Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 580

Troubled Thoughts (3)

“It’s good to see you all again.”

Lee Joong-gul smiled as he looked at the directors and elders sitting before him.

The second meeting.

It was a meeting not much different from the first, but the atmosphere was very different compared to the first meeting.

First of all, Lee Joong-gul had become more relaxed.

On the other hand, the faces of the directors sitting there were a little more hardened. They couldn’t hide their expressions, as if they were quite nervous.

“Have you all been well?”

As if it was his job to lighten the mood, Director Jo spoke with a hearty tone. Lee Joong-gul chuckled and replied.

“At this age, if I haven’t died, I guess that means I’ve been well.”

“How can you say such a thing? You look like you’ll be healthy for another fifty years.”

“Fifty years, you say.”

Lee Joong-gul let out a hearty laugh.

“If I could live that much longer, there would be so many things I could do, but that’s just greed.”

“It’s definitely possible.”

Lee Joong-gul smiled gently.

“If that were the case, I would have to plan for even more, but it’s hard to think that far ahead right now. First, I need to do my best to sort out the things right in front of me.”

“You are absolutely right.”

“Then…”

Lee Joong-gul slightly raised his head.

The eyes of those sitting in their seats were fierce. They looked like people who had been backed into a corner.

Humans think they make all their own choices. But that’s mostly an illusion.

A human’s choices ultimately change depending on the environment they are given. Choices are influenced by the environment and circumstances. If you can control a person’s circumstances and environment, then forcing their choices isn’t that difficult.

That’s the situation these people are in now.

After being left to lose their possessions one by one, Lee Joong-gul extended a hand to them. They could no longer choose a different path. Even that subtle anxiety and worry were resolved by just giving them a little time.

Now, they cannot betray him.

To betray him, they should have run to Kang Jin-ho or Bang Jin-hoon the moment Lee Joong-gul mentioned Kang Jin-ho’s name. They also know that even if they were to tell Bang Jin-hoon about what’s happening now, they wouldn’t be able to avoid suspicion themselves.

The only path left is a single one.

Humans whose paths are set become stronger. Lee Joong-gul had to suppress a smile as he looked at the old men who were emitting a will to live with their eyes.

How could it not be funny when the puppets didn’t even know they had strings attached to their bodies, and were pretending to move on their own accord?

‘Pathetic things.’

Lee Joong-gul reached out and brought his glass to his lips.

He had spent his whole life with these people. There was a time when he believed they were his reliable support.

‘Was this all they were?’

A castle built on sand.

That was the name of the castle he had built. Lee Joong-gul couldn’t help but laugh.

Director Jo tilted his head, seeing him smile slightly.

“What’s so amusing?”

“…No, it’s just that I thought we wouldn’t have a gathering like this again, but seeing everyone gathered together like before makes me laugh.”

“Haha, we should see each other more often from now on.”

Lee Joong-gul nodded gently with a soft smile.

It was natural that he would be defeated.

How could he not be defeated when he was so confident that the castle he had built by trusting these people was strong? He could only call himself foolish for living like a king in a castle that would crumble even with just a wave.

It’s the same now.

How could he understand these people who were only showing a directionless desire without any doubt in Lee Joong-gul’s words?

‘I wouldn’t be much different, would I?’

He couldn’t be sure.

Perhaps he, too, was just being pushed by circumstances and the environment to do what he was doing now.

Worries about the future of the General Assembly [a governing body for martial arts]?

Resistance to rapid change?

Well.

If Kang Jin-ho and Bang Jin-hoon had valued him a little more, would he have thought of going against them with everything he had?

Lee Joong-gul couldn’t find an answer.

He could only comfort himself that his current choice was inevitable.

His eyes were blurry.

Lee Joong-gul raised his hand and rubbed his eyes.

‘It can’t be like before.’

Perhaps these people weren’t like this before either. No, they must have been. They were now being treated as has-beens waiting to die, but at one time, they were the ones who shook South Korea.

They were the veterans who endured the hellish times after the war and created the current Korean Martial Arts General Assembly.

Wrinkled skin.

Eyes with discharge.

The bodies that were once full of muscles and vigor had shrunk pitifully, and only their scarred fingertips proved how hard they had struggled.

‘It can’t be like this.’

Lee Joong-gul looked at his own hands.

His wrinkled hands were covered in scars.

They weren’t wrong. They had just lost their youth.

The world says.

It’s time to let go and step down, that their world will never return.

The enemies they fought, the colleagues they were with, and those who just stood by… the era that they all created together was over. Now, they were told to just lower their hands and watch the youth change the world.

‘Why….’

Lee Joong-gul gritted his teeth.

It was ridiculous.

It was only after things had progressed this far that Lee Joong-gul was able to discover the driving force behind his actions.

Did he want to seize power?

That wasn’t it.

He had never enjoyed power like an emperor. Rather, the power he wielded now might be stronger than when he was the head of the association in the past. He was the head of the General Assembly, but the General Assembly only controlled half of Korea. The position of advisor to the unified Korean Martial Arts General Assembly might be a more glorious position.

That wasn’t it.

“…It’s not because I want to seize power.”

Lee Joong-gul’s voice was low.

“To be honest, it’s not for the sake of a great cause either.”

The directors’ eyes were filled with questions.

What was this man trying to say?

“I just want to resist. I want to say that we are not has-beens yet. Youth? Youth is great. If I were offered youth in exchange for losing everything I have now, I would choose it without hesitation. Those who have the youth that we don’t have are dazzling.”

Some agreed, and some were displeased.

The impact of the word ‘youth’ on them was varied.

But one thing was certain.

No matter what they did, they could not regain that fresh youth. They were helpless against the sense of deprivation, the unfairness, and the crushing weight of fate disguised as the way of the world.

“Experience.”

Lee Joong-gul chuckled.

The world was now demanding experience from them. Something that was given to those who had been robbed of their youth as compensation. Something like a lump of cold rice thrown to those who were hungry for youth.

“I…”

Lee Joong-gul gritted his teeth.

“I cannot accept the idea that I have to step down because I am old.”

Everyone nodded.

This was something everyone would agree with.

“I have no intention of becoming a good-natured person who smiles and gives up my seat to the young. With my own mouth, with my own hands! I have no intention of admitting that I have become a has-been and should now be relegated to the back room. If they want that from me!”

Lee Joong-gul clenched his fist tightly.

“I will push them away! I will cut off their limbs and drag them away. Being pushed out is like that. There will be no giving up my seat willingly with kind words and smiles. I am not that good of a person! That experience they want from me? What a joke. I am someone who doesn’t have that.”

Lee Joong-gul’s voice began to rise.

“I will fight. I will tell those who will take my place that I am not weak enough to be pushed aside by you yet. That what you call experience can be used not for your sake, but to strangle you.

And!”

The glass Lee Joong-gul was holding trembled.

They held their breath.

The directors held their breath at the raw, unfiltered truth that had been thrown out without any pleasantries or introductions, and the emotions contained within it.

“Let’s not be grandiose. My granddaughter said this. That in the end, isn’t it just that grandpa wants to seize power? What do you think I answered?”

“I said no. That it wasn’t like that.

That there was something more nationalistic. But… what is it?”

Lee Joong-gul bared his teeth.

“Is the reason we are gathered here really because of our loyalty to the General Assembly? No, it’s not. I thought so too. But when I look back, it’s not. If the direction of the General Assembly is wrong and needs to be corrected, there are countless ways to do it. There’s no need to do this here. So I admitted it. That she was right, that I am now in a pathetic power struggle!”

Swallow.

The sound of dry saliva being swallowed could be heard from somewhere.

Lee Joong-gul had taken the lead in an instant. Even Director Jo was so focused on each and every word of Lee Joong-gul that he couldn’t think of anything else.

Whether it was intentional or not, Lee Joong-gul’s charisma was definitely shining.

“Let’s not sugarcoat it. Let’s accept that it’s just ugly old men craving power. And let’s get a grip.”

Lee Joong-gul made eye contact with each of the directors.

“Since we’ve gone this far, we must win by any means necessary. Don’t look to the future in the name of a great cause. The moment we lose, we all die. Those who want to live, even if it’s a life that has been pushed aside, those who want to live as old men instead of warriors… leave now. I will not walk with such people.”

No one stood up.

Even if there were those who thought so, they would not be able to stand up in this atmosphere.

“Is there no one?”

There was no answer.

Lee Joong-gul looked around at everyone with murderous eyes and nodded.

“Then I will assume that everyone here has become comrades. Now, no one can back down.”

“Yes!”

“Sharpen your blades. You must sharpen your dulled bodies and minds again. The enemy we must fight from now on is different from the enemies you have faced so far. Everyone knows that, right?”

“That’s right.”

Director Jo replied in a heavy voice.

Yes, everyone knew.

Kang Jin-ho.

The meaning of facing him as an enemy.

The faces of some darkened as they recalled that fact.

“May I ask one question?”

One of the directors raised his hand.

“Speak.”

“I have to ask this. How do you plan to deal with Kang Jin-ho? I want a realistic answer, not an abstract one.”

Everyone’s eyes were focused on Lee Joong-gul’s mouth.

Lee Joong-gul slowly opened his mouth.