Chapter 1001. Dominating (1)
None of the Elder Knights could say anything. Then again, this situation didn't require any words to begin with.
After all, they were facing the single greatest, deadliest enemy so far in their lives. Such a monster was flying right into their midst, so what could anyone say in this urgent situation!
What other choice did they have other than gripping their weapons hard enough to break their own hands, then attack the incoming figure of Kang Jin-Ho!
“Uwaaaaah!”
Gawain's Vortex attacks flew toward the incoming enemy. His previous relaxed attitude when firing this attack for the first time in this era was long gone at this point. Each attack now contained all of his strength. His absolute everything!
Vortices weren't the only things closing in on Kang Jin-Ho, as arrows could also be seen swiftly following the vicious air currents.
Kang Jin-Ho swiped with his Crimson Destiny at the incoming attacks.
Kraaaaaaaaaaack!
The beautiful weapon gushing out demonic qi issued a ghostly wail-like cry from its blade. It even seemed to distort after failing to withstand all the demonic qi injected into it.
Even then, it didn't snap into two and continued to handle Kang Jin-Ho's demonic qi, thereby proving that the Crimson Destiny deserved to be called one of the greatest treasure swords ever to exist in history.
Claaaaang!
All the arrows and air currents were deflected in one movement.
‘Impossible!’
Gawain gritted his teeth.
‘Just how is this even possible?! How!’
All martial arts were developed and refined for the singular purpose of defeating one's opponents. Other than the difference in philosophy and the specialization on how one went about defeating their foes, the ultimate goal of all martial arts remained the same. Which was to suppress, or even kill, as efficiently as possible.
All these developments were founded upon one inalienable premise: When attacked, the victim would fall.
Or, more correctly, offense should take priority over defense. This was the unchanging and absolute truth behind all martial arts.
It was true that some martial arts did emphasize defense and focus on counterattacks. However, wasn't counterattack a variation of attack, anyway?
The logic behind this mindset was simple enough. Imagine two sides in a battle. One side constantly defended while the other side was always on the offensive. Who would be in a more advantageous position?
If one had to choose between a sword and a shield, most wouldn't even bother with the latter option. Because it was impossible to perfectly defend against all incoming attacks. And letting just one attack through could be fatal to a human being.
The balance between offense and defense tilted to one side's favor from the moment humans learned to pick up weapons. The attackers were bound to hold most of the advantages.
But now... That inalienable truth was being violated!
Nothing was working against Kang Jin-Ho. No attack could reach that man!
‘Just how big is the gap between him and us?!’
Gawain and the others were Elder Knights. No one in the lengthy history of the Round Table that stretched back over a millennium could match the martial prowess of these proud guardians.
In their era, no one could fight them. No, never mind fighting them, no one could even catch up to their shadows! The only rivals they could find were other Elder Knights.
That had been the case until now, but this...!
‘Just what the hell is he?!'
The gap between Kang Jin-Ho and the Elder Knights was much greater than the gap between the Elder Knights and other martial artists. Despite the combined attack of eleven proud Elder Knights, they couldn't even inflict one decent wound on their opponent. Not only that, but three of them had already perished!
Alarm bells warning him about the impending crisis rang loudly in Gawain’s mind. Today could very well be the end of the Elder Knights. And that would naturally signal the destruction of the Round Table, too!
That was something he must prevent, no matter what!
Kang Jin-Ho landed in the center of the Elder Knights' formation. He kept his posture low while stabbing and thrusting his two trusty swords in every direction. Like an angry porcupine with a perfect defense, the deadly barrage of blades flew out toward the Elder Knights, forcing them to retreat in a fluster.
Unfortunately, that was a big mistake. In a battle against a stronger foe, the weaker side must never step back. After all, doing so would create a distance, and giving room to a stronger foe always created fatal consequences for the weaker side.
However, the Elder Knights didn’t know that. Why? Simply because... They had never fought against a stronger foe until now!
The Elder Knights had always been the stronger side throughout their battles. Even as individuals, they were still the strongest. Enemies they couldn't deal with alone were suppressed by the coordinated attacks of Elder Knights.
Never before in their existence did these Elder Knights have to bet their lives to overcome such massive inferiority like this!
In short, these Elder Knights never knew what it was like to be a weaker party. However, the story was different for Kang Jin-Ho. He had always been the weaker one.
Kang Jin-Ho was only acknowledged as the strongest under heaven after becoming the demon cult's leader. Before that, though? He spent decades constantly locked in battles against foes tougher and stronger than him!
That decisive difference revealed itself in this battle.
Kang Jin-Ho bared his fangs while rushing toward his enemies. The remaining eight Elder Knights attacking together still couldn't guarantee their survival. However, Kang Jin-Ho only had to deal with three Elder Knights at once now after they oh-so kindly decided to split up and give him some room.
Indeed, it was a fatal mistake these Knights would regret for the rest of their lives!
“Kuk!” Degore gasped reflexively at the sight of Kang Jin-Ho rushing toward him.
That man was undoubtedly the strongest person in this place. No one here would win in a one-on-one fight against him, so why...
‘Why do you look more desperate than anyone here, too?!'
Kang Jin-Ho’s blood-soaked black hair danced in the air. As the blood trickled down his face to dye it red, he bared his white fangs in a ferocious smirk.
It was as if Degore was looking at a wolf!
On this night, when even the moon had hidden itself in the darkness, the wolf was tearing out the stomach of the felled prey to devour its still-warm intestines. That seemed the most appropriate way to describe his intense ferocity!
...And that wolf was baring its fangs and targeting Degore!
Degore poured mana into his mace and the heater shield on his left hand, causing both items to emit a layer of aura.
‘I will stop him!’
Degore knew he only needed to block one attack. Doing so would allow him to counterattack at the speed of light. That was the greatest advantage of his class specializing in sword-shield techniques!
What he needed to uphold till the end was “balance.”
‘I’ll let him have one arm!’
Degore was no fool and didn't dare dream of unrealistic outcomes.
He knew it was impossible for him to defend against Kang Jin-Ho's attack without suffering any losses. However, if he prepared himself to lose the arm wielding the shield... It should be enough to create a bit of an opening!
All he needed was that small opening.
Degore knew his way around a mace. Meanwhile, his comrades were astute combatants as well. None of them would miss an opening their enemy left behind. As long as he could defend against one attack! Just one!
Just as Degore’s thoughts reached that far, Kang Jin-Ho finally arrived with his swords crossed before him.
Degore roared, “Uwaaaaht!”
He poured all of his mana into his shield. He even diverted the mana from his mace into the shield, too. As long as he could block this...!
Kang Jin-Ho’s Crimson Destiny and Azuremourne slammed into Degore’s shield. There were no intentions to attack around the shield. No, this strike starkly illustrated Kang Jin-Ho’s desire to crush Degore through nothing but sheer strength!
Craaaack! Crunch!
Degore must've clenched his teeth so hard that they began shattering even before the collision was completed. Even the blood vessels in his eyes burst instantly, while every vein in his body bulged like disgusting worms.
Just one hit! As long as he endured that...!
That was when an explosion went off before Degore’s eyes.
KA-BOOM!
...And he realized something just then. He learned how foolish his actions had been!
His arm holding the shield exploded. The skin and flesh got shredded and torn apart as if a literal bomb had gone off. Bones were shattered into pieces and went flying like projectiles. The shield, now nothing holding it, also flew back from the impact.
Unfortunately for Degore, though... The object behind the "catapulted" shield just so happened to be his frail torso!
CRACK!
The heater shield’s pointy bottom tore through Degore’s armor and stabbed into his gut.
“Kuhuhk?!”
The pain was coming from Degore’s back. Even though the shield was clearly stabbing him in his stomach!
It was easy enough to guess what that pain signified. The shield must’ve stabbed Degore through his body to emerge from his back.
That incredible impact force must've been enough to create what Degore could only assume to be a massive gaping hole in his back!
Grab!
Kang Jin-Ho grabbed the hunched-up Degore by his face and yanked the latter closer.
Degore only lost one arm. His other arm was still intact. And it was still gripping the mace he spent his entire life with. Even so, Degore couldn't even think about resisting.
The physical wounds were nothing compared to the shock that broke his mind. After facing off against the godly might of a monster that completely obliterated his common sense, Degore lost his will to fight. His will to resist was gone for good.
Kang Jin-Ho yanked Degore’s face real close.
‘How... cold.’
That was Degore’s impression as he stared into Kang Jin-Ho’s eyes. Although, it was rather ironic to feel that way while staring at those crimson-hued eyes.
Despite the coldness in his eyes, though, Kang Jin-Ho seemed to be emitting boiling heat from the rest of his body.
He coldly muttered to the dying Elder Knight. “No strength means no strategy, either.”
“No, we...”
Crunch!
No one would ever know what Degore wanted to say as his parting words. A man with an exploded head couldn’t say anything, after all!
“U-uwaaaaaahk!” Bors roared in an enraged frenzy at the sight of Degore's wretched demise. And then... He also charged blindly at Kang Jin-Ho.
“No, don’t!”
“Bors!”
Kang Jin-Ho bared his fangs in a toothy smirk again while studying the Elder Knight named Bors howling and rushing toward him.
‘What a fool.’
However, Kang Jin-Ho didn’t dislike fools like that.
He used his trusty Crimson Destiny to slap away the Elder Knight’s sword hacking down on his head. At the same time, he stomped on Bors’ foot.
CRUNCH!
The armor couldn’t stand the impact, and Bors’ foot was mercilessly crushed to mush. However, his reaction was different from other Elder Knights’ so far.
His foot could be described as destroyed beyond salvage, yet he didn't seem to care one bit and focused his attention purely on slamming his shoulder against Kang Jin-Ho's torso.
“Bors!”
That was when Galahad let loose yet another one of his powerful arrows. And then... another! And another!
Dozens of arrows containing mana closed in on Kang Jin-Ho at the speed of light. The purpose of this attack was clearly to provide cover fire. However, the attack itself was too sloppy for that. At least, it seemed that way to Kang Jin-Ho.
Bang!
Bors’ shoulder slammed into Kang Jin-Ho’s chest. However...!
Crunch!
Bors' eyes powerfully quaked. As the result of rousing up every dollop of mana in his body, he should have been strong and sturdy enough to fell a massive tree with a shoulder charge like this one. It should've contained enough power, so why...
Why did Bors realize something was wrong when he rammed into Kang Jin-Ho’s chest?!
It was as if... As if he had thrown himself against a massive mountain range stretching well beyond the visible horizon. It felt like he was up against a gigantic something that human strength couldn’t do anything about!
Bors raised his head. His trembling eyes met Kang Jin-Ho’s crimson eyes.
Those seemingly disinterested-yet-still-sizzling crimson eyes instantly froze Bors’ soul.
Grab!
Kang Jin-Ho grabbed Bors by the scruff of his neck and lifted the latter up.
“Kku-huck?!”
After he was lifted cleanly off his feet, Bors' sight was filled with the pristine white ceiling. The magically-operated lights illuminated the spotless tiles up there.
What an irony that was. The floor was messy from blood and death, so how could the ceiling above be so clean and untouched like that!
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Bors' helpless gaze drifted lower. And he could see one of the arrows Galahad had fired closing in on him. He would've unleashed his aura to defend against that projectile, but not this time. Strange energy traveling through Kang Jin-Ho's hand and entering Bors' body through his neck did not permit the Elder Knight to utilize his mana!
“Boooooooors!”
Galahad's desperate and blood-soaked cry dug sharply into Bors' hearing.
‘Don’t beat yourself up like that, Galahad. After all, you...’
All of you will follow me soon, anyway. Wouldn’t you say?
CRACK!
Galahad’s arrows stabbed mercilessly into Bors’ eye and his unguarded torso.
The unavoidable death swiftly came for the Elder Knight.