Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 937

Crack!

Crackle!

Snap!

It wasn’t the sound of bones breaking. It was the sound of trees, unable to withstand the impact, snapping as the Master’s body collided with them after being flung away.

Towering trees broke and fell as if they were mere twigs.

Only after breaking through dozens of trees did the Master’s body finally slam into the ground.

The Master shook his head, pushing himself up from where he was embedded in the earth.

His hands trembled.

‘What hit me?’

He couldn’t remember.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen it properly; his mind had literally gone blank. His memory cut off at the sight of Kang Jin-ho charging towards him, and then it resumed with the impact of hitting the trees. The time in between was completely empty.

The shock had been so immense that it had even stolen his memories.

‘If I hadn’t put up a shield?’

He would have died.

His head would have been blown off in one blow.

“Tuh!”

He spat out a mixture of broken teeth and blood. The Master trembled at the terrible pain that coursed through his entire body.

He was strong.

Unbelievably strong.

He had fought countless battles and faced numerous martial artists.

But none of them had ever broken through the Master’s defenses with a single blow and inflicted such severe damage.

‘This is a bit unfair.’

If he were a boxer, he would be an out-boxer. A type specialized in defense.

Of course, it wasn’t that he lacked offensive power, but he was more specialized in dodging the opponent’s attacks and delivering well-timed counterattacks. No matter how strong a power punch was, it was meaningless if it didn’t connect.

Dodge and confuse. And for unavoidable attacks, guard to minimize the damage. That was the Master’s fighting style.

But the opponent in the ring was wielding a hammer.

It was absurd.

Human arms could not block a hammer. If you guarded, your bones would break, and if you didn’t, your body would be crushed.

It was incredibly unfair.

The ring the Master was in was like that.

The difference between Kang Jin-ho’s offensive power and his own was too extreme.

He had to dodge everything to make it a game.

‘The handicap is too severe.’

“Cough!”

Dark blood rose up his throat. The Master spat out the blood and rechecked the sword and staff in his hands. Even though his consciousness had been briefly severed, he hadn’t dropped his weapons.

This seemed to be solid proof that he was still a martial artist, and a smile formed on his face despite the extreme pain.

“Heal.”

The white light emanating from the staff pierced the Master’s body.

“To meet the worst opponent ever at this age…”

The god of fate is indeed cruel.

The Master curled up the corners of his mouth and walked back the way he had been thrown.

“…Is he dead?”

“No.”

Lee Hyun-soo looked at the decimated forest with anxious eyes. A sight that even a bulldozer couldn’t create in a day had been made by a human body.

It was stranger that he was still alive.

“He’s not someone who would die from that,” Wiggins said calmly, which seemed to reassure him.

But…

‘Will that person still be alive when this battle ends?’

It seemed impossible.

He had confirmed it with that one blow. Kang Jin-ho had no intention of holding back against the Master.

Even though Kang Jin-ho might be older in actual age, seeing him blow away the Master, who looked like an old man, with a single blow made the word ‘character’ involuntarily slip from his lips.

Wasn’t that elder abuse?

“Shouldn’t we stop them?”

“Stop them?”

“Yes. If the Master dies here…”

Then something truly irreversible would happen. The Master of the Round Table visiting this country and dying there? And not dying in an accident, but being killed by the head of that country?

‘It’s war.’

What if the Assembly had suffered the same fate?

Of course, it was impossible to imagine Kang Jin-ho being killed, but what if, by some chance, that happened?

It would be chaos.

He could already picture the people who would go berserk, vowing to wipe out everything in that country.

Of course, there would be a clear difference in the status of Kang Jin-ho in the Assembly and the Master in the Round Table.

There was no guarantee that they would go as wild as the Assembly, but even if they were only a tenth as agitated, war would be unavoidable.

“Isn’t war something we should prevent?”

“Hmm.”

Wiggins could also guess what would happen if the Master died here.

First of all, it was unlikely to escalate to the situation Lee Hyun-soo was imagining.

The Round Table was a place without emotions.

The death of their leader would be a humiliating and infuriating event, but humiliation and anger were emotions that were excluded from the Round Table. They would likely only consider the gains and losses with cold rationality.

Of course, the Korean Assembly would be completely excluded from the Round Table’s alliance, but the probability of an extreme war was not that high. Waging a war in this distant foreign land would be a heavy burden for the Round Table, and they wouldn’t want to be the fuse that ignited East Asia, which was like a bomb with all the fuses connected.

‘Even so, it’s something we should avoid.’

They had to avoid complete isolation.

If the Assembly turned even the Round Table into an enemy, there would be nowhere in the world that would support them. They didn’t know how terrifying diplomatic isolation was.

Only Wiggins, who had observed the world, knew its meaning.

That situation had to be avoided. It had to be avoided, but…

“But how are we going to stop them?”

Lee Hyun-soo and Wiggins looked at Kang Jin-ho with somewhat awkward expressions.

Kang Jin-ho seemed quite relaxed.

It wouldn’t be easy to find hostility in his appearance as he waited for the Master with the Red and Blue Luster [a type of energy or aura] hanging down. But the two, who had watched Kang Jin-ho for a long time, knew that this was how he looked when he was truly excited.

“If you interfere…”

“Interfere?”

“Still…”

“If you want to kill me, just put poison in my car. That would be a nicer way to die.”

Lee Hyun-soo didn’t say anything more.

Approaching Kang Jin-ho, who was engrossed in battle, was difficult even for Wiggins. He couldn’t even attempt it without risking his life.

“The Lord isn’t someone who doesn’t think either.”

“Huh?”

Wiggins silently looked ahead.

It just meant that there was no solution.

Whether they knew their feelings or not, the Master slowly walked out of the newly created forest path.

“He seems fine?”

“The magic swordsman isn’t just strong in attack. Usually, people are distracted by the flashiness of the mage, but the mage’s defense is also not something to be ignored.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen a proper mage.”

Wiggins meant that he wasn’t a proper mage.

He felt a bit resentful, but it wasn’t wrong, so Wiggins couldn’t open his mouth.

“Then does that mean he can be a match?”

“He can be a match.”

Wiggins had been feeling a sense of unease in this conversation since a while ago.

‘The Master isn’t someone to be looked down upon like this.’

He was a martial artist representing the Round Table.

He might have stepped down from the front lines now, but in the past, the Master wasn’t someone who was backed by the Round Table’s glory. Rather, it was his existence that solidified the Round Table’s status.

He was that kind of martial artist.

But since a while ago, Lee Hyun-soo had been unilaterally worrying about the Master.

His superior and an enemy were clashing, and he was worried about the enemy?

It was absurd.

But…

‘I’m the same.’

Even if he didn’t want to, he was unilaterally viewing the battle from the Master’s side. He even felt a slight urge to cheer him on.

Was it because of his guilt towards the Round Table and his affection for the Master?

No.

It was similar to how people tend to root for the underdog in sports. While some prefer to see absolute power crushing the opponent, others want to see David defeat Goliath.

It was a bit different, but in this battle, he found himself praying for the Master’s valiant fight.

This was purely because Kang Jin-ho was too ridiculously strong.

‘Having a standard makes me realize it anew.’

Kang Jin-ho was strong.

Too excessively strong.

In the land of Korea, Kang Jin-ho’s existence was like an irregularity. It was true that the level of Korean martial artists was rising overall, and it was also true that their power had reached a level that could not be ignored by other countries.

Historically, there would be no country that had raised its martial prowess so quickly in such a short period.

But the problem was that Kang Jin-ho’s rate of growth was faster than the Assembly’s.

They had also become stronger.

Bator had accepted demonic arts and become several times stronger than before. And Wiggins was also opening his eyes to a new realm.

So, had they gotten even a little closer to Kang Jin-ho?

No.

The gap between Bator and Kang Jin-ho had widened to an extent that was incomparable to the beginning.

Bator was growing at an absurd rate. But Kang Jin-ho was making Bator’s growth rate seem slow.

His own speed was so fast that those around him felt like they were standing still.

The Master was also a victim of that.

If Wiggins and the Master were to fight now?

Wiggins could never defeat the Master. Since they had similar martial arts, there wouldn’t even be any variables created when different martial arts clashed.

A difference where he could aim for a couple of wins out of a hundred fights. A difference close to a one-sided massacre.

But what if that Master faced Kang Jin-ho?

‘Is one out of a hundred possible?’

The difference between the Master and Kang Jin-ho was greater than the difference between Wiggins and the Master. And perhaps by now, the Master had realized that fact as well.

This was what Wiggins was focusing on.

So, how would the Master react?

How would that experienced martial artist face an absolute opponent that he couldn’t defeat with his own abilities?

The Master, who had walked out slowly, quietly looked at Kang Jin-ho.

The dried bloodstains on his lips clearly showed who had the upper hand.

“It was a shock I haven’t felt in a while.”

But the Master acted as if this level of injury was nothing. And Kang Jin-ho quite liked that attitude.

A martial artist should be like that.

Even if all their internal organs were burning, they shouldn’t show weakness in front of an enemy.

“I apologize.”

Kang Jin-ho said firmly.

“I had a bit of a prejudice against Western martial artists. But I was mistaken.”

The Master sighed.

‘I can’t stop him either.’

The moment he felt that the simple praise was sincere, the emotion that filled his heart was, absurdly, joy.

Being acknowledged by a mortal enemy.

Being acknowledged by someone who had what he didn’t.

That fact stirred the Master a little.

“I appreciate the praise, but…”

Hiding his feelings, the Master raised his sword.

“I haven’t shown you everything yet.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled.

“Then you can show me now.”

The two charged towards each other.