Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 98

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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 98
The monster’s massive beak trembled faintly.
It had tried to hide its tension, but the monster was deeply unsettled.
Since gaining consciousness as a spirit creature and awakening to the world, it had never been this anxious.
How was it possible? How could this child actually reach the Sorcery that bound it?
The monster itself had never even dared dream of breaking free.
It made sense—it couldn’t even touch the Sorcery that enslaved it.
Yet this child.
Truly.
– Could you… actually sever it?
Yeon-woo turned to look at the small bird.
The young creature’s crimson eyes, so like its mother’s, were now clouded with the same tension.
“Yeah. But there’s a problem.”
– W-what? Tell me what you need, anything at all.
“I’m hungry.”
Yeon-woo rubbed his belly with a downcast expression.
The small bird tilted its head in confusion.
– But you just ate. Fish.
Five of them, no less…?
“I did eat. But I’m starving. Really starving.”
The monster and the small bird exchanged a glance.
Hungry again, less than a quarter-hour after eating? And severely so?
Then it happened.
“And….”
Yeon-woo’s eyes drooped heavily.
“Weird… getting sleepy….”
The boy’s body swayed and crumpled.
But he never touched the ground.
The monster caught him in its soft, broad wings.
– Mother.
The small bird stepped closer.
Its gaze upon the human child remained visibly strained.
– Do you really think this child can sever the vines?
The monster’s attention turned to the offspring’s legs.
Yeon-woo’s axe was still embedded in the empty air.
– Shallow though it is, he has left a definite mark. This means his axe can actually affect the Sorcery.
The axe remained firmly lodged, but in truth Yeon-woo had severed only a small portion of the vine.
Yet as you can see, producing even that small wound drained all his strength.
– It will take a long time. Replenishing the child’s energy is not difficult. Yet something troubles me.
Half a Double Hour.
Half a Double Hour had passed since the child set foot in the Nest.
The monster had not set this grace period of half a Double Hour before the child’s death carelessly or at random.
It was the time it usually took from when someone entered the Nest until the Nest’s keeper came to verify it—
a span within which the monster had to kill the intruder before anyone arrived to save them.
At least, that had been true before it learned what this child could do.
But now.
– No one is coming.
The monster gazed up at the blue sky.
There was no sign of the keeper within ten miles of the Nest, much less near it.
The keeper was someone from the Gwi-hon Maga.
In other words, there was no warrior bearing the distinctive spirit energy of Gwi-hon Maga in the vicinity.
– A strange thing indeed.
Is it because of that ‘Trial’?
But then, wouldn’t they come to find him all the sooner, since he too must be a child enrolled in that Trial?
‘Humans truly are incomprehensible.’
In any case, for the monster now, it was the greatest of fortunes.
The monster looked down at the sleeping child in its embrace.
At this small noble who might deliver its offspring from this cramped, narrow world.
* * *
A day had passed.
Gwi-hon Majun stared at the still-burning seal marks on the wall, his lips compressed as though he were chewing on anxiety itself.
‘What in the world is happening?’
The monster had not killed the child.
That same creature, which always killed any human who set foot in the Nest within less than a half Double Hour—
had shown no movement for an entire day.
At first, when a full Double Hour had passed since the child entered the Nest, he found the matter rather intriguing.
But by the next morning, Gwi-hon Majun’s disposition had shifted entirely.
‘The fool. Has he finally failed?’
No—the child had not yet emerged from the Nest, so it was premature to declare failure.
And yet.
Gwi-hon Majun rose from his seat.
‘If I conceal this any longer and matters go awry, the main family will be drawn in.’
Should questions of responsibility arise, the Gwi-hon Maga, which had provided Gwi-rim, could hardly escape the consequences.
Now was the time to report the child’s entry into the Nest’s Formation.
Flutter—
Having decided as much, Gwi-hon Majun hastened from the chamber.
His silver robe billowed urgently with his hurried stride.
* * *
“We found nothing.”
“….”
Gwi-ya-gaek’s gaze turned toward Gwi-rim.
Behind him stood two instructors.
Man-cho, the Medical Master, and Am-hyang, the Sword Instructor.
“You are certain?”
Man-cho nodded.
“We searched the forest thoroughly, but found nothing. We did witness the student entering deeper into the woods, and yet….”
Near the boundary of the zone they had searched, the trail vanished without a trace.
It was the boundary between the zones assigned to Man-cho and Am-hyang.
Man-cho had seen the student cross beyond it, while Am-hyang claimed to have seen nothing of the disciple thereafter.
It was peculiar.
And in such a peculiarity that could deceive even the eyes of seasoned instructors….
“Could there not have been some form of… interference?”
Man-cho ventured carefully.
Gwi-ya-gaek’s expression, which had been fixed upon the direction the student vanished, turned cold as winter.
Then it happened.
Thud—!
Someone descended onto the boulder.
The one who landed and hurried forward was Gwi-hon Majun.
Man-cho and Am-hyang stepped back, offering him a martial salute.
Gwi-hon Majun passed the two of them and approached Gwi-ya-gaek.
“Master.”
Gwi-ya-gaek turned his gaze slowly toward him.
His movements were as unhurried as always, yet the moment their eyes met, Gwi-hon Majun sensed it.
That there was no ease in the eyes of the Heavenly Sword Demon Family’s lord.
In that same instant, Gwi-hon Majun regretted his choice.
He should have reported immediately upon learning, not waited a day.
‘If my entanglement in this affair is exposed….’
It was an intuition that he would not escape easily.
“Someone has entered the monster’s Nest.”
“…!”
At these words, Man-cho turned to stare at Gwi-hon Majun in surprise.
Am-hyang and Gwi-ya-gaek showed no outward sign of agitation, yet their faces darkened in an instant.
Gwi-ya-gaek stepped forward toward Gwi-hon Majun.
“When?”
“I cannot say with certainty. However, it seems they did not detect it immediately. At minimum, it appears to have been half a day to a full day ago.”
Gwi-hon Majun made no attempt to evade responsibility.
He simply added:
“What is the meaning of this? Is that not why you have been guarding this place—to prevent such a calamity?”
“….”
Gwi-ya-gaek did not answer.
Instead, he loosened and tightened his grip on the sword hilt at his waist.
Gwi-ya-gaek turned to face the two disciples.
“One of you re-examine the place where the disciple vanished. There will be traces of Illusion Magic. Find them.”
“…!”
Gwi-hon Majun stiffened in alarm.
‘He’s already caught on!’
But to hide the reason for his shock, he hastily pressed back, “You think Hwan-yeong Majun is involved in this?”
Gwi-ya-gaek turned to regard Gwi-hon Majun with a flat gaze.
“It is mere conjecture.”
Yet Gwi-hon Majun understood the truth.
‘It is not mere conjecture. He is certain.’
That Hwan-yeong Majun was implicated in what had escaped his own detection.
‘As expected—a ghost’s eyes cannot be deceived.’
Had Hwan-yeong Majun believed otherwise, that would have been his critical mistake.
Even as these thoughts crossed his mind, Gwi-ya-gaek’s next command came.
“The other one of you—return and guard your assigned sector.”
“You intend to continue the trial, then…?”
Man-cho asked, bewildered.
The answer came back, terse.
“There remain eggs we have not yet found.”
The trial would continue until all the Goe-jo’s eggs were located.
That was the rule he meant to uphold.
Tsk—
With those words, Gwi-ya-gaek moved at once.
Gwi-hon Majun, clicking his tongue sharply, followed in his wake.
The two disciples took defensive stances as the pair vanished swiftly into the distance.
Only after they had entirely disappeared from view did Man-cho lower his guard and exhale.
“I’ll handle identifying any traces of Illusion Magic. I’ll need you to cover my sector as well.”
Am-hyang gave a curt nod.
Man-cho had witnessed the disciple’s final moments; she had not. It was right that he conduct the investigation.
“Of all people, it had to be him. He’d better make it out of this alive.”
“Do you know this disciple?”
“Hmm? You don’t?”
“I only heard that a disciple had vanished. I wasn’t told a name.”
Man-cho was the only one who had spent the night combing the forest for the missing disciple.
Am-hyang had only just been summoned after hearing the news in her assigned area; she knew none of the details.
Realizing this, Man-cho scratched his jaw before finally speaking the vanished disciple’s name aloud.
“Ah, Yeon-woo. You’ve heard the name, haven’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“That one—barely arrived at Maryong Hall and already tangled up in all manner of trouble.”
His luck was abysmal.
Man-cho scratched his head roughly and turned to leave.
“In any case, I should get moving. If I come up empty again, I’m going to hear about it.”
Tsk—
Am-hyang made a brief gesture of farewell as Man-cho departed first.
Alone atop the boulder.
Am-hyang gazed down into the silent Gwi-rim.
‘Yeon-woo.’
She turned the familiar name over in her mind, fingers tracing the blade she held, lingering there for a moment.
Tsk—
Soon her form too faded from sight.

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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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