Childhood Friend of the Zenith

As I moved, I could feel my vision sharpening.

How do my pupils look right now?

They’re probably similar to the Palace Lord’s.

[…Huh?

]The Palace Lord’s eyes widened as he saw me.

Looking straight at his face, I spoke.

“If you so much as lay a finger on me—forget rebellion or anything else—you’ll die by my hand first.

Understand?

”[Ha-ha.

]I stepped closer, radiating heat, and the Palace Lord let out a chuckle.

What could he possibly find amusing?

The sight of it only fueled my anger.

[Do you think you can really do that?

]Even if his strength had weakened due to the curse, he was still the Palace Lord.

As someone who once ruled over an entire region, he had an aura I could instinctively recognize.

The Palace Lord was stronger than me.

Overwhelmingly so.

But even so.

“So what?

”So what if he was stronger?

Hwaruk.

Energy swirled around my hand.

It coalesced and rotated, forming a flame jade in my palm within moments.

“And so, you think I should bow down to you?

”My temper was too foul for that.

I’d already held back more than enough.

Besides.

“I don’t consider anyone who touches my people to be human.

”No matter how strong they were, if they dared to lay a hand on what was mine, I would hunt them down to the end and tear their throat out.

Even if it were a so-called ‘god,’ whose existence I could neither confirm nor deny.

The blue-tinged flame jade spun incessantly in my hand.

I could feel its strength intensify with each rotation.

It was the power of rotation, a technique I’d learned from my father in the past.

The flame jade radiated heat while absorbing cold energy from the surroundings.

[…]The Palace Lord’s expression betrayed a lingering sense of astonishment.

As I maintained the flame jade, I spread my energy perception around the area.

I remained vigilant, knowing the cold energy could move unpredictably at any moment.

Though I allowed my anger to be fully displayed, I kept my head cool and calculating.

When should I unleash it?

How should I unleash it?

That was all I thought about.

[Ha-ha.

]The Palace Lord, watching me closely, suddenly let out another laugh.

“You’re laughing?

”Did he think this was a joke?

Frowning, I took another step toward him.

[My apologies.

]The Palace Lord’s voice interrupted my advance.

[I made a grave mistake.

]“What did you say?

”[Your companions—I swear on the honor of the Palace Lord that no harm has come to them.

]I responded immediately.

“Honor?

What honor does someone bedridden with pain have to speak of?

”I spoke with a derisive smile.

[You’re not wrong.

In that case, I swear on my name, ‘Yucheon.

’ I promise that your companions remain unharmed.

]The Palace Lord, without hesitation, acknowledged his fault and swore on his name.

Hearing those words, I slightly lessened the energy I was exuding.

I was even a bit surprised deep inside.

I hadn’t expected him to concede so easily.

Of course, I didn’t withdraw the flame jade.

As I continued to glare at the Palace Lord with eyes radiating heat, he met my gaze and spoke.

[You truly must be his son.

]His son?

To hear such words in a situation like this—it hardly sounded like a compliment.

It felt as though he was alluding to a similar event in the past.

Tsk.

I clicked my tongue.

Then, I casually hurled the flame jade backward.

And at that moment—Whoosh—!!

BOOM—!!!

An enormous explosion echoed from the entrance I had come through.

Glancing back, I saw the iron door crumpled, with a small gap left open.

‘I thought I had controlled it to some extent.

’For the flame jade to only crumple the door upon direct impact…It meant the iron door wasn’t ordinary.

Honestly, I’d intended to destroy it completely, so this result was slightly embarrassing.

Then.

Creeeeak—!!!

The crumpled iron door opened, and a man stepped inside.

It was the man I’d seen earlier, the so-called Black Lion who had opened the door.

The man stepped inside, taking in the situation.

“Palace Lord—!

”Seeing the scene, the man immediately began to emit a fierce aura.

Standing close to the Palace Lord while I radiated heat—it was more than enough to provoke suspicion… No, it wasn’t just suspicion.

‘It’s not a misunderstanding.

’After all, I had threatened the Palace Lord.

It wasn’t a misunderstanding at all.

“You bastard…!

”The man’s face twisted into a grotesque snarl, as if he had seen a ghost.

This situation was bound to get troublesome.

But then—[General.

]It was the Palace Lord who stopped the man.

At his call, the general froze in place.

[Stand down.

]“Palace Lord…?

”[I was the one who acted rudely first.

]Acknowledging his fault, the Palace Lord addressed the man.

[Return to your post at once.

That is an order.

]Despite the command, the man remained still, prompting an immense pressure to emanate from the Palace Lord.

The weight of it was incomparable to what he had shown me earlier.

Seeing this, I had to reassess him.

‘This man.

’He had been concealing even more power.

It was a strength I hadn’t fully grasped.

[General, are you disobeying my orders?

]“No, sir… I will comply.

”At the Palace Lord’s warning, the general withdrew his aura.

However, his gaze toward me remained sharp.

I observed him quietly for a moment.

Then, with deliberate steps—Tap.

I turned my back on the Palace Lord and began to walk away without a word.

“You dare…!

”The man, enraged by my behavior, began to speak again.

[General.

]The Palace Lord once more stopped him in his tracks.

As I approached the open door, I turned my head to glance back at the Palace Lord.

"Earlier, you asked me a question, didn’t you?

"The question the Palace Lord had asked me just before—whether I still considered Woo Hyuk a friend.

"Do I need to answer now?

"[And if not?

]"I’ll answer later.

"Though it sounded more like a notice than a suggestion, it wasn’t an easy question to answer immediately.

The reason was simple.

"I’ve never been one to take only one side of the story at face value.

"If Woo Hyuk had truly instigated a rebellion under the alias Vioe-gun, the first thing to understand was why.

‘There’s no way he would have done something like that without a reason.

’There had to be a reason.

That was the first thought that came to mind.

When I spoke with that intent, the Palace Lord posed another question.

[So, are you saying you’ll seek out Vioe-gun to talk?

]"Yes.

"I would find him and ask.

Ask if it was true, and if so, why he did it.

It was the clearest path forward.

Hearing my response, the Palace Lord smiled faintly and asked again.

[And if you find his reasons convincing, what then?

Will you join his rebellion?

]At that, I scowled deeply.

"Do I look insane to you?

I’m not the type to get involved in messy situations like that.

"Understanding his reasons was one thing.

Helping him was something else entirely.

"They can stew in their own chaos for all I care.

It’s none of my business.

"What I wanted was simple.

To know why he made the choice he did.

And if it turned out his reasons didn’t make sense to me—‘I’ll knock some sense into him.

’I would beat it into him until he came to his senses.

That much, I could do.

After all, in my past life, Woo Hyuk had done the same for me whenever I strayed too far from reason.

With my thoughts sorted, I started walking again.

The cold aura still lingered behind me.

But I neither felt nor heard the Palace Lord’s voice calling out to me.

It was his way of saying he wouldn’t stop me.

So I kept walking.

As I walked, my thoughts drifted.

Where should I even begin to untangle this mess?

Finding Woo Hyuk was my first priority in this situation.

But before that—‘Before I even deal with this rebellion nonsense.

’I needed to address the reason I had come to the North Sea in the first place.

I thought of the ornament I had tucked away in my robes.

Namgung Bi-ah.

Her whereabouts were still unknown.

And her current condition was equally a mystery.

‘I have to find her first.

’‘Where are you, and what are you doing?

’A sense of urgency and unease filled my mind.

They had said there was no body at the location where the ornament was found.

If that was true, then she might have only dropped it and left.

‘But how could I figure anything out with just this ornament…’Stopping abruptly, I stood still.

‘An ornament.

’The one Namgung Bi-ah had left behind.

As I thought about it, a realization dawned on me.

"Why didn’t I think of this before?

"There was a way—a single method to determine Namgung Bi-ah’s location, no matter where she might be.

******************Vrrr—!

Vrrr, vrrr—!

A faint vibration emanated from her waist.

Feeling the subtle sensation, the woman who had been unconscious opened her eyes.

"...

"Though she had abruptly regained awareness, she didn’t move in haste.

Lifting her heavy eyelids, she first surveyed her surroundings.

What she saw was a dark space.

Where was she?

Her eyes hadn’t yet adjusted to the darkness, and she couldn’t see clearly.

Clank!

"…!

"The cold touch of metal startled her.

Her hands were bound.

She checked to find iron shackles around her wrists.

As she tried to move, curiosity taking hold—"Ugh…!!

"A shallow groan escaped her lips.

Sharp pain radiated from her waist.

Now that she thought about it, she had suffered a sword wound there.

It was wrapped in bandages, evidence that someone had treated her injuries.

Should she feel fortunate for that?

She wasn’t sure.

As she endured the searing pain in her waist—Vrrr, vrrr—!

The vibrations continued, causing her to furrow her brow and turn her head.

Attached to her waist was a rod adorned with jewels, vibrating incessantly.

It was none other than the Thunder Fang.

Seeing it, her eyes glimmered with a faint spark of recognition.

‘…Why is that…?

’Why was the Thunder Fang vibrating?

Just as the question began to form in her mind—"You’re awake, it seems.

""…!

"A voice called out to her from the front.

Startled, she snapped her head toward the source.

There he was.

"How’s your condition?

"Woo Hyuk, his icy gaze fixed on her.

No.

It was Vioe-gun, the Blue Wolf, looking down at Namgung Bi-ah.