Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1521

Lee Myeong-hwan was watching the entrance with a tense face.

Some time ago, the occupation of Japan was completely over.

Of course, Lee Myeong-hwan was well aware that ‘complete’ in that sense couldn’t be a true ‘complete’.

It was impossible to make the Japanese warriors acknowledge and accept Korea’s occupation. Right now, they were just accepting reality and hiding their rebellious spirit inside.

What they did was minimize the places where that rebellious spirit could be expressed, and even if they were aiming for something, they made it so they couldn’t act recklessly.

‘Even that is amazing.’

If Lee Myeong-hwan had been in charge, it was something he wouldn’t have been able to accomplish even in ten years. But Jang Min had handled that enormous task in just a few months.

And that was while training the demonic flames in between.

In that process, Lee Myeong-hwan had realized one thing for sure.

He didn’t know if the Demonic Cult was strong, but Jang Min was definitely strong. It wasn’t just that his martial prowess was strong as a warrior, but his abilities were incomparable to ordinary people.

‘The same must be true for the Lord [referring to Kang Jin-ho].’

Because of that, many of his preconceived notions about demonic arts had disappeared. Until recently, Lee Myeong-hwan still felt uneasy about learning demonic arts, but after spending time with Jang Min and the others in Japan, that perception had largely faded.

Although his perception of ordinary Demonic Cult members wasn’t very good.

“But are they really coming now?”

“Why did they suddenly gather us?”

He could hear his colleagues whispering behind him.

The reason they were gathered here was because Kang Jin-ho had summoned them.

It had been a while since they returned from Japan, but Kang Jin-ho was so busy that they hadn’t even had a proper greeting. And today, Kang Jin-ho had finally gathered them.

“Am I the only one nervous? Can I go to the bathroom?”

“Hey, you bastard, how many times have you gone to the bathroom since earlier?”

“I feel like I’m going to pee, what am I supposed to do?”

“Is a warrior not being able to hold his pee? Just pee and let it dry, you bastard.”

“That doesn’t make any sense…”

That’s when it happened.

Clunk!

The door opened, and Kang Jin-ho walked in.

The demonic flames tensed up and straightened their bodies.

Lee Myeong-hwan swallowed hard.

In fact, he was secretly looking forward to it.

‘We’ve gotten stronger too.’

Training with Kang Jin-ho was tough, but Kang Jin-ho had so much work that he couldn’t spend a lot of time with the demonic flames.

But this trip to Japan was different.

Jang Min spent all his free time, except for the time he needed for his own tasks, training the demonic flames. Thanks to that, they had made rapid progress in a short period.

Lee Myeong-hwan was confident that he was at least twice as strong as before he went to Japan.

So, even the Lord would praise…

Twitch.

Lee Myeong-hwan’s face turned pale.

An unbelievable aura was emanating from Kang Jin-ho as he walked in.

“Uh…”

He could feel the bewilderment from behind him.

It meant that the other demonic flames were feeling the same thing as Lee Myeong-hwan.

‘It feels like my body is being crushed.’

It was like a giant’s hand was squeezing his body. His flesh was twisting, and he was suffocating.

‘No, why all of a sudden?’

As Lee Myeong-hwan was wondering if they had done something wrong, he saw Kang Jin-ho’s calm face.

“You’ve all worked very hard, but I’ve been so busy with various things that I haven’t been able to say anything. I’m sorry.”

But Kang Jin-ho looked no different from usual.

Only then did Lee Myeong-hwan realize that the strange thing wasn’t Kang Jin-ho, but themselves.

‘Could it be?’

Lee Myeong-hwan and the demonic flames had become stronger.

That meant that their demonic arts had deepened, and their level had increased. Just a moment ago, Lee Myeong-hwan had boasted that he was twice as strong.

‘Now we can feel it.’

When a warrior becomes stronger, it means they become more sensitive to energy. And what they had learned was demonic arts. The owner of demonic arts feels the opponent’s demonic energy more sensitively.

“Demons cannot dare to oppose the Demonic Lord. It’s not a matter of loyalty.”

Once, Lee Myeong-hwan had questioned why Kang Jin-ho didn’t particularly control the Demonic Cult members. Jang Min’s answer to that was exactly that.

He didn’t understand it then, but now he felt like he knew.

The deeper their demonic arts became, the more they would know.

How strong Kang Jin-ho was.

How enormous his demonic energy was.

‘I’ve been by his side for so long… I thought I knew.’

He thought he understood enough.

But they didn’t know anything.

How terrifying something was inside that young man with that calm face.

Trickle.

Cold sweat streamed down Lee Myeong-hwan’s face.

He would get used to it.

It was just that he was feeling this way because it had been a while since they had met, and this feeling wouldn’t last.

Even though he knew that, Lee Myeong-hwan couldn’t calm down at all.

“Why is the atmosphere like this?”

Kang Jin-ho’s gaze turned to Lee Myeong-hwan.

“Is something wrong?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”

Lee Myeong-hwan raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his face.

Kang Jin-ho stared at Lee Myeong-hwan and the demonic flames once, as if they were strange, and then opened his mouth.

“You’ve all worked hard.”

“No, sir!”

“Originally, you weren’t supposed to be in charge of the work in Japan. I’m sorry for making you wear clothes that didn’t fit.”

“That’s not true, Lord! We’ve gained a lot from it!”

“Is that so?”

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

“Come to think of it, Jang Min said he really pushed you guys hard. But… you don’t seem very confident for that?”

I had it.

It’s gone.

…Until just now, that confidence or whatever it was, definitely existed.

But…

‘How can I have confidence after seeing this?’

He could see why Jang Min acted like he would carry Kang Jin-ho on his head.

Perhaps Jang Min saw more than what the demonic flames were seeing now, and felt more than what the demonic flames were feeling.

So, it was inevitable.

At that point, Kang Jin-ho would almost look like an incarnation of a demon…

‘No, he really did say that.’

Ah, Elder [referring to Jang Min].

Forgive me for calling you a fanatic. We didn’t know anything.

“What did you gain?”

“Answer me, Lee Myeong-hwan.”

Cold sweat began to flow from Lee Myeong-hwan’s forehead again.

“We, uh, well…”

Lee Myeong-hwan opened his mouth, sweating profusely.

“We… I think we’ve gotten a little stronger. Just a little… really just a little.”

Lee Myeong-hwan barely managed to refrain from adding the words ‘as much as a rat’s tail’ or ‘as much as an ant’s eye’.

“Is that so?”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Lee Myeong-hwan as if he was amused.

“Then we should check it out.”

“…Yes?”

“Get ready and come to the training grounds. Let’s see how much stronger you’ve become.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled and turned to leave.

The demonic flames, who didn’t understand what was going on, all glared at Lee Myeong-hwan.

“Hey, you bastard! Why did you say we got stronger and create this situation!”

“Are you crazy!”

“What are we going to do about this?”

Lee Myeong-hwan was flustered.

“Ah, no!”

Just a moment ago, you guys were all puffed up, saying you were going to get praised by the Lord for coming back stronger.

But suddenly?

“I, I didn’t say anything wrong…”

“Shut up, you bastard!”

“That mouth of yours!”

Lee Myeong-hwan felt wronged to death.

But he understood how the others felt right now.

‘I’m going crazy too…’

If it had been before, they wouldn’t have made such a fuss just because Kang Jin-ho was checking their training results.

Rather, they would have been happy and rushed out, thinking it was a good opportunity to train with the Lord after a long time.

But after feeling Kang Jin-ho’s power on their skin just now, the path to the training grounds felt like a path to the slaughterhouse.

“We have to go…”

“Yeah, we have to go.”

The demonic flames got up from their seats with eyes as sad as cows. Then they started walking out, shuffling their feet.

“You son of a bitch.”

“That mouth of yours.”

“We should have left him in Japan. Or thrown him into the Korea Strait.”

Lee Myeong-hwan closed his eyes tightly and endured the pouring criticism.

‘Yeah. Go ahead, criticize me!’

The group arrived at the training grounds, shuffling their feet, and looked at Kang Jin-ho with trembling eyes.

‘Ah, so this is how it felt.’

He could understand how much fear those who had faced Kang Jin-ho as an enemy had suffered.

‘I was mistaken in thinking I understood.’

Now he knew what it meant to face that person.

“Geez…”

Lee Myeong-hwan let out a groan without realizing it.

There was no one else who looked so imposing standing there alone.

Kang Jin-ho turned his head slightly, looking at the demonic flames who had arrived.

“Who should we start with?”

Lee Myeong-hwan closed his eyes tightly.

‘I knew he would say that.’

Even if the others didn’t, Lee Myeong-hwan was sure that he would say those words.

Because every time those words came out, the person who suffered was always himself.

“Lee Myeong-hwan.”

See, see!

That consistent person!

Lee Myeong-hwan walked forward with a face like he was about to die.

What made him even sadder was the gloating gaze he felt from behind.

‘You bad bastards.’

When they were training together in Japan and rolling around on the floor, they were saying all sorts of things like, ‘We are one, let’s never change our friendship!’

There’s no one to trust in this world, and that was exactly right.

Lee Myeong-hwan faced Kang Jin-ho and took a deep breath.

‘Don’t be scared.’

He knew that Kang Jin-ho was strong.

But that didn’t mean that Lee Myeong-hwan hadn’t improved.

Kang Jin-ho would move forward in his own way, but Lee Myeong-hwan was also getting stronger in his own way.

The opponent’s strength didn’t negate his own growth.

‘I’ve become strong enough.’

Lee Myeong-hwan opened and closed his eyes. Then his breathing stabilized, and he began to feel confident.

“I’m ready.”

“Hmm?”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Lee Myeong-hwan as if he was amused.

“You seem confident.”

“…It’s not that I’m confident.”

Lee Myeong-hwan said firmly.

“But I don’t want to deny the training I’ve done. I’ve become stronger than before, and if I don’t believe that, I’d be disrespecting myself.”

“…Hmm?”

“I’ll do my best. Please evaluate me coldly and praise me or get angry. I’ll use that as a stepping stone to improve further.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled and looked at Lee Myeong-hwan.

He was confident.

Perhaps what he had gained in Japan wasn’t martial prowess.

It seemed that he had grown quite a bit mentally while being with Jang Min.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“It’s nothing.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded as if he was satisfied.

However…

“Evaluation… Yes, I should evaluate you to the best of my ability.”

Lee Myeong-hwan, who noticed that Kang Jin-ho’s tone was strange, raised his head sharply.

•人•근 己릇

—— o •

Kang Jin-ho’s hand emerged from the subspace.

In his hand were Red Dew and Blue Dew [likely referring to specific weapons or items].

What?

He’s using weapons?

…What?

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Whoosh!

The demonic energy that burst out momentarily began to engulf Kang Jin-ho.

In an instant, the part of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth, which was covered in flames of demonic energy, rippled.

“Shall we see what you’ve accomplished?”

Hey?

Isn’t this cheating?

…Hey?