Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1360. Enraged (5)

“Fire!”

Bullets rained down from everywhere. Kang Jin-Ho rapidly enveloped his body with demonic qi.

Obviously, dodging this hail of bullets would be impossible even for him. Modern firearms had already surpassed the average ability of a martial artist, after all.

Maybe, if it had only been a few people firing guns, Kang Jin-Ho could have evaded them by relying on his supernatural-level eyesight and reflexes or by looking at the muzzle and predicting the bullet’s trajectory. However, with the attack being so wide-scale, relying only on his eyes to dodge would never work.

However, not being able to dodge didn’t mean he couldn’t defend himself.

Clang, kakakakaka-clang!

The bullets reached Kang Jin-Ho’s position, only to bounce off as sharp metallic noises rang in the air.

“What the hell?!”

Someone cried out after witnessing all the bullets bouncing off. Firearms were invented and improved upon for the express purpose of killing living things, weren’t they? To be the most efficient and perfect tools of murder?

However, such improvements could work against the gun users at times.

Firearms meant to kill people only required enough firepower to penetrate bulletproof vests and bring down the target. Any more strength would be inefficient. A waste of resources. The increase in firepower equaled a heavier recoil and a poorer rate of fire, after all.

In short, guns designed solely to kill other humans would be no better than ineffective junk against a cultivator possessing strength above a certain realm.

Of course, the ones using guns were humans. And humanity’s greatest strength wasn’t its weapons, but their brains.

Baaaaang!

Another thunderous noise rang out in the air, and Kang Jin-Ho’s head was shoved slightly to the side.

The commander of the operation clenched his fists. Did that work?

They were relying on snipers now since breaking through an expert’s layer of qi protection with assault rifles’ firepower was pretty much impossible. But the destructive power of anti-materiel rifles far surpassed that of regular assault rifles.

It might still not be enough to penetrate the layer of protective qi, but damaging the human underneath via impact force should be...

Kang Jin-Ho’s head slowly returned to its original position.

That didn’t work either?! The commander’s eyes powerfully quaked at this development. No, that can’t be right!

A human made of flesh and blood should not be able to withstand the impact! Even if there wouldn’t be external wounds, the impact force should still be enough to cause some damage internally.

“If that doesn’t work, do we have to use anti-tank rifles or something?! You goddamn monster!”

The military didn’t bring anti-tank rifles this time, but they certainly had brought more useful weapons.

Rumble, vroom!

Large military trucks angrily rushed in and came to a screeching halt. And then... The QJZ-89 heavy machine guns mounted on these trucks began spitting out angry flames in Kang Jin-Ho’s direction![1]

The cacophony of noises the weapons produced was eardrum-shattering. The vibration from the gunfire even rocked the trucks. Spent cartridges danced in the air before falling down like countless snowflakes. Thick clouds of gun smoke spread angrily in every direction.

The kind of firepower that would have torn apart a person’s body into shreds focused on one target. A total of four heavy machine guns unleashed their torrent of destruction on Kang Jin-Ho.

CLANG! Kakakakaka-clang!

Kang Jin-Ho’s figure, clad in pitch-black demonic qi and nearly invisible to naked eyes, grew more distinct from all the dancing sparks illuminating his surroundings.

“Fire, fire! Fire until that monster is dead! Kill that f*cker!”

A shout that might also have been a scream got buried under the gunfire’s ear-ripping noises.

The shooting did not end until all the ammo finally ran out. The soldiers continued to squeeze the triggers until the attached ammo boxes were completely empty, and the guns started jamming noisily.

Eventually, the noises of Armageddon subsided, only to be replaced by a spine-tingling silence.

“...?”

The commander’s tense glare locked on Kang Jin-Ho’s figure.

Why was that monster not doing anything?

It was as if he was staring at a mount of black tar. This sight was far too surreal to be something created by a human being. But that was about it.

Kang Jin-Ho wasn’t budging an inch.

Did we... Did we get him?

Did the monster die on his feet? What a manhua-like idea that was, but these cultivators were practically creatures straight out of fantasy manhua, no?

The commander swallowed his saliva, then got ready to signal his men to approach the target. However...!

“...Huh?”

A stunned gasp left the commander’s mouth.

That thing, that pitch-black thing... From that black existence, something crimson began shining eerily. It was a pair of lights, their color reminiscent of fresh blood!

Just as the commander’s brain finally realized that those lights were Kang Jin-Ho’s eyes, the silent devil suddenly made its move.

KWA-AAAAAAAH!

Kang Jin-Ho’s demonic qi explosively extended in every direction.

“R-retreat...!”

That was the last thing the commander said. A man with his head chopped off couldn’t say anything even if he wanted to, after all!

Everything the tendrils of demonic qi touched got split apart. Whether it was a human body, weapons, even vehicles... As if they were all made of nothing but paper, everything got sliced and chopped apart with little to no resistance.

The demonic qi tendrils, dancing and slicing through the air like living snakes, abruptly returned to Kang Jin-Ho.

Claaang!

The Crimson Destiny and the Azuremourne gripped in Kang Jin-Ho’s hands screeched loudly as they scraped against the ground. Almost at the same time, the retracted demonic qi enveloped his body and began billowing like living flames.

The sight of the demonic qi, now rising up like wings of the devil, was enough to blow away any semblance of the will to fight in the still-alive soldiers.

“R-run... away...!”

Most enemies trying to take Kang Jin-Ho down made similar mistakes. They thought that overwhelming him through sheer numbers should be enough to get the job done. Even if they failed to kill him, the superior numbers should still make it easier to retreat.

Unfortunately, anyone wishing to fight the devil must put their life on the line first. Those who failed to do so would be forced to pay the ultimate price!

Kang Jin-Ho charged forward. He looked like a gigantic black bird spreading its wings.

“D-don’t...”

The soldier couldn’t even finish the sentence of “Don’t come closer!”

Splaaaat!

The Crimson Destiny sliced through a person’s neck, the weapon’s wielder seemingly not caring about the life he had taken. Blood gushed out from the severed neck like a fountain. It wasn’t just one neck, however.

Blood from dozens of headless necks gushed out to complete the horrifying spectacle of a crimson rainstorm. And the pitch-black devil was madly charging forward within this blood rain, madness seemingly consuming him.

***

“Heuh-uh...!”

Kung Hsiang desperately clawed at the ground with his shaking hands.

“Heugh... Urgh!”

He couldn’t summon any strength in his body right now. His urine had already soaked his pants a long time ago.

Those f*cking bastards! Sons of b*tches!

The ones Kung Hsiang resented right now were not the rampaging devil behind him.

Somewhat ironically, he didn’t even feel an ounce of anger toward Kang Jin-Ho, who was responsible for beheading Kung Hsiang’s comrades and turning the military equipment into useless scrap metal.

Why? Because that creature was a calamity. A natural disaster!

The “power” that surpassed the realm of common sense could not become a target of resentment. Would those who lost their homes to a tornado resent tornadoes? Would those who got swept away by the waves resent the ocean for their misfortune? Of course not.

A “power” that went past a certain threshold couldn’t be controlled anymore. When that happens, frail humans shouldn’t even dare resist. No, they should just evacuate or make preparations and hunker down somewhere safe.

Unfortunately for Kung Hsiang’s stupid higher-ups, they chose to resist.

I mean, think about how insane this is!

Could anyone imagine themselves getting on a boat and rushing toward the incoming waves just to stop a typhoon? No, such a thing would never happen. But the higher-ups still went ahead and did that stupid and crazy thing!

You... you sons of b*tches!

This was what being in the military was like, however.

The ones making flawed decisions were always far away, safe and sound. Meanwhile, those who died were pawns with no power to decide. Thanks to this rule of the military, Kung Hsiang now found himself desperately crawling on the ground to escape from the maw of the devil.

“Huff, huff! Wheeze!”

His breathing was heavy, wheezy, and unsteady.

From the get-go, this whole thing was a mistake!

Kung Hsiang belonged to the 71st Special Missions Brigade of the People’s Liberation Army.

Unsurprisingly for China, which enjoyed an abundance of population, the number of brigades and divisions in its army easily exceeded several hundreds. Even among them, though, the 71st Brigade was a rather special one.

Countering the threat of martial artists with modern weapons, soldiers, and tactics—here was a wish that so many around the world thought about but never put to practice. But the 71st Special Missions Brigade was created specifically for this purpose. To make this wish come true, its members had to endure training regimes that verged on torture.

While enduring training methods extreme enough to kill people, Kung Hsiang told himself that he’d get to wipe out the unruly, unlawful bastards blighting his mother nation with his own strength. And he firmly believed that one day, his actions would bring everlasting glory to China and its people.

That was what he was taught and repeatedly heard, after all. Until it felt like his ears might fall off, no less!

But the reality he faced today was far, far too different from his imaginations.

Only now did Kung Hsiang realize that he and his comrades only knew what their job was, but not who they were supposed to fight against and win!

“Heuh, ueh... Heuh...!”

Pained, terrified gasps continued to leak out of his mouth. Strength rapidly abandoned his outstretched hands.

Plop!

Something suddenly fell right next to him.

Kung Hsiang forced his quaking eyes to look, but the reward for doing so was the sight of the head of another soldier, his dead eyes wide open.

“...!”

Kung Hsiang dared not look behind him. He could already guess that there was nothing attached to this head, after all!

Fighting off the Three Kings with guns?

“Heh... Eheheh!”

Kung Hsiang finally realized how laughable that idea was. He even figured out why other nations boasting powerful armies also couldn’t keep their martial artists in check until now.

That man, their target... He was literally a monster!

The stronger a gun’s firepower was, the larger and heavier the gun would get. As such, there was a limit to the types of guns a foot soldier could operate.

Since that was the case, how were they supposed to deal with that one target? Deploy tanks in the residential areas? Or deploy bombers and fighter jets?

Even tanks seemed useless here. Absolutely useless!

Even with dozens of tanks, Kung Hsiang didn’t think they stood a chance against that monster. How were tanks supposed to hit a creature that moved faster than eyes could see?

Against a monster of such a caliber, even tanks were no better than large lumps of metal. No, maybe they didn’t even qualify to be called metal in this situation. Calling a substance that got sliced apart like paper “metal” seemed like an unfunny joke, now didn’t it?!

As all these thoughts flitted in and out of his head, Kung Hsiang desperately pulled himself forward with both hands. But then...!

Bang!

His head clattered into something. He looked up and saw an object covered in a black tarpaulin sheet blocking his path.

Where am I?

Where was he supposed to run off to now? Where should he go to survive this slaughter?

He could still hear the screams and sobbings coming from somewhere behind him. Kung Hsiang reflexively looked back, but all he could see in the darkness was... decrepit buildings with their lights turned off.

Not a single person hiding in those buildings dared to look outside. None of them wanted to look at the dying soldiers. In that case...

Who would remember that Kung Hsiang had died here tonight?

“Uwaaaaah! F*cking hell!”

Kung Hsiang pushed himself off the ground, then turned around to face the place he tried to run away from.

All he could see was a hellish spectacle.

Despite the darkness, he could see the rain of blood. And within the rain, an existence that could only be described as the devil was freely rampaging around.

This sight burned into Kung Hsiang’s eyes.

There was no escape. With no energy left in his legs, Kung Hsiang knew his head would go flying before he could get far. That devil didn’t know the concept of mercy, after all. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

In that case... He might as well not die like a pathetic fool!

“Kill me! Goddamn it, kill me! You f*cking mongrel! You think I’m scared?! Uwaaaaah!”

All the pent-up rage in his chest exploded into the open. His pitiful cry seemed to reach the devil’s hearing just then. The devil stopped moving and slowly turned its head in Kung Hsiang’s direction.

A pair of crimson flames stared right back at Kung Hsiang. Those burning eyes, as red as blood itself, stood out so much from within the dense demonic qi that eerily matched the description of melting tar!

“Uh...?”

Kung Hsiang couldn’t say anything else.

The devil stared back at him, then slowly closed the distance. The creature’s steps were not fast at all. No, it was agonizingly slow.

Even though there was only around twenty meters between him and the devil, the time taken to cover this distance felt like an eternity to Kung Hsiang.

Clomp!

Soon, the two men stood close enough to hear each other’s breathing.

The devil slowly reached out, and Kung Hsiang squeezed his eyes shut.

Riiiip!

However, the event he had been expecting did not happen. When Kung Hsiang forced his eyes open, he could see the devil yanking and ripping something away. The black tarpaulin came off to reveal just what had been obstructing Kung Hsiang’s retreat just now.

It was a... jeep? But why was such a vehicle parked here?

Unfortunately for Kung Hsiang, he never got to finish his train of thoughts.

Slice!

His view of the world abruptly changed. Even though he hadn’t done anything, he was flying up in the air.

What’s going on here?

His view changed without his brain’s input and displayed the night sky above, only for it to show his back next. By the time he landed on the ground, though, Kung Hsiang’s view was dominated by one thing.

...And that was his headless body with a fountain of blood gushing out from the neck!

What...

His consciousness faded away just as abruptly, like the end of a film. Right till that final moment, he never figured out that he had died.

1. The QLZ-89, or simply known as the Type 89 heavy machine gun, is a heavy machine gun designed in the People’s Republic of China, which fires the Soviet 12.7x108mm ammo. ☜