Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 59

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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 59
“Die…!”
Gwang-o muttered the words as he swung his shortsword.
The moment he sprang upward, his opponent’s gaze—like all the others—was plainly fixed above him.
But creating the illusion of a leap while darting swiftly past the opponent to strike at the opening was Gwang-o’s specialty.
‘One blow and it’s finished!’
Just because he’d been the first to clear a single Illusory Formation, he’d grown cocky.
He would crush them with overwhelming force and show them that this was nothing worth worrying about!
Shrieeek—!
Gwang-o’s shortsword descended ruthlessly toward its target.
Crack—!
Red blood sprayed, and he relished the thought of the fearful gaze that would belatedly turn toward him—
Clang—
“What? What did you—”
“…!”
Gwang-o’s eyes trembled violently.
‘When did she…?!’
Yeon-woo’s body still faced forward.
Yet what blocked his shortsword was nothing more than a palm-sized axe blade she’d casually tossed over her shoulder.
It was intercepting him with perfect precision, as though the curved edge had been placed there deliberately.
“How… how did you…?”
How had she even blocked it?
Without looking?
‘How could she have known where I was attacking!’
“…!”
Thud—!
Gwang-o reflexively retreated.
Had he not withdrawn, his wrist—and the hand gripping the shortsword—would not have escaped unscathed from that blade.
His instinct as an assassin screamed this at him.
Thump, thump, thump.
Gwang-o absently rubbed at his wrist, untouched by the axe, and forced his lips into a smile.
“Your instincts seem quite sharp.”
“Hear that a lot! But more importantly—you’ve got quite the bag of tricks.”
Yeon-woo’s expression curved with interest.
“Did you push off the ground twice? First feinting an upward leap, then surging forward? So the second footwork was the real one?”
“…!”
Shock flooded Gwang-o’s face.
“How… how did you see through that?!”
“What? You just showed me.”
“What…?”
She’d discerned his footwork after seeing it just once?
Or rather… she’d actually seen it…?
A chill traced the back of Gwang-o’s neck.
A sense of unease he’d felt only once before—when he first faced the Assassination Master.
Though she showed no killing intent, no hostility, the very presence of her made his life seem precarious, a subtle sensation that gripped him.
Sssss—
Around Gwang-o, a genuine blood-red killing intent began to shimmer into being, wavering like heat haze—not the illusion created by the others.
It was killing intent.
“…!”
In that moment, several of the sect members near the Sparring Platform flinched.
Yet they did not move.
The very instant the sect members stirred, Gwi-ya-gaek raised a hand, staying them.
‘We will observe.’
To the sect members who glanced back at him, Gwi-ya-gaek conveyed the words through his gaze alone.
Knowing the danger that could unfold, the sect members had no choice but to step back.
Swift—
As expected, Gu-yeong, who had been about to leap onto the Sparring Platform in that instant, was forced to hold his ground.
Beneath his Black Mask, his eyes grew cold and sharp.
Sssss—
At last, Gwang-o gripped his shortsword with force, fully unleashing his killing intent.
A trained assassin.
The assassin’s eyes fixed on his target flickered with an icy gleam.
“You really ought to die by my hand.”
In truth, he’d only said he would kill—he’d never meant it.
He simply wanted to crush him thoroughly, to show him the difference in their strength and teach him his place.
That, at least, had been the plan before facing him.
‘If I let this bastard live, my position as a Deputy Sect Leader Candidate will be at risk.’
Only one person per generation at Maryong Hall could become a Deputy Sect Leader Candidate.
‘A sprout that grows…’
It had to be plucked before it could raise its head.
Whoosh—
Gwang-o’s form moved toward Yeon-woo once more.
In the blink of an eye.
A crimson shimmer clung to his wake like an afterimage.
Gwang-o crossed two shortswords before his face in an instant.
The transmitted martial art of the Crow lineage.
The Moon Crow Chaotic Kill Blade!
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-crash—!
Two blades unleashed themselves upon Yeon-woo in a torrent, wrapped in their crimson shimmer.
The speed of the shortswords left countless afterimages in their wake.
It was as though his vision were being swallowed whole by crow feathers.
Yeon-woo watched the blade strikes engulfing his vision with fascination.
‘Is it the curve of the blades?’
The feather-like appearance was rather intriguing.
Yeon-woo raised his axe with interest.
And then.
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-crash—
Watching the storm of strikes, he parried them all with the axe in his right hand.
“…!”
Gwang-o froze in shock.
‘What—what is this bastard?!’
The Moon Crow Chaotic Kill Blade was among his fastest techniques, a true Chaotic Kill method.
And with both hands wielding the blades, there was no way a single hand could parry such speed—
No, it should be impossible to even track with the eyes, let alone determine which attack came first—
‘How…’
How was he blocking every single attack?
How? How could he even see them?!
Clang-clang-clang-clang-crash—!
“Can’t you spread it wider? Huh? Come on, more spread!”
Even as he blocked, his free hand traced a wide arc through the air.
It spoke volumes of his leisure.
And that leisure only made Gwang-o more agitated and furious.
“You son of a bitch—!!”
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-crash—!
He’d kill him! He’d kill him dead!!
Some runt barely a hand’s breadth shorter than him, and—!
How dare this Gwang-o be toyed with like this?
By some pathetic little brat, no less!!
“Die—!!”
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-crash—!
Gwang-o’s hands wielding the shortswords grew faster still.
Yeon-woo’s eyebrows furrowed slightly at the onslaught.
“I didn’t say faster.”
I meant wider. More spread.
Because it looked prettier that way.
As the attacks grew fiercer and quicker, Yeon-woo began to feel the strain.
His opponent was putting so much force into each blow that his wrists were starting to ache.
“Well then.”
Crack—
“…!”
Instead of blocking the blade strike, Yeon-woo twisted the axe head slightly.
Gwang-o’s right shortsword, which had been curving through the air, caught between the axe blade and haft with a sharp *clang*.
“What—!”
Caught off-guard by the unexpected trap, Gwang-o’s movements froze for an instant.
*Crack—thud!*
The flat of the axe head struck the shortsword blade.
In that moment, a violent shockwave shot up through Gwang-o’s hand and arm, climbing all the way to his shoulder.
‘Twisted…!’
Without thinking, Gwang-o released the shortsword he’d been gripping in his right hand.
It was only vibration, but the sensation was so intense that his entire arm felt as though it were being wrenched.
*Clatter.*
“?!”
In the same motion, Yeon-woo’s axe caught his remaining left shortsword between blade and haft.
Then—
*Crack—whoosh!*
“Aagh!”
She vaulted over Gwang-o while the axe was still hooked through his sword.
His arm, still gripping the shortsword, had no chance to resist—it bent backward over his head with a *snap*.
‘I have to let go—!’
If he didn’t release the blade, his shoulder would dislocate. The danger was immediate.
Gwang-o managed to open his hand and release it.
But at the same moment—
*Thud.*
“?!”
Yeon-woo’s two feet landed squarely on his shoulders.
He’d thought his bent arm meant he was already going down—then suddenly she was perched on top of him.
Gwang-o seized her ankle with his twisted arm and snapped his eyes upward instinctively.
*Smile.*
A bright, crystalline smile greeted him in return.
*Whoosh!*
The sharp axe blade was already descending toward his head with all her strength.
‘I’m… dying.’
This woman is smiling while bringing the full force down on me.
‘What kind of monster…’
Gwang-o squeezed his eyes shut by reflex.
For all his training as an assassin, trained to endure pain, he didn’t have the courage to watch his skull split open.
And the moment he thought ‘it’s coming’—
*Crack!*
“!!!”
The terrible impact across his forehead made Gwang-o’s eyes snap open involuntarily.
It had split.
It had really split open.
What Gwang-o saw before his eyes was nothing more than a span of rounded wood.
The haft of the axe.
*Whip.*
“Getting better now, aren’t you?” Yeon-woo said.
She spun the axe back to her proper grip right before his eyes.
“You… you—”
But Gwang-o couldn’t finish his final words either.
As the terrible pain made his vision swim, Yeon-woo’s sole came down hard on his face, using it as a stepping stone.
*Crack!*
She bounced nimbly off his face and away.
The impact sent Gwang-o’s body tumbling.
*Thud.*
He crashed onto the Sparring Platform spread-eagle.
His vision spun dizzily—the result of being hit in the face, knocked backward, and taking impact to the back of his head all at once. The world tilted and reeled.
The splitting pain radiated from his forehead and skull, spreading through his eyes and across his entire body.
Yet he had no presence of mind even to cradle the places where he’d been struck.
*Tap.*
Yeon-woo crouched down and looked at him from above.
A red bump had risen on Gwang-o’s forehead, swollen and prominent.
“But you know what?”
Yeon-woo reached out and tapped the bump lightly, and Gwang-o’s body flinched, trembling.
“If it’s something you can do by killing someone, wouldn’t it be better not to do it at all?”

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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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