Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1848

Shell.

Bator’s body, once like a divine general descended from the sky, was now shriveled and pathetic.

Anyone who knew him would be utterly shocked to see his current state.

No…

Even someone who didn’t know him would react similarly. Bator’s appearance was so far removed from human that anyone would be horrified.

Mummy.

That would be a more fitting description. The flesh and muscles had completely vanished, leaving his body so emaciated that the outlines of his bones and tendons were clearly visible. His face, which once commanded respect, was now hollow and gaunt, radiating a chilling aura.

Bator was exceptionally tall, far taller than the average person. But the sight of this large man so miserably withered evoked a different kind of unsettling feeling than when he was whole.

Bator slowly lowered his head to look at his own body.

“Hah…”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

Who would recognize him as Bator if they saw him now?

He had a body bestowed by the gods. That was why he could be unyielding to anything.

But now, his body was so pathetic that such a description was impossible.

Then…

Has everything that supported him disappeared?

“Kuh.”

Bator chuckled softly.

What had he been looking at, what had he been thinking as he lived?

‘Am I no longer myself if I lose my body?’

Think about it.

Kang Jin-ho reached the pinnacle in different bodies.

Then, if Bator were to obtain a different body, could he reach the same level of strength as he had now?

Impossible.

That was a conclusion he could reach without even thinking about it.

‘A body imbued with the gods?’

That phrase clearly defined his limits.

‘Am I nothing without this body?’

That fact was unbearable for Bator.

He had been relying on his body.

“This much!”

Thud!

Bator struck his thigh.

“Is this mere flesh my limit?”

Shell.

What he had been looking at until now was just a shell.

This body was his fortress, but also a wall that blocked his growth.

‘The wall wasn’t outside.’

It wasn’t something grand or noble. For him, the wall was this body. It had never disappointed him, never left his side, his true companion.

This body, which he trusted more than anything in the world, was the very wall that was preventing him from moving forward.

“Hah…”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

The thing he trusted most was the thing he had to discard first. How was he supposed to accept this absurd irony?

‘Can I….’

Can he discard it?

Could he really abandon the power of his body?

To give up this body imbued with the gods and live as an ordinary person?

That was a pain no different from an ordinary person losing both arms and legs.

Moreover, there was no guarantee that he would overcome the wall even if he abandoned the strength of his body. In the worst case, he would lose only the strength of his body and lose even his current abilities.

That was no longer Bator.

Even if everyone in the world recognized him as Bator, he himself could not accept it.

Bator chuckled softly.

If someone had asked him a while ago, he would have answered firmly without any hesitation.

He would have said that he would risk being thrown into hell to become stronger.

‘How presumptuous.’

Now that he was facing the gates of hell, he knew. Saying he would go to hell was not something he could easily say.

Even if the path to move forward existed only at the bottom of that hell, humans could not easily jump into that hell.

“Kuh…”

Bator whimpered softly.

‘It’s nothing. I am… I am nothing.’

The strength he believed in was just a shell.

When he had the solid armor of a body, he could pretend to be strong, but if the protection of that body disappeared, he would become a useless cripple who could do nothing on his own.

‘You’re saying I have to throw everything away and start over from the beginning.’

Bator chuckled softly.

This body had been with him since birth.

Abandoning this body did not mean starting over. It meant falling into an abyss that could not be compared to the beginning.

A bottomless cliff.

Could he climb back up that cliff?

“Kuh… kuh…”

Bator’s low groan slowly echoed in the narrow stone chamber.

“Is it the fifth day?”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho slightly turned his head to look out the window. He knew he couldn’t see anything from here, but his head turned instinctively.

“It seems like he hasn’t had a single drop of water.”

“…Probably.”

He must be suffering from a thirst that couldn’t be compared to dehydration. He must have long forgotten about time, and he wouldn’t even feel hunger.

“Is he going to be okay?”

Lee Hyun-soo asked with an anxious face.

But Kang Jin-ho didn’t have a definite answer to this either. He could only trust Bator and wait.

So….

“He’ll be fine.”

There was no other way but to answer like this.

“It’s quite ironic.”

“…Yes?”

Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth with a cigarette in it.

“It’s something that an ordinary person wouldn’t even dare to attempt. To continue training for decades and move forward is something that can never be done with a sound mind.”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded as if he agreed.

This was something he thought about every time.

The amount of training even an ordinary martial artist of the Assembly does is several times more intense than the training that top athletes endure. And those like Ma Yeom naturally handle several times that amount of training.

Then, what about those like Bator or Jang Min?

They probably repeat training so extreme that most people would go insane just by trying it for a day.

‘That’s not just simple mental strength.’

Even though they prevent going insane with internal energy [a concept in martial arts referring to the energy within the body], it’s at a level where they could be isolated for paranoia or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

“That’s why they need something. Something to hold onto their wavering selves.”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded.

Whether it was pride, self-esteem, faith, or a terrible sense of inferiority.

They needed some kind of driving force.

For Jang Min, it would be faith in Kang Jin-ho, and for Bator, it would be faith in his body and martial arts.

But….

“Overcoming the wall starts with denying what has supported you until now.”

“…But, Assembly Leader.”

“Hmm?”

“Is it that difficult?”

“Difficult…”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“If that denial was like a right-handed person becoming left-handed, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Because it can be done with repetition and practice.”

“That’s true.”

“But this is like telling someone to breathe underwater from now on.”

“Or to breathe carbon dioxide instead of oxygen? Well, the analogy is a bit crude, but…”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“Anyway, it’s not just a denial of common sense. It’s a denial of the very foundation.”

“Then… does that mean they have to deny everything they’ve done and be reborn?”

“That’s the problem, it’s not that simple.”

“Yes?”

Kang Jin-ho shrugged.

“They have to deny and accept at the same time.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“That’s why it’s difficult. It’s hard to explain in words. If it could be explained in words, I would have already done it.”

“Let’s take Buddhism as an example. The teachings of Buddhism are all about gaining enlightenment through learning and moving to a higher realm.”

“It’s a bit different… but yeah, that’s roughly it. But is there a problem with that?”

“Buddhism has studied and researched countless ways to gain that enlightenment, made scriptures, and spread them again for thousands of years.”

“But how many people have become Buddha through that learning?”

Lee Hyun-soo’s face turned pale.

Only after hearing those words did he seem to understand how reckless what Bator and the others were doing was.

“Of course… it can’t be compared to becoming a Buddha. We can’t compare ourselves to such a high realm, but the difficulty is similar in some ways.”

“Even those who have devoted their entire lives to Buddhism cannot attain enlightenment, and those who have devoted their entire lives to Taoism cannot awaken…”

“Yeah, that’s exactly it.”

Lee Hyun-soo finally understood Kang Jin-ho’s words.

Even Sakyamuni [the historical Buddha] himself could not lead his disciples to become Buddha through his teachings. Language is too crude to convey deep enlightenment.

And it wasn’t just Sakyamuni.

Even those who had risen to the level of saints and lived through the long history could not elevate others to their level with words and writings.

‘So that’s what he meant by it being difficult to explain in words.’

Just as gaining enlightenment is entirely personal, and awakening is entirely personal, breaking the wall is also the same.

“Something…”

“Hmm?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Lee Hyun-soo shook his head.

Whenever he heard stories from the Central Plains [a region in China often used in martial arts stories], he often found it strange that monks and Taoists would wield swords and learn martial arts.

But now he saw that religion and martial arts were similar in some ways.

They both required constant self-improvement, and they both needed another aspect to reach the ultimate goal.

‘So it’s that difficult.’

If you exclude the cheat of being a returnee, there are only two people in this era who have crossed the wall and entered the realm of the superhuman on their own.

The Crimson King and the Azure King.

Only two in this vast world.

Jang Min and Bator were walking that path now.

Click.

Kang Jin-ho lit a cigarette.

The end of his cigarette glowed red. Kang Jin-ho exhaled a long stream of smoke, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

“We have no choice but to wait.”

“They’ll do well. If it’s mental strength, they won’t be lacking…”

Kwaaaaaaang!

At that moment, a huge explosion erupted, and Kang Jin-ho’s head snapped towards the window as if it would break.

Crack.

The cigarette in his mouth broke and fell, unable to withstand the force.

“A, Assembly Leader…”

Thud!

Before Lee Hyun-soo could even finish half of his sentence, Kang Jin-ho’s body shattered the window and flew outside.

Lee Hyun-soo, seeing this, ran towards the window with all his might.

In his eyes, he clearly saw a cloud of dust rising far away like a mushroom cloud.

“W, what is this…”

An attack?

Or….

It was at that moment.

Gaaaaaaaang!

Along with a deafening sound like scraping metal, a gigantic claw of powerful energy rose through the cloud of dust.

“A claw?”

That energy?

“J, Elder Jang Min?”

Lee Hyun-soo, with his eyes wide open, grabbed the window frame and leaped out.

He had to confirm it.

He had to see with his own eyes what was happening in front of him.