Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1630

“You’ve prepared as I asked.”

“Thank you, Master.”

The Master looked at Wiggins with cold eyes.

‘Eek.’

Wiggins, meeting that gaze, offered a soft smile. It was as if his expression was conveying that he had no intention of being hostile towards him at all.

“While I couldn’t summon the Knights of each nation, I’ve gathered all the elites from their respective knight orders and formed a new knight order.”

“May I ask what its name is, Master?”

“How about the European Knights?”

“That’s a terrible name. How about Knights of the Round instead?”

“Knights of the Round Table?”

“Yes.”

“That’s just as terrible. Merry-Go-Round would be better.”

“A carousel… Well, it’s a round table, I suppose.”

Wiggins chuckled.

He had intended to give the newly formed knight order the name of the Round Table to give it a sense of representation, but the Master, as expected, didn’t fall for his trick.

‘That’s why he’s the Master, I guess.’

A faint hostility was visible in the Master’s eyes as he looked at him. The fact that the Master, who was skilled at hiding his emotions, was showing such hostility meant that in the Master’s mind, Wiggins was no longer defined as a comrade.

‘This is a little disappointing.’

Even though he had done things to the Round Table, Wiggins was once the Master’s successor, and his position was almost guaranteed.

It’s said that today’s friend can be tomorrow’s enemy, but he never expected to receive such hostile looks.

With a bitter feeling, Wiggins chuckled.

‘I’m curious.’

Is that hostility a result of Wiggins harming the Round Table, or is it because he’s trying to take what belongs to the Master?

One thing was certain: the Master had changed as much as he had.

The fact that the atmosphere between them could change so much in just a few years made Wiggins feel awkward.

“Anyway, thank you for granting my unreasonable request.”

“So you know it was unreasonable.”

Wiggins chuckled.

The Master used to employ a way of speaking that gently embraced the other person. In the decades that Wiggins had known the Master, he had never seen him use such a sharp tone.

‘Well, that’s not the only thing that’s changed.’

In the past, Wiggins didn’t really believe that a person’s disposition was reflected on their face. But looking at the Master’s face now, he had to admit that there was some truth to that statement.

Looking at the Master’s face, which was as cold as if it had been covered with a sheet of ice, he couldn’t help but think that.

“I don’t particularly want to whine, but…”

The Master glanced at Wiggins and continued.

“Don’t forget that I had to endure excessive damage to do this.”

“Of course, Master.”

Wiggins smiled and looked at the Master.

He didn’t think it was just a complaint. No matter how much the Master wielded absolute power within the Round Table, unlike in the past, the Round Table, which had been a republic for hundreds of years, wouldn’t offer absolute loyalty overnight.

In the midst of that, forcibly extracting knight orders from each nation was something that could easily lead to a rebellion.

“However…”

Wiggins smiled.

“It’s not like we’re doing this just for our benefit, Master. Ultimately, this will be beneficial for you as well, won’t it?”

The Master bit his lip.

The reason he could wield absolute power in the Round Table now was because of Kang Jin-ho.

“There’s no reason to worry about the gaps in the military or the dissatisfaction of the underlings. If the Lord loses to the Three Kings, you won’t even get a chance to see their invasion, Master.”

Because your head will be chopped off by the knights’ rebellion before that.

The Master’s eyes slightly distorted at Wiggins’ blatant words.

“It seems you no longer have any affection for the Round Table.”

“What about you, Master? Do you still have any affection for England?”

“…What do you mean?”

Wiggins shrugged.

“There’s no particular meaning. I just wanted to say one thing. I may seem harsh, but isn’t this what the Round Table has been doing to other martial arts groups around the world?”

“It’s just that we’ve gone from being the rulers to being ruled. We haven’t made any excessive demands. Isn’t it the Round Table’s specialty to forcibly extract martial artists from the martial arts groups they rule and use them as cannon fodder?”

“Rights come with obligations.”

“Yes, that’s right. What you’re doing now, Master, is fulfilling that obligation.”

Wiggins’ eyes curved into a smile.

The Master’s face slightly distorted at that smile.

“If I were you, Master, I would use the time spent complaining to extract even one more person to support the Round Table.”

“Are you trying to make people fools?”

“Is that a bad thing?”

Wiggins quietly looked at the Master and said,

“Master, the recent you doesn’t seem like the Master I knew.”

“Who do you think made me this way?”

“No. I’m not saying you’ve become cold. I mean you’re not being wise.”

“…That I was ever wise, that’s a fortunate thing to hear.”

“It’s the same now. If you were the Master I knew, you wouldn’t try to block information you could receive with such sarcasm.”

Wiggins quietly looked at the Master, then tilted his head slightly.

‘No, it’s not just a figure of speech…’

There was really something a little strange about it.

‘Is it a mental demon?’

A mental demon, as they say in Eastern martial arts. But there’s no rule that Western martial arts don’t have mental demons. There are stories of magicians who went mad after repeating excessive training and research to improve their skills, and stories of knights who became lunatics.

Wiggins thought that perhaps the Master’s current state might be a kind of mental demon.

“First, please listen to me calmly, Master.”

“Okay.”

“Now, you cannot exist without the Lord. And the General Assembly will also have a hard time surviving without the Round Table’s support. Isn’t this situation what they call being in the same boat?”

“If you can’t get off, then cooperate. Cooperate decisively. You know the Lord, Master. Is he the kind of person who doesn’t repay what he receives?”

The Master pressed his lips together.

“He’s not that kind of person.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“But do you know this?”

“Yes?”

The Master opened his mouth in a low voice.

“Historically, there have been quite a few wise rulers. There are more cases of emperors being great individuals than you know.”

Wiggins tilted his head.

What was he trying to say?

“But they couldn’t become true wise rulers. Do you know why?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s because a wise ruler only has meaning when the ministers supporting him are not traitors.”

Wiggins curled up the corners of his mouth.

“You’d better keep my words in mind.”

“Of course, Master.”

Wiggins readily nodded.

The Master frowned at his expression, which didn’t seem to be bothered at all.

It was a natural thing to do.

Of course, Wiggins might look like a traitor in the Master’s eyes. Certainly, Wiggins was doing things that Kang Jin-ho didn’t want, and he was fearlessly doing things that went against Kang Jin-ho’s wishes.

If Kang Jin-ho knew all the circumstances of the Round Table, he might have stopped the Master from pressuring them to obtain troops.

But could Wiggins be called a traitor because of that?

Wiggins was confident in what he was doing.

Even though the things he was doing now might be petty and vicious, all of those things were done solely for the glory of the General Assembly and the Lord. He had never pursued his own personal gain.

So he had no choice but to be confident.

“There’s no point in talking to you.”

The Master, also knowing that Wiggins wouldn’t be swayed, nodded.

“I’ll do as you say. You take the first batch of selected knights and go to Korea. I’ll squeeze them again. And I’ll take all the available troops and go to Korea myself.”

“Oh, will you really do that?”

“I may not be a wise man, but I’m not a fool either.

I know what I need to do now.”

Wiggins nodded.

That’s the Master he knew.

“But Wiggins, there’s one thing you should keep in mind.”

“Please, tell me.”

The Master, who had been staring at Wiggins, opened his mouth.

“The reason I’m enduring all of this and letting you play with me is because we’re at war. I know that if the General Assembly loses, I’ll be finished too.”

The Master glared at Wiggins with cold eyes.

“I’ll do it. I’ll be the villain, the dictator, whatever. I won’t hesitate to become a heartless piece of trash. But!”

The Master growled.

“Don’t think that I’ll be as docile as I am now after this war is over. Don’t think that the reason I cooperated with the Chairman was simply for my own wealth and glory. I can do anything to protect the Round Table.”

“Of course, Master. That won’t happen. You must also understand that I care about the Round Table more than anyone else in the General Assembly.”

The Master glared at Wiggins with a look of disgust, then jumped up from his seat.

“I won’t see you off.”

“Of course.”

“Be careful on your way back.”

The Master turned and left the room. Wiggins, left alone in the room, slightly raised his head and looked at the ceiling.

‘It’s strange.’

The ceiling he had seen thousands, tens of thousands of times over the decades looked so unfamiliar.

‘Master.’

You say you won’t be docile after the war is over.

‘You’ve really changed.’

The Master of the past wouldn’t have said such a thing.

There was no need to say unnecessary words and tighten his own noose. Showing his teeth in front of someone who could turn hostile was nothing more than asking them to quickly find a way to cut his throat.

The Master of the past would have hidden it until the very last moment.

Whether it was because of old age, or because of a mental demon.

‘It would be impossible to continue leading the Round Table with that judgment.’

Wiggins sighed and leaned back on the sofa.

‘What should I do?’

Someone appropriate needs to become the next Master and lead the Round Table….

“Do I have to do it?”

It was a troublesome thing.

A really troublesome thing.

Wiggins slightly curled up the corners of his mouth.

“The thing I so desperately wanted never came, and now it’s become such a troublesome thing. In the end, it’s choice that determines a person’s life.”

Choosing Kang Jin-ho was probably the best choice of his life.

At least for now.