Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 2022

“Ugh, goddamn it.”

Jang Wang frowned subtly as he watched Bang Jin-hoon stagger to his feet.

‘What is this?’

Something felt off.

Clearly, when this fight began, he was confident he could take down Bang Jin-hoon in an instant. He had even pondered whether it was necessary to take the life of someone so clearly outmatched.

But what he felt now was a distinct sense of unease.

‘Did I expect this situation at the beginning?’

Bang Jin-hoon, who had been struck by his force, was getting back up. It wasn’t just a casual probe; it was a force attack infused with proper internal energy [internal energy refers to the energy cultivated through martial arts practices].

That meant only one thing.

‘He deflected it?’

Or nullified it.

Either way, it was the same. Bang Jin-hoon, as he had assessed at the start of the fight, didn’t possess that kind of ability.

So how could someone like that take a direct hit from his force and still get back on his feet?

“Ptoo!”

Bang Jin-hoon spat out blood-tinged saliva and contorted his face.

“Man, you sure do shoot a lot.”

“Anyway, it seems like I’m getting used to it… It’s not as hopeless as I thought.”

Jang Wang’s face hardened.

He couldn’t possibly understand the Korean words, but he somehow knew what he was saying. His face flushed red for a moment.

“I guess…

WHOOOOOOOSH.

A pure white energy began to gather in his hands.

“I need to go all out!”

Jang Wang, having discarded his underestimation of Bang Jin-hoon, began to unleash a storm-like force from both hands.

Dozens of forces piled on top of dozens more.

Weight is about accumulation.

You don’t necessarily need something massive to create a powerful force. Just as small drops of water gather to form a river, a waterfall, and eventually the ocean, even a single force that isn’t very strong can become a formidable power when combined in tens, hundreds, or thousands.

The sight of dozens of palm-shaped forces rising into the air at once was not just bizarre but almost majestic.

And those numerous forces overlapped and piled up, soon turning into a massive blizzard that engulfed Bang Jin-hoon.

It seemed impossible for a human body to withstand that blizzard. Even an avalanche is too much for a human body to handle, so how could a human made of flesh and blood withstand a blizzard made of energy?

But Bang Jin-hoon, even as he watched the forces flying towards him, didn’t think of retreating.

“Ptoo!”

Once again, Bang Jin-hoon spat out the blood that had pooled in his mouth and took a step forward. His eyes sank low, very low.

‘Slowly.’

It’s immense.

It’s formidable.

But Bang Jin-hoon could see its essence.

He didn’t miss how this attack was formed, its very foundation.

‘It might seem like it’s all coming at once, but it’s not really like that.’

A flow is ultimately just a series of connected moments.

In other words, this endless blizzard of force is nothing more than a collection of individual forces.

It’s impossible to face all the forces at once, but facing a single force isn’t that difficult.

There was only one thing Bang Jin-hoon had to do.

Move faster than the incoming forces, turning a battle against thousands into thousands of one-on-one fights.

SWISH!

The tip of his hand flicked away the first force that came flying at him.

‘No!’

Too much power was used. It would take time to recover his hand.

He had to move with the minimum amount of power, without any waste, to avoid being too late.

This wasn’t a battle of strength against strength. This was a battle of speed.

And if it was a battle of speed against speed, he definitely had a chance.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Bang Jin-hoon’s hands split into dozens, like the hands of a thousand-armed Bodhisattva [a Bodhisattva is an enlightened being in Buddhism who postpones their own enlightenment to help others]. No, they just seemed like dozens because they were moving too fast.

Those hands deflected, pushed away, and redirected the incoming forces one by one. At the same time, his feet changed position dozens of times in an instant, and his body evaded the approaching forces.

It’s impossible to deflect all the rain falling from the sky with your bare hands.

But what if the flow of time slowed down tenfold?

Then, it would be easy to just flick away the slowly falling raindrops.

Bang Jin-hoon’s feet stomped on the ground, and a bright blue force began to surge from his hands.

“…That’s it.”

Jang Min clenched his fist tightly.

“The old man must be terrified?”

“You’re one to talk.”

Bator and Jang Min looked at Bang Jin-hoon with renewed eyes.

They knew how amazing Bang Jin-hoon was.

“That steadfastness is frightening.”

There were already over ten thousand people living together in the Assembly. That many people had gathered, dedicating their lives to the pursuit of strength.

But among them, only one.

“Only Director Bang didn’t even glance at Demonic Arts [Demonic Arts refers to a specific, often forbidden, martial arts technique that grants immense power].”

“Tch.”

Bator’s face twisted in annoyance.

Even Bator, who had absolute confidence in his own body, was captivated by the destructive power of Demonic Arts. He knew that accepting Demonic Arts might lower his limits, but he still ended up accepting it.

He couldn’t help it.

Kang Jin-ho was just too dazzling to ignore Demonic Arts and stick to his own path.

Was there anyone in the Assembly who hadn’t wondered if they could become like Kang Jin-ho by accepting Demonic Arts?

But not Bang Jin-hoon.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t accept it because his system was different like Wiggins, nor was it that he wasn’t qualified to learn it like the other members. He hadn’t even tried and failed.

Within the Assembly, which was divided into those who had already learned Demonic Arts [a specific, often forbidden, martial arts technique that grants immense power] and those who hadn’t, only Bang Jin-hoon had not even glanced at Demonic Arts, walking his own path.

That steadfastness is now shining brightly.

“People are mistaken. They think there’s something great about martial arts without techniques.”

Jang Min said, his eyes fixed on Bang Jin-hoon.

“But martial arts without techniques is just about hitting, blocking, and dodging.”

The level of martial arts without techniques is determined by how perfectly and skillfully one can execute those obvious processes.

And to improve that foundation, there is only one thing to do: relentlessly consistent repetition. In other words, martial arts without techniques is an honest field where one can reach the pinnacle simply by continuously doing what one knows.

But most martial artists cannot sustain that process.

It’s like watching a snail crawl to the opposite shore of a continent.

Even if you work your ass off, you can’t feel like you’re making progress, and you have to silently endure those who take shortcuts quickly overtaking you.

Who could endure that?

But there he is, not even glancing at paths that aren’t his own, steadfastly guarding his own place.

‘If a god of martial arts without techniques exists…’

‘Wouldn’t he smile upon someone like that?’

The essence of martial arts descends upon Bang Jin-hoon’s fingertips.

Not particularly special, not particularly great, just plain, obvious martial arts.

‘What the hell is this?’

Jang Wang’s face contorted.

He is now perfectly circulating his inner energy and emitting his palm force. Nothing is wrong. He is unleashing his maximum attack, as he doesn’t feel any threat from his opponent.

But….

‘Why isn’t he falling?’

No. It’s not just that he isn’t falling.

Bang Jin-hoon’s reactions are getting faster and faster. His hand, deflecting the palm force, draws a perfect straight line, swinging without any waste, and the distance he covers with his footwork is getting faster and faster.

‘Is he growing while fighting me?’

No. That’s not growth.

It’s more like optimization or systematization.

While fighting him, he is changing himself into the most appropriate form to break down his martial arts.

‘Is this even possible?’

Of course, martial arts have compatibility and ways to break them down. If a martial art is completely broken down, it is no longer valuable.

Countless martial arts have disappeared that way.

What remains are either martial arts that are too complex to break down or simple martial arts that are meaningless to break down.

Jang Wang’s martial arts are clearly the former. So, it’s not impossible to break down.

But that’s easier said than done.

It’s common to spend decades researching a martial art without finding a way to break it down. But right now, in this moment, to analyze and break down a martial art he’s seeing for the first time, while fighting, is that even possible?

His mind couldn’t comprehend how this was possible.

Thud!

At that moment, Bang Jin-hoon takes another step forward.

He’s coming against the flow.

Bang Jin-hoon, like a salmon, was going against the waterfall of energy he had created.

“This!”

For the first time, an intense voice burst from Jang Wang’s mouth.

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

The palm force emanating from his palm swirls even more flamboyantly. From a simple layering of palm force to a vortex with added variations.

But even though the nature of the palm force had clearly changed, Bang Jin-hoon remained unfazed, deflecting and pushing away all the incoming palm forces.

Jang Wang’s eyes wavered for a moment.

Half-opened eyes.

Half-opened mouth.

It was like the face of a high monk undergoing asceticism. A face that didn’t fit at all in this explosive battle.

That’s why it’s terrifying.

Bang Jin-hoon’s feet, lost in a trance, slowly move forward. His hands, which had been aggressively reaching out, now stay close to his body. It means he has enough leeway to perfectly block attacks near his body without having to reach out first.

‘Why?’

His palm force is being emitted faster and stronger.

But why is that guy starting to have leeway?

Bang Jin-hoon’s movements begin to decrease. His hands, which had been moving flamboyantly and aggressively, gradually become slower.

But his palm force still couldn’t break through Bang Jin-hoon’s defense.

Jang Wang’s eyes became bloodshot at this unprecedented situation.

‘At this rate…’

‘That can’t be.’

‘That possibility doesn’t exist.’

But at this moment, what came to Jang Wang’s mind was clear. The image of victory that had been vivid in his mind just a moment ago was no longer being drawn.

Jang Wang’s eyes wavered for a moment.

“Hwaaaaaaaap!”

At that moment, Jang Wang’s momentum changed completely.

“You!”

Jang Wang, cutting off the palm force he was emitting and rotating his body once, stretched both hands forward.

His hands, protruding from the ballooning clothes that looked like they would burst, held a white palm force of a formidable size, different from anything before.

KWA-AAAAAAAANG!

The palm force, swirling up the air, crushed the space and flew towards Bang Jin-hoon in an instant.

‘How about that!’

If the enemy has adapted to the attack, then just use a different attack!

A palm force containing a massive amount of inner energy, enough to empty his dantian [the energy center in the lower abdomen] in an instant, flew towards him. This attack is absolutely impossible for Bang Jin-hoon to block with his level of inner energy.

‘Even if he dodges, it’s the same!’

If he creates distance, it only means Jang Wang’s victory! No matter how good Bang Jin-hoon is, he won’t be able to repeat this twice.

Jang Wang was confident that he could respond no matter what choice Bang Jin-hoon made.

But at the moment when the image of a fierce and enormous palm force was reflected in Bang Jin-hoon’s half-opened eyes.

Tap.

Instead of retreating, Bang Jin-hoon charged forward, throwing himself towards the incoming palm force.