Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 887

Bang Jin-hoon retreated, his expression grim.

Beside him, Wiggins suddenly began to glow.

‘What the hell? Is he Ultraman or something?’ Bang Jin-hoon thought, bewildered.

There wasn’t a single normal person around.

The two in front of him were beyond the point of being called human or monster, and even Wiggins, who had seemed somewhat normal, had started doing strange things.

The environment here was too harsh and brutal for a normal(?) martial artist like Bang Jin-hoon to endure.

‘I should have just stayed at headquarters and peeled tangerines,’ he lamented.

Why had he even come here?

Bang Jin-hoon sighed quietly.

Of course, there was a reason for him to be here. This was a fight between Japan and the Assembly. It was a bit embarrassing to say that the Assembly fully represented Korea, but what they were aiming for was closer to the Assembly’s interests than Korea’s itself.

So, it was right for the Assembly to confront them.

But wasn’t it too shameful to leave the ‘confrontation’ entirely to outsiders?

‘That’s absolutely unacceptable.’

Strictly speaking, apart from him, there were no true, core members of the Assembly here.

Bator and Wiggins were, to put it coldly, closer to mercenaries. No matter how much they taught the Assembly’s disciples and integrated into the organization, they still needed more time to be fully recognized as members of the Assembly.

And Kang Jin-ho couldn’t be called a true member either. He was also someone who grew up outside and joined the Assembly.

Of course, Bang Jin-hoon wasn’t someone who cared about such things.

He had no intention of introducing a class system in the 21st century, nor was he a fool who thought that one’s abilities were determined by their status. There was just one thing.

Most of the young martial artists who made up the Assembly had been learning martial arts and living within the Assembly since they were young.

What would they think if they saw only outsiders taking the lead? Wouldn’t they feel that the time they had spent in the Assembly was futile?

Bang Jin-hoon couldn’t stand to see that.

They had all tried their best. He couldn’t let them doubt their efforts. Even if those who had lived with the Assembly couldn’t lead the charge, they shouldn’t at least feel alienated.

Why?

‘It’s a matter of pride.’

A man needed pride.

He wasn’t criticizing those who acknowledged their abilities and pursued a life of practicality. That was also a valid way of life.

But he had to provide a place for those who didn’t want to live like that to lean on. That was why Bang Jin-hoon had stubbornly insisted on coming here.

Everything was fine up to that point, but…

‘No, damn it, where am I supposed to lean on!’

It was good to give the young ones and his disciples pride, but the hardships Bang Jin-hoon had to endure to do that were too great. First of all, putting everything else aside…

‘My allies are scarier, seriously.’

It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen Kang Jin-ho go wild a few times.

He knew that man was brutal from the start.

But what was it…

‘Why is that man getting worse every day!’

The current Kang Jin-ho was almost a different person from the Kang Jin-ho that Bang Jin-hoon had first met. The old Kang Jin-ho was like a blade even in everyday life.

But now, he had become very gentle in his daily life.

The old Kang Jin-ho was also very gentle to his family and friends, but now it felt like the range of that gentleness had expanded considerably.

For example, in the past, when Lee Joong-gul presided over meetings, no one would point out Lee Joong-gul’s actions that didn’t make sense. Only Bang Jin-hoon would object.

But what about Kang Jin-ho now?

The whole place was in an uproar.

Not only Bang Jin-hoon, but also Bator and Wiggins wouldn’t just listen quietly. Even Lee Hyun-soo and Lee Hyun-joo were raising their voices.

Thinking about it, it was a huge change. And of course, this change could only happen because Kang Jin-ho didn’t hesitate to listen to others.

That was a good thing, but…

Bang Jin-hoon glanced up at Kang Jin-ho.

“_o.”

Just looking at him made his legs tremble.

Black demonic energy was swirling around Kang Jin-ho like a vortex.

It wasn’t like this when the battle first started. But it felt like the longer the battle went on, the more he was increasing his momentum.

Or maybe Kang Jin-ho was becoming more and more intoxicated with slaughter.

Either way, it didn’t really matter.

Even though he was watching from the back, he absolutely didn’t want to approach that place. Bang Jin-hoon, who clearly recognized Kang Jin-ho as an ally, felt this way, so what must those who had to face Kang Jin-ho rushing at them feel?

He fully understood that feeling.

And next to him…

‘Let’s just not look.’

It was tiring to even talk about Bator. What was certain was that the battle unfolding before his eyes was not something Bang Jin-hoon could carelessly interfere with.

Even though Bang Jin-hoon prided himself on being one of the top five strongest in Korea before Kang Jin-ho appeared and the power inflation occurred, he couldn’t possibly stick his head into that battle.

That’s why Bang Jin-hoon was empathizing with the Japanese side rather than the Assembly.

‘Those bastards must be flustered too.’

It wasn’t an exaggeration for Bang Jin-hoon to consider himself one of the top five martial artists in Korea. This was a fairly objective assessment. Bang Jin-hoon had a reckless side, but he wasn’t someone who was overly conceited.

If Bang Jin-hoon went to Japan, what rank would he be?

He didn’t know, but there would probably be four lines of people stronger than Bang Jin-hoon, enough to fill two laps of the parade ground.

The gap between Japan and Korea was that big.

Of course, they must have known that Korea had become stronger. They wouldn’t be so ignorant of information.

But there was a limit to human imagination.

Even if a neighborhood puppy grows up, people would think it would become a fierce dog, not that the puppy would turn into a tiger.

So, there was room to understand why those guys were so flustered and out of their minds. And to be more honest, if they had landed in Korea and started a full-scale war with the Assembly… it would never have come to this situation.

No matter how much the Assembly’s power had increased, they were still not at the level to compete with Japan, except for Kang Jin-ho and the others. They still needed a lot more time.

They must have thought the same thing as Bang Jin-hoon. A tiger cub only becomes a tiger when it grows up. Before that, it’s no different from a puppy.

If you bite its neck without giving it time, even a dog can kill a tiger.

But…

Bang Jin-hoon glanced to the side.

‘Ah, don’t do that!’

Wiggins was muttering something with his prosthetic arm extended forward. It seemed like he was trying to use that ‘magic’ or whatever, and watching it from the side was like a horror movie.

His hair was standing on end, and the wind was swirling under his legs. His clothes were fluttering, and a strange blue aura was swirling around his body.

If he had seen this scene while walking down the street at night, he would have peed his pants and run away. It was that bizarre.

To the eyes of the general public, martial arts and magic would be equally absurd, but it was different for Bang Jin-hoon. He wouldn’t even blink if someone pulled out a sword aura a few meters away right next to him. But that magic was still an incomprehensible realm for Bang Jin-hoon.

That was when it happened.

“Binding.”

Wiggins, having finished casting, stretched his prosthetic arm forward. At the same time, the blue mana that had been swirling around his body was sucked into his prosthetic arm.

Then…

“Huh?”

Blue light began to emanate from under the feet of those who were running away from Kang Jin-ho. The entire wide area was covered in blue light.

“M-My feet!”

“What is this? Why can’t I move!”

The fleeing men panicked.

Their feet wouldn’t move.

It was as if they were glued to the floor. Even if they managed to lift their feet with great effort, it wasn’t over. It was as if someone was grabbing their ankles.

In their panic, they tried to take off their shoes, but the moment they lowered their hands, even their hands seemed to be caught and wouldn’t move.

“What is this!”

“Let go! Let go! Let go!”

If they had maintained even a minimum of reason, they would have found a way to deal with it.

There was no way a ghost would grab their hands and feet and not let go, so this had to be a type of martial art. So, they just needed to calmly circulate their energy [ki] to their legs and shake it off.

But they didn’t have that minimum of reason left.

How could they?

Kang Jin-ho and Bator were chasing them from behind. If they wanted to live, they had to run away as fast as possible. They were already burning with anxiety because they couldn’t run properly due to their comrades blocking the way, and now their legs were tied up and Kang Jin-ho was approaching?

There was no way they could maintain their reason.

The despairing men turned around. They could see Kang Jin-ho and Bator approaching. In their eyes, it probably looked like a 30-ton truck speeding towards them after they had fallen in a narrow alley.

If they couldn’t run away, they would die. There was no room for resistance.

“Ah… Ahh…”

And the first to move was Bator.

Bator, realizing that they couldn’t move, changed his approach.

Thump! Thump!

His feet stomped on the steel deck, leaving deep dents. Bator, having perfectly fixed his stance, twisted his waist and stretched his fist far back.

Whoooooooom!

He could see it. He could see it clearly.

It started from his legs.

From the tips of Bator’s feet, black and white energy began to erupt simultaneously. Like white and black paint being stirred together, half of it was mixed, and the other half was pure. Those two energies erupted from his feet.

Then, they traveled up his legs and towards his waist. The energies that had risen to his chest then gathered towards the fist that Bator had stretched back over his shoulder.

As they went through this series of processes, the energies grew larger and more intense.

Goooooooong!

Then, they began to violently surge from Bator’s fist that was stretched back. Anyone could guess what kind of scene would unfold next.

Bang Jin-hoon lowered his stance.

Wiggins also put up a shield in front of himself.

“Ah, no!”

“Save me!”

Even those who didn’t fully understand what was happening instinctively sensed their fate.

And at that moment.

Bator’s right hand, stretched back to its limit, was swung.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Demonic energy and ki mixed together, creating a huge black and white vortex. The vortex stretched out in a straight line, swallowing everything in front of Bator.

“H-Hwaaaak!”

A fierce rotation.

The vortex surged forward with a fierce rotation, like blades spinning inside an open blender.

Utterly sharp, utterly violent.