Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 214

‘Just wait a bit. I’ll take you somewhere with no eyes.’

‘That’s music to my ears.’

Lee Sung-hwi was nonchalant.

At least, on the surface. But Lee Hyun-joo’s eyes didn’t miss the subtle trembling of Lee Sung-hwi’s body.

‘He’s nervous.’

He made excuses about being careless and put up a front with his pride, but Lee Sung-hwi wasn’t a fool. There was no way he wouldn’t know that the person he had to face from now on was not someone to be taken lightly.

If he were that much of a fool, he wouldn’t have become his grandfather’s disciple.

Cho Kyu-min was dying from the pressure he felt from both sides.

‘Why did I get mixed up in this?’

It was his own stubbornness that made him stay when he was told to leave. He always seemed to go looking for trouble, but what could he do?

He was a man, after all, and he couldn’t miss an event like this.

Moreover, if it was something involving Kang Jin-ho, he had a duty to watch it with his own eyes. It was a duty no one forced on him, but Cho Kyu-min thought it was a natural stance for him, who was assisting Kang Jin-ho.

Click.

The passenger window rolled down, and Kang Jin-ho took out a cigarette.

Seeing that, Lee Sung-hwi scoffed.

‘A martial artist smoking a cigarette, how unprofessional.’

Kang Jin-ho didn’t answer.

He might not be wrong. But the basic premise itself was wrong.

Soon, Lee Sung-hwi would realize that fact as well.

The car, which had been traveling on a national highway to a secluded area, turned onto a winding mountain road. Cho Kyu-min, who had parked the car in a suitable spot, opened his mouth.

‘Let’s get out.’

Kang Jin-ho nodded and opened the car door, stepping outside. Lee Sung-hwi also got out of the car as if he had been waiting for it.

‘Can we start? Here?’

Cho Kyu-min answered instead.

‘If you go in that direction, even if there are passing cars, they won’t be able to see you well.’

Lee Sung-hwi obediently moved to the place Cho Kyu-min pointed out. When he entered the thicket, a wide open space appeared. It was amazing how they had found such a place.

‘Mister, you’re quite capable?’

‘You look older than me, though.’

It seemed the word ‘mister’ bothered him. Lee Sung-hwi frowned at Cho Kyu-min’s words.

‘I’m only thirty, you know.’

‘I’m about the same age.’

‘……You look old for your age.’

Crack.

Cho Kyu-min clenched his teeth and turned his head, looking at Kang Jin-ho with an intense gaze. It was a plea to crush that arrogant bastard.

‘Step back.’

‘Yes.’

As Kang Jin-ho said, Cho Kyu-min stepped back a good distance. He had already seen Kang Jin-ho fight several times. If an ordinary person got caught up in it, they would be in a terrible state.

‘And the same goes for that guy.’

From Cho Kyu-min’s perspective, Kang Jin-ho was like a key.

Before meeting Kang Jin-ho, Cho Kyu-min had never even imagined that such a world existed in his decades of life. But from the moment Kang Jin-ho was discharged from the military, the world was changing.

He had come to know that there was a hidden world, not the one that was visible on the surface.

‘How far will it go?’

To him, Kang Jin-ho was like Superman.

But that might be because Cho Kyu-min was an ordinary person. Right now, Cho Kyu-min had to try hard to suppress his excited heart. What position would Kang Jin-ho hold in that world?

He would be able to confirm it with his own two eyes right now.

‘I was a little careless earlier. If you think that’s all I’ve got, you’re going to be in for a world of hurt.’

It was a slightly vulgar provocation.

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked at Lee Sung-hwi before opening his mouth.

‘You seem to have a lot to say.’

‘I have a mouth, why wouldn’t I talk?’

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

Lee Sung-hwi couldn’t help but flinch when he saw the pure white teeth revealed between his slightly parted lips.

Slowly, but clearly.

Kang Jin-ho’s aura was changing.

‘What is this?’

They had already met once before. It was a short moment, but he had even exchanged blows with Kang Jin-ho. But the Kang Jin-ho he saw then and the Kang Jin-ho now felt like completely different people.

‘You should talk while you still can.’

Step.

Kang Jin-ho took a step towards Lee Sung-hwi without removing the smile from his lips.

‘Because you won’t be able to talk soon.’

It was a rather obvious threat.

There were countless people who had made such threats before a fight. Lee Sung-hwi had seen over a hundred of them. But this was different.

He could tell instinctively.

This wasn’t a threat.

It wasn’t a demonstration to intimidate the opponent. It was like a news anchor reporting an accident, stating the obvious. It was something that hadn’t happened yet, but Kang Jin-ho was speaking calmly, as if it were a prophecy.

‘……He’s not ordinary.’

He had long since abandoned his carelessness. The reason he was maintaining his frivolous tone was not because he was ignoring his opponent, but as a way to avoid getting nervous.

Even if he had been careless, his punch was not something that could be compared to an ordinary person’s. His master was Kwon Ho. He was also someone who had learned the fist [a martial art]. Even in a casual gesture, the principles of martial arts were embedded. But Kang Jin-ho had avoided that hand too easily and subdued him.

He was strong even when he was ambushed earlier.

Then what about now?

How different would the current Kang Jin-ho, who was emitting a cold aura as if he had become a different person, be from the Kang Jin-ho from before?

‘Hoo.’

Lee Sung-hwi took a deep breath.

‘Don’t think.’

The fact that he was worrying about how his opponent would come out was already the same as being caught up in his opponent’s pace. Now was the time to properly unleash what he had.

As his master had said, if he could unleash everything he had, he could win against anyone.

‘Are you a returnee?’

Kang Jin-ho looked at Lee Sung-hwi without answering.

‘I guess you are.’

Lee Sung-hwi curled up the corners of his mouth.

‘That explains your skills that don’t match your age. But what a shame? I don’t really like those returnee guys. They’re gloomy and can’t get along with others.’

Lee Sung-hwi shook his hands to loosen them up. The sound of his bones cracking echoed through the quiet mountain.

‘Humans are beings that evolve. I don’t know what you returnees did in the past, but there’s no way those who live in the past can beat the present. I’ll show you how much modern martial arts have evolved.’

Kang Jin-ho quietly opened his mouth.

‘If you’re done talking, come at me.’

‘It doesn’t matter who you are or who I am. So stop rambling and come at me.’

‘You little punk!’

Lee Sung-hwi clenched his fist and rushed towards Kang Jin-ho. Was he provoked?

No.

He had been feeling as if he was being suppressed by Kang Jin-ho since earlier. And that suppression was getting stronger as time passed. He thought that if he let any more time pass, he wouldn’t even be able to throw a proper punch.

Lee Sung-hwi’s right fist cut through the air like a fired arrow.

A simple punch with no feints.

But it was fast and strong.

There was no need to mix in any techniques. Because it was so fast that the eyes couldn’t follow the movement. Lee Sung-hwi’s eyes shone brightly as he threw his punch.

He’ll dodge.

He will dodge.

Lee Sung-hwi wasn’t arrogant. Given the skills Kang Jin-ho had shown earlier, there would definitely be something. But it didn’t matter. He had dozens of ways to counter the moment he dodged this punch.

The depth of someone who had trained in orthodox martial arts…

Thwack!

‘……Wh, what?’

Lee Sung-hwi couldn’t help but be flustered.

It was a punch that he thought would definitely be dodged, but Kang Jin-ho was standing there blankly and took Lee Sung-hwi’s punch head-on. Kang Jin-ho, who was hit directly in the middle of his face, flew into the air like a kite with a broken string and crashed into a corner.

‘D, did he die?’

Lee Sung-hwi looked at Kang Jin-ho in a panic.

He couldn’t help but be shocked.

He doesn’t exchange blows with ordinary people. In the fights of skilled martial artists, such direct hits don’t happen often. Even a boxer’s punch, who has only trained his muscles without internal energy, can split a human skull if it lands properly. So what about Lee Sung-hwi’s punch, which was full of internal energy [a concept in martial arts referring to the energy within the body]?

Even a decent martial artist would not be able to avoid instant death if they were hit in the face head-on by Lee Sung-hwi’s punch like that.

A million thoughts went through Lee Sung-hwi’s head.

Was it all a bluff?

Or was he not a martial artist?

Then what was that from before?

It was Kang Jin-ho who resolved Lee Sung-hwi’s confusion.

Kang Jin-ho, who had fallen to the ground, slowly raised his head. Lee Sung-hwi, who saw Kang Jin-ho raising his upper body, couldn’t help but be more confused than before.

‘He’s getting up?’

Lee Sung-hwi couldn’t help but turn pale as if he had seen a ghost as he watched Kang Jin-ho slowly get up from his spot.

This was impossible.

No matter how strong he was, even if it was his master, he wouldn’t be able to get up so nonchalantly if he was hit head-on by Lee Sung-hwi’s full-power punch.

It was like how even a skilled sniper wouldn’t be able to be okay after being shot by a gun.

‘H, how?’

‘Ptoo!’

Kang Jin-ho spat on the ground. The blood that came out tasted bitter in his mouth. Kang Jin-ho, who wiped his mouth with his hand, distorted his face and smiled.

‘Don’t worry about it.’

Step. Step.

Kang Jin-ho began to walk towards Lee Sung-hwi.

‘I just needed to calm down a bit. It seems like I had a lot built up. I’m awake now.’

Lee Sung-hwi couldn’t understand Kang Jin-ho’s words. What kind of nonsense was that?

It wasn’t him, but the two people behind him who knew what Kang Jin-ho’s words meant. Lee Hyun-joo looked at Kang Jin-ho with a pale face.

She had seen it.

The moment Lee Sung-hwi rushed at Kang Jin-ho, she had seen Kang Jin-ho’s face twist strangely.

Not anger, hatred, or animosity.

The expression on Kang Jin-ho’s face that she saw was patience. It was like a beast that couldn’t control the drool flowing down its mouth as it looked at a delicious prey, but was enduring the urge to tear it apart.

Instinctively, Lee Hyun-joo knew.

‘He was trying to kill him.’

If Kang Jin-ho hadn’t been able to hold back his twitching hand at that moment, what would have happened to Lee Sung-hwi right now?

‘I have to stop him.’

Lee Hyun-joo realized. This wasn’t a match.

At least, Kang Jin-ho wasn’t seeing this situation as a fight or a match. Then what should this situation be called?

‘Aaaaaaaah!’

Lee Sung-hwi, with a face half-lost to reason, rushed towards Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho smiled faintly as he looked at Lee Sung-hwi rushing towards him. In his eyes, Lee Sung-hwi’s terrified pupils were clearly visible.

There’s no need to be so scared.

Kang Jin-ho’s right hand flicked up and strangely grabbed Lee Sung-hwi’s fist that was flying towards his face.

And then.