Chapter 1194. Countering (4)

Chapter 1194. Countering (4)

Bam!

The Iemoto’s smartphone landed on the wooden table with a little more force than usual. The dignified antique table shuddered noticeably.

After putting the phone down as if he was tossing it away, the Iemoto’s hand swished in the air a couple of times. But then, he gripped the teacup containing steaming hot tea.

The Iemoto downed the tea in one go before putting it down, his hand noticeably calmer now.

“Arrogant bastard!”

The Iemoto’s expression crumpled hideously.

The people he liked the most were those who knew their place and obediently followed orders. And those he disliked the most were morons who got too full of themselves on the back of their insignificant talents.

However, the group the Iemoto trusted the most, and enjoyed exploiting the most, was the latter, not the former.

The ‘humanness’ could put people’s minds at ease, but ‘abilities’ could satiate people’s hunger. And the Iemoto was someone who placed far greater importance on treasures and sustenance than peace of mind.

Even the tea he just drank like water was a luxury item costing as much as several months’ worth of salary for most people.

The reason he could climb to a position where drinking such tea was only par for the course was because he didn’t excessively believe in himself. After all, the Iemoto was not a god. He couldn’t be right all the time.

He always considered the possibility of someone worse than him thinking of a more correct answer than him. And that was his secret for climbing this precipitous cliff to reach the top.

The story was the same this time, too.

That man Cai Kechang was definitely not someone the Iemoto could take under his wings as a subordinate.

The Iemoto expected Cai Kechang to be... Not as obedient as a dog, but slyly accommodating as a cat. However, the Chinese remained as icy as a snake instead.

‘Not just any snake, either, but a venomous one, no less!’

Just how amazing the Crimson King must be to employ a treacherous, venomous snake like Cai Kechang as his subordinate!

The Iemoto felt a stab of jealousy digging into his heart but ably suppressed it. After all, he was the Iemoto, while the Crimson King was the Crimson King. Different people obviously couldn’t live their lives identically. Besides, there was no need to, anyway.

Also, who cared about methods, as long as one could reach the same desired outcome?

“Shinya...!”

Sugiyama Shinya, who had been silently prostrating on the floor, finally raised his head. “Yes, sir!”

“Any further communication from our men?”

“No, sir. It has been severed.”

“

Hmm

...?”

The Iemoto subtly furrowed his brow.

Usually, the Japanese warriors going radio silent should have been good news, but not this time. To stay informed, the Iemoto had instructed Yoshinobu to contact Japan every five minutes.

The last communication said that the advance party was rushing up the mountain road leading to the Martial Assembly HQ. Since there had been no contact since then, it could only mean the warriors had engaged the enemy in combat.

The entire combat force of the Korean Martial Assembly was concentrated in Gunsan. Since that was the case, for the Japanese to start a battle where contacting the Iemoto was not feasible...!

“It seems they have found Kang Jin-Ho.”

“Yes, I agree, sir.”

The Iemoto’s expression grew unreadable.

They moved according to the plan. And, as the plan predicted, they ran into Kang Jin-Ho. The Iemoto should celebrate the fact that the operation was unfolding as they had planned. But he couldn’t.

That was because this exchange of blows was happening on a level that he still hadn’t reached yet. What he meant by that was...

He still hadn’t fully understood Cai Kechang’s plan. Not every nuance of it, at least. But things had unfolded as Cai Kechang had predicted.

Cai Kechang said that at the very least, Lee Hyeon-Su and Wiggins were capable of seeing through their strategy. And Kang Jin-Ho was also good enough to do the same.

In that case, why did Cai Kechang say something so bizarre? That the plan would unfold as predicted even if the Koreans could predict it as well? The Iemoto simply could not understand why.

But now, the situation had indeed unfolded as Cai Kechang said. And that was what made the Iemoto deeply uncomfortable.

‘This is why the so-called geniuses can be such a...!’

The Iemoto had to admit that he grew somewhat curious about how Cai Kechang viewed the world. However, he also knew there was no need to get obsessed about it, either. It was better to be a man who used geniuses instead of being a genius, after all!

“At least, it means Kang Jin-Ho has not fled,” said the Iemoto.

“...Yes, sir.”

The Iemoto glanced at the bonsai tree. “I’m relieved to hear that. Since the noble sacrifices of Yamashiro-gumi and Kanto now won’t go to waste.”

Sugiyama Shinya prostrated even lower.

‘He said sacrifices...’

The Iemoto was technically correct, wasn’t he? Even if those sacrifices were involuntary!

Their lives were being used as building blocks for the future of Japan, so calling it ‘sacrifice’ seemed apt. Although, the victims in the netherworld probably weren’t too pleased about this turn of events.

The more Sugiyama Shinya thought about it, the scarier the Iemoto became.

One thousand and five hundred! Yamashiro-gumi mobilized that many of their own warriors. But the Iemoto didn’t hesitate to throw all those lives away as bait just to kill Kang Jin-Ho.

Wasn’t Cai Kechang bold? Audacious?

‘Not to me, no.’

Although the plan itself had been audacious, it only proved how smart Cai Kechang was.

In Sugiyama Shinya’s view, the truly bold person was not the Chinese strategist but the Iemoto.

Another nation’s combat force was nothing more than some statistics to strangers. Cooking up effective strategies for a battle on a distant land far away wouldn’t be all that impressive in that case. What did it matter if hundreds of some ‘random numbers’ lost their lives on the other side of the planet?

No, what truly impressed Sugiyama Shinya was the Iemoto’s boldness in approving this insane tactic of ‘courageously’ using one thousand and five hundred elite warriors as bait to create an opening to hit Kang Jin-Ho!

If Sugiyama Shinya had the authority to make such a decision, could he have said yes?

‘No, not possible.’

Even though those warriors belonged to Yamashiro-gumi, an enemy to Shinichi-kai, Sugiyama Shinya still wouldn’t be able to approve a plan that tossed so many lives away. Especially when he could picture the outpouring of criticisms flooding his way if the expedition ended in failure!

However, the Iemoto approved the plan without losing his composure once. He had no problem sacrificing one thousand and five hundred lives on a plan built on nothing but Cai Kechang’s calculations and gut feeling!

Who could match such boldness and decisiveness!

This was why the Iemoto was the ruler.

“Sir. I’m sure they will be happy about Japan finally conquering South Korea, even if they must watch it happen from the underworld.”

“You don’t even mean that, Shinya,” the Iemoto replied with a subtle chuckle. “You probably see me as some kind of monster. A lowly animal.”

“I w-would never, sir!”

“That’s how I feel, Shinya.”

“...”

The subtle chuckle rapidly turned into relaxed laughter.

“Yes, indeed. A lowly creature. However, so what? Want to acquire everything you want but don’t want to walk the path paved with thorns? That’s nothing more than an inane daydream of a child. I wouldn’t even have started on this journey if criticisms scared me.”

“Indeed so, sir!”

“I’m sure Kanto’s people saw Hell.”

Sugiyama Shinya sneakily raised his head to glance at the Iemoto’s face. A hint of madness could be seen on that crumpled expression.

Unable to look at that expression any longer, Sugiyama Shinya hurriedly resumed prostrating on the floor again.

“However! Thanks to their actions, Kang Jin-Ho will also get to learn what Hell is like. I’m sure he’s experiencing an even worse nightmare than what Kanto’s brave warriors had to go through.

“Aren’t you curious, Shinya? What kind of screams would Kang Jin-Ho make? How unfortunate that I cannot personally hear his screams and witness the tortured look on his face!”

The laughter devolved into a sinister cackle.

“I better hope that Yoshinobu is a riveting storyteller, then!”

“My apologies, sir, but that might be difficult,” said Sugiyama Shinya.

“

Ah

. Is that so?”

The Iemoto calmly closed his eyes.

‘My blade will be sharper than you think, Kang Jin-Ho!’

It’d be nice to feel the sensation of his blade plunging deep into Kang Jin-Ho’s heart. However, it wasn’t so bad to know that a flick of his hand was enough to kill the bastard, too.

‘No, maybe it’s even better?’

The Iemoto prayed that Kang Jin-Ho would die in the most excruciating manner. That was the only acceptable punishment for tormenting him until now, after all!

***

Splaaaaaash!

Blood rained down like a storm.

“

Uwaaaaaahk

!”

“Kill hiiiiim!”

Screams and roars rang sharply in the air as if to tear the eardrums apart.

Splat!

Yoshinobu raised his trembling hand to remove the wet sticky

something

that flew in and got stuck to his face.

That something was... a piece of someone’s flesh!

Chunks of severed, ruptured human flesh were raining down along with blood on top of Yoshinobu!

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

“...!”

His facial hair trembled just like his hands. By now, his hair and face had turned crimson from all the raining blood.

‘Did I step into Hell?’

If Hell existed to punish humans, this place... This sight should perfectly suit that idea.

Yoshinobu’s nose stung. It almost felt like his olfactory senses had become paralyzed from continuously being bombarded by the acrid stench of blood. In fact, his senses were all getting duller by the second!

How could they not, though? One’s senses were tied to ‘reality’ surrounding them, after all. So, simply by being in a place that couldn’t have been a part of reality, one’s senses were bound to get duller.

Despite seeing it with his eyes, Yoshinobu couldn’t believe it. Even though he heard everything, he had to doubt his own ears. And the stench he picked up with his nose couldn’t have belonged to this world.

Since that was the case, what was he supposed to believe or dismiss as fantasy?

Kang Jin-Ho called the Japanese ‘moths’ jumping into the fire.

‘We are moths...?’

Also, not a trap but ‘fire?’ Kang Jin-Ho called the Japanese warriors moths, too!

Yoshinobu gritted his teeth to the point of almost breaking them.

A trap suggested there was a small possibility of escaping from it. But moths didn’t stand a chance against the blazing fire.

Moths blindly flapped their wings and dove straight into their fiery deaths, after all!

However, it was a fitting description, wasn’t it?

Even though the Japanese knew Kang Jin-Ho had been waiting for them, even though they understood that this whole thing could be a trap... Yoshinobu and his men had no other choice.

Like moths to flames, they simply had to attack Kang Jin-Ho. Because there was no return for them anymore!

Going back was not an option, even if their path of retreat remained wide open. They all understood that failing to kill Kang Jin-Ho would leave them with nothing back home.

As such, they simply had to attack. Even if the only reward for pouncing on that horrifying creature was nothing but death!

Yoshinobu gasped weakly. “

Urgh

...!”

“Sir! You must stand firm!”

Yoshinobu glanced to his side at that sharp voice. His advisor desperately whispered, even as his body trembled and his complexion was pale.

“If we don’t weaken him sufficiently enough, we’ll be the ones getting wiped out, sir! For now, you must be patient. Even if the frustration is eating away at your inside!”

Yoshinobu nearly guffawed loudly just then.

Did he look like a man about to lose his temper in a fit of rage and pounce on Kang Jin-Ho? At least, that was what his advisor implied, didn’t it?

‘Hah. Then again...’

It didn’t matter whether rage or terror had caused his shuddering since it must’ve looked the same to outsiders. People would see what they want to see and interpret things the way they want to interpret.

Maybe that was for the best.

‘Besides all that... How can a human being be like that?’

Yoshinobu clamped his clattering jaw tightly. This was the one thing he must not display to others around him.

Paaaaaaahang!

The noise of the air ripping apart slammed into his hearing next. Even before Yoshinobu had a chance to appreciate the dull pain coming from his ears, a severed upper torso of a person flew up high into the air.

“...!”

Yoshinobu’s eyes followed the figure of the severed-in-half victim falling from the sky. Unbridled shock and terror filled that man’s eyes!

Those eyes belonged to a man rushing headlong toward death, and they locked into Yoshinobu’s eyes for a briefest of all brief moments.

Plop! Plop!

Lower torsos spewing blood like fountains began falling one by one. With that, Yoshinobu’s view was no longer obstructed by walls of human bodies.

He could see Kang Jin-Ho leisurely walking past the wide space filled with nothing but corpses and blood to close the distance.

It was as if black flames were billowing all around him. But they weren’t actually flames, rather unidentifiable black aura strands dancing and wavering around.

While they looked like flames, those things definitely did not have the same elemental sensation as flames. Something as thick and pitch-black as tar, but completely weightless...!

“...!”

A pair of crimson light balls burned eerily within the black flames. When Yoshinobu looked at those lights, he sensed his soul freezing up.

‘The... devil!’

What other description could he think of to describe that creature?

Kang Jin-Ho was the devil. And the Japanese were basically tributes laid out on top of a banquet table!

Shu-ru-rung...!

The devil’s blade, gleaning in a ghostly white hue under the moonlight, was slowly pulled back by its wielder. And then...!

A voice that sounded like coarse metal grating against another metal mercilessly dug into Yoshinobu’s hearing.

“Why are you scared?”

“...?”

“When you’ll all die, anyway.”

Yoshinobu’s eyes grew bloodshot.