Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 2016

“…What in the world is that thing?”\n\nBang Jin-hoon stared at Wiggins, his face a mask of utter confusion. He couldn’t make sense of the battle that had just unfolded. From his perspective, it had seemed like they were clashing at first, but then Kwon Seong had just started throwing punches into the air like a madman before abruptly stopping.\n\nWatching it, he felt nothing but bewilderment and dumbfoundedness.\n\nHowever, even Wiggins, who usually had clear answers for everything, was at a loss this time. He just scratched his head and looked away.\n\n”What?”\n\n”No, not Master Bator.”\n\nJang Min, who had caught the gazes of Wiggins and Bang Jin-hoon, pursed his lips, a sign of his displeasure.\n\n”The Blood Cult’s demonic arts—no, their sorcery…”\n\nJang Min paused slightly before continuing.\n\n”It digs into people’s minds.”\n\n”Huh?”\n\n”It creates illusions, makes people do things they don’t intend to, and makes them feel like they’ve been injured when they haven’t.”\n\n”…Does that even make sense?”\n\n”Is it that strange?”\n\n”Of course, it’s strange. How can something like that…”\n\n”To ordinary people, you guys jumping over buildings with your bare bodies would be stranger.”\n\n”Rather, this is a bit closer to the realm of the everyday. Trying to control people’s minds and manipulate their actions by touching their subconscious is something that happens countless times in daily life.”\n\nWiggins nodded.\n\nTo put it simply, it’s like hypnosis or brainwashing, or, to go a little deeper, like subliminal messaging. The attempt to manipulate human consciousness has been constant from the past until now. And no one in the world knows for sure how far that attempt has reached.\n\nSuch research is most actively conducted in the deepest places.\n\n”Martial arts are methods of killing people. In other words, researching martial arts is no different from researching how to kill people more effectively.”\n\nIt was a chilling statement.\n\nEspecially since it came from Jang Min’s mouth, the chilling feeling seemed to double.\n\n”So, there’s no way they wouldn’t have researched illusions and brainwashing.”\n\nThe martial arts of the Central Plains [a region in China known as the cradle of martial arts] had already reached that realm. The Spirit Subduing Eye that Kang Jin-ho uses is also based on the same principle.\n\nHowever, the difference is….\n\nKang Jin-ho, or rather, the Demonic Cult’s Spirit Subduing Eye, is a technique that drives a wedge into those who have already lost their will and binds their souls, whereas the Blood Cult’s Soul Subjugation works even on those who harbor hostility.\n\nEven Jang Min doesn’t fully understand the principle. It’s difficult even for a Martial God to know all the principles of martial arts that have developed differently. However, he knows very well how dangerous that technique is.\n\n”But are you saying that such tricks work on the Twelve Evils? They’re just petty tricks, after all.”\n\n”It depends on who uses them.”\n\nJang Min looked at the two people in front of him with a calm gaze.\n\n”They call them superhumans and martial artists, but in the end, they’re just humans.”\n\n”Just because they’ve crossed a wall doesn’t mean they can breathe without air or live without water. They’re just a little tougher and a little stronger.”\n\n”Well, that’s true.”\n\n”And haven’t you already seen it?”\n\nBang Jin-hoon nodded. He had certainly witnessed Kwon Seong doing strange things with his own eyes.\n\n”But Elder, even so, can the Blood Demon really stand against him?”\n\nThere was concern in Wiggins’ voice.\n\nAlthough Kwon Seong hadn’t hit his target, the lightning energy contained within his fist seemed very dangerous even to Wiggins. No matter how skilled the Blood Demon was in sorcery, the difference in their basic destructive power was too extreme.\n\n”It will be difficult.”\n\nJang Min said in a calm voice.\n\n”But keep one thing in mind.”\n\n”…What is it?”\n\n”The Blood Cult are demonic practitioners with an even deeper history than the Divine Cult. I can’t quite call them the originators, though.”\n\nJang Min clicked his tongue and continued.\n\n”Those who made a name for themselves in the world all considered the Blood Cult and the Demonic Cult as their enemies. Conversely, it means that the Blood Cult has always faced opponents stronger than themselves.”\n\n”If they were destined to lose just because they were weak, their lineage would have been cut off hundreds of years ago. Haven’t you already seen it in the previous fight? This isn’t a martial arts contest.”\n\nWiggins nodded.\n\nThat was a lesson the Master had given with his own life. That martial prowess is just one of the factors that determine victory.\n\nWiggins and Bang Jin-hoon looked at the Blood Demon with hardened faces.\n\nKwon Seong looked at the red smoke emanating from the Blood Demon with a tense gaze.\n\nHe tried to enhance his eyesight to grasp the identity of the mysterious smoke, but then he flinched and abruptly turned his gaze downward. At the same time, energy began to swirl fiercely throughout his body.\n\nKwon Seong bit his lip. As expected, it wasn’t easy to deal with.\n\nHuamns rely heavily on sight. Those who have entered the realm of superhumans can replace most visual information with the vibrations of the air and the flow of energy. But even so, when something new appears, they unconsciously chase it with their eyes.\n\nBecause they are human, even if they are superhumans, they cannot change habits that have solidified over nearly a century.\n\nThe Blood Cult’s martial arts exploit exactly that point.\n\nThey use every gesture, every movement, and even traces of energy and drops of blood as tools for illusion.\n\nHow many people have died without even knowing their necks were being severed by that wicked sorcery?\n\nSmell, touch, hearing, sight, and even the sense of energy.\n\nAll of these become mediums for them to use their illusions.\n\n‘It’s difficult.’\n\nThe way to deal with such a Blood Cult is very simple. The method is definitely simple.\n\nYou must not believe what you see, deny what you hear, ignore the scent that wafts into your nose, and doubt the sensations that touch your skin.\n\nYou must even ignore the warnings of your energy sense, which martial artists trust the most.\n\nBut if that’s the case, what can you believe in?\n\nKwon Seong’s gaze flickered upwards. In his sight, the red smoke emanating from the Blood Demon was clearly seen growing stronger and filling the hangar like a cloud.\n\n”Tch.”\n\nKwon Seong’s gaze turned downward again.\n\nEspecially in such cases, that tendency becomes even more pronounced.\n\nIf it’s a sword, you can guess its length and shape. Even if a fist of energy flies at you, it’s not difficult to guess its shape.\n\nHowever, the Blood Cult’s martial arts are all bizarre and unpredictable, making it difficult to gauge their shape and nature. To face a strange martial art you’ve never seen before without looking at it is no different from being asked to distinguish colors with your eyes closed.\n\nThe only thing you can trust is yourself.\n\nOnly his own martial arts, built up over countless hours.\n\n”Hoo.”\n\nCrack.\n\nKwon Seong clenched his fist.\n\nBelief. A firm belief was placed in his fist.\n\nThose illusions and sorcery are certainly frightening. But the world is fair. The time they spent mastering that bizarre sorcery they obtained did not give them time to build up their own martial prowess.\n\nNo matter how much they deceive his eyes, no matter how much they block his ears, even if dozens or hundreds of fists tear through the air….\n\nIf he can follow the right path just once, he will be victorious.\n\nBang!\n\nKwon Seong, who had stomped on the ground, extended his fist.\n\nHis fist, filled with the energy of destruction, flew towards the blood-red smoke that was erupting like lightning.\n\nCrack! Crack!\n\nIt was an extremely impressive sight.\n\nIt was as if a thunderbolt from a celestial being was striking down at the red smoke that filled the world. Each time the majestic lightning struck, the wicked red smoke would ignite and disappear.\n\nLarge holes were pierced in various places in the thick smoke.\n\nBut Kwon Seong’s fist did not stop.\n\nHe continuously circulated his inner energy and unleashed his fist power. It was as if he would just destroy everything in front of him, whether it was an illusion or not.\n\nCrackling!\n\nA storm raged.\n\nThe explosively circulating inner energy, the incredibly strong body that could withstand that energy, and the lofty martial arts that embodied the mysteries of nature throughout his body.\n\nKwon Seong, who possessed all of these, was clearly a strong man.\n\nBut Kwon Seong knew. Even he had been driven to the point of desperation where he had once tried to take his own life.\n\n‘Humans are strong. But they are not strong.’\n\nNo matter how great a person is, if the environment surrounding them is hell, they can’t do anything.\n\nWhether they can fall into an environment that they can overcome with their own abilities is purely a matter of luck.\n\nThat’s why it must be changed.\n\nThe martial artists of this world will be pushed into increasingly desperate situations. If a little more time passes, even if a stronger martial artist than the Black King leads the martial artists, they will not be able to stop this trend.\n\nHe had never wanted his own comfort, not even for a single moment.\n\nWhat he wanted was simply to give the martial artists of this cold world the opportunity he had gained.\n\nAn opportunity to stand tall with their own strength!\n\nWhoosh!\n\nAt that moment, the red smoke that had been torn to shreds instantly swelled up and filled the gaping holes.\n\n”Hmm?”\n\nKwon Seong gritted his teeth.\n\nHe saw it. And at that moment, he realized it.\n\nThe fact that he ‘saw’ it meant that he had made a mistake. However, his incredibly sharp dynamic vision perfectly remembered every situation unfolding before his eyes in just a single moment and interpreted all the changes occurring in his entire field of vision.\n\nThe red smoke thickened in an instant. The redness that had existed in the realm of gas gathered and clumped together, soon beginning to flow like thick blood.\n\nIt flowed. And flowed down again.\n\nIn front of him, above his head, behind his back, no, the entire world….\n\nEverything was flowing down as blood.\n\nCrack!\n\nA scene that was not only eerie but terrifying. The moment he saw the scene that seemed to have transferred despair itself, Kwon Seong instinctively knew that he had already fallen into the Blood Demon’s illusion.\n\nBecause this was a scene that could not exist in reality.\n\nWhen? How?\n\nThose things didn’t matter. What mattered was that at this moment, he was inside the Blood Demon’s belly.\n\nThe blood clumped together.\n\nThe flowing blood clumped together and surged, soon creating a gruesome shape.\n\nScreech!\n\nKaaaaaak!\n\nA wounded beast’s cry.\n\nOr the screams of a human filled with resentment.\n\nOr perhaps the wails of a demon that had fallen into the abyss.\n\nAlong with the desperate screams that could not be described in any words, grotesque demons began to sprout from the blood membranes that surrounded him.\n\nBeasts like hellish hungry ghosts swarmed and reached out their claws towards him. Still screaming in a way that was unbearable to hear.\n\nHell.\n\nThis was the bottom of hell.\n\nKwon Seong’s eyes wavered for the first time.\n\n‘This is an illusion.’\n\nHe knew. This was just an illusion. There was no way such a thing could exist in the world.\n\nBut!\n\nIt was visible, audible, tangible, and made the tip of his nose tingle. If all of that was an illusion, how was he supposed to distinguish between illusion and reality?\n\n”Ugh… Uaaaaah!”\n\nA desperate scream burst from Kwon Seong’s mouth.\n\n”Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”\n\nThe white lightning that surrounded his entire body surged madly, soon emitting dozens of bolts of lightning in all directions.\n\nLike Indra, the god of thunder, fighting off the hungry ghosts in the middle of hell.