Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1210

“They’re coming up.”

At Bator’s words, everyone’s gaze focused on the ship’s bow.

Their gazes were filled with a mix of emotions.

Bewilderment, anticipation, and anxiety.

The fate of those present depended on what they would say next.

While Kang Jin-ho and Akinori were away, those who had managed to organize their thoughts were displaying various expressions, each according to their own considerations.

Under their gazes, Kang Jin-ho, Akinori, and Lee Hyun-soo came up onto the deck.

Everyone tried to discern the outcome of the talks from their expressions, but it was impossible to read anything.

Their expressions were no different from when they had gone down.

The three walked to the center.

First, Akinori looked around. After surveying everyone with indifferent eyes, Akinori turned his head to check the board members of the General Assembly, and finally, after making eye contact with Kang Jin-ho, he turned his gaze back to his subordinates.

Then, he opened his mouth with a resolute voice.

“Listen, everyone.”

All eyes on the deck were focused on Akinori.

Akinori spoke as he received their attention.

“We have been defeated.”

It was provocative.

And an extreme way of speaking.

Everyone was unable to hide their bewilderment at his words, which were delivered without giving them time to process.

“The first and second units that landed in Korea have been annihilated. And the General Assembly of Korea has even occupied Tokyo, our homeland. The leader of Shin’nichikai [a powerful Japanese organization] has been beheaded.”

He was simply stating the facts.

But those facts were more terrifying than any intimidation or incitement.

“We are the only ones left.”

Akinori paused slightly after uttering those words.

They needed time to think. More precisely, they needed time to accept his words.

They probably already suspected it, but having Akinori confirm their suspicions was a different matter.

Under the pouring gazes of disbelief and resignation, Akinori hardened his face.

In an instant, Akinori’s eyes shone with a sharp light.

“The battle is already over. Even if we struggle, the result will not change. We are left with only one of two outcomes. Either we exhaust our strength here and return to the devastated homeland, battered and bruised, to fight a desperate battle… or we all die here.”

His words were extreme.

But everyone knew that Akinori was only speaking the truth. There was no other path for them.

Even if they were lucky enough to survive and return from here, would there be anything left?

Even if they let them go from this place, the General Assembly could easily organize an expeditionary force and land in Japan. Japan, having lost Shin’nichikai and the Yamashiro-gumi [another powerful Japanese organization], would no longer be able to resist the General Assembly.

Then, a purge with no room for compromise would take place.

So, all that remained was to die here or to return to the homeland and die, one of the two.

“Neither outcome is what we desire. But fortunately, the Head of the General Assembly has opened a new path for us. If we follow him, he says he will open a path to a new prosperity.”

The faces of those listening contorted in disgust.

It was a roundabout way of saying that they should surrender and submit. It was a plea to beg for their lives in exchange.

Some of their eyes flared with anger.

“Therefore, we…”

“What are you talking about, Director!”

Akinori turned his head.

Kohei was glaring at him with bloodshot eyes.

“Let me finish my story…”

“What more is there to hear? Are you out of your mind? Are you saying we should bow our heads to the Joseon [an old term for Koreans] bastards and beg for our lives!”

Akinori frowned.

Kohei was not very strong-willed. He was usually hesitant, and fundamentally, he didn’t have the disposition of a warrior. The reason Kohei was able to board this ship as a staff officer was because he had an unusually strong hatred for Korea.

It was thought that he, who knew Korea well because of his hatred, would be helpful in some way, so he was chosen as one of the staff officers. That decision itself might not have been so bad, but it was revealing a flaw in an unexpected place.

“Director, have you forgotten the Bushido [the code of the samurai]? Where has the Yamato spirit [the spirit of the Japanese people] gone! As a warrior of the Great Japanese Empire, aren’t you ashamed! Rather than surrendering to the likes of the Joseon bastards, it would be better for us all to commit seppuku [ritual suicide by disembowelment] here and show our spirit! We may lose the war now, but we must show that our spirit will not be defeated!”

Lee Hyun-soo looked at Kohei with a disgusted face.

He knew that the Japanese sometimes said crazy things, but this was beyond the pale. What was even more frightening was that Kohei’s face, as he said those crazy things, was utterly serious.

Well…

In the past, during the war, there was even a general who shouted that the Japanese were originally herbivores, so they could just eat the grass on the side of the road for food, so this wasn’t such a big deal.

They were a people who usually pretended to be the most rational in the world, but when cornered, there were definitely some among the Japanese who revealed their hidden madness.

Kohei was a perfect example of that.

“Seppuku?”

Akinori’s face contorted.

“So what will change? We’ll still die.”

“Foolish words! How a warrior dies is important! It’s not the same death!

How can a death that proves honor, Bushido, and loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor be the same as a trivial death!”

“You…”

“There will be no surrender! The Great Japanese Empire will not surrender!”

Bator watched the scene and laughed in disbelief.

Then, he whispered to Lee Hyun-soo.

“Weren’t they the ones who surrendered in the war and don’t even have an army?”

“You can’t reason with a madman.”

“No, he’s saying such ridiculous things so confidently.”

“They’re always like that.”

Lee Hyun-soo sighed.

It wasn’t a big deal that Kohei was spouting nonsense. The real problem was that there were people who were starting to agree with him.

The Emperor, Bushido, the Yamato spirit, and so on.

There seemed to be something in those words that stimulated the Japanese. Even in the eyes of those who had resigned themselves to the fact that the outcome of the war had already been decided, a desperate something was beginning to bloom.

“No surrender, you say?”

Anger surged on Akinori’s face as well.

“It is because we surrendered that we are here now. If we hadn’t surrendered, Japan would have been wiped off the map!”

“No. It is because we surrendered that we are only this much. If we hadn’t surrendered, we would have created a greater nation! We must not leave a precedent of surrender for future generations! If you are Japanese! If you are a man who has inherited the Yamato spirit, you must prove here and now that you will never surrender and will fight to the end.”

“You foolish…”

Even Akinori seemed to have lost his words and could only glare at Kohei.

“That’s right!”

“Surrender!”

“We didn’t come all this way to surrender without even fighting!”

“Director, what did you promise! Can you still call yourself a warrior of the Great Japanese Empire?”

In an instant, public opinion swayed toward Kohei’s side.

That was the end.

Akinori knew. The Japanese do not object. The moment they feel that the overall opinion has swayed to one side, they do not express a different opinion outwardly, no matter what they think inside.

In the past, the reason why Japan pushed forward with reckless wars several times was not because they failed to calculate their chances of winning. It was because no one could say in front of everyone that they could not win.

It’s not that they don’t know common sense. It’s because they think solidarity is more important than common sense.

“This…”

Akinori’s face flushed red.

There was a limit to how stupid one could be.

To resist despite being weak meant to die. If there was something to be gained from that death, it would be one thing, but why would they invite death when there was nothing to be gained from it?

It was like carrying firewood and jumping into the fire.

The fact that he couldn’t even decide his own fate was what angered Akinori. And wasn’t this disobeying Kang Jin-ho’s orders?

“You foolish…”

“Commit seppuku.”

Akinori stared at Kohei with a blank look.

“Having defiled the Yamato spirit with that filthy mouth and betrayed your loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor, commit seppuku to atone for your sins! This is the last act of loyalty I can offer as one of your former subordinates. I will cleanly cut off your head.”

Fire flared in Akinori’s eyes.

His loyalty to Kang Jin-ho was beyond doubt. He had already sworn to serve Kang Jin-ho as his master.

But this was a separate issue.

How could they be so foolish?

The times had changed, and the world had changed. They couldn’t live the same way they did in the past.

Especially since the way they were talking about Bushido hadn’t even been successful.

Akinori bit his lip as he looked at the eyes of those who were consumed by madness.

Even if it meant cutting off their heads…

“Move.”

At the voice from behind, Akinori turned his head. Kang Jin-ho was signaling him with a nod to come out. Akinori silently made way for Kang Jin-ho.

Thud.

Kang Jin-ho, who had stepped forward, quietly looked at everyone.

Silence.

The seething atmosphere slowly subsided. But even in the midst of that, Kohei was glaring at Kang Jin-ho with venomous eyes.

“To prove your conviction with seppuku, huh?”

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

“Sounds good.”

Lee Hyun-soo translated his words.

“Go ahead.”

Kohei looked at Kang Jin-ho with a stiff face.

“…What do you mean?”

“Do it, that seppuku or whatever.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled brightly.

“Isn’t it that you’re choosing a way to die to prove your conviction?”

“…That’s right.”

“Then cut yourself open.”

Kang Jin-ho said indifferently.

“I won’t stop you.”

“I…”

“Do you need words?”

Kang Jin-ho grinned, showing his teeth.

“Didn’t you say you’d prove it with actions? Why do you need words? Come on, start. Everyone’s waiting.”

“Who knows? If you prove that conviction, maybe my mind will change. I might be so moved that I’ll just let everyone go?”

Kohei’s eyes flickered slightly.

A slight flicker.

But Kang Jin-ho did not criticize that flicker. Choosing death was not an easy thing for anyone. The important thing was whether they would stick to their opinion to the end, even while wavering, not whether they wavered or not.

Kohei slowly drew his sword with a determined face. Then, he held the sword in reverse and knelt down on the spot.

To be formal, many more things would be needed, but he knew that such formalities could not be observed here.

Kohei gritted his teeth and glared at Kang Jin-ho.

But Kang Jin-ho only looked down at him with indifferent eyes.

The tip of the sword, held in reverse, touched his belly. The blade of the sword, which had been sharpened and maintained, cut through his clothes and pierced his skin just by touching it.

“Hoo! Hoo!”

His breathing became rough.

Conviction and the desire to survive were roughly intertwined.

Kang Jin-ho said indifferently as he watched the scene.

“Cut yourself open.”