Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 838

Beating (4)

“What do you mean by that?”

“It means there will be many opportunities to fight.”

“Ah…”

“Theory is meaningless if it’s not put into practice. Let’s say someone has a military strategy in their head that could conquer the world. But what if they never get the chance to command an army and fight a battle?”

“They wouldn’t gain proficiency.”

“Exactly.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded and continued.

“Similarly, martial artists improve by fighting. The more sparring, the better. It’s just that circumstances often don’t allow it.”

“But we’ve only learned the basics.”

“The basics are enough.”

Kang Jin-ho said simply.

“It all connects. Martial arts are a means to become stronger. When you fight strong opponents, you find ways to overcome them. If the will of martial arts and a person’s will are aligned, martial arts will naturally develop.”

“I don’t understand. But it’s not difficult. You’ll learn it through your body. A time of constant war should be a dark age for martial arts because there’s no time to calmly refine techniques. If you only experience real combat without training, you should regress. But the opposite is true. When wars are continuous, the martial world develops. Countless unimaginable powerhouses appear, and new martial arts emerge.”

Kang Jin-ho’s lips curled into a slight smile.

“Humans unconsciously find the optimal path. I’ll create that path.”

He couldn’t fully grasp what Kang Jin-ho was saying, but Lee Myung-hwan could roughly understand. It wasn’t because he truly understood the words.

‘When have I ever truly understood anything?’

From the first time he learned demonic arts, Kang Jin-ho had been like this. He never explained anything, just shouting, ‘You’ll understand once you learn it.’ And he was always right. So, he would be right this time too. He had to be.

If he was wrong, this situation would be too unfair.

“…I’m in your care, Bator.”

“Hehehehehe.” Crack!

The sound of Bator clenching his fist was so clear. It would be nice if it wasn’t so realistic.

“I’m the one who should be saying, I’m in your care!”

“…Yes.”

Lee Myung-hwan, with his dead fish eyes, rushed at Bator.

“The Mara Flames are good with that.”

“Yes.”

Lee Hyun-soo, looking unusually tense, was taking down Kang Jin-ho’s instructions. The sound of his laptop keyboard echoed crisply in the office.

“I’ll leave it to Bator for a while. There are things we need to do right now.”

“Yes!”

Bator nodded heavily.

“Wiggins.”

“Yes!”

Wiggins’ voice was also unusually forceful.

“How’s the recruitment going?”

“It’s underway. We’ve gathered about 90% of the people we planned for. We’ll start training as soon as the remaining 10% are recruited.”

“Will there be any confusion with those you were teaching before?”

“I’ll coordinate it.”

“Can you handle it alone?”

“With the help of the Cavaliers, it’ll be enough. Lee Hyun-soo will also help with some parts.”

“Lee Hyun-soo…”

Kang Jin-ho’s gaze briefly touched Lee Hyun-soo. Lee Hyun-soo swallowed hard.

“Will he be of help?”

“There’s a good Korean saying.”

“What is it?”

“Even dog poop has its uses.”

“…That’s a wise saying.”

Lee Hyun-soo’s face crumpled. How much had he dedicated himself to so many things, only to be treated like dog poop! He wanted to protest that it was unfair, but he had to shut his mouth because the saying was true in this field.

“I’m planning to divide the group into two parts. A warrior part, including swordsmanship, and a mage part. If we can train them as planned, they will definitely become a pillar of our forces.”

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

‘Mages…’

Kang Jin-ho was honestly skeptical about magic. If Wiggins hadn’t wasted time on magic and had focused solely on swordsmanship, he would have been twice as strong as he was now.

So, he quickly lost interest. Being able to create a subspace to store his sword was enough. For Kang Jin-ho, magic was just that much.

But recently, his thoughts had changed a little.

‘Certainly, in terms of organization, the utility of magic is high.’

The greatness of magic wasn’t in its raw power, but in its versatility. Hadn’t Kang Jin-ho also survived with the help of magic?

It might not mean much to Kang Jin-ho, who was extremely focused on individual strength, but if you consider the tactical movements of the entire organization, magic is a martial art that can maximize mobility and utility.

“Proceed with it.”

“Yes!”

“However.”

Kang Jin-ho slightly interjected.

“It’s good to learn a new system, but it shouldn’t take too long.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Make sure they can become a fighting force as quickly as possible. I’ll help with whatever you need.”

“Yes. Actually, I had something to tell you about that.”

“What is it?”

“Later…”

Kang Jin-ho nodded. If it was something that needed to be said now, he would have said it now. There must be a reason for delaying it.

“Are there many who want to learn magic?”

“Yes. More than I expected.”

“Hmm?”

That was interesting.

The Assembly was not a place that seemed to fit with magic at all. But there were many applicants.

“I think it’s natural.”

The one who spoke was Lee Hyun-soo.

“Natural?”

“Yes. There must be many people like me in the Assembly.”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled lightly.

“The Assembly is originally a collection of minor sects [small martial arts groups]. And those minor sects are often connected by blood ties. In other words, the martial artists here didn’t become martial artists because they wanted to. It’s like they inherited the family business, regardless of their talent or ability.”

Thinking about it, Kang Jin-ho felt quite frustrated. It was like being forced to train.

“Compared to that, it’s true that there are more people who are satisfied with the job of a martial artist than you might think… I don’t know if I can even call it a job, but anyway… there are also people who are really not suited for martial arts.”

“I guess so.”

Lee Hyun-soo stopped typing and took a big gulp of water.

“In the normal world, those people would find other jobs. But that’s impossible in the Assembly. There are people who have left the path of martial arts and found their own lives… but most of them don’t want that. It would be good if they could use their active physical abilities, but that’s forbidden in the martial world. What that means is…”

“No, I understand.”

There was no need to hear the rest. He could guess.

Those who aspire to become professional athletes even give up their studies and focus on sports. Those who succeed with talent and effort become professional athletes, but there are those who fail despite their efforts.

The career paths of these people are already a social problem.

If those who have excluded all other possibilities and clung to one thing fail, there is nothing they can do.

Perhaps those in the Assembly who have no talent for martial arts are experiencing the same situation.

Continuing to learn martial arts is painful. No matter how hard they try, their skills don’t improve. They have to keep watching those who started learning martial arts later than them surpass them.

So, they should give up the path of martial arts and find another path, but what can those who haven’t received proper formal education do?

“The Assembly is managing those who turn to crime, but it’s still a problem. For those guys, having an opportunity to become stronger in a different way is a great thing.”

“Hmm, I guess so.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded as if he understood.

“Personally, I think that the martial artists of the Assembly should also receive basic academics and education…”

“That doesn’t seem like something to discuss now.”

Kang Jin-ho cut him off firmly, and Lee Hyun-soo nodded.

‘He’s definitely changed.’

This was related to welfare. If it had been Kang Jin-ho from a while ago, he would have shown interest when Lee Hyun-soo said this. But the current Kang Jin-ho firmly cut off Lee Hyun-soo’s words.

His focus and priorities had become clear.

“Support them as quickly as possible.”

“Lord, we need more funds for that.”

“Funds?”

“Magic is different from ordinary martial arts. You need various preparations to learn it. You need to buy reagents and tools. So far, I’ve been covering it with my own money, but as the number of people increases, we need more money.”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head and looked at Lee Hyun-joo.

“Support it.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Lee Hyun-joo nodded neatly.

The Assembly’s funds were sufficient. No, they were more than sufficient now. After gathering the scattered money and unifying the flow of funds, a lump sum of money piled up in the vault.

Now, they were even wondering where to spend all this reserve money.

“Hey, if there’s money left over, give us some extra activity expenses.”

“Have I ever said I wouldn’t give you extra activity expenses? I’ve told you that I’ll give you as much as you want if you tell me how you’ll use it and attach receipts.”

“If there’s a use for it, it’s not extra activity expenses!”

“You’d be in big trouble if you went into politics. Keep it moderate.”

“Ugh…”

O

Lee Hyun-soo was no match for Lee Hyun-joo now. Besides, Lee Hyun-joo was right. All funds had to be used transparently.

“Jang Min.”

“Yes!”

At Kang Jin-ho’s call, Jang Min responded quickly.

“Gather the elders. I will transmit the Mara Blood Flame Energy.”

“Fi, finally!”

Jang Min’s body trembled.

Finally, this moment had come.

In fact, how anxious had he been all this time? How long had it been since they came to Korea? But the Demon Lord had not transmitted the promised demonic arts at all.

Although they hadn’t said it, discontent was building up inside. Moreover, as the news spread that the Korean guys were receiving the demonic arts, not them, the discontent had become even more widespread.

Wouldn’t that be the case?

They had come all the way to Korea just for that one demonic art. But they were being mobilized to construction sites, and the Korean guys were learning the demonic arts that they should be learning. It was an infuriating situation.

If it hadn’t been for Kang Jin-ho’s status and charisma, there would have been an uproar already.

“Are the disciples causing trouble?”

Jang Min shook his hand vigorously. But Kang Jin-ho didn’t believe Jang Min’s words.

He had to hear the answer from Lee Hyun-soo.

“There are countless minor conflicts. But that’s something we can excuse. The problem is that there have been a couple of major conflicts. We need some countermeasures.”

“They’ve become complacent.”

Kang Jin-ho said quietly.

“They’re causing trouble because they have the leeway to focus on other things. If the same thing happens after they start training… Jang Min, I will hold you and the elders responsible.”

“I will follow your honorable words.”

Kang Jin-ho jumped up from his seat.

“Let’s end the meeting here. It’s become unnecessarily long.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“You’ve worked hard…”

“Bator!”

Before the greetings could even finish, Kang Jin-ho called out to Bator. Bator’s cheeks were twitching.

“Let’s go!”

Without a word, Kang Jin-ho headed to the training ground, and Bator followed him, lumbering along.

Lee Hyun-soo thought that it was the first time he had ever seen that huge back look so pathetic.