Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1078

‘That’s what a master should be like.’

Bator growled as he spoke.

‘I didn’t like any of them. Always calculating this and that, always scheming. That’s not how a master should act.’

‘I agree.’

‘No matter how strong those brats get, they’re still just brats. Nurturing those kinds of guys won’t change anything.’

Kang Jin-ho looked at Bator without answering.

‘However, I can’t accept that you used my training grounds without permission.’

‘Is that so?’

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

If it were the Kang Jin-ho from before, he would have tried to seek Bator’s understanding here.

There were quite a few reasons.

First of all, the training ground allocated to Kang Jin-ho was in the basement of the Assembly building. Hyun-soo had assigned the best-equipped and most convenient training ground to Kang Jin-ho, but it wasn’t a good thing for Kang Jin-ho.

The basement’s characteristics limited the type of training he could do.

And more than anything, its proximity to the Assembly building was a problem. If Kang Jin-ho released his full demonic energy, it would easily engulf the entire building and more.

Then the Assembly would be paralyzed in an instant. Even the demonic flames would have a hard time withstanding Kang Jin-ho’s demonic energy, so there was no way the office workers could endure it.

As a result, the training ground was only good in appearance, but unusable.

That’s why he had been looking for a suitable training ground and ended up at Bator’s. If he had used a normal training ground, the training ground itself might have been destroyed.

Normally, he would have explained all these circumstances.

But now, he didn’t feel like doing so.

‘Is there such a thing as your training ground?’

‘…..Hmm?’

Kang Jin-ho curled up the corners of his mouth even more.

‘Everything in the Assembly belongs to me. So, this is also my training ground.’

‘……Huh?’

Bator’s mouth was smiling. But Bator’s eyes weren’t smiling at all. Rather, they had become even more bloodshot.

Like a boar pawing the ground before charging, Bator was also emitting the intention to charge at any moment with his eyes.

‘Or…’

Kang Jin-ho grabbed his sword and pushed it into the subspace [a pocket dimension where items can be stored].

‘Come at me.’

Bator straightened his back.

This was it.

Words didn’t matter. Even while speaking, a murderous aura that felt like it could cut through flesh was being emitted from him.

Just receiving the murderous aura head-on was enough to make his capillaries burst and his head throb.

‘Is this what they call heart-killing (心殺)?’ [A technique where one’s killing intent is so strong it can cause physical harm]

A murderous aura is just a murderous aura, and it’s not a power that has physical force. The fact that someone died from a murderous aura doesn’t mean that the murderous aura harmed their body, but rather that the person who received the murderous aura died of a heart attack.

But there is a higher level than that.

The level of materializing and emitting an intangible energy.

It’s commonly called heart-sword (心劍) [A technique where one’s killing intent is so strong it can manifest as a physical force].

Just enduring the onslaught of murderous aura was damaging Bator’s body. If Bator, who had a body with a divine presence, was like this, then most people would have had their blood vessels burst and died by now.

Such power.

A power that one couldn’t even dare to oppose.

That’s why Bator’s blood was boiling.

‘Master.’

Kang Jin-ho raised his chin.

‘I swore loyalty to the master. But you know that doesn’t mean I’ll live weaker than the master, right?’

‘If you were that kind of guy, I would have killed you long ago.’

‘Kuh, right.’

Bator’s eyes were completely filled with bloodlust.

‘Draw your sword.’

‘Well…’

Kang Jin-ho bared his teeth.

‘I don’t think there’s a need for that?’

‘You’ll regret it!’

Bator emitted streaks of dark red demonic energy and charged at Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t help but smile as he watched Bator charging at him with all his might.

There were many martial artists in the Assembly, but Bator was the only one who could stimulate Kang Jin-ho right now.

Bang Jin-hoon had not yet met Kang Jin-ho’s standards, and Wiggins was good at catching people, but his combat power was not comparable to Bator’s.

And Jang Min was impossible.

Even if he was stronger than Bator, it was the same. He was, after all, a demon. As a demon, he couldn’t fight Kang Jin-ho. The fact that Kang Jin-ho knew everything about him was also a problem, and the fact that demons couldn’t use their power against higher-ranking demons was also a problem.

But the bigger problem was that Jang Min was Jang Min.

No matter how much Kang Jin-ho ordered him, Jang Min couldn’t truly attack Kang Jin-ho. He might be able to go all out, but it was impossible for him to attack with the intent to take his life.

That’s why it was Bator.

Only Bator could relieve the thirst that Kang Jin-ho was feeling right now, even if only a little.

‘Kuaaaaaaaah!’

Bator’s fist was thrown at the speed of light.

A simple jab.

But if you saw the power and speed contained in that jab, no one would call it a simple jab. The power contained in that fist was greater than the artillery fire from most tanks.

The wise thing to do was to avoid it.

And to look for an opening.

But Kang Jin-ho didn’t avoid it.

Crack.

Demonic energy exploded into his clenched fist. The fist, which had been stuffed with excessive demonic energy, turned as black as pitch.

He met Bator’s incoming fist head-on.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

A deafening explosion erupted as fist collided with fist.

‘Kuh!’

A gasp escaped from Kang Jin-ho’s mouth without him realizing it.

It was foolish to face Bator head-on. His strength, his external power, and the demonic energy that Bator had explosively drawn out, when combined, Bator’s strike produced a destructive power that no one could match.

Even if he thought about it calmly, the only person who could face such power head-on was Hong Wang.

But strength isn’t determined by power alone.

If he used speed, technique, and inner strength, Kang Jin-ho could cut off Bator’s head without injury.

But…

Kang Jin-ho’s face naturally broke into a smile.

An unbearable joy.

From the tip of his fist to the end of his shoulder, he was experiencing intense pain. It felt like all his muscles were torn apart and all his bones were crushed. If he had been pushed back even a little, it would have been as bad as it felt.

While feeling that intense pain, Kang Jin-ho laughed like a demon.

This was it.

Yes, this was it.

No matter how much he racked his brain, the answer wouldn’t come. No matter how much he thought and meditated, what would change?

The reason why the Demonic Heavenly Sovereign was so strong?

It was simple. He had experienced countless real battles.

He had returned alive from battlefields where dying was the norm.

He had fought opponents he could never win and still cut off their heads.

Constant battles and life-threatening injuries.

Because he had stood at the crossroads of life and death and experienced death endlessly, the Demonic Heavenly Sovereign was able to become strong.

What was Kang Jin-ho lacking right now?

It felt like his past senses were coming back to life as he blocked this blow.

Kang Jin-ho had become strong too quickly.

That’s why it had become difficult to find an opponent who was even remotely suitable.

‘Become stronger.’

Then he just had to create one.

An opponent that Kang Jin-ho could feel threatened by.

‘Uaaaaaaaah!’

Bator swung his fist once again.

The power was enough to make his bones tingle just from the pressure.

Kang Jin-ho, watching the fist flying towards his face, burst into an uncontrollable laugh.

Even if he went all out, Bator would endure it.

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t help but be so happy about that.

‘……With that, I will conclude the defendant’s testimony.’

Kang Jin-ho quietly raised his head and looked at the ceiling.

A slightly irritated voice reached his ears.

‘Lord, it’s certainly a good thing for a martial artist to focus on training. But there’s a limit to that, isn’t there?’

Kang Jin-ho lowered his head slightly.

There, Bator, who was wrapped in bandages all over his body, was barely perched on the edge of the sofa. Looking at his messed-up face, he couldn’t help but sigh.

‘He can’t handle it.’

He had overdone it a little.

No, it was a bit too much to call it a little. He almost killed Bator.

Kang Jin-ho’s head slowly turned and looked out the window. A mountainside that had been half-destroyed came into his view.

‘Eh…’

That was a bit too much too.

The training ground that Hyun-soo had spent a fortune on was completely destroyed. Thanks to that, Hyun-soo’s expression was now as if he had bitten into something sour.

‘Bator is a valuable asset to the Assembly. Please treat him with a little more respect.’

‘Mmm…’

Kang Jin-ho hesitated.

Certainly.

He was still a director, so if he beat him up that much, there would be problems.

But even in this intense situation, there was someone who defended him.

‘Don’t talk nonsense, Wiggins. I’m in a very good mood right now.’

‘……That’s a disease, a disease.’

‘You’re not a true martial artist.’

‘If that’s what a true martial artist is, then I won’t do it.’

‘Pathetic!’

Wiggins shook his head.

‘All talk and no action.’

It was impossible for someone who had been beaten so badly that there wasn’t a single spot on their body that was unscathed to be so lively. In fact, those bandages weren’t wrapped for the purpose of treatment. It was just that wrapping the whole body in bandages looked much better than having it all bruised and blue.

‘How can you beat someone up like that?’

Even if you beat up an ordinary person like that, you’d at least get jail time. But how much would you have to beat up Bator to make him look like that?

He couldn’t tell whether to admire Kang Jin-ho for beating him up like that or to admire Bator for being alive after being beaten up like that.

‘Chairman, um…’

Kang Jin-ho raised his hand slightly, cutting off Wiggins’ words.

‘I got a little blood rushing to my head.’

‘No, even so, that’s a bit too much…’

‘Bator.’

‘Speak, Master.’

‘I think I did something wrong?’

‘That’s not true.’

Bator said firmly.

‘It would be different if the master had used his sword. But it’s my fault for not being able to overcome the master who fought with his bare hands. A fist fighter complaining that he was not given any leeway after losing to a swordsman with his fists is something that deserves a knife to the neck.’

Wiggins closed his mouth as if he had nothing more to say.

‘I don’t know what the standard for excessive is.’

Kang Jin-ho curled up the corners of his mouth.

‘Am I excessively strong?’

‘Or are you guys excessively weak?’

The directors’ faces slightly contorted.

No matter who said it, the word ‘weak’ was an insult that was incomparable to anything else for a martial artist.

‘If you feel it’s unreasonable, then become stronger.

If you want to say that I’m excessive, then defeat me first and then talk. This is the Assembly. Not a company.’

Wiggins looked at Kang Jin-ho with a tense gaze.

The words themselves weren’t important.

What was important was the meaning hidden behind them.

‘In the martial world, strength takes precedence over everything else. Don’t try to fill your lack of strength with useless tricks. Just become stronger.’

‘……I will keep that in mind.’

‘Wiggins.’

‘Yes, Chairman.’

‘Tomorrow, it’s your turn.’

Wiggins swallowed hard.

Kang Jin-ho got up from his seat.

‘From now on, only report what you absolutely need to report. You guys handle the rest appropriately.’

As Kang Jin-ho walked out, the remaining directors looked at each other.

‘What is this…’

‘What else?’

Bator grinned. No, to be precise, he tried to grin, but his mouth burst open, distorting his face.

‘It means that you guys will end up looking like me.’