Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1937

“Hoo… Hoo… Hoo!”

Rough breaths escaped him, as if he had collapsed from a full sprint. It felt like his lungs would burst out of his throat and through his mouth at any moment.

But this was only to be expected.

Anyone who had stepped onto death’s doorstep and then pulled back would react the same way.

His legs gave out, and his vision spun.

Forcing himself to look up, the Secretary-General’s eyes landed on the white-haired foreigner with a pale yellow tint.

‘Who is he?’

There was no way to confirm who he was, but it was clear that he wasn’t hostile to them.

The expression on Kong Ling’s face across from them was more telling than the fact that he was standing in front of them.

“Uh…”

The Secretary-General’s head snapped back. The moment his reason returned, his mind was filled with Joo Seok’s safety.

“Are, are you alright?”

Joo Seok nodded slowly.

Aside from his face being deathly pale, there were no visible injuries.

“Move, move back…”

“Please don’t move back too far.”

Wiggins stopped the Secretary-General, who was instinctively trying to create distance.

“If you get too far away, it will be difficult to protect you. It might be… well, a little uncomfortable, but I suggest you stay where you are.”

The Secretary-General looked at Joo Seok, who slowly nodded.

“I, I will.”

Joo Seok, who had been silent until now, spoke to Wiggins’ back.

“What organization are you with? America? Or Hong Wang [Red King]?”

“No. My nationality is British, and I belong to the Assembly. A Korean martial arts group.”

“…Korean?”

Confusion clouded Joo Seok’s face.

It was understandable. It was already surprising that a Korean martial artist had suddenly appeared here, but for that martial artist to be a blonde Caucasian? It was natural that the information didn’t quite compute.

“We can talk later.”

Wiggins cut him off. It could be seen as rude, but Joo Seok understood the gravity of the situation and nodded silently.

“Hmm.”

Wiggins stroked his slightly grown stubble. The moment the rough texture touched his fingertips, he smiled.

“It should be a desperate chase… I’m sorry about this.”

“You seemed quite confident, are you alright?”

Kong Ling glared at Wiggins with a murderous aura.

‘That damn bastard…’

He wanted to tear apart that sneering mouth right away.

But he couldn’t move rashly. He didn’t know how that transparent barrier that had blocked his wires worked.

His martial arts were nearly invincible when he fully understood his opponent’s techniques and abilities. But when he couldn’t grasp his opponent’s abilities, his power was reduced by more than half.

That was why he, who used such flashy techniques, was called an assassin.

“What kind of trickery is this…”

Gwae-bul couldn’t hide his bewilderment either. Teleportation?

Of course, he knew about it. He understood that Western martial artists used such techniques, and he knew that it had become a major variable in the recent battles between the Chang Wang [Blue King] and Hong Wang factions.

But this was different.

The teleportation they knew involved transferring people through prepared magic circles.

But this man had suddenly appeared in front of them without any prior preparation. It was hard to understand how this was possible.

“Let’s finish this.”

Kong Ling swept his fallen bangs back.

“I don’t know what kind of trick you pulled… but it doesn’t seem like anything has changed. So, all I have to do is kill you, right?”

“That’s correct.”

Wiggins smiled.

“But do you know something?”

“…What?”

“People think they fail because they don’t know the answer. But in reality, most failures happen not because they don’t know, but because they can’t do it even when they know.”

“So, I wonder how it will be for you?”

“Gwae-bul.”

Kong Ling spoke curtly, as if it wasn’t worth answering.

“Crush him!”

“Heeeuuuum!”

As Gwae-bul stepped forward, Wiggins slightly narrowed his eyes.

“A monk?”

He had seen monks before, but seeing a monk covered in blood was a rare experience.

Especially if that blood was from those he had beaten to death with his own fists.

“…I don’t intend to preach about religious teachings, but that robe looks a little out of place.”

“Amitabha.”

Gwae-bul smiled and looked at Wiggins with his hands clasped together.

“This world is full of suffering anyway. Guiding those who only suffer in life to the Pure Land [Buddhist concept of paradise] is a duty that a Buddhist should naturally do.”

“…Didn’t your Buddha teach you that killing is a sin?”

“Of course, I know. But…”

Red light flickered in Gwae-bul’s eyes.

“I’ll just go to hell! If I can save hundreds, thousands of people from their suffering by sacrificing myself, how can I refuse that path?”

“…Completely insane.”

“Hahahahahaha!”

In an instant, Gwae-bul charged forward.

The movement of his body alone created a storm in the room.

It was an astonishing speed, one that would surprise anyone, but Wiggins’ eyes didn’t waver as he faced Gwae-bul.

Whoosh.

The sword in his hand emitted a pure white light, and then the floor in front of Wiggins rose up, creating a large stone wall.

Kwaaaang!

But Gwae-bul didn’t hesitate at all when he saw the stone wall. Gwae-bul leaned his shoulder forward slightly and rammed straight into the wall.

The stone wall shattered, creating a hole in the front. But soon, second and third stone walls rose up, becoming dozens of layers of walls blocking Gwae-bul.

“Amitabha!”

Gwae-bul roared like a beast and charged at the stone walls.

Kwaaaang! Kwaaaang!

The moment his body slammed into them like a cannonball, the mana-enhanced walls shattered like tofu, scattering in all directions.

In an instant, dozens of layers of stone walls were destroyed, and Gwae-bul, having closed the distance, stomped on the floor.

“Arhat!”

The red aura that erupted from his fist flew towards Wiggins at an incredible speed.

Wiggins slightly raised his sword, and a milky white barrier appeared in front of him, blocking the incoming fist strike.

Kagaaaaaang!

With a sound like a hammer hitting a thin sheet of iron, the incoming fist strike slammed into the shield and twisted, embedding itself in the ceiling.

“Oooooooo!”

More than a dozen consecutive punches were unleashed.

Each time he threw a punch, a red aura was released, striking the shield that Wiggins had created.

Each time it collided with the aura, the shield twisted and shook like a balloon being hit with a stick.

‘This is brutal.’

Wiggins bit his lip slightly.

The force was immense. It felt like he was facing Hong Wang’s or Bator’s fist strikes.

It was like the immense inner power of Hong Wang combined with Bator’s ferocity. Each time he blocked, it felt like a hammer was hitting a bell on his head.

But…

‘I can withstand it.’

If it had been him before, the shield would have been blown away by this attack, and he would have been sent flying. It wasn’t that he was weak in the past, but that Gwae-bul’s inner power was that formidable.

But now, he was perfectly blocking that formidable attack. It was proof that not only his knowledge but also his control of mana had improved immeasurably compared to the past!

Wiggins, filled with confidence, took a step forward.

‘Not too much.’

He hadn’t yet properly applied what he had internalized in actual combat. In a fight between masters where lives could be lost in an instant, this could be fatal, so he had to be careful, like walking on thin ice.

Kwaaaang!

At that moment, Gwae-bul kicked off the floor.

Wiggins’ brain began to spin furiously.

He could clearly see the cracks spreading from the tip of his foot, the way Gwae-bul slightly rose into the air, twisting his waist as he flew towards him.

He habitually muttered a rune word.

But before his lips could even utter a single word, the spell that had been completed in his mind drew in mana. The mana that flowed through his hand into the rune sword activated the rune sword’s magic circle and began to amplify.

“Where…”

Wiggins’ lips curled up.

He swung his sword forward. The dazzling light that emanated from the sword created a huge magic circle in front of him.

“Ooooooo!”

But Gwae-bul charged towards the magic circle in the air without any hesitation.

Absolute certainty.

It was the certainty that no matter what Wiggins did, he could break through it with his inner power and strength. Even if his power was reflected back, he would break through it with even greater force.

Whoosh!

The magic circle emitted light and created a large white circle. Gwae-bul unleashed his fist towards the pure white circle, which was like a shield of the gods.

It was the very moment when Gwae-bul’s body, transformed into a red meteor, became a beam of light and slammed into the white circle.

Gwae-bul’s body disappeared into the white circle.

“…Huh?”

A foolish voice escaped Kong Ling’s lips.

He was gone.

All that was visible was the white circle floating in the air. Gwae-bul, the waves of energy he had been emitting, and even the fragments of his aura were gone.

It was as if Gwae-bul had disappeared from this space.

Whoooosh.

The circle that had swallowed Gwae-bul shrank rapidly and then disappeared as if it had never been there.

Kong Ling’s eyes turned to Wiggins. As if to answer the question in his eyes, Wiggins smiled.

“Well, it’s not that great.”

“Did you swallow him?”

“No. I’m not that great, so I don’t have the ability to restrain someone like him. I just opened a passage.”

“…A passage?”

“Yes. One that connects this place to the outside. I’m still lacking, so if I make it in a hurry, I can only connect a short distance. But…”

Wiggins smiled.

“If you fall to the bottom, you have to start the stage from the beginning.”

A hollow laugh escaped Kong Ling’s lips.

So, this guy had created a passage connecting this place to the surface, and Gwae-bul, that idiot, had jumped into that passage without thinking?

“Then why didn’t you just come in through that from the start?”

“It’s a little different. Blinks [short-range teleportation] can be done through mana detection, but gates require preparation.”

“Like a bullfighter needs a red cloth.”

Kong Ling no longer smiled.

Interpreting those words, it meant that this guy had prepared to open a passage to the outside in case something like this happened from the moment he entered this place.

“Humans can’t win against bulls… but bullfighters can. Because they don’t have to fight with brute force.”

“Exactly.”

Wiggins smiled.

“It’s just a trick. It only bought me about 5 minutes, but anyway, it’s one-on-one for the next 5 minutes.”

“…Do you think that will change anything?”

“Of course. In 5 minutes…”

Wiggins raised his sword, which was engraved with complex runes, and pointed it at Kong Ling.

“It will be enough time to kill you.”

Thud.

Kong Ling slowly walked forward.

Charrrr.

Wires poured out of his hands. Like a giant black spider spreading its web to catch its prey.