Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 101

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 101
* * *
Ten days had passed since Yeon-woo entered the nest.
Whoosh—
Am-yeong Majun, who had been sitting in cross-legged meditation before the nest, opened his eyes at the sound of someone descending.
Without turning around, he seemed to recognize who was approaching, and the corner of his mouth curved into a faint smile.
“Is the trial finished?”
“…Just now.”
Am-yeong Majun rose from his seat with a grunt and turned to look at the newcomer.
It was Gwi-ya-gaek, the master of Maryong Hall.
“Did they find all of the Strange Bird’s Eggs?”
Gwi-ya-gaek nodded slowly.
“Ah, this batch seems to have some real talent. The Order’s future is bright!”
“The examinee who entered the nest—he’s still in there?”
“Yes.”
Am-yeong Majun turned to look at the nest.
“It’s taking longer than I expected.”
“…So it seems.”
“By the way, there’s no problem with the Ghost Soul Maga side?”
Gwi-ya-gaek nodded.
Am-yeong Majun let out a low chuckle.
“I never thought you’d take my side that day.”
* * *
Ten days earlier.
Sssssss—
The aura that Gwi-hon Majun unleashed grew steadily denser.
Gwi-rim was the domain of the Ghost Soul Maga, so there was no hesitation in displaying power here.
Am-yeong Majun, observing Gwi-hon Majun for a moment, then—
“Sigh….”
—exhaled deeply.
Then, with a shrug, he spoke with perfect composure.
“Think about it. That child went into the nest alone. She’ll spend days and days with a creature dozens of times her own size.”
“….”
Gwi-hon Majun tilted his head.
…And?
Am-yeong Majun adopted an exaggerated gesture, his expression turning to one of concern.
“How terrified and lonely she must be? Wouldn’t it be reassuring to have a familiar face waiting when she comes out?”
Gwi-hon Majun furrowed his brow.
“What sort of—”
He was about to object to what sophistry he was laying out now, when—
“This is all for the safety of the examinee. Both physically and mentally.”
Am-yeong Majun’s gaze was not directed at Gwi-hon Majun, but at Gwi-ya-gaek.
“What do you think, Master of Maryong Hall?”
The twelve trials of Maryong Hall are conducted under the proposals of the Seven Families Three Palaces Magungs and the review of the master of Maryong Hall.
And while the trials are taking place, wherever they are held becomes an affiliate of Maryong Hall.
In other words, on the premise that they are in a trial, Gwi-rim falls under the governance of Maryong Hall’s rules, which means that at this moment, the authority of Maryong Hall’s master is paramount.
It was only logical.
If the Magungs were allowed to rampage in their own territories, the examinees would all be dead by the end of the day, trials or no trials.
“Such cheap tricks—!”
Gwi-hon Majun, realizing that he was trying to exploit this, began to rage when—
“There is merit to that….”
“…!”
A drawling voice flowed out calmly.
Surprisingly, Gwi-ya-gaek had taken Am-yeong Majun’s side.
* * *
“You will regret this! I will demand accountability for this matter before the Master!”
“You should’ve seen the look on Gwi-hon Majun’s face. The other Magungs really missed it.”
Am-yeong Majun, clutching his belly, let out a hearty laugh.
Gwi-ya-gaek’s expression remained impassive, though.
Am-yeong Majun regarded Gwi-ya-gaek with a subtle, lingering gaze.
On the surface, he had acted as though he had fallen for Am-yeong Majun’s outlandish and willful excuse, but Am-yeong Majun knew precisely why he had raised his own hand instead of Gwi-hon Majun’s.
‘It was because of the examinees, wasn’t it?’
Gwi-hon Majun was a martial artist who commanded Ghost Energy.
He wielded internal power of the same nature as the energy that flowed through Gwi-rim itself.
Had Gwi-hon Majun revealed even a fraction more of his momentum in that moment, or had they come to blows right there,
‘Gwi-hon Majun’s Ghost Energy might have set the creatures living in Gwi-rim into a frenzy.’
If the Ghost Energy of Gwi-rim had destabilized, the examinees would have been in danger.
“In any case, he’s more thoughtful than he appears.”
“…?”
Gwi-ya-gaek scratched the back of his neck as though entirely uninterested and turned to look toward the nest.
Hoooooot—
From far off came the sound of the Conch Horn signaling the end of the trial to the examinees.
At the same moment, red smoke rose from the far side of the forest.
While Yeon-woo had been inside the nest, the trial had ended.
The remaining examinees were scheduled to return to Maryong Hall before the day was through.
* * *
“Yaaaay—!! Finally, we’re out!!”
“Phew… if I’d been in there one more day, I would’ve died….”
The faces of the examinees emerging from Gwi-rim were as bright as could be.
Two weeks.
The time the examinees had spent in Gwi-rim.
“They found all the Strange Bird’s Eggs?”
“That’s why the trial ended, isn’t it? Besides, where were you? Did you find your Red Token?”
“Hah, of course! Found the Red Token and stayed right outside the green zone.”
Lower-order jiangshi encountered in the region where the Red Token lay.
In other words, beyond the yellow zone awaited things far more terrifying than a mere jiangshi.
Most of the examinees who had managed to secure their Red Token by evading the jiangshi’s gaze had retreated beyond the green zone to wait out the trial’s end.
Having no confidence in facing anything stronger than a jiangshi, they had been satisfied with the Red Token and withdrawn.
“Those who found Red Tokens, come this way!”
“Those who found Strange Bird’s Eggs, come here!”
On one side, instructors were tallying the results of the trial.
They seemed intent on identifying the names of those who had found Red Tokens and Strange Bird’s Eggs before heading back to Maryong Hall.
It was a way to prevent any unnecessary commotion on the return journey.
The examinees who had emerged from Gwi-rim moved according to the instructors’ directions.
Once they had shown the Red Tokens they’d found and confirmed their names written on the list, they finally seemed to relax.
And among those who emerged from the forest as though clawing their way out,
“Finally… outside… at last….”
“Ugh… if I’d been in there any longer, I wouldn’t have been able to hold back. I really would’ve bolted….”
It was Sama Hyeon, a slight-framed examinee who barely managed to hold onto the Small Crown, and Baek Yeol-han, who had been with him.
The color had drained from both their faces far more than from the other examinees.
And with good reason.
“How could they fight for ten days straight without tiring? Are they even human…?”
“And why are they keeping us around…? As if we ever mattered to them in the first place….”
Ten days ago, Sama Hyeon and Baek Yeol-han had arranged for Wi Yu-hwa, who had been following them, to meet Gwang-o.
As expected, the two of them had clashed the moment they met, sparks flying as they engaged in a war of nerves, and soon a brutal skirmish erupted.
It was fine that the two had forgotten Yeon-woo in the process,
‘Stamina… what is this….’
‘Are they even examinees like us…?’
They had rested, true enough.
Thanks to Sama Hyeon and Baek Yeol-han forcibly separating them midway, allowing them to drink water and eat,
And through their clever persuasion, they had even managed to sleep, having agreed not to touch each other while sleeping.
The problem was that the moment their eyes opened, they’d start fighting again.
Because of that,
“Ugh, my whole body aches… I was so worried one of them might die in their sleep that I couldn’t sleep properly. I’m dying….”
“I myself… have never set so many traps in my entire life….”
In the end, only the two of them were completely exhausted.
The moment they heard the Conch Horn signaling the trial’s end, they had bolted from there like their lives depended on it.
“Those who found Red Tokens, come here!”
At the instructor’s shout, both their heads snapped in that direction simultaneously.
Baek Yeol-han’s jaw dropped.
“Ah, that’s right.”
The Red Token.
“We could only find one….”
“That’s fine with me.”
Hmm?
Baek Yeol-han turned to look at Sama Hyeon.
Sama Hyeon simply adjusted the Small Crown on his head, unmoved.
“I haven’t even properly mastered any martial arts. Either way, I wouldn’t have found it on my own. You should take it.”
Baek Yeol-han’s brow furrowed slightly.
“What are you talking about? I’m not sure you’d have found it alone, but that’s why you came to find me in the first place, isn’t it?”
Hadn’t this one used his talent to figure out where and how to navigate the forest to reach him?
And it was no mere coincidence that he’d located Gwang-o the same way.
“That’s also a skill of yours, so….”
“That’s enough. Just something trivial like that.”
Sama Hyeon cut him off with a murmur, then quickened his pace as if to escape, moving away.
Baek Yeol-han hurried to grab hold of him.
“There.”
But someone else caught Sama Hyeon first, before Baek Yeol-han could reach him.
It was the instructor.
“The examinee who found the Red Token should head over there.”
Both Sama Hyeon’s and Baek Yeol-han’s eyebrows shot up at once.
Because the person holding the Red Token was not Sama Hyeon, but Baek Yeol-han.
“But I didn’t find it.”
“? Isn’t it right there?”
The instructor gestured with a puzzled expression toward Sama Hyeon’s waist.
Following that finger, Sama Hyeon’s gaze fell to his own waist, where—
‘The Yellow Pouch…!’
The Yellow Pouch that he’d received from Sa-ryeon before entering the forest was dangling there.
He’d meant to return it to Sa-ryeon after the trial ended.
When Sa-ryeon had given it to him, he’d said clearly—
“It will help you when you’re looking for the red token.”
Sama Hyeon’s complexion darkened rapidly.
‘Surely not…!’
It wasn’t meant to help him find it—!
Sama Hyeon hurriedly untied the pouch he’d bound and opened its mouth.
Tap.
As he emptied it, the Red Token fell into his palm.
What Sa-ryeon had given him was not some clue for finding the Red Token.
The Red Token itself.
‘That crazy instructor…!’
Watching Sama Hyeon freeze in bewilderment, the instructor beside him let out a light laugh.
“Found it and forgot about it, I see. You must be quite exhausted. Write down the roster and rest. The moment all the examinees come out, we’ll be heading back to Maryong Hall.”
The instructor patted Sama Hyeon’s shoulder gently to comfort him, then soon made his way toward the examinees who were just emerging from the forest.

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