Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1814

“I delivered the gift successfully.”

“In that state?”

Cheongma chuckled as he saw the returning Liu Yang.

“…I apologize.”

“You should consider yourself lucky.”

“What do you mean?”

“That his temperament has become much milder. In the past, I don’t remember seeing anyone he touched survive.”

“Or perhaps he was considering my reputation. How gracious of him.”

Cheongma laughed softly. Seeing Cheongma laugh so cheerfully, Liu Yang slightly lowered his head.

Depending on how one heard it, it could sound like mockery, but it was definitely not mockery.

“So, how was it? What was it like to face him and return?”

“I… I still don’t really know.”

Liu Yang shook his head.

“I could certainly tell he was strong.”

“Hmm.”

“That overwhelming presence… and even the wildness that makes people instinctively shrink back.”

“That’s quite a flattering thing to say.”

“I could fully understand. How he could trample the Three Kings, how he could create such a force in a small country in the East.”

Cheongma smiled.

As if he was pleased to hear praise about Kang Jin-ho.

“But…”

Liu Yang glanced at Cheongma and then opened his mouth.

“Even so, I don’t understand. All of this is just based on the standards of me and other ordinary people. No matter how strong he is, no matter how great he is, he didn’t seem like someone the Black King would bother with.”

“You’re making me repeat myself. It’s annoying to have to deal with people who are slow-witted.”

“I, I apologize.”

Cheongma turned his head to look at Liu Yang.

“What are the others doing?”

“They seem to not understand why the Black King is staying in Korea for so long.”

Cheongma raised his hand and covered his forehead.

“This is really annoying.”

He sighed deeply and reached out to grab the wine glass on the table.

“I think I might have made a slight mistake. I should have raised obedient guys, even if they were a little less capable.”

“Though they are rough, there is no doubt about their loyalty to the Black King.”

“That’s why you guys are still alive.”

Cheongma chuckled.

“Those who couldn’t prove it are all in hell.”

Cheongma, who had downed the wine in one go, stood up.

“I’m going back to China.”

“I will prepare immediately.”

“Contact everyone and tell them not to act rashly. Entry to Korea is also prohibited.”

“Yes!”

“Make it clear that I will personally deal with anyone who disobeys this order.”

“I will.”

Cheongma looked at the empty wine glass.

“No matter how good the wine is, it will eventually run out.”

He had taken a moment to enjoy the wine, but now it was time to get to work.

“I’m curious.”

The corners of Cheongma’s mouth curled up.

“I wonder if he would be willing to have a drink with me.”

“The Black King?”

[Yes.]

“Master… I’ve been nicely outmaneuvered.”

It wasn’t just the General Assembly that had found traces of the escaped Master. The Red King faction was also mobilizing all their intelligence to find the Master. But the Master, who hadn’t even left a footprint, had been captured by the Black King faction and taken to the General Assembly….

‘This is humiliating.’

Chai Ke-chang’s face slightly contorted.

‘I expected it, but the Black King is moving faster than I thought.’

Unlike the Blue King faction, which had been constantly fighting and checking each other, the Black King faction had always been patient and had not moved easily.

But the Black King, not just the Black King faction, had gone directly to Korea to face Kang Jin-ho.

This was something that neatly exceeded Chai Ke-chang’s calculations. A sense of unpredictability had been added to the Black King faction, which was already full of uncertainty.

Moreover, the Red King faction had not been able to track the Black King at all, even until the moment he left China and met Kang Jin-ho in Korea. This was proof that the Black King was completely outside the Red King faction’s intelligence network.

[What about finding out what they’re plotting?]

“I have no clue.”

[You useless bastard.]

Chai Ke-chang gritted his teeth at Lee Hyun-soo’s criticism.

“We can’t find out the Black King’s purpose by investigating the Black King faction.”

[What are you talking about?]

“It’s not like I’ve been doing nothing. I’ve investigated the Black King faction. I secured the guy who moved when the Blue King contacted the Black King faction.”

[So?]

“The Black King faction’s system is different from ordinary martial arts sects. The guys who are generally known as the Black King faction are all just scarecrows.”

[Explain in more detail.]

“So….”

Chai Ke-chang sighed.

How should he explain this?

“The Black King faction is made up of two systems. The ordinary martial artists who make up the lower ranks have never even seen the Black King’s face. Those guys are just people that the Black King’s confidants have gathered on their own.”

Chai Ke-chang took a small breath and continued.

“The real Black King faction is just a small number of the Black King’s confidants. Each one of them reigns like a king and has their own power.”

[So, the Black King’s subordinates gather troops as kings, and the Black King reigns over them like an emperor?]

“It’s not that either.”

[What are you saying? Damn it.]

“The Black King doesn’t get involved in his confidants gathering troops. It’s completely up to the confidants. It seems the Black King doesn’t even demand authority over those troops.”

Chai Ke-chang fully understood the confusion Lee Hyun-soo was experiencing.

He had also found it difficult to understand when he first grasped the situation.

“So….”

Chai Ke-chang said through gritted teeth.

“What we call the Black King faction is just a general term for the private soldiers raised by the Black King’s confidants. The real Black King faction is just a small number, including the Black King.”

[A small number?]

“Yes.”

That’s why the identity of the Black King had not been properly identified until now.

The Black King exists and does not exist. At the same time, he is one and many.

“Those who believe they belong to the Black King faction must have thought that the person they served was the Black King. Whether it was intentionally spread that way, or whether misunderstandings piled up! Anyway, that’s why the information about the Black King was all over the place. Because it’s not one person.”

[So, no one has seen the real Black King.]

“Do you understand what this means?”

Chai Ke-chang spat out the words.

“Think about it. The Black King has hardly ever shown his face. But it’s not like he’s been completely hidden all this time. If he had, he wouldn’t have gotten the name Black King, and he wouldn’t have gained fame.”

[Could it be….]

“Yes.”

Chai Ke-chang continued with a stiff face.

“The Black King that the world knows might not be the real Black King. If the Black King hadn’t been active externally from the beginning, we might have only been seeing the Black King’s confidants. In other words….”

Chai Ke-chang’s body trembled slightly.

“The Central Plains saw the Black King’s subordinates and thought they were on par with the Blue King, so they gave them the title of Black King.”

He couldn’t bring himself to mention the Red King’s name.

That was too humiliating.

[That….]

The tremor in Lee Hyun-soo’s voice was transmitted through the receiver.

“Of course, only a very small number of them might have reached that level. Maybe just one. And if we’re really lucky, it might have been the Black King himself who stepped forward.”

Chai Ke-chang took a deep breath and continued.

“But if we consider the worst-case scenario, each of that small number of elites who can be called the Black King’s confidants might have the ability of the Three Kings.”

[This is driving me crazy.]

Chai Ke-chang let out a deep sigh.

If he combined the information he had obtained this time with the information he had known about the Black King faction so far, the situation became clear.

The Black King faction has no substance.

Anyone could be the Black King, and anyone could not be the Black King.

If the Black King hadn’t gone to Korea himself and revealed who he was, Chai Ke-chang would still be unable to grasp the reality of the Black King at this moment.

[So, we have no choice but to use the vague term ‘small number’? Because we don’t even know how many confidants there are?]

“That’s right for now.”

[I’d rather not have heard it.]

Chai Ke-chang completely agreed with this statement.

He had dealt with countless dangerous pieces of information so far. Among them, there was even top-secret information that could threaten the existence of the nation if it was leaked to the outside world.

But this was the first time he had ever wanted to ignore the information itself. The more he knew, the more possibilities there were, and the more he felt like he was being sucked into an area he shouldn’t step into.

[…Okay, I understand for now. I need to organize my thoughts.]

“…I’ll let you know if I get any more news. It will only be fragmented information for a while, though.”

[You’re being strangely cooperative.]

“Because it’s necessary.”

Chai Ke-chang hung up the phone without waiting for a reply.

The purpose of the call was about the Black King’s plan, but by the end, that didn’t matter anymore.

‘The Red King faction alone is not enough.’

The fact that he would need the help of the General Assembly when dealing with the Black King faction was already in Chai Ke-chang’s mind.

But that was only in the realm of assistance.

However, the more Chai Ke-chang learned about the Black King faction, the more he realized that it was impossible for the Red King faction alone to resolve this situation.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t raise troops because the situation wasn’t right or because they lacked the ability.

The Black King didn’t need troops that were just there to fill the numbers.

Hadn’t it been revealed in the recent fight with the Blue King? In the martial arts world, the role of troops is ultimately limited to supporting those who have reached the absolute realm. If a martial artist who has reached the pinnacle exists, troops who are just a bunch of nobodies can be swept away as if with a broom.

What if….

As he had said in his call with Lee Hyun-soo a little while ago, what if there were many martial artists with the power of the Three Kings in the Black King faction?

‘I could probably handle up to three, including the Black King. But… what if there are more than that?’

Defeat was inevitable.

He couldn’t even estimate it.

Imagine it.

The Red King, the Blue King, and the Demon King charging from beyond the horizon as one force.

It was a sight that made him sweat just imagining it.

‘It can’t be.’

It shouldn’t be.

Chai Ke-chang believed that it was absolutely impossible. If the Black King really had such power, there was no way he could have endured it until now. No matter how cautious a person is.

Of course, the Black King faction hadn’t done anything yet.

But Chai Ke-chang knew the nature of martial artists very well. It was absolutely impossible for someone with power to quietly die without wielding that power until the very end.

“Hui!”

“Yes!”

At his shout, the person who had been waiting outside rushed in.

“Where are the Black King faction guys we captured?”

“We have subdued them and imprisoned them for now.”

“Lead the way. I will interrogate them myself.”

“Yes!”

Chai Ke-chang’s face hardened as he watched the man rush out ahead of him.

‘If, by any chance, the power of the Black King faction is greater than I think….’

The fist he clenched trembled.

‘No one can stop them, no one.’

Chai Ke-chang hurried his steps, trying to push away the unease that kept creeping in.