Childhood Friend of the Zenith Novel MTL - Chapter 1061

Chapter 1061

“Why are you still alive?”

“…”

“What are you talking about?”

At my words, the divine being Noya contorted his face into a grimace. I froze for a moment, startled by the grotesque expression.

“No… that isn’t what I meant.”

I cut myself off. My meaning was too obvious.

After a moment of thought, I spoke again.

“Really—why are you still alive?”

“…What am I going to do with you?”

In the end, I repeated the same thing. Noya let out a sigh, as if completely lost.

“Why? Does it upset you that I’m alive?”
“…How can you even ask that?”

Of course not. That wasn’t it, but my trembling fingers betrayed me. Seeing this, Noya gave a soft laugh.

“Don’t get sentimental on me now. Don’t go trying to hug me.”
“Sorry, but I have no intention of doing that.”
“You little…”

Heh, heh, heh.

Noya laughed.

I watched quietly before asking,

“But, Noya…”
“Yeah?”
“…Is it really… too late?”
“Hm?”

Hearing that, Noya’s eyes widened slightly, and he let out an empty chuckle. Then he stretched out his arms.

I forced my heavy feet to move and rushed into his embrace.

“…Tsk tsk. Foolish boy. Just a moment ago, you said you wouldn’t.”
“…”

I held the old man in silence, feeling his rough hand pat the back of my head.

“Look…”

He broke off. His voice sounded strange.

“What’s this now?”

Hearing that, Noya’s voice took on a laugh.

“Are you crying?”
“…I’m not crying.”
“You are.”
“I’m not. Who’s crying?”
“Ha ha ha ha!”

Noya burst into hearty laughter.

“You’re something else. Acting all tough, but whining like a child.”
“I said I’m not crying!”
“Heh heh.”
“Stop laughing already.”

I wiped at my eyes with my hands. Luckily, no tears had formed. It was probably just a hint of sadness.

‘How embarrassing.’

The thought made my voice waver. I had almost cried like a little kid.

“…So why did it have to be like this?”

I spoke through gritted teeth, a trace of resentment seeping into my words. Noya’s smile faded.

“Didn’t I tell you to let it go? What else could I have done?”
“Yangcheon.”

His hand came to rest on the top of my head.

“It won’t change much, you know. You were aware of that. This was always how it was going to end; I was just stubbornly clinging to a foolish wish.”
“But…”

Even so—
I still needed him. The words stuck in my throat, unspoken.

“That, too, is desire.”

Noya seemed to know what I was about to say. He always did.

“Whether it was my desire or yours, it’s still just desire.”
“…So you died in my place?”
“Died for you? Ha ha. There is no ‘for you.’ I failed, that’s all. The rest is up to you.”
“Don’t you have any regrets…? You said there were things you wanted to do.”

Things he’d left unfinished. He had spoken of that regret.

How he needed to accomplish what he had failed to do in the past.

Wasn’t that why he wanted me to stop the Blood Demon?

When I mentioned it, Noya answered with a gentle smile.

“They weren’t things I wanted to do—they were things I wanted to see. You know that, don’t you? This is no different.”
“So… you’re just going to leave?”

Without even seeing what you wanted to see?

Without doing what you intended to do through me? Just like that?

“I can’t let you go.”

I couldn’t accept him leaving like this.

If he left—
What would remain for me?

I would be alone, without the one who knew all my secrets. The one who stood by me, supported me, and taught me. If he were gone—

What would be left?

“I can’t let you go.”

I tried to hold on to him, to keep him here, but—

“Yangcheon.”

Noya spoke my name in a sorrowful tone.

Before I could say anything else,

“Enough of this. You don’t have time for it.”

A cold voice cut through the air.

I blinked and looked up at the sky.

There, above me—

“…You…”
“It’s been a while.”

A being shrouded in white fur, identical to me, stood there, wreathed in swirling embers.

I stared in shock.

“My incompetent descendant.”

The goblin smiled as it spoke.

**********

Rumble.

The ground shook with a deafening roar. What was once field and forest was now a desolate wasteland.

In the center of the devastation, a man let out a weary breath.

“Hoo…”

Each exhalation made the surroundings tremble.

“This is absurd.”

He laughed with a frustrated sigh.

His body was a wreck, nothing like before. His left arm was torn away. His side looked as if it had been chewed apart. His right leg was severed at the knee, and his right arm hung by a thread.

Normally, his body would have already regenerated, but Taechon’s vessel could not heal.

“This is the limit.”

Even the body he had evolved with immense vitality had reached its end.

It shouldn’t have been destroyed so easily, especially since it was meant to contain divinity.

But—

“…This is no joke.”

Despite all his preparations, his body had been pushed to the brink.

It stood before him now.

“What are you?”

Taechon stared ahead with his broken body. There, he saw—

“Crrrraaack—.”

A massive beast with white fur shuddered, spears impaling its entire form.

Its eyes were crimson.

Taechon’s face twisted in confusion as he stared at the creature.

“I can’t understand it.”

Clunk.

Slowly, he moved forward on his shattered leg.

“Why?”

The closer he got, the more certain he became. No, he had been sure since the moment they fought.

“Is it possible you hold the divinity of the Myriad Realms (Mangye)?”

“Grurrrr–!!”

Clank–!!!

As Taechon approached, the creature tried to move. Despite the unbearable pain and the restraints binding it, it tried to charge forward once more, undeterred.

Seeing this, Taechon swung his hand.

Kwaaang-!!

“Graaaahhh–!!”

A spear fell from the sky and pierced directly through the creature’s back.

“Truly tenacious.”

It had been a brutal fight. The ferocity and relentlessness were far beyond any ordinary battle.

“Even if it wasn’t the true descent.”

Even if the main body hadn’t arrived, Taechon never expected to be forced to such extremes. If his true form had come, as the remark implied, it would have been far simpler, but that was impossible.

“Mangye would never allow it.”

The true master of this land would never permit it. Taechon had believed that until now.

“Strange.”

Taechon spat out the words and looked up at the sky.

It was truly strange.

“Why is there no reaction?”

A crimson aurora filled his vision. Night had fallen.

The moon had risen, and even the domain Taechon had spread was now gone.

“Why does it not come?”

Such a fierce battle.

Not just any conflict, but a clash on the level of masters. Yet, Mangye had not appeared.

“I see now.”

Having come this far, Taechon finally understood.

“Ah, I understand.”

Taechon laughed.

Mangye hadn’t *not* come.

“They simply cannot come, can they?”

They were unable to come now.

Even with such divine energy radiating, either they hadn’t sensed it, or even if they had, they couldn’t move.

One of the two, and either way, the situation was favorable for Taechon.

Moreover, when considering why Mangye couldn’t act,

“Could it be because of you? That’s what I think. What do you say?”

“…Grurrrr–!!!”

At Taechon’s words, the monster roared. Taechon was convinced the reason Mangye couldn’t move was this.

“Even if incomplete, there’s no way I wouldn’t recognize it.”

Inside the monster’s body.

The unimaginable power it harbored.

From this vast land, a tremendous force emanated from the center where all life converged.

The great power bestowed by the vast world, two forces in all.

One of those powers was radiating from this unknown creature’s body.

It was truly baffling.

“What could it be?”

It resembled the Dragon Lord. A power reminiscent of the arrogant ancient master that Mangye had erased.

“How…?”

That form was the primordial shape Mangye originally possessed. How could two such powers be merged like this?

Even more puzzling was how this fusion was sustained.

“What have you done?”

What could Mangye have been planning?

As the thought crossed his mind, Taechon shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. After all,

“I’ll just take it for myself.”

If Mangye couldn’t move, then this was the perfect situation.

Whatever their intention, it was irrelevant. As long as Taechon claimed what was before him, that was enough.

Crack.

Taechon’s broken body began to regenerate.

The speed was much slower, but it wasn’t entirely stopped.

“Time is short.”

Because his physical form had degraded, the time he had remaining for this descent was now reduced.

He needed to finish this quickly.

Thinking that, Taechon reached out toward the monster.

In that instant.

Crack—!!!

“…”

Taechon pulled back.

A sharp energy slashed through the air in front of the monster.

Sensing it, Taechon looked in a certain direction.

“Ah, I forgot for a moment.”

He had forgotten, while focused on his fight with the creature.

“Yes, you were here too.”

This wasn’t the only presence nearby.

The figure who had released the sword energy. The woman with black hair was now watching Taechon.

Seeing her, Taechon spoke.

“Now is not the time for this. Before you do something pointless, shall I show you mercy? Do you wish to fight?”

With Taechon’s words, the wind began to blow.

Whoosh.

The woman, who had been far away, was now standing before the monster, facing Taechon.

“Mercy?”

She tilted her head as if she didn’t understand the word.

“You’re dressing up your desperation as if you’re begging. How pathetic.”

“…”

At those words, Taechon silently stared at the woman.

Just like the monster, she was the same.

“What are you?”

This was the fundamental question.

What was she?

At first, he thought she was merely a remnant of a Dragon Lord. Or perhaps a fragment of lost power.

That’s how he had seen it.

“What is she wearing?”

But no.

She wasn’t just *wearing* it.

If that were not the case, this feeling couldn’t exist.

“What is it…?”

“Regret.”

“What?”

The woman answered.

Her reply to what she was wearing.

“Do you know what remains when endless time is mixed with hope?”

After a long period of contemplation, the answer she had reached was clear.

“The answer is regret.”

Regret.

The unachievable, the unattainable.

The endless yearning for something.

She called it regret.

Or sometimes, she called it love.