Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 6

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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 6
Every hair on his body stood on end.
Un Hyun recognized this sensation—unfamiliar yet somehow known.
The feeling of prey in the sight of a predator, something he had forgotten since the days when he reigned supreme over Jung Won’s martial world.
‘I couldn’t read his Aura at all.’
No—even now, watching him directly, he couldn’t discern the man’s Presence.
Though he stood plainly before his eyes.
“Why did you spare me? You could have killed me easily.”
The man scratched his chin with an air of puzzlement.
Un Hyun lowered his gaze.
He knew the sword in his hand could not protect his life, yet he did not lower it against the man.
“Who are you?”
“Am Yeong Ma Gun. That’s what they call me in my sect.”
“Your sect…?”
Beneath the mask, the man’s lips curved into a faint smile.
Un Hyun felt his strength falter slightly.
The masked ones had revealed nothing of their identity—not who had sent them, not their names or titles.
This man, by contrast, divulged his identity with remarkable ease.
“So you’re an emissary of the Demon Sect.”
One who conceals himself. One who reveals himself.
If one asks which is more dangerous, the answer is plainly the latter.
The man was of the Demon Sect.
Un Hyun could dimly guess why the Demon Sect had sent someone into the depths of this mountain.
Or perhaps—he had already foreseen this from the moment he knew he was dwelling in Shib Man Dae San.
“You’ve come to kill me.”
He had never expected the Demon Sect to spare him while he still drew breath.
He had already marched here under the banner of the Martial Alliance, setting out to exterminate the Demon Sect.
Had it not been for his younger brother’s betrayal and the treachery of the Martial Alliance’s warriors, by now he would have waged the Righteous-Demonic War for the greater cause.
In such circumstances, the enemy’s leader—a man already dying—lay within their grasp.
What reason could there be to spare an enemy general, when both opportunity and justification were handed to them?
“Yeah. That’s right.”
Am Yeong Ma Gun affirmed this without hesitation, then glanced at the masked ones.
“But I didn’t expect there’d be guests here?”
“They haven’t come to kill me.”
“Ah.”
Am Yeong Ma Gun’s gaze turned toward the house.
He already knew of Yeon Woo’s presence, hidden inside.
“Is that why you spared yourself? Because they didn’t come to kill you? Or perhaps some misplaced sense of chivalry?”
“It’s not for those reasons.”
Un Hyun had merely knocked the masked ones unconscious for Yeon Woo’s sake alone.
The boy had a keen nose; had he slain them, the child would surely have caught the scent of blood.
He simply hadn’t wished to frighten the boy without any explanation.
“I meant to dispose of them elsewhere.”
Am Yeong Ma Gun made a small sound of understanding.
Then, curling his lips into a smile, he spoke.
“So then I can simply do what I came for?”
Am Yeong Ma Gun’s hand reached toward the sword hilt at his waist.
And Un Hyun, in turn, lowered the blade he had raised against him.
An opponent whose Aura he could not read.
There was no possibility of victory against Am Yeong Ma Gun with a body already failing in combat against first-rate warriors.
“You’re quite eager to die easily. I had higher hopes for the Emperor’s Sword. I’m rather disappointed.”
“Grant me one request.”
“The shameless grow even more so when facing death, I’ve heard.”
“Take the boy to the Gwan Clan. When you tell them that an assassin has come, they’ll understand.”
“I…”
In that moment, a dense, violet-hued Qi began to seep from Am Yeong Ma Gun.
The Demonic Qi coiled around him and slowly spread outward in all directions.
Demonic Qi so thick and formidable it took visible shape.
Am Yeong Ma Gun’s Demonic Qi swept across the entire house grounds and finally began to engulf Un Hyun’s body.
The Qi seeped in through his feet, climbing rapidly up his legs, and wound around his throat.
“Gasp….”
Un Hyun let out a pained groan as thick, suffocating energy constricted his breathing.
But the Demonic Qi did not relent—it spread through his body like hunger itself, probing every corner.
– Why should I grant your request?
As Un Hyun’s mind grew increasingly distant in the endless mire of Demonic Qi, the man’s voice suddenly struck his skull like thunder.
And in that same instant—
“Cough-!”
Something surged up from within, and a mass of blood burst from Un Hyun’s mouth.
His internal injuries, having reached their limit, could no longer hold—they had finally worsened beyond recovery.
But Am Yeong Ma Gun did not withdraw his aura.
Killing Emperor’s Sword Un Hyun was both the Sect Leader’s command and his original purpose.
He was watching with cold, lifeless eyes as Un Hyun slowly died, consumed by his own force, when it happened.
“Don’t you dare hurt Grandfather!”
Whoosh—crack!
Something flew through the air and struck Am Yeong Ma Gun’s mask, then fell away.
Am Yeong Ma Gun looked down at the object he had deliberately left unblocked.
It was a stone no larger than a child’s fist.
A flicker of surprise crossed Am Yeong Ma Gun’s eyes as he gazed at the child who had thrown it.
On the veranda, brandishing a small axe and huffing defiantly, stood that bold little one he’d seen during the day.
Am Yeong Ma Gun laughed widely and waved his hand.
“Hello again! Fancy meeting you like this! Did you enjoy what I brought you this afternoon?”
“Stop acting friendly! You old fossil!”
Old… fossil….
Am Yeong Ma Gun froze mid-wave, his cheerful expression locked in place.
The child’s words pierced his chest like an assassin’s blade.
Again.
Just like this afternoon.
In the meantime, the child had already picked up another stone.
And even as he did, Emperor’s Sword Un Hyun continued to die, consumed by Demonic Qi.
The child hurled the stone.
“Stop it! I’m telling you to stop!”
This time, Am Yeong Ma Gun raised his hand and reached out to intercept the incoming projectile.
The stone, thrown with the child’s full force and flying with purpose, stopped abruptly in mid-air before it could reach Am Yeong Ma Gun.
“I’m afraid you can’t hurt me with something like that.”
As if genuinely regretful, Am Yeong Ma Gun’s brows lowered.
At the same moment, the stone Yeon Woo had thrown fell softly to the ground.
Surprise parted Yeon Woo’s lips slightly. But he quickly hardened his expression and gripped the axe firmly.
Recognizing what Yeon Woo was about to do, Un Hyun stretched his hand toward the child with great difficulty.
“Yeon Woo… don’t….”
But before his words could finish—
“Hyaaaaaaaa!!!”
Yeon Woo raised the axe and leapt down from the veranda.
His bare feet, shoeless, were stark white.
Am Yeong Ma Gun exhaled a sigh as he watched the child charge toward him.
“I warned you.”
“Hyaaaaaaaa!!!”
Whoosh!
Yeon Woo brought the axe down toward Am Yeong Ma Gun.
Am Yeong Ma Gun merely extended the same hand that had stopped the stone moments before, casually intercepting the child’s attack.
“You can’t even leave a scratch on me with strength this weak—”
All trace of playfulness suddenly vanished from Am Yeong Ma Gun’s face.
He twisted his hand slightly and looked down at his finger.
A sharp, throbbing sensation spread from the tip of his index finger where it had caught the axe blade.
And as if to confirm it was no illusion, a thin line of crimson blood oozed from a hairline crack at his fingertip.
Unbelievably.
“Ha!”
Am Yeong Ma Gun let out a hollow laugh.
Wounded?
By an axe no bigger than a palm?
Am Yeong Ma Gun stared at the small child, who barely reached his waist, with a peculiar glint in his eyes.
The child hoisted the Axe once more.
“I told you to stop—!”
He was about to swing a weapon of terrible danger.
Tap—tap—
“Eeeee…….”
He pressed the Sleep Acupoint and sent the child into slumber.
The child dangled from Am Yeong Ma Gun’s arm, the Axe still held above its head.
Even as the child’s breathing deepened into sleep, his small fingers showed no sign of releasing the weapon.
The sight was so childlike that Am Yeong Ma Gun found himself letting out a quiet laugh.
Shhhhh…….
The thick Demonic Qi that had saturated the ruins withdrew rapidly.
Am Yeong Ma Gun approached Un Hyun, cradling the sleeping Yeon Woo against his chest.
Un Hyun, who had coughed up blood, was barely clinging to consciousness, breathing with great effort.
Am Yeong Ma Gun knelt, lowering himself to meet Un Hyun’s gaze.
Un Hyun’s hand pressed against his chest as he lifted his eyes.
His gaze fell at once on the sleeping child in the other man’s arms. Fortunately—the child seemed unharmed, merely asleep.
Why had he stopped?
Am Yeong Ma Gun had clearly meant to kill him.
His Aura carried not the slightest hesitation about it. Yet why had he stayed his hand?
Un Hyun studied Am Yeong Ma Gun.
Behind the white mask, deep and transparent as a night sky, violet eyes gazed at him steadily.
Those eyes curved slightly—a hint of a smile.
“I’ll give you a choice.”
Un Hyun drew a short breath.
The taste of blood lingered in his mouth.
“One is that you die here today, together with this child, by my hand.”
Un Hyun’s brow furrowed.
He wanted to demand why the child had to be dragged into this, but his throat was too raw to speak. He could only fix Am Yeong Ma Gun with a hard stare.
“The other is…….”
Am Yeong Ma Gun looked down at the sleeping child he held.
For a moment, a strange light flickered across his eyes as he regarded the boy.
“You teach this child.”
“……?”
“Until Ma Ryong Gwan opens, five years from now, teach them the Emperor’s Sword.”
Am Yeong Ma Gun’s gaze returned to Un Hyun.
“You are to become this child’s Master.”

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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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