Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 2019

Wiggins, his face grim, channeled healing magic into the Blood Demon.

Healing magic, from the outset, wasn’t some omnipotent, all-encompassing force. At best, it was suitable for emergency treatment.

But at this moment, there was no other option.

Given the severity of his injuries, there was no guarantee he would survive the journey to a hospital.

“How is he?”

“…Not good.”

It was clear just by looking that the Blood Demon was teetering on the brink of death. Even so, the question was asked out of concern, a need for confirmation.

That was why Wiggins was pouring mana into him, despite the battle that lay ahead.

“But we have to save him.”

It wasn’t as if he felt any particular bond with the Blood Demon.

But the way he had conducted himself moments ago was enough to inspire camaraderie, if not outright friendship.

No. Even if he hadn’t been on their side, no one could help but admire a martial artist who risked everything for a fight. Regardless of friend or foe, it was only natural to want to save a martial artist who had displayed such spirit.

*Whoosh.*

The white light emanating from his hand pierced into the Blood Demon’s body.

The white light was continuously absorbed into the Blood Demon’s body, which was charred black like charcoal, and his almost imperceptible breathing gradually began to strengthen.

“Hoo…”

Wiggins wiped his forehead.

“The immediate danger is over. Now it’s up to the doctors.”

“…How is he?”

“Well, I don’t know. You could say he’s caught between life and death… Whether he lives or dies will depend on the strength of his will.”

“Then that’s enough.”

The response came from Kang Jin-ho, not Bang Jin-hoon.

Kang Jin-ho looked down at the Blood Demon and nodded.

“He’s not the type to die easily.”

Those who had been looking at Kang Jin-ho turned their gaze back to the Blood Demon.

Indeed, his will to survive seemed stronger than anyone else’s present.

“However…”

Wiggins spoke, his expression tinged with bitterness.

“Even if he survives, I don’t know if he’ll be able to remain a martial artist…”

At those words, everyone looked at the Blood Demon with solemn faces.

Even to them, the Blood Demon’s injuries were severe. Not by the standards of ordinary people, but even by the standards of martial artists, the injuries were horrific.

If he recovered completely after suffering such injuries, that would be even more unusual.

But…

“…Are you saying he won’t be able to use martial arts?”

“Isn’t that highly likely? His internal organs are all damaged, and even his organs are burned. It’s a miracle he’s still breathing…”

“Ha…”

Bang Jin-hoon roughly wiped his face.

He knew what it meant for a martial artist to lose their martial arts. Especially for someone who had reached the level of the Blood Demon, the sense of loss would be several times, even dozens of times greater than that of an ordinary martial artist.

“You idiot.”

Bang Jin-hoon gritted his teeth.

He hadn’t told him to win by pushing himself that hard. The Blood Demon’s strategy was a reckless act that made even the phrase ‘fighting with his life on the line’ seem inadequate.

From the start, it was an overwhelming disadvantage. Even if he had just feigned a fight and admitted defeat, no one would have blamed the Blood Demon.

But why did he go this far…

Bang Jin-hoon shook his head.

He also knew.

That it was meaningless to discuss rationality in a martial artist’s fight.

What should be evaluated was not rationality, but will.

“Chairman.”

“Hmm?”

“I’ll go next.”

At those words, Kang Jin-ho stared intently at Bang Jin-hoon.

“Don’t act emotionally.”

“Emotionally or whatever…”

Bang Jin-hoon snorted.

“Isn’t it something we have to fight anyway? What difference does it make if we wait a little longer?”

“Director Bang.”

Bang Jin-hoon turned his head to look at the fallen Blood Demon.

“I talked big without knowing anything, so at least I have to prove myself too. That my will is no less than his.”

Kang Jin-ho silently looked at Bang Jin-hoon.

Bang Jin-hoon also met Kang Jin-ho’s gaze without backing down. After looking into Bang Jin-hoon’s eyes for a long time, Kang Jin-ho slowly nodded.

“It doesn’t seem like a bluff.”

“It’s not like I have that much passion left at my age.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled at those words.

“Director Bang is the youngest here.”

Bang Jin-hoon looked around at the others again. Certainly, except for Lee Myung-hwan and Lee Hyun-soo, whose combat abilities were unclear, he was the youngest. Kang Jin-ho was someone whose age couldn’t be judged by biological age.

“…You old geezers.”

“Did that guy just…?”

“Did you add anything to that?”

Bang Jin-hoon sneered and looked ahead.

Then, he twitched his lips and glanced at Kang Jin-ho.

“I’m grateful to you, Chairman.”

“Huh?”

“The fact that I, who would have just lived and died moderately in Korea, can stand here is all thanks to meeting you, Chairman. Thanks to you, I’ve enjoyed luxuries that don’t suit my station.”

Then, before Kang Jin-ho could answer, Lee Hyun-soo shouted with a horrified expression.

“No, no! Don’t say such ominous things before a fight!”

“I could have gotten along with you more smoothly, but I’m sorry for being so petty.”

“No, is this guy crazy! Don’t stack up death flags!”

“If there’s one regret, it’s that I wish I could have seen the faces of the kids at home one more time…”

“Director, you don’t have any kids.”

“…You’re supposed to say lines like this at times like this, you idiot.”

Bang Jin-hoon chuckled as he spoke.

“Don’t worry. If it looks like I can’t do it, I’ll just surrender and grovel right away.”

Kang Jin-ho silently looked at Bang Jin-hoon before opening his mouth.

“Director Bang.”

“Yes?”

“…Don’t die.”

Bang Jin-hoon rubbed his nose.

“You’re worrying about nothing.”

He turned his body sharply and looked ahead.

“Be careful.”

“I’ll have to show off my skills.”

“If it looks like you can’t do it, back out right away.”

Those were the words of Wiggins, Bator, and Jang Min, respectively. Hearing those words, Bang Jin-hoon twitched his eyes.

“No, do these guys think I’m going to lose for sure?”

“That’s right.”

“Is that so?”

“There are limits.”

“…You dirty humans.”

Bang Jin-hoon chuckled and walked forward.

“I’ll come back victorious, so get ready to celebrate.”

Everyone silently watched Bang Jin-hoon’s back as he walked away. Lee Hyun-soo, who had been watching him calmly, tilted his head and said.

“That’s unexpected.”

“What do you mean?”

At Wiggins’ question, Lee Hyun-soo scratched his head and answered.

“I mean Director Bang. I thought he would roll around and refuse to go, and then be forced to go.”

“He would have done that normally. He would have done more than that.”

Wiggins smiled bitterly.

“But now isn’t a normal time.”

“Is there anything different about that?”

“There is.”

The one who answered was none other than Jang Min.

“There are people like that in the world. People who are useless in normal times, but change when a crisis comes.”

Bator chuckled and nodded.

“There are. There definitely are. People like that.”

Lee Hyun-soo looked at the two with a dumbfounded expression.

“You’re saying Director Bang is that kind of person?”

“Probably… If this was a peaceful world, Director Bang would have lived his whole life as a good-natured loafer with no particular use.”

Lee Hyun-soo let out a hollow laugh.

It was because he thought that those words weren’t far from the truth.

Jang Min, Wiggins, Bator.

Not to mention Hong Wang, and even Lee Hyun-soo.

They were people who would have excelled in their respective fields even if they hadn’t become martial artists. Even if they weren’t in this era, and weren’t martial artists, it was impossible to imagine them living ordinary lives.

But Bang Jin-hoon was different.

Even if Bang Jin-hoon had lived as a martial artist, he would have remained an ordinary person if it hadn’t been for this era.

If it hadn’t been for Lee Joong-geol.

If it hadn’t been for Kim Seok-il.

And if Kang Jin-ho hadn’t been there, if the Japanese martial arts world hadn’t invaded, and if they hadn’t been in conflict with the Three Kings… Wouldn’t Bang Jin-hoon have just lived a normal life as a typical old-fashioned director?

Wiggins looked at Bang Jin-hoon’s back with a strange expression.

“There certainly are those who are completed by the times.”

“That’s right.”

Jang Min nodded.

“Han Gaozu Liu Bang [founder of the Han Dynasty] would have been nothing more than a hoodlum from Pei County if it hadn’t been for the chaotic times, and Liu Bei [a warlord during the late Eastern Han dynasty] would have spent his life as a mat weaver from Zhuo County if it hadn’t been for the chaotic times.”

“There are those who only show their true worth when the world is in chaos.”

Lee Hyun-soo said with a sullen expression.

“That sounds like an overestimation…”

“Maybe it is.”

Wiggins said indifferently.

“There’s no need to call it an overestimation.”

“…Huh? Are you saying that too, Master?”

“I spent over fifty years to reach the realm of the superhuman, or rather, if you take into account the time I spent in the dungeon in the Round Table’s inner sanctum, it’s practically closer to sixty years.”

“…And?”

“How old is Director Bang?”

Hearing those words, Bator and Jang Min began to chuckle.

“There are those types, I tell you.”

“Those guys who don’t seem to have anything special but are surprisingly geniuses. The most annoying people in the world.”

Lee Hyun-soo looked at Jang Min and Bator with a bewildered expression.

If those words had come from Wiggins, there would have been room to think of it as lip service.

But Bator and Jang Min were people who didn’t know how to flatter others.

That meant that their evaluation was their true intention, as it was.

“Tsk.”

Wiggins looked at Bang Jin-hoon’s back with a complex expression.

Jang Min curled up the corners of his mouth as he looked at Wiggins’ face.

“Even though the Demon Lord helped him, it’s not an easy feat to create two martial arts at such a young age. And not martial arts with distinct characteristics, but martial arts that can embrace almost anyone.”

“He would have been a master in the past. In a way, he’s the one who was born in the wrong era among those here.”

Wiggins unknowingly nodded slightly.

In fact, among those here, the one who recognized Bang Jin-hoon the most might be none other than Wiggins. Even before the other directors paid attention to him, Wiggins had recognized that Bang Jin-hoon was different from others.

“…If he had just complained half as much, his evaluation would have been twice as high.”

“What can you do, it’s his nature. But conversely, it might be thanks to that nature that he became strong so quickly.”

Lee Hyun-soo scratched his head vigorously.

‘I still don’t trust him.’

But to the ‘real’ martial artists, not half-baked ones like Lee Hyun-soo, it looked different.

Lee Hyun-soo’s gaze followed Bang Jin-hoon’s back as he walked ahead.

Not trusting him didn’t mean looking down on him. It meant that he was that worried about him.

‘Director Bang.’

Lee Hyun-soo clenched his fist.

Whether this evaluation was right or wrong, it was meaningless to prove it in the future. No matter what future comes, there will be no greater match than this.

So…

‘If I have to prove it, it can only be here!’

Lee Hyun-soo looked at Bang Jin-hoon’s back with a tense gaze. That back that was hard to call trustworthy.