Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 2036

Kiiiiiiiiiiing!

A sound like a jet engine spewing flames erupts right next to his ear. It’s a tremendous noise, enough to make even a well-trained martial artist’s eardrums ache. What’s terrifying is that the source of that sound isn’t a machine, but a human arm.

Kiiiiiiiiiiing!

A fist brimming with fierce energy whizzes past right in front of his face. His skin feels like it’s being torn off, and throbs as if it’s about to be crushed.

‘Kuh!’

The Blade Demon grits his teeth. They’re clenched so hard they feel like they’ll break. The moment the fist brushes past his temple, he kicks off the ground with all his might.

Muscles stretched to their limit explode outward, and the tip of his sword flies towards Bator like a meteor streaking across the night sky.

Clang!

‘Not enough.’

Damn this body!

His skin tears, his muscles are cut, and he bleeds red blood. But that body, which has reached the realm of the monstrous beyond mere toughness, deflects his all-out attack with just a flesh wound.

The sensation at his fingertips is incredibly clear. Yet, his sword strike didn’t even reach the bone.

And at that moment.

Wiiiiiiiiiiing!

The fist that missed him seems to stop, then violently recoils backward.

‘Elbow…’

There’s no time to think. The moment he senses the opponent’s elbow flying towards his head, the Blade Demon twists his body on the spot.

An elbow swing can’t be faster than a punch. Its speed is nothing compared to a fist that has gained momentum. But instead, it comes from several times closer.

‘This—’

*….*

Instinctively realizing that it’s impossible to completely evade this attack, the Blade Demon’s sword flashes out like lightning.

Clang!

The moment the sword and elbow collide, the Blade Demon’s sword is flung back even faster than it came. The sharpness of the sword, which left a red mark on Bator’s god-like elbow, proved its worth, but it also proved that the power behind the strike was incomparable.

But even with that paltry power, he managed to slow down Bator’s elbow a little and slightly twist its direction.

Whoosh!

The flying elbow grazes right in front of his forehead.

How much did it touch? 1 millimeter? Or 0.1 millimeter?

It was more like a ‘graze’ than a ‘touch.’ So slight that even a martial artist with exceptional senses wouldn’t even properly feel the contact.

But the Blade Demon could tell that his body had definitely touched Bator’s elbow. No, he had no choice but to know. Because his head was being bent backward as if he’d been hit head-on by a heavyweight boxer’s punch.

In an instant, his brain is shaken, and the world he sees through his eyes is distorted.

‘Damn it.’

To receive such a shock that his brain is rattled from a strike that barely touched him. If he had been hit directly by that elbow? His head would probably be like tofu that had been hit by a baseball bat swung with all the power of a professional player.

The Blade Demon reaches out and grabs the floor. Then, with all his might, he pulls himself along the ground and throws his body.

As expected, Bator’s left fist falls where he had been.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

The floor is crushed like mud. The Blade Demon’s face is distorted as he takes the brunt of the swirling wind pressure. He too is a superhuman. He possesses physical abilities that, to the eyes of ordinary people, would be called alien.

But even through the eyes of such a Blade Demon, Bator’s power is absurd.

‘This isn’t fair.’

He’s accumulating damage with countless attacks, but Bator can nullify all that damage with just one blow. If Bator’s fist lands properly, the only one the Blade Demon can complain to about his unfair fate would be King Yama [the ruler of the underworld] in the underworld.

Unfair?

Then he should retreat.

If he retreats to a distance where Bator’s fist can’t reach and launches continuous ranged attacks, Bator might tire first.

Thinking calmly, that’s a much wiser strategy.

But…

Bang!

The Blade Demon, twisting his body and diving into Bator’s arms, grits his teeth again and unleashes a slash.

Faster! Stronger! And more precise!

His body is also accumulating shock. Even if it wasn’t for the attack that grazed his head just now, dodging attacks with such tremendous impact by a hair’s breadth while launching slashes is not something a sane person would do.

Every time a fist grazes him, his insides twist, and the blood vessels that touch his skin burst. But the biggest damage he’s taking isn’t physical; it’s that his mental strength is being chipped away every time he dodges an attack.

Even so, the only reason the Blade Demon remains in this space is one thing.

Clang!

His sword, piercing the center of Bator’s chest, cuts through Bator’s flesh. And at that moment, the Blade Demon is thrilled by the intense sensation reaching the tip of his sword.

Bone.

That which he had broken and crushed countless times.

But this sensation is different from anything he has felt before. The feeling of the tip of his sword, which had never touched his bone before, scraping against Bator’s bone is something that can only be described as ‘thrilling.’

What should he call this?

Growth?

No. The word growth doesn’t suit him. If he had to give it a crude name, it would be optimization.

What he couldn’t do with the slash he launched just a few seconds ago, he can do with the slash he’s launching now. His inner energy, his muscles, and his senses are moving faster, stronger, and more efficiently to cut off Bator’s neck.

Clearly, this can’t be called growth. It’s just a matter of fine-tuning what’s already inside him.

But it’s also true that this whole process gives him the pleasure of achieving growth that should take years in just a few seconds.

‘When was the last time?’

When was the last time he dodged a life-threatening attack by a hair’s breadth and launched a desperate sword strike?

That’s a primal stimulus.

Standing on the edge of a cliff, engaging in a battle where only one can survive, and violently seizing the fruit of growth that can only be obtained after grueling training.

It becomes a terrifying pleasure that cannot be compared to any drug, shaking the Blade Demon’s brain.

Whoooosh!

The pressure from the fist that whizzed past right in front of his face crushes the tip of his nose. It feels like his entire face will be torn off, and his eyeballs will burst.

But that terrible pain is completely erased by the pleasure coming from the sensation of the sword embedded in Bator’s shoulder.

‘I am alive right now.’

It feels like something is constantly exploding inside his brain.

Without being intoxicated by that ecstatic feeling, the Blade Demon constantly awakened his senses.

Clangclangclang!

His sword strike finally cuts through Bator’s collarbone. It’s not completely cut, but it’s definitely cut more than halfway.

And…

Crackcrackcrack!

Not to be outdone, Bator’s fist, which grazed his side, breaks all of the Blade Demon’s ribs on one side.

A fishy smell of blood rises in his mouth.

His vision goes black for a moment from the shock that feels like his insides are all bursting. But the Blade Demon doesn’t retreat; instead, he takes another step towards Bator.

“Haaaaaaah!”

“Oooooooo!”

Shouts erupt from both of their mouths at the same time.

The reason is unknown. There’s no need for those of their caliber to shout to put more power into their attacks, nor do they need to encourage themselves.

But at some point, they were both shouting without knowing who started first.

Proof.

Yes, it started as proof.

But now, that doesn’t matter anymore.

Bang!

Bator’s fist grazes the Blade Demon’s shoulder. Only a finger’s width touched, but the Blade Demon’s shoulder bone is completely crushed.

Clang!

And at that moment, the Blade Demon’s sword, swung without a moment’s hesitation, succeeds in cutting through Bator’s ribs.

He doesn’t know.

Whether Bator’s fist touched him because Bator got faster, or because he got tired and slower.

Whether his sword cut through Bator’s bone because he got sharper, or because Bator got tired and his inner energy wasn’t flowing properly through his body.

He doesn’t know. And there’s no reason to know.

All that remains is one thing: to defeat the opponent with everything he has.

But…

The body, which has accumulated shock, screams in pain. It feels like his entire body is being slashed with razor blades. But that’s nothing compared to the screams of his mind, which has reached its limit. It feels like hundreds of ants are gnawing at his head.

It’s painful, so very painful.

The only way to escape this pain is to end this fight.

But strangely, even while groaning in this terrible pain, the Blade Demon wished that this battle would never end.

And that was…

‘You’re the same, aren’t you.’

It’s said that an opponent you fight with everything you have is no different from a lifelong friend. Right now, the Blade Demon felt like he could understand what Bator was thinking just by looking into his eyes.

The fighting spirit doesn’t diminish even a bit. If he could kill Bator, he wouldn’t hesitate to sink his teeth into that prominent carotid artery in his neck and drink his blood.

But hostility no longer exists.

What remains is not hatred or anger. It’s just the will to fight and the competitive spirit to win.

Bang!

Every single cell in his body stands on end. The sensation of drawing out every last drop of moisture in his body. This is a sensation that can never be felt through training.

He can feel this sensation at his fingertips because he’s standing at the limit.

If he could, he would want to feel this sensation forever. If he could, he would want to continue this battle forever.

But…

There is nothing in this world that doesn’t have an end.

Both the Blade Demon and Bator could now sense that the end of this battle was approaching.

The two men’s gazes intertwine in the air.

Those who walked completely different paths.

There could be no one more fitting to be called opposites. But that’s why the two were so incredibly similar to each other.

That’s why they can’t retreat any further. Because only victory can prove that they were right.

“Ooooooooooo!”

“Haaaaaaaaaaah!”

Bator, his eyes and body stained crimson with the blood he’d shed and the blood energy he’d drawn out, extends his fist towards the Blade Demon.

The Blade Demon, squeezing out every last bit of inner energy left in his dantian [a traditional Chinese concept of an energy center], rushes forward and unleashes his sword towards Bator’s chest.

No one can open their mouths. No one can take their eyes off them.

The absolute beings, their hands wet with cold sweat, held their breath to witness the outcome of this battle.

The most intense, the most primal…

And so, the end of a battle more befitting of martial artists than any other was approaching.