Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 2004

«Hmm…»

Wiggins narrowed his eyes.

‘A whip, huh…’

It was a weapon he had never faced before. He couldn’t quite grasp how to use such a weapon based on his understanding.

What was even more surprising was that his opponent was a member of the Twelve Divine Blades [a group of exceptionally skilled martial artists].

That meant this Gui Pyeon had reached the realm of a transcendent being using a whip as his weapon.

“Master.”

And it seemed Bang Jin-hoon was thinking something similar to Wiggins.

“Have you ever fought an enemy who uses a whip as a weapon?”

“I have.”

“How is it, that thing?”

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho scratched his chin.

Then, he looked ahead with a strange expression before opening his mouth in a slightly lower voice.

“If we exclude the aspect of it being a long weapon, I’m not sure if it has any great advantages as a weapon… but one thing is certain.”

“What…?”

“If there’s a difference in skill, it’s the best weapon to toy with an opponent.”

“It’s probably hell.”

Upon hearing those words, Bang Jin-hoon swallowed hard and looked ahead.

Bang Jin-hoon, seeing Lee Myung-hwan’s back, unknowingly bit his lip.

Fwip!

The tip of the whip cut through the air, creating an enormous roar. It was as if dozens of fighter jets were breaking the sound barrier right in front of them, creating a sonic boom.

Lee Myung-hwan, who had been rushing in with great momentum, suddenly flinched.

Even though he had pushed his demonic energy to the extreme to dispel all fear, he couldn’t bring himself to charge forward after seeing this scene.

How could he even describe this sight?

It was as if hundreds, thousands of black snakes were writhing and intertwining with each other. No, it might be better to say it looked like a black storm was raging fiercely.

The afterimages of the whip, tangled like undergrowth covering a dense jungle, formed a massive wall that he couldn’t dare to penetrate, engulfing Lee Myung-hwan.

Whack!

The tip of the whip flew like a viper’s tongue and struck Lee Myung-hwan’s shoulder.

Whack!

A sound of impact that was almost crisp.

It was an attack of tremendous speed that he couldn’t even think of dodging. He barely saw a flash of something, and then an unimaginable pain surged from his shoulder.

He had taken countless attacks with his body.

He had been cut by swords, torn by blades, and even beaten until his bones were crushed. But this impact was on a different level from anything he had ever experienced.

A single blow.

A single blow was enough to send a terrible, unbearable pain spreading from his shoulder, completely shattering his will to fight.

“Ugh…”

A groan escaped his lips. The tattered fabric of his shoulder was instantly soaked with blood and stuck to his skin.

Whack! Whack!

The whip struck Lee Myung-hwan’s thigh and arm in quick succession.

“Ugh…”

The blood vessels in his eyes burst open.

His eyes were not red because of the demonic energy he had drawn out, but because the blood vessels had burst from enduring the pain.

With each blow, a pain so intense that he would rather die washed over his brain.

From the past, whips were used as tools of torture. There was no better weapon for inflicting pain on humans. Especially when wielded by someone like Gui Pyeon, the whip’s effectiveness was maximized.

The whip wielded by Gui Pyeon could inflict pain that would cause shock even without internal energy, enough to kill most people with a single blow.

Swish! Swish!

The whip writhed like a snake.

Lee Myung-hwan’s entire body was instantly stained dark red. The clothes where the whip had struck were torn and stuck to his skin, and the skin exposed between the tattered clothes was not just red, but black and dead.

“Hah! Hah! Hah!”

Lee Myung-hwan’s breath came out in ragged gasps.

He couldn’t see it.

He had no idea how to break through the storm of black whips in front of him.

‘Do I have to get through that?’

To attack, he had to get close to Gui Pyeon. But all he could see now was a storm of whips raging madly, and Gui Pyeon, who had disappeared behind it, was nowhere to be found.

An overwhelming difference.

A distance that was more despairing than that.

No matter how much power he could draw out through demonic arts, it was meaningless if his fists couldn’t reach. At this rate, he would be toyed with from this distance until the end of the battle, and the only outcome would be to be beaten to death.

Grind.

Lee Myung-hwan clenched his teeth.

“What is that…”

Bang Jin-hoon stared at the two people fighting with a dumbfounded expression… no, at Lee Myung-hwan being toyed with.

Sometimes, battles are like Go or chess.

It meant that even if the person fighting couldn’t see a way to attack, those watching from the side could often see a clear way to counter. But even Bang Jin-hoon couldn’t find a way to deal with this scene.

‘If I were there, what would I do?’

There was no way.

Battles are basically a series of actions: blocking or evading the opponent’s attacks and landing your own. No matter how complex the exchanges become, or how high the level, the concept of battle never deviates from this basic principle.

‘But…’

That whip blocks all of that.

The flamboyant and unconventional movements, incomparable to swords or blades, fundamentally prevent one from reading its changes. And the excessive pain caused by the nature of the whip makes it impossible to break through with physical force.

‘This is an impossible mission for a martial artist.’

From the beginning, martial arts have their strengths and weaknesses. If Lee Myung-hwan had been a swordsman or someone who used long weapons, there might have been a way. Because weapons don’t feel pain.

But Lee Myung-hwan was basically a martial artist who fought with his bare hands. His body, made of flesh and blood, was too weak to face that whip.

“Unless it’s someone like Bator, I don’t think there’s anything anyone can do about that…”

He knew.

If whips were such great weapons, there would have been countless people using them. Because martial artists would do anything to become stronger.

This wasn’t because the whip was a great weapon.

It was Gui Pyeon’s power that was so absurd that he could wield the whip to such an extent.

‘Twelve Divine Blades…’

In the past, during the time of Baek Yeon-hong, I felt it to the bone, but they are truly amazing. It is no exaggeration to say that they were the ones who dominated an era.

‘Don’t lose, Lee Myung-hwan.’

He didn’t want him to win. Bang Jin-hoon knew better than anyone that hoping for that was unreasonable. After all, he was one of the people who disagreed the most with Kang Jin-ho’s theory of perseverance.

But….

Bang Jin-hoon knew what kind of mindset Lee Myung-hwan was standing there with.

‘Show me.’

As Bang Jin-hoon gritted his teeth, a low voice came from beside him.

“Hmm, it seems like you’re underestimating him too much…”

“Yes?”

Bang Jin-hoon turned his head sharply to look at Jang Min.

Then, a subtle smile appeared on Jang Min’s lips.

“He shouldn’t be that pathetic.”

Bang Jin-hoon turned his head back to look at Lee Myung-hwan’s back. Lee Myung-hwan’s back, standing firmly on the ground with both feet.

Swish!

The whip lashed out, wrapping around his upper body before pulling away. In an instant, a wound mark appeared on his left chest, shoulder, and back, as if a red snake had latched onto him.

It was dizzying.

Each time he was hit by the whip, his consciousness would disappear and then flicker back like a light bulb.

Pain?

This was not something that could be described as pain.

Martial artists were more accustomed to pain than anyone else. They could have their fingernails pulled out or needles pierced into their tender flesh without batting an eye.

But this pain made even the well-trained Lee Myung-hwan writhe.

“Hah…”

From Lee Myung-hwan’s bloodshot eyes, a crimson light poured out.

‘I knew it all along.’

The difference in skill was absolute. He was not someone who could hope for luck.

Even so, the only reason he could stand was because of one thing.

“If the strong always win, there’s no reason to fight.”

‘I know.’

Kang Jin-ho’s words from some time ago were holding onto his last shred of consciousness.

Swish!

The tip of the whip struck his thigh. The moment the whip stuck and pulled away, a chunk of flesh was torn away with the whip.

Swish!

The side of his body that was hit split open, revealing his white ribs. The floor was already a mess with the blood and scattered pieces of flesh he had shed.

“Ugh!”

As he tried to avoid the whip flying towards his chest, the tip of the whip writhed as if it were alive and struck Lee Myung-hwan’s face directly.

Whack!

Lee Myung-hwan spat out blood and fell backward.

Thud!

Lying on the floor, he saw the black ceiling. Half of the ceiling was gradually turning red. His vision was completely gone, as if one eye had gone blind.

Thump.

A trembling hand touched the floor. Lee Myung-hwan gritted his teeth and raised his body again.

His appearance had already become horrific.

The clothes on his entire body were torn to shreds.

It was fortunate that he wasn’t naked because the clothes were all stuck to his skin. One side of his face was torn and swollen, making it difficult to look at.

But he got up.

With trembling legs and convulsing arms….

He pushed up his body, which had become heavier than a thousand pounds, and somehow managed to stand on the ground.

Swish.

Seeing that, Gui Pyeon retrieved his whip and gripped it.

“…Impressive.”

This was pure admiration for his opponent.

His title was the Single Heaven Gui Pyeon. But before that, his title was the Soul Severing Gui Pyeon.

His whip severed the souls of his opponents with each blow. But this young one had been hit countless times and still hadn’t lost his will to fight.

Gui Pyeon had seen countless proud and noble people, those who spoke of justice and will, cry and beg before his whip, so he couldn’t help but be truly impressed by this sight.

“But…”

Swish.

The respect he could show his opponent was not to spare his life. It was to crush his opponent even more thoroughly and completely cut off his breath. That was the greatest courtesy he could show, to give his opponent a defeat that he wouldn’t be ashamed of.

“This is the end!”

Gui Pyeon, having decided to end Lee Myung-hwan’s life, made his whip writhe like a venomous snake.

“Farewell.”

Wham!

His whip stiffened like a spear and flew towards Lee Myung-hwan like a beam of light.

Lee Myung-hwan stared wide-eyed at the whip flying towards him.

Crack!

The whip, which had flown like a spear, pierced through Lee Myung-hwan’s abdomen.

“Lee, Lee Myung-hwaaaan!”

Bang Jin-hoon’s desperate scream echoed loudly.

In his eyes, he could clearly see the tip of the whip that had pierced through Lee Myung-hwan’s back like a spear.

Thud.

Lee Myung-hwan, who had spewed out a waterfall of blood from his mouth, collapsed to his knees. Lee Myung-hwan’s body, which had crumbled in place, hit the floor with a dull thud.