Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1148

Chapter 2: Urgent (1)

Mara Arts are fundamentally a martial art that destroys the user’s humanity.

While Mara Arts weren’t originally created to destroy humanity, it’s an undeniable fact that the practitioner’s character tends to become corrupted in the process of training.

It was the same in the past.

When Kang Jin-ho was part of the Demonic Cult, he didn’t particularly give off that impression. After all, when you live in a world where three-eyed people gather, it’s not strange to see people with three eyes.

But looking back now, the Demonic Cult back then was a gathering of all sorts of crazy people.

If you released the most heinous criminals from modern prisons into the Demonic Cult of that time, they would become saints worthy of praise even if Confucius and Mencius returned.

More moral than anyone, kinder than anyone.

That’s how cruel and abnormal the Demonic Cult was back then.

In fact, it’s understandable why the martial artists of China today shun the Demonic Cult. They must have gone through a lot.

What’s fortunate is that the modern Demonic Cult members haven’t properly inherited the Mara Arts, so their depth isn’t great, and thus their humanity isn’t as corrupted.

What if the Demonic Cult had preserved the Mara Arts as they were?

Either the Chinese martial world would have been shattered, or the Demonic Cult would have been annihilated. And the latter was overwhelmingly more likely.

Ironically, it was because the Mara Arts weren’t properly passed down and weakened that the Demonic Cult was able to survive.

To put it the other way around?

The deeper the Mara Arts, the more the cruelty will inevitably surface.

This is something Kang Jin-ho can’t help. He tried his best to supplement the Mara Arts he was teaching to minimize the impact, but Mara Arts are still Mara Arts. They can’t be the same as orthodox martial arts.

That’s why this is happening.

Bang!

One of the Mara Flames, struck by Kang Jin-ho’s fist, was slammed into the ground. But despite the impact, it immediately bounced back up like a rubber ball and charged at Kang Jin-ho.

“Kuaaaaaaak!”

Then it let out a beast-like roar.

Blood was dripping from its nose and mouth as it charged, looking like a demon. The bloodshot eyes alone were enough to cause a heart attack in any ordinary person.

But the important thing isn’t the appearance.

A murderous intent, like needles piercing the skin, was directed at Kang Jin-ho.

Even though they knew who Kang Jin-ho was and that what they were doing was training, they were emitting an unbearable amount of murderous intent.

By now, their minds were probably filled with nothing but the desire to kill Kang Jin-ho.

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho deflected the fist of the charging figure and grabbed its face.

Then, he unconsciously curled up the corners of his mouth.

A thick murderous intent.

It was a murderous intent he had experienced quite a lot in the past, but it was something he had rarely encountered since returning to this world. The unique, thick, and heavy murderous intent of those who had mastered the Mara Arts made Kang Jin-ho’s fine hairs stand on end.

“Kkk… Kkuaaaak!”

The Mara Flame groaned under the pressure that felt like it would crush its face. Kang Jin-ho watched this and hid his smile again.

“Amateur.”

He grabbed its face, swung it around, and slammed it into the ground.

Kwaaaang!

The Mara Flame, slammed into the ground, twisted grotesquely, floated into the air, and then fell again.

“Kkeureureuk, keureuk.”

Kang Jin-ho looked up at the Mara Flame, which was foaming at the mouth with blood and groaning.

There was no one standing.

“Kkoeeueueu…”

Only the groans of the fallen and the smell of blood filled the air.

Kang Jin-ho was about to open his mouth, but then closed it.

Then, he raised his hand and ran it over his face.

Blood was on his fingertips.

It seemed he had been grazed on the face.

“Hmm.”

Has this ever happened before?

No. It hadn’t. Then, it could be said that this moment was the first time the Mara Flames had ever scratched him.

Kang Jin-ho smiled subtly and licked the blood from his fingertips.

‘They’re all quite mad.’

He had expected it to some extent, given the thick Mara energy they usually emitted, but the Mara Flames in combat were wilder than he had imagined.

In the past, one could somewhat gauge the level of those who had mastered the Mara Arts by the Mara energy they emitted, but with the current Mara Flames, it was difficult to gauge their level.

It seemed that this result was due to Kang Jin-ho’s modifications to the Mara Arts.

In any case, it was a good change for living in the modern world. If they were constantly leaking Mara energy, it would be difficult to live among ordinary people.

More importantly than that…

“What do you think a Mara is?”

The fallen, groaning figures raised their heads to look at Kang Jin-ho. Their eyes were still filled with venom and pain, but they seemed determined not to miss a single word Kang Jin-ho said.

“A Mara refers to someone who uses Mara Arts.”

It was an obvious statement.

But the next words were not so obvious.

“But what about you? Are you using Mara Arts, or are Mara Arts using you?”

It wasn’t easy to answer.

Because they knew what Kang Jin-ho meant.

When they unleashed the Mara Arts at full power, they lost their reason. If they completely surrendered themselves to the Mara Arts, their destructive power would increase, and they could wield stronger Mara energy, but at that moment, they would turn into nothing more than beasts.

That was neither a martial artist nor anything else.

“I’ll praise you for making it this far.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

This wasn’t a compliment.

The Mara Flames had done better than he had expected. In the past, there were times when they hadn’t trained properly while he was away, so he had been worried that he would have to say the same thing again this time. Fortunately, it seemed that his previous nagging had worked, and they had made more progress than Kang Jin-ho had thought.

‘At this rate…’

They had surpassed the level of ordinary Mara from the past.

Even though the Mara Arts he had given them were high-level arts that ordinary Mara could only dream of, and even though it was Kang Jin-ho himself who had directly taught and trained them, they would never have reached their current level without their own bone-grinding efforts.

But that couldn’t be everything.

“Becoming stronger isn’t what’s important.”

Confusion clouded the eyes of the Mara Flames. It was a statement that didn’t fit coming from Kang Jin-ho, who valued becoming stronger more than anyone else in the world.

“It’s important that I become stronger. If you have to become a beast as the price for becoming stronger, would you choose that?”

The answer was obvious.

No one would choose that.

Why become stronger?

Isn’t it too obvious?

It’s to enjoy things.

Becoming stronger in itself has no meaning. The reason why the Mara Flames endure hellish pain and spur themselves on in training is to become strong and obtain the things that only the strong can enjoy, isn’t it?

If, after all that effort to become strong, there’s nothing left that you can define as yourself, what’s the point of becoming stronger?

“There will be a moment during combat when you feel it. If you cross this line, you can unleash even greater power. But at that moment, you’ll feel like you’re losing your reason.”

“…Yes.”

“Don’t recklessly cross it.”

Kang Jin-ho’s voice was firm.

“Mastering the Mara Arts is like pursuing the Way. It shouldn’t be excessive, nor should it be lacking. You must constantly agonize at the boundary between human and beast. Those who cross that line as if it’s natural will eventually be dominated by their demonic nature. You all know what happens then, right?”

Everyone nodded.

They had heard countless times about the dangers of Mara Arts.

Their humanity would be completely paralyzed, and they would become madmen who only craved blood and death.

“You must be able to unleash the greatest power, but without losing your consciousness.”

Lee Myung-hwan raised his hand.

“Speak.”

With permission granted, Lee Myung-hwan swallowed the blood pooling in his mouth and opened his mouth with difficulty.

“I understand, but it’s difficult. What should we do?”

“Originally, that’s something you have to figure out on your own. It’s because they couldn’t solve that problem that Mara were persecuted and shunned.”

“Ah…”

“Everyone believes that they won’t be swept away by their demonic nature. You’re probably the same right now. But even the greatest geniuses and the most naturally good people can become madmen in an instant with Mara Arts.”

“The first thing you need to do is to abandon the arrogant thought that you’re the exception, and to have a sense of crisis that you can become a beast at any moment. And…”

Kang Jin-ho shrugged.

“There’s no other way.”

“Ah…”

“Until now.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“But it seems there might be one way.”

“Yes?”

“It’s a matter of circumstance.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled subtly. In the past, this kind of training didn’t happen in the Demonic Cult. Mastering Mara Arts meant that one’s humanity would be paralyzed, and that meant they would become aggressive towards others.

It was impossible to gather together and train in Mara Arts like the Mara Flames were doing. If they even brushed shoulders, someone would have to die before it ended, so how could group training even be possible?

So, even if the Mara Arts being passed down were the same, training had to be done individually.

But the General Assembly was different.

The General Assembly trained in Mara Arts, but the sense of camaraderie was still alive. Thanks to Kang Jin-ho removing some of the demonic nature of the Mara Arts, they still clearly recognized each other as comrades.

“If you can’t prevent being consumed by your demonic nature with willpower alone, then you have to engrave it into your body. It’s a common method, isn’t it?”

“How…”

“Lee Myung-hwan.”

“Yes, Assembly Leader.”

“From now on, when you train, unleash the Mara Arts to the maximum. And in that state, practice enduring without losing your reason.”

“…What if our demonic nature flares up?”

“Beat them.”

“…Yes?”

“Watch and if the guy next to you goes berserk, beat him. It’s a method we’ve used before, isn’t it?”

Lee Myung-hwan’s eyes trembled.

Ah, no, just a moment ago, he was talking about some very high-level martial principles, but why is the conclusion suddenly like this?

“People eventually learn through getting beaten. The only way to engrave into your body that your demonic nature shouldn’t flare up is, ‘If your demonic nature flares up, you’ll get beaten.'”

Lee Myung-hwan’s eyes widened.

“But, it’s not easy to detect when someone’s demonic nature is flaring up from the outside. How can we…”

“Don’t worry about that.”

The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth curled up.

And those who saw that smile were all tormented by a terrible sense of unease.

“I’ll do it for you first. Then you’ll get a feel for it. For how hard you need to hit.”

“Get up. We’ll start now. And just so you know…”

Crack.

Kang Jin-ho clenched his fist.

“This is practice to not fall into your demonic nature. If you fall into your demonic nature, there must be a fitting punishment. Don’t think you’ll just get a light beating.”

“Start.”

At that moment, Lee Myung-hwan cursed himself for envying Gong Young-gil.

With tears of blood.