Descent of the Demon Master

"Sir? How was the meeting?"

The Master replied flatly. "...Hmm. It went as well as expected."

The subordinate smartly opened the car's door and stood in attention.

The Master glanced at the car. "Mm? Where's the chauffeur?"

"We've sent him away, sir. Koreans sensibly set the navigation in English, so there shouldn't be any problems with us driving the vehicle. And we've also inspected the vehicle from top to bottom to ensure there weren't any listening devices."

"But Wiggins isn't the type to pull a dirty trick like that."

"Sir. We do trust Knight Wiggins' integrity, but not them."

"Is that so?" The Master muttered while slipping inside the waiting vehicle, a wry grin surfacing on his face.

'Isn't this strange?'

In the eyes of these subordinates, Wiggins should have been viewed as a traitor. And they shouldn't be suspicious of the Martial Assembly since it hadn't done anything that could be considered hostile toward the Round Table.

In that case, being wary of Wiggins should've been more logical, yet these people's responses seemed to say otherwise.

'Hmm. Perception can be such a frightening thing. Or does this mean Wiggins' popularity among the Round Table's members is higher than I expected?'

The Master thought neither of those was something to be pleased about. While mulling over this and that, he leaned against the comfy seat back. He was exhausted.

Traveling to this faraway country was already exhausting enough, and the sit-down with Wiggins only exacerbated his exhaustion even further.

"Mm… For now, let us head to our hotel."

"Yes, Master."

Once the car smoothly set off, the Master silently stared out the windows. Everything seemed so peaceful when looking at the azure ocean stretching endlessly toward the horizon.

'Of course, that is just an illusion.'

This place, this country, it… It was a volatile powder keg.

China and Japan were involved here. Not to forget, the world's most belligerent hooligan of a country no one wanted to deal with was just up north from here, too. Any one little unexpected thing could set off a war in the blink of an eye in this region.

Such was the level of danger present in this place that all the other threats around the globe seemed puny and trivial in comparison!

The Master closed his eyes and sunk even deeper into his thoughts.

'What if… My meeting with Kang Jin-Ho goes poorly?'

When planning anything, one must always assume the worst. So, what if Kang Jin-Ho really was a monster who wished to bathe the world in blood? What should the Master and the Round Table do to prevent that horrifying scenario from becoming reality? ř₳₦ŐВÊṨ

Sending troops into South Korea and cleaning this place up shouldn't be that difficult.

Yes, this country was strong. At the very least, it couldn't be looked down on with the same level of disdain as in the past.

However, the Round Table was still so much stronger. Not even Wiggins knew of the organization's true depths of power.

The Round Table's powers were meant to protect. And no one in this world other than the Master fully understood how incredible these powers were. Maybe that was why the Master of the Round Table was such a crucial post.

The Master might seem like just another member who happened to enjoy slightly more sway in the proceedings, but in reality, he held the authority to mobilize the Round Table's might when necessary.

'If only Wiggins knew what that meant…'

If Wiggins' current maneuvers were based on his estimation of the Round Table's capabilities, then… It was safe to say he was making a terrible mistake.

So, then. What would the Master do in case Kang Jin-Ho turned out to be a monster? Was it realistically feasible to cleanse South Korea with the Round Table's powers?

There had been many precedents set before. And that made the Master acknowledge some of what Wiggins argued about.

In the name of upholding world peace, the Round Table murdered many, many villains until now. The number of dead might even be higher than the total number of victims those villains had killed.

Even if it had become a little more prudent in the modern era, the current iteration of the Round Table still operated like an emotionless, merciless oppressor that took out any and all trash, after all!

Wiping out a country's martial society happened rather often throughout history.

Of course, it was not possible to completely eradicate a martial society. No amount of deep cleansing could prevent the resurrection of martial artists or sever the line of inheritance, but the Round Table could still ensure the affected martial society would never regain its former glory.

So, what about South Korea? Could the Round Table do the same thing here, too?

'It won't be easy.'

Far too many interconnecting threads were tied to this country. Haphazardly invading this country would only lead to triggering Japan and China.

This cramped region was already a volatile powder keg, ready to blow from the intense concentration of all the destructive powers. So, if the Round Table were to jump into the fray, too?

A war to end humanity as everyone knew it might start from this region! Even if that was true…

'...If such a thing discourages us from taking action, we no longer deserve to be called the Round Table!'

Justice didn't mean righteousness. It'd be more correct to say it was a tool, a power, wielded for the sake of righteousness. To expand that notion further…

Justice without the power to enforce it was nothing more than an empty shout disappearing into the ether.

Power was, in short… the ability to break through the hurdles and achieve one's goals.

Anyone who couldn't bring themselves to wield their power without a shred of hesitation for what they believed in didn't deserve to call their ideals "justice."

'It's the same situation this time around, too.'

The Master's expression became withdrawn, icy.

Being hesitant proved that he had gotten old. The past him wouldn't have wasted a second hesitating over his actions.

Why should he waste time searching for another solution if cleansing South Korea was the only option available at this stage to handle the growing catastrophe? Even if his choice could lead to an even more horrifying result, he'd still do it.

After all, no one could see into the future.

People living in the present could only choose the path that promised the best outcome. Undoubtedly, there was a good chance that their choices would be proven wrong sometime in the future. However, it would still be unwise to remain undecided because of this fear. In fact, it'd be arguably even worse.

Vrooooom…

The Master's car, speedily heading toward Seoul, passed by a black sedan going the other way. He briefly turned his head to look at that sedan, then sighed at length. "Hah… Must be nice, going on a date and all, while someone else is racking his brain over here."

One of the subordinates in the car tilted his head. "...Sir?"

"No, it's nothing. I was only talking to myself." The Master quickly shook his head.

Without even meaning to, the Master was growing more hostile toward Kang Jin-Ho, it seemed!

***

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at the rearview mirror and muttered, "Looks like he's having a tough time."

Choi Yeon-Ha tilted her head. "Mm? Who are you talking about?"

"Ah, no. It's nobody. Don't worry," Kang Jin-Ho slowly shook his head.

Choi Yeon-Ha pouted slightly. "What are you doing, Mister Jin-Ho? Getting distracted when you're with someone and all."

"N-no, well, it's not what you think…" Kang Jin-Ho awkwardly flapped his lips but couldn't think of an excuse to say.

He certainly couldn't tell Choi Yeon-Ha that the car they drove passed a second ago was carrying a man referred to as the Master, now could he? And he doubly couldn't tell her that this Master guy was the head of the largest, strongest organization in Europe, and that was why he couldn't help but think about him.

Could he argue that his distraction was well justified in this case?

'...Nope. Let's just get my head bitten off instead.'

Maintaining his silence should be better than being treated as a loon who got distracted during a drive and started talking about nonsensical things.

Kang Jin-Ho grimaced a little. "Sorry."

"Oh, well. It's fine. I'm in a great mood, after all," said Choi Yeon-Ha as a radiant smile bloomed on her face.

She really did seem pleased, but that presented a small problem. Kang Jin-Ho quickly turned his attention back to the road ahead.

'She is beautiful.'

He still couldn't get used to her looks. And that task was made even harder by the fact that he hadn't seen Choi Yeon-Ha in a while.

She was already a beautiful woman without any expression on her face, to begin with. So, a bright smile like that only amplified her beauty by several folds.

To overcome this sudden bout of awkwardness, Kang Jin-Ho tried to change the topic. "So, how was the filming? Did it end without any issues?"

"Urgh, that…!" Choi Yeon-Ha groaned, and the brightness in her complexion immediately vanished. "I swear I'll kill myself if I ever go back to China for a shoot. Those people, they are…! Seriously…!"

"…"

"Did you know how seriously tempted I was to ax-kick all those people in their heads?! I only held back because I wasn't in Korea, you know! But, but! I'd have seriously kicked their heads in if we were in Korea!"

'Ah. Here she is. This is what this woman is like, isn't she?'

Kang Jin-Ho found himself rapidly acclimatizing back to Choi Yeon-Ha's antics. He chided himself for being briefly blinded by her looks. Ironically enough, he felt slightly more at ease now.

"I see. However, what about the filming?"

"Of course I've wrapped it up. I've got contractual obligations to fulfill, after all. At least I should thank the heavens that no other problems scuppered the filming toward the end. Or I'd been stuck there for who knows how many more months! I'm telling you, two more months over there, and I would've developed depression and anxiety issues. Seriously!"

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled softly while listening to her complaints.

He was genuinely proud of Choi Yeon-Ha.

Her condition was terrible when he went to see her in China. At the rate she was going, her health would've badly declined a short while later.

Sure, Kang Jin-Ho did his thing to improve her condition, but after what she went through? He wouldn't have blamed her if she had given up halfway, shoved everything aside, and came home.

However, her spirit remained unyielding, and she eventually powered through the grueling filming schedule. Judging from how committed she was, maybe Choi Yeon-Ha's professionalism far exceeded Kang Jin-Ho's expectations.

Kang Jin-Ho nodded slightly. "I see. Then, when can we see the show?"

"Not sure, but hopefully pretty soon," said Choi Yeon-Ha. "There are editing and other post-production stuff still left to do, you see? Those things take time. And the Chinese censor can get really weird, you know? Once we're done, the Party officials are supposed to swoop in and inspect the footage, and that's gonna take even longer."

"Oh…"

"Even in Korea, submitting something to the rating board and getting their all-clear takes several months, you see? So, can you imagine how much longer it will be in China? I heard from someone that it can take over a year just to get a TV drama cleared by the board there. And it apparently happens often, too."

"Over a year?" Kang Jin-Ho opened his eyes wider.

Wasn't that a bit too excessive? Even the filming of large-scale TV shows didn't take that long, so how could the vetting process for the censors take even longer than that?

"Still, the production company this time has a bit of influence in the industry, so I guess our show won't take that long. They'll probably grease some palms and urge the officials to hurry up a little. Isn't that how these kinds of things are usually handled?"

Lately, Kang Jin-Ho was getting somewhat tempted to lock Choi Yeon-Ha in the same room with Lee Hyeon-Su and let them talk to each other. Those two were easily the… most "foul-mouthed" people he knew, so what kind of magical spectacle would they create by merely shooting the breeze? Kang Jin-Ho was getting genuinely curious now.

While mulling over his idea, Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Choi Yeon-Ha. "Now that's finished, do you still want to shoot stuff overseas?"

"Nope, not likely. I got burned way too much this time, you see?" Choi Yeon-Ha shuddered grandly. "Mister Jin-Ho? I think I finally figured out what the wise old they meant when they said you'd only encounter hardship outside your home, and going overseas would instantly turn you into a patriot. If I'm being honest, I've always thought I have a bit of foreign blood in me."

"That's rather random. What made you think that?"

"Well, because of the way I look, of course."

"…"

Choi Yeon-Ha certainly possessed a talent for rendering other people speechless, didn't she?

She continued to expand on her answer. "I mean, don't I look like someone who might run a pasta restaurant in Paris?"

"...Miss Yeon-Ha, pasta is Italian."

"And? Is there no restaurant in Paris that sells pasta?"

"I'm sure some do."

"There you go, then."

"...But of course."

She was technically right, then. Obviously, someone living in Paris must sell pasta, no?

"After finally experiencing life outside Korea, though? I realized something, Mister Jin-Ho. And that is, I'm 100% certifiably Korean. I thought I was gonna die from how none of the food suited my taste…!"

"Ah, that. Hah, haha…"

"Eun-Sol tried to find something else more palatable and got us steaks and burgers and what-have-yous, but I'd rather eat the local cuisine than live off those, you know what I mean?"

"Aha. So, that explains why you did that…" Kang Jin-Ho nodded in understanding.

As soon as Choi Yeon-Ha entered Kang Jin-Ho's car in the airport parking lot, she began yapping nonstop about kimchi stew as if she was a rapper showing off her lyrical miracle skills. She seemed ready to blow the car up unless he took her to the nearest kimchi stew diner right away.

So, that was what he did. He drove to a diner and watched as Choi Yeon-Ha downed two bowls of spicy kimchi stew in one sitting. Only then did she regain her bearings somewhat!

That was what happened before they went on this drive.

"Mister Jin-Ho, my advice to you is never to go abroad. I'm serious. Koreans are meant to live in Korea. That's the lesson I learned from this trip."

"Hah, hahaha…" Kang Jin-Ho awkwardly laughed.

Although he wanted to agree with her, the truth was… He had spent more years chowing Chinese cuisine than Korean food. That was why he didn't encounter any problems with food during his earlier adventure in China.

The tastes might have changed since ancient times, but the difference was negligible. The base ingredients were the same, after all.

"In any case, that's that. Let's move on, shall we!" Choi Yeon-Ha suddenly shouted.

"O-okay?"

She then sneakily leaned closer to the driver's seat, causing Kang Jin-Ho to subtly flinch.

"Mister Jin-Ho?"

While saying that, she got even closer. And then, she even leaned her head close to Kang Jin-Ho's. When she got close enough for her breath to tickle his skin, Kang Jin-Ho shrunk back even more in his seat.

"W-what? What is it, Miss Yeon-Ha?"

"You know, I was wondering about something."

"...Yes? About what?"

If Choi Yeon-Ha was curious about something, she could have asked him from her seat. In that case, why was she getting closer and closer like this?

Just why?!

Choi Yeon-Ha smiled gently. When his vision was quickly filled up by her face, Kang Jin-Ho realized it became incredibly difficult to remain calm.

"Mister Jin-Ho?"

"...Yes?"

Choi Yeon-Ha's gaze became indescribably gentle and tender as she whispered softly at him.

"Did you miss me?"

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