Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1693

Wang Yan-hung bit his lip, watching the body being carried out. The acrid smell of blood stung his nose. But more jarring than the stench was the expression on the corpse’s face. A face contorted in terror. Even though the soul had already departed, that expression vividly conveyed the immense fear he had felt in his final moments.

“Cover it with a cloth, at least,” Wang Yan-hung said.

“Yes!” a subordinate replied.

Wang Yan-hung sighed and turned his head. “It doesn’t seem like Chang Wang’s anger will subside so easily.”

Wang Yan-hung subtly turned his head to look at a man approaching him.

“At least here, your mouth isn’t for flapping,” Wang Yan-hung warned.

“I’ll keep that in mind. But I don’t think my words were that far off,” the man, Tenwei, replied.

Wang Yan-hung sighed again.

‘Not entirely wrong, either,’ he thought.

Anger, anger…

‘Can this even be called simple anger?’

Chang Wang is an exceptionally rational person. Killing people haphazardly only overloads the workload and leads to a decline in overall power. There’s no way Chang Wang wouldn’t know that.

“Chang Wang is not one to lose himself to anger,” Wang Yan-hung stated.

“Of course. However…” Tenwei spoke with a subtle smile. “No matter how great Chang Wang is, he is still human. Of course, I can’t deny that he’s half in the realm of the divine… but that doesn’t make him a complete god.”

“What are you trying to say?” Wang Yan-hung asked, his tone sharp.

“Since he’s not a god, he can’t completely exclude emotions. He’s just less affected by them, isn’t he?” Tenwei replied.

Wang Yan-hung glared at Tenwei with cold eyes. “Are you doubting him?”

“Of course,” Tenwei said, unfazed.

“You…” Wang Yan-hung began, his voice rising.

“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. It’s not like my loyalty to Chang Wang has changed in the slightest. ‘Doubt everything. But when following orders, do not hesitate even for a moment.’ These are the words Chang Wang himself told me,” Tenwei explained.

Wang Yan-hung’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll ask again… What are you trying to say?”

Tenwei took a small step back. It was because Wang Yan-hung had begun to emit a chilling aura.

“I’m just saying to be careful,” Tenwei said, his voice calm.

“Careful?” Wang Yan-hung questioned.

“Yes, careful,” Tenwei nodded lightly. “Even if you are favored by Chang Wang, there’s no guarantee that if you act as you usually do in this situation, you won’t end up like the corpse that was just carried out.”

“The Chang Wang I’ve observed has never wavered, not even once,” Wang Yan-hung stated firmly.

“Yes. But it’s also the first time we’ve seen Chang Wang experience such a failure. Isn’t it fair to call it a defeat?” Tenwei countered.

“It’s not just a simple defeat. It’s unimaginable that Chang Wang, who walked into China on his own two feet, couldn’t handle about ten people and let them all escape without killing a single one. There couldn’t be a greater humiliation,” Wang Yan-hung said, his voice laced with disbelief.

“Once again…” Tenwei began.

“Yes, yes, I know, be careful with my mouth,” Wang Yan-hung interrupted, rolling his eyes.

Tenwei slightly raised both hands, feigning surrender. Wang Yan-hung looked at Tenwei and bit his lip.

‘I don’t understand why Chang Wang trusts a guy like him,’ he thought. ‘He’s frivolous and blunt. He doesn’t even know the simple truth that all trouble comes from the mouth. What could a guy like that possibly do?’

“Don’t look at me so hostilely. It’s precisely times like these that you and I need to cooperate,” Tenwei said, his tone light.

“…You and I?” Wang Yan-hung questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes. Chang Wang will naturally seek a counterattack. And the target of that counterattack will be that small peninsula [referring to the Korean peninsula],” Tenwei explained.

Wang Yan-hung turned his body without a word.

“Are you ignoring me?” Tenwei asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Not at all,” Wang Yan-hung replied, waving his hand dismissively. “It’s just that I’m not an inefficient person like you. If it’s about thoughts and plans, he’s a thousand times better than us. There’s no need to waste energy trying to rack my brain when it won’t even work.”

“When an order is given, I will follow it with all my heart. That’s all,” Wang Yan-hung stated.

“You certainly are worthy of being favored,” Tenwei said, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Say whatever you want,” Wang Yan-hung retorted, his tone dismissive.

Wang Yan-hung left Tenwei and headed towards where Chang Wang was. And Tenwei’s eyes gleamed as he watched Wang Yan-hung’s retreating figure.

‘The world has already begun to twist,’ Tenwei thought.

Chang Wang is like a precise machine. He lives in an area of spontaneity and unpredictability, but all of his choices are made based on perfect reasoning and prediction. But this time, his plan went almost completely awry.

The reason? The reason is very simple. The power of the Demon King and the General Assembly directors, which was estimated through information, exceeded their predictions. They even considered the possibility and predicted double the power calculated from the information, but the actual power of the General Assembly was more than double that prediction. There has never been such a miserable failure in information gathering before, and there will never be again.

Moreover…

‘Lee Hyun-soo, was it?’ Tenwei thought. The strategist of the General Assembly.

‘That guy is completely insane.’

The fact that the Demon King overwhelmed Chang Wang with force is honestly not that surprising. Ever since the rumor spread that the Red King was equal to the Demon King, the Demon King was recognized as an existence that could not be judged by common sense. But no one expected that Chang Wang would be outsmarted by someone.

The idea of summoning a US fighter jet and escaping as if hijacking it was something that neither Chang Wang nor anyone in his faction had ever even considered. And that too, at the Chinese border. In fact, the biggest reason this incident turned into a failure was not the Demon King’s power, but Lee Hyun-soo’s mind. If Lee Hyun-soo hadn’t shown his wit at the last moment, the Demon King would have ended up buried in the cold Mongolian steppe. Then all the previous failures would not have been failures.

Therefore…

‘It’s the first time Chang Wang’s next move is so predictable,’ Tenwei thought, a smile curling up the corners of his lips. That General Assembly will probably face a completely different kind of fight from now on. At the same time, they will learn what the true terror of Chang Wang is.

Smoke from a cigarette drifted in the air. Wang Yan-hung, who had opened the door and entered, slightly frowned as he saw the cigarette Chang Wang was holding.

“Since when did you smoke?” Wang Yan-hung asked, surprised.

“I don’t particularly enjoy it,” Chang Wang replied, his voice calm.

The moment Wang Yan-hung heard that voice, he unknowingly felt relieved. It seemed he had been slightly agitated by Tenwei’s words. But the fact that Chang Wang’s voice was no different from usual calmed his heart.

“I was just trying to understand the Demon King. Why he holds onto a useless thing like a cigarette,” Chang Wang explained.

“So, did you understand a little?” Wang Yan-hung asked.

“No,” Chang Wang replied, taking a deep drag of the cigarette and slightly frowning. “I don’t get it. It seems there are some beings in this world that I can’t understand. No matter how much I smoke, I can’t figure out what kind of stability it gives.”

Wang Yan-hung smiled wryly. “There are bound to be people in the world that you can’t understand, aren’t there?”

“Yes. That’s something I can’t help either. However…” Chang Wang stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray. “Even if there are people I can’t understand, there shouldn’t be people I can’t analyze.”

“I thought about it. Why did I experience this failure? Why did things not go as I thought this time, and why did I have to feel this humiliation?” Chang Wang continued.

“So, did you find the answer?” Wang Yan-hung asked.

“The answer is in what I just said,” Chang Wang replied, leaning back in his chair. Chang Wang, with his legs crossed while wearing a suit, looked exceptionally sharp.

“It was only natural to experience failure because I tried to analyze someone I couldn’t analyze. I thought I was too easy on them. I thought I was calm and collected, but I, too, am a Central Plains person [referring to people from the central region of China]. My way of thinking was aligned with that of the Central Plains. So, I couldn’t keep up with their free-spirited thinking,” Chang Wang explained.

Wang Yan-hung looked at Chang Wang with a slightly surprised expression. He had naturally thought that there would be talk about the Demon King. But there was nothing about the Demon King in Chang Wang’s words right now.

“Is it not because of the Demon King Kang Jin-ho’s power?” Wang Yan-hung asked.

“He can be stronger than me at any time,” Chang Wang replied, his tone dismissive. “It’s meaningless if I can only do things when I’m the strongest. A true strategy is to be able to kill and win even against those I can’t overcome.”

Chang Wang lightly swept back his fallen bangs. “I’ve come to a conclusion. To get what I want, I need two things.”

“If there is anything Chang Wang desires, I will make it happen,” Wang Yan-hung said, his voice filled with determination.

“One is simple. This bloated group can no longer perfectly carry out my orders. I thought I had honed myself while confronting those other kings, but it seems there are some who have become complacent,” Chang Wang stated.

“…Chang Wang,” Wang Yan-hung said, his voice low.

“It is also my fault for not managing the organization. I will cut off the bloated parts and reform this place. And Wang Yan-hung,” Chang Wang continued.

“Yes!” Wang Yan-hung replied, his eyes gleaming.

“There is something I need you to do. This is absolutely necessary to crush that General Assembly,” Chang Wang said, his voice firm.

“Give me your command,” Wang Yan-hung said, his voice eager.

Wang Yan-hung’s eyes gleamed. Receiving an order from Chang Wang was an immense honor. He was ready to carry out this order with all his soul.

“Go to Korea,” Chang Wang commanded.

“I will give you as much power as you need. Go and kill one person,” Chang Wang continued.

Wang Yan-hung gritted his teeth. “I will give everything I have to kill the Demon King.”

“Don’t misunderstand, Wang Yan-hung,” Chang Wang said, his tone cold.

“…Yes?” Wang Yan-hung asked, confused.

Chang Wang’s cold eyes scanned Wang Yan-hung. “First of all, the Demon King is not someone you can kill. Even I, with a small group, don’t have the confidence to infiltrate Korea and kill the Demon King. He is, as the name suggests, a Demon King. A being like the incarnation of a demon descended to earth.”

“Then…” Wang Yan-hung began.

“And there’s no need to. The Demon King’s life is of no importance. Our failure was not because of the Demon King. What you need to kill is not the Demon King, but the core of the General Assembly!” Chang Wang spat out the words with cold eyes.

“Go to Korea. And by any means, kill Lee Hyun-soo. Without Lee Hyun-soo, the Demon King is nothing more than a strong, stupid brute that we can hold in our hands and play with,” Chang Wang ordered.

Lee Hyun-soo.

Wang Yan-hung nodded, his eyes filled with murderous intent. “He is as good as dead. I will return with his head.”

“Throw his head in the pigsty. Instead, I will not tolerate failure,” Chang Wang said, his voice devoid of emotion.

“If I fail, I will not return alive,” Wang Yan-hung declared.

“Not at all. If you fail, you must return alive. Because you will have to receive the punishment,” Chang Wang corrected, his tone chilling.

“As you command!” Wang Yan-hung gritted his teeth and turned to leave.

Watching Wang Yan-hung’s retreating figure, Chang Wang wore a cold smile on his lips.

‘Lee Hyun-soo,’ he thought. People often overlook the core. Kang Jin-ho is the center of the General Assembly and everything to it. But Kang Jin-ho’s power can only function as it does now because Lee Hyun-soo supports him.

“The dagger I sent will be quite sharp. I wonder if you can even think of it?” Chang Wang said to himself, a bitter smile on his lips.