Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 991

To charge at an insurmountable foe requires immense courage. The stronger the opponent, the greater the courage needed. Thus, Brunor was summoning the greatest courage of his life.

His legs trembled.

His heart pounded like a drum.

Brunor bit his lip.

Was he afraid?

Of course, he was terrified.

People sometimes make a mistake. They say courage is the absence of fear.

But Brunor did not think so.

Not fearing what should be feared is not courage. It is recklessness and insensitivity.

True courage is the ability to overcome fear and do what must be done, even while fully aware of the danger.

Brunor awakened the courage within him.

Strength surged into his legs.

His bloodshot eyes fixed on Kang Jin-ho.

The current Kang Jin-ho was completely different from the one before. He no longer emitted streams of black flames; that demonic figure was gone, replaced by the form of an ordinary human.

But that fact did not lessen Brunor’s fear.

The oppressive aura.

The oppressive aura that Kang Jin-ho possessed had not diminished in the slightest. Visually, there was a big change, but the thick, heavy, and explosive energy he was emitting was unchanged.

The opponent had not changed at all.

“Uaaaaaaah!”

Brunor roared and charged forward. For him, the shout was not a process to boost morale.

It was a process to blow away the fear that filled his heart.

He shouted to awaken his spirit and charged straight at Kang Jin-ho.

His eyes met Kang Jin-ho’s.

Brunor gritted his teeth. Kang Jin-ho’s eyes were smiling. Not a nasty sneer.

Just eyes that seemed to be enjoying the situation.

‘Damn it.’

The thought that this life-or-death battle might be nothing more than a game to him crossed his mind. A sense of humiliation surged, but that humiliation only hardened Brunor’s resolve.

‘Keep laughing.’

We will be the ones laughing last!

Brunor poured aura into his shield. He didn’t think he could do anything to Kang Jin-ho with this one move. His goal was not to defeat Kang Jin-ho, but to restrict his movements.

Not to bind him, just to restrict him.

To be the first to receive Kang Jin-ho’s attack and turn the blade heading elsewhere towards himself. That was the job of the one standing at the front.

“Oooooooo!”

His shield was imbued with white aura. The shield, filled with aura that was so condensed it looked milky, slammed into Kang Jin-ho.

But there was no sound of impact. A shockwave should have reverberated throughout the hall.

‘This…’

Brunor instantly felt that something was wrong. There was no sensation at the end of his shield. He felt no impact at all.

“You are not a warrior.”

A low voice reached his ear. He turned his head slightly and saw Kang Jin-ho looking at him with cold eyes. Right next to him.

Kang Jin-ho’s wrist flicked slightly.

Then, too easily, he pierced through Brunor’s armor and into his side.

His mouth gaped open.

No scream came out.

What dominated him at that moment was not the fact that his side had been pierced or the pain that followed, but a question.

What was this?

This burning sensation that felt like flames engulfing his entire body?

His mouth opened involuntarily, and his eyes rolled back from the pain he had never felt before.

Kang Jin-ho then lifted his leg and stomped on Brunor’s knee.

Crack!

With a clear sound, Brunor’s knee bent in the opposite direction. Kang Jin-ho, who had subdued Brunor as easily as twisting a child’s wrist, grabbed the back of his neck.

“Kuhhh.”

Brunor trembled all over. But even in the midst of it, he did not let go of the shield he was holding.

Kang Jin-ho narrowed his eyes at the sight.

His bravery was commendable. But courage was only an element in evaluating a human, not a warrior.

These men were not warriors.

Brunor had charged to restrain Kang Jin-ho. Trusting his comrades and limiting his role might be a great team play. But that was all.

‘That’s not what a warrior does.’

A warrior must be able to respond to all possibilities. Even if they cannot be perfect, they must have the mindset to solve any situation on their own.

These men were not warriors.

If anything, they were closer to soldiers than warriors. No matter how strong a soldier was, even stronger than Kang Jin-ho, they could not become a warrior.

From now on, Kang Jin-ho would teach them that.

Crack!

As he put strength into his hand, the armor crumpled and dug into Brunor’s neck. Blood and saliva mixed and flowed from Brunor’s gaping mouth.

“Let go of him!”

Gawain, horrified, charged forward and extended his spear.

Vortex!

More than a dozen vortexes with fierce currents flew towards Kang Jin-ho.

“And they are stupid.”

Kang Jin-ho lifted the hand holding Brunor.

“You bastard!”

Gawain screamed involuntarily. The dozen or so vortexes he had launched struck Brunor directly.

Brunor’s body jerked like a toy doll hit by the wind. More than half of the vortexes were embedded in his shield, mitigating the impact, but the remaining vortexes mercilessly slammed into Brunor’s large body.

“Krrrk.”

Blood gushed from Brunor’s mouth. Brunor, who was half-conscious, was still holding onto his shield, and the shield was emitting aura.

It was a sight that anyone would admire for his will.

But the only reason they could purely admire it was because Brunor, even with his consciousness half-gone, was not losing his fighting spirit and was acting as a good shield for Kang Jin-ho.

“Do you not know honor?”

Kang Jin-ho sighed at Gawain’s rebuke.

Why were there so many idiots spouting nonsense here? That honor, honor.

“So…”

Thud.

Kang Jin-ho took a step forward while holding Brunor up.

“According to you…”

Thud, thud.

“You guys are honorable for attacking together as ten, and I am not honorable for fighting you alone in the way you fight?”

“You are very self-centered.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

They were neither soldiers nor warriors. Except for their strength, they were empty, lacking in everything else.

“Kuhhhhh…”

The groans Brunor was making pierced the ears of those watching.

“Attack.”

“B-but!”

“You must not hesitate to attack because an ally has been captured by the enemy! Do you think Brunor would want that!”

“If we fail to achieve results, the Round Table will fall.”

Those words ignited a fire in the hearts of the Elder Knights.

They were beings who had given up everything to protect the Round Table. They could not abandon the Round Table because of a moment’s hesitation or camaraderie.

Absolutely not.

“Attack!”

“…Damn it!”

Galahad raised his bow.

There were only a few who could attack from this distance. If everyone was hesitating, he had to break that hesitation.

‘Forgive me, Brunor!’

Thwaaang!

The bowstring snapped, and an arrow that should be called a spear flew through the air.

“Hup!”

His arm, with veins popping out, grabbed arrows from the subspace and repeatedly placed them on the bowstring and fired. In an instant, dozens of arrows flew towards Kang Jin-ho, or rather, accurately towards Brunor.

Those watching all bit their lips.

They all knew that it was impossible for Brunor to block those arrows, especially in his current state.

Thwack! Thwack!

As expected.

The arrows mercilessly pierced Brunor’s body. Some arrows bounced off the shield, but those were only a few.

Kang Jin-ho’s body was relatively much smaller than Brunor’s. There was no way to strike Kang Jin-ho while avoiding Brunor’s body.

If the opponent was moderately strong, it might be worth trying, but fighting Kang Jin-ho with a handicap was suicide.

So, they had no choice but to remove the shield. Brunor, the shield.

Thwack! Thwack!

Large spears were densely embedded in Brunor’s body. Brunor, who looked like a hedgehog, trembled, as if he had not yet breathed his last.

“Good.”

Kang Jin-ho, who was holding Brunor up, smiled.

This was the battlefield.

A place where those who spout nonsense about honor would not hesitate to fire arrows at their comrades because they were in the way.

A place where abandoning comrades was done without hesitation to survive.

Yes, this was the battlefield.

Now, a familiar scent began to emanate.

Blood and death, betrayal and fear.

A hot spring where the desire to survive and fear were mixed and boiling.

That was the battlefield that Kang Jin-ho knew.

Kang Jin-ho, who had a light smile, shone his eyes and charged forward. Still holding the still-breathing Brunor in one hand.

Kang Jin-ho, who was charging forward at a terrifying speed, raised his remaining hand and struck Brunor’s back.

Fwaaaat!

With a sound of air tearing, the arrows embedded in Brunor’s body were flung forward.

“Kuh!”

Gawain swung his spear to deflect the flying arrows. No matter how strong Kang Jin-ho was, each arrow he fired like that could not be as strong as Galahad’s arrows.

What made them falter was not the arrows. It was the sight of Brunor, who had become a rag. The holes in his body, where the arrows had been, were gushing blood.

Death.

No matter how much they were Elder Knights, it was impossible for a person who had lost all the blood in their body to stay alive any longer.

Without delay, Kang Jin-ho threw Brunor’s corpse forward.

“You bastard!”

“I’ll kill you!”

Those who were enraged by Kang Jin-ho’s lack of respect for the dead shouted.

But Kang Jin-ho curled up the corners of his mouth as he listened to their curses.

Who killed Brunor?

Him?

Or them?

There was no need to argue.

Brunor’s death might have been Kang Jin-ho’s intention, or it might have been their actions. But obsessing over such things was proof that they were not qualified to be on the battlefield.

On the battlefield, death had no value.

There was no need to ask for a reason for something worthless. Death was just death, and a corpse was just a corpse.

They still didn’t know that? Then he would have to make them understand.

At the cost of their lives. Kang Jin-ho jumped over the heads of the Elder Knights, whose formation had collapsed.