Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 361 (Part 1)



361 (Part 1)

“What’s the relationship with the Yeonga?”

The voice of the Dark King is relatively quiet.

It’s so soft that if you don’t pay attention you might not hear it at all.

In contrast his words resonate so clearly in my ears.

‘Yeonga?’

I try to understand what the Dark King just said.

Yeonga he definitely referred to me as Yeonga.

There may be a few families with the Yeon surname in this vast land but if the Dark King is mentioning Yeonga I believe there can only be one place.

“Are you perhaps referring to the Geumcheon Yeonga?”

The most prestigious family that was said to have been annihilated after the Blood Demon’s blood calamity.

That place is where Yeon Il-cheon the world’s best and a regressor was the Clan Head.

If the Yeonga the Dark King is talking about is indeed that place…

‘What relationship could I possibly have with Yeonga?’

No matter how I think about it I couldn’t understand why he would ask me such a thing.

In the meantime the Dark King having heard my question simply looks at me without saying a word.

“Seon….”

“Are you thinking of playing dumb?”

“…!”

I feel a strong pressure from the hand of the Dark King gripping my arm.

I try to shake it off urgently but it’s not easy to resist the strength of this man.

Why is this assassin so strong?

“No what do you mean by playing dumb…!”

“To think you would try to lie about ‘curses’ in front of no one other than me.”

“Curses…?”

Setting aside the pressure I feel on my arm the words the Dark King just uttered bothered me.

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The moment I frowned the Dark King moved the hand he was holding.

My arm stretched out and the changed skin became distinctly visible.

“Are you still going to lie with this?”

What I could gather from that statement was that the Dark King mentioned Yeonga because of this skin.

I don’t know how he knows about this skin but that means…

‘Is there some connection between this skin and Yeonga?’

Though it was only the size of my thumb the skin had clearly transformed to resemble that of a reptile.

Does the Dark King know the reason behind this?

‘Even so….’

It was difficult to explain this to the Dark King in detail.

“I don’t really know either. This happened at some point….”

Crack.

“Ugh…!”

Just as I was about to make an excuse the world flipped upside down.

As the pressure from my arm released the Dark King grabbed my neck and slammed me against the wall.

‘Crazy…!’

The pain in my neck was one thing.

But what I felt first was sheer shock.

I didn’t expect the Dark King no matter how strong he was to easily overpower me like this even though I had reached the realm of Hwa-gyeong albeit imperfectly.

“Guh….”

“Kid. You might deceive the eyes of others but you cannot deceive me. Do you really want to die?”

My body reacted to the killing intent emanating from the Dark King’s toes.

Sweat began to flow uncontrollably.

The restrained killing intent within it felt absurdly thick.

He can control killing intent to this extent. Even amidst this I felt a realization.

‘…Realizing this in the midst of all this is ridiculous.’

Having reached Hwa-gyeong it seems my brain has been steeped in martial arts. Given my current state it’s surprising that I can even feel this.

I sensed a will to break my neck if I didn’t speak the truth.

Ah damn it my head is already a mess. Why is this crazy person bothering me too?

The pressure on my neck grew stronger. Meanwhile was it at a level I couldn’t release…?

‘If I become a demonic practitioner it might be possible to break free for a moment.’

It wouldn’t be wise to engage in a fight but I thought I could at least remove the hand gripping me.

Of course I could foresee the terrible situation that would follow so I just held on.

But the bigger problem was.

‘…Why is this crazy person doing this?’

From the way he talks about me playing dumb it seems he has some certainty about something.

What connection do I have with Yeonga…?

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‘…Huh?’

Skin resembling that of a snake or lizard…

And Yeonga…

‘Oh no way.’

Damn it my brain is actually working well at times like this.

The World Tree had said.

The reason the beast awakened was because of the massive serpent’s pearl I received from Yeonga’s Bi-go.

That means…

“…Bi…go.”

As I barely managed to utter those words the pressure on my neck released.

At the same time my body which had been floating in the air landed on the ground.

Fortunately I didn’t fall awkwardly and was able to maintain a corrupted officials-like posture.

“Cough… cough….”

As I gasped for breath I felt a strong gaze from in front of me.

I lifted my head slightly.

‘His eyes….’

The Dark King’s eyes had changed.

The darkened eyes possibly due to the mask were gone replaced by bright white eyes like when we first met.

I wondered if he had removed the mask but that wasn’t the case.

I didn’t know what principle it was but it seemed he could control it.

“What did you say?”

“…Hoo….”

“Kid I asked what you just said.”

The killing intent was palpable in his second question as I had stuttered while catching my breath.

This guy is really good at playing the alias game.

The Dark King’s eyes shone brightly.

But I knew that the energy swirling within them was anything but good.

Whether he knew my grandfather or not that didn’t matter to him.

‘It’s chilling.’

He felt the coldest and most chilling presence of all the people I had met so far.

What kind of person is this?

‘Should I say something?’

I wasn’t even sure if the reason for this thing on my arm was correct.

But the connection between me and Yeonga was the only thing I could think of.

‘…Even if that’s the reason it’s strange.’

It had been several years since I visited Bi-go.

A lot had happened during that time. If this change in my body was going to happen it should have happened long ago.

I couldn’t understand why it was happening now.

Let alone.

‘He mentioned a curse.’

The Dark King seemed to know everything about this change.

What on earth could this be?

As I pondered the reasons and the identity of this change for a moment.

“Kid.”

The Dark King called me again.

“It’s already the third question.”

As he spoke I felt something touch the tip of my neck.

It was the tip of the Dark King’s finger.

I didn’t entertain any useless thoughts about what he was doing.

It looked dangerous at first glance.

“Usually I don’t ask the same question to others twice. I also don’t particularly like torture.”

“…”

“I mean I don’t like things that are bothersome. It’s easier to just kill.”

Saying that with a blank expression was even scarier.

If we were to compare experiences I wouldn’t be a pushover either.

But the person in front of me was on a level that was hard to compare.

Death.

He felt like death itself taking on human form.

“So asking you three times is truly an unusual occurrence.”

What a way to show off.

I couldn’t help but think that.

The only fortunate thing was that I managed to hold back from saying it out loud.

If I hadn’t I would have definitely blurted it out due to my personality.

“So speak.”

The Dark King continued seemingly unaware of my thoughts.

“I should know nothing about that place.”