Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 804

The blanket he gripped tore with a ripping sound.

Startled by the strange sensation, Kang Jin-ho’s eyes snapped open.

‘A dream?’

Yes, it was a dream.

More accurately, a memory.

A memory from when he was not Kang Jin-ho, but called the Demonic Heavenly Sovereign.

A memory from when he was a demon who stained the world with tyranny.

As Kang Jin-ho relived that vivid memory, he unconsciously raised his hand to cover his face.

‘Why now…’

He thought those memories were unrelated to him now, so why was he having such a dream? He had clearly drawn a line with the past.

“Huuuuu.”

Kang Jin-ho breathed quietly.

He couldn’t move.

Perhaps because the dream was so vivid, the sensation still lingered in his body.

The feeling of demonic energy overflowing and filling his body, and the terrifying aura that shook his entire being.

That sensation, which was so natural when he was called the Demonic Heavenly Sovereign, was now a shock to Kang Jin-ho.

He felt like he could do anything.

A sense of fulfillment that made him feel like he could flip a mountain with one hand and split the sea with a single sword strike.

The formidable power that made him feel like he could even bring down the sky if he so desired.

Only then did Kang Jin-ho realize how immense what he had lost was. And how distant it was to regain that level now.

‘This weakling…’

Huh?

Weak?

Kang Jin-ho looked down at his body.

“Huh?”

A bewildered exclamation escaped his lips.

‘…What is this?’

Kang Jin-ho stared blankly at his body. Then, he raised his head and looked around.

‘What is this?’

The world had changed.

It wasn’t just a feeling. The world truly felt different. It was like removing an opaque filter from in front of a camera lens. The world felt clearer and brighter.

‘No.’

The world hadn’t changed.

The world Kang Jin-ho had been seeing until yesterday had been blurry. It had now returned to normal. He didn’t know what had happened, but his mind was clear.

After accepting the situation and pondering deeply, Kang Jin-ho finally reached a conclusion.

‘It was a mental demon.’

Before Buddha achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, demons came to him. Those who seek to reach a higher realm will almost certainly encounter mental demons.

Mental demons are so mysterious that it’s impossible to definitively say what they are. Anything that hinders the process of moving forward can be called a mental demon.

Although it cannot be precisely defined, one commonality is that those afflicted by mental demons inevitably regress from their previous state. If one doesn’t use martial arts, they might not even realize they are suffering from a mental demon.

Kang Jin-ho was exactly in that situation.

Until he opened his eyes now, Kang Jin-ho had not realized that he was afflicted by a mental demon.

‘Come to think of it, it was strange.’

Kang Jin-ho was not someone who hesitated in making choices. He might contemplate before making a choice, but once he had reviewed all the issues, he would make a decision without hesitation and never look back.

It was definitely strange that Kang Jin-ho, who was like that, had been unable to make a proper choice and had been wavering.

Kang Jin-ho sighed softly.

It wasn’t a sigh of regret, but a sigh of relief.

Mental demons are terrifying.

He had seen countless cases of martial artists who had reached their peak being ruined by mental demons. People often mistakenly believe that those who work hard will always move forward. But that’s not true. No matter how hard one tries, there is a limit to how far one can go.

Can a human run 100 meters in 8 seconds with just physical strength, no matter how hard they try?

Effort is a necessary element to reach one’s limit. To break through that limit, one needs something else. In martial arts, that limit is called a ‘wall.’

Others cannot imagine how much despair a martial artist feels when they hit a wall.

The maddening thing about the wall is that one can guess what level they can reach if they overcome it. Imagine placing an endless array of rare and exquisite foods in front of a starving person, but blocking them with a transparent wall that they cannot overcome no matter what they do.

Can you understand the desperation to overcome that wall?

Desperation gnaws at people. When one tries and tries again but cannot overcome it, their mental strength is gradually eroded, eventually turning them into a wreck. The wall to advancement is therefore terrifying. No one can help, and it is even more terrifying because one has to overcome it alone.

The ultimate form of this wall was the mental demon.

The wall prevents one from moving forward, but the mental demon makes one regress. If one cannot overcome the mental demon, they gradually lose what they have. Just as misfortune follows good fortune, one must overcome a great mental demon to overcome a great wall.

But…

“I overcame it like this?”

Kang Jin-ho’s face was filled with bewilderment.

It was understandable that he was bewildered.

Mental demons are not something that can be overcome so easily. In the past, when Kang Jin-ho was afflicted by a mental demon while learning the Asura Technique, he had to undergo nearly a year of ascetic training to overcome it.

He had isolated himself from the outside world, pushing his body and mind to their limits, and only then was he barely able to overcome the mental demon and break through the wall. He had almost died at the end.

It wasn’t just an exaggeration; if the period he suffered from the mental demon had lasted just one more week, he wouldn’t have been able to guarantee his survival.

But he overcame it like this?

Like this?

“This is…”

It wasn’t something that could be dismissed with just the word ‘bewildering.’

If he went back to the Central Plains of the past and told the protectors of the Demonic Cult or the famous figures of the Central Plains that he had overcome a mental demon like this, they would roll on the floor laughing.

Laughing?

No, from stomach pain.

It was common for people to self-harm, throw themselves into waterfalls, cut off food, or lock themselves in caves for ten years to overcome that damned mental demon. But he came to the orphanage, rolled around for three days, made a phone call, and was completely cured?

He could see people with bloodshot eyes drawing their swords and charging at him.

But what could he do? That was the truth.

‘What happened?’

He was confused. He even suspected that this situation was a kind of mental demon.

But the signs of escaping the mental demon were too clear. His vision had cleared, and his mind was refreshed. He could immediately feel how clouded his mind had been.

It was as if he had worked three days and nights straight, collapsed, and then woken up after sleeping for 24 hours. The world looked so clear.

“So…”

Kang Jin-ho, who was trying to organize his thoughts, shook his head.

‘I don’t know.’

He had no idea how this situation had occurred. He had escaped the mental demon before he even realized he had fallen into it, so how could he analyze how he had escaped?

It was bewildering and embarrassing, but one thing was certain.

In any case, this was a good thing. In two ways.

First, falling into a mental demon was definitely a good thing.

Mental demons are incredibly terrifying. But falling into a mental demon proves that he can go further. Hitting a wall is only possible when one is moving forward.

While contemplating about Bang Jin-hoon and the creation of new martial arts, Kang Jin-ho’s path was not wrong. The new system was perfectly paving the way for him to expand.

Secondly…

‘I can reach it.’

He was certain.

The shadow of the Demonic Heavenly Sovereign, which had seemed so distant, began to appear clearly before his eyes. It was still far away and distant, but if he continued to walk, he would eventually reach that place.

A bright smile appeared on Kang Jin-ho’s face.

“You look happy?”

«Eung.» [Yes]

“Oh! Oppa, you really look happy?”

“Eung.” [Yes]

〒『•

Kang Jin-ho nodded silently. He tried to act calm, but his lips kept twitching. Overcoming the mental demon was truly a joyous occasion for Kang Jin-ho.

In the past, when he was the leader of the Demonic Cult, he would have held a three-day and three-night celebration.

“Is something good happening?”

“Yeah.”

Jo Mi-hye tilted her head.

“What good thing? Oppa, are you dating someone?”

Before Kang Jin-ho could answer, replies burst out from all directions.

“He’s already dating someone!”

“If Yeon-ha unnie [older sister] heard that, do you think your hair would still be intact?”

Jo Mi-hye protested, looking wronged.

“No! Yeon-ha unnie is in China right now, you idiots. I was just checking if he was cheating! Why are you ruining it!”

A scary woman.

Kang Jin-ho had spent over five years carefully managing the orphanage. But after visiting a few times, she was already using the girls as informants.

Kang Jin-ho was once again realizing the fear of Choi Yeon-ha.

“What are you doing today?”

“Huh?”

At the sudden question, Jo Mi-hye stared at Kang Jin-ho. It was the first time she had seen Kang Jin-ho ask something like that.

“What do you mean, what am I doing? It’s Sunday today. There’s nothing to do since we don’t go to school. We finished cleaning yesterday, so we should just laze around and play today.”

Jo Mi-hye’s gaze turned sharply to one side.

“Not you. Study.”

Han Jin-sung’s head drooped.

A pitiful high school senior.

“So, you have nothing to do, right?”

If it were the usual Kang Jin-ho, he would have backed down here. Then, he would have spent his time idly in a corner. But today’s Kang Jin-ho was not the usual Kang Jin-ho.

Today was an exceptionally joyous day.

“I’m treating.”

“••••••Huh?”

“I’ll treat you today, so prepare a schedule.”

“Today?”

«Eung.» [Yes]

Kang Jin-ho nodded his head emphatically and said again.

“We should eat breakfast here. Then we’ll go out. And we’ll come back after dinner. Make a schedule and submit it.”

“Oppa, how many people are going?”

“All of them.”

“Huh?”

“All of them.”

Jo Mi-hye’s eyes trembled. He was taking everyone here out?

“Where are we going?”

“That’s for you guys to decide.”

“Wow…”

Jo Mi-hye was flustered, but it was already too late.

The children, who didn’t have any particular plans, were already excited about going out, especially with Kang Jin-ho, the legendary pushover… no, the legendary guardian. A strange heat was pressuring Jo Mi-hye.

“No… Oppa, I was going to rest today…”

Thump, thump.

The children who had risen from all directions gagged Jo Mi-hye and dragged her outside. Then, Han Jin-sung, who had quietly walked over and taken Jo Mi-hye’s seat, bowed ninety degrees and said.

“I will prepare the approval documents within an hour, Chairman.”

«Eung.» [Yes]

Kang Jin-ho nodded quietly.

‘I should rest until today.’

Although the problem was solved, even if he said he would return now that the problem was solved, Jo Gyu-min wouldn’t even pretend to listen. In that case, it would be good to just go all out for today.

When the schedule that the children had painstakingly created was submitted, Kang Jin-ho took a picture of it with his phone camera and sent it without a word.

The scream of the recipient seemed to echo all the way to the orphanage.