Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 2023

KWAH-AH-AH-AH!

The palm force, as large as a human body, hurtled through the air.

Its size wasn’t enormous, but the power it carried was incredibly destructive.

Bang Jin-hoon, instead of retreating, was diving straight into that palm force.

It was like a moth flying into a blazing bonfire.

When humans face an overwhelming force, they usually turn away.

Even if running away worsens the situation, people tend to try to escape first.

But Bang Jin-hoon stepped forward.

He was someone who didn’t know how to retreat in the first place.

A natural rebel.

Someone who, when feeling fear, would rather shout than back down.

That’s why he was able to endure in this harsh world of martial arts. He was able to hold his place even in the General Assembly, which was overflowing with geniuses.

And…

Clearly, the path to survival was in the step he had taken.

TAA-AT!

Bang Jin-hoon, pushing off the ground, stretched out both hands towards the incoming palm force.

‘Reckless!’

At that moment, Wiggins clenched his fist.

It’s impossible to withstand that terrifying palm force head-on! Bang Jin-hoon doesn’t have the ability to directly counter the opponent’s power. Then why is he being so reckless?

It was at that very moment.

CHWAA-AAAK!

Bang Jin-hoon’s outstretched hands flowed along the texture of the palm force.

And Bang Jin-hoon’s body rotated with it.

Palm, wrist, elbow, shoulder, and back!

Like a reed accepting a typhoon, Bang Jin-hoon’s body, without resisting the incoming force, entrusted itself to the palm force and spun along with the flow of air it created.

Crack.

The wrist broke. The elbow dislocated, and the shoulder was crushed.

Just as a fallen leaf riding a storm cannot remain dry, clear scars remained on Bang Jin-hoon’s body, which had deflected that terrifying energy.

However, those scars were clearly minor compared to the fact that he had overcome such a palm force in an instant.

Crack, crack.

Having spun along with the palm force and deflected it behind him, Bang Jin-hoon pushed off the ground the moment his feet touched it, and charged towards Jang Wang.

Jang Wang’s eyes widened.

There is a law that always applies to martial arts.

An absolute law that even those with the highest martial prowess can never escape. That is, the stronger the attack, the greater the recoil, and a clear opening will appear.

The attack, changed in an instant, was an extremely powerful blow that succeeded in disrupting the flow, but it took away perfection from Jang Wang.

It might be an extremely subtle opening.

But if that opening can be pierced, even the smallest gap can become a fatal wound.

Bang Jin-hoon, pushing off the ground, flew to within striking distance of Jang Wang, who had not yet regained his stance, and kicked him in the stomach.

‘Kuh!’

Jang Wang hurriedly reached out his hand towards Bang Jin-hoon’s foot, which was coming to kick his stomach.

But at that moment.

SWISH.

Bang Jin-hoon’s foot, which should have made contact with his hand, changed direction as if flowing like water, and landed on the top of his foot, which was firmly planted on the ground to prepare for the impact.

THUD!

Jang Wang’s face contorted horribly for a moment.

Even a martial artist who has transcended the limits is not made of steel. Such direct physical impacts cause clear pain and leave significant damage.

Especially, having his foot, the source of all martial arts, stomped on was an injury that could not be ignored.

But there was no time to groan in pain. Bang Jin-hoon’s shoulder, which had stepped on Jang Wang’s foot, shot out like a rocket, aiming for his chest.

The moment Jang Wang reached out both hands to block his shoulder, Bang Jin-hoon’s shoulder stopped in mid-air like a freeze-frame.

And…

KWAH-ANG!

Jang Wang’s body shook violently.

Bang Jin-hoon, who had tricked Jang Wang into thinking he would ram him with his shoulder, stomped on Jang Wang’s foot with his own foot, then kicked Jang Wang’s shin, and then stomped on his foot again with great force.

CRACK!

The sound of bones breaking was clearly heard through his body.

“This!”

Jang Wang’s palm force reflexively shot out from his hand.

But that palm force, which was incredibly powerful at a distance, was no different from an ordinary punch at such close range.

Whirl.

Bang Jin-hoon, turning his body to avoid the palm force that Jang Wang was extending, struck his side with his elbow with the momentum of his rotation, and at the same time, kicked up with his knee to strike Jang Wang’s chin.

THUD

THUD

Jang Wang, blocking his chin with both hands, retreated backward in a daze.

He had blocked both attacks, but the strain was steadily accumulating in his body.

‘When was the last time I…’

Looking at Bang Jin-hoon, who was closing the distance as if not to let him escape, Jang Wang realized one thing.

‘When was the last time I engaged in such close-quarters combat?’

He couldn’t remember.

After he established his martial arts and was able to manipulate his opponents with his palm force, no one had ever approached him at such close range.

Even if there were such people, he would have just tried to cut them down with a single sword strike. He couldn’t remember anyone trying to break him down step by step, like dyeing a white cloth with black ink, as was happening now.

The tower he had built was too high.

Therefore…

“He can’t see it.”

Kang Jin-ho, who was watching the scene, grinned, revealing his teeth.

“He wouldn’t even care what’s happening far below, would he?”

Even if it was the foundation that supported that high tower.

Murtial arts are honest.

This isn’t a game. Unlike a game where once you learn a skill, its perfection remains unchanged even after a thousand years, martial arts become dull if you don’t practice them repeatedly.

Jang Wang, who had forgotten the possibility of an opponent approaching him and throwing punches, was unable to properly deal with the martial artist from the peninsula who was moving like a dance in front of him.

“He was foolish.”

Jang Min said, as if agreeing.

This match was originally a match that Jang Wang was supposed to win. If Bang Jin-hoon broke through the wall of palm force, he could just create distance and repeat the same thing.

But Jang Wang was flustered.

He couldn’t accept the fact that someone with a clear difference in skill had broken through his barrier.

That’s why he tried to defeat his opponent in one fell swoop.

Even though the essence of his martial arts was to build up each step and gradually break down his opponent, he had forgotten that essence himself.

A strange thing.

But neither Kang Jin-ho nor Jang Min thought it was strange.

This was actually a very natural thing.

In the martial world, it is common for young, rising masters to win against those who were once called the best.

In fact, this is a very paradoxical thing.

If martial arts naturally improve with the passage of time, it should be extremely difficult for later generations to defeat those who started learning martial arts earlier.

If those who learned martial arts later grow faster and become more skilled, then the martial arts of today should be incomparably stronger than the martial arts of the past.

But neither of those things is true.

The truth is very simple.

The strength of inner energy and the experience accumulated over time are not everything.

Those who no longer have to fight and no longer have to prove themselves may have their inner strength increase, but their skills often deteriorate.

“You can’t see the hole in your back.”

“And you don’t look back at what you’ve already built.”

The body of a martial artist does not age, but the mind of a martial artist does age. A martial artist who has lost his hunger can no longer be a martial artist.

And towards that old lion, a young wolf bares its teeth.

WHOOSH!

Bang Jin-hoon’s fist unleashed a barrage of lightning-fast strikes.

The power of the stomping foot was converted into a soft waist movement, and that softness was transformed back into speed at the fingertips.

Short and strong, a storm-like barrage that gave the opponent no time to attack.

Jang Wang’s face, which was blocking that barrage, became increasingly stiff.

WHOOSH!

Bang Jin-hoon’s fist grazed his head. His neatly tied hair came undone and flew wildly.

“UAAAH!”

Jang Wang roared like a beast and unleashed a palm strike. There was a limit to blocking the opponent’s attacks. Whether he had grown old and slow, or whether this guy was extremely fast, this close-range fight was disadvantageous to him.

But…

‘A barrage means there’s no power behind it!’

Even if he gets hit dozens of times, if he can land just one proper blow, his victory is assured.

Jang Wang, abandoning his defense, gathered all of his remaining inner energy and unleashed a palm strike.

In the short moment it took to extend his arm, dozens of fist strikes poured down on his upper body and face.

Before the impact of the body and fist colliding could even turn into a sound, the palm force he had extended was embedded in Bang Jin-hoon’s upper body.

‘I did…’

It was at that moment.

Bang Jin-hoon’s chest, which had been struck by the palm force, twisted, creating a strange flow.

CRACK.

His chest bones were completely crushed in one blow. His clothes and skin were torn as if they had been raked, and his muscles were mercilessly mangled.

But!

The palm force, which had been swirling as if to destroy Bang Jin-hoon’s body, flowed sideways along his diagonally bent chest. The palm force, which had violently torn and swallowed the flesh of his chest, even swallowed Bang Jin-hoon’s right arm.

CRACK!

That arm twisted uncontrollably. Red blood spurted out like a fountain from the twisted arm, like a reed that had been bent back and forth.

His bones were exposed in places, and his muscles were torn and ripped, but in the end, Jang Wang’s palm force had veered away from Bang Jin-hoon.

‘What?’

Bang Jin-hoon, who had used his body as a slide to deflect the palm force, stepped forward with a half-opened eye.

That eye.

That gaze was imprinted on Jang Wang’s eyes like a brand.

Fighting, yet not fighting.

Not a determination to win, but the eyes of a seeker who only pursues martial arts itself.

‘Did I…’

Did I once have such eyes?

Jang Wang didn’t know what it was.

But those eyes clearly contained something he had lost in the past.

Bang Jin-hoon, who had forgotten himself, spun and flew towards him.

His elbow struck his shoulder, and his broken arm whipped his head like a lash. His lowered knee dug into his side, and finally, a heel that flew from the air was embedded in Jang Wang’s chest.

“Kuh-uk!”

The moment the heel struck his chest, Jang Wang’s hand struck up Bang Jin-hoon’s shin.

THUD!

Jang Wang spat out blood and was pushed back.

Bang Jin-hoon spun like a top in the air and crashed to the ground.

THUD!

The moment his body touched the ground, Bang Jin-hoon’s body, which was about to spring up, faltered. Jang Wang’s palm force had exploded on his leg, breaking it and leaving it dangling.

“Hoo-oo-ook.”

Jang Wang, barely managing to stand up, looked at Bang Jin-hoon.

Bang Jin-hoon, staggering as he got up, slowly took his stance again. His eyes were unfocused. But the will in those eyes was still firm.

The moment he saw Bang Jin-hoon, who was standing firmly on his two legs again as if broken bones were nothing, Jang Wang let out a hollow laugh.

The moment Bang Jin-hoon was about to charge forward again.

KWAH-AH-AH-AH-ANG!

Jang Wang’s stomping foot struck the ground. The reinforced concrete caved in, and concrete fragments scattered like fireworks in all directions.

Bang Jin-hoon flinched at the intense sound and stepped back.

“Oh…”

Jang Wang clicked his tongue, watching Bang Jin-hoon, who seemed to have regained some of his senses and was hesitating.

“Tsk, tsk, you have to focus to a certain extent. If you get more hurt here, even if you win, you won’t have a future.”

Jang Wang chuckled.

‘Future…’

The word ‘future’ kept lingering on his lips.

Once…

When he was the rising star of the Central Plains, defeating many masters, they left him with these words.

At that time, he thought they were just the excuses of the defeated, but now he seemed to understand the meaning behind their words.

So…

Now he had to say those words to this person.

“The back wave of the Yangtze River pushes the front wave,” Jang Wang shook his head.

“I should have known that my stage was over… It was also a pathetic thing to occupy a position without entrusting the future to the next generation.”

How could someone who couldn’t even protect the future of one martial artist talk about a grand future?

The future is not in the dreams he dreams.

The future is…

Right in front of his eyes.

“I’ve lost.”

Jang Wang smiled gently.

“It’s your victory, young martial artist.” That’s how generations change. The successors will one day become predecessors, and they will welcome the successors who follow them. And what the predecessors should give to those who walk the path they once walked…

“If the world needs to be changed, it should be changed by people like you, not by old men like us.”

Only…

Faith.