Descent of the Demon Master

dyed in the crimson hue used to evoke an indescribable sense of terror in Noh Su-Bong in the last six days.
What about Kang Jin-Ho's eyes right now, then?

Those deep black eyes stared at Noh Su-Bong with no discernible emotion as if Kang Jin-Ho was studying a dead object.
Just what was this soul-ripping terror Noh Su-Bong was experiencing right now?!

Kang Jin-Ho slowly opened his mouth.
“I don't understand.”

“…?”

“Whether it's Kim Hak-Cheol or you…
I don't understand why you mouth off some stuff that no one has brought up before…” Kang Jin-Ho muttered, his voice completely different from the usual.
The icy coldness belonging to the coldest part of hell was contained in his voice.

“N-no one…
brought it up? What?” Noh Su-Bong gasped in surprise.

An unreadable grin formed on Kang Jin-Ho's lips.
“When did I ever say you're guilty of something?”

“…?” This was when Noh Su-Bong's thoughts went off track as confusion and chaos made an utter mess of his head.
He tried to look back, and sure enough, Kang Jin-Ho had never said anything about guilt or anything like that.

“You were right with what you said…” Kang Jin-Ho muttered in a snarky voice.
“Indeed, the strong prey on the weak in this world.
No matter how much laws and moral compasses try to become the safeguard, they are helpless to stop the ones with power from devouring, trampling on, and humiliating those without power.”

Noh Su-Bong stared at Kang Jin-Ho in stupefaction.

“Did you say you did it because you can? That you had the power to do so?” Kang Jin-Ho slowly extended his hand and grabbed Noh Su-Bong's throat.

Unable to resist, Noh Su-Bong just sat there and watched everything unfold.
His body wasn’t paralyzed like before, yet he didn't even dare to stop Kang Jin-Ho's hand.
This man before his eyes was a devil capable of ripping him apart at any time.
How was he supposed to resist a creature like that, then?

“What a strange thing that is.” Kang Jin-Ho bared his fangs in a toothy grin.
In the past, his grins had always contained some hints of mockery—ridicule.
But this grin emphatically did not.
It was like a massive wolf baring its fangs right in front of Noh Su-Bong's face and growling menacingly.

Noh Su-Bong's current terror was born out of the unfiltered, raw savagery he could sense from that grin.
It was as if Kang Jin-Ho would open his maw and rip Noh Su-Bong's throat at any given moment.

“If that's what you think, why can't you understand it?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head ever so slightly.

Noh Su-Bong cautiously asked back, “…What do you mean?”

“Don't you get it?” Kang Jin-Ho cackled softly.
“There's only one reason why you're in this state.”

He suddenly stopped cackling and stared into Noh Su-Bong's eyes, his declaration languid but firm and resolute, with no room for any other interpretation.
“It's because you're the weak.”

Strength seeped out of Noh Su-Bong's shoulders just then.

“I don't need any other reason besides that.
And there are no other causes, either.
You want to repent? I don't care.”

“…!”

“What were you thinking about while trampling on other people? Did you demand something from them? Of course not.”

Noh Su-Bong's body began to tremble once again.

“That's right.
That's exactly how it is.
I simply want to gnaw and chip away at your life.
While hurting you little by little, I want to destroy you bit by bit.
That's all.
I have the power, and I do have the will.
And, just like you said, others can't stop me, either.
In that case, why should I—” Kang Jin-Ho smiled brightly as if he was having a whale of a time right now.
“—even bother to find a reason?”

Noh Su-Bong's eyes began losing focus.
He had given up.

There was no way to escape—no way to stop this madman.
Just like how humans couldn't stop the sun from setting, Noh Su-Bong couldn't escape from the darkness in his life.
Which implied that Kang Jin-Ho couldn't be stopped, either.

However, this creature before Noh Su-Bong wasn't 'Kang Jin-Ho.’ No, it was a twisted monster that had already gone off the deep end.
And there didn't seem any possible escape from such a monster.

No, there might be one.

“Listen well, Noh Su-Bong.” Kang Jin-Ho leaned in closer and whispered in Noh Su-Bong's ear, “I don't want anything from you.”

If…
If only he said he wanted to kill Noh Su-Bong.
Or take everything away.
Those words would've been so much more bearable.
However, Kang Jin-Ho said he didn't want anything.

He wanted nothing at all.
That declaration robbed Noh Su-Bong of his final grip on his sanity.

“Heh, hehehe…” Noh Su-Bong's lips slowly parted.
Drool began to dribble down his mouth to wet the bed sheets below.

Kang Jin-Ho bared his fangs once more as he stared at his victim.
“No, not yet.
Now isn't the time.” He then placed his hand on Noh Su-Bong's head.

Wuuooong…

Origin qi circulated in Noh Su-Bong's head, dragging him out of the murky depths of his consciousness.
He sobered up almost instantly and stared at Kang Jin-Ho in a daze.
However, that lasted only for a moment.

“Euh…? Uwaaaah…?!” Noh Su-Bong's expression distorted and crumpled as if his face belonged to an extraterrestrial creature.
This devil didn't even permit his victim to go mad!

Kang Jin-Ho patted Noh Su-Bong's cheek as if he was pitying the latter.
“It's too early, Noh Su-Bong.
We still have one more night to go, don't we? Plenty of time, in other words.
That's why…
Let's play some more, okay?”

“Euh-heuh…
Euh…” Noh Su-Bong's quiet sobbing echoed within his room.

Kang Jin-Ho stared at his victim for a while before roughly grabbing Noh Su-Bong's throat and pulling him real close.
“Well, then…
Noh Su-Bong?”

Another bright smile formed on Kang Jin-Ho's face.

“Do you like the hand I have extended to you?”

Of course, Noh Su-Bong couldn't understand what Kang Jin-Ho was saying.

However, Kang Jin-Ho seemed as if he didn’t care as he continued, “Don't you worry, though.
There are plenty of people in this world, after all.
And I'll have to extend my hand to many of them in the future.
Like I have done with you.
I guess you won't be lonely, then.”

The laughter of the demonic entity began to pervade Noh Su-Bong's dark room.

“Well, then…” Kang Jin-Ho's cruel smile deepened.
“Let's get started.”

Noh Su-Bong's eyes widened as endless despair filled his heart.