Childhood Friend of the Zenith

After a giant wave of heat surged through, a cool spring breeze quickly tempered the warmth.

More accurately, it was because I pulled back my Qi before the heat could spread further.

Crackle… crack.

I heard the faint crackle of lingering flames.

Traces of flame still burned across the ground.

I calmed my Qi and checked over my body.

A bit more than half left.

Unlike in the past, when using a Secret Art would have depleted my Qi entirely, I still had more than half left despite using Flaming Sphere on top of the Red Heaven.

This proved how my vessel had expanded upon reaching Fusion Realm, allowing me to channel my Qi with greater efficiency.

A black Formation was still up in the sky.

The small hole I’d made with Red Heaven was already sealed.

What kind of power is that?

I focused and observed, but I wasn’t able to come up with an answer.

How strange.

It didn’t quite feel like a Formation, yet it didn’t seem like a martial ability either.

Could it be the power of a treasure?

It was possible.

I shifted my gaze.

Crack.

The Heavenly Dragon Academy building was on the verge of collapse.

Now, it was hard to even call it a building as half of it was sent flying away.

It was ruined from the explosion of my Flaming Sphere.

…

Cold sweat trickled down my face as I considered the consequences.

They’re not going to ask me for compensation, are they?

Rustle.

I moved forward, stepping over charred branches scattered on the ground.

The area where the explosion had struck was filled with dust and debris.

I waved my hand, summoning a gust of wind.

Swoosh-!

The dust cleared, revealing a massive crater lined with traces of flame.

I approached it.

A black figure of something was flinching in the center of the crater, and it was the Fusion Realm martial artist I was fighting just now.

Good, he’s not dead.

Fortunately, he wasn’t dead.

I hadn’t intended to kill him with that last attack.

However, I’d made a slight miscalculation, failing to fully control my strength as I wasn’t yet used to my new level.

It would’ve been problematic if he’d died.

After all, I hadn’t extracted any information from him yet.

“Ugh… Cough… Kugh…”

The old man coughed out blood.

It looked like he managed to dodge just enough to protect his vital areas, but despite his defense aura, he was still in rough shape from the explosion.

“…You… bastard…”

The old man, his face half-melted, glared at me with murderous intent.

It wasn’t that the old man was weak.

He was a formidable martial artist.

Obviously, no one at the level of Fusion Realm was weak.

He was the one responsible for the Qinghai Sword’s dire state, and I’d known he was a serious threat the moment I saw him.

Just as there were differences in strength within the same realm, this was especially true in the Fusion Realm.

The old man and I had a huge difference in power.

Despite this, I was able to overpower him because,

Demonic Qi works against Fusion Realm martial artists too.

My Demonic Qi had managed to infiltrate the old man’s body.

…Though I wasn’t in a perfect state myself.

When I’d fought the assassin from the Hwangbo Clan, he hadn’t been long in the Fusion Realm, so infiltrating his body with Demonic Qi wasn’t difficult.

However, it was different this time.

It was close.

Not only did I have to be sneaky with my Demonic Qi mid-fight, but it also wasn’t easy for me to break into the old man’s body due to his level.

In fact, I might not have broken through at all if I hadn’t overcome my wall.

This meant one thing.

My Demonic Qihasstrengthened since reaching Fusion Realm.

The Demonic Qi inside my body became stronger after I overcame my wall.

But is that really a good thing?

No, it’s not entirely positive.

I was thankfully able to achieve victory because of it, but it hurt me because rather than winning thanks to me reaching this level, I was mostly able to win because of the Demonic Qi’s help.

Therefore, I couldn’t help but feel bothered about it.

Additionally, my body was feeling a recoil from using Demonic Qi.

There’s no pain, but there’s a lingering sensation of toxicity.

My Qi hadn’t mixed with Demonic Qi yet, but it could easily happen if I let my guard down.

I didn’t know if it was due to reaching Fusion Realm, but my Demonic Qi felt far more toxic than before.

What about the cleansing rate of my Destructive Flame Arts?

I had to check this later.

For now, I approached the old man.

“What are you?”

“Cough…”

I grabbed him by the hair and looked at his face.

I had no respect for the defeated, especially one from the Unorthodox Faction.

Though to begin with, I never viewed either side, Orthodox or Unorthodox, as fully human.

“Why did you come here?”

“…You bastard…”

I noticed a long scar across the old man’s neck.

Was that a cut from a sword? Judging by how deep it was, it seemed to be an extremely severe injury.

And why would a martial artist of his level ambush the Heavenly Dragon Academy?

“Are you not going to speak?”

The old man’s body trembled at my question.

Was it anger, or fear?

To me, it didn’t look like fear.

That’s not good.

It meant I’d have to make him talk through torture.

He surely didn’t come alone for this ambush; I need to understand the situation.

I wasn’t in a situation where I could spare my time.

I didn’t honestly care what happened to most of the Academy’s students,

…But not my people.

I couldn’t let my people end up in danger.

My main reason for endlessly training in the Abyss, for reaching this higher level, was for them.

It was for both me and them.

Given the chaos of the situation, I needed to know what was happening to the others.

I couldn’t help but frown at the thought.

Having so many to protect isn’t ideal.

Unlike the plans I’d made at the start of my regression, I now had more people to protect.

I saw it as a good thing since it was a different life than my past life, but I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by the future as well.

I didn’t have much time.

Should I torture him?

It was difficult to torture him right now because I lacked time, and it was still hard for me to control my strength, which meant that I would have trouble controlling my strength in detail during the torture.

Especially with him teetering so close to death.

As I wondered what action I should take,

“…He…he.”

The old man suddenly chuckled.

“Why are you laughing?”

Had he lost his mind at the edge of death?

That’s not good. He needed to give me some information before he died.

“…Those are some horrifying eyes.”

“What?”

“Those eyes say you’re wondering how best to kill me… I’ve seen countless bastards with eyes like yours. All of them from the Unorthodox Faction.”

“And?”

Was he insulting me for my eyes?

“I buried all of those brats in the ground with my own hands… and now look at me”

“What are you trying to say? Are you telling me to spare your life out of pity?”

Had he gone senile?

He was spouting useless nonsense.

Blaze.

I wrapped my hand in flames.

The flames held a different color and intensity compared to when I was in Peak Realm.

The old man spoke dully, his eyes fixed on the flames.

“You… are you really a child of the Orthodox Faction?”

“Of course. There isn’t anyone more diligent than me in the Orthodox Faction.”

I’m cleaning up scum from the Unorthodox Faction, so naturally, I’m Orthodox.

After a moment’s thought, I made my decision.

I will kill him.

I decided to kill him without torture.

Not only was I lacking time, but he didn’t seem to have any useful information for me.

It was better to get rid of him now than to stall and waste time.

I was also feeling an especially sharp Qi that poked my head from all of the Qi I felt with my senses.

I extended my hand.

“I, the Black Dragon, die not to Wi Hyogun, but to a child.”

Black Dragon…?

I almost paused at his words, but I didn’t stop my hand.

Instead, I reached out faster.

My hand closed in on the old man’s face.

No, it stopped just short of contact.

“I cannot allow that.”

Rumble.

“…!”

I sensed a shift.

I quickly pulled back my hand and stepped away.

I gathered my Qi, bracing myself fully.

My Dantian jolted in shock at the strange Qi radiating from him.

[ …rr…rrr… ]

“You…?”

My eyes widened at the growling sound that followed.

The beast that had lain dormant for so long in both the real world and the false world had suddenly awakened.

[ Grr… ]

Its growl was rough.

It was clear the beast was baring its fangs at something.

…Is it that?

It was likely directed at the old man who called himself the Black Dragon.

“Black Dragon you said?”

The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.

I’m sure I would’ve realized who he was since he had a famous title, and I also wondered how I didn’t know who that old man was, but this wasn’t the time for me to think about such a thing.

“What is that?”

Something was changing in the old man’s body.

“Ku… ughh…”

From the scar on his neck, something began to seep out.

Just watching its wriggling movement made me nauseous.

If I had to describe it, it looked like a giant worm.

Blaaze-!

I gathered flames into my hand.

I couldn’t afford to let this go on; it was clearly dangerous.

My Qi drained from my Dantian in an instant.

As I readied my attack, I observed the old man’s transformation.

What is that thing… is it a Demon?

It didn’t seem like a Demon as I have never seen that before.

A Demon birthing from a human?

I didn’t know what was happening, but it was definitely nothing good.

I compressed the flames in my hand.

I was preparing to use Flaming Sphere again.

I decided to incinerate him completely.

It was slowly taking shape, with an utterly repulsive appearance.

Moreover, the sensation I felt from it was toxic and dark.

It felt different from the Demonic Qi the Demons had.

Blaze-!

I completed the Flaming Sphere, ready to strike.

Just as I was about to launch my attack,

[ Grr! ]

Swish-!

“What?”

With a sudden growl from within me, all the Qi vanished from my hand.

“Fuck.”

The beast controlled my body and let go of my Qi.

It could do that too?

The beast could control my Qi?

Setting that aside, I needed to know why the beast was suddenly interfering.

“Why are you choosing to interfere after being asleep for this long…!”

Just as I was about to demand answers,

Screeeech-!

With a piercing screech, something ominous began oozing from the old man.

It moved with startling speed.

I tried to summon my Qi to shield myself,

…Huh?

But I couldn’t channel my Qi at all, as if something had blocked it. Had I run out? No, that was impossible.

I’d had more than half remaining just moments ago.

The worm lunged toward me, giving me no time to react.

This wasn’t good.

Just as I considered trying another Qi,

Slash-!

The worm was instantly sliced in two, falling to the ground in front of me.

Then, the worm melted and vanished.

It looked as though the ground was absorbing it.

“What the…”

Amid my confusion, I sensed something from the crater’s center.

When I gazed towards where the monster came from,

Someone is there.

Someone I’d never seen before was driving a sword into the monster.

It seemed that this person was the one who had saved me from the monster’s attack.

But I didn’t catch their presence.

Even though I couldn’t control my Qi, my senses were still sharp to my surroundings.

This suggested that the person was an exceptionally skilled martial artist, given that I hadn’t sensed their approach.

They had white hair that matched their white attire.

S-Screeeech-!

The monster let out a piercing scream, writhing from the sword embedded in its body.

Where was the screaming coming from?

The figure, who seemed to be a man, swiftly moved his hand in response to the screeching.

Swish-!

He then swung his sword and easily cut the monster in half.

I watched in shock; even while focused, I couldn’t fully follow his movements.

The white-haired man approached the now-helpless monster and extended his hand toward its body.

He moved without hesitation, unbothered by the creature’s oily, slippery surface.

Then…

“…Huh?”

I saw, not the man himself, but his shadow move.

His shadow detached from him and began to coil around the monster.

-Scree… rrgh…

The massive figure was fully enveloped by the shadow.

It thrashed briefly, trying to escape, but quickly went still.

I could only watch in stunned silence, unable to grasp what was happening.

What was going on?

Sensing my gaze, the white-haired man turned toward me.

His eyes were as white as his hair and attire.

Even his skin was pale white.

It made me wonder if he was even human.

Because of his mysterious look, I couldn’t help but stare.

“Are you done watching?”

The man asked with his gaze on me.

His voice was rougher than I expected, and I flinched at its sound.

“…Who are you?”

He may have saved me, but I couldn’t let my guard down as I didn’t know who he was.

I had to make sure that I was prepared.

As I spoke, body tense, the man slowly opened his mouth to respond.

Just as he was about to speak,

Woong…

“What?”

I turned, sensing an aura from behind me.

The sensation was coming from the mountain.

My body trembled from the sensation.

Beads of sweat began forming on my forehead.

“…Why?”

Without realizing it, I charged my Qi and leapt away from the man and the monster.

It was abrupt, but the white-haired man made no move to stop me.

I increased my pace.

There was only one reason for me to be in such a hurry.

From the mountain, I felt a sensation I both despised and recognized—a feeling I’d hoped never to experience again.

No… it can’t be.

I wanted to deny it, but my body already knew the answer.

There was no doubt.

Coming from the mountain, I felt the unmistakable Demonic Qi of the Heavenly Demon.