Childhood Friend of the Zenith Novel MTL - Chapter 944

Chapter 944

For a moment, a heavy silence hung in the air. As the sun slowly dipped below the horizon, my gaze remained fixed on Mongmong.

Crack.

The grip around my neck tightened, yet I could feel a certain reluctance in his hold.

[Not true…? Are you absolutely certain it’s not true?]

Mongmong pressed again, his voice still carrying that peculiar, unsettling quality. A faint prickling sensation stirred in my chest at his words.

“Yes. It isn’t true.”

I repeated my denial, just as effortlessly as before. The words left me without any sense of strain or difficulty.

What was happening?

Wasn’t this similar to Dragon Speech?

It felt reminiscent of the power Blood Demon had once used against me, but the outcome was completely different. This time, it barely touched me and had no real impact.

“You’re truly not lying?”

His tone grew more urgent, more demanding. What did he want me to say?

“I already told you I’m not,” I shot back, allowing a sliver of annoyance to color my voice.

His expression shifted. A look of deep confusion settled in his eyes, as if he were struggling to comprehend the situation.

He fell quiet once more.

What was he planning now? The pressure at my throat persisted, unwavering. Should I shove him away and strike back? It was a difficult choice.

I stole a glance at Cheonma. Her eyes held a glint of resolve, as if she were weighing whether or not to intervene.

If this continued, the situation would only deteriorate further.

Voom.

I gathered energy in my chest, ready to force my way out of Mongmong’s grasp, when—

Srrrk.

The hand around my neck slackened and withdrew. His bestial arm receded, shrinking back into a slender, pale human limb.

Rustle.

Pebbles and dust from the shattered wall settled around us, and my feet found solid ground again.

I rubbed my aching neck and brushed the debris from my clothing.

“This is strange… Why isn’t it true?”

Mongmong muttered the words to himself, lost in thought.

“What isn’t true?” I asked, furrowing my brow.

“Well… uh…”
“You promised to guide me. Was this your actual intention from the start?”
“No, no, that isn’t it…”

Mongmong waved his hands dismissively, then brought a hand to his chin, deep in contemplation.

“What’s going on? This doesn’t make sense. There’s no chance I was mistaken…”

I let out a sigh, exhaling in disbelief.

“What is it you want from me?”

Mongmong’s pale green eyes scanned me from head to toe, moving rapidly.

He seemed uncertain, wrapping a hand around his own neck before finally speaking.

“Well… uh… my apologies. Truly, I am sorry.”

He offered an awkward, sheepish smile and lightly patted my shoulder.

His casual demeanor was irritating, but I chose to let it pass.

«This guy is concealing something,» I thought.

It was obvious now—Mongmong was not ordinary.

“It seems I was mistaken. Haha, my apologies for that.”
“You were mistaken, so you decided to strangle me?”

I was about to press him further, but—

Whoosh!

A sudden gust of wind swept past, followed by—

BOOOOM!!!

A deafening explosion tore through the air to my left. I turned to see a massive hole blown clean through the wall.

“…”

The aftermath of Mongmong’s punch.

«This bastard,» I thought, narrowing my eyes.

His previously subdued aura now felt completely different.

“Unstable.”

The energy he had been forcibly compressing was now fluctuating wildly. By releasing some of that suppressed power, his presence had intensified dramatically.

“He’s strong.”

That much was undeniable. I had suspected he might be on par with the ox-like chief I had faced earlier, and now I was sure.

“How strong?”

Even by Zhongyuan’s standards, he would rank among the top ten masters—perhaps even comparable to those who had crossed blades with the Sword Emperor.

“Can I win?”

I quickly ran through the calculations. It was a habit of mine whenever I faced a powerful or unpredictable opponent.

Would I stand a chance against him in a fight?

Clench.

I lightly clenched my fist and circulated my energy briefly, assessing my condition.

«Hmm.»

I wasn’t at my peak. My left hand was still badly injured, and the lingering effects of using the Cheonma Divine Art had left my body unstable.

In my current state, the odds were not favorable.

Especially—

«That punch just now.»

His fist had moved so swiftly I could barely track it, even without heightening my senses. He was not someone to be underestimated.

«This won’t do.»

Even with Cheonma’s support, victory wasn’t assured.

But relying on her felt wrong.

She was, at her core, still an enemy. No matter how cooperative she seemed now, I had to remember that.

Which meant—

«I can’t fight him.»

I made my decision. Engaging him here would be a mistake.

Just then—

“Follow this path, and you’ll reach the Black Clan,” Mongmong said, laughing awkwardly as he pointed through the hole he had created.

Beyond the rubble, I could make out the distant outline of the Black Clan’s mansion.

«Did he just clear a path for me?» I wondered. He had demolished the walls just to let me through?

«What a reckless bastard.»

I frowned.

“Sorry about what happened earlier. I truly didn’t know. Haha, what a mess,” Mongmong said, still wearing that sheepish smile.

“What exactly are you?” I asked, suspicion lacing my voice.

At my question, Mongmong paused, his eyes widening slightly.

“Well, knowing might not be in your best interest. Are you certain you want to know?”
“In that case, I’d rather not.”
“Quick on your feet, aren’t you?”
“I prefer to avoid unnecessary complications.”

Of course, trouble seemed to find me no matter what I did.

“Hmm, reasonable,” Mongmong replied, nodding repeatedly.

“That’s probably wise.”

Then, with the same grin as before, he added:

“If you’re truly curious, you can always ask the black kid over there.”
“…”

The black kid.

I knew immediately who he meant. The problem was—

«He just referred to the clan leader as a kid.»

I still didn’t fully understand the social hierarchy here, but it was clear that nobles held significant authority.

For Mongmong to casually call a clan leader a “kid”…

As I turned this over in my mind, Mongmong clasped his hands together and offered a slight bow.

“This was interesting. I’m truly, deeply sorry.”

He smiled and waved as if to send me on my way. After causing such a scene, he was now dismissing me.

What an absurd individual.

It was ridiculous, yet—

«He’s genuinely letting me go.»

At the very least, we wouldn’t have to fight now, which was a relief.

Keeping my expression neutral, I turned to leave.

“Oh, one more thing…”

Mongmong called out once more.

“You mentioned you’re from Mount Hua, and your name is Cheol Ji-seon, correct?”
“…Ah, yes.”

Mount Hua.

He must have deduced it from my attire. I was still wearing the uniform they had given me.

“Understood. I’ll remember that. Until we meet again?”
“…”

I would prefer not to see him again if possible.
I wanted to say so, but—

«…This isn’t good.»

My instincts told me otherwise—that our paths would cross again sooner than I would like.

*************

Making my way through the damaged street, I continued toward the Black Clan.

It hadn’t been my initial destination, but somehow, I had ended up heading there anyway.

“Who…?”

The guard at the mansion’s entrance raised his weapon aggressively, much like the guard at the fortress’s main gate had earlier.

However, the moment he saw the token in my hand, he froze.

After that, everything proceeded without a hitch.

With just the token, I bypassed all formalities and was granted entry without any issues.

I was grateful I had accepted the token. It had turned out to be more useful than I anticipated.

Inside, I was led to a large door.

As the guide accompanying me hesitated, his hand trembling as he prepared to knock—

[Enter.]

A voice resonated from within.

Creak.

The door swung open on its own, and I stepped inside calmly.

The interior was as shrouded in darkness as it had been during my previous visit.

A single table stood in the center of the pitch-black room, and behind it sat a man with jet-black hair.

“We meet again.”
“The pleasure is mine.”
“This time, your companion appears to be different.”

The Black Clan’s leader glanced toward Cheonma.

“Yes. Your son was… otherwise occupied.”

Of course, he hadn’t been busy—I simply hadn’t brought him along. Not that the leader seemed particularly concerned.

It was clear that this family was just as dysfunctional as my own.

“Well then, what brings you back to us…?”

As he moved directly to the point, I raised a hand to interrupt.

“Ah, there’s something I need to ask first.”

This matter was more pressing.

“…?”

The leader looked at me with curiosity.
I explained, “I encountered someone on my way here.”

I recounted my meeting with Mongmong in detail.

The more I spoke, the more the leader’s expression darkened.

Judging by his reaction, he knew exactly who Mongmong was.

By the time I mentioned how Mongmong had punched a hole through the wall to clear a path for me, the leader released a heavy sigh.

“…I see.”

His tone was weary.

“So, the General sought you out.”

Hearing that, I narrowed my eyes.

Just as I had suspected.

«So, it was him.»

Someone who could casually refer to the clan leader as a child and treat the fortress as his personal playground.

One of the four rulers serving under my mother.

Mongmong was not just anyone—

He was one of the true rulers of Yahwol Palace.

*************

«So, as I was saying earlier…»
«No, listen. This time, at the weapons shop…»

Above the bustling street, filled with overlapping conversations, a young man with green hair stood perched on a building’s roof.

The building wasn’t especially tall, nor particularly short—just high enough to provide a clear view of the street below.

Though he had the appearance of a young man, his features were youthful enough that he could easily be mistaken for a boy.

“Hmmm…”

He rolled his eyes in contemplation, as if wrestling with a perplexing riddle.

“This is strange.”

No matter how much he pondered, it didn’t make sense.

He recalled the pair he had just encountered.

The sharp-eyed young man dressed in white robes with black hair, and the strikingly beautiful woman beside him.

Of the two, it was the man who occupied his thoughts.

“What is he?”

What could he possibly be?

“There was definitely something unusual…”

Even now, the memory unsettled him. His intuition had never failed him before, and he refused to believe it had failed him now.

When he had spotted the man from his vantage point overlooking Yahwol—

An inexplicable tremor had raced down his spine.

An overwhelming sensation that screamed at him:

«Go. Go now and seize him. Discover what he is.»

The urge was so powerful that he had acted immediately, approaching the man to confirm his suspicions.

But then—

“He claimed it wasn’t him?”

The man had denied it.

“Hmmm…?”

That response didn’t align with expectations.

“Was he truly not lying?”

It wasn’t merely that he had said no—anyone could do that.

“I used Myeong (鳴), and he still denied it.”

The question he had posed wasn’t an ordinary one.

Every being within the realm of Mangye bore its indelible mark.

The Master of Mangye stood above all, and just beneath them were the generals.
The generals possessed the power to imbue their words with soul, issuing absolute commands to those of lower rank.

If they ordered you to crawl, you crawled.
If they commanded you to die, you died.

Such was the unbreakable law ingrained in the very foundation of Mangye.

«He truly said no?»

When the young man had spoken with the full weight of his authority, the response had been a outright denial.

“That’s… bizarre.”

How could this be possible?

His instincts insisted the man was guilty, yet the response contradicted that.

This was the first time anything like this had happened since he had become a general.

It shouldn’t have been possible.
For his intuition to be wrong was unthinkable—his power was intrinsically tied to the laws of Mangye itself.

“Hmmm…”

Had he truly been mistaken?
It was difficult to accept, but reality seemed to suggest otherwise.

There was no other explanation.

If Myeong had been invoked, lying was impossible. This was an absolute, unchangeable law of this world.

And yet—

«There’s only one possibility.»

There was one scenario in which someone could lie under a general’s command.

And that was—

«If he ranks above a general.»

A being superior to a general of Mangye, second only to its Master.

In such a case, Myeong would have no effect.

“Hahaha! Preposterous.”

The young man dismissed the idea immediately.

Above him stood only the Master of Mangye.

There was no conceivable way that boy could outrank him.

«My intuition must have been mistaken this time.»

He nodded to himself, convincing himself it had been an error.

Such a thing could never happen—of that, he was certain.

“If necessary, I’ll confirm it the next time we meet.”

He felt sure they would cross paths again soon. His instincts told him so.

And his instincts, he believed, were never wrong.