Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 409

‘Is it… this big?’

His senses, honed by his mastery of demonic arts, told him the corridor sloped downwards. If that was the case, he was likely underground.

‘Has a place like this existed?’

It was hard to believe such a large space existed beneath the city. It seemed large enough to fit several giant soccer fields.

However, Wang Wei-an wasn’t just surprised by the size. What truly shocked him wasn’t the vastness of the space, but the people filling it.

Demons.

It was as if all those persecuted for practicing demonic arts had gathered here. People usually impossible to find, even with a thorough search, were gathered in such numbers.

Seeing so many who could be called comrades might have been comforting, but Wang Wei-an felt only bitterness.

The message these people received was likely similar to his.

The fact that so many had gathered at such a vague call meant everyone here was desperate enough to grasp at any hope, no matter how faint.

‘A gathering of losers, huh?’

Wang Wei-an let out a hollow laugh.

With so many people, the place should have been noisy, but the cavern was eerily quiet. Some looked around with gloomy faces, while others closed their eyes, quietly waiting for something to happen.

Slumped shoulders and expressions of discontent.

If the Party [referring to a governing or controlling body] saw this, they would undoubtedly arrest them, labeling it a gathering of social malcontents.

What was truly sad was that Wang Wei-an was no different from them.

Wang Wei-an quietly moved to the back and stood there.

‘Is something going to happen?’

It was unlikely nothing would happen with so many gathered. The fact that the leadership, who had never called them together before, had stepped forward meant something unusual was afoot.

Perhaps it was this strange anticipation, but the cavern, where only the sound of breathing could be heard, was filled with a strange heat.

How much time had passed?

Just as his patience was about to run out, about an hour after the promised time, someone coming from the back corridor shouted.

“The doors are closed!”

As the voice echoed, people wearing black robes began to ascend a platform.

“Everyone has gathered well.”

There was no response.

They simply exerted silent pressure with their eyes, urging them to start quickly. The person who had looked around at the gathered people quietly nodded and began to speak.

“Brothers and sisters.”

The voice echoed loudly in the cavern.

“We, under the name of demons, have been persecuted countless times.”

Wang Wei-an’s face contorted.

He hadn’t come all this way, wasting his precious time, to hear such words. He didn’t want comfort, but practical solutions.

“We have been killed for the sole reason of practicing demonic arts, even though we have committed no wrongdoings, and we have not even been treated as human beings for the reason of practicing demonic arts.”

The voice grew louder.

Wang Wei-an pulled out his phone.

He had no intention of agreeing with such words. It might be necessary for someone speaking in front of so many, but it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

Just as he was thinking he should pretend to listen and leave if they were going to stop soon.

“But now, the opportunity has come!”

Opportunity?

Wang Wei-an’s head lifted.

“The one thing that has sustained us through the long years of hardship and persecution was a single word! The word that one day, the Demon Lord would descend upon this land and lead us!”

Wang Wei-an bit his lip tightly.

‘Are they so ignorant, so very ignorant?’

Did they think anyone would believe such an old-fashioned story?

It was what his father used to tell him. That one day, the Demon Lord would return to this land and lead the suffering demons to a new land.

The descent of a prophet, a common theme in any persecuted race or religion.

A comforting self-delusion that salvation would come someday for those who couldn’t overcome harsh reality.

He had no intention of agreeing with such pathetic self-consolation.

‘I’ve wasted my time.’

It seemed many others had similar thoughts. People began to leave the ranks and head towards the entrance. Perhaps they were trying to reorganize and do something, but they were dangerous when gathered together.

If the cockroaches [a derogatory term for demons] spread throughout the Central Plains, which they couldn’t even think of eradicating, gathered in one place, it was obvious what the martial artists would do.

Just as Wang Wei-an was about to give up and turn around, a thunderbolt-like word flew into his ears.

“Elder Jang Min, who guarded the Demon Lord’s land, has gathered you all.”

‘Jang Min?’

The name of the Demon Lord was a fantasy, but the name of Jang Min was not.

Those trying to leave stopped and turned around.

‘Is he still alive?’

During the time when demons were most persecuted, no demon didn’t know the name of Jang Min, who stood in front of everyone and fought to protect them. The name of Jang Min held their feet.

Soon, an old man slowly walked up to the platform.

“Ah…”

Wang Wei-an couldn’t help but open his mouth in admiration.

He could feel it.

A pure and intense demonic energy.

Not the weak and crude demonic energy felt from the surrounding demons, but a demonic energy that made tears well up just by feeling it was filling the old man’s body.

He could instinctively tell.

That man was Jang Min.

Although his appearance was shabby, what was visible was not everything. It was amazing how a demon could reach such a level.

‘Maybe…’

Expectation began to form on Wang Wei-an’s face.

Even if it was someone else, if that person stood in front, they might not have to hide in the shadows anymore. Just as countless martial artists gathered under the names of the Three Kings who ruled the Central Plains, the name of Jang Min might create a haven where demons could gather and rest.

However, the words that came out of Jang Min’s mouth completely deviated from their expectations.

“I have…”

Jang Min looked around quietly and opened his mouth.

“I have seen his descent.”

His descent?

What did he mean by ‘his’?

How could that word come from that man’s mouth?

No demon alive…

“N-no way…”

Wang Wei-an’s face began to fill with shock.

The words he had heard a little while ago and Jang Min’s words began to overlap. If that was the case, there was only one conclusion left.

“I have seen it with these two eyes, heard it with these two ears, and felt it with this body.”

As Jang Min’s voice echoed, the demons’ bodies began to tense up.

A legend.

A story that had only been passed down as a legend and myth.

The words that were so absurd and unrealistic that they thought would never come true were now flowing from Jang Min’s mouth.

“The Demon Lord has descended into the mortal world.”

Wang Wei-an’s body staggered.

It was more of a shock than an emotion.

“He has told you to gather. He has said that he needs you. He who has proven himself to be the master by taking the divine sword in his hand, has taken pity on you and wishes to open a new world.”

Wang Wei-an felt his vision blurring.

‘Damn it.’

This wasn’t an emotion like being moved.

It was just a surge of sorrow.

“The years of hardship are over. Now that the legend has become a reality, we will gather under his name and rebuild the Demonic Cult’s world.”

Someone shouted.

“How can we believe those words!”

“Do not doubt!”

Jang Min shouted resolutely.

“I have clearly seen with my own eyes how he opened the Secret Cave. Isn’t the Secret Cave a place that no one but the Demon Lord can open! He has forgiven me, and he has forgiven us.”

The cavern was filled with silence.

An unbelievable story.

But also a story they couldn’t not believe.

‘The Demon Lord…’

Wang Wei-an rubbed his face roughly.

The Demon Lord, passed down in legends, was said to have placed the world under his feet.

It was an unbelievable story.

But the fact that the Secret Cave was opened was proof that he was the Demon Lord. Because the method to open the Secret Cave had been lost.

That meant someone who had mastered the lost martial arts of the Demonic Cult had appeared.

Wang Wei-an’s body trembled with excitement as he understood what that meant.

“Do not doubt!”

Jang Min shouted.

“The Demon Lord is not merciful! The Demon Lord wants your complete obedience. Those who incur his wrath will receive the most miserable death in the world. He is the one who rules all demons. He is the ruler of demons, and he is your ruler.”

Wang Wei-an swallowed hard.

When demonic energy reaches its peak, one’s humanity is suppressed. And they tend to become incomparably cruel and violent. Even ordinary demons were like that, so how cruel and violent would the one called the Demon Lord be?

Joy and fear simultaneously dominated his body.

“W-what should we do?”

“The Demon Lord has told you to gather. He has declared that he will show you the true demonic arts, not the weak demonic arts that control your bodies.”

“W-where is he?”

“He is…”

Wang Wei-an let out a hollow laugh.

What did it matter where he was?

The important thing was that Jang Min had declared the Demon Lord had descended. If he was the ruler of all demons, then wherever he was, blood and death would be with him.

Definitely.

“Kyahahahaha!”

Kang Jin-ho quietly opened his mouth.

“Sun-young.”

“Huh?”

“…You shouldn’t pull my hair.”

“Kyahahahaha!”

Kang Jin-ho, with Sun-young on his shoulders, grabbed her legs tightly as she shook his head while holding his hair, and let out a deep sigh.

“Oppa! That! That!”

“…What?”

“Cotton candy! I want cotton candy!”

“You just ate some.”

“Cotton caaaaaandy! Cotton caaaaaandy!”

“I’ll buy it for you… Let’s go.”

“Quickly! Quickly!”

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked up at the sky.

‘It should at least rain.’

This place was hell.

An amusement park was definitely a place created to test human patience. Even the infamous prison of the Demonic Cult didn’t make people suffer like this.

“I told you not to fall! You’ll get lost!”

“Kyahahahaha!”

Kang Jin-ho was swallowing his tears as he chased after the children who were running around like they had lost their minds and herded them to the center.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

In the meantime, a child who had fallen sat down on the ground and started crying.

‘I’m the one who wants to cry.’

It was never easy to handle the children even on normal days, but from the moment they entered the amusement park, the children’s activity and mood seemed to have doubled.

Kang Jin-ho sighed repeatedly as he controlled the children who were running around and screaming.

“Kang Jin-ho!”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head at the voice calling him.