Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 85

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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 85
“Gasp!”
The moment Jin Geom-hwi’s eyes met the Jiangshi’s gaze, he drew in a sharp breath without thinking.
But there was no time to hesitate.
Thump—boom—thump!
Having spotted its target, the Jiangshi came hurling toward them.
“M-my lord, I’m the bait again…!”
“Do you have time for that?! Run if you don’t want to die!”
An ambush using bait was only possible with preparation.
What made the Jiangshi terrifying were its razor-sharp claws, its brute strength, and its speed.
Students who couldn’t use the Gyeong-shin Technique were prey it could easily catch.
Of course, Jin Geom-hwi could escape.
“Gasp, oh—oh, m-my lord…!”
‘Damn it…!’
The problem was the student at his side.
He wasn’t particularly important to Jin Geom-hwi.
Just one of those hangers-on who trailed behind him hoping to catch whatever crumbs fell from his table.
He’d merely happened to meet the boy in the Demon Forest and traveled with him since.
‘If the Jiangshi chases after him, I could finish it while it’s distracted.’
But if that happened, the boy would die—or be wounded so badly he might as well.
Even if he was fortunate enough to survive…
‘He wouldn’t be able to continue the Trial.’
And if that came to pass, Jin Geom-hwi’s conscience would never be at ease, no matter how unimportant the boy was.
‘Another…’
Another way…
It was at that moment, as he quickly surveyed the surroundings for a way to break the deadlock.
Whoosh—
“…!”
Something silver flashed across Jin Geom-hwi’s line of sight from directly ahead, moving past in a blur.
A delicate fragrance reached him half a step later.
It was only a brief moment, but Jin Geom-hwi knew who she was.
Eun-ryeong.
The only Student rumored to possess martial prowess surpassing even his own.
‘What the—!’
Jin Geom-hwi spun reflexively.
He could see Eun-ryeong’s figure racing past him, her back toward him now.
Straight toward the Jiangshi’s front.
‘Confronting it head-on?’
Even for a lowest-tier Jiangshi, each individual specimen possessed strength that exceeded a giant bear.
Its attacks were simple, yet surely not easily defended against…?
‘Is she saying that much is easy…?’
Jin Geom-hwi had stopped dead in his tracks, watching Eun-ryeong.
“Roooaaaaarrr—!!”
The Jiangshi shrieked, faced with Eun-ryeong.
The sound was so grotesque it was impossible to believe it had ever belonged to a human throat.
Thump—thump—thump—thump!
The Jiangshi bared its hostility and charged toward Eun-ryeong, fixing its target on her.
“Aaaah—!”
The Student barely escaped being caught by the Jiangshi, rolling frantically across the ground to evade.
Whip!
The Jiangshi kicked off the ground and launched itself into the air.
Jin Geom-hwi was seized by shock at the sight.
‘Insane! It can do that too?!’
None of the ones he’d encountered before had done anything like that.
Or had he just never seen it because he’d finished them before proper combat began?
The airborne Jiangshi twisted its body mid-flight and dove toward Eun-ryeong.
Screeeech—!
Black claws raked through the air, slashing in a deadly arc.
Just before those claws reached Eun-ryeong.
Clash—!
Eun-ryeong leaped into the air as well.
Her footfalls were light, as though she were running across empty space itself.
‘The Gyeong-shin Technique…!’
Mid-flight, Eun-ryeong twisted her body and slipped past the Jiangshi’s attack.
The Jiangshi couldn’t follow her movement.
What came next was simple.
Whish—!
Eun-ryeong’s blade severed the Jiangshi’s arm at the joint.
She hadn’t even completed a half-rotation in the air.
Thump—!
Eun-ryeong landed behind the Jiangshi.
Her silver hair drifted down softly, like a whisper.
The Jiangshi stood motionless.
Tap-tap-tap—! Tap-tap-tap—!
Jin Geom-hwi and the student he’d saved came running toward them.
At the sight of the Jiangshi frozen in place, Jin Geom-hwi swallowed hard.
The student began to sputter with effusive gratitude.
“Thank you, thank you so much for saving me! I don’t know how to repay such a debt!”
Eun-ryeong turned to face them both.
Despite having dispatched the Jiangshi with such remarkable technique, her expression remained composed and serene—not a trace of arrogance or self-satisfaction.
Meeting the steadiness of her gaze, Jin Geom-hwi found himself swallowing again.
“A debt? Hardly.”
Eun-ryeong inclined her head lightly as she spoke.
“I simply happened to pass by and saw two people in danger. It was easy to handle because you drew its attention.”
At her mention of drawing the creature’s attention, the student scratched the back of his neck with an awkward laugh.
“Haha, well, I wasn’t exactly trying to—”
“Right. It wasn’t intentional.”
Jin Geom-hwi cut in abruptly, stepping forward.
“We were being chased, that’s true, but the real danger was just for him. If I’d been alone, I could’ve handled a Jiangshi like that easily enough.”
Eun-ryeong stared directly at Jin Geom-hwi.
His pride stung by her implication that there had been danger, Jin Geom-hwi had spoken without thinking—and now he hastened to correct himself, looking somewhat flustered.
“What I meant was, thank you for helping. After all, my companion was in danger.”
“I see. There was a misunderstanding.”
Eun-ryeong performed a formal salute as she spoke.
“If I’ve offended you in any way, I apologize.”
Her courteous apology only flustered Jin Geom-hwi further.
Unable to bear the weight of his companion’s gaze—which bore an expression somewhere between displeasure and amusement—he returned the salute.
“No, I was the one being foolish and boorish. I showed poor manners to someone who helped me.”
Eun-ryeong gave a light nod, accepting his apology.
At her graceful response, Jin Geom-hwi let out a small laugh and lowered his hands.
“By the way, did you find the Red Token?”
Eun-ryeong produced the Red Token from her robe and showed it to him.
“Yes. I found it on a tree stump.”
Jin Geom-hwi likewise drew out his Red Token and displayed it.
“So did I. It was hanging around the neck of the first Jiangshi I faced.”
The only one present who hadn’t found a Red Token was the student moving with Jin Geom-hwi.
Since Jin Geom-hwi had found his token before meeting the student, the failure was his companion’s alone.
Jin Geom-hwi tucked the Red Token away and asked, “So what’s your plan now? If you’re anything like me, you’re after the Mysterious Creature’s egg?”
Eun-ryeong answered without hesitation.
“Yes. I was heading into the inner sector.”
“How about we move together then?”
Eun-ryeong’s eyes widened slightly.
“Are you also after the Mysterious Creature’s egg?”
“Of course.”
Who else would be hunting for such a thing, if not him?
The Trial demanded a life-or-death struggle, so they said—but that was only for ordinary students.
Jin Geom-hwi had complete faith that he himself would have no trouble finding the egg.
Even after the trouble he’d had with the Jiangshi, he refused to abandon that belief.
‘Besides…’

Moving alongside Eun-ryeong would make this task far easier.
Finding two eggs wouldn’t prove difficult at all.
After witnessing Eun-ryeong’s martial prowess just moments ago, Jin Geom-hwi was already considering an alliance with her.
“I’ll give you the first egg we find. That’s how I’ll repay the help you’ve provided.”
“Repay…?”
Eun-ryeong had no intention of taking credit merely for subduing a single Jiangshi.
Still, Jin Geom-hwi’s proposal held merit.
Not knowing what awaited them beyond the next boundary, two people could manage greater safety than one.
Eun-ryeong exhaled quietly.
“I’ll accept the proposal. It seems there are aspects where we could help each other.”
“Good. Then—”
It was just as he was about to discuss what came next.
Crack—!
“?”
“…?”
From the brush beside the three who had been conversing, something suddenly burst forth.
All three turned to look at whatever had erupted from the undergrowth.
And in that same instant, their eyes met.
Yeon-woo.
“Oh?”
On Yeon-woo’s face appeared a brief flash of delight at encountering the students.
Her hand was already raising in greeting toward them.
But then, as if struck by sudden realization, Yeon-woo pointed sharply behind them and mouthed something.
Her lips moved swiftly, each syllable crisp in that fleeting moment.
“Run. A. Way.”
Run away?
‘Run? She’s telling us to run?’
Even as the question ‘Why?’ rose in all three minds at once—
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom—
the ground beneath their feet began to tremor.
“?!”
A tremor so violent it felt like an earthquake.
But the strange, terrible cries that followed told them immediately the source of that shaking.
ROOOAAARRR—!
SCREEEEE—!
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom—
Not far off, a horde was bearing down upon them.
A swarm of Jiangshi.
Eun-ryeong, whose sight was keen, spotted them first and cried out.
“Hide your bodies!”
She thrust the weakest student beyond the brush first.
Jin Geom-hwi and Eun-ryeong threw themselves after him in the same breath.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom—
ROOOAAARRR—! SCREECH! SCREEEEE—!
The swarm of Jiangshi thundered past the spot where they had been standing.
In pursuit of Yeon-woo, who had fled before them.
Thin trees splintered and cracked, undergrowth trampled to ruins.
A cloud of dust erupted upward, and the earth shook with threatening violence for a long while.
Hisssss—
Before the dust had even settled, the three raised their heads above the brush.
Devastation.
The place where they had been speaking so calmly moments before was now a wasteland.
“W-what, what was that…? What was that just—?”
The student, who had barely escaped thanks to Eun-ryeong’s push, stammered out the question.
But no answer came.
Neither Eun-ryeong nor Jin Geom-hwi could fathom what that had been.
The student spoke again.
“That… that was them, right…? The first to pass the first Trial…?”
The first to clear the first Trial.
All three recalled at once the face of Yeon-woo, who had waved at them cheerfully just moments before.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Only a chill wind swept through the desolate expanse, now emptier still, with a low whistle and a whine.

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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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