Childhood Friend of the Zenith - Chapter 618

Squeeze.

I checked my body thoroughly.

After repeating a few movements to confirm, there was nothing wrong with my left arm. The same went for my internal injuries.

"How can it be this clean?"

It had been something I thought would be a long, arduous process to recover. But the regeneration was already complete.

"What on earth is going on here?"

At the very least, I had expected three months. At most, six months to heal the internal damage.

Even the Divine Doctor had said it would take six months to recover, yet here I was, fully healed in one go.

"Even more so…."

I looked at my left arm—the arm that had been torn off by his hand.

But now?

"It's perfectly fine."

It was as if it had never been torn off in the first place, completely intact. There was no sense of disparity.

How could something like this happen?

"The place I was just in, too, was the same."

I looked around. Although the area was still covered in snow, there had been a faint impression of a garden earlier.

Now it was nothing but a snowfield.

Had I been transported to another location?

"That might be the case."

But it didn’t seem that simple.

The prior space itself felt false from the beginning. The reason wasn’t hard to figure out.

"That feeling."

The sensation when the space crumbled, and the atmosphere that space carried with it.

It was something I had experienced before. I didn’t have to think for long.

It was a memory deeply ingrained in me.

"The Shadow King’s domain."

The dark space the Shadow King had unfolded—a place where I had died hundreds, even thousands of times.

It was exactly like that.

"Was it what they called authority?"

The authority that only a dragon could wield. The Shadow King had referred to his power as such.

The memory of dying countless times in that place and coming back to life—it bore a subtle resemblance to my current situation.

"Then, was the power I experienced earlier also some kind of authority?"

That would somewhat explain how my arm was restored. Though I still didn’t understand why my internal injuries were healed as well.

"Sigh…."

After checking my body again, I let out a sigh.

Whatever the case may be, the important thing was…

"I survived."

I managed to hold on to my life. My arm was intact, and I hadn’t lost my life.

Thinking about it, cold sweat ran down my back.

How long had it been since I was in a situation where my life was so severely threatened?

Even more so, to have survived purely by the mercy of my opponent.

["Are you a pureblood?"]

The words my opponent had left behind lingered in my mind.

"Pureblood…."

What could they have meant by that?

He was a dragon too. Everything that had happened indicated as much.

"What is a pureblood, then? Is he saying he’s not one?"

The meaning behind "pureblood" puzzled me.

I had shattered my vessel and shed my old self. By definition, calling me a pureblood was nonsensical.

Yet he had looked at me and called me a pureblood.

"Specifically."

The moment I had unconsciously used Dragon Speech, he had heard it and called me a pureblood.

What was the difference?

"Could it be that he can’t use Dragon Speech?"

I had thought Dragon Speech was merely part of my authority. But his reaction upon hearing it…

That bothered me.

It was as if there was something about Dragon Speech itself.

And.

When he thought of me as a pureblood, his reaction…

"It was like he had found a goal."

Could being a pureblood be that significant? The questions kept piling up.

But the most important point here was…

"In the end, it means there are more dragons besides me."

That was the crucial thing to consider.

Not just figures like the Shadow King or the Lord of the Palace, but beings I could recognize as dragons.

Excluding the Blood Demon, another one had appeared.

And not just that.

"It’s someone who became a dragon through shedding their old self, like me."

No, wait.

"Maybe dragons themselves aren’t born but are transformed through evolution?"

That thought crossed my mind.

As I mulled it over…

Crack.

I grabbed the shackles in front of me and crushed them.

Crunch—!

With a bit of force, the shackles crumbled easily. For something broken through brute force, it didn’t seem to have caused any issues.

"So they had the effect of suppressing energy?"

I didn’t feel much of a difference. I casually brushed away the debris.

"…Oh."

A peculiar reaction came from ahead as I looked at the broken shackles. It was Namgung Bi-ah.

Her eyes were wide with surprise.

"What’s wrong?"

"They… didn’t break before…?"

Judging by her expression, it seemed she had been trying to break them herself. The effect of the shackles appeared to be real.

"…"

Her wrists, still bound by the remains of the shackles, were red. I lightly grabbed her wrist as I noticed it.

"Does it hurt?"

"I know it doesn’t."

I just wanted to do it anyway.

At the same time, I examined her upper body and waist. Bandages peeked out through the gaps in her martial robes.

They weren’t the usual compression bandages she wore.

"…How’s your body?"

"It’s fine."

She didn’t look fine at all, which is why I asked.

"Sigh…."

I sighed and gently stroked her forehead. Thankfully, I had found Namgung Bi-ah alive.

Considering how anxious I had been, wondering if something terrible had happened to her, it wasn’t a bad outcome.

But it wasn’t entirely a good one either.

Holding her wrist, I asked.

"…What were you doing to end up like this?"

"…"

Her wrist trembled slightly in my grasp.

"I told you to behave. Didn’t we agree on that?"

No unnecessary risks. If something goes wrong, abandon everyone around you and run away as fast as you can.

And, don’t get hurt.

Make sure to eat well.

When Namgung Bi-ah insisted on going to the North Sea, we had made promises.

"Which of those promises did you keep?"

"...I... I ate well…."

"Don't joke. It's obvious you've lost weight."

She was even thinner than the last time I saw her, despite supposedly eating well.

"If you weren’t going to listen, why did you even come?"

She hadn’t kept a single promise. It was infuriating.

"I told you, if anything happens, don’t look back—just run. But instead, you nearly got yourself killed stepping in recklessly."

"…"

"And what’s this about guarding the princess? What have you been doing? If I’d known this is how you’d act, I wouldn’t have let you go—"

I stopped mid-sentence as Namgung Bi-ah grasped my arm with her hand.

"...I'm sorry… please don’t scold me."

I had so much to say—really, so much—but that small action made me close my mouth.

"Sigh…."

Fine.

I tried to force myself to think that way.

"She’s alive. That’s enough."

She was alive. At the very least, she wasn’t dead. As long as she was breathing, nothing else mattered.

For now.

"Fine, let’s talk about everything else later."

That didn’t mean I wouldn’t address it. It just wasn’t the right time now.

"…"

Namgung Bi-ah averted her gaze as she heard my words. Watching her, I stood up. This wasn’t the moment for endless conversations.

"For now... let’s wake her up."

I took a few steps to the side. Yuri was lying unconscious there.

Approaching her, I placed my hand on her forehead.

A soft hum as I let my energy flow.

And then—

"Gasp…!"

Yuri, who had been unconscious, suddenly woke and shot upright.

She bolted up, her eyes wide, scanning her surroundings.

"Where…?"

"Are you back to your senses?"

"Gu Gongja…?"

Yuri’s gaze fell on me, and soon after, she clung tightly to my sleeve.

"V-Vioe-gun? What about him? What happened to him?"

The first thing she asked upon waking was about Woo Hyuk. I bit my lip at her reaction.

The image of Woo Hyuk being taken away by that man flashed in my mind.

"I lost him."

"You... lost him?"

"What happened to you? Why were you captured and brought here?"

"Captured? What do you mean?"

At my question, Yuri looked confused. Judging by her state, it seemed she wasn’t even aware she had been captured.

"She probably didn’t even notice him approaching," I thought.

Even though I was injured at the time, I hadn’t sensed him approaching either. Whether it was due to the sheer difference in skill or some other method, I couldn’t say.

Regardless, the fact remained—I hadn’t been able to sense his presence.

"…One of your bloodline was involved. He’s the one who knocked you out."

"Excuse me…?"

"He looked male, so it’s probably either the First or Second Gongja."

As expected, Yuri seemed to grasp the situation.

The silver-haired youth who appeared to be a dragon.

I had lost to him.

It wasn’t just that. I had failed to resist properly and lost Woo Hyuk to him.

["Pathetic."]

His voice echoed in my ears.

I thought I had long discarded my pride, but being trampled like this left a bitter taste.

It was an overwhelming defeat.

And worse—

["You still haven’t made up your mind, have you?"]

["I see. So, that’s why."]

It was even more infuriating knowing that my unresolved issues had played a part.

"What does he know?"

Why did he take Woo Hyuk? What did he plan to do with him?

And how?

How did someone from the Ice Palace's bloodline become a dragon?

What was his goal? What did he discern from looking at me?

Those thoughts wouldn’t leave my mind.

The oppressive gaze, the eyes that looked down on me with disdain.

And my instinct, screaming to kill him, still lingered, clouding my thoughts.

A soft touch interrupted me.

I looked down and saw it was Namgung Bi-ah’s hand.

"Calm down…."

"…"

My eyes drifted to her waist—the injury.

The sight cooled my head instantly. This wasn’t the time to let my emotions take over.

"For now, we need to head back."

If only for Namgung Bi-ah’s condition. I also had questions to ask the Palace Lord.

As I prepared to stand, Yuri spoke up, stopping me.

"Wait a moment…."

I sighed softly as I turned to her.

She seemed troubled by the fact that we had lost Woo Hyuk.

"Right now, it’s impossible to find him. For now—"

"No, I mean, who is that young lady…?"

"Hm?"

Confused, I followed her gaze. She was pointing at Namgung Bi-ah.

What was this about?

"What do you mean? You said she was your guard, didn’t you? What are you talking about?"

Yuri had mentioned that Namgung Bi-ah had been acting as her guard for a time.

But now, she didn’t recognize her?

When I asked for clarification, Yuri still looked lost.

"A guard? What do you mean…?"

She seemed to grow more puzzled, then muttered hesitantly.

"Princess."

"Huh?"

Her eyes widened instantly at Namgung Bi-ah’s words.

"This voice… oh…? Don’t tell me."

As though she’d only just realized, Yuri, who had forgotten herself, jumped up in shock.

"The White Fox…? Are you the White Fox?"

"Yes."

Namgung Bi-ah nodded at Yuri’s question.

Hearing the answer, Yuri clapped a hand over her mouth.

"What’s this…?"

"What’s wrong?"

"Why—why? Is she beautiful?"

…What?