Childhood Friend of the Zenith - Chapter 329

Chapter 329: The Abyss (4)The air was thick with the stench of something burning.

Though there wasn’t much smoke, but the smell was disgusting.

Crackle, crackle.

The noise gradually grew clearer.

It was the sound of wood getting burned.

I muttered under my breath as I watched the flames.

“Lame.”

Tap, tap.

I brushed against the discarded clothing, and a dark smear stained my fingers.

It was unsettling.

I wiped it off quickly; the clothing didn’t matter.

I nudged the object on the ground with the tip of my feet.

The body that had once writhed in agony was silent now, its screams nothing but a memory.

He was gone.

“Unlike your mouth that refused to speak, but you weren’t as resilient.”

I spoke to him, knowing full well I wouldn’t get a reply.

I gazed at what had once been a living person, then extinguished my flames.

Swoosh!

As the flames faded, the charred figure of the man emerged, blackened by fire.

It looked fragile, as if it would crumble at the slightest touch.

I crouched, quietly staring at the remains.

I gave him a slow painful death that I so desired,

“I don’t feel anything... which is unexpected.”

But it wasn’t as satisfying as I had imagined.

He was a bastard I’d wanted to kill for ages.

He was the first target ever since my regression, and it was something I wanted to do in my past life as well.

I had wanted to see the bastard scream, to see him collapse in despair beneath my feet, but the reality left me hollow, not filled with the joy I had envisioned.

Tap.

I nudged what remained of Jang Seonyeon with my foot, and he crumbled to dust.

He had been dead for some time now.

I had planned to drag out his death over three stages, but he was gone before I even reached the second.

That was a disappointment.

A chill settled inside me as I stood there, motionless.

“It wasn’t as satisfying as I’d imagined, and it wasn’t even amusing.”

This was all I felt from Jang Seonyeon’s death.

But why?

Shouldn’t I feel joy?

I’d wanted this for so long.

Is it because you weren’t the Meteor Sword from back then?

The Jang Seonyeon wasn’t the Meteor Sword I remembered from my past life.

The man in my memories was different from the one I killed.

I had killed him now only to prevent him from becoming a threat in the future. That explained the lack of satisfaction—only unease.

I clicked my tongue at the realization.

And I didn’t even get the information I needed from him.

I had many things I wanted to hear from Jang Seonyeon, but I got less than I expected.

I knew he’d have a Shackle on him, and there wasn’t much I could do about it, but it still left me unsatisfied.

Maybe it would have been smarter to turn him into a Demonic Human and exploit him.

But that would have been too disgusting.

Given how uneasy I felt about Namgung Cheonjun, there was no way I could do the same to Jang Seonyeon.

Useful or not, I didn’t want that bastard alive in the same world as me, breathing the same air.

One thing did catch my attention, though.

While torturing Jang Seonyeon, he said something that stood out to me.

-Aghhhh...! Ughhhh!

-How were you going to kill me with all of those instructors around?

-Hughhh!

Even as I slowly burned away his body with my flames, he didn’t answer my question. Not that I expected him to.

Given how advanced Shackles were in this era, it was nearly impossible to extract information from people.

Tang Clan and a few others specialized in breaking Shackles through torture, but even they weren’t flawless.

In my days as a Demonic Human, the Heavenly Demon could shatter a mere Shackle with a single hand gesture—it was a different world back then.

In the end, if I wanted information, I’d either have to learn to break Shackles or turn them into Demonic Humans.

I lacked the refined Qi control needed to break Shackles, nor did I have any experience in doing so.

But I couldn’t let him become a Demonic Human, so in the end, I chose to inflict pain.

-Ugh... he... he...

Amidst Jang Seonyeon’s screams, he suddenly started giggling.

-Are you crazy? What’s so funny all of a sudden?

-He... hehe... Why did I do such a thing...?

-Oh? Are you going to tell me?

-Even if... you manage to escape this place by heaven’s luck... it’ll be too late. In the end, you won’t be able to... Urgh!

I narrowed my eyes, hearing Jang Seonyeon’s curse.

It seemed like he never acted without a plan, after all.

He must’ve prepared something.

-What did you do?

-Do you think... I’ll die in a place like this...

-So what did you do?

He kept spewing nonsense, so I twisted the part of his body already burning in flames.

Squeeze.

-Ufgh...!

His eyes widened as he resumed screaming.

I spoke over his screams.

-Keep this up, and your last words will be you begging for death. Let’s speed this up, unless you’d prefer that.

I intensified the flames as I spoke, but in the end, I couldn’t follow through.

The bastard screamed until the very end, but never begged for death.

I wouldn’t have pushed this far if he had just begged for mercy.

I couldn’t tell if it was the Shackle that silenced him or his pride.

With that thought, I stood up.

It seems like he did something behind the scenes.

But unfortunately, there was something the bastard didn’t know.

I was going to return, and no matter what, I wouldn’t be late.

By the time I returned to the real world, only a few days would have passed.

That’s how it was in my past life.

When hundreds of Young Prodigies disappeared and were consumed by the Abyss, the clans and sects panicked, but they returned just a few days later, as if nothing had ever happened.

They reappeared in the exact spot they had vanished from.

I once claimed to be the only survivor of the Abyss, but in truth, everyone returned to the real world—every last one of them.

They all died, yet somehow, they all returned alive.

spent years in the Abyss, but everyone came back without aging a day and with no memory of what transpired.

Jang Seonyeon’s lifeless form nodded, staring directly at me.

No, I couldn’t even call that thing Jang Seonyeon anymore.

It definitely had a different name.

[ It has been a while. Do you remember me? ]

Upon hearing the question, I quietly muttered the name.

“Blood Demon.”

[ Hehehe. ]

As if the voice was satisfied, it started to giggle.

**************The Qinghai Sword, one of the Five Great Swordsmen of the world, and a Leader of one of the Ten Sect Alliances, was watching the forest that was outside of his window.

“Hmm...”

The Qinghai Sword let out a sigh as he watched, but he still had a curious expression.

This was where Gu Yangcheon had allegedly found the secret vault, yet the Qinghai Sword could sense nothing out of the ordinary.

The Sleeping Dragon claimed a door had appeared when he broke the surrounding Formation, but not a trace remained.

“I don’t understand.”

If someone of his level couldn’t detect anything, it either meant that the Sleeping Dragon and Gu Yangcheon lied to him, or that the secret vault disappeared completely without leaving a single trace.

The former seemed more likely, yet the Qinghai Sword doubted those children would lie to him.

“A secret vault huh... But why here, of all places?”

The Murim Alliance might provide more details, but he doubted they would give him the full story.

“Even if the vault existed, I can’t believe it was that child who discovered it.”

Gu Yangcheon was a child the Qinghai Sword had been thinking about often lately.

His talent was extraordinary compared to others, but that wasn’t the reason for it.

He claimed the Beggar’s Sect provided the information. Could they be involved*?*

That part seemed difficult to believe.

The Qinghai Sword knew the Leader of Beggar’s Sect very well, which made it harder to believe.

But then... What about the First-Class Beggar’s Pass he had?

The Qinghai Sword was aware that Gu Yangcheon was full of secrets, and none of them were easy to unravel.

Like father, like son, huh?

“...I told him I’d call on him again. I’ll have to be more direct next time.”

The Qinghai Sword sighed once more, and brushed his beard.

It seemed to him that he sighed more with age.

With the instructors out proctoring the test, the academy was quiet, and the Qinghai Sword thought a walk might do him good.

Just as he considered a walk to clear his mind,

Cggkkk-!

“Huh...?”

The Qinghai Sword’s senses stretched over the entire academy and caught something.

Instantly, he drew his sword, Qi surging through it.

The sensation alone made him feel uneasy.

He detected the unmistakable stench of the Unorthodox Arts, the kind the Unorthodox Faction wielded.

Sensing it, he let out a disbelieving chuckle.

“I must really be getting old.”

He was standing guard himself, yet these nobodies from the Unorthodox Faction dared to barge in, brazenly revealing their intent.

In his younger days, no one would have dared such insolence.

Just as the Qinghai Sword prepared to leap toward the source of the disturbance,

“Pardon me.”

He heard a sound from nearby.

“Are you perhaps the Qinghai Sword?”

At the question, the Qinghai Sword’s sharp Qi flared out around him.

He hadn’t even sensed a presence until they were right behind him.

How?

His senses covered the entire Heavenly Dragon Academy, yet the intruder had slipped past them and approached him from behind.

With Combat Qi surging, the Qinghai Sword addressed the voice.

“Who are you?”

He sized up his opponent.

They were an extreme giant.

They wore a black outfit, and they also had a strange beast leather as a garment.

A deep scar ran down their neck, and just looking at them sent a chill through the Qinghai Sword.

Qinghai Sword knew instantly.

He wasn’t sure if he could defeat this opponent.

Just who is this?

His level of power was undeniable, yet his identity remained a mystery.

Cold sweat ran down the Qinghai Sword’s spine.

As he was full of tension,

“I thought so. Nice to meet you.”

The giant smiled, staring directly at the Qinghai Sword.

Yellowed teeth showed as he opened his wide mouth.

The Qinghai Sword watched his opponent warily.

His only thought was escape.

Martial pride didn’t matter at this moment.

The fact that someone like this had infiltrated the Academy meant only one thing.

The students are in danger.

The students’ lives were at risk.

Rather than finding a way to win, the Qinghai Sword had to find an escape route.

He had to protect the students.

Then,

“You seem distracted, Qinghai Sword. Your eyes are trembling.”

“...!”

“I’m glad. It means that I’m still dangerous to you, and I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I will ask again... who are you?”

“Me?”

The giant smiled, clearly satisfied by the Qinghai Sword’s question.

“Ah, it’s pretty exciting since it’s been a while.”

Swooosh-!

A rough, ominous aura began to pour from his massive frame.

“I hope you remember who I am.”

As the ominous aura engulfed the area, the giant drew his great sword and drove it into the ground.

“I am the Black Dragon.”

“...!”

“It seems like you know who I am judging by your expression.”

The Qinghai Sword’s eyes widened after hearing the giant’s title.

It was a name he knew all too well.

Yet, it was said that the man with that title had died long ago.

The giant chuckled, clearly savoring the Qinghai Sword’s shock, before pointing his great sword at him.

“Shall we have a dance of swords?”

The Black Dragon’s ominous smile widened, eager for his first sword dance in ages.