Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1830

“Hmm.”

Baek Yeon-hong looked at Bang Jin-hoon with interest.

“A righteous path user.”

He seemed to understand the origin of the martial arts used by the General Assembly’s warriors. While their martial arts had developed over a long time, it was likely this man who had reinterpreted and disseminated them.

“Excellent. To choose the righteous path in this situation…”

At a glance, the man before him was of a lower caliber than the other board members of the General Assembly. He probably knew that fact very well himself.

Yet, this man had not learned demonic arts.

Even with the Demonic Venerable [a powerful demon] right before their eyes, that old monster of the Demonic Cult present, and even Bator trying to become stronger by fusing demonic arts with his own martial arts.

Baek Yeon-hong highly valued that fact.

“In this era, dividing the righteous path and demonic arts might be anachronistic.”

Baek Yeon-hong also knew.

Now was an era where those who had mastered the righteous path used their martial arts for killing. The end of any era was always brutal and terrible. In this world, one could no longer find beauty.

However, he couldn’t help but feel a little more drawn to those who had mastered the righteous path.

“If you keep jabbering in Chinese, I can’t understand you, you bastard!”

Bang Jin-hoon gritted his teeth, and Baek Yeon-hong smiled faintly.

“Shall we see what you’ve got?”

His sword rotated smoothly.

But at that moment.

“Huh?”

Bang Jin-hoon twisted his body in alarm.

Kiiiing!

The spot where he had been standing cracked open, creating a long, dark fissure.

‘What is this?’

Cold sweat trickled down Bang Jin-hoon’s forehead.

‘What kind of sword energy is that…’

He knew it was strong.

Bator and Jang Min had been defeated without inflicting a single scratch, so to underestimate the opponent was something no sane person would do.

But this wasn’t a matter of strength or weakness.

The sword energy emitted from the tip of the slowly swung sword appeared right in front of his face. It was as if it had teleported, transcending space and distance.

Even if the man’s swordsmanship was at a level he couldn’t even imagine, could such a thing happen?

Baek Yeon-hong smiled faintly as he watched Bang Jin-hoon, who was sweating profusely.

“Your eyes are not bad.”

“This bastard…”

“But that’s not nearly enough.”

Baek Yeon-hong disappeared from his spot as if he had been extinguished, and then appeared right in front of Bang Jin-hoon.

Extreme-level lightness skill made martial arts look like magic.

“Kuh!”

However, Bang Jin-hoon did not panic and threw three punches at Baek Yeon-hong’s face at once. He had already resolved not to panic no matter what the opponent did.

“Slow.”

Thud.

Baek Yeon-hong lightly brushed away Bang Jin-hoon’s fists with the hilt of his sword.

And then….

Thwack!

Baek Yeon-hong’s sword lightly pierced Bang Jin-hoon’s shoulder.

“Too many openings.”

Bang Jin-hoon gritted his teeth and tried to kick Baek Yeon-hong.

“When you put unnecessary force into it, it only gets slower.”

Swish.

Bang Jin-hoon’s thigh was sliced open, and red blood splattered above his head.

“The righteous path begins with maintaining your center. You’re the type who has patience but can’t control your temper. If there’s no peace in your heart, you can’t rise any higher.”

Swish!

Bang Jin-hoon rolled his body to avoid the incoming sword.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

It was enough to make him jump out of his skin.

Baek Yeon-hong’s sword was not fast at all. The first sword energy he had unleashed was so fast that Bang Jin-hoon was shocked, but after that, he was simply swinging his sword slowly.

But he couldn’t avoid it.

He couldn’t understand how this was happening even as he experienced it firsthand, but every time Baek Yeon-hong’s sword came at him, his body felt as if it had stopped moving.

All martial arts have their own flow.

Baek Yeon-hong’s sword cut off Bang Jin-hoon’s flow, severed his energy, and broke his will.

“What a shame.”

Baek Yeon-hong smiled faintly and pointed his sword at Bang Jin-hoon.

“If you had trained steadily for another hundred years, you might have been able to achieve something.”

“…What are you saying, you bastard? You keep annoying me with that Chinese!”

At that moment, Baek Yeon-hong’s sword pierced Bang Jin-hoon’s chest.

Swish.

With a gruesome sound of flesh being sliced, Baek Yeon-hong’s sword penetrated about an inch into Bang Jin-hoon’s left chest.

Bang Jin-hoon stared blankly at the sword embedded in his chest.

“But you won’t be given that chance. Let’s end it here…”

Whoosh!

“Hmph!”

At that moment, crimson flames erupted around Baek Yeon-hong’s body in an instant.

But!

As if not to be caught by something he had already seen once, Baek Yeon-hong stepped back and drew a large circle around the rising flames.

As the circle rotated and gradually narrowed, the flames that had been raging began to wane and gather in the center.

“Heave-ho.”

Baek Yeon-hong’s sword split the flames in half. As if the initial momentum had been a lie, the flames quickly subsided.

Thud.

Baek Yeon-hong, who had been staring at Bang Jin-hoon who had fallen to the floor, clicked his tongue and turned his gaze to Wiggins.

“It seems your techniques aren’t as diverse as I thought? You only show me the obvious.”

Wiggins smiled wryly.

“Even so… I am someone who can wield over a hundred different kinds of magic.”

Wiggins sighed.

“It makes me realize once again that having many isn’t always a good thing. Techniques that don’t work are as good as useless.”

“You know it well.”

Baek Yeon-hong smiled wryly.

“But that’s something you’re better off not knowing.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Those who discuss the realm of reason cannot achieve it.”

“Those who seek the most efficient training cannot continue training if they can no longer find efficiency. The smart ones always move ahead, but the diligent ones eventually catch up.”

Baek Yeon-hong’s voice was calm, but the meaning behind it was incredibly cruel.

“You are someone who cannot achieve greatness.”

Wiggins’s face hardened in an instant.

“No, I don’t even need to say it myself. I don’t sense any ambition in you. You’ve already set your own limits and believe you can’t go any higher.”

“…You should be careful with your words. Haven’t you learned even that simple thing in your long life?”

“Did I hit a nerve?”

Baek Yeon-hong chuckled.

“I don’t know why you’re getting angry. It’s not me who gave up, but you.”

Wiggins’s hand reached into the subspace [a pocket dimension].

In his hand, which emerged from the subspace, was a long sword with strange patterns engraved on it.

“It’s not that I’ve given up on getting stronger. I’m just considering a different approach.”

“A different approach…”

Baek Yeon-hong shook his head.

“That’s just an excuse for those who have given up. Those who haven’t given up don’t say such things.”

Wiggins’s face contorted.

Every word this man spoke pierced his core.

But while he might be lacking in martial arts, Wiggins was not one to be outdone in words.

“Then why are you acting as a lackey under the Black King?”

“Hmm?”

“If you’re someone who doesn’t give up, shouldn’t you be trying to surpass the Black King?”

Upon hearing those words, Baek Yeon-hong burst into laughter.

“Hahahaha! That’s a masterpiece! Surpass the Black King? Hahahahahaha!”

Baek Yeon-hong laughed so hard that tears welled up in his eyes.

“Ignorance is bliss, they say.”

Baek Yeon-hong, who had finally calmed down, chuckled as he looked at Wiggins.

“You can say such things because you don’t know the Black King.”

“I am fearless because I don’t know, and you have become a coward because you don’t know.”

“A coward…”

Baek Yeon-hong shrugged.

“Maybe I am.”

The answer came easily, but there was not a hint of shame on Baek Yeon-hong’s face.

Baek Yeon-hong smiled faintly and said,

“You don’t know.”

“It’s not just me. There are twelve others with abilities comparable to mine. What do you think is the reason why all those arrogant people bowed their heads to the Black King?”

Wiggins stared at Baek Yeon-hong without a word. But Baek Yeon-hong continued, as if he hadn’t expected an answer, seemingly enjoying himself.

“The world is seen as much as one knows. An ant will never know the existence of the sun, nor will it know that there is a sky above its head.”

Baek Yeon-hong looked at Wiggins with an extremely cold gaze.

“You cannot understand me with your narrow world.”

Baek Yeon-hong shrugged and raised his sword, pointing it at Wiggins.

“If you’ve bought enough time, let’s start again. My consideration ends here.”

Wiggins gripped his sword tightly.

‘Is there any point?’

Neither Bator nor Jang Min could stop him.

And his skills were definitely not up to par with those two. He was a versatile type, not one with a high ceiling.

No matter how hard he tried, he wouldn’t be able to defeat Baek Yeon-hong.

Even so….

Did he really need to cross swords with Baek Yeon-hong?

Was there any reason to do such a meaningless thing?

Squeeze.

Strength entered Wiggins’s hand gripping the sword.

‘He says I don’t have ambition… Perhaps what he said is exactly this.’

Thinking about the pros and cons before even starting the fight.

Not being motivated in a fight he was likely to lose.

Wiggins was already aware that this was a fatal weakness as a martial artist. The reason that had supported him had become a huge wall, blocking his path.

Wiiiiiiiiing!

The strange patterns engraved on his sword began to emit a pure white light.

And then….

Crackling!

The light transformed into lightning, covering the sword. Baek Yeon-hong’s eyes showed interest at the sight of the sword that looked as if it was wrapped in lightning.

“You’re using an interesting trick.”

“From your perspective, you might see me as someone without perseverance.”

Wiggins twisted the corners of his mouth.

“From my perspective, you are nothing more than inefficient people.”

“Haha!”

Baek Yeon-hong raised his sword as if he was amused.

“I wish your skills were as good as your words.”

“I’ll gladly…”

Wiggins’s eyes gleamed with a sinister light.

“Show you.”

At that moment, Wiggins’s body disappeared from his spot as if it had been extinguished.

“Huh?”

Crackling!

In an instant, Baek Yeon-hong, who had lost track of Wiggins, heard the sound of lightning crackling near his ear. Baek Yeon-hong reflexively swung his sword behind him.

Clang!

Baek Yeon-hong’s sword and Wiggins’s sword collided.

Wiggins had blinked to a blind spot to attack, but Baek Yeon-hong’s sword had perfectly blocked even that attack.

But what Wiggins was aiming for was not the sword strike itself.

Crackling!

The lightning that surged from the sword traveled along Baek Yeon-hong’s sword and seeped into his forearm. The sleeve covering Baek Yeon-hong’s wrist instantly turned black.

“Ugh!”

Baek Yeon-hong flicked his sword, shaking off Wiggins.

It was the first time since the start of the battle that his sword had shown strength rather than fluidity.

Baek Yeon-hong looked down at his wrist.

The sleeve was already burnt to a crisp, and his exposed wrist was red and inflamed.

“I simply cannot understand your theories of perseverance.”

“It’s not the strong who win, but the winners who are strong. You might be stronger than me, but isn’t it enough to just win somehow?” A wry smile appeared on Baek Yeon-hong’s lips.

“…Interesting.”

Step.

As he took a step towards Wiggins, a clear energy like flowing water poured out of him.

“Let’s see what you…”

Thud!

At that moment, the ground beneath Baek Yeon-hong’s feet collapsed, and the floor he was standing on disappeared as if it had been dug out.

“What…”

Even the great Baek Yeon-hong faltered for a moment at the bizarre situation he had never experienced before.

And then….

Whoooosh!

In Baek Yeon-hong’s eyes, which had flipped his body in mid-air, he saw huge boulders falling from the sky.

“This isn’t a game…”