Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 100

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 100
The beast’s crimson eyes wavered intensely.
It hung motionless in the sky, wings forgotten mid-flutter.
‘How could this….’
How could this possibly….
Shock, dread, terror, and danger.
The Masked Man chuckled softly, watching the bird lay bare every tremor of emotion.
“Whether it’s a fateful encounter or whatever—well, we’ll see. I’ll make sure to tell the others about you, so don’t worry. Ah.”
The Masked Man raised a finger as if remembering something crucial.
“Don’t starve him, will you?”
The beast was still reeling from the shock.
When had it been discovered? When?
The existence of its chick—how could….
The Masked Man turned on his heel swiftly.
“Give him my regards.”
Then he walked away with a light stride, waving his hand idly.
“Tell him Darkness waits for him.”
He vanished into the forest with an unhurried gait.
The beast remained rigid, watching until he disappeared from sight.
The bird’s heart pounded—thump, thump—as though it might burst from its chest any moment.
The beast barely steadied itself.
‘It’s all right. Just three more days….’
The chick will be free then.
If only it could endure that long….
Flutter—flutter—
Massive wings sliced slowly through the sky.
The beast, which had stood dazed in that spot, turned its body and flew back toward the Nest.
* * *
Another half day passed.
Thud—crack!
Two shadowed figures descended before the Nest.
They were Gwi-ya-gaek and Gwi-hon Majun.
Steel sang.
The moment Gwi-ya-gaek landed, he drew his blade and strode toward the Nest with long, purposeful steps.
Gwi-hon Majun’s eyes flew wide open as he called out urgently.
“What—what are you attempting?”
Gwi-ya-gaek turned back to him with a questioning glance.
“Array Breaking.”
He meant to forcibly shatter the formation laid to permit only a single person entry.
Now? This instant?
Gwi-hon Majun spoke in alarm.
“Do you know how many formations are woven into this place? If you carelessly disturb one, not only the child but the beast itself could be endangered!”
“That won’t happen.”
“No, wait—!”
Gwi-ya-gaek was turning to walk toward the Nest again.
“So? Why break anything? It’s not like he’s dead.”
“….”
“…!”
Both Gwi-ya-gaek and Gwi-hon Majun spun toward the source of the voice.
There stood Am-yeong Majun, leaning casually against a tree, arms crossed.
The faces of both men hardened in an instant.
It was not his words or his manner.
Neither of them had sensed his presence at all.
“What brings you here?” Gwi-ya-gaek asked.
He spoke quietly.
His blade was already being sheathed as he asked.
If Am-yeong Majun, the guardian of the disciple who entered the Nest, bore such composure, then the child was safe.
Without need for further words, both men understood this truth, and so the sword was lowered.
Steel whispered.
Am-yeong Majun, who had been watching the silver blade slide smoothly into its sheath, smiled faintly and straightened.
“Didn’t we agree to something?”
“…?”
“To keep your word. Properly.”
Gwi-ya-gaek’s expression hardened slightly.
Even knowing the child was safe, he was brazenly demanding accountability—yet Gwi-ya-gaek found himself unable to speak. He had failed to protect the child again.
This time too, he had failed.
For whatever reason, his duty was to prevent the Young Girl from reaching the Nest.
“If she hadn’t stewed the Goe-jo, what would’ve happened? We’d have met as corpses again.”
But there was no need to be dragged further through this.
“And you—how did you know to come here?”
Something even the Gyojoo himself hadn’t foreseen, yet this man had arrived knowing it beforehand.
Wasn’t that more suspicious?
“I’m always keeping watch, after all.”
“Keeping watch?”
What watch?
Depending on how he took it, Gwi-ya-gaek could draw his blade right here without consequence.
Gwi-ya-gaek’s hand had moved to his sword, his gaze sharp as he waited for Am-yeong Majun’s answer, when—
“What are you talking about? Stewed the Goe-jo?”
Gwi-hon Majun suddenly interjected.
Of course, he understood it didn’t mean literally stewed—but he needed details.
The Goe-jo was a principal asset of the Gwi-hon Demon Household.
The Goe-jo’s eggs were presented to the Gyojoo, making them ultimately Divine Cult property, but what mattered was the eggs’ original source. Owning and managing a creature that secreted Spiritual Medicine—that was the foundation of the Gwi-hon Household’s standing within the Divine Cult.
Their control over such a being cemented their position as indispensable.
“You encountered the Goe-jo?”
The Goe-jo had left its Nest?
That creature, which hadn’t emerged in decades?
“Yes. It said it would become a Fateful Encounter for the child.”
“!”
“…!”
Even Gwi-ya-gaek was shaken now.
He’d often heard that the Goe-jo had killed people, but never that it had offered to help anyone.
And a Fateful Encounter at that?
Gwi-hon Majun repeated it as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
“The Goe-jo… said that?”
“That’s what I’m telling you.”
“But… what…?”
“It asked for time. For the sake of the child.”
Gwi-hon Majun’s jaw had fallen completely slack.
Could all of this possibly be a lie from Am-yeong Majun?
‘No, there’d be no reason for that.’
Am-yeong Majun was protecting the child.
He would never guide things toward the child’s harm.
‘If that’s the case…’
Could the Goe-jo truly…?
“In that sense, I thought I’d keep watch here.”
Am-yeong Majun turned to face Gwi-ya-gaek.
“The Trial is still ongoing, isn’t it?”
“You’re telling me to leave.”
“You have much to attend to elsewhere—consider it courtesy on my part.”
Am-yeong Majun offered a amiable smile.
But the message was unmistakable.
He would guard the Goe-jo’s Nest himself. Now get out.
“Wait a moment!”
Gwi-hon Majun spoke urgently.
“The Goe-jo is mine to claim. I should be the one standing guard.”
“I can’t allow that.”
“What? Have you forgotten whose domain the Ghost Forest is?”
“Domain or no domain.”
Am-yeong Majun casually brushed his hair back.
From that nonchalant gesture came a subtle, unmistakable unease.
“You said you already sent word? That I’m waiting?”
He conveyed this through the beast.
Darkness was waiting, he said.
True, the message had been delivered—but that alone was hardly reason enough for Gwi-hon Majun to stand down.
“Right now….”
Around Gwi-hon Majun, a dense ashen aura roiled and churned, thick as a sealed wall.
Domain? Nonsense.
“You’re asking for a fight?”
Shhhhhhh—
The spiritual power that rose was formidable, yet it held no roughness to it.
Gwi-hon Majun’s cultivation, tainted with ghostly essence, began to seep outward like a shadow—spreading as though it were incorporeal, unreal.
“No matter how much the Gyojoo favors you, there’s no reason I should tolerate such arrogance.”
This was Ghost Forest.
Gwi-hon Demon Household’s domain, unmistakably.
In the heart of that eerie aura, Am-yeong Majun’s gaze turned cold and piercing.
Gwi-ya-gaek simply stood to the side with his arms crossed, watching with the air of someone thoroughly bored.
* * *
Crack—!
Thud-thud-thud—!
As the axe came down, the frayed vine binding finally began to tear.
The Small Chick, the beast, and Yeon-woo all felt a spark of hope kindle in their eyes at once.
– Just one more time and….
The beast was about to say it was possible, when—
“I can do it!”
Yeon-woo suddenly hurled the axe away and lunged toward the Small Chick’s legs.
– What?! Why all of a sudden?!
The Small Chick startled.
But it was already too late to pull back.
Yeon-woo’s hands had already seized the vine binding that wound around the Small Chick’s legs.
Ughhhhh—!
Yeon-woo gripped the tattered vine with both hands and pulled with all her strength.
The girl’s face flushed red.
Though she must have been depleted from swinging the axe, still she summoned her strength.
– You can rest, you really can rest now!
The beast tried to stop the child.
For four days, without complaint, this child had severed her offspring’s sorcery.
Even without the Masked Man’s promise not to harm her, the beast had no wish to see the girl’s body suffer injury.
And yet—
“I can do it!!”
Yeon-woo refused to release her grip on the vine.
She yanked with every ounce of strength she possessed.
Her face grew redder still, her mind increasingly clouded, but she held on. And then—
Pop—crackle.
– !!
The vine truly began to tear free from the child’s hands.
The fissure the axe had carved split open wider.
Seeing this, a glimmer of surprise flickered across the beast’s crimson eyes.
– W-wait….
The Small Chick still wanted to stop the child.
Being closest, the Small Chick knew the truth.
This human child was pushing herself beyond her limits.
Pop—crackle.
But watching the sorcery tear apart before its eyes, feeling the liberation that now seemed truly within reach, the Small Chick’s voice caught in its throat.
Ughhhhh—!
And so the beast and the Small Chick held their breath, watching the child in silence for a long moment.
“Hyyyyyeeeeeeeah!!!”
Crackle-crackle-crackle—!!
– !!!
With the child’s powerful cry, the vine tore free at last.
The Dark Sorcery of the Gwi-hon Demon Household that had bound the Small Chick was truly, finally shattered.
– This… this can’t be…!
In that moment, the beast’s crimson eyes trembled.
The Dark Sorcery of the Gwi-hon Demon Household, which walked the Boundary Between Life and Death itself.
A human child—who knew nothing of death—had succeeded in breaking it.
Truly.
Was there any marvel more wondrous than witnessing the impossible?
“I… I did it…!”
The torn Vine Binding slowly faded from the child’s grip.
No—the sorcery of the Gwi-hon Demon Household, which had taken the form of a binding vine, had been broken.
The beast caught the stumbling child swiftly in its arms.
Within the beast’s plush wings, the child trembled and laughed.
“I… did well, didn’t I…?”
The beast’s crimson eyes rippled for a moment.
The beast nodded slowly.
– I am indebted to you… How can I ever repay such a debt.
Before those words could even finish.
Whoosh—
The child lifted a hand, pointing near the beast’s legs.
The child laughed again, soft and breathless.
“Next, it’s mother bird’s turn.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————