Descent of the Demon Master

Wilson loudly cried out, “Stand down!”

The Round Table’s warriors trying to form a defensive line stumbled back in confusion.

“Step aside and make way! Right now!”

“But, sir!”

Wilson roared at the knight questioning him. “Do you dare to go against my order?!”

“...No, sir. We’re standing down.”

Kang Jin-Ho scratched his chin while observing this spectacle. He could easily see that Wilson’s presence was prompting all the would-be defenders to give up any thought of resistance.

Kang Jin-Ho muttered to no one in particular. “It feels like we just got our hands on a master key, now doesn't it?”

Wiggins chuckled and jokingly replied, “You’re technically correct, my lord. Wilson is the second-in-command directly after Knight Chadwick, after all. No one here would be brave enough to disobey Wilson’s commands. Unless Knight Chadwick himself steps up, that is.”

Kang Jin-Ho didn't suppress Wilson while considering all those things. He only wanted to help out a bit after noticing how desperate Wiggins was in his attempt to save Wilson's life.

‘I don’t think Wilson himself is aware of it, though.’

Wilson's sudden change of heart was actually the result of Kang Jin-Ho suppressing his will. Since people were watching and time was running out, Kang Jin-Ho couldn't replicate what he did to Vator with Wilson and completely suppress the latter's free will. But implanting crippling fear of Kang Jin-Ho in Wilson's mind wasn't that difficult.

Wilson's affection toward Wiggins and fear of Kang Jin-Ho combined to create a favorable change of heart. But the effects of his handiwork were even better than Kang Jin-Ho's expectations.

“But, Captain! Knight Chadwick said we must never stand down, sir!”

Wilson sternly rebuked the reticent knight before him. “So? Are you going to stand in my way, too?”

“But, uh, that’s…”

“Step aside, gentlemen! You will not suffer any blowbacks from this event. Because I will shoulder all responsibilities!”

The defenders alternated their gazes between Wiggins and Wilson before groaning loudly. Then, they parted to the left and right to create a path.

With only Wiggins here, these defenders might have tried to stick to orders. However, with Wilson now joining the intruders, there was simply no way they could defend this position. Not just theoretically but in reality, too. After all, the Garter Knight Order was the United Kingdom's strongest, best-trained combat force.

A group like that had become enemies now, so how were these defenders supposed to fight them back?

While picking up his pace on the now-open corridor, Vator smirked deeply. “How convenient.”

Wiggins nodded. “Yes, I agree.”

“If only you also had the same level of dignity as that captain! Our journey to this point would've been so much smoother.”

“…” Wiggins' cheeks just below his eyes twitched slightly. “Sir Vator, it's not that I lack the dignity of a leader, but…! The circumstances are against me, wouldn't you say? My circumstances, sir!”

“Sure, sure. Great excuse, that.”

“...Urgh.” Wiggins slowly shook his head. “Let's not waste our breaths in unnecessary banter. The passageway you see up ahead directly leads to where the Round Table is.”

“Hoh-oh?” Vator smirked while rubbing his chin.

“The representative Knights from the nations are gathered there. Don't let your guard down, sirs. Each Knight wields as much strength as I do.”

“Oh? In that case, it seems there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Urgh…!” Wiggins groaned loudly again. Although it was frustrating him to no end, he knew now wasn’t the time to argue with Vator.

That was when…!

“Halt!”

A man suddenly stepped out to stand in the middle of the path, blocking Kang Jin-Ho and the company's advance from completing the almost-finished journey. Even Wilson, who would've roared at the other party to stand down, had no choice but to stop.

That was because the one standing in their way this time was none other than Knight Chadwick!

Chadwick roared at the top of his lungs. “Captain of the Garter Knight Order!”

“…”

“I believed you were a man of honor, Wilson! How dare you disobey my direct order and side with the traitor?! Your predecessors must be spinning in their graves right now!”

Wilson subtly bit his lip before responding to Chadwick’s yell. “This is not a betrayal, sir!”

“What? Then, what is it? Did the meaning of the word betrayal change while I wasn't looking or something?”

“Stand down, Knight Chadwick. We’re merely doing what needs to be done.”

“Wrong!” Chadwick roared while unsheathing his sword. “You have abandoned your duty, that's what this is! A Knight Order exists to assist and uphold the honor of their liege! You've dishonored yourselves by disobeying my order. Therefore, you do not deserve to be called a Knight Order!”

Wilson tightly clenched his fists. What a deeply painful scolding this was.

However, Wiggins came to Wilson's rescue by offering a differing opinion. “No, Chadwick. Your assertion is just as wrong.”

Chadwick frowned deeply. “...What was that?”

“Knights are indeed tasked with assisting their liege. However, knights are also expected to step in when their liege starts to stray from the righteous path. Or do you think that is wrong?”

“Hah! A traitor dares to run his mouth in front of a Knight? Tell me, Wiggins! How can you sleep at night knowing you've betrayed the Round Table?!”

“Fufufu!” Wiggins chuckled genially before shrugging nonchalantly away. “Actually, I sleep perfectly well, thank you very much for asking. I feel well rested these days.”

“You despicable…!”

“Look here, Chadwick,” Wiggins smirked slyly. “The old me might have gotten offended by what you said just now. But the current me doesn't feel a thing. By the way, do you know what is the best way to overturn the label of traitor?”

“...There is no such a thing!”

“Wrong again. It does exist. And that is to turn the betrayal into a revolution.”

“What? You insane bastard…!”

Wiggins continued to smirk despite the constant barrage of insults. “That’s how history is written, Chadwick. Failed revolutionaries will be remembered as traitors committing treason, but the successful ones tend to become kings and rulers.”

“You were already a king, to begin with! But you chose to throw that away!” Chadwick desperately yelled again. “So what gives you the right to crawl back here to take away what's no longer yours?!”

“Mm? It sounds like you are mistaken about something,” Wiggins cocked an eyebrow. “I'm not coming back to the Round Table, Chadwick. You can have the Knight position for all I care. It doesn't matter to me.”

“Say what…?” Chadwick stumbled a little again, clearly flustered by that reply.

Wiggins casually shrugged again. “Returning to the Round Table's fold is the last thing I want. But I am here to revert the deeply rotten state of this organization back to where it should be. No, hang on. Let me revise that. I'm here to… build the Round Table into something new!”

“You…! Enough of your nonsense, Wiggins!” Chadwick roared urgently while thrusting his sword threateningly at Wiggins. “I have been under your shadow for far too long, Wiggins! However, that ends today! I shall challenge you to an honorable duel and then…”

“My apologies, but I'm not interested.”

“...What?” Chadwick faltered in shock.

Wiggins yawned lazily. “I don't care about any of that stuff. So, why don't we say you won and move on?”

“…?”

“We don’t have time for a carefree argument like this. Who cares about you or me winning some insignificant duel? We’ll just say you’ve won, so can you step aside now?”

“W-what are you even…!”

Wiggins glanced at the captain of the Garter Knight Order. “Wilson?”

“Yes, Sir Wiggins!”

“Keep that man busy. A handful of your elites should suffice.”

Wilson smirked. “I can do that myself, sir.”

Wiggins nodded. “I see. Then, please do. We'll go on ahead in the meantime.”

“I’ll pray for your success, sir.”

“Yes, I will too.”

Wilson yanked his sword out and dashed toward Knight Chadwick like a flash of lightning.

Chadwick panicked at this sight and began yelling loudly. “How dare you avoid an honorable duel?! And you call yourself a Knight?! You… You dishonorable bastard!”

Wiggins dismissively waved his hand. “Sure, sure. Whatever you say. Have fun.”

“Y-you bastard! If, if you know what humiliation means, you…!”

Somewhat desperate-sounding yells kept coming from Chadwick, but Wiggins ignored all that and nonchalantly turned his head away to glance at his companions instead. “Shall we get going, then?”

“…” Vator's expression was unreadable as he pointed at Chadwick. “He acts like a big fish, so will this be alright?”

“What do you mean, he’s a big fish? He’s just an idiot who doesn’t know what era he’s living in. Which leaders would butt their heads and waste time like that in this day and age?”

“…”

Wiggins tutted away. “Besides, that man isn’t even a leader in the first place.”

Vator suddenly realized that Wiggins had changed a lot since they first met. Maybe Wiggins himself wasn’t aware of it, but… But he seemed to have become a bit of a weirdo after interacting with the Martial Assembly’s people for too long! And this change was definitely not a positive one!

“In any case, let us hurry!” Wiggins shouted before rushing ahead. The Assembly's people exchanged glances with each other before casually shrugging away. Then, they also broke out into a full-blooded sprint to catch up to Wiggins. While doing so, though...

‘That poor Englishman…’

‘Holy cow. I never knew that a grown man could become so pitiful like that.’

Chadwick tried to chase after Wiggins’ rapidly distancing back, but Wilson made sure that didn’t happen with his sword. In the end, all Chadwick could do was urgently defend against Wilson’s attacks while pouring out a barrage of pathetic insults.

Everyone shook their heads in pity while listening to the world's saddest outpouring of curses and insults. Even Vator felt a pang of sympathy for the poor man.

‘And he tried to appear all heroic and stuff, too!’

“It's over there!” Wiggins running at the front of the pack pointed at a massive steel doorway with distinctive motifs carved onto its surface. “My lord!”

Kang Jin-Ho stopped running and stood next to Wiggins. “I’m listening.”

“A powerful magic circle is installed in that doorway. Undoing it will take some…”

Even before Wiggins could finish his sentence, Kang Jin-Ho suddenly leaped forward before unsheathing the Crimson Destiny. And then… He powerfully slashed at the doorway.

Whooooooosh!

The demonic qi stretching out from the blade resembled a black dragon crashing into the steel door. And then…

KA-BOOOOOOM!

A massive explosion went off and blew apart the steel door into pieces. Debris scattered in every direction, but Wiggins didn't pay any heed and charged straight into the now-open doorway, his speed as rapid as before.

“Knight Leveaux!” Wiggins’ voice echoed thunderously within the corridor.

He stepped beyond the doorway to take in the sight of the interior. This large hall remained a familiar location still. And even more familiar was the antiquated round table located right in the middle of the hall.

Knights were standing all around it, but more importantly…

‘Their swords!’

A dozen-plus swords were resting on top of that round table.

Wiggins' expression distorted when he saw all those unsheathed swords. A Knight placing his sword on the table to vote was one of the ancient customs of the Round Table.

Since all those swords were on the table, it could only mean one thing!

Wiggins slowly chewed out the name of his target. “Knight Leveaux…!”

The man perched arrogantly on the seat of the honor, Knight Leveaux, lazily stood up. A chilling smirk was etched on his lips below the mask.

“Whoa, whoa, there. That's not right, Wiggins.” Leveaux muttered, full of leisure, despite his enemies standing right before his eyes. “I'm not Knight Leveaux anymore. So, I would prefer you don't call me that, okay? Forcing someone who's not a part of the Round Table anymore to address me this way is kind of funny, but a custom is a custom, right? So, then. You should call me the Master of the Round Table now!”

Wiggins gritted his teeth.

‘We were too late!’

He believed they still had a little bit of time. The Master selection process required the majority of the Knights to be present to cast their vote.

It was reasonable to expect the process of summoning the required number of Knights to the Round Table would take some time. That was because Knights usually didn't stay in the Round Table's HQ when there were no meetings to attend.

Bringing them together should have taken longer than the Martial Assembly breaking through the defenses to get here. However, Knight Leveaux proved that he was not to be underestimated.

Even though he lacked the authority to order other Knights around, he still forced them to stay within the Round Table HQ. And when Wiggins invaded, he immediately convened an emergency meeting to elect himself as the next Master!

Wiggins grimaced. “So, you… have finally become the Master.”

“Indeed, that is what happened,” Leveaux lazily smirked. “You were oh-so-close, Wiggins. So close! If only you came here ten minutes early! You might have had a chance to change this result.”

“…!”

“Still, you have my respect for this valiant effort. I honestly didn't think you'd get this far. I even felt a little spooked at one point, you see? However, how unfortunate for you! That's how the… cookie crumbles, yes? Either you get everything or nothing. This time, it's nothing for you. That's because you didn't reach me in time!”

Wiggins bit his lips in anguish. However, Kang Jin-Ho remained nonplussed as he casually asked, “What are you doing, Wiggins?”

“…!”

Kang Jin-Ho continued to speak, his voice still calm. “Being a Master doesn't make him immune to a sword through his throat. So, let’s just kill him and get this over wi—”

“You must be Kang Jin-Ho,” Leveaux abruptly cut Kang Jin-Ho off. “An outsider like you probably doesn't understand why Wiggins is acting this way. After all, you don't get the significance of me rising above my Knight position to become the next Master. However, no need to fret. You don't have to force yourself to understand since I'll be teaching you from now on.”

Kang Jin-Ho tutted, still unimpressed. “You like the sound of your own voice, don’t you?”

“Keke… Hahaha…!” Leveaux, no longer the Knight of France but the Master of the Round Table, slowly raised his hand. “I invoke the authority of the Master to issue an emergency order! The Round Table will now declare these intruders targets to be eliminated without mercy!”

The moment those words left Leveaux’s mouth, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly changed.

Kang Jin-Ho’s expression became withdrawn as he watched Leveaux point arrogantly at him and the rest of the Assembly’s crew.

“Kill them all!”

That was when…

Ruuuuuumble…!

A massive rumble suddenly shook the entire underground facility.

‘What was that?’

Kang Jin-Ho suspiciously scanned his surroundings.

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