Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 2077

KIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

It devoured everything.

The long sword erupted from the Black King’s fingertips. This ominous black sword, formed by condensing and compressing demonic energy, seemed to consume everything around it.

The air tore apart, and the ground trembled violently.

WOOOOOOOOOONG!

The demonic energy that had been swirling around the Black King like a tempestuous sea was all sucked into the sword.

“…What is that?”

Bang Jin-ho, who had crawled up from the depths below, spoke involuntarily.

His body screamed in pain.

His skin and muscles began to ache as if they had been slashed by razor-sharp blades. The terrifying energy emanating from the sword seemed to cut his body just by being near it.

Fear gripped Bang Jin-ho’s eyes.

He didn’t know how it was created. But what was certain was that the sword in the Black King’s hand was more dangerous than any martial art he had ever witnessed.

KIIIIIIIIIIING!

The wildly swirling sword soon took on a transparent texture, like a terrifying piece of obsidian.

The demonic energy had fully manifested into the form of a sword. The Black King, gripping the demonic energy in one hand, slowly began to walk towards Kang Jin-ho.

His boiling aura also subsided, becoming as sharp as a blade.

Everyone at the General Assembly held their breath. The pressure was so intense that they felt as if the sword would tear their bodies into pieces the moment they exhaled. They could only tremble before that deadly pressure.

But the trembling they felt was nothing compared to the terror felt by the Twelve Divine Generals.

“…Black King.”

They knew the Black King’s strength better than anyone else.

The Twelve Divine Generals were those who had pledged themselves to the Black King’s cause. But their essence was that of warriors. No matter how great the cause, they could not bow their heads to someone weaker than themselves.

Everyone here had submitted to the Black King because they acknowledged his transcendent power. But even to their eyes, the Black King’s current appearance was astonishing.

SWISH!

It was just the act of walking with a sword.

But the aftermath of that act was terrifying. The formless energy that naturally emanated from him cut the surrounding ground like a cake sliced by a razor blade. In that formless storm, the Black King walked towards Kang Jin-ho as calmly as still water.

And seeing the Black King approaching him, Kang Jin-ho twisted his lips.

‘He’s finally like the Azure Demon.’

Cold and calm.

The level was clearly different. So much so that comparing them was meaningless. But that atmosphere was not so different from the aura the Azure Demon had displayed in the past.

The greatest swordsman of the Demonic Cult.

The cold, icy figure of the Azure Demon.

It wasn’t exactly nostalgia, but that figure evoked a strange feeling in Kang Jin-ho. That figure was so familiar, yet the Black King’s appearance, revealing hostility and approaching him, was strangely unfamiliar.

Familiarity and alienation.

Feeling those conflicting emotions at the same time, Kang Jin-ho slowly lowered his hand.

WHIRRRRRRRRRRR!

And from his fingertips, terrifying demonic energy began to emanate. The same demonic energy, but with a completely different nature from the Black King’s. Fiery demonic energy covered Kang Jin-ho’s hand and blazed fiercely.

His flames also formed the shape of a sword at his fingertips. But the demonic sword he created was definitely different from the Black King’s sword.

Same but different, different but the same.

What more could be said to describe these two?

Kang Jin-ho, having created demonic swords in both hands, walked towards the Black King.

WHOOSH!

At that moment, the Black King flew towards him like a flash of lightning. The tip of his sword drew a perfect straight line, as if it did not exist in this world, and flew towards Kang Jin-ho.

KUUUUUUUUUUUUNG!

The moment the swords collided, a terrifying shockwave spread out from their center. The martial artists who were evacuating were swept away by the shock, and even the retreating tanks were shaken and pushed back.

SCRITCH! SCRITCH! SCRITCH!

A chilling sound, as if real blades were scraping against each other, spread out.

But more than that, what was clashing was the gaze of the two people holding the demonic swords.

Distorted eyes glared at each other. A distance that could be reached by extending a hand. A distance that was practically touching for martial artists like them.

SCRITCH! SCRITCH! SCRITCH!

The two, who had been pushing their swords with all their might towards each other’s necks, were simultaneously thrown backward, and then, faster than the speed at which they were thrown back, they charged at each other again.

The demonic sword, so black that it seemed to suck everything in, collided dozens of times in an instant. The force contained in each blow was enough to split a superhuman who had transcended humanity in half, and it exploded towards each other.

SWIIIIIIISH!

The air was torn apart by the energy emanating from the sword tips, and the ground was instantly turned into rubble and scattered in all directions.

The demonic energy spread out like an explosion. But what was rising even more was the killing intent that the two were emitting. A terrifying killing intent that would instantly stop the heart of even a martial artist who had reached a certain level.

Yes, that was clearly how it appeared on the surface.

But…

WHOOSH!

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head to avoid the sword that was piercing his face.

THROB!

The sword hadn’t even touched his body, but he felt a stinging pain in his shoulder and neck as if he had been cut.

‘It’s difficult.’

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes narrowed.

CLANG!

The moment the swords collided, Kang Jin-ho’s body was pushed backward. Since returning to the modern era, Kang Jin-ho had never been pushed back in a battle of inner strength, but the Black King’s inner strength was beyond his imagination.

The Black King’s sword split into dozens and stabbed at Kang Jin-ho. Creating dozens of variations was not difficult. This power and speed were something that no one could dare to imitate, but imitating the form was something that any decent swordsman could do.

But it was different.

The Black King’s sword was different from such obvious swords. The dozens of split swords changed as if they were alive, aiming at Kang Jin-ho’s entire body. It was as if dozens of swordsmen at their peak were attacking at the same time.

WHAAAAAAAAM!

Kang Jin-ho’s sword emitted explosive demonic energy. The blazing demonic energy spread out widely, covering the Black King’s sword that was stabbing at him.

SCRITCH!

At that moment, a sword that had pierced through the demonic energy grazed Kang Jin-ho’s side. It was just a graze, but the side covered in demonic energy was torn open, and red blood spurted out.

‘It’s difficult.’

The vivid pain felt from the demonic energy that was penetrating his body. Kang Jin-ho gritted his teeth at the pain and stepped back.

The enemy was strong.

Too obviously, the Black King was stronger than anyone he had faced so far.

But the reason why Kang Jin-ho was being pushed back now was not because the Black King was strong.

The problem was not with the Black King, but with Kang Jin-ho himself.

He perfectly understood why he had to kill his opponent. His fighting spirit was higher than ever. In order not to lose everything he had done so far, he had to stop this person by any means.

But even so…

‘I can’t feel any hostility.’

The Black King was clearly aiming for his life. If he showed even the slightest gap, that demonic sword would pierce his heart without a moment’s hesitation.

Even though he knew that clearly, Kang Jin-ho couldn’t lead himself as usual. He, who had never forgiven anyone who had tried to take his life, he, who had never understood showing mercy to someone deemed an enemy.

Even in the face of the most obvious, the worst enemy of his life, he couldn’t hate his opponent.

SCRITCH!

With a sound like a nail scraping against a steel plate, a chunk of flesh was cut off his shoulder. The wounds his body received were nothing. The problem was that the Black King’s demonic energy was penetrating Kang Jin-ho’s body through those wounds.

Demonic energy?

It wasn’t difficult to dispel this much demonic energy. The problem was that Kang Jin-ho didn’t even have the leeway to divide his energy to dispel the demonic energy.

The moment he turned his eyes, he would die.

The moment his energy weakened even a little, he would die.

Even in that extreme situation, the dullness that remained at the tip of Kang Jin-ho’s sword did not disappear.

WHAAAAAAM!

The moment the swords collided, Kang Jin-ho saw it clearly.

Hostility, and malice.

The Black King’s eyes, completely filled with the determination to kill him.

‘So this is how it felt.’

He seemed to know exactly how those who had fought against him had felt. The Black King’s appearance, covered in grotesque demonic energy and emitting a blood-red glow from his eyes, was like a demon.

That demon was betting everything on killing him. The pressure was at a level that no one who had not experienced it could dare to imagine.

But rather, it was a little sad.

‘Azure Demon.’

The Azure Demon he knew was like that. Cynical and cold, but also full of composure. His gaze scorned the world, but on the other hand, it was delicate and gentle.

But now, all that remained of the Azure Demon he knew was a fragment in the Black King’s eyes.

Nature? Yes, that nature remained.

But that made it hurt even more somewhere.

The Black King’s current appearance was something he had obtained by throwing away everything he had.

A place he had reached by cutting himself, burning himself, and sacrificing everything for the sake of power and purpose.

‘You fool.’

He had gained.

After returning to this world, he had gained many things. The things he had gained accumulated within Kang Jin-ho and became his strength.

But the Azure Demon had thrown it away.

He threw himself away, cut himself, and sacrificed everything.

The destination was the same, but the process was drastically different.

‘Yes, you are…’

That’s why he couldn’t help but understand.

Perhaps the Azure Demon of the past would have looked at the Heavenly Demon Lord with the same eyes as Kang Jin-ho now. Unable to reach out anywhere, burning himself and running forward.

“That’s…”

WHAAAAAAM!

Kang Jin-ho gritted his teeth, swatting away the sword that was flying towards his face.

“Did you think that was strength, you pathetic fool!”

WHOOSH!

Kang Jin-ho’s sword flew towards the Black King’s neck with explosive speed.

And at that moment, the corners of the Black King’s mouth twisted strangely.

Seeing the sword flying towards his neck, the Black King instead rushed forward and swung his sword. As if he would stab his sword into Kang Jin-ho’s heart even if his own neck was cut off.

Kang Jin-ho’s pupils widened greatly.

In a fleeting moment that his mind couldn’t keep up with, before his head could even comprehend the situation, Kang Jin-ho twisted his wrist.

SCRITCH!

Kang Jin-ho’s twisted sword embedded itself in the side of the Black King’s face. Kang Jin-ho’s sword, which had scraped his face bloody, tore off one of the Black King’s ears and soared into the air.

The sword was aimed as if piercing the sky.

And below that…

“Oh, dear.”

The Black King smiled brightly.

“You are so merciful.”

CRUNCH!

The Black King’s cold sword pierced Kang Jin-ho’s chest in one go.