Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1942

Kaga gagagak! Long, sharp fingernails scratched at his chest. Those fingernails were from a celestial demon, capable of tearing through rocks and even large chunks of iron like paper. But the chest scratched by those vicious nails didn’t tear or split; it didn’t even get a scratch. Even the soulless living corpses, who had lost their reason, seemed to regain a sense of ‘bewilderment’ at this absurd situation. The living corpses’ blurry, unfocused pupils briefly trembled. “Euhuh!” With a sound that was neither a scream nor a roar, the living corpse’s hand swung. The milky white aura at its fingertips proved that they were not mere monsters but martial artists. Fear of death, discomfort from bodily harm, fear of facing a stronger opponent. Unbound by any of these, able to unleash their full power, they might indeed be the unparalleled, strongest soldiers that the Blood King had spoken of. Kwaang! The milky white aura struck Bator’s shoulder, creating a massive explosion. The aura scattered and flew in all directions. But… Even though the formidable aura had struck his shoulder, Bator’s shoulder, which seemed three times the size of an average person’s, didn’t even show a small scratch. “What the… Woodudeudeuk! Bator reached out and grabbed the zombie’s face. His hand, as big as a pot lid, grasped the person’s head as if it were an apple. Kwaduk! Kwaduk! The zombie’s head twisted this way and that. Whether it was feeling the fear of death, despite not feeling pain, or whether its remaining reason couldn’t comprehend the situation, its twisted hands grabbed and scratched at Bator’s pillar-like forearms. But it was just a meaningless resistance. Kuuuuk! It twisted. Like a water-filled balloon being crushed in a tight fist, the person’s head was forced out between Bator’s thick fingers. “Keureureureuk.” Even in a situation where an ordinary person, or even a well-trained martial artist, would lose consciousness due to the increased cranial pressure, the zombie resisted fiercely. The hand, imbued with milky white aura, frantically struck Bator’s arm. But… Kwadudeudeudeuk! The head in his hand finally burst like a ripe watermelon. Thud. The zombie’s body, having lost its head, convulsed on the floor. No matter how monstrous they looked, they were still people. They couldn’t survive without a head. “Tsk.” Bator nonchalantly shook off the blood and brain matter from his hand. Having dealt with one zombie in an instant, Bator smirked and turned his head to look at the zombies approaching him. “I don’t know what you’ve done… no, I don’t know what you’ve been through, but whether you have reason or not, if you show your teeth to me, you die!” The zombies that even Hong Wang struggled with seemed to be no burden to Bator. “Hahahaha! You vermin!” Bator charged forward. Then, with his massive shoulders, he rammed straight into the flailing zombies. Thud. A short, sharp impact sound. The zombies were flung away as if they had been hit by a giant trailer. Watching them soar helplessly into the air and fall, it was hard not to worry about them, considering the power they had shown until now. Who said it? The best equipment for dealing with zombies isn’t a machine gun or a bomb, but full body armor. Lowering the intellect to create soldiers who can overcome fear and never tire means that they can only repeat simple attacks. Of course, zombies who can still use the martial arts they have learned throughout their lives, even after losing their reason, might be able to threaten even superhumans, depending on their level. But Bator is different. His body is not harmed by those pathetic attacks. Moreover, he doesn’t need to waste his inner energy to maintain his physical strength like other superhumans. In other words, he can simply swing his fists without any cost, forcing a one-sided loss on the zombies. This is completely opposite to how Hong Wang suffered one-sided losses while fighting the zombies. “Hehehehehe!” Bator kicked a zombie in front of him. Bator’s fist, having kicked the zombie away like a cannonball, struck the zombie next to it. Kwaaang! A booming sound erupted as a fist hit a person’s body. Bator’s fist struck down once more on the back of the zombie, which had collapsed to its knees. Kwaaaang! Then, Bator repeatedly stomped on the fallen zombie’s back. Each time his foot landed, the zombie’s body sank deeper and deeper into the floor. Kuuuung! Bator, having completely buried one zombie into the ground, creating a grave, wore a faint smile. “To struggle against these things, Hong Wang has really gone soft.” Hong Wang, hearing those words, let out a hollow laugh. ‘I have no words.’ He can’t focus on one zombie, and he has to evade all of their attacks. If other zombies rushed at him while he was subduing one, like Bator is doing now, even Hong Wang would have to risk a fatal injury. If these zombies are a swarm of bees to Hong Wang, they are just mayflies to Bator. No, they might be a swarm of bees, but Bator is a hornet. The bees can’t do anything against a hornet whose stinger doesn’t work on them. At best, they can only surround the hornet and try to cook it to death with their body heat, risking their own lives. If they fail to do that properly, hundreds of bees will die to a single hornet. If hundreds of bees attack a person, the person would never be able to handle it with their bare hands. But a hornet, which is dozens of times weaker than a person, can see such a swarm of bees as mayflies. This is compatibility. To Bator, who has the upper hand in compatibility, the zombies were just foolish and weak mayflies. “What the… For the first time, bewilderment appeared in the Blood King’s eyes. Bator, who had suddenly appeared, was literally sweeping away his zombies, so even he couldn’t help but be bewildered. ‘Where did he get such… Of course, he had heard rumors. Among the subordinates of the Great One, there was someone with a powerful external martial art. But this man’s external martial art was completely breaking the Blood King’s common sense about external martial arts. It didn’t seem like he was drawing on inner energy, but could a body that repelled even aura really exist? Just as Hong Wang was shocked by the existence of the living corpses, the Blood King was now shocked by Bator’s existence. Of course, there were those who practiced external martial arts in the past. But in the martial world, external martial arts were just a supplementary means, or a martial art practiced by third-rate individuals who couldn’t learn proper inner energy, so it was looked down upon. To be able to raise such an external martial art to this level was shocking and even awe-inspiring. At that moment, Bator grabbed another zombie. Then, from behind him, other zombies rushed in like zombies, grabbing and clinging to Bator’s arms and legs. The milky white aura that rose from his hands repeatedly scratched and struck his body, but Bator didn’t even glance at the clinging zombies, focusing only on the zombie he had grabbed. “You bug-like things!” Kwaang! Bator’s one hand grabbed the back of the zombie’s neck, and the other hand struck its face. As if hammering an object on an anvil, his fist crushed the zombie’s face. After repeatedly punching it, the zombie’s body, which had been going berserk, slumped. “Uwaaaab!” Bator swung the zombie’s corpse in his hand like a club. The zombie’s body, which had not yet lost its hardness, repeatedly struck and sent the surrounding zombies flying. The Blood King, watching that absurd scene, gritted his teeth. Wheee! As a high-pitched whistle came from his mouth, the living corpses that had been fighting Bator quickly retreated. “Hmm?” Bator looked at the retreating zombies, then shifted his gaze to his hand. Bator, having thrown the tattered zombie to the ground without any regret, walked towards the Blood King. “They say when you hit a dog, the owner comes out, so are you their owner?” The Blood King’s brow twitched slightly. “You seem to be having quite a bit of fun.” “No.” Bator smirked. “Right now, I’m not having fun, I’m just frustrated. That Hong Wang stole my prey. And of course, I’m frustrated having to deal with these husks.” “It seems like you need to vent that frustration on me?” “Hehehe… “Huh?” The Blood King started to laugh. The Blood King, who was wrapped in black bandages from head to toe, began to laugh hysterically, clutching his stomach, which was so out of character for his appearance. “Hahahahahahahahaha! Ahahahahahahahahaha!” The Blood King shook his body and laughed for a long time, causing Bator’s eyes to narrow involuntarily. Mockery? No, it wasn’t that. That laughter was truly coming from joy. “What’s so funny?” “Ah… hahahaha! I’m sorry. I just couldn’t help it.” The Blood King raised his hand and tore off the bandage covering his mouth. Bator flinched at the sight of what was revealed beneath the bandage. ‘A mummy?’ The curled-up lips and the black gums visible beneath them. Anyone who saw the dried-up skin would come to the same conclusion as Bator. “You still have some conscience, it seems. If you went around showing that face, many would die of a heart attack.” The Blood King licked his lips with his tongue. It wasn’t a particularly impressive action, but his mummy-like appearance gave even that mundane action an absurdly eerie feeling. “Yes. You can say whatever you want.” “…Huh?” “…It’s the first time I’ve encountered someone I want so badly.” “Sorry, but I’m not into that kind of thing. Especially not with someone like you.” “Hahahahahahaha!” Even after hearing words that thoroughly scratched his insides, the Blood King didn’t change his attitude. He lowered his hands and slowly approached Bator. “It’s like a dream. To think I could find such a perfect body. If only… if only I could get you in my hands, I could surpass even that Black King.” “…You’re insane.” “That body… yes, that body! That perfect body! Haha! It’s like I’ve fallen in love. When was the last time I felt my blood boil like this?” Bator sighed deeply, looking at the Blood King, who was emitting madness from his eyes. “Seriously, there’s no one sane around here.” He raised his thick index finger and lightly bent it. “Come here. I’ll crush that empty head of yours.” “Hahahahaha!” Red blood flowed out from between the bandages that were wrapped around the Blood King’s body. ‘Huh?’ Bator looked at the scene with bewildered eyes. No, he hadn’t even attacked, so why was blood suddenly flowing? And then… The blood, which had started to flow out in torrents, vaporized, and a blood-colored mist covered the Blood King’s entire body. “This is really… Recently, it feels like I’m only fighting monsters, not people. Well, I guess it’s the same for them. Hwaaaaaak! At that moment, the red mist that had been surrounding the Blood King’s body began to surge fiercely towards Bator.