Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 537

“Who’s here?”

“They said something about a Knight?”

“Knight… What comes after Knight is the most important thing.”

Bangsang was heading to the conference room with a slightly weary look.

His life had been very peaceful recently.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have his own worries, but after intentionally clearing his head and focusing on the immediate tasks at hand, he had been living a fairly satisfying life.

Sharing what he had and what he knew wasn’t that difficult.

Especially since they weren’t responsible for training specific individuals to reach a certain level within a set period. They were just at the stage of sharing knowledge.

In military terms, it was a cushy job.

Whether the fact that this cushy job was given to them, the prisoners, spoke to the democracy of this General Assembly, or its incompetence, was something he couldn’t quite judge.

Anyway, thanks to that, Bangsang was enjoying the peace.

The fact that he hadn’t heard from his homeland still made him feel depressed at times.

He knew. Even if they contacted him now, nothing would change. He had already made his choice, and he had to stand by it. Even if his homeland and the Round Table [a powerful organization of knights] tried to rescue him now, he would have to refuse their help.

Even so, there was a big difference between whether a rescue attempt had reached this place or not. At least he wouldn’t feel as betrayed by his homeland as he did now.

In the midst of all that, absurd news had arrived.

A Knight.

One of those exalted beings had entered the General Assembly.

From Bangsang’s perspective, he was a prisoner of war, spending his days in captivity, while his homeland hadn’t made any attempts to negotiate their release. Just as he was about to give up, the Minister of National Defense suddenly visited enemy territory to negotiate the prisoners’ ransom.

‘What on earth is going on?’

Moreover, they were now trying to take them to the negotiation table.

Showing the miserable state of the starving and abused prisoners to raise their ransom was a typical tactic… Unfortunately, Bangsang was neither starving nor abused.

Rather, as a result of not undergoing the Chevalier’s [a knight’s] rigorous training and being provided with high-quality meals, he had actually gained a little weight.

Why would they drag them to the negotiation table?

“Why are they doing this to us?”

“…Well, you know these people, we can’t judge them by our common sense.”

“That’s true. That’s true.”

Bangsang nodded.

The door to the conference room came into view.

‘What should I say?’

There were so many things he wanted to say. And on the other hand, there were many things he shouldn’t say.

Before he could even organize what he should and shouldn’t say, the door opened mercilessly.

And then Bangsang realized.

That all his thoughts were now meaningless.

“…Who?”

“It seems like this is the first time we’ve met like this.”

The moment Bangsang heard the old gentleman’s fluent French, he instinctively knew that things had gone wrong. Just by looking at Elena sitting next to the old gentleman, it wasn’t hard to guess who he was.

“Knight Wiggins?”

“I don’t know what kind of greeting I should give. Is this our first time meeting? Or is it a long time no see? Well, it doesn’t matter. Come here, Chevalier Commander. It seems like we have a lot to talk about. No, no.”

Knight Wiggins turned his head and spoke to Kang Jin-ho.

“Lord, could you give me a conference room? I don’t think I can have a frank conversation with them in front of you and the others.”

“As you wish.”

“…You’re allowing it?”

When Lee Hyun-soo objected, Kang Jin-ho sighed.

“They’re not going to plot an assassination in the conference room, so just give it to them. If they were going to do that, why would I let them go? I’d keep them chained up.”

“Ugh…”

Normally, Lee Hyun-soo wouldn’t have been this sensitive. But right now, Lee Hyun-soo was in a state of confusion.

“Understood. Please use the conference room next door.”

Knight Wiggins got up from his seat. Then he went outside.

Knight Wiggins, who had entered the conference room guided by Lee Hyun-soo, gestured to Bangsang and Mathieu as if he were the owner.

“Come in. Elena, you come in too.”

“…Yes.”

An order was an order, for now.

Even though he had to cut ties with the Round Table for a while, Bangsang entered with courtesy.

“We’re in the same Europe, yet we’ve never met. It’s quite something to meet like this.”

“I agree. Life has its mysterious aspects.”

It was an honest sentiment.

‘And to be having a conversation with this person like this.’

When he heard that one of the Knights had come here, the last person he expected was Knight Wiggins.

Because it was common knowledge among those who had access to information that he was an enemy of Knight LeBeau. There was no way Bangsang, a Chevalier serving Knight LeBeau, wouldn’t know that.

Nine out of ten chances it would be Knight LeBeau, or one of the others.

The possibility of it being Knight Wiggins was non-existent. That was his thought before the door opened.

But now he was facing Knight Wiggins.

Unable to bear the irony, Bangsang opened his mouth.

“Perhaps it’s rude, but there’s no time for formalities. What exactly is going on?”

“Hmm, I don’t know if you’ll understand. And I don’t know if you’ll accept what I’m about to say. I’ll just tell you the simple truth. The Round Table has decided not to rescue you.”

“…Excuse me?”

“To make excuses, they thought that rescuing those captured by the enemy through negotiations could damage your honor.”

Bangsang bit his lip.

He understood.

He could understand what they were saying.

Even among them, the opinions were so divided. But…

“I understand why those words came out and why those opinions were formed. But at least we should have been allowed to make that choice, shouldn’t we?”

“I agree. The handling of this was clumsy. However, the Master couldn’t help it. Knight LeBeau, who represents your position, was so adamant.”

Bangsang lowered his head with a stiff face.

He didn’t want to believe it was true.

But he had already accepted it. Knight LeBeau was originally that kind of person.

His heart was wavering, but Bangsang maintained a composed demeanor. He couldn’t show weakness in front of this person. That’s how delicate the relationship between Bangsang and Knight Wiggins was.

“I see. So, did you come all this way just to tell us that?”

“That wouldn’t be the case. I have other news to tell you.”

“May I ask what it is?”

“As of this moment, you are free.”

“Pardon?”

“Free, I say. Whether you stay here, return to the Round Table, or go back to France and live as yourselves, not as Chevaliers… everything is free.”

“T-They’re letting us go?”

“That’s right.”

“Why?”

“It’s simple. You’re no longer needed.”

Bangsang, understanding what Knight Wiggins meant, stared at Knight Wiggins with wide eyes.

“N-No way?”

“Yes, that’s the no way. I’ve decided to stay here. So, you should leave this place.”

Bangsang gripped his thigh.

Chai Ke-chang simply lowered his head.

It was strange.

He had failed so many times.

Even just listing the failures he had made recently, his incompetence was beyond any excuse.

Failure comes with responsibility.

Chai Ke-chang was always willing to take that responsibility. What he feared was not the responsibility. It was the look of disappointment in the eyes of the person looking down at him.

The punishment that failure brought was not scary.

The fact that the trust that person had in him was being chipped away was the greatest punishment for him.

But not at this moment.

The failure he had committed this time was greater than any failure he had ever made. Yet, his heart was calm.

“…We lost?”

“Yes, we did.”

Because he had to admit it.

At some point, Chai Ke-chang had anticipated that things would turn out this way.

Even so, he had not tried to face reality. But now, that reality was in front of him.

So why would he be anxious?

It was only natural that the obvious had happened.

“Even Bator…”

The Red King’s voice was also calm.

“Yes, I suppose so. I thought it would be like this.”

“I did too.”

“I see…”

The Red King nodded quietly.

This was not disappointment. It was acceptance.

An acceptance of Kang Jin-ho, the martial artist who ruled Korea, flowed between the two men.

“How is Bator?”

“He is said to be alive.”

“He’s soft.”

The Red King clicked his tongue.

“Hey, Chai Ke-chang.”

“Yes, Red King.”

“I’ll ask you sincerely for the first time.”

“Please command me.”

“What do you think we should do now?”

Chai Ke-chang licked his lips. The moment he heard that question, his lips began to dry out rapidly.

“I will tell you as it is.”

“Go ahead.”

“Kang Jin-ho has always shown us more than we expected. Every time we thought it would be resolved, he shattered our plans with something beyond our imagination.”

“Yes, he did.”

“So now we need to make a choice. We either define him as a dangerous being beyond the kings and try to defeat him with all our might, taking the risks, or we make peace with him.”

“Make peace?”

“Yes.”

Chai Ke-chang said in a cold voice.

“We have been hostile to him. But looking back, he has never been hostile to us. He has only dealt with those who attacked him, and he has never moved to harm us.”

“…That’s true.”

“We assumed that he was naturally our enemy because he was a demon… but his behavior pattern is different from the demons we have known so far. So, there is definitely room for peace.”

After finishing his words, Chai Ke-chang closed his eyes slightly.

He was making an unreasonable statement.

The Red King despised demons. And he did not acknowledge them. He was telling such a Red King that, realistically, they had no choice but to join hands with a demon. He was saying that with only one flimsy excuse that he was different from the demons they had known so far.

He was prepared to endure the Red King’s angry reaction, but surprisingly, the Red King opened his mouth calmly.

“It’s good to make him an enemy. It’s good to make peace.”

“Yes?”

“But one thing!”

The Red King jumped up from his seat.

“That is also a matter between people. I will not judge based only on what I have heard and received in writing. Chai Ke-chang!”

“Yes, Red King!”

“Find a way to meet Kang Jin-ho.”

Chai Ke-chang’s eyes widened as if they would tear.

“I need to see with my own two eyes what kind of person he is.”

The Chinese king, who was thought to never move, had risen his heavy body.

No one could guess how much that impact would shake the world.