Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1835

Sweat poured down Kwak So’s back. The Black King’s humming sounded like a requiem from hell in his ears. Although the melody was cheerful, it was more gloomy and terrifying than a funeral march to Kwak So. Boooom! The car sped forward at an incredible pace. “Hahahaha!” Cheongma, as if enjoying himself, stepped on the accelerator and turned his head to look at Kwak So. Flint. The moment their eyes met, Kwak So’s neck shrank like a turtle’s. “You should be thanking me. If you had stayed there, you would have been skinned alive. That man is so cruel that even I get scared when he takes action.” Cruel? More than the Black King? He thought that could never be, but contrary to his thoughts, Kwak So’s head nodded violently as if it would break off at any moment. “Y-yes, I am grateful for the Black King’s grace.” “Grateful for what.” Cheongma chuckled. “If you’re next to a prickly person, you’re bound to get hit. I understand your plight well enough. I was once in that position, so I know how hard it is to serve a superior who doesn’t listen.” Kwak So couldn’t say anything. If he agreed, it would be insulting to Baek Yeon-hong, whom he served, and if he disagreed, it would be a rebellion against the Black King’s words. As if reacting to the silence, Cheongma smiled. “Your behavior isn’t bad. I don’t know why someone like you is attached to a scoundrel like Baek Yeon-hong.” Screech! The car stopped abruptly. Cheongma, who had parked the car on the side of a national highway where it met the mountains, got out of the car whistling. “Get out.” “Yes!” Kwak So was terrified and opened the door to get out. As he put his hands together and stepped back, Cheongma strode towards the trunk. Click. The old trunk opened wide, and Baek Yeon-hong, who was lying inside, turned his head with difficulty. “Did you have a comfortable trip?” Cheongma asked with a smile, and Baek Yeon-hong bit his half-remaining lip. “Don’t make that face, I have a plan. The foreign magician I recruited this time can miraculously heal most wounds. So, you don’t have to worry about your already ugly face getting uglier.” “The arm…” “That’s impossible. Didn’t you see that the guy you fought had a prosthetic arm?” Baek Yeon-hong’s face twitched slightly. Then Cheongma smiled and brought his face close to Baek Yeon-hong’s. “Is there a problem?” “…No.” Baek Yeon-hong lowered his head, and Cheongma grinned. “Losing an arm instead of your life is a cheap price. You would have died today if it weren’t for me.” “If it’s the Black King…” Baek Yeon-hong gritted his teeth. “It wouldn’t have been that difficult for you to get me out of there.” “Ah, that’s true.” Cheongma smiled and asked back. “But why would I?” “I clearly told you not to touch them. But you ignored my warning. So why should I go against them for you?” “You should be grateful. If you had escaped from there unscathed, I would have torn your face off and made an example of you to others.” He said it with a light laugh. But neither Baek Yeon-hong nor Kwak So thought it was just a joke. The cold murderous intent underlying his smiling voice proved that fact. “But well, I think you’ve been punished enough.” Cheongma shrugged. “Don’t cause any more trouble and go back to China. Stay in confinement for a while. No, in that state, you have no choice but to stay in confinement.” Baek Yeon-hong struggled to get out of the trunk and stood up, staggering. “So, how was it? What are your thoughts on facing them directly?” “Those bastards…” Baek Yeon-hong gritted his teeth. “I made a mistake, but if I fight them again, it won’t take me five minutes to kill all four of them.” “No.” Cheongma smiled brightly. “If you fight them again, you’ll be the one who dies this time.” “That’s why you shouldn’t mess with a hornet’s nest. There are some places in the world that are better left alone.” There was also this reason why he told them to leave the General Assembly alone. They had always fought against opponents stronger than themselves. They had always achieved victory against places that were objectively impossible to win. Although it was the result of luck and luck, there was no guarantee that they would not become victims of that luck. Cheongma does not overestimate himself. There is no need to make enemies, and there is no need to make things bigger. What he wants is not the trivial name of the strongest, but a bigger concept. Cheongma stared at Baek Yeon-hong quietly. Even until the moment he got in the car and went up to the General Assembly, he was debating whether to kill him or bring him back alive, but Baek Yeon-hong had played his role in his own way. Now, Kang Jin-ho would have felt the extent of his power firsthand. He was not the kind of person who would succumb to such a difference in power, but at least it was his duty to provide objective information when forcing a judgment. “Take the car.” He turned his body as if he had no regrets. “Black King!” Then Baek Yeon-hong gritted his teeth and called out to him. “Why are you so obsessed with Jeokcheonmajon [Red Sky Demon Lord]?” Cheongma’s feet stopped. Then he slowly, very slowly, turned his head. The moment Baek Yeon-hong met Cheongma’s eyes, which were colder than ice, he closed his mouth without realizing it. “A fool who doesn’t know even after seeing it with his own eyes wouldn’t understand even if I explained it.” “You just live in your own world.” That was the end of it. His steps, which seemed to be walking slowly, quickly disappeared. Baek Yeon-hong, who was watching his back, slammed his fist into the ground. Kwaaaang! Baek Yeon-hong, who had slammed his fist into the ground until it was broken, groaned with a distorted face. ‘My world?’ That meant that the world he saw and the world Baek Yeon-hong saw were different. No matter how much they narrowed it, this gap would never narrow. “Sword Master.” “Hoo…” Baek Yeon-hong took a deep breath at Kwak So’s worried call. Everyone has times when they are clumsy. What determines a person’s worth is not how clumsy they are, but how quickly they overcome it. “I showed a foolish sight.” “No, Sword Master.” There was worry in Kwak So’s voice, who always used to mock him. “Let’s go back. We need to recover first.” “But my arm…” “This is a cheap price compared to your life.” Losing an arm was a terrible thing, but as long as the arm that wielded the sword was safe, his martial arts would not be greatly diminished. He could no longer use the sword and palm at the same time, so he wouldn’t be as good as he used to be… ‘But that depends on how I overcome it.’ Those who have reached the Twelve Flying Swords are all people with an indomitable spirit who never give up. They had gone through too much to be frustrated by this kind of injury. “Instead, you’ll have to do the driving.” “Y-yes, of course, Sword Master!” Kwak So quickly got into the driver’s seat. Watching him, Baek Yeon-hong’s face hardened. ‘I’ll die next time?’ He clenched his one remaining fist without realizing it. The Black King enjoyed making fun of people, but he was not the type to stir up people’s insides with false words. Because his words were true, he was the one who truly burned the stomachs of those who heard them. “That’s the story when I’m at my current level.” Baek Yeon-hong, gritting his teeth, violently opened the car door. First, he would return to China. ‘Next time I see them, I will definitely take their heads, those damn General Assembly bastards.’ It was the moment when his enemies increased a little more from Jeokcheonmajon. “You look terrible.” Kang Jin-ho shook his head as he looked at the directors lying in the hospital room. It was only a short match, but the directors’ bodies were literally in tatters. “Damn it, I’ll be fine after a nap!” “Please, Mr. Bator. If you move with that body, you won’t just be taking a nap, you’ll be sleeping for life!” “My body is not that weak!” “I’m saying that considering that! If it were anyone else, they would have already crossed the river [a euphemism for dying]!” Kang Jin-ho shook his head again as he watched Bator arguing with the doctor inside the General Assembly. ‘His tenacity is good.’ It was too good, excessively so. Unlike Bator, who was half-struggling, the other directors were quite quiet. Bang Jin-hoon was maintaining a relatively calm appearance, but Wiggins was barely maintaining consciousness with a face that looked like he was about to pass out at any moment. But the one with the most hardened face was none other than Jang Min. ‘It’s understandable.’ Jang Min was the one who hated the martial arts of the righteous faction the most. He had been unilaterally defeated by the person he least wanted to lose to, so what could be said about the shock he had received? “Chairman.” Kang Jin-ho turned his head. Bang Jin-hoon was looking at him with eyes full of despair. “If we had fought as we were… who would have won?” Kang Jin-ho did not answer. But that silence was a sufficient answer. “…Shit.” A blatant curse that he would not normally utter came out of Bang Jin-hoon’s mouth. It seemed that it was incredibly shocking that even if Bator, Jang Min, Wiggins, and he joined forces, they could not defeat Baek Yeon-hong alone. “I…” Bang Jin-hoon opened his mouth as if to say something, then slowly closed it again. Bang Jin-hoon, who had been closing his eyes for a moment as if trying to organize his thoughts, opened his eyes with difficulty. “I thought this was enough.” “I didn’t think I needed to get stronger, there were other people, and even if I struggled, what couldn’t be done wouldn’t be done.” A rough voice. But there was a deep emotion in it. “I thought it was time to give up on what couldn’t be done, and just teach the kids. I thought that if the General Assembly became stronger, even if I didn’t get stronger, then my role would be done…” Bang Jin-hoon closed his mouth. “But…” He bit his lip and said as if spitting it out. “After being beaten without being able to do anything, I don’t think this is right. I’m still a martial artist, and I was once a guy who was going to kill all the double-crossers and whatnot!” Bang Jin-hoon, who was grinding his teeth, looked at Kang Jin-ho with bloodshot eyes. “Chairman.” “Speak.” “Can I get stronger?” “If I risk my life, struggle, and writhe, can I get strong enough to punch that bastard in the face?” Kang Jin-ho did not answer and looked around. Although they didn’t add anything, the other directors were all looking at him with the same eyes. As if they wanted an answer. “That…” And the only answer Kang Jin-ho could give was one. “It depends on you.” Bang Jin-hoon nodded with bloodshot eyes. “Then I will.” Bang Jin-hoon’s eyes were full of fighting spirit. And the eyes of the other directors were the same. Kang Jin-ho nodded, thinking that it had been a long time since he had felt such fighting spirit from them. “If you can endure hell…” “Next time, you’ll be able to take that guy’s head.” The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth curled up slightly. “If you survive until then.” Flames blazed in the directors’ eyes. The General Assembly, which had stopped, slowly began to boil again.