Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 554

“That can’t be true.”

“But Master! Isn’t this too absurd?”

“Knight Wiggins isn’t the type to do that. There must be some reason.”

Knight Levo shook his head.

“Even if there was a reason, it’s been long enough that we should have heard from him.”

A displeased look flickered across the Master’s face.

Even though he wore a mask that concealed his emotions, he couldn’t hide his displeasure completely.

“I’m telling you, Knight Wiggins isn’t that kind of person.”

“Master.”

Knight Levo looked at the Master with cold eyes.

“Be aware of your position.”

“…What did you just say?”

“As an individual, you can have faith. But you are the Master of the Round Table. You shouldn’t ignore suspicions based on personal feelings.”

The Master clenched his fist. His arm trembled from his shoulder. He seemed to be barely holding back his rising anger. After a moment of silence, he nodded slowly.

“Knight Levo is right.”

Knight Levo looked at the Master with a surprised expression.

‘I guess that’s how it is.’

Even though the Round Table was supposed to be equal, there were subtle differences in rank. People always end up creating hierarchies.

Knight Levo was, after all, the Master’s subordinate. But for him to accept a direct criticism like that meant the Master had a great deal of tolerance.

“Public matters are public, and private matters are private. No matter how I personally feel about Knight Wiggins, I must be thorough in my public duties.”

The Master spoke in a slightly weakened voice.

“Contact with Knight Wiggins, who went to Korea, has been lost… It could be an accident, but…”

Knight Levo finished the Master’s unspoken words.

“We cannot rule out the possibility of betrayal.”

“…I suppose not.”

The Master trailed off, as if even saying those words was painful.

“That’s why I’m telling you, Master. I’ve ordered the Round Table’s pawns in Korea to search for Knight Wiggins. I’ve instructed them to demand an explanation as soon as they find him. By any means necessary!”

“Hmm.”

The Master nodded slowly.

“But Knight Levo.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Objectively speaking, I think the probability of an accident is higher than the probability of Knight Wiggins betraying us. So, how about sending troops to Korea in advance?”

“That’s not a bad idea. No matter how it turns out, we’ll need troops eventually.”

The Master stared at Knight Levo.

That’s right. Troops were necessary.

Whether it was to help Knight Wiggins if he had an accident, or to eliminate him if he had betrayed them.

“But I don’t think it’s that simple.”

“Is it because of Kang Jin-ho?”

“Yes. We’ve already suffered great losses because of him. And we’ve practically declared war on him. In this situation, we can’t guarantee their safety. So, we would have to send enough troops to hold out in Korea, but that…”

“Would be no different from starting a war.”

“That’s right.”

The Master sighed deeply.

“So, we can’t do this, and we can’t do that.”

His voice was laced with irritation.

“Master.”

“I know.”

The Master waved his hand dismissively and said,

“I’ll leave the matter of finding out Knight Wiggins’s situation to Knight Levo. Knight Levo, do whatever it takes to find out what’s going on. This could be a more important issue than we think.”

“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

“I’ll end it here. We’ll decide on our response as soon as we get more information.”

The Master got up first, and the other Knights who had been waiting also rose.

But Knight Levo remained in his seat until the end. Knight Levo’s eyes, with his arms crossed, were coldly calm.

“You foolish old man.”

A nervous voice escaped Knight Levo’s lips as he headed to the airport.

Even though the Master usually didn’t show his emotions, he had shown a variety of them today.

Knight Levo didn’t like that.

It meant that the Master had that much faith in Knight Wiggins.

The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

Knight Levo respected the Master’s abilities. Anyone who had been a part of the Round Table could not deny the Master’s abilities.

What Knight Levo couldn’t stand was that the trust of the person he acknowledged was placed on someone else, not him.

If you compared Knight Levo and Knight Wiggins, anyone would side with Knight Levo. His achievements in the Round Table, his abilities, and his strength!

No matter which aspect you looked at, Knight Wiggins was no match for Knight Levo. But why did that old man favor Knight Wiggins instead of him?

“Those British bastards.”

In the end, it was about nationality.

There was no other reason he could find other than the fact that the Master and Knight Wiggins were both from Britain.

‘But you won’t have it your way, Master.’

From the Master’s perspective, he probably wanted to pass on his position to someone from his own country. If Knight Wiggins had been gobbling up achievements while he held his position, it was a possibility.

But not anymore.

‘Knight Wiggins will no longer exist.’

For him, it was the perfect opportunity.

He had already obtained information that Knight Wiggins had voluntarily gone to the Korean Martial Arts Assembly [a gathering of martial artists].

He didn’t know what he was thinking, but through this, he could completely eliminate Knight Wiggins. If he could kill him, that would be the best, but even if he couldn’t, pushing him out of the Round Table was a piece of cake.

Even if a new British Knight filled the Round Table after that, it would be impossible to push out Knight Levo and pass the Master’s position to some greenhorn.

“It’s as if the world is preparing the Master’s position for me.”

Losing the Chevaliers [elite knights] had severely damaged his standing. He had managed to calm the situation as much as possible by improvising, but things could never be the same as before.

And in this crisis, Knight Wiggins had made a fatal mistake.

Of course, Knight Levo had no intention of missing this opportunity.

“Now, let’s see you struggle, Knight Wiggins.”

***

“What’s going on?”

Knight Wiggins rose from his seat, looking at the pale face of Vincent, who had just entered.

“And what do you mean by that?”

Vincent hesitated for a moment before letting out a deep sigh.

“…It might be my fault.”

“Come on, Vincent. Let’s start with the situation. We can figure out who’s responsible later.”

“There’s been contact from France… no, from the Round Table.”

“Contact?”

“Yes.”

Vincent took out his phone from his pocket.

“I’m sorry for handling things personally. But thinking about the future, I had to reestablish contact with the Round Table.”

Knight Wiggins’s brow furrowed slightly.

‘It must be Levo.’

If the Chevalier Commander [a high-ranking knight] wanted to contact the Round Table, he would have no choice but to contact his own Knight.

It was reckless.

But it was understandable.

Knight Wiggins had chosen the Assembly himself, but they were stuck here by force. If the problem with the Round Table was resolved, they could return to their home country at any time. In that situation, they had no choice but to reestablish contact with the Round Table.

“I wish you had given me a heads up.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. I understand your position. If you think about going back, being excluded from the Round Table after gaining your freedom would be problematic. It’s my fault for not realizing that and not giving you instructions.”

“Knight…”

“Let’s put that aside for now. It’s not like we can blame each other. In the first place, I’m not your superior.”

Knight Wiggins waved his hand, trying to escape the heavy conversation.

Strictly speaking, he had left the Round Table, so he no longer had the authority to give them orders. Whatever they did was their freedom.

“So, what did the Round Table say?”

“The Round Table… no, Knight Levo…”

“Call him whatever you want. After all, Knight Levo is the Round Table to you.”

“Yes.”

Vincent sighed softly and said,

“They want an explanation from Knight Wiggins and Pawn Elena. The reason for leaving the country without permission, the reason for staying at the Assembly, and finally, the reason for not reporting all of this to the Round Table.”

Knight Wiggins’s face hardened.

“An explanation…”

Knight Wiggins raised his hand and scratched his chin.

“It’s something I had to do anyway, but I didn’t expect them to demand it first. And the tone of the demand is quite hostile, or is that just my imagination?”

“That’s probably right.”

“Did Knight Levo say anything to you separately… no, sorry. It’s not my place to ask you that.”

“No. I’ll tell you.”

Vincent looked at Knight Wiggins with a firm expression.

He belonged to the Round Table, and Knight Wiggins was a traitor to the Round Table.

He was Knight Levo’s subordinate, and Knight Wiggins was Knight Levo’s enemy.

But beyond all of that, he owed Knight Wiggins a great debt.

While the Round Table had abandoned them, only Knight Wiggins had flown all the way here to save them. As a human being, he could not forget that favor.

“It’s okay. It would be a burden for you if I heard it. I don’t want to burden you. I’ll decline.”

“He told me to convey your position to him before you officially state it to the Round Table. And he said not to worry because he was taking good care of our families back home.”

“…That bastard.”

He knew too well the intention behind mentioning their families. Knight Wiggins’s face twisted at the baseness of it.

“Is this what Knights do?”

He and Knight Levo were enemies.

But Wiggins respected Knight Levo. He was a Knight, after all. As someone holding the noble position of a Knight representing a nation, he thought he was a trustworthy person, even if their paths were different.

Has Knight Levo changed, or…

‘Was I just blind?’

If you removed the halo of being a Knight, he was just that kind of person.

It was the moment when the absolute faith he had in the Round Table and the Knights crumbled.

“What should we do?”

“Is there anything to think about?”

Knight Wiggins said with a smirk.

“We’ll do as they want. But before that, I need to meet with Kang Jin-ho.”

Knight Wiggins rose from his seat.

He was looking forward to what his new lord would say about this matter.