Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 2054

Analysis (5)

To cut.

If ‘cutting’ is defined as dividing something that is in a state of completeness into two, then this scene would certainly fall into that category.

However, not just to Wiggins, but to the eyes of everyone watching this scene…

This scene was different from an ordinary ‘cut.’

A sword, holding a white light like thick paint, gently brushes past the red-hot fireballs.

Then, the blazing fireballs split in two so naturally, as if they had been that way from the start.

Cutting is an act that accompanies destruction.

But that sword divides the flames without breaking them.

Like a small child’s hand pushing away a clump of sand, the sword tip merely divides and pushes away the existence without breaking it.

A clear line.

Not the eerie line that Baek Yeonhong had shown until now. Although it was a line created from the same sword tip, the line that Baek Yeonhong was drawing now was simply soft and gentle.

*Whoosh!*

As if dancing on an ice rink, Baek Yeonhong’s feet gracefully skimmed the floor.

Each time his arm, bent softly like a reed, gently swung his sword, the fireballs flying towards him were deflected and split apart.

*Clang!*

What brought those who were watching the scene as if being sucked in back to reality was the explosion caused by the flames that had passed by Baek Yeonhong hitting the floor.

Wiggins’ face, who was trying to continue his attacks without a break, hardened.

‘What has changed?’

It was hard to understand.

The person he was seeing now was clearly Baek Yeonhong. Although the nature of his martial arts could change, the person himself could not change. After all, all martial arts came from the person, didn’t they?

‘Is it really the same person?’

But now, Baek Yeonhong seemed as if the person himself had changed.

Even the aura and energy he exuded were so different from what he knew. It was clearly visible, yet his presence was not felt. It was as if he was not the Baek Yeonhong who had been intimidating and pressing down on him with a sharp, blade-like energy.

*Whoosh!*

Wiggins’ rune sword emitted light.

‘Still!’

*Crack! Crack!*

Black vines burst through the hard floor. Like whips, a hundred vines surged up at once, wrapping around Baek Yeonhong’s entire body.

At that moment, Baek Yeonhong’s hand quietly stirred around his body.

Baek Yeonhong’s fingertips gently pushed away the ends of the vines that were fiercely surging up to cover him. The vines seemed to sway lightly, then collided with each other and shook violently.

*Crack!*

The vines became entangled with each other. Each time his seemingly slow hand touched them, the vines became more entangled and twisted. In the end, not a single vine touched Baek Yeonhong’s body.

However, Wiggins did not think that he could use these vines to hold Baek Yeonhong back.

He was just buying a little time.

“Resonate!”

*Whoooooosh!*

At that moment, Wiggins’ rune sword, having completed its casting, emitted an extremely bright light. At the same time, a huge magic circle appeared above Baek Yeonhong’s head.

A magic circle, filled with complex patterns that were impossible to understand even by looking at them, was realized in a size that seemed to fill the ceiling.

At the same time…

*Crack! Crackle!*

Huge sparks began to erupt from the magic circle.

Sparks, almost pure white, flared up momentarily and then disappeared. The lightning, which was initially only one or two streaks, gradually began to increase in number.

Baek Yeonhong raised his head and looked at the lightning that was filling the space above him.

With a seemingly indifferent and calm gaze.

*Whoooooosh!*

The color drained from Wiggins’ face. Sweat poured down his entire body like rain. The corners of his lips, covered in cold sweat, trembled, and his eyelids twitched.

A scene that clearly showed how much mental energy he was expending.

Insufficient mana could be replaced with batteries. However, the mana that could be replenished from batteries was just fuel. Calculating and realizing all of this was something that Wiggins had to do entirely on his own.

Pain as if his brain was about to shatter.

But the reward for that pain was clear.

*Crackling! Crackling! Crackling!*

The lightning above their heads, so white it looked almost blue, began to discharge explosively.

Baek Yeonhong stared at the space above his head with a fixed gaze.

“…Fascinating.”

Lightning clouds in a place where there was no sky.

It was amazing.

They, too, were beings who could split a river with a single sword and shatter a mountain with a single fist, but they could not create such a phenomenon.

“Hoo! Hoo!”

Wiggins, breathing heavily, swung his rune sword fiercely once. His eyes looked at Baek Yeonhong, who was calmly lowering his sword.

“Eat this!”

*Whoooooosh!*

His rune sword and prosthetic hand glowed together.

At the same time, the lightning clouds that filled the ceiling began to stir.

And!

A flash of light spread out in an instant.

*Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!*

A deafening roar followed. A terrifying sight of lightning striking right in front of them. Everyone clenched their fists at the overwhelming and awe-inspiring sight.

“Oh…”

Lee Hyun-soo’s mouth opened involuntarily.

‘This much?’

People often use expressions like ‘as fast as lightning’ or ‘like a thunderbolt.’ To emphasize that something is faster than anything else.

However, the moment he witnessed a real lightning bolt falling towards the ground right in front of him, he could sense how wrong those expressions, which had been used conventionally, were.

It was impossible to follow.

The phenomenon that had occurred before his eyes was clearly the lightning that had been discharged from the ceiling falling to the ground, but what his brain recognized was a bright flash of light rising and a line drawn in the air. That was all.

‘Can we fight against this?’

It wasn’t like this in the past. In the past, the magic that Wiggins used was just another form of unique martial arts. Yes, like what that master used.

But now, Wiggins’ magic was not at that level.

That was clearly beyond the realm of martial arts that they knew.

Martial arts were ultimately developed to counter martial arts. Could they really perfectly counter an attack with a completely different system?

To find the answer, Lee Hyun-soo’s gaze turned sharply. To check the state of Baek Yeonhong, who would be the target of the lightning that had fallen.

Lee Hyun-soo’s shaking eyes fixed. Baek Yeonhong.

He was still standing tall on both feet. As if all the phenomena that had just occurred had nothing to do with him, he was calm.

And the floor right next to where he was standing was stained black.

*Crack! Crack!*

Small lightning bolts discharged from the floor.

Lee Hyun-soo stared blankly at the scene.

He couldn’t understand.

It was impossible for his mind to interpret what had happened at a speed that exceeded perception, based only on the scene that followed.

‘Did he avoid it?’

Or…

Even if it was Wiggins, he wouldn’t be able to control the lightning that was falling at that speed at will. If that was the case, it wouldn’t be strange if the lightning had fallen next to Baek Yeonhong, who hadn’t reacted.

‘Which one…’

At that moment, Baek Yeonhong slowly opened his mouth.

“That’s quite fast.”

Wiggins did not answer and pulled out a new battery from the subspace.

*Click.*

The metal battery was caught in his prosthetic hand, making a cold sound.

Wiggins took a deep breath as he extracted mana from the battery. Mana was being sucked out of his body as if blood was gushing out of a severed carotid artery.

Everything in the world has its price. He was now paying the price for realizing something that humans could not handle with his entire body.

Pain as if thousands of needles were simultaneously piercing his brain and agony as if his entire body was being wrung out like a dry rag, squeezing out every last drop of moisture.

But even in that pain, his reason was extremely cold as he assessed his opponent.

“…He’s not even human. To avoid that.”

“I don’t think someone who created this should be saying that. And… wasn’t it you who said I was just a mere human?”

“…I did.”

Wiggins let out a hollow laugh.

No matter how impressed he was, it was something he shouldn’t have said. The awe-inspiring sights that the other had shown had naturally drawn those words from Wiggins’ mouth.

‘But… this is the end.’

Wiggins’ lips closed tightly.

‘He might be able to avoid it once. He might be able to avoid it ten times. But he can’t avoid it dozens or hundreds of times.’

*Thud!*

The depleted battery fell from Wiggins’ hand to the floor.

“I don’t care if you’re human or not.”

“Either way, I’ll just break you.”

He didn’t want to have a long conversation. His magic was already complete.

“So…”

Wiggins’ rune sword pointed to the lightning clouds that filled the space above Baek Yeonhong’s head.

As the rune sword emitted a white light, the lightning clouds seemed to resonate with the light and began to stir.

“Die!”

The rune sword was swung downwards.

Followed by a flash of light.

A single bolt of lightning fell towards Baek Yeonhong like the spear of a heavenly god judging the earth. At a terrifying speed that was impossible to react to.

But at that moment.

Baek Yeonhong’s foot moved naturally to the side.

As if he knew in advance the moment the lightning would fall on his head.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

The explosion that followed was enough to make this sturdy fortress seem like it would collapse. The aftermath of the terrifying impact engulfed and pushed away those who could not follow the situation with their eyes.

Another bolt of lightning poured down on Baek Yeonhong.

The line was never straight.

It split, scattered, and sharply bent as it fell downwards, only downwards.

*Clang!*

Just before a bolt of lightning reached his head, Baek Yeonhong’s body moved slightly to the side.

The lightning, which had been heading downwards, changed direction as if it had a will of its own, determined not to miss Baek Yeonhong, and rushed in.

*Clang!*

But as if it was a little short on power, the lightning that grazed Baek Yeonhong’s body shook the floor.

The current flowed through the concrete floor, creating countless sparks.

A human body would be nothing more than a lump of flesh in the face of that fierce electric shock.

*Rumble! Rumble!*

Lightning strikes began to fall in succession.

One bolt!

Another bolt!

The intervals between the falling lightning strikes were getting faster and faster.

Baek Yeonhong, who had dodged half of the falling lightning strikes by luck, raised his head and looked up.

Dark black lightning clouds.

Those ominous lightning clouds began to turn white. At that moment, Baek Yeonhong sensed what would happen next.

‘To avoid it…’

It was impossible.

This lightning strike was coming at a speed that even he could not react to.

‘Then?’

The answer was already decided.

Baek Yeonhong slowly raised his sword. The thing that had been in his hand since the moment he first learned martial arts. The thing that contained all the teachings he had learned and everything he was.

Baek Yeonhong’s sword drew a soft circle in the air.

And at the same time…

*Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!*

Along with a flash of light that seemed to shatter the world, dozens of lightning bolts fell towards Baek Yeonhong at the same time.