Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 215

Lee Hyun-joo’s face was pale.

‘Ah…’

She couldn’t speak properly.

Kang Jin-ho was literally trampling Lee Sung-hwi.

Like a beast that doesn’t kill its prey immediately after invading its territory, but slowly inflicts wounds and watches it die, he was destroying Lee Sung-hwi’s body without any haste, leisurely and slowly, but surely.

Crunch.

‘Kuh-uh-uh…’

The sound of bones breaking could be heard.

Lee Sung-hwi tried to resist with all his might, but his movements were weak.

The hand he swung was caught by Kang Jin-ho. And then….

Crack.

With the clear sound of bones breaking, Lee Sung-hwi’s wrist was twisted.

‘Ugh…’

Lee Sung-hwi’s eyes, filled with pain and fear, darted around, unable to find a place to settle.

‘S-stop it!’

‘Stop?’

Kang Jin-ho smiled and made eye contact with Lee Sung-hwi. Then, he slowly reached out and grabbed Lee Sung-hwi’s face.

‘Why do you get to decide that?’

There was pure curiosity in Kang Jin-ho’s voice. It was as if a child was asking about something they didn’t know.

‘Did you ask for my permission before coming to find me?’

‘I, I…’

‘You didn’t, did you?’

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

It was a smile no different from his usual one, but to Lee Sung-hwi, it was the most cruel smile he had ever seen.

‘So it’s okay.’

Crack.

The ankle of Lee Sung-hwi, who was being trampled by Kang Jin-ho, broke off.

‘Aaaaaaaah!’

Pain.

If it were the usual Lee Sung-hwi, he wouldn’t have screamed so pathetically, no matter how terrible the pain was.

But now it was different.

The mental fear was greater than the physical pain.

This guy didn’t want anything from him right now. And no one knew how far this guy would go.

Under the hands of someone who just wanted to tear him apart like a bug, without any conditions or desires, the fear of suffering pain with no end in sight was breaking Lee Sung-hwi.

‘S-save me.’

‘Looks like you didn’t hear me.’

Kang Jin-ho whispered softly into Lee Sung-hwi’s trembling ear.

‘I told you, I’m not going to kill you.’

Kang Jin-ho’s soft voice shook Lee Sung-hwi’s soul.

‘But I can’t help it if you die on your own in the middle. So, try to hold on. Do you understand?’

The hand that was holding Lee Sung-hwi’s face began to tighten.

‘Kuh-uh-uh…’

Lee Sung-hwi had to feel a fear he had never felt before at the force of Kang Jin-ho’s hand tightening around his face. If the force in this hand didn’t loosen, his head would be crushed.

Then, the human called Lee Sung-hwi would soon become a lump of meat that used to be called Lee Sung-hwi.

He tried to raise both hands to grab Kang Jin-ho’s hand, but one arm was twisted and turned behind his back, and the other arm was just dangling, broken from the wrist.

Faced with the onrushing pain and fear, Lee Sung-hwi began to sob, half out of his mind.

‘Hic… S-save me… Hic.’

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand.

‘Why are you acting like this already? It’s just the beginning?’

‘I’m sorry… I’m sorry, I’m sorry…’

Kang Jin-ho frowned.

The guys he met in the military had held out longer. He had some expectations because they were martial artists, but this was just trash in the guise of a martial artist.

He already knew the reason.

The reason he didn’t think much of modern martial artists was that they never had a real life-or-death battle.

A martial artist who is not deployed on the battlefield is closer to a transcendent being who lives comfortably based on superior physical abilities and inner strength than an ordinary person.

How could such people learn the mindset of a martial artist?

The attitude of a martial artist that a master teaches is just a pie in the sky [an unrealistic or unattainable goal].

Kang Jin-ho believed that a martial artist is raised on the battlefield. Only on the battlefield, where swords pour down before your eyes, and where someone you were just talking to a moment ago falls with a sword in their neck, is a true martial artist completed.

In that sense, Lee Sung-hwi was just a strong child, not a martial artist.

Rather, because he had enjoyed a special status among others, there was only untrained flesh inside his clumsy shell.

‘Still, the Chinese guys were quite composed even in their dying moments, but it seems like someone like you is strutting around here? Then, are there only trash here?’

Kang Jin-ho tapped Lee Sung-hwi’s cheek.

Trash.

Is there any value in this kind of trash being alive? Rather….

‘Stop it!’

Lee Hyun-joo shouted reflexively.

‘Y-you don’t have to go that far! He’s going to die! I’ll apologize! Please… please stop.’

‘You’re mistaken.’

But Kang Jin-ho’s answer was utterly cold. With emotionless, sunken eyes, Kang Jin-ho turned to look at Lee Hyun-joo and said.

‘It seems like you guys are used to getting what you want by bowing your heads and asking?’

‘…Yes?’

Kang Jin-ho’s hand grabbed Lee Sung-hwi’s shoulder. Lee Sung-hwi’s body trembled like an aspen, knowing all too well what Kang Jin-ho was about to do.

‘What a soft world.’

Crack.

‘Aaaaaaaah!’

Lee Sung-hwi’s bloodcurdling scream echoed throughout the mountain. But unfortunately, there were no houses nearby, and no one was coming to save Lee Sung-hwi.

‘You guys started it. Then it’s only fair that I have the chance to finish it, right? Don’t you think?’

Lee Sung-hwi couldn’t answer.

The pain he felt all over his body was so severe that it was a wonder he hadn’t fainted. He couldn’t even think properly, let alone answer. All he could do was instinctively resist and endure the onrushing pain.

‘D-do you think you’ll be okay after this?’

Kang Jin-ho’s brow twitched.

‘Okay?’

Kang Jin-ho’s head slowly turned.

Lee Hyun-joo, who had met Kang Jin-ho’s gaze, collapsed on the spot. Her legs gave way, and she couldn’t stand.

That wasn’t a human. A human couldn’t have eyes like that.

It seemed like something black was flickering around his eyes.

A definite premonition that something would reach out from the darkness and grab her neck and suck her blood.

A terrible emotion, too crude to be described as fear, was dominating her.

Thud!

Kang Jin-ho let go of the hand that was holding Lee Sung-hwi’s face.

Lee Sung-hwi collapsed on the floor and began to groan. Kang Jin-ho didn’t even glance at Lee Sung-hwi and walked towards Lee Hyun-joo.

‘Didn’t I tell you?’

Kang Jin-ho said as he slowly walked towards Lee Hyun-joo.

‘I told you that you guys were the ones who touched me first. I just wanted to live a normal life.’

‘You barged into someone else’s life and talked nonsense, and now you’re saying what? Do you think you’ll be okay?’

A low chuckle was heard.

Kang Jin-ho’s low chuckle pierced Lee Hyun-joo’s ears. It was a chuckle that made her soul tremble just by hearing it.

‘What do you think?’

Kang Jin-ho walked up to Lee Hyun-joo, who was sitting down, and bent down to make eye contact.

‘Do you think I’ll be okay in your opinion? Huh?’

‘…P-please save me.’

She didn’t know why those words came out.

Even though she had heard him say several times that he wouldn’t kill her, Lee Hyun-joo didn’t know why such a foolish answer came out.

Lee Hyun-joo, whose mind had gone blank, had only found the most reasonable thing to say right now. It was a little off, but still.

Kang Jin-ho reached out and stroked Lee Hyun-joo’s cheek. Lee Hyun-joo’s body trembled at the sensation, as if a cold snake was coiling around her.

‘Do you know why I’m angry?’

‘I know too, that I can’t keep ignoring it. I knew that I would have to face you someday. I also know that I will have to abandon this daily life and jump into your daily life someday. Because I’m not stupid.’

Confusion clouded Lee Hyun-joo’s eyes.

She couldn’t understand what Kang Jin-ho was saying. She had no idea what this was all about. But Kang Jin-ho didn’t want her to understand.

‘But it’s not pleasant for that non-daily world to greet me like this, regardless of my will. You guys don’t think about other people’s lives. You drag people in so easily, and you think it’s natural.’

The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth slowly curled up.

‘So I’m doing the same thing to you. I don’t care about your position. I’m just doing what I want to do. How is it? Is it fun to be in the receiving end? Like I am now?’

The hand that was stroking her cheek slowly moved towards her neck.

Lee Hyun-joo couldn’t do anything as she felt Kang Jin-ho’s hand slowly moving down. She could only pray that this hellish time would pass quickly, or that she could at least faint and escape.

‘I warned you, didn’t I?’

Feeling Kang Jin-ho’s hand tightening around her neck, Lee Hyun-joo couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.

It was a mistake.

This person was someone she shouldn’t have touched.

‘I asked if you could handle it.’

Feeling Kang Jin-ho’s hand slowly tightening around her neck, Lee Hyun-joo closed her eyes.

‘You have to pay the price for ignoring the warning, don’t you think?’

She was suffocating.

Right now, she couldn’t even tell if she was trembling or not. She was just being defenselessly beaten by the terribly tightening fear.

‘I’m done for.’

It felt like a switch had been flipped.

For some reason, Kang Jin-ho had been suppressing himself as much as possible and living according to modern standards.

What Kang Jin-ho was suppressing was a monster, and that monster was more ferocious and cruel than anything she had ever seen. And it was impulsive.

The usual Kang Jin-ho and the Kang Jin-ho who was breaking Lee Sung-hwi were different, as if they were different people, and the Kang Jin-ho who was now strangling Lee Hyun-joo was also different.

He was more arrogant, cruel, and persistent.

The mistake was that she had never imagined that Kang Jin-ho was this kind of person. If she had known this fact in advance, she wouldn’t have approached Kang Jin-ho so recklessly.

‘Don’t worry.’

Kang Jin-ho smiled, revealing his teeth.

‘I won’t kill you.’

Kang Jin-ho put strength into his hand and slowly tried to lift Lee Hyun-joo.

At that moment.

‘Aren’t you cold?’ A nonchalant voice was heard. Kang Jin-ho turned around with a slightly puzzled look. Cho Kyu-min was shivering, wrapping his arms around his shoulders.

‘Ah, it’s so cold that it’s hard to bear. It’s not like the cleanup is done yet, so it’s not like we can go back to the car, um…’

Cho Kyu-min reached into his pocket, took out a cigarette, offered one to Kang Jin-ho, and grinned.

‘Let’s loosen up a bit… How about a cigarette?’

With sunken eyes, Kang Jin-ho stared silently at the cigarette Cho Kyu-min offered.

A moment of silence.

Kang Jin-ho’s hand slowly reached out,

and then, he took the cigarette that Cho Kyu-min offered. Kang Jin-ho, who had taken the cigarette and put it in his mouth, smiled and replied.

‘Sure.’