Chapter 530: Intense (5)

It was time to acknowledge what needed to be acknowledged. This battle was showing him why demonic cultivators were often referred to as demons.

Vator clearly understood now that Kang Jin-Ho was unlike any enemy he had fought. Kang Jin-Ho's strength? That was a secondary issue. No, the crux of the problem was Kang Jin-Ho's cruelty.

However, this cruelty was different from what Vator viewed as cruel. To him, cruelty involved the physical torment of victims. Vator would use that word to describe the actions of cruel men who could've easily ended the lives of their victims but chose to prolong their suffering instead.

However, Kang Jin-Ho was different from them. His cruelty didn't aim for low-hanging fruits like the rest.

Even though Vator only exchanged a few moves with Kang Jin-Ho, the big man's mind had been torn to shreds by now. Kang Jin-Ho was like a crafty cat that had forced a rat to a corner to toy with it. Unfortunately, Vator was that rat being gradually choked out of his life.

Kang Jin-Ho figured out what Vator was proud of, then proceeded to slowly break it down little by little. He was like a hunter sniping at his game's legs one at a time.

It was too dreadful. Kang Jin-Ho was simply too dreadful!

Vator viewed Kang Jin-Ho as an unruly, savage beast. Anyone would've thought the same after sensing and witnessing Kang Jin-Ho's intense bloodlust and violent attitude.

Unfortunately, Vator got it all wrong. Rather than a beast, Kang Jin-Ho was more like a hunter. And a seasoned veteran, at that!

Rather than intensely chasing after his prey, Kang Jin-Ho's method of hunting was to gradually herd his target toward a dead-end. And when the prey realized it was driven to the precarious edge of the cliff... Only then would Kang Jin-Ho start approaching his target!

As if he was demanding his prey to choose between dying by his hands or jumping below the cliff!

Vator had never experienced a situation like this before in his entire life. He had fought countless battles, then either won or lost. However, he was never treated as a prey in a hunt. Even if his opponent was stronger than him, Vator always tried to fight as equals. However, Kang Jin-Ho didn't play by that rule.

Vator had an epiphany just then. He got excited by the prospect of a powerful opponent. But Kang Jin-Ho was pleased by the fact that his prey was powerful...! As if he was a hunter getting excited by the large paw print of a tiger, or a line-and-pole fisher out at sea getting tense with anticipation at the sight of a massive shark's fin!

This... had to be the result of the difference in one's nature!

Vator couldn't hold his rage back after realizing that Kang Jin-Ho treated him like a mere prey. Since this was the case, he must teach Kang Jin-Ho that the hunted could turn the table and easily kill the hunter. And that entering the mountainside with only a little rifle would put his life in grave danger!

“Kang! Jin! Hoooooo!” Vator thunderously roared. He punched with every fiber of his being.

.

The power contained in his punch transcended the limits of the human body and even distorted reality. The gusts of wind exploding forth from his fist mercilessly shoved and flung everything away. As if a missile landed there and exploded, a massive cloud of choking dust billowed in all directions.

“W-what the f*ck?! Holy sh*t!” Lee Hyeon-Su urgently dashed back for his dear life as vicious blades of wind flew toward him. How was it even logically possible to produce such gusts of wind by... merely punching someone?!

Sure, Lee Hyeon-Su had already given up applying common sense to those two men, but the damn surprises still kept coming for some reason! Despite the considerable distance, the wind pressure remained shockingly strong. In that case, how enormous was the impact force that Kang Jin-Ho, the target of that punch, had to endure?!

KA-BOOOOOOOM!!!

Lee Hyeon-Su momentarily thought his eardrums had ruptured from that massive explosion. He clenched his teeth in anxiety.

'Will this be alright?'

They might be in a deserted mountainside, but wouldn't

someone

call the cops if such loud explosions kept going off? Lee Hyeon-Su briefly thought that maybe he should've done a more thorough preparation before coming here instead of trusting the Chinese with this job.

Objectively speaking, Lee Hyeon-Su should be picking up his phone and calling someone to restrict access to this area, but his body didn't want to listen to his commands.

His brain might know, but his eyes didn't want to look away from this battle. After all, Lee Hyeon-Su was also a martial artist. Even if his attainment in martial arts was nothing to write home about, he still had given his everything to become a full-fledged martial artist! In that case, how could he take his eyes away from this battle?

BOOM!

KA-BOOM!

The ground constantly buckled and fell like a smoothie in a cup being stirred around. Dust clouds billowed and exploded while trees in the distance were being broken or uprooted before getting tossed around.

'Bloody hell...! I can't see anything!'

The curtains of dust being kicked up were too intense and thick. Lee Hyeon-Su could see through this level of darkness with ease, but the visibility robbing dust clouds proved to be much tougher customers to handle! He could just about make out blurry shapes rapidly moving within the dust, but that was about it.

But, then...!

BOOM!

Accompanied by a stupendously heavy noise that crushed down on Lee Hyeon-Su's spine, the dense dust clouds were instantly shoved away. Lee Hyeon-Su hurriedly squeezed his eyes shut as the choking dust slammed into him.

When he opened his eyes again, Lee Hyeon-Su discovered the figures of Kang Jin-Ho and Vator pressed right up against each other in the middle of the wrecked field.

Kang Jin-Ho was crossing his swords to block Vator's powerful punch. The two men were locked into that position, their eyes fiercely glaring at each other.

'Who has the upper hand here?'

Lee Hyeon-Su nervously observed the two men. Analyzing this situation with his meager level of strength was impossible, though. All he could do for now was to check the outer appearances of the two men.

Firstly, Kang Jin-Ho. His state was truly wretched. His clothes were torn off in various places to reveal blackened and dead skin.

Lee Hyeon-Su was stunned by the fact that human flesh could be blackened to such a degree. Dark crimson blood continued to stream down Kang Jin-Ho's mouth and dripped from his chin as he stood there. However, his expression hadn't changed much since the fight began.

Kang Jin-Ho might seem expressionless at a casual glance, but there was a subtle hint of sneer around his lips. Despite his wretched appearance, Kang Jin-Ho... seemed fine?

Secondly, Vator. His condition wasn't so good, either.

While Kang Jin-Ho's skin had blackened, Vator seemed to be coated in crimson paint. His body, once touted as even tougher and more durable than forged steel, was split and injured in various places, with blood constantly gushing out from those horrifying-looking wounds. The flowing blood mixed with the dust to become a layer of dirt coating Vator's massive body.

Lee Hyeon-Su immediately thought of two things while observing this situation. One, this scene seemed shockingly desperate to him.

He used to think that a duel between experts at the peak would be like an easy-going contest between Taoist gods reminiscent of those wire-work-intensive wuxia movies. But now, that imagery was well and truly snubbed out of his mind.

As it turned out, a duel between experts was more dreadful and desperate than small fries fighting each other! And then, the second thing Lee Hyeon-Su thought was...

'It's like I'm looking at a scene straight out of a fairy tale...'

A brave warrior, who had pushed his human body beyond its limitations through endless training, seemed to be trying to bring down a hideous devil emitting tendrils of black demonic qi.

If Lee Hyeon-Su snapped a photo of this scene and showed it to someone, they would all arrive at the same conclusion. Although, Lee Hyeon-Su couldn't help but rue the fact that he stood on the devil's side!

Suddenly, Vator let out a loud yell. A yell so forceful that his lungs must've exploded! It was quite literally the roar of a beast, louder than any roar Vator had produced until now.

Vator slightly pulled himself back before powerfully shoving Kang Jin-Ho back with every fiber of his being. No, rather than shoving, it'd be more correct to say he flung Kang Jin-Ho away! And even someone of Kang Jin-Ho's caliber wouldn't be able to withstand Vator's full-powered shove.

“Kuk!” Kang Jin-Ho gasped in pain as his body flew back like a bullet.

As if Vator was determined to finish this fight, he began dashing forward like a beast. He went down on all fours and charged straight ahead toward Kang Jin-Ho while leaving behind a trail of afterimages!

“This is the end, Kang Jin-Ho!”

A sheen of subtle azure light gushed out from Vator's figure. As if he had transformed into the mythical blue wolf from the Mongolian legend, Vator rushed toward Kang Jin-Ho on all fours with a logic-defying speed!

Despite what happened, Kang Jin-Ho was still Kang Jin-Ho. Even as he got flung away, Kang Jin-Ho's posture never crumbled. The corners of Kang Jin-Ho's lips curled up as he watched Vator charging toward him.

Strong... So incomparably strong! The pure destructive power Vator possessed was something not even Kang Jin-Ho had experienced in all three of his lives!

Kang Jin-Ho's body screamed in pain from the continuous exchange of blows, but the smile of genuine satisfaction didn't want to leave Kang Jin-Ho's lips. And his smile was... bone-chilling.

If anyone who knew Kang Jin-Ho saw that expression, they would've immediately turned their heads away. His smile was so sinister and cruel that most sane-minded humans would be too scared to look at his face.

“And now, it's time to keep my promise,” Kang Jin-Ho quietly muttered.

The Crimson Destiny and Azuremourne in his hands trembled eerily. The two treasure blades couldn't withstand Kang Jin-Ho's savage qi rapidly flowing into them and began screeching loudly.

The legendary sword cry echoed throughout the surroundings like a gloomy dirge!

Kang Jin-Ho landed on the ground, firmly secured his footing, then tightly clenched his teeth. Almost at the same time, sinister demonic qi billowed all around him like a raging ascending dragon.

Anyone looking at that sinister demonic qi would've felt their heart tighten into suffocation. Such evil energy enveloped Kang Jin-Ho's entire body like black flames swallowing up its victim!

Vator, gushing out the heroic and majestic blue light, rushed toward Kang Jin-Ho enveloped in sinister black flames!

“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”

All the blue aura gushing out from Vator's body quickly concentrated on his right fist.

Kang Jin-Ho instantly knew. Anyone with eyes could probably tell, too.

That punch was strong enough to shatter mountains and rip the sky open. Something as frail as a human body would never withstand such an attack. That punch was literally the embodiment of despair and destruction! Who would be daring enough to stand before such an attack?

No men of flesh and blood would dare to defend against that punch. No one enjoyed the luxury of two lives, after all!

However, Kang Jin-Ho didn't back down. In fact, all the demonic qi gushing out of his body began concentrating on his swords instead... like how Vator did with his punch!

The blades began burning. The thick, tar-like demonic qi danced on his swords like black flames. Kang Jin-Ho swung his swords to disperse the flames all around him, then gripped the weapons' hilts tightly as the unmistakable killing intent burned brightly in his eyes.

“Kang, Jin... Hooooo!” Vator roared as he finally released the attack containing all of his might. As if he didn't care about walking back home on his two feet afterward!

The blinding blue light exploded. For a moment there, Kang Jin-Ho mistakenly thought that the world had become blue. The indescribably powerful force behind Vator's punch had even warped Kang Jin-Ho's perception of the world!

Pswhoooosh!

Blood gushed out from Kang Jin-Ho's nose and ears. Even though Vator's fist hadn't arrived yet, the terrifying pressure alone was enough to suffocate Kang Jin-Ho's body. Even forged steel would've been crushed and compressed until it turned into liquid in this location. However, Kang Jin-Ho still bared his fangs in a fierce grin, even as the horrifying pain of his body being torn apart tormented his senses.

'Yes, this is it!'

This was the thing he had forgotten for so long! Finally, he was fighting an intense and extreme battle where a single mistake could decide life or death!

Excitement and satisfaction incomparably greater than any physical pain coursed through Kang Jin-Ho's veins. Memories of countless battles filled his brain. Those moments when Kang Jin-Ho truly felt alive!

Whenever it felt like Kang Jin-Ho was swimming in an unending dream, this tension, this anxiety... and this pain combined to bring him back to his senses.

This crippling pain shooting up from every corner of his body was the most visceral reminder of being alive Kang Jin-Ho had experienced in the modern era. While grinning fiercely, Kang Jin-Ho thrust himself into the whirlwind of the unavoidable battle while tightly gripping his swords. Then, he shoved all of his qi into his weapons and decisively swung them at the incoming blue light.

This... was the collision of two incredible might!

The fist and swords of the two warriors collided head-on. Two warriors who did not know the meaning of backing down!

And then...

The world crumbled.