Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 0

The Setting Sun

The sun is setting.

The sun, which had brightly illuminated the world, disappears beyond the western mountains, and the crimson sky dyes the world entirely red.

Even the vast earth is stained red, like the sky.

A red-stained earth.

A man stands there.

A man.

A man standing on the earth, stained in a color slightly different from the sunset.

A man standing tall, gazing at the sky on a field stained entirely with blood.

The world calls this man the Crimson Demon Lord.

The Crimson Demon Lord.

A man who, within five years of appearing in the martial world, etched his name into the world, and became a public figure in the martial world in seven years.

In his eighth year, he devoted himself to the Demonic Cult, and now, he has become the first outsider to become the leader of the Thousand Demon Cult in its thousand-year history.

His name was a myth. His name was a legend.

Some called him a peerless butcher, while others called him a hero who overcame fate.

His origins were humble, and his life was arduous, but he finally overcame it all and rose to the highest position.

A man.

The Crimson Demon Lord stood tall on the red-stained earth, gazing at the sky.

No, perhaps the word ‘tall’ doesn’t suit him.

The word ‘tall’ certainly didn’t suit someone whose entire body was cracking and spewing blood.

Drip.

A drop of blood slowly flowed down the sword that pierced the Crimson Demon Lord’s chest.

The Crimson Demon Lord quietly stared at the blue blade that pierced his chest.

The name of this sword was Azure Dew.

Azure Dew was a treasured sword passed down through generations in the Thousand Demon Cult. Even the Crimson Demon Lord, who usually had no interest in treasures, knew this sword very well.

That was because this sword was a reward he had given to his subordinate who had followed him after he became the cult leader.

The Crimson Demon Lord quietly looked down at Azure Dew.

The blue blade of Azure Dew was stained red with his blood.

Why was Azure Dew embedded in his body?

That wasn’t all.

The owner of the Black Flame Spear that pierced his right shoulder and protruded from his left side was the Ghost Demon, one of the Nine Demons.

The owner of the Taihyun Sword embedded in his right thigh was the current leader of the Wudang Sect, the Supreme Polarity.

The owner of the Iron Sword embedded in his back was the head of the Namgung Clan, Namgung Joo.

The owner of the Chain Blade embedded in his abdomen was Mo Jang-gong, the lord of the Evil Emperor Castle, one of the Four Evils.

Moreover, the owner of the dagger, the Hidden Moon Fang, which pierced his left instep and was embedded in the ground, was the secret leader of the Shadow Guard, who protected the imperial family from the shadows.

The Thousand Demon Cult.

The Nine Sects and One Alliance.

The Five Great Clans.

The Four Evils.

And the Imperial Family.

The blades of all the forces that dominated the world were now piercing the Crimson Demon Lord’s body.

There was someone watching the Crimson Demon Lord.

The owner of Azure Dew.

A man known to the world as the Azure Demon.

He had been the Crimson Demon Lord’s right-hand man since before he became the cult leader, when he was known as the Red Demon, and now, as the second-in-command of the Demonic Cult, he was making his name known throughout the world, the Azure Demon, Gwa-wol.

He quietly watched the battered Crimson Demon Lord.

To anyone who saw him, the Crimson Demon Lord was in a critical condition.

With six weapons piercing his entire body, and countless wounds that would have killed an ordinary person with just one, what could he possibly do?

And what if the current rulers of the martial world surrounded such a person?

Moreover, what if he was poisoned with a poison that even a Great Immortal could not cure?

To anyone who saw it, the Crimson Demon Lord’s fate was sealed.

But the Azure Demon could not rest easy.

Far from being at ease, a faint fear was even rising in his eyes.

“How terrible…”

The Azure Demon, Gwa-wol, groaned.

Those gathered here were considered the strongest in the martial world.

Twenty-nine absolute masters.

Even if they were not the strongest thirty in the martial world, they were people who could not be excluded if one were to pick the top fifty masters.

Twenty-nine absolute masters prepared to face one person.

Even that was not enough, so they had even obtained the Invisible Poison of the Tang Clan and the Heavenly Killing Poison of the Five Poison Sect in advance, and had meticulously poisoned him beforehand.

Yet, this was the result.

Twenty-nine people attacked one person.

Among them, only nine were standing on two legs.

Nineteen were lying on the ground, their lives unknown, and one was barely supporting himself with only one leg left.

The Azure Demon looked at those lying on the ground.

Each one was the leader of a sect, a giant who moved the martial world.

When he first poisoned him and lured him here, the Azure Demon was confident.

If his only goal was to kill him, he wouldn’t have gathered so many people. What he aimed for was to deal with the poisoned Crimson Demon Lord without any casualties.

If his only goal was to kill him, the Nine Demons would have been enough.

But by gathering others, the Azure Demon was able to incur debts from other sects, and he intended to buy time to overcome the cracks in the Thousand Demon Cult that would appear after the Crimson Demon Lord was gone.

And that judgment saved the Azure Demon.

‘Enough with just the Nine Demons?’

If possible, the Azure Demon wanted to shred the version of himself from just a moment ago who had thought that with a sharp dagger.

If he had rushed to kill the Crimson Demon Lord with just the Nine Demons, the Azure Demon would have been torn to pieces and wandering the nine heavens by now.

The Crimson Demon Lord slowly turned his head.

The Crimson Demon Lord and the Azure Demon’s eyes met.

At that moment, the Azure Demon unknowingly took a step back.

When the gazes of others turned to him, the Azure Demon finally realized his mistake.

But the Azure Demon did not feel humiliated or anything like that.

Humiliation was an emotion that arose between humans. Would an ordinary person feel humiliated for being afraid of a tiger?

The Azure Demon opened his mouth with a trembling voice.

“…You didn’t show me everything either.”

If it were the Crimson Demon Lord he knew, he should have been a wandering soul by now.

But the person in front of him was not the Crimson Demon Lord he had known until now.

Even though he had served him for over several decades since he entered the Demonic Cult, the Crimson Demon Lord had not revealed everything.

The Crimson Demon Lord did not answer the Azure Demon’s words.

His interest was elsewhere.

“Is it over?”

At the Crimson Demon Lord’s words, those who remained trembled.

The opponent in front of them was someone who was already on the verge of death. He could collapse at any moment.

Even with such a Crimson Demon Lord in front of them, they could not easily rush at him.

The scene they had witnessed just a moment ago was too vivid.

The leader of the Jongnam Sect, who had boldly rushed at the Crimson Demon Lord, had his head blown off in one move.

The Ghost Demon, who had stabbed his spear into his body, had become a body that could not even be found, and the Supreme Polarity was able to divide his body into two, as he had wished, separating yin and yang.

Namgung Joo, who had always called his sword the sword of a king, learned who the true king was, and the Shadow Guard returned to the eternal darkness.

What they left behind in exchange for their deaths were only wounds.

And none of those who remained wanted to exchange their lives for the wounds that would be etched on the Crimson Demon Lord’s body.

“If you… if you had wanted it, the world would have been yours…”

The Azure Demon’s words were not nonsense.

With the martial prowess he was currently displaying, and the power of the Nine Demons and the Thousand Demon Cult, taking control of the martial world would have been too easy.

“Even if you didn’t want that… at least if you had just stayed still, you could have lived like a king for the rest of your life.

If only you hadn’t tried to release the Asura Art to the ordinary cult members!”

The Azure Demon’s voice was filled with suppressed hatred. But there was clearly regret within it.

“Is that the reason?”

“…You were great. Too great. That’s why…” No one wants someone like you to appear again.”

After the Crimson Demon Lord became the leader of the Thousand Demon Cult, he declared to the world.

– I will release my martial art, the Asura Art, so that anyone in the world can see and learn it.

That shocking declaration caused an uproar in the martial world and plunged it into unprecedented chaos.

The Nine Demons all tried to dissuade him, and even the Nine Sects and One Alliance and the Five Great Clans, who considered the Thousand Demon Cult their mortal enemy, sent envoys to earnestly ask him to reconsider, but the Crimson Demon Lord ignored their words.

And finally, today, the incident had occurred.

“What you tried to do completely ignored the laws of the Thousand Demon Cult. I… I couldn’t stand by and watch you do such a thing, no matter how great you are.”

At the Azure Demon’s words, the Crimson Demon Lord looked at one man.

The Abbot Hyein of the Shaolin Temple. His old face was trembling.

“Does the Abbot think the same?”

Abbot Hyein shook his head heavily.

“Amitabha. What the benefactor tried to do was truly based on emptiness. What Buddhist would blame not possessing?”

Abbot Hyein continued with a trembling voice.

“However… benefactor. The world is a place with more wicked people than you think.

If your martial art is released, those who pursue evil will not cultivate themselves and will only gain power. I could not stand by and watch the chaos that would result from that.”

The Crimson Demon Lord opened his mouth with an expressionless face.

“What a petty reason.”

“…”

“Even if you attach all sorts of ridiculous reasons, in the end, you just don’t want to let go of your measly power, do you?”

The Crimson Demon Lord’s words pierced their hearts sharply.

The Azure Demon shook his head.

“Whatever the reason… you did something you shouldn’t have done. And… because of that, you will die.”

The Crimson Demon Lord smiled lightly at the Azure Demon’s words.

That was all.

The Crimson Demon Lord slowly raised his head and looked at the sky. The sunset was deepening, and darkness was creeping in.

In just a little while, the darkness would completely cover the sky.

“Then let’s hurry a little.”

Even though he was almost at the point of death, the Crimson Demon Lord’s voice was calm. He seemed to be detached from the cycle of life and death.

“Night is coming. I… I don’t like the night sky.”

At the Crimson Demon Lord’s words, the Azure Demon turned his head and looked at the others.

But they all avoided the Azure Demon’s gaze. Even though they had driven their opponent to this state, none of them were willing to face the Crimson Demon Lord.

‘And I trusted these things…’

The Azure Demon gritted his teeth.

But who could he blame? It was none other than himself who had trusted them and prepared for this event. The Azure Demon opened his mouth, feeling the subtle gazes pushing him from behind.

“…Even if you’re putting on a show, you’re dying. No matter how great you are, you must be afraid of death.”

Even as he spoke, the Azure Demon laughed at his own actions.

What was the point of saying such things?

The Crimson Demon Lord was now his enemy, and he was in a miserable state, as if he would die at any moment. If so, he should just take action now and cut off his lifeline.

He had despised the others who had avoided his gaze, but the Azure Demon himself could not dare to step in front of him. All he could do was waste time by saying useless things.

He was just hoping that the Crimson Demon Lord would die on his own.

But then, unexpected words flowed from the Crimson Demon Lord’s mouth.

“Afraid?”

“…”

The Crimson Demon Lord spoke softly.

“Do you know what death is?”

“Who can know death?” The Crimson Demon Lord shook his head.

“Death is not something to be afraid of.”

“…”

“What’s frightening is what’s after death.”

It was an obvious statement.

It was too obvious, but the Azure Demon could not laugh at the Crimson Demon Lord’s words as obvious.

His words were obvious, but his voice and tone were saying that he knew something.

“I’m not afraid of death. What’s keeping me here is not fear.”

“…Th-then what is it?”

At that moment, a faint line appeared at the corner of the Crimson Demon Lord’s mouth.

The line, which bloomed in a strange shape, slightly parted, revealing the Crimson Demon Lord’s teeth, stained red with blood.

A smile.

It was a sinister smile, like that of a grim reaper.

Goosebumps rose all over the Azure Demon’s body.

“You know, don’t you?”

The Crimson Demon Lord’s body disappeared as if it had been extinguished at that moment.

And the Crimson Demon Lord’s vanished body appeared right in front of the Azure Demon.

Still with that sinister smile on his face!

Thud!

The Crimson Demon Lord’s hand grabbed the Azure Demon’s neck.

The Crimson Demon Lord, who had subdued the Azure Demon so easily, slowly pulled the Azure Demon’s body towards him.

“Stop!”

“How much more sin are you going to commit, benefactor!”

Those who witnessed the scene shouted, but they could not easily rush in.

The Azure Demon was already in the Crimson Demon Lord’s hands, and the fear that they might lose their lives if they rushed in prevented them from moving.

Ignoring their movements, which seemed as if they would rush in at any moment, the Crimson Demon Lord brought his mouth to the Azure Demon’s ear.

His lips parted, and a soft whisper pierced the Azure Demon’s ear.

“You know, don’t you?”

The Azure Demon’s body trembled.

Why wouldn’t he know?

The reason he became the Red Demon.

The reason he, an outsider, was able to become the leader of the Demonic Cult.

The very reason why he should be feared more than his martial prowess.

The Azure Demon, who had seen him from the closest distance, knew better than anyone else.

“I… I never forget a grudge.”

Swish, swish.

It was a strange sound.

The Crimson Demon Lord, who had subdued the Azure Demon with his right hand, slowly pulled out the Azure Dew that was embedded in his chest with his left hand.

Slowly, without ever hurrying.

The Azure Dew, as it was pulled out, cut through the Crimson Demon Lord’s flesh, creating a chilling sound.

Swish.

Finally, the Azure Dew was completely pulled out.

The Crimson Demon Lord, with his usual smile on his face, looked at the Azure Demon.

“This is something I gave you.”

The Azure Demon knew what the Crimson Demon Lord would say next. Even though he tried not to think about it, his extraordinary mind perfectly predicted the Crimson Demon Lord’s next words.

“So I have to take it back.”

Thud.

The Crimson Demon Lord, without ever hurrying, very slowly embedded the Azure Dew into the center of the Azure Demon’s chest.

The Azure Demon’s body trembled as if he had caught malaria.

If he had stabbed it in at once, the pain would have been less. But the Crimson Demon Lord never hurried. He had to inflict more pain on the Azure Demon than the pain that the Azure Dew embedded in his chest had inflicted on him.

“Kuh… ugh…”

A suppressed groan escaped from the Azure Demon’s mouth.

The Asura energy injected into the Azure Dew would be tearing apart his body.

The Azure Demon’s trembling pupils met the Crimson Demon Lord’s eyes.

The Crimson Demon Lord bared his teeth and smiled.

“You should have known, more than anyone else, what it means to touch me.”

Blood poured out of the Azure Demon’s mouth like a waterfall.

The Crimson Demon Lord looked at the Azure Demon with strange eyes. The Azure Dew had not yet reached the Azure Demon’s heart. The Azure Demon, unable to withstand the pain, had severed his own heart meridian.

“I… I…”

The Crimson Demon Lord shook his head.

The Azure Demon tried to say something, but his mouth stiffened, and his consciousness faded away.

Soon, the Azure Demon’s head drooped. The Crimson Demon Lord quietly looked at the Azure Demon, who had stopped breathing, and then placed his body on the ground.

Then, he slowly closed his eyes.

Even though the Azure Demon had betrayed him and trapped him at the last moment, he was someone who had served as the Crimson Demon Lord’s subordinate for over several decades.

The Crimson Demon Lord quietly stared at the Azure Demon’s body, then raised his head and looked at the sky.

The sun was setting.

The sky, where darkness had descended, was filled with countless stars.

The Crimson Demon Lord looked at the sky with sorrowful eyes.

It was a beautiful sky where the Milky Way seemed to be within reach, but the Crimson Demon Lord originally did not like this sky.

Whenever he saw the night sky with stars that seemed to be within reach, the Crimson Demon Lord thought of the dark sky.

‘Is this the end?’

This would be the last time he would watch the sky like this.

His body had already reached its limit.

He could die at any moment, and just now, while subduing the Azure Demon, the weapons embedded in his body had completely churned up his insides.

His senses were becoming dull, and his vision was blurring.

A sensation he had experienced before. It was death.

‘Is this the end?’

It was something he couldn’t know.

Because it had been like that in the past as well.

‘If something starts again…’

It had been a life of running without rest.

Without a purpose, he had just walked through hell to avoid being swallowed by fate.

‘Then, like others, I’ll live an ordinary life…’

The Crimson Demon Lord quietly smiled.

His eyes, which had slowly closed, did not open again.

A field stained with blood.

A night sky filled with stars.

In between, the Crimson Demon Lord closed his eyes while standing, without laying his back on the ground.

“…Amitabha.”

Among those who were in despair, only Abbot Hyein’s Buddhist chant flowed through the suffocating silence.

The Crimson Demon Lord.

He was dead.

Chapter 2 – A Life

Wee-ooh! Wee-ooh!

A loud siren sounded, and the emergency room suddenly became busy.

The emergency room staff, who had rushed in with urgent faces, ran towards the patient being unloaded from the ambulance.

The paramedics who had brought the patient shouted loudly.

“Traffic accident patient!”

“Consciousness?”

“Semi-coma! Blood pressure 92 over 58. Pulse 115!”

“Is there any external bleeding?”

The doctors who had rushed to the patient checked the patient’s consciousness and shouted urgently.

“Blood pressure is too low! There’s a possibility of internal bleeding! First to the CT room!”

Urgent voices and footsteps.

Screams and shouts like cries coming from everywhere.

The man slowly opened his eyes at the ringing in his ears.

Light visible through blurry vision.

A long, vertically stretched light was passing by his eyes.

The man slowly turned his eyes.

A white gown.

And a man with glasses with an urgent face.

A woman wearing a green shirt.

And behind them, things made of metal.

It was an unfamiliar sight.

But…

It was also a familiar sight.

The man slowly closed his eyes.

‘I’m… back.’

The man.

The Crimson Demon Lord slowly lost consciousness.

‘I’m back…’

A smile appeared on the Crimson Demon Lord’s lips.