Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 443



443

**Chapter 444: Twisting (2)**

The heat rising in Daejeon takes my breath away.

No matter how much I tried to hide my presence the heat was suffocating even for someone trained in the arts of fire.

I had to wear a ridiculous expression as the flames gradually expanded around me.

‘Wow I really consumed a lot.’

The amount of qi contained in this heat was absurd.

Feeling it directly I was reminded of just how insane I had been at that time.

Forcing my way through a realm I should not have reached due to a lack of enlightenment using overwhelming qi.

I doubt anyone would understand how bizarre and nonsensical that was.

Originally the proper way to ascend a realm is to build a solid foundation from below and climb high.

Qi is like a river that spreads widely around a tower.

However in this process I—

‘Consumed the qi to raise my height.’

I forcibly elevated the river pushing myself upward.

To go where one must build a tower I instead raised the river and went up.

I wonder how much qi would be needed for that.

Now it was an unimaginable figure.

Even the amount of qi I currently possessed was not low but compared to my past life it was like the difference between heaven and earth.

‘No wonder it took so long for my body to adapt after my return.’

Using martial arts with a dwindling amount of qi I struggled immensely at the beginning with my now tiny reserves.

Of course thanks to that I learned compression from the new master and through subsequent training and realizations I now pride myself on being better at the art of non-action.

In my past life I had enough qi to shatter everything.

Regardless of how non-action was or what realizations I had about it.

An overwhelming amount of qi that could break everything. The power that devoured qi to the extreme using the method of the Demon Absorption Technique was like that.

The qi that could not be contained spilled out transforming into a presence.

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With my mind in disarray at that time the presence was cloaked in a manifested killing intent akin to the resurrection of a malevolent deity.

Seeing such a sight before me I could only curse.

‘Consuming qi that cannot be contained. And not even trying.’

Even with that much qi they didn’t think about how to control it.

It meant they had neither the effort nor the thought to do so.

Thud thud thud.

As the master moved his hand the Sword Demon which had been pinned against the wall was pulled out.

Thump-!

With a casual swing of his hand he threw the Sword Demon to the ground. After rolling a few times the Sword Demon finally stopped and gasped for breath.

It was clear that the Sword Demon was not in a normal state.

“Cough… Hah….”

It was evident that the qi was tangled up.

The area the Sword Demon had been expressing was already torn apart by the master’s touch.

Having attempted a strike but being ambushed it seemed the backlash came from within.

‘What a truly ignorant method.’

While it was natural not to see the difference in speed I knew how he had subdued the Sword Demon.

To others it might have looked like he solved it with tremendous non-action.

But it wasn’t such an extraordinary method.

He simply tore through the qi and subdued it with brute force.

Purely through violence.

That was how I resolved things back then.

Crack.

The master approached the Sword Demon.

“Sword Demon.”

Startled.

Perhaps hearing the voice the Sword Demon’s back twitched.

It seemed he hadn’t lost consciousness.

“What are you doing right now?”

Grrr.

“Grrr…!”

The master stepped on the Sword Demon’s neck.

Applying a bit of pressure the Sword Demon let out a whimper.

“Master….”

“I’m sure I warned you several times didn’t I? I told you not to act recklessly in my presence.”

With those chilling words the black flames that had been burning around spread violently.

Whoosh-!

“Gah!?”

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The swiftly flying black flames latched onto the demonic practitioners of the Inspection Sword Corps who had been watching the situation.

Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events the demonic practitioners began to burn to death.

Even in that situation he only kept his gaze on the Sword Demon.

“Speak. So that I can understand.”

“…I… I was wrong….”

“Is that all the explanation you have?”

Bang-!

“Grrr…!”

With the Sword Demon’s words the master’s presence grew even larger. The qi pressed down heavily on the air causing blood to spurt from the Sword Demon’s mouth.

“Not pulling out your pathetic tongue is solely my mercy. Not pulling off your arms is because your swordsmanship was somewhat decent. However—”

The master’s hand moved toward the Sword Demon’s left shoulder.

He grabbed it and—

Crack-!

“Gahhhhh!”

He pulled the arm out completely.

“…!”

The other demonic practitioners watching gasped.

As the Sword Demon screamed in agony the master ignited flames and burned the Sword Demon’s severed arm.

So it could never be reattached.

“Using that sword to do such foolishness I don’t know what to think. Isn’t that right Sword Demon?”

Looking at the Sword Demon who was trembling while holding onto his missing shoulder the master’s gaze was the same as before.

As always he looked down with an indifferent expression.

While everyone was paralyzed by fear swallowing dry saliva.

‘This is really messed up.’

Only I was on the verge of losing my composure in this situation.

My gaze was directed not at the master but at the Sword Demon.

‘He lost an arm.’

Since the Sword Demon was right-handed losing his left arm was somewhat fortunate but losing one arm would pose a significant problem for his non-action.

In this case….

‘…It will be a problem when facing the Celestial Lord.’

The Sword Demon was supposed to face the Celestial Lord alongside the Demon Sword Master.

Now an anomaly had occurred.

‘This is also because of me.’

My existence had caused a twist in the flow that should have been there.

Originally this situation should not have existed at all. It was only natural.

‘What should I do?’

I had anticipated that such a thing might happen but the process was far more violent than I expected.

That bastard really pulled off an arm.

‘Is he insane?’

He must know.

Aside from reducing the strength of the Demonic Cult the Sword Demon was necessary in this situation.

Knowing that he had kept that bastard alive until now.

‘What’s the reason for doing this now?’

I was the country but I couldn’t understand why that bastard acted like this now.

If it were me in this situation….

‘…Hmm.’

I glanced at the Demon Sword Master.

If the Sword Demon had genuinely drawn his sword to kill the Demon Sword Master and if that were the current country—

‘He would have killed her.’

Regardless of the situation as long as he had the strength he would have killed her.

However this was me now so that wasn’t the case. Back then I….

‘…’

I looked back at the master feeling a strange sensation.

That bastard had no different feelings toward the Demon Sword Master.

Just a bothersome crazy woman. A damn woman who couldn’t even understand words properly.

He must have thought that way.

‘Is that really so?’

I couldn’t be sure.

To say that was true the moment the Demon Sword Master died came to mind.

Had she really meant nothing to me?

If so then why.

‘Why was I so angry?’

It was a contradiction.

The unknown turmoil arising from that difference turned my insides upside down.

The current appearance of that bastard was the same.

The master having burned the Sword Demon’s arm soon stood up and kicked the Sword Demon.

“Cough!”

The Sword Demon struck by the kick flew toward the surviving Inspection Sword Corps.

“Get rid of him.”

At the short command the demonic practitioners hurriedly gathered the Sword Demon.

Seeing that the master walked over to the disheveled throne.

Whoosh-!

Creating a pressure wave he cleared the debris around him and sat on the throne.

‘Couldn’t he just not sit down?’

I thought that thought carelessly in my mind but I decided not to care anymore.

No just because I decided not to care doesn’t mean I wouldn’t. I should at least try.

On the throne in the chaotic hall the master’s gaze turned to the Demon Sword Master.

Her eyes somewhat weary felt particularly deep.

“Vice Captain….”

At the call the Demon Sword Master slightly nodded.

“You’ve shown behavior unworthy of you.”

“…”

“Were you truly insane?”

“…I’m sorry….”

There was a subtle anger in the master’s voice. He looked at the Demon Sword Master with his irritated purple eyes and continued speaking.

“There will be no more letting things slide. If you create troublesome issues again you too will have your arm pulled out like the Sword Demon.”

“…”

At the warning the Demon Sword Master nodded again.

Seeing the master like that I had to let out a sigh of despair inwardly.

‘He didn’t say he would kill her.’

Perhaps because I thought differently.

In the past I wouldn’t have noticed the gestures and words that now caught my eye.

Instead of warnings he would have killed anyone who was a nuisance or useless immediately yet now he was kindly giving a warning.

Moreover the mention of pulling out an arm this time meant he would let her live this time but might not next time.

‘This…’

Ha.

I forced myself to manage my expression while inwardly chuckling at the absurdity of it all.

I wondered why I was only realizing this now.

‘It’s way too late.’

It was a lament for my foolish self.

Even back then.

The existence of the Demon Sword Master must not have been small. I hadn’t realized that at the time.

Even after my return I only understood it now.

‘Foolish bastard.’

That bastard before my eyes would probably never know this fact until he died. He would lament his life while only looking at a single righteous life until the end.

I wouldn’t say that life was wrong.

My current life wasn’t that different either.

One thing.

‘The method wouldn’t be the same.’

It was a life meant for that.

Thus I had to grasp what this world expected of me. On top of that.

‘With the Sword Demon in such a state… what will happen from now on?’

It began to diverge from the past life I knew.

Perhaps due to this incident the story had twisted significantly so I needed to think more carefully.

With that mindset I tried to observe the situation a bit longer.

“Reporting.”

I didn’t know.

Damn it there were things I couldn’t even bear to know.

The twisting didn’t start because of this incident.

It had already begun the moment I fell into this world.

Right after the situation was somewhat settled.

The next to appear Mukgwon knelt before the master and said.

“Information has come in that the forces of the Murim Alliance are gathering at the border heading to Sichuan.”

“Murim Alliance?”

“Yes. And there….”

The story of this world was.

“The Small Sword Castle has also been detected there.”

It had already begun to twist.