Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 2050

Baek Yeonhong channeled the Supreme Purity Divine Art to its peak and charged towards Wiggins.

Wiggins, rapidly using Blink [a teleportation-like movement technique] to shake off Baek Yeonhong, who was relentlessly closing in, frowned.

‘Is he really the same person?’

The Baek Yeonhong he had faced in the past was, how should he put it… like a celestial being from the heavens. Someone who toyed with his opponents with endless composure, based on an absolute gap that could not be overcome by any means.

But the Baek Yeonhong he saw now had none of that celestial demeanor. He was filled only with the intent to defeat him.

Was it because he lost an arm?

Or was it because he had cast aside his shallow mask and was now true to his own nature?

Woo-woo-woong!

Wiggins had no way of knowing. But what was certain was that this aggressive Baek Yeonhong was just as threatening as the composed Baek Yeonhong of the past.

“Hmph!”

The runic sword in Wiggins’ hand shot forward.

At the same time, massive fireballs, more crimson than red, erupted from the tip of his runic sword.

The fireballs flew towards Baek Yeonhong.

Simultaneously…

Whistle!

With a sound like a whistle, a clear line drawn in the air sliced through the fireballs, cutting through space itself.

A perfect line that even Wiggins was momentarily captivated by. It was no different from the sword trajectories Baek Yeonhong had shown in the past.

‘Too bad.’

Even though he wasn’t a swordsman, it was impossible for him to be unaffected by having his arm torn off at the shoulder.

But as he had just confirmed, it seemed that at least wielding a sword was not a problem. It meant that there was no significant change in Baek Yeonhong’s martial prowess.

The fact that his opponent was at full strength filled Wiggins with both joy and terror.

The joy of being able to avenge his defeat and the terror of facing the overwhelming presence of Baek Yeonhong, the man who had defeated him without him being able to put up a fight.

These conflicting emotions swirled within Wiggins.

But regardless of his emotions, Wiggins’ mind was working with cold, unwavering logic.

Woong!

The complex patterns engraved on his runic sword glowed.

At the same time, the ground directly in front of Baek Yeonhong, who was charging in a straight line, rose up to block him.

Since he started using the runic sword, Wiggins’ casting speed had increased dramatically. But the speed he was showing now was on a different level compared to when he had faced Baek Yeonhong in the past.

Boulders that had risen up in front of him without any warning.

From Baek Yeonhong’s perspective, it was as if a wall had appeared out of nowhere.

“Petty tricks.”

But Baek Yeonhong was not fazed in the slightest and swung his sword smoothly.

The reinforced concrete, which had been packed tightly deep underground, split like tofu.

Shattered pieces of stone scattered in all directions, clearing a path for Baek Yeonhong.

“Hmph!”

Baek Yeonhong charged forward along the path opened by his sword.

He had already experienced the mage’s tricks once. The lesson he had learned then was clearly etched in Baek Yeonhong’s mind.

Do not judge.

Do not imagine, do not predict.

If they fought with pure skill, there was no reason for him to lose. But that was the same as before! Yet, Baek Yeonhong had suffered a serious injury, his shoulder pierced by Wiggins’ sword.

Why?

‘Because I predicted it.’

Because he had predicted what his opponent could do and what he was going to do, and had set limits on him.

The magic the mage used was different from his martial arts. Regardless of their levels, the realm of what that magic could do clearly surpassed that of martial arts.

In other words, to face the mage, he had to abandon the very perception of martial arts that was deeply rooted in his mind.

For example…

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

The concrete fragments he had cut flew back at him, spinning grotesquely like leaves caught in a storm.

‘Something like this!’

To do something like this with martial arts would require an enormous amount of internal energy [a form of energy used in martial arts]. Moving things that were not in contact with his hands consumed an incomparable amount of internal energy compared to moving things that were.

Moreover, controlling all these fragments was something that even Baek Yeonhong could not attempt without a desperate resolve.

But the mage was doing this incredible feat with such ease.

From Baek Yeonhong’s perspective, it was nothing short of magic, a devil’s trick.

Of course, compared to using internal energy to manipulate objects from a distance, its power was insignificant, but the important thing was not the power itself. What was truly threatening was its versatility and unpredictability that defied common sense.

‘A blade is enough to kill a human.’

The reason why a blade does not work on a martial artist is because they ‘recognize’ that the blade will cut their body. But this magic could cut a martial artist from outside the realm of that recognition.

Therefore!

Baek Yeonhong’s senses expanded.

As if not to miss a single change happening around him.

“No matter how much you struggle, the outcome is set.”

Baek Yeonhong’s sword, with a chillingly calm gaze, drew a perfect circle. The white sword energies that extended from the circle cut through and crushed the concrete fragments that were flying towards him.

‘Indeed.’

Wiggins’ eyes meticulously scanned his opponent.

‘Is he completely the same? Or…’ When a martial artist assesses an opponent, they first judge the energy they emit.

But Wiggins was a mage. He did not measure vague things like energy.

What he confirmed was his senses. He saw with his eyes, heard with his ears, and felt with his fingertips.

The purpose of the fragments he had scattered was not to harm Baek Yeonhong, nor was it to stop him. It was merely to confirm Baek Yeonhong’s reaction to the attacks coming from all directions.

‘Indeed.’

He was not different.

He was almost identical to the Baek Yeonhong he had seen in the past. The image of Baek Yeonhong from the past, which was almost perfectly etched in his mind, overlapped with the current Baek Yeonhong.

But…

‘He’s not completely the same.’

Wiggins’ lips twisted.

‘That’s enough.’

He had already fought Baek Yeonhong once. So he knew. He knew how he moved and how he attacked.

For someone like Hong Wang, fighting the same person again would not hold much meaning.

Because he was someone who felt with his senses.

But Wiggins was not.

He was not someone who felt with his senses, but someone who analyzed with his mind. Whether the result was victory or defeat, his mind was filled with an abundance of information about Baek Yeonhong.

All that was left was to match that information with the current information and find the optimal scenario for victory.

Yes, that was it.

That was why the second battle with the same opponent was always more dangerous and fierce than the first.

Yes. And that was…

‘You must be the same, right?’

Wiggins’ eyes stared directly at Baek Yeonhong, who was charging towards him.

The mage was a very strange and bizarre person.

Boundless composure and bizarre ferocity coexisted, and insane madness and cold reason coexisted.

If an ordinary human’s tendency towards one side became stronger, the opposite side, which was in conflict, would weaken, but Baek Yeonhong deviated from that one-sided norm. He was like a chaos that had developed both the good and bad aspects of humans to the extreme and mixed them up at will.

The cold reason that existed within that mixed chaos must be analyzing the current Baek Yeonhong like a microscope.

‘But…’

Baek Yeonhong’s sword, having closed the distance in an instant, slashed at Wiggins’ body.

Woong!

At that moment, Wiggins’ body disappeared as if flickering.

‘Where?’

Baek Yeonhong’s senses expanded at once. He did not predict. Prediction might make his response a little faster, but if that prediction was wrong, it would make his reaction slower than usual.

If he trusted his senses, he would always be faster than Wiggins…

‘Behind?’

Baek Yeonhong’s sword turned into a flash of light and flew backward. But his sword was clearly a fraction of a second slower than usual.

The place where he had rushed in.

The place where he had clearly been just a moment ago.

‘Damn it!’

Baek Yeonhong’s sword accelerated even faster. As if to make up for the momentary delay.

Paah-ah-ah-ahng!

But what his sword cut was just empty air.

As soon as he sensed his opponent’s presence behind him, he had slashed, but the opponent was no longer there.

‘Where?’

At that moment, a huge explosion erupted behind Baek Yeonhong.

Not accompanied by flames or light, just a huge impact!

He violently twisted his sword to block the impact, but he could not help but be pushed back as if swept away by a typhoon.

The moment he instinctively put strength into his foot that was stepping on the ground, the ground he was standing on collapsed at once.

“Kuh!”

It was the moment Baek Yeonhong was about to kick off the air and fly backward.

Weeeeeeeing!

Something pure white bloomed in his vision.

A scene as if someone had dotted countless white dots in the air. The small dots, barely the size of a fingertip, gradually grew larger and turned into the size of a human fist.

‘They’re not dots!’

Spears! Those are spears!

All those spears were aimed at him without a single deviation, so they only looked like dots.

Weeeeeeeeeeeing!

Hundreds of ice spears created in the air flew towards Baek Yeonhong at the speed of light.

But at that moment, Baek Yeonhong’s eyes became even colder.

If he could see it, it didn’t matter. He could block anything.

Srrrruk.

His sword smoothly, too smoothly, drew a perfect circle in the air. A white circle as if separating him from the world!

The ice spears that had flown in at an incredible speed were sucked into the circle he had created as if by a lie.

Tzzzaeng! Tzzaeng!

With a terrifying high-pitched sound, like glass breaking rather than ice, the ice spears that had been sucked into the circle shattered into pieces. Fragments of white ice scattered, creating snow in the endless underground.

“Petty tricks…”

It was at that very moment.

The moment the last ice spears were being sucked into the circle he had created, a large circle of the same size appeared right in front of the circle he had created.

Before his mind could even process what was happening, his feet kicked off the ground.

Swoosh!

A chilling sensation was felt on his back.

At that moment, what Baek Yeonhong saw was an ice spear that had grazed his twisted waist and was shooting forward.

Thud!

What entered Baek Yeonhong’s eyes, who had moved several meters away in an instant, was a large gate that had been newly created right behind where he had been a moment ago.

Clearly a pair with the gate created in front of his defense line.

The moment he was relieved that he had blocked all the ice spears, that mage had ‘teleported’ the ice spears that were being fired at him to be fired from behind him.

Throb.

Pain was felt in his back. He felt a chill on his skin, as if his clothes had been torn open, and the sensation of blood dripping down was clearly piercing his brain.

At best, it was a scratch.

But…

“This…”

“The meaning of this wound is by no means small. Absolutely.”

“Sometimes…”

At that moment, Wiggins looked at Baek Yeonhong with a strange smile.

“Those who pride themselves on being superhuman seem to forget that they are human.”

“No matter how much their senses improve, no matter how strong they become… their brains wouldn’t change, would they?”

Wiggins looked at Baek Yeonhong with clear mockery on his lips.

“How is it? Do you consider yourself human?”

Emotion disappeared from Baek Yeonhong’s face.