Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 599

‘What is he doing?’

Chief Executive Choi watched Knight Wiggins’ actions with a puzzled look. It could be taken as a simple threat, but Chief Executive Choi knew that wasn’t the case.

He was clearly doing something, but what it was, he couldn’t tell.

‘I should have learned more about Western martial arts.’

He had heard rumors.

That Western martial artists used a completely different system than their Eastern counterparts.

He even knew what it was.

‘Is it magic?’

Nothing in this world is a secret. While it’s possible to hide secrets in this day and age, in the past, there was no way to stop rumors from spreading.

Even now, when verification of information and logical thinking are commonplace, it takes an enormous effort to stop a single rumor. How much more difficult would it have been in the past?

That’s why martial artists packaged the rumors about themselves as fantasy.

The East did so under the names of martial arts and chivalry, and the West under the names of magic and swordsmanship.

The problem was that while he could guess the general form, he didn’t know what kind of power and effect it had.

But there was no need to worry about that.

Knight Wiggins was about to show him.

Rumble!

The ground shook.

The world was shaking.

“Ugh!”

Chief Executive Choi immediately lowered his stance.

‘An earthquake?’

It wasn’t a mistake. His legs were trembling, and his body couldn’t find its footing. The ground around him was causing an earthquake.

“Tch!”

Chief Executive Choi gritted his teeth.

Surely this wouldn’t continue, would it?

If it did, it would be a disaster.

The first thing one learns in martial arts is footwork.

How to step on the ground.

Eastern martial arts begin with anchoring the body to the ground. You take a firm step and attack based on that stability.

But on this shaking ground, that was impossible. Naturally, he wouldn’t be able to perform at his best.

“Such a petty trick!”

Knight Wiggins smiled, seemingly satisfied with Chief Executive Choi’s fierce reaction.

“You should consider it an honor.”

Knight Wiggins said, flicking his sword downwards.

“Even in Europe, dual-class individuals like me aren’t easy to come by. You’ll get an eyeful today, so make sure to pay a hefty viewing fee later.”

“You bastard!”

Knight Wiggins wore a smile.

‘How light.’

It had been a long time since he had entered a battle with such a light heart.

It wasn’t because his opponent was weak that he felt light.

It was because he was fighting with all the burdens he had been carrying off his shoulders.

When he carried the name of Knight, the weight of that name alone made his body heavy.

‘That burden will now be carried by the Lord.’

Knight Wiggins thought he was a bit of a coward. To others, it might seem great that he had given up everything to follow Kang Jin-ho, but in reality, Knight Wiggins had lost nothing.

He had simply passed the burden he had to bear onto Kang Jin-ho. And Kang Jin-ho had taken on that burden as if it were natural.

‘He’s an amazing person.’

He was a strong person.

Not strong in terms of martial prowess, but strong as a human being. He didn’t hesitate to take on the burdens of others. And yet, he never complained. He was the kind of leader who silently led from behind, or so it seemed.

“Then I should repay him.”

Knight Wiggins wasn’t a shameless person. The fact that he had passed his burden onto Kang Jin-ho meant that he wanted a new start, not that he wanted to pass all responsibility onto him and be comfortable.

And this would be his first repayment. It was a very small thing compared to what Kang Jin-ho had done for him, but even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Knight Wiggins saw the martial artists rushing towards him. The shaking ground seemed to be quite a burden for them. They were all floating in the air, flying towards him.

“Clumsy.”

Not knowing your opponent is this dangerous. If Wiggins had been an Eastern martial artist, perhaps that would have been the right move. But for them to jump into the air, where it was difficult to move, against Wiggins was nothing short of suicide.

Wiggins raised his staff and infused it with mana [a magical energy source].

Whoosh!

With a sound like thousands of bees buzzing, a dazzling light burst from the tip of Wiggins’ staff.

Then!

From the tip of the staff, dozens of beams of light shot out, striking the martial artists flying through the air.

“Gasp!”

“Wh-what is that!”

The martial artists’ faces were filled with bewilderment at the sight of the attack they had never seen before.

They knew they had to dodge, but there was no way to do so. How could they dodge in mid-air? They had moved after confirming that they had no weapons to throw at their opponent, but they had been completely caught off guard.

So, all they could do was endure.

The light missiles slammed into the bodies of the martial artists who had crossed their arms to cover their faces and curled up.

“Ugh!”

“Agh!”

The sound of bones cracking echoed from all directions.

Even though they had gathered their strength to resist, they were overwhelmed by a huge impact that they couldn’t withstand with their bare bodies. It was as if they had been hit by a steel fist loaded with all the force of a professional boxer.

Like birds shot by a hunter, the martial artists who had been floating in the air fell to the ground.

“Kuh!”

The ones who had landed on the ground raised their heads and glared at Knight Wiggins.

‘Huh!’

But Knight Wiggins, who had been in front of them just a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen.

‘Where did he go?’

“Where are you looking?”

Their bodies trembled at the voice that came from behind them as if it were natural.

“Careless.”

Thwack!

Then, the huge impact felt on the back of their necks caused them to lose consciousness.

‘What the hell is going on?’

Chief Executive Choi couldn’t understand the scene before his eyes.

Okay, fine.

He could understand the earthquake and the strange energy being fired at those in the air. He didn’t know the principle behind it, but it was something tangible.

But he couldn’t understand what he had just seen.

He had clearly disappeared.

Knight Wiggins’ body, which had been far away, disappeared from that spot and appeared right next to the martial artists who had fallen to the ground.

He hadn’t moved quickly.

He had literally disappeared and reappeared.

How could a person move through space like that?

It was a moment when Chief Executive Choi’s common sense about martial arts collapsed.

His jaw dropped in shock.

“Tsk, tsk.”

Knight Wiggins shook his head as if he was displeased.

“Facing an enemy you don’t know means facing techniques you don’t know. You should be extra careful, but you just charged in.”

It wasn’t a bad thing that the enemy was weak.

But these people weren’t complete enemies. Perhaps after this moment, they would be his comrades, fighting shoulder to shoulder with him.

How could he not be frustrated when they were so thoughtless?

‘They need training.’

It was something he had thought about before, but the General Assembly was too disorganized.

There was a structure, but because there were separate masters, they followed the words of their masters more than the structure. Moreover, because they often received one-on-one instruction, their understanding of group battles was poor, and they often missed the basics.

Thanks to that, each martial artist had their own unique characteristics, but an advantage that wasn’t utilized was not an advantage.

Even if they didn’t learn his martial arts, he felt that he had to teach them at least the concept of group battles.

“Isn’t that right?”

“There’s no need to be so scared. I hit them with the flat of my sword. If I had hit them with the blade, would they have just fallen like that? Their heads would have flown off.”

Knight Wiggins gave a wry smile as he felt the gazes that seemed to be looking at an alien.

Humans are naturally afraid when they witness something that is beyond their understanding.

He didn’t like being looked at as if he were a monster, but it was a hundred times better than being looked down upon.

“What should I do?”

Knight Wiggins looked around with a slightly troubled expression.

Faces that had lost their will to fight?

No, they were just bewildered.

They didn’t understand what was happening to them, so they were wary of everything.

But that expression didn’t last long.

“Aaaah!”

The ones who had been groaning as if they had just realized that there was an enemy right in front of them suddenly got up and rushed at Knight Wiggins.

Their recklessness was commendable, but attacking without considering the difference in skill was something even beasts wouldn’t do.

‘Stupid.’

A sigh escaped from Knight Wiggins’ mouth.

But his hands were moving more nimbly than ever.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Three sounds and three groans.

The ones who had been accurately stabbed in the neck by Knight Wiggins’ staff grabbed their necks and fell to the ground. They probably wouldn’t be able to breathe for a while.

“It feels like I’m a battle mage from a movie, trying to hit them with a staff instead of a perfectly good sword, but don’t misunderstand. My specialty is swordsmanship.” It was just easier to subdue them this way.

The ones on the ground got up with a rustle. Seeing that, Knight Wiggins tapped the ground with his staff.

Then, a change occurred.

“Uh oh……”

“Ugh! What is this!”

“I-I’m floating!”

The martial artists surrounding Knight Wiggins slowly floated into the air. They were flailing around as if they were in a zero-gravity space.

Slowly, slowly.

Not fast at all.

But they kept floating up. The ones who had floated more than 10 meters into the air were flailing around.

‘What the hell is this?’

Chief Executive Choi stared at the scene with a blank look.

How could a person float into the air like that? And not by their own will, but by someone else’s.

“Don’t panic!”

A loud voice erupted from behind Chief Executive Choi, who was still unable to come to his senses. One of the elders quickly gave instructions.

“Use the Thousand-Pound Drop! It’s just energy anyway. You can resist it!”

As if they understood the words, the martial artists gathered their hands in front of their dantian [an energy center in the body] and used the Thousand-Pound Drop. The ones who had increased their weight with energy began to descend slowly.

“Oh?”

Knight Wiggins’ eyes widened as if he was amazed to see them resisting.

If his Reverse Gravity was a strange technique to them, then their Thousand-Pound Drop was just as strange to Knight Wiggins.

It was as if he had seen that similar principles could lead to drastically different results depending on how they were used.

It was an eye-opening experience.

“Amazing and impressive. But…” The corners of Knight Wiggins’ mouth curled up.

“That’s not the answer, is it?”

Knight Wiggins’ hand, which had been slightly raised, pressed down on the air.

At the same time, the ones floating in the air began to plummet downwards at a terrifying speed.

“What!”

“You son of a bitch!”

The gravity that had changed direction and the Thousand-Pound Drop that was pressing down on their bodies created a synergy, and the martial artists’ bodies crashed into the ground like meteors.