Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1685

Across the large table in the conference room, Lee Hyun-soo and Chai Ke-chang sat facing each other.

“Coffee?”

“…If you’re going to sit a Chinese person in front of you, at least prepare some tea.”

“That’s only when you’re a guest.”

Chai Ke-chang frowned and glared at Lee Hyun-soo.

Regardless of acknowledging his abilities…

‘He’s such an infuriating bastard.’

He was the kind of guy who could drive you crazy even when he was across the sea. Facing him directly like this made him want to jump up and smack him in the face.

“Be grateful you’re weak. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have survived.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m very grateful.”

Chai Ke-chang gritted his teeth.

However, Lee Hyun-soo remained unfazed, even as he directly received Chai Ke-chang’s murderous intent. Having been routinely exposed to Kang Jin-ho’s murderous aura, Chai Ke-chang’s was nothing more than a tickle.

“Don’t waste your energy, relax your face.”

“Haa…”

Chai Ke-chang sighed deeply.

“We both dislike each other, that’s mutual.”

Chai Ke-chang raised his head and looked directly at Lee Hyun-soo.

“And we both ended up in the same pathetic state after losing the fight.”

Chai Ke-chang’s lips tightened.

Even without adding any extra words, it was clear what Lee Hyun-soo was talking about.

The Chang King.

To put it bluntly, both Chai Ke-chang and Lee Hyun-soo had been played by the Chang King in this war.

Lee Hyun-soo managed to get one over on the Chang King at the very last moment, but that couldn’t be seen as a victory in their battle of wits. If Kang Jin-ho hadn’t overwhelmed the Chang King and Wiggins hadn’t shown his ingenuity, they wouldn’t have even made it to the border.

The Chang King had predicted most of their actions, and the two of them had been constantly anxious, not knowing what the Chang King would do next. As strategists who served their kings, could there be anything more humiliating?

“Frankly, I find you disgusting.”

“Likewise.”

“But now, I don’t care about the likes of you. I can’t even sleep properly without getting back at that damn bastard.”

Chai Ke-chang shut his mouth.

He didn’t want to admit it, but on this point, his and Lee Hyun-soo’s opinions were completely aligned.

Kang Jin-ho and Hong Wang were polar opposites, yet they had a certain level of mutual respect. However, Lee Hyun-soo and Chai Ke-chang were similar in many ways, yet they found each other repulsive.

However, to face a tiger, sometimes a dog and a monkey have to join forces.

The cooperation between the Assembly and the Hong Wang faction would be meaningless if it didn’t start with these two.

“I hate you.”

Chai Ke-chang said through gritted teeth.

“No, to be more precise, I’d like to cut off your head and feed it to the dogs.”

“I like that expression.”

“But no matter how disgusting you are, you’re an angel compared to that Chang King. No matter how terrible a human is, they can’t be compared to a cockroach.”

“…Well, thanks for rating me higher than a cockroach.”

“Don’t be sarcastic, you bastard.”

Chai Ke-chang gritted his teeth and nodded.

“It’s the same for me. If it’s to stick a knife into that Chang King’s neck, I’ll gladly join hands with you. We can settle our grudges later.”

“You better not think about stabbing me in the back.”

“Are you the type to get stabbed in the back?”

Chai Ke-chang and Lee Hyun-soo smiled coldly at each other.

They both knew.

No matter how much they discussed and joined hands, they were the kind of people who would never trust each other until the very end.

But the important thing was that they were joining hands, at least on the surface.

“What’s the situation in China?”

“Thanks to the news that Hong Wang is alive and well, all the remaining warriors of the Hong Wang faction are gathering in Shanghai. Currently, over 70% have assembled.”

“70%, huh…”

Lee Hyun-soo rubbed his chin.

“The Hong Wang faction’s unity seems weaker than I thought? Only 70%?”

“It can’t be helped.”

Chai Ke-chang shrugged as if it was nothing.

“No matter how nicely you try to package it, a defeat is a defeat. The Three Kings factions are maintained by the overwhelming power and authority of each king. It’s already impressive that those who witnessed their leader’s defeat didn’t scatter or surrender to the enemy.”

Lee Hyun-soo clicked his tongue at those words.

Of course, from an outsider’s perspective, that was a fair assessment. But it wasn’t the kind of evaluation that Chai Ke-chang, the second-in-command of the Hong Wang faction, should be making himself.

Yet, he was shamelessly spouting such words.

“If you or Hong Wang went to China, you could gather more people, right? What’s so good about staying in Korea that you’re still sticking around?”

At that moment, Chai Ke-chang’s eyebrows twitched.

It was Lee Hyun-soo who had been keeping him half-imprisoned, preventing him from going to China. Yet, he was saying such shameless things.

“…Can I take back what I said earlier? You seem more terrible than the Chang King, humanly speaking.”

“Tsk tsk, you’re not being very magnanimous.”

At Lee Hyun-soo’s words, Chai Ke-chang sighed and scratched his head vigorously.

How did he end up in a position where he had to discuss things with this brat?

“The original plan was for me to go to China myself. Hong Wang still needs more rest, so it was right for me to go.”

“But?”

“The Chang King isn’t moving.”

Lee Hyun-soo closed his mouth.

“If the Chang King moved now, he could easily annihilate the Hong Wang faction, which has lost its leader and is in disarray. I calculated that at least 30% wouldn’t return.”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded.

His calculations were similar.

“But the Chang King faction… no, to be precise, the Chang King isn’t moving. I have no idea what his intentions are.”

“So, you can’t move carelessly either?”

“That’s right.”

The corners of Lee Hyun-soo’s mouth twisted slightly.

He was not someone who couldn’t grasp the hidden meaning in Chai Ke-chang’s words.

‘It means we could be in danger.’

There was only one reason why a predator would leave a delicious meal right in front of it.

Either it was full, or there was an even more delicious meal next to it.

“Does that mean the Hong Wang faction is no longer in the Chang King’s eyes? But it’s impossible for him to target the Assembly directly right now, isn’t it?”

“That’s true. So the conclusion is…”

Chai Ke-chang shut his mouth.

Saying these words out loud was too humiliating. But Lee Hyun-soo, as if such humiliation was nothing, said the words that Chai Ke-chang wanted to say instead.

“It means we don’t know again.”

Lee Hyun-soo said nonchalantly.

“That’s right, that’s right. There’s no way we can guess what that crazy bastard is thinking.”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled.

From the start, they had never been able to figure out the Chang King’s thoughts. There was no way that something that had been impossible until now would suddenly become possible. They weren’t defeated because they didn’t know the Chang King, but because he was someone who didn’t stay within their common sense.

“Isn’t that why we created this meeting, to put our heads together and figure out the Chang King’s thoughts?”

“No?”

“…What?”

Lee Hyun-soo leaned back in his chair and said listlessly.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Chai Ke-chang. I’m not going to do such idiotic things.”

“Idiotic?”

“Yeah, idiotic.”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled.

“Two dogs don’t become twice as smart when they gather, and two monkeys can’t read a person’s thoughts when they gather. Intelligence doesn’t increase just by gathering. In other words…”

Lee Hyun-soo declared.

“You and I putting our heads together won’t allow us to figure out the Chang King. I don’t want to admit it, but that Chang King is on a different dimension from us.”

Chai Ke-chang closed his mouth.

‘Does this guy have no pride?’

It wasn’t like Chai Ke-chang didn’t know.

But saying those words out loud required a lot of courage. In a way, those words completely denied everything they had done so far.

“Gather the troops, join forces with the Assembly, and confront the Chang King. Maximize the fact that the countries are divided, and take advantage of having two kings, Hong Wang and the Demon King, to attack from both sides.”

Lee Hyun-soo said listlessly.

“Do you think that by maximizing the efficiency of this, we can break through the Chang King’s countermeasures?”

That’s ridiculous.

No matter how clever a dog is, a human can read all of the dog’s actions. That was a fundamental difference that couldn’t be solved by changing methods.

“Then what do you want to do?”

“We have to drag him down.”

“…What?”

Lee Hyun-soo bared his teeth.

“If I can’t find a way to climb up there, I’ll just grab the ankles of the guy up there and drag him down. Whether I climb up and stand at the same height, or drag him down to the same height, the result is the same anyway.”

Madness flickered across Lee Hyun-soo’s face.

Chai Ke-chang frowned without realizing it.

“That’s easy to say, but how?”

“It’s simple.”

Lee Hyun-soo shrugged.

“What’s the reason why we have a hard time dealing with the Chang King?”

“…Because we can’t predict him.”

“That’s right. Then we have to make it so that they can’t predict us either.”

“How?”

“Just do something crazy.”

“…What?”

Chai Ke-chang stared blankly at Lee Hyun-soo.

“Common sense, efficiency… throw all that away. That guy already has us in the palm of his hand. If we choose a direction that seems even slightly right, we’ll just be playing in his palm.”

“So, first, we only choose to do things that that damn bastard would never expect. Then he won’t be able to predict us either.”

“Haa… Hahaha.”

Chai Ke-chang looked at Lee Hyun-soo as if he were a madman.

“Do you know what ‘putting the cart before the horse’ means?”

“No. I just don’t want to know.”

Lee Hyun-soo leaned back in his chair listlessly and took out a cigarette.

“I understand your hesitation, but let’s be more honest. Are you against my plan because it’s terrible, or because of your pride?”

“To defeat an opponent you can’t win against, creating variables is the priority. The more variables there are, the more complicated the calculations become, and then there will inevitably be trouble.”

“You’re saying crazy things so calmly.”

Chai Ke-chang clicked his tongue.

It was definitely a method.

But it was a method that should never be chosen. To put it bluntly, it was no different from leaving everything to chance and praying to the heavens.

For people like Chai Ke-chang and Lee Hyun-soo, who had climbed to their positions with their own minds, it was a choice that couldn’t be more humiliating.

“Why go that far?”

“Do you even need to ask? You pathetic bastard.”

Lee Hyun-soo bit off the cigarette he was holding.

“I don’t need pride or anything like that. I’d rather lick the floor and survive than die trying to protect my pride. My pride is worth less than a dime on the street.”

“…Haha.”

Chai Ke-chang gritted his teeth.

Somehow, at that moment, he had a glimpse of the secret to how Kang Jin-ho and the Assembly had become so strong.

“Prepare another trash can.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll throw my pride in there too.”

A smile similar to Lee Hyun-soo’s appeared on Chai Ke-chang’s lips.

“If I can kick the Chang King in the face, I’ll gladly throw away my pride.”

“Good attitude.”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded.

“Then let’s start planning.”

The two of them met each other’s gaze.