Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1019

“The Round Table?”

“Yes.”

Chai Ke-chang looked at the person reporting with a subtle expression.

“So, you’re saying Kang Jin-ho left his post and went to England?”

“…That is correct.”

“And you’re proudly reporting to me now that you missed that fact and only just found out?”

“I, I deserve to die.”

Zhang Hao, who was reporting, prostrated himself on the floor.

Cold sweat dripped from his forehead.

Chai Ke-chang was a man of clear rewards and punishments. He gave appropriate rewards to those who achieved merit, but he imposed strict punishments on those who made mistakes.

And this was clearly his mistake.

Moreover, the mistake he made was about Kang Jin-ho, to whom Chai Ke-chang had been most sensitive recently.

Even if Chai Ke-chang killed him on the spot, he would have nothing to say.

“The Round Table, huh.”

Chai Ke-chang leaned back in his chair and chuckled.

If the Hong King faction had pushed into Korea while Kang Jin-ho was away, Korea would have been devastated. Yet, he had the audacity to leave his post.

“Is he bold, or reckless? Is he saying he left his post with us right next door? He can’t really believe in the empty words of an alliance, can he?”

Chai Ke-chang couldn’t understand Kang Jin-ho and the General Assembly’s way of acting.

“Well, even if they showed a weakness, unless you can accurately exploit it, it’s as good as not having a weakness.”

“I, I’m sorry. I deserve to die.”

“The reason?”

“Yes?”

“What’s the reason you couldn’t accurately grasp Kang Jin-ho’s movements?”

“That, that is?”

Zhang Hao swallowed hard.

“He moved so suddenly…”

“So?”

“I’m sorry.”

Chai Ke-chang shook his head.

‘Well.’

It wouldn’t do to just push him blindly.

Even if the General Assembly sent out informants, they wouldn’t be able to catch the Hong King’s movements. A master has a wider range of perception than a novice. To monitor Kang Jin-ho from a distance where he wouldn’t notice?

‘We’d need the Hubble Telescope.’

It was realistically impossible.

When you look at it this way, the mission itself is impossible, but as is the case with everything in the world, there is always a way.

The senses of masters are superior to any surveillance device. But the senses are just that, senses. It’s the sense of feeling energy. That sense is bound to be dulled by machines that don’t contain energy.

There are many ways, such as placing CCTV cameras along Kang Jin-ho’s path or using drones to film from a distance. The problem is that these methods work well in normal times, but when Kang Jin-ho moves suddenly, it’s hard to keep up.

‘Not that I can do anything even if I know.’

Chai Ke-chang sighed deeply.

The General Assembly without Kang Jin-ho could easily be swallowed up by the Hong King faction. But if they left their posts to exploit that gap, the Hong King faction would suffer the same fate.

The Chang King and Black King factions wouldn’t miss that opportunity.

‘This is frustrating.’

The reason this frustrating situation continues is very simple. It’s because the Hong King hasn’t broken his seclusion yet.

The Hong King’s seclusion gave Chai Ke-chang both great hope and frustration at the same time.

It was a great thing for a martial artist like the Hong King to gain enlightenment.

It’s not easy for a martial artist who has reached the highest level to gain enlightenment. This is because most of their martial arts are already complete. The enlightenment that comes in such a state doesn’t just raise their martial arts.

It breaks the mold and shatters the shell.

It’s about stepping into a completely new realm beyond the wall. If the Hong King, who is currently dividing the world into three, becomes even stronger?

‘He could unify it.’

Chai Ke-chang clenched his fist.

If the Hong King could gain an advantage over the other three kings, this tedious standoff would end. Because this annoying balance, where they can’t attack or defend, would be broken.

The expectations for the future are high enough. The problem was that the frustration he felt right now was too severe to wait for the hope that would come in the future.

“Get up.”

Zhang Hao carefully got up.

“It can’t be helped.”

Chai Ke-chang calmed himself.

It was true that he was frustrated and annoyed, but he shouldn’t pass that on to his subordinates. The root cause of this was that Kang Jin-ho was incredibly strong, and the abilities of the informants who had to monitor him were lacking.

You can tell your subordinates to run hard. But you can’t tell them to fly if they’re running too slow.

“So, what happened in England?”

“…I’m sorry. England is outside our area.”

Chai Ke-chang closed his eyes tightly.

He knew.

He knew, but.

‘Damn Kang Jin-ho.’

It’s hard to make rational judgments when Kang Jin-ho is involved.

Chai Ke-chang was well aware that his impatience stemmed from his wariness of Kang Jin-ho.

‘The Hong King will become stronger.’

To an extent that is incomparable to the past.

Even so….

‘Even so, can I not let go of my wariness of Kang Jin-ho?’

If the Hong King becomes stronger, his first target will naturally be Kang Jin-ho.

The Hong King acknowledged Kang Jin-ho. Chai Ke-chang didn’t agree, but the Hong King predicted that Kang Jin-ho would become a greater enemy than the other three kings in the future.

It’s foolish to wait for a growing sprout to become a giant tree.

A tiger cub must be killed before it becomes a tiger.

If the Hong King completely organizes his enlightenment and breaks his seclusion, Kang Jin-ho is as good as dead.

But….

But why am I so anxious?

‘Why?’

Chai Ke-chang rubbed his face.

‘Do I think that Kang Jin-ho is getting stronger faster than the Hong King is organizing his enlightenment and getting stronger?’

That was an absurd judgment.

No matter how strong Kang Jin-ho is, that was impossible. To be blunt, the previous fight between Kang Jin-ho and the Hong King was a victory for the Hong King.

If it hadn’t been for outside help, Kang Jin-ho would have been buried there.

The Hong King, who was ahead of Kang Jin-ho, gained new enlightenment from that battle and went to another level, and Kang Jin-ho can handle that Hong King?

Logically, it doesn’t make sense.

But….

‘Has common sense ever worked with that guy?’

He asked himself, but the answer was obvious.

No.

If his predictions had been correct even once, Kang Jin-ho would have died several times over. It was because all those predictions were wrong that Kang Jin-ho was still alive.

‘It’s a blasphemous thought, but….’

He couldn’t just rely on the Hong King.

It wasn’t Chai Ke-chang’s job to rely on the Hong King and neglect the enemy. Even if the Hong King could solve everything, he had to act separately from the Hong King.

That was Chai Ke-chang’s way.

“You don’t know what he got in England?”

“Yes… but circumstantially.”

Chai Ke-chang leaned his head back on the chair.

‘Circumstantially, huh.’

It was obvious.

Kang Jin-ho didn’t come back dead, and if he walked back on his own two feet, he probably swallowed up the Round Table.

Even if Kang Jin-ho didn’t, the skills of that Lee Hyun-joo and Wiggins were enough to do it.

The Round Table may act tough in the West, but their power is insignificant. If the Hong King faction wasn’t being held back by the other three kings, it wouldn’t take a month to clean up the entire Round Table.

There was no way such guys could stop Kang Jin-ho.

‘It’s ridiculous. Damn it.’

The more he thought about it, the more absurd the situation was.

Objectively, Kang Jin-ho is weaker than the three kings. In terms of power, he can’t even compare to one of the three kings’ factions. Logically, the General Assembly should be crushed by the three kings’ factions and unable to move.

But ridiculously, the three kings’ factions were tied up in checks and balances with each other, and in the meantime, the weakest General Assembly was wandering around and doing whatever they wanted.

From a strategist’s point of view, it was a situation that was not only boiling but also burning.

“The surveillance…”

“Keep it up.”

Chai Ke-chang rubbed his face with both hands.

Just thinking about Kang Jin-ho gave him a headache. Chai Ke-chang, who was pressing his throbbing head, opened his mouth as if chewing on something.

“How is Japan doing?”

“Ah, it seems the chaos hasn’t subsided yet.”

“They’re utterly incompetent.”

Just thinking about the Japanese made his teeth grind.

Despite all the support he had given them, they couldn’t even hold him back.

From the beginning, he didn’t expect them to be able to defeat Kang Jin-ho, but he thought they could at least buy some time.

‘A clean wipeout, huh.’

Even if you look back in history, there wouldn’t be such a great victory.

If the General Assembly hadn’t notified Japan of the fact and shown mercy by sending rescue ships, it was obvious that over a thousand people would have become water ghosts [drowned].

H umiliation.

The ultimate humiliation.

Incompetent and incompetent. How did Japan, once called the second most powerful force after China, become such a mess?

“They are a mess, but…”

Chai Ke-chang licked his lips.

In this situation where he can’t move the Hong King faction’s forces, the only power they can move is Japan.

Now is not the time to be picky.

“Prepare a private jet.”

“W-where to?”

“I’m going to Japan myself.”

“But Chai Ke-chang, if you leave your post now…”

“It’ll only be for a day. You’re not going to say that you can’t handle that much, are you? Are those incompetent people even worth living?”

Zhang Hao lowered his head.

“It’s something I have to do. I can’t let those guys do whatever they want.”

“I will prepare it.”

Chai Ke-chang nodded, and Zhang Hao hurriedly ran out.

Watching him, Chai Ke-chang took out a cigarette.

‘Incompetent bastards.’

Kang Jin-ho was skillfully using his subordinates to grow his power, but Chai Ke-chang didn’t have a single subordinate he could trust to leave things to when he wasn’t around.

‘But am I the same?’

A hollow laugh escaped him.

From his point of view, his subordinates were incompetent, but from the Hong King’s point of view, Chai Ke-chang was incompetent. He had a much stronger force and countless masters, yet he was floundering, unable to do anything about a small country in the East.

Crack.

The cigarette in his mouth was crushed by his teeth.

“…Don’t think you can do whatever you want forever.”

Chai Ke-chang jumped up from his seat.

Then, he walked out with rough strides.

‘Thinking of it as just buying time is why we’re failing.’

Kang Jin-ho was not someone who could be held back. If he felt like he was being held back, he would cut off his own ankle and move forward.

To stop such a person, they had to make a move as well.

Chai Ke-chang’s mind was spinning furiously.

‘One thing won’t do.’

In a chain reaction.

They had to tighten the noose from all sides, lay traps, and release the dogs. That was how you catch a beast.