Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1189

Cold.

No, it was chilling.

The air felt like it had turned into blades. The cold air of dawn tore through his lungs, chilling his chest.

Tsukikage was glaring at Kang Jin-ho with eyes that couldn’t be any colder.

‘He’s different.’

Kang Jin-ho was definitely different from any enemy he had faced so far.

The way he stood there, casually holding his longswords in both hands, was enough to completely overwhelm his surroundings.

‘Indeed…’

He’s on a different level.

You could feel it just by looking.

Tsukikage had taken the lives of countless people. He had stopped counting when the number of those he had killed exceeded a hundred. That was already twenty years ago.

Among them were those weaker than him, and those stronger than him. There were countless powerful individuals he could never face head-on.

But Tsukikage had killed them all and survived.

How was he able to do that?

It’s simple.

Fighting a person and killing a person are different things.

In a match, the weak cannot defeat the strong. But if it’s a battle where they’re trying to take each other’s lives, things change.

For a simple example, even at this moment, someone is probably being shot and killed. Does that mean the person who was shot and killed was weaker than the person who shot them?

No.

There are countless ways to kill the strong.

It’s good to use a stronger weapon, or to strike a weak point. And it’s also a great method to take advantage of the opponent’s carelessness.

There are no rules in assassination.

Tsukikage had used every means at his disposal to kill his opponents. If he needed to spend money, he didn’t hesitate to throw it around, and if he needed to use people, he used them.

Victims?

He didn’t care about that either. As long as he could kill his opponent, anything was justified.

That’s how countless strong individuals had died at Tsukikage’s hands. The means or methods didn’t matter. What mattered was that Tsukikage had won, and they had lost.

That’s why he was confident.

He was confident that he could defeat his opponent no matter how strong they were. Tsukikage had more than enough ability to do so. He even felt ashamed to mobilize so many people to face just one person.

But….

Looking at Kang Jin-ho, those thoughts completely disappeared.

The first thought that came to mind when he saw Kang Jin-ho was, ‘He looks more ordinary than I thought.’ But after seeing Kang Jin-ho in battle, he felt he was strong, and after wielding his sword directly, he felt he was an enormous monster.

But now, the feeling was different again.

‘He’s like a creature from another world.’

It wasn’t a matter of being strong or weak. Looking at Kang Jin-ho with his swords hanging down, he began to doubt if he was even the same kind of human as himself.

There was no one in the world who could pull off that arrogant stance of looking at an enemy with his swords hanging down so well.

King.

It was a word that might have faded a little, but the first word that came to mind was that.

Tsukikage wondered.

Is the word ‘king’ disappearing in modern times because the word no longer suits the times, or because the people who suit the word ‘king’ are gradually disappearing?

Until he came to this place, Tsukikage believed it was the former. But now, his thoughts were changing a little.

If there were several people like Kang Jin-ho in this world, the word ‘king’ would still have life and be pressing down on the world.

Blood dripped down his forehead.

A rough and barbaric appearance.

But conversely, the eyes visible beneath the blood-soaked hair were so indifferent and clear.

It was incongruous.

How could he be like that?

Tsukikage had taken the lives of countless people, but the limit to his ability to maintain his composure was before he took a person’s life. No matter how calm he tried to be, it was difficult to calm his racing heart and flushed body after killing someone.

But Kang Jin-ho could pile up mountains of corpses and make rivers of blood, yet maintain his composure as if he were taking a stroll.

That’s why he didn’t seem human.

‘I have to kill him here.’

This wasn’t because of orders.

Tsukikage knew.

Anyone who had seen Kang Jin-ho with their own eyes would know. Demons are called demons because they devour humans. If they couldn’t kill Kang Jin-ho here, Kang Jin-ho would one day strangle them.

With nails that were incomparably cruel and strong.

So he had to kill him here.

No matter what the sacrifice.

Tsukikage drew his small sword and slowly approached Kang Jin-ho.

The cold sensation of his beloved blade at his fingertips made his excited heart feel like it was chilling down.

At that moment.

Kang Jin-ho charged forward.

It was as if space was distorting.

As if darkness was fleeing from an even greater darkness, space warped and Kang Jin-ho’s figure stretched out. If they weren’t a martial artist of Tsukikage’s level, it would have looked like he had simply disappeared and reappeared.

That Kang Jin-ho appeared right in front of the warriors they called Tsukihas [Moon Blades].

Fwoooooosh!

The sword cut through space.

Clang! Clang!

Kang Jin-ho’s sword, imbued with demonic energy, clashed with the dozen or so swords emitting a sharp blue aura, creating an ear-splitting metallic sound.

The warriors who had faced Kang Jin-ho head-on contorted their faces and were thrown backward. Their faces showed that they couldn’t even think of counterattacking. The reverse force in the sword felt like it would break their wrists.

Before they could even feel the stinging pain in their wrists, something pushed through the sword and penetrated their entire bodies.

“Ugh!”

The Tsukihas’ eyes widened at the pain that felt like their insides were burning.

‘What is this…’

It was a bizarre phenomenon they had never experienced before. But there was no time to be distracted by the pain. Not missing the opportunity, Kang Jin-ho swung his sword again.

Kaaaaaang!

Their feet could no longer stay on the ground. Their bodies floated into the air, and their insides twisted.

Thud!

The one who landed on the ground coughed up blood, but looked at Kang Jin-ho with disbelief.

“…Is he human?”

It wasn’t the impact of colliding with a person.

Even if they collided head-on with a 30-ton trailer truck speeding as if its engine was about to explode, they wouldn’t feel this kind of power. That monster’s power was beyond common sense.

If a light swing of the sword could deliver this much impact, what kind of power would it have if that sword was used at full strength?

The ones holding swords glared at Kang Jin-ho with distorted faces.

Their swords pursued propriety.

Basically, the sword is a method that develops from technique to law, and then reaches propriety beyond learning.

Their swords had developed into a killing art through countless wars, but they considered it a virtue to not lose their decorum and propriety even within that.

They took the lives of their opponents with concise techniques.

Their pride and self-esteem was that they had developed the art of killing into the propriety of killing.

But this man was completely different.

Kwaaaaaaang!

The moment the sword came down, their wrists and forearms broke simultaneously. Their knees, buried in the ground, buckled, and their spines twisted.

“Kuh… ugh.”

Their martial arts had developed into aesthetics. But Kang Jin-ho’s sword was showing a direction completely opposite to Japanese martial arts.

There was no law or propriety there. There was only savagery.

It was concise.

That alone was the same.

But if their conciseness was a method for their own aesthetics, Kang Jin-ho’s conciseness was simply efficiency to take the opponent’s life with minimal force.

Look.

Crack, crack, crack.

Kang Jin-ho’s Red Tear pierced through the Japanese sword.

“Uh… uh?”

The eyes of the one who saw his sword being cut slowly were filled with fear.

Clang!

Along with the sword that had been broken in half, the person’s body was split in half.

Splaatter!

The word ‘cut’ was inadequate.

If their swords existed to cut, Kang Jin-ho’s sword existed to slice. Looking at the flesh that had been sliced in half in an instant, one could realize how weak the word ‘cut’ was.

It was as if they had molded wildness into the shape of a human. Kang Jin-ho’s martial arts were simple, ignorant, and also rough.

But….

‘Perhaps that’s the most perfect form of martial arts?’

Murtial arts is a killing art.

No one can deny that. Not the martial arts of the outside world that had been divided into health arts and sports, but the martial arts of the martial world that had developed to kill each other, no one who had learned it could deny that fact.

Even so, the reason why Japanese martial arts cling to beauty is because they have drawn the final Maginot Line of not forgetting that they are human even while killing people.

If a person becomes intoxicated with killing itself after learning martial arts that kill people, they will eventually become a killer. In order not to cross that line, Japanese martial artists confined themselves within the boundaries of propriety and aesthetics.

But here it was.

A being that crossed the boundaries of propriety and aesthetics without any hesitation, trampling the realm of sin called killing with muddy feet.

The Tsukihas’ swordsmanship was incomparable to ordinary warriors. No matter how well-trained a samurai was, they couldn’t reach the Tsukihas. It was only natural that they were selected from among those samurai and trained.

Even Yoshinobu, the head of Shin’ichi-kai who was leading this army, couldn’t even compare to the Tsukihas.

But Kang Jin-ho was treating even those Tsukihas like children.

Even so, it wasn’t that the Tsukihas were completely helpless. At least one thing was clearly different.

“Kuh… grrr.”

Even though the sword had pierced his heart, the Tsukihas didn’t scream. Even though blood was bubbling from their mouths, they glared at Kang Jin-ho with eyes full of resentment and hatred.

Even though their split hearts were spewing blood, they still swung their swords at Kang Jin-ho with hands that hadn’t lost their strength.

Clang!

Kang Jin-ho, who had blocked the sword flying at him with the sword in his other hand, pulled out his sword.

Splaatter!

Blood poured out like a fountain from the hole in his chest.

Thud.

The death of one person.

It had become too common an occurrence here, but death was always heavy.

“Prepare yourselves.”

Someone said quietly.

“We will all die here. But we will die with that demon.”

Sharp gazes flickered.

In the dark night, only the sharp blue eyes were shining brightly. Looking at those eyes, Kang Jin-ho smiled as if he was satisfied.

‘It’s been a while.’

It had been a while since he had seen eyes like that.

It had happened in the past too.

The suicide squads that were trying to kill him. Those who knew their martial arts were not enough, but still threw away their lives like trash, determined to die with Kang Jin-ho.

The sharpened blade is always dangerous.

Grrr.

The Red Tear and Blue Tear touched each other, creating a grating noise.

“Charge!”

At that moment, the Tsukihas in front charged at Kang Jin-ho. The swords shining blue aimed at Kang Jin-ho’s entire body.

And at that moment.

Swoosh.

Black shadows appeared from the darkness and stabbed into Kang Jin-ho’s back.