Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 290

Darkness was always by his side.

It was, when you thought about it, a natural thing. Humans have been with darkness since before they had consciousness. It’s said that human life begins the moment they leave their mother’s womb and meet the light, but in reality, it should be seen as starting with the darkness within the mother’s womb.

Even apart from that, humans are always with darkness.

Among them, Uchimura Masashi was a human who was especially close to darkness.

That’s what an ‘Inja’ is. [A term for a ninja or shadow warrior in this context]

Their role is to spend most of their lives with darkness, and Masashi, in particular, took pride in his role. The grueling training and asceticism he had accumulated so far allowed him to have that pride.

‘Hmph.’

That was why he was very displeased with this mission.

‘Joseon, of all places.’ [Joseon is the historical name for Korea]

Even in the visible world, the nation of Korea was no match for Japan. Although Korea had been catching up at an alarming rate recently, there was still a gap so large that it was strange to even compare them.

In the visible world, that is.

However, the gap in the invisible world was so large that the gap in the visible world seemed laughable.

The nation of Korea, at least in the world of martial artists, was still a weak country. Excluding third-world countries or developing countries with small populations that had no chance of development, it was no exaggeration to say that it was the weakest country.

It wasn’t for nothing that they called it a wasteland of martial arts.

And yet, he was on a mission to come to such a country to deal with just one person.

‘I don’t like it.’

He could understand it.

Even wastelands had their own hierarchy, and there were bound to be people they couldn’t handle.

So, it was a rational concept to reach out to a country with stronger individuals and pay a price.

What he truly couldn’t understand was why so many of them, dozens, had gathered to face that one person.

‘Something I could have done alone.’

The fact that so many Injas had gathered to deal with a nobody from a small country was, from his perspective, a great blow to his pride.

It was understandable for small countries to reach out to great powers and bow their heads. And it was also understandable for great powers to grant their requests with magnanimity.

Moreover, wasn’t the one who had bowed his head and made the request this time the head of the Korean Martial Artists Association, the largest organization in Korea? Up to this point, it was all good and well, but…

‘I don’t know what they’re thinking.’

Masashi stared at ‘him’ in the darkness.

A nobody wearing jeans and a black shirt, not a martial arts uniform, holding swords in both hands.

Watching the nobody standing still, not even noticing that they were circling him, made him want to sigh.

‘I can’t understand it, but…

An Inja is one who endures and perseveres.

Even if it’s an incomprehensible order, they complete it. Thoroughly and surely. That was what Masashi had learned so far.

He had received countless unreasonable and incomprehensible orders. The most he could do to protest was to complete the task flawlessly, making those who gave the orders realize that they had not properly assessed the enemy and his abilities.

This time would be the same.

First, he had to deal with that ignorant nobody cleanly.

‘I’ll show him mercy.’

Masashi smiled whitely in the darkness.

A perfect assassination that takes away consciousness without the victim even knowing death.

That was the greatest mercy Masashi could give to that young punk.

Sss.

At a low signal, the assassination team quietly and stealthily began to circle the man.

They observed the opponent’s reaction.

Attacking someone who was entering from the darkness could increase the chances of assassination, but if the opponent was aware of it, there was a risk of being counterattacked.

If the opponent’s skill was such that they had to risk their lives to face them, that would be the obvious choice. They prided themselves on not sparing their lives for the sake of their mission.

But there was no need to do that now.

They slowly circled him.

If he had the skill to perceive their movements, there would be some kind of reaction. Depending on the degree of that reaction, they could decide on the attack pattern.

‘Is he really a nobody?’

The dissatisfaction of having so many people come over because of such a nobody, and the trust that the higher-ups wouldn’t send this many people if he was really a nobody, unless they were idiots.

Those two thoughts were conflicting in his mind.

But looking at the guy’s reaction, he strongly wondered if he was really a nobody. Even though twenty Injas were circling him, he didn’t seem to notice at all.

‘No, no.’

If he really hadn’t noticed, he wouldn’t be standing there like that. The sight of the guy with his eyes closed, holding his swords down to the floor with both hands, was stirring a strange feeling in Masashi’s heart.

That stance…

‘Is he trying to provoke us?’

Gritting.

He should never make a sound. Yet, Masashi found himself grinding his teeth without realizing it.

Even though he had made a mistake that he should never have made, none of his colleagues blamed him.

That was only natural.

Anyone who recognized the stance that Kang Jin-ho was taking would have a hard time suppressing the anger rising in their chest. The stance of holding swords in both hands and naturally lowering them to the floor.

The most basic stance of the two-sword style created by Miyamoto Musashi, the great swordsman that Japan boasted to the world. [Miyamoto Musashi is a legendary Japanese swordsman]

‘How dare a Joseon-jin.’

The fact that a Joseon-jin, who only learned inferior martial arts, was daring to imitate the stance of a great swordsman was an unbearable provocation to them.

They understood that he didn’t do it knowingly.

To make such a provocation, he would have to know that they were from Japan. But Kang Jin-ho had no information. So, it was definitely not a provocation he had planned.

However, that fueled the fire in their hearts even more.

The mere fact that a half-islander was daring to imitate the two-sword style was an unforgivable sin.

Of course, unlike their thoughts, Kang Jin-ho was not imitating the two-sword style.

It wasn’t even a martial arts stance.

If Masashi had known that he was just lowering his swords and watching the antics of the guys circling him because they were funny, he would have wailed in agony. But, fortunately or unfortunately, Masashi couldn’t know Kang Jin-ho’s thoughts.

A misunderstanding had occurred by chance, but nothing changed.

They had to kill Kang Jin-ho. Now, they just had one more reason. However, unlike their initial intention, they just had the thought of killing that nobody more painfully.

And it seemed that the others felt the same way.

The signal was given.

One person charges.

Following the pre-arranged pattern, Masashi wore a pure white smile.

Now, once the signal was given again, he would fly towards Kang Jin-ho.

‘I might get a little scolding.’

According to the plan, he was supposed to approach from behind and stab a dagger into Kang Jin-ho’s lungs and heart in one go, killing him instantly without giving him a chance to react. But Masashi had a slightly different idea.

There was no way he could let that arrogant punk die so easily.

5cm.

Just by slightly angling the blade, he could cut half of the heart. Then, the opponent wouldn’t die instantly but would slowly die in terrible pain as their body filled with blood from internal bleeding.

He might get a scolding, but so what?

As Masashi smiled with that resolve, the second signal was given.

Sss.

Before he could even think, his body reacted first.

Masashi’s body kicked off the ground and moved stealthily towards Kang Jin-ho’s back as if being sucked in.

Now, all he had to do was stab the dagger hidden in his sleeve into that idiot’s back.

The Inja’s blade never sees the light until the very last moment.

That’s because it could reflect light and expose their presence.

Masashi, thinking he had approached Kang Jin-ho enough, moved his sleeve and drew his dagger.

‘Die! You punk!’

Then, he stabbed the dagger between Kang Jin-ho’s ribs as stealthily as possible.

At least, that’s what he thought. At the same time…

Thwack.

Suddenly, the world turned black.

Before Masashi could grasp the situation, excruciating pain surged through his face, and his body lost strength and hung limply in the air.

“…How typical.”

There was laughter mixed in that voice.

“Wearing tight-fitting martial arts uniforms and wrapping bandages around your hands and feet to reduce noise? It’s like something out of a manga.”

Only then could Masashi understand the situation he was in.

The moment he tried to stab the dagger, that nobody had reached out and grabbed his face.

“Kuh-eup.”

He felt a pressure that seemed like it would crush his skull at any moment. The sound of bones grinding echoed in his head.

Only then could Masashi realize why they had gathered so many people to catch this one nobody. The higher-ups had made a very rational decision.

It was Masashi’s mistake that he had not trusted the judgment of those higher-ups.

“I thought you’d at least throw a shuriken, but you just charged right in? A little disappointing. You’ve got the stereotypical outfit, but you can’t do a clone technique, huh? I thought you’d turn into a log by now.”

He could hear giggling laughter.

Kang Jin-ho chuckled as he looked at the ninja in his hand.

Seeing a ninja dressed like he had just jumped out of a movie made him feel goosebumps all over again.

“It’s good to uphold tradition, but honestly, in my opinion…”

For Kang Jin-ho, it was ridiculous that guys born in modern times were talking about tradition. He was a being from a world where tradition was still alive and well.

“You need to know what ‘anachronistic’ means.”

He was on his way to a generational shift. And yet, the ones who were blocking Kang Jin-ho were these old-fashioned people. It was both amusing and ridiculous.

“They say ninjas don’t scream when they die, should we check that?”

“W-wait a minute!”

Masashi was about to say something. But unfortunately, Kang Jin-ho didn’t know Japanese.

Crack.

“You have to speak in Korean.”

And that was the end of it.

Masashi’s body, his head completely crushed, fell limply to the floor. Kang Jin-ho didn’t even glance at Masashi’s corpse on the floor as he looked around.

“Don’t disappoint me anymore.”

He had been expecting a fun and unique experience.

If this was all there was, it was too bad.

Kang Jin-ho made eye contact with each of those who were hiding in the darkness and said quietly.

“Next.”

A cold killing intent began to fill the hall.

With nausea, the ninjas who had been surrounding him rushed towards Kang Jin-ho all at once.

“Heh heh heh.”

Kang Jin-ho slowly raised his sword as he watched the ninjas rushing towards him.