Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1775

“The saying ‘covering the eyes and fooling oneself’ must be used in times like these.”

Looking at the seemingly peaceful scenery outside, Wiggins brought his coffee to his lips.

Warm sunlight streamed through the large front window, and the coffee aroma was exceptionally fragrant.

However, Wiggins’ heart was far from at ease.

It was a massive war.

The military was mobilized, and the terrain was altered. No matter how hard they tried to control it, it was impossible to evade all eyes and silence all mouths.

But….

‘It’s like a lie.’

Even after that long night, the world seemed unchanged. No one mentioned the events of the previous night, and even the internet was silent.

It was a stark reminder of how perfectly controlled China was as a nation.

“Wildfires, military training, dispatch of firefighters….”

He fundamentally questioned whether this situation could truly be covered up with such explanations, but it seemed the world didn’t operate as Wiggins thought it would.

Well….

Even individuals can be absurdly irrational at times, so what more could be said about an organization made up of those individuals?

As he looked out the window with a bitter expression, the door opened, and a person walked in.

Wiggins glanced up at him.

“You look haggard.”

“Aren’t you the same?”

“Still, I have the luxury of enjoying a cup of coffee.”

“I’m not particularly envious.”

Wiggins chuckled. Lee Hyun-soo, who sat across from him, let out a long sigh as soon as he settled down.

“I feel this every time, but….”

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes narrowed.

“War seems more of a pain in the ass after it’s over than when it’s happening.”

“It’s amusing that you mention it every time, even though you feel it every time.”

Wiggins clicked his tongue and opened his mouth.

“How is it?”

“A mess.”

Lee Hyun-soo shrugged.

“For now, the surrendered Changwang faction guys are roughly detained.”

“Suppressed?”

“How can we suppress so many of them? We just have to pretend to keep them locked up and hope they listen.”

Wiggins smiled wryly.

Looking back at history, there were often cases where armies collapsed after capturing too many prisoners to handle.

The General Assembly was in exactly that situation now.

“We might die from being overstuffed.”

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

Lee Hyun-soo sighed and continued.

“As for the ones who escaped… we should track them down, but honestly, we don’t have the resources.”

“That’s not our role.”

Even though they had won, it wouldn’t look good for the General Assembly to be poking around all over China.

They weren’t here to take over this place.

Of course, if Kang Jin-ho changed his mind, they would change their attitude at any time, but Kang Jin-ho didn’t seem particularly interested in the control of China either.

‘It’s a shame, though.’

Of course, the General Assembly would gain a lot from this victory.

Not only would they reap enormous economic and other benefits, but they would also be able to exert a strong influence on the Hongwang faction, which would become the de facto ruler of the Chinese martial world.

“Anything in excess is bound to cause trouble.”

Wiggins shook his head.

Just until recently, Wiggins had been traveling the world under the guise of mediating world peace. Now, he was feeling regretful that he couldn’t swallow the land he had conquered.

Realizing how much he had changed….

‘No, that’s not it.’

Wiggins knew.

People don’t change.

They just hide themselves according to the situation and their position. Wiggins had been that kind of person from the start, and now he was just in a situation where he could reveal his true nature.

“It would have been better if I had realized that sooner….”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing.”

Wiggins sighed.

“So, is the Changwang faction completely scattered?”

“What can a body without a head do? It’s all thanks to Changwang, that idiot, for over-manipulating the Changwang faction.”

The words ‘Changwang’ and ‘idiot’ didn’t exactly fit together, though.

“He’s an extreme egoist.”

“Hmm, what do you mean?”

Lee Hyun-soo continued nonchalantly.

“Would a guy like Changwang not know what would happen to the Changwang faction the moment he disappeared?”

“…Of course, he would know.”

“But he didn’t feel the need to prepare any countermeasures. For Changwang, the Changwang faction was just a tool to achieve his goals. There was no reason for him to care about the situation of the Changwang faction without him.”

The biggest difference between Kang Jin-ho and Changwang was exactly that.

Kang Jin-ho was trying to make the General Assembly strong while also making it self-sustaining. He was trying to create a situation where the General Assembly could survive on its own even without him.

That’s why he supported the lives of those who left the General Assembly and ran around trying to establish a self-sustaining profit model for the General Assembly itself.

“It’s not that Changwang was lacking.”

Wiggins smiled wryly.

“It’s strange that the Lord thought that far ahead in this dire situation.”

“I agree with that.”

Lee Hyun-soo sighed deeply and continued.

“Anyway, it will be sorted out soon. Even if they ran away, there’s no central figure for them to rally around. Unless there’s someone who can organize and lead them… but dictators usually don’t create second-in-commands.”

“That’s right.”

There wouldn’t have been a need for one anyway.

Changwang was someone who didn’t need the help of others.

‘Anyway, it was terrible.’

Not only for the General Assembly, but they had never pushed Kang Jin-ho this far before. Even Hongwang, who had felt like an absolute wall in the past, wasn’t this difficult of an opponent.

“Anyway, the important thing is the result.”

Wiggins said firmly.

“It was an extremely difficult fight, but we ultimately succeeded in eliminating Changwang.”

To be precise, it was the Black King who eliminated Changwang, but that wasn’t that important. What was important was that Changwang was dead, and Hongwang was steadily taking over that void.

“Yes. The important thing is the result. We missed someone we shouldn’t have.”

Wiggins’ eyes narrowed.

“Are you talking about the Master?”

“That’s right.”

Wiggins had no excuse for this.

‘I should have stopped him….’

Wiggins was the only one who could have stopped the Master from escaping in that situation. But Wiggins had been distracted by Kang Jin-ho’s crisis and had taken his eyes off the Master.

A mistake that had no room for excuses.

“Don’t make that face. No one could have focused on the Master in that situation.”

“…That’s not comforting.”

“It’s not meant to be comforting, I’m just stating the facts.”

Lee Hyun-soo said calmly.

“A mistake… well, I don’t know if we can call it a mistake, but let’s call it a mistake for now. Anyway, the Guild Master has a saying. Everyone….”

“Makes mistakes. The important thing is not to repeat those mistakes.”

“The last part is a bit different. The important thing is how you fix those mistakes.”

Wiggins sighed.

“You need to fix your habit of speaking indirectly. You’re especially bad at it, even among East Asians.”

“Is that so? I think I’m quite direct.”

“Only when necessary.”

Wiggins, who was pressing his temples with his hand, confessed.

“So, in the end, I have to go to Europe.”

“There’s no other way right now.”

The Master couldn’t do anything alone. And he wasn’t much of a threat to the General Assembly or Kang Jin-ho.

The important thing wasn’t the Master, but the Round Table.

“Honestly, this incident has made me question the usefulness of the Round Table. It feels like distant allies aren’t much help when you actually need them.”

“It’s because we were swayed by them.”

“That’s true, but….”

Wiggins sighed.

If the Master went to the Round Table and took control of it again, it could become a problem. They needed to reorganize the Round Table before that happened, just in case.

“I felt something else rather than that.”

“…What is it?”

“In the end, outsiders are outsiders.”

Wiggins frowned.

“Isn’t it true that anyone can change their mind at any time if they’re not a trustworthy insider?”

“That’s nasty.”

Wiggins clicked his tongue.

Lee Hyun-soo was now suggesting that he take control and dominate the Round Table.

“Instead of that Master?”

“It’s not about replacing him.”

“…Then?”

“From now on, you will be the Master of the Round Table.”

Wiggins let out a hollow laugh.

“Now?”

“It’s meaningful because it’s now, isn’t it?”

“…That’s really nasty.”

Wiggins had given up his dream when he met the General Assembly. He had boldly given up what he had dreamed of his whole life in order to aim for something higher.

But to think that he would now be aiming for the position of Master again.

“With the support of England and the General Assembly, it won’t be that difficult.”

“It won’t be just not difficult, it’ll be a piece of cake.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Lee Hyun-soo grinned.

“A man has to be bold sometimes, doesn’t he?”

“What man, I’m too old for that.”

Wiggins sighed.

This wasn’t something he could choose. It was something that had to be done for the safety of the General Assembly and to eliminate potential sources of instability.

“…Should I thank you for fulfilling my dream?”

“Just don’t hit me.”

“I can’t promise that. Aren’t you overworking an old man?”

“Aren’t you one of the youngest among the directors?”

“Ugh.”

Wiggins shook his head.

“While you’re taking control, please do it thoroughly. As you said earlier, it’s difficult to use them when you need them if you have to get their consent every time there’s a problem and leave the countermeasures to them. You need to reorganize the system and make the Round Table a complete tool of the General Assembly.”

“…You’ve become quite blatant.”

“You never know what might happen.”

Wiggins groaned at Lee Hyun-soo’s words.

‘You never know what might happen….’

The Black King.

That’s who he was talking about.

Wiggins completely agreed with that.

‘There’s too little information.’

Unlike Hongwang and Changwang, who had been checking and clashing with each other, the existence of the Black King was completely shrouded in mystery. They had no idea what he wanted, or what his purpose was.

Above all….

“Why did he just back down there?”

“I don’t know. I don’t understand at all.”

Wiggins glanced at Lee Hyun-soo.

“What did the Guild Master say?”

“He didn’t say anything. He seems to have some idea of what’s going on, but….”

Lee Hyun-soo muttered bitterly.

“It wasn’t an atmosphere where I could pry.”

“…Then there’s nothing we can do.”

Wiggins knew that Kang Jin-ho would speak up when the time was right. For now, he had no choice but to trust him.

“It’s strange.”

Wiggins’ gaze turned to the window.