Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 2041

Gongryeong stared at Jang Min, speechless.

‘What is this?’

It was a novel sensation.

The energy emanating from him made his skin tingle. That meant the power of the person standing before him was absolutely not to be taken lightly.

‘But why?’

What kind of beings were transcendents?

If one were to ask what the most significant difference between a martial artist and ordinary people was, most would discuss their strength.

However, Gongryeong’s thoughts were a little different. What Gongryeong thought set martial artists apart from ordinary people was that most of them never stopped striving to become even a little stronger.

In other words, transcendents were those who had reached a particularly special realm among the countless martial artists who had not lost their will for strength.

Therefore, it was said that the tendencies of each transcendent were so diverse, but no matter what, every transcendent had one emotion at their core.

That was pride.

Pride in the martial arts they had built up themselves and an almost arrogant conviction in themselves.

No, the word arrogance didn’t fit.

Those who had overcome hardships that felt as difficult as a camel passing through the eye of a needle and finally reached the realm of a transcendent could naturally have confidence in themselves.

But…

‘A sin for baring his teeth at the Demon Lord…’

To think he would hear such words from the mouth of a transcendent.

To others, the Twelve Flying Blades, who were subordinates but sometimes betrayed the Black King’s will, might seem like an incomprehensible bunch, but to Gongryeong, it was this man who was twisted.

“…The Demon Lord must be quite something. To think he’s using someone like you as a dog, not even a sword.”

“Shut that mouth of yours!”

Gongryeong was about to nod, seeing the rage that had erupted in an instant.

“Who gave you the right to call that great being with your filthy mouth! I will tear that mouth of yours to pieces and make you realize your sin!”

Gongryeong’s eyes widened in disbelief.

He didn’t care that he called himself a dog, but he was furious that the words ‘Demon Lord’ were spoken?

Could this be the way a normal person thinks?

No, it wasn’t wrong in itself. There were surprisingly many people who expressed extreme respect for someone, and there were more people who sacrificed their lives for religion than one might think.

The problem was that this extreme behavior was being displayed by a transcendent, someone who was hard to find an equal to in the world.

“That…”

In that moment, Gongryeong, who was at a loss for words, unconsciously looked away from Jang Min and towards Kang Jin-ho behind him. Kang Jin-ho, who met Gongryeong’s gaze, subtly turned his head away.

It might have been a historic moment, an achievement that perhaps no martial artist in the world had ever accomplished, ‘making the Demon Lord lower his eyes with just a look,’ but Gongryeong couldn’t be happy about this situation at all.

“Can I ask you something?”

As Jang Min showed signs of launching an attack without even answering, Gongryeong hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Demon Lord!”

At the mention of the Demon Lord, Jang Min’s slightly raised shoulders returned to their original position. While feeling that the sight was very comical, he couldn’t shake off a sense of unease.

“Are you satisfied with that?”

“…Satisfied?”

“Of course, I know it’s strange for me to say this. I am also one who serves the Black King. But…”

It’s different.

They are those who sympathize with the Black King’s will. If the Black King were to threaten and destroy the world simply as a hobby, they would rather turn their swords against the Black King and fight.

But this man is not.

If the Demon Lord were to become tired of the world and try to destroy it in the same way as the Black King, this man would become the Demon Lord’s sword and lead countless humans to their deaths.

A blind person without their own will is more terrifying than any poison. Even an ordinary martial artist can cause terrible results depending on their ideology, but for someone of that level, who is not an ordinary human, to be blind was terrifying.

“Don’t you have your own will?”

Jang Min looked at Gongryeong with strange eyes. And at that moment, Jang Min’s mouth slowly opened.

“Have you ever felt powerless?”

“…Powerless?”

Gongryeong frowned.

What on earth was this man trying to say?

“You spoke of will?”

Jang Min twisted his mouth. Black demonic energy surged from his body.

“Have you ever desperately agonized in the face of powerlessness, unable to do anything when there is something you want to achieve at all costs?”

Gongryeong closed his mouth.

He wanted to say that he had, of course. But the moment he heard Jang Min’s voice, he understood. The powerlessness this man was talking about was not at the level he was thinking of.

“The world has become more rational and is changing more reasonably. Yet, do you know why religion still hasn’t disappeared from the world and why it is still full of irrational beliefs? Is it because it hasn’t been sufficiently clarified? Is it because they haven’t learned enough? Nonsense.”

Words that were too clear to come from the mouth of someone called a madman.

They were words that even held a kind of profundity.

“It’s simply because they wish for it.”

A voice full of conviction flowed from Jang Min’s mouth.

“Humans do not pray for what is possible. They pray for what is impossible. They crave what they cannot achieve with their own strength, what they cannot do with their own efforts. When they have to achieve what they cannot do, that desperation makes humans kneel and bow their heads before something that has no substance. Religion and faith are ultimately just the embodiment of that desperation.”

Surging crimson bloodlust, black demonic energy flowing out like ink, and a deep crimson light filling his eyes.

His outward appearance was too unrealistic, but the words flowing from his mouth were excessively rational. That gap seemed to be pressing down on Gongryeong.

“Humans call the one who makes that impossible possible a god.”

Gongryeong bit his lip.

“That man is not a god.”

“You are still foolish.”

Jang Min’s mouth formed an eerie smile.

“What has a god ever done for me?”

“When I wandered in desperate pain and called out to him countless times, what did he do for me?”

Jang Min shook his head.

“He does not grant, he does not repay. That omnipotence is never used for me. Then, what is wrong with worshiping as a god the one who fulfills my impossible wishes, even if he is not omnipotent?”

Gongryeong closed his mouth.

He felt that something was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

“Even if you can obtain that power yourself?”

“Foolish one, power is not like that. To someone dying of thirst in the desert, the water filling that lake is meaningless. What someone who is about to die needs is just one sip of water to quench their immediate thirst.”

“To me, a god is the one who gives that one sip of water. The vastness and omnipotence that does not reach me is just something drawn in a picture.”

Gongryeong bit his lip.

He felt a sense of frustration in his chest at the question he couldn’t solve. Reason is based on doubt and questioning. Those who doubt do not believe, and those who do not believe do not become fanatics.

But how was he supposed to understand someone who had both cold reason and blind fanaticism at the same time?

“…I see.”

An unknown hostility began to rise in Gongryeong’s chest.

It was said that humans feel fear or hostility when they see something incomprehensible, and it seemed that wasn’t wrong. The hostility towards Jang Min was rising as much as the intense frustration he was feeling now.

“It seems like something is broken in that head of yours. I was foolish. Trying to understand a madman.”

That might have been the most wrong answer, but at the same time, it might have been the best correct answer.

Jang Min also didn’t deny that fact and slowly approached Gongryeong. From his hands, crimson claws [OKS – Original Korean Style] grew long like claws.

“Therefore…”

A sneer appeared on Jang Min’s lips.

“A conversation with someone like you is meaningless. Someone who has neither the ability to understand nor the will to understand. A simple person who feels hostility towards anything that deviates from the logic they know with their limited perspective.”

Gongryeong’s face twisted.

“There is only one thing to say to such a person.”

Red light burst from Jang Min’s eyes in streaks.

“I will be a sword to those who dare to harm the divinity of the Demon Lord, and I will be a whip to those who dare to disobey the Demon Lord’s orders. Come. You who have eyes but cannot see, you who have ears but cannot hear.”

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

The claws that burst from Jang Min’s hands grew long like the claws of a demon, creating a resonant sound that made one’s heart clench just by hearing it.

“Repay your sin with your life!”

Kwaaaaaaaaaaa!

Jang Min’s body became a black and red streak of light and shot towards Gongryeong. His fingernails, spread wide like wings, tore through the air and scraped the reinforced concrete floor like tofu.

A charge that was not enough to be described as intense.

Gongryeong’s face hardened as he leaped backward.

In any case, someone charging like a wild boar was his favorite prey….

Chwaaaaaaaaaak!

At that moment, Jang Min swung his claws down towards the air.

Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

Sharp sounds rang out quickly and briefly. At the same time, Gongryeong’s face hardened. The reason he had dragged out the conversation with Jang Min was because he needed to set up the battlefield without him noticing. But the claws that Jang Min had swung in an instant cut through the wires he had set up all at once.

As if he knew his tricks well.

“Kuh!”

Seeing Jang Min rushing towards him without slowing down at all, Gongryeong stretched out both hands. From his sleeves, dozens of thin silver threads, invisible to the eye, were released.

They were wires so thin that they only looked like a sparkle in front of his hands. The dozens of wires writhed as if they were alive and flew towards Jang Min, who was charging.

But at that moment.

Kwaaaaaa!

Jang Min accelerated even more and closed the distance with Gongryeong in an instant.

‘What?’

Gongryeong’s eyes widened.

His wires, imbued with internal energy, could cut even the most famous swords in half just by brushing against them. Jang Min must have known that fact, but he didn’t hesitate for even a moment.

And….

Kwagagagagak!

Jang Min’s claws, swung fiercely like a huge storm, instantly knocked away Gongryeong’s wires that had not yet fully extended.

Swish! Swish!

The wires that had failed to fly away pierced his body, but Jang Min didn’t care that his body was being cut and swung his long fingernails towards Gongryeong.

Paahhhhh!

Gongryeong and Jang Min’s bodies brushed past each other.

Thud!

The blood that dripped down Jang Min’s hand and touched his fingernails ignited and vaporized.

Blood was flowing down from his shoulder, which had been cut by the wire.

But Jang Min didn’t care about that and turned his head to look at Gongryeong.

“Indeed…”

Gongryeong brought his hand to his face. A deep wound, deep enough to show bone, was carved on his face where Jang Min’s fingernails had scratched him. Three wounds were carved on his face, neck, and shoulder.

The extreme pain he felt from the wounds cleared the clutter from Gongryeong’s head.

“It seems like there’s no need to understand. There’s no need to understand someone who’s about to die.”

A terrifying killing intent burst from Gongryeong’s eyes.

But Jang Min, on the contrary, sneered at Gongryeong.

“The only thing you can utter with that mouth is a scream.”

Terrifying demonic energy rose from his body like a cloud.

“Just scream and die. Be thankful that the Demon Lord is not so cruel as to expect repentance from an insect.”

The crimson light that burst from his eyes dyed this deep underground red, like hell.