Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1011

“Going home?”

Bang Jin-hoon looked at Wiggins with an expression that seemed to say, ‘What nonsense is this?’

“Yes, that’s right. Why the reaction?”

“No! Director!”

Bang Jin-hoon jumped up from his seat.

“After going through all the trouble of bringing someone all the way to England, making them suffer, and then locking them in the basement after the work is done, now you’re saying they’re going back?”

“…Is something wrong?”

“If you’ve used someone that much, shouldn’t you give them a reward? A reward! This is my first time traveling abroad, how can I just go back like this?”

Wiggins hesitated.

It was a statement without any logic, yet the logic was too strong. It was nonsense, but it made sense.

From a cold perspective, this was more like a business trip than a vacation. So, it wasn’t fair to say it was harsh not to give them time to play, but…

“Is this your first time abroad?”

“What reason would a martial artist have to travel abroad? It’s a blessing if they don’t get scolded for not training during that time.”

It wasn’t right to keep someone who was experiencing overseas for the first time locked in a basement and then send them home.

“What are you going to do…”

“I’m going to watch soccer!”

Lee Hyun-soo raised his hand high.

Wiggins narrowed his eyes and glared at Lee Hyun-soo. Lee Hyun-soo then slyly turned his gaze away, avoiding Wiggins.

It was a look that said, ‘Everyone else can do that, but you shouldn’t.’

But Lee Hyun-soo also had something to say.

He knew the situation wasn’t easy.

It had never been easy, but thanks to the alliance with the Round Table, there were a mountain of problems to solve. It wasn’t just the things that happened here that needed to be resolved.

After being away from Korea for a few days, Lee Hyun-soo’s desk would probably be piled high with approval documents. Lee Hyun-joo would be handling some of the work, but even just the documents that Lee Hyun-soo had to deal with himself would be enough to fill a 1.5-ton truck.

But.

Even knowing all of that!

‘If I don’t play now, I’ll never play in my life.’

Lee Hyun-soo was feeling a sense of crisis.

A life buried in work.

A life spent working since before he was an adult, cutting down on sleep time. He didn’t have any particular complaints about that life, but recently, after getting involved with Kang Jin-ho, he started to feel a sense of crisis.

‘It’s been over 10 years since I’ve been on vacation.’

And if things continued like this, he would never go!

Lee Hyun-soo realized that the day he would go on vacation would never come.

There were two prerequisites for a vacation. One was to finish all the work before going on vacation, and the other was to have someone to take over, even if he couldn’t finish the work.

He had worked like a dog for ten years, but he had never achieved either of the two. Work always led to more work, and the tasks he was in charge of were things that no one else could replace.

In the end, there were only two ways he could go on vacation. Either he would become an old man with white hair and enjoy a vacation after retirement, or he would die from overwork and enjoy a vacation in the afterlife.

He couldn’t bear to see that.

When this opportunity given by the heavens came, he had to enjoy a vacation, even if it meant taking on some burden! He had to!

“Okay, that soccer! That… what was it, the APL?”

“It’s the EPL [English Premier League].”

“That’s right! That’s right! Well, that’s what they say. But are there any Koreans? Koreans?”

Lee Hyun-soo gave up on the conversation with Bang Jin-hoon.

It was a national waste for that man to buy expensive EPL tickets.

“Anyway, I can’t go back like this!”

“Me too!”

They couldn’t have a conversation, but they could cheer. Lee Hyun-soo sincerely cheered for Bang Jin-hoon.

It was a historic moment when the second-in-command of the former Yeongnam Association and the second-in-command of the former General Assembly were truly united from the heart.

Seeing the two men’s eyes burning fiercely, Wiggins unconsciously took a small step back.

‘I did overwork them.’ The workload of the General Assembly was excessive.

Especially in the case of these two, they were literally handling a murderous amount of work. The amount of work Wiggins had during his knight days, when he didn’t even have time to take a break, seemed like child’s play.

Wiggins was a case where his workload decreased when he went to the General Assembly, but these two were handling an enormous amount of work raw, just because they were Korean.

So, he couldn’t help but be speechless.

Watching the scene, Bator clicked his tongue.

“Martial artists going sightseeing.”

Bang Jin-hoon and Lee Hyun-soo’s heads snapped around. They glared at him with dissatisfied eyes, but Bator didn’t budge.

“Didn’t you learn anything from this incident? The master is getting stronger even at this moment. The strong get stronger, but you weaklings don’t even think about catching up with hellish training during that time, and instead, you want to go sightseeing?”

“Ugh…”

“Ahem.”

Bang Jin-hoon and Lee Hyun-soo closed their mouths as if they had nothing to say.

Especially in Bang Jin-hoon’s case, he couldn’t hide his discomfort. The image of Kang Jin-ho’s performance in the recent battle was still vivid in his eyes.

“You must have gained a lot from the master’s battle. Being able to watch a master’s battle right in front of you is like a blessing.”

“That’s right.”

“Insights can come to you in an instant, but they can also disappear in an instant. You’ve gained insights and opportunities that you might not get again in your entire life, and you’re delaying your training because of your desire to play?”

Bator sneered.

“You should give up on your dream of getting stronger.”

It was a direct hit.

Bang Jin-hoon couldn’t find a good excuse and just mumbled.

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

At that moment, Wiggins started clapping.

“Bator’s passion and attitude towards martial arts are certainly an example for everyone.”

“Don’t flatter me.”

Bator frowned.

“It’s not just me. You all saw it too, how strong that old geezer is.”

“…Yes.”

The old geezer meant Jang Min.

It wasn’t just Kang Jin-ho who was shocking in this battle. Kang Jin-ho’s strength made everyone gasp, but if you looked at it calmly, it was within the expected range.

Who would know exactly how strong Kang Jin-ho was? They were shocked because he showed a side of himself that was beyond their vague imaginations, but everyone was able to accept it.

But Jang Min was different.

‘That old man…’

In this battle, Bang Jin-hoon and Lee Hyun-soo deeply realized why Jang Min was the Great Elder of the Demonic Cult.

His brutality, his strength, and his charisma.

His appearance leading the Demonic Cult from the front was reminiscent of Kang Jin-ho. At that point, it was questionable whether that rampant battle style was unique to Kang Jin-ho or a characteristic of the Demonic Cult members.

“What do you think that old man is doing right now?”

“Probably…”

“Yes. He’s probably grinding his bones right now.”

Bator frowned.

“Even that old man, who has lived more than twice our lives, hasn’t given up on getting stronger. That’s what a martial artist is. If you stop even for a moment, you’re not just stopping, you’re falling behind.”

The atmosphere became solemn.

None of them could confidently say that they could beat Jang Min. Even Bator, who had once fought Jang Min to a draw, had to admit that Jang Min hadn’t used his full power in that battle.

‘Even if we fought now, the outcome is uncertain.’

Bator had accepted demonic arts, and thanks to that, his destructive power had doubled, but the match against Jang Min was still unknown.

First, he didn’t know what kind of weaknesses the demonic arts he had learned would expose in a fight against a master, and second…

‘There’s no guarantee that that old man has used his full power yet.’

He was sly.

He was suspicious.

Bator gritted his teeth.

But Jang Min’s existence was like a blessing to him. In order for a martial artist to get stronger, they needed someone to pull them forward like Kang Jin-ho, but they also needed someone to push them from the side.

For Bator, Kang Jin-ho was a goal, and Jang Min was a stimulus.

“But you’re going sightseeing?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“I was short-sighted.”

Bang Jin-hoon and Bator slightly lowered their heads.

In fact, their positions were not so low that they had to listen to Bator’s one-sided lecture, but Bator was not teaching them as a superior right now.

He was giving them advice as a senior in life and as a martial artist who had walked ahead. If Bator didn’t care about them, there would be no reason for him to give them advice.

Knowing that fact, both of them lowered their heads.

“So, don’t do useless things and go back right away. Rest? You can rest as much as you want at the headquarters. A martial artist only trains, trains, and trains until they die. Even at this moment, our enemies are getting stronger. You should learn from Elder Jang Min…”

Bang!

At that moment, the door opened.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

Jang Min opened the door and entered with a light step.

“You came at the right time… Old man?”

Bator’s eyes trembled.

It wasn’t strange that Jang Min had entered this place. However, the reason why Bator was stuttering was because Jang Min’s attire was far beyond his expectations.

Jang Min, wearing white shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, and a wide-brimmed fedora, entered with his arms wide open.

“…What, what’s with that getup?”

“Didn’t you say it was all over?”

“That’s right, but?”

“Then we should go sightseeing! Sightseeing!”

It was the perfect tourist outfit. It was also a Chinese-style tourist outfit. It might have felt strange for him to wear such an outfit at his age, but his fashion sense, which was subtly harmonized with his white hair, was admirable.

Of course, admiration wasn’t everything.

Lee Hyun-soo and Bang Jin-hoon’s gazes turned to Bator. Cold sweat began to form on Bator’s back as he received that strange gaze.

“W-What are you talking about! Weren’t you training?”

“Come on, young’un. People need to know how to rest. I’ve never seen anyone who was obsessed with training all day get stronger. You have to train when you train, and play when you play. That’s how you improve your achievements. Why are you so old-fashioned at such a young age?”

“N-No…”

‘If the old man is like that, what does that make me?’

Bator turned his head away. However, he never made eye contact with Bang Jin-hoon and the others.

“W-Wiggins, where is the master right now?”

“Ah… I was just about to tell you about that.”

“Huh?”

“The Lord left a little while ago.”

“Why?”

“Ah, well…”

Wiggins scratched his head.

“He went out to buy souvenirs, he probably went to the tourist area.”

Jang Min became angry.

“If the Lord went out, you should have told me sooner! That way, I could have followed him and assisted him! I’m going out with the kids, so you guys can play on your own.”

“…You’re taking the kids too?”

“When you go sightseeing, you’re a ‘youke’ [遊客: Chinese tourist]. The kids have been getting paid well lately, so we should let them spend some money! We’ll be back by tomorrow!”

“…Please don’t cause any trouble.”

“I’ll try my best.”

As Jang Min walked out, everyone’s gaze turned to Bator.

Bator hesitated for a while before clearing his throat.

“W-Well, shall we go sightseeing too?”

“Tsk.”

Lee Hyun-soo and Bang Jin-hoon shook their heads and walked out of the room.

Watching them, Bator groaned.

“Damn old geezers.”

What a mess.

Damn it.