Chapter 1468: Toying Around (3) |
“Why aren’t you doing anything, General Wilson?!”
Phil Burton roared at the top of his lungs, his complexion as pale as a sheet of paper. No, rather than a roar, it sounded closer to a scared child’s yell instead.
Hiss, screech…
The video feed appearing in the bunker’s monitors blurred and hissed with noise. But it was still possible to catch the scenes of the battle taking place outside, and they were… far more insane than Burton had bargained for!
“What are you doing?! Aren’t you in charge of an armored division?! You are supposed to be the pinnacle of our nation’s military! Yet you can’t even put one man down? One?!”
Burton’s intention wasn’t to blame the military. But the shock and fear made him sound that way. After all, his power of comprehension was simply not adequate enough to understand what was going on outside!
Of course he knew martial artists were physically strong. However, they still shouldn’t be strong enough to withstand the firepower of an armored division! Such a thing only happened in dreams!
The only reason for the sky-high evaluation martial artists received was because of their utility in urban combat, not an open-field battle like this!
If the weapons of mass destruction were excluded from the evaluation, a martial artist might be stronger than a well-trained soldier wielding firearms. However, this was in the middle of a desert. In this place, no such thing as covers to protect you or civilians to use as hostages existed.
“W-what are you doing, General! Do something! You take over the command and deal with this situation instead of that incompetent fool, Mercer! Hurry up!”
Despite Burton’s screeching demand, Lieutenant General Frank Wilson remained calm. “Sir, Mercer is not incompetent. On the contrary, he’s showing us the best-possible response under the circumstances.”
“What the f*ck are you even talking about?! Can’t you see all that carnage outside?!”
“You’re too agitated to think straight right now, but I must still advise you to watch your tone before you spit on the honor of a commander risking his life on the frontline. Inadvertently, of course. I reiterate, this is not the division commander’s fault.”
Wilson wasn’t trying to defend Reggie Mercer. No, he genuinely believed that the division commander hadn’t done anything wrong this time.
If someone had to be blamed for this situation, then it’d be… Their opponent, instead!
Indeed, that monster… was the real issue. Even if Wilson took over the command, he didn’t think he’d do a better job than Mercer. Besides, the division commander would obviously know a lot more about his own division’s capabilities than a Lieutenant General like Wilson. Taking over the command now would only create an outcome even more wretched instead of turning things around for the better.
Mercer’s response might look too destructive and aggressive, but it was also conventional. But the problem was that the monster turned everything thrown at him into a meaningless struggle. In the blink of an eye, too!
Burton yelled again. “Why?! Why is this happening?! It’s just one man! One! Kill him already!”
“…Undersecretary Burton, sir,” Wilson replied while biting his lip. “A lion can easily kill a hyena.”
“Huh?! What are you talking about?”
“However, a lion can’t kill a hornet. The best it can do is flee.”
“…!” Burton’s lips trembled.
“We cannot deal with that man’s speed, sir. An attack is only an attack if it lands. We can’t even touch him, so all our weapons are useless right now. Our combat methods simply cannot overcome the difference between that man’s speed and ours!”
Lieutenant General Wilson had already made his mind up regarding this situation.
This battle is already over.
If that man hadn’t targeted the army and instead had made a beeline toward this bunker, could anyone have stopped him?
In Wilson’s frank assessment, that was impossible.
The heavy tanks could never swing their turrets around fast enough to match that man’s speed. Even if the tanks had successfully tracked the target down after he had reached this bunker, they still wouldn’t be able to shoot, anyway.
Because the bunker itself would get destroyed, after all!
“Undersecretary, it was a mistake to mobilize an armored division against that man.”
Burton yelled again. “Are you implying that this was all my fault?!”
“No, it’s not that, but… Mm…!”
Wilson stopped himself and rubbed his mouth. Of course he, too, was anxious right now. Why wouldn’t he be, when he could see his precious men getting blown to bits outside?
That was when his eyes widened after he saw something on the monitor.
“…?! Dammit, no!”
Sparks, and then flames, danced on the multiple launch missile systems, and rockets began spewing out to everywhere next. Wilson swore reflexively at this horrifying sight.
Rockets flew around erratically before falling on the tanks and the other self-propelled artillery vehicles next.
KA-BOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOM! BAAAANG!
Massive shockwaves suddenly rocked the bunker next. One of the rockets must've struck the structure just then.
Wilson fell to the floor, unable to maintain his balance. Burton also pathetically screamed while tumbling to the ground.
The lieutenant general glared murderously at the screaming undersecretary. All because of this stupid bastard!
If Wilson had known that their enemy would be a monster, he’d never have agreed to partake in this insanity. He made a grave error in judgment by falling for the persuasion of a moron who didn’t even have the brain to judge the opponent’s strength!
No, I shouldn’t blame this guy for that.
Wilson also hadn’t bothered to gather information on today’s enemy, after all. He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and chewed his words out.
“We must surrender.”
Burton shouted back. “What was that? What did you say?”
“Carrying on any further is pointless, sir! We’ll only worsen our losses at this rate!”
“Have you lost your goddamn mind, General Wilson?! How can two divisions of the United States Army surrender to a single individual?! That can’t be allowed to happen!”
“You’re the one who’s lost his goddamn mind!”
Wilson loudly gritted his teeth.
“Don’t you have eyes, you goddamn moron?! This is not a game, you hear me?! Even now, we’re losing a massive amount of our forces and money by carrying on with this nonsense! You stupid bastard! Do you have any idea how many soldiers we’ve already lost?!”
Wilson rushed over and grabbed Burton’s collar before dragging the latter toward the monitor.
“Look!”
“…!”
Burton’s eyes took in the view of the devastation outside the bunker.
“You keep barking out nonsensical orders while hiding inside this bunker! If that’s all you were going to do, why the f*ck did you even start this bullsh*t?! Our soldiers are dying just so that you might protect your worthless ego?! Did you say I’ve lost my mind?! No, you’re the insane one here, you bastard! Wake the hell up already!”
Burton’s widened, trembling eyes shifted away from the monitor and at Wilson.
The lieutenant general roared again. “I said, surrender, now! Order our men to stand down! And end his madness!”
Unfortunately, neither Phil Burton nor Frank Wilson knew that Kang Jin-Ho was not the type to spare his enemies just because they had surrendered. To him, the act of surrender was meaningless.
As long as he had designated this bunker as his goal, Kang Jin-Ho would keep going. Of course, he might stop if he had destroyed the bunker, and Phil Burton’s neck was tightly gripped in his hand!
Burton’s error was deciding to do this in the first place.
BOOOOOM!
Loud explosions went off one after the other. Bits of concrete debris fell from the cracked ceiling and rained down on the floor.
Wilson urgently cried out, “The front! I want to see the front! Switch the camera feed!”
The soldiers manning the monitors hurriedly replied, “Yes, sir!”
The image on the monitor changed. Now it showed the situation right outside the bunker. Wilson urgently leaned in closer to take a look, only to freak out and throw himself to the floor.
…Because a tank was hurtling toward the monitor!
BAAAAAANG!
An indescribable impact force slammed into Wilson’s entire figure.
“Urgh…!”
The monitor had gone out. It seemed the incoming tank had destroyed the camera.
“Dammit…! Get the feed back online! Do something, men!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
The soldiers urgently tapped the buttons on their consoles until new images popped up on the monitor. That was when Wilson finally saw it.
Everything… was on fire.
As the sun began creeping closer toward the distant horizon, tanks, howitzers and armored vehicles were all billowing flames and plumes of smoke.
Was this hell? No, it wasn’t, was it?
This was a battlefield. The horrors of war, supposedly the most horrific sight humanity could produce, were being recreated in this place. Worse still…!
No audio came through the speakers, which only served to heighten the eeriness of it all.
The soundless video showed the figure of a lone man standing among the carnage. Even as the hulking masses of steel were burning and blowing up, this man was leisurely closing the distance toward the bunker.
“…!”
Wilson watched as Kang Jin-Ho rummaged through his pockets before pulling out a pack of cigarettes. That man, that monster, used the flames dancing on one of the wrecked tanks to light up his cigarette. He then lazily mouthed the cigarette and puffed away nonchalantly.
Wilson nervously swallowed his saliva. Wasn’t this scene too… surreal? Indescribably so?
The devastation behind him was truly horrifying, yet that man acted as if he was taking a Sunday stroll through hell.
Is he trying to say this doesn’t even constitute a real battle to him?
Wilson instinctively shuddered just then.
He didn’t have all the information regarding their opponent today. Of course, he did know that the man’s name was Kang Jin-Ho, and that he was the leader of the Korean Martial Assembly.
…And also that Kang Jin-Ho was called the Demon King of Asia!
In short, Wilson knew they would be fighting a martial artist. But…
Dammit! None of those bits of information can tell us who we’re dealing with here!
Anyone who had not personally witnessed that man in action shouldn’t dare claim they knew him.
“W-what are you doing?! What are you doing!!!”
Burton suddenly screamed like a madman. He snatched up the radio from the nearest soldier and yelled into its receiver.
“Fire! Fire your goddamn weapons! Blow that bastard away! D-division commander! I order you to resume firing at the target!”
Ka-boooom!
Before he could finish yelling into the radio, however, the image on the screen was covered by a thick dust cover.
It was as Wilson said; Mercer was an excellent commander. Even before his superiors inside the bunker could issue new orders, he had already made his call and started hitting the target again.
Unfortunately, that was all he could do.
Some things in this world were simply impossible to achieve.
Things that could be achieved through effort and logical thinking fell under the category of “still possible.” Taking Kang Jin-Ho down with these soldiers’ capabilities fell under the category of “Only A Miracle Can Make It Happen,” however.
Wilson figured it out by watching the video feed through the monitor. But Burton hadn’t. As for Mercer…
I’m sure he knows he has no other choice, thought Wilson.
Even if he knew his defeat was inevitable, he had to keep fighting. That was what being a soldier meant. Soldiers would fight to their last man to execute their order as intended. Because that was what had been drilled into them. That was what gave soldiers their worth.
Claaaaang!
That was when the audio feed was finally restored, and the bone-chilling noise exploded out of the speakers.
What was that?! Wilson gasped, his eyes opening wider.
KA-BOOOOM!
He clearly saw an armor-piercing shell land on a spot far away, not near Kang Jin-Ho!
Could that have been a misfire? No, that couldn’t be! Even though the terrain had become an unrecognizable mess now, the artillery and tank operators couldn’t have missed their targets at such a close distance. That could only mean…!
“Did he deflect the incoming shell?!”
Or was it more correct to say he directed the round away from him? Of course, the wording didn’t matter right now.
Kang Jin-Ho used those thin swords to deflect the incoming armor-piercing round that flew faster than the speed of sound! Hitting a home run using a chopstick would have been more plausible than that!
Unfortunately for Wilson, the monster capable of turning that improbable fantasy into undeniable reality was right outside the bunker he was in!
CLAAAANG!
CLAAAANG!
Shells flew toward Kang Jin-Ho one after the other, but he simply brushed them aside to his left and right. As if to say he had gotten the hang of it now, he was only using one hand to deflect the incoming rounds while lazily puffing away at his cigarette with the other!
“Oh, dear God in heaven…!”
Wilson’s eyes quaked with shock and fear. He couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.
That was a martial artist?
The specter of the ancient past had become an unimaginable monster to stand before Wilson’s view in the present!
Were the Three Kings of China also on Kang Jin-Ho’s level? If so, how off the mark was the American’s estimation of their strength?!
Wilson’s head snapped toward Burton. “What… What is that man’s goal?!”
Burton shot back. “What was that?!”
“I said, what is that man’s goal?! F*cking hell! Are you deaf or just damn stupid?! Before I shove my knife in your ear, you better use that tiny brain of yours!”
“T-that man’s goal, it’s…” Burton’s complexion paled instantly when he realized what the answer was. “T-to kill or subdue me.”
“Hah… Haha…”
Lieutenant General Frank Wilson couldn’t stop himself and chuckled hollowly away.
“I see. F*ck. That means I’m dead, too.”
He spoke like a man who had given up. His body even began trembling like a lone leaf against storm winds.
He turned his head back toward the monitor. That was when he saw it.
He saw Kang Jin-Ho, with a weapon in hand, leisurely approaching the bunker as the tip of his sword dragged on the ground.