Chapter 535. Coming to a Conclusion (5)
Screeeech...!
Lee Hyeon-Su's car slowly came to a stop in front of the Kang residence.
Clunk!
Shortly afterward, the two front doors opened, and Lee Hyeon-Su and Kang Jin-Ho stepped outside. Lee Hyeon-Su took out a cigarette and offered it to Kang Jin-Ho. “Would you like one?”
“Why not,” Kang Jin-Ho readily accepted the cigarette while glancing at his house with the lights still on. “Mm...”
Lee Hyeon-Su tilted his head when Kang Jin-Ho sighed softly. “Is there a problem, Mister Jin-Ho?”
“Well, I might have changed my clothes, but... Don’t I still look kinda buzzed? Like, I’m still hyped about something? I'm worried about my mother starting a nag train after catching me like this.”
“...I'm sorry?” Lee Hyeon-Su blinked his eyes in disbelief while staring at Kang Jin-Ho. If he were to interpret what Kang Jin-Ho said... A man who utterly wrecked Vator earlier was afraid of getting scolded by his mother for staying out late and fighting someone? 'What the hell? What is up with this dude?'
Lee Hyeon-Su's puzzlement was quickly answered by his own thoughts, though. A young man around Kang Jin-Ho's age should naturally be worried about such things, no? Afraid of his mother's scolding, that was. However, if only Kang Jin-Ho hadn't turned Vator into a lump of bloodied meat earlier...!
'Seriously now... He definitely has split personalities.'
Lee Hyeon-Su was dead serious about this. Kang Jin-Ho really possessed split personalities. While most average dissociative identity disorder patients possessed two or more disparate personalities they couldn't control, Kang Jin-Ho seemed to switch between his at-will whenever the need arose.
Lee Hyeon-Su knew he needed to get over this subtle repulsion as soon as possible, but...
“...I'm sure she's asleep by now,” said Lee Hyeon-Su. He couldn't think of anything else to say.
Click.
Lee Hyeon-Su lit Kang Jin-Ho's cigarette, then lit his own before leaning against the car. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“Go ahead.”
“Now that it's been sorted out... What were you planning to do in case you lost?”
“...Losing, eh?”
“Yes. Losing. To Vator.” Lee Hyeon-Su sucked in a lungful of smoke before slowly exhaling it. “You haven't told anyone about the fight, right? The fight with Vator…”
“Yes, I haven't.”
“It's as you said to Vator. If you had lost to him, people left behind would have to shoulder everything. A suddenly disappearing son, older brother, friend... Kang Jin-Ho, the pillar of the Martial Assembly. Shouldn't you at least... leave final words or something similar behind to all those who would've been affected by your absence?”
“There was no need,” Kang Jin-Ho casually replied.
“Why do you say that?”
“I wasn't going to lose.”
“...!” Lee Hyeon-Su grew a little dazed by that confident response. He couldn't tell if Kang Jin-Ho was replying from the place of scary-accurate calculation or... sheer unshakable confidence of knowing that his defeat wasn't even a remote possibility.
“Besides, I still wouldn't have left any last words behind even if defeat was inevitable,” Kang Jin-Ho relaxedly shrugged his shoulders.
“...And why not?” Lee Hyeon-Su tilted his head.
“Doing that would've changed nothing, anyway.”
Kang Jin-Ho leisurely exhaled the cigarette smoke. “The void left behind by one's absence can't be filled with something like that. That problem is too complicated for superficial words to resolve, after all. What I need to do isn't make preparations for when I might fail to come home. No, it'd be... Making good on my determination to come back home no matter what it takes and be together with everyone.”
Lee Hyeon-Su clamped his mouth shut. For some reason, he felt his emotions stir just a little from those words... even if the occasion didn't really seem fitting for it.
Kang Jin-Ho was a bit coarse and direct in his delivery, but his words still contained his honesty. And a person being this earnest always carried a strange power to move other people.
“The world will change now, Mister Jin-Ho,” said Lee Hyeon-Su. Kang Jin-Ho's eyes opened slightly wider at that abrupt declaration. After noticing Kang Jin-Ho's gaze silently demanding a further explanation from him, Lee Hyeon-Su took another puff of his cigarette before continuing on. “What you've achieved today... Its worth is a lot more than you can imagine.”
“Hmm...” Kang Jin-Ho's expression grew unreadable after hearing that.
“Cult Leader, sir! Your achievement today is far more significant than anything you can imagine! And I'll ensure it stays that way!”
Kang Jin-Ho's expression creased a little deeper.
'Lee Hyeon-Su really sounds like Azure Demon, doesn't he?'
He did think Lee Hyeon-Su and Azure Demon had some commonalities, but this? Kang Jin-Ho couldn't help but chuckle wryly at how similar the two of them sounded, too.
“I'm being serious, Mister Jin-Ho,” Lee Hyeon-Su testily protested after slightly misunderstanding Kang Jin-Ho's chuckle.
“No, hold on. I wasn't disagreeing with you. Besides... Disagreeing in itself is a funny notion now. By saying its worth is a lot more than I can imagine, aren't you implying that I'm clueless about the significance of what I have done? In that case, should I refute you by saying I am well aware of it?”
“Oh, uh... Allow me to explain,” Lee Hyeon-Su fake-coughed, then became dead-serious. “Vator is a powerful expert. Of course, there must be stronger experts than him in China. However, with you having triumphed over Vator, not many experts in this world would confidently say they can beat you.”
“Mm...”
“Even if there are experts capable of doing so, their movements will still be heavily restricted.”
“Because of the power balance?”
“Yes. Even one expert of such caliber vacating their position will leave a fatal void in the faction's defenses. I have no doubt that those factions are keeping a close watch on each other. In this delicate situation, Vator must've been the... only free agent available to attack you.”
Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. Lee Hyeon-Su's analysis sounded logical. “Does that mean the Crimson King's faction won't be able to attack us anymore?”
“According to my calculations, yes. If I'm the one in charge of the Crimson King's faction... The only options available to get rid of you is to either mobilize a massive army or dispatch the core experts of the faction. However, is there a reason for the Crimson King to shoulder such risks? So, I think... I think we will see an attempt at conciliation from their side pretty soon.”
“Conciliation?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head.
“Well, yes. If you can't beat them, join them. It's a common tactic, really.”
Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow and stared at Lee Hyeon-Su. “Are you seriously suggesting that people who couldn't wait to kill each other would suddenly hold hands and sing kumbaya together?”
“Yes. That's how politics work, after all.”
Kang Jin-Ho wryly shook his head. He could never really understand the stuff these types of people often yapped about. Unfortunately for him, though... The stuff he couldn't fully understand tended to turn into reality more often than not. In that sense, maybe Kang Jin-Ho's thought pattern was really too different from people like Lee Hyeon-Su.
“Please don't look at me like that, Mister Jin-Ho. If I'm being honest, I'm the one who wants to look at you that way.”
“Hmm...”
“We'll soon get some kind of a response from that side. In the meantime, we should plan ahead and extract as many benefits as possible from them.”
“When you say we, who exactly are you talking about?”
“...Leave the planning to me.”
“Mm...” Kang Jin-Ho gently smiled as if he was satisfied by that reply.
Lee Hyeon-Su could only put on a cramped smile, though.
'He can be so... oddly annoying, no?'
Of course, he shouldn't overlook Kang Jin-Ho's incredible achievement of defeating Vator. Something that monumental deserved a well-earned rest. Lee Hyeon-Su flicked the tip of the dying cigarette to kill the light, then shoved it inside his pocket before climbing back into his car. “Alright. Get some good rest, Mister Jin-Ho. I'll call you later to inform you about the aftermath of your battle.”
“Okay. Good work tonight.”
“Good night.”
Kang Jin-Ho stood there and wordlessly watched Lee Hyeon-Su's car drive away. Once the car was out of sight, Kang Jin-Ho leisurely pulled out a fresh cigarette and mouthed it.
After lighting it, Kang Jin-Ho whispered to the empty space. “You can come out now.”
The space suddenly distorted before a man appeared there. It was none other than Knight Wiggins, finally revealing himself after undoing his stealth skill. And he was making a deeply-frowning expression.
Kang Jin-Ho glanced at him. “So? What do you think?”
Wiggins' lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but no sounds came out of his mouth. He tried to speak only to falter several times. Eventually, he shook his head in resignation. “I'm not sure what to say.”
Knight Wiggins had been observing the fight from the start. Only Zhang Dajing and Lee Hyeon-Su were unaware of his presence. Of course, Vator already knew.
Actually, it was Kang Jin-Ho who told Knight Wiggins to tag along after the Englishman said he needed to see for himself before making a decision. Of course, he meant seeing Kang Jin-Ho's true strength.
Wiggins' presence did bother Vator a little, but the big man had no problem treating the knight of the Round Table as nothing but air after realizing that his fight wouldn't be interrupted by the uninvited bystander.
Of course, his decision was probably influenced by the fact that Wiggins wasn't strong enough to change the outcome of his fight with Kang Jin-Ho.
“It's far more than what I... No, never mind that. Saying such things is meaningless now, after all. You've proven that my discernment and brain are no better than trash, anyway.” Knight Wiggins bitterly sighed. What else could he say after witnessing that incredible battle? 'I had no idea the difference in strength would be this enormous...!'
Of course, Wiggins was aware of the difference in style and power between the Eastern and Western martial arts. However, he didn't think this disparity would be so huge.
The West never once fell behind the East during Wiggins' lifetime. So, he believed the Western martial arts would not only catch up but overtake their Asian counterparts sooner rather than later. However, he realized his thoughts had been too arrogant.
Maybe... In terms of combat forces, the West could possibly overwhelm the East. For one thing, the West was appreciatively ahead of the East in terms of how systematically it trained and maintained high-class combatants. Wiggins arrived at this assessment after observing how the Martial Assembly seemed to be operating under zero concrete plan.
However, the story changed drastically the higher he moved up the food chain. What would happen if Wiggins decided to fight Vator?
'I would've been soundly defeated by him.'
Wiggins was supposed to be a proud knight, a great warrior, representing the Round Table and Great Britain. But he wouldn't dare go up against Vator.
However, Kang Jin-Ho toyed around with Vator toward the end of that brutal fight.
So, how was Wiggins supposed to accept this difference?
'Not only that, but...!'
Knight Wiggins tightly clenched his fists. What truly shocked him wasn't the two high-level experts' martial prowess. No, it was... their viciousness.
He was shaken up by how Vator and Kang Jin-Ho charged headlong into the battle as if they wanted to rip each other apart. The way they bet everything of theirs to fight, and how Kang Jin-Ho didn't spare any mercy toward the defeated Vator...!
These two men's reasons for pursuing ever-greater strength were so, so different from Wiggins'. Or, for that matter, his peers. As a result of zealously sticking to the 'rational' way of doing things, the Westerners did not bet everything of theirs into their martial arts. Many varied solutions to problems that didn't involve violence existed, after all.
It seemed illogical to become stronger at the cost of everything to defeat their enemies through sheer strength. That couldn't solve every problem in the world, now could it?
Indeed, these men were illogical. Idiotic. Savage. However, that allowed them to become tremendously powerful. And this fact left Knight Wiggins unwilling. Unable to endure! Being rational didn't mean he'd lose his competitiveness, after all!
Any hot-blooded male would possess that desire to become stronger. However, they had no choice but to hold that desire back after recognizing their reality and current status.
Until recently, Knight Wiggins was more or less satisfied with his life. However, it all began going sideways after Kang Jin-Ho's name rudely intruded into Wiggins' life.
Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes. “I'm still waiting for your answer.”
“...!” Knight Wiggins quietly chewed on his lips. After a few seconds of silence, he carefully raised his voice. “Before I answer, there is... something I want to ask you.”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
“Even I... am somewhat shocked by what I'm about to ask, but...!” Knight Wiggins grimaced and tried to draw this moment out, but his head eventually faltered. His eyes became subtly bloodshot as he asked. “If I cooperate with you... Can I become stronger, too?”
A suspicious smirk gradually spread on Kang Jin-Ho's lips.
“I'm asking if you are willing to return the favor as much as I'm prepared to give to you. Can I become stronger even at my age?”
The smirk etched on Kang Jin-Ho's lips deepened. “Your age doesn't matter in the pursuit of strength.”
“Then...?”
“The only thing that matters is your willpower. Let me ask you back, then. Are you prepared enough to do whatever it takes?”
“Fuu-woo...!” Knight Wiggins deeply exhaled before pressing his right hand on the left side of his chest. “In that case... I shall serve you. As my lord.”
Knight Wiggins with his gray hair and all... went down on one knee before Kang Jin-Ho.
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