Descent of the Demon Master

How was anyone supposed to describe this spectacle? Indeed, how should Li Xiaoyu go about explaining what his eyes were seeing right now?

He was getting an unforgettable lesson in how useless and incomplete human vocabulary could be. Because his shock couldn't adequately be described by any words he could think of right now!

Li Xiaoyu's jaw loudly clattered. Was it because of fear? Yes. However, this fear wasn't the 'average' sort of fear that everyone already knew.

He believed he had already lived a long life. Since he finally got to witness the demon emperor's descent, he'd not have any regrets even if a grim reaper knocked on his doorstep tomorrow.

Usually, people's fears were a response to harm about to befall their way or their impending death. Since that was the case, Li Xiaoyu shouldn't have anything to be scared about. Even then, he was shaking in his boots right now!

Terror had totally gripped his heart!

'I've been completely mistaken about the demon emperor all this time!'

The demon emperor was no messiah out to save the demonic cultivators!

Until today, Li Xiaoyu believed the demon emperor was their savior, therefore they needed to worship him unreservedly. Chang Min seemed to disapprove of this mindset but didn't really go out of his way to correct Li Xiaoyu.

As it turned out, there was a subtle difference in the reasoning. And Li Xiaoyu learned today what that difference was.

The demon emperor was not a savior. No, he was a ruler. A conqueror! And demonic cultivators were merely accessories and hangers-on to offer their worship and exaltation!

Li Xiaoyu's stunned and terrified eyes locked on the spectacle unfolding in the distance.

Everything was burning. Absolutely everything!

A mountain of crushed and twisted metal was burning in an inferno, with choking smoke billowing from seemingly everywhere. It was like staring at a raging wildfire. Worse still, the burning mountain of steel didn't just contain wrecks of cars. The people who arrived here in those cars were also the part of the fuel keeping that inferno going!

To cap it all off... The demon emperor stood before this horrifying bonfire to nonchalantly chat on a phone. His current appearance starkly contrasted with what he looked like not too long ago.

Back then, the demon emperor was the avatar of terror. The embodiment of fear itself! A man capable of inducing so much fear, thus fully deserving of the title 'demon emperor'...!

However, the current Kang Jin-Ho didn't possess the appearance of a devil seemingly crafted out of pitch-black malice. If the demon emperor had been exuding the same level of fear-inducing aura, Li Xiaoyu wouldn't dare raise his head and stare.

Even so... Kang Jin-Ho's majesty hadn't dissipated. Not even by a little. When Li Xiaoyu first showed up here, his attention was instantly stolen by Kang Jin-Ho's attendant, Vator. But now? Vator wasn't even in Li Xiaoyu's mind right now.

The demon emperor exuded so much presence that even a mighty warrior boasting such a huge physique was relegated to playing second fiddle.

As proof... Behold! Even though he just went through a battle filled with bloodshed and slaughter, the demon emperor remained unperturbed, nay, unruffled, as he relaxedly issued new orders on the phone!

Li Xiaoyu had no clue who was on the other side of the line, but that person must be feeling the same way as the awestruck demonic cultivators. And that would be worshiping and fearing the demon emperor!

Those were the expected responses toward the absolute ruler, after all.

***

Contrary to Li Xiaoyu's thoughts, though, Kang Jin-Ho's voice lacked much energy as he talked on the phone.

“...I'm telling you, I haven't killed everyone.”

-Assembly Master, sir! Haven't I always tried to remind you not to kill everyone opposing you, so why...! Yes, I understand that it's your decision at the end of the day, but we still need to figure out who is pulling the strings, so I keep telling you to spare at least one or two...

“But, what's the point? Isn't it obvious who is behind all this...?”

-Yes, we know they are Japanese. We do. However, are you implying that every Japanese works for the same party? Who is the central figure, then? How did they enter China? These are some of the myriad questions we need to figure out, you know? So, why did you have to...

“...”

-Also... It's all good and well that you can cut loose to your heart's content like this, but... Assembly Master, I've been seriously pondering whether to talk to you about this or not for quite a while, you see? However, I've decided to tell you this since I figured that similar events as tonight's will occur frequently in the future. Don't get upset and try to listen with an open mind, please.

“...Fine. What do you want to say?”

-Well, why do you always speak like that when demonic energy fills your mind, sir? Can't you, you know, speak like you usually do? It's not like you've gone through a morphin' time or anything like that, so why... Yes, I'm sure you have no issues with talking like that, but it's like torture for me when trying to translate what you've said in a threatening manner on the phone, you see?

“...I see. My apologies.” Kang Jin-Ho sheepishly muttered while rubbing his face. He realized how terrible his action had been after imagining the scene of Lee Hyeon-Su back in Korea, holding on to a phone in the middle of the night while trying to translate what Kang Jin-Ho was saying.

-I know you graduated from middle school some years back, so is there a need to...

“I told you, I'm sorry!” Kang Jin-Ho quickly raised his voice as his face reddened from shame. 'It doesn't want to get fixed, now does it?'

Demonic qi entered the cultivator's body through their baihui pressure point, located on top of their skull. Once demonic qi was utilized, a different type of energy would fill up the cultivator's brain. Unsurprisingly, doing so came with undesirable side effects.

Some people would go completely insane and thirst for wanton destruction and murder. However, if one managed to master the demonic arts properly and reach a high-enough realm, they could greatly minimize the side effects.

Unfortunately for Kang Jin-Ho...

'Why do my side effects have to be how I speak?!'

When Kang Jin-Ho got angry and allowed his demonic qi to boil, or when he deliberately roused and circulated demonic qi up to a certain level, the totally-different thought and speech patterns to his usual self would take over him. How many times had he nearly died of cringe while reflecting on what he said during those moments?

But now, he went and revealed that side of him to a close acquaintance! And he even forced that poor acquaintance to translate what he said, too!

If he had been in a sane frame of mind, Kang Jin-Ho would've never done that. However, even someone of his realm wasn't completely free from the demonic qi's control, leading to this catastrophe.

Vator tutted quietly. “Yes, Mister Lee is right, master. That was a bit too much, even from you. It's not like you were trying to disgrace yourself deliberately, no? I was listening to you, and I have to say, that was tough to listen to.”

“...”

By now, Vator had also returned to his usual self, having finished carrying out Kang Jin-Ho's orders. Which also signaled the return of his snarky attitude.

What was so remarkable about Vator's attitude was that he deftly managed to tread the line. His words alone seemed fine enough on their own, but what got on Kang Jin-Ho's nerves a bit were Vator's arched eyes and lips that were obviously holding back his laughter.

This "evidence" was obviously not enough for Kang Jin-Ho to beat up Vator, so...

“What should we do about the aftermath, master?” Vator casually asked.

“What do you mean?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head.

“I hope you weren't thinking of casually walking away after creating this mess? If you do, that will cause a massive blowback. Many unsavory things do occur in China, yes, but an incident of this scale will still make headlines all over the globe.”

“Hmm...” Kang Jin-Ho rubbed his chin while glancing at the bonfire, then nodded away. “Can't we use those people? The way I see it, they should be experts in this sort of thing?”

Vator nodded to express his agreement when Kang Jin-Ho pointed at the demonic cultivators. “Indeed, the demonic cultivators are good at this type of work. It's difficult to find other... 'suitable' jobs for them, after all...”

That was when Vator noticed the demonic cultivators pitifully trembling away in fear. The big man frowned deeply.

“However, Master... I'm sure you can see it now, too. I don't know what you were expecting from them, but those people can never satisfy you.”

“Are you suggesting they are trash?” Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes.

“I know that word is a landmine, so I shall tread carefully around it. However, let me make this clear. Even with my common sense, I can't think of any good uses for those people. Don't they need at least some kind of a foundation or basic understanding first before you can teach them or use them in some way? They are even worse than Korean martial artists. Worse still, they are older, too.”

Kang Jin-Ho sighed under his breath, knowing Vator was mostly right. Of course, the big man was still wrong about one thing.

“No, I can still teach them,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

Vator cocked an eyebrow. “Really? How?”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded slowly. “Demonic cultivators are fundamentally different from the run-of-the-mill martial artists. The same also applies to the demonic cultivation methods. Improving them quickly can be done. And demonic cultivators can overcome the inevitable limitations imposed on every martial artist due to their age.”

“Hmm...? In that case, I'll have to revise my tune, then. Simply put, those people can become stronger depending on what you do. Is that right?”

“Yes. Stronger beyond your imaginations.”

“Although hard to believe... I must believe it. It's coming from you, after all,” said Vator while rubbing his chin. 'And it seems I don't need to doubt them for their loyalty, either...'

The way demonic cultivators stared at Kang Jin-Ho reminded Vator of children staring at their very-strict father. It certainly was different from the way subordinates stared at their scary boss.

'Simply by mastering demonic arts, you end up in a similar state as me? No, their state seems a little different from mine...'

Vator mulled what he could see. It seemed those demonic cultivators' desire to obey was way stronger than Vator's. For instance, Vator would retort and act snarky toward Kang Jin-Ho. However, those people seemed ready to jump into the nearest body of water if Kang Jin-Ho told them to drown themselves.

Even if this level of obedience was unrelated from the start, it was hard not to understand why Kang Jin-Ho had been so relaxed during this journey to find useful demonic cultivators. Whether they were trash or recyclable junk, the correct thing was to utilize people who were 100% subservient to you.

“Master, you should at least try to talk to them first.”

“Mm. I should.” Kang Jin-Ho turned around and headed toward the still-trembling demonic cultivators. Vator silently followed from behind, his gaze locked on Kang Jin-Ho getting sharper.

'He's gotten stronger...!'

Kang Jin-Ho was no longer the same man as the one who fought against Vator. It was possible that Kang Jin-Ho hadn't been fighting at full strength back then. However, even after taking that possibility into consideration, there was no denying that Kang Jin-Ho had grown exponentially stronger.

'Is this the power of demonic arts?'

All pursuits of martial arts were blocked by 'walls'. In that case, what about the notion of getting stronger the more one persevered and trained?

That was nothing but a dream. All martial artists had to overcome these walls if they hoped to advance even further. This story remained the same even for returners.

However, it was as if walls didn't exist for Kang Jin-Ho. He seemingly grew stronger by just breathing like everyone else!

Vator couldn't be sure if this quirk was unique only to Kang Jin-Ho or if all demonic cultivators possessed it.

'Maybe it's both...?'

Vator had a hunch that Kang Jin-Ho would've still grown stronger at a scarcely-believable rate without cultivating in demonic arts. As for Kang Jin-Ho's personal army, they were ably smashing through the walls hindering their progress and charging ahead in their cultivation path, too.

Not even Vator could estimate how much stronger these people would get with enough time.

In that case, what about those demonic cultivators? Vator shifted his focus and scanned the demonic cultivators bowing deeply at Kang Jin-Ho. What if those people became the 'true' demonic cultivators while remaining loyal to Kang Jin-Ho...?

Just what would happen?

Demonic cultivators were treated like cockroaches that kept crawling out no matter how many of them were killed. Their sheer numbers were seen as their only advantage until now, so how would the power dynamics shift if they managed to acquire true strength?

When his thoughts reached that far, Vator's expression hardened.

The idea of Martial Assembly beating back China and Japan could've only happened in a dream. Even if Kang Jin-Ho was in charge, fighting both of those superpowers was impossible. It'd be no different to hitting a boulder with an egg.

However, what if Kang Jin-Ho acquired these people, too? And what if he could really turn them into the 'true' demonic cultivators?

The boundary separating dream and reality was blurring. Until now, Vator had no choice but to work tirelessly toward impossible goals due to his obedience, but... The hurdle for the impossible goals had been lowered appreciably now.

'Maybe he will really change the world...!'

The scenery before Vator's eyes could hold an even greater significance than he had bargained for. If everything unfolded as Kang Jin-Ho willed, wouldn't the later generations see this moment as when history was rewritten?

Chills ran down Vator's spine when he thought about that.

'I'm sure the Three Kings won't sit still.'

Something big happened tonight. So, if the Three Kings still failed to cotton onto the fact that Kang Jin-Ho was in China after tonight... They should just abdicate their thrones and retire since they lacked the qualifications to be called a king!

Very soon, the Three Kings would learn of Kang Jin-Ho's presence in their country. In that case, how would they respond?

'Well, at least things won't get boring for a while...'

Vator continued to chase after Kang Jin-Ho while thinking that this trip might get a bit of an extension soon.

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