Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1388

Kang Jin-ho crumpled the newspaper in his hand and threw it into a corner. Then, he leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

‘How foolish…’

The newspaper he had seen contained an article about Choi Yeon-ha. Its impact was so great that it appeared in the social section, not the entertainment section. If it was mentioned to this extent in a conservative newspaper, the outside world must be in an uproar.

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

He realized how detached he was from society. The outside world must be in chaos, but here, it was just quiet.

“Lord, it’s not easy.”

“Master, we are doing our best. But it’s not going as well as we thought. Maybe… no, it’s nothing.”

“Jin-ho, are you okay?”

The faces and voices of the people who came to see him flashed through Kang Jin-ho’s mind.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll get out soon enough. And even if I can’t get out soon, don’t worry about it. It’s not easy to find a man who meets my standards now anyway.”

He couldn’t forget Choi Yeon-ha’s face as she forced a bright smile.

Kang Jin-ho’s hand slowly clenched into a fist on the floor.

Crack.

The reinforced concrete floor caved in like mud. Kang Jin-ho, having torn off a chunk of the floor, stared at the concrete crumbling into dust.

‘Trapped?’

Me?

Kang Jin-ho?

In this kind of concrete?

A hollow laugh escaped him.

Kang Jin-ho turned his head to look at the wall and slowly got up from his seat, approaching it. Then, he gently placed his hand on the wall.

‘Why am I here?’

For what?

The reason he had endured everything so far was that he didn’t want to harm those around him. Or, to be precise, it was because he wanted to continue living a life with them.

But if the price of that endurance was separation from them and isolation from society, then it was meaningless.

If it was a life that couldn’t be maintained anyway, then it would be better to….

Kang Jin-ho bit his lip slightly. A little strength entered his hand. It was then.

“Mr. Kang Jin-ho, you have a visitor. Please come out.”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head to look at the entrance. The iron door rattled, then the lock was released, and the door opened.

A guard stood at the door, looking at him.

Kang Jin-ho let out a low sigh and walked towards the guard.

“Who is it?”

“I cannot tell you.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly nodded and followed the guard outside. As he moved with the guard, Kang Jin-ho realized that the path they were taking was different from the ones he had taken before.

This was the path he had taken the first time he went out for a visit. When he had faced Kim Myung-chan.

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes lowered as he roughly grasped the situation.

And as expected.

After passing through two iron gates, they arrived at the same place where he had met Kim Myung-chan on the first day. And this time, unlike before, Kim Myung-chan was already sitting there, waiting for him.

“Welcome, Master.”

Kim Myung-chan got up from his seat and gestured to the guard. The guard bowed his head and went outside.

Kim Myung-chan smiled and approached Kang Jin-ho, as if to shake his hand.

At that moment, Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth.

“Don’t come closer.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I might kill you.”

Kim Myung-chan’s face hardened. If others said such words, their intention would be to threaten the other person.

But not Kang Jin-ho. He was someone who didn’t need to threaten anyone.

That made it even more chilling.

Kim Myung-chan gave up on approaching Kang Jin-ho and bowed his head in place.

“Have you been comfortable here?”

Kang Jin-ho silently went to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. Kim Myung-chan also cautiously went to the opposite side of Kang Jin-ho and sat down.

“Why did you come?”

Kim Myung-chan adjusted his glasses and glanced at Kang Jin-ho.

“I told you I would come again. I’ve come to ask for your final decision. Have you thought about my proposal?”

“Are you talking about that thing where you said everything would be resolved if I just rot here quietly?”

“That’s right.”

Kim Myung-chan cleared his throat and continued.

It was not easy for Kim Myung-chan to sit in front of Kang Jin-ho and say things that would provoke him. His tired eyes and rough skin, from lack of sleep, proved that fact.

Unable to hide his pale skin, Kim Myung-chan opened his mouth with a voice that was much more subdued than before.

“As you may have heard, the situation outside is not going well for you.”

“You’re doing well.”

“We are desperate too.”

Kim Myung-chan’s words were an unvarnished truth.

They were also desperate. Kim Myung-chan was not only using his authority to the fullest, but he was also sometimes doing illegal things to pressure Kang Jin-ho’s surroundings.

They were proving in real-time how much the government could do when it decided to crush someone.

“There is no way out.”

“Master, please make a decision. The fact that we are seeking your cooperation even after going this far means that we acknowledge that your existence is necessary for South Korea. We want to find a way to coexist. So, please understand a little…”

“Go back.”

Kang Jin-ho got up from his seat.

“Master!”

“I will not negotiate with you.”

Kim Myung-chan bit his lip and jumped up.

“Do you really want to go all the way to the end?”

“…To the end?”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head to look at Kim Myung-chan. The moment he saw that cold gaze, Kim Myung-chan’s legs almost gave way, and he nearly collapsed.

“You can say whatever you want, but this is the last time. I’m not that smart, but I know one thing. There are people in this world you should negotiate with, and people you shouldn’t. You belong to the latter group.”

“…I am not the one you should be negotiating with. The one you should be negotiating with is…”

“It’s the same thing.”

Kang Jin-ho interrupted Kim Myung-chan and said quietly.

“This is the last time. The next time I see you, you will die.”

“No matter how it happens. Whether I can’t stand it, or I find another way… one way or another, you will die. I promise you. I will make you experience the most miserable death I can give you.”

Kang Jin-ho left those words behind and approached the door.

Knock knock!

Kang Jin-ho knocked on the door and spoke coldly.

“Open the door.”

As the guard opened the door, Kang Jin-ho walked out without looking back.

Left alone in the room, Kim Myung-chan sat heavily on the chair and grabbed the table.

Thud thud.

Sweat poured down his face like rain.

‘It’s a bluff.’

Tightrope walking.

It felt like walking a tightrope over a bottomless cliff without any safety net.

Kim Myung-chan bit his lip and filled his eyes with venom.

“If you won’t negotiate, then I have no other choice.”

The conclusion was now reached.

No matter who is destroyed, they had no choice but to go to the end.

Clang.

The sound of the iron door closing behind him was heard. Kang Jin-ho stared at the wall with sunken eyes.

With the door closing, he was once again isolated from society. Not by these concrete walls, but by the walls that Kang Jin-ho himself had created, which confined him again.

‘Negotiation?’

What a joke.

There would be no negotiation with Kim Myung-chan. That was already decided.

But Kang Jin-ho also knew.

If he didn’t negotiate with Kim Myung-chan, that door would not open. No matter how hard the General Assembly and those outside tried, that door would not open.

In the first place, the only ones who could open and close that door were the government and the court.

Unless the court was completely separated from the government and made a perfectly rational judgment, that door would not open. And Kang Jin-ho was not so naive as to not know that there was almost no chance of that happening.

Even if the court tried to make a rational judgment without being swayed by any external pressure, this trial would take at least a few years. By then, Kang Jin-ho’s life would be completely destroyed.

Then….

‘What am I hesitating for?’

If it was a life that was going to be ruined anyway, wouldn’t it be right to break out of it?

Wouldn’t it be right to break through this wall before Kim Myung-chan got too far away and tear his head off?

If he didn’t drink his blood and see him scream in agony, the fire burning inside his chest would never disappear.

‘I…’

Kang Jin-ho slowly reached out and grabbed the bars.

It would only take one time.

He just had to close his eyes once. If he broke this wall and tore off these bars, Kang Jin-ho would be free from everything.

The laws of the outside world, the relationships that surrounded him.

He could break all of that and re-establish it. He would gain infinite freedom, different from what he had now.

So why was he hesitating?

Strength entered Kang Jin-ho’s hand.

But Kang Jin-ho, who had grabbed the bars, soon lowered his hand.

Was it because he was scared? Afraid?

It wasn’t that.

Kang Jin-ho, who was quietly looking out the window, opened his mouth softly.

“I said I would kill you if you appeared in front of me again, right?”

In the darkness that hung over the prison cell, a dark shape seemed to appear, and soon it began to take the form of a person.

Soon, the person who had taken a complete human form knelt down towards Kang Jin-ho and bowed his head to the floor.

“I, a sinner, dare to have an audience with the Heavenly Demon Lord.”

Kang Jin-ho slowly turned his body.

“It seems my warning didn’t scare you.”

“That is not the case. Even now, I am suffering from the fear of death. But I have something to resolve the Heavenly Demon Lord’s anger.”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes lowered.

Looking at the man’s smiling face, he felt the urge to tear his head off. But instead of tearing off the man’s head, Kang Jin-ho gave him a chance to speak.

“Speak. But I’m warning you, I’m not in a good mood right now. If you say something trivial, don’t think about going back alive.”

“Of course, Demon Lord.”

The man. The Blood Demon, smiled more softly than ever.

“Demon Lord, I have heard that the situation is not good.”

“Thanks to you.”

“I would like to make a proposal to the Demon Lord from where I am.”

“A proposal?”

The Blood Demon quietly nodded his head.

“I have heard that the reason why the Demon Lord is trapped in this ridiculous place is because you want to resolve this situation through legal means, not through force. Is that correct?”

“I don’t know where you heard that, but you’re thinking whatever you want. Keep talking.”

“We have that method.”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes flashed slightly.

“Say that again.”

“Demon Lord, please take our hand. We will give you everything you desire. We will let you destroy them with your eyes open, and we will let you hear their agonizing screams.”

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

“Negotiation?”

Kang Jin-ho took a step forward. Then, he stretched out his foot and gently stepped on the back of the Blood Demon’s head, which was bowed to the floor.

“Are you trying to negotiate with me, Blood Demon?”

“Demon Lord!”

Even though his head was digging into the hard concrete floor, the Blood Demon didn’t even groan.

“This is not a negotiation. This is our reverence. Demon Lord, please give me the opportunity to serve you. Then I will give you everything you desire.”

A devilish smile bloomed on Kang Jin-ho’s face.

“That’s quite interesting.”

Kang Jin-ho took his foot off the Blood Demon’s head and went to the wall, leaning his back against it.

“Explain it. I’ll listen.”

“You will not be disappointed.” The Blood Demon smiled and began to speak.