Descent of the Demon Master

A hint of panic descended in the conference room.

'What is he talking about?'

Even the interpreter was left speechless and stupefied. Although he did his job and translated everything, he couldn't help but think that…

'Isn't it common courtesy to study at least a little bit about the other party before showing up to a summit?'

A man who yapped on about manners didn't even bother with such basic courtesy!

The atmosphere in the conference venue grew frosty in the blink of an eye.

"Kuh-hum!" The Master quietly fake-coughed to clear his throat. This was not his usual way of responding, indicating that he was currently flustered. "Indeed, someone who doesn't know might see this mask as a sign of discourtesy. However, please do forgive us as this is the Round Table's tradition."

How dignified! The interpreter subtly clenched his fists.

This was why the Master of the Round Table was such a great human being and a role model for everyone!

He still retained his dignified air despite the provocation from some young punk who didn't know his place. A person tasked with leading the greatest organization known to man, the Round Table, should carry himself with grace and dignity like the Master!

On the other hand, who the hell did that brat think he was?

'How can someone so uncouth even be allowed to sit as the head of an organization?'

What a boorish cretin he was! From the crooked way he stood there to the just-as-crooked expression he was making… Not a hint of courtesy or manners could be seen in that man.

The Master firmly called out to his subordinate. "Interpreter!"

"...Ah! My apologies, sir." The interpreter sobered up and hurriedly translated what the Master said.

However, Kang Jin-Ho smirked back at that. "I don't know what you're yapping on about, but…"

"…!"

The interpreter was stunned. What did this man say? Yap on?

'Am I… supposed to translate that?'

The interpreter couldn't make up his mind. None of his translation assignments for the Round Table until now could be classified as easy, but today's difficulty seemed especially challenging! �

After noticing the flustered look on the interpreter's face, Kang Jin-Ho turned his attention to Lee Hyeon-Su. "Looks like you'll have to take over."

"...Sir, should I translate everything you said as-is?"

"Obviously." Kang Jin-Ho nodded affirmatively.

Even Lee Hyeon-Su was left stupefied by that resolute response from his boss.

'Well, uh… We're riding on the proverbial tiger's back, aren't we now?'

Could he raise objections to Kang Jin-Ho's attitude and recommend that the latter tone down a bit? Of course not. Doing so right now would be no different from trampling on the faces of the Martial Assembly and Kang Jin-Ho, after all.

At least in this occasion, Lee Hyeon-Su must show the other side that the Assembly members obeyed the Assembly Master's commands without question.

'Fine! Let's go all-in, shall we!'

Lee Hyeon-Su sucked in a lungful of air, then let out a fake cough. "Understood, sir. Then…"

After that fake cough, he began translating. He even went slightly overboard by mixing in some slang in there as well!

"I don't see why we should humor your tradition, though? I have no desire to converse with someone who insists on hiding his face with a mask."

Lee Hyeon-Su succinctly conveyed Kang Jin-Ho's message. Sure enough, gasps of shock and anger came from the other side.

Murderous glares that screamed, "You son of a b*tch!" locked on Kang Jin-Ho.

'Hah. What a bunch of idiots.'

Lee Hyeon-Su sneered inwardly at the people doing that. He didn't know the exact depth of the Round Table's strength, but this display confirmed something for him. The members of the Master's entourage weren't all that strong.

If those people had possessed the minimum-necessary strength to notice how strong Kang Jin-Ho really was, they would've never dared to glare at him this way.

"Hmm…" The Master of the Round Table let out a subtle but audible grunt.

Anyone with a modicum of wit should have noticed that soft grunt contained the Master's discomfort.

Wiggins grew even more intrigued as he alternated his gaze between Kang Jin-Ho and the Master.

'This is unfolding in an unexpected direction, now isn't it?'

Wiggins did expect to see some type of a struggle to gain the upper hand here. However, to think the war of nerves would begin as soon as they stepped through the door!

What amused Wiggins even more was that Kang Jin-Ho wasn't even trying to gain the upper hand through this war of nerves. After all, Wiggins knew his lord wasn't the type to latch onto random things in his attempt to seize the initiative.

Kang Jin-Ho simply pointed out something he found displeasing. That was all. However, the other side obviously wouldn't interpret it that way.

"We didn't know our tradition would go against East's etiquette," the Master calmly muttered in a hushed voice.

Although he didn't sound unsettled or uncomfortable, it was still easy enough to guess what the Master of the Round Table was feeling right now.

"Unfortunately, this is not something we can yield on. I hope you understand," said the Master, then sneaked a sharp glance in Wiggins' direction.

'Goodness me…!'

Wiggins quickly deciphered the intent behind that gaze and addressed Kang Jin-Ho. "My lord. To the members of the Round Table, their mask isn't simply a tool to hide one's identity. Demanding a member to take off their mask is no different than declaring that you'd hold the summit in the nude to show you're not hiding anything."

Kang Jin-Ho cocked his brow and stared a little weirdly at Wiggins. "So?"

"My advice is that perhaps it might be wise to let this go for the sake of a more productive summit, my lord."

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded while listening to Wiggins, then replied, "What if I don't wanna?"

"…"

In that case, why did he nod like that?!

Kang Jin-Ho continued to speak. "It sounds like you're mistaken about something here, but…"

"…"

"You should be grateful that I even agreed to come here in the first place."

The Master clamped his mouth shut.

"It's not like we've scheduled a meeting earlier, right? You just barged into this country with a mindset of, 'Since I'm here, you obviously must come, too!' And now, what was that? Our side must humor your traditions?"

The corners of Kang Jin-Ho's lips curled up into a sneer.

"You sure a full of yourselves, aren't you?"

Kang Jin-Ho's voice became a little heated just then. However, no one on the other side of the table displayed signs of displeasure like a few seconds ago. That was because Kang Jin-Ho's aura had leaked out along with his combative words.

His aura was impossibly dense, gloomy, and terrifying. The Master's entourage finally felt this heart-stopping aura and dared not open their mouths again. As a matter of fact, they were frozen stiff in their spots, unable to move a muscle!

'W-what kind of aura is this…!'

'I-is he even human?'

Finally, the entourage sensed what the Master had been sensing all along. However, Kang Jin-Ho didn't even spare a moment's attention to their reactions. His narrowed eyes were focused only on the Master.

"You better thank Wiggins. Without his mediation, your neck would've gone flying already."

"…!" The Master's shoulders shuddered slightly.

'So, is this what you meant, Wiggins?'

During the earlier get-together, Wiggins warned the Master that this summit wouldn't be about the latter evaluating Kang Jin-Ho but getting evaluated instead. And now, he understood what those words meant.

He also figured out the most logical way of resolving this situation.

The Master of the Round Table bowed his head.

Kang Jin-Ho observed this response with a hint of confusion. This was the second time the Master had lowered his head, but its meaning differed from the first.

The first head bow was all about being courteous. However, this one was meant to be an apology.

A leader of an organization bowing his head in apology to another leader of a different organization was definitely not an easy thing to do. Even Wiggins' jaw fell in surprise at this development.

'Master, you…'

The Master of the Round Table, bowing his head! Even though he held unbridled pride in his position and the weighty responsibility that came along with it!

He should understand better than anyone that his apology also signified the Round Table's apology. Yet, someone like that actually chose to bow his head.

"My sincerest apology for not taking such things into consideration beforehand," said the Master while raising his head. He then stared straight at Kang Jin-Ho. "Unfortunately, we had to move forward with this matter in great haste. And that didn't give us enough time to consider all the factors. All I can ask you for is your understanding of our circumstances."

"Hmm…!"

"I've come to this country for a conversation. And I am ready to accept that this conversation might not yield a satisfying result. However, wouldn't you agree that reaching such a result without talking to each other first is the worst-possible outcome for everyone involved?"

"A conversation, is it…?" Kang Jin-Ho muttered, then without saying anything else, strode toward the empty chair on the other side of the Master's position. He then pulled it out and casually settled on the cushion. "So? What kind of conversation did you have in mind? Should we get formal and official and all that?"

The Master smiled back. "I'd rather prefer a relaxed conversation. Even if this is an official summit, it can also be viewed as unofficial, you see?"

Kang Jin-Ho smirked slightly. He might have come out swinging just now, but that didn't mean he was too emotional to figure out what the Master was implying.

Even though the Master had shown up here as the Round Table's representative, this was only a semi-official meeting. So, if something went wrong somewhere, he planned to sweep everything under the carpet by arguing that he was on a personal errand. At least, that was what the Master was implying just now.

'A wily raccoon, eh?'

That was the impression Kang Jin-Ho got. And to prove that he really was a sly raccoon, the man behind that mask had been probing Kang Jin-Ho countless times already.

"So, a casual, relaxed conversation, you say?"

The Master nodded. "Yes, that's correct."

"That's not a bad idea," Kang Jin-Ho casually shrugged, then pulled out a packet of cigarettes from his inner pocket. He then nonchalantly mouthed a cigarette.

Lee Hyeon-Su smirked while trotting toward Kang Jin-Ho before expertly using his lighter to light that cigarette up.

"Fuu-woo…" Kang Jin-Ho lazily puffed at the cigarette before grinning softly. "You can smoke too if you want."

"…" The Master stared dazedly at Kang Jin-Ho.

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. "What's the matter? Is this a no-smoking area?"

"No, sir," Lee Hyeon-Su smartly brought an ashtray from the other side of the table. "I had a feeling you might want to smoke, so we reserved this specific conference room."

"I see. Not bad," Kang Jin-Ho muttered, then glanced at the Master again. "So? How about a smoke, then?"

The Master could only chuckle hollowly.

'Hah. How disorientating.'

He needed to acknowledge what must be acknowledged. The Master's side had prepared various things to always hold the upper hand, but this exchange proved their actions had been a waste of time.

Kang Jin-Ho only needed three minutes to render all the preparations useless and seize the initiative.

'To make it worse… None of it was calculated.'

Indeed, Kang Jin-Ho was simply born with the talent for it! The talent to suppress the others with consummate ease and become the center of attention! Such a talent had a name for it, and it was… The qualities of a king!

Or, in this situation, it'd be more correct to say the qualities of an absolute ruler, an undisputed emperor!

The Master immediately let go of his pride. He knew from experience that getting into a pissing contest with a man like Kang Jin-Ho would only bring about an absolute worst outcome. He was sure of this as he had already dealt with this type of person many times before, even if each encounter's intensity and severity were always different.

'No, wait. That's not quite right, now is it?'

The Master subtly bit his lip. He realized these thoughts were born from his subconscious desire to not acknowledge Kang Jin-Ho.

Similar types of people as Kang Jin-Ho? Of course there could not be such a thing. After all, Kang Jin-Ho was a one-of-a-kind!

The Master could swear that no one in this God's Green Earth was even remotely similar to Kang Jin-Ho. As such, he should approach this summit as if he was encountering an unknown and mysterious entity.

"I'll have to decline," said the Master while sitting back down. Then, he carefully studied the three men on the other side of the conference table.

'Even this… is like a scene from a noir, isn't it?'

Kang Jin-Ho sat in the middle with Wiggins and Lee Hyeon-Su to his left and right. It was as if those two were supposed to be assistants and bodyguards of their boss. And the boss was relaxedly leaning on the chair and smoking away, his legs casually crossed.

This scene, this arrangement, seemed awfully familiar to the Master. Unfortunately, most characters appearing in such a set-up were unforgivable, irredeemable villains.

"First of all, thank you for coming to meet me like this," said the Master. He had already switched to a more submissive approach.

Even though he knew his attitude didn't fit the leader of one of the most noble, ancient organizations on Earth, the Round Table!

"It seems you have a lot of time to waste," Kang Jin-Ho muttered.

With that, he proved he was not interested in being courteous just because the other side was.

In Kang Jin-Ho's view, the Master occupied the exact middle of a spectrum. This spectrum determined where people stood in relation to him, with one end labeled as "Enemy" while the other end, "Ally."

And the needle representing the Master of the Round Table had not shifted either way, at least not just yet. It perfectly remained still on the boundary separating the two ends. However, depending on what he said from this moment on, the needle could shift either way.

"So, you've come all this way just to see me?"

"...Yes, I have."

Even the conversation's lead had been wrestled away from the Master.

Kang Jin-Ho casually urged on. "So? I'm all ears."

"...I don't follow?"

"You want to see me, right? That means you have something to say to my face. So, what is it? Tell me when I'm willing to listen."

There was no beating around the bush with Kang Jin-Ho. The Master was forced to shut his mouth for a brief second at this go-for-the-jugular conversation tactic from the other side.

A bout of short, uncomfortable silence later…

"I'm here to decide whether to kill you or not," said the Master.

The Master's counteroffensive successfully replaced the previous uncomfortable silence with taut tension one could cut with a knife.