Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1773

Lee Hyun-soo took a step forward without realizing it.

Hongwang grabbed his shoulder as he moved as if possessed.

“Stop, Lee Hyun-soo.”

Even with Hongwang holding his shoulder, Lee Hyun-soo walked on as if he didn’t notice. Hongwang bit his lip slightly and yanked Lee Hyun-soo back.

“Don’t move!”

Stumbling, Lee Hyun-soo turned his head with a blank look and stared at Hongwang.

“…No matter what we do, we can’t get the Demon King out of there. You know that, don’t you?”

Know that?

Yes, he knew.

He had appeared there in an instant, deceiving everyone’s eyes. For someone like that, even Hongwang, the most powerful being, couldn’t close the distance and save Kang Jin-ho.

Moreover…

‘Hokwang?’

If Changwang was right, that man was also one of the absolute beings who ruled the world. No matter how he thought about it, there was no way out.

But that’s why.

That’s why he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

“Provoking him will put the Demon King in danger.”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled at Hongwang’s words.

So…

He should just stand by and watch?

Watch Kang Jin-ho die?

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes slowly began to fill with bloodshot veins.

Hongwang, seeing that, could only bite his lip.

‘It’s my fault.’

If he had decided not to interfere in this fight, he should have prevented others from interfering as well. That was his role in watching this fight.

But he was so engrossed in the fight that he failed to stop Hokwang’s approach.

Even if he hadn’t been distracted, he couldn’t be sure he could have stopped him, but at least this situation wouldn’t have happened.

Hongwang secretly gathered his energy and focused on the situation ahead.

A suffocating tension pressed down on the arena.

“Black King?”

Kang Jin-ho’s gaze turned to the man wrapped in black bandages.

The loosely wrapped bandages, with their frayed ends fluttering, evoked a strange feeling.

Kang Jin-ho’s gaze slowly returned to Changwang.

“Is this your choice?”

“…Did…I…not…tell…you?”

Changwang struggled to speak.

“…I’d show…you…the way…a coward…fights…”

His twisted smile was chilling.

But even though his physical strength was exhausted, his eyes were clearly regaining their vitality.

And at that moment.

The Black King, who had been silent until now, reached out and touched Changwang’s shoulder.

Woo-oong.

The Black King’s energy began to surge into Changwang’s body. At the same time, Changwang’s labored breathing stabilized.

Kang Jin-ho quietly watched the scene before opening his mouth.

“I’ve changed my mind about you a little.”

“…That’s an honor.”

Changwang grinned, baring his teeth.

“But that’s not my pride. My pride is to win no matter what. Whether it’s cowardly or despicable, it doesn’t matter.”

“Look. I finally have your life in my hands. In the end, I was right, Kang Jin-ho.”

Changwang’s eyes were filled with madness.

He had risked everything to create this situation.

From the beginning of this war, the only task given to him.

To kill Kang Jin-ho.

It was meaningless.

The Assembly and Hongwang meant nothing to him. The Assembly without Kang Jin-ho was just a bunch of nobodies that could be swept away at any time.

But what would change if Kang Jin-ho didn’t have the Assembly?

Kang Jin-ho was Kang Jin-ho.

Whether he led the Assembly or lived alone, the threat he posed to Changwang would not diminish. In this war, there was only one thing he had to achieve, even if it meant risking his life, he had to eliminate Kang Jin-ho.

And that goal was now right in front of him.

“Did you think I had become a martial artist?” Changwang gave a twisted smile.

“There’s no point in beating you in your way. I told you, I’d kill you in my way. Because that would be the greatest humiliation for you.”

A strange heat began to fill Changwang’s eyes.

He had him.

He had finally caught the Demon King. He had risked everything to do it.

If he had attacked Kang Jin-ho with the Black King from the beginning, Hongwang would have naturally helped Kang Jin-ho. If that had happened, there was no guarantee that he could have killed Kang Jin-ho.

For a perfect result, sacrifices had to be made. Even if it was something that could take his life.

In other words, a gamble.

Changwang, who had succeeded in the gamble of his life, trembled with an indescribable pleasure.

“I’ll return your words to you,” Changwang chuckled lowly.

“You were strong.”

“I managed to push you, but in the end, I lost. Even if we fought dozens of times again, we would eventually reach the same result.”

“But Kang Jin-ho, a fight isn’t always won by the strongest. That was your mistake, not knowing that.”

Kang Jin-ho stared at Changwang without a word.

“Now that you know, you won’t have any regrets even if you die. Die. Your death will end all the absurdities.”

At that moment.

Kang Jin-ho began to laugh softly.

And Changwang’s face hardened when he saw that laugh.

“Why are you laughing?”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Changwang and opened his mouth.

“You’re asking the obvious. Because it’s funny.”

“…What’s funny?”

“The things you’re spouting.”

Changwang’s eyes narrowed.

What was funny?

What part of what he said was there to laugh at?

“You look like you’re looking down on a rat in a trap.”

“…You.”

At that moment, Kang Jin-ho stretched one hand behind him.

Woo-oong.

And as if resonating with that gesture, Chungru, which had been flung back and lay on the floor, floated up from its place,

and flew towards Kang Jin-ho’s hand at a terrifying speed.

Thump.

Kang Jin-ho grabbed Chungru and looked at Changwang and the Black King, baring his teeth like a hungry wolf.

“Let’s keep going.”

Changwang’s eyes trembled for a moment.

‘Keep going?’

He wanted to fight more?

In this situation?

Changwang’s lips trembled.

Was it a bluff?

No.

A bluff is something you do when you can deceive someone for your own gain. In this situation, it would be a hundred times better to beg for mercy than to bluff.

Kang Jin-ho really intended to fight.

Even in that state.

Changwang had been under immense pressure from Kang Jin-ho’s existence. But this one sentence made Changwang feel an indescribable fear.

The fear of the unknown, something he couldn’t understand with his common sense.

“…Kill him!”

Changwang shouted.

No, it was more like a terrified scream than a shout.

“Kill him, Black King! Kill him now!”

The Black King, who had his hand on Changwang’s shoulder, slowly turned his head and looked at Kang Jin-ho.

He was in a state that could hardly be called human, but his eyes were sharp and even chilling.

The corners of the Black King’s mouth, wrapped in black bandages,

began to twist.

“…You haven’t changed.”

A clear voice that didn’t match his appearance at all.

The moment he heard that voice, Kang Jin-ho turned his head towards the Black King without realizing it.

‘What is it?’

Even Kang Jin-ho, who had turned his head, didn’t understand why he had reacted like that.

Why?

Why was he momentarily captivated by the Black King?

The eyes of the Black King and Kang Jin-ho met. But Changwang had no idea why the two were looking at each other.

“Kill him now… Aaaaaaaargh!”

At that moment, Changwang began to scream in a truly desperate manner. From the shoulder that the Black King was holding, dark red blood vessels writhed wildly, as if they would burst through his skin.

His wide-open eyes tore, and dried blood dripped down. His mouth, opened as wide as it could go, let out a scream,

but the scream couldn’t escape as a sound.

“Kuh… Kuhh…”

Only faint, intermittent breaths, too weak to be called moans, barely escaped his throat.

“Kuh… Ugh…”

Changwang’s head trembled and turned towards the Black King. The Black King smiled lightly as he looked at Changwang.

Changwang, feeling the Black King’s energy, which had completely destroyed his insides, being withdrawn, uttered a word he couldn’t bear to hold back.

“…Why?”

“Are you curious?”

Changwang’s head slowly nodded. His trembling jaw seemed to express the emotions he was feeling.

“The offer wasn’t bad.”

“Anyone would have to accept the offer you made. You could get rid of the Demon King and the weak Hongwang all at once.”

The Black King’s voice flowed clearly.

“Sharing the world with you isn’t a bad offer either. I can kill you anytime. You must have thought so too. That you could get rid of me when you had the chance.”

A low chuckle escaped him, chillingly.

“But the problem is…”

Hokwang put his face close to Changwang’s ear and whispered softly.

“I don’t want that man to die like this.”

“You seem to think you’re very smart, but those who don’t understand people are bound to fail in the end. Like…”

The Black King gave a more eerie smile.

“Just like me.”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes couldn’t leave the Black King.

Why?

Why was he feeling this way? Why?

“There’s only one reason you’re dying.”

The Black King chuckled.

But that laugh vanished in an instant, along with the madness that swirled in his eyes.

“How dare you, you little thing!”

Kwaaaaaaaah!

At that moment, the pitch-black energy that erupted from Hokwang’s hand covered Changwang’s entire body.

“Hwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!”

And at the same time, a scream so desperate that it was hard to believe it came from Changwang’s mouth echoed horribly.

Changwang rolled and thrashed on the floor, as if he were on fire.

“Kuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

His tendons seemed to burst through his skin from the force he was exerting. His few remaining fingernails scraped the floor and were torn out by the roots, and the muscles all over his body were convulsing.

“Kuh… Kuhh…”

And soon, Changwang, who had been thrashing, convulsed intermittently, his eyes rolled back as if he no longer had the strength to thrash.

But Kang Jin-ho knew.

Even at this moment, the pain would not have subsided at all.

That wasn’t the reaction of someone whose pain was subsiding, but the reaction of someone who could no longer resist the pain.

Finally…

“You worm.”

As if he didn’t even want to see that sight, the Black King stomped on Changwang’s head with his foot.

Thud!

With a chilling sound, the top of Changwang’s head disappeared cleanly. The Black King, who had been staring down at Changwang’s headless corpse, turned his head and looked at Kang Jin-ho.

“There’s a lot to say…”

His low chuckle pierced Kang Jin-ho’s ears.

But he couldn’t hear it.

And he couldn’t see it.

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes could only see the black energy that had bloomed at the tip of Hokwang’s hand.

Demonic energy.

That was…

That was definitely demonic energy.

The Black King brought his hands together in front of his chest, forming a gesture of respect. Then, he slowly extended them towards Kang Jin-ho.

Pokwon [A traditional greeting of respect in the Central Plains].

A greeting used in the old Central Plains to show respect to an opponent.

“First, please recover your body, weakened Demon Lord. You, the sword that has lost its sharpness.”

“You…”

The Black King reached out his hand.

Koo-oong!

Kang Jin-ho’s body was flung backward. In his eyes, which were losing consciousness from the impact, he saw the Black King grabbing Chungru, which had floated into the air.

And at the end of his fading consciousness, he heard a calm voice.

“This is mine, so I’ll take it. May you be well until we meet again.”

Feeling the world turning dark, Kang Jin-ho’s lips moved slightly.

“Chung… Ma…”

The world turned black.

Utterly black.

Black.