Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1666

It was a fight of a slightly different nature.

Lee Hyun-soo felt as if his soul were being stolen by the spectacle unfolding before his eyes.

‘What am I even witnessing?’

He had imagined such a scene before.

Buildings collapsing with a single sword strike, the earth being torn asunder with a single fist.

A battle between beings that could not be called human.

Everyone else rendered powerless before them.

However, the scene before him was completely different from his expectations.

Of course, it was a battle between beings beyond human, but the essence of it was distinctly different.

Look.

The sword cuts through the air like a flash of light.

Kaaaaaang!

The continuously swung sword tore through the air.

The tip of the sword, exceeding the speed of sound, was creating sonic booms in succession as it ripped through the air. Then, sword strikes poured down dozens, even hundreds of times with each blink of an eye.

And against those sword strikes, transparent hands and pure white hands were thrashing about like ghosts wandering in the darkness.

Bator trembled as he watched the scene.

‘This is really…’

He had seen Hong Wang and Kang Jin-ho fight once before in the past.

And he had also witnessed Kang Jin-ho’s fierce battle with the Elder Knights.

But this fight was completely different from those.

It was as if…

‘It feels like a clash of malice and malice.’

If the previous battles between the strong and Kang Jin-ho had a solemnity like a scene from a myth, the current battle between Kang Jin-ho and Chang Wang was, in the truest sense, a fight.

The killing intent to absolutely destroy the opponent was bursting out, and the malice towards the opponent was pouring out unfiltered.

What martial arts had to include to not become a mere fighting technique.

Respect and courtesy for the opponent.

It was because they possessed that that martial arts could be more than just a fighting technique. But what was felt from them now was just a simple obsession and the murderous intent to absolutely kill the opponent.

“That…”

“It’s like a beast fight.”

At Wiggins’ words, Bator nodded his head without realizing it.

Wolves facing each other at the edge of their territory,

were thrashing about to kill each other.

It was a strange thing.

One was the Three Kings who had ruled China.

And the other was the Demon King who ruled Korea.

Either way, they were like idols to martial artists. Even now, countless martial artists around the world were sacrificing sleep to train in order to reach that supreme level.

So, wasn’t it ridiculous?

Bator spoke as if growling.

“Is it ultimately a return to the starting point?”

Their current battle was completely denying the martial arts that martial artists had built up over thousands of years.

“They’re like crazy bastards!”

Bator’s teeth were clenched as if they would break.

Alright, show me.

How far will you go!

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

Skin was being torn away.

Chang Wang’s hand, having pushed the energy of the Nine Yin White Bone Claw [a martial art focused on bone-shattering strikes] to the point of his arm bursting, brushed past right next to Kang Jin-ho’s face. That energy pierced through Kang Jin-ho’s demonic energy and tore the skin of his face.

If the direction had changed slightly, his ear would have been torn off, and if it had gone in just an inch deeper, half of his face would have been blown away.

But the price was not small either.

Crack, crack, crack!

Chang Wang’s hand forcibly pried open the defense of the Red Dew [Kang Jin-ho’s sword]. The moment he extended his arm, the Red Dew embedded in his wrist scraped his arm long.

Rather than cutting, it scraped. No, rather than scraping, it tore.

Chang Wang’s arm, hardened by the energy of the Nine Yin White Bone Claw, became tattered in an instant.

“Kuh!”

Chang Wang gritted his teeth and emitted killing intent from both eyes.

The pain of his arm being torn off was surely unbearable, but right now, he didn’t feel any such pain at all.

“Haaah!”

Without even retracting his right hand, his left hand was extended. Chang Wang, having pulled the energy of the Minor Hand of Demonic Arts [a martial art focused on internal energy manipulation] to its limit, extended his hand towards Kang Jin-ho’s stomach.

The Red Dew was currently embedded in his right arm.

If he blew Kang Jin-ho away like this, his right arm might also be torn off. But there was not a single moment of hesitation in Chang Wang’s attack.

The madness of being willing to give up an arm if it meant killing the opponent.

And at the same time, the reason that perfectly calculated what the benefit was by weighing the Demon King’s life and his own arm.

It was chilling.

Kang Jin-ho, having pulled the Red Dew from Chang Wang’s right arm, crossed the Red Dew and Blue Dew [Kang Jin-ho’s other sword] in front of his stomach.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

It came rushing in.

A chill that felt like it would tear his flesh pierced into his body through the gap of demonic energy explosively shoved into his sword.

“Kuh.”

From his mouth, which briefly exhaled, white breath puffed out like cigarette smoke. The piercing chill had instantly frozen the air in his lungs.

“Maaaaaaah!”

Chang Wang rushed forward and tried to gouge out Kang Jin-ho’s neck.

Kang Jin-ho bared his teeth as he watched the scene.

Kang Jin-ho’s foot was embedded in Chang Wang’s stomach as he rushed in. No, to be precise, Kang Jin-ho’s foot kicked the top of Chang Wang’s left hand, which had blocked his stomach.

The leg strength, having pushed in demonic energy, blew away even Chang Wang’s body, which had succeeded in a perfect defense, like a kicked soccer ball.

Kwaaaaaang!

Chang Wang was shot out like a cannonball.

On the surface, it looked like a perfect attack. But the price Kang Jin-ho paid was not small either.

Without retracting the foot he had extended, he slightly lowered his gaze.

Not only his shoes but also the clothes up to his knees were all frozen, covered in white frost.

Even in the moment he was kicked away, he had pushed in as much of the Minor Hand of Demonic Arts’ chill into his foot as possible.

‘Penetration Skill (浸透勤)’

Pushing one’s energy into the opponent’s body

to destroy them from the inside.

He had met countless masters who used the Penetration Skill until now, but seeing someone who had raised that Penetration Skill to this level was a first even for Kang Jin-ho, in both his past and present lives.

Crack.

A strange bone sound flowed from his foot. The sensation of frozen bones and flesh being crushed. A sharp pain, as if thousands of pieces of metal were rolling around inside his leg.

‘This is closer to poison arts.’

Kang Jin-ho bared his teeth and smiled.

It was the first time he had seen it.

Someone who had interpreted the Demonic Arts to this extent.

Someone who had raised the Demonic Arts to this level.

‘He’s strong.’

He was different from any type of enemy Kang Jin-ho had faced so far. That guy was layering each of these attacks, eventually turning his opponent into a poisoned prey.

If he didn’t accurately understand this situation, his body would become increasingly dull, and eventually, like a beast bitten by a venomous snake, he would be left with his eyes open, his body stiff, waiting for the opponent to swallow him whole.

There was a limit to poison.

As martial arts became higher, resistance increased, and at some point, the body’s recovery power would surpass the toxicity.

But this was different.

‘Basically, poison arts are the best way for the weak to defeat the strong.’

But the limit of poison was that it didn’t work on the strong.

Then?

What if there was a poison that worked on the strong, and an even stronger person used it?

That was the level Chang Wang had reached now.

Kang Jin-ho circulated energy through his frozen ankle and covered his face with one hand.

‘It wasn’t a lie that he defeated Hong Wang.’

Hong Wang would have been defeated. He wouldn’t have paid attention to this energy that was penetrating his body. No matter how much he struggled, he would have thought that he couldn’t do anything about the powerful inner force residing in his body.

That’s where the battle was decided.

“If the chill stays in just one place, the energy won’t flow freely. Then the power of inner force will be halved.”

“That’s correct.”

Crumble.

Chang Wang, who had crashed into a pile of rubble, stood up briskly. Blood was dripping down his forehead, but Chang Wang smiled brightly as if blood was nothing to him.

“As expected of the Demon King. Your understanding is different from that idiot. It seems like you understand what situation you are in right now?”

Kang Jin-ho laughed.

It was a strange thing.

To put it coldly, the situation was not good.

Chang Wang was stronger than he had thought, and he was someone who had the ability to sink his poisonous fangs into that Hong Wang. And behind such Chang Wang, there were still martial artists waiting, with their strength almost completely preserved.

Fear and agitation?

That came from the power Kang Jin-ho possessed.

If he exhausted his strength in the battle with Chang Wang, the rabbits who had been running away in fear would instantly turn into a pack of wolves and try to sink their fangs into Kang Jin-ho’s body.

More frantically as they were more terrified.

If that happened, no matter how strong Kang Jin-ho was, no matter how much he was the head of the alliance, he wouldn’t be able to withstand it. Because he couldn’t possibly face all of these people at the same time.

But…

It was a strange thing.

His head was cold and calm. Demonic energy no longer tainted his mind with madness. If he thought rationally, it was right to start thinking about escaping at this point.

So it was ridiculous.

So…

“It seems like demonic energy was just an excuse.”

Kang Jin-ho bared his teeth like a beast and laughed.

Even in this desperate situation, the thought of running away didn’t even cross his mind.

His heart was shouting.

To sink a knife into that damn bastard’s neck, to confirm the red blood gushing out with his own two eyes, and to trample on his eyes that were being dyed with despair.

Kang Jin-ho slowly raised the Red Dew and Blue Dew.

Chang Wang, seeing that scene, lightly clenched and unclenched his fist.

‘It’s chilling.’

It felt like the tip of his nose was throbbing.

Even though he knew that it couldn’t possibly be, it felt like he kept smelling a fishy odor at the tip of his nose. The blood smell coming from the untamed wild beast’s body.

But…

“You’re like a beast.”

Many people would have been eaten by that wildness.

Perhaps they died, unable to even exert half of their skills, crushed by this absurd momentum.

“But you’ve met the wrong opponent. Dealing with beasts is my specialty. Beasts eventually die at the hands of humans. You will die as prey.”

“Prey?”

Kang Jin-ho laughed.

Come to think of it, he had been treated that way quite a bit in the past.

Kang Jin-ho looked at Chang Wang with sunken eyes.

“I don’t think you’re exactly wrong, your way. No, I’m rather impressed.”

Chang Wang silently looked at Kang Jin-ho.

‘He’s calm.’

A beast that has been injured and cornered roars and struggles. To prove that it still has power left.

But what about a beast that truly has power left?

‘It silences its voice and lowers its posture.’

To bite the hunter to death in one go and reverse the situation.

In Chang Wang’s eyes, Kang Jin-ho’s figure overlapped with the figure of a black beast that had lowered its posture.

“But you know too.”

Kang Jin-ho bared his teeth.

His eyes began to gleam with a completely different killing intent and madness than before.

“It’s also a beast that kills the hunter.”

“Just like it’s a hunter that kills the beast.”

The two of them smiled at the same time.

They could not mix.

No matter how you looked at it, they were like water and oil.

They were beings that could not have goodwill towards each other.

Then there was only one thing left.

To kill the opponent with all their might and prove that they were right.

“Haaaaaaap!”

“Taaaaaat!”

Black demonic energy surged from Kang Jin-ho’s body. At the same time, pure white yin energy rose from Chang Wang’s body like a heat haze.

The king of demons and the king of evil began to rush at each other, trying to bite each other’s necks.