Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 2018

Blackened lips parted, and blood trickled out. But the Blood Demon opened his mouth calmly, as if such pain was nothing.

“Fear…”

It seemed difficult to speak with his body burned to the tip of his tongue. A hoarse, cracked voice leaked out, but Kwon Seong could clearly understand the Blood Demon’s words.

“…Fear?”

The Blood Demon nodded with difficulty.

“What fear was within me?”

Kwon Seong spoke as if he couldn’t understand. He had shattered his weakness and gained strength. He was proud that he had completely denied his past self and reached the realm of good.

But there was fear within him?

Seeing Kwon Seong’s bewildered face, the Blood Demon chuckled lowly.

“Didn’t… you see?”

Kwon Seong’s face hardened. Those words were not wrong. He had already faced the darkness within him.

The reason why the monks of Shaolin and the Taoists of Wudang [two famous martial arts sects in China] were the natural enemies of the Blood Cult was not because their martial arts purified evil energy. It was because there was no delusion or agony within them, only firm belief.

But….

‘That should be the same for me, too?’ Kwon Seong bit his lip tightly.

And at that moment, thick blood began to flow from his nose. At first, red blood flowed, but soon the blood turned black.

“…What was my fear?” The Blood Demon opened his mouth with difficulty.

As if he had to answer this.

“…Fear.”

“The fear… that there might be… fear within you.”

Kwon Seong’s eyes slowly widened.

His mouth gaped blankly, as if he had heard something completely unexpected.

“Within you…”

The Blood Demon twisted his lips as he looked at Kwon Seong.

“The fear that… weakness might still remain.”

“Ptooey.”

The Blood Demon spat blood on the floor.

Then he spoke mockingly.

“You… wanted to be… perfect, didn’t you?”

Kwon Seong opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again. After hesitating for a long time, Kwon Seong raised his head and looked at the Blood Demon.

“I… wanted to overcome myself.”

“…You wanted to deny it, didn’t you?”

The Blood Demon knew.

Like two sides of a coin, they had faced countless humans like that. That’s why he could tell.

A hero is a good thing. Doing good deeds is certainly a great thing.

But what if that goes as far as Kwon Seong’s realm?

If one only considers justice and good as everything, without thinking about their own circumstances?

That’s no different from a mental illness.

This was also related to Kang Jin-ho’s habit of speaking. Those who had reached the realm of the superhuman were all a little unhinged.

Helping others with perfect altruism throughout one’s life, constantly doubting oneself and striving forward, is closer to the act of a madman than a great deed.

It meant that someone who was overflowing with endless affection for humans was terrifyingly harsh on themselves, who were also human. Ironically, those who thoroughly love others do not thoroughly love themselves.

That’s why it always exists.

The darkness that is the foundation of that absurd act.

The fear that makes one generate tireless power.

The darkness that is never revealed on the surface, but is viciously suppressed in the deepest part of the subconscious, and is therefore several tens of times more intense than the revealed evil.

The illusion he used was a dagger created by the Blood Cult to exploit the psychology of such heroes.

It was useless to villains who did not deny their own evil, and it was no better than a joke to ordinary people who were not sure that they were good.

An illusion that was only meaningful to those who were full of self-confidence and did not acknowledge the darkness within themselves.

But ironically, when the Blood Cult completed this secret illusion, there were no longer any heroes in the world who were full of self-confidence.

The blood flowing from Kwon Seong’s nose was getting thicker.

At that moment, Kwon Seong understood what was happening to his body.

“…Blood poison.”

A unique poison of the Blood Cult.

A deadly poison flowing in the blood of the caster.

Perhaps when the Blood Demon used the illusion through his blood, the vaporized blood had entered his respiratory system.

Normally, Kwon Seong would not have been invaded by blood poison. No matter how terrible a creature it was, with its toxicity increasing depending on the user’s internal energy and martial prowess, his body would have been able to completely neutralize the evil poison.

But the blood poison that had penetrated his body now was not being neutralized, but was instead gradually consuming his body.

The meaning of that was….

Kwon Seong looked at the Blood Demon silently, then opened his mouth.

“Just one question.”

“Why did you go this far?”

Kwon Seong’s eyes followed the Blood Demon’s body, which was burned like charcoal. Even if he survived, it would be impossible for him to live a normal life. No matter how great a martial artist’s recovery ability was.

Even if he was caught in an illusion.

Even if blood poison had penetrated his body.

Even if Kwon Seong, whose trauma had been triggered, had walked into a state where the blood poison could erupt by pouring out his internal energy without looking back.

Even if all those conditions were met, this situation would not have occurred if the Blood Demon had not thrown his body into the power, risking death and pain beyond death.

Kwon Seong couldn’t understand that fact at all.

What on earth was he doing this for?

But to that question, the Blood Demon instead wore a deep sneer.

“You’re… a funny bastard.”

“If I… had done this for someone else, you would have clapped… and called it noble.”

Kwon Seong nodded without realizing it.

It was certainly a noble act to risk death and pain for others.

“What’s the problem with… doing the same thing for myself?”

“That’s… what a human is, you psycho.”

Kwon Seong closed his eyes.

And the moment he opened his eyes again, the power that flew from his fist struck the Blood Demon.

Kooong!

The Blood Demon, unable to even resist, was struck by the power and collapsed to the floor.

“You might be right.”

There was no answer from the unconscious Blood Demon.

“But I’m taking this victory.”

Kwon Seong, who had been staring at the fallen Blood Demon, raised his head and looked at those who were still unable to approach.

“Take him and treat him.”

Paat!

No sooner had those words ended than someone landed right in front of the Blood Demon.

Bang Jin-hoon.

With an extremely stiff face, he carefully reached out and picked up the fallen Blood Demon.

“…Did you really have to attack a guy who can’t even move a finger, you bastard?”

“I had to.”

Kwon Seong smiled quietly.

“Otherwise, I’d feel a little wronged.”

Bang Jin-hoon, who had been glaring at Kwon Seong as if he would kill him, turned his body away. Now was not the time to have this conversation.

As he ran to his camp with the Blood Demon in his arms, Kwon Seong, who had been staring at the scene, slowly turned his body.

“Life is an unknowable thing.”

He walked slowly and stood in front of the Black King.

“I have completed my mission, Black King.”

The Black King stared at Kwon Seong quietly. The black blood flowing from his nose was soaking his front completely. Seeing his blood-soaked clothes burning with white smoke, the Black King opened his mouth with a strange expression.

“Your impressions?”

“…I was so wronged that I had to win.”

“Then you could have just killed him?”

“I couldn’t do that. Then it would truly be my defeat.”

The Black King chuckled.

He was upright to the end. Even though he had faced the darkness within himself, Kwon Seong did not change his attitude towards life.

A frustratingly stubborn mule. But that was why he was Kwon Seong. Kwon Seong spoke with a bitter expression.

“Thinking about it, what he said might not be wrong. I thought I had overcome myself, but I still couldn’t forget the day I took my own life.”

“Perhaps the reason I was so obsessed with the justice of helping the weak was because of the resentment that no one helped me when I was taking my own life. What I was saving was not others, but myself.”

A strange smile bloomed on Kwon Seong’s face.

“It’s funny. The altruism that I thought was so terrible turned out to be a terrible selfishness.”

“So do you regret it?”

“Regret… It’s not like that, but…”

Kwon Seong spoke bitterly, his face completely soaked in black blood.

“If I were given another life, I would like to live for myself without hiding anything. It was actually too hard.”

“I see.”

The Black King nodded.

“Then let me tell you one thing.”

“You were great. No one can deny your life. Not even me.”

Kwon Seong stared at the Black King silently.

“Your life is complete with this match. So rest in peace now.”

“That…”

A beautiful smile bloomed on Kwon Seong’s face.

“Thank you so much…”

He slowly collapsed.

He had won even after his heart was pierced. He had upheld his attitude towards life to the very end, even after being sentenced to an unavoidable death.

Just as a hypocrisy that is not revealed until the end cannot be hypocrisy, one who has upheld good to the end, no matter what is inside, is simply a good person.

Thud.

As Kwon Seong, who had knelt down, was about to fall to the side, the Black King reached out and supported him.

“Please… achieve… it…”

Life disappeared from Kwon Seong’s eyes.

The Black King, who had been quietly watching Kwon Seong’s last moments, nodded slightly.

“I will.”

Baek Yeon-hong approached and received Kwon Seong’s body. With a very respectful posture, completely different from when he treated the Ghost Troops like trash.

“Let him rest.”

“Yes.”

As Baek Yeon-hong held Kwon Seong’s body and headed back, the Black King looked across with a bitter expression.

The one who won but died.

The one who did not die but lost.

Who is the real winner, and who is the loser?

“It’s not because you know despair that you are weak.” The Black King murmured softly.

“It’s because you know despair that you can be strong.”

And because they knew despair….

Everyone was here to help him.

To prevent the martial artists living now from experiencing the terrible despair they had experienced.

He died because he hid and denied the fear and trauma in his heart?

That’s ridiculous.

How could that be a cause of defeat?

That was no different from praising someone who had reached the realm of the superhuman by whipping themselves even after suffering a wound that would never heal.

“Whatever.”

The Black King’s eyes lowered.

“We’ve won twice. We’ve taken the sacred artifact. Now drive the wedge.”

“Of course, it will be so, Black King.”

A cold determination flowed from the eyes of the remaining Twelve Flying Blades.