Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1860

“It’s like something out of a fantasy.”

Wiggins took one step, then another, moving forward.

His body was a mess, covered in blood from the numerous wounds that had appeared all over him.

Yet, his steps were calm.

“How strange.”

It was a peculiar feeling.

The world he was currently in was clearly modern, yet Wiggins felt as if he were walking through the past.

Well, it was inevitable.

Because this place was stuck in the past.

As time flows and ages pass, the world develops.

However, martial arts do not necessarily develop with time. Depending on the circumstances of the era and the interpretations, they can sometimes regress, losing what should not be lost.

If what Kang Jin-ho said was true, then the Central Plains [a historical region in China, often considered the cradle of Chinese civilization] of hundreds of years ago were incomparably stronger than the current martial world.

‘Of course, that’s before the Black King appeared.’

No, even if the Black King had appeared, it wouldn’t change anything. The strength of the world isn’t determined by the power of a few individuals. What’s important is the quality of those who form the foundation.

From that perspective, the martial world has regressed. Whether it’s the East or the West.

And…

Right here, the past, before that regression, remains vivid and alive.

‘Is this an illusion magic?’

The scene before his eyes turned into hell.

Wiggins couldn’t help but laugh.

It wasn’t something to laugh about. This illusion magic was prepared to kill him, after all.

Only after entering this place did Wiggins understand what the Master had meant. This place didn’t feel like it was meant to help people grow.

Only malice.

It was filled with the malice of wanting to make the arrogant person who dared to set foot here thoroughly feel their own powerlessness.

Look.

Clang!

A steel spear, flying from somewhere, pierced through his chest.

The vivid sensation of skin tearing, flesh bursting, and bones breaking.

He knew.

That this was just an illusion.

But if an illusion could deceive even the senses of the body, could it really be called an illusion?

Faced with such a vivid illusion, his brain created pain on its own. Wiggins clutched his chest, feeling as if his heart was being torn apart.

‘If my mental strength were a little weaker, or my physical strength a little lower, I might have died of a heart attack.’

He had heard such stories many times.

Someone was tricked into thinking lukewarm water was hot and died of a heart attack, or someone else mistook non-boiling water for boiling water and got burned.

No matter how much of an illusion it was, if one couldn’t distinguish between reality and illusion, it couldn’t be ignored as just an illusion.

Wiggins’ senses couldn’t dismiss everything happening before his eyes as mere illusions.

‘There’s another world within this.’

It wasn’t just illusion magic.

This place was, so to speak, a repository.

It was a place where forgotten magic, erased techniques, and forbidden knowledge were vividly alive.

Everything was perfect, except for the fact that it was all moving to kill Wiggins.

“Again?”

Whoosh!

Red lava poured down from above.

Evade it?

No, that was impossible. The world had changed. The red, burning sky filled his vision, and lava dripped down like a rain shower.

How could he possibly avoid rain that fell to the horizon?

“Shield!”

Wiggins raised his hand above his head.

He knew. This was an illusion.

But his belief in this illusion wasn’t strong enough to take the pouring lava rain with his bare body.

Sizzle!

Like rain falling on an umbrella, the pouring lava flowed down his shield. It shouldn’t have any physical force, but the magical power was working, and his shield, which had withstood missiles, began to melt.

“Hmm.”

Wiggins watched the scene with interest.

Was this what a different world was like?

His eyes weren’t those of a hero breaking through a dungeon. They were the eyes of an explorer seeking forgotten truths, not missing a single thing happening before him.

‘What is the principle behind this?’

It wasn’t just illusion magic. This was a scene that could only be created by at least three types of magic being activated simultaneously.

At least three.

Perhaps even more types of magic were mixed together.

Common sense was collapsing.

As far as he knew, magic could only be activated one at a time. The reason it seemed like multiple spells were being cast at once was because the intervals between incantation and activation were minimized, allowing multiple spells to be fired in rapid succession.

But the scene unfolding before his eyes could never be created in that way.

‘Overlapping magic? Or should I call it composite magic?’

Wiggins’ lips curled up.

‘I want to know. I want to make it mine.’

Of course, all of this might be a unique phenomenon only possible in this space. But what would change even if that were the case? Even that was a new realm for him.

He seemed to understand.

How this place was created.

Magicians were strange creatures.

They researched, showed off, competed, and explored.

Initially, the goal was probably just to create a suitable space to select a new Elder Knight. But as they created it, everyone’s thoughts must have gradually changed.

Would my magic work on an Elder Knight?

—

At least it should be this much to have meaning, right?

—

This might be the most important thing I leave behind in the world.

Magicians were people who couldn’t tolerate anything half-hearted. If they could achieve a result of 100, their stomachs would churn at the sight of 80.

There was no way such people could be satisfied with a suitable trap and suitable magic. The increasingly heated atmosphere and their unique obsessive tendencies must have turned this place into a demonic realm that no human could pass through.

But conversely, that meant that this place contained everything of the greatest magicians of that era.

Realms that the weakened world of today couldn’t even dream of.

Clang!

The shield shattered uselessly, and the lava rain that had been flowing over it instantly engulfed Wiggins.

Sizzle!

A terrible smell.

The smell of hair burning, flesh burning. The smell of blood smoke created as the blood flowing from his body met the lava and evaporated.

It was so vivid that it made him shudder.

“Interesting.”

Wiggins smiled faintly with his melted lips.

Humanity was currently trying to create a world called virtual reality in the name of science. They were focusing all their technology to deceive people’s senses and show more complete illusions.

But here…

Traces of those who had already reached that realm were left behind.

In a realm that science could not dare to follow.

Whoosh!

The world changed.

The hot lava rain that had been pouring down disappeared in an instant, and instead of the red, burning sky, black storm clouds filled the world.

At the same time!

Whoosh!

A tremendous blizzard began to rage.

Crack, crack!

His body froze instantly.

The only good thing was that his melted body had returned to normal as the world changed, but looking at his body, which had frozen and turned black, it was questionable whether that was a good thing.

“Ice after fire, huh?”

What would be waiting for him next?

He had a rough idea.

Why no one had ever escaped this place. Why everyone had gone mad.

Perhaps very few died of heart attacks or were killed by illusions. The fact that they could enter this place in the first place spoke of their strong will.

What drove those who entered this place to their deaths was probably the desolation.

He didn’t know what the structure was, but no matter how much he walked, he couldn’t see the end. Even his sense of time had become strange, and it felt like it had already been months since he had entered this place.

There was a limit to exploration, and even will would eventually lose its light.

It was impossible to maintain a proper mind for months or years, wandering alone in a world gone mad.

“For them, that is.”

Wiggins wore a twisted smile.

This dungeon was flawed from the start.

Those who entered this place were those who sought to become Elder Knights. They were absolute beings who had no more rivals in their time.

Yes, absolute beings.

Those who had reached a level where they had no higher place to go by enforcing their own methods. Those who were incomparably strong and had no reason to waver. And those who were trying to step into the path of legend by surpassing even that final stage.

“That’s why they couldn’t endure it.”

Because they had never wavered.

Because they had never despaired in the face of a power they couldn’t overcome with their own strength.

Because they had never despaired and bled from the ever-widening gap, no matter how hard they tried.

“Hahahahahahaha!”

Wiggins burst into laughter as he faced the biting wind.

But this wasn’t laughter born of madness. It was laughter that burst out because the situation was so absurd.

Wasn’t it funny?

That Wiggins was enduring a place that those powerful beings couldn’t endure. And that the reason he could endure it wasn’t because he was stronger than those who had entered before, but because he was someone who had despaired countless times.

‘This is nothing.’

It was just an illusion.

No matter how desolate and painful the world before his eyes was, it was like heaven compared to the reality he had faced.

No matter how powerful the magic that shook him was, it was like a child’s play compared to the power he had faced.

What truly stole a person’s mind was the reality that a person who was called a genius had to completely give up their superiority and just protect the backs of others.

Wiggins moved forward.

Even as the blowing blizzard turned into a swarm of giant locusts that tore at his entire body, even as the place he stepped on turned into a giant pool of hydrochloric acid that melted his bones, even as a giant as big as a mountain grabbed his body and tore him in half…

He just walked on calmly. Look.

Everything was here.

Everything he had been pursuing.

Everything he had been trying to obtain.

The supreme realm he had not reached.

“So this is how it is.”

The principles that made up the world began to enter his eyes.

“And this won’t be the end.”

Wiggins, who had raised his hand to wipe his face, turned his head towards his hand.

Click.

The prosthetic arm that replaced his lost arm made a sharp mechanical sound.

“That’s why life is ironic.”

Who would have known?

That the one who entered this place would be someone who was weak, who had lost an arm and wore a prosthetic, and who had synchronized that prosthetic with his own body.

The cold metallic sensation that touched the area around his elbow held onto Wiggins’ mind and wouldn’t let go.

If there was something lost, there was also something gained.

Wiggins took a step, expressing his gratitude to the Red King who had taken his arm.

“Show me everything, everything we have built up.”

All of it will be reborn within me.