They couldn’t even breathe properly.

That was all because a person was approaching them. Just one! But this situation wasn’t as straightforward as that to the soldiers unlucky enough to become that man’s targets.

Because that man... was the avatar of violence, the incomparable tyranny coming to life! He was a mysterious, unidentified something that crushed others merely with his existence alone!

“Ah...!”

Even as the frightened soldiers gasped for air, Kang Jin-Ho continued to approach them, a cigarette still dangling between his lips.

“Urgh... Euh...!”

The pained moans from the collapsed soldiers came from behind, while Kang Jin-Ho was leisurely closing the distance in the front. Who in their right mind would want to experience something like this?

But... But we’re supposed to fight, aren’t we?

Of course, the soldiers knew what they were supposed to do in a situation like this. After all, hadn’t they been training for this exact situation since reaching puberty?

The method of fighting a much-stronger expert was fairly simple: use sacrificial pawns. They would throw the “tankers” forward to keep the expert occupied, then circle around to reach said expert’s blindspot before desperately clinging to their ankles!

That was what these soldiers had been training diligently until now. In fact, that was all they had been training for till today! But...

But what was the point of it all?

These soldiers thought they had created the perfect trap. But this trap was meant to ensnare a wolf. A tiger’s paw, or a bear’s, was simply too big to get caught in it.

Even though they had never seen a tiger before, they arrogantly believed their trap should be enough to catch one. And that was the source of their current problem.

How regrettable it was that the consequences of not realizing their problem sooner would be this enormous!

Click!

Kang Jin-Ho stopped before the soldiers, then mouthed a new cigarette. As the flame sizzled on the tip of the cigarette, he coldly stared at the frightened soldiers.

“Martial artists? You?”

Kang Jin-Ho scoffed derisively.

He rarely encountered what he considered “real martial artists” after his return to the modern era. Just how many of the arrogant idiots trying to kill him stayed true to their goal right till the end and not get frightened by Kang Jin-Ho?

Only the Round Table’s Elder Knights and the army of Japanese ninjas on the suicide mission did not give up till the end. Even as every single one of them died, they still fought back. Things might change once the war against the Three Kings began in earnest, of course. But for now, they were the only ones.

Objectively speaking, the martial artists of the modern era didn’t fall behind their ancient counterparts in strength or technique, but they paled in comparison when it came to one’s fighting spirit.

However, even those people deserved to be re-evaluated as martial artists compared to these soldiers.

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes.

It’s not as if these people are cowards.

A group of so-called martial artists trembling in fear deserved to be mocked, but when he thought about it, wasn’t their reaction exceedingly logical? After all, they were soldiers, not martial artists.

To soldiers, fulfilling their mission objectives should be their priority. Depending on the orders and strategy, they wouldn’t hesitate to walk into a death trap and throw their lives away. However, soldiers also wouldn’t want to waste their lives when there was nothing to fight for.

Because soldiers were groomed to be the tools to “win” missions and to bring home “benefits” for their nations.

But that only made them worthless in the martial world.

Could these soldiers challenge the Crimson King? Could these people perform their assigned roles properly when Kang Jin-Ho or the Crimson King bared their fangs and attacked in full force? Considering that they had to calculate so, so many things while facing off against Kang Jin-Ho who hadn’t even unleashed his demonic qi yet... That seemed absolutely impossible!

That was the difference between soldiers and martial artists.

The Demon Flames threw themselves at the Crimson King even though no one had ordered them to, just so that they could rescue Kang Jin-Ho. That was also true for Wiggins; despite not knowing Kang Jin-Ho for long, he, too, risked his life for his new lord’s sake.

But could Kang Jin-Ho expect such actions from these soldiers?

No, that was wrong. That wasn’t the question he should be asking. After all, their level of martial prowess was not important, anyway.

No, the question he should ask was... If he got driven to a dead-end and needed someone to help him out, could these people be the help he was looking for?

“Fuu...”

Kang Jin-Ho briefly exhaled the smoke, his pitying eyes scanning the frightened faces of the soldiers.

His initial plan was to cut loose and make a big mess here, but... Going any further than this would be no different from bullying these people.

Kang Jin-Ho sucked in a deep puff and finished the cigarette. After tossing the spent cigarette on the floor, he wordlessly turned around to leave.

Although it felt like they were still incomplete, that there was still a hint of embers underneath this pile of ashes, it wasn’t Kang Jin-Ho’s job to set them on fire, anyway.

Kang Jin-Ho’s figure gradually got further and further away, yet the soldiers still couldn’t squeak a word out. But that was also the same for Willie Reese.

He stared at Kang Jin-Ho’s approaching figure and kept swallowing his saliva nervously.

Data? Information? Reese couldn’t help but chuckle hollowly.

What kind of nonsense have we been fooling ourselves with?

These people were not human!

Reese’s... No, America’s viewpoint had been wrong from the very beginning. They viewed martial artists as merely “enhanced” humans and planned their approach accordingly.

However, they didn’t know that martial artists who had reached the pinnacle of cultivation would transcend human limitations.

How was anyone supposed to explain Kang Jin-Ho’s absurd physical capabilities?

Even after joining the American military’s SOB program, Reese couldn’t help but keep thinking about this one question. If modern firearms could deal with martial artists, was there a need to nurture American martial artists in the first place?

Wouldn’t it be more helpful to use the resources and funds poured into this program to grow the military’s strength instead?

I was being naïve!

Now Reese knew. The martial artists were seen as terrifying creatures because... Because they had transcended human limitations!

Imagine what would happen if Kang Jin-Ho got serious about killing someone. Could regular soldiers, armed with mere weapons like machine guns and anti-materiel rifles, prevent him from reaching his target? Definitely not!

Soldiers didn’t act alone. And soldiers were human beings, too. Unfortunately for them, martial artists were better than anyone at killing other human beings.

If the target was serious about escaping from the clutches of Kang Jin-Ho, they would have no choice but to deploy an entire division to block the area, then isolate themselves in a deep underground bunker while subsisting on nothing but canned food for the foreseeable future!

However, if that was the commander doing that... Then, their military should be considered non-existent.

Wasn’t this a strange dilemma? All the improvements to military technology and training regimes were for the sole purpose of killing other humans, not monsters. But Kang Jin-Ho definitely deserved the moniker of “monster.” Modern weapon systems meant to deal with humans would never be enough to stop him.

Now I understand why the higher-ups are so obsessed about nurturing our own martial artists!

Because their lives depended on it!

Unfortunately for Reese, he had no choice but to admit that their training program was fatally flawed. The sight of Kang Jin-Ho one-sidedly cornering a battalion-level combat force until it couldn’t fight anymore was too shocking to forget, after all!

Kang Jin-Ho leisurely walked over to where Willie Reese was, then stared at the American. “So? Is there anything else you want to show me?”

“...”

Reese couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Anything else he wanted to show to Kang Jin-Ho? There should be a few left still.

But none of the things he had prepared could exceed the level of shock generated by this event. Besides, they were too insignificant to change anything, anyway.

Kang Jin-Ho stared at Reese for a little while longer before smirking softly.

“I hope our plane home is ready. I’m not a fan of wasting time, after all.”

“Oh, uh... Do you want to return to your hotel now?”

“Yeah. Why? Was there anything else?”

“Well...”

Reese tried to think of an excuse, but he lost his chance to speak when Lee Hyeon-Su suddenly broke his silence and addressed Kang Jin-Ho in a grave tone.

“Assembly Master?”

Kang Jin-Ho shifted his attention to Lee Hyeon-Su after noticing how serious the latter sounded. “Yeah?”

“You said we’d try American burgers before leaving.”

“...”

Did I say that?

But... Mm...?

***

Lee Hyeon-Su gleefully shoved the second burger into his mouth.

Wiggins scowled deeply at this sight. “You... can actually stomach that?”

“Of course. It’s tasty, after all.”

“Not to me. It’s too greasy. I have to say, we’ve been in America for far too long. I would love a pot of good kimchi stew right about now.”

“...?” Lee Hyeon-Su cocked an eyebrow, then scanned Wiggins from top to bottom.

Wiggins stared back at his disciple weirdly. “What is it?”

“I was just wondering about something, sir. Maybe you were Korean in your past life?”

“I’m beginning to wonder about that myself.”

Despite the exterior of a Caucasian man, Wiggins acted and sounded more like an elderly Korean gentleman these days!

Lee Hyeon-Su curiously asked, “Then, what will you do if you return to Britain? Are you going to starve to death?”

“There are more Korean restaurants in Britain than you think. Foreigners often mistakenly think the food culture in Britain is suspect, but the honest truth is that you can find some wonderful cuisine if you know where to look.”

“Oh? Really?”

“Of course! You can find restaurants serving food from various cultures around the world in London, you see? Such as Indian restaurants, French, and even...”

“Eh? What about traditional British cuisine, though?”

“Then why don’t you eat only boiled barley instead of rice?! Since you care so much about being traditional and all?!”

Why was Wiggins suddenly getting angry here? All Lee Hyeon-Su did was ask about traditional British food, after all!

Wiggins put the burger down as if he had lost all appetite, then looked at Kang Jin-Ho. “My lord? When we get back, let’s try to find a Korean restaurant.”

“Yeah, let’s definitely do that.”

If they couldn’t find one, Kang Jin-Ho wouldn’t mind a Chinese restaurant, too!

Even Kang Jin-Ho was getting a little sick and tired of American food. He planned this vacation to be as relaxing as possible, but to think he’d run into such an unexpected problem!

“Mm... We could have gone for a quick meal in Korea if traveling between the two countries was easy,” said Wiggins.

That was when Willie Reese suddenly chimed in. “Mister Wiggins? Are you talking about teleportation magic?”

“Oh? You know about that?” Wiggins glanced back at Reese with a hint of surprise in his expression. He said something “in passing” to test the waters, but to think Reese would respond this quickly!

“Of course. I believe several teleportation magic circles linking America to the Round Table have been installed already.”

“Hmm?”

Wiggins grew intrigued by that revelation. Because it implied that Reese was a big shot who had more access to the American higher-ups than he initially let on. Didn’t he say he lacked authority earlier? It seemed he was downplaying his own importance a bit, then.

Wiggins chuckled wryly. “We made preparations to install a teleportation circle of our own after establishing a friendly relationship with your side.”

Of course, he would’ve still installed one even if things didn’t end favorably, but... But even that seemed a little difficult now that they had gotten more involved with the Americans than they would have liked!

“We’ll assist you with the installation,” said Reese.

“Even though we haven’t established any relationship yet?”

“It doesn’t matter, sir.”

“Hoh? What makes you say that?”

Reese replied without hesitation. “Only a handful of people have the ability to activate intercontinental teleportation magic. Which means it’ll be either the Assembly Master or you, Mister Wiggins, coming through.”

“Yes, that’s a logical deduction.”

“We don’t have a reason to refuse you two from visiting us, you see? In fact, you are always welcome in our country.”

Wiggins chuckled wryly. This man is wilier than I gave him credit for.

Reese sounded like an excellent host right now, but he must’ve had ulterior motives for saying all these nice things.

For one, letting the Americans assist Wiggins with the installation would be the same as showing them where the teleportation magic circle would be. That alone would give the Americans the option of destroying the magic circle in emergency situations.

However, that didn’t mean Wiggins had a reason to refuse their goodwill, either!

“Very well. Then, I’d very much appreciate your help on this matter,” said Wiggins.

“We’ll compile a list of suitable locations and deliver it to you soon. We must maintain the magic circle from our side, after all. But our options will naturally be limited to areas not accessible to the public.”

“Understood. Although, do try to look for locations that are close to major cities. Hitching a ride on military helicopters every time we visit your country won’t be a good look, after all.”

“We’ll take that into consideration.”

With that, one of the purposes of visiting the United States of America got resolved. Surprisingly easily, too.

Reese glanced at Kang Jin-Ho. With one business out of the way, it was time to discuss the main topic.

“Excuse me, Assembly Ma...”

Sluuuuurp~!

Kang Jin-Ho stopped sucking cola energetically through a straw and stared quizzically at Reese, the straw still stuck between his lips. “Mm?”

“It... can wait, sir. Please finish your drink first.”

“No, it’s fine. Speak.”

Reese fake-coughed to clear his throat. “I admit that this visit had failed to satisfy you, sir. For that, I sincerely apologize. I have no excuses.”

The thing was, though... Colonel William Reese wasn’t a martial artist, but a soldier and a bureaucrat. To him, defeat didn’t mean giving up completely. Besides, he wasn’t permitted to do so, anyway!

“Even so, we still would love to establish a friendly relationship with South Korea’s... No, with the Korean Martial Assembly. Please tell us what we need to do to satisfy you. We’ll do our best to make it happen.”

Kang Jin-Ho’s ears perked in amusement just then.