Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1602

“The Ocean King?”

Did he just say Ocean King?

Lee Hyun-joo’s face was filled with undisguised contempt.

“You were sucking up to Japan, and now you’re sucking up to China? And to one of the Three Kings?”

“Those with nowhere to go are bound to seek a place to rely on. The Crimson King faction seems to be on good terms with you, so there’s nowhere else to go, is there?”

“You piece of trash…”

Lee Hyun-joo gritted her teeth.

It was shameful that she had once considered such a person family.

“I wish you wouldn’t look at me like that.”

Lee Sung-hwi said, sounding a bit bitter.

“I wasn’t planning to use the Ocean King to attack the Assembly. I don’t have the power to do that. The one who could do that wasn’t me, but Kim Seok-il. He’s probably buried at the bottom of the East Sea.”

His voice was self-deprecating.

“I just sought out the Ocean King faction to survive. And I’m still alive because I was deemed to have some value. I’m… yes, I’m nothing.”

“For someone who’s just deemed to have some value, you seem to be quite favored? You can even enter Korea at your own will.”

“You…”

Lee Sung-hwi tried to say something but sighed instead.

“I understand why you think there’s an ulterior motive behind all my actions. I’ve shown you such things, so there’s no room for excuses. But this time, it’s not like that. I really came to warn you.”

“Warn me about what?”

“I told you, leave the Assembly. That’s the only way you’ll live.”

Lee Hyun-joo scoffed at Lee Sung-hwi’s words.

“You must be terrified after seeing the Ocean King faction.”

“You wouldn’t be any different.”

“No, I’m different. Unlike you, I’m watching over the Assembly. You don’t know how much the Assembly has changed since you left.”

“I know.”

“No, you don’t.”

Lee Hyun-joo shook her head firmly.

“The Assembly you know is just the surface. You can’t even imagine how much the Assembly has changed. The current Assembly is completely different from the one you knew.”

Lee Sung-hwi stared at Lee Hyun-joo without a word.

Then, he let out a low sigh.

“I’m not trying to fight.”

“Shut up. You’ve already started a fight. You started it as you pleased, and you ended it as you pleased. I have no intention of ending that fight.”

Lee Sung-hwi quietly looked at Lee Hyun-joo.

“I said I don’t know the Assembly, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know the Ocean King?”

Lee Sung-hwi retorted coldly.

“Do you know the Ocean King faction? Do you have any idea how terrifying they are? Can you, who’s lived like a princess in this small country of Korea, even imagine what kind of people they are?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“You seem to be enjoying yourself.”

Lee Sung-hwi twisted the corners of his mouth.

“You’ve advanced into the light, got a decent position, and are tapping away at your keyboard like a capable career woman. Does life seem beautiful now?”

“And you’re living with someone who’s practically your enemy?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“You’re doing great.”

Lee Sung-hwi growled.

“To you, I’m a traitor, right?”

“You know it well.”

“To me, you’re a traitor too. You betrayed me, you betrayed grandfather, and you betrayed the Assembly!”

Lee Sung-hwi, who had been speaking in a slightly rough voice, took a deep breath.

“I came all this way because I’m worried about you. You can criticize and curse me, I don’t care. I didn’t expect you to understand anyway. So, at least…”

Lee Sung-hwi took out a cigarette from his pocket.

“At least listen to what I have to say properly.”

“Smoking is not allowed here.”

“Not for Kang Jin-ho, I suppose?”

Lee Sung-hwi smiled bitterly.

“You guys are too complacent.”

Lee Hyun-joo glared at Lee Sung-hwi with cold eyes. But Lee Sung-hwi calmly accepted her gaze.

“The Assembly during the time of conflict with the Yeongnam Association was more tense. To my eyes, you look like sheep taking a nap with three wolves beside you.”

“We already fought and won against the Crimson King faction.”

“That’s where you’re mistaken. When did you ever fight the Crimson King faction? Didn’t you just run away with all your might? So, can the Assembly’s power really stand against the Crimson King faction?”

“Not a single one will survive, not a single one. It’s already decided. And that time isn’t far away.”

Lee Sung-hwi got up from his seat.

“There’s no point in talking anymore, you won’t listen anyway. I’ve done my duty. At least, even if you die, I’ll have something to say to Master. Not that I can kidnap you.”

“Should I say thank you?”

“Still being sarcastic to the end.”

“Then what? Did you expect me to be grateful?” Lee Hyun-joo glared at Lee Sung-hwi with cold eyes.

“You don’t deserve my gratitude. You’re trash. Why should I be grateful to someone who has given up on being human? Even if the day comes when you save my life, I will never be grateful to you.”

“…That hurts a bit.”

Lee Sung-hwi chuckled.

“I thought you’d at least try to persuade me once.”

“Me? Persuade you?”

Lee Hyun-joo chuckled.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t have a hobby of keeping non-recyclable trash in my house. The place you should go isn’t the Assembly, but hell.”

“I’m already there.”

Lee Sung-hwi said indifferently.

“We won’t see each other again.”

As Lee Sung-hwi turned around, Lee Hyun-joo bit her lip.

She didn’t want to talk to him.

But she had to say this.

“If it weren’t for that pathetic inferiority complex, you wouldn’t have become like this.”

Lee Sung-hwi stopped walking.

“If you hadn’t lost your mind trying to fight someone you couldn’t handle!”

Lee Sung-hwi slowly turned his head.

She had expected him to be coldly hardened, but surprisingly, Lee Sung-hwi’s expression was rather gentle.

“You’re talking nonsense.”

“It’s because we struggle against the impossible that we are human. Beasts don’t resist those stronger than themselves. It’s because we are human that we resist.”

“You…”

“And if you know that, listen to me. The Ocean King is a powerful being that you can’t handle. You’re doing the same stupid thing I did.”

Lee Hyun-joo frowned.

“Is that something you should be saying?”

“Right now, yes.”

Lee Sung-hwi hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“I’m like a fallen mountaineer. I rushed to climb a mountain that no one has ever conquered without any preparation, and fell into a crevasse, barely clinging to life.
A mountaineer who can’t escape on his own because of broken limbs, and who is just waiting for the day he dies without any comrades to come and save him!”

“That’s poetic.”

“Haha…”

Lee Sung-hwi shook his head.

“Don’t become like me. I just wanted to say that. Just that.”

A face with sunken cheeks.

Eyes that had lost their light.

Perhaps Lee Sung-hwi’s words about seeing hell while still alive were true.

Yet, she didn’t feel even a bit of sympathy for him because what he had done had deviated from the path of a human.

“Go.”

“Don’t come again. I don’t want to see your face.”

“That’s a very good farewell.”

Lee Sung-hwi walked towards the door, opened it, and went outside. Then, before closing the door, he turned his head.

“Don’t forget what I said earlier.”

“You don’t know who is behind all of this. The Ocean King isn’t the kind of person you think he is. He’s… he’s a truly terrifying being. He makes even that Kang Jin-ho look like a child.”

“Remember that.”

Thud.

The door closed.

Then, Lee Hyun-joo, who had been staring at the door with clenched fists, collapsed on the spot.

Leaning against the wall, Lee Hyun-joo closed her eyes.

‘The Ocean King.’

The fact that Lee Sung-hwi was trash didn’t change, but it didn’t seem like he was lying.

‘I have to report this.’

Lee Hyun-joo struggled to get up.

Lee Hyun-soo’s phone number was on her phone.

* * *

“Lee Sung-hwi?”

Kang Jin-ho narrowed his brows.

“Yes. It seems he paid a visit.”

“…”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho’s brows narrowed a bit more.

Even though it was nighttime, to move around so freely inside… That was impossible for the Lee Sung-hwi of the past.

“We need to strengthen security.”

“It seems necessary. I thought that by deploying guards, ordinary people wouldn’t be able to approach, but I didn’t expect this kind of situation to happen…”

They had been complacent.

Lee Hyun-soo bit her lip slightly.

If Lee Sung-hwi had approached with bad intentions, Lee Hyun-joo wouldn’t be alive right now.

‘I should have remembered that it’s not safe just because it’s Korea…’

Even though she thought she should be vigilant, she always became lax.

“For now, I’ll strengthen the security for MK, the Chairman’s family, and President Hwang… and other people as well.”

“Do that.”

This time, Kang Jin-ho nodded without saying anything.

“And…”

Lee Hyun-soo said with a slightly nervous face.

“What Lee Sung-hwi said is bothering me. The fact that the Ocean King is setting up the board.”

The Ocean King…

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes darkened.

He had experienced the Crimson King enough to feel familiar with him, but the Ocean King and the Black King were still unknown to him.

According to the Crimson King, they were martial artists of equal level to him, but…

‘The Crimson King is straightforward.’

You could break a straightforward person with martial arts. But the Ocean King wasn’t someone who moved only with martial arts. Kang Jin-ho knew from experience that such people were several times more dangerous.

“How’s the information on China coming along?”

“We’re getting diverse information from the Round Table, the Chinese government, the National Intelligence Service, and the Assembly’s intelligence department, which we’ve been recently reinforcing, but we haven’t been able to obtain any information about the inner workings of the Ocean King or Black King factions.”

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho scratched his chin.

“For now, no matter how much money it takes, let’s try to strengthen the intelligence department a bit more.”

“Understood.”

“And…”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho said with a chuckle.

“Contact the Crimson King faction and tell them to hand over information about the Ocean King.”

“…The Crimson King faction?”

“Yes.”

“Will they give it to us? They’re our allies, but that’s just in name only…”

“They will.”

“Chaikechang will oppose it, but the Crimson King won’t. He’ll think that he can’t do anything with that kind of information.”

And that thought wasn’t exactly wrong.

“But right now, we need even a straw to grasp at. We should gratefully accept even the information that the Crimson King throws at us.”

“I’ll try to convey that.”

“Okay.”

As Lee Hyun-soo bowed her head and went outside, Kang Jin-ho took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

‘As expected.’

He didn’t think they would wait for them for too long.

Just as they were moving urgently, they would be moving as well. It’s just that they were so huge that their movements weren’t easily visible.

A turbulent river changes its shape, but a turbulent ocean is just an ocean.

Click.

Kang Jin-ho, who had lit his cigarette, leaned back on the sofa.

‘Can I protect them?’

He wasn’t sure yet.

But…

Kang Jin-ho slowly closed his eyes.

In his closed eyes, the image of the Heavenly Demon Lord appeared.

– Are you not confident?

Not at all.

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

“You’ll soon find out.”

That the only one in this world who deserves to be called a king is just one person.