Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 99

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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 99
* * *
At that same moment, in the Nest.
Munch-munch-munch-munch-munch—
Smack-smack-smack-smack—
Yeon-woo was pushing food into her mouth relentlessly, one morsel after another.
Various berries and medicinal herbs, along with fish and game meat.
Even the bird meat she had once mentioned liking was laid out before her.
All of it had been prepared by Goe-jo for Yeon-woo.
Nom-nom-nom-nom—
Upon waking, Yeon-woo devoured everything as though possessed by hunger itself.
She swallowed portions so vast it seemed impossible she could finish them all.
– Tell me if you need more.
“Mm! It’s delicious! I wish there’d been salt, though!”
Though the food was entirely unseasoned, Yeon-woo had grown accustomed enough to it.
In fact, it was fortunate—she was the sort who enjoyed anything she could eat.
After she’d been eating voraciously for some time,
“I’m full—”
She patted her now-rounded belly and quickly took on a drowsy expression.
At the child’s side, Goe-jo anxiously opened and closed his beak in repeated gestures.
He’d been doing this for a while now.
“Oh, that’s right!”
There was something she needed to do!
The child suddenly sprang to her feet as the thought struck her.
Goe-jo’s face brightened rapidly.
– Has the will to do it returned to you?
“Yes! I’ve rested enough, and my belly’s full now.”
Yeon-woo’s attention turned toward the Small Bird, who was arranging fish it had caught to one side.
Near the bird’s leg, suspended in empty space, was still Yeon-woo’s Axe, embedded where she had left it.
Goe-jo and the Small Bird had tried to pull it free, but it wouldn’t budge.
It seemed the Sorcery affecting it was the reason.
That—
“Hup.”
Yeon-woo yanked it out with a single hand in one smooth motion.
A spark of surprise flickered in Goe-jo’s eyes.
The Small Bird’s beak had already fallen agape.
Yeon-woo stood before the Small Bird again, Axe in hand.
In Goe-jo’s gaze, he could see pure, refined energy gathering around the young human.
‘This is…’
Not Demonic Qi, it seemed.
The child gripped the Axe’s handle.
Goe-jo spoke urgently.
– Do not pour your full strength into it. You will lose consciousness again.
This much he had learned from the first attempt.
Breaking through Sorcery consumed an enormous amount of vital energy.
Though the Axe fell easily enough, the power and time invested in the Sorcery itself was vast, and the energy required to break through it was equally immense.
Yeon-woo gave a small nod.
Then—
Shrieeee—!
She brought the Axe down with all her might once more, striking near the Small Bird’s leg.
Crack—!
The Axe’s blade embedded itself near the Small Bird’s leg.
Deeper than before.
Shhhhhh—
Yeon-woo stared intently downward at the vine-like thing where the Axe had penetrated.
‘The same spot as last time.’
Her lips curved into a small smile.
Yes! She’d succeeded!
– Ha! Pant! Ha!
The moment Yeon-woo brought the Axe down, the Small Bird, who had squeezed her eyes shut, released a tense breath and glanced down toward her leg.
I’d anticipated it, but the sorcery wasn’t broken.
At least ten times.
It seemed I’d have to repeat the same action at least ten more times.
“…I’m hungry.”
Yeon-woo, who had been watching my work with satisfaction, turned away from his seat, staggering slightly.
Despite having crammed food into himself moments before, an overwhelming hunger crashed over him.
Even during the first attempt, Yeon-woo had felt it.
This vine couldn’t be severed in one blow. So it had to be hacked at over multiple attempts.
And on top of that, Goe-jo’s final counsel.
Yeon-woo hadn’t exerted his full strength, and this time he hadn’t reached the point of losing consciousness.
– You’ve worked hard. Rest properly while you eat.
“Okay.”
Yeon-woo returned to his spot and began eating again.
Goe-jo’s gentle gaze followed the young human.
‘If he didn’t lose consciousness, four days should be possible.’
In four days, the chick could leave this Nest.
He could escape this hellish forest and soar freely through the heavens.
When that time came, the child wouldn’t return here, so I wouldn’t see him again.
‘That’s enough.’
It was sufficient.
Just knowing his chick wouldn’t live the same life as himself was enough for Goe-jo to have no regrets.
And so.
“….”
Goe-jo’s gaze turned toward the sky.
‘They’ve arrived.’
It took half a day, but finally.
The human had come to find the child.
Reading the rapidly approaching presence, Goe-jo spread his wings with a flutter.
– I’ll go find more food. You two stay here and don’t wander off.
Flutter—
Goe-jo took flight.
He had to buy four days’ time, no matter what.
* * *
Whoosh— whooooosh—
With powerful wingbeats, Goe-jo left the center of the Nest and quickly reached the boundary.
And as he approached the boundary, an inexplicable unease seized him.
‘…What is this?’
Goe-jo was an animal.
The way birds and beasts sense danger in the forest first, Goe-jo’s instincts screamed.
Flee.
And in that instant.
Whip—
– !!
Goe-jo frantically flapped his wings, twisting his body sharply in mid-air.
Nothing was visible, but Goe-jo understood instinctively.
‘If I hadn’t dodged, my wing would have been pierced.’
That’s what made it strange.
The Demonic Sect’s humans had kept him confined—they wouldn’t try to harm him.
As that thought surfaced, a massive presence revealed itself from the ground.
Flutter—flap—!
Goe-jo immediately stopped and looked down.
A human.
A human wearing a white half-mask stood beyond the Nest’s boundary, looking up at him.
A smile of unknown meaning playing at the corner of his mouth.
– So you can dodge that?
A telepathic transmission like a sharp needle piercing through his mind, and goosebumps erupted across his entire body.
His instincts continued to send warnings.
Danger. This human is dangerous.
This is a human he cannot contend with.
If he resists even once, in a single move….
I’ll give you credit for having the guts to stand your ground even knowing what’s coming.
Goe-jo’s beak trembled slightly.
Beneath the half-mask, his mouth curved upward in a thin smile—sharp and unmistakable.
And then it came to him, belatedly.
‘I’m inside the Nest.’
And that Masked Human stands outside it.
Only one human can enter the Nest at a time, so that man cannot set foot inside right now.
Which means he cannot attack me.
‘That should be… correct… and yet…’
So why does danger still creep along his spine?
‘Now that I think of it…’
How is he sending Telepathic Transmission at all?
Surely the countless array formations layered across the barrier should block any transmission?
Yet the Masked Human’s words flowed in as casually as morning light, brushing aside such doubts.
– There’s a child in there, isn’t there?
Goe-jo’s beak trembled again.
The Masked Human raised his index finger and jabbed downward at the ground before him.
– Bring her out. Now.
“Or die.”
– …!
The last part came not through transmission.
The barrier should have muffled the sound entirely—yet Goe-jo heard every word.
An urge to flee surged through him.
No—his animal instinct screamed it.
And yet he did not run, because of his nestling.
For his child to escape this place, that girl had to remain here, bound for four days.
Flutter—flutter—flutter—
The Masked Human’s head tilted slightly.
As if questioning whether Goe-jo had understood.
Goe-jo steadied his trembling beak with difficulty and stepped outside the Nest.
He had no way to communicate with the being who stood beyond the Nest’s boundary.
And that alone spoke volumes about the gap between their power.
– I cannot give you that child.
“Is that so? Then you die.”
Whoooosh—!
– …!
In that instant, Goe-jo felt as though swallowed by a vast darkness.
No—that was merely his illusion.
He spoke again, frantically, adding words in desperation.
– A Fortunate Encounter!
“?”
– You humans call it that, don’t you?
The Masked Human did not withdraw his power.
But his expression—cold and indifferent—shifted just enough.
As though he were willing to hear more.
– That child… she has caught my interest. So I wish to give her an opportunity—a Fortunate Encounter worthy of her.
His words stumbled, hesitant and halting—yet this excuse had been prepared long in advance for precisely such a moment.
For all his appearance, he was a Spirit Creature.
One who provided periodically the Spiritual Medicine that followers of the Demonic Sect could never resist.
Of course, what he truly dispensed was merely the clump of Demonic Qi that passed through him in birthing—whether it would truly become a Fortunate Encounter for the girl remained to be seen.
‘If I give her all the strange herbs and fruits I’ve gathered over time, it should at least be of some use to her.’
A Fortunate Encounter, after all, comes in forms both great and small.
“Hmm.”
The dark aura that had surrounded Goe-jo dissipated slowly, like clouds retreating from the sky.
Beyond the white mask, violet eyes gleamed with a keenness both cold and amused, looking down at Goe-jo.
As Goe-jo’s body flinched and trembled,
A low chuckle escaped.
The corners of his mouth curved upward beneath the mask.
“How amusing. That wretched bird speaking of Fortunate Encounters.”
Goe-jo swallowed hard.
‘Did it really…happen…?’
“In all the centuries you’ve lived, you’ve never done anything like this before, have you?”
– …!
It was true. Yet how could this relatively young human know of events spanning the past few centuries?
“I don’t quite understand why that child has taken your fancy… but you’re not planning to devour her slowly over time, are you?”
– No! Never!
“Then can you swear to me that not even a single hair on that child will be harmed?”
– I swear it! I shall treat the young human with utmost care and respect!
“Break this oath, and you die.”
– Of course…!
“Your offspring too.”
– …!

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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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