Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 39

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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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Chapter 39
* * *
Clang-clang! Clang!
A black spear shaft whistled through the air, cutting sharp arcs as it whirled.
The shaft parried the sword strikes even as it drove them back with brutal force.
Snap! Crack!
Fighting three at once was beyond him.
No—even Am-hyang alone was more than he could handle.
Whoosh!
So Gu Young made use of the terrain.
Thanks to the child, he’d spent the whole day ranging across the mountainside, and now its lay was second nature to him.
Shwoosh-shwoosh! Clang!
Gu Young thrust his spear through the underbrush, never slowing.
Am-hyang and her companions swatted away the spear thrusts that burst suddenly from beyond the foliage, dodged, and pressed the battle on.
Crack!
One of Am-hyang’s strikes cleaved clean through the thick trees that had been blocking her line of sight.
“…!”
Tap!
Gu Young kicked off the ground and retreated, diving clear of the falling trees.
Even so, he didn’t cease his assault.
Thud-crash-crack-crunch!
Through the cascading timber, he drove his spear toward Am-hyang’s silhouette.
Crunch-crack-crack-crack!
With fearsome speed, Am-hyang splintered the trees into fragments to evade the thrusts.
Despite its slim blade, it sheared through logs thick as a man’s torso as if they were tofu—a demonstration of staggering strength.
Whoosh-whoosh! Clang!
Gu Young swung his spear shaft high overhead in a wide arc.
Three trees ringed around him were severed in an instant.
Shwoosh-shwoosh!
Two Masked Assassins who had been lurking in the branches, waiting for their opening, leaped clear of the toppling trunks and slashed with their blades.
Whoosh-whoosh!
The moment the black spear shaft swatted both their swords aside—
Thwack!
Gu Young drove the shaft against a nearby tree.
On impact, the shaft began to vibrate and writhe with rapid oscillation.
It looked almost like a serpent.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
Gripping the end of the vibrating shaft, Gu Young rushed toward Am-hyang ahead.
Am-hyang blocked it with her blade, but the wavering shaft tangled the sword, robbing it of its force.
As if the blade itself were being swallowed.
Parrying the strike even as she landed, Am-hyang glanced at the other two Masked Assassins who had just touched ground.
The two assassins felt her gaze upon them.
They exchanged a look, then gave a curt nod.
Snap! Crack!
In unison, both sprang away in opposite directions.
“…!”
No.
Gu Young caught on at once.
‘That direction…’
It led down the mountain.
Which meant it was the direction Yeon-woo had fled.
They were abandoning him to go kill Yeon-woo.
Shwish-shwish!
The instant he understood, Gu Young pivoted and, using his momentum, hurled his Flying Blade after them.
But.
Thwack-thud!
There were too many trees crowding the area, and the Flying Blade lodged itself in a trunk that stood in the fleeing assassin’s path.
He had let one escape.
“You shouldn’t take your eyes off your opponent during a fight.”
Shwish!
“…!”
Before he could even register the one who’d slipped away.
Gu Young lurched backward desperately, arching his upper body.
A thin blade whistled past before his eyes.
Blood—
The sword grazed the bridge of his nose, carving a sharp wound.
Through the haze, Gu Young’s gaze found the sword’s master: Am-hyang.
Crack—
Using the spear he’d planted behind him to vault backward, he barely avoided falling when—
‘I have to chase him….’
“That won’t be possible.”
“…!”
Clang—!
Gu Young, about to pursue the Masked Assassin who’d escaped by leveraging the spear’s momentum, had to pivot and retreat instead, swinging the shaft defensively.
Two blades were descending on him from both sides.
Rustle—
Am-hyang and another Masked Assassin emerged from either flank.
“One cannot catch two rabbits, Gu Young.”
Am-hyang advanced, her twin blades crossing and scraping against each other.
The high keen of crossing steel grated sharply against the nerves.
“You’ll have to keep me company here.”
* * *
Thud-thud—! Whoosh—! Thud—!
Yeon-woo ran.
Without looking back, without pause, he ran.
Running down mountains was something he’d done enough times that it wasn’t terribly difficult.
The details, though—he understood nothing.
What had happened, why he alone had to flee down the mountainside.
Yeon-woo knew nothing of it.
But one thing he did know.
‘Angry eyes.’
They were eyes full of anger.
Through the darkness, that gaze—clearer and more piercing than ever before—had been bright with unmistakable fury.
So though he hated running alone, he couldn’t say no.
Thud-thud—! Thud—!
The sun sank lower as he descended the mountain.
In deep mountains, daylight fades quickly.
The path beneath Yeon-woo darkened with equal speed.
Gasp— heave—
Perhaps because of that.
Yeon-woo’s mind dredged up that day.
The day his father had cried out for help, the day he’d been held in his grandfather’s arms while searching for his father’s attendant.
The figure of the attendant, wrapped in robes, cradled in his grandfather’s embrace as they climbed.
Scarlet blood seeping through the fabric.
The reek of blood so thick it made his head throb, and—
“Nooooo—!!”
“Seok! Oh, my boy! Seok!!”
People weeping in anguish.
Those fragments of memory surfaced in Yeon-woo’s mind, and then, finally—
“Yeon-woo. Don’t die.”
When that memory reached him as Un-hyeon’s sorrowful face, Yeon-woo felt something heavy drop and settle inside him.
Terror, inexplicable and suffocating, swallowed the boy whole.
‘I can’t die. I can’t die.’
If he died… Grandfather would….
Gasp— heave—
The child’s breathing grew ragged and panicked.
The sense that someone was chasing him made his feet stumble again and again.
Dark—
Tears welled in Yeon-woo’s wide eyes.
Afraid. Afraid. Afraid. Afraid. Afraid.
He was so terrified he felt tears might spill out at any moment.
But he couldn’t stop.
The fear that stopping might mean death drove the child’s legs forward.
Yeon-woo felt as though he were racing through absolute, suffocating darkness.
Endless—it felt like he would run forever.
Grandfather.
Yeon-woo is scared….
That was when it happened.
“Who goes there!”
In the distance, a wavering light appeared.
At the ringing shout of a man’s voice, Yeon-woo flinched, trembling.
Should he go? Could he go? Somewhere else….
As that thought spun his vision in circles, it was then.
“Who…!”
Something large burst abruptly from beyond the shrubs.
Yeon-woo, startled and quaking, was about to cry out—
“You…!”
The torch’s bright flame illuminated the face of the massive figure.
It was Baek-gang, a warrior of the Gwan Household.
“Why are you here! What is this…!”
The great scar that usually looked so fearsome had never seemed so welcome.
“Mister—waaahhh!!”
Overwhelmed with relief, Yeon-woo threw himself at Baek-gang with both arms spread wide, still at full run.
“Ah…!”
Baek-gang held the torch high to keep it from the child while catching with his free hand the boy clinging to his leg.
“Who was following you—wahhh!”
“…!”
Baek-gang swept the torch’s light across the darkness behind the child.
No sounds of pursuit.
Yet Baek-gang remained vigilant.
Only days had passed since the old man who lived with the child had left on patrol, asking him to keep watch.
Instinctively, he knew the boy’s words were neither confusion nor lies.
Flash—
Baek-gang scooped the child up in one arm.
The boy buried his face in Baek-gang’s chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
Dash—
Baek-gang turned back toward the Gwan Household.
Now that the boy was safe, he needed the safest place to protect him.
* * *
Whoosh—
“Light the torches and take defensive positions! Tonight, no one crosses this palisade!”
“Yes, sir!”
At Gwan Yun’s command, bow in hand, the warriors of the Gwan Household answered in unison.
Red torches lined the broad palisade of the Gwan Household, their flames dancing bright, while armed fighters stood watch at every point.
The moment Baek-gang had returned with the child in his arms, Gwan Yun, the head of the Gwan Household, had issued these orders.
Crackle—!
“Yeon-woo! Drink this…!”
Gwan Hyeok approached with something in hand and offered it to Yeon-woo, who sat wrapped in a blanket nearby.
In the large wooden cup was warm goat’s milk.
“Are you really all right?”
Gwan Hyeok looked the boy over.
Surrounding Yeon-woo were Gwan Hyeok’s mother and elderly servants.
“Drink it. It will help you calm down.”
They too watched over the boy’s complexion.
Despite the late hour, every member of the Gwan Household had gathered.
Yeon-woo gripped the warm cup tightly and nodded.
In the circle of assembled people, Yeon-woo lifted his gaze.
The flames that brightened the dark night sky burned red and alive in the child’s eyes.
* * *
Crunch. Crack-crack, crunch.
Un-hyeon’s gaze upon Gwang-chamdo sank low and heavy.
His grip tightened on the sword hilt.
‘What in the—’
Gwang-chamdo, who had spoken of preparing something, suddenly drew an object from his robes and thrust it into his mouth.
At first glance, it resembled a Pill.
Whatever he had prepared, Un-hyeon had no intention of waiting—the moment Gwang-chamdo began to assume the Gi Su Sik stance.
“Gaaahhhhh—!”
Crack-crack! Snap-snap!
Suddenly, before Un-hyeon’s eyes, Gwang-chamdo’s body began to contort.
His muscles and bones twisted within screams of agony.
‘…!’
The shocking sight froze Un-hyeon where he stood.
In all his years of life, he had never witnessed such a thing—and now it unfolded before him.
In that brief span of time—
“Hnngh… hnngh-hnngh…!”
Hissss—
A ragged breath hissed from between Gwang-chamdo’s teeth.
He wrenched the blade free from the earth where he had planted it.
“I will end you… Royal Sword…!!”
His frame had swollen to twice its former size.
As Gwang-chamdo raised the blade toward Un-hyeon, his eyes blazed with crimson light.

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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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