Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 430

Squeak.

Saito’s hand, which was wiping his katana, trembled as he applied excessive force, causing the blade to vibrate.

“They show no signs of cooperation?”

“I am sorry, but… yes.”

“Why?”

“That is…”

Oizumi, not even thinking of wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, opened his mouth with a trembling voice.

“It is certainly undeniable that changes are occurring on the peninsula, but they say that erasing old grudges and joining hands is impossible.”

“Impossible?”

“They believe that the peninsula can be dealt with at any time if they so choose. Therefore, they think it is more important to settle matters within the mainland first.”

“Is that what everyone is saying?”

“There are a couple of places that agree, but that is the general consensus.”

“Fools.”

Saito threw the hemp cloth he was using to wipe the katana onto the floor.

“Do they not realize that a knife is being held to their throats? Why don’t they understand that the current peninsula is not a place to be ignored!”

“I apologize.”

It wasn’t his place to apologize, but Oizumi kept bowing his head.

“Damn it.”

Saito clenched his fist tightly.

‘Why can’t they admit that their excessive disregard is a reflection of their unease towards Joseon [Korea]?’

No matter what anyone says, the country that most disregards Korea in the world is Japan. Even China, which has now objectively surpassed Japan, does not disregard Korea as much as Japan does.

However, the basis of that disregard was the unease that Korea was rapidly catching up while Japan was stagnating.

Disregard means not paying attention to the other party. But isn’t Japan watching Korea almost obsessively?

The martial world is different.

Although the visible gap in the world is rapidly closing, Japan’s martial world has never been threatened by Korea.

Since the Goryeo Dynasty [Korean kingdom from 918 to 1392], Japan’s martial world has overwhelmed Korea’s martial world, and it has never relinquished its dominance since then.

The gap was so large that they didn’t feel any particular threat.

“How long do they think that will last!”

A gap that has once opened cannot last forever. Everything in the world changes.

In the past, Japan, which had adopted new things from Joseon, began to overwhelm Joseon in reverse, but now, just as that gap is being closed, there is no reason why the disorganized Korean martial world should maintain that situation forever.

And now, the seed of that change has sprouted.

In the name of Kang Jin-ho.

“After a seed sprouts and becomes a tree, it must be felled. If it’s now, we can easily pull out the sprout! Are they going to ignore this crisis because of some old grudge!”

“But…”

Oizumi rubbed his eyes slightly. He, too, couldn’t understand.

“I understand your concern that the Joseon people might unite, but I don’t think that’s such a big deal that all the mainland’s yakuza [Japanese organized crime syndicate] need to unite.”

“You fool!”

“Isn’t the rift between them too deep to unite over such a small threat?”

“That’s why they need to unite even more.”

“Huh?”

“Can you trust the other gangs and pull your forces out to Korea?”

Oizumi couldn’t answer.

The idea that the Japanese gangs had to cooperate to eliminate just one Kang Jin-ho was hard to accept. If Kang Jin-ho had that much power, he couldn’t be called a sprout anymore.

‘This is very subtle.’

If they mobilized all the elites of one gang, they could devastate Korea within a month. But in the meantime, the other gangs would not leave the Nanahoshi gang’s territory alone.

The accumulated distrust was preventing them from moving.

“I don’t even expect cooperation. At least they should agree to a truce, but they won’t even do that.”

Saito frowned.

“It was excessively aggressive. And fast. It’s as if they didn’t consider how we would move at all. I thought he was still young and didn’t know the world, so he didn’t think about the consequences… Could he have read this far?”

“Isn’t that too much of an overestimation?”

“It is not.”

Saito shook his head heavily.

“They are mistaken. Just because the Korean martial world is at a lower level doesn’t mean their strategy is also inferior. When people of similar levels clash, and there is such a one-sided result, it means one of two things. Either one side had a variable advantage. That variable could be force, but it could also be intellect. We may have taken Kang Jin-ho’s image too lightly. Looking back, he is a scary guy. Even if I were in Korea, I wouldn’t have been able to get everything as easily as Kang Jin-ho.”

“But…”

“Not acknowledging the opponent is a shortcut to failure.”

Oizumi swallowed his words. It wasn’t right to argue when Saito was saying so much. He didn’t agree, but it was his way of Bushido [Japanese code of honor and morals] to follow before agreeing.

“Everyone is so frustrating. Do they not know how vast the land of Korea is? While dozens of gangs are dividing up the narrow mainland, Korea is…”

Saito, who was speaking, closed his mouth.

Saito, who had been deep in thought for a while, nodded to himself repeatedly.

“Preconceived notions are so scary. I was doing the same thing myself while blaming others.”

With a look of realization, Saito jumped up from his seat.

“Shunsuke!”

“Yes!”

“Convene a meeting.”

“Yes?”

“The gang will attack Joseon alone.”

“W-wait a moment, Chief!”

Oizumi shouted in alarm.

“If we pull any more forces to Korea, we won’t be able to protect our territory. As a result of the meeting, there are already those who are watching when we will turn our forces to Korea. If we turn any more forces, those who are left behind will be torn apart like sheep thrown among wolves. Please be realistic…”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Saito cut off Oizumi’s words cleanly.

“Yes?”

Oizumi, not understanding his intentions, looked at Saito with uneasy eyes. Why was Saito, who always made clear and rational judgments, saying such nonsense?

“You and I… we were all blind. There’s no reason to blame the others. We were foolish.”

“What do you mean…”

“China can’t move because they are keeping each other in check. We can move, but we can’t because we are worried about being backstabbed. And if our territory is empty, there will be a war to take that land, and we will be even more unable to move.”

“That’s right.”

“In other words…”

Saito licked his lips quietly.

“The land of Joseon will not be invaded by anyone in the meantime. That land, which is a no-man’s-land.”

Oizumi’s eyes widened.

“There was no need to cling to the narrow territory. There is such fertile land over there. It’s the right time. It’s a good time. If we cross over with our members now, we can make the land of Korea the territory of our Nanahoshi gang.”

Oizumi couldn’t say anything.

What Saito was saying was so unconventional and enormous that he couldn’t organize it in his head for a moment.

‘But it’s not completely nonsense.’

From a practical point of view, it was more profitable to aim for the vast land of Korea than to be satisfied with a small territory that couldn’t even occupy one prefecture.

“But abandoning the mainland…”

“You fool! Since when have we been clinging to this small land? Didn’t our ancestors also want the vast land of the Central Plains [historical region of China]? The peninsula is a land that we must occupy to aim for the Central Plains. You haven’t forgotten the grand dream of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere [Japanese imperialist concept], have you?”

“Of course not.”

Saito smiled.

“It has always been the martial world that moved the world. It’s the same this time. Prepare for the meeting. We will attack Joseon.”

“Understood.”

Watching Oizumi rush out, Saito licked his lips.

‘I see a path.’

It might be difficult in the short term, but in the long term, if they could seize control of the martial world of the peninsula, they could quickly expand their power. While other gangs in the mainland were consuming their power in infighting, they could grow their power without being checked.

“I overthought it.”

Saito chuckled.

Kang Jin-ho probably thought that the chaotic Japan or China would never attack him. But it was his misfortune that he didn’t know that a person named Saito existed.

“We’ll meet soon. Then you’ll realize your mistake.”

Saito sat back down, picked up the hemp cloth that had fallen on the floor, and slowly began to wipe his katana.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

To when that face will be distorted.

“Japan, you said?”

“Yes.”

Bang Jin-hoon opened his mouth with a stiff face.

“Didn’t you have a grudge against the Japanese when you were involved with Director Lee Joong-geol before?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded with a nonchalant face.

It was just that he blocked them and killed them, but it was true that he had a grudge. A grudge is not something that arises after thinking about the before and after. A grudge is something that arises when I feel bad.

Kang Jin-ho was convinced that the guys who had interfered in the infighting between Koreans and blocked his way were wrong, considering the circumstances.

“And you also had an incident last time.”

“Incident?”

“You killed them all in a big way.”

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Somehow, it sounded like Kang Jin-ho had gone too far, but there was no need to correct that fact.

“So they will never stay still.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m sure of it.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded quietly.

“Now, tell me.”

“Yes?”

“You have a plan, don’t you?”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Bang Jin-hoon with a blank stare. Bang Jin-hoon opened his mouth, looking at that gaze.

“Based on your actions so far, even though it seems like you do things impulsively, you always have the next step in mind. The same must have been true for the Japanese. It wasn’t something you had to do, but you killed them all so cruelly, wasn’t that on purpose to provoke Japan? It’s about time for their reaction to come back. No, it’s already passed. So now, please tell me what your plan is. It will be easier for me to respond if I know.”

Kang Jin-ho, hearing Bang Jin-hoon’s confident words, slightly widened his eyes and said,

“I don’t have one.”

“Yes?”

“I said I don’t have one.”

Bang Jin-hoon asked, trembling.

“T-then, why were you so aggressive back then?”

“Because I felt bad.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

Bang Jin-hoon smiled faintly.

‘This guy, he really has no plan.’ And he, who trusted such a Kang Jin-ho, was just as clueless.