Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 464



464

”’Chapter 465 – Get Lost.

Kwah-ah-ah-!

A massive mouth opens wide and lunges at me.

Kuwung-!

It crashes into the wall smashing it to pieces.

I barely manage to evade the corrupted officials with my flailing arms.

Moving in the water is quite uncomfortable.

‘Tsk….’

I clicked my tongue and frowned.

The fact that my body was wrecked was a problem but there was something even more pressing.

[Hand it over quietly!]

The creature’s shouts echoed relentlessly in my head.

Is it attacking me mentally?

‘What a hassle.’

Not only was my physical state an issue but the mental assault was incredibly bothersome.

‘What the hell is this thing?’

I was used to carrying strange things on my body so it wasn’t surprising to encounter something odd.

But it had appeared so suddenly that I was left questioning it deeply.

A demonic beast resembling a snake with blue scales.

It had a massive build and impressive sharp fangs.

Its appearance was so bizarre that I couldn’t help but wonder what else could be out there.

It was disgustingly arrogant.

Yet for some reason I felt a familiar energy emanating from it.

Swoosh-!

“…!”

Get notified for updates: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

I raised my arms at the presence I felt from the left.

Kuwung-!

As soon as I lifted my arms an attack came crashing down as if it had been waiting for me.

“Ugh!”

A heavy weight landed on my forearm. It had struck me with its tail.

My body was swept away by the impact.

Kwah-ahk-!

The pain was so intense that I questioned whether it was even right to be suffering in the water.

I was pushed away and slammed into the wall.

‘Damn it’s strong.’

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

No matter how I looked at it the situation was dire.

How could this happen?

One of my arms was bitten and I couldn’t properly utilize my qi.

Could it be because my vessel was broken? That might be the case.

I wasn’t exactly a regular person but I wasn’t showing even a fraction of my original abilities.

To face such a creature in this state.

‘This is just ridiculous.’

It was truly an absurd situation.

I twisted my body.

Thud-thud-thud-!

Its claws dug into the spot where I had just been.

I tried to create some distance but it wasn’t easy.

My forearm felt numb. Had it cracked?

‘It doesn’t seem like it.’

Since I couldn’t unleash my enhanced qi for self-defense my defenses were weak.

It was too dangerous to block so I had to evade somehow.

Kwah-ahk-!

That too was impossible. My body flailed helplessly as I was pushed away.

“Ugh.”

The impact rattled my insides.

I had protected my head with the corrupted officials but my injured arm twisted again.

Damn this really hurts like hell.

As I struggled to gather my scattered thoughts and stabilize my body.

Thud-!

Its arm quickly burrowed in and pinned me to the ground.

Kuwung-!

Join our discord and ping me to update more chapters. Discord: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

The shock made the surroundings tremble once more.

Perhaps due to the impact bubbles surged upwards and I felt the sensation of my bones shattering forcing me to bite my lip.

[Insignificant being.]

[I as your noble superior species have shown you mercy yet you remain ignorant of your place.]

[Did you truly think you could win? A mere mortal who can only buy a moment?]

“Ugh damn it can’t you just speak normally?”

My ears felt like they were going to explode.

Crack-! I tried to twist my body to escape but the force pinning me down showed no signs of relenting.

[Stop your trivial antics. There is no hope for you. So give yourself to me….]

“Give you my body?”

[Yes.]

Hearing that made me curl my lips into a smirk.

It was already the umpteenth time I had heard this.

He claimed to be great and magnificent so I should surrender my body. Then I would find peace.

Since there was no way to win anyway I should just hand it over quietly.

The more I heard it the more questions arose in my mind.

“So why do you keep asking for it?”

[Let me repeat….]

“I could just take it you know. You bastard.”

[…]

At my words the creature’s body momentarily stiffened.

Seeing that I smirked.

I wasn’t an idiot; I could tell right away after one confrontation.

There was no way I could defeat this thing in my current state.

Just looking at how I was pinned down was enough to understand that.

The creature trying to devour me knew this too.

But.

“Why do you keep asking for it?”

Seeing it insist on handing it over made me vaguely feel like I understood something.

I looked into its one good eye and spoke.

“You can’t just take it can you?”

[Grurrr….]

“I have to give it to you right? Isn’t that how it works?”

No answer came.

Only a low growl echoed back.

But that was more than enough.

An overwhelming gap clearly existed and it seemed the creature wanted my body yet.

It could only threaten me to hand it over and couldn’t forcibly take it.

Moreover it seemed to be subtly controlling its strength to avoid killing me.

“You can’t kill me and you can’t take it. Right?”

It was clear that it couldn’t act recklessly towards me.

Was it certainty? It wasn’t certainty.

But I was gradually turning it into certainty.

The creature’s reactions were just like that.

Its face twisted in a vicious grimace. Its breathing grew increasingly ragged.

Yet it still showed no further reaction.

That meant it couldn’t do anything to me.

Aside from mentally cornering me into giving it up it had no other significant methods.

Of course there might be some hidden tricks behind that.

‘Is it really necessary?’

To do that there had to be a reason for it.

Also could this be a result of the conversation we just had?

I felt the pressure that had been holding me down slightly ease.

I twisted my body a bit. It was impossible to escape entirely but I managed to pull my hand free a little.

The problem was what to do next.

‘… I understand the problem.’

I knew the creature was the issue but that didn’t provide me with a solution to escape this situation.

In the end I would have to deal with it to end this.

How?

‘How would I know?’

If I knew would I be in this situation?

I only gained the certainty that I wouldn’t die.

I had to keep racking my brain about how to overcome the situation.

It seemed impossible to do it with sheer strength.

‘If only I could circulate my qi I could give it a shot.’

I felt empty inside so that was impossible too.

‘Damn it.’

This was a complete mess.

As I thought that and twisted my body my fingertips brushed against the creature’s flesh.

At that moment.

Woosh-!

“…!”

[… Grrr!]

I felt something burrowing into my body.

At the same time the creature that had been holding me swung its arm and threw me far away.

Whoosh-!

My body flew through the water.

It was the same situation as before but this time I didn’t crash into the wall.

Thud.

I twisted my body and landed softly against the wall.

Immediately after I checked my condition.

‘… Is my energy returning?’

I could feel that the vitality that had been completely absent had returned albeit in a minuscule amount.

Feeling that I couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“Oh so that was it.”

[Grurrrr…!]

My battered body and my waning mental strength aside.

Despite that I finally felt a bit of the suffocation lifting.

Feeling the tiny amount of energy returning to my body I looked at the creature.

Why did it feel so familiar even though I had never seen it before?

“So it was you all along.”

I seemed to understand the creature’s identity.

It was.

“Blood Qi.”

It was indeed Blood Qi.

The energy that flowed into me from it was definitely Blood Qi and the familiar presence I felt from it was also that.

I didn’t know why it had taken on such a form.

[Grurrrr-]

But it was clear that the creature’s identity was Blood Qi.

I looked at the creature its face twisted in a snarl.

“You were quiet as a mouse and now you’re suddenly causing a ruckus.”

The energy implanted in my body by none other than the Blood Demon.

When used it showed absurd effects but the backlash felt in my body afterward was overwhelmingly strong.

From the very beginning I had tried not to use the energy given by the Blood Demon.

I didn’t understand why the power I had shoved into the corner of my qi center was suddenly surfacing like this.

“What are you?”

[Don’t be mistaken.]

“What?”

[It was because of my presence that you gained the opportunity to shed your senses. That body rightfully belongs to me.]

I frowned at the creature’s words.

It claimed that it was the reason I had the opportunity to shed my senses?

‘Shed Senses.’

What on earth did that mean? The Blood Demon had also mentioned it to me.

It seemed to be related to dying as a human.

What would happen if I were to shed my senses?

‘Did it say something about a superior species?’

Would I become something far superior to a human?

The term “superior species” felt unsettling from the get-go.

Perhaps it was because I kept frowning but the creature continued to speak as if it was displeased.

[You are unworthy of becoming a dragon. You insignificant being.]

Dragon.

The word spat out by the Blood Qi lodged itself in my mind.

‘If it’s a dragon….’

Hearing that made me notice the creature’s appearance once more.

A long body resembling a snake with limbs a sharply torn mouth and fangs.

Along with its massive form.

It started to make sense; it resembled the legendary dragons that were only spoken of in tales.

That was what made it even stranger.

Currently when one spoke of dragons in the Central Plains.

‘They’re all just rank 100 demonic beasts.’

It referred to the rank 100 demonic beasts that had broken through the White Demon Gate.”’