Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 586

Words have a truly strange power.

Humans have evolved to communicate their thoughts through words. Yet, words sometimes fail to fully capture their intended meaning.

This was exactly such a situation.

After much deliberation, Kang Jin-ho spoke these words.

He realized there was a disconnect between the direction he was pursuing and his actions, so now he needed to align his direction with his actions.

The beginning starts with one step.

The first thing Kang Jin-ho decided to change was to treat his personal guard, whom he had been using like disposable pawns, with humanity.

Looking back, these were the people who would become Kang Jin-ho’s most valuable assets. Treating them humanely was a matter that didn’t require any logical reasoning.

The problem was that those on the receiving end didn’t understand Kang Jin-ho’s intentions at all.

‘If you speak, you die.’

‘Is he telling us to speak up if we have complaints? Is he going to crack our skulls open?’

‘This is like a ‘letter of the heart’ [a sincere but potentially dangerous expression of one’s true feelings]. Anyone who speaks up without reading the room is going to have a bad time.’

‘I’m not going to open my mouth. Never.’

Unfortunately, Kang Jin-ho’s ‘goodwill,’ which might have been the first of its kind at the assembly, was instead creating an unprecedented atmosphere of fear.

Lee Myung-hwan was no different.

Cold sweat trickled down his spine.

‘Is something bothering him?’ It felt like that. It was like when a senior soldier who always tormented you in the army suddenly laid out some frozen food and coaxed you to eat with him, then asked if you were having a hard time.

The moment you naively voiced a complaint, the whole squad would be turned upside down that day.

‘At least the end-of-service hazing ends with ‘it sucks.” [referring to the common complaint about military hazing]

That never-ending senior soldier wouldn’t just end with ‘it sucks.’

‘He told us to be prepared to die.’

Somehow, he hadn’t felt a life-threatening danger while training. It seemed the life-threatening danger was coming from here. The moment they carelessly voiced a complaint, it was obvious the assembly would be turned upside down.

Everyone was tense, thinking their own thoughts, but Kang Jin-ho tilted his head as if he didn’t understand their reactions at all.

Look at that natural acting ability.

That man is a devil. There was no way he could act like that unless he was a devil.

“Nothing?”

What should he answer?

Lee Myung-hwan desperately racked his brain, which wasn’t working well. He wondered if he had ever thought so much in such a short amount of time in his life.

“Nothing?”

“…Nothing.”

Lee Myung-hwan answered without realizing it.

And that was a mistake.

Slowly, very slowly, Kang Jin-ho’s gaze was moving in his direction.

‘I’m crazy.’

Lee Myung-hwan realized what mistake he had made. He shouldn’t have given him any bait, but he had gone and shown interest by answering.

“Nothing?”

It was the same ‘nothing’ as before, but it was definitely different. If the previous questions were directed at an unspecified number of people, Kang Jin-ho’s current question was directly aimed at Lee Myung-hwan.

“Uh, nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“…Yes.”

Cold sweat dripped down Lee Myung-hwan’s forehead.

‘Just hit me, you bastard!’

It would be more comfortable to just get beaten half to death. They said the worst senior soldier in the army was the one who didn’t lay a finger on you but tormented you mentally, and now he knew what that meant.

If there were complaints, shouldn’t they just voice them?

Kang Jin-ho had gathered a bunch of guys who would walk on their hands for a month if he casually said, ‘I don’t like the way you guys walk,’ so why was he tormenting people like this?

“It seems everyone is comfortable.”

It was a statement without any particular meaning. But another meaning arose.

The words had no other meaning when they came out of his mouth, but when those words entered the brain through the ears, a new meaning was created.

-You guys look very comfortable?

The tone of voice twisted slightly in his head.

The posture of Lee Myung-hwan and the others became even stiffer. It felt like if their backs were even slightly hunched, he would personally pound them to straighten them out in the opposite direction.

‘Save me.’

‘No, why is that guy suddenly acting like this today? Did he pick a fight with me?’

‘I thought he was going to leave us alone for a while, but why is he so eager to torment people? I’m going to die, really.’

‘I’d rather quit this whole thing.’

Even a private meeting a division commander would be more comfortable than this.

But unfortunately, if there was one thing Kang Jin-ho lacked the most, it was awareness. Kang Jin-ho, who didn’t understand why they were uncomfortable at all, nodded and said,

“If there are no inconveniences, that’s a relief. In the future, if you have any inconveniences, don’t go through anyone else, just tell me directly. Then I’ll take care of it right away.”

He’ll take care of it.

By cracking their skulls open.

Those who understood it as ‘If you spread what happens here to others, I’ll pull out all your teeth and play jacks with them’ answered loudly.

“Yes! I understand!”

“…Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head.

He thought the atmosphere would become a bit more relaxed after this, but strangely, it felt like a military atmosphere.

‘It’s good that they’re motivated, but strangely, everyone is tense.’

Well, it wasn’t something Kang Jin-ho could point out one by one.

Kang Jin-ho looked at the faces of those standing stiffly. He saw some who had bruises, as if they had been beaten.

“Are you sparring?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

Warriors have fast recovery. Their defense is incomparable to ordinary people, but their recovery was even faster. Bruises that would last more than two weeks for an ordinary person would often disappear overnight. Even so, the fact that such injuries remained meant that the sparring was quite intense.

“It’s good to spar like it’s a real battle. Familiarity brings composure.”

Lee Myung-hwan understood those words as meaning they should fight until blood and flesh were flying.

‘Is this not enough?’

During the last sparring session, many almost died. At first, they tried to spar in groups here and there, but when the guys started fighting like ‘you die, I die,’ it took even more time to separate them.

In the end, if two people fought, ten people had to be ready to stop them.

And now he was telling them to do it even more intensely?

‘Someone is really going to die.’

From the start, he had told them to come only if they were prepared to die, and everyone had acknowledged that, so there was nothing to say.

“…I understand.”

“Maybe…”

Kang Jin-ho looked around at everyone and opened his mouth.

“There will be the first real battle soon.”

A cold air penetrated the hall.

The cold air soon began to turn into a hot heat.

Real battle.

The meaning that word held was special to them.

‘Finally!’

Lee Myung-hwan clenched his fist.

Those who have a sword want to test how well it cuts, and those who have a gun want to shoot it somewhere. That was human nature.

But these people had obtained the incredibly powerful weapon of demonic arts, yet they had never properly tested the power of their demonic arts even once.

Their demonic arts were not yet complete.

But who could say that any warrior could complete their martial arts? Everyone’s conditions were the same. Moreover, Lee Myung-hwan and the others had been feeling it for some time.

Demonic arts were not just martial arts to be practiced in a corner. To advance their martial arts, they needed real battles. Real battles where blood and flesh flew, and lives were at stake.

Lee Myung-hwan unconsciously stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.

At the single word ‘real battle,’ the demons in the hall began to heat up like racehorses waiting for the starting gun.

“Good.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded as if he liked the atmosphere.

He had no intention of acting like a 꼰대 [kkondae, a condescending older person] and telling them to take real battles seriously. What he wanted was not seasoned soldiers who feared battle. What he wanted were mad dogs who would advance even with a spear through their stomach to kill their opponents.

‘In the end, I’m just a hopeless case.’

He talked about welfare and treating people humanely, but when the words ‘battle’ and ‘real battle’ came up, he still became like the old Demonic Heavenly Lord.

Kang Jin-ho clearly realized his current limitations.

He still had a lot to learn.

“May I ask one question?”

At Lee Myung-hwan’s words, Kang Jin-ho turned his head.

“What is it?”

“Who is the opponent?”

Kang Jin-ho’s answer was simple.

“Does that matter?”

Lee Myung-hwan laughed.

Of course, it didn’t matter.

With his current mood, anyone was fine. If he could just feel the sensation of smashing someone’s skull with his fist, he felt like he could face anyone.

“…When is it?”

“It’s not certain, but…”

Kang Jin-ho trailed off slightly.

A look of disappointment flashed across everyone’s faces at the words ‘not certain.’

“It won’t take as long as you think. It might even be tonight.”

Low breaths.

The low breaths that had been coming in a steady rhythm began to become rough.

Kang Jin-ho smiled pleasantly.

‘It’s like I’m homesick.’

These rough breaths were so familiar. In the past, there were always people around him who breathed like this. With their lives, with their madness.

The thought that that scene might be recreated made even Kang Jin-ho’s heart, which rarely beat, flutter.

“We will prepare.”

“Good.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

But, what should he say…

He felt a little disappointed?

“So, you’ve been training comfortably without any problems?”

“…Yes?”

“If you had been so focused on training that other things were uncomfortable, you would have made a lot of progress, right?”

Lee Myung-hwan shut his mouth tightly and clenched his fist.

He knew what words were coming next.

The boiling heart cooled down as if ice water had been poured on it.

And the words he had expected came out.

“Let’s see, how much stronger have you become?”

The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth curled up, revealing his white teeth.

His heart was shrinking.

He could feel the enormous demonic energy that had been dormant within Kang Jin-ho being released. It was as if the gates of hell had opened, and the air of hell was pouring out.

Everyone shuddered at the clear and vivid feeling of demonic energy.

Demon.

That was a demon.

Wasn’t the reason they were working so hard to reach that level?

The faces of the demons, who felt despair and hope at the same time, began to distort.

“Now… come at me.”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes slowly turned red.

“I’ll see with my own eyes how much that pathetic level of yours has improved. You better not disappoint me.”

The moment those words ended, the demons, who were emitting demonic energy from their entire bodies, began to rush towards Kang Jin-ho all at once.

Screams of terror and sadistic laughter mixed together, creating hell. Kang Jin-ho’s army was finally taking shape.