Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 501

Bang-sang was in a truly hellish situation.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely unexpected. From the moment he was captured after failing to assassinate Kang Jin-ho, he had a pretty good idea of what his fate would be.

Throughout his journey to the General Assembly, only one thought occupied Bang-sang’s mind.

Not to yield, and to protect his subordinates.

It was only natural to use ruthless torture to extract information from a captured enemy.

Human rights?

In the visible world, human rights might be the most superior value, but in the world he lived in, human rights were worth less than gum stuck to a back alley floor.

What meaning could human rights have in a world where people’s heads were chopped off like tofu for the sake of a goal?

It wouldn’t be any different if the roles were reversed.

Bang-sang had already tortured people from opposing forces under the guise of a mission. He couldn’t very well call it a violation of human rights when he was on the receiving end, when it was just part of his job when he was the one doing it.

Therefore, Bang-sang was prepared to endure the pain that would be inflicted upon him.

Without being pathetic.

With more dignity than anyone else.

He was surprised by the scale of the General Assembly when he arrived, and even more surprised that such a large building had a detention facility right underneath it.

They had no connection to the outside world, but in France, they wouldn’t even think of building such a facility.

The first reason was that it would be incredibly difficult to deal with if an illegal facility was discovered, and the second reason was that it was impossible to hold martial artists in such a facility.

So, there must be a reason for building such a facility.

He assumed that they would be subjected to harsh torture or drug injections to prevent them from escaping before being locked up.

But…

“…Just torture me already, you crazy bastards.”

There was none of that.

The head of the Korean Martial Arts General Assembly, that Bang Jin-hoon or whatever his name was, had said something dismissive when his subordinates asked about their treatment. Later, he heard from a translator that it was something along the lines of, ‘Just lock them up somewhere.’

Just lock them up?

Just!

They were proud Chevaliers [French knights].

Even though they were captured in this state, they were knights representing the nation of France. And yet, they were being treated like a bunch of defeated soldiers who had been caught in the rain, and they were being told to just lock them up somewhere.

Of course, it was infuriating. It was infuriating.

But as defeated prisoners, they had no choice but to endure it.

Bang-sang had no choice but to silently endure this humiliation.

It was even more humiliating to be locked up in a flimsy iron-barred prison with no guards, than being a prisoner!

Even the guards who came to watch them were more interested in fiddling with their phones than glaring at them, and they were constantly changing shifts.

‘What do these guys think we are!’

Thinking rationally, it wasn’t unreasonable. They hadn’t directly fought the Chevaliers. From their perspective, their superiors had suddenly disappeared, and then a bunch of pale foreigners were dragged in and they were told to just lock them up somewhere.

The ordinary members of the General Assembly, who had no idea who they were or how much power and influence they had, had no reason to be wary of them.

He understood.

He understood, but…

“Even so, this isn’t right. That crazy bastard…”

Bang-sang sighed deeply as he watched the guard dozing off in his chair.

‘Should I escape?’

Bang-sang wouldn’t normally think of such a thing, but after being left like this for over a week, it was becoming difficult to ignore the word ‘escape’ in his mind.

However, Bang-sang quickly shook his head. If they tried to escape now, he was sure that about half of them would be able to get out of the General Assembly. But the other half was the problem.

Those who were caught trying to escape would not be treated as politely as they had been so far… no, they wouldn’t be treated with indifference. He couldn’t abandon his subordinates to their clutches. That would make all of Bang-sang’s actions meaningless.

And realistically, even if they escaped from here, it would be difficult to leave Korea.

It was only at this point that Bang-sang realized that Korea was an island, not a peninsula. The only way to leave Korea was by plane or by boat. Otherwise, they would have to sneak into North Korea, which would be a terrible choice in a different way.

In the end, they would have to find a way to get transportation to leave the island, but it was almost impossible to escape the eyes of the General Assembly, which already controlled Korea.

So, in the end…

Bang-sang turned around.

His subordinates, who had been tense and upright at first, were now sprawled out like dogs suffering from the heat of May, rolling around haphazardly.

‘Those bastards.’

He couldn’t blame them, since they had nothing to do.

He wanted to tell them to train if they were going to be so lazy, but training while being held captive was like asking to be beaten up.

‘Why are they leaving us like this?’

This was something that shouldn’t happen in a normal organization. It would be more normal to ruthlessly torture them to get information.

Who in the world would believe that the Chevaliers of France were being left in a prison for a week?

“What the hell is the home country doing!”

By this time, negotiations with Korea should have been over. But the fact that there was still no word meant that the negotiations were not going well.

Everything in the world was closing in on him.

“This…”

Just as he was about to shout out in frustration.

Thud.

Footsteps began to be heard from the stairs. Someone was coming down here.

‘It’s not shift change yet?’

Bang-sang, who had been staring blankly outside, had even figured out the shift change times. And this place was kind enough to even provide a clock so that the prisoners could keep track of time.

Bang-sang had never imagined that Korea would be such a model country for human rights.

Thud, thud.

The low footsteps caused the Chevaliers’ gazes to focus on the stairs.

“Ah…”

And the moment they saw the face of the person who appeared, the Chevaliers’ faces, which had been slightly relaxed, instantly turned to extreme tension.

‘K, Kang Jin-ho.’

The person who came down the stairs was none other than Kang Jin-ho. There were a couple of other people behind Kang Jin-ho, but Bang-sang could only see Kang Jin-ho.

The moment he confirmed his face, Bang-sang’s spine began to tighten. Just confirming his existence was enough to make his body extremely tense.

All emotions fade.

But there is one emotion that actually gets stronger over time.

Fear.

What he had experienced was terrifying at the time, but the more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

The fear that they could all have been headless corpses if they had made even one mistake was tormenting Bang-sang like PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder].

And now, the embodiment of that fear had come to find them.

The back of his neck was damp.

What is that monster going to do now…

Thwack!

Bang-sang’s excessive tension was blown away by a sharp thud.

“Uh…”

Lee Hyun-soo, who had followed Kang Jin-ho, had given the dozing guard a sharp flick on the forehead.

“Hey, who the hell…”

The man, who had jumped up from his seat while clutching his forehead, froze like a statue when he saw Lee Hyun-soo and Kang Jin-ho in front of him.

“Sleeping?”

“…That’s not it.”

“Sleeping?”

“I really wasn’t trying to sleep.”

“These bastards are all out of line. Sleeping? Should I put you to sleep forever?”

“I’m sorry.”

Lee Hyun-soo sighed deeply.

The young martial artist, who was being scolded, kept glancing at Kang Jin-ho while bowing his head.

‘I’m dead.’

To explain this situation in military terms, it was like the division commander had visited while he was on duty and caught him sleeping.

Kang Jin-ho might just say, ‘Oh well, it happens,’ and let it go, but the battalion commander, no, Lee Hyun-soo, would never let him off the hook.

He could already see what he would be going through from this afternoon.

“You, get out of here for now. Get out and…”

“…Yes.”

“Tell your replacement to come out early and stand guard, and you go to my room.”

“…Yes.”

“Get out.”

The martial artist, with his shoulders slumped, walked out.

‘I should have woken him up.’

His slumped shoulders looked so pitiful that even Bang-sang couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

“Are there any inconveniences?”

Bang-sang tilted his head from side to side with a questioning look. Then, a staff member from the back quickly approached the bars and began to translate.

“Inconveniences… There aren’t any, other than being bored. The treatment is satisfactory…”

While Bang-sang was speaking, there was a commotion from behind. Bang-sang nodded slightly and said.

“Actually, there is one thing. I’m really embarrassed to ask this, but…”

“Go ahead.”

“Could you give us some bread and jam, even if it’s just a piece of stale bread?”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head and looked at Lee Hyun-soo.

“What did you give them?”

“There’s no separate prisoner food, so I told them to give them what comes out of the cafeteria, but it seems like it didn’t suit their taste.”

“If you come to Korea, you have to eat Korean food! Do you know kimchi!”

“…Please give us bread.”

“Okay.”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled.

“These prisoners sure are demanding.”

Lee Hyun-soo clicked his tongue and wrote down a simple instruction in his notebook.

“Anything else?”

“No. In fact, I’m worried that you’re making us too comfortable. I was even starting to think that leaving us like this was a form of torture.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

But Bang-sang didn’t take that laugh as just a laugh.

“What are you after?”

“After?”

“The fact that you captured us as prisoners instead of just killing us means that you’re after something. But I have no idea why you’ve left us like this for so long.”

“There’s no particular reason.”

“Then?”

“I just forgot about it.”

“Well, it’s not a big deal. It’s natural to not pay attention if you have more important things to do.”

Bang-sang’s face flushed red.

Kang Jin-ho’s words were more humiliating than anything he had ever heard in his life. He wanted to curse him right away, but the fact that the other party was none other than Kang Jin-ho was making his patience as hard as steel.

Just as he was about to take a deep breath to control his anger, Kang Jin-ho spoke calmly.

“It seems like your country hasn’t contacted you yet, so it looks like your homeland has abandoned you. That’s the problem. Useless things are just taking up space.”

Instantly, Bang-sang’s face began to tremble.

No contact?

Still?

This was a sign that something was going terribly wrong.

“So, what I’m saying is…”

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

Bang-sang’s face was filled with anxiety. It was as if a devil was reaching out his hand, offering a deal.

“I’ll give you a choice. It won’t be a bad offer.”

Kang Jin-ho’s smile looked more evil than ever.