Chapter 750: Burning (5)

“Kkuuuuh-huk!”

Cai Kechang loudly gritted his teeth as the heavy weight pressed down on him from above.

He eventually yelled out, “Uwaaahk! God daaaaaamn it!”

“Wait, Director Cai! You need to keep your head down!”

The clash between Kang Jin-Ho and the Crimson King generated a shockwave capable of blowing everything away in the blink of an eye. Obviously, run-of-the-mill martial artists would never withstand such an impact.

Unfortunately, Cai Kechang's level was no better than the so-called run-of-the-mill martial artist. What had protected him from the shockwave this time was the human barrier created by his personal guards.

Just as the shockwave reached them, the guards around him threw themselves on top of him and pushed him down, then used their own physical bodies to absorb the impact force.

Even then, Cai Kechang still felt his innards tumble and distort from the shockwave. The familiar acrid metallic taste tried to well up from his throat.

Cai Kechang's eyes became bloodshot.

'Just... Just what the hell am I doing in this place?'

This powerful humiliation made a mess of his mind. Cai Kechang rocked up here full of bravado about killing Kang Jin-Ho, but he failed to do anything of importance. All of his plans proved useless, and his predictions and anticipations missed their mark by a wide margin.

That wasn't all, however. As if his failure was set in stone from the get-go, the Crimson King suddenly showed up here, too.

Tears of blood trickled out of Cai Kechang's eyes. To think he had become a subordinate who underestimated his master's infinite wisdom! To make matters worse, Cai Kechang even got in his master's way whenever the latter came up with the correct course of action! What good was such a rotten, useless subordinate?

What crushed Cai Kechang's heart even more wasn't his failure, though. The way he saw it, he was destined to fail from the beginning.

What could a mere human like him do when two giants were fighting each other? When their battle rocked the heaven and earth?! The only thing humans could do was stand back and spectate in awe. That was all.

Even if Cai Kechang's plan had been a success... Even if he had accurately estimated Kang Jin-Ho's capabilities and strength ahead of time, would Cai Kechang be able to stop his target?

No, that didn't seem likely.

Despite being pressed down by a bunch of men, Cai Kechang still resolutely shook his head. This event had already gone past the point where strategies and careful planning could have made a difference.

Ants could try everything in their power but would never stop an elephant. Just like that elephant, Kang Jin-Ho was not an existence that the resourcefulness and combined effort of ants like Cai Kechang could deal with. And Cai Kechang's blunder this time was not realizing that cruel fact sooner.

“Get off me!” Cai Kechang indignantly waved his arm when the shockwave passed him by. At this rate, forget the deadly shockwave killing him; he might get crushed to death by the weight of the ones on top of him instead!

Unfortunately for him, the reply he got was firm and resolute. “Keep your head down, sir!”

“I told you to get off me! Goddamn it! I need to see the situation first to...”

“Another shockwave is coming! Stay down, sir!”

Cai Kechang reflexively went down to the ground again when that piercing cry stabbed him in the ear. There was no time to think. His body reacted first, even before his brain could do anything. As it turned out, his body's judgment was correct.

The ground began rumbling ominously. Then, it began rising and falling rapidly as if an earthquake had begun!

Cai Kechang's body also rose into the air before falling down several times to match the ominous quaking. Naturally, he was being crushed by incredible pressure and weight at the same time!

While the ground angrily pushed up at him, human bodies crushed down on him. No wonder it felt like massive hammers were mercilessly pounding on every part of Cai Kechang's poor body!

“Ahhhk... Ouch... Urghkk...!”

The only thing he could do was gasp out weak screams that weren't loud enough to relieve the pain he felt. His consciousness nearly faded away after the impact force flushed all the thoughts out of his mind.

Eventually, the second shockwave died down. Cai Kechang's fingertips unsteadily trembled as everything regained their calmness.

'Am I... Am I still alive?'

Powerful dizziness washed over him and made it difficult to confirm his survival. Some things were twitching and moving on top of him, but Cai Kechang was too exhausted to confirm his own survival through such sensations.

“...Director Cai, sir! Can you hear me?”

Someone urgently addressed Cai Kechang while helping him up to his feet. Cai Kechang bit down hard on his tongue. The sharp pain filled his mouth, quickly followed by the vivid taste of blood. That brought life back to Cai Kechang's eyes.

He used his free hand to urgently rub his face and slap his cheek to reawaken his senses. After sobering up a bit, Cai Kechang opened his eyes wide and tried to scan his surroundings, but...

“...!”

What he saw was... Hell. Pure Hell on Earth!

Everything and everyone had been swept away. The location where everyone used to stand was now an empty field. This didn't seem surprising, considering everyone got flung away regardless of whether they were still alive or not.

This level of strength seemed too unbelievable even for Kang Jin-Ho. And he smirked deeply at this gargantuan power that made fun of all the things Kang Jin-Ho had accepted as common sense.

It felt like his body was about to get crushed to powder. Every time he sliced apart the incoming fist light, Kang Jin-Ho's feet sunk into the ground up to his ankles. All the bones in his body screamed from the abuse. And he stopped wondering about how much of a mess his innards must be by now.

Even then, Kang Jin-Ho couldn't stop himself from smirking for some reason. Despite the barrage of fist light, a devilish smirk continued to distort his face.

This situation... was not bad. Indeed, it wasn't bad at all!

All this pain, all the blood he lost, even all these crazy fist lights pounding on him in an effort to turn him into powder...

None of these things were 'bad'. In all honesty, Kang Jin-Ho was having a great time instead.

Steam billowed from Kang Jin-Ho's mouth every time he exhaled. His body was burning up, causing a cloud of boiling steam to escape from his pores.

'Yes, this is it!'

How much did he miss this!

Kang Jin-Ho thirsted after peace. He wanted to live 'normally' like everyone else. He told himself that that kind of life would be enough. However, doing so didn't fulfill him.

No matter how peaceful life had become, no matter how much he tried to convince himself by saying his family and friends made him happy... This emptiness inside Kang Jin-Ho couldn't be filled.

Oh, how much did he miss this heightened sensation!

How much did he miss this battlefield! A battlefield where life and death were in a constant struggle! Where killing intent collided against more killing intent!

“Kek... Kekeke!”

Even though Kang Jin-Ho tried to suppress himself, cackles continued to leak out of his mouth. He had finally found a worthy opponent.

Finally, an enemy Kang Jin-Ho thought he'd never encounter in the modern era had shown up before him! And now, he must risk his everything to fight!

Knowing this, how could he not enjoy this situation?

Jolts of electricity ran down his spine. Kang Jin-Ho's eyes became more bloodshot as more demonic qi gushed out of his figure. Even if he hadn't consciously willed it, demonic qi automatically engulfed him like armor. And then, crimson streaks of light burned brightly where his eyes should be.

Stomp!

Kang Jin-Ho took a step forward. Then, another step. With his demonic qi armor, he advanced forward even as fist light continued to slam down on him.

As if to indicate that the Crimson King had noticed this change, his fist light attacks became even heavier and fiercer. In a way, they resembled pure-white streaks of meteor falling from the night sky. In some other way, they also looked like large snowflakes quietly falling on a Wintery night.

Within this white space, a pitch-black demon silently advanced forward... While emitting ominous crimson lights from his eyes, while a chilling smirk was etched across his face visible beyond the wavering demonic qi. From that smirk alone, it was clear what Kang Jin-Ho's intentions were!

What a shockingly monstrous and bizarre spectacle it was.

KA-BOOM!

The fist light blew apart after colliding with Kang Jin-Ho's sword and disturbed his demonic qi armor. Like flames dancing against strong winds, all the demonic qi unsteadily wavered around before settling back down on Kang Jin-Ho's figure.

Creeeeeeeeak!

The creaking Crimson Destiny and Azuremourne seemed to know what their master was thinking about as they started making ghostly wailing noises.

Kang Jin-Ho's swords were actually screaming! Quite literally, they were screaming like specters.

The crimson heavenly deity floating in the sky continued to hand down his judgment on the abominable devil crawling on the ground. However, this devil continued to resist and reject Heaven's judgment and slowly, oh-so-slowly advanced forward.

...As if he was an Imoogi coiled up in a hidden place in the shadows, waiting for that one opportunity to ascend to the heavens![1]

This spectacle was no longer taking place in the mortal realm. The best way to describe it would be a scene straight out of a myth of gods and monsters, a legendary tale from ancient times that had been passed down verbally through generations.

The Crimson King and Kang Jin-Ho were bringing that legendary tale into reality right at this moment.

The battle between righteous and demonic, the good and evil...! Two massive bundles of power that made everyone calling this world their home shabby and uninspired... continued to clash without a rest!

While destroying each other's bodies, while ripping apart their minds, while crushing down on their everything!

“Kang, Jin, Hooooo!”

Suddenly, even brighter rays of light exploded forth from the Crimson King's fist. So bright was this light that anyone daring to look would've been blinded for the rest of their life!

The light that illuminated the night sky like the midday sun majestically slammed down on Kang Jin-Ho.

1. An Imoogi is a fantasy creature often appearing in Korean literature, usually depicted as a huge black snake. According to the legend, it must wait one thousand years before ascending to become a full-fledged dragon. ☜