Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 691

The car sped down the road.

Even while driving, Ju Gang kept glancing at the rearview mirror. The image of Kang Jin-ho in the mirror kept catching his eye.

‘He looks so ordinary on the outside…’

It wasn’t like he was expecting a monster with three heads and six arms. But he thought that someone with the arrogant title of Demon Lord would have a more dignified appearance.

Of course, he wasn’t disappointed at all.

He had come to realize that the Demon Lord’s dignity didn’t come from his appearance.

What would happen if he brought this man to Beijing?

The thought alone made his heart pound.

Ju Gang was a rather cynical person among the demons. To put it nicely, he was a realist; to put it badly, he was selfish and lacked ambition in everything.

Yet, here he was, so excited. If demons with fiery tempers were to meet the Demon Lord?

‘It’ll be chaos.’

There would be more than a few who would throw away everything and follow the Demon Lord.

Gulp.

Ju Gang kept glancing at the rearview mirror. The Demon Lord was sitting with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. That sight made Ju Gang nervous.

He was definitely not asleep.

Absolute powerhouses didn’t really need sleep. They could easily shake off fatigue with a short meditation. They needed a certain amount of sleep to resolve mental fatigue, but it wasn’t like they needed to sleep in the car.

Nevertheless, Ju Gang was driving more carefully than he had ever driven in his life. He tried not to even drive through small puddles on the poorly maintained road.

The old men’s orders to reach Beijing as quickly as possible had already disappeared from his mind. Now, his top priority was not to disturb the Demon Lord’s thoughts.

“But, seriously…”

It was Batoru who broke the low silence.

“To gather the demons. How could you even think of that, Master?”

Kang Jin-ho opened his eyes.

“Is there anything strange about it?”

“No, there’s nothing strange about it. You are a demon, Master. What I question is whether that action will actually be helpful.”

Kang Jin-ho didn’t answer. And Batoru didn’t wait for Kang Jin-ho’s answer either.

“Master is a demon. And strong. But, funnily enough, there is no one in this world who satisfies both of those conditions at the same time. Only you, Master. Demons are weak.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho had a faint smile on his lips.

“There are at least two. One is me, and the other is Jang Min.”

“Jang Min? Are you talking about that old man you were on the phone with earlier?”

“Yes.”

“Oh?”

Batoru looked at Kang Jin-ho with a glint in his eyes.

Kang Jin-ho was a very open-minded person. In Batoru’s eyes, he was someone who thought that even those who were no better than trash had their own uses.

However, Kang Jin-ho was strict about one thing.

Military arts [martial arts].

Batoru had never seen Kang Jin-ho acknowledge anyone’s strength before. Even Batoru himself had not been completely acknowledged by Kang Jin-ho.

Even Batoru, who was acknowledged by the Hong King.

And yet, Kang Jin-ho was acknowledging someone’s strength?

“He must be an amazing old man.”

“He’s an old monster. He’s lived for a hundred and eighty years.”

“……What?”

“One hundred and eighty years.”

Batoru was slightly stunned.

“Can a person live that long?”

“Because he’s a martial artist.”

“No, even if he’s a martial artist, that’s…”

Of course, martial artists tend to have a longer average lifespan than ordinary people. It’s not uncommon for them to live past a hundred. But even among martial artists, there are very few who live past one hundred and fifty.

“If he’s lived for one hundred and eighty years, isn’t he from the Qing Dynasty?”

“That’s right.”

“He’s a living fossil. And he’s still strong?”

“What do you think?”

“……He must be strong.”

That’s three cycles of sixty years.

‘I can’t even imagine it.’

Batoru was someone who valued external power. But that didn’t mean he ignored the power of internal energy.

Whether it was internal or external power, energy was energy.

The more you accumulated, the stronger you became. Generally, martial artists were often recognized only after they turned sixty. This was because strong internal energy was needed to use powerful martial arts.

Even Batoru hadn’t been confident in his own martial arts until he reached fifty.

‘Even when I fight old monsters who are around a hundred years old, I feel the strain because of their internal energy.’

Then how amazing must the internal energy accumulated over one hundred and eighty years be?

“This is getting interesting.”

Batoru stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.

Having a target to fight was always a pleasure. If Kang Jin-ho’s words were true, then the old man named Jang Min would give him an experience he had never had before.

“You’re as slow as a turtle. Step on the gas, demon!”

“The answer?”

Ju Gang showed no particular reaction to Batoru’s booming voice. Batoru’s eyebrows twitched.

“This guy?”

As Batoru’s voice grew louder, Ju Gang replied in a calm voice.

“Don’t try to intimidate me.”

“What?”

Ju Gang’s gaze was still fixed forward.

“In your eyes, I must look insignificant. You probably see me as a bug that you can crush at any time. But, you’d be mistaken if you think I’m trembling with fear. Ironically, I know that I’m no different from a bug. I don’t place a high value on my death.”

“Oh?”

Batoru’s face changed strangely.

“If you want to kill me, then kill me. But you will never see me submit to you…”

“Let’s go faster.”

“Yes! My Lord!”

The car suddenly began to accelerate.

Batoru frowned as he felt his body being pushed back. He understood that Ju Gang was following Kang Jin-ho’s orders, but he didn’t like how excessively he was ignoring his words.

“He’s loyal to the Master.”

“Because he’s a demon.”

“Does that mean all demons are loyal to their masters?”

“Yes.”

“……Are you serious?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“What principle makes that possible? Are they like me?”

“Don’t compare yourself, Batoru.”

“Hmm?”

“Controlling the mind with restraints cannot earn genuine respect. You can see it in your actions. You follow the rule that you must obey my orders, but you don’t change your usual behavior. That’s why the relationship between you and me is a bit unique.”

“That’s true.”

“But they are not. Demons cannot resist higher-ranking demons. It’s not just that they are difficult to deal with. They instinctively submit to those who are overwhelmingly stronger than them or who have mastered much higher-level demonic arts.”

“Is that possible?”

“I don’t know the principle. It seems that the Demonic Cult, which was probably a kind of religion, made arrangements to control its followers.”

“Didn’t you see the end of demonic arts, Master?”

“There is no end to martial arts. And just because I saw the end of martial arts doesn’t mean I know all of those martial arts.”

“I can’t understand. Isn’t martial arts about understanding?”

Kang Jin-ho frowned slightly. How should he explain this?

“Have you ever shot a gun?”

“You’re stating the obvious.”

“Do you need a gun? A slingshot would be stronger, wouldn’t it?”

“……Wouldn’t any man want to shoot one at least once?”

Kang Jin-ho couldn’t answer for a moment. He shouldn’t agree, but he couldn’t help but agree.

“Anyway, you said you’ve shot one, so you understand. Let’s say I’m the best marksman in the world.”

“So?”

“Then would I know more about that gun than the person who made it?”

“……I see what you mean.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“I might be stronger than the person who created those martial arts. I probably am. But becoming stronger by mastering martial arts doesn’t necessarily mean that you know everything about those martial arts. That’s what demonic arts were to me.”

“Hmm.”

Batoru looked back and forth between Kang Jin-ho and Ju Gang as if he was amazed.

“So, they become loyal regardless of their own will?”

“It can’t be called loyalty. It should be called submission or surrender. It’s not like their loyalty is growing.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“It’s a little different. Anyway, if I wasn’t a demon, that guy would be saying the same thing to me. It’s just a privilege I receive because I’m a demon.”

“Heh, are you telling me to envy being a demon? You have a bad personality.”

Batoru looked at Ju Gang with fresh eyes.

‘So, he’s originally a tough guy.’

Thinking that, he liked him quite a bit. He liked people who were proud and unafraid of death. Batoru’s body was threatening even to martial artists. He could crush most martial artists with just his raw strength, without even using internal energy. And yet, he had such a stiff attitude.

Wasn’t that a spirit that didn’t match his weakness?

‘They say demons are all tough, maybe that’s true.’

Batoru nodded and continued.

“I understand that you can gain many loyal subordinates. But, Master, I don’t know what the demons were like in your time… but the demons of this era are weaker than you think. You can see it just by looking at that guy.”

“They are inferior.”

Kang Jin-ho didn’t deny it either.

He had also realized the reality to some extent. The only demons he had seen so far were Jang Min and Oedo. Lee Seong-chan was hard to call a demon. His achievements were not yet deep.

He didn’t dream of being as strong as Jang Min, but he believed that they would at least be stronger than Oedo… Ju Gang hadn’t even reached that level.

‘It’s only natural if you think about it.’

If the demonic arts that Oedo had mastered were no different from the demonic arts that these people had mastered, then the deeper their achievements, the more extremely they would lose their humanity. In the end, demons had no choice but to stop training if they felt that their demonic energy was increasing beyond a certain level in order not to lose themselves.

As a result, they gained a level of power that was slightly better than ordinary people, but they lived with a violent personality as their fate.

Those who had reduced patience and had become impulsive could not possibly adapt to ordinary society. So, they lived day by day as the lower class of society.

They had mastered demonic arts to live a better life, but their lives became harder because of those demonic arts. It was ironic.

“But it doesn’t matter.”

“So, even trash has its uses? That’s something you would say, Master.”

“Watch your mouth, Batoru.”

Kang Jin-ho’s voice lowered. Batoru, feeling the anger in his voice, flinched.

“It seems I made a mistake. I apologize.”

“They are weak. But just because they are weak doesn’t mean they are trash. And…”

Kang Jin-ho said with a slight growl.

“They won’t be weak anymore. I’ll make them strong. It won’t take long. If they are demons who are familiar with demonic energy, they can be reborn as true demons in an instant just by helping them a little. Then you will know what it means for the Demonic Cult to be revived in modern times.”

Instead of Batoru, who couldn’t answer, Ju Gang answered. Not with words, but with his body.

The words ‘Demonic Cult revived in modern times’ and ‘true demons’ made adrenaline pour out of his head like a waterfall.

Ju Gang couldn’t contain his excitement and stepped hard on the accelerator.

As soon as possible.

He had to take this man to Beijing as soon as possible.

Ju Gang stepped on the accelerator with all his might.