Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 92

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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 92
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Whisper… whisper… whisper…
The three of them finally arrived at the Wolf Den and stood in silence for a long moment.
Though truly, Yeon-woo had known even before they got here.
‘Blood.’
Wolf carcasses lay scattered all around the mouth of the den.
From the great alpha down to the smallest pups—it was clear a fierce battle had taken place before their arrival.
“Well, I’ll be. Someone’s beaten us to it.”
“The Eagle’s Egg is gone too. Not many students could handle an entire wolf pack.”
“Working together changes things. A group of weaker ones could manage it.”
The Eagle’s Egg drew more than just the strongest students.
If a band of lesser cultivators had coordinated their efforts, they could have succeeded.
“What do we do now?”
Heon-sa-yul turned to Yeon-woo with a troubled expression.
But Yeon-woo’s attention lay elsewhere.
“…?”
Heon-sa-yul crouched down and moved closer to where Yeon-woo was looking.
It was beside a dead young wolf.
Yeon-woo’s gaze upon the pup’s corpse was ice-cold.
In all the time Heon-sa-yul had known him, he’d never seen Yeon-woo’s eyes turn that hard.
“What are you thinking?”
“Why did they kill it?”
“Hmm?”
“Did they have to kill something so young? That’s what I’m wondering.”
Heon-sa-yul’s eyes flickered with interest as he studied Yeon-woo.
“You’re taking pity on a Demonic Beast?”
Yeon-woo turned to look at him.
“What is a Demonic Beast?”
“Well. Something steeped in demonic energy… though now that I think about it, the creatures of Gwi-rim aren’t really Demonic Beasts.”
The life in Gwi-rim was strange.
Beings tainted by Ghost Energy—neither Spirit Creatures nor Demonic Beasts.
Some called them Demonic Beasts, but in truth they were merely ordinary animals corrupted by Ghost Energy.
At one point, the Demonic Sect had even attempted to capture creatures warped by Ghost Energy and keep them as curiosities.
But the beasts of Gwi-rim, once corrupted by Ghost Energy, could not survive beyond its borders.
This was proof they were not true Demonic Beasts.
Heon-sa-yul crouched down beside Yeon-woo.
“Should we bury it?”
Yeon-woo turned to look at him.
His brows were tilted in mockery.
“Why would we?”
“Huh?”
“Why waste the effort on something so pointless?”
Heon-sa-yul rarely found himself caught off-guard.
“But didn’t you think it was pitiful?”
“Dead is dead.”
It’s just a beast, after all.
Yeon-woo brushed off his clothes and stood up.
Bewilderment crossed Heon-sa-yul’s face.
This one was impossible to read.
“Anyway. I’m sorry we’ve come to nothing. Still, I’ll help you find a new one.”
“You’re useless.”
“Ha ha.”
“…?”
“Actually, I’m quite useful right now. All because you’ve been moving at a comfortable pace.”
He’d expected Yeon-woo to press for an immediate search, but instead he’d moved at a leisurely pace, allowing them to eat their fill and rest.
Thanks to that, Heon-sa-yul had managed to recover much of his strength.
“By the time we hunt for the next one, I’ll be even more useful. So….”
“Yeon-woo?”
Yeon-woo and Heon-sa-yul both turned toward the voice at the same moment.
Relief bloomed across Yeon-woo’s face.
“Eun-ryeong!”
The two figures who appeared from the opposite direction were Eun-ryeong and Jin-geom-hui.
The two who had been separated while fighting the eagle.
“Oh. So you’re alive after all!”
Yeon-woo raised a hand toward Jin-geom-hui.
Jin-geom-hui’s expression visibly twisted.
His gaze was full of complaint: ‘She told me her name, so why does she keep calling me that?’
“Who are they?”
“My allies.”
“Allies…?”
Eun-ryeong and Jin-geom-hui approached the two, while Do-gyeom, who had been standing slightly apart, moved closer as well.
As they drew near Yeon-woo, Eun-ryeong and Jin-geom-hui swept their eyes quickly across the surroundings.
“It looks like you’ve had an encounter with the wolves.”
Jin-geom-hui observed the corpse of a young wolf near Yeon-woo and spoke curtly.
“You said you wouldn’t kill ones with pups. So it was all just pretense after all? When your life’s in danger, pups or no pups, you’d….”
“I didn’t kill it. When I got here, it was already dead.”
“What?”
Jin-geom-hui raised his eyebrows.
Heon-sa-yul stepped forward with a slight bow and spoke.
“Right. We just arrived ourselves, actually.”
……
Jin-geom-hui clicked his tongue dismissively and turned his head away.
Then, as if remembering something, he asked urgently.
“Then when did these things die?!”
“How should I know?”
“Has it been a day?!”
Yeon-woo looked down at the wolf’s corpse and nodded.
“Yeah.”
Based on the smell, it seemed like at least a day had passed.
“Damn it! Then why are you just standing here?! Do you all want to die?”
The four of them, excluding Jin-geom-hui, exchanged bewildered glances.
No one had understood what Jin-geom-hui was saying.
“You idiots! Don’t you know what you should be most careful about in Gwi-rim?!”
“It seems you know quite well about Gwi-rim, doesn’t it? Like someone who knew in advance that we would come here.”
At Eun-ryeong’s pointed remark, Jin-geom-hui flinched and faltered.
“W-what are you saying?! How would I know you were coming to Gwi-rim? I was just speaking from common knowledge!”
“So what is it then? What’s the danger?”
Heon-sa-yul waved his hand dismissively, as if tired of the bickering, and asked.
But before Jin-geom-hui could answer, those gathered there soon learned the answer themselves.
Grrrrr….
“In Gwi-rim, when a dead beast passes enough time….”
Grrr… Grrrrr….
The corpses of the wolves scattered around them began to twitch and rise, one by one.
“It becomes a Ghost Beast… and awakens… damn it… it’s too late already….”
A Ghost Beast.
A beast that awakens infused with Ghost Energy after death.
A creature that has completely lost reason, existing only to slaughter and feed its instincts.
Screeeech— Screeeech—
The moment they saw the dead wolves awakening as Ghost Beasts, all five of them drew their weapons.
They were already surrounded by a pack of wolves.
“If you think you’re dealing with ordinary wolves, you’re in for trouble. I warned you.”
Jin-geom-hui muttered in a threatening voice.
“Cut off the limbs and sever the head. Or smash the skull.”
Because they were dead, they felt no pain and knew neither hesitation nor fear.
Precisely for that reason, they would keep attacking until their bodies lost all control.
That was the true horror of a Ghost Beast.
Crash—!
A massive wolf howled, and the nearest one among them lunged at Do-gyeom.
Screech—! Growwwl—!
Do-gyeom’s blade flashed out reflexively, slashing across the wolf’s torso. But the beast paid no heed, jaws gaping wide as it lunged toward his shoulder.
“…!”
Crack—!
Before the wolf’s fangs could tear into Do-gyeom’s flesh, Jin-geom-hui’s blade drove into the creature’s mouth.
“You idiot! Did you hit it with the flat of the blade?! Cut for the neck, damn it!!”
Slash—!
Jin-geom-hui wrenched his sword free from the wolf’s clenched jaws and drove his heel into its body, the blade tearing as it came.
The wolf’s mouth was split so deeply by the blade that one side of its face hung in tatters.
Yet the beast’s fury showed no sign of waning.
Growl—!
The wolf that had been hurled backward now wheeled on Jin-geom-hui instead.
Jin-geom-hui met its charge with his sword, while Do-gyeom held his ground against another wolf that had come for him.
The others had already joined the fray, each locked in combat with the creatures.
Thwack—!
Yeon-woo’s axe blade bit through a young wolf’s neck.
The pup howled even as its severed head clattered to the ground, its body thrashing in death spasms.
Crunch—!
Yeon-woo brought the axe down again, splitting the creature’s skull, and only then did it finally go still.
His face was cold as he wrenched the blade free.
It had been the same with the Jiangshi, and it was the same now.
‘I don’t like this.’
If someone were to take his corpse after he died and make it move like this, he thought he would hate it.
A body that couldn’t even eat, forced to dance on invisible strings—it seemed almost cruel.
When you’re dead, you know nothing.
So isn’t it wrong to do this to someone who no longer understands, who no longer knows?
Thud—!
A bad thing.
Yeon-woo brought his axe down on another pup’s head, his brow furrowing slightly at the thought.
That was when it happened.
“Krawk—!”
A sharp, fresh metallic scent rose above the stale reek of old blood.
While the others pressed their battle against the wolves, only Yeon-woo caught that scent and turned his head.
A roar split the air—!
“Damn it…!”
A massive wolf was bearing down on Heon-sa-yul.
Of the five, Heon-sa-yul was weakest at close quarters—and his sword was gone, whether lost or knocked from his grip.
He stood defenseless, one arm bloodied and cradled against his body, laid bare before the creature’s onslaught.
“No—!”
Do-gyeom, occupied with two other wolves some distance away, cried out too late.
But he was too far to intervene.
The wolf’s jaws already gaped wide, aimed at Heon-sa-yul’s throat.
Jin-geom-hui and Eun-ryeong were both too pressed by their own opponents to help.
Do-gyeom’s cry had made the danger clear, but there was no time to turn, no space to move.
“…!”
Heon-sa-yul watched those razor teeth descend toward his face and squeezed his eyes shut.
Then—
A metallic whine—
An iron chain sang out, whistling past his ear.
To Heon-sa-yul, who had trained in Sound Cultivation and heard countless sounds, it was the most beautiful note imaginable.

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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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