Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1660

‘Hongwang, my lord!’

Chaikercang bit his lip.

Hongwang was in no condition to fight anyone right now. If he could, he wouldn’t have waited for the General Assembly’s structure and would have tried to escape on his own.

Using martial arts in his current state was no different from suicide. Even if he didn’t die, it was clear that it would cause serious side effects.

Yet, Chaikercang couldn’t stop Hongwang.

Was it because they needed Hongwang’s power to deal with this many opponents?

Or was it because they needed to prove their strength to cooperate with the General Assembly in the future?

No.

At this moment, telling him to stand aside and just watch from behind would be an act of crushing Hongwang’s pride.

Risking his life for mere pride?

‘It’s not mere.’

Chaikercang gritted his teeth.

Murtial arts that have surpassed a certain level transcend the physical and reach the realm of the mind. For those who have reached that level, even a minor mental disturbance can diminish their power more than a major physical injury.

Hongwang, who has lost his pride, is no longer Hongwang. Just hiding in a hole in the ground while waiting for the General Assembly and Kang Jin-ho had already sent Hongwang’s pride plummeting.

How could he tell him to endure any more humiliation?

‘Hongwang, my lord!’

Chaikercang could only hope that Hongwang wouldn’t overdo it.

And…

Chaikercang’s eyes coldly scanned his surroundings.

If the martial artists were going to overcome the situation with their strength and martial prowess, then what he had to do was solve this situation with his mind. Even if it was a gamble that relied on a despairingly low probability!

‘It’s bleak, indeed.’

The power displayed by the General Assembly’s directors was easily exceeding Chaikercang’s expectations.

‘When did Bator become so strong?’

Of course, Chaikercang acknowledged Bator’s strength. He was once part of Hongwang’s faction. He couldn’t escape Chaikercang’s eyes. Even back then, Bator was already strong enough.

But the Bator rampaging before his eyes now was on a different level.

Bator had become so incredibly strong in the meantime that Chaikercang doubted if he was even the same Bator he remembered.

‘Is it demonic cultivation?’

No, that couldn’t be all.

If simply learning demonic cultivation could make someone that strong, the demons would have conquered the world long ago. Demonic cultivation could be one reason, but it was definitely not the whole story.

And Jang Min.

Chaikercang looked at Jang Min with trembling eyes.

‘Were demons always this strong?’

Of course, there was the example of Kang Jin-ho.

But Kang Jin-ho was fundamentally an outlier. He would have been this strong even if he wasn’t a demon. No matter what martial art he learned, Kang Jin-ho would have eventually reached this level.

But for someone who wasn’t Kang Jin-ho to emit such terrifying demonic energy… it was unbelievable.

Chaikercang bit his lip.

‘Did I underestimate the General Assembly?’

That couldn’t be.

Chaikercang was one of the people who held the General Assembly in the highest regard in the world. No, perhaps Chaikercang was the one who overestimated the General Assembly the most.

Yet, he didn’t know.

‘Does it mean they even surpass my expectations?’

As Chaikercang gritted his teeth, a cold voice reached his ear.

“Stop daydreaming and focus, you idiot.”

“This…”

Chaikercang whipped his head around.

Lee Hyun-soo, standing next to him, was staring ahead with cold eyes, smoking a cigarette.

“If you have time to think about other things, use your head. If you can’t escape from here, you won’t have another chance to use that stupid head of yours.”

“Is there any point in thinking with a stupid head?”

“It’s better than nothing.”

Lee Hyun-soo took a deep drag of his cigarette, his face slightly anxious.

“This is no time for jokes. Do you see it?”

“…Yes.”

Chaikercang looked ahead with a serious expression.

Bator was indeed strong. And Jang Min was terrifyingly strong as well. Hongwang was naturally showing power that surpassed them, and Wiggins, who had drawn his sword and joined the front lines, was also displaying surprisingly precise swordsmanship.

But that didn’t mean the situation had improved.

No matter how strong a lion is, it can’t handle a pack of dozens of hyenas. The reason a lion can chase away hyenas is because the hyenas have no reason to risk a great sacrifice to catch that one lion.

The moment that reason arises, even a lion can’t handle a pack of hyenas.

The situation was exactly like that now.

Hongwang and the directors of the General Assembly were all incredibly powerful.

To kill them, more than half of the Changwang martial artists gathered here might have to die.

‘Under normal circumstances, they should have already collapsed.’

A battle where one side has to risk death is impossible to establish. No one wants to take such a risk.

But now, such a battle was continuing.

The martial artists, who should have already fled, were charging at the directors with their eyes rolled back.

Chaikercang bit his lip.

‘It’s too solid.’

What he saw looked like an ocean. But the image forming in Chaikercang’s mind was closer to a giant wall than an ocean.

A giant wall that wouldn’t crumble no matter what attack it faced, so high that one wouldn’t even dare to climb it.

And the source of that wall was very simple.

“Fear.”

“Yes, it’s fear.”

Lee Hyun-soo said, gritting his teeth.

“Those guys won’t back down. They know that the moment they run, a more miserable and terrible death awaits them.”

Lee Hyun-soo was once again shuddering at the thought of Changwang.

How could he have treated his subordinates to make them throw themselves into such certain death?

“What’s the probability?”

“None.”

Chaikercang spat out the words.

“The only possibility is to kill them all. Those guys will keep charging until the last one dies.”

“And we won’t be able to hold out until then.”

“Right. Even if we could hold out, Changwang is waiting behind us for the moment to devour us. Once we’re weakened enough, he’ll reveal himself.”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded.

It was the worst of the worst.

“Then, first…”

That’s when it happened.

“Aaaaaaaargh! Dieeeeeee!”

A Changwang martial artist, his body half torn apart, swung his sword and charged at Lee Hyun-soo.

It was the moment Chaikercang was about to jump in to protect Lee Hyun-soo in panic.

“Hup!”

Bang!

Bang Jin-hoon, who had closed the distance in an instant, kicked the charging martial artist, sending him crashing to the ground. As the martial artist twitched and went limp, Bang Jin-hoon gave a wry smile.

“Keep going, keep going.”

Lee Hyun-soo glanced at Chaikercang’s arm, which was stretched out towards him.

“What is it?”

“…No, nothing.”

Chaikercang quietly retracted his arm and coughed softly.

Lee Hyun-soo didn’t even look at Chaikercang, analyzing the situation with sharp eyes.

‘A trick won’t work in this situation.’

A strategy to deceive the opponent is just a way to gain an advantage. That trick doesn’t guarantee escape.

Then, there was only one thing they had to do now.

“First, we need to get rid of that fear.”

“It would be great if we could. But the fear of Changwang is branded into their minds like a seal. It’s beyond brainwashing. How are we going to do that…”

“It seems the great Chaikercang can’t find a way.”

Chaikercang narrowed his eyes and glared at Lee Hyun-soo.

“But I understand. It’s not something you can know with your head.”

“What do you mean?”

“Getting rid of fear is very simple. People are afraid of a dog that bares its teeth, but if there’s a tiger behind them, they don’t care about the dog.”

Lee Hyun-soo curled up the corners of his lips into a smirk.

“You just have to devour fear with a greater fear. And… there happens to be someone like that here.”

Lee Hyun-soo and Chaikercang’s gazes turned to one place at the same time.

Click.

“Hoo…”

Kang Jin-ho, with a cigarette in his mouth, slowly began to walk forward.

Not fast, not slow, just moderate.

The moment Chaikercang saw that walk, he couldn’t help but hold his breath.

In this fierce battlefield, it seemed as if only Kang Jin-ho was isolated. The space where he breathed and the space where they breathed were clearly no different, but strangely, that place felt like a different dimension.

Thud.

Even amidst the resounding explosions, screams, and maniacal laughter, his footsteps clearly pierced Chaikercang’s ears.

Kang Jin-ho walked past Hongwang, who was exuding power.

“Hmm?”

Kang Jin-ho’s gaze briefly turned to Hongwang.

But that was it.

Kang Jin-ho didn’t say anything to Hongwang and walked forward, and forward again.

His muscles tightened.

The sensation of the earth touching his toes, the sensation of the air brushing his fingertips, and even the blood flow that began to accelerate within his body.

All of it came into complete awareness.

Woo woo woo…

Kang Jin-ho, who had opened a subspace, stretched out both hands to the left and right and pushed them inside. Then, he slowly pulled out the Red Ru and Blue Ru [two swords].

Crack.

Power entered his fingertips.

Kang Jin-ho, who was holding two swords in his hands and letting them hang down, raised his head and looked ahead.

Martial artists, martial artists, and more martial artists.

Numerous martial artists were blocking his path. Their eyes filled with hostility.

An unfamiliar sight?

Well.

It might be an unfamiliar sight to others, but it was a very familiar sight to him. He had seen it countless times in the past. Right here, on this land of China.

‘Is it deja vu?’

He had seen it countless times, experienced it countless times. That’s why Kang Jin-ho knew. He knew how those hostile, childish gazes would change.

“Why didn’t you accept the offer?”

Because he knew.

In Kang Jin-ho’s world, friends existed. But in the world of the Heavenly Demon Lord, friends did not exist. Those who knew him, those who watched him, either became his enemies or knelt before him. They had only two choices.

The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth twisted into a sneer.

“Where.”

What will you choose?

Black demonic energy began to swirl from Kang Jin-ho’s feet.

Like a fierce vortex, like a blazing flame.

And that demonic energy instantly engulfed Kang Jin-ho’s entire body, burning black, and even blacker.

Demonic energy, darker than the darkness that had fallen around him, a deep abyss, rose like wings from Kang Jin-ho’s back.

Those who witnessed the scene lost their words.

They were stunned.

Their souls were stolen.

And then…

From within the darkness, where only sword energy existed, a sinister red light began to emanate.

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth, surrounded by darkness, flickered.

“Because you’re all going to die anyway.”

The demon that had descended into the mortal world began to chase after blood. The moon hid behind the approaching clouds, and the world was dyed in silence.