Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 86

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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 86
The horde of Corpse Demons had barely passed when the wind they stirred began to settle.
Snap—!
Suddenly, Eun-ryeong rose from where she’d been crouched behind the undergrowth.
Jin Geom-hui startled, his voice sharp with alarm. “You’re not thinking of following them, are you?”

Eun-ryeong lowered her gaze to meet his, but her eyes soon drifted past him—toward the retreating horde.

“I don’t know what situation she’s in, but I can’t pretend not to see a student in danger.”
“But—but you saw them yourself! There were at least twenty of those things!”
The words tumbled out before he could stop them, and the moment they did, the absurdity struck him.
Where had she even gathered so many Corpse Demons from? And why was she being hunted?
“I understand.”
“Then why go? What will you even do once you catch up?”
“I’m not certain yet…”
Her hand tightened around the hilt of her sword.
“I don’t fully understand the situation, but I can’t abandon her. At the very least, I can help her find a way forward.”
“What—”
What nonsense was this?
The exam was an individual evaluation.
The second trial, at least, wasn’t a gauntlet meant to be overcome through collective effort.
That meant the fate of other students had nothing whatsoever to do with one’s own score.
Whether another student died, was injured, or fled in panic—the evaluation was determined by that individual’s achievement alone.
‘But why in heaven’s name—’
Why volunteer for something so pointless?
Why rush headlong into a horde of twenty Corpse Demons like an idiot?
“Do you truly believe I lack the speed to keep pace with them?”

Jin Geom-hui looked up at her.
A frown creased his brow.
“Of course you can.”
He could do the same.
A student ignorant of the Gyeong-shin Technique might struggle, but neither he nor Eun-ryeong would fail to match the speed of Corpse Demons—that made no sense.
“Then why ask—”
“She can too.”

Eun-ryeong’s eyes remained fixed on the direction where the horde had vanished.
For the first time, her gaze hardened with resolve.
“She’s deliberately controlling the distance, luring the Corpse Demons. I don’t believe that’s her fault.”

“You asked to form an alliance with me, didn’t you?”
Eun-ryeong turned to face him, her smile cool and steady.
“I’m going to form an alliance with her instead. If you still wish to join us…”
Whoosh—
—come along.
The last words were delivered through Telepathic Transmission.
With the Gyeong-shin Technique fully deployed, Eun-ryeong surged toward the horde, vanishing from sight in mere moments.
“Wait—what—!”
The student, having caught only half of her words, reached out desperately toward her receding figure in confusion.
“Damn it!”
Bloody damn it all!
Jin Geom-hui sprang to his feet.
“Young master—?!”
“Find your own way back.”
The student opened his mouth to protest.
Whoosh—!
Jin Geom-hui, too, was gone in an instant.
He pursued Eun-ryeong into the darkness.
* * *
Bound, bound, bound—
‘Hmm.’
Yeon-woo bounded lightly across the earth and stone, chin resting on his palm as he mulled things over.
‘How do I…’
How do I shake them off?
It started with just one.
Some strange thing that was neither alive nor dead had been wandering about, so out of curiosity he’d spoken to it.
“What are you?”
But instead it bared its teeth and came charging at him without warning.
Maryong Hall had far too many things that wanted him dead.
Perhaps that was why Yeon-woo felt no shock or alarm.
Rather—
“I only asked out of curiosity.”
When another of them had been chasing some student, he’d rushed over and asked it a question while he was at it.
Why did it want to kill?
But what happened then? That one too suddenly began chasing Yeon-woo instead.
Then another student came fleeing, wailing, so he’d brought along the one that was pursuing that student as well.
And kept bringing them, kept bringing them—
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump—
And now this.
“What do I do now…”
They didn’t seem to understand words anyway.
Or rather, why were they so furious?
His lip curled slightly as he ran.
Whoosh—slash—slash—slash!
“…?”
Yeon-woo turned his head.
Someone was running not far away, pushing through trees and brush.
A soft, sweet fragrance tickled his nostrils.
“Oh! That flower from before!”
Flower scent.
That delicate fragrance radiating from the flower with pale pink petals.
That was how Yeon-woo remembered Eun-ryeong.
‘Flower?’
Eun-ryeong, who was actually called by that name, didn’t understand and tilted her head in confusion.
But soon, keeping her distance, she waved her hand in greeting and sent a Telepathic Transmission to Yeon-woo.
– Is there a way to shake off the Corpse Demons?
Yeon-woo blinked blankly at Eun-ryeong’s Telepathic Transmission for a moment.
– No way.
His eyes held the look of someone who would ask: if there were a way to shake them off, would I be running like this?
Since this was the response she’d expected, Eun-ryeong was unsurprised.
‘How should I…’
How could she deal with those Corpse Demons?
Then it happened.
Slash—slash!
Someone else appeared beside Yeon-woo.
Yeon-woo and Eun-ryeong saw him at the same time.
It was Jin Geom-hui.
– There’s a cliff ahead. Not very deep.
Eun-ryeong asked in return.
– Are you certain?
– I came from that direction.
In fact, this direction didn’t lead toward the inner Boundary.
It was more like moving laterally around the current Boundary.
So Jin Geom-hui’s claim that he’d come from ahead held some merit.
– But…
Eun-ryeong turned to look at Jin Geom-hui.
Yeon-woo, who had received the Telepathic Transmission a moment later, also turned to look at him.
A troubled expression had crossed his face.
– The gap between the ravine walls is about six meters. The lowest-grade Corpse Demons won’t be able to cross it, but—
To push the lowest-grade Corpse Demons into the cliff, whoever leads them would have to draw them in that direction.
In other words, Yeon-woo had to find a way to either leap across the ravine or avoid falling from the cliff.
— Is that even possible?
Jin Geom-hui asked, his tone uncertain.
The Gyeong-shin Technique was impressive, but clearing a distance like this was no simple feat.
For a student who’d only just entered Maryong Hall, it was an impossible span.
— This is too dangerous a gamble.
Following Yeon-woo’s Telepathic Transmission, Eun-ryeong too concluded it was impossible.
She herself didn’t know if she could make such a leap.
And Yeon-woo.
‘How far is this distance, exactly?’
She had no concept of the span.
She’d never been taught to measure it.
— This won’t work. I can bait them, but I need to think of a way to keep from falling.
— Understood.
As the three exchanged a brief, tense silence, each lost in different concerns, they drew steadily closer to the cliff—and the horde of Corpse Demons advanced with them.
“…?”
Yeon-woo’s gaze suddenly lifted.
In the distance ahead, she glimpsed several figures.
Students from Maryong Hall, pooling their strength to build a fortified position in the dangerous Demon Forest.
Whip—
“…!”
“?!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Yeon-woo changed direction.
— What are you doing?! That’s not the way we agreed on!
— We can’t go that way.
Jin Geom-hui cried out in alarm, and only then did Eun-ryeong spot the students positioned ahead.
If they continued on this course, those students would be in mortal danger. Their fortified position would be utterly destroyed.
She understood the risk.
‘But what about the Corpse Demons?’
Shouldn’t dealing with this situation take priority?
If it were her, she would have rushed ahead first to evacuate the students, then led the demons toward the cliff.
— If the Corpse Demons were only half this number, we could handle them.
In her frustration at the worsening situation, she’d murmured the words through Telepathic Transmission when—
Yeon-woo spun around sharply to face her.
— You know?
— Know what…?
— Do you know how to stop these things?
Eun-ryeong blinked.
— It’s simple, really. You just have to destroy the Talisman Seal stuck to their foreheads….
— That’s it.
Simple, then?
Yeon-woo’s lips formed the words.
Though not transmitted—Eun-ryeong couldn’t hear her—she could certainly see her speak them.
And in that same instant.
Whoosh—!
“…!”
Yeon-woo came to a halt.
‘Surely not—’
No matter that these were the Lowest Grade Corpse Demons, no single student could handle more than twenty of them.
It was danger of an entirely different order from leaping across the ravine.
“Stop! That’s too dangerous…!”
Eun-ryeong cried out, forgetting even to use Telepathic Transmission, desperate to call Yeon-woo back. But—
Whip—!
Without hesitation, Yeon-woo charged straight toward the horde of Corpse Demons.
“No!”
“Have you lost your mind?!”
Whoosh—! Steel rang—!
Eun-ryeong and Jin Geom-hui drew their blades in unison.
But the two of them could not so easily rush forward.
Twenty-three Corpse Demons.
It was because the demonic aura and oppressive force that emanated from it had struck the moment they turned to face it.
While the two of them hesitated, Yeon-woo was already rushing toward the nearest Corpse Demon.
Crack! Snap!
Yeon-woo’s axe came down hard on the foremost Corpse Demon’s Talisman Seal.
Shriek!
Roar!
The Corpse Demons that followed descended upon her as if they’d been waiting for this moment, extending razor-sharp claws.
Crack! Slash!
Yeon-woo leaped off the first Corpse Demon, seized the end of the iron chain connected to her axe, and swung it in a wide arc.
Whisk! Scrape! Screech!
The blade of the axe swept rapidly across the foreheads of the Corpse Demons.
Yet the number of remaining Corpse Demons was still overwhelming.
Shriek! Growl! Snarl!
The Corpse Demons trampled over their fallen kin and rose up, reaching out their hands toward Yeon-woo.
She narrowly escaped their grasp, but her airborne body was already descending, and there was nowhere to land safely.
In that instant.
Whoosh! Thud!
The axe that had swept through the Corpse Demons lodged itself firmly in a nearby tree.
Clank!
As if she’d been waiting for it, Yeon-woo pulled hard on the iron chain, swinging herself toward the tree.
With the Corpse Demons surging after her, she pushed off from the tree once more and launched herself skyward.
Eun-ryeong and Jin Geom-hui, watching the spectacle unfold, stood slack-jawed in astonishment.

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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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