Chapter 149

Seeing his subordinates appear to guard Cao Xiong, Kang Yuseong smirked.

At this point, it was obvious without a word.

Just how high-ranking the man before him was.

Moreover, the insignia on his shoulder confirmed that suspicion.

“A commander, huh. So, if I take you down, this fight’s over.”

Kang Yuseong glanced at the name tag on his chest, a sneer twisting his lips as he looked at him.

“Isn’t that right, Cao Xiong?”

Cao Xiong’s expression remained unchanged by his words.

It wasn’t because of the opponent’s fluent Chinese.

The man had come all this way alone.

And the attack unit he was leading…

“Stardust.”

At Cao Xiong’s murmur, Kang Yuseong let out a small laugh.

“So you know.”

Cao Xiong turned his head, fixing his gaze on Kang Yuseong.

“You’re Kang Yuseong.”

“Well, as you can see. But aren’t you talking too much? Let’s finish this quickly.”

A dry smile flickered across Kang Yuseong’s lips, and then he suddenly stomped on the ground with a resounding crash!

*Thwack!*

At the same instant, his body shot forward like an arrow.

*CRASH!*

In the blink of an eye, Kang Yuseong’s kick slammed down on Cao Xiong’s head, but Cao Xiong had already crossed his arms to block it.

“What a shame.”

*Whoosh!*

Kang Yuseong spun his body and brought his sword down.

*Clang!*

At that moment, a subordinate rushed in from the side, blocking the attack.

*CRACK!*

“G-ghk!”

But he was split in two, falling down in the very stance he’d used to block the attack.

The power behind Kang Yuseong’s sword was beyond imagination.

*Shing—*

Kang Yuseong spun his sword once in the air and spoke.

“Anyone who wants to die, step forward. I’ll sweep you all away at once.”

At his words, the subordinates exchanged glances, then suddenly rushed at Kang Yuseong all at once.

There were over forty of them.

They weren’t just ordinary Hunters.

These were the top combatants, meticulously trained and cultivated by the Chinese government.

And they were now charging at Kang Yuseong, exuding a ferocious aura.

Despite the sharp, converging presences from all directions, Kang Yuseong simply stood tall, unmoving.

“Kyahhh!”

The moment the Hunters lunged at Kang Yuseong, daggers sharpened to a keen edge in hand, Kang Yuseong’s foot *thumped* against the ground.

And his body spun in place.

As if he were alone, a fierce storm of blades began to erupt around his gracefully rotating body.

*Clink-Clink-*

At first, they were tiny, awl-like blades, but they suddenly surged with maddening speed, transforming into a massive storm of blades.

*Shwa-shwa-shwa-shwa-shhh!*

A colossal dance of blades erupting around Kang Yuseong!

The blades tore through the air, severing the Hunters’ necks and ripping open their bellies.

Heads were lopped off, limbs were amputated, and hearts were pierced and shredded by the dancing blades, causing the Hunters to melt away and fall.

*Thud—*

*Thump-thump-thump!*

When Kang Yuseong, who had been airborne, landed on the ground, only then did the remnants of the Hunters, which had been suspended in the air, fall to the earth.

Even as thick blood, flesh, and bone rained down, Kang Yuseong merely gazed at Cao Xiong with a cold expression.

As if to say, this battle was only fit for the two of them.

Cao Xiong’s brow furrowed sharply under that gaze.

*Drip-drip-*

But then, Cao Xiong’s expression suddenly stiffened with a start.

What was flowing down his cheek… were raindrops.

Raindrops were falling on the battlefield, which had been ablaze with the fiery attacks of Kim Do-jin.

*Pshhhhhhh—*

And those raindrops soon turned into a torrential downpour, pouring down relentlessly.

Cao Xiong adjusted his stance, enduring the rain.

“Come.”

The moment Kang Yuseong’s white teeth flashed, Cao Xiong waved both hands, unleashing his Chakra Force.

*Kwoooooooh!*

The torrential rain around him began to coalesce into a massive form, bending to his will.

He was a Magic User, a rare sight even in China.

And a rare one at that, capable of controlling water.

Water was the antithesis of fire.

That wasn’t all.

If he used ‘Infiltration,’ one of his techniques, water droplets would seep into electronic devices, turning even armored divisions equipped with cutting-edge military technology into scrap metal.

That was why he had taken the vanguard, leading the massive monster legion known as the 125th Black Wind Unit.

*Shhhwaaaah!*

And now, he was unleashing his full power.

*Kwoooooooh!*

What he was summoning in the form of water was none other than the ‘Dragon God.’

Dragons were creatures that naturally lived in water.

And now, that dragon had appeared, answering Cao Xiong’s call.

*Pshhhhhhh!*

As the Dragon God, master of water, appeared, the torrential rain around them intensified even further.

The ground crumbled, rocks were swept away, and everything was being swallowed by the enormous currents.

For Cao Xiong, who controlled water, the rain was an immense boon.

Moreover, the waters of the Yalu River were nearby.

Kang Yuseong could no longer underestimate him and was focusing all his senses.

A Magic User who controlled water was a type he had never encountered before.

Furthermore, Cao Xiong’s full power felt only slightly below Kim Do-jin’s, yet it was by no means lacking.

*Kukukuku!*

But suddenly, the massive currents pouring down from above changed direction.

Instantly, the waters merged, creating a colossal tidal wave.

Thinking of a flood, many water disasters begin exactly like this.

Insignificant trickles consume each other, growing larger, rapidly swelling in size before crashing down.

The wrath of such a natural disaster could not be stopped even with current scientific technology.

And Cao Xiong was now using that very power.

“Chakra, Torrent!”

The colossal current, coalescing from the far reaches of the sky, crashed directly down on Kang Yuseong, who was utterly exposed before its immense size.

“Commander!”

“Captain!”

The Stardust Attack Unit, watching from behind, gasped in shock at the sight.

Kang Yuseong’s figure was soon swallowed by the colossal tidal wave, which then surged towards the Stardust Attack Unit.

“Evacuate!”

At Baek Myeong-han’s shout, the attack unit scattered in all directions.

*CRASH!*

The tidal wave narrowly missed them, crashing powerfully against the mountainside.

In a single strike, North Korean tanks that had been advancing vigorously were swept away and vanished by the tidal wave, and countless infantrymen drowned, their bodies floating to the surface.

“Hw-agh!”

The Stardust Attack Unit, having barely avoided a direct hit from the tidal wave, couldn’t escape being submerged in the water.

They barely managed to poke their heads out of the water, floundering about.

With just one attack, the entire surroundings had turned into a sea of water.

Kim Do-jin’s flame attacks had considerably faltered, and the rain poured down even more intensely, continuously weakening his power.

The tide of battle had turned with just one of Cao Xiong’s attacks.

This wasn’t possible with his power alone.

The timely torrential downpour made it possible, and the nearby waters of the Yalu River assisted.

However, Cao Xiong’s expression was somewhat strange.

He had clearly succeeded in submerging the enemies and had even swept away Kang Yuseong, the enemy commander and a thorn in his side, with the tidal wave, yet he wore a look as if he’d bitten into a bug.

Just then, bubbles suddenly began to rise from a distance.

*Plop-plop-plop-*

The bubbles, rising one by one, suddenly popped on the water’s surface.

*Gurgle-gurgle-gurgle-*

And the next moment, the water in that vicinity trembled violently.

Then, something incredible happened.

*Kwakwakwakwakwakwa-*

The deeply submerged waters suddenly began to surge upwards.

This defied the laws of nature and was something that should absolutely not be happening.

For such a massive current to suddenly reverse its flow and rush upwards!

But at this very moment, that scene was unfolding, and from the muddy depths where the water had submerged, a single person emerged.

It was Kang Yuseong.

He smiled coldly, gazing at Cao Xiong in the distance.

“You almost killed me, you bastard.”

*Swoosh—*

And at that instant, his hand moved smoothly, as if caressing the air.

Astonishingly, it was the exact same movement Cao Xiong had demonstrated earlier.

With that subtle hand movement, the surrounding waters began to move according to his will.

However, that alone didn’t fully explain the current phenomenon.

This was because Cao Xiong was positioned upstream, and Kang Yuseong was downstream.

Yet, what was happening now was all the water being pushed back upstream!

“Chakra, Reverse Flow.”

It was an enhanced skill he had suddenly acquired when he was submerged and swept away by the tidal wave.

“Surge forth! Swallow everything!”

The power of Reverse Flow was immense.

It was a power Cao Xiong did not possess—the ability to turn the immense force of the torrent back on itself, driving the tidal wave straight back at Cao Xiong!

At that sight, Cao Xiong’s expression turned to one of bewilderment.

“Then that bastard is a Magic User too?!”

No, that wasn’t it.

According to the intelligence gathered by their information unit, Kang Yuseong was a Chakra User and didn’t possess such power. However…

A message from mainland China flashed through Cao Xiong’s mind.

—Be wary of Kang Yuseong. His limits are yet unknown.

A telegram sent by China’s top intelligence agency after a thorough assessment of Kang Yuseong.

That was precisely why he’d had an unsettling feeling even after sweeping the man away with the tidal wave just moments ago.

*’Damn it!’*

But this was too much.

To retaliate with a force that rivaled his own…

But upon closer inspection, his own power to control water was still superior.

“Haaaah!”

*Kwoooooooh!*

Two water dragons, coiling around his entire body, writhed and rose once more.

“Go!”

And the water dragons surged in the direction he pointed.

*P-p-p-pow!*

Instantly, a massive explosion erupted, and the waters that had been surging upwards from below burst outwards in all directions.

*Pshhhhhhh!*

“Kuaaaagh!”

“Aargh!”

Hunters were swept away by the sudden, terrifying currents, and tanks were submerged.

No one was unharmed in this colossal disaster.

Even Cao Xiong himself was staggering, unable to properly control the water.

*Whoosh!*

It was at that very moment.

Someone pierced through the torrents spraying in all directions, flying directly before Cao Xiong’s eyes.

Cao Xiong wore an expression of disbelief.

“…You bastard!”

Kang Yuseong smirked at him.

“What? Surprised? Well, don’t bother trying to understand it.”

The smile on his lips suddenly turned cold.

“There are plenty of things in this world you won’t be able to comprehend.”

*CRUNCH!*

Instantly, Cao Xiong’s mouth fell open, overwhelmed by the immense pain piercing his chest.

“Guh… ack!”

“Hey, don’t you think this will be interesting, Cao Xiong?”

*Thunk!*

The sword plunged even deeper into Cao Xiong’s body.

Fresh blood trickled from Cao Xiong’s lips.

Kang Yuseong didn’t even spare him a glance, his desolate eyes fixed on the other side of the Yalu River.

“The sight of your nation, the one you so utterly disregarded, crumbling by our hands.”

*Whoosh!*

Kang Yuseong pulled out his sword.

*Thud-thump!*

Cao Xiong collapsed forward, no longer moving.

“Just you wait. Soon enough…”

A cold light emanated from Kang Yuseong’s eyes.

“I’ll make it happen.”