Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1900

“We’re intercepting!” Lee Hyun-soo’s words made the directors’ eyes widen.

“W-wait, does that mean the information is coming in real-time?”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded vigorously at Wiggins’ question.

“Yes. Since Chaikeochang probably doesn’t have the mind to contact us, I’ve reinforced the situation room with personnel to relay the situation to our side in advance.”

Wiggins chuckled dryly.

‘He’s really out of his mind when you see him like this.’

A situation room of an organization is like its brain. Lee Hyun-soo, who calmly pushes in a report, and Chaikeochang, who allows it, are both beyond the understanding of ordinary people.

Wiggins is no less capable than Lee Hyun-soo when it comes to seeing the big picture and leading the situation, but he can’t even begin to grasp these bizarre details.

“So, what’s the interception situation?”

“It seems they’ve deployed a large number of troops to Guangzhou.”

“A large number? Even if the Hong King faction has a lot of people, China is still damn big. Can they defend other places while deploying a large number of troops to one area?”

“It seems they’ve abandoned them.”

“…Abandoned?”

“Yes.”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded vigorously.

“It seems they’ve broadly defined the range where the opponent’s attack is likely to come and gathered their forces in the center. So they can immediately counterattack if an attack comes from the surroundings.”

“Specifying means there’s a range they’re giving up, so does that mean they’re just going to let attacks coming from that direction go?”

“That seems to be the case.”

“What about withdrawing the branches in that area?”

“If we did that, it would be like advertising that other places are traps. They’re planning to use the branch forces as bait.”

Wiggins couldn’t say anything.

On the surface, it makes sense. No, it just makes sense.

Considering the characteristics of the Twelve Flying Blades, it’s impossible to deal with them without taking damage. To make the opponent bleed, you have to be prepared to bleed yourself.

If you can inflict damage on the opponent at the cost of losing a few branches, it’s a good deal.

‘But I can’t do it.’

Strategy is planned with the head, but its execution is not done with the head.

If you could save ten adults by killing a child in front of you, could you do it without hesitation?

The head calculates the gains and losses, but the heart decides whether to pursue those gains and losses.

Even if it’s a measure to defeat the opponent, sacrificing hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people who have shared meals with you is something Wiggins couldn’t even imagine.

Perhaps it’s because the scale of numbers that Wiggins and Chaikeochang think about is different. But even if that number were reduced by ten times, no, a hundred times, Wiggins would not have been able to easily carry out this operation.

It’s an operation that exudes a murderous intent to defeat the opponent, and a determination to stab at least one blade and die.

“But even if we surround the Twelve Flying Blades, considering the sacrifices we have to make to capture them, isn’t this a losing proposition?”

“It’s okay to lose.”

“What?”

“They won’t think about exchanging with equal cost-effectiveness. They’ll throw in a thousand people to capture just one. In the end, if we have even one more person alive, we win.”

Lee Hyun-soo continued quickly, as if he could guess Chaikeochang’s thoughts.

“If the Chang King were alive, or if there was even one force left that could challenge the Hong King faction, they would never use this kind of operation. But now, China is completely unified. At best, only a small number of Chang King faction remnants are left resisting.”

“So?”

“If they can survive, reconstruction is nothing. In the first place, they have a formidable population and productivity that cannot be compared to any other country. Restoring their current power will be difficult, but they can create a military force that overwhelms other countries in ten years, even starting from zero.”

Lee Hyun-soo thinks ten years.

Chaikeochang would think of an even shorter period.

“We have an alliance and a non-aggression pact with them, huh.”

“…In the first place, Lord Hui has no interest in Chinese land.”

“To be used like this… I feel like I’ve been backstabbed.”

Wiggins said, narrowing his brow.

“I don’t know Chaikeochang that well, but I don’t think he’s the type to proceed with something based on trust in a mutual agreement?”

“Yes. That’s why!”

Lee Hyun-soo gritted his teeth.

“The Hong King has personally gone to intercept.”

“The Hong King?”

“What?”

At those words, Bator and Jang Min, who hadn’t shown much interest until now, jumped up from their seats.

“The Hong King has gone out?”

“Yes! It seems they’re probably engaged in battle right now.”

“The Hong King from the start…”

Bator repeatedly checked Lee Hyun-soo’s face with a disbelieving expression. There was no way Lee Hyun-soo would say something false, so he had to believe it, but it was a question of whether the information was wrong.

“I’ve confirmed it several times.”

“…They’re on the edge of a cliff too.”

Bator was probably the one among them who had experienced the Hong King the most.

The Hong King he knew wasn’t particularly authoritarian or arrogant, but he had the principle that someone called a king shouldn’t move carelessly.

Such a person had moved directly to resolve a situation happening at a branch, even though a proper battle hadn’t even started yet.

“Did Chaikeochang move the Hong King?”

“No, that’s absolutely impossible. This must be the Hong King’s will.”

“He’s been infected.”

Bator glanced at Kang Jin-ho as if this was a certainty.

“After staying next to a human who rushes into a fight like a moth to a flame if there’s a fight…”

“That… sounds like an insult?”

“It is, Master.”

Kang Jin-ho’s face slightly contorted.

But this was something he couldn’t refute. It was true that Kang Jin-ho would rush to the front and go berserk whenever there was a fight.

“Rather, it’s more accurate to say that he realized that he could reduce sacrifices when the top force moves quickly.”

Lee Hyun-soo said with an urgent expression.

“According to the information coming in now, battles are taking place in two locations. In Guangzhou, the strike force deployed by the Hong King faction is surrounding one of the Twelve Flying Blades, and in Hangzhou, the Hong King is fighting one of the Twelve Flying Blades.”

“What about the others? The other Twelve Flying Blades?”

“…It can’t be called a battle there. It’s a massacre.”

The people who understood the meaning of Lee Hyun-soo’s words looked at the map with hardened faces.

“I don’t know how much damage there will be… but at least we need to capture one place to make it worthwhile.”

“That’s probably the case.”

“The Hong King, the Hong King…”

It’s impossible to know what will happen in Guangzhou. With the current information, there’s no way to confirm how many troops have been deployed to Guangzhou. It’s meaningless to discuss the outcome without knowing the quality and quantity of the troops.

So, there’s only one place left!

“The Hong King versus the Twelve Flying Blades… We should at least see it as being on the level of Baek Yeon-hong, right?”

“That’s probably the case.”

“Then…”

Bator bit his lip slightly and then raised his head.

“Who’s going to win?”

No one could answer that question.

They had already experienced the Hong King, and they had also experienced Baek Yeon-hong. Some of the people here had even fought both of them.

But that doesn’t mean they can predict the outcome of the two people’s fight.

Just because a child loses to two adults in separate fights doesn’t mean you can tell which of the two adults is stronger.

The gap is like that.

They might be able to guess if they were fighting them now, but unfortunately, the level of the directors when they fought them was not up to par with their current level.

There is only one person here who can answer that question.

“Master!”

Bator looked at Kang Jin-ho and asked.

“Who is it! Who’s going to win?”

But Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“It’s impossible.”

“Even I can’t guess. First of all, I don’t know the opponent’s skills.”

“What if we assume they’re similar to Baek Yeon-hong?”

“It’s still the same. Even if the Twelve Flying Blade that the Hong King is fighting now has the exact same skills as Baek Yeon-hong, the compatibility of the martial arts they use is different, and their condition on that day is different.”

“Ugh…”

“As you go higher, the outcome is usually decided by a paper-thin difference. There are too many variables, so I can’t say for sure who will win.”

Bator closed his mouth.

‘What if…’

A question he didn’t want to imagine swirled in his mind.

‘What happens if the Hong King loses?’

That would be a collapse, literally.

The super-giant sect called the Hong King faction would crumble like a sandcastle.

“This is too much of a gamble.”

“No. You shouldn’t think like that.”

Lee Hyun-soo said firmly.

“It’s true that the Twelve Flying Blades have all entered the realm of superhuman, and it’s undeniable that there are twelve martial artists at the Hong King level, but the term Hong King level doesn’t really mean they’re equal to the Hong King.”

“At least the Hong King faction, whose branches have been destroyed more than us, will have a better understanding of their skills. But the fact that they didn’t stop the Hong King from going out means that they had a calculation that they could secure at least a minimal advantage.”

It might not be a 100% probability.

But it is the Hong King’s duty to make that probability 100%.

It is the duty given to the leader who leads the huge sect called the Hong King faction.

“Does that mean the worst-case scenario might not happen?”

Bator was about to feel a little relieved.

Click.

With a short metallic sound, Kang Jin-ho lit the end of his cigarette.

“Hoo…”

Kang Jin-ho, who exhaled a long puff of smoke, raised his head and looked at everyone.

“Listen carefully.”

“Yes?”

“The Hong King faction will lose this fight.”

“…Yes?”

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes widened at Kang Jin-ho’s words.

“N-no, at this stage?”

“There’s no need to see more. Chaikeochang just made a mistake because he was impatient.”

Kang Jin-ho stubbed out the cigarette he hadn’t even taken a few puffs of without any regret. It was as if he was foreshadowing the fate of the Hong King faction.

“We can’t just keep watching anymore. Wiggins.”

“Yes, Lord!”

“Where’s the closest gate to Hangzhou?”

“That’s obviously Shanghai.”

“Let’s go.”

Kang Jin-ho got up from his seat.

“If you touch a dog, the owner comes out. Chaikeochang was too hasty in sending out the owner.”

“N-no way…”

Lee Hyun-soo’s jaw trembled.

“The Hong King is in danger. It’s not the Twelve Flying Blades that are trapped, it’s the Hong King.”

“We can’t let the balance be broken already. Let’s go with the minimum number of people!”

“Yes!”

Those who understood and those who didn’t understand the situation no longer had to think and stood up resolutely.

“We need to let Cheongma know.”

The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth curled up bitterly.

“That from now on, they have to face me.”

Kang Jin-ho and the other directors rushed out like the wind.