Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1918

Clink, clink.

Clear liquor fills the glass.

Kang Jin-ho lightly swirls the full glass and then gulps it down.

Clunk!

Kang Jin-ho sets down the glass, picks up the bottle, and refills the glass across from him. As soon as the glass is full, the Red King downs the liquor in one go, just like Kang Jin-ho.

Clunk!

The Red King, having emptied his glass, starts refilling Kang Jin-ho’s. Watching this, Bang Jin-hoon’s face contorts.

“Are you two drainpipes? How many glasses have you drunk without saying a word?”

Bang Jin-hoon shudders, looking at the pile of empty bottles under the table.

‘How much is all that?’

They were renowned liquors, even in China. Expensive drinks were piling up like soju [Korean distilled spirit] bottles being emptied by a drunkard. Bang Jin-hoon, who wouldn’t have the confidence to drink it all even if it were water, kept shaking his head.

“For the Red King, that’s not even extravagant.”

At Lee Hyun-soo’s words, Bang Jin-hoon’s face twisted.

“It’s not about the money. If you’re going to drink like that, you might as well drink soju. To sip such expensive liquor like that… Ugh, what a waste.”

“Haha.”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled.

He swirled the liquor in his glass, then tossed it back in one go.

The strong liquor burned as it went down his throat, sending shivers down his spine.

“Nice.”

The aroma filled his mouth and seemed to spread throughout his body.

“This is why you need to be rich. You get to live the good life.”

“You crazy bastard.”

Bang Jin-hoon shook his head.

Kang Jin-ho, who was drinking with the Red King without a word, seemed strange, but Lee Hyun-soo, who was calmly drinking inside the belly of an enemy he had been trying to kill until recently, was also not in his right mind.

And…

Clunk!

“Don’t be so dramatic. The Assembly has plenty of money, too, right?”

“No matter how much money we have, how can we compare to the Red King’s faction? How can we catch up to the continent?”

Lee Hyun-soo smirked.

Of course, the Assembly was also raking in money in Japan and Korea, but it couldn’t compare to the Red King’s faction, which had unified China. There might not be a big difference in the money they were making right now, but the gap would only widen.

“And you guys ate up all the money the Chang King’s faction had accumulated.”

“You guys took a huge chunk of that, you bastard!”

“We did all the work, so why should you guys get to eat it all?” Chai Ke-chang’s face flushed.

“And you’re taking all the business rights in China, and you’re saying that?”

“Hey, why are you being so narrow-minded? We’re helping each other out.”

“You son of a bitch.”

Chai Ke-chang’s face turned red.

People like the Red King and Kang Jin-ho didn’t see money as money, so they could just agree on a reasonable level, but Chai Ke-chang and Lee Hyun-soo were in a completely different position.

They were the ones who had to manage the practical matters. So, they had to be sensitive to even small amounts of money.

Chai Ke-chang, who would have usually retorted with a few more words, had to keep his mouth shut since he was in debt now.

Instead…

Glug, glug, glug!

Chai Ke-chang grabbed a beer glass and filled it to the brim.

“Oh, no, not that expensive stuff! These guys, really!”

Bang Jin-hoon screamed at the sight.

What did these people think liquor was?

Chai Ke-chang handed the glass full of strong liquor to Lee Hyun-soo.

“Drink up!”

“Is this a penalty game?”

“It’s a gesture of goodwill.”

“…If I get two more gestures of goodwill, I’ll probably die from drinking.”

Lee Hyun-soo grumbled and took the glass. Then, he downed the full glass of strong liquor in one go.

“Ugh!”

Lee Hyun-soo, grimacing, lit up and grabbed a new beer glass next to him and started filling it with liquor.

“Drink.”

“Don’t use your inner energy. Anyone who uses inner energy will lose a hand.”

“You’re a tough one.”

Chai Ke-chang gritted his teeth and downed the liquor in one go.

Watching this, Bang Jin-hoon shook his head.

‘What kind of banquet is this?’

It was supposed to be a gathering for friendship, but they were trying to kill each other with liquor… Anyway, these martial artists never know how to lose.

Among them, Wiggins, who seemed relatively normal, was enjoying the liquor with an interested expression.

“I’ve had similar traditional Chinese liquor before, but the flavor is completely different. I need to apologize for underestimating Chinese liquor.”

“You’ve had something similar?”

“Well, it wasn’t particularly impressive back then. I didn’t think there was any reason to drink it at this price. It even felt a bit crude.”

“You were scammed.”

“Huh?”

“Even if they look the same on the outside, half of them are fake. It’s gotten to the point where even Chinese people have trouble finding real liquor.”

“Wow, it was liquor that came to the Round Table…”

“Even if it came to the Round Table, the Chinese wouldn’t have brought it to the Round Table, so the foreigners must have bought it in China and taken it there, right?”

“…That’s right.”

“Then it’s a scam for sure.”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded in agreement.

“You got scammed.”

“You should have checked before buying.”

Wiggins stared blankly at the liquor.

“No, what is this…”

He seemed shocked that even liquor supplied to the Round Table was fake.

“It can’t be helped.”

Jang Min said indifferently.

“To make proper liquor, you need aging, and if you make it in large quantities, the quality drops, so the amount you can make is limited. But the number of people who want to drink that liquor is several times more. So, there’s no choice but for fakes to be everywhere.”

“That’s not comforting at all.”

“Think of it as a good experience.”

Wiggins, who had suddenly become depressed, sighed deeply.

“Anyway, real Chinese liquor isn’t bad.”

Bang Jin-hoon chuckled and looked around.

“But… is this all the people the Red King’s faction has?”

It wasn’t planned, but it was a gathering to build friendship between the Red King’s faction and the Assembly. But the only ones actually present were the Red King and Chai Ke-chang.

It was in stark contrast to the Assembly’s board members, who had all participated.

“It seems this is normal for them.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Lee Hyun-soo smirked and said,

“Basically, there aren’t many people who can drink with the Red King in the same place.”

“Doesn’t the Red King’s faction have elders or directors?”

“They probably do, but… well, the concept is probably different from the directors the Assembly talks about. In fact, even in large corporations, it’s not common for a president or executive director to dare to drink with the chairman, right?”

“…That’s true.”

“The Red King’s position in the Red King’s faction is even higher than that. Someone who doesn’t have the right status can’t dare to sit here. Well, isn’t that how it is?”

Lee Hyun-soo glanced over, and Chai Ke-chang snorted.

“It’s not that, it’s just that there are no elders here. This isn’t the main headquarters.”

“…Oh, really?”

“That’s not entirely wrong, though.”

“Then it’s right.”

Chai Ke-chang’s face slightly contorted.

“It’s not that we’re weird, it’s that you guys are weird.”

“…I’ll admit that.”

In fact, it wasn’t that the Assembly was normal and the Red King’s faction was strange, but that the Assembly was a bit too informal.

In the Assembly, it was not unusual for Lee Hyun-soo to nag Kang Jin-ho, but if such a thing happened in another sect, it would be a sure way to get your head chopped off.

Without going far, even the Assembly when Lee Joong-geol was the head was no different, and the Yeongnam Association was even worse.

“You guys have no lineage.”

“What, you bastard? You guys are a mixed bag too!”

“Who says that?”

“The Assembly Head said so?”

Chai Ke-chang, who was about to burst out, flinched and shut his mouth.

“Why? Did our Assembly Head say something wrong?”

“…Damn it.”

Chai Ke-chang poured himself a drink with a distorted face. Watching this, Lee Hyun-soo chuckled.

“Take advantage of your lineage while you can. Once you’re dead, there’s no lineage or anything left.”

Chai Ke-chang gave a bitter smile.

It was just a joke, but given the situation, it didn’t sound like a joke.

Chai Ke-chang glanced at the Red King.

Because the Red King had come with the Assembly people, he hadn’t heard the Red King’s thoughts on this matter.

As expected, Kang Jin-ho and the Red King were talking about it.

“He was strong.”

“Indeed.”

At the Red King’s words, Kang Jin-ho nodded.

He had managed to capture the Overlord and the directors had dealt with Nangon, but their strength was among the highest Kang Jin-ho had ever faced.

“And that’s not all. You know that, right?”

“Yeah.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“If their combat sense had improved, it would have been even more troublesome.”

“I agree.”

The problem was that there were still ten of them left.

They had taken down two, but there were still ten left.

‘Their combat sense will continue to improve. Ten of them like that. Ten people who are about the Red King’s level…’

The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous their power seemed.

“Demon King.”

“Speak.”

“If they gather in one place and try to break through, do you have the confidence to stop them?”

Kang Jin-ho placed the glass in his hand on the table.

He had thought about it, but the conclusion came too quickly.

“It would be impossible.”

“It’s hard enough to stop them alone. No, it’s almost impossible to stop them with their current power. And if the Azure Horse… no, the Black King joins them, it’s impossible to defend against them head-on.”

The concentration of power was different.

If they combined the power of the Red King’s faction and the Assembly, they might be able to easily surpass the Black King’s faction. But since the members of the Assembly and the Red King’s faction were humans with physical bodies, there was no way to simultaneously unleash that power on just ten people.

In the end, it meant that the Black King’s faction could ravage them like wolves among sheep if they wanted to.

“Do you have any countermeasures in mind?”

“I don’t know.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“I’ve thought about it, but what’s the point? We’re not the ones who do the thinking.”

“The ones who do the thinking are over there.”

The Red King turned his head, following Kang Jin-ho’s gaze. The Red King, who had Lee Hyun-soo and Chai Ke-chang in his eyes, nodded heavily.

“That’s right.”

“And it’s not that serious.”

“…Huh?”

“War isn’t decided by who’s stronger.”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes sank deeply.

“The one standing at the end is the one who wins.”

A smile appeared on the Red King’s lips.

He was a terrifying enemy when they met as foes, but when they stood side by side to face the same enemy, there was no one more reliable.

“The problem is…”

“Hmm?”

“He knows that fact as well.”

“He’s not the type to push with force just because he has more power, or to exploit weaknesses relentlessly. He’s definitely preparing something we can’t even imagine right now.”

“Keep this in mind. The Black King’s faction, the Twelve Evils, those are just secondary problems. He hasn’t even come to the forefront yet.”

Kang Jin-ho tossed the strong liquor into his mouth in one go.

And…

‘By then, we’ll know.’

Everyone will know.

Who they are facing.

The power of that Azure Horse, which even Kang Jin-ho hasn’t fully grasped yet.

Kang Jin-ho’s hand, holding the glass, tightened.

‘He must have heard my story by now.’

I’m curious.

What kind of expression is the Azure Horse making right now?

The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s lips curled up slightly.