Descent of the Demon Master

The Master's sword was burning in flames.

It didn't mean the flames were fierce enough to melt the blade, however. Flames several meters long were extending from his blade while scything through the air!

Clang!

The Crimson Destiny slapped the sword of fire away. The incoming blade was accurately fended off, but the flames remained on course. After all, unlike a sword, flames didn't have a physical form.

The billowing flames rushed past the Crimson Destiny and tried to pounce on Kang Jin-Ho. However, he suddenly roared out a brief but powerful yell while releasing some of his demonic qi.

Sword light immediately enveloped his sword and blew away the incoming flames.

Kang Jin-Ho was witnessing new and remarkable things right now.

'How bizarre…'

Wiggins' evaluation of a magic swordsman was that it was basically perfect and without a fault. However, Kang Jin-Ho couldn't help but make a slightly different evaluation than Wiggins after clashing swords with the Master of the Round Table.

To Kang Jin-Ho, "being perfect" didn't mean anything. After all, having zero defects didn't equal strength in his books. For instance, an elementary school kid possessing perfected hand-to-hand combat techniques still wouldn't win against a grown man who barely knew the basics of combat sports.

A fight wasn't determined by one's strengths and weaknesses. The truth was that things like who was faster, physically stronger, and mentally more prepared to go the extra mile would determine the eventual winner.

All the advantages of a magic swordsman touted by others held little to no meaning to Kang Jin-Ho. But the strengths of a magic swordsman that others seemed to have overlooked genuinely intrigued him.

'I had no idea you could do that?'

Plants suddenly sprouted below Kang Jin-Ho's feet to become sprawling vines to wrap around his legs.

When Kang Jin-Ho blew away walls of flames, he was greeted by spears made out of ice falling on top of him like a hailstorm. And when he took advantage of the opening and thrust his sword forward, it felt like the space itself disappeared, and the Master reappeared some distance away.

What a completely different way of fighting this was!

This was supposed to be a battlefield, one Kang Jin-Ho was intimately familiar with. And he was fighting a top expert, too. However, it still felt like he had wandered into a fantastical world he had never experienced before.

How… versatile! For the first time in his life, Kang Jin-Ho got to learn that attacks could be this varied and colorful.

Rather than a battle, this situation felt more like a puzzle. Solving one puzzle rewarded him with another. Solve that, and he'd encounter yet another puzzle blocking his progress. Like right now!

After destroying the incoming flames and ice blocks, Kang Jin-Ho was about to carve out a path, only for his footing to become slippery. Even though he was capable of running at full speed on ice, the ground had become slippery enough for him to temporarily lose his balance. It felt like friction itself had never existed, to begin with!

...Even though they were fighting on a field of grass!

'This is all so mysterious.'

If Kang Jin-Ho experienced all these phenomena in the middle of a chaotic battlefield involving many combatants, his blood would have rushed to his head from irritation by now. Magic itself didn't pose much of a threat to him, after all.

No matter how many flames, ice, winds, or lightning bolts were generated through mysterious methods, their fundamental nature didn't change at the end of the day. All these things revolved around the concept of the Five Elements.

Obviously, methods to convert internal energy into nature's energy also existed in Eastern martial arts. For instance, the Blazing Sun Energy technique or the Ice Wind technique. Even techniques to manipulate lightning also existed.

Crucially, though, Kang Jin-Ho already boasted enough experience in fighting experts of those techniques.

It didn't matter what form energy was in; it was still energy at the end of the day. It could not overcome its original nature. Any "object" created through energy could be dealt with more energy.

Kang Jin-Ho could just use his superior strength and qi to crush and destroy whatever came his way. That would be all.

However, the Master changed his tactic when he realized his magic wasn't working on Kang Jin-Ho. He removed friction. He sheathed his sword in flames and electricity. And when the Master suddenly reversed gravity, even the one-and-only Kang Jin-Ho got flustered by his body levitating against his will.

Each of these things was nothing more than a simple trick to hold him down. They would never defeat him on their own. However, what if these tricks continued to hinder him while he was clashing swords against his enemy?

What if all friction underfoot disappeared just as Kang Jin-Ho raised his weapon to counter the incoming sword strike, preventing him from getting a good foothold?

What if gravity flipped around, and Kang Jin-Ho floated up uncontrollably?

Even if it was him, responding right away would not be easy. If he had enough experience, then maybe. However, this was more or less Kang Jin-Ho's first time experiencing proper magic.

He might know what magic could do, but today would be his first time experiencing what it felt like to be at the receiving end!

Not only that, but he also had to deal with the unfamiliar Western swordsmanship on top of all the magic spells.

'This is… fun.'

Kang Jin-Ho's smile deepened. When was the last time he felt this way?

This feeling was markedly different from trampling on the enemies through his superior martial prowess. What would be the best way to explain it? As if he was learning more about an unknown territory and gradually conquering it?

'This feeling… it's making me remember my past.'

Not just any past, but from a time in Kang Jin-Ho's second life! This fight reminded him of when he first started learning about martial arts from his martial master.

Was that why? Kang Jin-Ho's sword strikes didn't contain as much killing intent as they normally should.

'Show me some more.'

***

While spectating this incredible battle from the sidelines, Lee Hyeon-Su asked Wiggins in a somber-sounding voice. "Don't you think they are fighting evenly right now?"

Wiggins tilted his head. "Mm? What makes you say that?"

"Well, I mean…" Lee Hyeon-Su scratched his head. "Doesn't it look like they are exchanging moves pretty evenly?"

"Hmm," Wiggins grunted before using his chin to point to the other side of the open field. "Take a look."

"Sorry?" Lee Hyeon-Su hurriedly looked at where Wiggins was pointing at.

Wiggins pensively asked, "Can you see? How worried they are?"

"...Yes, I can."

The spot Wiggins pointed out was occupied by the Master's entourage. And their complexions while observing this battle were deathly pale.

"Mister Lee, you lack the requisite understanding of the strengths of a magic swordsman, and that is why you view this situation that way. However, those people do know. And you can see the truth from their reactions, now can't you?"

Lee Hyeon-Su frowned and tilted his head. "Sir, I… What am I not seeing here?"

"Being able to simultaneously wield sword and magic does grant you many advantages. If I greatly simplify it, doesn't it mean your attack power is doubled? However, when you flip that around, doesn't it also mean you'd need twice the fuel?"

"...Ah!"

"The longer the fight drags on, the more disadvantageous it'd get for the magic swordsman. But the Master has been pouring out one spell after another without a single break. An average mage would've already collapsed from exhaustion by now."

"Is what he's doing that difficult? Even though it hasn't been that long since they started fighting…?"

Wiggins tutted. "Maybe it'll be easier for you to understand if I compare each of those spells to unleashing sword light again and again?"

"...Wow. He's a monster, then." Lee Hyeon-Su nodded grimly after instantly getting it.

'I guess it makes sense.'

The Master's spells created explosions out of nowhere and roused flames hot enough to melt steel. Not only that, but he even called forth lightning bolts from the clear skies above and flipped gravity around to levitate his opponent in the air.

What if all those attacks had been raining down on other people instead of Kang Jin-Ho? What would the scene look like by now?

Even a large army would've been completely devastated. In the proverbial blink of an eye, too!

'For sure. Rather than against an individual, magic is more effective against an army instead.'

One lone magic swordsman was covering a range several dozen times wider than what swords or bows and arrows could cover. Bombarding such a wide area just to fight one person seemed like a serious waste of energy.

...And that waste of energy must be ruthlessly eating away at the Master's mana reserve even now.

"Only someone on the level of the Master can withstand the expenditure of this level, Mister Lee. Even then, there's a limit to how much he can hold out. It's similar to how a wooden sword can never break through forged steel no matter how powerfully it's swung."

"I see. That makes sense."

According to Wiggins, it seemed like the victor had already been decided.

Lee Hyeon-Su narrowed his eyes. "Even if that's true, isn't this a bit… You know?"

"Well, yes. I agree."

Both Wiggins and Lee Hyeon-Su could feel it.

Even now, Kang Jin-Ho could easily cut the Master's head off. If that was what he wanted, of course.

As proof, Kang Jin-Ho wasn't emitting any demonic qi from his body right now. Didn't he always envelop himself in copious amounts of pitch-black demonic qi whenever he genuinely wanted to kill someone?

"Maybe the situation isn't as serious as we…" Wiggins muttered hopefully, only to hurriedly clamp his mouth shut.

The wise old "they" said that words could invite disasters. And to prove that old adage right, pitch-black demonic qi began explosively gushing out from below Kang Jin-Ho's feet.

"...Well, it's about to end, then."

Lee Hyeon-Su's eyes opened wide as he nervously watched the proceedings.

***

The Master grimaced.

'He's like an impregnable wall. No, wait…!'

An impregnable wall didn't seem adequate enough to use as a comparison against this man. After, none of what the Master tried was working against Kang Jin-Ho!

Whether it was a sword strike or a magic attack, nothing seemed to go through.

Flames the Master created by squeezing out all of his strength to the point of wringing out his heart were unceremoniously blown away by one casual-looking sword strike.

The Master injected his sword with an incredibly potent aura the likes of which he had never created before, but this attack was blocked off with the same ease of an adult stopping a little kid swinging a stick around!

Even though Kang Jin-Ho's legs were tied down with Binding, he still moved around unrestricted as if nothing was dragging him down. And when the Master removed friction from the ground, Kang Jin-Ho simply kicked the air to move.

Kang Jin-Ho did the same when gravity was reversed. And when the Master tried to freeze Kang Jin-Ho's hands… His skin didn't even change color!

Quite literally, Kang Jin-Ho was the Insurmountable Wall of Despair!

How was this overwhelming difference in strength even possible? A gap in strength that the Master had never ever experienced or felt in his lengthy life existed between him and Kang Jin-Ho. Nothing he did worked, and he had no defense against what Kang Jin-Ho did.

This level of strength defied the Master's attempt to understand.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

It was true that the Master had given up on the pursuit of his martial path, although that wasn't his intention. From a certain moment on, his training no longer became as intense as before. That was because his individual strength didn't matter anymore after he reached the position of the Master of the Round Table.

So, he stopped putting in as much effort and dedication as in his youth into his training regime. But that wasn't enough of an excuse. That couldn't explain this gap in strength.

What if the Master had been training as intensely as his younger days? Would he be able to fight Kang Jin-Ho? Would he come out as a victor if he had done that?

No, it would still be impossible.

Even if the Master worked even harder and barely managed to become twice as strong as his current realm, he'd still soundly lose to Kang Jin-Ho. The Master was getting a truly devastating lesson on this inescapable, despair-inducing truth.

Just what was so different about him? What was the factor separating the Master from Kang Jin-Ho?

Just what did that man do differently to reach a realm so much higher? When their starting points must've been the same!?

"It's…" Kang Jin-Ho suddenly broke his silence. "...Getting boring now."

That was the signal. Almost at the same time, Kang Jin-Ho's figure was enveloped by demonic qi gushing out like an explosion.

The demonic qi strands billowed and danced like black flames.

'Hell… fire!'

It was as if the Master was watching flames burning in the depths of Hell breaking through the ground to envelop Kang Jin-Ho's figure. And then, only a pair of eyes as crimson as blood burned within the tar-like black flames. This sight immediately made the Master think of the pitch-black abyss found within the netherworld.

'Is this the true form of Hell I witnessed earlier in the airport?'

Back then, when the Master freshly arrived at the Korean airport and walked on the corridor to ostensibly meet Kang Jin-Ho for the first time, he was treated to the illusion of a terrifying Hellscape. The culprit responsible for that truly absurd illusion was his foreboding that verged on premonition.

Now, the origin of the Master's foreboding had revealed itself in the open.

This entity was like the materialization of all evil things existing in the world. An embodiment of pure, unadulterated, and overwhelming evil!

'The… Demon King!'

Although an antiquated concept, that label seemed to fit Kang Jin-Ho so perfectly in this very moment!

"That was amusing. That is why…" Kang Jin-Ho's voice broke through the billowing flames just below the pair of crimson eyes. "...I shall kill you painlessly."

...And then, the embodiment of the black flames pounced on the Master. That was when he realized something: these flames were not actual flames!

Each of these flame-like strands turned out to be a version of materialized qi created by condensing and concentrating an enormous amount of energy!

However, by the time the Master had realized these flame-like things possessed hardness much greater than forged steel, it was too late to do anything. By then, his view was completely blinded by the black flames, and he couldn't see anything else!

"Uwaaaaaaahk!"

The Master screamed in pure anguish like he had never done before in his entire life. This pain, it… It felt like his whole body was getting crushed and ground into meat paste!

His bloodshot eyes opened wider in shock. His throat skin ruptured, causing blood to gush out.

As the indescribable pain mercilessly tortured him, the Master's consciousness quickly faded away. As it turned out, predicting one's demise was surprisingly easy.

The last thing the Master saw as his consciousness completely faded away was a pair of crimson eyes. Such vicious and intense eyes!

Seeing those crimson eyes filled with evil intentions and killing intent helped the Master accept his encroaching death.

This result was inevitable. He dared to challenge the devil, after all! In that case, death seemed a fitting reward.

And that was where the Master's consciousness got cut off completely.