[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith":3,"chapter-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-381":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Childhood Friend of the Zenith",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1239857,1667,"Chapter 381","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-381",381,"\u003Cp>\"I know,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His answer took my breath away, though I had somewhat expected it. If my mother was alive, he would be the one person who knew her whereabouts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where else could she be, if not with him? I met his eyes and asked,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Where is she? Where is Mother?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I needed to know, and not just out of a simple desire to see her. I was beginning to understand that my mother was connected to everything that had happened to me. From the beast within me to the so-called Second Calamity, to the name she bore asMaster of the Ten Thousand Worlds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But most importantly, there wasthe Divine Sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The voice that spoke to me just before I released it—thatwas undoubtedly my mother’s. How could I forget? It haunted me, a voice that refused to fade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had told me to take the Divine Sword within me, and so I did. I absorbed its essence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps, she even knew a way for me to see it again. That’s why, to understand the truth behind all of this, I had to find her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you know, please tell me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at me without any reaction, which frustrated me. But as I looked more closely, I noticed something in his gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘He’s not unreactive.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was a faint tremor in his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I held my breath, waiting for his response. After a brief silence, he finally spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why do you want to know?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t help but frown, standing before my father.Whydid I want to know?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is it strange for a son to want to know where his mother is?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s not just curiosity. I need to know now, even if it’s too late.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had never raised my voice to him like this. Not since my regression, and not often in my past life, either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this was different. Even as I approached death, my heart nearly bursting, I hadn’t known. If my mother was alive and if she had something to do with my current life, I deserved to know. Even if not, I needed to know the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you know, then you can tell me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet he remained unmoved. His silence was maddening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Patriarch….\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What do you plan to do if you find out where she is?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The question hit me, and I paused for a moment before answering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ll go to her.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"To where your mother is?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t lie. It was the reason for my question, and he likely already suspected it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…It’s not a place you can go simply because you want to.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why? Because it’s the Demonic Realm?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If it’s not that, is it because I need to be the Young Lord first? Or…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the first time, I could clearly see his eyes—sharp, almost piercing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is it because she’s a calamity?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment I spoke those words—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rumble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The heat around him intensified, nearly forcing me back, but I stood my ground. This time, I wouldn’t retreat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the heat radiating from him, his gaze grew sharper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was he scowling? Or was he angry?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wasn’t used to seeing such expressions on him, so I couldn’t tell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How do you know that?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His reaction confirmed it. He knew she was a calamity, knew who she was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I heard—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rumble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as I began to speak, a heavy presence emanated from him, making my chest feel like it was sinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who told you? Who dared to speak of this?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…Damn.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His anger flared, the heat rising.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where was this coming from? Was he angry because I heard about it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Isn’t the reason I heard it less important?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No, it’s important. So tell me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze left no room for refusal. I had no choice but to answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The one called the World Tree told me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes trembled at that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The World Tree had told me about the day he and my mother visited. That meant he knew about the World Tree.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing his reaction, I knew my words struck a nerve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How…how did you learn that? You’ve…been there?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gripped my shoulder tightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you mean the World Tree’s domain, yes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The false world where the exiled World Tree resided. I spoke, watching as his expression contorted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why did he look like that? Just as I wondered, he spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is that where you crossed the wall?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was asking if the reason I reached the Flame Boundary so young was because of the Demonic Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There was some influence, yes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It helped. The time I spent there shortened my path to the Flame Boundary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the more I spoke, the darker his expression grew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s not a place you should just go. How did you manage to get there?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"One thing led to another.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How long were you there?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He seemed aware that time there flowed differently than here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I thought back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How long had it been?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hadn’t counted every day. I remembered counting up to three or four years, but after that, I stopped bothering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not too long.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t look like he believed me. Why did he look so troubled?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘It would be the same once you return anyway.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even in that false world, hunger and thirst persisted. I simply killed beasts when I needed food, and quenched my thirst with blood when water was scarce.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as I didn’t die, it was fine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I reached the Flame Boundary and carried the insights I gained back to this world. What was the problem?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t understand his reaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She said you and Mother had visited there together.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Did she say that?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The way he referred to the World Tree—she—felt strange.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then she spoke out of turn.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The malice in his voice made me flinch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite being a former ruler of the world, he spoke as if it was nothing to threaten the World Tree.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is it because my mother was indeed a calamity that you won’t tell me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And if she was, what would you do?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It wouldn’t change anything. I need to know.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze bored into me. For a moment, I thought he might finally answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I forbid it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His words made me clench my teeth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even after all this, he was refusing me?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why… I think I’ve earned the right to know.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wondered if there was some restriction on him, but that didn’t seem likely. I had a feeling, and my instincts rarely failed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was about to lose my composure when he suddenly said,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How much regret have you faced in your life?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Regret?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The question caught me off guard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regret?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How much regret?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A lot,\" I replied with a bitter laugh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What did it matter? My life was defined by regret. I’d had more than enough, and I’d probably have even more in the future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was he getting at?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"As for me, I’ve lived a life with little regret.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A surprising claim. A life without regret seemed enviable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether he knew my thoughts or not, he continued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I lived without clinging to regret. I thought it was meaningless to dwell on the past. But do you know what my remaining regrets are?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regrets, from him?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I have no idea.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I answered cautiously, and he replied as if he’d been waiting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They are you and your mother.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His words were like daggers, piercing my chest. I hadn’t expected that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How could he say that to my face?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You mean to tell me…!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as I was about to lash out,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That day, I should never have taken you to your mother.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I felt as if my breath had been cut off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The day he spoke of—that was the day she disappeared into the Demonic Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I shouldn’t have let her go, nor should I have brought you before her. That is my regret.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I began to reply, a strange feeling overcame me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…What do you mean, by listening to her?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So it wasn’t his decision alone?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It was her wish to see you one last time, and I shouldn’t have granted it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His face was obscured by shadows, cast by the moonlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this was true,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why are you telling me this now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was far too late.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had spent my life blaming this cursed family and my father’s choices for my mother’s fate. I feared him for showing me her final moments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if I was destined to bear this burden and follow that path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now, he was telling me that wasn’t true?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…It’s too late.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too late for any of this to matter. Even if it was true, I had come too far to turn back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why didn’t you tell me sooner? If nothing else, this one thing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do you think it would have changed anything?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t bring myself to say yes. I knew now that it wouldn’t have.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Did you want me to crumble under the weight of my resentment toward you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That had been my life before. I fell apart, sank into filth. Could he not have known that I would collapse so completely?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I spoke with a mix of emotions, and he breathed deeply in response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No matter who a person is, when faced with unbearable hardships—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He exhaled, his breath heavy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They will look for someone to blame.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His words unsettled me, shaking my mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you need someone to resent, isn’t it better to resent an incompetent father than an untouchable world?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It hurt. More than I wanted to admit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t what I wanted to hear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I just needed to know where she was. I didn’t need to know any of this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…It’s contradictory.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I know.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Even if you say that you did it for me, you still let me fall apart.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was my own weakness that led me to fall, but he had done nothing to lift me back up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And you didn’t just expect me to resent you for that, did you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My emotions swirled, overwhelming me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where had these feelings been hiding? I thought I had moved past them, thought I was living just fine without them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And I wondered—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he had tried to catch me as I fell, would I have turned out differently?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a moot point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it would have made a difference, I didn’t want to know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because then,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hoped he wouldn’t look at me with those eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That, too, is my regret.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hoped he’d look at me as he always did, with those cold, indifferent eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It was my sin not to reach out, even knowing better.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hoped he wouldn’t look at me with such a bitter expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m sorry.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Which is why I can’t let you go to her. One regret is enough.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hadn’t expected an apology, and that broke something deep within me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If only he had made excuses, told me he was too busy to care. But he hadn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, I covered my face with trembling hands. Not because I was crying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But because I couldn’t look at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It would have been easier if he hadn’t apologized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How did things end up like this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…Ah.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I should never have received such an apology from him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if I feared and resented him, he should never have apologized to me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe I expected this because he was my father?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That wasn’t it. It was something more fundamental.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the very least, just this once—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He shouldn’t have apologized to the son who had killed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like that winter night when he sent my mother away, memories I couldn’t forget came flooding back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well done.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His praise for reaching the Flame Boundary and the last words he spoke to me overlapped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes, his last words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After my mother’s departure, he was the only one to injure Cheonma.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shortly after, he passed away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The world assumed Cheonma had killed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that wasn’t true.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t Cheonma who killed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was me.\u003C\u002Fp>",2005,"2026-06-05T15:09:39.031Z",1,"novelbin.me","20272291a61493cbc4407f2a0e9faa9b3007bfabedb568cbc9a8729d56a4ec70","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-382","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-380",974,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fchildhood-friend-of-the-zenith-cover.jpg"]