Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1005

Swoosh.

Water poured down, soaking his body.

Watching the blood wash away, Kang Jin-ho gave a bitter smile.

‘This is one good thing.’

One of the best things about returning to the modern era was being able to enjoy the conveniences of civilization to his heart’s content.

While it was true that the Murim [martial arts world] people could replace much of the work that machines did in the modern world, they couldn’t replace the infrastructure and systems that the modern world had created.

In the past, in the Central Plains [the heartland of the Murim world], even getting bathwater was quite a chore.

Throb.

As the water seeped into his wounds, he felt a pain that made his toes tingle.

Kang Jin-ho was used to pain.

But that didn’t mean he enjoyed it. Pain was a sensation he always wanted to avoid if he could.

Kang Jin-ho touched the hole in his chest.

The wound that had almost pierced his heart was already healing. On the outside, it still looked like a gruesome wound, but inside, new flesh was filling in.

‘He’s really alive.’

Every time this happened, he realized that he was not a normal person. How could he be taking a shower so calmly after suffering wounds that would have killed an ordinary person ten times over?

It was ironic.

Kang Jin-ho had become stronger.

The Kang Jin-ho who first threw himself into the Assembly and the Kang Jin-ho of now were incomparable. If the Kang Jin-ho of then was at the level of an earthworm, the current Kang Jin-ho had become as strong as an Imugi [a mythical Korean serpent], if not a dragon.

But the frequency of his injuries had increased.

Becoming stronger meant being able to eliminate the threats to one’s body. But Kang Jin-ho was getting even more seriously injured as he got stronger.

The current wound, or the wound he suffered while fighting the Crimson King, were the kind of wounds that would be fatal.

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho turned off the shower, shook his head, and dried his body with a towel.

Blood seeped from the cuts and burst wounds, but he didn’t pay much attention to it. These kinds of flesh wounds would heal completely in a week.

Even if he was injured, he could recover as long as he survived.

But what about next time?

Would he be able to survive such injuries next time?

It wasn’t luck that he had survived. The reason Kang Jin-ho had been able to survive on the fierce battlefields so far was because he was strong.

But on the battlefield, one sometimes had to endure bad luck.

Just because he had survived so far wasn’t a guarantee that bad luck wouldn’t find him. A single instance of bad luck could take a life on the battlefield.

In other words?

‘It wouldn’t be strange to die next time.’

It was never strange to die on the battlefield.

Kang Jin-ho had lived with that thought as a given.

The battlefield was a place where lives were taken. Therefore, those who stood on the battlefield had to be prepared to lose their own lives as well.

That was the rule.

Those who didn’t risk their lives while going to the battlefield didn’t deserve to be there.

But now, Kang Jin-ho was feeling an unknown emotion.

An emotion he had never felt in the past.

When he was the Demonic Heavenly Venerable, he didn’t avoid the battlefield. He had never been afraid of the battlefield. Rather, he felt alive in the midst of battle.

The enemy existed.

That alone was enough reason to fight.

At the time, it was so natural.

But now, Kang Jin-ho realized why the Demonic Heavenly Venerable had been able to enjoy the battlefield so much, and why he himself couldn’t become the Demonic Heavenly Venerable of the past.

‘He had nothing to lose.’

The Demonic Heavenly Venerable had nothing.

There was nothing to return to, nothing to protect, and not even a place to give his heart to.

Even if he died on the battlefield that day, there would be nothing to regret. For the Demonic Heavenly Venerable, there was no difference between the battlefield and any other place.

Even the Demonic Cult, which could be called his home, didn’t give him any comfort.

What drove the Demonic Heavenly Venerable was the blind desire to survive and the endless longing to see his family one more time.

A sorrowful life.

A life where nothing remained, where he endlessly pursued only strength, a sorrowful life indeed. But that was why the Demonic Heavenly Venerable was able to become so strong.

He had nothing to lose, nothing to fear.

But what about the current Kang Jin-ho?

If Kang Jin-ho had died fighting the Elder Knight today, would he have been able to leave without any regrets like the Demonic Heavenly Venerable?

Kang Jin-ho still remembered it vividly.

The second death that had come to him.

Kang Jin-ho had accepted that death calmly. All that remained was the regret of wanting to see his family’s faces one more time. He didn’t regret the fact that his life was ending.

Now, he couldn’t die like that.

Because he had left too much behind in this world.

Colleagues he wanted to be with.

People he wanted to be with.

A family that welcomed him.

And those who needed him.

The third life had given him too much. Even the embarrassing thing called ‘happiness,’ which he had never thought would be given to him, was now with him.

Kang Jin-ho shook his head and grabbed his clothes.

This battle was different from the battles of the past.

Whether it was because Kang Jin-ho, who used to have his mind go blank when he got excited and started rampaging, had maintained his reason completely during the battle, or whether it was because Kang Jin-ho’s heart had changed… until now, the feeling of ‘worry,’ which had never dared to interfere in his battles, had accompanied his battle.

It wasn’t fear.

But he had definitely hesitated to fight.

Even though he knew he had to fight confidently and boldly, he ‘worried’ about what would happen if this battle went in a bad direction for him.

This might be the right direction for the human Kang Jin-ho.

But for the martial artist Kang Jin-ho, it was a clear step backward.

‘Am I at a crossroads now?’

He had to think.

And he had to consider.

Whether he should walk the path of the human Kang Jin-ho, or whether he should walk the path of the martial artist Kang Jin-ho.

It was an endless dilemma.

Kang Jin-ho sighed as he looked at his tattered clothes.

‘I can’t wear this.’

If he went outside wearing these clothes, he wouldn’t last an hour before being taken into police custody. Unless the British police were more lenient than the Korean police.

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho narrowed his eyes.

His eyes fell on the black suit placed on the table.

He didn’t like that a suit like this was always prepared whenever he had to wear new clothes, whether it was in Korea or England. It was probably because it was unfamiliar to Kang Jin-ho.

But there was no other choice now.

He couldn’t complain just because he didn’t like the clothes.

Just as he was roughly putting on the unfamiliar suit, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Wiggins poked his head in.

A smile was on his lips.

“What’s the matter?”

“Lord, the Master wishes to see you.”

“I thought I had delegated it to him?”

“I thought so too…”

Wiggins scratched his head.

“It seems the Master doesn’t think so. He says that words not heard directly from the Lord’s mouth have no meaning. So, even if it’s a bother…”

“Alright.”

“Yes. And I’ve called a doctor, so please get a checkup after the meeting.”

“Is it really necessary?”

“…Lord.”

Wiggins sighed.

“No one doesn’t know that the Lord’s recovery is beyond that of ordinary people. But no one doesn’t know that the Lord is also a human. The human body needs recovery when it’s damaged.”

“Okay.”

“It might be possible to recover completely if left to nature, but the doctor will shorten that period. Since he’s a skilled doctor guaranteed by the Round Table, I recommend you get a checkup.”

Wiggins snapped his fingers.

“He’s not a typical doctor, after all.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“I understand what you mean. I’ll do that.”

There was no reason to refuse when Wiggins was recommending it so earnestly. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to get a checkup, but that he didn’t think it was necessary. If it would help, it was better to get a checkup.

“Then, this way.”

Wiggins walked ahead.

Kang Jin-ho smiled and followed behind Wiggins.

“I don’t know what to say as a greeting. It seems like we’ve made eye contact a few times to say ‘nice to see you again,’ and it’s awkward to say ‘hello.'”

“A greeting isn’t really necessary.”

“I think so too. Ah, I’ve found the perfect greeting. Nice fashion. You look different.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded with a subtle expression.

It was somehow sad that his evaluation went up because of the suit he was forced to wear.

“You look pale.”

The Master smiled bitterly at Kang Jin-ho’s words.

His complexion couldn’t be good.

First of all, the time he was imprisoned while having his mana stolen had a critical impact on his health. His body was already entering old age. The reason the Master could be active like a young man was because he was supported by mana [spiritual energy].

However, as he experienced a time when he couldn’t use mana, his aging had progressed quite a bit. He was recovering his body now that he had regained his mana, but it would be difficult to regain his perfect body of the past.

Moreover, the mental shock of watching the Round Table be completely destroyed by Kang Jin-ho was not insignificant.

Just because it was expected didn’t mean the shock disappeared.

It was like how everyone could expect their elderly parents to die, but those who actually witnessed the scene would feel like the world was collapsing.

‘Elderly parents…’

The Master’s bitter smile deepened.

It was a very fitting expression.

That was how he saw the Round Table now. Outdated, weak… the Round Table, which had seemed endlessly strong in the past, was now a burden to him.

But just as a child couldn’t abandon their parents, he couldn’t abandon the Round Table. That was why he was trying to talk to Kang Jin-ho like this.

“Chairman.”

“Yes.”

“First…”

The Master opened the case placed on the table. Inside, neatly packaged brown cigars were arranged.

“These are high-quality cigars.”

“Hmm?”

“Let’s call it a bribe.”

“Thank you.”

Even at the word ‘bribe,’ Kang Jin-ho picked up a cigar without hesitation.

Then, he looked at the cigar with a calm gaze.

“…How do you smoke this?”

After hearing that he had to cut off the tip and light it, Kang Jin-ho looked at the cigar with a curious expression and cut off the tip. Then, he created a flame with his finger and lit the cigar.

He didn’t light it as well as the skilled ones, but it was enough to taste it.

Kang Jin-ho, who had taken a deep puff of the cigar, tilted his head.

“It tastes like chocolate?”

The Master began to seriously ponder why there was such a huge gap between Kang Jin-ho on the battlefield and Kang Jin-ho in his daily life.

Of course, that was a difficult problem that no one in the Assembly had been able to solve, and it was too much of a burden for the Master.