“You! You will never understand it. Never!” Nakata Yuji roared in anger as thick veins bulged in his throat.
His bleeding had barely stopped by then, but his agitation caused the wounds to open up again. Blood flooded down his face. That didn't matter, though, as the front of his clothes had already been soiled by the crimson liquid some time ago.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Nakata Yuji was half out of his mind. Then again, his everything had crumbled to nothing. Absolutely everything! So, how could he remain sane after that?
The glorious expedition meant to conquer South Korea was obliterated even before reaching the Peninsula. And even Nakata Yuji's last-gasp plan to kill Kang Jin-Ho had failed!
With less than half the original force remaining, fighting Kang Jin-Ho now was nothing more than a pipe dream.
All Kang Jin-Ho did was strike with his sword just once. Just once! However, that one attack was still enough to kill half of the attackers and leave the rest crawling away on the floor in fright.
After that display of strength, not even the term “monster” was worthy enough to describe Kang Jin-Ho.
How was anyone supposed to explain an existence like Kang Jin-Ho!
Nakata Yuji instinctively realized it. They were all going to die. Everyone!
Not a single person participating in this expedition would go home in one piece. It wasn’t simply because they had lost this battle, though.
Some defeats still allowed the losing army to preserve some of its forces. However, to Nakata Yuji’s eyes... Kang Jin-Ho didn’t seem remotely interested in doing that.
In other words, a thousand-plus people would die tonight on this stretch of the ocean!
When that realization dawned on Nakata Yuji, the pain akin to his heart burning in the flames of Hell erupted within his chest.
“For your country, you say?”
Nakata Yuji’s mind snapped back to reality at that subtly jeering voice. Kang Jin-Ho’s mocking words dug painfully into the Japanese man’s hearing.
“Are you trying to claim that your death tonight will help your country somehow?”
“...”
“You know... There's this concept that I don't quite understand. It's called sacrificing yourself.” Kang Jin-Ho casually shrugged. “That has a nice ring to it, right? This whole thing about sacrificing yourself. It sure sounds like something big and important, doesn't it? People believe that being able to risk their lives for a cause is some kind of a big deal.”
Kang Jin-Ho leisurely approached Nakata Yuji, then lowered his head to match the eye line of the squatting Japanese man.
“However, is it really?”
“...”
“Sacrificing yourself means something only if you've managed to protect or achieve your goal at a great personal cost. Am I right?”
“...”
Kang Jin-Ho smirked odiously. “Do you know what I call a sacrifice that achieves nothing? It's a dog's death. Wouldn't you say that has a nice ring to it too?”
Nakata Yuji trembled in indignation.
He was ready to swallow the bitter pill of losing to Kang Jin-Ho. However, this damn monster was denying and insulting what made Nakata Yuji, Nakata Yuji! Even though he knew death was unavoidable, Nakata Yuji was not interested in leaving this world after getting mocked like this.
“And did you say it’s for your country?” Kang Jin-Ho cackled loudly. “That’s something the defenders of their country should be saying. Not the invaders like you.”
Nakata Yuji’s eyes powerfully quaked just then.
Kang Jin-Ho shrugged again. “I guess you will never understand it.”
“You...!” Nakata Yuji was about to cry out. However, Kang Jin-Ho's eyes grew icy cold in an instant, causing Nakata Yuji's body to freeze up like a little mouse facing off against a venomous snake.
Kang Jin-Ho slowly muttered. “You see, I...”
“...?”
“I’m not confident about convincing people with flowery words. Especially when I’m talking to a foreigner who obviously doesn’t speak Korean as their main language. Even so...”
The corners of Kang Jin-Ho’s lips curled up suspiciously.
“...There are plenty of ways to make you understand what I'm saying. If I can't make you understand through words, all I have to do is... Help you figure it out on your own. Soon, you will see how pointless your resolve is and how flimsy all of your justifications have been. I hope you get my drift.”
Of course Nakata Yuji didn’t get what Kang Jin-Ho was saying. However, he still thought he understood some of it.
Although he wasn’t sure why Kang Jin-Ho was telling him all this, even a moron could tell what would happen to Nakata Yuji if he dared to object to Kang Jin-Ho’s bizarre-sounding rant.
“In the end, your fate would’ve been that of a dog’s death,” said Kang Jin-Ho while reaching out to grab Nakata Yuji’s head.
Why was Kang Jin-Ho doing this? Nakata Yuji just couldn’t understand it. Why did they start having this conversation? Didn’t Kang Jin-Ho already win this battle?
Since Nakata Yuji had been focused on gathering enough forces to fight Kang Jin-Ho off, he ended up overlooking this significant development. But now, everything had become crystal-clear in his head.
Those elites of the Shinichi-kai never planned to obey Nakata Yuji’s commands from the very beginning. Because, they received orders from someone else!
The shadow... Kazeichi finally broke his silence. “Truly remarkable.”
His gaze never drifted away from Kang Jin-Ho. Not even once.
“You are stronger than everyone’s expectations.”
Kang Jin-Ho’s withdrawn gaze collided with Kazeichi’s mid-air. And the impression the Japanese shinobi got was...
‘Those eyes don’t belong to a human being.’
Kazeichi couldn't sense anything in those eyes.
After boarding this ship, Kang Jin-Ho must've killed over a hundred people. And that was a conservative estimate. What he had done fully qualified him to be called a mass murderer. Or maybe something far worse than that.
Kang Jin-Ho cut people's heads off as if they were merely bamboo sticks. His movements didn't contain a single trace of hesitation or disgust at cutting living humans down.
Only a devil could do that.
Throughout his lengthy life, Kazeichi had been told by his enemies countless times that he was a merciless devil. However, standing before Kang Jin-Ho made him realize that he still retained some traces of humanity somewhere deep inside his heart.
‘Kang Jin-Ho’s ruthlessness can even rival the Iemoto’s, too!’
Despite getting that impression, Kazeichi also noticed that this ruthlessness felt different from the Iemoto’s.
While the Iemoto’s ruthlessness stemmed from all the cold blood coursing through his heart of steel, which allowed him to stop at nothing and resort to any means possible to achieve his goals... Kang Jin-Ho’s ruthlessness felt like “heartlessness” had been engraved deep into his entire being.
What happened to Kang Jin-Ho for him to become like this?
‘That is... dark.’
The darkness emanating from Kang Jin-Ho was the deepest and darkest Kazeichi had ever witnessed in his entire life. As a man who lived all of his life in the shadows, he could easily recognize the extraordinary depths of that man's darkness. Even so...!
“You don't seem to be the type to enjoy conversations, so let us cut to the chase,” said Kazeichi as the darkness behind him quickly expanded to envelop the surroundings.
...And then, some things within this darkness began creating flickering lights. Soon, the lights numbered dozens.
Nakata Yuji didn’t need long to realize those burning lights floating in the darkness were actually human eyeballs!
“We must kill that man, whatever the cost! That monster will not only become the greatest hindrance ever known to our Shinichi-kai... But even to the Great Japanese Empire!”
Just as Kazeichi’s cold yet passionate words rang in the air, those lights... No, those glaring eyes began surrounding and tightening on Kang Jin-Ho.
However, Kang Jin-Ho’s response to this new development was to lightly kick Nakata Yuji on the floor instead. “Hey, you. Translate what that guy said.”
“...” Nakata Yuji looked up in flabbergast at Kang Jin-Ho.
However, when Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly stared at him, Nakata Yuji realized he should do as told. While stuttering somewhat, he translated what Kazeichi said to Kang Jin-Ho.
“Hah. He sure talks a good game,” Kang Jin-Ho chuckled slightly.
Whether it was this wounded bastard or the shinobi from the shadows... They didn't seem to mind spewing out cringe-inducing nonsense.
Listening to these idiots made it sound like Kang Jin-Ho was here to protect the Korean forces about to invade Japan!
‘How utterly laughable!’
Kang Jin-Ho never planned to do something as grandiose as that. He only came here because the thoughts of these bastards stepping on Korean soil irritated him. That was all. That was the extent of Kang Jin-Ho’s... “discrimination” against these people.
Other than his irritation, nothing about Kang Jin-Ho's response had changed.
‘That’s right. Nothing has changed.’
Maybe that was why Kang Jin-Ho was more irritated than usual. Irritated at these idiots for saying grandiose nonsense... Irritated at these idiots for placing bizarre importance on a fight that was ultimately meaningless...!
“Fine. Why don’t I find out for myself?”
Pitch-black demonic qi began gushing out of Kang Jin-Ho’s body. Like black flames, these strands of demonic qi danced eerily while enveloping him.
Once he morphed into a creature that could only be described as a devil, Kang Jin-Ho addressed the Japanese coldly, his eyes dyeing in a crimson hue.
“Let's find out if you can still spew such grandiose rubbish when I kill you.”
Kang Jin-Ho’s demonic qi stretched into the night sky like a devil spreading its wings.