Descent of the Demon Master

A dragon was descending.

This dragon that shone in white, sometimes in yellow, lights continued to descend lower and lower as its lengthy body twisted and writhed. It was as if its sole mission in life was to purify everything in this world. And when it slammed into the ground, everything before its eyes was swept away. Of course, the dragon itself wasn't spared from the destruction, either!

KA-BOOOOOM!

KA-BOOM!

Explosive noises went off one after the other.

“Uwaaaaaaah?!”

Zhang Dajing's explosive scream and the ear-splitting noises from vehicles colliding against each other intermingled in the night sky to create a bizarre symphony.

The unfortunate part of this situation was that Zhang Dajing was in no position to savor this impressive orchestral performance!

Zhang Dajing's body was violently shaken around like a block of ice trapped inside a trained bartender's cocktail shaker. Or was it more apt to call him a piece of laundry stuck inside a spinning washing machine?

If he hadn't put on the seat belt at the last second... He'd be personally testing the sturdiness of the van's interior with his own body right about now!

If he survives tonight's adventure, Zhang Dajing swore he'd become the ambassador for road safety and gladly extol the virtues of wearing seatbelts. However, for now...!

“Uwaaah?! You f*cking bastards! You insane motherf*ckers! Uwaaaaah?!”

For now, getting out of this situation alive took his top priority!

Bang! BOOOOOM!

Cars continuously rammed into Zhang Dajing's van. Like a pack of wolves pouncing on a helpless prey, these things unhesitantly attacked his vehicle!

'Heok?!'

Zhang Dajing's eyes powerfully quaked. The van's frame was steadily getting crushed. Its front had already been crushed out of shape. His current problem was with the damaged front gradually pushing inside the cabin and crushing the front seats!

At this rate, Zhang Dajing's legs might get trapped behind the seats, making it impossible for him to do anything!

“Uwaaahk!” Zhang Dajing screamed while urgently unbuckling the seatbelt. And then, he threw himself into the rearmost seat of the van boasting comparatively larger space. Zhu Gang followed suit and also jumped in there after instantly figuring out Zhang Dajing's intentions.

Unfortunately, that was a mistake.

SLAAAAAAAAM!

Zhang Dajing wasn't sure what rammed into the van this time. However, he was at least certain of this one thing. It couldn't have been an average-sized vehicle.

How did he arrive at that conclusion? Simple. If it had been an average-sized car, this huge van wouldn't be rolling around like this!

“Aaaaaahk?! Ouch, ouch! Dammit!”

Zhang Dajing cried out in pain after finally testing the hardness of the seats and the ceiling with his head, back and various other parts of his tender body. He had been yelping in pain for so long that he could taste blood welling up in his throat.

'You... You uncultured motherf*ckers!'

Shouldn't people calling themselves martial artists fight using their martial knowledge?! What the hell was up with this method of attack!

“Aaaahk!”

From behind Zhang Dajing... No, at this point, he couldn't tell if it was behind, front, or even above! Anyways, he could hear Zhu Gang's desperate scream. Even if one was a martial artist, they still required a solid footing first before being able to utilize their martial techniques. In other words, everything Zhu Gang had learned so far was completely useless inside a rolling van!

“G-grab something! Anything!” Zhang Dajing reached out and grabbed the nearest seat cushion. 'Goddamn it! Who was the maker of this van, again?'

Zhang Dajing desperately clung on while praying that the seat wouldn't suddenly come loose from the frame. His dizziness reached extreme heights, causing something in Zhang Dajing's stomach to well up and threaten to burst free.

Creak, creaaaak, tumble...

The madly-tumbling van finally came to a stop. The frame creaked and shuddered from the torture. After sensing that the momentum had finally died down, Zhang Dajing cautiously opened his eyes.

'Is it finally over?'

It felt like he had fallen to the depths of Hell only to climb back up somehow. He'd have turned into a mulch if this craziness had continued for another minute or so. At least, it ended here, so...

“N-no, it can't be...!”

Unfortunately, nothing in this world was that easy. Zhu Gang noticed first their trouble was far from over and whimpered quietly.

Zhang Dajing finally sensed something was still off and hurriedly turned his head to look. Every window in the van had shattered, which should've been great for visibility, but all the crushed and bent metal obscured Zhang Dajing's view instead. He couldn't easily see much of anything outside.

As for the sight visible through the front of the crushed van, it was something rather familiar.

'Okay, so... Where have I seen that scene before?'

Maybe it was from a movie? Although the truck's paint scheme was a little different, its overall shape was...

“Son of a b*tch...!”

Zhang Dajing couldn't help but swear. His eyes could finally see the truck in its entirety. The massive eighteen-wheeler barreling toward their van at terrifying speed, that was! Although Zhang Dajing's van was too crushed to be called a van and should be referred to as scrap metal at this point!

Zhang Dajing swore loudly at the sight of the truck charging straight at him while its exhaust stacks billowed black smoke like a pair of volcanoes. “Why the f*ck are you doing here, wasting your goddamn time?! Go and protect Earth or something! Uwaaaah?!”

An eighteen-wheeler with an eerily familiar front design that might transform into a humanoid robot in the blink of an eye continued to barrel toward Zhang Dajing's position!

That... was death! Zhang Dajing instinctively knew. If that thing hits this crushed van, no human being of flesh and blood would survive the impact!

“We, we gotta get out!”

The obvious thing was to escape through the windows, but the van was bent to the point of resembling a misshapen ball. Obviously, none of the windows would be large enough to let a person through. If Zhang Dajing was a cat, he might just be able to squeeze through without getting injured.

In that case...?

“Uwaaaah!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Zhu Gang was one step faster than Zhang Dajing in figuring this situation out. He urgently began hitting the van's ceiling with all his might. His intention was to escape by opening a hole there.

Such an idea would've been seen as insane by non-martial artists, but Zhu Gang was a demonic cultivator. Yes, he might be a lowly demonic cultivator, but this much should be nothing!

Craaaack!

Along with a goosebumps-inducing noise, Zhu Gang's fist went through the ceiling. He shoved both of his hands in the hole, then utilized every ounce of power stored in his body to tear open the sheet metal.

Rip, riiiiiip!

As the noise of metal twisting and creaking resounded out, the hole gradually grew wider and wider. At this rate, they should be able to secure an escape route. Of course, that would be under the assumption that they had enough time on their hands.

Zhang Dajing urgently cried out. “H-hurry up!”

“Stop talking to me, you dipsh*t!”

“Aaaahk! F*ck! It's almost here!”

“What?!” Zhu Gang hurriedly turned his head to look. And he was treated to the sight of flickering headlights and the imposing silver grille resembling the grinning fangs of a devil. The charging truck was already right in front of his proverbial nose! “Uwaaaaaahk?!”

“We're gonna die! Uwaaaahk!”

After realizing it was too late for them, Zhu Gang and Zhang Dajing screamed at the top of their lungs. That was when this happened.

“Stop screaming like little girls, you idiots!”

A huge back of a giant suddenly appeared beyond the wrecked van's window and blocked the two men's view. And then... A single punch!

Vator pulled his fist back, then rapidly punched forward. That was all he did, yet this single punch was enough to save the day.

KA-BOOOOOOOOOM!

The moment the truck collided with Vator's fist, it flipped up in the air like a weightless toy.

“Hmph!” Vator snorted derisively. “How crude! What are they trying to do with such pathetic attacks?”

The only fitting description for Vator standing tall and imposing after blowing away the truck with a single punch was a hero from the legends of yore. If a poet saw this scene, they would have written an epic poem to exalt Vator's heroic deeds. If a bard had witnessed it, they would've sung songs to spread Vator's greatness to all corners of the world.

Unfortunately, the person who witnessed Vator's feats happened to be Zhang Dajing.

“Sob, waaaaaah! Sniffle! Sir Vator! Sir Vaaaator! Sir...”

“Urgh...” Vator groaned while facepalming himself with his pot lid-sized hand.

“Please get us out of here! Sir Vator! Please!”

Another deep groan escaped Vator's lips after Zhang Dajing's tearful cry registered in his hearing.

'But, you're supposed to be a martial artist, aren't you?'

Wasn't it too unbecoming to discharge tears and snot everywhere because of some measly car crash? Where was his pride as a martial artist?

“We almost died, you know!”

Vator grunted while walking toward the wreck. “Yes, yes. I hear you, so keep it down, will you?”

If someone other than Zhang Dajing behaved like this, Vator wouldn't have treated them as his fellow human. Only a warrior who could stand tall and proud was qualified to stand before Vator. Only someone like that was worthy of Vator's acknowledgment. However...

'This guy can be such a weirdo at times...'

Kang Jin-Ho should be much scarier than an eighteen-wheeler barreling toward Zhang Dajing. In that case, how did Zhang Dajing risk his life and step forward just as Kang Jin-Ho was about to kill Vator? And why was he sobbing like a baby just because a truck was about to hit him?

Vator just couldn't figure this one out.

“Sob, sniffle...”

“...Oii, Stop sniffling like that.”

Vator tore the van's crumpled chassis open, allowing the two trapped men to climb outside.

Zhang Dajing plopped down on his butt and gasped for air. “I, I really thought we were going to die, sir!”

“Tsk...” Vator tutted before turning his head.

Whether the enemy thought any further attack was meaningless, or maybe this was the plan all along... The blinking and flickering river of headlights stopped moving.

“Hmm...!” Vator cocked his head side to side.

Crack! Crack!

Every time his large head moved, noises akin to bones breaking resounded out.

“Been a while since I last received such an amusing warning shot.”

Zhang Dajing urgently looked around. “W-where is Mister Jin-Ho, sir?”

“Right over there. Don't tell me... Were you expecting something as dumb as my master meeting his end through a car crash?”

Zhang Dajing quickly raised his head at Vator's snarky reply.

Kang Jin-Ho was indeed standing tall in the distance, looking as if nothing had happened so far. He was silently staring at the ocean of headlights. Looking at his calm appearance made Zhang Dajing instantly embarrassed about raising such a fuss earlier.

'N-no, hang on. That dude won't die regardless of what the threat is, so...'

The severity of the threat that could unsettle them was different. Unlike Zhang Dajing, Kang Jin-Ho would've been unfazed by a row of cars gunning for him. Actually, he'd still remain unimpressed by bombers packing the skies above!

So, the bastards who came up with this idea of ramming Kang Jin-Ho with a bunch of cars were the weird ones here!

Zhang Dajing gruffly spat out, “And I heard that the Chinese could get utterly batsh*t insane, too!”

Vator tutted again. “...You're also Chinese, you fool.”

“Oh, you're right...” Zhang Dajing sheepishly scratched his head. He had a brief identity crisis after hanging out with only Koreans recently.

“By the way, isn't this weird, sir?” Zhu Gang muttered grimly.

“Mm?” Vator turned his head to look at Zhu Gang.

The demonic cultivator, who had been grimacing in silence until now, raised his voice. “This is not how Chinese martial artists operate, sir. I assure you, we don't resort to such unsophisticated ways of attack like this.”

Zhang Dajing nodded in agreement. “He's right, sir. Even if I have to question whether some random demonic cultivator knows anything or not...”

Vator grew confused when even Zhang Dajing agreed. He narrowed his eyes and focused on the car right at the front of the pack. Someone was climbing out of it.

The man smoothly exited the black sedan and leisurely walked in front of the vehicle before mouthing a cigarette.

Click...

“Fuu-woo...”

After the soft click of a lighter rang out, the familiar gray smoke wafted into the cold night air. The man silently puffed away a couple of times before tossing the lighter and a pack of cigarettes at Kang Jin-Ho. “Here. Have a smoke.”

'That's... Japanese?'

Zhang Dajing's eyes grew slightly wider in confusion. Although he didn't quite catch what was said since it went by too fast, he still could recognize the language spoken. And it was definitely Japanese.

'Our enemies this time is... Japanese?'

But why? Why were the Japanese here?

'N-no, wait. It's possible for them to be here. Sure, why not... Even so! Don't they realize this is not their country? Those insane sons of b*tches!'

It was true that China and Japan were 'respectfully' staying out of each other's way until now. However, that story only applied when the members of the Chinese and Japanese martial societies remained in their respective motherlands.

When your neighbor, who you hadn't paid much attention to until now, suddenly intruded into your backyard to urinate all over the place, would you sit still and do nothing?

Click!

Kang Jin-Ho mouthed the cigarette and lit it up. The gray-white smoke leaked out from Kang Jin-Ho's shut mouth. But the incoming breeze instantly scattered the smoke away.

“That was a nice little greeting,” said Kang Jin-Ho while tossing the lighter and the packet back at the Japanese man. Then, he leisurely puffed away at the cigarette.

The bright headlights should've obscured the much-smaller cigarette light out of existence, yet that crimson glow seemed so much more striking for some reason.

“So... How do you wish to die?”

That was a quiet and unassuming declaration.

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