Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 531

Red Eyes.

All he could see were red eyes.

The red eyes, so close to his own, made the world appear as if it were entirely stained with blood.

A chill ran through him.

A terrifying coldness, like falling into a frigid lake in the far North Sea, gripped his entire body.

Bator’s consciousness was floating in the void.

Neither awake nor asleep.

Neither alive nor dead.

Somewhere in between.

No matter how robust his body was, he couldn’t withstand such pain while fully conscious.

As his body crumbled, so did his mind, and Kang Jin-ho delved into Bator’s shattered psyche.

– Look at me, Bator.

Bator’s consciousness stirred.

A clear voice.

It was a strange thing.

The voice was not clear at all.

It was a chaotic mess, like metal scraping against metal, wild beasts howling and whimpering in unison, the world collapsing in on itself.

Yet, that terrible chaos of a sound was heard so clearly within Bator’s mind.

Bator slowly opened his eyes.

Then, he saw it.

A flame.

A flame that seemed to be burning his very soul.

Red, and blue.

Pure white and black.

A spiritual fire that could not be described as any ordinary flame was burning before him. It was both incredibly sacred and incredibly ominous.

It was a flame that defied definition.

Bator’s body was slowly drawn into the flame.

At that moment, Bator felt two things.

That this place was not reality, and that being drawn into that flame would not lead to a good outcome.

He could instinctively sense that the flame held no goodwill towards him.

– Bator!

“Hrrgh… Hrrghaaaaaaa!”

Bator screamed and resisted. But there was nothing.

Nothing to grab, nothing to block, nothing to touch his feet.

Just nothingness.

It was impossible to resist the pull that was drawing him in, in a place where nothing existed. Slowly, very slowly, Bator’s body was pulled towards the flame.

‘What the hell! What the hell is going on!’

Why was he here, and why was he suffering like this?

‘Kang Jin-ho!’

Only one thing came to mind.

Kang Jin-ho.

This place was undoubtedly a space created by him.

Which meant?

Bator’s terrified eyes turned to the flame that was pulling him in.

This voice, this chilling voice, was coming from that flame. Which meant that the flame was…

“Kang Jin-hooooooooooooo!”

Bator cried out.

He resisted with all his might, but there was nothing he could do. In this place, his robust body and unwavering spirit were of no help.

Like a cow tied by its legs and hung upside down, he could only wait to be slaughtered.

Bator looked back at the flame with trembling eyes.

At that moment, the flickering flame transformed as if it were a beast, and its massive jaws opened wide.

“Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!”

Bator’s body, screaming in uncontrollable terror that surged from within, was sucked into the jaws of the flame.

“Kang Jin-hooooooooooooo!”

With his last dying cry, Bator’s body was completely swallowed by the flame.

Thud.

Kang Jin-ho released his grip on Bator’s neck. His massive body collapsed like a sandcastle, falling to the floor.

A faint tremor.

As if protesting that his breath had not yet been cut off, Bator’s body was twitching faintly.

No one except Kang Jin-ho knew what was happening, and they couldn’t bring themselves to move.

Kang Jin-ho shrugged as he looked at Bator. Then, he turned to Lee Hyun-soo.

“Should I call a forklift? An ambulance won’t be able to handle this, will it?”

Hearing those words, Lee Hyun-soo let out a deep sigh.

‘It’s over.’

This was not the Kang Jin-ho from a moment ago.

The Kang Jin-ho who could make people have seizures just by looking at him was gone. He was back to the usual, slightly dazed Kang Jin-ho.

Lee Hyun-soo’s legs began to give way, finally realizing that this hellish time was over.

Lee Hyun-soo, barely managing to steady his swaying body, bit his lip slightly and then released it. He didn’t want to create a dramatic atmosphere here and return to the situation from before. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, so many things he wanted to say, but for now, he needed to play along.

“If you load that onto a forklift, it’ll be on the news tomorrow morning.”

“Wouldn’t they think it’s a special effects dummy at this point?”

“…I hadn’t thought of that. That’s a very valid point, but…”

Looking at Bator’s fallen body, he certainly agreed. If an ordinary person saw Bator’s body, they wouldn’t think it was a human corpse. They would probably think it was a dummy made for a movie shoot.

“Still, it would be a hot topic. There would be an online uproar with photos, saying that a strange movie is being made. I wouldn’t recommend that method.”

“Then?”

“If you need to move it, call a van. It’ll fit inside.”

“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

“But…”

Lee Hyun-soo got to the point.

“Where do you plan to move him? If you’re thinking of burying him somewhere, it might be better to call an excavator here rather than moving him.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“If I was going to bury him, I would have killed him.”

“What do you plan to do with him alive?”

“Should I kill him?”

“If you had to choose between the two, I’d recommend killing him. There’s no use keeping him alive. It’s different from Hong Wang’s case. Hong Wang had a contract with the entity, but you had a match with it. Judging by his personality, he’ll probably grind his teeth and challenge you again when he wakes up. It would be nice if it ended with just annoyance, but if you leave annoyance unattended, it’ll eventually lead to trouble.”

Lee Hyun-soo couldn’t help but smile bitterly as he spoke.

Just a moment ago, Lee Hyun-soo thought that Bator’s suffering was too harsh, but now that everything was over, he was urging him to be killed.

‘It’s not strange. Rather than continuing to suffer like that, it’s better to die.’

It was a moment when his basic belief that it was better to live no matter what was overturned. There were some lives that one couldn’t bear to live.

“Then it’s okay to keep him alive.”

“Huh?”

“Because he won’t dare to challenge me again.”

Lee Hyun-soo could only nod. He didn’t know what had happened, but if Kang Jin-ho said so, it must be true. He wasn’t the type to tell pointless lies.

“Then, will you treat him?”

“Treat…”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head as he looked at Bator, who was covered in blood.

“It doesn’t look like he needs treatment.”

“…He’s in that state, though?”

“His recovery is as beastly as his body. The severe wounds have already healed.”

“He’s not human in many ways. He should be sent to a superhero movie.”

Though you, who beat him, don’t seem human either.

“You.”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head and looked at Jang Da-jing. Jang Da-jing flinched.

“Yes!”

“You must have planted some forces here too.”

“We, we didn’t bring anyone. To trap someone like Kang Jin-ho…”

“Not here, in Korea.”

“Ah… yes, we do.”

“Call them and have them take this guy. I can’t leave him here, and it looks like it’ll be hard for you to move him alone.”

“Are you letting me go?”

“Do you think so?”

Kang Jin-ho gave a meaningful smile. Then, without giving a clear answer, he continued.

“If I leave him in a suitable place, he’ll regain consciousness in a few days. Then he’ll know.”

Jang Da-jing just nodded frantically. Kang Jin-ho, who had been watching him, opened his mouth.

“And tell that Hong Wang guy too.”

“Tell him to come directly if he wants to catch me. Then I’ll end his tenacious life.”

“…I will definitely convey that.”

Kang Jin-ho, who had been looking at Jang Da-jing with a meaningful gaze, slowly turned his body.

Kang Jin-ho, who walked to the car in the distance, scratched the back of his head.

“Is this the association’s car?”

“It’s my car, though?”

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho looked at the car with a slightly apologetic expression. The clash between him and Bator was so fierce that the car looked like it had rolled over several times.

Even now, it was still upside down, with its gray undercarriage facing up.

“Let’s try to set it upright.”

“…Yes.”

There was a slight tremor in Lee Hyun-soo’s voice.

Kang Jin-ho pushed the car lightly without saying anything. Then, the car spun around and flipped over with a thud!

“Be gentle…”

“I wonder if the engine will start.”

It was a high-end sedan that he had taken good care of, but it had instantly turned into something that looked like it had been salvaged from a junkyard. Just thinking about whether he could drive it again even if he repaired it made his eyes water.

“…You have to testify about this.”

“Testify?”

“I need to process the expenses. You have to say something so I can process the expenses.”

“Mr. Kang Jin-ho? Why aren’t you answering? Mr. Kang Jin-ho?”

Kang Jin-ho brushed off Lee Hyun-soo’s desperate calls with a laugh and took out a cigarette.

Meanwhile, Lee Hyun-soo, with a tearful face, got into the car and tried to start the engine. Luckily, it started.

“There’s no problem.”

“Yes. As long as it doesn’t explode on the way, it’ll be fine. What does the exterior matter? The inside of a car is what’s important, the inside.”

Unlike people.

Click.

Kang Jin-ho lit his cigarette and slowly inhaled the smoke. As the acrid smoke slowly filled his lungs, he felt the boiling heat subside a little.

As Kang Jin-ho’s face relaxed slightly, Lee Hyun-soo changed his tone.

“Are you okay?”

“Problem?”

“…Are you hurt?”

Kang Jin-ho just shook his head.

He wasn’t okay. Just as Bator’s exterior was damaged, his interior was also a mess.

It was impossible for him to win against someone like that without getting hurt.

But the injuries didn’t bother him.

What bothered him now was a slightly strange unpleasant feeling.

Through Bator, Kang Jin-ho saw his past.

How violent his past was, which he had justified by saying he had no choice but to do his best to survive, and how many people had suffered because of that violence.

He couldn’t excuse himself by saying he had no choice. He could deceive his mind, but he couldn’t deceive his heart.

Kang Jin-ho had also been a victim of fate and the world. No matter how much one’s perspective changes depending on where one stands, he couldn’t justify everything by saying he was just unlucky.

“I still can’t get used to it.”

“…Yes?”

Kang Jin-ho looked up at the sky.

The sky, full of stars, was looking down at him, as if he were in the distant countryside.

Just like the one in the Central Plains of the past.

“Still, you know.”

The short but long battle with Bator was coming to an end.