Descent of the Demon Master

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“What on Earth are you doing, Eun-Yeong?”

”…Hmm, that ’s way too subtle.
It doesn ’t smell like shampoo, more like soap…
If you were in a love motel, you ’d have used shampoo, so—but there ’s the smell of cigarettes mixed in, so I can ’t tell for sure… ”

“Want me to beat you up?” Kang Jin-Ho shot a fierce glare at his sister.

However, Kang Eun-Yeong poked her tongue out at him and quickly escaped toward her room.
“Come home on time, you unfilial son~!”

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled while watching his little yelling sister shut the door close behind her.
Seeing Kang Eun-Yeong like that helped dissipate some of the bloodthirst in his heart.

Kang Jin-Ho went to his own room, took his clothes off, and tossed himself onto the bed.
Fatigue rapidly rushed in.

’

’I…
went overboard.
Again. ’

Was it because he got to wield the Crimson Destiny once more? He nonchalantly acted the same way as his old self back in Zhongyuan.

Kang Jin-Ho slowly rubbed his face.

’I can ’t even deny being demonic at this point, huh. ’

The ’demonic cultivator ’ Kang Jin-Ho knew, and the ’demonic cultivator ’ everyone else in the modern era talked about were different.
However, Kang Jin-Ho couldn ’t help but agree that his current self met the criteria of a modern demonic cultivator.

He lost his rational mind and went wild tonight.
Was it because he had been consciously suppressing himself until now or did the blame rest on the order of learning the demonic arts differing from the past, leading to the situation of demonic qi influencing his mind…?

”No, that’s not true. ” Kang Jin-Ho smirked weakly.
He shouldn ’t be trying to lie to himself like this.
”That ’s right.
I ’ve always been like this. ”

Without that kind of nature, Kang Jin-Ho wouldn ’t have acquired the title of Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor.
Even before joining the demon cult, Kang Jin-Ho was already labeled the public enemy number one in Gangho.
People called him a demon, a fiend, for being cruel, merciless, and heartless.
Even within the demon cult filled with the vilest demonic cultivators under the sun, Kang Jin-Ho still became the symbol of fear that proudly boasted the title of Crimson Demon.

Kang Jin-Ho had always been like that.
If he faced an enemy, he would cut them down.
If they annoyed him, he would cut them down.
To him, things like whether they were right or he was right didn ’t matter.
All that mattered was whether they got in his way or not.

What he did tonight was merely a repeat of his past actions.
Even so, Kang Jin-Ho felt a little repulsed at himself, probably a sign that he had changed somewhat.

He shouldn ’t continue to seek out excuses.
Tonight, Kang Jin-Ho faced his past self.
If he was uncomfortable with what he had seen, then he just had to focus on changing it, starting today.
Indeed, he definitely shouldn’t find excuses to look away from his own actions.

Kang Jin-Ho quietly closed his eyes.
Hwang Jeong-Hu’s warning on how Kang Jin-Ho ’s life would be impacted if he decided to get involved in the world of martial artists.
Those words felt all too real to him right now.
Kang Jin-Ho responded with a calm, composed expression on his face back then, but even he had to admit that Hwang Jeong-Hu ’s insight was second to none.

’Maintaining the balance, is it… ’

Kang Jin-Ho gained a renewed appreciation for the advice of maintaining the balance between his ordinary life and the one on the other side of the world.
That advice also included a warning on how difficult that task might be.

Kang Jin-Ho kept his eyes closed while organizing all the thoughts in his head.
Where was he supposed to start unraveling all these messily tangled threads?

One thought led to another, leading to a chain of dilemmas and musings.
However, the conclusion he had been looking for arrived rather quickly in his head.

’The Yeongnam Group… ’

From what he could see, the Martial Assembly wouldn ’t try to antagonize him.
From the Assembly Master to the one trying to usurp him, they were less than keen to turn Kang Jin-Ho into an enemy.
People like that most likely wouldn ’t try to hinder Kang Jin-Ho ’s life.

So, that left the Yeongnam Group.
They knew who—or what—Kang Jin-Ho was, yet they still butted into his life.
And with clear hostility, to boot.

’

Kang Jin-Ho wasn ’t thinking this way because they had kidnapped Kang Eun-Yeong.
That reason alone was insufficient for him to target the Yeongnam Group for complete and utter destruction.
No, it was a lot more than that.
In addition to interfering with Kang Jin-Ho ’s life, they were also actively trying to wreck it.

’If there ’s a hindrance, I should remove it. ’

Kang Jin-Ho lying on his bed in pitch-black darkness smiled brightly.
Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor living within him was whispering enticingly to him.

— Since when did you start caring about this and that while causing a scene?

If something annoyed him back then, Kang Jin-Ho simply removed it out of his way.
That was Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor ’s way.

It was extreme, but the method proved to be the most effective, and Kang Jin-Ho had already proven it.

Destroying the Yeongnam Group should bring some peace back to Kang Jin-Ho ’s world, and if something else happened because of the Yeongnam Group ’s destruction, all Kang Jin-Ho had to do was destroy that, too.

Kang Jin-Ho ’s eyes shot open in the darkness.
His irises were seemingly glowing in a ghostly pale hue.

No matter how hard he tried to deny it, Kang Jin-Ho was still a martial artist in the end.
A demonic arts practitioner—the Demon Emperor—His nature that plunged Zhongyuan into a period of terror had been slumbering inside him all along.

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled quietly.
He felt pleasure washing over him.
A part of him wanted to deny that, but this burning sensation bubbling up from somewhere deep within was sending waves of happiness and pleasure throughout his body.

’Aaah, I see.
I ’ve been holding back for far too long. ’

Even when some small fries and nobodies provoked him and poked him with a stick, Kang Jin-Ho held back.
When the people he cared about were threatened, when his family members were put in harm ’s way, he tried to be patient.

He believed that was the only way to maintain this life.
However, he realized something new today.
As it turned out, Kang Jin-Ho had no need to hold himself back.
Others should be doing that for him instead.

If his existence became akin to a calamity, they should avoid him altogether.
Kang Jin-Ho should ensure that they wouldn ’t dare to even look into his eyes.
And if they were unwilling to hold themselves back? He should just make them.

The dead didn ’t need to hold anything back anyway.

It sounded like a cackling laughter was coming from someplace nearby.
It was a twisted laughter.
It was a deeply sickening, twisted laughter of a devil that couldn ’t hold itself back from how it was enjoying all these.
And Kang Jin-Ho knew that laughter belonged to him…

He listened to that laughter coming from his own mouth and closed his eyes once more.
For some reason, he got a feeling that tonight ’s sleep would be soothing.
Very soothing, indeed.

This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.