Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 936

I thought I knew enough.

I thought I had faced him and confirmed it.

But now, the Master had to admit that he knew nothing.

‘He’s on a different level.’

You can’t truly know this man just by facing him.

You can only see his true nature when you stand before him as an enemy. Just like the Master is now.

If a hungry beast threatened him with its mouth wide open right in front of his face, wouldn’t he feel like this?

It felt like he could hear a growling sound, like a hallucination.

His skin tingled.

His heart was constricted.

But more than anything, what was making the Master struggle was the fear that had been pressing down on him since a little while ago.

‘Am I feeling fear? Me?’

That was impossible.

He had no intention of putting on a false pretense of having transcended the fear of death. The fear of death was something that no human could escape until the moment they faced it.

But what he was facing was not death.

It was just a person, just one martial artist. To feel fear just by facing him, even before the match had begun?

It was incomprehensible.

But it was also a reality he couldn’t ignore.

This stickiness.

A stickiness as if he had dipped his hands in blood was enveloping his entire body. The sticky, viscous feeling of a dense liquid. The air was heavy, pressing down and crushing him.

He had felt this way when he first saw Kang Jin-ho.

A person who carried a power that no human could possess.

A person who held a demon within a human body.

But the pressure he felt then was nothing compared to the pressure the Master was feeling now.

Even the energy that leaked out subtly felt like walking into hell. So how much pressure was the Master receiving now?

Especially since Kang Jin-ho was showing such hostility.

‘I’ve done something inappropriate.’

He realized how far he had drifted from combat.

It was clear that Kang Jin-ho’s energy was stimulating people’s fear, but if it had been the Master of the past, he would never have been shaken like this.

This fear.

He didn’t want to admit it, but the source of this fear was not the sticky killing intent that Kang Jin-ho was emitting. It was the Master’s weak heart that was facing a situation where he had to fight someone who seemed stronger than him.

Was he afraid of defeat, or was he afraid of death?

“Hah…”

The Master raised his sword and aimed it at Kang Jin-ho.

“I know you are strong. But I am not someone to be taken lightly either…”

“Is that how you fight in your neighborhood, with your mouth?”

The Master closed his mouth.

He was right.

They had already decided to compete and stood here. What more was there to say? This was just the Master stalling for time to relieve his tension.

‘He’s not even giving me a chance to escape.’

There was no way out.

Then?

‘I have no choice but to move forward.’

The Master’s body stretched out like taffy. The Master’s sword, rushing in with terrifying speed, tore through the air and aimed to split Kang Jin-ho’s head.

The white aura on the sword emitted light like a fluorescent lamp.

Kang Jin-ho’s Red Luster [a type of weapon or energy] blocked the Master’s sword.

Kwaaaang!

A roar erupted.

It wasn’t the sound of swords clashing.

But regardless of its power, Kang Jin-ho’s Red Luster had definitely blocked the Master’s sword.

But the real beginning was from that moment.

The staff in the Master’s left hand was placed on top of the clashing swords. He didn’t slam it down with force. He just brought it over.

The moment Kang Jin-ho was about to react to that strange action.

“Guh!”

Crackle!

Along with a short incantation from the Master’s mouth, a terrifying energy surged through the Red Luster and into Kang Jin-ho’s body.

‘Lightning energy?’

It felt like a high-voltage current was flowing into his body.

The terrible pain he had felt when he fought against the masters of lightning in the past. Even the mighty Kang Jin-ho had no choice but to create distance.

Thud!

Kang Jin-ho, kicking off the ground, retreated backward. The Master, seizing the initiative, easily created distance.

But this was what the Master wanted.

The staff was swung again.

It seemed like a dozen arrows of light were created in the air, and then they plunged down towards Kang Jin-ho at the speed of light.

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes widened slightly.

It wasn’t sword energy. It wasn’t a long-range attack either.

It was literally a mass of energy.

Those masses of energy pierced into Kang Jin-ho’s body at the speed of light.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Red Luster and Blue Luster [another type of weapon or energy] deflected the incoming masses of light.

Even if their form was light, they were ultimately energy. If it was something that contained energy, there was no reason why they couldn’t deflect it.

It was at that moment.

“Burn!”

Kang Jin-ho’s surroundings were instantly covered in a massive inferno.

The sound of the massive flames burning was similar to the sound of water pouring from a pump.

The fierce flames were melting the ground, spewing out black smoke.

“That…”

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes widened.

“What is that…”

Wiggins, also with a tense face, responded to Lee Hyun-soo’s words.

“The combat style of a magic swordsman is different from that of a normal martial artist.”

A magic swordsman uses two martial arts simultaneously.

The benefits of this are endless. But among them, the most outstanding point is, without a doubt, distance.

Every martial artist has their own distance.

If someone using a sword of similar skill clashes with someone using a spear, the battle is decided by distance.

If the sword user can penetrate the distance where the spear has the advantage, the sword user wins, and if they don’t give up that distance, the spear user can unilaterally slaughter the sword user.

Every weapon has a distance where it can exert its optimal power.

But a magic swordsman is free from that distance.

If they are close, they mainly use swords and apply magic. If the distance widens, they can launch unilateral attacks through magic.

In terms of war, it was the same as an army composed of a single cavalry unit facing a unit that combined spearmen, archers, infantry, and cavalry.

There was no need to explain which unit was more efficient in the history of warfare. A single unit always reveals its limitations.

‘Is he a one-man army?’

A magic swordsman can do everything alone.

It would vary depending on what kind of magic and what kind of sword they had mastered, but assuming they had mastered everything, they could cover both close and long range, and even provide support and healing.

This was something that could not be found among Eastern martial artists.

‘He’s not just difficult to deal with, is he?’

They cover both close and long range, and even provide support and recovery. Moreover, depending on the type of magic, they can possess both strength and flexibility at the same time.

“…Isn’t that like saying they’re flawless?”

“That’s right.”

Wiggins wore a mocking smile.

“It’s not just because it looks cool that so many people tried to become magic swordsmen. A completed magic swordsman is a terrifying existence.”

Lee Hyun-soo immediately understood.

If Lee Hyun-soo were to fight a magic swordsman, what would happen?

‘I can’t see an answer.’

It didn’t mean that they were so strong that he couldn’t be their opponent. It meant that it was difficult to find a way to attack them.

A match is ultimately about attacking the enemy’s weaknesses with your strengths. It’s about securing your distance, deceiving the enemy’s attacks, and landing your own attacks.

But a magic swordsman has no weaknesses.

They can exert their power at any distance, and they can prepare for any attack.

The word ‘perfect’ could not be more fitting.

“Then how do you attack them?”

“There isn’t one.”

“Huh?”

Wiggins shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s one of your problems. Don’t think that there’s an answer to everything in the world. Sometimes, there are problems that have no answer.”

“And just because a problem has no answer doesn’t mean it can’t be solved. If there’s no way to untie a knot, you can just cut it off.”

Lee Hyun-soo tilted his head.

Cut it off?

“And more than anything…”

Wiggins looked at the flames with a subtle gaze.

“No matter what method I devise, it won’t mean anything to the Lord. He’s not the type to look for answers in the first place.”

Whoosh!

At that moment, the burning mass of flames split in half.

Fierce flames.

Even in the flames that were so violent that they seemed like they would turn everything they touched to ashes, Kang Jin-ho maintained a calm expression. He walked forward slowly, having split the flames.

Kang Jin-ho, not a single hair or piece of clothing harmed, grinned, revealing his teeth.

“You’re doing something interesting.”

Watching that scene, the Master bit his lip.

‘I didn’t think it would work, but…’

He didn’t think that he could catch Kang Jin-ho with this kind of attack.

But at least there should have been some scorched marks.

It wasn’t ordinary fire.

It was a high-heat flame that could melt even a reinforced concrete building in just ten seconds, leaving no trace of its original form.

But his face wasn’t even flushed.

“Is that magic?”

Kang Jin-ho slightly extended the Red Luster.

“If I had known this, I should have experienced it a bit through Wiggins. It’s definitely different from what I knew.”

Kang Jin-ho had never exchanged swords with Wiggins.

That’s why he had never experienced this kind of magic. He had seen Wiggins use magic many times, but most of Wiggins’ magic was support-based.

If he had known that such offensive magic was possible, he would have exchanged swords with Wiggins a long time ago.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I can learn it now.”

Kang Jin-ho, with the Blue Luster and Red Luster hanging down, slowly walked towards the Master.

It was a casual walk.

But as each step continued, the Master’s body began to twitch and slowly bend over.

The Heavenly Demon’s Descent Step [a technique that uses demonic energy to overwhelm opponents].

With each step, he imbued demonic energy to overwhelm his opponent.

The Master’s body couldn’t withstand the enormous pressure and twisted.

‘What is this!’

He couldn’t open his mouth. If he opened his mouth, it felt like his intestines would pop out through his throat. It was as if a giant was grabbing his body and squeezing it.

“Haaah!”

The Master let out a huge shout and stretched his body out. His heart pumped mana [spiritual energy] and sent it throughout his body.

At the tip of the raised staff, a clear white lightning bolt bloomed. A dozen streaks of lightning flew towards Kang Jin-ho in the blink of an eye.

But Kang Jin-ho instead rushed towards the lightning.

The Red Luster, extended forward, received all the lightning. The lightning, having nowhere to go, spun wildly on the Red Luster, causing a discharge.

“Hup!”

With a light shout, he shook off the Red Luster. Kang Jin-ho, having twisted all the incoming lightning, grinned, revealing his white teeth, and charged towards the Master.

The Master’s sword and staff gathered in front of his chest.

Then, they were extended towards Kang Jin-ho.

“Explosion!”

Explosion.

Not flames, but an explosion.

A ripple, like a stone thrown on the surface of water, occurred in the air. Along with the ripple, a shockwave directly covered Kang Jin-ho’s body.

Kang Jin-ho’s body, which was rushing forward, was slightly pushed back.

But that was all.

As if the push was to give him momentum, Kang Jin-ho’s body rushed towards the Master like a thunderbolt.

The swung Red Luster clashed with the Master’s sword.

And then…

Kwaaaaaaaang!