Childhood Friend Of The Zenith – Chapter 1301

“Guhk!”

A painful groan rang out as the Apostle’s body trembled violently.

“Ptui.”

Looking at that bastard, I spat shortly. Spit mixed with blood splattered onto the ground.

My whole body was tingling. Every joint was ringing. As expected, fighting without a wager really didn’t suit me.

‘Though it does feel like my skills are improving faster.’

You’d think there was no point in growing any further once you’d already reached Transcendence, but moving around using only the body provided all sorts of stimulus.

This isn’t bad either.

‘I should tell that guy later.’

I figured I’d be able to tell Paejon when I met him. Nodding to myself, I loosened the strength in the hand that had been gripping him.

“G-geugh….”

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The Apostle collapsed with a scream. I stared at him blankly for a moment, then murmured.

“Devour.”

KWA-CRACK-!!

“Gyaaaah!”

The power that leapt out from my shadow swallowed him whole. His energy was sucked straight into me. The empty vessel inside me filled up again.

Like slowly putting food into a stomach after a long famine, the stillness around me took on a heavy weight.

“Kuugh… huhk… y-you….”

His eyes were filled with resentment.

“H-how… how did you handle an Apostle….”

“Shame you hadn’t heard. If you’d known, you wouldn’t have come at me.”

As he withered up and started to vanish—

“Heh… hehehe….”

The Apostle began to laugh. What the hell was he so amused about? Tilting my head, I asked,

“Why the hell are you laughing? What is it?”

“…Don’t… don’t be so happy… just because you won….”

“What’s he babbling about.”

What’s there to be happy about from beating trash like this? I’d only smiled a little because I’d managed to fill my belly a bit.

“The Apostle who’s been watching you… you think we’re all there is?”

“……”

“By now… your companions… they’re all….”

“Ah… that.”

So that’s what he meant. I snorted. The moment I heard that, I tore out his throat.

CRRRUNCH-!!!

“Ghk.”

With a short sound, he died instantly. The other one had already been dead for a while.

The instant his body hit the ground and faded away, I recalled what he’d said.

‘By now, your companions are all—’

There were more Apostles. They were aiming for the group that had come out with me.

It could be dangerous. Normally, the moment I heard something like that, I would’ve bolted.

“Don’t worry.”

But I’d already made my move.

“……”

When I returned to where the others were, the first thing that hit me was the smell. The burning scent that brushed the tip of my nose. Not the burnt smell from Gu Flame Wheel Art resonating with itself and exploding—

Chiiiiik.

But the foul stench of flesh seared black by lightning.

Lightning-qi spread in all directions, and Apostles lay sprawled across the ground.

I walked toward that sight.

“You really went all out.”

Lightning-qi clung to the air and the earth. At the center of it, where an Apostle had died.

Someone was standing there, wearing a stunned expression.

The one standing there with a shocked face wasn’t Nangong Bi-ah in the guise of Young Lady Hyeon.

“See? I told you you’d be able to do it.”

It was Nangong Jin.

“…This is….”

In his hand was a thread of lightning power.

With Noe-ah devoting itself, Nangong Jin gripped it tightly and looked at me.

“Well? How was it? Manageable?”

He kept mixing polite and informal speech, but it felt like just talking casually would be better.

It wasn’t as if he was the Sword King I knew anyway.

Before I left, I’d said something to Nangong Jin.

That if anything happened, he shouldn’t be afraid.

Even if his memories from his time as an Apostle were hazy—

I told him since it was inside his body, he should try pulling it out and using it.

‘Noe-ah wasn’t reclaimed.’

Half of Noe-ah, which Nangong Bi-ah had handed over to Nangong Jin, was still with him.

I’d thought that Noe-ah would still be able to help him.

‘It didn’t seem like it wanted him dead.’

Whether it was Nangong Jin or Nangong Bi-ah—

Noe-ah didn’t want either of them to die. I knew that old man inside Noe-ah didn’t care much for Nangong Jin, but—

‘Even so, he was still able to use Noe-ah.’

So I figured it would help this time too.

That’s what I’d thought.

“Noe-ah….”

Nangong Jin quietly called the sword’s name.

“This is….”

Beside the astonished Nangong Jin, I looked at the sleeping Young Lady Hyeon. That person was still asleep.

…Is she really not going to wake up?

‘So you can sleep even with this kind of mess going on.’

Amazing. How is that even possible?

BZZZT-!!

“Kh!”

Lightning-qi burst out of the hand Nangong Jin was gripping with. Startled, he let out a groan. As Noe-ah was released, the aura that had filled his body vanished entirely.

‘…As I thought.’

With Noe-ah disengaged, Nangong Jin returned to his normal state.

I recalled the energy he’d had a moment ago when Noe-ah’s power had been dwelling in his body.

‘It was similar to the master’s aura.’

If Nangong Bi-ah’s Thunder God’s Descent was nearly identical to a full manifestation of the master—

Then Nangong Jin’s “devotion” of Noe-ah was the same kind of thing. Of course, it was a far weaker power by comparison, but still.

‘Either way, you could feel the master’s power.’

Unity with a spirit artifact.

The master’s aura that came from that. This strange form raised questions.

I had believed Noe-ah would help Nangong Jin. Even if it didn’t—

‘I was also betting on Nangong Bi-ah.’

Part of it had been a gamble that the “sleeping” Nangong Bi-ah might wake up.

Of course—

‘I couldn’t gamble with lives.’

I’d already calculated the distance. It was a distance I could cross the instant I absorbed their energy. I just hadn’t moved because I’d felt the lightning-qi surge up.

‘…Spirit artifacts are things the dragons made.’

They said that when the dragons crossed over, they left those behind—spirit artifacts.

So if such a spirit artifact and a martial artist coexist in harmony, do they get to use the master’s power?

‘It can’t be that simple.’

From what I’d seen, it looked that way, but I felt there had to be some further connection.

At that moment—

“Mmm….”

Young Lady Hyeon suddenly sat up. Rubbing her eyes with an utterly sleepy expression, she abruptly pinched her nose.

“Urgh… what is that smell?”

Young Lady Hyeon scrunched her face at the stench of flesh charred by lightning.

“What the? Did something happen?”

“……”

“……”

Not only I, but Dang Cheongi and Nangong Jin both stared at her strangely.

“She really is an unbelievable person….”

“Yes?”

The thought I’d meant to keep inside just slipped out. Young Lady Hyeon tilted her head when she heard it.

“It’s nothing….”

I couldn’t even be bothered to explain.

From the next day, we started walking toward our destination again. Since I’d devoured two Apostles, my energy had been replenished to a fair degree, so it was better than last time.

“The Apostles attacked, really?”

Hearing about yesterday’s events late, Young Lady Hyeon frowned.

“…And something like that happened, but why didn’t you wake me up?”

“……”

She sounded offended, so I rubbed my brow.

“In that situation, not waking you up is what’s weird to you…?”

“I’m a really heavy sleeper.”

“…If it’s that heavy, that means you can’t hear anything.”

“Hehe.”

She laughed awkwardly. Laughing, huh…?

“……”

I snuck a look behind me. Nangong Jin was still staring at his hand, clearly bothered by the feeling of that aura from before.

Was he trying to recall the sensation of drawing out Noe-ah?

‘It seems to be helping, at least.’

Bringing him along had been worth it. I don’t think my choice was a bad one.

‘Because I felt it when I turned him human again.’

When I humanized him from being an Apostle, I’d felt something inside Nangong Jin’s body. That, at least, hadn’t been dispelled.

So I’d thought, just maybe—

‘Noe-ah has a will.’

I believed that Noe-ah possessed a will of its own. Honestly, I figured most spirit artifacts had wills.

‘Same with Guijeong.’

Most of the spirit artifacts I’d faced were like that.

‘Hmm.’

I watched the flow of energy, then glanced at Dang Cheongi walking beside me.

‘His expression is rotten.’

Just like when we set out, Dang Cheongi didn’t say a word. His eyes were filled with deep fatigue and a thoroughly ruined expression.

His head was probably completely packed with thoughts about the Poison Phoenix.

“……”

Watching Dang Cheongi like that, I turned my head away. I picked up my walking speed a little.

I wasn’t sure how much farther we walked. If you counted days, we walked for another five. In that time, there were no more Apostle attacks. We just ended up dealing with a few more monsters.

There wasn’t much real danger. Since I’d stored up my energy, I could use my qi sense, so there were no more pointless risks.

‘And no more Apostle attacks.’

After the attack on the third day, no more Apostles appeared. I couldn’t tell if the Sword Empress had blocked them, or if there was some other intention.

‘The distance—’

The distance to the burnt smell had grown quite short. It felt very close to the main camp, yet still with some space between.

‘What is this.’

The distance was shrinking. We arrived much faster than I’d expected. I thought it would be way farther, but it was this close?

‘Sssss—.’

I raised my tension. That burnt smell… the fact that the resonance of the Gu Flame Wheel Art’s energy was thickening meant, one way or another, that my father was close.

‘I should control it.’

I put up a qi-block. It was to minimize my presence even while moving. Even like this, I could still feel the resonance.

“Nangong Jin.”

“…!”

He reacted when I called.

“Think you can do it?”

“…That’s…”

“If you can’t, then stay back.”

It would be nice if he could use Noe-ah, but if not, he’d have to stay out of it.

‘Combat’s something to avoid as much as possible.’

Even aside from that, fighting wasn’t our goal right now.

For the moment, reconnaissance was the objective, but…

‘…Something’s off.’

The closer we got, the stronger that odd feeling became.

My father’s aura was definitely getting denser—

‘…Way too…’

Excessively dense.

The moment I realized that—

“…!”

Thoughts flashed through my head and my eyes widened. I immediately dropped the qi-block.

“Ah, damn it.”

I ground my teeth and kicked off the ground.

“Huh!?”

“Where are you—!”

My companions shouted in alarm as I shot forward, but their voices were quickly left behind.

And the moment I reached the source of the energy—

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

I couldn’t help but twist my face at what I saw in front of me.

A massive gray flame, roaring high.

“He got me.”

It felt like I’d just been smacked in the head.