Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 999

“Hoo…”

Wiggins, who had been gasping for air, finally let out a heavy sigh.

His eyes, fixed on the aftermath of the battle, were still wide with shock.

‘How could such a fight…’

He knew.

Both the Elder Knight and Kang Jin-ho were powerful beings he couldn’t even dream of facing in his current state.

However, the battle that had just unfolded before his eyes made even that thought seem insignificant.

Wiggins had never witnessed such a desperate fight.

Those who risked everything to defeat their opponent.

‘I can never again use the phrase ‘a fight to the death’.’

For Wiggins to even utter such words would be an insult to them.

They truly fought with their lives on the line.

That intense fighting spirit was still making Wiggins’ body tingle.

Reflecting on that spirit, Wiggins felt a deep sense of shame.

He thought he had been training hard. He had dedicated his life to martial arts and strived to become stronger.

But could that be called effort?

Wiggins had always considered what he had done as effort. He believed he had pursued strength more earnestly than anyone else.

However, after seeing Gawain’s fighting spirit, he realized that he had never truly been desperate.

Gawain was incomparably stronger than Wiggins. Yet, the desperation Gawain displayed was something Wiggins couldn’t even dare to imitate.

To think that someone who had achieved so much and was so strong could be more desperate than the weak Wiggins.

‘What have I been doing all this time?’

Had he ever been as desperate as Gawain, even once?

He thought he had done his best but had hit a wall. He assumed that his talent had reached its limit and stopped progressing.

But was that truly his limit?

If he had been as desperate as Gawain, if he had devoted himself to training with everything he had, wouldn’t he have become stronger than he was now?

It was shameful.

As a martial artist.

“…Incredible.”

The Master also seemed shocked by the battle.

He was not his usual, composed self.

Wiggins, standing behind the Master, could clearly see his shoulders trembling slightly.

It was bound to be shocking.

Both Wiggins and the Master were the same. They had lived their lives as martial artists, but this was the first time they had witnessed such a high-level battle.

And they couldn’t be sure if they would ever see such a battle again in their lives. They had witnessed a great battle that might only happen once in a lifetime, so how could their hearts not tremble?

“Master.”

The Master quietly nodded.

A subtle emotion was dominating them both.

It was collapsing.

The myth of the Elder Knights.

And the pride of the Round Table.

The defeat of the Round Table, which had never yielded to outside forces, was now unfolding before his eyes.

It was not a sight Wiggins could watch with a comfortable heart.

No matter how much Wiggins had realized the contradictions of the Round Table and chosen a new path, the place he had spent his entire life was not the Assembly, but the Round Table.

It was not enjoyable to watch the Round Table collapse.

“The moon, when full, eventually wanes.”

The Master shook his head.

Even though he knew it was the natural order of the world, he couldn’t help but feel heavy-hearted.

“But…”

The Master bit his lip.

It wasn’t just heavy.

The Elder Knights’ display had stirred a sense of pride in the Round Table within them.

“They are strong.”

“Yes.”

“They are so strong. No, the Round Table was always strong. It’s just that we failed to properly inherit that legacy.”

Looking at Kang Jin-ho, one couldn’t help but think.

Perhaps Western martial arts were inferior to Eastern martial arts?

Was that why they couldn’t defeat Kang Jin-ho and had to yield the title of the strongest to the Three Kings?

It was a thought that no one could voice, but no one could ignore.

However, the Elder Knights had dispelled such doubts.

What mattered was not the martial art.

What mattered was the person.

Any martial art would be different depending on who learned it and how.

If Wiggins had learned Gawain’s spear techniques, would he have become as strong as Gawain?

If Gawain had learned Wiggins’ magic swordsmanship, would he have felt limited by Wiggins’ level?

No.

Gawain would have been strong even with magic swordsmanship.

Just like Kang Jin-ho, it wasn’t that Gawain’s martial art was strong, but that the person was strong.

He showed it with his whole body.

Before doubting the martial art one had learned, one had to look back at how desperate they had been.

That was the last lesson Gawain had imparted to the Round Table.

The Master and Wiggins stared intently. They were the ones who had the duty to witness the end of the Elder Knights. They had to engrave their end in their eyes and their final spirit in their hearts.

That was the duty of those who would carry on the Round Table.

Crack.

He pulled out the spear embedded in his chest.

There was a large hole, big enough for a child’s fist to fit through. If the spear had gone in just a little deeper, it would have been dangerous.

But he wasn’t angry.

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked at Gawain, who had died standing on his own two feet. A satisfied smile was on his face.

Kang Jin-ho reached out and closed Gawain’s eyes.

There were such people sometimes.

Enemies, but ones you had to acknowledge.

While alive, he was not a warrior, but at the moment of his death, he was clearly a warrior.

He had no intention of showing respect to an enemy. But at least he could acknowledge him.

“Gawain…”

Perhaps this name would not be forgotten until the moment he died.

The others were the same.

They hadn’t earned his respect like Gawain, but they had all fought their best.

The proof was all over Kang Jin-ho’s body.

Since returning to this world, the only person who had left such scars on Kang Jin-ho’s body was the Red King. Although there were many of them, they had achieved what only the Red King had done.

‘I should apologize.’

At the beginning of the battle, he had looked down on them a little. It was because their methods were different from those of a martial artist.

Even though he thought Gawain was definitely stronger than Bator, he thought he wouldn’t be able to beat Bator if they fought directly.

He had judged that their desperation could not surpass Bator’s.

However, Kang Jin-ho admitted that he was wrong.

Their methods might have been different, but they also had desperation.

Even if the cause of their desperation was loyalty to the Round Table, which Kang Jin-ho could never understand, their desperation eventually reached Kang Jin-ho.

“Hoo…”

Kang Jin-ho, letting out a short breath, turned his head.

The battle was not over yet. It was not the time to be sentimental.

Kang Jin-ho raised his head and looked at the last remaining Elder Knight.

Lancelot.

He was looking at Kang Jin-ho with unwavering eyes.

It was remarkable that he was maintaining his composure even though all his comrades had died.

“Respect.”

Lancelot raised his sword and brought it to his chest. Kang Jin-ho watched the scene with indifferent eyes.

“I always thought the day would come when the Round Table would fall.”

Lancelot’s voice was indifferent.

“Nothing lasts forever.”

There was a hint of sorrow in that indifference. Perhaps that was the most intense expression of emotion he could muster.

“But I never imagined that the Round Table would fall at the hands of a single person.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked at Lancelot and opened his mouth.

“Are you giving up the fight?”

“Not at all, man from the East. I intend to do my best to stop you. But even if I stop you, I don’t think the fate of the Round Table will change.”

Lancelot glanced around.

He could see people with horrified expressions.

The Round Table would lose the Elder Knights today. It was impossible for Lancelot to defeat Kang Jin-ho and survive, but even if Lancelot did survive,

It would be the same.

To be an Elder Knight, one needed overwhelming power. Lancelot alone could not fulfill that power.

The myth of the Elder Knights was already over.

“May I ask you one thing?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

It wasn’t his style to chat during a battle, but the spirit shown by Gawain and the others had made Kang Jin-ho a little more lenient.

Considering what Gawain and the others had shown,

There was no reason not to listen to the last Elder Knight’s words.

“If you defeat me, what do you intend to do with the Round Table?”

“Nothing.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I won’t do anything.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“Aren’t you here to take over the Round Table?”

“Why?”

Lancelot laughed.

Why…

That one word made sense.

‘He wouldn’t need it.’

To him, the Round Table was just a cumbersome burden.

Humans form groups. Humans fill the gaps in themselves with others.

But Kang Jin-ho was not like that.

He was complete on his own.

“Then why go through all this trouble?”

“Because there was someone who wanted it.”

Lancelot’s gaze went past Kang Jin-ho’s back. Lancelot, seeing the Master and Wiggins,

Turned his head again and looked at the Knight Levo, who was sitting down.

He could roughly guess the situation.

“You’ve gone to a lot of trouble. This was originally our role.”

Kang Jin-ho didn’t answer.

That was enough conversation.

Lancelot raised his head and looked at the ceiling.

‘It’s over…’

It was a strange feeling.

Gawain had failed to keep his promise to him. And Lancelot had also failed to keep his promise to Gawain.

Gawain had failed to create a perfect opening for Lancelot to attack, and Lancelot had been so engrossed in Gawain and Kang Jin-ho’s battle that he had failed to seize the slightest opening.

That had decided the fate of the Round Table.

Scratch.

Lancelot’s sword scraped the floor.

Looking back, it had been a long time. The time he had dedicated to the Round Table would be over a thousand years. He would fall into an endless sleep, wake up to fight again, and then fall into an endless sleep again.

It was not something a person could endure.

The time spent asleep was as good as non-existent. Since becoming an Elder Knight, all that remained in his memory was fighting. When one fight ended, a new fight would begin, and then another new fight would begin.

Lancelot was standing at the end of that fight.

“One more question.”

“Were we strong?”

The corners of Kang Jin-ho’s mouth curled up.

“Enough.”

Yes.

That was enough.

Lancelot’s gaze turned to his surroundings again.

His juniors, his successors, were watching him. He had the immense responsibility of marking the end of the Elder Knights.

Lancelot, making a light sign of the cross, raised his sword.

“Death to the enemy!”

The lineage of the Elder Knights would end here today. But the world would remember them forever.