Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1087. Charging Forward (2)

Bang!

Bones being crushed into powder must feel like this.

Wiggins blocked the incoming punch with his forearm, yet the pain he felt was akin to stopping a runaway dump truck with his naked body. However, that didn't last for long.

The horrifying pain lasted for a little longer before his arm lost all sensation. Unfortunately for Wiggins, he had no time to lower his gaze to confirm the state of his arm right now.

Because the punch that crushed his arm was already striking him again!

‘Kuk?!’

There wasn't even enough time to think. The punch's speed far surpassed Wiggins' thinking speed. All he could do right now was react instinctively and defend himself. Even then, he still made a mess of it.

BOOM!

After blocking the incoming punch, Wiggins’ arms were mercilessly pushed back until clattering into his jaw.

For a brief moment there, the world flickered and darkened in his vision.

“Urgh!”

The abrupt return of his consciousness only led to horrifying pain shooting up from his chin, however!

‘Where am I?’

Wiggins had woken up, but that didn’t mean he could sense things right away. He couldn’t even figure out what kind of state he was in! It took a good few seconds for him to feel the cold, hard floor kissing his cheek.

‘Did I collapse...?’

Wiggins reflexively pushed himself off the floor and tried to get up.

“M-my lord, I can still...!”

“That’s enough,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“...!”

Wiggins bit down on his lip.

He... couldn't do anything!

This was no sparring session. Who would call what happened here a spar when it was no different to a one-sided beating?

“My lord, I can still continue!” Wiggins replied, then clenched his teeth.

However, Kang Jin-Ho stared back at him with icy eyes. “Twenty times.”

“...?”

“If I had been serious about killing you, you’d have died twenty times over.”

Rip!

The tender flesh on Wiggins' lip caught between his clenching teeth finally tore open while issuing a dull noise. He could taste the familiar acridness of human blood in his mouth.

Of course he knew there was a gap between him and Kang Jin-Ho. He also knew it’d be impossible to avoid defeat, never mind winning!

The man standing before Wiggins was Kang Jin-Ho, after all. The Demon King who had descended on the modern era!

Wiggins had witnessed the absolute and overwhelming power of Kang Jin-Ho several times by now and knew he could have died in the blink of an eye had his lord been serious with his attacks.

Even so...!

‘I... I thought I could last at least five minutes!’

Wiggins honestly believed that. He believed that was the extent of the gap between his strength and Kang Jin-Ho's. And he genuinely thought he should be able to last five minutes by being dead serious about hurting each other.

He thought that, even if he couldn't inflict any injuries on Kang Jin-Ho, he should still be able to withstand a few blows. However, the real deal turned out to be a monster far surpassing Wiggins' expectations!

‘What’s worse, my lord wasn’t even using his swords...!’

Kang Jin-Ho was fundamentally a swordsman.

The difference between when wielding a sword and going bare-handed was enormous. Not to forget, Kang Jin-Ho always used his swords when earnestly fighting an enemy, too!

However, his hands were empty right now.

A swordsman not bothering to use his main weapon could only mean he did not acknowledge his opponent’s strength. Kang Jin-Ho probably wasn’t being malicious here, but it still indicated that his evaluation of Wiggins didn’t amount to much.

Even though Kang Jin-Ho was empty-handed... Wiggins couldn’t even do anything. He couldn’t even touch the hair on Kang Jin-Ho’s body!

The humiliation he felt was unimaginable. Not even the pain of his bones getting crushed hurt this much.

‘I thought I had already discarded the martial artist’s pride, but...’

Rather than honor, Wiggins would pursue practical benefits. Rather than renown, he’d secure profits instead. That had been his mindset for over a decade now.

However, this moment freshly reminded him of something. No matter how far removed his life was from violence, no matter how futile he thought violence was...

The humiliation he felt when kneeling in front of violence he couldn’t deal with was still as crippling and rage-inducing as ever!

It felt like his blood was flowing backward.

“Wiggins,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“...Yes, my lord.”

Kang Jin-Ho paused for a few seconds before asking Wiggins. “What are you?”

“...”

“Aren’t you a martial artist? Or am I wrong?”

Wiggins bit his lip hard again. He wanted to answer that yes, he was indeed a martial artist. That the flames of martial spirit still burned as brightly as ever within his aging heart.

However, that reply didn’t want to leave his mouth.

Just who or what was a martial artist? An individual who cultivated various martial art techniques? A heaven-defying expert capable of leaping over mountains and crossing rivers in one step?

An awe-inspiring hero who used their incredible power to step into a realm no mere mortals would ever dare approach?

The answer was none of the above.

At least to Wiggins, and even to Kang Jin-Ho, a martial artist was someone who constantly strove to become stronger. An individual who was ready to cast everything aside in their pursuit of strength—that was a martial artist.

In that sense, could Wiggins really call himself a martial artist?

He couldn’t answer that. The answer he couldn’t mutter out was ruthlessly eating away at his insides.

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes and observed Wiggins before slowly nodding away. “I see. You’re still a martial artist, then.”

His voice was withdrawn, cold.

“However, you’re still too weak.”

“...”

“Do not wish for Lady Luck to smile at you.”

Wiggins raised his head to look at Kang Jin-Ho.

“There are no other ways to become stronger. No one can make you stronger unless you walk the path yourself. You can get inside a car, but it won’t move unless you depress the accelerator.”

“But...”

“If you’re weak, you must make choices. Sacrifices,” Kang coldly spoke. He was firmer and more unforgiving than ever before. “Sacrifice your sleep. Your mealtime. Even the time you spend thinking about various things. Sacrifice your bath time if that will help!”

“...”

“This is what it means to deal with two separate things simultaneously. You want to be stronger but also don’t want to give up your current duties. That means you have to sacrifice other things in your life.”

Wiggins slowly but firmly nodded.

Kang Jin-Ho was right. But his advice was far too difficult to put into practice in reality.

Wiggins had already dedicated half a century to polishing his martial arts.

The path martial artists had to walk was harsher and crueler than most people could imagine. A martial artist had to give up on everything to pursue their singular dream of becoming stronger.

Wasn’t it possible to balance one’s regular life and martial arts training? No, it was not.

The era waited for no man. The moment a martial artist lifted their foot ever so slightly off the accelerator called training, they would get left behind by their peers in an instant.

Just a quick break was enough to allow the competition to surge ahead by several steps.

And those few steps sometimes became an insurmountable gap. That was the reality of being a martial artist.

Wiggins lived that life for decades. He gave up on things all humans should and must enjoy in life. He even postponed things every human was supposed to experience just to pursue even greater strength.

That was his life in a nutshell, unceasingly chasing after greater martial might.

The prospect of continuing that life at his age was a truly horrifying one, indeed. Even then, Wiggins endured it. He endured it again and again. Only by enduring it was he able to reach his current realm.

But now, he had to start that life anew at this stage in life?

‘What a cruel demand that is.’

Wiggins finished standing upright. Despite the pain, dread, and humiliation, he couldn’t stop smiling in helplessness. Why? Because of the man standing right before his eyes!

Kang Jin-Ho must’ve walked a path unimaginably hard and cruel.

Merely thinking about the harshness of that path tightened Wiggins’ family jewels in sheer dread. But Kang Jin-Ho fearlessly walked that path and eventually reached the spot right before Wiggins.

The life Kang Jin-Ho lived should have been dozens, nay, hundreds of times crueler and more unforgiving than Wiggins’.

Even then, Kang Jin-Ho continued to stick to this path.

‘I... I want you to look at things from my perspective.’

Words of complaints welled up in Wiggins' throat, but he barely managed to keep them suppressed deep inside his chest. Saying those things out loud was the same as ending his life as a martial artist.

It was too early for that. Yes, now wasn’t the time for that!

“In that case, my lord...?”

Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow. “Mm?”

“If I push myself even harder, even harsher, will I become stronger?”

“Not sure.”

“...I beg your pardon?”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned while tilting his head. “It’s kinda hard to tell.”

“...?”

That was not what he was supposed to say in a conversation like this, though?

Kang Jin-Ho continued to scan Wiggins while rubbing his chin. “You are too weak in hand-to-hand combat.”

“...”

“No, rather than hand-to-hand, it’s more like you’re not good at close-quarter fights. You can’t even swing your sword properly without enough distance.”

Wasn’t that because... Wiggins’ martial arts? After all, swordsmanship was focused on mid-distance battles while magic was meant to be used long distance!

“My lord, I don’t want to be seen as making excuses, but...”

Wiggins sneakily glanced at the peanut gallery in the distance. He could see the directors and Lee Hyeon-Su smirking in what seemed like a nasty case of schadenfreude.

And seeing the hateful grinning mug of Lee Hyeon-Su was almost enough to snap Wiggins' reasoning.

“But, this situation begs for an explanation, so please indulge me on this one, my lord. From the get-go, there is no such illogical combat class as a fist fighter in the Western martial arts.”

“Really?” Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow again while muttering in slight surprise.

“Yes! Elder Knights were all using weapons, weren’t they!”

“Now that you mention it...” Kang Jin-Ho combed through his memories before nodding slightly. “Yes, it seems that way.”

“And that’s how it’s supposed to be, my lord! Wielding a weapon will always give you an advantage over being unarmed, or do you think I’m wrong?”

“Well, no. You’re not wrong.”

“In that case, is there a need to not use a weapon? Or use a much smaller weapon instead? In reality, swordsmen used to be a rare breed in the West, my lord. Although the number of sword users has increased recently due to the ease of wearability, people used to prefer polearms as they offer greater versatility.”

Kang Jin-Ho silently nodded at this impromptu history lesson. Because he could understand the thought process behind what Wiggins said.

‘This reasoning makes sense in a military setting.’

Unlike what the pop culture made people believe, the armies of the past did not use swords. A soldier was expected to lug around some type of a polearm, usually a spear.

If two combatants who had never used weapons in their lives before were handed a spear and a sword, the one holding the sword wouldn't even be able to get close to the spear wielder.

“That is why I am perceived to be weak in close-quarter combat, my lord. But the truth is, I was seen as a close-quarter combatant in my previous neck of the woods.”

“In other words, you lack experience in fighting up close and personal.”

“Usually, I do not permit anyone to get that close,” said Wiggins while drawing a line on the floor with the tip of his sword. That line was about a meter away from him. “This is my preferred distance.”

Wiggins withdrew his sword, then shrugged casually.

“I'll be pretty much helpless when attacked within this distance. I don’t know if that’s because that’s the limit of my talent, but... I won’t have any excuses even if you accuse me of being conceited. However, I must let you know that I have dedicated my entire life to preventing anyone from entering this space.

“Against an opponent like you, my lord, who can freely invade this space, all I can do is obediently accept my death.”

Wiggins wasn’t merely saying all this as an excuse. He was offering an explanation of his martial arts and his take on this prickly subject.

Kang Jin-Ho rubbed his chin again. “So, rather than improving your close-quarter combat skills, you decided to focus your efforts on preventing the other side from getting close to you in the first place.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“But the problem is you are failing at that.”

Wiggins’ mustache quivered ever so slightly just then. He had no excuses to offer.

Even if Kang Jin-Ho wielded a sword and fought in a way that was familiar to Wiggins, the latter already knew his situation wouldn’t have improved at all.

“My lord, I honestly believe I’ve pushed myself to the breaking point.”

Kang Jin-Ho didn’t say anything and stared patiently at Wiggins.

“However, before I had a chance to notice it, I ran into that point. The point where a person’s progress comes to a grinding halt.”

That confession didn’t surprise Kang Jin-Ho. Every martial artist walking this path was bound to run into this wall sooner or later, after all. Then again, this philosophy didn’t only apply to martial arts, either.

The period of improvement born out of learning, practicing, and applying the knowledge did not last forever. Any person putting in a near-endless effort to improve themselves would run into this problem sooner or later. And that problem is... realizing they could no longer improve themselves by repeating the familiar routine, the one they had been relying on until now.

Those reaching that point were forced into making a choice. Would they struggle even harder to challenge themselves? Or should they acknowledge their limitations and stop there?

Most people chose to challenge themselves. They didn’t want to give up or admit that this was the limit of their potential. Unfortunately for them, though...

Overcoming the “wall” was not a one-and-done kind of deal.

After overcoming one wall with so much effort that it nearly drained all life out of oneself, one’d inevitably encounter another wall right afterward, a wall that was even larger and more imposing than before. And overcoming that would only bring one close to another, even bigger wall.

Only then would humans begin to despair.

The reward for putting in even more effort than before and enduring even greater pain than ever was nothing more than a single step forward. For such a negligible reward, the demanded sacrifices were too great. Too unfair.

And then, those people would eventually face one wall that could not be overcome through their sheer effort and determination alone.

Wiggins’ eyes, as deep and still as a lake locked on Kang Jin-Ho.

“My lord, do you think I can overcome this wall?”