Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 933

“That’s not very Master-like of you,” the voice stated, a remark that bordered on rudeness.

No, it was undeniably rude. Yet, the reason he didn’t bristle at the comment wasn’t due to any exceptional magnanimity on his part.

It was because he recognized a kernel of truth in it.

“Fighting him won’t accomplish anything. It’s a battle where you stand only to lose, gaining nothing.”

“Do you believe I’ll lose?”

“Even if you were to win, Master, the outcome remains the same.”

“I see.”

The Master nodded slowly.

“The Round Table’s future is certainly bright.”

“…Yes?”

“I’m saying, with so many individuals capable of making wiser decisions than I, how could the Round Table’s future not be promising?”

The atmosphere within the car thickened.

On the surface, it was an admission of a poor choice, but the underlying message was a subtle critique of him overstepping his authority.

The Master sighed almost imperceptibly.

‘How petty,’ he thought.

Just because they were his attendants didn’t negate their right to speak. Everyone was entitled to voice their opinions, and all perspectives were valued. Wasn’t that the core principle of the Round Table?

The position of Knight had been created as a representative role because not everyone could directly participate, but the fundamental tenet of the Round Table was that it was a space open to all. Even if it was an ideal.

If even the Master couldn’t uphold that ideal, who would?

Yet, this reaction was a knee-jerk response to a sensitive spot being prodded.

A battle with nothing to gain.

The Master conceded that point. Regardless of the outcome of this match, it wouldn’t significantly alter the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Only if the Master were to kill Kang Jin-ho could the tide potentially turn.

But was that even feasible?

It was unlikely.

Even if the Master could overpower Kang Jin-ho, Wiggins was present. If Wiggins was determined, rescuing Kang Jin-ho during the fight wouldn’t be a difficult task.

This was enemy territory, and his attendants were too weak to contend with Wiggins.

Then, what was the purpose of this fight?

The Master already knew the answer.

‘I wasn’t thinking about gains,’ he admitted to himself.

Ironically, that was the truth. Since assuming the mantle of Master of the Round Table, he had never once failed to calculate the implications of his actions. Every word he spoke was weighed for its potential gains and losses. The world reacted to his every move.

So, how could he not calculate?

However, the moment he contemplated a match with Kang Jin-ho, the Master had abandoned all calculations. He hadn’t considered the potential gains or losses that would arise from either outcome.

Why was that?

Perhaps it was because Kang Jin-ho’s provocation had stirred something within the Master. Or maybe he believed this was the most effective way to resolve this complex situation.

There were countless reasons he could conjure.

But the Master knew that none of them were the real reason.

Ultimately, the true reason within him was singular.

He simply wanted to.

He carried an immense burden on his shoulders.

The position of Master forced him to maintain a neutral stance on all matters. The moment he became the Master, the passionate human he once was had faded away.

All that remained was the Master, a figure who had to make judgments with cold, mechanical logic.

He yearned to break free, just once.

From the stifling constraints of his position.

The justification for his choice could be found, but there was no room for excuses at the moment of the decision.

Perhaps this single act of rebellion could be understood. However, the fact that this rebellion was occurring now, amidst the turmoil on the Korean Peninsula, silenced the Master.

Why was that?

He actually knew the reason.

It was the same as Wiggins.

There was something about Kang Jin-ho that stirred people.

More precisely, it wasn’t just people, but something that stirred martial artists.

He was unconventional.

Unconventional to the point of being rude, and unconventional to the point of being impulsive.

He was not a being that could be easily accepted by society.

But….

‘That’s why he shines,’ the Master thought.

The Master quietly closed his eyes. He saw a small child standing there.

It was an image of himself before he was called Master, when he was a young boy dreaming of one day joining the Round Table.

At that time, he hadn’t dared to imagine he would reach the position of Master. He believed that simply being able to join the Round Table would be the fulfillment of his dream.

What would that past version of himself say if he saw the Master of the present?

Would he say that he had succeeded and become greater than he had ever imagined?

No, it wouldn’t be that.

That wasn’t what he had truly wanted.

Like all martial artists, the future the Master had initially envisioned was a little more unrestrained and a little more extreme than his current reality.

The image of a hero who would crush all obstacles with his martial prowess and protect the world’s justice. Children born into martial families all shared such dreams.

But those dreams were gradually eroded by reality.

They learned the difference between what they could achieve and what they couldn’t, and as they dismissed what they couldn’t achieve as futile, their dreams eventually diminished.

What was created after being chipped away like that was the Master of the present.

So, did he regret it?

No. Not at all.

The Master was content. With his current self, with what he had accomplished.

He might feel a pang of regret for not achieving more, for not being more intense, but there was no shame in his current self.

That was until he met Kang Jin-ho.

What Kang Jin-ho had stirred wasn’t the Master’s competitive spirit. What Kang Jin-ho had stirred was what the Master had lost.

Things that had been chipped away as he lived.

Things he had comforted himself by saying everyone did.

Wasn’t that so?

He thought it was natural because everyone discarded those things. Sometimes the scars left behind were painful, but he believed that everyone carried such scars as they lived….

But then, he appeared before him. Someone who hadn’t discarded anything.

Someone who possessed the boldness, unconventionality, and arrogance that he had only ever dreamed of, and who was now speaking to him.

It wasn’t a sense of wonder.

It was more akin to sorrow.

What the Master had lost, Kang Jin-ho possessed. Living like that, one should naturally be broken and collapse. But there was someone who hadn’t collapsed.

That person was not only not collapsing but was also building a fortress that even the Master hadn’t reached. So how could he endure it? His entire existence was being challenged.

Wiggins had chosen to join him.

He, who still had a future, could make a new choice. Wiggins himself couldn’t fully articulate his choice, but the Master could now understand.

Why Wiggins had chosen Kang Jin-ho.

Because he could find it.

Wiggins believed that by joining Kang Jin-ho and walking alongside him, he could recover the parts of himself that had been chipped away. And he believed he could move forward.

But the Master couldn’t do that.

He couldn’t abandon himself now.

And it was impossible to reset everything and start over. His life had reached its completion stage, and it was time to prepare for the end.

But could he start over?

If the foundation of a building that had been built over a lifetime was flawed, and the desired shape couldn’t be achieved, could he tear it down and start over? His life was running out, wasn’t it?

He couldn’t.

No one could.

That was the difference between the Master and Wiggins.

Wiggins had the youth to pursue the ideal he had witnessed with his own eyes. If he was called young, others would find it strange, but from the Master’s perspective, youth was a title given to those who had the opportunity to start over.

By that standard, Wiggins was young enough to be called young.

But the Master couldn’t start over.

That was what was making the Master so uncomfortable.

He couldn’t join him. He couldn’t start over.

Then at least he had to confirm.

Where the person who had walked the path he couldn’t walk was now. Not with his eyes and ears, but with his body, and with his martial prowess.

In a way that was impulsive and extreme, but also the most certain.

“I will report this matter to the Round Table, Master.”

“As you wish.”

The Master, leaning back in his seat, tilted his head slightly.

‘It’s heavy,’ he thought.

His whole body felt heavy. No, rather than heavy, it felt like countless things were grabbing and pulling at his limbs.

Those who lived in high altitudes didn’t realize they lived in an environment with less oxygen. Things they had always known and lived with were not recognized.

The moment they realized they had lived in a harsh environment was when they descended from the mountains.

The Master was the same.

He had never once considered that the countless restrictions and rules that bound him like shackles were wrong. Everyone lived like that. Wasn’t it too natural?

But he had seen it.

A person without shackles.

Kang Jin-ho would also have things to consider.

But those weren’t shackles or restrictions. Shackles that could be removed were no more than ornaments. They had to be impossible to remove to be shackles, and impossible to escape to be restrictions.

In that sense, Kang Jin-ho was infinitely free.

Infinitely.

“Please understand, Master. I have a duty.”

Yes, duty.

Everyone had that. Even I do.

But sometimes….

The Master lowered his head and looked ahead. Through the car window, he could see Kang Jin-ho’s car moving ahead.

‘You must be free,’ he thought.

Just because a martial artist had chosen to compete, he wouldn’t have to deal with the kind of situation where young children would argue about it… Kang Jin-ho would never experience that.

He wouldn’t have to go through the process of having his every action evaluated and judged for its legality.

A martial artist.

Kang Jin-ho was truly a martial artist.

A tyrant who seized his rights with his own martial prowess and wielded those rights as he pleased.

A freedom so clear it hurt.

That freedom was so dazzling that he couldn’t help but be jealous.

He wasn’t envious of his unbelievable martial prowess, nor the tremendous achievements he had built in such a short time. But that freedom alone was so dazzling that he couldn’t help but be jealous.

“Do as you please, do as you please.”

So, shouldn’t the Master also indulge a little?

A small freedom to act as he pleased, without thinking about the consequences. At least for this one moment.

“As you please.”

The Master’s gaze followed Kang Jin-ho, who was sitting in the back seat of the car.

This one act of rebellion wouldn’t even allow him to imitate his freedom, but at least he wanted to face Kang Jin-ho on equal footing, even if just for a moment.

It might be a foolish choice that had never existed in the Master’s life and would never exist again….

‘The fact that I can make that foolish choice is freedom,’ he realized.

The Master, who had been swimming in deep water, was now for the first time sticking his head out of the water.

‘It’s so dazzling,’ he thought.

So very.