Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1897

“……It’s collapsed.”

Cai Keqiang stared at the person who had reported this, speechless.

A bloodless face.

Lips trembling.

Eyes that couldn’t find a place to settle.

Looking at that expression, it wasn’t hard to understand what the words just spoken meant.

But……

“……What?”

Cai Keqiang asked again.

It wasn’t exactly a process for confirmation. It was merely an act of buying a little time while the information that had entered his head spun around aimlessly, unable to be processed.

“The branch… the Guangzhou branch building has… collapsed.”

He had prepared himself.

Having already experienced being stunned once, he had vowed and vowed again that no matter what happened this time, he wouldn’t be flustered and would never lose his reason.

But the news that had just reached his ears was enough to crush Cai Keqiang’s resolve in an instant, bleaching his mind completely white.

Cai Keqiang stared blankly at the person who had reported, without saying a word.

But even those who received that gaze, those who were crushed by this heavy silence, couldn’t bring themselves to urge Cai Keqiang.

“…Again.”

“Yes?”

“Ask me again.”

Cai Keqiang moved his lips mechanically.

“What collapsed?”

“The branch… the Guangzhou branch building has collapsed.”

“…How much?”

It was a vague question.

Words that would never come from the usual Cai Keqiang.

But was there anyone who wouldn’t know what Cai Keqiang was asking right now?

“…Completely destroyed. It seems the entire 32-story building has completely collapsed.”

“Completely?”

“Yes.”

Cai Keqiang stopped speaking and closed his mouth.

A terrible, terrible silence tightened the hearts of everyone present.

Clench.

And what broke that long silence was the sound of Cai Keqiang’s teeth grinding as if they would break.

“This…”

Crack!

His fingers, which had been gripping the desk, dug into it.

But Cai Keqiang, who looked like he was about to have a seizure, didn’t scream once. The sight of Cai Keqiang’s back convulsing as he gripped the desk with his head down was clearly visible.

The desk screamed as if it would break at any moment, and the sound of his teeth clashing was eerie. Even without seeing it, it wasn’t hard to guess what Cai Keqiang was feeling right now just from the sound.

Cai Keqiang’s hand, which had been holding the desk, covered his face.

Cai Keqiang, who had grabbed his face with both hands, let out a faint groan.

‘What the hell…’

He wasn’t angry.

No, he couldn’t even be angry anymore.

The reason he covered his face with both hands wasn’t because he was filled with rage, but because he didn’t want to show his face to his subordinates right now.

He couldn’t show his fear-stricken face to those who trusted him.

‘What the hell is this?’

He had to admit it.

The emotion that was making his body tremble right now was closer to fear than anger.

Fear of the unknown.

Fear of the incomprehensible.

Even when he was completely toyed with in the palm of the King of Creation’s hand before, Cai Keqiang had only felt endless powerlessness and a terrible murderous intent towards the King of Creation, but he had never felt fear like this.

But the things that the Black King Faction was doing gave Cai Keqiang an uncontrollable sense of fear.

It felt like the world was rushing towards him and then receding, over and over again. Or it felt like the floor was collapsing, and he was falling endlessly down, and down.

He couldn’t clearly define what this sensation that was engulfing him was, but one thing was certain: something that would never happen in a normal world was happening to him.

Collapse.

Yes, this was a collapse.

It wasn’t just that a building had collapsed. The collapse of that building meant that the laws of the world that he had believed in, that he had believed would never waver, were collapsing.

“…Cai Keqiang-nim.”

Cai Keqiang’s hand, which had been holding his face, trembled.

“How, how…”

It felt like the face he touched was disappearing.

No, it wasn’t even clear if his hand existed right now. A tower built with perfect balance collapses easily if just one pillar is removed. The pillars that had been supporting Cai Keqiang’s world were collapsing.

“Hoo!”

Cai Keqiang, who had let out a short breath, bit his lip.

Blood trickled down from his lower lip and pooled in his mouth. The taste of blood made him feel a little more grounded in reality.

‘What the hell are they planning?’

Did they really think they could handle this?

The things they had done in Shanghai had already turned the world upside down. He and the Chinese government were desperately trying to divert public attention from the incident, but they couldn’t shut the mouths and ears of those who had sensed something was wrong.

The best they could do was to keep their mouths shut as if they knew nothing, and wait for time to pass and for the incident to be forgotten by the public.

But……

‘This isn’t something that can be resolved like that.’

A high-rise building collapsing in the middle of a city is an event that will go down in history. This is not something that anyone can handle.

Even the Chinese government, which has the highest level of control over its people in the world, cannot simply bury this incident.

“What…”

“Yes?”

“…What do you want, Black King?”

Confusion filled Cai Keqiang’s mind.

What tormented him the most was that he didn’t know what the enemy was trying to do.

Wasn’t this just chaos?

What did they gain by slaughtering the Shanghai branch and collapsing the Guangzhou branch entirely?

The Hongwang Faction’s damage?

That was ridiculous.

From the perspective of the Black King Faction’s Twelve Blades, the branch members of the Hongwang Faction were not even at the level of earthworms. They were a weak force that could be trampled on at any time if they wanted to.

So why would they go to the trouble of destroying such a place so violently?

No matter how he looked at it, this wasn’t an attack on the Hongwang Faction. It could only be seen as aiming for chaos itself.

But what Cai Keqiang couldn’t understand was that there was nothing they could gain by making the world chaotic.

Cai Keqiang was feeling a twisting sensation in his stomach right now, but strictly speaking, it was the national government, not the Hongwang Faction, that had to deal with the chaos.

The Hongwang Faction’s activities would also be curtailed, but…

“Cai Keqiang-nim!”

Cai Keqiang raised his head sharply.

‘Damn it.’

This wasn’t the time to be thinking about this.

“The guy?”

“The encirclement is still in place! According to the report that just came in, those who survived the collapse of the building are surrounding and attacking him.”

Clench!

Cai Keqiang’s eyes were bloodshot.

‘Alright!’

From the start, they intended to sacrifice bones to gain flesh. It meant they were willing to accept the damage.

The damage was far more severe than he had anticipated, but nothing had changed.

‘What about the remaining reserves?’

‘They’re too far away, so it will take more time to deploy them.’

‘Deploy all the reserves around Guangzhou! Summon the Hong Kong branch too!’

‘But Hong Kong…’

‘Just do as I say!’

‘Yes!’

Cai Keqiang’s fingertips trembled.

‘I’ll catch him.’

He had to catch him, no matter what. If they couldn’t kill that bastard here, the damage they had suffered would be too devastating.

So…

‘What about Hangzhou!’

‘There have been no additional reports since they entered! We are still receiving communications!’

Cai Keqiang nodded firmly.

‘Good!’

The real blade they had prepared was Hangzhou.

‘I’ll catch them both!’

Cai Keqiang glared at the map with bloodshot eyes.

‘I don’t know what you’re aiming for, but it won’t go your way! Black King!’

Cai Keqiang steeled his resolve, but his fingertips were still trembling.

Whirr!

A blood-soaked wire flew in like a living snake, wrapping around a neck.

And then…

Thwack!

It sliced through the neck without a moment’s hesitation. The severed head soared into the air, and the body, unable to stop its momentum, tumbled to the ground.

Even while witnessing that gruesome sight, the Hongwang Faction warriors didn’t stop; instead, they rushed even faster toward Gong Ling.

‘Aaaaaaaah!’

‘Dieeeeee!’

Thwack!

Those who charged were sliced apart by the wire, not even knowing when or how they had been hit.

But even as the person next to them had their neck severed, or as someone else’s legs were cut off and they rolled on the ground, more people gritted their teeth and charged at Gong Ling.

Wei Hong’s eyes turned bloodshot.

‘That bastard! I made a mistake!’

He realized it with a chilling certainty.

This guy couldn’t be taken down by numbers.

The wire was invisible, and sharper than anything he had ever experienced. Even Wei Hong, a member of the Heavenly Martial Unit [a high-ranking combat force], one of the three main combat forces of the Hongwang Faction, could see that Gong Ling was an impregnable fortress.

That is, if that guy had occupied a floor of the building.

He was certain that if that guy had fought in the narrow space where they first encountered him, swallowing the area with his wire, none of them could have stood against him, even if they all charged at once.

But Gong Ling had destroyed the concrete fortress that protected him with his own hands. Wire was a weapon that could only truly exert its power when there was something to anchor it to.

Here, in this place that was nothing but ashes, on this tomb that had been forcibly turned into an open field, its power was bound to be halved.

Wei Hong kicked off the ground and flew towards Gong Ling.

‘Haaaaaaah!’

His sword, imbued with a blue aura, came down on Gong Ling’s head.

Clang!

Of course, his sword didn’t even graze Gong Ling’s head; it stopped in mid-air. But Wei Hong let out a cry of triumph.

Hands.

Gong Ling’s hands were extended to the left and right of his sword. Gong Ling, who had been freely manipulating the wire with just a flick of his fingers, now had no choice but to use the wire in his hands to block his sword.

‘You dug your own grave! You…’

And at that very moment.

Clack!

Gong Ling’s hands crossed left and right. At the same time, sparks began to fly from the middle of Wei Hong’s sword.

‘What?’

Crack! Crack! Crack!

As if grinding metal with a grinder, his sword sparked and was gradually being cut apart.

And then…

Clang!

The severed blade, spinning wildly, shot up into the air before falling weakly to the ground.

Wei Hong stared blankly at the scene.

Cut it?

A sword filled with inner force [a type of martial energy]?

Cut a sword imbued with inner force, a force close to sword energy, no, sword essence [a higher form of martial energy]?

How the hell…

‘How tiresome.’

Whoosh!

At that moment, Wei Hong felt a sharp pain all over his body. He didn’t even need to see it to know. At this moment, dozens of wires had pierced his body.

‘It’s a shame. Even a fierce will and a burning hatred are meaningless without power.’

‘Aaaaaaaah!’

At that moment, Wei Hong’s body was pulled straight up into the air.

Not pushed up. Pulled up, literally. Wei Hong, feeling the intense force pulling his body from above, reflexively looked up at the sky.

But there was nothing there. Nothing at all.

‘Aaaaaaaah!’

Excruciating pain, as if dozens of sharp razor blades were tearing through his entire body. In that terrible agony, Wei Hong’s eyes widened.

‘Remember this, kid.’

‘If your common sense was enough, I wouldn’t have dared to be so confident in the Black King’s hidden blade.’

Wei Hong’s head snapped down, and he clearly saw Gong Ling’s hands waving in the air. At the same time, he clearly saw hundreds of warriors charging at Gong Ling.

‘No, don’t…’

A desperate scream burst from Wei Hong’s mouth, sensing what was about to happen.

‘Nooooooooooooooooooooo!’

Whack!

Gong Ling, with his arms spread wide, crossed them as if grabbing something.

Then!

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

The bodies of the Hongwang Faction warriors, who had been charging with fierce momentum, were torn into dozens of pieces, exploding like red fireworks.

From above, Wei Hong saw it as if hundreds of red flowers were blooming all at once around Gong Ling.

Beautiful.

Ridiculously, the scene was even beautiful.

But…

That dazzling spectacle didn’t last long. The scattered blood and flesh fell to the ground, and soon, a red, deep red lake of blood formed around Gong Ling.

Wei Hong’s eyes also turned red.

He could clearly see the lake of blood spreading in spots. The blood from human bodies soaked the ground and flowed everywhere.

Hell.

Yes, this was hell.

Gong Ling’s head turned upwards.

Gong Ling, facing Wei Hong, who was fixed in the air like a puppet, smiled lightly.

‘Do you understand?’

‘Huuu… Aaaah! Aaaaaaaaaaah!’

A terrible scream, as if it couldn’t be made by a human voice, filled the sky of Guangzhou.

As if even the sky didn’t want to see the scene, dark storm clouds endlessly rolled into the sky of Guangzhou.