Childhood Friend of the Zenith

“Hah…!

”As I regained my senses, I breathed heavily, coughing a few times while my eyes darted around.

Where am I…?

The ceiling looked unfamiliar—if you could even call it a ceiling, since I couldn’t see one.

All I could see was the sky.

Was it night?

Or perhaps dawn?

The sky was ambiguously dim, making it hard to tell the time.

I shot up, instinctively sitting upright as I surveyed my surroundings.

‘…Where is this place?

’The only thing around me was the scorched, blackened ground.

I grabbed a handful of the dirt and examined it closely.

‘This….

’The soil was rotten.

Completely and disgustingly so.

It looked like it had decayed from poison exposure.

Fortunately, it seemed that enough time had passed for the toxic residue to dissipate.

Brushing off the dirt, I stood up.

I had to figure out where I was first.

‘Where the hell did she send me?

’I circulated my energy through my body, letting it flow along my blood pathways and returning to my core.

A small amount of energy had recovered, and I didn’t sense any abnormalities in my body.

Then I remembered Tang Jemoon’s words.

Since she’d mentioned a trial, was this entire place the trial ground?

‘For a trial, it has a strange vibe.

’The eerie atmosphere caught my attention, not just the pit I was in.

Something chilling outside kept prodding at my instincts.

I gathered strength and leaped.

Thud!

I burst through the ground and out of the pit.

“…Huh?

”As soon as I landed, I took in the scene outside the pit, my eyes widening in surprise.

I scanned my surroundings, and within seconds, I couldn’t help but be stunned.

And for good reason.

“…What the hell?

”Amazingly, the spot where I’d just been lying was inside the Poison Lake.

The lake, which should have been filled with water, was completely drained, leaving only a pit, with me lying in the center of it.

“…What?

”I let out a sigh of disbelief.

How had all that water drained in an instant?

What was going on?

Not only was the lake drained, but…“Damn it…”The Poison Lake was something the Tang Clan treasured as one of their greatest assets.

An outsider shows up, and immediately after, the lake’s water disappears?

There was no way I could explain this away.

This was really bad.

How would I even begin to explain this?

‘…Damn.

’I thought I had finally encountered some genuine fortune, but this too turned out to be a disaster.

I released the tension in my brows and looked around, hoping to spot Nahi, who should have been waiting outside.

“…!

”As I carefully surveyed the area, I noticed another oddity.

All around me, the field was withered and dead.

The forest I’d passed through was the same.

The trees were stained black, inside and out—proof that they’d decayed completely.

The once-vibrant forest, which the Tang Clan had carefully cultivated……was dead.

Thump.

The sight made my heart pound erratically, and my body moved of its own accord.

Using the small amount of energy I’d recovered, I pushed forward.

Something was wrong.

Was this an attack?

Had someone attacked while I was gone?

My mind was struggling to process it.

All I could do was run.

‘What about them?

What about them…!

’I had no time to assess the situation.

I just had to keep running.

Maybe because I exerted myself too suddenly, the blood vessels in my eyes burst.

Thud—Rumble—!

Kicking up dust, I arrived at my destination.

Along the way, I hadn’t seen a single person.

The faint smell of blood mixed with a deadly aura lingered in the air around me.

I tore open the door with a surge of urgency.

“Hah…”I tried to calm my frantic heart, but it wasn’t easy.

What if something had happened?

That worry filled my mind as I made my way to the place where Namgung Bi-ah and Wi Seol-ah were.

Even as I walked down the corridor, I bit my lip upon seeing the blood that stained the walls and floor.

The blood trickled down from my lip and onto my chin.

Finally, I arrived at the place, but…“Hah…”There was no trace of anyone.

Only faint signs that someone had been there remained.

I didn’t know whether to feel relieved or devastated.

My strength left me, and I slumped to the ground.

‘What…what is this?

’My hands trembled slightly.

What the hell was going on?

It was a situation that demanded calm, but I couldn’t steady myself.

My heart was pounding faster than usual, and my breathing was already erratic.

My rising emotions brought heat to my body.

What had gone wrong?

How long had I been in that place for things to turn out like this?

What about the others?

Were they safe?

What on earth had happened here?

Gripping my throbbing chest, I struggled to organize my thoughts.

Creak.

Something appeared in my field of perception.

It was a person.

My head turned to face them.

“Damn it…what’s going on…!

Are there no messages from the other units?

”I heard voices.

“…Sir, we must regroup immediately…!

If not, the other infiltration teams will be….

” “You idiot, what do you think we’ll accomplish by going there?

You don’t realize who’s waiting for us?

” “But…!

”That was all I needed to hear.

Crack—!

I lunged toward the intruders in the building, breaking one’s leg to bring him down.

As he fell, I grabbed the other by the neck.

“Gggh!?

”Caught off guard, the intruder stared at me, wide-eyed.

I took in his face while holding his neck.

A plain-looking guy.

At least, he wasn’t anyone I recognized.

Moreover…“Murim Alliance?

”The clothes he was wearing were clearly those of the Murim Alliance’s Sword Unit.

“Grr…urr…”Seeing his uniform, I loosened my grip on his neck slightly.

“Who are you?

Why is the Murim Alliance here?

” “Cough…huff…A-are you…a survivor?

”He looked at me with shock, as though he hadn’t expected to see anyone alive.

A survivor?

“A-a survivor…?

I was told there were no survivors…?

”His cold words made my face twist.

This meant there had been an attack on the Tang Clan.

“What happened here?

Answer me.

” “Are…are you with the Tang Clan?

I’m from the Murim Alliance…” “Answer me first if you don’t want to die.

”Laden with killing intent, my words drained the color from his face.

“Whimper…ugh…”The man with the broken leg whimpered beside him, glancing at me with terror.

“Who…who are you…?

How could a martial artist treat the Murim Alliance like this?

” “Shut up and answer me.

Why is this place in this condition?

”I was getting desperate.

I had no idea what was going on.

The Tang Clan was in shambles, and there was no sign of life around.

I had no idea how much time had passed.

I didn’t know if the others were alive or dead, and I couldn’t stay calm.

I was on the verge of destroying everything in sight, barely holding myself back.

Sensing my agitation, the man hesitantly spoke.

“P-please calm down…!

If we’re too loud, the others might hear us…!

” “What?

”That statement made it worse.

“Did you say ‘others’?

” “Y-yes…the demonic beings here now…do you know…?

”Crack…Hearing his words, something snapped within me.

“…How do you know about demonic beings?

” “What are you talking about…!

This isn’t the time to…urp!

”I drew demonic energy up to my heart.

The ominous aura seeped through my entire body, intensifying to the point of reaching my eyes.

When the man saw my face, he began trembling with fear.

“D-demonic…!?

”He actually said that word.

A term no one of this era should know.

‘…What…?

’What was with this reaction?

How did they know about demonic beings?

As I processed that thought, chills ran down my spine.

I turned my head and scanned the area again, piecing together everything I had seen.

The drained Poison Lake.

The decayed forest, devoid of life.

The blood-soaked Tang Clan.

People who knew about demonic beings and the Murim Alliance.

As I put it all together, I finally started to see a connection.

“Ugh…”Unable to hold it back, I vomited.

“Ugh…”It felt like everything inside was coming out.

The further my thoughts progressed, the more ‘fear’ wrapped around my throat.

“…No…no, please…”I prayed this wasn’t what Tang Jemoon had meant by a trial or the regret she had spoken of.

As fear poured out of my mouth, I sensed a surge of murderous intent from behind me.

The moment I felt it, I swung my hand.

Flames erupted.

“Gaaaah!

”Black flames tainted with demonic energy clung to the attacker, quickly growing into a blaze that consumed him.

It didn’t take long for the man’s life to be snuffed out, while the remaining man covered his mouth with his hand.

“Bl-black flames…Black Flame Demon…?

”Snap.

I twisted his neck before he could spew any more nonsense.

Crackle, crackle—The flames used his body as fuel, burning brightly.

I wiped away the traces of vomit from my mouth with my hand.

Then, clenching my fist, I swung it against the wall.

“…Damn it!

”Boom!

My fist punched into the wall, sending spider-like cracks spreading outward.

As dust and fragments crumbled from the wall, my mind raced.

Everything felt too real.

The lingering heaviness, the visceral sensation of taking a life…Even the feeling in my arm that was lodged in the wall.

Everything felt genuine.

Was this truly an illusion?

If not…then what?

“…This can’t be real.

This…this is too much.

”My hand trembled as I wiped it across my face again and again.

With everything in shambles around me, I could no longer ignore the situation I was in.

Piecing it all together, only one conclusion emerged.

This wasn’t some event that happened while I was inside that space.

It wasn’t some strange distortion of time.

‘Time hasn’t moved forward at all….

’In fact, this was…Crackle—“…!

”A sensation brushed against me, drawing my gaze.

From far off in the distance, I felt an unmistakable energy.

I directed my senses toward it, spreading my perception as far as it would go.

And then I saw it.

Far beyond, the sky was stained red, a dark storm cloud looming.

At the same time…‘No way….

’I felt a familiar pulse of lightning energy (Noe-gi) coming from that direction.

Without a second thought, I leaped toward it.

My speed was faster than before, driven by a feeling that was entirely different from the previous desperation and unease.

What would I even call this feeling?

I didn’t know.

All I knew was that I had to keep moving.

I raced through the desolated forest, past crumbling buildings and decayed trees.

My energy core screamed as it approached its limit, but I ignored it.

I kept running.

The distance closed little by little.

As I drew closer, the smell of blood grew, so thick that it stung my nose.

The overwhelming scent of blood made me grimace unconsciously.

Ignoring it, I finally reached my destination.

And the sight before me was enough to leave me speechless.

How could I not be?

Boom…rumble!

In the sky above, absent of any clouds, a storm cloud filled with lightning energy had formed, clashing with the surreal scene on the ground below.

The ground was covered with bodies, pools of blood spreading from where they lay.

All of them wore the uniforms of the Murim Alliance warriors.

Splash.

I stepped forward.

The brutal and horrifying scene was clear before me, but I barely registered it.

From the very beginning, my focus was solely on one person.

The nauseating smell of blood.

The corpses covering the ground.

None of that mattered.

There was only one thing I cared about.

In the bloodied pool formed by the corpses, I saw a lone figure standing.

Splash.

Despite the sound of my footsteps in the blood, she showed no sign of noticing, remaining indifferent.

I took another step closer.

And another.

Ignoring the trembling in my legs, I continued forward until, at last, her gaze turned toward me.

Cold blue eyes met mine.

Her appearance was exactly as I remembered.

The ashen-white hair, the porcelain skin.

Her entire body was soaked in blood, but I knew it wasn’t hers.

It was the blood of those she had slain.

“Ah…”A weary sigh escaped my lips as I confirmed it.

She tilted her head, curious about my reaction.

Even that gesture was exactly as I remembered.

‘…’As I looked at her, memories surfaced.

…In the hellish life of my past, there had been a woman I could never fully understand.

Why did she always chase the moon?

And why did she swing her sword day after day, as if she wanted to cut down the world?

I had known nothing about her.

My life had been so intense that I hadn’t even had the chance to notice her.

That hadn’t changed, even when she laid down her life for me without a second thought.

Now, with the same unreadable expression, she pointed her sword at me and asked:“…Who…are you?

”Her voice carried a subtle menace.

She was, without a doubt……the Sword Demon Empress (Ma Geomhu) I remembered.