie of helping their comrades. All of that was only meaningful when they were alive. Just like a beast that had seen a volcano erupt would not look back and run away from the volcano, the martial artists of the Hongwang faction became beasts and just ran and ran. Kwarururururung! Those who ran away. Those who failed to run away. And those who gave up running and stared blankly at the sky. It was a terrifying sight, like something you might see on the day of the apocalypse. Kwarururururung! The dust that the completely collapsed building had spewed out covered everything like a tsunami. The dust cloud, which had surged like a storm along the building, swept out into the city in all directions. Even those who had not been caught in the collapse had no way to escape the wave of dust, like a sandstorm sweeping through the desert. Debris fell roughly on top of those who had been swept away. Screams, wails, and the sound of something constantly collapsing. Amidst the terrible noises that made one want to cover their ears, a man lightly stepped onto the still-shaking debris. ‘Hmm.’ A smile formed on Gongryung’s lips. ‘Not bad.’ He thought of himself as someone who didn’t particularly enjoy flashy things, but the scene he had created was surprisingly entertaining. Look. A world where everything had collapsed. ‘Heh heh heh.’ A low laugh escaped him. It was absurd. They probably thought they had broken their own rules to catch him. Before, they would never have imagined deploying martial artists to catch him in the middle of the city, or surrounding a downtown area where people were coming and going. Yes, so to speak, this place was land that martial artists could not reach. A forbidden zone [a place where certain activities are prohibited] dominated by gray concrete, where martial artists could not live as martial artists. But now, Gongryung had destroyed the concrete tower that dominated this forbidden zone. ‘You can’t escape.’ But he could escape as much as he wanted. As much as he wanted! This was why the Hongwang faction could never be a match for the Black King faction. It wasn’t just because they were stronger. It was because the Black King faction could overcome what they could not. While the Hongwang faction struggled to stay within the framework set by the world, they could not even catch their ankles. Absolutely. ‘Yo…’ Gongryung slightly turned his head. Someone stirred and rose from the debris of the collapsed building. Thud. Finely fragmented concrete pieces flowed down like gravel, and from within, a person covered in dust, turned gray, rose to their feet. The only parts of the body that were not gray were the two bloodshot eyes and the mouth, which was opened like that of a beast. ‘Yo… You crazy… You…’ He seemed unable to even speak. ‘Well, you survived.’ ‘You… you little bastard…’ Wei Hong’s hand trembled as he grabbed his shoulder. He couldn’t believe it. Even as he looked at the world that had become a mess and the remains of the tragically collapsed building, he couldn’t believe what had happened before his eyes. This was not something a sane person would do. There were at least over five hundred people who had entered this building. Those over five hundred lives had now disappeared in an instant. How could any human being blow away five hundred lives in an instant and collapse this tall building without hesitation? ‘Do you… do you even know what you’ve done, you crazy bastarddddddddddd!’ It was more of a scream than a cry. Wei Hong, unable to control his surging emotions, screamed at the top of his lungs. Any worries about someone watching or the sense of duty to fix the situation were swept away by his anger. ‘Yeah, that’s it.’ Gongryung grinned, revealing his teeth. ‘A martial artist should not be bound by anything. It’s enough to just want to tear the enemy in front of you to death. You’ve become a true martial artist now.’ ‘Heh… heh heh.’ Wei Hong grabbed the sword that was still hanging at his waist. He tried to draw the sword in one swift motion, but the sword was bent and difficult to draw, perhaps because it had been buried under something when the building collapsed. ‘Aaaaaaah!’ Blood-mixed tears flowed from Wei Hong’s eyes as he forcefully scraped the sword out. ‘Yes… I want to tear you to death. More than anything, I will tear your mouth apart!’ Gongryung smiled and flicked his finger. ‘Then come at me.’ ‘Uwaaaaaaaaaaaah!’ Wei Hong charged towards Gongryung with all his might. At the same time, the warriors of the Hongwang faction, who had fled to avoid the collapsing building, also began to rush towards Gongryung. Pa-a-a-at! The Heavenly Martial Unit, who had jumped out of the building’s debris, also charged towards Gongryung, driven by rage. ‘Kill himmmmm!’ ‘Don’t let him live! Never! Kill him!’ Watching them, Gongryung’s eyes emitted a fierce blue killing intent. ‘What changes people the most is hatred.’ Click. His fingers rubbed against each other, creating a strange sound. ‘Become even more enraged. Until that hatred spreads and burns down the entire Hongwang faction.’ Chwa-a-a-a-a-ak! The wires he emitted spread out in all directions like the wings of a giant red hawk. In the middle of a world that had turned gray, a giant red wing unfolded. Like fireworks announcing that this world was no longer the world everyone knew.