Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 986

Even as the Elder Knights began to show clear hostility, Kang Jin-ho didn’t react much.

The reaction came from the Elder Knights instead.

“…He’s unbelievably strong.”

“Have we ever faced an enemy like him? What do you think, Boers?”

“He seems stronger than the Giant of the End.”

The Elder Knights, seemingly tense, couldn’t take their eyes off Kang Jin-ho.

“I thought this happened because they were weak, but it seems that’s not the case. The enemy is incredibly powerful.”

“That’s a demonic aura. We should call the Holy Knights of the Papal States, not us.”

“Hmph, what could those guys do? They’d be too busy running away.”

“…He’s so powerful that even if they ran, we couldn’t blame them. Where did such a person come from?”

The Elder Knights were also bewildered by Kang Jin-ho’s strength.

They had defeated countless enemies.

When the Round Table fell into chaos and forces tried to destroy it, they, as the last bastion of the Round Table, defeated, crushed, and killed their enemies.

When a crisis came, they defeated the enemy and went back to sleep.

But even after looking back at all the enemies they had faced, no one had ever exuded such an overwhelming presence.

There might be a few places that could compare in terms of power as a force, but in terms of individual strength, he was undoubtedly the strongest they had ever encountered.

“And is he an Oriental? They say demons live in the East, and it seems that’s true. He’s like a red dragon… no, should we call him a black dragon?”

“It doesn’t matter which one. What’s important is that he’s an enemy of the Round Table.”

“You’re stating the obvious.”

Their tone hadn’t changed much, but a sensitive person could notice a subtle tension in their voices.

They had defeated countless enemies, but the power emanating from Kang Jin-ho was making even them tense.

And they weren’t the only ones who were tense.

“Just…”

Lee Myung-hwan’s voice trembled.

“Is he strong?”

“…I don’t know. I can’t even guess. What’s certain is… he’s incomparably stronger than me.”

“Compared to Director Wiggins or Director Bator?”

“Well…”

Lee Myung-hwan shook his head.

“Those two and those guys are so far above me that I can’t judge who’s better or worse.”

Lee Hyun-soo bit her lip slightly.

That meant each of them was as strong as Bator. The fact that she couldn’t judge them accurately also meant they were similar.

Even if they were weaker than Bator, the situation wouldn’t change at all.

‘This is a disaster.’

Bator was an invincible warrior.

Recently, his prestige had been diminished as he faced beings beyond human comprehension like the Crimson King, but Bator was strong in the past, and now that he had accepted demonic power, he was twice as strong.

If there were no directors in the General Assembly, Bator alone could devastate it. Even if they poured all the demonic flames, she wasn’t sure if they could stop a rampaging Bator.

And there were eleven of those Bators.

‘This is unbelievable.’

As Lee Hyun-soo charged into the Round Table, her honest feeling was, ‘It’s easier than I thought.’

Compared to the Round Table’s reputation, their defenses were too easily breached. Even while entering this hall, there weren’t even any significant casualties.

Of course, there was a reasonable explanation.

They didn’t expect the General Assembly to attack so suddenly, so they weren’t properly prepared, and according to Wiggins, the Master’s seat hadn’t been filled until recently, so they couldn’t deploy knight orders from other countries as defense forces.

If they had moved, the situation would have been different.

But that alone wasn’t a perfect excuse. Even considering that the General Assembly had become stronger than expected, the Round Table hadn’t lived up to its reputation.

That’s why she had felt a slight sense of disdain, but the moment she saw these so-called Elder Knights, that feeling completely disappeared.

‘Eleven Bators?’

That was an absurd force.

Just hearing it made her skin crawl.

Besides…

“…A magical sleep.”

What kind of fantasy was this? No, no.

Lee Hyun-soo, who lived in the world of martial arts, shouldn’t be saying that. There were those who had transcended time from the past and descended into reality.

The returnee, Kang Jin-ho, was one of them.

Objectively speaking, Kang Jin-ho’s existence was more absurd. The leader of the Demonic Cult, who had swept through the Central Plains [a historical region in China], had been resurrected in modern Korea and was reviving the General Assembly and the Demonic Cult.

From the perspective of other countries, it would be easier to accept a dragon appearing in reality and causing chaos.

“…I never thought I’d feel the same way as Japan or China.”

“Excuse me?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Thinking that the absurdity Lee Hyun-soo was feeling was the same absurdity that neighboring countries must have felt, she felt sorry for Japan and China.

But no matter what, she couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.

‘How exactly does magic work?’

Just as Westerners couldn’t understand Eastern martial arts, Lee Hyun-soo couldn’t understand magic at all. Creating fireballs, summoning lightning, and things like that were somewhat understandable. After all, things that didn’t make sense physically were the same on their side.

But wasn’t that destroying the laws of reality itself?

To put a powerful person from the past into an ageless sleep and revive them in times of crisis, what was that…

“They’re literally guardians.”

“Yeah.”

Lee Hyun-soo had no choice but to nod at Lee Myung-hwan’s words. That was accurate. Guardians protecting the Round Table.

“But, Chief.”

“Yeah?”

“…I can’t imagine the Chairman losing.”

“…Right?”

Lee Myung-hwan nodded with a confident face. She didn’t know why he was so confident.

“No matter how strong they are, they can’t beat the Chairman.”

“I guess so.”

Lee Hyun-soo didn’t bother to add anything.

The thought that Lee Myung-hwan had just had was probably the same thought that the other side was having. They acknowledged Kang Jin-ho’s strength, but they also thought that Kang Jin-ho couldn’t overcome the wall of the Elder Knights.

“And I don’t know about anything else…”

“Yeah?”

“Aren’t those bastards being too cocky, surrounding one person with eleven of them?”

For the first time today, Lee Hyun-soo strongly agreed with Lee Myung-hwan.

They wouldn’t understand the conversation between the two in Korean, but the Elder Knights also seemed to be bothered by that part.

“This is perplexing.”

“What do you mean, Digore?”

“Does that mean we have to fight one person?”

No one answered.

A slight hint of bewilderment appeared. It was natural, as they had never fought one person with a combined attack before.

The crises of the Round Table were never created by a small number of people. The enemies they had fought so far were all forces leading large armies. It was common for strong individuals to be mixed in, but it had never happened that one person stood in their way like this.

They were knights who knew honor. Attacking a small number with a large number was not honorable.

“It seems there are people remaining in the back?”

“But they don’t seem to have any intention of moving.”

“Hmm.”

At that moment, Knight Levo shouted.

“What are you doing! That person is an enemy who has invaded the Round Table! You must cut off his head immediately.”

“It would be better for you to shut your mouth, young Master.”

“One!”

“Or your head will be cut off.”

Knight Levo closed his mouth. A cold voice, devoid of emotion, had silenced him.

“We respect the Master, but we are not beings who listen to his orders. In the first place, the knights of the Round Table are equal beings. We, who were equal to the Masters of the past, have no reason to listen to the orders of a Master of the later generations.”

Knight Levo trembled with humiliation.

‘What the hell are these guys?’

He didn’t know much about the Elder Knights. He knew of their existence and purpose, but he hadn’t learned how to utilize them.

He hadn’t received a proper handover from the Master yet.

One thing was certain: they were not the beings he had thought they were. He had thought of them as sharp swords, but they were actually ego swords that could harm their owner and move as they pleased.

‘Damn it.’

Knight Levo gritted his teeth.

In any case, it was clear that the situation had improved. If they hadn’t been able to stop Kang Jin-ho, the only ending left for him would have been death. The fact that there was a possibility of avoiding that ending improved the situation.

However…

“Step back, young Master. We will slay the enemy according to our given duty. But you cannot interfere with our method.”

Knight Levo bit his lip and stepped back.

The knight at the front opened his mouth towards Kang Jin-ho.

“Invader, we advise you. Throw away your weapon and surrender right now. If you do, we will not take your life. If you do not, we will have no choice but to kill you, even if it means sacrificing our honor.”

Another knight continued.

“Killing a strong person like you would be a sad thing for us as well. We do not wish to shed unnecessary blood.”

Kang Jin-ho lowered his head.

Kang Jin-ho’s mouth slightly opened as if he was contemplating.

“Heh.”

A laugh.

The knights stared at Kang Jin-ho, hearing the laughter that sounded like a sneer. His face, hidden by his helmet, must have been stiff.

“Ah, my apologies.”

Kang Jin-ho slightly waved his hand.

“I wasn’t sneering. I was just reminded of the past.”

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t stop smiling.

Although the opponents were different, he felt the same feeling from them as the righteous sects of the past. Especially the righteous sects of Taoism or Buddhism would often say such things.

They would rationalize that while attacking together was shameful for a martial artist, they had to be willing to sacrifice their shame for a greater cause.

If that was the case, they shouldn’t have called it shameful in the first place.

“That’s why honor and such are useless.”

If honor had to be abandoned in extreme situations, it was nothing more than a decoration to adorn oneself. Beliefs and will had value only if they were maintained even in extreme situations.

Of course, Kang Jin-ho would have sneered at even that.

“Stop talking and come at me. I’ll make you regret being resurrected.”

“You… bastard.”

The Elder Knights erupted in anger.

Kang Jin-ho smiled brightly, receiving all that pouring hostility.

He felt something burning in his chest.

Kang Jin-ho, who had regained his fighting spirit, grabbed Red Dew and Blue Dew.