Descent of the Demon Master
Chapter 1116. Responding (1)

Chapter 1116. Responding (1)

“He’s not here, my lord.”

“...” Kang Jin-Ho subtly narrowed his eyes. “You can’t find him?”

Wiggins grimly nodded. “Yes, my lord. Mister Lee is nowhere to be found within the Round Table’s grounds.”

“What about his phone?”

“It’s off, my lord.”

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly mouthed a cigarette, then snapped his fingers to light it up.

Wiggins silently watched this scene as cold sweat caked his back.

This was clearly his mistake. Not only was dispatching Lee Hyeon-Su to the Round Table his idea, but it was also him who came up with the plan to squeeze the Knights dry.

Lee Hyeon-Su and the Master might have been the ‘faces’ of the operation, but Wiggins was still the brain of it.

‘Bloody hell, I was careless!’

He had no excuses to offer.

Wiggins knew he had made one crucial mistake, and that was failing to properly understand how unique Lee Hyeon-Su’s existence was.

Lee Hyeon-Su was easily the strangest individual within the Martial Assembly, one that stuck out quite noticeably.

The Assembly's directors were powerful monsters. Strong beyond doubt, with great achievements under their belts, to boot. And that was why it was impossible to imagine anyone trying something untoward with those folks.

Would Vator fall into a deadly trap, for instance? When eliminating him might require an entire army, at least! Unless the Crimson King had personally joined the fray, the big man getting destroyed without a chance to flee was simply unimaginable.

Heck, even if he was dropped in the middle of China, Vator would still have found a way to escape and return to South Korea

without breaking a sweat! And Chang Min was no different in that regard.

As for Bang Jin-Hun, his martial prowess might not be as good as the other two, but he was much more meticulous than either Vator or Chang Min could ever be. Which didn’t match his looks, but that wasn’t important right now.

So, he’d never create a situation that might lead him into a trap.

Then, what about Lee Hyeon-Su? He certainly wasn't as physically powerful as the others.

Although he technically fell under the classification of a ‘martial artist,’ his martial prowess was as good as non-existent. Calling him a martial artist was not wrong, but he could never be counted as a combatant.

Even before the level of the Assembly's opponents soared through the proverbial roof recently, it and the Yeongnam Group had been vying for supremacy in the Korean martial society. Even back then, Lee Hyeon-Su wasn't good enough to stand in the frontlines.

In short... If he was exposed to the enemy in situations like this one, he would be helpless. Unable to resist.

‘I should have paid more attention!’

This was Wiggins’ fault. Since Lee Hyeon-Su was always hanging out with the executives, Wiggins got lulled into viewing his disciple as an equal to the rest of the directors. He had forgotten about Lee Hyeon-Su’s unique quirk.

Such a thing wouldn't have been an issue within the Assembly or in South Korea. No one would be brave enough to target Lee Hyeon-Su at the heart of the Martial Assembly, after all!

However, this place was in the middle of the enemy territory, even though the Master had already seized control of this organization. Wiggins knew this, so he should have paid more attention to Lee Hyeon-Su's safety.

Unfortunately, none of this mattered now. It’d only be an excuse to satisfy his guilty conscience at this point!

“Fuu-woo...”

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly puffed away at his cigarette.

Wiggins shuddered slightly at this sight. His palms were already soaked with his sweat. Even more cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

Was it because of his mistake? No.

Of course Wiggins wanted to kick himself for that. But he was tense to the point of reflexively holding his breath because of something else.

Tap!

Kang Jin-Ho dropped the cigarette’s ashes into a nearby ashtray, then glanced at Wiggins, his expression still.

“Wiggins.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Who was it?”

“...!” Wiggins subtly bit his lower lip.

Lee Hyeon-Su obviously wouldn’t turn his phone off and go under the radar. Since that wasn’t his style, it’d be safe to assume that he got kidnapped by someone.

The CCTV footage was still being analyzed, but... With the Master's secretary, Michelle, currently missing, the odds of her being the culprit were high.

In that case, was Michelle the mastermind behind the kidnapping? Of course not. She was merely a tool.

The one doing the deed wasn't always the mastermind. Wiggins' job was to figure out who got Michelle to act in the first place.

“My lord. I believe the culprit is one of the Knights,” said Wiggins, then deeply sighed. “But it’s not possible to figure out who did it. Although I have my suspicions, it's still nothing more than that, my suspicions.”

The first suspect popping up into Wiggins’ head was Knight Wellinger.

Only Wellinger would have the necessary balls to carry out an operation like this. His character meant the idea of him kidnapping someone sounded rather implausible, but Wiggins was not an idiot. He knew that when people were driven to a corner, they'd inevitably reveal their true nature.

It’d not be surprising to learn that Wellinger cast off his facade after realizing he couldn’t maintain it anymore.

“Is that so?” Kang Jin-Ho calmly muttered while stubbing the cigarette on the ashtray.

Wiggins nervously swallowed his saliva. He was well aware of how much Kang Jin-Ho valued Lee Hyeon-Su.

In terms of being acquaintances, Bang Jin-Hun should come first. If the criteria were loyalty, no one should match Chang Min.

Then, what about those who understood Kang Jin-Ho the best? Vator might take the lead on that one as a man who also pursued a similar type of martial prowess as Kang Jin-Ho.

However, none of those people could claim to be ‘close’ to Kang Jin-Ho.

Even though the two men were like oil and water, and their relationship started off as enemies, Kang Jin-Ho still valued Lee Hyeon-Su the most from the Martial Assembly.

But now, that Lee Hyeon-Su had been kidnapped by an unknown individual.

Wiggins didn’t dare imagine how volcanic Kang Jin-Ho’s fury must be right now.

The Master, who had been wordlessly sitting in the office and observing this exchange, broke his silence.

“My apologies, Assembly Master.”

“Hmm...”

The Master deeply bowed his head. “This is my fault for not making adequate preparations. To think my own secretary would betray me like this...!”

The Master was also in no position to avoid punishment.

Then again, everyone had been too laidback. None of this would have happened if they had stopped to think about it for a second.

What a mistake it was to let the enemy exploit the weakness called Lee Hyeon-Su...!

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes. “Master.”

“Yes, Assembly Master?”

“I want you to summon all the Knights.”

“...I beg your pardon?”

Kang Jin-Ho's expression remained flat. “They should still be in England. So, tell them to gather at the grand hall.”

“B-but?”

Would that be okay? After all, the enemy had already stashed Lee Hyeon-Su somewhere. Although they hadn't made any demands yet, wouldn't it be only a matter of time? Wouldn’t they demand Kang Jin-Ho do something they want in order to secure Lee Hyeon-Su's return?

They surely wouldn’t do something as brainless and suicidal as kill Lee Hyeon-Su, but rats driven to a corner usually resorted to crazy things to survive.

In that case, it paid to be a little more cautious when approaching the rats.

So, to think Kang Jin-Ho wanted to summon all the Knights right away!

“My lord, my recommendation is to take a step back and calm down a little first. Mister Lee’s life is hanging in the balance.”

“Calm down?”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly raised his head to stare at Wiggins. And Wiggins’ heart tumbled to the pit of his stomach after staring into those dark eyes.

Those indescribably cold, withdrawn eyes were bereft of any identifiable human emotions.

Was Kang Jin-Ho enraged? Was he worried? Or was he amused by this situation? Wiggins couldn’t tell.

He couldn't spot any traces of emotions or feelings from Kang Jin-Ho's dark, murky eyes. All he could see was seemingly endless darkness swirling within.

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly stared at Wiggins before shifting his attention back to the Master. “Summon them.”

“W-when?”

“Right now.”

“...Understood.”

Kang Jin-Ho mouthed a fresh cigarette and silently puffed away. Meanwhile, the Master rushed outside to summon the Knights.

Wiggins pondered and pondered some more before finally breaking his silence. “My lord. What will you do now?”

“...?”

“Mister Lee might end up in danger. We need to approach this problem as carefully as possible.”

“Wiggins.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Sometimes, being too careful will create even bigger issues.”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly turned his head to stare at Wiggins again. “We went with your method this time, and that got us into this mess.”

“Yes, it... did.”

“So, we’ll handle this my way.”

“...Understood.”

Wiggins nodded, then took a step back.

He was sure of one thing now.

‘The end will not be pretty. Not even close.’

Strapping on a vest full of explosives and blowing themselves up to kill Kang Jin-Ho might have been a wiser move by the Knights. At least that would have only killed the would-be terrorists, after all!

Unfortunately for the culprits, they made a huge mistake by not knowing that touching Lee Hyeon-Su was a worse provocation than directly insulting Kang Jin-Ho!

‘I can only pray that the Round Table will survive today's event and continue on...'

Of course, he also prayed for Lee Hyeon-Su’s safety.

***

Knight Wellinger sat in his spot next to the round table, his expression cramped.

That was because his sight was sullied by the figures of other Knights constantly scanning their surroundings in clear anxiety!

‘You... You useless pieces of trash!’

Holding up a neon sign that read, “Yes, I’m the bad guy!” above their heads would have been less conspicuous!

How did such cowardly people manage to climb to the noble position of the Knight of the Round Table?!

The decision to accept every random moron in order to pressure the Master was now coming back to bite Wellinger in the rear. If Kang Jin-Ho grabbed any one of these morons and interrogated them, Wellinger and Kramer being the culprits would be uncovered in the blink of an eye!

Despite knowing that, Wellinger still chose to answer the summons.

‘Because they can't do anything to us!'

Catching a criminal would herald the end of the investigation. However, that story didn’t apply to kidnappers. The case could not be closed unless the victim was safely back home.

Not even the massive organization called “government” couldn't do much if its citizens were captured by international pirates. If it wanted to, wiping the pirates off the face of Earth would be a cakewalk for the government, but the operation would still be deemed a failure if the hostages were not rescued in time.

Lee Hyeon-Su was currently a ‘guest’ in Wellinger’s care. Since that was the case, neither the Master nor Kang Jin-Ho could do anything to them.

‘I can’t wait to see what kind of a face you’re making!’

Summoning the Knights was a bad move. After all, by displaying how unprepared he was and throwing around empty threats during the meeting, the fear the Knights had toward Kang Jin-Ho would only get diluted even further.

This situation seemed to be heading in a favorable direction for Wellinger and his camp.

Of course, something still worried him, and that was...

“He’s insane, Sir Wellinger.”

That was Kramer's honest evaluation of Lee Hyeon-Su.

Since Kang Jin-Ho kept someone like that around by his side, the odds of him also being a lunatic were uncomfortably high. That variable kept rearing its head inside Wellinger's mind, but...

‘Even if you’re a nutcase, you still won’t be able to do anything.’

It hadn't been ten hours since Lee Hyeon-Su had been kidnapped. In other words, Kang Jin-Ho’s side probably didn't have enough time to prepare a counterattack.

Wellinger sank a little deeper into his chair and waited for the Master to arrive as some of the weight finally lifted off his mind. He hadn’t felt this refreshed in a while, that much was for sure!

“The Master of the Round Table has arrived!”

As soon as the guards made their announcement, the doorway to the grand hall opened, and the Master stepped inside. Wellinger's refreshed feeling got an even stronger boost after noticing the Master's stiff expression and urgent steps.

Behind him was...

Clomp!

Kang Jin-Ho entered the hall a couple of seconds after the Master. He was completely expressionless, which was in stark contrast to the Master’s stiff face.

Wellinger couldn’t even tell what Kang Jin-Ho was thinking. However, compared to Kang Jin-Ho’s previous half-sneering face from the earlier meeting, he didn’t seem as triumphant as before. Wellinger was certain of this.

He worked quite hard to suppress his triumphant feeling from slipping into his expression. Kang Jin-Ho’s side must already be suspecting Wellinger, but that didn’t mean he should confirm their suspicions, now did he?

Kang Jin-Ho reached his assigned seat but continued to stand instead and scanned the Knights around the table.

His glare was as heavy as granite.

Those who got cowered by him the last time reflexively avoided meeting his eyes.

‘Well, then. What will you do now, Kang Jin-Ho?’

Wellinger narrowed his eyes and waited. Would Kang Jin-Ho have a way out of this?

That was when Kang Jin-Ho spoke up. He clearly enunciated every word. “Lee Hyeon-Su from the Martial Assembly has gone missing.”

Wellinger knew Kang Jin-Ho wouldn't order the Knights to find the kidnapped man. After all, the kidnappers might choose to silence the victim rather than create a trail of evidence that leads right back to them. So, he probably...

“You have twenty-four hours.”

Wellinger’s head shot up in surprise, and he stared at Kang Jin-Ho. And that was when he saw ‘it’.

He saw the malice writhing within Kang Jin-Ho's eyes.

He saw the burning rage ready to incinerate the entire world!

“If you can recover at least Lee Hyeon-Su’s body in the next twenty-four hours, I’ll let half of you leave here alive. However, if Lee Hyeon-Su does not return to this place within twenty-four hours...”

Kang Jin-Ho coldly chewed his words out.

“All of you will die. In the most gruesome manner imaginable.”

Wellinger’s heart froze stiff right there and then.