Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 590

Lee Sung-taek quietly suppressed the pounding in his chest.

It wasn’t exactly a problem. Or, to be precise, it wasn’t a new problem. The issue had arisen a long time ago.

His heart had started racing long before this moment.

Yes, thinking about it, it was true.

From the second meeting, or rather, to be honest, from the first time they met again, his heart had begun to beat rapidly, beyond his control.

It was something that hadn’t happened for a while.

His heart, which had been beating so slowly that he thought it had forgotten how to beat fast, had started to race with the vigor of his youth. But Lee Sung-taek couldn’t be happy about it.

He knew that what made his heart race was not excitement but anxiety.

“You don’t look well.”

“Is that so?”

At the knight’s words, Lee Sung-taek subtly turned his head to look out the car window.

He was uncomfortable with the fact that the anxiety in his heart was showing on his face. Although he trusted the knight, he couldn’t reveal everything inside him just because he trusted him.

“Are you worried about something?”

“Worried…”

Lee Sung-taek smiled lightly.

“It’s not something to worry about. The worrying is already over.”

“Then why…”

There was a hint of regret in Lee Sung-taek’s voice.

“Just because the worrying is over doesn’t mean the lingering feelings disappear. I always end up wondering if this choice is the right one. Even if it’s impossible to choose again now. That’s just how people are.”

“You speak the truth.”

‘The truth, you say…’

His mouth felt bitter.

What was the truth?

If you’ve made a decision, you should push forward without looking back. If you keep looking back with lingering feelings like he was doing now, even things that could have worked out would fail.

Lee Sung-taek knew this very well. But knowing something and doing it were two completely different things. If he had the ability to push forward with his decisions without hesitation, he wouldn’t be swayed by others’ decisions like he was now.

The source of his doubt, ‘Is this really the right thing to do?’, was clear: Kang Jin-ho.

His image flickered in his mind. The day he attacked the Yeongnam Association.

The way he had scattered dark red demonic energy like clouds, cutting down humans.

‘Can we really defeat him?’

Lee Sung-taek couldn’t be sure. If someone else had been pushing this plan, Lee Sung-taek would have run away without looking back. The desire to live that Lee Sung-taek possessed was too great to join such a foolish plan to gather humans and fight the demonic forces.

But the one pushing this plan was none other than Lee Joong-gul.

‘Lee Joong-gul.’

Lee Sung-taek quietly closed his eyes.

It was undeniable. The history of the martial arts world in South Korea was ultimately the history of Lee Joong-gul. All martial arts worlds around the globe had gone through a great ordeal during the modernization process. But nowhere was as thoroughly destroyed as Korea.

Lee Joong-gul had survived the fires of that war and rebuilt the Korean martial arts world from the post-war ruins. Kim Seok-il was said to be his opposite, but without Lee Joong-gul, Kim Seok-il wouldn’t have existed either. That was how significant Lee Joong-gul’s influence was on the Korean martial arts world.

And…

“Influence, you say.”

“Yes?”

“No, it’s nothing.” Lee Sung-taek shook his head. Influence?

That wasn’t something that could be described as influence. The emotion they held for Lee Joong-gul should be described as absolute trust.

The belief that no matter how difficult or challenging the task, Lee Joong-gul would be able to accomplish it.

It wasn’t trust in Lee Joong-gul’s abilities. It was trust in the man himself.

When he learned that Lee Joong-gul had been ousted by Kang Jin-ho and that a young punk named Bang Jin-hoon had taken the chairman’s seat… the absurdity Lee Sung-taek felt was indescribable.

Denial, doubt, and resignation came one after another.

He had suppressed his burning anger and accepted the situation because he believed that Lee Joong-gul, the man he knew, would not step down so easily.

That’s why…

That’s why he had endured.

That’s why he had waited.

For this moment when Lee Joong-gul would call them together again.

And finally, that moment had arrived.

But…

‘Why am I so anxious?’

Lee Sung-taek slowly raised his hand and rubbed his eyes.

He knew how ruthless Lee Joong-gul was.

The position of director in the General Assembly was not something that could be obtained through ability. Those with outstanding abilities did not survive. Those who stood out would eventually clash with Lee Joong-gul, and Lee Joong-gul did not tolerate those who rebelled against him.

The ones who were now strutting around as directors and elders in the General Assembly were all those who had taken on the dirty work that Lee Joong-gul had ordered. None of them had clean hands. In the end, how loyal they were to Lee Joong-gul determined how quickly they would rise in the ranks.

That was the kind of person Lee Joong-gul was.

If he had drawn his sword, all preparations would already be complete. As Lee Joong-gul had said, an arrow flying from behind was more terrifying than a sword wielded in front.

No matter how great Kang Jin-ho was, he wouldn’t be able to withstand an arrow that Lee Joong-gul had silently aimed from behind.

But…

“Are we almost there?”

“We’re almost there.”

Lee Sung-taek quietly suppressed his anxiously beating heart.

‘Calm down.’

It wouldn’t be long now.

Soon, whether they died or Lee Joong-gul died… there would be a conclusion. From then on, there would be no need to feel this tension. He would either live in comfort or die in comfort. There would only be one of those two conclusions.

Through the blurred vision caused by the falling rain, a large traditional house came into view in the distance.

‘It’s like a movie.’

The rattling sound of the old car.

The sound of the falling rain.

And the beam of the headlights cutting through the rain.

Watching all of that, he felt like he was watching an old black and white movie. Lee Sung-taek laughed in vain at the sight.

‘What I want to regain isn’t power or anything like that.’

What did it matter if he had power or not?

Glory?

He didn’t need that kind of glory. Did having a glorious life make your grave any bigger?

When you die, you’re just reduced to a handful of ashes. There is no glory for the dead.

What he wanted to regain was ‘proof’.

Proof that his life had not been in vain.

His life had been with Lee Joong-gul.

But if Lee Joong-gul was denied, what would become of his life?

Where would he find the pride of rebuilding the Korean martial arts world from the post-war ruins and raising it to a level that was second to none?

It had been more than once or twice that his blood had boiled at the sight of the young ones denying Lee Joong-gul’s achievements… denying his life.

‘What do they know?’

Lee Sung-taek quietly bit his lip.

What did the young ones know?

In those days when nothing but ruins remained, they had built this world with their bare hands. In those days when there was nothing to eat but grass roots, they had begged the foreigners for a lump of flour and endured and endured.

When the tree they had built with such great effort finally bore fruit, the young ones thought that the tree had grown naturally and just plucked the fruit.

They denied their achievements by saying that the tree would have grown anyway, even if they hadn’t planted it.

And they were supposed to just watch that?

They were supposed to endure it?

‘What a joke.’

Then they had to show them. How they had built the current martial arts world. If they just kept their mouths shut, in ten years, the names of Lee Joong-gul and his people would disappear, and the names of Kang Jin-ho and Bang Jin-hoon would take their place.

Or the Korean martial arts world would disappear altogether.

Screech!

The worn-out brakes made a sharp noise.

“Please wait a moment. I’ll get the umbrella…”

“It’s fine. You can rest.”

“But Director Lee.”

“It’s okay.”

Lee Sung-taek roughly opened the car door and got out of the car.

Swish, swish, swish!

The rain was pouring down like a waterfall. Lee Sung-taek walked into the traditional house, stepping through the pouring rain.

‘They’ve become too comfortable.’

An umbrella?

Come to think of it, they had lived very comfortably.

Using an umbrella held by a knight, riding in a car driven by someone else.

He, who had been proud of the days when it was hard to find even a piece of ragged cloth to cover his body, had become accustomed to status and civilization.

Lee Sung-taek entered with a stern face.

A staff member who had spotted him was surprised and rushed out with an umbrella, but he held out his hand to stop him.

“Where?”

“To the annex.”

Without a word, Lee Sung-taek moved towards the annex.

Lee Sung-taek, who opened the door to the annex and entered, couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

“What are you all doing?”

As the commotion subsided, the sharp sound of a gayageum [a traditional Korean stringed instrument] pierced his ears. The directors, who were drinking with half-naked girls beside them, turned to look at Lee Sung-taek with slightly flushed faces.

“Ah, Director Lee. You’ve arrived!”

“You’ve arrived?”

Lee Sung-taek gritted his teeth.

“I asked what you are doing.”

“What do you mean what are we doing? As you can see, we’re just enjoying ourselves for a change.”

Lee Sung-taek bit his lip.

“Come on, come inside.”

“…Who called for this?”

“The Chairman must have called for it.”

Lee Sung-taek looked around at everyone with an angry face.

Not everyone was drunk. Half of them were fidgeting with their glasses with uncomfortable expressions, and the other half were completely drunk.

“Don’t just stand there, come and sit down. What are you doing, not escorting the director!”

“We have prepared a seat for you here, Director.”

A young woman grabbed his arm and pulled him. Lee Sung-taek pushed away the person pulling him with a firm gesture.

Lee Sung-taek, who had been quietly looking at everyone, went to his seat and sat down. If he wasn’t going to turn back now, it was right to sit down.

‘Are these the people who are supposed to be discussing important matters…’

Everyone was the same.

They had become complacent.

They shouldn’t be complaining that the children didn’t recognize them. Looking at them now, who would acknowledge their achievements?

Good cars, solid wealth, and the gaze of admiration wherever they went.

All of that had corrupted them.

“Everyone…”

“Ah, ah.”

Just as he was about to open his mouth, someone raised their hand to stop him.

“Don’t blame them too much. The Chairman specially arranged this gathering.”

“The Chairman?”

“We are about to embark on a great undertaking. But if we are too tense, things that could have worked out won’t. So this is a place to relax.”