Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1856

“What, what is this!”Lee Hyun-soo shot up from his seat.Then, his head tilted to one side as if it would break.‘What is this?’It was an enormous energy.Even he, a half-baked martial artist not particularly sensitive to energy, could clearly feel the immense power!‘An attack? A Three Kings level [a very high level of martial arts mastery]?’No, that wasn’t it.The energy was immense, but it didn’t carry any hostility. It felt more like a natural disaster than an attack.‘C-Could it be?’Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes widened as he gauged the direction from which the energy was emanating.“This way?”His body moved first.It was something that rarely happened to Lee Hyun-soo, but before his mind could finish thinking, his body was already running.Lee Hyun-soo, who had dashed down the stairs in one go, kept running. Finally, arriving at his destination, he saw the back of a familiar figure.‘I wasn’t wrong.’Kang Jin-ho had already arrived.The moment Lee Hyun-soo saw Kang Jin-ho’s shoulders heaving slightly, an uncontrollable smile bloomed on his lips. That great man was panting just from running a little; how hard must he have run for that to happen?“Guild Master.”“Ugh…”Kang Jin-ho turned his head to look at Lee Hyun-soo.“Is this perhaps…”“Probably.”Kang Jin-ho’s gaze was fixed on the door of the stone chamber built for underground training.“…Nothing bad, right?”“It shouldn’t be.”If a rampage had occurred, this door wouldn’t be so intact. The energy might have exploded and blown away the space itself.But the door was fine. Which meant…“He broke through.”The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth curled up.This excessively overflowing energy was strangely familiar yet unfamiliar.“Which one is it?”“Bator.”Kang Jin-ho added a word unnecessarily.“Probably.”That one word contained quite a lot of meaning.Lee Hyun-soo, who understood the meaning behind Kang Jin-ho’s words, if not all of it, looked at the firmly closed door with anticipation.‘Then soon, there will be thumping sounds…’Anyone could hear Bator’s footsteps. Bator, who had no intention of hiding his presence, never silenced the sound of his footsteps, which were a result of his weight, in any situation.That was an expression of confidence for Bator.So soon…Clunk.“Huh?”Lee Hyun-soo flinched and looked at the door.There were no thumping footsteps, but the door was clunking?‘What went wrong?’For a moment, Lee Hyun-soo thought things weren’t going as planned, and he unconsciously took a step back.And then.Grrrrk.The heavy door began to slowly open to the left and right, with a rough scraping sound as it dragged on the floor.Kuuuung!Soon, from behind the wide-open iron door, the figure of a person half-hidden in the darkness appeared.‘What is this?’Lee Hyun-soo took another step back.‘Isn’t that Bator-nim?’His gaze instinctively turned to Kang Jin-ho. But after confirming Kang Jin-ho, Lee Hyun-soo couldn’t help but flinch again.‘A smile?’A somewhat twisted smile.It wasn’t the usual smile he showed. It was like Kang Jin-ho’s face before a battle.And then, a familiar voice came from inside.“This…”‘Bator-nim?’The voice was clearly Bator’s. But at that moment, Lee Hyun-soo felt an extreme sense of incongruity.The silhouette half-submerged in the darkness didn’t show Bator’s unique massive size. Of course, the figure itself was so large that the word ‘sturdy’ seemed inadequate, but it felt like less than half of Bator’s original size.“What is…”At that moment, the silhouette submerged in the darkness began to move.Step, step.Footsteps different from the Bator he knew.Heavy but not excessively thumping footsteps continued, and finally, the person in the darkness revealed his appearance.“…Huh?”Lee Hyun-soo opened his mouth without realizing it.Bator.It was Bator.But this was, well…“…A shrimp?”“…At least call it mini-size.”Bator frowned. The first words he heard after coming out were ‘shrimp’. That damn bastard.“Why, why have you become so small, Bator-nim?”“Hmph.”Bator wore a faint smile.The appearance was definitely Bator. His arms and legs, which looked so solid, were still the same. His face felt a little younger than he remembered, but he was still Bator.It was just that his size had shrunk by half.The size that had previously made one wonder if there was even clothing that would fit him had shrunk to the point where he could be included in the ‘human’ standard.“My body was reconstructed. I guess this is what they call rebirth.”“…I thought Bator-nim would get bigger if he had a rebirth.”Bator chuckled at Lee Hyun-soo’s subtle expression.“Sorry to disappoint you.”Lee Hyun-soo looked at Bator with a renewed expression.It was strange.The Bator of the past would never have said such a thing. Or, even if he did, he would have said it in a louder, more argumentative voice.But the current Bator had a strange composure that he didn’t have in the past.Not the arrogance that seemed like it would break, based on his enormous physique, but a soft composure.‘Is this what it means to break through a wall [a metaphor for achieving a new level of mastery]?’It was natural that his martial prowess would increase, but even his personality changed?‘No, that’s not it.’Maybe his personality hadn’t changed. A clumsy rich person would show off and adorn themselves with expensive items, but those who were truly rich didn’t care about such things.Someone who wasn’t strong enough had to show off their strength, but someone who had truly gained strength didn’t need to say it out loud.In other words…‘It means Bator-nim has become really strong.’While Lee Hyun-soo was lost in his own thoughts, Bator’s gaze turned to Kang Jin-ho.“Master.”“Ugh.”“This…”Bator, who had been quietly looking at Kang Jin-ho, let out a hollow laugh.“I thought I could finally compete with you… but you’re just a monster.”Kang Jin-ho smiled faintly.“Was I not able to see this in your eyes until now? I was such a fool.”“That’s fine.”“Huh?”Kang Jin-ho said with a smile.“That’s fine with you.”Bator, who had been making a blank expression, nodded his head after hearing those words.“I’m back, Master. There’s nothing to worry about now. I’ll protect you. You don’t have to tremble before that Blue Horse or whatever anymore.”“Cocky.”Though the words came out like that, a smile was still on Kang Jin-ho’s lips.“What did you see?”“Huh?”Bator, who didn’t understand Kang Jin-ho’s question for a moment, let out a sigh and looked up at the distant sky.“I saw a meadow.”“A meadow?”“Yes. It was inside me, Master.”Bator smiled softly.“There was freedom there. The freedom that was in my blood and soul.”“Hmph.”Kang Jin-ho made a sulky face.“That’s grand.”“…I’m being serious here.”Bator said through gritted teeth.“What did you see, Master?”“I didn’t see anything like that.”“…Huh?”Kang Jin-ho said nonchalantly.“They say that those who break through a wall usually see something. So I just asked.”“Ah, no, wait a minute. I think there was something more important that was said? What do you mean you didn’t see anything?”“For a demon, breaking through a wall means entering the realm of extreme demon. It’s a little different from those who have learned general martial arts.”“So?”“Usually, like Jang Min, those who break through a wall in a general way would need a similar process, but…”Kang Jin-ho shrugged his shoulders.“I just kept fighting and somehow broke through on my own.”A deep sense of futility clouded Bator’s eyes.Lee Hyun-soo, who saw the expression that momentarily appeared on his face, even felt a deep sense of pity for Bator.“You… just broke through?”“That’s what happened.”“Then I… what am I…”Bator’s broad shoulders slumped.Kang Jin-ho, who saw that, couldn’t help but chuckle.“It’s not normal for someone like me to break through like that.”“Of course it isn’t, you damn master! Do you even know what I went through?”“I know.”Kang Jin-ho said firmly.“You’ve only broken through once.”“Walls will come countless times. If you keep walking, you’ll hit your head against them again. Martial arts is just a continuous process of breaking through those walls.”Bator bit his lip slightly.That was true.He had broken through a high wall that he had never experienced before. But someday, he would face an even higher and steeper wall again.That’s what it meant to move forward.“Still…”“Hmm?”“You did well.”Bator’s face contorted as he saw Kang Jin-ho’s face smiling.“Damn it! Praise me more, Master! If you say it so simply, it makes it seem like what I did wasn’t a big deal!”Bator rushed at Kang Jin-ho, grabbed his shoulders, and pulled him hard.“Don’t you have any words that would make me feel better? I went to hell and back, and that’s not enough!”Lee Hyun-soo shook his head.Composure, my ass.Where would a person’s personality go?His unique arrogance had weakened, but Bator was still Bator.“Words that would sound good…”Kang Jin-ho made a strange expression.“Now, it might be worth a try.”“Huh?”“That guy.”Bator’s hands, which had been shaking Kang Jin-ho’s shoulders, stopped.At the same time, a ghostly expression appeared on Bator’s face.“Baek Yeon-hong.”“Yes.”Bator, who had taken his hands off Kang Jin-ho’s shoulders, nodded his head with a heavy face.“I’m still not enough.”“You know it well.”“But I’m not complete yet either. If I’m given a little time, I can completely make what I’ve gained my own.”“Yes, that’s right.”“Then at that time!”Bator’s eyes flashed.“That guy is mine, Master.”Kang Jin-ho laughed softly.“I hope you can do it.”“Are you thinking of taking him?”“It’s not me who’s thinking that.”Kang Jin-ho’s head turned to one side. There was another door located quite far from where Bator had trained.“I don’t know if they’ll give him up willingly. They’re greedy over there too.”Bator’s expression hardened.“…Is the old man still not here?”“Probably.”“I felt a bad energy in the middle. I didn’t come out because I thought you would take care of it.”“That’s right. It was Jang Min.”“…Is that so?”Bator let out a low sigh. Having gone through this process once, he felt like he knew what kind of situation Jang Min was in. And how he was subdued.If the direction had been slightly off, Bator would have been no different. It was just that the stability of his martial arts was slightly higher than Jang Min’s, who was a complete demon.“Will he be okay?”“I don’t want to say there’s nothing to worry about.”Kang Jin-ho’s gaze turned to the underground where Jang Min was.“I just believe.”Surely.That he would return here.He just believed.