Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1218

“My Lord, I depart under your command. I pledge everything to fulfill your will, so please set aside any worries about this foolish servant. I shall teach those ignorant and foolish ones how boundless the joy is in following you, and make them your loyal servants. Therefore, please preserve your noble self! If even the slightest harm were to come to your sacred body while I am gone…”

The cigarette smoke thickened.

Kang Jin-ho took a long drag and closed his eyes.

His ears felt like they were bleeding.

It wasn’t as if he was going to some great place, and this man was just going to Japan, a place he could return from in two hours if he wanted to. Why was he going on and on like this?

“Please, let’s just go, Elder.”

Even Wiggins was urging him on.

“Quiet! Can’t you see I’m sharing a farewell with the Demon Lord!”

“It’s a very one-sided farewell, it seems.”

It was strange enough that Jang Min was saying such nonsense, but it was even stranger that the blue-eyed foreigner, Wiggins, understood what he meant.

“Elder Jang Min, as I’ve said, this is a rather sensitive matter. Please, if anything happens, contact the General Assembly and discuss a course of action before moving forward.”

Jang Min narrowed his eyes.

“That’s why those bookworms are useless! The situation on the ground is changing rapidly, how can we sit around confirming everything! The Demonic Cult has always followed the principle of ‘act first, report later’!”

“And what exactly is that action?”

“Smashing their heads in, of course. Then we count the heads and report.”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled faintly and put his hand in his pocket. He pulled out some antacid, tossed it into his mouth without water, and crunched it down.

Didn’t it taste bitter?

His insides were more bitter.

‘Is this really the right thing to do?’

No matter how much he thought about it, Jang Min was the only suitable person. But now that he was actually sending Jang Min to Japan, it felt like letting a child loose by the water… no, more like unleashing a rabid dog on the streets.

It wasn’t the dog he was worried about, but the people who would encounter it.

Lee Hyun-soo had nothing but ill feelings towards Japan, but at this moment, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of sympathy for the Japanese martial world.

“So, is that it?”

At Kang Jin-ho’s words, Lee Hyun-soo nodded.

“First, we’ll send Elder Jang Min, and soon other elders will follow.”

“All of them?”

“No.”

Lee Hyun-soo shook his head firmly.

“Teaching the cult members the Demonic Arts is as important as occupying Japan. If all the elders go to Japan, there will be disruptions in the training. For now, we’ll send about half of the elders, and for the rest…”

Lee Hyun-soo glanced outside.

“We’ll have to replace them with the Flame Demons. If the Lord permits it.”

“Go ahead and use them.”

“Thank you.”

Lee Hyun-soo breathed a sigh of relief.

If he could get support from the Flame Demons, things would be much easier. But the Flame Demons were not people Lee Hyun-soo could use as he pleased. After all, the Flame Demons were Kang Jin-ho’s personal guard. It was a matter that required Kang Jin-ho’s permission.

But now that Kang Jin-ho had given his permission, things had become a little easier.

The elders of the Demonic Cult belonged to the General Assembly, but there was a clear difference in their identity. They didn’t easily get along with other members of the General Assembly. The Flame Demons, who shared the identity of having mastered the same Demonic Arts, would be more likely to get along with Jang Min.

“Are you ready?”

“Not yet, not yet! I still have so much to say!”

When will it ever end?

Wiggins’ face was a mask of despair. Even a mother sending her child off to Seoul wouldn’t nag this much. Moreover, Jang Min wasn’t the one being sent off, he was the one going.

At this rate, he’d start telling him to eat three square meals a day and chew his food properly.

“My Lord, please do not worry about the cult members. I will instruct the elders well…”

“Jang Min.”

“Yes, my Lord!”

“Just go…”

Jang Min looked at Kang Jin-ho with the most sorrowful eyes.

“Please forgive my disloyalty for not being able to serve you until the end…”

“Just go.”

Jang Min’s lips slightly protruded.

No one would find it pleasant to see an old monster, well over a hundred years old, pouting, but no one dared to point it out. If they said anything, the nagging would never end, and who would be able to handle that?

“Wiggins.”

“Yes.”

“Drag him away.”

“Understood, Lord.”

Wiggins grabbed Jang Min’s arm and dragged him away. Jang Min was being dragged away with sorrowful eyes. He really didn’t want to go.

“It’s only been a few months since I came from China to Korea, and now you’re sending me to the land of the dwarfs! My Lord, my Lord! The water doesn’t agree with me, and the food doesn’t agree with me! This is elder abuse!”

“Elder, my foot.”

Kang Jin-ho scoffed. Was there another elder as hale and hearty as him in the world?

Besides, no matter how old he was, compared to Kang Jin-ho, he was nothing more than a fresh-faced child.

“Hehehe, serves him right.”

When Bator grinned, Kang Jin-ho looked at him.

“Do you want to go too?”

“Ah! Training, training!”

Bator walked away, pretending not to hear.

Kang Jin-ho chuckled at the sight.

“We’ll deploy the martial force first, and soon we’ll send the working group to start the transfer process.”

“Is that possible?”

“There’s nothing particularly difficult about it. They’ve done a good job of corporatizing it. The Japanese government will try to stop it, but they know it too. Instead of trying to block it clumsily and getting sucked dry from behind, it’s better to at least collect taxes.”

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Then, Bator, who was running away, turned his head slightly.

“It’s like he doesn’t even understand.”

“Stop right there.”

Bator ran away even faster.

Kang Jin-ho’s face flushed slightly. He used to have a more serious side back in the day.

“Okay, I understand. Be careful.”

“Yes. And be quick.”

Lee Hyun-soo licked his lips.

‘I’ll suck them dry.’

He was more excited when working illegally than when working legally. When he was handling legal matters, he often felt tired because he thought of it as work, but when he was doing illegal things, it felt like playing a game. He could work all night without feeling tired.

Looking at it this way, Lee Hyun-soo was never meant to work in the light. It was the right choice to completely hand over MK to Lee Hyun-joo.

“Our government will do its best to help, so there shouldn’t be any difficulties. Well, it will be difficult, but not impossible. So, please don’t worry.”

“I haven’t really worried.”

If Lee Hyun-soo said it was possible, then it was possible. At least, Lee Hyun-soo had never disappointed Kang Jin-ho before.

“Then, I’ll be off, Lord!”

“My Lord!”

Wiggins waved his hand with a wry smile. Then, Wiggins and Jang Min disappeared in a flash of light.

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“It’s like they’ve all become children…”

They had become more whiny and complaining.

It wasn’t a bad thing. Places where communication was blocked were bound to rot. Even useless words were better than no words at all.

“What about the cleanup in Korea?”

“There’s a lot of talk. But they won’t be able to push in any further.”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled wryly.

The cleanup after the battle at the General Assembly wasn’t that difficult. The area around the General Assembly was completely private property, so the public was restricted from entering. The only problem was disposing of the bodies without being seen. And Busan wasn’t even a battle.

The problem was Gunsan.

It was impossible to cover up the evacuation order issued in the middle of the night. They couldn’t just pretend that nothing had happened. Thanks to that, the government was trying to explain the situation by saying that toxic substances had been leaked into the West Sea.

The officials were apologizing and trying to get away with it by firing a few people.

All sorts of conspiracy theories were popping up on social media. The most popular one was the sudden North Korean military attack theory.

There were testimonies that people heard a loud explosion and saw flames rising while evacuating, which seemed to have gained some credibility.

‘Should I call this fortunate or unfortunate?’

From the General Assembly’s point of view, it was fortunate, but from the government’s point of view, it was a headache. The only consolation was that the opposition party couldn’t latch onto the issue, so it was being contained to this extent.

‘I need to do something about social media…’

There were too many eyes in the world.

Even 10 years ago, if you could control the media, things wouldn’t escalate even if you did things openly. But now, times had changed.

No matter how hard you tried to hide it, there was bound to be at least one or two people watching. In the past, the voices of one or two people didn’t have much power, but now, those one or two people could shake the world.

‘I need to think of a way to deal with it.’

Lee Hyun-soo sighed and continued.

“Anyway, it seems like there won’t be any major problems this time. It’s fortunate considering what we’ve done.”

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Then, he looked at Lee Hyun-soo and opened his mouth.

“Did the Prime Minister have any messages?”

“Yes, he did. But I don’t understand what he’s saying. He said he’s grateful for your consideration, and that he’ll definitely pay the price… He said you’d understand if I told you.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded quietly.

“May I ask what kind of deal was made?”

“It’s nothing much. Do you remember that call?”

“…Ah, that time in the car?”

Prime Minister Kim Myung-chan had called Kang Jin-ho through Lee Hyun-soo. But he had just brushed it off as nothing important.

“He asked if I could let the remaining Japanese people live and send them back.”

Only then could Lee Hyun-soo understand why Kang Jin-ho had said that it was something they would decide.

‘Indeed.’

He didn’t know about the offer, but it wasn’t something the government could force the General Assembly to do. They were the ones who had fought for their lives. So, the power over their lives and deaths was entirely in the hands of the General Assembly.

But in the end, it seemed like they had accepted the government’s request.

“So, you accepted their surrender?”

“No.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head firmly.

“I was going to do that anyway. If we create a no-man’s land, it’ll be difficult to control.”

“That’s right. We need people to run the Japanese businesses. The martial world needs to be alive for the rights to exist. So, why?”

“If I just accept their requests, they’ll think I’m easy.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“Let them have a headache.”

Lee Hyun-soo couldn’t help but laugh.

Kang Jin-ho had a bad personality.

“Tell the Prime Minister.”

“Yes.”

“To keep his promise. We’ve taken care of things on our end.”

“…Taken care of things?”

“Let’s just say that for now. There’s no harm in it.”

Watching Kang Jin-ho walk out with a smirk, Lee Hyun-soo shook his head and muttered to himself.

“He really has a bad personality.”

Of course, Lee Hyun-soo was the same.