Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 938

The sword erupted in flames.

Not just a fierce burning, but literally ablaze. The Master’s sword, wreathed in flames that stretched out for meters, cleaved through the earth.

Clang!

Red Dew deflected the flaming sword.

The sword blocked it precisely. But flames cannot be blocked by a sword. Though the physical force was negated, the flames bypassed Red Dew and engulfed Kang Jin-ho’s body.

With a short shout, Kang Jin-ho unleashed his energy.

The sword energy erupting from his blade repelled the swirling flames.

Kang Jin-ho was witnessing something new.

‘He called him flawless.’

Weigman had called the Sword Master flawless.

But Kang Jin-ho, facing the Master’s sword, felt something slightly different from Weigman’s assessment.

Varied.

For Kang Jin-ho, ‘flawless’ was meaningless. Having no flaws didn’t mean being strong. A perfectly skilled elementary school student wouldn’t beat an adult man with no martial arts experience.

A fight isn’t decided by the presence or absence of weaknesses.

It’s decided by who is faster, who is stronger, and who is more ferocious.

The Sword Master’s strengths, as others perceived them, were meaningless to Kang Jin-ho. But the Sword Master’s strengths that others didn’t see were now greatly intriguing Kang Jin-ho.

‘Is this even possible?’

Plants beneath his feet grew into thorny vines, gripping Kang Jin-ho’s legs.

After pushing away the rising flames, ice spears rained down like hail.

When he tried to pierce with his sword, the space itself seemed to vanish with a pop, and then reappeared far away.

Completely different.

This was clearly a battlefield.

And the one he was facing was a martial artist.

But now, Kang Jin-ho had entered a world he had never experienced before.

Varied.

It felt like he was realizing for the first time today that attacks could be this varied.

This wasn’t a battle, but a puzzle.

Solve one, and a new puzzle appears. Solve that puzzle, and another blocks the way.

It was the same now.

The moment he broke through the flying flames and ice, clearing a path, the ground beneath his feet became slippery.

Kang Jin-ho could sprint at full speed even on an ice rink. Yet, it was so slippery that he momentarily lost his balance. It felt like friction itself had vanished.

Even on a grassy field.

‘How bizarre.’

If he had experienced this in a multi-person battle, he might have been seething with frustration by now.

Magic wasn’t a significant threat to him.

No matter how it transformed into flames, ice, wind, or lightning, the essence remained the same.

The Five Elements [the five basic elements of nature: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water].

Eastern martial arts also had ways to transform internal energy into natural forces.

Like the Scorching Yang Art, the Freezing Cold Art, and there was definitely a Thunder Art.

Kang Jin-ho had experience facing them all.

No matter how they changed form, energy was just energy. It couldn’t escape its essence. Anything made of energy could be countered with energy. Overpower it with stronger internal energy and crush it.

But the moment the Master realized that magic wasn’t working on Kang Jin-ho, he changed his tactics.

Eliminate friction.

Envelop the sword in flames and lightning.

When gravity was reversed, sending his body soaring into the sky, even the mighty Kang Jin-ho couldn’t help but be taken aback.

Each of these was just a minor hindrance that couldn’t defeat Kang Jin-ho.

But what if these hindrances continuously interfered while exchanging blows?

What if, the moment he raised his sword to block an incoming strike, the friction beneath his feet vanished, making it impossible to stand properly?

What if gravity reversed, sending his body floating into the air?

It wasn’t easy to react instantly.

If he had experience, he could have dealt with it. But now, Kang Jin-ho was experiencing magic for the first time. He knew of its existence, but this was the first time he had faced magic being aggressively hurled at him.

Moreover, he was also facing an unfamiliar Western swordsmanship.

‘Interesting.’

Kang Jin-ho’s smile deepened.

How long had it been since he felt like this?

It was different from using martial arts to crush an opponent. It was like, experiencing an unknown realm and gradually exploring it?

Yes, this brought back memories of the past.

The past, a very long time ago.

When he first learned and practiced martial arts with his master.

Perhaps because of that, Kang Jin-ho’s sword wasn’t filled with much killing intent.

‘Show me more.’

Watching the scene, Lee Hyun-soo asked in a slightly serious tone.

“They seem to be evenly matched?”

“Hmm?”

“Over there…”

Lee Hyun-soo scratched his head.

“It looks like they’re exchanging blows.”

“Hmm.”

Weigman gestured with his chin to one side.

“Look there.”

“Yes?”

Lee Hyun-soo followed Weigman’s gaze.

“They’re pale, aren’t they?”

“…They are.”

Weigman was pointing to where the Master’s attendants were. Their faces were all pale as they watched the battle.

“You don’t understand the Sword Master at all, so it might look that way to you. But they know the Sword Master. That’s why they’re reacting like that.”

“What’s different?”

“Using magic and swords at the same time certainly has many advantages. Simply put, it means double the output. But conversely, it also means double the fuel consumption.”

“Ah!”

“The longer the battle, the more disadvantageous it is for the Sword Master. But now, the Master is pouring out magic like rain. If he were an ordinary mage, he would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago.”

“Is it that taxing? It doesn’t seem like it’s been long since they started fighting.”

“Would it be easier to understand if I said that each of those spells is on the level of releasing sword energy?”

“…He’s a monster.”

He understood instantly.

‘Indeed.’

Creating explosions in the air, conjuring flames that could melt metal. Moreover, summoning lightning from a clear sky, and reversing gravity to lift people into the air.

If all those attacks had been directed at others instead of Kang Jin-ho, what would have happened here?

Even a large army would have been annihilated in an instant.

‘Certainly, that’s more effective when used against an army than an individual.’

It covered an area dozens of times larger than what a sword or arrow could cover.

To occupy such a large area to face one person was, in a way, a serious waste.

And that waste was likely draining the Master’s mana even at this moment.

“It’s because he’s the Master that he can endure it. But even that has its limits. No matter how fiercely you swing a wooden sword, you can’t pierce steel.”

“That’s true.”

If Weigman was right, the outcome was already decided.

“But considering that…”

“Indeed.”

Both Weigman and Lee Hyun-soo felt it.

Kang Jin-ho could cut off the Master’s head right now if he wanted to.

As proof, no demonic energy was emanating from Kang Jin-ho’s body. When Kang Jin-ho unleashed his true killing intent, his entire body would be covered in demonic energy.

“It doesn’t seem like the situation is getting as serious as I thought…”

Weigman stopped speaking and closed his mouth.

As if his words had become a reality, black demonic energy began to explode from Kang Jin-ho’s feet.

“…Well, it’ll be over soon anyway.”

Lee Hyun-soo widened his eyes and stared at the scene.

‘Like an iron wall.’

No, ‘iron wall’ was too crude a term. It was inadequate to describe this man.

It didn’t work.

No attack worked. Neither his sword nor his magic.

The flames he created with the force to crush his heart were shattered by a single sword strike. A sword strike imbued with an aura so powerful he had never created before felt as easy to block as a child’s stick swing.

Even if he bound his legs with binding magic, he moved as if he had never been bound. If he eliminated friction beneath his feet, he walked on air.

When he reversed gravity, he propelled himself through the air. When he tried to freeze his fingertips, his skin didn’t even turn red.

It was truly an insurmountable wall. An overwhelming gap.

The overwhelming gap he had never felt in his life existed between him and Kang Jin-ho. No matter what he did, he couldn’t block it, and nothing worked.

It was an incomprehensible strength.

The Master had abandoned martial arts.

Not intentionally, but his training had lost its intensity at some point. The moment he became a Master of the Round Table, individual strength didn’t matter much.

So, he had trained, but not with the same effort as in the past.

But that was no excuse.

If he had put in the effort into training until now, could he have faced this man?

Could he have stopped him? Impossible.

Even if he had developed his martial arts to the best of his ability, reaching twice the strength he could achieve now, he still wouldn’t be a match for Kang Jin-ho.

The Master was now realizing that despairing gap.

What was different?

What was different between him and Kang Jin-ho?

Why had they reached such different places?

They had started from the same point.

“Now…”

At that moment, Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth.

“It’s not fun anymore.”

Those words were the signal.

At the same time, Kang Jin-ho’s body was engulfed in explosive demonic energy.

Like black, surging flames.

‘Hellfire.’

It was as if the flames of hell had covered Kang Jin-ho’s body. Between the dark, tar-like flames that evoked the abyss of hell, two blood-red eyes were fixed.

‘Is this the essence of the hell I saw?’

In the hallway on his way to meet Kang Jin-ho, the Master had seen a vision of hell.

That absurd vision, a premonition like a prophecy.

The essence of that premonition now revealed itself before the Master.

A form that seemed to embody all the evil in the world.

An overwhelming incarnation of evil.

‘Demon King.’

A classic but fitting title.

“It was somewhat fun. So…”

The flames beneath his blood-red eyes surged.

“I’ll kill you without pain.”

The black flame incarnation engulfed the Master.

And at that moment, the Master knew.

It wasn’t just simple flames.

Each of these flames was a condensed and refined energy, no different from a powerful aura. The moment he realized that the flames that appeared to be burning were actually stronger than steel, his vision was completely covered in black flames.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

The Master screamed a terrible scream he had never uttered in his life, from the pain of his entire body being crushed and pulverized.

His bloodshot eyes widened as if they would tear, and his throat split open, spewing blood.

In indescribable pain, the Master’s consciousness quickly faded.

It was too easy to sense death.

In his slowly fading consciousness, the last thing the Master saw was a pair of red eyes.

Too intense.

The moment he saw those bloodshot eyes, burning with a mixture of killing intent and malice, the Master accepted his death.

It was only natural.

Because he had opposed this demon.

Death was only natural.

The Master’s consciousness completely faded.