Descent of the Demon Master

Chapter 894: Confronting (4)

KWA-AAAAAHHH!

What a bizarre phenomenon this was.

When objectively evaluated, the spectacle unfolding before everyone's eyes should be seen as truly horrifying and mortifying.

No other sight should be as unbearable to witness as this horrifying spectacle. However, those who were here to actually witness this carnage, they… They didn't find it all that horrifying.

Why was that, though?

Bang Jin-Hun quickly figured out why. It was because… There was nothing left behind.

Where Vator's attack swept past, nothing remained standing. The only thing Bang Jin-Hun's eyes could see was the ship's deck after it got ripped and shredded apart to reveal the skeletal structure underneath.

‘N-now, then. Let’s, uh, think about this for a sec…’

Between a place where nothing remained and another place where a few severed and mangled corpses were lying around, which of the two would terrify someone more? The answer would obviously be the latter.

But the wrinkle in that equation was that Vator's attack literally left nothing behind.

Actually, that wasn't true. Something was left behind, but that “something” was all the blood falling down a large gaping hole in the deck!

“…”

Bang Jin-Hun clamped his mouth shut. Looking at the… thoroughly cleaned battlefield ushered in this feeling of bitter emptiness. But that only lasted for a second before it was replaced by discomfort. Which also soon morphed into fear!

The Japanese warriors lucky enough to not fall under the range of that attack were also going through roughly the same rollercoaster of emotions as Bang Jin-Hun. The sight of a barren deck puzzled them initially, but their puzzlement quickly morphed into heart-stopping terror in mere seconds.

Everyone who was supposed to stand there… was gone!

“Gulp!”

The sound of someone nervously swallowing their saliva echoed like a thunderclap just then. The space that sounded like the middle of a riot was now as quiet as the interior of an old church!

Only then did the Japanese warriors finally notice something. And that was the sound of waves slapping the sides of the ship. That reminded them they were still floating in the middle of this ocean!

After remembering this cruel fact, they realized there was only one option left for them.

They began shuffling back little by little. Not because they were trying to not worsen the situation any further, though. No, it was because their bodies had processed the information before their brains could!

And when their brains finally caught up to the reality of this situation...!

“Uwaaaaaahk!”

“R-run! Jump, you sons of b*tches! Hurry up!”

“D-don’t kill me!”

The Great Escape had begun! With a much greater level of fervor and madness, the Japanese warriors ran toward the edge of the ship. Once they reached the end of the deck, they immediately hurled themselves overboard without even bothering to look back once.

“Hmm…” Wiggins casually shrugged while watching this spectacle. He was rather pleased by his combination attack created together with Vator. “Well, now. I've always wanted to do something like this. Although the Round Table can be a good place to work for, one of its disadvantages is that the Knights are not in sync and can rarely work together on a mission.

“But I still wanted to work together with another Knight, you see? I wanted to see my allies finishing the enemies off while I bound them down. I'm glad that everything worked out superbly this time.”

‘What are you busy babbling about, you crazy old fart?!’

Bang Jin-Hun stared in disbelief at Wiggins. With that, he now was dead-certain about something. This Englishman was also not right in the head!

Sure, Bang Jin-Hun already knew that. However, he still believed Wiggins was the sanest of all the insane bastards in Kang Jin-Ho’s vicinity.

Unfortunately, this experience completely shattered that illusion into millions of pieces. And now, Bang Jin-Hun had no choice but to bitterly accept the fact that not a single person holding the directorial position in the Martial Assembly deserved to be called “normal!”

‘Wait a bloody minute! Maybe others see me as a lunatic, too?!’

Bang Jin-Hun found himself looking back at his life in the middle of a battlefield. While doing that, he also acknowledged how incredible this spectacle laid out before his eyes was.

Without a doubt, this magic thing was appreciably different from the East's martial arts. After all, it was impossible to copy what Wiggins did with punches and kicks alone. Maybe a top expert could unleash their aura to suppress the others or use precisely-guided qi to paralyze one or two people.

Bang Jin-Hun couldn't do it, but Kang Jin-Ho should be able to do it without an issue.

However, what Wiggins did to bind a large group of enemies was not something even Kang Jin-Ho could pull off. This wasn’t the issue of one’s strength. Martial arts weren’t about many-against-many combat situations, after all.

No, martial arts were developed and refined throughout the ages for the singular purpose of completely and utterly defeating the opponent before one's eyes.

That was why, rather than martial arts, the people of Murim chose to develop the art of formations and arrays to deal with enemies boasting large combat forces.

‘So, this is what makes magic so special…!’

Formations and arrays could only be used when many proficient experts combined their powers. However, with magic, one person could produce a similar effect to a powerful formation.

Of course, formations could also kill the enemies trapped within, so this comparison wasn't exactly one-to-one. Still, Bang Jin-Hun had to agree that magic was more convenient to use and also boasted higher efficiency than formations. Even a rank amateur like him could tell that there was a lot more to magic than he had witnessed so far.

The way Bang Jin-Hun saw it, Wiggins' magic seemed to boast an overwhelming advantage when dealing with a large group instead of individuals. In other words, magic would shine the most in a war.

Magic seemed a little lacking when fighting against one top-tier expert, but against a medium-to-large-sized enemy force? Wiggins should be able to demonstrate a scarcely believable level of firepower.

“Excuse me, Mister Wiggins?” Bang Jin-Hun pointed at Wiggins.

“Yes?” Wiggins blinked his eyes.

“Magic looks amazing, so why use a sword?”

“Oh, that! Haha. We have a good reason for that,” said Wiggins with a chuckle. “Magic can be very effective in various situations, but it has failed oftentimes to stop enterprising individuals from closing the distance, you see? That's why, since ancient times, mages couldn't fight back and obediently offer their heads when a highly-trained knight got too close to them.”

“...Excuse me. Don’t you want to learn Korean?”

“…” Wiggins could only smile wryly at that.

‘It’s not like I can relaxedly launch the translation app on my phone in this situation, either…’

Either Wiggins learned to speak Korean or forced the others to learn English… He should find a solution to this language barrier sooner rather than later!

‘There is no room for mistakes, after all!’

Mages were, simply put, the artillery. They might not possess as much destructive power as modern artillery, but the comparison still held true. Mages' main job was to stay some distance away while raining down attack magic over a wide area or provide various assistance, like casting buffs.

The main disadvantage of the artillery was that they had no particular defenses against tanks or special forces closing in. This problem also applied to mages. No, maybe it was way worse for them.

The difference in mobility between an artillery and a tank wasn't as bad as the one between a well-trained knight and a mage. And to further complicate the situation, a mage's attack range wasn't as long as an artillery's, too. The furthest a mage could be from the frontlines would still be within the range of human vision.

At that kind of distance, a knight could instantly close the gap to a mage.

Of course, a mage at the level of Wiggins could respond by relying on Teleport or Blink to escape. But mages of that caliber were rather uncommon.

Besides, it didn’t matter what class one was. Reaching a high-enough realm meant one would inevitably find ways to respond to various situations. That was why Wiggins decided to master both spell casting and swordsmanship, just in case.

However, the truth was… He chose this path because a part of him didn't want to give up on the idea of becoming the hero of war. And also the hero of a battle!

‘I was being an idiot back then.’

When Wiggins looked back to his youth, what a reckless fool he had been.

Since they were all martial arts anyway, shouldn't learning everything be a good idea? Unfortunately, that was a naive way of thinking.

What Wiggins did was no different from studying mathematics and liberal arts at the same time… until obtaining a Master's degree in both!

Mathematics and liberal arts were both academic disciplines, but anyone who had touched a book at least once in their life should know that those two subjects couldn't be grouped together.

Of course, history had already produced monsters like Leonardo da Vinci who were capable of mastering disparate subjects to the absolute limit. Unfortunately, Wiggins wasn’t a heaven-sent genius like them.

Not knowing about this while still a youngster had resulted in Wiggins of now.

Bang Jin-Hun tutted slightly. “Whatever it is… You have lots of uses, don’t you?”

“Ah, yes. That is one advantage I can proudly shout about. And I sincerely hope that our allies feel that way, as well,” Wiggins muttered, a wry smile spreading on his face.

The so-called Jack-of-all-trades was an attractive concept. A smart person capable of dealing with many different jobs should come in handy in many situations, after all.

However, the reality was rather different. A Jack-of-all-trades usually did not enjoy being one. As a matter of fact, they might even be tormented by their current state!

People who rewrote history or ruled over the world usually focused themselves on one specific subject and attained absolute mastery of it. As for those who tried to raise their proficiency in many things up to a suitable level, they could never cross that final hurdle.

For now, Wiggins didn’t fall too far behind Vator in terms of strength. However, given enough time… The gap between the two men would only widen.

‘No, that's not right, now is it? The gap has already widened, after all.’

The old Vator was already shockingly strong. But he was now so much stronger that the comparison didn't seem fair to his old self. Thanks to his decision to master demonic arts, Vator's destructive power had improved by several folds. And he also became more daring than before, too.

Of course, nothing was perfect in this world. Some chinks had appeared in Vator’s previously-impregnable armor now. For instance, he still had not found a countermeasure against the tendency to easily lose his rational mind.

That meant Vator would more likely expose his weaknesses in battles against powerful experts, something he wouldn’t have done in the past.

In that case, one could say Vator had gotten weaker overall compared to his old self in one-on-one combat situations. Although, those combat situations would have to involve high-tier experts.

However, such weaknesses could still be shored up to some degree. A martial artist at the level of Vator would obviously be aware of his current state. So, he should be paying particular attention to fixing his new weaknesses.

Once this repair process was finished, and his mastery of the demonic arts had deepened… Vator would emerge as a completely different beast compared to his old self.

This knowledge burned a bitter hole in Wiggins' heart. One of the reasons he joined Kang Jin-Ho's camp was because he had been stuck in a personal rut, going nowhere fast. Maybe that was why he dreamed of creating an organization surpassing even the mighty Round Table as a way to vent some built-up stress.

Unfortunately, an organization was not the same as an individual. Even though the Martial Assembly was growing and improving everyday, Wiggins didn't feel as rewarded or satisfied as he thought. As a matter of fact, he felt lost and even robbed by the sight of others pushing him aside and surging forward at a breakneck pace.

...Even though he was still stuck in one place, struggling to move forward!

‘Damn. This might fester like an open wound.’

Wiggins coldly analyzed his current situation. Judging from how he didn't feel good even after producing such an excellent outcome in this battle, it seemed quite a lot of dissatisfaction had built up in his heart.

Even if that was true…

“I don’t need to worry about it for now,” said Wiggins.

Bang Jin-Hun glanced back. “Did you say something?”

“No. Don’t mind me.” Wiggins dismissively waved his hand.

Bang Jin-Hun suddenly freaked out. “What the hell! Don't wave your hand around like that! Didn't you learn that you shouldn't point or wave around a gun in front of other people?! What did you even learn while serving in the… Ah. You weren't in the army.”

“…” Wiggins helplessly shook his head.

Seeing how Bang Jin-Hun didn't lose his ‘bubbly’ personality even in this situation, it seemed he was no ordinary man either!

‘No need to agonize over it alone.’

Wiggins nodded to himself.

Hanging around Kang Jin-Ho helped him figure something out recently.

The Master of the Round Table resolved everything by himself. Although he convened meetings and listened to the opinions of other Knights, that was only because of the Round Table's rules.

The Master listened to opinions but never sought out others' advice. He focused on making the most optimal decision after collating all the opinions.

However, Kang Jin-Ho didn’t do that. He genuinely asked for other people’s advice. Watching a martial artist on his level putting aside his pride and seeking others’ opinions was quite a shock to Wiggins’ system.

A powerful martial artist was bound to be proud of themselves. After all, they reached their position through incredible effort, tenacity, and their innate talent. In that case, why should top experts listen to the advice of people who were clearly less impressive than them?

Even Wiggins used to believe only he could deal with the matters on his plate. However, Kang Jin-Ho helped him see the errors of his ways.

Just like how Kang Jin-Ho asked for Wiggins’ assistance, Wiggins could also seek help from other people.

‘I should consult my lord sometime later.’

Kang Jin-Ho might be able to blow away this frustration clogging up Wiggins' chest. Even if he couldn't, he might be able to point Wiggins in a better direction. At least, that was what Wiggins believed.

Wiggins shifted his gaze to stare at Kang Jin-Ho, who was now standing still, his swords resting by his sides. A subtle smile floated up on Wiggins’ lips as he studied Kang Jin-Ho’s back.

There was nothing humorous about this place, though. To think Wiggins could smile in the middle of a battle!

‘It seems I've changed a lot compared to before.’

Even if he tried, Wiggins probably couldn’t go back to his old self as a Knight of the Round Table. He had changed too much for that.

While stewing in the wry bitterness and delight, Wiggins turned his head slightly to glance at Bang Jin-Hun. “Now then. Director Bang? It's your turn to show us what you've prepared for this occasion.”

“...Really now? What, you want me to show you my dance moves or something?”

“…”

It seemed Wiggins shouldn’t have said anything.