Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1962

“I can’t give you much time.”

“I know.”

Lee Hyun-soo, facing Cai Keqiang, nodded.

Cai Keqiang put a cigarette in his mouth and took a deep drag. Uncharacteristically, his fingertips holding the cigarette were trembling slightly.

“Actually…”

Cai Keqiang glanced behind Lee Hyun-soo.

“I also agree with the Lord’s opinion. We can’t decide anything right now. The positions of each country haven’t been released, and even China’s internal position isn’t settled.”

“That’s right.”

It wasn’t a situation where they could act as they pleased just by making plans among themselves. No, if they tried to act as they pleased, the national powers might even mobilize military force to stop them.

From the start, governments didn’t view the groups of Murim [martial arts world] people very rationally.

At best, they wouldn’t consider them anything more than armed warlords.

Who would entrust the fate of the world to armed warlords?

“Stupid bastards.”

Lee Hyun-soo scoffed.

Those who were being held by the leash of one of those Murim people, unable to do anything, were still failing to grasp the situation and trying to ignore the Murim.

‘It can’t be helped.’

People don’t easily discard the fixed ideas embedded in their minds.

When they are still young and confident, their brains are still flexible, but as they get older, they become accustomed to repeating what they have been doing.

And unfortunately, the ages of the leaders of each country who are currently leading the world were by no means young. It was difficult to expect them to come up with brilliant ideas in such an urgent situation.

“Once their position is settled, we’ll deliver it as quickly as possible.”

“Understood.”

Cai Keqiang sighed as he looked at Lee Hyun-soo, who was nodding.

‘I don’t want to admit it, but….’

Having come this far, the only ones we can trust are these people. The Hong King faction alone can’t do anything.

It’s not that I’ve ever felt the Hong King faction’s power was lacking. I still don’t think that way. The Hong King faction could still wipe out the Black King faction on its own. The Hong King faction is powerful enough.

But what’s important now isn’t the absolute amount of power, but the concentration of it.

No matter how many people the Hong King faction has, no matter how powerful their forces are, they are useless in this situation. As long as the Black King has nuclear missiles in his hands, there is nothing they can do.

‘If there’s a variable….’

Cai Keqiang’s gaze turned to Kang Jin-ho, who was standing in front of the teleport gate.

‘It’s only him.’

He didn’t expect Kang Jin-ho to come up with something brilliant.

The current situation was not so easy that it could be solved with a clever trick. What he was expecting was the bizarre relationship between Kang Jin-ho and the Black King.

‘No. This isn’t in the realm of reason.’

Cai Keqiang, who had lived his whole life with his head, couldn’t bring reason to this moment.

This matter had to find its clue solely from the relationship between that Black King and the Demon Lord. His instincts were telling him so.

“Lee Hyun-soo, I think…”

“Give me a cigarette.”

Cai Keqiang took out a cigarette and put it in Lee Hyun-soo’s mouth. Then, he lit it with a lighter.

“Hey, you bastard. If you’re Chinese, you should smoke Chinese cigarettes. Why are you smoking foreign cigarettes?”

“…Anyway, you’re still talking.”

Lee Hyun-soo frowned.

“I know.”

“Not just you, everyone knows. All of this started with the Lord, and it won’t end unless the Lord steps up.”

It was meaningless.

The reason why Lee Hyun-soo readily nodded at the suggestion to return to Korea, and the reason why Cai Keqiang didn’t hold onto those members of the General Assembly, were not that different.

Regardless of the situation, this matter ultimately depended on what decision Kang Jin-ho made.

“Is he a deep thinker?”

“I don’t know either.”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled.

“He’s someone you can never figure out.”

“…You must be having a hard time.”

“Well, what can I do?”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled brightly.

“That’s a good thing.”

“I’m going.”

“…Okay.”

Lee Hyun-soo threw his cigarette on the ground without any regrets and turned around. Then, he joined the others waiting at the gate.

The group, who had been chattering noisily, seemed to be enveloped in a bright light, and then they disappeared.

“They’re gone.”

Cai Keqiang took a deep drag of the cigarette in his mouth.

A little bit of emptiness, and a little bit of powerlessness.

But Cai Keqiang quickly shook off the fragments of emotion that had covered him.

Now was not the time to be swayed by such complex feelings. From now on, he had to move more busily than anyone else in the world.

‘A world of Murim people….’

Cai Keqiang chuckled softly.

“If that could come so easily, no one would be going through this trouble.”

Idealism.

Yes. What the Black King was saying was clearly idealism. It had no sense of reality at all.

But….

Cai Keqiang knew.

It was realists who stabilized the world, but it was idealists who reformed and changed the world.

When they were only discussing reality and stepping back, perhaps the Black King alone was facing the world.

“Then I’m the villain.”

A villain who was stuck in the old system, blocking the one who was reforming the world.

“Heh heh heh heh.”

Cai Keqiang threw his cigarette down a bit nervously and turned his body.

Somehow, he felt like….

He wanted to drink.

Woo woo woo woo.

Bright light poured out from the gate. Where the light, which had been so dazzling, disappeared, a group of people revealed themselves.

“Ugh, I’m so carsick.”

Lee Hyun-soo covered his mouth and started to gag. The directors who saw this all frowned.

“So weak.”

“You need to train more, train more!”

“You’re the only one…”

“Ugh! Oh, carsick! Damn it!”

The others, with blurry eyes, shook their heads as they saw Bang Jin-hoon holding onto the wall and retching.

Anyway, that guy has no sense. He couldn’t hold it in.

“Ugh, I can’t seem to get used to this.”

Lee Hyun-soo wiped his mouth and stood up.

Then, he opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“Anyway, the current situation…”

“It’s too late, you bastard.”

“Do you think you can act calm now?”

“Hey, you can get carsick, you know.”

As Lee Hyun-soo grumbled, Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“Director Bang.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“Director Lee and you should stabilize the General Assembly first. Everyone must be feeling uneasy after hearing the news.”

“Yes. I’ll take care of it right away. I’ll break the legs of anyone who doesn’t listen, I guess.”

“…Don’t be too harsh.”

He said that, but he knew Bang Jin-hoon would handle it well.

“Jang Min, control the Demonic Cult.”

“Demon Lord, the cult will not waver.”

Jang Min said with a resolute look.

“Nothing will change. No matter what the Black King does, no matter how the world changes, only the Demon Lord’s words are important to us. If there is an impious follower who is shaken by this kind of thing, I will tear their bones and flesh and feed them to the dogs with my own hands…”

“Don’t tear people’s flesh like that…”

Kang Jin-ho covered his face with both hands. Seriously, this guy and that guy….

“I don’t know if there’s really a need for control.”

Bator glanced at Kang Jin-ho. As if asking for his opinion.

“Master.”

“What?”

“What are you going to do?”

At those words, everyone closed their mouths.

No one could speak, but everyone was curious about Kang Jin-ho’s thoughts.

“I need to think about it.”

Kang Jin-ho said with a slightly bitter face.

“What is the best direction for everyone.”

A sports car sped down the highway.

Screech!

The car, which had been following right behind the car in front, braked abruptly, changed lanes, and then quickly overtook the car in front and sped away into the distance.

“That crazy bastard.”

The driver checked the speedometer.

It was showing 120 km/h, but compared to the car that had just passed, it felt like they were standing still.

“He’ll only come to his senses after he dies.”

Unaware of who was cursing from behind, the sports car sped down the night road, leaving a trail of meteor-like headlights.

Whoosh!

As the window opened, air rushed into the car like crazy.

“Hoo…”

Kang Jin-ho took a short breath.

As he opened the window and inhaled the cold air, his head seemed to clear a bit.

Screech!

The car braked abruptly.

The car, which had slowed down as if it was going to wear out the tires, turned towards a rest area.

Screech!

The door of the completely stopped car opened, and Kang Jin-ho walked out and leaned against the car.

Kang Jin-ho, who was staring blankly at the road, took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.

Kang Jin-ho rubbed his fingers and lit the end of the cigarette, then slowly inhaled. As if he was going to completely fill his lungs with smoke.

“Hoo.”

Kang Jin-ho slowly exhaled the cigarette smoke, leaned against the car, closed his eyes, and tilted his head back.

‘Cheongma.’

His chest felt stuffy.

It wasn’t like he had any great method. No, before that, it was impossible for him to have a battle of wits with Cheongma from the start.

Cheongma made the plans, and Kang Jin-ho carried them out.

That was their relationship, and it was so natural.

But….

The eyes of everyone looking at him now clearly held an expectation that Kang Jin-ho could clearly see.

That he could do something.

That he, if no one else, could find a way to solve this problem.

‘This is troublesome.’

He wasn’t such a great person.

From some point on, everyone seemed to think of him as too great. They used to be the ones who filled in his gaps because he was lacking, but at some point, they all started to rely on him as if it was too natural.

But….

Kang Jin-ho’s situation was that he couldn’t say that it was burdensome and difficult.

He just had to pretend to be okay, to be calm.

That was the burden he carried.

‘The fate of the world….’

Kang Jin-ho chuckled softly.

He had never once thought that he would take on such a grand thing.

It was ridiculous.

He just wanted to live a somewhat ordinary life, but how did he get caught up in something even worse than the past?

‘Cheongma.’

Kang Jin-ho slowly opened his eyes.

The pitch-black sky entered his eyes.

He remembered.

The day when he and Cheongma shared a drink together.

The sky that day was full of stars, and his glass was filled with a bright moon.

‘Do you know?’

Kang Jin-ho murmured softly.

“You can’t see the stars in the sky here.”

It was new.

Just as the sky now was different from then, he now was different from then. And Cheongma would not be the same as he was in the past.

Because people are beings that do not change and at the same time always change.

That obvious fact was newly embedded in his heart.

“If I had known this would happen….”

A bitter smile appeared on Kang Jin-ho’s lips.

“I should have had a drink with him back then.”

Perhaps….

There might never be another time when the two of them could share a drink.

The taste of the cigarette on his lips was unbearably bitter.

Kang Jin-ho, who had been looking at the black sky, closed his eyes.

But….

Whether he opened his eyes or closed them again… all he could see was pitch-black darkness. Just darkness.