Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 437 (Part 1)



437 (Part 1)

”’〈 Chapter 438 〉 Regret. (4)

A day has passed.

Despite the passage of time this damn illusion still hadn’t shattered.

In the meantime I focused on gathering information about this wretched world.

First of all this place was indeed the world I experienced in my past life.

I could tell that just by looking at it.

‘A damn world.’

Crack.

The more I recalled it the more my teeth ground together. I felt I understood what the ‘regret’ mentioned by the Heavenly Demon meant.

The time I regret the most.

Wasn’t it sending me back to that place?

If so it was truly a cruel test.

The very act of sending me back to a world I desperately wanted to forget and never experience again.

For me it was akin to hell.

This was not a return to the past world.

I knew it was merely an illusion.

I had hoped that if I could prevent the events that were supposed to unfold in this world perhaps the future would change.

But I knew well that it wouldn’t and thus I realized this hope was futile.

That’s why it felt like hell.

In a place where I could change nothing I had to merely watch.

It was enough for me to call it hell.

‘What does he expect me to realize here?’

I thought as I brushed the rippling water with my hand.

I couldn’t grasp the Heavenly Demon’s intentions.

What was the purpose of this trial? What did she mean by ‘choice’?

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I had no idea.

I could only stare at the river with a heavy gaze.

My reflection in the water caught my eye.

The face reflected in the water was utterly unfamiliar.

It meant it wasn’t my face.

I touched my face with my hand.

A sense of alienation brushed against the feeling of my own touch.

‘Only the appearance has changed but the sensation is the same.’

It felt like I was wearing an illusion over my exterior.

In a way it could be called a more natural form of disguise.

‘As for my age… is it similar to my current self?’

It meant I had just reached the age where I could be called a young man.

‘Is that why I wasn’t recognized?’

I began to understand why the Demon Sword Master hadn’t noticed me.

Where had my fierce gaze gone? Instead it had transformed into a slightly drooping gentler look.

It was the exact opposite of how I used to look.

In any case it felt too awkward to call it my face.

I set my face aside and surveyed my surroundings.

It seemed like I was somewhere in Sichuan. It was a region I wasn’t familiar with.

‘What time zone is this?’

That was the most crucial part. What point in time was it now?

I was somewhat lacking in grasping that.

‘First… the Demon Sword Master is alive. And Sichuan has fallen hasn’t it?’

If so the Poison King must be dead.

“…”

Even after spitting that out I bit my lip. Sichuan which had fallen to the hands of a demonic practitioner would have the Murim Alliance sending all their strength to reclaim it.

But even so the operation would likely fail.

‘…because I’m here.’

It was a grotesque arrogance but it was the truth.

It seemed the Heavenly Lord had appeared in Sichuan with full force but any unnecessary infiltration was impossible.

If he revealed himself properly the Heavenly Demon would descend.

The Heavenly Demon had issued a stern warning.

He would turn a blind eye to the Poison King and the Tang Clan’s bloodlines fleeing to Shaolin but if the Three Lords intervened he would also reveal himself.

This arrogant warning was.

Ironically effective.

Having confirmed the power of the Heavenly Demon I knew her words were not mere bluster.

Moreover.

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‘Right now the Demonic Cult hasn’t properly launched an attack.’

They could push into Henan at any moment and bring down the orthodox sects.

Yet for some reason the Heavenly Demon had ordered them to occupy Sichuan and wait.

How long had it been?

‘About a year to two years.’

Around that time.

I didn’t remember the exact timing.

At that time I wasn’t in a mental state to grasp the flow of time.

‘So when is it now?’

What point in time is it at the waiting point caused by the Heavenly Demon?

I needed to know that.

Because the end of this waiting point was.

‘The death of the Demon Sword Master….’

The moment that would trigger the full-scale war and the arrival of the Demon Sword Master’s death.

I turned my gaze to the Demon Sword Master who was looking at the river.

She was staring blankly at the water.

Not particularly searching for anything.

Just.

“…Demon Sword Master no matter how I look at it this doesn’t seem right?”

“…”

It was because she had lost her way.

I had momentarily forgotten.

That the Demon Sword Master was hopelessly directionally challenged.

I should have realized that from the moment she took the lead.

‘…How could I forget that?’

The Demon Sword Master was a woman who would go left when told to go right.

If told to go straight she would go backward and even turn sideways.

I should have known that clearly. Yet I followed her without a thought.

‘What should I do?’

Should I casually suggest going that way?

That wasn’t easy either.

‘…I could get my head chopped off for being cheeky.’

If it were the Demon Sword Master and not Namgung Bia I had to be cautious not only in approaching but even in speaking.

She had an extreme aversion to humans especially to men.

The reason she was taking me toward Daejeon was not because I was a demonic practitioner of the Black Flame Sect but because I belonged to the same Demonic Cult.

The Demon Sword Master would kill even a fellow demonic practitioner without hesitation. I had to maintain a slight distance and be ready to react at any moment.

At that moment.

“…!”

The Demon Sword Master shifted her gaze to one side as if she had discovered something.

Pat.

“What?”

She briefly scattered her thoughts and then vanished.

‘Crazy.’

I couldn’t comprehend it.

To disappear right before my eyes and not grasp it was a level of absurdity.

I thought I had become somewhat stronger upon reaching the realm of transformation.

But seeing this I had to realize I was still far from it.

I couldn’t even catch a single trace.

‘Where did she go?’

I stopped moving and tried to find the Demon Sword Master but with a whoosh-! she reappeared right in front of me.

Holding someone by the collar.

“Gah… Gah…”

The one she had grabbed by the collar was surprisingly another demonic practitioner. Since Sichuan had become the territory of the Demonic Cult it wasn’t strange to find a demonic practitioner here.

But… why did she bring him?

“Gah… Gah…!”

Looking at the expression of the demonic practitioner it seemed this wasn’t a case of abduction. The man looked horrified as he recognized who had grabbed him.

“Demon… Demon Sword Master…!”

The expression on the Demon Sword Master’s face as she looked down at the man was chilling.

“…Daejeon… location… direction.”

She spoke briefly and I could tell from her tone.

‘Could it be that she brought him to ask for directions?’

It seemed that was the case.

After a moment of thought the man hurriedly began to respond.”’