Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 923

There’s a saying that one’s gaze can be stolen.

Whether positive or negative, when a powerful stimulus is at play, a person can’t take their eyes off what has captured their attention.

The Master was in exactly that situation.

He knew.

He knew that Kang Jin-ho was behind the door when it opened.

There was no need to even consider who was the source of the intense presence he felt as he entered the hallway. As far as he knew, there was only one person in all of Korea who could make his hair stand on end.

‘But this is beyond what I imagined.’

Even taking a single step was difficult.

What made the Master even more bewildered was that there was no hostility within this pressure.

It was like a person breathing out air. It was just a natural aura that was being emitted. Yet, the pressure alone made the Master want to turn around.

Everything was blurring.

The vision was blurring, and the hallway was turning red.

‘What the hell is there?’

What he was seeing now was not reality. It was an illusion created by his brain. That illusion was now turning into hell.

His brain was warning him that meeting the person beyond the door carried the same risk as entering hell.

If he were thinking straight? This would be the end.

If the situation were different, the Master would have turned around without a second thought.

The quality that the leader of a large organization like the Round Table [a powerful, influential group] should possess is not the boldness and aggression to break through dangers and crises head-on. It’s the prudence to check even a stone bridge before crossing it.

That prudence was telling him to turn back.

It was saying that encountering that dangerous presence would bring serious risks to him as well.

‘If I could turn back, I wouldn’t even hesitate.’

The Master bit his lip.

Unfortunately, there was no turning back for him. Having come this far, the option of returning from the airport was no longer available. The world would laugh at him, and his position within the Round Table would suffer a critical blow.

To have used his authority only to end up sightseeing at a distant foreign airport?

It was not something that could be understood by anyone.

The Master slightly clenched his fist.

Fortunately, his steps did not falter. Those around him would not notice that he was wavering.

‘They wouldn’t understand.’

Because others wouldn’t be able to feel this pressure.

This was a power that only affected those who could sense it. Perhaps even Kang Jin-ho, who was emitting this pressure, wouldn’t realize that he was putting pressure on someone.

The Master gave a bitter smile.

‘It seems I was too complacent.’

He knew that Kang Jin-ho was strong. He had anticipated it enough.

East Asia was where the most powerful martial artists in the world gathered. It wasn’t that there weren’t others who could match their strength. But East Asia was the only place where so many martial artists gathered in such a small area.

Kang Jin-ho was the one who had shaken that place.

He couldn’t be anything but strong. He had no choice but to be strong.

But his strength was now exceeding the Master’s expectations.

‘Now, will a demon come out, or a monster?’

His spine was tingling.

The Master was feeling both immense fear and excitement at the same time.

‘How long has it been since I felt like this?’

The weariness he had felt on the plane seemed to vanish in an instant. It felt like every cell in his body was awakening.

His nerves were focused forward. He thought he heard something whispering behind him, but those words didn’t reach the Master’s ears at all.

All his nerves were focused on what was beyond the door.

Ominous, and incredibly gloomy…

The aura that was so fitting to be called the incarnation of a demon.

The door opened.

As the slightly dark hallway ended, the attendants opened the door. Bright artificial light poured in.

‘It’s ironic.’

It felt strange that the one emitting this demonic aura was in such a bright place. Shouldn’t that person be at the bottom of the 18th level of hell?

With that strange feeling, the Master stepped into the lounge.

The Master’s gaze turned to the two men waiting in the lounge.

No, to be precise, it turned to one of the two men.

It was a strange thing.

A strange place.

A strange environment.

In such places, people usually look for what is familiar first. In a place that one is familiar with, the unfamiliar stands out first, but in a place that feels unfamiliar, one looks for the familiar instead.

It’s like when you go abroad, you notice your own country’s products or people first.

In that sense, what was familiar to the Master was Wiggins, who was standing on the right.

An unchanged face, and an unchanged aura.

Even though the scent of mana [a mystical energy] emanating from him was very familiar, the Master’s gaze couldn’t turn to him. His gaze was fixed on an Asian man standing next to Wiggins.

How should he put it?

His appearance wasn’t particularly impressive.

He didn’t deviate much from the standard image of an Asian that the Master had. It’s not like he had six arms or three heads.

But such an appearance didn’t even register in his eyes.

He could see it.

No, he could feel it.

An immeasurable something was pulsating within that man. Something incredibly dark, destructive, and violent!

It was as if something that shouldn’t be contained within a human body was writhing inside.

He was breathless.

His fingertips were trembling slightly, but the Master didn’t even have the mental capacity to realize that he shouldn’t show weakness.

It felt like his soul was being sucked in.

Overwhelming power.

Overwhelming evil.

He couldn’t do anything but tremble at that power.

‘What have you done, Wiggins?’

The Master thought that Wiggins had seen hope in Korea. But no. What the Master saw in Korea was a great evil.

A being that should be called a demon king.

Such a being was breathing in this small country.

What should he do?

What on earth…

That’s when it happened.

“Mmph, mmph!”

A ridiculous voice from behind pierced the Master’s ears.

‘Ah!’

Only then was the Master able to regain his senses.

The tension that had made it feel like he couldn’t even breathe vanished in an instant.

Kang Jin-ho’s expression changed.

His expressionless face momentarily showed a look of bewilderment, before returning to its expressionless state.

Only then did the Master realize.

‘He wasn’t looking at me.’

During the series of events as the door opened and the Master entered, Kang Jin-ho’s gaze had not once turned to the Master. What his gaze was following was a small Asian woman behind him.

Kang Jin-ho chuckled and took a step forward.

His body flinched in response to that insignificant movement. The Master did everything he could to suppress his body’s urge to throw itself backward.

Step, step.

Kang Jin-ho, who had taken a couple of steps forward, fixed his gaze behind the Master.

“What’s wrong?”

“Mmph! Mmph!”

“No…”

Choi Yeon-ha turned her head with a sulky expression.

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head, not understanding the situation, and then Han Eun-sol quickly came forward and whispered something to Kang Jin-ho. Then, Kang Jin-ho’s gaze landed on Park Hak-gi, who was behind Choi Yeon-ha.

Park Hak-gi couldn’t say anything.

What could he say in this situation?

He wasn’t a fool. If he were oblivious, he wouldn’t be in this position. And he wouldn’t dare to be present at this important moment as a representative of the government.

Anyone who wasn’t a fool could tell that Choi Yeon-ha and Kang Jin-ho were close and were currently sharing some kind of understanding.

A woman he thought was just a mere celebrity was an acquaintance of Kang Jin-ho. And a relationship that was close enough for Kang Jin-ho to personally come to greet her?

He couldn’t think of anything.

It felt like his mind had gone blank for a moment. He had done everything he could to make today’s event a success. But how was he supposed to accept that he was the one who had made the biggest mistake?

“Uh, that’s…”

It would have been better to keep his mouth shut.

But Park Hak-gi couldn’t bear the silence. He wanted to somehow improve the situation, but he couldn’t think of what to say.

“Government?”

Kang Jin-ho asked.

Park Hak-gi, realizing that the question was directed at him, nodded his head vigorously.

Even though he knew how rude it was to answer with a nod when dealing with Kang Jin-ho, it was an instinctive action.

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded as if he had roughly guessed the situation. But Park Hak-gi didn’t miss the fact that Kang Jin-ho’s brow had narrowed slightly.

It was a perception created by his professional trait, which required keen observation and attention to VIPs.

But he would have rather not known.

If he hadn’t known anything, if he hadn’t seen anything, he wouldn’t be feeling like this. If the front glass window of the lounge hadn’t been bulletproof, Park Hak-gi might have jumped out of the window by now.

That’s how bad his situation and mood were right now.

“We’ll have a separate talk later.”

Kang Jin-ho took his gaze off Park Hak-gi. Then he turned to Choi Yeon-ha.

“You must have had a hard time coming here.”

“Mmph?”

“…You can talk now.”

“Heung?”

Choi Yeon-ha turned her head and looked at Park Hak-gi.

Her eyes were conveying the meaning, ‘He said I can talk, right?’ Park Hak-gi nodded with a terrified face. It looked like his neck was about to break.

“Ha, the mute act is over, I see. But I’m… blind, so I can’t see anything?”

“…Don’t bother people for no reason.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled awkwardly.

“You had a hard time coming here.”

“Yes. It wasn’t exactly an easy journey. But, it’s okay.”

“Huh?”

“Seeing your face makes my fatigue go away. As expected.”

Park Hak-gi saw an awkwardness in Kang Jin-ho’s face. But he also didn’t miss the slight smile that appeared on his lips.

‘I’m screwed.’

This was the end.

There was no way to know more clearly what kind of relationship Choi Yeon-ha and Kang Jin-ho had.

So…

‘What have I done?’

He could only think about ‘How am I going to fix this situation?’ He didn’t even realize that the Master had been standing there doing nothing for a while now.

“Let’s go. I brought the car.”

“Okay.”

Choi Yeon-ha turned her head and looked at Han Eun-sol.

“I’m sorry. Jin-ho’s car is a two-seater… If it were a four-seater, I would have taken you too, but it can’t be helped. You can take the company car. I’ll contact you tomorrow.”

“Ah, okay. Then…”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“No. I came in another car, so you can ride…”

“Then I’ll go, Eun-sol.”

Choi Yeon-ha grabbed Kang Jin-ho’s arm and pulled him along. Kang Jin-ho, with an astonished face, looked at Han Eun-sol as he was dragged away.

Han Eun-sol, who was quietly watching the scene, muttered to herself.

“I should have just kept my mouth shut.”

A sigh escaped her lips.