Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 515

“Ah, Dad?”

Elena, spotting Knight Wiggins standing at the door, stared blankly, then rubbed her eyes.

After rubbing her eyes several times, confirming that Knight Wiggins hadn’t disappeared, Elena’s mouth fell open.

“Dad?”

A smile graced Knight Wiggins’ lips.

“It’s been a while.”

“Ah, no, but here…”

Confused, Elena quickly composed herself.

“I apologize for my lapse. Please, come in, Knight Wiggins.”

“No.”

Knight Wiggins shook his head.

“You should call me Dad. I’m not wearing a mask right now.”

“Ah…”

Only then did Elena notice the change in Knight Wiggins. His trademark white mask was nowhere to be seen.

“What happened to your mask?”

“I took it off.”

“Pardon?”

Elena’s eyes widened.

For Knight Wiggins, the mask was like his pride. Since becoming a knight, she had never seen him without it. For him, it was a given. Becoming a knight meant abandoning oneself.

Showing his bare face would also be a breach of etiquette.

But now, Knight Wiggins had thrown away his mask. Elena was completely disoriented by this sudden change.

“W-Why?”

“I’m here to see my daughter after a long time. I can’t hide my face behind a mask. I don’t want to hear stiff words either.”

Elena stared at Wiggins with a dazed expression.

‘Did he eat something wrong?’

The Wiggins she knew wasn’t like this. He was someone who was very proud to be a member of the Round Table, someone who was ready to sacrifice even his family for the sake of the Round Table.

Wasn’t that why he clashed with Elena, who didn’t like the Round Table’s ways?

But….

‘He came to see his daughter after a long time?’

Those were words that Knight Wiggins would never say. But hearing those words, well, it felt a little….

‘It’s cheesy.’

Sooo~ cringey!

What kind of father says that to his grown-up daughter?

Seeing Elena’s distorted face, Knight Wiggins sighed softly.

“I didn’t expect to be welcomed, but you don’t have to make such a disgusted face.”

“Ah, no. It’s not that.”

It was a long story to explain.

To explain this, a general explanation of the relationship between a grown-up daughter and her father was needed, but it was too long to talk about here.

“Please, sit down over here. I’ll get you something to drink.”

“It’s alright. More importantly, take this.”

“Yes?”

Knight Wiggins lifted a large box from behind him and handed it to Elena.

“……This?”

“It’s a gift.”

Elena’s face contorted even more.

Of course, receiving a gift was always a pleasant thing. But if the gift for a grown-up daughter was a box full of pink hearts, decorated with a large pink ribbon, could she really accept it happily?

‘Why did he become like this?’

She understood that he was trying to mend their relationship, but his methods were very, very, extremely twisted. Elena accepted the box, trying her best not to show it.

“Thank you.”

“You’re saying all sorts of things.”

“……Yes.”

Elena’s face was slightly tinged with horror.

‘Surely there isn’t a cute doll inside, is there?’

“Aren’t you going to open it?”

“Later. I don’t think I’m in a position to be happy about a gift right now.”

“You’re right. I was short-sighted.”

Seeing Knight Wiggins nod so readily, Elena’s eyes sparkled.

The father she knew wasn’t someone who would so readily admit his mistakes. He might be rational and reasonable to others, but to her, he was quite emotional and authoritarian.

‘Why has he changed so much?’

Her father’s change was both welcome and unsettling. People don’t change so easily.

“Let’s save the reunion for later.”

Wiggins sat at the table in the middle of the hotel room.

“I need accurate information about the current situation.”

“No, before that…”

Elena asked as she sat across from him.

“How did you even get here? You must have a mountain of things to do.”

“They’ll manage.”

“Ah, Dad.”

Knight Wiggins said with a relieved expression.

“It’s not the time to be clinging to things that just waste time without actually getting anything done. Someone else can do that, but this is something only I can do.”

“……Was this discussed with the Round Table?”

“There isn’t a rule that says I can’t abandon my work and go overseas.”

“Oh my god!”

Elena clutched her head.

So, Knight Wiggins had abandoned all his work and come here. Without even telling the Round Table.

“What have you done!”

“It’s a reasonable thing to do.”

“Reasonable? What are you…”

“Elena.”

Knight Wiggins called Elena softly. The weight in his voice made Elena stop talking and shut her mouth.

“Didn’t I tell you? It’s a reasonable thing to do. It’s the right thing to do.”

“As you said, we can’t just wait for the Round Table’s orders. Discussion is good. But if we can’t save those who can be saved during that discussion, what’s the point of that discussion?”

“Father.”

Elena said in a trembling voice.

“Do you know what you’re saying?”

“Of course.”

“The Round Table will never tolerate your actions.”

“So what?”

Knight Wiggins replied calmly.

“I joined the Round Table because I believed it was right. But after this incident, I realized something. I wasn’t following the Round Table’s orders because it was the right thing to do, but I believed the Round Table’s orders were right.”

Knight Wiggins’ voice was very heavy.

“But…”

“Of course, it’s not that what I’m doing now is unconditionally right. The Round Table might be drawing a bigger picture that I can’t see. But one thing.”

“Yes.”

“If they try to criticize and punish even my actions to save the members of the Round Table, then there is no justice I want there. If that’s the case, then it’s not the Round Table abandoning me, but me abandoning the Round Table.”

Elena’s eyes wavered.

‘Father.’

Her father used to be like this.

He would do anything for what he believed was right. But after joining the Round Table and gaining the prestigious position of a knight, he began to prioritize the process over the goal.

It felt strange to see the father she only remembered in her memories standing before her. Elena, unable to find a way to express this feeling, ended up smiling.

“Have you had dinner?”

“I would love to have a cozy dinner with my daughter, but let’s eat later. Now is not the time to waste time on such things. More importantly…”

Knight Wiggins got up.

“I need to meet the person I need to meet.”

“Father?”

“Lead me to Kang Jin-ho. I will meet him directly.”

Lee Myung-hwan closed his eyes quietly. The world is made of energy.

The visible world is not everything. This world is full of energies that cannot be measured by science.

Muhak [a martial art focused on energy manipulation] begins with feeling those energies.

The muhak of the revealed world trains the body, but their world trains energy. The beginning of everything is to receive the energy flowing in the world into one’s body and store it in the dantian [an energy center located in the lower abdomen].

Until now, this was a very natural principle for Lee Myung-hwan. But recently, his world was collapsing.

Slowly, very slowly.

Receive energy into the body.

He breathes slowly, pushing his body almost to a state of suspended animation. Then, he slowly draws in external energy.

This is where the problem arose.

The muhak he had learned so far started with sending external energy to the dantian. Ironically, the first place he felt energy was the dantian. The process of receiving external energy through the skin and transmitting it to the dantian through the body was omitted.

Until now, he had never questioned this. But now it was different. What he was learning was different from the muhak he had learned so far.

‘Slowly, slowly….’

Learning demonic arts was like going back in the process. Lee Myung-hwan slowly drew in energy as if he were an adult learning to walk again.

Before the external energy that had slipped into his body rushed to the dantian, he pushed it up to the baihui [an acupoint at the top of the head]. His body began to resist the unfamiliar movement of energy.

Lee Myung-hwan felt like he knew why demonic arts were called demonic arts. This was an unnatural act. It was like a person walking backward. The body is naturally comfortable walking forward, but when you try to walk backward, there are many things to be aware of.

You have to think about every single thing, even extending your legs, and move them forcibly. Lee Myung-hwan was exactly like that. The energies that had penetrated his body were naturally trying to head to the dantian, but pushing those energies up to the baihui was the epitome of unnaturalness.

The body resisted. And that resistance manifested as pain.

“Ugh!”

His body trembled.

Because he had been practicing, he didn’t feel the violent pain he had felt when Kang Jin-ho forcibly channeled his true energy, but this alone was unbearable.

But Lee Myung-hwan gritted his teeth and endured the pain.

Moving during energy circulation was a one-way ticket to qi deviation [a dangerous imbalance of energy]. He must not move, even to avoid death.

The energies that he had forcibly pushed up finally reached the baihui.

‘Here!’

The energies gathered at the baihui, the top of his head, vibrated with a hum. As his head shook, it felt like the world was shaking. He tried to send the energy gathered in his head to the dantian through the daemak [a major energy channel], but the energies fiercely refused his guidance, as it was not their original path.

“Kuhhh!”

Blood flowed from his tightly clenched lips. But Lee Myung-hwan didn’t even feel that his lips were torn. Compared to the pain he felt in his head, the pain of his skin tearing was not even worth calling pain.

At that moment, the energy began to move.

‘Ah!’

As if it could no longer find a place to go, the energies slowly began to flow into the daemak leading to the baihui.

‘It, it worked….’

In an instant, the external energy that had filled his baihui plunged down to the dantian at a terrifying speed.

It felt like an explosion had occurred inside his body, and his mind went blank for a moment.

It was a deep pleasure and a sense of liberation.

For a moment, it felt like his consciousness would fly away. At that moment, a low voice was heard in his ear.

“Keep your wits about you.”

The voice brought his scattered mind back to its place.

Kang Jin-ho.

It was Kang Jin-ho’s voice.