Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 997

The hand holding the bow trembled.

He knew.

There was nowhere to run. There was no escape in this narrow hall.

Even if there were a place to escape, he wouldn’t be able to outrun that man. The demon was rushing towards him with terrifying speed, his eyes spewing streaks of bloody light.

There was no way to escape that demon.

So, he planted his feet firmly on the ground.

He forced his legs, which kept trying to flinch backward, to stay put.

To not run away.

To strengthen his resolve.

He knew!

‘I am powerless.’

His arrows were sharper than anything in the world.

It was true that those who fought at the front lines of the battlefield received more glory, but in reality, he and Bedivere had achieved the greatest feats among the Elder Knights. [The Elder Knights are a group of powerful warriors, often associated with Arthurian legends.]

On the battlefield, magic and arrows pouring in from a distance were twice as frightening as knights rampaging in front of you.

But that was a story for the battlefield.

To be blunt, in this battle, he was not being helpful at all. Rather, two of his comrades had lost their lives because of the arrows he had fired.

Galahad bit his lip.

It was a terrible experience to see the martial arts he had been so proud of his entire life become trash in an instant. And now, beyond that experience, his very life was in danger.

‘I am weak.’

He had to admit it.

Only then could he see what was next.

Galahad’s hand quickly plunged into the subspace. Then, he pulled out a huge arrow from within.

His arrows were enormous.

If those who didn’t know saw it, they would think it was a spear rather than an arrow, it was so thick and long.

But the arrow Galahad had pulled out now was twice as thick as any arrow he had ever fired. It was so thick that one might doubt whether it could even function as an arrow.

‘There’s no way to catch him with normal methods.’

Kang Jin-ho was rushing towards him right now.

Even if there were people blocking his path, there was no guarantee that they could deal with Kang Jin-ho.

And now, to block Kang Jin-ho in a place where the front was wide open?

It was impossible.

Especially for an archer like him, facing an opponent head-on was tantamount to suicide. If he fought in this way, he wouldn’t be able to defeat anyone from the Round Table. [The Round Table refers to the legendary knights of King Arthur.]

But Galahad chose to break formation. If he was not going to be of any help anyway…

“Galahad!”

The Elder Knights, realizing that Galahad had left his position, screamed.

‘No need to be surprised.’

Even if he was a useless piece of trash, there was still something he could do.

He aimed the arrow at the bowstring. Dragon Killer.

That was the name of this arrow.

It was an arrow that had no practicality, an arrow that had been pushed to the extreme in terms of destructive power, just to kill a dragon.

Like all weapons that were biased to one side, this arrow had overwhelming destructive power, but also a fatal weakness.

Even with his archery skills that had reached the level of divine skill, he could not fire this arrow accurately and quickly.

That was why he had never used it before and had kept it sealed.

But now, Galahad knew how to use this arrow.

‘I’ve become useful, my friends.’

His eyes were filled with madness.

Two of his comrades had died because of the arrows he had fired. He had tried to act calm and composed, but his insides were already rotten.

He couldn’t die without doing anything and face his fallen comrades. So…

He would drive this in.

Even if it meant trading his life for it.

Squeeeeeak!

The bowstring was pulled taut. It was a strange shape, with the arrow being twice as large as the bow, but the pressure it gave off was enormous.

But Kang Jin-ho did not hesitate at all and rushed towards Galahad.

No, rather, Kang Jin-ho’s speed as he charged towards Galahad increased.

Kwaaaaaaa!

Kang Jin-ho’s hand, flying in with terrifying speed, grabbed Galahad’s neck.

The impact caused his neck to bend backward, and his neck bone cracked. If he hadn’t protected himself with aura all over his body, his neck would have been broken or severed by the current blow.

“Kuh!”

He felt a pain as if his whole body was burning.

In that indescribable pain,

Galahad smiled instead.

“Heh…”

“What are you trying to do?”

Kang Jin-ho pulled his arm straight. Then, he looked directly into Galahad’s eyes. Galahad, who met Kang Jin-ho’s red eyes, chuckled and laughed.

“…It’s an honor.”

“That you would pay attention to the actions of a nobody like me.”

It was an honor.

Half sincere, half sarcastic.

“I…”

Crack.

Kang Jin-ho did not hesitate and broke Galahad’s neck. He didn’t know what he was trying to ramble on about, but there was no reason to calmly listen to his words.

Galahad’s eyes, his neck broken, rapidly clouded over. No matter how skilled a warrior one was, a person whose neck was broken could not maintain their life.

And with that…

“To…together…”

Galahad’s lips curled up.

“Let’s go…together.”

At that moment, Galahad’s arm, which had not loosened its grip until then, drooped and released the bowstring he had been pulling.

But there was no way that someone whose neck was already broken could fire an arrow. The Dragon Killer, which had been on the bow, fell to the floor with a thud.

Even his last attack had missed in vain.

The moment Kang Jin-ho was about to throw Galahad away without any regrets.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!

The Dragon Killer exploded as it was, swallowing Galahad and Kang Jin-ho.

An unexpected blow.

Those who were watching screamed at the terrifying explosion.

“Lord Master!”

“Galahad!”

Magic Weapon.

That name was just right.

The Dragon Killer caused a tremendous explosion, but the aftermath of the explosion did not spread to the surroundings. As if an explosion inside a large glass tube could not penetrate the glass tube, the flames swirled only within a certain area without spreading outward.

It was physically impossible.

But magic made it possible.

The condensed explosion swept over Kang Jin-ho and Galahad with several times the power it would have had if it had spread out.

And then…

Whoooosh!

The explosion subsided, leaving only the sound of cold wind. Only one person was standing on two legs in the place where the flames had raged.

“Tch!”

Kang Jin-ho spat out blood-mixed saliva on the floor.

“Lord Master!”

Lee Hyun-soo’s shout echoed loudly.

Kang Jin-ho had survived even in that tremendous explosion. But he was not in a state that could be called unscathed.

With his face a mess of soot and blood, Kang Jin-ho raised his hand and wiped his face.

Then, he staggered slightly.

He didn’t fall, but he had taken a hit.

“…You’re doing something interesting.”

Kang Jin-ho’s hand reached towards his chest.

Squeeze!

Then, he grabbed something and pulled it out.

Clang.

Something fell from Kang Jin-ho’s hand to the floor.

A black, 20cm long needle.

The needle, with a sinister color, gleamed as it was pulled out of his chest.

Clang, clang.

Each time a needle was pulled out, a stream of blood spurted out. More than a dozen needles, each buried a hand’s breadth into his body, were all pulled out.

In an instant, Kang Jin-ho’s whole body was stained with red blood.

Lee Hyun-soo’s face was terribly distorted.

It was an injury that would have killed an ordinary human. No matter how extraordinary Kang Jin-ho was, there was no way he could be unharmed after suffering such an injury.

“Master!”

“Don’t act rashly.”

“But!”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up and stay still!”

Lee Hyun-soo closed his mouth. Wiggins’ voice was filled with urgency and anxiety.

He, too, was at a loss for what to do.

‘Damn it, by such a weapon!’

If Kang Jin-ho had been injured by the attacks of the other Elder Knights, he wouldn’t have felt this way. But that was… that was damn it!

At that moment, Kang Jin-ho raised his head.

Kang Jin-ho, who had raised his hand and wiped the blood from his face, looked at Galahad’s corpse, which had been torn to shreds and was no longer recognizable.

“That was an interesting move.”

Kang Jin-ho, who smiled, baring his teeth, turned his head and glared at Gawain and the others.

“…What are you doing?”

“It seems like a good opportunity? If it were me, I wouldn’t miss this opportunity.”

Gawain looked at Kang Jin-ho with a look of disgust.

‘To use that.’

In an era where myth and reality were mixed.

Sometimes, things that should not have existed in this world appeared. To catch those monsters, weapons that humans could not handle were needed.

The only way to catch a mythical monster covered in steel-like scales was to attack the areas without scales. And for that purpose, holy relics were created.

Past legacies created to explode inside the belly and take down a huge monster in one blow. Weapons created in an era when magic dominated, which even they could not keep up with.

What Gawain used was one of them.

As you can see, holy relics necessarily require the user’s life. From the beginning, the act of sticking a weapon into a monster’s belly presupposes that the user will enter the monster’s belly along with the weapon.

Despite receiving the full force of that terrible magic weapon, Kang Jin-ho still had not lost his will to fight.

“Lancelot.”

Gawain gritted his teeth and shouted.

“Keep your promise!”

“Absolutely!”

No sooner had Lancelot’s answer returned than Gawain took up his spear and charged towards Kang Jin-ho.

Even the weapon created to kill monsters could not defeat that monster. But it had certainly inflicted damage. It was the first time that they had inflicted damage on a monster that they could not even scratch despite sacrificing five lives.

They couldn’t miss this opportunity!

Now was the time to risk their lives.

“Tristan! Percival!”

“Oooooooo!”

Two swordsmen filled his left and right sides.

Gawain charged in with a speed he had never shown before in his life.

Defense?

There was no such thing.

Originally, when this formation was formed, Brunoer should have protected his front. Brunoer would receive the opponent’s counterattack, and he would pierce the opponent’s chest. That was the standard.

But Brunoer was already dead.

And even if Brunoer were there, nothing would change. Trying to protect his own life while facing that monster was an act of utter arrogance.

“Dieeeeeeeeeee!”

What was aiming for the opponent’s heart was not the spear.

His life, his everything.

The will to pierce the opponent’s heart even if it meant burning his soul.

Only at the very end did he realize what a warrior should fight with in battle. And his spear, having realized that, showed a power that was clearly different from before.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!

The vortex, which was unleashed with a power that even he was surprised by, flew towards Kang Jin-ho.

Clang!

But that vortex was too easily deflected by Kang Jin-ho’s blow.

Don’t be disappointed.

If it doesn’t work once, do it twice, if it doesn’t work twice, do it three times, ten times! Even a hundred times! Unleash it again and again. Until your body is crushed and your soul is shattered.

His eyes, unable to withstand the excessive pressure, half burst, and tears of blood flowed down his temples.

“Kang Jin-hooooooooooooooo!”

Gawain, the Elder Knight who had protected the Round Table for a thousand years.

His soul was shining so brightly here right now.