Childhood Friend of the Zenith
chapter-209

༺ The First Sin (1) ༻

The floor collapsed into a pile of debris, forming a thick wall.

A man stared at this very wall, grinding his teeth.

“Haha, these bastards.”

The man, Vice-Lord of the Black Palace, Jeon Oh-Jin cursed out lead, reflecting on the recent events.

An absurdly beautiful female brat and a boy who hadn’t fully matured yet.

It was strange that either of them was even here.

‘The girl seemed to be from the Namgung Clan…’

Her blue uniform and bluish-white hair, along with the sword art that shot out Lightning Qi; all of them were unmistakable traits of the Namgung Clan.

‘Judging by her appearance, she’s a direct blood relative.’

A blood relative of Namgung Clan at her age…

‘Was there someone else besides the Lightning Dragon?’

Furthermore, despite appearing to be no older than twenty, she was a martial artist who had reached the Peak Realm.

Jeon Oh-Jin realized as soon as they clashed swords that the girl had overcome her wall.

If he were to recall recent information…

‘The Sword Dancer, was it?’

The blood relative of the Namgung Clan who had excelled in the recent tournament.

It was a name that he had heard in passing.

However, the girl from the Namgung Clan wasn’t the problem.

His attention was instead drawn to the boy accompanying her.

Even though the girl had extraordinary skill, the boy was on another level.

The red uniform he wore, the bright flame he summoned in his hand, and even his fierce gaze that stared at him without any fear; all of such were reminiscent of the monster currently outside the formation barrier.

“…Vice-Lord!”

Members of the Black Palace rushed towards him after hearing the loud sound.

They all wore shocked expressions upon witnessing the scene of devastation.

“Rats snuck inside, you said?”

“…Yes sir, the intruders- “

“Correct yourself, it wasn’t a rat.”

“Pardon?”

Jeon Oh-Jin responded with a chilling smile.

“It was a baby tiger.”

Slam-!

With a strike filled with Sword Force, the wall blocking his path instantly collapsed.

The members of the Palace were forced to back off due to the falling debris.

“What is the Lord doing?”

At his cold question, the members standing behind him flinched.

“…He seemed to have gone off to face the Flaming Demon.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll have to deal with this.”

Jeon Oh-Jin was confident there wouldn’t be any issues even if the Palace Lord had left.

At least that was what he believed.

As he looked around the area for traces after the wall collapsed, his eyes widened.

“…Oh, look at this brat?”

There was a massive hole in the floor.

Leftover flames still clung to its walls, and the lingering Qi in the air was extremely potent.

‘The True Dragon, they said?’

‘If my guess is correct…’

‘Then he must be the True Dragon of Gu Clan.’

The one who had outshone all the young prodigies in the tournament and claimed the last spot of the Dragons.

‘It was said that he was very similar to the Flaming Demon. Truly, a spitting image.’

Furthermore, even his talent seemed similar.

Jeon Oh-Jin briefly remembered hearing about how it was the True Dragon who had killed the fool Ya Hyeoljeok.

If that was the case…

“I must find him and kill him.”

“Vice-Lord, first we should inform the Lor- “

Slice.

The member who was about to speak was silenced; his life ended with a slice to his neck.

“The only person who can give me an order is the Lord himself.”

With those words, Jeon Oh-Jin shook off his sword and charged his Qi.

If the Lord had gone outside to face the Flaming Demon, then his task was to capture the Little Tiger.

‘More importantly, the flame that I saw earlier…’

The blue flame surrounding the True Dragon felt oddly familiar.

It reminded him of the energy within his own body.

He decided to investigate it further.

Leaving the other members behind, Jeon Oh-Jin jumped into the hole made by The True Dragon.

It was obvious where the bastard was headed—

Towards the Sword Phoenix.

Although he didn’t know why the Lord had gone out of his way to bring the Sword Phoenix here, he didn’t question it, trusting that his Lord had a valid reason.

However, the one thing he was certain of was that the appearance of both the Flaming Demon and the True Dragon was undoubtedly due to the Sword Phoenix.

‘But how did they even find out about this location?’

It was something he was really curious about.

The Sword Phoenix hadn’t been here for that long, so how did the Flaming Demon or the True Dragon find out about this location?

Enhancing his sword with powerful Sword Force, Jeon Oh-Jin mumbled to himself.

“I just have to ask that brat, after I capture him.”

With a smile on his face, he walked into the darkness.

******************

After a lengthy journey through the darkness in search of the right path…

‘Fuck…’

The recoil from using the Blood Qi still hadn’t subsided, the constant movement rapidly depleting my energy even more.

‘That was a close call.’

In hindsight, it really wasn’t a bad decision.

It would have been a stupid idea to fight him with all we had.

Some might find it embarrassing to run away from an opponent, but if I were to respond to that…

[Honor doesn’t save one’s life.]

Elder Shin’s words would be enough.

‘Though, it feels weird to hear that from a hero who saved the world.’

[Hmph! How can you fulfill your goal if you don’t survive in the first place?]

Slaaam!

As I followed the light of the marble, sword slashes echoed behind me.

It was Namgung Bi-ah, following closely, slicing through everything in her path.

Considering our opponent’s strength, it was obvious that he would catch up to us quickly by breaking through the walls.

So, she sliced the pillars, causing the ceiling to collapse, and making it harder for him to follow us.

What impressed me was that…

‘I didn’t even ask her to do that.’

She did it without any instructions.

It was as if she had read my thoughts and begun to swing her sword on her own.

Ideally, I should have been the one to do this, but using both Blood Qi and then causing such a big explosion one after the other was too taxing on my body.

My dantian was still hurting, as if something was stabbing at it.

‘I need to find her quickly.’

I had to find Gu Huibi before it was too late.

‘It seems like I just have to go straight from here.’

If the marble wasn’t lying to me, I should run into Gu Huibi if I continued straight ahead.

However, one question nagged at me.

‘Why is there no one here?’

Ever since entering the Black Palace—one of the largest forces of the Unorthodox Faction—the lack of people had confused me.

Considering that one of the Four Emperors and Five Kings was the Lord of the Black Palace, there should’ve been far more people here, especially as this was the main palace.

‘There’s way too few.’

There were far fewer enemies here than I had expected.

Even now, as we roamed through the jail, it was strange that there were fewer people here than upstairs.

Moreover, the few enemies we did run into were low-level martial artists whom I could kill in just a single strike.

‘Did something happen?’

A strange atmosphere permeated the air, but the cause remained elusive.

-…Front.

Hearing Namgung Bi-ah’s warning, I instinctively reached out, not even knowing the exact location, and exploded my Qi.

Boom! Blaze-!

My flames erupted, incinerating the enemies in front of us.

They seemed to have been planning for an ambush.

Namgung Bi-ah had alerted me of impending danger before as well, but it was surprising every time.

‘Her Qi Senses seem to be sharper than mine.’

I was definitely at a higher realm, but her ability to detect the presence and location of enemies far surpassed mine.

Normally one’s senses were proportional to one’s realm.

As such, it meant that Namgung Bi-ah having sharper senses than me was unprecedented.

‘…Is that also because of her talent?’

Noticing me staring at her, Namgung Bi-ah tilted her head in confusion.

-What’s… wrong?

-Nothing.

I focused on the path ahead.

I wasn’t in a situation to have pointless thoughts, after all.

The basement was filled with too many jail cells and I didn’t have time to search each one.

Thankfully, the marble’s light told me the path, saving precious time.

-We are almost there.

-…Yeah.

I saw a door in the distance.

The light pointed to that door, making me increase my speed.

As I got closer, I charged my Qi into my hand.

‘Ugh…’

Other than my dantian crying out in pain, I didn’t face much of a problem summoning flames.

Blaze.

Wrapping my fist in flames, I struck the iron door.

Slam-!

Thankfully, it seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary iron door, easily crumbling and flying away.

It was followed by the sound of metal crashing into a wall, the air filled with dust.

‘Huh, so there really is a jail inside.’

Large iron bars along with a few torture devices and a small window letting in a sliver of light.

This was undoubtedly the jail I had seen through the marble’s power. The place where Gu Huibi was held.

‘Where’s Gu Huibi?’

Looking around, I saw someone inside the jail.

“…!”

It was Gu Huibi, staring at me in shock.

“Brother…?”

Her uniform was worn out and she appeared to be in a disheveled state, but…

‘She doesn’t seem too hurt.’

Thankfully, she didn’t seem to be injured.

However…

‘Demonic Qi…?’

I couldn’t help but frown noticing the Demonic Qi inside of her dantian.

It was far less than what the Plum Blossom Sword had, but still there was definitely Demonic Qi present in her dantian.

With such an amount, she probably couldn’t use any of her Qi and her overall body strength must have been significantly reduced.

‘Did the Palace Lord do this?’

He was the only person I could think of, who was capable of such a thing.

Gu Huibi’s shock seemed to gradually increase as she kept on staring at me.

“H-How…!”

I responded bluntly.

“What do you mean how? I just came here to clean up after my troublemaking sister.”

All of a sudden, Gu Huibi’s expression of shock turned into a slight frown upon noticing Namgung Bi-ah.

Was it because she didn’t expect her to be here?

Ignoring her reaction, I reached towards the cell, intending to rip it apart.

Zaaaap-!

“…Hmm?”

But as soon as my hand touched the cell, it was repelled by some type of barrier.

Seeing this, Namgung Bi-ah quickly pulled me back.

Shing.

She drew her sword out and charged her Lightning Qi, seemingly intending to cut the whole thing,

“Stop.”

However, as such an action might put Gu Huibi in danger, I stopped her.

Trying to find an alternative, I observed the cell.

‘…Qi around the iron bars, huh.’

Judging by how Gu Huibi was holding onto them, they didn’t seem impossible to touch.

‘Perhaps?’

Remembering about the Demonic Qi inside of Gu Huibi, I began to charge the Demonic Qi that I had practically sealed away in a corner of my body.

“…!”

Strangely, Namgung Bi-ah stepped back in shock as I charged my Demonic Qi.

Could she perhaps sense the Demonic Qi?

Putting aside her matter for now, I reached out towards the iron bars.

“I knew it.”

Instead of being repelled like before, I was able to hold onto the iron bars without a problem.

It seemed to react to the Demonic Qi.

‘They were already making these before the Demonic Cult even formed?’

Last time, I had let it pass without much thought, but if I were to think about it, I was really curious as to how they were even able to make such things.

Cggccck-!

Concluding my thoughts, I ripped off the iron bars right away.

The material didn’t seem to be that durable, as only a bit of my Qi was enough to easily rip it off.

I then called upon the dumbfounded Gu Huibi.

“Come out.”

“Brother…”

“Hurry, let’s go home.”

I wasn’t urging her for no reason, we really needed to move quickly.

After all, I didn’t know when we would run into enemies again.

But strangely, at that moment…

“Yes! Yes! We should hurry and go home.”

Someone other than Gu Huibi responded instead.

“…Who is it?”

It was surprising. Despite him being so close, I hadn’t felt his presence at all.

“Elder Mook…”

Gu Huibi seemed to recognize the man.

‘Elder Mook?’

The slowly approaching old man didn’t seem to be in the best condition.

Not only was his body covered in torture wounds, but his eyes seemed damaged as well, having been wrapped in a bandage.

“Hehe… to think a cub would come instead of the Tiger Warrior, it is truly unexpected.”

“Who are you?”

The old man continued to chuckle at my question.

“Just call me Elder Mook. Child, you must be the little sibling of the Sword Phoenix.”

He was a strange old man.

He appeared blind, but he acted as if he could see everything in front of him.

I could also vaguely sense a strange atmosphere from him.

Staring at the old man I asked just in case.

“Are you perhaps, the Lord of the Hao Clan?”

The old man paused for a moment.

Despite his eyes being covered by bandages, he seemed to be looking at me clearly.

“…You.”

“You don’t need to respond if you don’t want to.”

He seemed to be the one who I was thinking of. Or at least, I felt so.

But I didn’t want to get involved in any hassles.

I shouldn’t have him asked in the first place, but that was my mistake.

‘So, he really was here.’

I had wondered why there were only two of them here in this large jail, but it seemed like that old man really was the Lord of Hao Clan.

“Lord of the Hao Clan…?”

Gu Huibi looked at the old man in surprise.

Namgung Bi-ah, standing next to me, had a similar expression.

Clash!

In the midst of this, I grabbed the shackle on Gu Huibi and shattered it.

“If you wanna look around, then save it for later. We need to leave right now.”

“Brother, you seemed to have lost some of your manners during the time we haven’t seen each other.”

“Hmm, but can you really say we haven’t seen each other?”

“…Hmm?”

“After all, you’ve been watching me secretly the whole time.”

“…”

Realizing that her secret had been found out, Gu Huibi looked as if her whole world had collapsed.

“H…ow?”

“Save that for later as well.”

“Ugh!”

I lifted Gu Huibi and put her on my shoulder.

It would have obviously been more comfortable for me to have her run by herself, but…

‘I don’t have enough time to absorb the Demonic Qi inside of her right now.’

I wasn’t in a situation where I could afford to spend time to get rid of the Demonic Qi inside Gu Huibi’s body.

The priority was to escape.

As I turned around, the old man asked me in confusion.

“…W, Wait! W-What about me?”

He asked, pointing to his shackle.

“It’s hard for me to carry two people.”

I responded bluntly.

“H-Hey! Young Warrior! Are you serious?!”

“I apologize, but you weren’t included in my plan.”

“You cruel…! What happened to the Orthodox Faction caring for each other!”

“What nonsense are you talking about when you aren’t even from the Orthodox Faction.”

The Hao Clan belonged to the Unorthodox Faction, yet this old man was shamelessly asking for help from the Orthodox Faction.

The Lord of the Hao Clan might be thinking that I was pretending to have no intention of saving him, but I genuinely didn’t have any.

Even if I left him here, he wouldn’t die; a man like him was far more valuable alive than dead, after all.

And even though I would benefit hugely if I were to save him, I wasn’t in a situation where I could take such a gamble.

Furthermore…

Sniff- Sniff-!

“Damn.”

Someone was following us.

Namgung Bi-ah looked towards the hallway.

“…He’s coming.”

She spoke in an anxious tone.

As expected, it was impossible to stall a Fusion Realm martial artist for long.

…But still.

‘He caught up way faster than I expected.’

The man followed us, almost audibly grinding his teeth from his sheer determination.

I could clearly feel his Combat Qi from the other side of the collapsed hallway.

“Tsk.”

I looked in the opposite direction right away.

As the place wasn’t completely underground, it could be possible to break through the walls and escape to the surface.

“Ugh!”

As soon as I charged my Qi, I crumpled under immense pain.

Trying to use even more Qi right after using Demonic Qi, while also enduring the recoil from Blood Qi, might have been the last nail in the coffin.

My exhausted dantian had reached its limits.

“What shitty timing…”

It just had to happen in this situation, huh? Fucking hell.

“…Brother!”

Gu Huibi let out a cry seeing me collapse.

Namgung Bi-ah having somehow read my intent, swung her sword against the wall.

Cggck!

But unfortunately, she could only leave a deep mark on the wall and couldn’t fully break it.

Namgung Bi-ah gathered more of her Qi to swing once more…

Slaaam-!

But the wall guarding us broke down first.

Rustle…

Debris fell, creating a mess around us, as the Fusion Realm martial artist we had faced earlier made his appearance.

With a chilling smile, he looked at us.

“Finally found you, you little bastards.”

Feeling his Combat Qi leaking out of his body, I couldn’t help but frown.

It was almost as if he was proving that he was a martial artist that reached Fusion Realm.

Meanwhile, as the man gradually gathered his Qi…

“I am the Vice-Lord of the main pa- “

Crack-!

Suddenly, his head was smashed apart. It had happened in but a moment.

“…Eh?”

A giant fist had appeared from behind him, breaking his head.

I hadn’t even felt a different presence coming from behind him.

It meant that the one responsible for killing him was incredibly fast, and very skilled in hiding their presence.

As the man’s body fell to the floor, heat entered along with the wind, instantly filling up the entire jail.

Step.

Heavy footsteps echoed, as a man walked towards us, entering the cell through the ripped-off iron bars.

He was a giant of a man, wearing a deep red uniform.

His hand painted crimson, soaked in blood.

Seeing the fierce eyes of the giant, Gu Huibi responded in shock.

“…Lord?”

The giant of a man was Father.

Seemingly indifferent to the man that had been brutally killed by him, his attention was solely focused on Gu Huibi.

However, noticing me crouching on the floor, his eyes widened in surprise.

He didn’t seem to have expected me to be here, at all.

His shock was momentary, as he quickly shifted his gaze back to Gu Huibi.

“Let’s go back.”

His voice was calm, as if he was simply telling her to go back home after a walk.

Yet, I couldn’t help but feel confused upon seeing Father.

After all, even if he had broken through the formation barrier, he had arrived surprisingly fast.

‘…But, if Father is here…’

Where did the Black Palace Lord go?

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