Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 2086

Thud!

Cheongma’s fist slammed into Kang Jin-ho’s stomach.

Kang Jin-ho, his body bent like a shrimp, staggered as if he would fall, then struck Cheongma’s jaw upwards.

Bang!

Cheongma’s body was thrown back as if he would fall over.

The blood scattering from his mouth mixed with the falling rain.

However, Cheongma, too, finally steadied his swaying body and glared at Kang Jin-ho.

The two of them threw punches at each other.

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes trembled, not knowing where to look.

‘That…’

‘That’s not martial arts anymore, it’s just a brawl.’

The demonic energy that had soared as if piercing the sky, the demonic energy that had flowed along the ground as if dyeing the world black, was no longer visible. The two, exhausted to the point where they couldn’t even muster a fragment of black demonic energy, were throwing punches as if they were in a street fight.

A pathetic finale.

It was too pathetic a sight to be the end of a match that had the fate of the world at stake.

But….

Lee Hyun-soo turned his head and looked at those standing around him.

Bator, Jang Min, and Bang Jin-hoon.

Not one of them could take their eyes off the scene. Rather, they were clenching their fists so hard that their blood seemed to stop flowing, watching the scene as if they were being drawn into it.

Slow punches.

Feet that barely moved.

To those who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts, it was nothing more than a low-level brawl, but there was no one here who could disparage the scene.

Because they knew.

They had seen with their own eyes how those two had reached that point.

And it seemed that the Twelve Flying Blades were the same.

Lee Hyun-soo, looking across, flinched without realizing it.

The distance between the Twelve Flying Blades and them had narrowed considerably. In an instant, Lee Hyun-soo, looking back, realized that they had moved far forward from where they had originally been.

They had moved closer without realizing it.

To watch the end of the match from even a little closer.

Thud!

The sound of a fist hitting a person was heard clearly through the rain.

Lee Hyun-soo saw Kang Jin-ho lose consciousness and fall to the ground.

‘H-Head…’

But that was only for a moment.

Kang Jin-ho, who had been slammed into the ground, got up again.

Ten times, a hundred times.

That man would get up again, like that.

Lee Hyun-soo bit his lip.

Once, to him, Kang Jin-ho was untouchable, almost a figure of complete faith. To him, Kang Jin-ho was a perfect human being who was never hurt, never wavered, and never hesitated.

To Lee Hyun-soo, who had only thought about defeating enemies and seizing victory, there was no more perfect human being than him. That was why, the moment Lee Hyun-soo faced Kang Jin-ho as an enemy, he gave up on opposing him. And when Kang Jin-ho reached out his hand to Lee Hyun-soo, he took it without hesitation.

But….

Is that really so?

Was Kang Jin-ho, whom he had watched by his side, really such a person?

Lee Hyun-soo shook his head.

No. Absolutely not.

There is no such thing as a person who is not hurt.

There is no such thing as a person who does not waver.

Whether strong or weak, everyone lives with their own pain.

Kang Jin-ho was just a clumsy human being. He didn’t know how to scream even when he was in pain, and he couldn’t ask for help even when he was shaken.

He had taken it for granted to bear everything alone, and he had simply become accustomed to it.

That person, such a person, was standing there now.

‘Master…’

Kang Jin-ho got up again.

That man was not an absolute human being who would not collapse. He was a vulnerable person who had given up on life himself… That kind of person had simply learned how to get up again on the path he had walked himself.

‘So… how can I not respect him?’

Lee Hyun-soo clenched his lips.

The perfect Kang Jin-ho he had believed in in the past did not exist. It was just an illusion.

But it didn’t matter. Even if such a person actually existed, Lee Hyun-soo could shout out loud that the current Kang Jin-ho was much greater.

A human being who does not fall has no value to be discussed as great or not. A truly great human being is one who gets up again even after falling.

Yes. That’s what a human being is.

Lee Hyun-soo saw it. He saw Kang Jin-ho grabbing the Black King’s shoulder.

The Black King, his shoulder grabbed, struck Kang Jin-ho’s face as hard as he could.

As if trying to push away Kang Jin-ho who was approaching him.

But even as he staggered from the barrage of punches, Kang Jin-ho did not back down.

To others, it might seem like a means to subdue and attack the opponent,

but to Lee Hyun-soo, that act looked like he was desperately grabbing onto an opponent who was moving away.

As if he couldn’t just leave him alone.

Lee Hyun-soo gritted his teeth.

They were alike.

Even Lee Hyun-soo, who had not watched them for long, could clearly see that the two were alike.

The Black King was the same.

‘That person is just a clumsy human being too.’

If everyone gets hurt, wavers, and hesitates….

How long had the Black King lived in solitude?

Lee Hyun-soo remembered. The expression the Black King had made the moment he faced Kang Jin-ho. Even in a situation where they were clearly going to be enemies, the emotion the Black King had shown was clearly one of joy and pleasure.

At that time, Lee Hyun-soo thought that the Black King was just mocking Kang Jin-ho.

‘I’m completely different from the past. I’ve surpassed you now, so I can show you how much I’ve grown.’

He thought it was such mockery.

But….

‘That’s not it.’

Even though he knew everything, he couldn’t help it.

That after such a long time of solitude, he had finally met someone who could understand him, that he was facing the only person in the world who could be equal to him.

The Black King might have just been happy and glad.

Even though he knew they had to be enemies, he couldn’t control it, couldn’t hide it.

Yes….

Conversely, it meant that the Black King’s time of solitude had been that long. So clear that it even distorted his own purpose, which was as bright as the sun, for a moment.

‘And yet…’

‘How clumsy can these people be?’

Even though they had longed for each other for so long, they couldn’t have a proper conversation. The only way to release what had accumulated inside them was to attack each other.

Because that’s how they had lived.

Those two were the only beings who could confirm to each other that their lives were not wrong.

Kang Jin-ho, who had decided to change his life and move forward.

And the Black King, who had deemed the way of life that Kang Jin-ho had adhered to in the past as right and had reproduced it.

‘No.’

Lee Hyun-soo shook his head.

That wasn’t it. It wasn’t a fight about who was right and who was wrong. The match had already moved beyond that stage.

‘Master…’

He could only hope.

This long, long match.

Perhaps the end of this long match, which had been going on since the past, not just this moment….

That it would end in the way they wanted.

He knew.

That there was no such thing as a conclusion that would end without anyone getting hurt. Because that’s how matches that are fought with everything on the line are.

But at this moment, Lee Hyun-soo could only hope.

Bang!

A punch, not even carrying his full weight, struck Cheongma’s face.

The moment Cheongma fell backward, Kang Jin-ho, who had thrown the punch, also fell forward with Cheongma.

Crash!

The two people who had fallen into the puddle of rainwater grabbed the ground.

Kang Jin-ho looked at his face reflected in the water.

It was a mess.

He didn’t think he had ever seen himself with such a face. But his insides were more broken than what was visible on the outside.

It was hard.

Had he ever thought it was hard while fighting?

‘That doesn’t matter anymore.’

Because this wasn’t a fight.

Even though it was raining, his mouth was parched. But not even blood came out of the cracks. It was as if all the moisture in his body had dried up.

Even so, Kang Jin-ho stepped on the ground. He forced his body, which was swaying as if his bones had disappeared, to push himself off the ground.

Crash.

Kang Jin-ho, who had slipped and fallen on the other side, let out a hollow laugh.

He had tried so hard.

What was strength….

What was the strength he had wanted?

He had wanted to become strong.

Strong enough not to be shaken by anything in the world.

But now, he couldn’t even control his own body. Once he stripped away the pretense and shells he had worn like armor, all that was left was this.

Kang Jin-ho turned his head.

There was Cheongma, who, like Kang Jin-ho, was unable to get up from the ground.

‘You’re the same, aren’t you?’

Even though it had been so grand….

In the end, all that was left was two people crawling on the ground like children.

Cheongma turned his head.

His eyes met Kang Jin-ho’s eyes.

The gazes of the two people who had looked down on the world from the highest of places met in the lowest of places, the bottom of the world.

‘Heh, heh heh.’

‘Kuh…’

Cheongma and Kang Jin-ho laughed at the same time.

They didn’t understand why they had started laughing. It was just that the moment they looked at each other in this state, they couldn’t help but start laughing.

Their stomachs heaved, and a pain like being stabbed with a knife surged, but even so, the two couldn’t stop laughing.

‘…I don’t know, Cult Leader.’

At that moment, Cheongma opened his mouth.

‘I might have been wrong. Yes, this might not be the right way.’

A calm reflection.

That sincerity, which he had never told anyone, was now flowing from Cheongma’s mouth.

‘But if that’s the case… where should I go?’

Cheongma looked up at the sky. At the black sky where rain was pouring down.

‘It’s too late to stop. I don’t even know what to do if I stop. I… I’ve come too far, Cult Leader.’ Cheongma covered his face with his hand.

As if trying to block the pouring rain, as if trying to hide the expression on his face.

‘I know… that in the end, nothing will be left for me.’

‘But… you know, Cult Leader. I never had anything in the first place.’

Kang Jin-ho laughed.

Cheongma turned his head and looked at Kang Jin-ho. As if asking why he was laughing.

‘For someone who had nothing, quite a few people… are watching over you.’

Cheongma turned his head.

Then, he saw the Twelve Flying Blades looking at him with desperate faces. They looked like they were about to cry.

The moment he saw that scene, Cheongma couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

How could he not laugh when those great men were making faces like children about to burst into tears?

‘You had nothing from the start?’

Kang Jin-ho chuckled and said.

‘It’s the same, Cheongma. It’s the same.’

‘It’s the same for everyone… Me, you. Everyone is born with nothing. Living is about filling that empty space.’

‘Do you really have nothing?’ Cheongma closed his eyes.