Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1831

Kuuuuuung! Kuuuuuuung!

It was a sight unlike any he had ever seen.

Even Kang Jin-ho, who had experienced bombings several times, was wide-eyed at the bizarre spectacle unfolding before him.

The incongruity of burning boulders raining down was enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine.

Krrrrrr!

The entire mountain shook as if a landslide had occurred.

“M-My god…”

Even Lee Hyun-soo, who had been taught magic by Wiggins, was trembling, as if he could not have imagined such a sight.

“Master…”

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes trembled.

Large craters appeared all over the training ground floor. The terrain itself was distorted, as if meteorites had fallen.

Kwaaaang!

And the moment the last boulder fell, the world was filled with silence.

“Hoo! Hoo!”

Wiggins’ face was drenched in sweat. His hand holding the sword was trembling, as if he had used a lot of energy.

However, his eyes still emitted a sharp glint.

“There’s no way he’d die from just this.”

He muttered lowly and took a step back, assuming a stance.

As expected.

Faaaah!

A huge sword aura soared into the sky, piercing through the fallen boulders. At the same time, Baek Yeon-hong leaped out of the cracked gap like a tiger.

Thud.

Baek Yeon-hong, who had landed lightly on the ground, looked at Wiggins with an indescribable expression.

“…Impressive.”

His entire body was covered in dirt. Considering that his clothes hadn’t even been torn while facing Jang Min, Bator, and Bang Jin-hoon in succession, this was quite an achievement.

“What is the principle behind this? How do rocks suddenly appear above my head?”

“It’s nothing special. I can’t create matter out of nothing. I’m just transferring what I’ve prepared beforehand above your head.”

Then, he adds flames and accelerates them.

It sounded very simple and easy, but if it were that easy, mages would have already conquered the martial world.

Drip.

Drops of blood fell from Baek Yeon-hong’s fingertips.

Baek Yeon-hong, seeing the blood dripping from his body, let out a sigh as if he couldn’t believe it.

“To think that not even the Heavenly Demon, but one of his underlings, would wound me.”

“I wish you knew that’s a very unlucky thing to say.”

“…I suppose so.”

Baek Yeon-hong shook his head and then gestured with his chin towards the sword Wiggins was holding.

“Is that it?”

A bizarre pattern was engraved on the sword.

The pattern on the sword was still emitting a faint light.

“That’s right.”

“Hmm, is that so? Like an artifact from a game? A legendary sword? Like Excalibur or something?”

Wiggins chuckled at those words.

“Easterners have a strange tendency to cling to the past.”

“Hmm?”

“Even if it’s a legendary sword, it’s just an old weapon made with technology from thousands of years ago. Humans progress and evolve.”

“I made this.”

Baek Yeon-hong looked at the sword Wiggins was holding with sharp eyes.

He didn’t know how it worked, but…

“I should apologize.”

“So, finding another way wasn’t a lie. It’s impossible to create something like that through unorthodox means.”

“Should I be grateful?”

“But…”

Baek Yeon-hong raised his sword.

“The result won’t change. It’s just a parlor trick.”

“A parlor trick…”

Wiggins twisted the corners of his mouth.

‘I can’t understand their aesthetics at all.’

From his perspective, that statement was like saying that someone who can kill a person with their bare hands is stronger than someone with a gun.

The important thing is not what process you go through, but what result you produce.

But he had no intention of persuading him. It was a waste of time anyway. He just needed to prove it with his own hands.

Woo woong.

The sword in his hand vibrated in response to the injected magic power.

‘A legendary sword…’

It was a ridiculous thing to say.

This was not some vague object. It was literally a ‘weapon’ created by pouring his technology and vast amounts of money into it.

An item that maximized efficiency by linking the magic power storage he developed with the sword.

It would be ideal if it were an item that amplified magic power just by using it, but such an item could not exist in the world. The best he could do was to mix the magic power he had pre-charged with his own magic power to increase the output.

However, even though it was just an item created by mixing various technologies, its effect was, as you could see, powerful.

He could easily implement magic that would normally consume an enormous amount of magic power.

‘It’s a shame that it’s just a battery, though.’

That was enough for now.

However…

Wiggins smiled slyly.

Conversely, this sword was a symbol of the General Assembly’s financial power. The batteries that charged the magic power could not be recycled, and creating those batteries cost more than gold of the same size.

If Lee Hyun-soo knew how much money was spent each time magic was implemented with this sword, his face would turn pale.

‘Let’s see.’

How much his power would work against that Baek Yeon-hong.

How much the long nights of contemplation had brought him closer to the Three Kings.

Woo woong!

His sword vibrated and emitted a bright light.

‘A parlor trick won’t work, that’s for sure.’

Then he would just have to go all out.

Wiggins kicked off the ground and leaped forward. Although most of the General Assembly had forgotten, his roots were as a swordsman. He was not just a simple mage.

His sword might not match the swords of those who had delved into swordsmanship to the limit, but his sword had its own advantages.

Clang!

Wiggins’ cleanly swung sword pressed down on Baek Yeon-hong’s sword.

“Hmm?”

A different light appeared in Baek Yeon-hong’s eyes.

It was concise. Utterly concise.

The swords of the Central Plains left room even in their speed, and gave meaning even in their intensity, but this sword was so clean that it could only be described as concise.

It was so concise that he didn’t even think of trying anything.

It was too early to say it was a matter of compatibility, but it was clear that this sword was not suitable for him to use his flexible sword techniques.

Fzzzt!

As lightning crackled from Wiggins’ sword, Baek Yeon-hong frowned.

“Such a shallow trick!”

A cloud-like aura rose from Baek Yeon-hong’s sword and suppressed the incoming lightning.

Baek Yeon-hong was not one to fall for the same trick twice.

However, Wiggins was not aiming for that result either.

Kooong!

The floor caved in again, and his body momentarily shook.

Of course, Baek Yeon-hong was not someone who would fall for such a shallow trick. However, he could not prevent his center of gravity from being momentarily disrupted.

And with that!

Kwaaaaaaa!

Intense flames erupted from the caved-in floor, engulfing Baek Yeon-hong. It was a terrifying flame with heat like that of erupting lava.

“Kuh!”

Baek Yeon-hong, who had been pushed into the air, swung his sword, pushing the rising flames to the left and right.

‘This is troublesome.’

The opponent’s martial arts were insignificant.

However, dealing with him was very troublesome, regardless of his martial arts.

The reason was very simple. There was no beginning to his attacks.

No matter how skilled one was in martial arts, one could not create flames out of thin air. There were indirect ways to strike an opponent in martial arts, such as the air palm or the mountain-splitting strike, but those were techniques that eliminated the distance while maintaining the direction of movement.

Unlike the opponent’s attacks, flames did not suddenly erupt from the floor, nor did lightning fly from behind.

His sword was a flexible sword.

A flexible sword begins by synchronizing one’s sword with the opponent’s flow. However, the attacks of this Wiggins guy did not flow continuously, but rather were cut off abruptly.

His martial arts, which he had built up for over a hundred years, were actually hindering him in dealing with this opponent.

Baek Yeon-hong raised his head sharply.

‘Again!’

Wiggins’ body appeared above his head. There was no sound of him kicking off the ground, nor was there any fluctuation of energy felt as his body flew in. He simply appeared there.

Then…

“Haap!”

Kuuuuuung!

Wiggins’ sword pressed down on his sword. The moment the swords collided, Baek Yeon-hong’s arm was pushed back.

“Kuh!”

His body was flung to the floor like a fired cannonball.

‘What is this now?’

Considering the energy carried by the sword and the momentum with which it flew, that sword should not be able to generate this much power. However, the moment the swords collided, he felt a weight as if a ten-thousand-pound boulder was pressing down on him.

A feeling of common sense being shattered and the world being twisted.

Spin.

He barely managed to turn his body and land before crashing into the floor, but there was an undeniable look of embarrassment on Baek Yeon-hong’s face.

Thud.

Wiggins, who had landed on the ground, glared at Baek Yeon-hong, panting heavily.

He was the one who attacked, and Baek Yeon-hong was the one who received the attack, but it was clear to anyone that Wiggins was getting more tired.

However…

“Th-This…”

Baek Yeon-hong was not one to be satisfied with that fact.

An undeniable sense of humiliation appeared on his face.

It was only natural to be pushed back by someone stronger than oneself. What truly made a person feel humiliated was being pushed back by someone who was objectively weaker than oneself.

Wiggins bit his lip as he watched Baek Yeon-hong, who could not hide his expression.

‘He’s disgustingly strong.’

If he had been someone who had mastered the martial arts of the Central Plains, he would not have lasted even a minute in Baek Yeon-hong’s hands.

However, Baek Yeon-hong’s martial arts were specialized in dealing with the martial arts of the Central Plains. In other words, it was no exaggeration to say that it was a bizarre state reached after fighting and fighting among themselves for thousands of years.

That was why he could not properly cope with his methods. His martial arts were on a different path from those of the Central Plains.

“A parlor trick…”

“It seems to me that your appearance is quite unsightly for someone calling it a parlor trick?”

Baek Yeon-hong lowered his head and checked his body.

His appearance, covered in dirt and with his clothes scorched in various places, was enough to make even him laugh.

“I admit it. I’ve been outmaneuvered.”

A different, knife-like killing intent began to emanate from Baek Yeon-hong’s body.

“Hoo.”

Wiggins took a short deep breath and held his sword forward.

“Your attacks are certainly difficult to parry. It’s a method I’ve never seen before. But…”

A light flashed in Baek Yeon-hong’s eyes.

“It’ll be different if I attack first!”

At that moment, Baek Yeon-hong’s body left a long afterimage like taffy as he flew towards Wiggins.

In the blink of an eye, the distance was closed, and Baek Yeon-hong’s sword flew towards Wiggins’ head.

Clang!

Crack!

Wiggins’ face contorted in an instant as he raised his sword to block the incoming strike.

The impact was enough to crack his wrist bone.

It was a powerful sword that he had not shown until now.

And at the same time…

Faaaah!

Baek Yeon-hong’s retrieved sword split into dozens, flying towards Wiggins’ entire body.