[{"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-624":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},1240474,1667,"Chapter 623","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-624",624,"\u003Cp>Crack—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The smell of something burning grazed the tip of my nose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This place—who could say what it originally looked like?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everything had burned and burned again, so the original appearance had long been lost.It was impossible to imagine what it had once been.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All that remained was a world of blackened ash and embers still smoldering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘What a mess.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I let out a brief chuckle as I looked around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t somewhere else; this was the inside of my own heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fact that the world looked like this—It meant that my insides were as charred and rotten as this place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Pathetic.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So much for all my resolve to live properly.This is what I’d become.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I lowered my gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath this burning world, there was a barely preserved space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A child sat there, trembling as they desperately held back the encroaching flames.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Small, fragile, and utterly terrified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Sniff... sniff...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Damn it.This memory was truly a cursed one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Sniff... huh?]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At my call, the child lifted their head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had slit eyes and a face that, even for a child, looked unnervingly fierce.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Look at that face.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a face like that, they’d be called ferocious their whole life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sigh...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I let out a deep sigh as I stared at the child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s with that pitiful look?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Please... save me... Save me!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The child reached out to me,their small hand clutching the hem of my pants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Please, please save me!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[I want to see my mom... please...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their voice was earnest.A small but clear cry from someone desperately clinging to life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When was it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘When did I ever sound like that?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I tried to recall, but... there was nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Nothing.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not once.Not a single time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After my mother disappeared, I had never cried out like that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So then...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you going to just sit here crying endlessly?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Sniff... sniff...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shut up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[...!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The child immediately stopped crying at my words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t cry. Shut up. It’s annoying.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Sniffle... sniff...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you cry now, you’ll lose. Your life is already screwed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There would be countless days to cry ahead.They’d need to hold it back and endure, but here they were, crying like this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Mommyyy...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The kid couldn’t hold it back anymore and started sobbing again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I sighed even more deeply as I watched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You don’t have a mom, kid.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[...!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ah, maybe I shouldn’t have said it like that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not that it wasn’t true, but still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well, you won’t see her for another... I don’t know... thirty years?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was roughly the time frame, counting my past life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if I was searching for her, it was practically...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pretty much the same as not having one.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Waaaah!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re so loud. Should I just hit you to shut you up?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Sniffle...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I crouched down to meet the child’s eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did you want to live?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Sniff... sniff...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I didn’t think so. But you did?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’d believed life had no meaning.That was how I had lived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if I died immediately, it wouldn’t matter—that was how I saw things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But it seems like you didn’t think that way.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why was this child screaming like this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why do you want to live so badly?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t understand it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your life is hell.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even now, it was a bloody mess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how I tried to avoid such a life, it kept coming back to this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And it’ll probably stay that way.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drip—Something wet trickled down my hand, and I looked at it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before I knew it, my palm was stained red.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was blood, dripping from the tips of my fingers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was regret.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regret I had been desperately trying to forget.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was laughable. That even this could manifest so clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I raised my hand and showed it to the child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is the life you’ll walk.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Sniff...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can’t even remember how many people I’ve killed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And moving forward—I wouldn’t remember those numbers either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had killed so many.Too many to count, and too many to remember.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did it have to be this way?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That question wasn’t for the child. It was for me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Was it truly necessary to live like this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The child trembled in fear as my world burned to ashes around us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was asking myself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Did you...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Really have to live like this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, I wouldn’t get an answer.I wouldn’t answer myself, after all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Please save me...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The child still clung to life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[I want to live...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at them, I couldn’t help but wonder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Did I want to live?Maybe... maybe I did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A memory surfaced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first time I stood in a market after my regression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I couldn’t fully grasp the situation, surrounded by the noise and crowds of people, I thought to myself:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I longed to see this sight.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even in those peaceful days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though they were the worst of times for me,I had wished for those days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that was why I had felt relieved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘The sight I saw as I died—it was of that day.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Do you want a potato?]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That moment when I met that child.Even though the life before it had been hell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least that one moment had meant something to me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But, you know...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stroked the child’s cheek with my bloodied hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This has to stop now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Eek... eek...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How much longer are you going to hesitate?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The child trembled in fear at my touch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Mo... mommy...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They cried like a baby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, theywerea child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘To think I’d witness myself crying.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a strange experience.Even if it was just an illusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I continued, looking at the trembling child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Someone kept saying that you shouldn’t exist.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Sniff...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slowly, I moved the hand stroking the child’s cheek.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blood smudged as it moved, leaving streaks behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then I brought my hand to their neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clench—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I gripped it tightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Guh—!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The child let out a groan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hesitation.And obstinacy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was this child’s name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hesitation holding me back.The emotions I stubbornly refused to abandon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re the most useless part of me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was my conclusion.It was something I’d known all along.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...And yet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were also the part of me I least wanted to lose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This child was that to me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s too much now. I can’t hold on anymore.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was why I held their neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tremble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hand gripping their neck shook violently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sensation was disgustingly vivid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You know...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked at the child as I spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I never wanted to abandon you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Words I had never admitted to anyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even now, that’s how I feel.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the moment I abandoned them—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’d have to accept it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That any hope for a normal life was gone.That I’d no longer be human, but a dragon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’d have to accept that life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had thought I’d already made up my mind.But clearly, I hadn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The truth was, I already knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am not human.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a fact I had long understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And I never will be again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I also knew there was no going back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if I still questioned whether it had truly been my choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...But you know.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regardless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even knowing all that, it’s not easy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Obstinacy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That infamous stubbornness—I knew it better than anyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet, I couldn’t let it go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why couldn’t I manage something so simple?Why had my world rotted away to this extent?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was it simply that I didn’t want to become a dragon?Refusing to accept being a dragon didn’t make me human again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I knew that well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘From the moment I decided to become a demon...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the moment I abandoned myself to protect something else—I had understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was too late to turn back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I knew it.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had known it clearly, yet I still couldn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even I didn’t know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was being human really that important?Why had I agonized over it so much?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now wasn’t the time to dwell on the reasons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as I clung to this obstinacy—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I can’t move forward.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And if I couldn’t move forward,I couldn’t protect what needed to be protected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My life had always been balanced on a scale.Always a series of choices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I placed my choices on the scale and chose the heavier one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was how I had always lived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even now, though late, I was doing the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You were lighter than everything else. That’s all.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes, that’s all it was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Save me... please! I don’t want to die!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I slowly tightened my grip around the child’s neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[I want to see my mom... dad!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The child’s cries reached me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had to ignore them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By killing one part of myself,could anything really change?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Would this act truly change much?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I had to do it anyway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clench—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Sniff...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despair filled the child’s eyes as I applied more pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crackle—! Crackle—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The flames around us began to move again,threatening to consume even the small, barely preserved space we stood in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m sorry.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was all I could say to the child as I looked at them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t know if there’ll be a next time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the end for the child and me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you—for everything up until now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that,I prepared to snap the child’s neck.It was the natural conclusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thump—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amid the burning flames—Thump—! Crackle—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something strange caught my attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound of the embers, which had been steadily burning away,Thump... Crackle... Thump.started to slow down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then—Thump.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly,there was no sound at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I paused, loosening my grip, as I noticed the peculiar sensation.I looked around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then I saw it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The flames, which had been dancing and consuming everything around me,had all come to a halt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had been so noisy just a moment ago.What kind of phenomenon was this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though it startled me, it wasn’t enough to stop me from continuing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I pushed away my confusion and resumed what I was doing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait, what?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I turned my attention back, my eyes widened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The child I had been holding with both hands was gone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I froze, bewildered by the sudden turn of events.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rustle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In front of me, I realized there was now something else, something that wasn’t the child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Legs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I quickly raised my gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Standing before me was someone—someone holding the very child I had been gripping moments ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Sniffle...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They held the child, my younger self, in their arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What...?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I furrowed my brow as I stared at the unexpected figure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their form was unclear, blurred, making it difficult to see them properly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was this...?Could it be...?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you a blood demon spirit?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I asked, recalling how such an entity had appeared before in strange forms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the figure’s voice made me pause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a woman’s voice.And it sounded familiar—like I had heard it somewhere before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘But.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t place it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whose voice was this?I couldn’t remember.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was this another trick of the blood demon spirit?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This time, what are you here to do—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I,”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman’s voice interrupted me mid-sentence, and I stopped speaking entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normally, I would’ve ignored it and continued talking,but for some reason, I couldn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“—hoped you wouldn’t make this choice. That’s why I held onto my obstinacy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her calm voice inexplicably stirred something deep within me,causing a dull ache in a corner of my heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In truth, I knew as well. Even more so since I set up measures for this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman gently cradled the child in her arms, as if to comfort them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But my greed caused me to delay and delay again. And that seems to have hurt you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I felt shaken.Her words, though I couldn’t fully grasp them, unsettled me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Who are you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wasn’t the blood demon spirit. My instincts told me that much.That woman wasn’t a blood demon spirit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then who was she?Could she be...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Divine Sword?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I thought back to the time at the Divine Dragon Pavilion when I had confronted the Heavenly Demon.Back then, I had absorbed the energy of the Divine Sword following my mother’s words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was something I had intended to resolve when I met my mother again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Given all that, I wondered if this figure could be the Divine Sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Heh.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman let out a quiet laugh at my words, her voice calm yet tinged with sadness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Close, but no. I am not the one you are expecting.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She turned away, taking a single step forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fwoooosh—!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...What the!?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Starting from where her foot touched the ground, the ashen world around me began to change.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saaaaaa—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Green grass sprouted across the blackened earth, spreading and wrapping around the area.Trees that had rotted away were restored, their colors returning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The empty space transformed again and again,until a small dwelling appeared beneath a world adorned with autumn leaves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All of this happened within mere seconds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rattle—! Clunk—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound of a waterwheel turning echoed near the dwelling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chirp—! Chirp, chirp—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the forest behind it, the chirping of birds rang out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My heart, once so rotten and decayed, had created the desolate world I’d just seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now—what was this place?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This suddenly transformed world...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Sniff...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There, there.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman soothed the child as she calmly walked to the dwelling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a graceful motion, she sat on the wooden porch and looked back at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her gaze wasn’t clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her form and features were hazy and indistinct, making it impossible to see her properly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, somehow, I knew she was looking at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Who are you? What are you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I asked, staring at the woman.She responded,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I was once your heart.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thump.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her words made my heart skip a beat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I have been your eyes, your ears, your legs. I have been your sword. And also...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She gently stroked the hair of the child she held.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I was everything to one man, and a mother to his child.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Swish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A single autumn leaf fell onto her lap.My gaze followed it instinctively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But now, because you no longer remember me... now...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am nameless.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It sounded as if she was afraid to say it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You may call me that—Nameless.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>******************\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moments passed after Gu Yangcheon asked for time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>ThePalace Lordstood beside Gu Yangcheon, watching him as he sat with his eyes closed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was because she judged that he had realized something and needed time to process it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hm...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she observed him, thePalace Lordfound herself slowly scrutinizing Gu Yangcheon.For a simple reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more she looked at him, the more he resembled someone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the thought that crossed her mind as she stared at Gu Yangcheon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘At first, I didn’t think they looked alike.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only a few distinctive features bore a resemblance.In terms of appearance, there were many differences, she had concluded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So she had dismissed the idea of them being direct blood relatives.At least, that’s what she had thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after just two meetings, thePalace Lordwas forced to reconsider.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She recalled Gu Yangcheon’s actions during their first encounter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His angry words, asking if she had done the same thing to his companions—And the way he had threatened to overturn everything if she had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That reaction resembledhim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though his demeanor and speech were completely different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If anything...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘...He was far more terrifying.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to the raw aggression Gu Yangcheon displayed,hisability to restrain himself while exuding an overwhelming pressure was even more frightening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I wonder how he would compare now.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even back then,hehad been monstrous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Judging by the state of his child, she already had an idea of what to expect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that only made her more curious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I never settled things with him back then...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had yet to resolve their match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A regretful thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In her eyes, onlyhehad been a worthy opponent for her.But now, as her life approached its end, it was a bittersweet memory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘If I ever see him again...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She let herself indulge in a fleeting fantasy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she quickly erased it with a faint smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no time for such thoughts in her current state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>ThePalace Lordturned her attention back to Gu Yangcheon.Even setting aside the fact that he washischild, what she had learned about him so far was astonishing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘To reach this level at his age is already impressive enough.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now, he had shattered his vessel and awakened as a dragon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Which means...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It implied that his vessel had never been human to begin with.If so...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Who could it be?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The women who had been byhisside back then.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which one of them was the mother of this child?There had been too many for her to predict accurately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One thing she was sure of...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘None of those women lacked in beauty.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If anything, they had been exceptionally stunning.She couldn’t recall a single one who seemed lacking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet, this child—how had he turned out this way?It was a curious thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she pondered this,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whuum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hm?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>TheIce Essencein front of her began to emit a faint glow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...What?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>ThePalace Lordpaused, noticing the anomaly in theIce Essence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hoooooosh—!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, as the light from theIce Essenceintensified,a whirlwind of frost began swirling in the space around Gu Yangcheon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the frost didn’t seem to be approaching him of its own accord.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rather,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It looked as though—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Yangcheon was absorbing the frost.\u003C\u002Fp>",2893,"2026-06-05T15:10:11.188Z",1,"novelbin.me","c097bd2ddf3a4a494fb29c2eca8db3435f42c37b3e799f603c8f3af9a0f2c3b3","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-625","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-623",974,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fchildhood-friend-of-the-zenith-cover.jpg"]