Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 411 (Part 1)



411 (Part 1)

“‘A bandit you say?’

At the words of the elder who said I looked like a bandit various thoughts crossed my mind.

Not long after the demonic realm opened.

The bandits and sea robbers who had been dwelling in the mountains and seas all came down to the city unable to handle the demonic beasts and joined the ranks of the unorthodox sects.

Even those who remained were mostly wiped out by the Murim Alliance’s decree to eradicate evil which had been in effect until fifteen years ago.

Ah they say they were wiped out but it wasn’t completely so.

There were occasional mentions of encountering sea robbers at sea or bandits in the mountains.

Of course upon hearing such news the Murim Alliance would send out their swordsmen to catch them like rats so it was said that even that was nearing its end.

In such a situation to be called a bandit.

‘And to think it’s happening right in Sichuan?’

This is.

‘It’s his faction.’

I was certain as soon as I heard it.

The bandit the elder spoke of was none other than the tail of the one I had intended to seek out as soon as I arrived in Sichuan.

There was no room for doubt.

As I approached Sichuan the bandits active around this time would all be under that guy.

I took a deep breath and recalled the situation.

‘Even if that’s the case it’s strange.’

A question arose. The guy hadn’t started to stand out just now.

If I recall the timeline it must have been a distance of one to two years.

Before that he must have been holed up in the mountains gathering strength and resources.

To see movement now… it seemed somewhat odd.

‘The Green King….’

I recalled the giant who was called the king of bandits in my previous life.

He was a demonic practitioner specialized in outer arts to the extent that he could be said to have reached the state of indestructibility.

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Even the power he received from the Heavenly Demon was named monstrous strength fitting for him.

I too had to struggle immensely to penetrate that powerful body in battle against him.

‘Should I say it’s rather fortunate?’

The priority I had set for this trip to Sichuan right behind Baek Ma-seok was precisely that guy.

He was a villain and a demonic practitioner in my previous life strong enough to be the captain of the Heavenly Demon’s direct unit.

If I were to build a faction he was the one I had in mind to corrupt with demonic qi and take along.

‘Since he’s showing his tail willingly I suppose it’s a good thing.’

However there was one thing that worried me.

I glanced.

I turned my gaze to where the Tang Clan members were.

‘The fact that it’s happening right when the Tang Clan Head is present….’

That was the problem.

When the Green King began to stand out the first alias he acquired was.

‘The Slayer of the Tang Clan.’

He was called that because he sought to kill only those from the Tang Clan in Sichuan right?

The Green King would go into a frenzy at the sight of anyone with the Tang surname.

The reason he didn’t like me was ultimately related to the Tang Clan.

‘He didn’t like that I was the one who killed Dokbi.’

He had said he didn’t like it because I not he had killed Dokbi.

Hearing that made me think what a ridiculous reason.

I wondered if such a reason even mattered.

However I could vaguely understand why the Green King harbored such rage against the Tang Clan and committed acts of slaughter.

The Green King’s real name was Tang Deok.

As one could tell from his name the Green King was originally from the Tang Clan.

I had heard he was a distant half-brother or cousin of the Poison King but I didn’t care much about that.

What mattered was that he was called a failure of the Tang Clan.

‘What a painful name.’

A failure of the Tang Clan.

Perhaps because of the history of being called a failure of the Gu family it struck a chord with me.

I knew a little about why he was called that.

The Green King was a person who possessed none of the characteristics one could have as a member of the Tang Clan.

Aside from his dark green hair he had nothing that could be called Tang Clan.

He had no expertise in poison and unlike the Tang Clan he couldn’t cultivate poison techniques.

Due to the martial arts characteristics specialized in assassination the Green King’s massive physique didn’t fit.

It was said in the world that he expressed his anger because he was abandoned by the Tang Clan due to such characteristics.

The problem was that the Tang Clan didn’t deny those rumors which only added credibility to them.

In any case looking at this the monster with a grudge against the Tang Clan.

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That meant the king of bandits the Green King Tang Deok.

I had no interest in why he was chased out of the Tang Clan and became a bandit in the mountains.

What was important to me was whether he was moving now or not. That was all.

‘In any case it’s either to kill him or to turn him into a demonic practitioner. One of the two.’

There were numerous demonic practitioners in my previous life but among them I had already decided who I would corrupt with my own hands in this life.

The Green King was one of them and so was the Sword Demon of Cheonsal Seong who must be sharpening his blade by now.

Those who would become problems in the future would either be killed or absorbed as discarded pawns.

That was the method I wanted to choose.

“…Elder.”

“Hmm?”

“Then what does the Dark King intend to do?”

Was it the Dark King who discovered the bandits?

I didn’t know what their purpose was but I probably wouldn’t know. There were plenty of monsters in this group.

Among them the Dark King held an absolute position regarding this matter.

‘If he decides to eliminate them it would be troublesome.’

It would be a problem if the Dark King decided to kill all the surrounding bandits because they were bothersome.

Such opportunities were rare and I needed them on my side.

Just as I was worrying about that the elder chuckled and spoke to me.

“What’s there to discuss?”

His voice was filled with a sense of incredulity.

“Just leave them be that’s all.”

“Is that what the Dark King said?”

At my question the elder’s expression became somewhat strange.

“Then should I go find them and kill them all?”

I had thought he would say that…?

My perception of the Dark King was such.

“Tsk looking at your expression I can tell even without hearing your answer.”

“…”

“I don’t know what the world thinks but he’s not one to enjoy killing.”

“Is that so…?”

That was quite surprising. The king of assassins doesn’t enjoy killing?

“He only does the necessary killings.”

“…Oh.”

“Ah of course if he gets annoyed he’ll kill them all…. But as long as he doesn’t get annoyed there’s no problem.”

“…”

He really doesn’t enjoy it does he? As I listened to him I found myself unconsciously looking around.

I wondered if the Dark King might be listening.

‘…Ugh.’

I had always hesitated when seeing the Dark King but after a month of repeated training that feeling had intensified.

Try dying dozens of times a day for over a month to the same person… just seeing him would make me feel like I was going to have a fit.

‘This is also hopeless….’

I tried all sorts of things every night but I still couldn’t reach the Dark King at all.

At this point even I no matter how foolish I was realized.

To overcome this training I needed a different method.

The problem was that I didn’t know what that method was so I was dying every night.

‘For now I’ll put this aside…. A bandit.’

Since they were just nearby I didn’t yet feel certain that they were related to us.

It seemed that only the Dark King was aware of this and the fact that neither I nor the other Clan Heads had grasped it meant there was quite a distance.

I didn’t feel that they were scheming something while looking this way so I needed some time to figure it out.

However from the moment I heard the elder’s words a sense of unease had already settled within me.”