Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 199

Sweat began to bead on Chai Ke-chang’s forehead.

After receiving the report, Hong Wang had simply closed his eyes, saying nothing.

Chai Ke-chang could have responded if Hong Wang had shown any reaction, but with Hong Wang remaining silent, Chai Ke-chang was also frozen, unable to move.

A heavy silence hung in the air.

Then, Hong Wang, who had been lost in thought, suddenly opened his eyes and spoke in his characteristically deep voice.

“He was ambushed?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Hmm.”

Chai Ke-chang shuffled through the documents on Jinbao that had been submitted in writing.

“He doesn’t seem like someone who would be easily ambushed.”

“…All the muscles and meridians in his body have been severed. He won’t even be able to lift a spoon on his own now. But the bigger problem is that he has completely lost consciousness.”

“Lost consciousness? He must have become an imbecile.”

“Yes. We don’t know what kind of shock caused him to become like that…”

“It must have been a stimulation of the brain’s pressure points.”

Chai Ke-chang couldn’t respond to Hong Wang’s words. It was a level of knowledge he didn’t possess.

“If it were normal energy, no matter how much you stimulated the brain’s pressure points, you wouldn’t be able to turn a sane person into an imbecile… What did Jinbao say?”

“…He kept repeating, ‘This is me.'”

“Heh heh heh.”

Hong Wang began to chuckle, as if suppressing his laughter.

“Did he reveal himself? Heh heh heh.” Hong Wang, who had been laughing softly, suddenly stood up.

“That demon dares to make a fool of me!” Rrrrrrr.

As Hong Wang unleashed his fury, the building began to shake, unable to withstand his energy.

“Y-Your Majesty, please calm down!” Chai Ke-chang cried out in terror.

However, Hong Wang showed no sign of calming his anger.

“That demon, who has only learned low-level demonic arts, dares to provoke me!”

Bang!

Hong Wang stomped his foot on the floor, causing the concrete to cave in and crack in all directions.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

“Chai Ke-chang!”

“Yes!”

Chai Ke-chang immediately bowed his head to the floor.

Hong Wang’s fury was not something he could dare to face head-on.

“Hunt him down and kill him.”

Chai Ke-chang’s eyes widened.

“You may mobilize everything you can. Even if we lose influence due to the other two kings’ checks, we will endure it. If there are any connections we have in Korea, use them all. Kill him. You must kill him and bring his head to me.”

“But Your Majesty!”

Chai Ke-chang replied in a trembling voice.

“Isn’t this preparation for the grand plan? It’s too much to waste like this…”

Chai Ke-chang paused, swallowed, and then continued.

“If you cannot control your immediate anger, there will surely come a day when you will regret it. You must not forget that you represent the soul of the Central Plains [a historical and cultural region of China]. Do you intend to hand over the great power of the Central Plains to those treacherous individuals?”

“Tch.”

Hong Wang gritted his teeth and sat back down.

‘Am I supposed to endure this?’

The other two kings were too violent and did not consider the greater good. If Hong Wang were to be defeated by them, the world would quickly fall into chaos.

Considering that, it was right to ignore Kang Jin-ho, no matter how much he provoked him. The power of Hong Wang and the other two kings was evenly matched.

Losing even a little bit of power here could lead to being pushed back in an instant.

But.

‘Why am I so bothered by this?’

He had faced countless crises to reach his current position. Hong Wang, who prided himself on always living on the edge of life and death, should have considered this a minor matter.

Yet, Hong Wang could not shake off the strange premonition that was tormenting him.

There was an ominous scent coming from this man, Kang Jin-ho.

It wasn’t just because he was a demon. Nor was it because he was the successor to the teachings of the past Demonic Cult [a fictional martial arts sect].

It was the man himself who gave off an ominous feeling, as if he could plunge the world into darkness.

“I can’t do this.”

Hong Wang frowned.

“I will endure it.”

“Your Majesty!”

Chai Ke-chang bowed his head, begging him to reconsider, but Hong Wang shook his head with an unchanging expression.

“Chai Ke-chang!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“This is my decision.”

From Hong Wang’s words, Chai Ke-chang realized that he could no longer sway Hong Wang’s will. But could he just stand by and watch as the entire grand plan collapsed?

“Then, I will take the final step.”

“You?”

Chai Ke-chang nodded.

“I have a secret network planted in the peninsula [referring to the Korean peninsula]. I will mobilize them. It will be painful to lose influence in the peninsula because of this, but it will be much better than losing power in the Central Plains.”

Hong Wang furrowed his brow.

“As the art of war states…”

“…Yes.”

“It is the worst strategy to conserve power and increase consumption. A tiger gives its all even when catching a rabbit. I do trust you, but I am worried that my trust might be misplaced.”

“I will never disappoint you.”

“Hmm.”

Hong Wang stroked his beard.

‘It feels like I’m following the pattern of defeat.’

All defeats begin with underestimating the opponent. It wasn’t that Hong Wang had underestimated him, but the situation was preventing him from giving his best.

These things accumulated, eroding the power he had gathered, and eventually led to defeat.

‘This is not good.’

Hong Wang’s expression darkened.

“What’s going on?!”

Jo Gyu-min and Kang Jin-ho rushed into the cafe without hesitation.

However, contrary to the sharp voice they had heard, the cafe was relatively peaceful. Except for a man sitting in the corner and Kang Eun-young, who was yelling at him.

“I just came for a cup of coffee, there’s no need to get so angry, is there? Don’t you think so?”

“Didn’t you hear me telling you to leave?”

“Hahaha.”

The man laughed leisurely.

“No. Does this cafe kick out people who come for coffee? I haven’t done anything wrong. Is this okay?”

“I told you to leave.”

“That’s difficult, you know? I really need to have a coffee. We’re not at a point where we can’t even share a cup of coffee, are we?”

Kang Eun-young trembled as she looked at the man’s sly smile.

A leech of a human.

“What’s going on?”

As Kang Jin-ho approached and asked, Kang Eun-young clung to Kang Jin-ho with the eyes of someone who had found a savior.

“Oppa! It’s that guy.”

“Don’t just say that out of the blue, explain it.”

Kang Eun-young whispered into Kang Jin-ho’s ear.

“You know, the guy I had a dating rumor with? That guy named Jun-young from The Voice [a popular singing competition show].”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyebrows twitched.

He thought that matter was over, so why was that guy here, hanging around?

Kang Jin-ho turned to look at Jo Gyu-min.

Jo Gyu-min’s face was also stiff. He had warned him so much, but for him to act like this was no different from completely ignoring him and Jae-kyung.

Jun-young glanced at the two of them, then stood up and extended his hand.

“You must be Ms. Se-ah’s brother. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Jun-young from The Voice.”

Jun-young extended his hand for a handshake, but Kang Jin-ho simply stared at Jun-young without even looking at the outstretched hand.

“Haha. This is a bit awkward.”

Jun-young subtly pulled his hand back and sat down again.

“This seems to be a cafe, but aren’t they serving coffee? I don’t know why they’re not taking orders.”

Just as Jo Gyu-min was about to say something to Jun-young, who was speaking smoothly, Kang Jin-ho raised his hand slightly to stop Jo Gyu-min.

Then, he looked at Kang Eun-young and said,

“Take his order.”

“…Oppa.”

“This is a cafe.”

No matter how much he disliked it, it wasn’t right to chase away a customer unless they were causing trouble. If he reacted angrily to someone who was being polite, it would make the other person look like the victim.

They weren’t the only ones here.

If the other side was being polite, it could be said that they were being harsh to someone who had come with good intentions.

Jo Gyu-min also seemed to agree with that thought, as he sighed and turned away.

If it wasn’t something related to Kang Eun-young, it might have been different, but the world wasn’t lenient with celebrities’ private lives. An ordinary person’s drunk driving might end with a frown, but a celebrity’s drunk driving could end their career.

It might seem natural to chase Jun-young away from a common sense perspective, but with the entertainment industry filter, there was no telling how things could be blown out of proportion.

“One macchiato, please. With whipped cream, nice and sweet.”

At Jun-young’s words, Kang Eun-young glared at him as if she wanted to devour him, then turned her body away.

As Kang Jin-ho was about to head towards the counter after quietly looking at Jun-young, Jun-young called out to him from behind.

“Brother.”

“Yes.”

“It seems like we’ll be seeing each other often, so please take care of me. You never know, maybe your sister and I could have a good relationship.”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head to look at Jun-young without saying anything.

Jun-young’s body trembled as he looked into Kang Jin-ho’s eyes.

‘What, what kind of look is that?’

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked at Jun-young before opening his mouth.

“Since this is a cafe, you are free to come as you please. However, just because it’s a cafe doesn’t mean we have to accept a customer’s pranks. Please enjoy your time here.”

Kang Jin-ho turned away without waiting for a response.

Jun-young, who was watching Kang Jin-ho’s back as he walked away slowly, began to tremble.

It wasn’t even a threat. But why did he feel so scared? Jun-young’s body began to shake as he felt a chill.

And eventually, Jun-young couldn’t take it anymore and jumped up from his seat.

“T-Then, I’ll come again next time.”

Kang Jin-ho called out to Jun-young, who was hurriedly leaving the cafe.

“Sir.”

“Yes? Yes!”

“You still have to pay for the macchiato you ordered.”

Jun-young nodded frantically.

Jun-young took out a ten-thousand won bill from his pocket, placed it on the counter, and then ran out of the cafe.

Then, he got into the car parked in front of the cafe and started the engine in a hurry.

‘Damn it.’

He definitely looked pathetic on screen, but seeing him in person made him think that he was no ordinary guy.

Jun-young, who had started the engine, stepped on the accelerator without hesitation. He only had one thought: he had to get away from here.

Brrrrm!

The car lurched forward violently.

At that moment.

Crash!

Jun-young, who had crashed into a car that had suddenly appeared from the side of the road, hit his head on the steering wheel and screamed.

“Aaaah!”

An unbearable pain surged through his face. Jun-young grabbed his face and cursed.

“Ah, you son of a bitch!”

Jun-young, who had raised his head, saw the door of the car he had hit opening.

“…Huh?”

A short-haired man wearing a flashy Hawaiian shirt got out of the car, holding the back of his neck and wearing a fierce expression.

Jun-young, seeing the dark tattoos visible under the man’s shirt, muttered to himself without realizing it.

“…I’m screwed.”