Childhood Friend of the Zenith Novel MTL - Chapter 1137

Chapter 1137

With a low groan, the Heavenly Lord pushed himself upright. His motions were jarring, moving out of step with the natural flow of a living body.

*Crunch.*

It was the sound of strained joints and protesting bones. It was obvious to any observer that something was deeply wrong.

I watched him, silent and still. Once he had fully risen, he turned his head and fixed his eyes on me.

The instant our gazes connected, I let out a silent, mental curse.

‘Just as I thought.’

A deep, bloody crimson.

The Heavenly Lord’s eyes were the color of fresh blood. The sight alone was deeply unsettling, sending a wave of primal revulsion through me.

And it was a feeling I knew well. I had encountered it many times. Even without that experience, I had already sensed that he was not himself.

“Hmmm…”

A long, slow exhale escaped him. His voice and face were familiar, but the essence behind them was something else entirely.

“How did you realize…? I cannot comprehend.”

Blood Demon.

Or more accurately, the Dragon Emperor.

The former sovereign of the Dragon Realm, an ancient catastrophe that had scourged Zhongyuan in its infancy, a dimensional intruder who had once tried to seize this world for his own.

And now, for reasons unknown, he had entrenched himself within the Martial Alliance, scheming from the shadows.

‘Naturally.’

The observation confirmed my thoughts.

‘He had already corrupted the Heavenly Lord by this time.’

The scattered fragments of my suspicion slid into a perfect, horrifying picture.

‘The real question is, when did it start?’

I had already detected that something was amiss with the Heavenly Lord. But even if I hadn’t…

‘It’s been a nagging feeling.’

The last time we had crossed blades, I had caught a faint, coppery scent and a deeply irritating, unpleasant sensation.

I had not forgotten it.

‘Now, seeing this…’

Seeing the Heavenly Lord’s state made it undeniable—the Namgung family had already fallen deep into the Blood Demon’s clutches.

‘…Could the current family head also be under his control?’

It had always been suspicious that a man of such mediocre skill had risen to lead the family. His administrative competence wasn’t worthless, but it never fully explained his position.

Looking back, it was clear the Heavenly Lord’s backing had been the decisive factor.

‘I always wondered why the Heavenly Lord supported that man…’

If the Blood Demon’s influence was at play, it all made terrible sense.

“I have an inquiry.”

The Blood Demon, wearing the Heavenly Lord’s skin, addressed me.

“Who are you?”

—Zzt.

A subtle force brushed against my body, a delicate attempt to infiltrate my senses—I seized it and crushed it without a thought.

—Crackle.

As the energy shattered and dispersed, the Blood Demon’s eyes widened a fraction.

“How pitiful.”

“Heh…”

It seemed he had tried a cheap trick. But such methods were useless against me now.

Having had his energy utterly dismantled, the Blood Demon stared for a brief moment before releasing a soft, dark laugh.

“Strange. The appointed time has not arrived… So why does a calamity now appear?”

Hearing his words, I thought.

‘He identifies me as a calamity?’

Evidently, he did not think of me as human.

“Who are you?”

“You have already been told my name, and yet you ask again. How droll.”

I offered a cold smirk and answered.

**“I am the Cheonma.”

“Cheonma…”

The Blood Demon tilted his head.

“You are not counted among the Nine Dragons, and yet… How can there be a dragon unknown to me?”

He had discerned that I was a Dragon. He could not have failed to.

‘There’s no chance he missed it, not with my instincts roaring like this.’

The instincts of a dragon were raging within me, a visceral demand to rend my opponent apart.

Could I be the only one feeling this?

‘Impossible.’

Dragons are inherently arrogant creatures. They cannot abide any being they perceive as above them.

They will tear their rivals down, no matter the cost.

And who had taught me this? It was the very Blood Demon standing before me.

Would he feel any differently? It was highly unlikely.

‘The actual question…’

was not whether he recognized me as a Dragon.

‘…is that he fails to see my true nature.’

He had noticed I was a Dragon, but he had not perceived what lay beyond that.

“Dragon Emperor.”

“Heh…”

The Blood Demon reacted to the title.

“…It has been an age since I last heard that name. Not only are you a surviving Dragon, but you know my identity.”

“How could I not?”

I recalled the words my mother had spoken when she faced the Blood Demon.

I needed to weave them into my reply.

“You, the broken king of a world that is no more. There are few who haven’t heard of you.”

“……”

The moment I mentioned his fallen world, the Blood Demon’s expression contorted.

“How droll.”

—Hsss.

The air suddenly grew heavy. A faint smell of blood mixed with a crushing energy radiating from him.

Was it killing intent? Battle aura? No, it was something more fundamental, harder to define.

‘Awe.’

Or perhaps, ‘Reverence.’

I knew it instantly. It was a presence I had felt on several occasions.

When I stood before my mother.

When I faced the Abyssal Pit.

Or…

‘When I met that one.’

That bizarre existence who called himself the Master of the Celestial Realm (Taechon).

The feeling he emitted had been just like this.

Which meant—

‘This aura is unique to rulers.’

Not ordinary humans, nor common creatures.

But those who govern, who form the bedrock of entire worlds.

That fundamental difference in nature—it was what I was sensing from the Blood Demon now.

“You do not kneel before me, so you must be a later-born entity… Do you have a purpose…? No, perhaps…”

Something shifted at the Blood Demon’s shoulders. A crimson energy shimmered like a heat haze, slowly coalescing into droplets that rose into the air.

“Has Taechon betrayed me?”

“……”

I frowned.

Taechon?

‘Why is that name appearing here?’

That otherworldly ruler who had once tried to interfere with the Mangye, only to fail.

I had not anticipated the Blood Demon would speak of him.

‘So they were connected in some way.’

I had no answer, so I stayed silent.

And then—

“Amusing. Surely he knows I still hold his leash… Heh.”

The Blood Demon chuckled as if he had deduced something.

“Since you went to the trouble of summoning me… you must have your own objective.”

“Naturally.”

“But regrettably, time is short. Therefore…”

His overwhelming aura began to recede, his presence fading along with it.

And then—

*Thud.*

He pulled a ring from his finger and tossed it toward me.

“We will meet again. I anticipate it.”

The moment my eyes fell upon the ring—

*Thump.*

The Heavenly Lord collapsed, unconscious.

“……”

The Blood Demon’s presence had vanished completely, but I did not yet remove my mask, remaining cautious.

I knelt and picked up the ring from the ground.

I inspected it carefully, watching for any sign of danger.

‘Hmm.’

There was nothing outwardly remarkable about the ring.

‘Giving me something so seemingly plain… That itself is suspicious.’

He had handed me an unremarkable object and departed with a promise to meet again. It couldn’t possibly be just a normal ring.

‘Should I take it or not?’

I hesitated. It was not a simple choice.

—Slide.

In the end, I slipped it into my robe.

An encounter with the Blood Demon in this world… Confirming his presence… That alone was a significant discovery. I considered that I might even be able to extract something valuable from him.

‘I don’t know how long I will remain here…’

But I had to take every chance available to me.

With that thought, I gave a slight nod to myself.

And then—

“Hmm.”

I looked back at the unconscious Heavenly Lord. Traces of the Blood Demon’s influence still lingered within him.

‘What to do about this?’

I pondered for a moment.

‘If I could replicate what my father did…’

Back in Sichuan, when my father had nearly ended the Heavenly Lord, he had used the Nine Flames Firewheel to scour the Blood Demon’s taint from him and purge his Heart Demon.

If that was the case…

‘I should be capable of it as well.’

I had reached the same level, achieved transcendence, and mastered the Nine Flames Firewheel.

If I used it, I might be able to cleanse the Heavenly Lord’s Heart Demon too.

The idea occurred to me.

For a moment, I was tempted to try.

‘…Hmm.’

But I held myself back.

‘I should exercise restraint.’

I wasn’t entirely certain of the method. And even if I succeeded…

‘There’s no predicting how the Blood Demon would respond.’

He was clearly aware of his foothold within the Heavenly Lord. Acting recklessly could trigger an unforeseen reaction.

‘I am sorry, Heavenly Lord, but…’

This was not my world. Causing unnecessary complications served no purpose.

‘I’ve already created enough disturbances…’

I needed to draw a line.

‘At the very least… I succeeded in helping Namgung escape.’

For now, I would leave the Heavenly Lord as he was.

After securing the ring inside my robe, I turned my back on him.

His life was not in danger. He would regain consciousness soon.

That was my assumption as I walked away.

The next day, all hell broke loose.

**********

The Next Morning

Far too much had occurred overnight.

Just as people had begun to unwind after successfully defending the Magyeong Gate, new chaos erupted.

Out of nowhere, the Second Young Master of the Namgung family attempted to flee.

And he actually managed to get away.

Even more shocking was the rumor that spread like wildfire—

“The Heavenly Lord himself moved to intercept him, but failed to capture him.”
“While searching for the Second Young Master, the Heavenly Lord was discovered unconscious.”

The rumors were everywhere.

‘…They aren’t even rumors. It’s the truth.’

The Heavenly Lord had moved to stop Namgung Hyung, but the latter had escaped without a backward glance.

And when a search was launched, they found the Heavenly Lord collapsed.

That alone was enough to plunge the Namgung family into pandemonium.

‘Ah, damn… He was out for longer than I anticipated.’

I had thought he would wake within half an hour—perhaps even sooner.

But instead, the Heavenly Lord remained unconscious through the dawn and into the morning.

‘Tch.’

Was it because of the Thunder Fang energy I had released?

Or was it a residual effect of the Blood Demon’s possession?

Whatever the reason, it was too late now. The rumors had already spread.

The Namgung Family Head was struggling to contain the situation, but—

‘Well, what can he possibly do?’

I decided to ignore the uproar. As long as my involvement remained hidden, it was irrelevant.

Besides, this was merely the consequence of the current Namgung Family Head’s poor child-rearing.

Just as my father had spent his entire life grappling with the burden of my own failures.

‘This is what happens when you raise your children poorly.’

If he disliked the outcome, he should have done a better job.

I wasn’t exactly in a position to criticize, having been raised terribly myself—but since it wasn’t my problem, I had no reason to care.

More importantly—

The Namgung family’s turmoil was the least of my concerns.

I had a far more important discussion to conduct.

Ignoring the commotion, I focused on the man before me.

Early morning.

The Namgung residence was in an uproar, but I paid it no mind.

Looking at the young man standing in front of me, I spoke.

“So, here is the situation.”

The young man—**my father in his youth**—turned to look at me.

I met his intense, crimson gaze and said—

“I wish to go to Shanxi. Will you take me there?”

“…?”

My father’s face twisted in bewilderment at my sudden request.