Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1669

“There!”

“Block them!”

Before Lee Hyun-soo could even shout, Chai Ker-chang roared instinctively.

“That son of a bitch!”

Curses burst from Lee Hyun-soo’s mouth.

To pull such a stunt here?

Even Lee Hyun-soo, who didn’t consider himself a martial artist, hadn’t anticipated this. Chang Wang clearly had the upper hand. While it wasn’t a situation where he could be called overwhelmingly advantageous, it was certainly not a situation where a martial artist would consider defeat.

Yet, he retreated without any hesitation.

‘That crazy bastard!’

Lee Hyun-soo bit his lip.

It felt like Chang Wang was reaching into his head and shaking things up.

“Damn it! I should have seen this coming!”

Even Chai Ker-chang couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

He had been fooled like this every time, yet he still hadn’t anticipated it. No, he could have anticipated it. He knew Chang Wang was capable of such a move.

But the martial prowess Chang Wang had displayed, and his crazed fighting, had been enough to mesmerize them.

‘If he had used a similar tactic in the fight against Hong Wang at least!’

Then they might have seen it coming.

But Chang Wang had defeated Hong Wang with his own hands. So, they had assumed he wouldn’t lose his martial spirit this time either.

But even that was likely part of Chang Wang’s calculations.

Chai Ker-chang shuddered with an uncontrollable chill.

Even amidst the fierce battle where blood and flesh were flying, Chang Wang had clearly been calculating this moment. How much of Kang Jin-ho’s strength needed to be depleted for those jackals to be able to take him down.

“Directors!”

“We know!”

Bator roared and charged forward.

They didn’t know the limits of Kang Jin-ho’s strength. But what was certain was that Kang Jin-ho was now almost at his limit.

Normally, Kang Jin-ho wouldn’t be drained by a few sword strikes or such minor injuries, but the stamina consumption when facing an opponent of equal skill was incomparable to when facing weaker opponents.

Just facing off against him was enough to drain their stamina and mental strength.

If Chang Wang had chipped away at him until he was on the brink of death, then it would be impossible for Kang Jin-ho to face so many with his remaining strength.

“Get out of the way, you damn bastards!” Kwaaaaaaaang!

Bator’s fist slammed into the enemies blocking his path. The immense power sent those in front of him flying.

But something was different.

Those who would have been intimidated by his powerful inner force [a martial art concept referring to the energy within a person] a moment ago were now charging at Bator with madness in their eyes.

‘What?’

They seemed to have lost their reason.

The eyes of the charging martial artists were unfocused. The precision of their techniques was much lower, but the ferocity of their weapons was twice as strong as before.

‘Mind control, or drugs?’

Whichever it was, that wasn’t what mattered now.

What mattered was that they had lost their fear and were charging at him like beasts.

“Haaap!”

Bator threw another punch. A dozen or so people who had been charging at him were sent flying, covered in blood.

But…

Clang! Clang!

Bator turned his bloodshot eyes.

A man whose lower body was completely crushed was grabbing his leg and swinging a sword. Like a zombie.

“You!”

Bator kicked the man off his leg.

Swinging such a sword wouldn’t cause any damage to his body, but the problem was that these guys wouldn’t back down, so he couldn’t go help Kang Jin-ho.

‘Damn it, why here!’

He had been so focused on the battle that he hadn’t noticed Kang Jin-ho had moved away from them and closer to Chang Wang’s martial artists. And now, Chang Wang’s martial artists were flooding into that space like water, creating a thick wall.

“Maaaaaster!”

He saw Chang Wang’s martial artists swarming over Kang Jin-ho like a pack of wolves. They were surrounding him from all sides, charging and charging again without regard for their lives.

Kang Jin-ho’s sword was tearing apart those who charged at him, but even as they watched their comrades being ripped to shreds, not a single one of them retreated.

“Demon Lord! Oh, Demon Lord!”

Jang Min’s urgent voice pierced Bator’s ears.

It was the first time he had heard Jang Min cry out so desperately. It meant that even he could see that Kang Jin-ho’s condition was extremely precarious.

“Damn it, what are you doing! Push harder! Push harder, you bastards!”

“We’re doing it! We’re doing it, you bastard!”

Lee Hyun-soo’s frantic voice made Bator even more desperate.

“At this rate, the Guild Leader will die… Cough! Wh-what… Cough!”

That was the moment.

Suddenly, Lee Hyun-soo covered his mouth. His back jerked a few times, and then suddenly, a torrent of red blood gushed from his mouth.

“Uwaaaaaaaak!”

The elders, who had been desperately trying to break through, turned their heads in shock.

“Lee Hyun-soo!”

“Wh-what’s wrong?”

Confusion clouded Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes.

“Ah, no…”

Chai Ker-chang, who had instinctively turned to look at Lee Hyun-soo, staggered.

‘This?’

His head was spinning.

An unbearable nausea was rising from within.

‘Th-this, could it be?’

His gaze snapped around.

In the distance, Chang Wang, standing on top of a building that was still intact, was smirking.

“Poison?”

“N-no…”

Lee Hyun-soo said, wiping his blood-soaked mouth.

“I don’t know what it is, but it seems to be something biochemical.”

“Gas?”

“…Maybe.”

“Damn it! There are my subordinates all over the place!”

“…There must be an antidote. Or else, he doesn’t care if everyone here dies.”

Chai Ker-chang’s eyes darted back and forth.

He was insane.

That guy was truly insane.

“I thought he had cleared the city for the bombing…”

After the initial barrage, there had been no second attack. He had thought it was to avoid sacrificing his own men… But from the start, bombing was never in Chang Wang’s mind.

“D-damn it!”

The next to react was surprisingly Wiggins.

Wiggins covered his mouth. After gagging several times, Wiggins wiped the drool from his mouth and gritted his teeth.

“We’ve been completely played.”

If the gas had been released suddenly, they wouldn’t have failed to notice it. From the moment they first faced each other after the bombing, he must have been continuously releasing the gas in such minute amounts that even their senses couldn’t detect it.

“We’re being affected by gas?”

“…It’s probably not ordinary gas. It’s something that crazy bastard prepared.”

It was becoming terrifying.

How much had that crazy bastard prepared here?

From the moment he first tried to negotiate, all of this must have been part of Chang Wang’s plan.

A hunter.

The method of hunting is always the same. If there is a powerful prey, they use all sorts of methods to slowly drain its strength. Whether it’s using poison, setting traps, or constantly chasing it so it can’t eat.

And finally, they plunge a knife into the neck of the weakened prey.

This Zhangjiakou [a city in China] was a vast hunting ground prepared by Chang Wang, and Kang Jin-ho and his people were just the prey he was targeting.

Bator roared.

“You fools! To fall for such a trick…”

Bator stopped talking.

He felt a slight dizziness.

‘Am I poisoned?’

His body was incredibly strong. No disease, no poison could invade his body. But the dizziness he was feeling now was definitely not an illusion.

If he was in this state, how would the others be?

“Elder!”

“Don’t make a fuss!”

Jang Min bit his lip until it bled.

“Whether it’s poison or whatever, what does it matter! We’ll save the Demon Lord and escape! That’s all!”

Madness flickered in Jang Min’s eyes.

If they lost Kang Jin-ho here, it would be the end. He would no longer have a reason or meaning to live. So, there was no need to look back.

“Haaaaaaap!”

Jang Min’s Jo Gang [a type of staff or polearm] literally dismembered everyone who charged at him. But this thick wall showed no signs of thinning.

‘No!’

This was impossible in terms of time.

“Demon Lord!”

Jang Min shouted with all his might.

They couldn’t break through. But what about Kang Jin-ho?

“This way! You need to come this way! Demon Lord!”

Did he hear it?

There was no need to confirm. The response was immediate.

The demon spread his black wings.

Kaaaaaaaah.

The two pairs of black wings that soared up blazed like flames, sweeping everything around them. Those caught in the demon’s wings couldn’t even scream before they were instantly killed.

“This way! Come this way!”

The demon soared into the sky.

Then, like a hawk diving for its prey, he glided down and landed in front of them.

“Demon Lord!”

“Master!”

Bator and Jang Min instinctively rushed forward and blocked Kang Jin-ho’s path.

He was a mess.

The wounds Kang Jin-ho had sustained in the battle with Chang Wang were far more severe than they had appeared from a distance. His skin was dead from frostbite, and there was barely any flesh with its natural color visible on his entire body.

“Krrr…”

“Krrr…”

On top of that…

The Chang Wang faction’s martial artists, who had lost their reason, were gradually closing in on the group of the General Assembly that had gathered in one place.

But they seemed to feel an instinctive fear of the group that Kang Jin-ho had joined, maintaining a certain distance and not approaching any further.

“Bator.”

Jang Min muttered in a low voice.

“I’ll buy time. Escort the Demon Lord and escape.”

Bator chuckled at those words.

“Isn’t that the Elder’s role?”

“I’ll buy time here.”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like a bad plan.”

Bator nonchalantly tapped his leg.

“As you know, I’m big, so I’m slow. Let’s leave that role to the Elder.”

“Now is not the time for jokes…”

“Lee Hyun-soo.”

Then, from behind them, they heard Kang Jin-ho’s calm voice.

“…Yes! Cough! I’m here.”

“Fire.”

“…Yes?”

“Fire.”

Lee Hyun-soo, as if possessed, approached Kang Jin-ho and lit the cigarette he was holding.

Kang Jin-ho slowly inhaled the cigarette smoke and shook his head as he exhaled.

‘Could it be…’

Confusion clouded the eyes of those who had gathered.

Had he given up?

That Kang Jin-ho?

Chang Wang’s voice echoed towards them, who were unable to overcome their confusion.

“You look pale, are you alright?”

A voice laced with laughter.

But the situation was so dire that no one dared to think of arguing.

Even with a healthy body, they couldn’t guarantee victory, let alone escape, against so many martial artists. But now, Kang Jin-ho, who was half of their fighting force, was completely exhausted, and the rest were not in their right minds due to an unknown poison.

It was as good as decided that the battle was lost, without Chang Wang even needing to step in.

From the start, it had been impossible to face so many with such a small number of people.

“Hoo.”

Kang Jin-ho, after exhaling the cigarette smoke, glanced up at Chang Wang.

“You’re playing tricks.”

“I’d prefer you call it a strategy. You were the one who ignored it. But how is it? Thanks to that, I was able to catch a great tiger like you, so shouldn’t you praise me?”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“I need to correct two things.”

“…Two things?”

“First.”

Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth indifferently.

“I’ve never ignored strategies. Rather, I’m overly afraid of those who use strategies. I’ve been caught once before.”

“And second.”

A sly smile appeared on Kang Jin-ho’s lips.

“You can’t catch me.”

“In this situation?”

“Because it’s this situation.”

Kang Jin-ho glanced around.

Even those who had been guarding the distant areas were now all here. In other words, it meant that all of Chang Wang’s forces were gathered here.

“It’s a shame I couldn’t take your head, but that wasn’t the goal from the start, so this is enough. Let’s call this match my win.”

Suspicion flickered in Chang Wang’s eyes.

“You’re not crazy from the gas, and you haven’t brought any reinforcements?”

Kang Jin-ho gestured without answering.

Then, Wiggins nodded and stepped to Kang Jin-ho’s side.

“Oh ho?”

Chang Wang chuckled.

“Teleportation. Yes, you had that. But at most, your exhausted subordinate can only move a couple of people. Given your personality, you wouldn’t leave your comrades here and run away alone, would you? And even if you could, wouldn’t that be your defeat?”

Chang Wang had already investigated this possibility. He wasn’t the type to leave a loophole for his opponent to escape.

But Kang Jin-ho didn’t seem fazed by those words.

“I’ll correct you again.”

Kang Jin-ho said with a smirk.

“First, I don’t abandon my people.”

“What’s the second?”

“No. I won.”

At that moment, Chang Wang saw it.

Wiggins taking something out of his pocket and holding it in his hand.

‘A crystal?’

Something he had never seen before.

But Chang Wang instinctively knew that this object could create a variable.

“Kill them!”

“Too late.”

A large magic circle appeared beneath the gathered martial artists of the General Assembly, emitting a dazzling light.

In that dazzling light, Kang Jin-ho threw the cigarette he had been smoking to the ground.

“Take this gift. When we meet next time, it would be wise to have your head ready.”

Whoooosh!

Where the light had disappeared, nothing remained.

Chang Wang stared blankly at the scene.

‘How?’

Even the mighty Chang Wang couldn’t understand the situation. His calculations had been perfect.

Even if Kang Jin-ho abandoned his subordinates and attempted to flee, the number of people who could escape shouldn’t have exceeded three…

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t abandon those who remained. He would rather choose to die here with them. That’s why he could have been killed perfectly.

Perfectly!

“Ch-Chang Wang…”

“…Zhao Min.”

“Yes!”

“Who investigated Wiggins?”

Zhao Min’s face turned pale.

“I-I did…”

Thwack!

At that moment, Zhao Min’s head, who hadn’t even finished speaking, floated into the air. As if that wasn’t enough, Chang Wang kicked Zhao Min’s body.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Chang Wang let out a beast-like roar.

“Kang Jin-hooooooooooooooooooo!”

Even the Chang Wang faction’s martial artists, who had lost their reason, trembled at his desperate cry.

Faced with a perfect defeat that he had never imagined, Chang Wang’s eyes were filled with blood. His hands, which were wrapped around his body, dug into his shoulders, tearing at the flesh.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! Kang Jin-hooooooooooo!”

At the end of the horizon where his scream reached, the dawn was breaking, signaling the end of the long night.