Childhood Friend of the Zenith Novel MTL - Chapter 1070

Chapter 1070

I held the unconscious Cheonma and looked at Yarang.

Then, I shifted my gaze to the side, where the ripped fabric of space shimmered with a faint, golden light.

Something felt wrong.

Even though I had used this very rift to travel here, the foreboding I felt now was absent during my journey.

I pressed a hand to my chest. The energy was circulating within me, and I could sense its condition.

The power that had once been a part of me was still diffused throughout my body, yet something had fundamentally changed.

‘The vessel is missing.’

The container that was meant to hold this energy had vanished.

It was as if the power was simply drifting, unanchored, in the empty air.

How was this possible? It was a question, but after everything I had been through, it wasn’t entirely shocking.

‘Like he said…’

My ancestor had spoken to me.

‘This is only temporary. You must decide before the time comes.’

The length of time I could last without a vessel was likely no more than thirty minutes.

This was a result of my own plea for a delay, a request for more time to consider my options.

Hearing that, my ancestor accepted my terms, but his agreement came with one command: to speak the name «Yehwa.»

Ssssshhh.

I could feel the energy stirring inside me, moving of its own accord.

It was foreign. It felt like something was on the verge of exploding, yet held back. It seemed ready to fly apart at any second, but remained inexplicably bound together.

An unsettling feeling, as if it would vanish the moment I made contact.

I pushed the sensation aside and addressed Yarang.

“……What are you? Where were you?”

I frowned as I asked.

I was sure we had arrived together, yet she had been absent until now, only appearing just moments ago?

“What were you doing?”

I forced down the swell of emotion rising inside. I was aggravated, but none of this was Yarang’s fault.

Had she avoided the battle? That wasn’t important.

This wasn’t a fight she could have participated in anyway. My current irritation was just misdirected frustration.

I hadn’t been able to get the answers I wanted from Cheonma.

And then there was the issue of Shin Noya, who had been with me, now facing his own troubles.

All of it culminated here, in this unknown place, mingling with the physical discomfort of my situation.

I knew yelling was pointless, but I still had to struggle to keep my composure.

“You… What are you? Are you truly the Divine Sword?”

“……”

Yarang didn’t answer my question. She hadn’t answered a single one since she appeared.

Even my mother had said it. That thing, she explained, was forged from her own soul and energy, but it remained a being shrouded in oblivion.

It could remember nothing—not about me, and not about itself.

“……Damn it. This cursed forgetfulness.”

Cheonma, my ancestor, even my mother.

I couldn’t comprehend what this forgetfulness was supposed to be, or how it could be so absolute.

“……Haah.”

I let out a heavy sigh and looked at Yarang.

She simply stood there, her white mask in place, staring back at me.

“Is there any point in even asking?”

It was a remark born of exasperation, and I knew it wouldn’t lead anywhere.

“……”

I looked down at Cheonma, who I still cradled in my arms. She lay utterly still, but I could see the faint rise and fall of her chest. It appeared she wasn’t dead after all.

I carefully lifted her and got to my feet.

As I scanned the area,

“Cough!”

“……!”

A sound came from one side. Turning, I saw the turtle elder propped up against a pile of shattered debris.

“Elder……”

I moved closer.

“Ughh.”

As I approached, the turtle groaned. His condition was critical.

The bleeding had thankfully stopped, but his wounds were clearly severe.

‘Dogi.’

The energy enveloping the turtle was Dogi. I recognized it as Shin Noya’s.

I reached out toward him.

Woo—!!

I channeled more power into the fading energy.

“Ughh……”

As the energy flowed into him, the turtle released a breath he’d been holding.

“Are you alright?”

“……I’ll live…… You can see me?”

He certainly didn’t look fine.

“Ugh… I’m finished…… I shouldn’t have meddled in things beyond me…”

“Please, just rest…….”

As I gently moved to touch him, the turtle grasped my wrist with his fingerless hand.

“That fool…… What became of the Gatekeeper?”

“……”

When he asked about Shin Noya, my body went rigid.

Seeing my reaction, the turtle let out a soft, dry chuckle.

“Seems he’s gone.”

His tone was calm and undisturbed. Even though Shin Noya had disappeared, there was no shock in his voice.

“He always said he could vanish at any moment. It seems his time finally came.”

While I couldn’t confirm he was ‘completely’ gone, for all practical purposes now, he might as well be.

Clench.

I tightened my fist, gently moved the turtle’s hand aside, and placed my palm on his chest.

“Please excuse me for a moment.”

Ssssshh—.

I wove heat into the energy. Fortunately, the Nine Flames Firewheel began operating again.

I infused his body with warmth to dull the pain and accelerate his healing.

Meanwhile, the turtle glanced behind himself.

The devastation surrounding us was clear.

“……It’s going to take ages to repair all this.”

“……”

I looked at the turtle after he spoke.

“Elder.”

“What is it?”

“……Do you intend to remain here?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Shin Noya is no longer here.”

“Ha.”

The turtle looked at me with an expression of pure incredulity.

“What does his presence or absence have to do with me staying?”

Hearing that, I gave an awkward smile.

Well, he had a point.

Whether Shin Noya was here or not, the turtle’s position within the Mount Hua Sect wasn’t necessarily dependent on him.

‘Is that really true?’

But I wasn’t so sure.

Even if the turtle was only an elder in name, contributing little in a practical sense, wasn’t that precisely because of Shin Noya?

I had assumed that with Shin Noya gone, he might not choose to stay with the Mount Hua Sect.

“Besides, if he’s disappeared, someone has to hold the fort.”

Groaning slightly, the turtle straightened his posture and said,

“You have to go back, don’t you?”

“……”

His words felt like sharp thorns piercing me.

“Don’t overthink it. That fool would have wanted it this way.”

“…I’m not so sure about that.”

Noya had vanished for my sake.

Now, the turtle was casually stating he would assume Noya’s role.

And I was being told that I must leave.

‘What a disaster.’

The situation was a tangled mess.

It wasn’t just my own problems—what about this world’s Mount Hua?

“Phew.”

It was all infuriatingly complex.

What was I supposed to do now? This wasn’t the moment to be trapped in my own head.

How should I move forward? As I turned these thoughts over—

Grip.

Yarang suddenly seized my wrist.

“What is it?”

Did she finally have something to say?

I looked at her, curious.

“Step back for now… This isn’t the time for talk.”

The turtle, dragging his battered body, stretched out his hand.

A staff lying on the ground flew into his grasp.

“If we delay any longer, it will be beyond containment.”

“Contain what?”

“There’s a limit to how much chaos can be overlooked. This has already reached a dangerous level.”

Muttering something unclear, the turtle waved his hand, and light erupted from his staff.

A spell?

It seemed the turtle was initiating a ritual.

Soon—

“Huuuh!”

Zzzzzzzzzzz—!

With the turtle’s deep exhalation, strands of magical script spread out in every direction.

Seeing them, I understood.

He was erecting a barrier.

It was the same type of barrier that had once enclosed Mount Hua.

And then—

Rumble—!!
Ruuuuumble—!!!

“……!!”

The night itself seemed to shudder.

A deafening roar, like a hurricane, erupted, forcing me to look up instinctively.

“This is terrible…!”

The turtle’s face contorted in dismay.

It was obvious something was very wrong.

“What is it?”

I asked, but the turtle’s expression was grim as he replied.

“…This is a catastrophe. Taechon went much too far.”

“What?”

“I believe it has become aware.”

“Aware of what…?”

I tried to ask again, but before I could—

From the sacred tree of Mount Hua, something stretched outward.

Kuaaaaaaaaah—!!!

A black tendril.

It erupted from the sacred tree, climbing higher than the massive trunk itself.

It covered the space the turtle had meant to seal, replacing his barrier entirely.

This was—

‘The Abyssal Pit?’

It was the energy of the Abyssal Pit.

That same crushing, overwhelming presence I had felt before was radiating from this new barrier.

In an instant, the surroundings were swallowed by absolute blackness.

A darkness so profound it seemed to swallow all light.

And yet, paradoxically, I could see everything around me with perfect clarity.

What was happening?

As I glanced around, the turtle released a sigh of resignation.

“…It’s too late now.”

He was staring past the barrier.

“It seems to have finally taken notice.”

“…Elder, what are you talking about?”

“If the ruler of the underworld himself appears and creates this much disturbance, no matter how deep its slumber, it would have to wake up.”

“…What exactly is waking up—”

“What else could it be?”

The turtle tightened his grip on his staff, his expression growing severe.

“……Naturally. The master of this world, who has been sleeping here all this time.”

“……!”

The moment I grasped his meaning—

Kuaaaaaaaaah—!!!!!
Kuuuuuuuuuuung—!!!!

The black barrier quaked violently.

As if something was pounding against it from the outside.

Kugagagak—!!!

Not just a single blow.

The impacts came repeatedly. Again and again.

Until—

Crack.
Craaaack.

The barrier fractured, pieces of it falling away.

Thud—!!

Fragments of darkness shattered as they hit the ground.

And through the cracks—

I saw something.

“…Ah.”

A single sound left my lips.

There, beyond the broken veil of darkness—

A woman with hair white as snow, eyes the color of amethysts, and several tails of pristine white fur.

“……Mother?”

The ruler of this world had awakened.