Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 288

4. Cutting Down (1)

‘I can’t even talk to him.’

To be honest, even the thought of following behind him is terrifying.

Bang Jin-hoon swallowed hard, watching Kang Jin-ho’s back as he headed towards the building.

It wasn’t that he had ever seen Kang Jin-ho in a good light, but even considering all of that, the current Kang Jin-ho was exceptional.

Just the sight of his back as he walked was enough to make them feel like their breath was being squeezed.

It was frightening.

He could express it with many fancy words, but the emotion contained within was singular. They were currently grouped together as allies, but Bang Jin-hoon was honestly scared of Kang Jin-ho.

However, the reason that fear didn’t come across as simple fear was because he was certain that those who faced him would feel even more fear than they did just looking at his back.

‘It must have been like this historically.’

Wouldn’t the backs of warriors who made their enemies flee just by standing in front of them and boosted their allies’ morale to the extreme have been like that?

It was frightening… but that’s why he could trust him more and it gave him strength.

‘They say a man speaks with his back.’ He suddenly wondered what his own back looked like to others.

Bang Jin-hoon, who had imagined his own back from afar, shook his head.

‘I can’t win.’

The difference in their caliber was too great.

No, perhaps it wasn’t just a difference in caliber. Kang Jin-ho had lived longer than him and experienced more things. To simply conclude that it was just a difference in caliber would be a surrender of his own future and an insult to the life Kang Jin-ho had lived.

Bang Jin-hoon bit his lip tightly.

Even if it wasn’t now, someday.

That was the mindset Bang Jin-hoon had to have.

Kang Jin-ho’s feet, which had been striding forward, stopped. At the same time, Bang Jin-hoon and the others also stopped.

“Why…?”

Bang Jin-hoon, who knew he shouldn’t speak carelessly, couldn’t help but say something and raised his hand to cover his mouth.

However, Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth without even glancing at him.

“Come out.”

A low voice.

It wasn’t that he was trying to threaten anyone, but it was the kind of voice that made those who heard it instinctively shrink back. Fortunately, that voice wasn’t directed at Bang Jin-hoon.

Then who was he talking to?

The question was soon answered.

As soon as Kang Jin-ho finished speaking, three figures emerged from the deep shadows behind the building in front and began walking towards them.

Bang Jin-hoon swallowed a groan.

‘I didn’t even notice them.’

If they had infiltrated without Kang Jin-ho, would they have been able to deal with these people?

It wasn’t like they were facing enemies in broad daylight. Could they have infiltrated while avoiding the traps that the old fox [referring to Lee Jung-gul] had set up here and there to deal with those who would come to take his head?

He was skeptical.

Only then did Bang Jin-hoon realize how lucky he had been to corner Lee Jung-gul at the villa.

It was a result of Lee Jung-gul’s carelessness, thinking, ‘Surely, he wouldn’t really do anything,’ combined with the perfect timing.

And that kind of luck wouldn’t come again.

Now, they had to resolve the situation with their own strength, not luck.

“Director Bang, don’t you think it’s a bit beneath your dignity to sneak in like a cat burglar in the middle of the night?”

Bang Jin-hoon’s eyes flashed as he looked at the man who was sneering at him.

‘Do I know him?’

But no matter how much he looked, he didn’t recognize the man.

‘I guess so.’

It wasn’t strange. Just as he had raised Chun Tae-hoon, Lee Jung-gul would have forces he didn’t know about. And just as Chun Tae-hoon knew everything about Lee Jung-gul, they would know everything about Bang Jin-hoon. Perhaps even more than Bang Jin-hoon himself.

“It seems you’ve recruited a useful guy, but isn’t it a bit disrespectful to us and the Chairman to come in with such a small number? If you come out like this, Director Bang, how can we, who have never been able to step into the light because we’ve been keeping you in check, not feel wronged? Huh?”

Bang Jin-hoon smiled bitterly.

Even though Kang Jin-ho was in front of them, they didn’t seem to see him at all.

‘They might be skilled… but they’re just kids.’

They didn’t know.

Kang Jin-ho wasn’t threatening others by emitting energy or anything like that.

Those who had experience and had been through the battlefield knew how dangerous and terrifying Kang Jin-ho was without any demonstration. But these guys, although they had been trained, lacked the ability to sense danger.

It was like talking to the person behind the lion while the lion was right in front of them.

‘What are you going to do?’

Kang Jin-ho didn’t move.

Bang Jin-hoon, taking that action as a prompt to step forward, straightened his back. It seemed like he had to say something.

“Then why don’t you send a signal to the headquarters and shout that Bang Jin-hoon is here? Why are you just standing there?”

“Heh heh heh.”

The man chuckled.

“I’d love to share the sight of Director Bang sneaking in like a rat with everyone. But unfortunately, they told me not to.”

‘Hmm?’

Bang Jin-hoon’s brow furrowed.

They told him not to?

The only person who could give them such an order was one person. Who else could give them orders other than Lee Jung-gul? But Lee Jung-gul, who was holed up in the headquarters for his own safety, told others not to report their intrusion?

‘Something’s up.’

Bang Jin-hoon sensed that Lee Jung-gul was plotting something. There was no way that old fox would willingly offer his neck to them. If that was the case, then he must be planning a way to deal with them by other means, rather than reporting them to the headquarters.

“So, you’re saying you’re going to try and stop me here by yourselves? Me, Bang Jin-hoon?”

Even as he spoke, Bang Jin-hoon was dumbfounded.

At first, he had naturally thought that a signal would have been sent to the headquarters since they had been discovered, but if that wasn’t the case, then these three were saying that they would stop them by themselves.

There was a limit to how much you could underestimate someone.

Bang Jin-hoon had to try hard to cool the heat rising to his head.

It was a bad move to get excited now.

And…

‘It’s not the time for me to get excited.’

He had to maintain his composure no matter what. If even he got excited, there would be no one to respond if Kang Jin-ho did something unexpected.

“Of course, we don’t think we can stop you by ourselves, Director Bang.”

“Hmm?”

“We’re not that stupid. We’re here to guide you.”

“Guide?”

“Yes, a guide.”

The man started chuckling.

“If you have the courage, follow us. Since we’ve already spotted you, what’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like it would be good if others saw you, so why don’t we go inside and quietly make a place for ourselves?”

Bang Jin-hoon clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly.

‘What is this supposed to be?’

They must have expected them to come, but they didn’t report it to the headquarters and wanted to talk separately inside?

It was like they were trying to negotiate.

It wasn’t a good sign that the person greeting them wasn’t very welcoming, but young, hot-blooded warriors sometimes had a tendency to not control their attitude, so it wasn’t something he couldn’t understand.

‘What should I do?’

Bang Jin-hoon was momentarily confused.

If Lee Jung-gul wanted to negotiate with them, he couldn’t rule out the possibility of sitting at the same table.

But…

While Lee Jung-gul was unable to make a decision, Kang Jin-ho quietly opened his mouth.

“Are you done?”

When Bang Jin-hoon hesitated and couldn’t answer, the man who had been watching the situation from the front smirked and said,

“Kid, it seems like you’ve been playing around somewhere, but this isn’t a place for you to act up. Don’t get involved in the adults’ conversation and get spanked and cry. Go play over there.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly smiled.

“Huh? What’s with this punk? Where did you get that scary sword? Didn’t anyone tell you that kids shouldn’t carry things like that, they might get hurt…”

Suddenly, the man stopped talking.

Bang Jin-hoon was a little flustered.

If someone who was talking suddenly closed their mouth, wouldn’t it be human nature to look around to see if something had happened? But there was no sign of anyone around.

‘Why is he doing that?’

But his bewilderment was nothing compared to the shock of the person involved.

‘What is this?’

He couldn’t speak. It wasn’t that he had stopped speaking. He had been made to stop speaking.

His head was ordering his mouth to speak, but his body was refusing.

‘Why?’

It wasn’t just him who was strange.

His vision was strange.

It seemed to blur slightly, and then his vision was slowly moving upwards, not straight ahead.

Kang Jin-ho’s face, which he had been looking at, seemed to drop down, and then he saw the black sky with no stars.

And then…

‘That?’

The last thing that entered his vision was the back of a man standing right in front of him.

The man instinctively knew that he would never be able to see that back in his life, and his consciousness shut off like a TV that had been turned off.

Bang Jin-hoon clenched his fist tightly.

‘When did he do it?’

A red line appeared on the man’s mouth, and then, like a scene from a horror movie, the man’s head split open and fell to the floor.

Swoosh!

Blood gushed into the air like a fountain from the severed artery.

Thud.

The man’s body fell to the floor with a thud, as if in slow motion.

No one, no one could open their mouths.

The man’s colleagues were just staring in shock with their eyes wide open, and Bang Jin-hoon’s subordinates were covering their mouths and trembling.

The shock of seeing someone die in front of them?

That wasn’t it.

They had already seen countless deaths. They wouldn’t be surprised even if someone was torn to pieces and died right in front of them.

The reason they were surprised was different.

No one, no one here had seen when Kang Jin-ho had made his move.

Considering the wound and the situation, it was clear that he had cut off the man’s head with that sword, but none of them had seen when Kang Jin-ho had cut the man with the sword.

That was what made the men unable to move.

The pressure that the sword, which they couldn’t even see with their eyes, would cut their necks the moment they moved was crushing them.

‘Damn it.’

His hands were trembling.

He shouldn’t show weakness in front of his subordinates, but he couldn’t stop his hands from trembling.

Bang Jin-hoon, who had put his hands in his pockets to hide the trembling, swallowed hard and looked at Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked at the man who had fallen and was spewing blood, and then slowly opened his mouth.

“Words invite disaster.”

He should have known that a little earlier.

Kang Jin-ho raised his head, looked at the two remaining men, and curled up the corners of his mouth.

“Next.”

The men’s faces were filled with terror.