Chapter 1188. Fierce Fighting (3)

Chapter 1188. Fierce Fighting (3)

“Director Bang! Sir!”

Someone screamed loudly from a distance. The urgency in his voice forced people’s attention to land on Bang Jin-Hun.

“Urgh...!”

Bang Jin-Hun stumbled back before falling on one knee. He clutched at his side as blood gushed out from the gaping wound.

“Sir! Director, we...”

“

Oii

! Quieten down, will ya!”

Bang Jin-Hun’s loud scolding instantly silenced the surroundings.

‘Ouch, this f*cking hurts!’

Bang Jin-Hun pushed himself back up. If he had been a moment slower in dodging, he would’ve been chopped clean apart horizontally by now. Noticing the truth in the nick of time spared him from becoming dissected in half around his waist.

But the consequences of evasion meant the arm that slapped the blade away got sliced up to the point of bones being exposed. And the muscles on his side were also sliced through, too.

These injuries were grave enough for Bang Jin-Hun, who was proud of being a tough guy, to clench his teeth in pain. Still, he got away relatively cheaply this time.

“You lack experience,” said Kazuhiro, his blade pointing at Bang Jin-Hun’s throat. “You did well for a mere

Chosenjin

warrior. Even so, no one can bridge the fundamental gap in their abilities.”

“What the f*ck is he yapping on about this time?

Ptooi!

”

Bang Jin-Hun spat bloody phlegm at the ground.

‘Goddamn it!’

Even though he knew the enemy was strong! How could he stupidly think such a powerful enemy would move according to his wishes? Such a stupidity deserved wounds like these.

Bang Jin-Hun tried to stand up straight. The pain shooting from his side was indescribable, but now wasn’t the time to sit on his butt whining. That much should be obvious to anyone after sensing all the gazes stealthily shifting in his direction.

‘F*ck, man. This goddamn sucks.’

Bang Jin-Hun tried to straighten his back, only to almost fall back on his butt. In all honesty, he had never been injured this badly before. Which also meant he had never fought while injured to this degree!

Bang Jin-Hun clenched his teeth.

‘I guess I shouldn’t have run my mouth off about responsibilities and stuff.’

Even he had no idea until now. He had no idea what it meant to fight while supporting others!

His defeat wouldn’t only be his loss. It’d shatter the morale of everyone believing in him. It’d also completely flip the momentum of this war on its head.

Since that was the case, he must never show any hints of weakness, no matter how painful and difficult it was!

Bang Jin-Hun stood tall and imposing even as the pain threatened to knock him out cold. People were watching him from behind, after all!

So, he must show them. He must show them the same kind of dependable back he had been seeing until now. Maybe his back didn’t look as dependable to the others, but at the very least! He must not look like a shabby little dumbass.

“

Oh

, you dare to stand again?”

Kazuhiro muttered, his eyes opening wider.

He successfully stabbed the Korean in the torso, so it must’ve been nearly impossible to put any strength in the muscles around the wound. Yet that man still stood up?

‘What an admirably resolute willpower that is.’

Kazuhiro couldn’t help but be impressed. He would’ve expressed his respect had this place not been a war zone. But it was. While he wasted time, more and more of his people were getting killed.

“This... is the end!”

Kazuhiro dashed toward Bang Jin-Hun once more.

Bang Jin-Hun calmly watched the Japanese closing the gap and got into his position.

Throb!

Merely placing his foot behind him was enough for another bout of horrifying pain to stab Bang Jin-Hun’s brain. Even so, now wasn’t the time to lose himself to the pain.

“Do you know when it’s the most dangerous in a battle?”

What was that? Even though Bang Jin-Hun knew he must rid himself of distracting thoughts...!

“It’s when you’re at the cusp of victory. When you think you’ve completely suppressed your enemy and are ready to unleash the final attack, you’ll let your guard down without even realizing it. Especially in the middle of a fierce battlefield...!"

Bang Jin-Hun suddenly remembered Kang Jin-Ho’s face as he said those things. The smirk on that face could only be described as smarmy.

“...You shouldn’t complain if that’s how you died.”

“

Haaaaaht

!”

Bang Jin-Hun roused every drop of qi he could spare and drove it all into his right hand. That created a pure ball of white light glowing brightly from his palm. And then... He swung his right hand toward the katana closing in on his throat.

Craaaack!

Along with a goosebumps-inducing noise, the blade stabbed through Bang Jin-Hun’s palm. Even his strongest attack wasn’t enough to stop Kazuhiro’s thrust. However, this was exactly what he wanted in the first place.

Bang Jin-Hun yanked the hand with the sword stabbed into it to the side. The blade couldn’t finish the job of penetrating his throat and only nicked him on the skin. Even so...!

Splaaaash!

A lengthy line drew on his neck skin, causing more blood to spew out.

Bang Jin-Hun sacrificed his neck skin and right hand. Meanwhile, his waist was in a gruesome state. And his left hand was all sliced up down to his bones after trying to defend against the earlier attack.

For the price of all these injuries...!

“I finally got you, you little sh*t!”

...For the first time in this battle, Bang Jin-Hun found himself right past Kazuhiro’s defenses.

“Y-you bastard!”

“Stay still!”

Kazuhiro tried to yank out his katana from Bang Jin-Hun’s hand, but the latter gripped the blade as hard as he could. And then, he wrapped his free arm around the Japanese’s torso before lifting the latter up off the ground.

“Y-you stinking son of a dog!”

Kazuhiro’s elbow slammed down repeatedly on Bang Jin-Hun’s head. However, Bang Jin-Hun gritted his teeth to endure the blows before performing a splendid takedown.

BOOM!

After performing a textbook MMA-style takedown on the Japanese, Bang Jin-Hun rose up before punching at his new target. However, that target wasn’t the Japanese, but the blade stabbing into his other hand!

Clang!

The slender Japanese sword couldn’t withstand the impact from Bang Jin-Hun’s fist, which had been reinforced to become as hard as forged steel, and snapped cleanly in half.

Of course, his hand ended up in an unmentionable state, but he didn’t care.

Kazuhiro lost his primary method of attack after losing his weapon. Meanwhile, Bang Jin-Hun lost only one hand. He still possessed other ‘weapons’.

Such as...!

Boom!

Bang Jin-Hun’s head powerfully slammed into Kazuhiro’s forehead.

“

Kkeuuuhhh

...!”

Without granting his enemy a chance to recover, Bang Jin-Hun quickly mounted Kazuhiro before performing the Thousand-Jin Ballast Technique to press down on his victim.

“

Ptooi!

”

Bang Jin-Hun spat out all the blood pooling in his mouth, then raised his fist, a deep smirk etched on his face.

“Is it because you’re such a refined gentleman and whatnot? You got no talent in a dogfight, mister. It’s time to pay for your mistake, though.”

Kazuhiro urgently cried out, “Y-you bastard! Don’t you have shame?!”

“I still dunno what you’re saying, but I can understand you just fine this time, you piece of dogsh*t. There ain’t no cheap shots in a fight to the death. You gotta do whatever it takes to win.”

Bang Jin-Hun tightly clenched his still-usable left fist.

“You’re gonna learn today what it means to get beaten up to death!”

Kazuhiro’s face turned pale instantly.

SLAM!

“

Kuh-huhk

!”

Kazuhiro struggled ungainly at the shocking power contained within the punch.

Death! He’d really die at this rate!

However, he couldn’t think of a way to resist. He could’ve easily sliced apart a mere bastard like Bang Jin-Hun in seconds had his favorite weapon still been gripped in his hands.

But his weapon was broken in half, and he only held the hilt now. An empty-handed swordsman would never win against a brawler like Bang Jin-Hun.

‘N-no, this can’t be!’

Another punch flew in. Kazuhiro urgently raised his hand to protect his face, but the attack landed accurately on his neck instead.

“

Kkuk?!

”

For a brief moment there, his breathing got cut off. His face was left wide open. And it was immediately targeted by Bang Jin-Hun’s elbow containing strengthening qi.

Craaaack!

Kazuhiro’s jaw bone got crushed. The next punch smashed his cheekbone in.

“

Kkeeuuuh

...!”

Bang Jin-Hun, his expression stony, began pulverizing the Japanese systematically.

“S-spare me... Don’t kill...!”

Kazuhiro gasped out something a self-proclaimed noble warrior should never say. But Bang Jin-Hun’s fist ensured the Japanese would never finish his sentence.

Slaaaaam!

Bang Jin-Hun’s fist slammed mercilessly into Kazuhiro’s mouth. The latter’s broken teeth punctured through the roof of his mouth and dug into his brain.

As Kazuhiro’s consciousness faded into darkness, he could hear Bang Jin-Hun’s voice getting further and further away.

“You ain’t nothing much, are you? Know your place, trash.”

Maybe it was a good thing Kazuhiro didn’t speak Korean, after all.

***

“

Huff

!”

Bang Jin-Hun staggered back up to his feet. Was it because he had lost too much blood? His legs shook weakly while his eyes could barely focus.

‘F*ck me. Feels like I’m dying!’

If this was a spar, it would’ve been Bang Jin-Hun’s loss. But he won precisely because this was a fight to the death.

He wouldn’t have won in a million years using ordinary methods, but just who was Bang Jin-Hun! Had he not spectated on Kang Jin-Ho resorting to various ways to kill enemies?

No wonder he stopped caring about the means of disposal these days!

The one still standing in the end alive was the strong one. And Bang Jin-Hun was still alive.

“Dang it...”

He might crumble and pass out at any second now. However, it was too early for that.

Bang Jin-Hun was well aware of his role. Winning wasn’t quite enough. No, he should make sure everyone here knew of his victory.

Some people could lead their subordinates merely by winning and standing tall like a dependable bulwark. But Bang Jin-Hun wasn’t like that. So, he must shout it to the high heavens first!

Bang Jin-Hun cocked his head back and roared like a beast.

“Rip them all apart! Every single one of these Jap motherf*ckers!”

His fighting spirit soared through the heavens above.

***

“C-Captain!”

“Our captain has been slain!”

The Japanese martial artists instantly fell into a panicked state.

Just who was Kazuhiro! Wasn’t he the captain of the army of the famed Yamashiro-gumi?! Wasn’t he the ruler of Yamashiro-gumi in all but name if the boss, who no longer participated in the on-field activities, was excluded from consideration?!

But someone like that lost to some unknown Korean and became a pitiful corpse. After witnessing that fate, how could the Japanese warriors remain calm and unflustered?

The significance of that defeat was on another scale compared to the defeat of ordinary warriors. Kazuhiro was Yamashiro-gumi’s captain and the commander of this army. Someone like that was dead!

Someone who must not die had been killed!

Anyone with a functioning brain capable of coherent thinking would easily figure out the situation they were in now.

The Martial Assembly’s encirclement keeping them locked in proved resolute and unbreakable. Meanwhile, Vator continued to rampage around behind them like an enraged giant. Magic beyond their comprehension continued to hinder them, while knights kitted out in Western armor slaughtered enemies standing before their positions with a spooky machine-like precision.

Utter, complete annihilation!

Every Japanese present suddenly realized that. All hope was lost in this battle!

Gritting their teeth and fighting till the bitter end only delayed the inevitable by a little bit.

In that case, what should they do?

Someone finally said it. He said something everyone was thinking about but wouldn’t dare say it out loud. And the situation started flowing in the direction no one could control merely from this man shouting out these two seemingly simple words.

“Run away!”

That voice sounded more like a whisper. A pained groan. It should’ve been buried in the chaos of a battlefield filled with various raucous noises.

Yet, for some strange reason, it spread to all corners of the battlefield with startling clarity.

...And that weak voice stoked the flames even higher.

“R-run! We gotta escape!”

“We’ll die! We’ll all die! Retreat! Retreat, now!”

“Hurry and run! Hurry!”

This was the power of ‘panic’.

It might start off small, but panic would spread among the masses in the blink of an eye like wildfire and plunge its victims into a state of pure terror.

Kazuhiro’s death drove every Kanto warrior on this battlefield into this very state!

“Run awaaaaay!”

They must flee! But where to?

Where could they possibly flee to on Korean soil? Besides, weren’t they surrounded by the enemy already?

That was when someone cried out, “The sea! Jump into the sea!”

The Japanese warriors quickly weighed the pros and cons of that proposal.

The ocean! Of course they knew they couldn’t reach Japan by swimming. But the Koreans’ encirclement was restricted to land. Wouldn’t it be easy enough to escape from this death trap by jumping into the ocean?

As long as they could get away from here, they should be able to survive somehow. They could search for a way to return to Japan afterward.

“U-uwaaaaaah!”

“G-get out of my way!”

One side collapsing and fleeing for their lives would be when a war like this one produced the highest number of casualties. That was because the soldiers ensnared by fear would think of their allies standing before them as hindrances rather than the weapons pointing at their backs.

The barely maintained formation crumbled away, and the Japanese warriors began getting into messy tangles with each other.

The warriors at the front of the attack, who used to be the most courageous ones, hurriedly turned around and shoved their allies aside so that they could run toward the ocean. In the blink of an eye, a bloody pandemonium unfolded in this place.

“Where do you think you’re going, you bunch of trash!”

Vator roared while his rampaging intensified. Flames of magical origins billowed even higher everywhere. Tree roots shot out of the ground to tie down the legs of the fleeing Japanese warriors.

Hell on Earth! This nightmarish chaos even put most Hell to shame for how unbridled it was. Even as the chaos unfolded all around them, however, several quick-witted agile warriors still managed to slip into the ocean.

Although the Korean coast guard should still be somewhere out there in the ocean, their patrol boats shouldn’t be fast enough to catch up to the Japanese warriors.

Only by escaping from this place somehow could they find a way to survive!

However, that was when...!

‘...Huh?!’

The ones who had jumped into the ocean suddenly discovered crimson light balls burning below the water’s surface.

What were those crimson lights, though?

Such was the intensity of its hue that the Japanese thought they were actually blood for a moment. And that moment was when a deathly chill ran down their spines.

Splaaaash!

Blades suddenly shooting out of the exploding water stabbed into the torsos of the Japanese swimming in the ocean.

“

Kkuh-ruh-ruhk

...”

While letting out a sound akin to a deflating balloon, a Japanese warrior with a deep stab wound to his gut slowly sank beneath the waves. Almost at the same time, hundreds of martial artists revealed themselves over the water’s surface.

The old man with pure-white hair leading these men smoothly slicked back the wet hair before coldly addressing the martial artists.

“Kill them all. Do not let a single one escape! Dye this ocean crimson with the blood of the bastards daring to sully our liege’s land!”

The demonic cultivators, who had been patiently waiting for this moment, let out beastly howls while pouncing on the Japanese.