Chapter 1206. Cleaning Up (1)

Yoshinobu desperately squeezed his hands to stop them from shaking nonstop.

His eyes also shook pitifully, but at least they remained glued to one spot. And his view was dominated by the figure of one man.

What a strange thing this was. Very, very strange, indeed!

Even though Yoshinobu was deeply terrified, the person his eyes locked on to was in no physical shape to scare anyone.

After all, that man was down on one knee, barely stopping his body from collapsing by stabbing his sword to the ground and leaning against it.

His flesh was covered in innumerable spider web-like wounds, while broken blades jutted out from his hunched back.

‘A... A corpse!’

Indeed, that had to be a corpse.

Even if he wasn’t a corpse yet, that man was soon to become one!

It no longer mattered how powerful that man used to be before he ended up in that state. It also didn’t matter how great and noble he was, either. That man would not be able to squash an ant in that wretched state.

Terror was usually a byproduct of a powerful enemy. So, it made no sense to be terrified of an enemy barely hanging on to his life.

However, Yoshinobu was undoubtedly terrified right now.

‘No one, absolutely nobody, will believe what happened here today!’

Who would believe it? Who would dare believe that a lone human being slaughtered Tsukihas, Tsukikage, and the bomb-carrying shadows? Not only that, but he even cut down over half of the elite warriors of Shinichi-kai Yoshinobu had led, too!

Even these remaining warriors all suffered from injuries of varying severity. If Kang Jin-Ho still had some energy left, even by a tiny bit, nobody here would be leaving this place alive tonight!

Quite literally, Yoshinobu and his men survived by a hair’s breadth!

“

Heh

...”

A hollow, exhausted chuckle leaked out of Yoshinobu’s mouth.

It was over. Shinichi-kai was as good as finished now.

Shinichi-kai’s people yapped on about their determination to throw everything away if it meant they could kill Kang Jin-Ho. But that was nothing but mere determination, not an actual plan.

Not even one-fifth of Shinichi-kai’s forces remained after tonight’s event.

Even if Kang Jin-Ho died, and these remaining warriors took care of the Assembly’s martial artists, Shinichi-kai would never survive the pressure from other

gumis

. The Iemoto might be an incredible strategist, but that was only when he had pieces he could move around on the board.

Without tools, there wasn’t much the Iemoto could do by himself.

“C-commander, sir...!”

Yoshinobu heard his adviser’s determined, driven voice.

“You must cut him down.”

“...”

“We’ve already lost everything, sir. And we won’t have anything remaining. That’s why... At the very least, we need Kang Jin-Ho’s head as a trophy. We might have lost everything, but that doesn’t mean we can afford to lose our honor too, sir!”

The adviser was right.

Even if delivering Kang Jin-Ho’s severed head to the Iemoto was ultimately pointless, Yoshinobu must cut it down. Otherwise, how was he, or anyone else for that matter, supposed to compensate for all the bloodshed and the loss of life in this place?

Shu-ru-ru-rung...!

Yoshinobu yanked his sword out, then discarded the sheath on the ground.

After cautiously raising the katana and getting into a stance, Yoshinobu slowly approached Kang Jin-Ho in steps that could only be described as respectful and solemn.

‘This is a strange feeling.’

The kneeling man before Yoshinobu’s eyes was an enemy. The worst kind of enemy who cut down and killed his allies, subordinates, and even his seniors.

Yet, for some strange reason, he didn’t feel hatred toward Kang Jin-Ho.

All the rage and hatred that made him shudder not too long ago were gone from his mind. What ruled over him now was fear and awe.

After all, he was a martial artist, too. A man who threw his life away to the pursuit of martial arts!

As a martial artist, he simply must express his respect to his fellow martial artist. Especially when said fellow martial artist was this incredible being barely clinging to his life before Yoshinobu’s eyes!

“...Interpreter.”

Maybe this was something he shouldn’t be doing.

However, Yoshinobu believed that he must maintain at least some level of decorum during Kang Jin-Ho’s execution. His trembling heart and his soul filled with awe and respect demanded it from him.

Kang Jin-Ho was a great warrior. And a great warrior like him deserved a death fitting his station.

Despite sensing someone approaching him from behind, Yoshinobu didn’t bother to look behind and addressed Kang Jin-Ho instead.

“You...”

The interpreter swiftly got to work. However, Yoshinobu didn’t think his words would reach Kang Jin-Ho at this point.

No one could tell if Kang Jin-Ho was still conscious or not. Even if he was, though, he was clearly in no physical shape to listen and understand.

He was nothing more than a nearly dead corpse desperately clinging to his soul.

All the blood trickling out of Kang Jin-Ho had dyed the ground crimson.

Yoshinobu knew he’d never forget this sight till his final breath. These memories of Kang Jin-Ho would probably remain deeply branded into his brain and soul. As an ideal form of a martial artist he must spend the rest of his life to become!

“...have been truly amazing.”

Yoshinobu suppressed his voice with as much respect and solemnness as he could muster.

“You have been truly incredible. Worthy of every praise. No one can take that away from you. However... There is a limit to how much one man can do alone. I pray that your journey to the netherworld will be a pleasant one. Allow me to give you the maximum respect I can afford in this situation.”

Yoshinobu was already in position. And that position was to behead his target in one swift strike. This type of death was most fitting for a powerful warrior.

Yoshinobu sucked in a deep breath, then raised his sword high.

Beheading Kang Jin-Ho as swiftly as possible and ending his suffering was the greatest form of respect Yoshinobu could show to his enemy.

However, before he could land the strike...!

Flinch!

Kang Jin-Ho’s body moved slightly. His faltering head slowly rose up. It looked so painful. Difficult. Labored.

Even so, his head was definitely rising higher now.

Yoshinobu lowered his sword by a tad and waited. He must listen if Kang Jin-Ho wanted to say his last words.

Never mind respect or something as grandiose as that, he genuinely desired to hear what this great warrior would say as his last testament.

Kang Jin-Ho’s head was half-raised now. His face was visible to Yoshinobu.

The black iris between the half-open eyelids stared right back at Yoshinobu.

This was strange. Yoshinobu had already witnessed that look in Kang Jin-Ho’s eyes plenty of times before today. However, something about the light, the emotions, in his eye felt different this time.

That withdrawn eye seemed to contain gloomy bitterness. Maybe loneliness?

Yoshinobu suddenly grew curious about what Kang Jin-Ho was like away from battlefields.

“...lone.”

A feeble-sounding voice escaped from Kang Jin-Ho’s mouth.

The interpreter frowned deeply and tried to get closer to listen.

“Alone, you say...”

Kang Jin-Ho forced his unmoving facial muscles to form a crooked grin. However, could anyone call that a grin? When it looked so twisted?

At least it looked like a perfectly acceptable grin in Yoshinobu’s eyes.

“...Yes.”

Kang Jin-Ho cackled quietly.

It was true. There was a limit to what he could do by himself.

The past him back in Zhongyuan tried to fight everyone alone, but got defeated in the end and died. He had turned the entire world into his enemy, didn’t he?

However, now...

Kang Jin-Ho’s voice grew a little clearer.

“Not anymore.”

Yoshinobu narrowed his eyes.

‘His mind must be unstable.’

That made sense. No, not only did it make sense, it should’ve been obvious.

Yoshinobu hoped to hear something from Kang Jin-Ho, but maybe that was him being too greedy in this situation. He closed his eyes, then raised the sword higher.

He didn’t want this great warrior to suffer the ignominy of this pitiful state. And to do that, he must end Kang Jin-Ho’s life as quickly as possible.

“That’s not true anymore.”

That was when this happened.

A sudden howl of a ferocious beast coming from somewhere tore into Yoshinobu’s hearing. Even a hardened warrior like him froze stiff at the rage and viciousness contained in that howl.

‘Where did that come from?!’

Yoshinobu’s head urgently cocked upward.

‘The... moon?’

He could see the moon high up above his head. But there was something within that moon. It was a speck, a tiny black dot.

No, maybe it had the outline of a person...?

That was when the outline of a person instantly grew larger in size. And when Yoshinobu realized that it was actually a person falling on top of him, it was too late for him to dodge.

A man whose entire body was covered in a dark crimson aura like the fur of a wild beast pounced on Yoshinobu while howling like a monster.

Splaaaaash!

The space with Yoshinobu in it got ripped apart. He trembled in dread after sensing something cold and hair-raising brushing past his body.

That was when he heard Kang Jin-Ho’s voice containing a hint of laughter.

“...I’m not alone anymore, you see?”

“...!”

Yoshinobu reflexively stumbled back.

“H-how...!”

Only then did he see the full appearance of the person who had landed between him and Kang Jin-Ho. A monstrous creature emitting a dark crimson aura howled loudly again.

“How foolish was I...!”

SPLAAAAAT!

Yoshinobu’s body split apart in half and plopped down to the ground.

“Assembly Master! Maaaaaster!”

The man covered in the dark crimson aura, Yi Myeong-Hwan, howled madly while grabbing Kang Jin-Ho.

“Why, you...!”

Explosive killing intent already filled his eyes as he snapped his head toward the Japanese warriors, who still hadn’t figured out what happened.

“Kill! Kill them all! Leave no one alive! Rip them apart and crush them to death! Right, nooooow!”

As if to answer that desperate howl, the entire mountain was instantly blanketed by even more howls of terrifying beasts.

“W-what’s going on?!”

“What’s happening!”

As the Japanese panicked, they saw something. They saw dark crimson ‘meteors’ rushing up the mountain covered in the veil of darkness.

The demonic cultivators completely enveloped in demonic qi and blood qi couldn’t contain their rage anymore and charged at the Japanese warriors like a ravenous pack of monsters.

It was as if the entire mountain was set alight by the flames of the devil!

“

Kkuwaaaaaah

!”

“

Ku-ru-ruruk

!”

They no longer retained their sanity. With the enemy invading the sanctuary that must never be disturbed, the Demon Flames willingly threw away their last grip on their egos and charged straight at the panicking Japanese warriors.

Their eyes, dyed completely in madness, glowed in eerie crimson hues.

“

Aaah-aaaaahk

!”

“N-no! Don’t kill me!”

They bit and tore into their victims.

This situation couldn’t be called a battle anymore. The Japanese warriors were already exhausted by Kang Jin-Ho and had no strength left to fight off the enraged Demon Flames.

And the rage burning within the Demon Flames was indescribably fierce.

Their minds blanked out after rushing up to the Assembly HQ and confirmed the state Kang Jin-Ho was in.

The rage they felt was almost intense enough to rupture their hearts. Naturally, they looked for a way to vent this rage.

They would kill. And they wouldn’t ‘gently’ kill their enemies, either.

The Demon Flames would rip apart, crush, and shatter the enemies and make them experience all the pain and suffering in this world!

After entrusting themselves to the conflagrations of rage and destruction, the Demon Flames pounced and swept away the remnants of Shinichi-kai.

Desperate screams echoed into the night. Torn human flesh splattered and rained down everywhere.

Death throes and screams rang out like a terrifying orchestra.

Yi Myeong-Hwan glared at this spectacle with eyes containing blood-boiling rage before snapping his head back toward Kang Jin-Ho.

He urgently called out while pulling Kang Jin-Ho closer.

“A-Assembly Master, sir!”

“...”

He shook Kang Jin-Ho around, but the latter’s eyes remained closed.

“Assem...”

Yi Myeong-Hwan suddenly grew scared of calling out to Kang Jin-Ho again. He was scared that Kang Jin-Ho might not reply to him ever again.

“Euh...!”

Uncontrollable rage tried to blind Yi Myeong-Hwan again.

He knew he’d never regain his sanity if Kang Jin-Ho perished like this. He’d probably become a demonic murderer who let the madness and bloodlust steal away his reasoning and killed anything and everything his eyes could see.

However, so what if that happened?

That would be actually preferable. Preferable to losing Kang Jin-Ho but carrying on with his sanity intact, anyway!

“Those stinking sons of bi*tches... Rip them apart and...!”

“...Yi Myeong-Hwan.”

Yi Myeong-Hwan’s head snapped toward the source of that voice. Kang Jin-Ho was staring at him through his half-open eyelids.

“A-Assembly Master, sir!”

“...You’re late.”

Yi Myeong-Hwan shuddered powerfully while holding on to Kang Jin-Ho.

‘He’s alive!’

Kang Jin-Ho was still alive!

Kang Jin-Ho muttered weakly. “You...”

“Yes, sir! I’m here!”

“...We’ll talk about your tardiness after I get some rest first.”

Kang Jin-Ho closed his eye again and fell unconscious.

Yi Myeong-Hwan freaked out and hurriedly pressed his ear to Kang Jin-Ho’s chest. Only after confirming the sounds of a still-beating heart did Yi Myeong-Hwan sigh in relief and sink to his knees.

“...How could you think of saying that in this situation, sir?”

Yi Myeong-Hwan chuckled wryly while forgetting to wipe away the tears streaming down his face.

This was the moment of yet another fierce battle drawing to a close.