Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1151

“People have aptitudes, you know.”

Kang Jin-ho gave a wry smile.

It’s not that effort can’t overcome anything, but the direction of that effort is important. It’s not that he was looking down on Lee Hyun-soo. But to anyone, it was clear that Lee Hyun-soo had no talent in martial arts.

“How is Lee Hyun-soo’s magical talent?”

“He started very late. And he has habits ingrained from learning martial arts. There are too many disadvantages.”

“The conclusion?”

“He’s a genius.”

Wiggins said firmly.

“It’s a shame he started so late. Of course, magic is closer to academics than martial arts, so it’s not as bound by age as martial arts, so it’s not impossible. If he keeps at it, he could become a great mage.”

“But…”

“He says he doesn’t want to.”

Wiggins and Kang Jin-ho sighed again.

It was enough to make one faint.

Even if the governor of Pyongyang doesn’t want to, that’s the end of it, but this was something that couldn’t help but feel regrettable. People have aptitudes and talents. If you’re aiming high, finding the right direction is paramount.

What should he say?

It was like watching Michael Jordan strike out on a high inside pitch in the minor leagues from a VIP seat. Of course, it might be fun in its own way. But it wasn’t something that would end as just fun.

“A guy who doesn’t even train.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Wiggins wore a wry smile.

It was Wiggins’s sincere belief that Lee Hyun-soo could become a great mage if he truly dedicated himself to magic.

At first, he just started teaching him for fun because he seemed to have no talent in martial arts anyway, and he seemed to have a strong desire to become stronger, but now it had gone beyond the level of just fun.

His understanding and application skills easily surpassed the average level.

“Should we push him a little harder?”

“It’s not a bad idea, but…” Wiggins shook his head.

“I wouldn’t recommend it. Basically, Lee Hyun-soo doesn’t seem like the type to change his mind just because someone else forces him to.”

“That’s true.”

Like all the guys in the Assembly, Lee Hyun-soo was stubborn.

Especially when it came to his own choices, he wouldn’t do anything he didn’t like, even if a knife was at his throat.

“He’s not useful in that area anyway, is he?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Come to think of it, it wouldn’t make much of a difference if Lee Hyun-soo got a little stronger. From what he heard, it didn’t seem like learning magic would immediately increase their combat power, and there were too many immediate issues to move with a view to decades later.

“Let’s discuss that issue later.”

“Yes.”

In the end, the decision was up to Lee Hyun-soo.

Kang Jin-ho respected Lee Hyun-soo.

There was no way Lee Hyun-soo wouldn’t think about what he was thinking. Since it was about his own future, Lee Hyun-soo himself would have thought a lot about it. Since that was the conclusion he had reached, it wasn’t something Kang Jin-ho should interfere with right now.

Even though he was the head of the Assembly, he didn’t have the right to decide the future of those who belonged to the Assembly.

“Anyway, the conclusion is that the mages can’t be a force right now, and we have to wait a little longer.”

“That’s the nature of mages.”

“I see.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded quietly.

It wasn’t bad news, but it wasn’t good news either. Creating future power was a good thing, but the problem was that the Assembly’s current situation was not easy enough to move with a view to the distant future.

They were doing a lot of things, such as creating MK [a military research and development group] and forming an alliance with the Round Table, but that was only meaningful if the Assembly could maintain its current situation.

Wasn’t Japan preparing to invade Korea right now? If they lost the war against them, MK and the magic unit would be meaningless.

How could they know about decades later when they didn’t even know about tomorrow?

Wiggins, who had been watching Kang Jin-ho’s expression, gave a wry smile as if he knew what Kang Jin-ho was thinking.

“Fortunately, there are those who can fill that gap.”

“Hmm?”

“The children being taught by the Chevaliers [French knights] are showing remarkable growth. They will be able to play a great role even if they are deployed to the front lines right now.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Wiggins with a slightly surprised expression.

Wiggins wasn’t someone who gave high praise.

He wasn’t the type to make sharp remarks, and he rarely made direct criticisms, but he was the type to gloss over things he wasn’t sure about with vague statements.

For Wiggins to evaluate them as ready for immediate deployment meant that many things had clearly changed.

‘No, wait a minute.’

Come to think of it, it wasn’t that strange.

The Chevaliers had clearly played a great role in the battle against the Round Table.

The noteworthy point was that they had a clear advantage against the same knightly orders. It was true that the Chevaliers were treated preferentially as knights of France, but the French knightly orders were not particularly superior to those of other countries.

However, the Chevaliers not only stopped the advance of a knightly order that was more than twice their size, but even pushed them back.

Could the Chevaliers have become incomparably stronger while they were detained in the Assembly?

That wouldn’t be the case.

They hadn’t learned anything in particular from the Assembly. All they had gained was time. And that time was the most necessary for them.

This stemmed from the difference between the Assembly and the Round Table.

It was a bit of an embarrassing story, but the martial artists of the Assembly didn’t have much to do.

In the past, the martial artists of the Assembly would take on various requests or do dark deeds, but since Kang Jin-ho came, all those things had disappeared.

In the end, the martial artists of the Assembly were no different from sports players who trained in the training grounds but didn’t participate in competitions. So they could just train all the time.

But the Round Table was different.

Basically, the knightly orders were the elites who supported each country.

Just as a knight was too busy with his duties to have time to cultivate his martial prowess, the knightly orders also had to devote time to the roles they had to play.

Of course, the administrative work they were given wasn’t as heavy as that of the knights, but instead, they were deployed to the field. As much as the Round Table intervened in conflicts around the world, they also left their own countries and were deployed to conflicts around the world.

Wasn’t the fact that the French Chevaliers came to Korea to kill Kang Jin-ho an example?

The fact that these people, who were too busy with their duties to have time to cultivate their own martial arts, were given time to focus on martial arts without worrying about external factors led to these results.

And one more thing.

If they had been given time individually, it would have ended with just a slight increase in their martial power, but because they were detained as a group, their trust in each other increased, and they were able to solidify their proficiency in group battles.

Wiggins accepted the Chevaliers and implanted the concept of group battles into the Assembly.

Western swordsmanship? Western martial arts?

That was a secondary issue.

The important thing was that he had taught the martial artists, who only had the concept of rushing in a group and defeating the enemy in front of them, a military-style battle method of defeating the enemy in groups while shoulder to shoulder.

Those who had trained in group battles became exponentially stronger as their numbers increased.

Wasn’t that the case in the Central Plains [ancient China] in the past?

Even before the rise of the Demonic Cult, there was the Jianghu [a community of martial artists]. But even the Jianghu people who could handle a hundred elite soldiers alone didn’t dare to think about touching the imperial palace.

You could win a fight against a hundred people, but there was no way to win a fight against a thousand against ten thousand, or ten thousand against a million.

Of course, the Assembly had a limit to its numbers, so it couldn’t become as strong as an army, but the fact that they had turned people who weren’t very helpful individually into immediate combat power was a great achievement. If this was proven, they would be able to spread the effectiveness of group battles not only to those who learned Western martial arts but also to others.

“I should meet with Vinsant.”

“I think that in leading an organization, there is nothing more important than rewarding merit and punishing demerit. If you praise Vinsant, they will also do their best for the Assembly.”

Wiggins grinned.

“Above all, aren’t they also members of the Assembly?”

“That’s right.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

The fact that the Chevaliers had joined the Assembly was very unexpected for Kang Jin-ho, but thanks to that, the Assembly’s power had definitely increased. And it had become an opportunity to change the Round Table’s view of the Assembly as invaders.

It had been very helpful both practically and politically, but he was now realizing that he hadn’t paid much attention to it.

“I’d like to arrange a meeting.”

“I will do so.”

Kang Jin-ho wore a wry smile.

In the past, Kang Jin-ho wouldn’t have made a separate meeting to praise his subordinates for their achievements. But now he had to pay attention to these things.

“Jang Min.”

“Yes, Master Demon Lord.”

Jang Min showed the greatest respect he could express in that place.

Kang Jin-ho sighed as he looked at him.

Even though the times had changed and the situation had changed, Jang Min’s respect for Kang Jin-ho hadn’t changed much from what he had received in the Central Plains in the past.

It was a bit anachronistic.

But the reason he couldn’t point that out was that Jang Min was not a closed-minded person, and he was someone who was more actively accepting the changes of the times than anyone else.

Even now….

“Did you get a tattoo?”

“Ah…”

Jang Min quickly lowered his sleeve to cover the exposed tattoo.

“It was disrespectful. Master Demon Lord, punish me…”

“No. I’m asking if you got a tattoo.”

“Yes. It’s a tattoo. It came out nicely, would you like to see it?”

“…No, it’s okay.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Jang Min with a lukewarm gaze.

‘He seems a bit younger lately….’

Jang Min was showing off a crazy fashion that didn’t suit his age. Even Kang Jin-ho, who had no interest in fashion, had once thought that this man should be taken to Italy, not kept here.

But recently, it seemed that not only his fashion was young, but his face was also getting younger.

‘Rejuvenation at that age….’

Kang Jin-ho sighed at the complex and subtle emotions he couldn’t express in words.

“What’s that in your ear?”

“Gasp! I’m sorry. I forgot…” Jang Min took out the earphones he had in his ear.

The old man, who was over a hundred years old, had his white hair neatly styled in a two-block regent cut, and was wearing wireless earphones in his ears and a fitted white suit.

Kang Jin-ho, who had no knowledge of fashion, found it difficult to evaluate, but he was sure that this was a rare sight.

“Jang Min.”

“Yes, Master Demon Lord.”

“…Do you have to dress like that?”

“Well…”

Jang Min glanced at Kang Jin-ho and then said in a very timid tone.

“Even if it’s anything else, it’s a bit much for the Master Demon Lord to point out my fashion…”

Kang Jin-ho’s face contorted as he was suddenly hit with a bone-crushing remark.