Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1838

“So…’\n\nChun Tae-hoon looked around with a blank face.\n\n’Why am I here?’\n\nThe reason was…\n\nWell, the reason was simple.\n\nBang Jin-hoon had called him to the training grounds in the back mountains, and he had come as requested. There was no other reason to attach to it.\n\nThe problem wasn’t the reason, but the scene unfolding before his eyes.\n\n’Why are those people here? And with those faces.’\n\nHe could see the directors in front of him.\n\nThe men who usually wore gentle smiles or burst into hearty laughter were now standing with faces as grim as generals before a battle.\n\nOverwhelmed by their intensity, Chun Tae-hoon glanced sideways.\n\n’Why are these punks here again?’\n\nThe eyesores.\n\nLee Myung-han, the leader of the Flame Demons, and Gong Young-gil, the disciple of Bator, were standing there with faces that looked like they were about to faint.\n\nWait, faces that looked like they were about to faint?\n\nChun Tae-hoon looked back at the two of them with a renewed gaze.\n\nLee Myung-han was understandable. That guy was a bit timid, unlike his position or abilities.\n\nBut Gong Young-gil was different.\n\nThat guy, whose brain was filled with muscles, was someone who usually caused trouble with other members due to his excessive confidence. It wasn’t that he was a bad person, but he was the type to cause problems because he was like a thoughtless bull.\n\nBut that guy’s face was pale?\n\n”Hey… did you guys know why we’re here?”\n\n”Uh… what?”\n\nLee Myung-han turned his head to look at Chun Tae-hoon. With a look that said, ‘What a moron.’\n\n”You came without knowing anything?”\n\n”…I just came because Master told me to.”\n\n”Ah…”\n\nGong Young-gil and Lee Myung-han looked at Chun Tae-hoon with eyes that seemed to pity the most unfortunate person in the world. The moment he saw those eyes, Chun Tae-hoon began to feel rapidly uneasy.\n\n”No, what’s going on…”\n\n”These bastards.”\n\nThe moment he opened his mouth, Bang Jin-hoon glared at them with eyes that looked like he wanted to kill them.\n\nThe three of them flinched and simultaneously bowed their heads.\n\n”All of you are out of it.”\n\n”Sorry.”\n\n”Sorry, Director.”\n\nIn particular, Chun Tae-hoon, who was Bang Jin-hoon’s disciple, couldn’t even think of making eye contact.\n\n’Ah, damn it. This is driving me crazy.’\n\nAt least they should tell me why they called me…\n\nIt was then.\n\n”The Guild Leader is coming.”\n\nAt Bang Jin-hoon’s voice, he raised his head and saw Kang Jin-ho and Lee Hyun-soo walking from the front.\n\nKang Jin-ho, who had arrived at the training grounds, scanned everyone once and then fixed his gaze on one person.\n\nChun Tae-hoon, who received Kang Jin-ho’s gaze, froze as if he had seen Medusa.\n\n”One person?”\n\n”Yes, well…”\n\nBang Jin-hoon scratched his head.\n\n”It’s ambiguous just based on the evaluation, and the others need to be tested to be selected… but we haven’t even started the tests yet. So, I just called one guy who seemed a bit certain.”\n\nWhat? What are you talking about?\n\nChun Tae-hoon, still clueless, looked at Bang Jin-hoon.\n\n”He looks like he doesn’t know anything?”\n\n”Does it matter if he knows? We can just throw him in.”\n\n”Still, the consent…”\n\n”Ah, I can give the consent. A disciple is like a graduate student, they have no choice and no human rights.”\n\nKang Jin-ho looked at Chun Tae-hoon with incredibly pitiful eyes. Then, Chun Tae-hoon focused his eyes and looked at the distant mountains.\n\nKang Jin-ho, who barely suppressed the urge to pat his shoulder, rubbed his nose once and opened his mouth.\n\n”This is a bit lacking.”\n\n”I have a different opinion.”\n\n”Hmm?”\n\nLee Hyun-soo said, looking at Kang Jin-ho.\n\n”Of course, as the Guild Leader said, we can’t match their numbers like this. But mechanically matching numbers doesn’t mean much.”\n\n”We need to match the numbers as much as possible, but forcing the impossible will only reduce our forces. Time is limited, so we need to use it as wisely as possible.”\n\n”Then?”\n\n”I think it would be better for the people here to train as they are. I agree with testing and adding those with potential, but if it’s ambiguous, we should just find a way to deal with the King-level as a group.”\n\n”Is that possible?”\n\n”We have to make it possible.”\n\nLee Hyun-soo said with determined eyes.\n\n”Now, the question ‘Is it possible?’ is meaningless. It’s not going to work anyway.”\n\n”Then we have to make the impossible possible.”\n\nKang Jin-ho nodded at Lee Hyun-soo’s resolute words.\n\n”So, Guild Leader, you just need to take care of the people here for now.”\n\n”I was going to…”\n\nKang Jin-ho bared his teeth.\n\n”That’s what I was going to do.”\n\nAnd Chun Tae-hoon, who saw that murderous gaze, tilted his head with wide eyes.\n\n’No, what the hell is going on?’\n\nHe would soon find out.\n\nThud.\n\nIs it true that when people are really tired, hurt, and exhausted, they can’t even groan? He was learning it with his body.\n\nThat was a situation no one would want.\n\n’I feel like I’m going to die.’\n\nNot an exaggeration, but for real.\n\nThis wasn’t just a beating, it was like putting a person in a threshing machine. There wasn’t a single place on his body that didn’t hurt.\n\nOf course.\n\nHe had fought one-on-one against Kang Jin-ho.\n\nHis consciousness flew far away from time to time, so he couldn’t perceive it accurately. Should he consider this situation an honor, or should he curse himself for falling into hell?\n\nThe result came soon enough.\n\nKuuuuuung!\n\n”Th, thank…”\n\nThud!\n\nGong Young-gil’s large head fell to the floor.\n\nAh, not that it was cut off, but that his head was buried in the floor as his consciousness flew away.\n\nUnlike Chun Tae-hoon, who was still maintaining consciousness, Gong Young-gil had cleanly fainted. But Chun Tae-hoon didn’t feel even a bit of victory at the sight.\n\n’Damn it.’\n\nFainting meant he had kept going until he fainted.\n\nThat meant Gong Young-gil had fought several times more enthusiastically.\n\nChun Tae-hoon, trembling, turned his body to the side and saw the directors already lying on the floor.\n\n’Like a monster…’\n\nWho didn’t know that Kang Jin-ho was strong?\n\nBut how many people thought he was so strong that he could engage in a series of one-on-one battles with the directors without getting a single scratch?\n\nThere was always a sky above the sky, and another sky above that sky.\n\nThud.\n\nAs Lee Myung-han finally collapsed on the spot, Kang Jin-ho turned his head.\n\n”Next.”\n\nNext?\n\nEveryone had already fallen, so who was next? Was there anyone else here?\n\nBut that question was soon answered. Bator, who had been lying sprawled out, suddenly got up, grinding his teeth like a beast and raising his fighting spirit.\n\n’That guy, he definitely fainted, right?’\n\nHe had clearly seen him faint with his eyes rolled back. But as soon as Kang Jin-ho’s words fell, he regained consciousness and was emitting fighting spirit.\n\n”Kuaaaaaaaah!”\n\nThen, he charged at Kang Jin-ho like an angry bull. Red demonic energy was erupting from his entire body like flames.\n\nBut…\n\nKuuuuuung!\n\nGgrrrrrrr!\n\nThe hand that Kang Jin-ho extended grabbed Bator’s shoulder. Bator, who had been rampaging like a bull, couldn’t push that hand away and only dug into the ground.\n\n”I told you, strength alone won’t do it?”\n\n”Heh, don’t talk nonsense, Master! Now that I’m here, can I deal with those guys by pursuing precision? If I lack strength, I just need to gain more strength.”\n\nThe corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth curled up.\n\n”Good.”\n\nAnd at the same time…\n\nKwaaaaaaaang!\n\nBator’s body was flung away like a cannonball. It was the tremendous power created by Kang Jin-ho’s blow that had landed on his stomach.\n\n”Strength isn’t something you gain in a short period.”\n\n”Cough!”\n\nBator, who had spat out blood, glared at Kang Jin-ho with bloodshot eyes.\n\n”Your strength is already sufficient. You have plenty of internal energy. Rather, thanks to the harmony of your internal and external power, the strength you can exert will surpass even me.”\n\n”But that’s just being strong. Even if a huge amount of water flows in a wide river, no one is afraid of the slow-flowing river. But when even a tenth of that amount becomes a waterfall, no one dares to go under it.”\n\n”…What do you mean?”\n\n”Strength only has meaning when it’s unleashed in bursts.”\n\nBator looked at Kang Jin-ho with a blank face.\n\n”How quickly can you explode the same amount of power, how quickly can you cram the gathered and concentrated power into your opponent’s body?”\n\nKang Jin-ho shook his head.\n\n”Your fist is like a stretched rubber band. It has tremendous power, but that power is released over a long period, so it’s not much of a threat. If you just change the direction a little, it will keep extending to irrelevant places.”\n\nHe had already felt this during his fight with Baek Yeon-hong.\n\n”You must have known.”\n\n”…I knew.”\n\n”Yes. You knew it before. Now you’ve forgotten.”\n\nAt those words, Bator nodded without realizing it.\n\nKang Jin-ho was right. He did know. It was something everyone heard when they started learning martial arts. But now he had forgotten. Knowledge that is only known in the head and not remembered is the same as not having it.\n\n”People don’t look back once they think they’ve found the right path. They believe it’s right to refine that path. Of course, that’s not wrong.”\n\n”But if the path you thought was right has reached its limit, you have to start by figuring out what you missed.”\n\nBator bared his bloodied teeth.\n\n”One more time!”\n\n”As many times as you want.”\n\nBator screamed and charged at Kang Jin-ho. With each step, the ground shook, and the mountains cried out. But even as he watched that tremendous momentum, Kang Jin-ho didn’t take a single step back.\n\nKwaang!\n\nA short explosion.\n\nWith that explosion, Bator’s body flew over the mountain.\n\n”B, Bator-nim…”\n\nChun Tae-hoon was terrified, but no one except him paid attention to the flying Bator.\n\n”Let’s start quickly.”\n\nWiggins.\n\nIt wasn’t the face of the always-relaxed Wiggins. Wiggins, with a cold face, was glaring at Kang Jin-ho, emitting as much killing intent as he could.\n\nKang Jin-ho curled up the corners of his mouth as he looked at Wiggins’ face.\n\n”What’s the plan?”\n\n”I don’t know yet.”\n\n”Then it’ll be the same?”\n\n”What does it matter? That’s what training is all about. Experiencing it countless times with your body and finding a way.”\n\n”Good answer.”\n\nWiggins swung his sword and charged at Kang Jin-ho. His sword was crackling with lightning and swung fiercely.\n\n”Ughhh.”\n\n”…Damn it.”\n\nMeanwhile, the people who had fallen were getting back up one by one. And as soon as they got up, they charged like beasts at Kang Jin-ho, who had knocked down another one.\n\nSoon…\n\n”What are you doing?”\n\nChun Tae-hoon quietly looked around.\n\nThe people who had been flung away were nowhere to be seen, and the people who had fallen were unconscious. He was the only one standing on two legs.\n\n”Come in.”\n\nChun Tae-hoon, unable to decide whether he was lucky or unlucky, charged at Kang Jin-ho with tears in his eyes.