Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1047: Too Vague (2)

“Wait! Please don’t kill me!”

Yi Myeong-Hwan desperately screamed as the sensation of a supermassive hand grabbing his neck from behind rocked his brain.

The strength contained in that grip was enough to plunge Yi Myeong-Hwan into a pit of despair. When that hand grabbed him, he knew escape was no longer an option, no matter how hard he struggled!

“You fools!” Vator roared.

Yi Myeong-Hwan, making an expression of pure despair, looked behind him. And he was assaulted by the glare from the pair of burning eyes that belonged to a man who could only be described as an apex predator. Or a monster!

Vator roared again, “You weakling!”

Yi Myeong-Hwan screamed desperately in his head.

‘What the hell?! I’m not the weakling here! It’s just that you’re freakishly strong!’

Of course, Yi Myeong-Hwan wasn't a dummy. He could see that blurting out his thoughts in the open this time would reward him with a lifetime of using false teeth to chew meat!

“S-Sir Vator! That’s not it, but!”

“No more excuses!” Vator picked Yi Myeong-Hwan up in the air before ruthlessly slamming the poor man down on the floor.

“Kkuk?!”

Yi Myeong-Hwan was beset with pain akin to his internal organs bursting through his mouth after crashing into the hard, uncaring ground.

“…” Vator glanced coldly at Yi Myeong-Hwan spasming pathetically on the floor before growling menacingly at everyone else. “How dare you slack off just because my master is not around!”

Of course, the Demon Flames had plenty of things to say. Such as…

‘Nooo! That’s not it, Sir Vator!’

‘We were training like crazy until now, you know! We were only taking a quick break!'

‘You expect us to train twenty-four hours a day?!’

Indeed, they had plenty of excuses to offer. However, they were still nothing more than excuses. Why was that, though?

Because! No matter how logical and sound each reason was, they would still be deemed worthless excuses… if that was what Vator said so!

“Why do you think my master believed it'd be fine to leave his post for a while?” Vator growled loudly.

“…?”

“It’s because he believes in you!”

The Demon Flames stared weirdly at Vator.

“My master wouldn't have left you to your own devices and worry about some other nonsense if you were still as weak as your old selves! He can only do that because of his trust in you! He trusts you to keep training hard in his absence! So how dare you betray his trust by…”

“Excuse me… Sir Vator…?” Yi Myeong-Hwan suddenly muttered in a trembling voice from the floor.

“What is it?”

“In… the… evenings.”

“Huh?”

“The… Assembly Master said he’ll pop in during the evening.”

“…?” Vator’s expression crumpled weirdly. “...Really?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Why?”

“To inspect how hard we’ve trained, sir…”

“...Oh.” Vator’s eyes rapidly shifted from left to right. Everyone here could see that his brain was working overtime right now. “Kuh-huh-hmm! My master is!”

“…?”

“He’s personally going to evaluate your progress! So! How could you slack off in your training like this!”

‘Holy cow! Look at him changing his tune!’

‘It’s my fault this way, but it’s still my fault the other way, too?!’

‘In that case, why are you even wasting time trying to justify yourself?! Just come out and be honest, will ya?! That you're beating us up because you feel like it!’

The atmosphere in the training area suddenly grew rather strange. Vator quickly noticed the change, then stood much taller and more imposingly than before. Naturally, his impressive muscles began rippling threateningly.

“Is there a problem here?”

“...No, sir!”

“We’ll work even harder, sir!”

The Demon Flames replied as loudly as humanly possible after instinctively realizing that Vator inventing weird reasons to beat them up was a better alternative than the other outcome.

After all, why would Vator need a reason? When muscles were a good enough reason already, anyway!?

“Now, hear me!” Vator raised his voice. He sounded more subdued than before, though.

The Demon Flames noticed the seriousness in Vator's voice and immediately discarded their dissatisfaction and mischievousness to pay close attention to what he was about to say.

“Yes, I know you all think my method of whipping you into shape is too harsh.”

“No, sir! Not at all, sir!”

“We’re truly grateful!”

Vator glared at the Demon Flames. “...Anyone daring to lie will get a beatdown from me!”

“...Sir! Yes, it’s a wee bit over the top.”

“Just a little bit, sir. Just a little bit…”

Vator chuckled amiably. “Yes, I understand your dissatisfaction. However, there is a simple reason why I go this far. You see, in this game called cultivation? The continuously diligent one will emerge as the victor in the end. That’s why.”

“…”

“You all became too strong too quickly,” said Vator, his tone somewhat different from his usual self. “The heavens are fair. All things in this world are accompanied by appropriate reactions. It's good that your strength has grown quickly, but such rapid development will always be accompanied by two disadvantages.

“One, your foundation will weaken. And two, you are all humans and bound to become too full of yourselves.”

The Demon Flames were ready to accept the first criticism. Not taking all that long to become stronger meant their training time had been short. A short training time equaled fewer opportunities to polish and perfect one's foundational skills and techniques, even if one's strength matched their peers who had been training for longer.

When that happened, one’s foundation would naturally weaken.

That much was understandable. However, the Demon Flames found the second criticism unfair.

‘Too full of ourselves? Are you saying we’ve gotten arrogant?’

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

Yi Myeong-Hwan unhappily pouted.

‘Arrogant, my ass!'

Of course, he understood why Vator would say all this. A person suddenly acquiring a lot of wealth would usually behave arrogantly and unbearably, after all.

The same concept applied to martial artists. Those who acquired great strength in a relatively short period were bound to become too proud of their newfound power.

However, that idea did not apply to the Demon Flames. Emphatically so.

After all, they ran into Kang Jin-Ho, Vator, and Wiggins at work every single freaking day! Since that was the case, how could they be proud or act arrogantly about their strength?

None of them would dare stand tall and jut their chins out since the Martial Assembly was practically teeming with monsters capable of breaking their necks in the blink of an eye!

As an example… Elder Chang Min from the demon cult didn't seem like anyone special initially, only to demonstrate his martial skills reminiscent of Kang Jin-Ho not too long ago.

Bang Jin-Hun used to be within reach of the Demon Flames in terms of raw strength. However, he recently found a way to step into the next realm, allowing his cultivation to surge ahead at a scarcely believable rate.

With the situation like that… Why would any of the Demon Flames suffer from the superiority complex?

Vator grunted. “You don’t think that’s true, now do you?”

Yi Myeong-Hwan slowly nodded. “Honestly, sir? Yes, I… No, we don't think that's the case. I mean, the Assembly Master is around, and you're also here, Sir Vator. In that case, how could we ever be arro…”

“Hah! You’re no better than mere hatchlings, yet you dare compare yourselves to me? Do you not see that as a sign of sheer arrogance?”

“…!” Yi Myeong-Hwan hurriedly clamped his mouth shut.

Vator loudly tutted away. “Us beasts called humans? We are not as amazing as you think. It's unrealistic to expect a person with excellent abilities to remain humble forever. And… Although I'm reluctant to do it, I must recognize you all as somewhat strong now.”

The expressions of the Demon Flames brightened a little. After all, Vator had never praised or acknowledged them once until today. The first-ever praise from the big man himself! How could they not be happy about it in that case?

“However! The moment you let your arrogance overtake you and become too lazy to constantly whip yourself forward…! You will all get devoured by those who have finally managed to catch up to you!”

Yi Myeong-Hwan’s face instantly hardened. That was because he knew exactly who Vator was referring to just now.

‘...Gong Yeong-Gil!’

The demonstration put on by Vator’s disciples during the battle against the Round Table sent shockwaves through the ranks of the Demon Flames.

They were all under the impression that the gap in strength between themselves and everyone else was like a yawning chasm. But the truth was crueler than that.

Vator's disciples had almost caught up to the Demon Flames in practically no time at all!

‘But, when I think about it…’

Such a phenomenon shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

The Demon Flames might have seen themselves as special individuals since Kang Jin-Ho had selected them. However, the truth was that he hadn't chosen them for their outstanding talents.

No, it was merely the case of Kang Jin-Ho acknowledging their desperate desire to become stronger even if it could kill them.

In terms of pure talent in martial arts, the Demon Flames weren’t actually any better than their peers. No, maybe that wasn’t right. Objectively speaking, their talent might be below average instead!

Those with talent who grew stronger through regular training wouldn’t have been as desperate as the Demon Flames to acquire strength, after all!

So, if the others were just as desperate as the Demon Flames… Wouldn’t they narrow the gap in the proverbial blink of an eye?

“It’s rather unbecoming of me to keep nagging you to train when you’re all grown-ass adults. I can drag you to the water, but it ultimately is up to you if you want to drink said water or not.” Vator ruefully shook his head, then turned around to leave. “Now, then… Shall I guide the ones who haven’t let arrogance dilute their resolve yet?”

After leaving those provocative words behind, Vator unhesitantly left the training hall.

Yi Myeong-Hwan stared at the empty exit for a long time before sighing loudly. He got up while dusting himself. “Hey… Everyone, let’s get back to training.”

“...Yeah, let’s!”

Yi Myeong-Hwan loudly gritted his teeth.

‘I know Sir Vator was trying to rile us up, to get us off our asses, but…!’

Knowing the other party's intention didn't mean you could avoid getting sucked into their ploy. After all, you'd still get angry at someone hurling insults at your face even if you knew that person was deliberately trying to piss you off.

It was obvious what Vator was trying to do by sneakily mentioning Gong Yeong-Gil and Co. The problem with that attempt was that it worked like a charm. The Demon Flames genuinely felt they were under the pump now.

It was undeniable that they got sidelined during the last expedition. And it was just as undeniable that Kang Jin-Ho was paying more attention to the administrative department rather than the Demon Flames right now.

“Gee whiz…”

Yi Myeong-Hwan couldn’t help but appreciate the irony of this situation.

Everyone training hard and getting stronger was ultimately a good thing for the Assembly. Even then, Yi Myeong-Hwan still felt threatened by others training hard to catch up to him and the rest of the Demon Flames.

‘Hah… Is it because I want to monopolize the power I have now? Even if it’s nothing more than pathetically trifling power?’

Overtaking everyone to become stronger and being trusted by Kang Jin-Ho seemed to have instilled a hint of superiority in his heart. And it was about time Yi Myeong-Hwan admitted that he had been drunk on this superiority for a while now.

“Hey,” Yi Myeong-Hwan glanced at his fellow Demon Flames.

“What’s up?”

“You think we’re being petty here?”

“...Well, I guess."

“You think so, too?”

It seemed everyone’s sentiment was roughly the same as Yi Myeong-Hwan’s.

The rest of the Martial Assembly's younger generation was getting stronger, and that knowledge rang alarm bells inside the heads of the Demon Flames. It made them feel small and insignificant.

Yi Myeong-Hwan’s glare suddenly sharpened. “But, so what? What’s so wrong about that?”

“Mm?”

Yi Myeong-Hwan loudly gritted his teeth. “Who gives sh*t if we’re petty bastards? Cuz I don’t. And I ain’t gonna stop. There’s no freaking way I’ll let those punks overtake me! Not while I’m still alive!”

“Yeah, I agree!”

“That’s a given, man!”

“I heard Sir Vator was busy teaching his disciples some kinda demonic cultivation technique, too.”

“...Really?”

“Yeah! At this rate, everything we've done so far will be for nothing! That's why we gotta push even harder! You hear me!”

The Demon Flames all became stiff from the sense of danger gripping them tightly.

They knew better than anyone the advantages of demonic cultivation. If something that powerful was combined with Vator’s external arts… The result should be beyond people’s wildest imaginations!

And they shouldn't underestimate the younger generation of martial artists Bang Jin-Hun was guiding, too. After all, those people had the advantage of “continuity.”

Being able to continue on the path they were already walking on for years, but now assisted by a cultivation technique of much higher caliber… That was an advantage the Demon Flames did not enjoy.

“We're not kids anymore. For how long do we need someone to kick us in the ass to get us moving again? Isn't it about time we wake up and act like adults? Besides! It hasn't been that long since the Assembly Master grilled us for letting our guards down. But look at us! We're lazing around already!”

“...Yeah, you’re right.”

“Come on! Let’s pull our socks up and do this right! Even if people accuse me of being a petty bastard, I will never let myself lose against those punks!”

“That goes for us, too!”

The Demon Flames grimaced and began emitting dense demonic qi from their bodies. Even their eyes were set ablaze from sheer determination.

“Let's resume training!”

***

Vator smirked deeply after sensing all the demonic qi in the distance.

‘You simpletons…’

Of course, the Demon Flames probably didn’t have a choice even if they knew the truth. Exploiting people’s competitiveness was a cliched but standard tactic used since time immemorial, after all!

Why was it cliché? Because it worked every single time, even if the victims knew what was coming!

Kang Jin-Ho probably would never understand this feeling. After all, he was not the type to get bothered by other people overtaking him. To him, strength was not a means to an end but more like a thirst he must quench no matter what!

So, Kang Jin-Ho would find it hard to understand that strength was merely a tool for other people. And that was precisely why Vator must step up like this.

‘Looks like we got ourselves a nice little governing structure developing here.’

Humans matured and progressed through competition. The Demon Flames only knew how to run behind their powerful leader, so having threatening rivals would do them a world of good.

‘Right now, my master must focus on external matters.’

In that case, people must step up to the plate to deal with internal matters. The way Vator saw it, that role should be taken up by him, Wiggins, and Lee Hyeon-Su.

“Well, then… Should I go and find some more lazy idiots to motivate next?”

Even with its leader currently absent, the Martial Assembly continued to advance relentlessly.