Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 2070

Lee Hyun-soo’s fingertip trembled.

He couldn’t hear them.

The conversation between the two wasn’t loud, and with his skills, it was impossible to eavesdrop on their conversation from this distance.

But what they were saying wasn’t important.

What mattered was that right now, the two of them were clashing with all their might, with all their sincerity.

‘It feels like I’m going to be crushed and burst.’

There wasn’t anything particularly threatening needed.

Just the fact that those two were facing each other was enough to make him feel suffocated.

Isn’t the word ‘presence’ used for times like this?

Lee Hyun-soo slightly turned his head.

He wanted to confirm. Whether the reason he was feeling this absurd pressure was because his martial prowess was weak.

And the answer to that question was quickly confirmed.

‘No.’

It wasn’t because he was weak.

Jang Min, Bator, and everyone else watching the situation had similar expressions to Lee Hyun-soo.

Yes, it must be the same. If they were human.

If you were to witness a fully loaded oil tanker speeding towards you, about to collide?

If you were to witness a fuse, connected to a mountain of gunpowder, burning right up to the edge?

Wouldn’t anyone who witnessed that have a similar expression?

The expressions they had now were just like that.

No, not just them. The expressions of the Twelve Flying Blades across from Kang Jin-ho and the Black King weren’t much different either.

And it was then that Lee Hyun-soo realized one thing deeply.

‘It’s no different.’

Until now, he had watched several matches up close.

His heart had raced at their challenges, and he had felt pain at someone’s defeat. He had cheered with all his might and felt sorry with all his heart.

But, to be cold, he had no choice but to be someone standing apart from those matches.

He was a half-baked martial artist.

A martial artist but not a martial artist, someone who was ordinary but could not be an ordinary person.

For him, the level of this match was too high. He was watching it right in front of him, but all he could feel was the sense of being there; his understanding of the match was no different from that of an ordinary person watching this scene on TV.

That subtle sense of alienation.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t frustrated by this alienation that he couldn’t overcome with his own efforts. He couldn’t help but envy those who could fully understand the match.

The feeling of being isolated in this space.

But right now, at this moment.

That isolated feeling disappeared, and the emotion of ‘sameness’ began to fill its place.

And at that moment, Lee Hyun-soo realized.

Bator, Jang Min, even the Red King.

Even they, at this moment, were no different from Lee Hyun-soo, who had watched the previous matches.

A face looking at something they couldn’t fully understand. An expression that didn’t suit them at all was on their faces.

Lee Hyun-soo bit his lip slightly.

‘The gap is that big.’

The gap between Lee Hyun-soo and them, and the gap between those two and them was even greater. The two beings who had transcended common sense were turning even superhumans into ordinary people.

That’s why he became curious.

Has this ever happened in the past?

In the past, had there ever been martial artists of this caliber who risked their lives… no, risked more than that, in a match?

‘There’s no way.’

Before this war broke out, Kang Jin-ho had clearly answered Lee Hyun-soo’s question.

That he was stronger now than he was in the past.

Kang Jin-ho was known as the greatest martial artist of all time in the martial arts world. If there was another person who had reached his level, he wouldn’t have been called the greatest of all time.

There’s no way.

There’s no way two people like that could exist in one era. It takes thousands of years for just one to appear. How could such people exist simultaneously in the same era?

But right now, at this moment.

Those two people exist simultaneously before Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes.

Through coincidence and necessity, perhaps through a trick of fate.

Maybe…

The reason why these bizarre things, which couldn’t be understood by common sense like the return, happened was perhaps because someone, beyond human power, wanted to see this scene?

And at that moment.

Whoooooooosh!

A terrifying energy began to emanate from the two of them.

“Ugh!”

His vision turned black, and his consciousness faded away.

Thud!

Someone grabbed Lee Hyun-soo’s shoulder.

“Cough! Cough!”

What Lee Hyun-soo saw, after coughing violently, was none other than Bator’s broad back.

“Be careful.”

Bator said without turning around. His words were mixed with a sound like he was grinding his teeth.

“…Just facing them head-on is enough to kill you.”

The one who spoke the last words wasn’t Bator, but Jang Min, who had placed his hand on his shoulder and was pouring energy into him. Lee Hyun-soo stared blankly at Jang Min.

His face was stiff with a tension he had never seen before.

In an instant, Lee Hyun-soo knew that Jang Min’s face wasn’t just stiff because of his concern for Kang Jin-ho. If that were the case, he wouldn’t have looked so flustered in between.

Even Jang Min was overwhelmed by the aura the two were emitting.

“…They’re not human.”

The owner of that voice was none other than Bang Jin-hoon.

He stared at Kang Jin-ho and the Black King with a dazed expression.

‘This much?’

The emotions on the faces of the three were not much different.

Among the many emotions, complex emotions that were difficult to explain, the two most prominent were:

Fear.

And awe.

There are many martial artists in the world.

Compared to the 7 billion people, the number of martial artists might be just a handful. But even that handful is not a small number to be called ‘many’.

And those standing here are the ones who have proven their specialness among those many martial artists.

Whether it was the General Assembly or the Twelve Flying Blades, they were the ones who had reached the pinnacle of the martial arts world. Each of them was a martial artist who had established their own school, and they were great enough to never be inferior to anyone in the long history of martial arts.

But even those people now had fear and awe in their eyes.

They were the ones who had witnessed the pinnacle of martial arts created by two superhumans, Wiggins and Baek Yeon-hong, with their own eyes, and they were the ones who had imprinted the series of matches, like a festival, that had taken place in this deep underground, into their minds.

They were simply in awe of the two people who hadn’t even extended their hands yet.

Bang Jin-hoon’s face trembled. He grabbed his convulsing hand with his other hand, looked around frantically, and then shouted at Bator.

“I-Isn’t it right to retreat?”

Bator, hearing that voice, glared and turned his head.

“Retreat?”

Bator growled like a demon, his face distorted.

“I won’t retreat a single step.”

“N-No…”

“I have to see it with my own eyes from this spot. Damn it, you shut your mouth and stick by my side.”

A voice full of yelling.

“It’s a sight you’ll never see again. Never again! This kind of match won’t happen again even in a thousand years.”

“I’d rather die standing here than retreat without seeing this!”

Bang Jin-hoon, hearing those words, gritted his teeth.

“You’ll really die, you know, really!”

“Then you retreat.”

“You damn…”

Even as he said that, Bang Jin-hoon also took a step forward.

He was also a martial artist.

Perhaps he was the one who wanted to learn the most among them. After hearing those words, there was no way Bang Jin-hoon could retreat, even if it meant death.

It was the same for everyone.

The Red King, who had retreated to the back, as well as the Blood Demon, who had been hiding, and even Lee Myung-hwan, who was limping, came forward and filled the space around Bator.

“Don’t go any further! You’ll die.”

Bator reached out and pushed Lee Myung-hwan back. As if it was still too much for him.

“But the Guild Leader…”

“Once you’re dead, there’s no Guild Leader or anything! I told you to watch even if it meant death, but I didn’t tell you to actually die, you idiot!”

“Hold on there. I’ll block the incoming energy waves as much as I can. When I can’t hold on anymore, I’ll throw you back, so be prepared to get hit and stand there.”

Lee Myung-hwan gritted his teeth and nodded.

It was comical.

What was even more comical was that the opposite side was showing the same reaction.

The Twelve Flying Blades were also, as if possessed, slowly closing the distance to Kang Jin-ho and the Black King, little by little.

As if they wanted to watch this match even just one step closer.

It was a ridiculous thing.

What meaning could one step have for them?

But they risked their lives for that one step. For them, this match had that kind of meaning.

And at that moment.

KWAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

The aura emanating from the Black King and the Demon Lord intensified in an instant. The demonic energy that had materialized from their bodies collided with each other, and began to boom.

Successive collisions.

Successive explosions.

But that wasn’t a firework signaling the start of a battle. The two people still hadn’t moved a finger. Yet, just with the energy they had raised, they created a scene as if a bombardment was falling.

“Ugh!”

Lee Hyun-soo trembled.

Bator was directly blocking the energy waves, and Jang Min was surrounding his body with energy to protect him. Even so, a shock that felt like his head was exploding and his stomach was being torn apart surged in.

‘Hold on!’

But Lee Hyun-soo also had no intention of retreating even a single step from this spot.

Was it because he was also a martial artist?

Absolutely not.

He didn’t have any pride as a martial artist. That kind of thing didn’t suit Lee Hyun-soo.

The reason he was standing here was to show respect for the one person who was standing there on behalf of him and everyone who believed in him.

‘What do I care about your martial artist logic!’

A fight that would never happen again in history?

A battle that a martial artist should witness with their own eyes?

Bullshit!

Lee Hyun-soo raised his head with bloodshot eyes.

Beyond Bator’s side, he could see the back of a familiar person.

A back that was always big yet small, as always.

“Guild Leader!”

He had already forgotten the meaning of this match. He didn’t even want to know.

There was only one thing Lee Hyun-soo wanted.

“Damn it! Win! You have to win!”

Kang Jin-ho’s victory.

And survival.

That was all.

And as if responding to that voice…

Kooooooong!

The Black King and the Demon Lord simultaneously took a stance.

The two demons, having entered a perfect battle stance, charged at each other as if they had made a promise.

The final battle with everything on the line.

The two began to rush towards destruction.