Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 968

“Below?”

The term ‘Round Table’ can refer to several things.

In the classical sense, it refers to the table where the Knights, representatives of each nation, sit together. In a broader sense, it refers to the organization to which those Knights belong.

And the Round Table that Wiggins is talking about now refers to the headquarters of that organization.

The headquarters is a region, a terrain. And in a more explicit sense,

‘It’s a building.’

Bator frowned.

“So, you’re saying the Round Table is underground?”

“Exactly.”

“……Underground?”

All that’s visible are an open space and rocks, but you’re saying there’s a huge facility below?

…Well, fine.

It’s possible. Like the General Assembly and the Three Kings Alliance… most martial artists set up their headquarters in places that are not visible to ordinary people.

There’s no benefit to being seen by ordinary people.

It seems a bit excessive to set up a building underground, but there wasn’t anything particularly problematic about it.

The problem was something else.

“How do we get down?”

“Naturally, with magic.”

“Magic?”

“Yes. Although it’s not visible, there’s a huge magic circle installed here. If this magic circle is activated…”

“N-no way, spatial teleportation? Is that really possible?”

“The elevator will operate…”

Bator quietly took a step back.

“D-don’t look, you bastards! A person can get excited.”

The Flame Demons quietly turned their gazes away.

But even in the midst of this, there’s always one person who has something to say.

“You’ve watched too many comics.”

“Kkeueung.”

Bator’s face flushed at Bang Jin-hoon’s sarcastic remark.

“W-well, I don’t know much about magic, so it’s possible.”

“Usually, it doesn’t go that far.”

“Damn it.”

Realizing that nothing he said would fix the situation, Bator chose to shut his mouth instead.

“So…”

Kang Jin-ho opened his mouth to smooth things over.

“A mechanism?”

“It seems that’s what they call it in the East. It’s similar. To be precise, it should be called a machine that moves with magic.”

“……Fascinating.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at the open space with interest.

In the past, there were things like mechanism formulas and magic circles in the Central Plains [ancient China], but most of them were just crude tricks. The reason they worked was because the scientific knowledge of the people living at the time was severely lacking.

Wasn’t China a country with its own scientific advancements?

Of course.

But there was a crucial difference from now. The modern era is an age where knowledge is shared by everyone. You don’t need qualifications to learn knowledge, and anyone can gain knowledge if they want to.

But the knowledge of that era was a privilege shared only among the ‘knowers’ of a specific class. While the knowers of that time discussed geometry, most people couldn’t even write their own names.

So, crude tricks could work.

In that sense, the Western martial arts world was definitely ahead of the East in this area.

“Then how do we get in?”

“It’s not difficult. I can start it. Please gather towards the center over there.”

Everyone moved to where Wiggins was pointing.

“A little more to the left. Between those rocks.”

“Here?”

“Yes. Good.”

Wiggins nodded and approached the pile of rocks gathered on one side.

Watching the scene, Bang Jin-hoon whispered quietly.

“Doesn’t it feel like a medieval movie? It’s so amazing.”

“A little.”

Even Kang Jin-ho had to agree.

Bator, his face flushed, added an interjection.

“My heart is pounding a little? It feels like riding a roller coaster.”

“Can you ride one?”

“That’s how it feels, how it feels!”

“How do you know how it feels when you haven’t even ridden one?”

“……Director Bang Jin-hoon, see me later.”

“No need.”

While Bang Jin-hoon and Bator were bickering, Wiggins began casting.

His hands glowed white, creating strange patterns in the air.

“……He’s got the moves.”

“Agreed.”

The metaphysical patterns created in the air began to shine. Then, they seeped into the pile of rocks. At the same time, the ordinary-looking pile of rocks suddenly began to emit a bright light.

“Oh.”

“Ooh!”

Exclamations flowed from here and there.

It was a scene that should have been tense, but it looked like they were at a theater.

“These guys, aren’t they nervous?”

Bator shouted, and the Flame Demons pouted.

He’s the one who’s most excited.

Sssshhhhh.

The lights that had been emitted along with the strange noise gradually faded.

A quiet silence descended.

After waiting for a while, Bator couldn’t hold back and opened his mouth.

“Do we have to wait longer?”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Wiggins turned around abruptly. Then, with an awkward face, he scratched the back of his head.

“There’s a problem.”

“Huh?”

“It seems the Round Table has changed the activation code.”

“……What does that mean?”

“Well, to explain it… it’s a bit complicated. To put it simply, it’s like the homeowner changed the lock while I was away from home…”

Bator’s eyes widened.

“You didn’t think of that?”

“Of course, I thought of it.”

“But?”

“……This lock is a bit complicated… Removing it and installing a new one is extremely difficult. So, I thought they wouldn’t have touched it, but they did. I don’t know whether to call it amazing.”

Bator’s forehead veins popped as he looked at Wiggins, who was chuckling.

“So? We can’t get in?”

“Lord Bator.”

“What.”

“A door isn’t just one thing. In fact, the concept of a door is a funny one. If a person can enter, it can be called a door, so there’s no need to be fixated on it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“……It means we have to find another way.”

“You’re full of crap.”

He was openly cursed at, but Wiggins couldn’t even refute it. He just subtly covered his flushed face with his sleeve. This was something he really hadn’t expected.

“So how are we going to get in? Can’t we just break this?”

“It’s difficult. This is a door leading to the Round Table. It wasn’t made carelessly enough to be destroyed by an attack.”

“You can’t break it?”

“It’s probably impossible.”

“You’re an idiot.”

Bator clicked his tongue.

“Didn’t you say that anything a person can enter is a door? There’s no need to break the door. Doesn’t it mean the Round Table is below here?”

“……That’s right.”

Bator pointed to the side.

“Even if they’ve blocked this, we can just dig into a place where a building would likely be. It’s not like the building is going to run away.”

“It’s admirable that such a common-sense idea came from Lord Bator’s head. But it seems that mages are better at using their heads than Lord Bator.”

“It would be better to speak directly without twisting your words before I beat your mouth straight.”

“It’s impossible. To prepare for that possibility, a spatial distortion field is deployed in the area leading to the Round Table. If you dig in, you’ll probably end up coming out on the outskirts of the forest.”

“……Is that even possible?”

“It’s possible, that’s why it’s magic.”

“Then that spatial teleportation…”

“That’s not possible.”

Wiggins said firmly, and Bator became dejected.

“I don’t understand why this is possible but that isn’t.”

“It’s not difficult to divert a flowing stream. But it’s impossible to boil a flowing stream and make it come out somewhere else. No matter how much magic it is, it can distort the laws of the world, but it can’t change them.”

Isn’t that the same thing?

He wanted to argue, but he decided to hold back. Arguing with an expert about a field he didn’t know well was just asking for humiliation.

“So what are we going to do?”

“……I can release the spatial distortion field.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Even if I use all my abilities, it will take about twelve hours from now.”

Hearing that, Bang Jin-hoon sighed and opened his mouth.

“It seems like we can go get some food. Shall we go eat?”

He said it jokingly, but it was quite a difficult situation.

“Twelve hours.”

The most important thing in this whole operation was not secrecy but speed. It was most important to push them without giving them time to react.

But twelve hours?

The Round Table wouldn’t be idle during those twelve hours. It was enough time for the requested support from each region to arrive. By the time the door opened, the forest would be surrounded by a swarm of troops.

“……I’m sorry, Lord.”

Wiggins’ face was filled with an indescribable embarrassment.

It wasn’t a joke. Wiggins was really embarrassed right now. Opening a magic circuit with a perfect defensive magic circle and inserting a new activation code into it was a task that would take even a master ten days to complete.

Things are only pursued when necessity and leisure combine. The master lacked necessity, and even more so, leisure.

To invest ten days of the highest-ranking mage to prepare for the unlikely possibility that Wiggins would invade England, open the door to the Round Table? This was a foolish act from a cost-benefit perspective.

But someone did that foolish thing.

So, he couldn’t help but be embarrassed.

“Any other way?”

“……I can’t think of any right now.”

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho glanced down.

“What’s below here?”

“There’s an entrance.”

“Why can’t we go in?”

“The defensive magic is strong. It can’t be penetrated with ordinary power.”

“Is it impossible for you too?”

“I didn’t create this magic circle. It’s a legacy of the Supreme Mages who once ruled the world. I can’t dare to dismantle this magic circle. All I can do is open the spatial distortion field around it and create a path to infiltrate the building.”

“Simple.”

Kang Jin-ho reached into the air. Kang Jin-ho, who had taken out the Red Dew [a sword] from the subspace, slowly drew the sword from its sheath.

“So, you’re saying we can just break this?”

“Lord! W-wait a minute!”

One thing was clear.

Wiggins might have a higher understanding of magic, but the others clearly had a higher understanding of Kang Jin-ho. The moment Kang Jin-ho drew the Red Dew, those who had been gathered around Kang Jin-ho ran away without looking back.

“I-if you break this, the surroundings will be destroyed…”

Bator grabbed Wiggins, who was shouting, and tucked him under his arm.

“Stop the person who’s trying to stop him, you idiot.”

“N-no, it won’t work!”

At that moment, the sight of Kang Jin-ho leaping into the air was vividly imprinted in Wiggins’ eyes.

Kang Jin-ho, who had risen 5 meters into the air, was covered in red and black demonic energy. The burning demonic energy gathered on the Red Dew, creating a massive sword of demonic energy.

The sword was swung down and slammed into the ground.

Then….

Boom!

An explosion, as if a huge bomb had been dropped, shook the forest. The world became as bright as day for a moment, and a storm raged.

“Hiiiiiiik!”

The martial artists of the General Assembly rolled on the ground from the massive aftershock.

Trees were uprooted, and rocks flew into the air. It was a true explosion.

When the blinding flash disappeared and the storm subsided, the appearance of the open space came into view.

A path had been opened below the ground, which was cracked as if an earthquake had occurred.

Kang Jin-ho, who had landed on the ground, gestured with his chin towards the cracked earth.

“Let’s finish this quickly. Before the police come.”

It’s not the police, it’s the army that will come!